Darko
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It's basically the name of Eternia's greatest group of heroes and warriors.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- Tags
- self insert young justice
It's basically the name of Eternia's greatest group of heroes and warriors.
Vantavendi (part 21)
Mr Zoat
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21st October 2012
19:13 GMT -5
"…remember any of them?"
Death-Doll shrugs, and I try not to look at the way the stitching holding her epidermis together pulls her 'skin'. It looks painful, and under other circumstances I'd offer to fix… Fix her. But some people like looking that different and I don't know her well enough to know how she feels about it.
"Nah. I mean, I think I remember some of them, but I didn't talk to any of 'em." Her attention shifts from me to Canis, who is openly staring at her clearly-altered physiology. She smiles, her head tilting to the left and her hair -which is either artificial or held together with something that's not so much hairspray as hairglue- just sort of holds its shape rather than flowing with gravity. "See something you like, kid?"
"Your body is a walking sculpture; a meditation on the disposable and transitory nature of human flesh. Every inch of it thrills me."
She… Stares at him for a moment.
"I would like very much to paint you, if you would allow it."
"That's not something I expected to hear today." She stares as if not sure what to make of him. "Um. Sure, I guess."
"Hah!" Canis shakes his head, then turns to face me. "My art professor tried to tell me that humans disliked posing for paintings. As if nudity was something to be ashamed of."
"Wait, I didn't say anything about 'naked'. I'm married."
Canis looks puzzled. "I have no libidinous intent. I wish to depict the glory of your stitched together flesh on canvas."
And this is why Canis is extremely useful for interviews like this. I know that Death-Doll used to operate under the name Liberty-Lass, until a covert operation she undertook for the CIA went badly wrong. I know that the resulting 'experimental medical procedure' -read: we're handing your barely living body over to mad scientists and told them they could do whatever they like, no loss to us either way- left her a little unhinged. And a lot more violent.
In a normal confrontation with a League-affiliated superhero she'd posture about how dark and edgy she is. Canis wrong-foots her and I've got a larger body count and neither of us are bothered about talking about it. Which improves the chance that she'll cooperate, if only out of confusion.
She looks to me for a rational response. Which was probably a mistake.
"Is he for real?"
"He's the Apokoliptian God of Art, so, yes. Though in other circumstances he would probably call sex 'performance art'."
"I-. I mean-. Would anyone else be there?"
Canis nods. "How many people do you want?" A sight for all eyes?
"If we could return to the matter at hand? Canis?"
He nods a little sheepishly.
"What did you think of the meeting?"
"Meeting-? Oh. Ah. Guess they were well-meaning, but… I've been doing this a while. I know how to work with police, levels of force…" She shrugs. "There wasn't really anything there that I wanted."
"What do you think of the organisation as a whole?"
"Seem like good people. Probably real useful for people starting out. I don't do well in…" She raises her right hand and runs it over her neck seam. "Organizations."
"Did anyone approach you during or after the meeting?"
"It was a mixer. Plenty of people approached me. Only one that stuck out was a little girl."
"In what way?"
She frowns incredulously. "Because she was a little girl in a room full of roided out men. You've seen the guest list, right?"
I shrug. "They don't keep one, only a sign-up sheet."
"Right. Anyway, yeah, you know the statistics on the sort of people who put on masks, right?"
"What, that they're overwhelmingly male, particularly when they don't have superpowers?"
"Teenage girls who do it are usually part of a group. She was there on her own, but I think she'd already joined."
"What makes you say that?"
"The officials paid attention to her. Nothing obvious, just looking at her a bit more."
"To the teenaged girl in the room with the 'roided out men'? That doesn't seem too unreasonable."
"No, they weren't looking out for her. People look at people they know differently. Trust me."
While she's far from the strangest looking person I've met, I can't help but take in her raggy doll appearance when she asks me to take something on faith. We know the procedures altered her thought processes-.
"Yeah, I know. But trust me, all that spy craft stuff stayed. They'd have cut me up-. Left me in parts if it didn't. No one wants an incompetent assassin."
I nod. "Thank you. We'll be in touch if we need to ask any follow up questions."
"You got any idea why I'm still alive? I'm not exactly shy about maiming or killing."
"No idea at all." I smile. "It is not by eliminating the impossible that crimes are solved, but by the much harder job of eliminating the possible. Orchid wasn't violent. She breaks the pattern, so that can't be it. Maybe it's because you didn't cross… Whatever line there was. I don't know. Though if you're curious, I'll get in touch once we do solve it."
"I'd appreciate it."
I stand, stepping away-. Canis isn't following. I give him an interrogative frown.
"This was our last interview for today. I have no further business with you, and Death-Doll and I haven't agreed a time for her to pose for me."
"I haven't said I'm going to pose for you."
"You can read the intentions of a room by where people look and do not look? I know when someone will work with me."
She shakes her head. "I.. can't believe I'm considering this."
"I'll leave you two to it." I
step out
and reappear in the Mountain.
Richard glance around. "Same thing?"
"An out of place teenaged girl. I think we need to find her." I nod at the facial recognition system they've got running. "Find her yet?"
The Alliance genuinely made sure that the cameras of their venues weren't active, because not everyone turning up had the hang of the whole 'secret identity' thing. But there wasn't any rule about the people attending having their own cameras. They took pictures, and uploaded them to their masked identity's social media accounts. So there are hundreds of images for us to find this girl.
Beryl calls up a picture.
"I think we have."
19:13 GMT -5
"…remember any of them?"
Death-Doll shrugs, and I try not to look at the way the stitching holding her epidermis together pulls her 'skin'. It looks painful, and under other circumstances I'd offer to fix… Fix her. But some people like looking that different and I don't know her well enough to know how she feels about it.
"Nah. I mean, I think I remember some of them, but I didn't talk to any of 'em." Her attention shifts from me to Canis, who is openly staring at her clearly-altered physiology. She smiles, her head tilting to the left and her hair -which is either artificial or held together with something that's not so much hairspray as hairglue- just sort of holds its shape rather than flowing with gravity. "See something you like, kid?"
"Your body is a walking sculpture; a meditation on the disposable and transitory nature of human flesh. Every inch of it thrills me."
She… Stares at him for a moment.
"I would like very much to paint you, if you would allow it."
"That's not something I expected to hear today." She stares as if not sure what to make of him. "Um. Sure, I guess."
"Hah!" Canis shakes his head, then turns to face me. "My art professor tried to tell me that humans disliked posing for paintings. As if nudity was something to be ashamed of."
"Wait, I didn't say anything about 'naked'. I'm married."
Canis looks puzzled. "I have no libidinous intent. I wish to depict the glory of your stitched together flesh on canvas."
And this is why Canis is extremely useful for interviews like this. I know that Death-Doll used to operate under the name Liberty-Lass, until a covert operation she undertook for the CIA went badly wrong. I know that the resulting 'experimental medical procedure' -read: we're handing your barely living body over to mad scientists and told them they could do whatever they like, no loss to us either way- left her a little unhinged. And a lot more violent.
In a normal confrontation with a League-affiliated superhero she'd posture about how dark and edgy she is. Canis wrong-foots her and I've got a larger body count and neither of us are bothered about talking about it. Which improves the chance that she'll cooperate, if only out of confusion.
She looks to me for a rational response. Which was probably a mistake.
"Is he for real?"
"He's the Apokoliptian God of Art, so, yes. Though in other circumstances he would probably call sex 'performance art'."
"I-. I mean-. Would anyone else be there?"
Canis nods. "How many people do you want?" A sight for all eyes?
"If we could return to the matter at hand? Canis?"
He nods a little sheepishly.
"What did you think of the meeting?"
"Meeting-? Oh. Ah. Guess they were well-meaning, but… I've been doing this a while. I know how to work with police, levels of force…" She shrugs. "There wasn't really anything there that I wanted."
"What do you think of the organisation as a whole?"
"Seem like good people. Probably real useful for people starting out. I don't do well in…" She raises her right hand and runs it over her neck seam. "Organizations."
"Did anyone approach you during or after the meeting?"
"It was a mixer. Plenty of people approached me. Only one that stuck out was a little girl."
"In what way?"
She frowns incredulously. "Because she was a little girl in a room full of roided out men. You've seen the guest list, right?"
I shrug. "They don't keep one, only a sign-up sheet."
"Right. Anyway, yeah, you know the statistics on the sort of people who put on masks, right?"
"What, that they're overwhelmingly male, particularly when they don't have superpowers?"
"Teenage girls who do it are usually part of a group. She was there on her own, but I think she'd already joined."
"What makes you say that?"
"The officials paid attention to her. Nothing obvious, just looking at her a bit more."
"To the teenaged girl in the room with the 'roided out men'? That doesn't seem too unreasonable."
"No, they weren't looking out for her. People look at people they know differently. Trust me."
While she's far from the strangest looking person I've met, I can't help but take in her raggy doll appearance when she asks me to take something on faith. We know the procedures altered her thought processes-.
"Yeah, I know. But trust me, all that spy craft stuff stayed. They'd have cut me up-. Left me in parts if it didn't. No one wants an incompetent assassin."
I nod. "Thank you. We'll be in touch if we need to ask any follow up questions."
"You got any idea why I'm still alive? I'm not exactly shy about maiming or killing."
"No idea at all." I smile. "It is not by eliminating the impossible that crimes are solved, but by the much harder job of eliminating the possible. Orchid wasn't violent. She breaks the pattern, so that can't be it. Maybe it's because you didn't cross… Whatever line there was. I don't know. Though if you're curious, I'll get in touch once we do solve it."
"I'd appreciate it."
I stand, stepping away-. Canis isn't following. I give him an interrogative frown.
"This was our last interview for today. I have no further business with you, and Death-Doll and I haven't agreed a time for her to pose for me."
"I haven't said I'm going to pose for you."
"You can read the intentions of a room by where people look and do not look? I know when someone will work with me."
She shakes her head. "I.. can't believe I'm considering this."
"I'll leave you two to it." I
step out
and reappear in the Mountain.
Richard glance around. "Same thing?"
"An out of place teenaged girl. I think we need to find her." I nod at the facial recognition system they've got running. "Find her yet?"
The Alliance genuinely made sure that the cameras of their venues weren't active, because not everyone turning up had the hang of the whole 'secret identity' thing. But there wasn't any rule about the people attending having their own cameras. They took pictures, and uploaded them to their masked identity's social media accounts. So there are hundreds of images for us to find this girl.
Beryl calls up a picture.
"I think we have."
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BlueMangoAdea
Alive. For now.
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Canis is pretty great. And that does sound like an interesting sight.
Vaermina
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Oh look, an anti-life fragment.
oct9010
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Always love to see more Canis.
Darko
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You could just see her desires.
'is openly'
Yeah...that's Canis for you.
Always the art lover.
Remove 'said'.
'Death-Doll'
'Liberty-Lass'
'we're handing'
Both of you are too crazy or terrible for her to be effective on you.
Ha!
No kidding.
Maybe the guns were planning on killing her after Ted.
Ohh, boy.
Looks like it is Anti-Life affiliated.
Stsword
Versed in the lewd.
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Yes, not exactly a "as described on the tin" situation, but then again, it's not like the Avengers do a lot of avenging as a rule, and the Justice League is not a social club for judges, so that's pretty par for the course.
Although now I'm picturing a fusion setting with Judge Dredd where in fact the Justice League is in fact a league of justices....
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Ngamer11
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I thought Canis was taught by a damaged Mother Box? Who's he referring to here?
I do so enjoy reading stories that feature Canis Minor. It lets us see a whole different kind of crazy from the kind Paul usually gets up to.
Her image was one of the ones shown when the Alliance of the Just first appeared, meaning she was an early member, if not a founding member. Empress was a minor character in the grand scheme of things in the comics. so I'm hoping that she'll somehow be added to the Team or something, since she's one of the few good characters to use a fragment of the Anti-Life Equation. By the way, how will the Frees, Canis, and their Motherboxes react to learning that a human girl is able to effectively use even a small fragment of the Anti-Life Equation?
Massgamer
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Oh boy, since Anti-Life Equation is involved. Frees will be freaked out.
Michael Vonica
Not too sore, are you?
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The only thing Canis is missing when it comes to being a devoted artist is being a starving artist. But I don't think he could ever pull that off, what with him likely being free from all but the basest of material needs, thanks to his godhood. Plus the team covering any of his extra expenses, and his access to super advanced technology that could provide him with just about anything else he needs. Maybe back on Apokolips, he spent the hungry nights obsessing over his art, to fill the void?
Ngamer11
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The Renegade either told Lynne or thought to himself that he's unaware of any New God dying of starvation, so it might literally be impossible for them.
edmantgoog
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funny name
Darko
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Maybe he took some art classes from a human to better understand their art.
Scott and Barda would be worried and freaked out.
Canis would be excited.
Michael Vonica
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Yup. Can't quite be a starving artist if you can't starve. He also won't be able to suffer from the elements with that strong body of his. Could probably go nude in the Arctic and suffer minimal consequences. He could live in a shack or rundown apartment somewhere, and only wear cheap rags, but it would probably be taken more as 'look at how I obviously contrast to my environment', rather than 'my pursuit of true beauty has driven me to my absolute limits'.
Chojin Patriarch
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I rather think she'd be happy to have it undone. The surface changes, at least. There's probably enhancements under the skin, but if they're not well-tuned... It might cause lingering pain. Still, OL's not here to fix broken dolls...
Canis, remember that talk about appropriate timing? Still, I doubt there's anything sexual in it. He doesn't seem the sort for mere physical attraction.
See? Pure artistic appreciation.
Well, it depends on the person, and their culture...
I love that subtle difference. He says 'Nude', she thinks 'Naked'. There's certainly a difference.
Yeah, her 'edginess' is the sort a twelve-year-old boy might find interest in. Blood! Guns! Sexiness! All the trappings of adulthood with none of the maturity...
Boy, OL is being remarkably self-aware this episode.
Your husband, perhaps? Given that she said 'married' in the present tense...
I think Canis might well enjoy painting them together...Hora, hora... I hope she remembers to ask him to keep the results private...
Now, back on topic... Always getting distracted, these two.
The Alliance definitely seems more oriented to rookie capes. People who might otherwise have found themselves being painted on the villainous side of the line through excessive force, over-enthusiastic investigations or straight up thuggery...
Yeah, she doesn't strike me as a joiner. All those bad experiences.
How little? Teenager? Preteen? That's pretty significant.
Man, I can just imagine the improvised costumes. Modified gym gear as far as the eye can see...
Sounds like it's an ego thing for some. Probably more productive than getting into bar fights or racing hotted-up cars.
Ah, the difference between men and women...
Though I suspect other people might have mentioned that sort of thing.
And I just picture him doing the 'look down then up, raise eyebrow' thing...
Well, incompetent assassins can make for useful distractions. Like the Blockbustered guy in South
Sounds like word about Crimson Avenger spread fast amongst the Community. Bet more than a few with red in their ledger have been paranoid since then.
Canis, still on the clock. Save the chatting for later.
Come on, you can't tell me you're not a little interested in being appreciated for your looks now?
Just be sure to get her husband involved, Canis. I'm sure you'll enjoy both their company...
With an eyeroll as he goes, I bet.
Come on, OL, it's not like they have a xenotech hyper-computer strapped to their fingers.
I hope they at least censored people's faces. I doubt some of the folks going to these meetings would appreciate being outed on Lex-book.
Well, that's concerning. I rather suspect the New God associates of the League will be very interested in meeting her, though. The biggest question is what connection she has to Crimson Avenger. Is someone using her little passenger to provide targetting for the Guns, forcing them to eliminate potential threats to future plans? Let the investigation continue!
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Michael Vonica
Not too sore, are you?
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Wait, Canis has willingly decided to live on Earth in pursuit of his art. Could it be that, in a universal sense, he's already hit rock bottom? Living on a backwater planet with only the barest of necessities, like some sort of hermit?
Darko
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I think it was less him choosing to stay and mire Scott and Barda making him stay so they could keep an eye on him.
Darko
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Canis: Yes, of course I remember. But shy would I listen to anything you said?
Yes there is.
...
No one can tell the difference.
A quintessential 90s superhero.
Even a broken clock...
Paul getting distracted by some stupid philosophical argument and Canis by some piece of art.
Her husband may like how she looks.
True, but their computer is very advanced.
Ngamer11
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There are no New Gods on the Justice League in the Paragon timeline. The Frees are simply friends with some of the members and will step up if Apokolips is involved.
Mr Zoat
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The teacher of the college course he is attending.
Ngamer11
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That is an amusing thought. Are the Frees acting as his minders while he's there so that he doesn't do something unseemly?
KaiserDrgn
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Everytime a reference to the original Young Justice comics come up, I'm just completely thrilled. Young Justice was my favourite series growing up.
RichardWhereat
Aia airëa Fëanáro.
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If only there was some way of looking at her emotions. Some sort of mystical empathy power.
Mr Zoat
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It's kind of rude to go rifling through someone's soul without good cause.
Also, I like the signature.
Ngamer11
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Mr Zoat, I was rereading and found these errors.
The guy's name, as far as I can see, is Albert 'Case'. It's possible you confused him with another character that you have in the story that has a similar last name, Karon Chase, aka Holly Robinson's girlfriend.
RichardWhereat
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True, but knowing whether someone would want to be fixed, without insulting them by asking, is a decent cause.
Me too, it was an amusing line that I lost my tea at.
Darko
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'Has done so for'
The words should be closer together.
'coming off of it'
Plus Paul has looked at people's souls without permission before.
Flightless Man
Versed in the lewd.
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I dunno, the last few arcs have really seemed like Paul is finally growing from his mistakes. It's pretty hard to ignore how most of our more common complaints have been addressed in story lately and how Paul in the story is admitting he may have done things wrong in the past.
The last 6-9 months have been a real breath of fresh air in the story and it doesn't feel like Paul is a stagnate character anymore.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
No, I think that's all fine.