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

5th May
03:11 GMT -5


Aurakos approaches me slowly, sword partially extended. She's got better reach that me, because my blade is a backup weapon at most and certainly wasn't designed for duelling.
Unfortunately, that counts as even by her standard, because you have a blade. The X-Ionised edge and your armour balance it out. I wonder: If he ditches the armour, would she be weakened?

"Canis, is there any way we can swap?"

"Why?"
No substitutions allowed, OL. She's also a lot more metaphorically weighty than he is, being the daughter of a powerful Hero, while he's just a Lieutenant. And in her narrative, a villain's lieutenant at that.

"Because you're tr-"

A small lunge which turns into a feint as I go to parry, then a stab aimed at my gauntlet which I counter with a power stomp which sends me into the air and lets me parry while sideways.
And her power has probably decided you're a Rogue. What with the tumbling and daggers. The armour is atypical, but hey, the Source don't give a shit.

"-trained for this. I'm artlessly-"

Aurakos punches with her left hand, hitting me in the cuirass and sending me tumbling backwards.
Interesting that she's not going for an instant kill, even when she gets an opening. The punch could have been hard enough to punch through the plating, but it only pushed him back. Odd...

"-flailing."

Things slow again as I correct my fall. My armour's movement calculation systems are clearly working; I'd never be this mobile without it. The question is: what do I do? Duelling the undead won't result in them tiring first. The only thing I can think of is taking a hit to give myself a clear strike at her forehead, but given that that's a New God sword and the fact that she knows what she's doing with it I can't guarantee that she won't simply use the opportunity to kill me. And while enough of her face is on display that I can hit the witch-sign if I get the right angle, there's a pretty good chance that I won't get that angle. And then it will simply be a matter of slashing into me and I'll die of blood loss.
And your blades aren't designed to be capable of, say, decapitation? Or going for the spine?

"Ah… That.. is true. But I don't think that I can alter her use of her God Name. She is a lot older than me."

"What happens if I toss my swords away?"
That might count as a surrender, but she's not operating under the same rules of engagement. She has no onus to take you alive...

"I imagine that she would-"

Aurakos stabs, letting me parry so that I can't stop her punching me in the faceplate. No real damage, but the sensors built into my armour aren't designed to take sustained punishment.

"-probably stab you."
Yeah, she can easily outlast you, dismantling your armour one piece at a time. This is really weighted against your normal methods...

"With a sword that-"

Okay, my kinetic barrier isn't working. How about plasma shield?

"-isn't equal?"
Ah, the old "If I'm on fire, they can't grab me!" play. And her power is probably treating your armour as a point in your favour.

I hear the signature faint hum of my plasma barrier as it actually responds to my activation instruction. I.. suppose that's working because it's a pure toughness boost, not a negation of a particular type of attack that she can't mirror.

"Throwing weapons away isn't the same-"
It's usually a sign of surrender, or an indication you want to fight with bare hands... In either case, she's stronger.

Another weapon lunge, another parry, but this time when she tries to punch me I reinforce the plasma barrier and counter, forcefully knocking her empty left hand away and giving me an openi-. No, damn it! Missed the damn witch-sign and just poked her in the cheek!

"-as never having had them. That-"
Then again, does she know there's a person there? Or is she seeing an automaton of strange design, likely an enemy?

Grab her sword forearm, undeploy right blade, deploy left and it works, slash-

"-doesn't make sense."
Well, at least you can switch things up. Bet she'd swap hands to counter.

She turns her head and I scour a line along the side of her helmet, while she twists her arm and stabs weakly at my right shoulder just about going through the plasma shield and poking a hole in the armour without hitting anything significant.

Undeploy both blades.
Bare hands it is, I see. Or will it simply count you as holding it aside while you do something else...

"Okay, what counts-"

Push off and slam us both against the far wall, because while super strength fights are usually resolved by grabbles neither of us are dropping our blades, she's undead and I'm in full armour. Choke holds are right out, she doesn't feel pain and if Canis is anything to go by she'll regenerate chip damage faster than I can inflict it.

"-armed?"
So, how effective would joint dislocations be? Sure, she can't feel pain, but knocking a joint out of its' natural connection will still hamper its functionality.

I strain my legs to keep her pinned against the wall, letting my armour and plasma shield soak the punches and knee strikes she uses to try and force me back into sword range. I reciprocate with my right fist and she grabs it and pushes it aside so that I punch the wall behind her.

"If she has it in her possession-"
Problem of the armour. As agile as it is, it's still bigger and heavier than she is. And momentum is not your friend in this fight.

Good news is that she's not strong enough to simply squeeze through my armour. And she can't do what Printwhistle did and set us both on fire. And she can't fly, so she can't simply-.

She tries lifting me off my feet, using the wall behind her as an anchor. Except that doesn't work because I can just adjust my posture, threatening to twist her into a pose that would allow me to grapple her before she abandons the effort.
Hmm... Your armour isn't designed to be removed without a ring, is it? No ditching it to even the odds, then. And no time to try, because the second you let go of her to unclip something, her fist will be pounding on your head.

"-then she is armed-"

I stamp on her left foot with my right, to no apparent effect. Grundies apparently can't exactly feel pain in the same way that living creatures do, but the idea that being injured is bad is so ground in to human psychology that it remains there even after death.

"-with it."
Unfortunately, Gods don't have quite the same reflexes as humans. I expect she's aware of the damage, but knows she can tank it, so she just ignores it...

"If I tell you-"

Aurakos opens her mouth and tries biting my armour, and I hear a hideous noise as super strong teeth scrape across my outer plating.
Ow, she fights dirty, huh? Bet that'll leave an interesting mark to show off later.

"-where in my body my-"

I take a firm grip on her and the wall, then headbutt her in the forehead. I don't do any damage but I do cause her head to jerk back slightly.
And maybe annoy her. I don't think you want her more angry, do you?

"-my ring is, how-"

I try to repeat the action, but she angles her helmet and pushes against my grip, threatening to throw me back if I persist.
At least she can't try and pull anything vital off.

"-quickly could you cut it out of me?"

I punch her with my right gauntlet fist, trusting my left to keep her sword out of the way and my armour to hold against-. Against her own fist.
...Cut it out of you? Man, talk about going to extremes. o_O Also, when do you think you're going to have a chance with her constantly attacking?

"Not so quickly that-"

Her neck is somewhat exposed, but she doesn't need to breathe!
Like I said, go for the decapitation. You could probably sew her head back on later, once you scrape the control sigil out... If you wanted her kind-of-alive.

"-she could not slay you."

Hellwraith, go and find a Spine Rider, then come back and try using it to control her.
Ah, classic rogue method: If you can't win, cheat. I fully expect her to swat the Spine Rider the second it comes within reach, though...

As you wish, Master.

The wraith emerges from the ring in my skull and flies up through the stone into the chamber above. At least that confirms that the rings are functioning.
You'd have a couple of painful aches in your head and chest if they weren't, OL...

"She's using the Source, right? What's-"

She-. Aaaaargh! She drops her sword point-down on my left boot, and all my plasma shield can do is turn it aside slightly before it slides into my foot. In armour I'm not really putting much weight on my organic foot, but the pain and blood loss are noticeable and I wouldn't be able to use the armour's purple healing ray until the sword is out.
Ow, the agony of de feet. I think she's starting to get annoyed that you're trying to talk to someone instead of battling her properly...

"-the 'balance' for the Source?"

Aurakos then uses her now-empty hand to get a better grip on me in order to hurl me away. But disarming yourself counts as armed.
Because technically, she can break away from you, and grab the blade again. Basic storytelling logic, which is what this fight is running on.

"Darkseid? The Anti-Life? The.. Great Darkness?"

I deploy my right gauntlet's blade and try to thrust it into her forehead, and she's forced to use all of her concentration to keep it off.

"How about the Ophidian?"
Oh, no. Bad idea. Don't forget, OL, Melmoth is probably watching all of this. Do you want him getting anywhere near best snake?

While I suspect some men would love to be in OL's position right now, this fight is getting tougher. The narrative her Godspeech is forcing kind of prevents any real 'cheating' OL could try. The problem is, OL isn't thinking narratively yet. And Canis can't really explain that, he's just as caught up in the narrative...


...that I can hit the witch-sign...
Double space here.
...usually resolved by grabbles neither of us...
...usually resolved by grapples neither of us...
 
Interesting that she's not going for an instant kill, even when she gets an opening. The punch could have been hard enough to punch through the plating, but it only pushed him back. Odd...

Maybe she can exert just a tiny bit of control over herself and is using it to fight Melmoths influence.

And your blades aren't designed to be capable of, say, decapitation? Or going for the spine?

She may have armor around her neck to protect her and she certainly has it on her back.

...Cut it out of you? Man, talk about going to extremes. o_O Also, when do you think you're going to have a chance with her constantly attacking?

Maybe Canis can move really really fast.



Oh, no. Bad idea. Don't forget, OL, Melmoth is probably watching all of this. Do you want him getting anywhere near best snake?

I doubt he can do much against her, aside from becoming her new pet of course.

While I suspect some men would love to be in OL's position right now, this fight is getting tougher. The narrative her Godspeech is forcing kind of prevents any real 'cheating' OL could try. The problem is, OL isn't thinking narratively yet. And Canis can't really explain that, he's just as caught up in the narrative...
Don't think there's any kind of 'narrative' here, but just some weird magical effect that makes them equals.
 
Last edited:
Chojin Patriarch has she been using her Godspeeh to talk, in either this chapter or before, becuase i have yet to figure out how to make it visible
If there's any invisible text, I usually note it at the end of my posts.
If you can use userscripts on your browser (assuming it's not a phone,) there's one to make transparent text visible on Xenforo forums (here, SpaceBattles and Sufficient Velocity, mainly.) This is where I usually install it from, on userstyles.org.
It'll make invisitext show up as black bars that turn into green text when moused over.

Don't know how to make it visible though, sorry.
If you know where it is in the reply box, highlight and turn it a different colour with the 'text colour' button ('Font' block of options, first 'A' icon, on my browser.) Also useful for highlighting corrections!
I usually try to make it match the character, so medium grey for Grayven. :p
 
wikipedian_protester.png

That sounds blatantly false. Do you have a source for your claim?
Lights Out, the Entities nearly got turned into giblets by Relic when they possessed Kyle.


I doubt he can do much against her, aside from becoming her new pet of course.
It doesn't take much magical knowledge to bind Entities you know...
 
OL can't win a swordfight with a minor metaphysical entity, so instead he's trying to win a godfight with a major metaphysical entity.

Might actually work too. Aurakles is using the Source, so OL should be able to use the diety he's most strongly connected to as well. Except Aurakles only has access to a tiny fraction of the Source, and the Ophidian will willingly launch all of herself into battle for Paul. Defeat in detail, for gods.
 
No, damn it! Missed the damn witch-sign and just poked her in the cheek!

Ha! Natural 1s are always hilarious :D

"Okay, what counts-"
[...]
"-armed?"


"Well... having arms to begin with. Maybe you should cut her arms off?"

Hellwraith, go and find a Spine Rider, then come back and try using it to control her.

... He missed a perfect opportunity to name something a Ringwraith. For shame~

She-. Aaaaargh! She drops her sword point-down on my left boot, and all my plasma shield can do is turn it aside slightly before it slides into my foot.

It's an iron sword. How did it cut through his power armor clad boot? He should get a refund on this thing!

"How about the Ophidian?"

Of course, you only thought of that mid-duel to death. It's not like deploying it immediately after realising you're in a grey goo scenario would've been useful or anything. You had to wait for the last possible moment to even consider it.
 
Of course, you only thought of that mid-duel to death. It's not like deploying it immediately after realising you're in a grey goo scenario would've been useful or anything. You had to wait for the last possible moment to even consider it.
Summoning the Ophidian isn't something you do without a second thought. She is his last resort, and should be treated as such.
 
It's an iron sword. How did it cut through his power armor clad boot? He should get a refund on this thing!




.

No the sword is made up of some kind of New God material, not iron, so it should be capable of cutting through power armor.

And losing a duel with a draugr warrants it but an arcane grey goo scenario doesn't?

He may have thought there was some other way to beat the goo before calling on the Ophidian, but for this fight he doesn't have much choice.

Oh and I decided to see what Vaermina has been saying and just discovered it hasn't really changed.

Relic is from the n52.

Zoat dislikes the n52.

Zoat is unlikely to use a lot of elements from the n52.

Zoat is unlikely to use anything Relic did.

You've probably decided to ignore this as you've done a lot of other things.

Provide evidence that the Ophidian can be bound with magic.

Paul has a connection to the Ophidian and can just fight off whatever Melmoth tries to do.

If you disagree with this then provide a citation that Melmoth can do anything to the Ophidian, or anything on its power level.

If you can't do this then don't bother to reply.

If you do try to provide some evidence, which will most likely be worthless, then I may try to see what you posted.

If the citation you provide is worthless then I won't try to even see what you post anymore, it will just be a pain to read what you write.

Oh and please provide evidence that even if magic can harm Entities that Zoat would use that in this episode or anywhere in his story.
 
Summoning the Ophidian isn't something you do without a second thought. She is his last resort, and should be treated as such.
Summoning the Ophidian isn't something you should do period.

There's good reason that's an option only the crazies or truly desperate go for in the wider DC universe.
 
Your color tags are showing.
If I correct it before you post then it doesn't count.
Maybe add 'as armed'
Thank you, corrected.
maybe 'into human, instead of just 'in to'
No, I think that's right. The act of grinding has pressed it in.
Double space here.
...usually resolved by grapples neither of us...
Thank you, corrected.
 
Quick! Call Constantine and see if Lucy owes him any favors. He's well out of the Sources league.
 
Question: If this really is in the future, is the Ophidian even still alive? That seems a really good question to ask, lest OL try to summon it and get the entirety of the Avarice spectrum from this point in time shoved through him. Or something else, maybe just a Ringtone or automated message left behind. Of course it would be just like this story to actually try summoning the Ophidian and instead getting his future self too...
 
Question: If this really is in the future, is the Ophidian even still alive? That seems a really good question to ask, lest OL try to summon it and get the entirety of the Avarice spectrum from this point in time shoved through him. Or something else, maybe just a Ringtone or automated message left behind. Of course it would be just like this story to actually try summoning the Ophidian and instead getting his future self too...
Heh, I can see it now:

"What."
"Oh, I was wondering when this would happen."
"
What."
"Honestly, this wasn't that hard a problem to solve, you know..."
"
What."
"Here, let me take care of this, we need a little chat." <Zot!>
"
What..."
"Okay, you can stop the Tenth Doctor routine now..."
 
Heh, I can see it now:

"What."
"Oh, I was wondering when this would happen."
"
What."
"Honestly, this wasn't that hard a problem to solve, you know..."
"
What."
"Here, let me take care of this, we need a little chat." <Zot!>
"
What..."
"Okay, you can stop the Tenth Doctor routine now..."

I'm now imagining Paul being the future Ophidian for some reason.

Well that or the Ophidian has become much more developed in the speaking department.
 
Mr Zoat, do you feel inclined to do a post explaining how the New Gods work in this setting, for the wiki? If not Zoat, then is someone else willing? I'm not certain enough that I understand what's going on to do it myself.

thanks for that, i had never thought to check out the wiki. perusing it made me wonder though (and forgive me if i'm misunderstanding things):

in it, Cornwall Boy is stated as being a thaumovore, and that has been shown to be a working ability in the story previously. shouldn't he have been included on this mission? hypothetically, how potent is his 'thaumovore' ability? potent enough to more or less suck the life out of 99% of the problems that OL has enountered on this mission so far? due to their heavy reliance on magic, shouldn't Cornwall Boy have been included on anything Sheeda-related?
 
thanks for that, i had never thought to check out the wiki. perusing it made me wonder though (and forgive me if i'm misunderstanding things):

in it, Cornwall Boy is stated as being a thaumovore, and that has been shown to be a working ability in the story previously. shouldn't he have been included on this mission? hypothetically, how potent is his 'thaumovore' ability? potent enough to more or less suck the life out of 99% of the problems that OL has enountered on this mission so far? due to their heavy reliance on magic, shouldn't Cornwall Boy have been included on anything Sheeda-related?

The people that went on this mission were the ones that could afford to potentially be gone for months due to the fact that months could pass on Earth before they get back, even if they just spend a few days on Witch World.

Cornwall still goes to school and so he may not have been able to take that much time off.

As for the magic side of things they have Dr Mist, a powerful archmage that has been using magic for 11.000 years, so in terms of magic assistance they're good.

He might even be able to use something similar to Cornwall and absorb another persons magic.

When they went on this mission they were just doing it to gather info on the Sheeda so they can prepare for them.
 
Is it bad that I imagine Graven sitting on a couch eating popcorn and yelling at the TV while he sees Paul struggle?

Well... It's not impossible he's doing just that.

Last time we saw Grayven he was falling into Sheeda hot tub time machine (while holding Artemis in princess carry). What are the odds they ended up somewherewhen interesting (or at least plot significant)?
 
The people that went on this mission were the ones that could afford to potentially be gone for months due to the fact that months could pass on Earth before they get back, even if they just spend a few days on Witch World.

Cornwall still goes to school and so he may not have been able to take that much time off.

Has Robert considered doing what Zatanna did and getting a Genomorph-based accelerated education? Superheroing is what he's all about, after all. Though I don't even remember the last time I saw him onscreen.
 

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