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

[Stsword]

A
As is her weakness to magic, assuming Zoat added it here.

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People really tend to oversell that weakness to magic.

Superman can survive Darksied's omega beams, and he uses those to kill New Gods all the freaking time.

And in YJ Conner tanked Kaldur's electricity and his water constructs while beating Robin, Kid Flash, and Kaldur unconscious in the first episode.

 

[Darko]

People really tend to oversell that weakness to magic.

Superman can survive Darksied's omega beams, and he uses those to kill New Gods all the freaking time.

And in YJ Conner tanked Kaldur's electricity and his water constructs while beating Robin, Kid Flash, and Kaldur unconscious in the first episode.

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I always assumed Kon did that because he was half human and had more resistance than a pure Kryptonian.

As for Darkseid, he's varied from being a god to just a powerful alien, so his powers have also varied, and Supes has still been stated and shown to be weak against magic.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Oh Gemma. Your naive enthusiasm is endearingly horrifying.

 

[Mr Zoat]

For the purpose of this story, Kryptonians are slightly more vulnerable to directly applied magic than humans due to not getting anything like the same level of support from the Earthsphere that humans do. However, conjured lightning is just electricity, and they're as resistant to it as the are electricity from any other source.

 

[Prognostic Hannya]

Someone made a suggestion that it may be Richard Simpson, a friend of Constantine who became a tech demon, and Zoat left a like on that post, so it's probably Simpson.

That would explain how John is connected to this.

Demon John may be helping Simpson.

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I feel like Vulcan would be able to recognize a demon possession though. And doesn't Richard Simpson only work on advanced electronics? Some of the stuff getting possessed barely even has wires. Simpson also doesn't seem like the type to animate abandoned factory machinery, for absolutely no reason.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Simpson working for Mammon last time we saw him? I can't see Mammon launching an operation of this size and scale on Earth and not at least informing him. To insure his non-involvement, if nothing else.

 

[Darko]

I feel like Vulcan would be able to recognize a demon possession though. And doesn't Richard Simpson only work on advanced electronics? Some of the stuff getting possessed barely even has wires. Simpson also doesn't seem like the type to animate abandoned factory machinery, for absolutely no reason.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Simpson working for Mammon last time we saw him? I can't see Mammon launching an operation of this size and scale on Earth and not at least informing him. To insure his non-involvement, if nothing else.

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Vulcan may not have dealt with demons all that much to recognise their handiwork.

And he also probably never dealt with an emerging god before so he may not know much about what is going on.

This is also a tech god emerging, and even the things that lack wires still qualify as tech.

And the machines may be animated by accident rather than deliberately by Simpson.

The guy is either trying to gain control of an emerging god or become one himself, so there are bound to be some complications along the way, like machines being randomly animated.

And I think you're overestimating the loyalty demons have for one another.

Simpson was loyal to Satanus because the guy helped him out, but he may lack such loyalty for Mammon.

Simpson may be doing this just for himself, without Mammons approval or knowledge.

Also, even if Mammon was behind this and ordered Simpson to do it, why would he inform Paul about it?

Paul altered his desires but he doesn't control him.

Hell, Paul said that Mammon could potentially undo the changes that were made.

The reason he worked with Paul was because he felt that he owed him and that he may have found it profitable.

But if he no longer feels like he owed him or thinks this is more profitable, then he may not tell Paul anything.

Also informing Paul about this is a sure fire way of getting him involved and having him try to stop them.

Paul may not be so comfortable with Hell getting this much power.

Yes it's becoming a somewhat better place, but it's still Hell and it probably still has a long way to go before it's considered to be anything else than pure evil.

 

[Maxx Crowley]

As is her weakness to magic, assuming Zoat added it here.

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I gotta say it.

Kryptonians aren't weak to magic. They just aren't invulnerable to it like they are mundane attacks.

Superman has been hit with magical attacks that hurt him yes, but would have killed just about anyone else (minus those on the team with magical resistance like Diana or Billy)

 

[Flightless Man]

People really tend to oversell that weakness to magic.

Superman can survive Darksied's omega beams, and he uses those to kill New Gods all the freaking time.

And in YJ Conner tanked Kaldur's electricity and his water constructs while beating Robin, Kid Flash, and Kaldur unconscious in the first episode.

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Magical attacks are way less effective than mental effects. Like Zoat mentioned, congured elemental attacks have little to no magic in them.

Illusion, mental enchanments, and transmutation is generally as easy on a Kryptonian as it is a human.

 

[Doccer]

I have a current day Lemmings game app on my phone right now actually.

 

[dxdragon]

"One, I grew up playing Lemmings, which is basically one big escort mission. Two, you said it, not me."

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Huh, I just spent like 10 minutes watching that clip.

That looks like it could have been a pretty fun game. Wonder if there is a remastered version with modern graphics out there?

 

[Pinklestia]

Ah right, Oh El NEVER dealt with that Demon Cult...

 

[Darko]

Ah right, Oh El NEVER dealt with that Demon Cult...

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If you mean the Caligula Club, then I think the Angels dealt with them, or at least just the ones that were involved with demons.

During their invasion they were searching for anything demonic on Earth and got rid of it, so the Club was one of those things.

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

with Kryptonians not reacting all that well to magic.

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To be fair, it is more that Kal-El and most other kryptions have no special immunity to magic or a real magic culture other than some high-end martial artist traditions, magic affects them the same as everyone else.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Huh, I just spent like 10 minutes watching that clip.

That looks like it could have been a pretty fun game. Wonder if there is a remastered version with modern graphics out there?

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There are more modern Lemmings games, but... Some games don't update well.

 

[PDV]

"No, it makes you an escort mission."

Her face creases up.

"But those are rubbish!"

"One, I grew up playing Lemmings, which is basically one big escort mission. Two, you said it, not me."

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Paul, if you want to keep your age a secret, you need to think before you say things like that. Lemmings was old when I grew up, and I'm 30.

(Still in the hall of fame for game design and worth playing, but old.)

 

[Coda]

Paul, if you want to keep your age a secret, you need to think before you say things like that. Lemmings was old when I grew up, and I'm 30.

(Still in the hall of fame for game design and worth playing, but old.)

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It was new when I played it.

But it's not unreasonable to think that one might have played retro games growing up. My son played Super Metroid when he was 8... and that was in 2015.

 

[Pinklestia]

There are more modern Lemmings games, but... Some games don't update well.

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Yeah, take the Playstation version.... ugh.

 

[Stsword]

To be fair, it is more that Kal-El and most other kryptions have no special immunity to magic or a real magic culture other than some high-end martial artist traditions, magic affects them the same as everyone else.

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No, they do. It's just less than they get from regular attacks. Sometimes.

Darkseid's omega beams are a god killing attack.

So Superman is more invulnerable to magic that he is "vulnerable" to than New Gods who have no "vulnerability" to magic.

On the other hand sometimes magic attacks ignore Superman's invulnerability entirely. Like Dracula biting Superman and peircing his skin.

Magical attacks are way less effective than mental effects. Like Zoat mentioned, congured elemental attacks have little to no magic in them.

Illusion, mental enchanments, and transmutation is generally as easy on a Kryptonian as it is a human.

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The fact that Shazam's lightning can hurt Superman says otherwise outside of this fic.

 

[Fellow]

If you mean the Caligula Club, then I think the Angels dealt with them, or at least just the ones that were involved with demons.

During their invasion they were searching for anything demonic on Earth and got rid of it, so the Club was one of those things.

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That would be great! I personally thought that John was using his powers as a chaos lord to clean house with that group and any other past issues he hadn't been powerful enough tp deal with before. I also have a small hope that Teekl never actually died and is just bound to Constantine now, happily hanging around the man chaos loves.

 

[cereal_lurker]

The fact that Shazam's lightning can hurt Superman says otherwise outside of this fic.

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This triggered a question I hadn't though of before... Can Billy transform away from Earth? He's empowered by a Lord of Order who is presumably equally powerful everywhere given the planar source, but he mechanism appears to be bound to Earth's magic system (and gods/heroes). If he got too far away from the Earth (possibly closer to Mars) would his transformation simply undo? That seems like something to be considered when the SI was reviewing scenarios of possible alien invasion/space combat.

 

[Darko]

This triggered a question I hadn't though of before... Can Billy transform away from Earth? He's empowered by a Lord of Order who is presumably equally powerful everywhere given the planar source, but he mechanism appears to be bound to Earth's magic system (and gods/heroes). If he got too far away from the Earth (possibly closer to Mars) would his transformation simply undo? That seems like something to be considered when the SI was reviewing scenarios of possible alien invasion/space combat.

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I think Zoat once mentioned that if he's away from the planet then he couldn't transform.

If he leaves the planet in his transformed state then he'll still be transformed, but he won't be able to change to his mortal form.

 

[cereal_lurker]

If he leaves the planet in his transformed state then he'll still be transformed, but he won't be able to change to his mortal form.

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I must have missed that when it was brought up the first time. Thanks.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Yeah, take the Playstation version.... ugh.

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Take the Playstation version. Please.

The fact that Shazam's lightning can hurt Superman says otherwise outside of this fic.

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Captain Marvel's lightning turns a small boy into a superpowered Adonis. It's not regular lightning.

 

[Steelplaza]

Take the Playstation version. Please.

Captain Marvel's lightning turns a small boy into a superpowered Adonis. It's not regular lightning.

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Even in the Golden Age comics, Captain Marvel's lightning was treated so many different ways. Just for your interest, there was a really interesting interpretation that showed up a couple of times where Billy basically had the power to transform into Captain Marvel (and vice versa) whenever exposed to any sufficiently strong electrical charge as the trigger for the magic. What the lightning bolt called by saying "SHAZAM" did for him was allow him to summon that electrical charge anywhere as opposed to hoping there was a convenient electrical substation around. I didn't mean that to be arguing with you in any way about how it works in YJ or WtR, I just thought it was an interesting alternate interpretation.

 

[Flightless Man]

The fact that Shazam's lightning can hurt Superman says otherwise outside of this fic.

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Exception that proves the rule. Shazam bolts are almost all magic and come from a lord of order, containing his power. I said conjured not invoked.

Edit: I was wrong to be so dismissive, Steelplaza is correct and depending on the version you are also correct. I'm sorry.

Even in the Golden Age comics, Captain Marvel's lightning was treated so many different ways.

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Good point

 

[Pentel123]

Well, I am finally caught up. That took the better part of way too long.

Enjoying the story and most of the side ones.

An emergent god of technology is very interesting. I look forward to seeing how this resolves.

On a different note, I recently saw the first few episodes of Invincible and wonder how Paul would stack up in that world and what his take on the existing organizations would be.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July 2012
19:32 GMT

Kara shakes her head. "I can't see anything out of the ordinary either. Not that I spend a lot of time staring at breakfast cereal factories."

I feel so cut off from my roots. I honestly have no idea if 'Weetiebrix' is an off-brand Weetabix, its parallel universe replacement, or something completely different. The factory looks like it's in reasonably good condition… I don't know anything about breakfast cereal production. Hasn't really come up until now. Is it strange that there's a site in London still in production? A quick ring search says 'slightly, but not significantly', and a check on the company's finances doesn't show any significant irregularities.

Anything odd about this place? Any-.

Oh. That makes a painful amount of sense.

This is where Richard Simpson died. They found the charred remains of his body in the building's control room one morning, John Constantine having got in and out without troubling either the security guards or the security cameras. No one had any idea how it happened. The coroner's report had an open verdict as no one could really believe that an electrical surge could do that much damage to him without leaving any other sign.

And since relocating to Hell, he's been into demonic technology.

…

Guess I can tell Lord Fate he can take the rest of the day off. Now I've just got to arm-twist Mr. Simpson into telling me what he's playing at.

"Gemma, did John ever talk to you about Richard Simpson?"

She thinks for a moment. "Richie Simpson?" I nod. "I think he mentioned him. I don't remember what he said. Why?"

"I think that's who we're going to meet."

She frowns. "Isn't he dead?"

"Sort of. He wasn't in his body when it died and then he downloaded his consciousness into a demon lord's avatar. I've met him and he seemed reasonably rational. No idea what he wants with you, though."

She strides forward towards the building. "Only one way to find out."

"That's not exactly true."

She glances back at me like I'm an idiot. "That's what you say."

"When it's true. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense."

She shakes her head and walks faster.

"Kara, if he just wants to negotiate or something, I'll handle it. If this is some sort of ambush, grab Gemma and fall back."

"I thought you said you knew him?"

"Yes, but we're not friends or allies. And as far as I can tell, gaining power is what demons are most interested in. Depending on how assimilated he's become, violence is very much on the cards."

"Alright, I'll keep watch. Be careful."

"Thank you, but I'm in the wrong job for 'careful'."

I fly towards the building, picking Gemma up and unlocking-. The magnetic lock on the door is already inactive. I open the door and fly us both in. The room where Mr. Simpson died has been entirely rewired when they redid the factory's IT systems-. The cameras aren't recording us, the alarms aren't sounding and the internal card-reader operated doors aren't requiring a card.

Someone was definitely waiting for us.

I stop just outside the offices containing the control centre.

"What does the clock say?"

She pulls it out of her back and shows me.

'C0∩∩E C105ER'

"He sounds creepy."

"He's a demon technology fetishist. Unless you're secretly a gynoid, you should be safe."

"Gywhat?"

"Synthetic device patterned in the likeness of a woman. A girl robot."

"Oh. Okay." She looks into the offices. "So I just go in there?"

"I'll hang back, and jump in the moment anything happens. You've got your ward, so I'll have plenty of time."

"You know… You don't have to jump right in. He's going to be happier talking to me, isn't he? I mean, he's not going to see me as a threat."

"While true, I don't intend to risk you when I'm fairly confident that I can compel him to talk."

"Won't he just know you're here? He's got control of the cameras, right?"

I shrug. "Then he knows. But my warding tattoos make me invisible to magic, even if there's a camera involved."

She takes this in.

"Can I get tattoos like that?"

"Certainly. Just as soon as you have your eighteenth birthday, or-."

"That's-!"

"OR." She looks at me with very low expectations. "Get your father's permission."

She sullens, sighs teenagerly, then trudges towards the control room.

Hm. Alright. Mr. Simpson is -or rather was- an expert on electronic mysticism. But he's been in hell for a few years and IT is a fast moving area. I don't remember him having anything to do with Rosacarnis in the comics despite him possessing the father she hated. Here they're nominal allies, but how much access to up-to-date technology does he actually have? I mean, his demonic machinery looked modern enough…

"Alright clock, I'm here. What is it?"

She propped the door open, good. I don't want to scan because those can be detected, but I can use empathic vision to keep an eye on the room she's in.

"Plug you in? Why?"

She's saying it loud for my benefit. Good girl.

"Ah, okay? But how's that going to help… Fine."

You can't plug a clock radio into a computer. But you can plug it into a wall socket next to a plug from a computer, and use sympathetic resonance to link the two. So he wants access to the computer in the place where he died. I don't think that's enough for a summoning, not for a demon of his raw power. And he can't possess Gemma unless she does something silly and voluntarily vacates her body.

"And put what on my head? I don't think so. Where's Uncle John?"

"Paul?" Kara sounds concerned. "There are people moving towards the factory outside."

"That's fine. The more resources he commits, the better."

"Hey there, Gemma. I'm-."

"Richie Simpson. You died here. What do you want?"

"Oh. You, actually."

 

[Idkusername]

"Alright clock, I'm here. What is it?"[size]

She propped the door open, good. I don't want to scan because those can be detected, but I can use empathic vision to keep an eye on the room she's in.

"Plug you in? Why?"[size]

She's saying in loud for my benefit. Good girl.

"Ah, okay? But how's that going to help… Fine."[size]

You can't plug a clock radio into a computer. But you can plug it into a wall socket next to a plug from a computer, and use sympathetic resonance to link the two. So he wants access to the computer in the place where he died. I don't think that's enough for a summoning, not for a demon of his raw power. And he can't possess Gemma unless she does something silly and voluntarily vacates her body.

"And put what on my head? I don't think so. Where's Uncle John?"[size]

"Paul?" Kara sounds concerned. "There are people moving wards the factory outside."

"That's fine. The more resources he commits, the better."

"Hey there, Gemma. I'm-."

"Richie Simpson. You died here. What do you want?"[size]

"Oh. You, actually."

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A bunch of open size tags.

There are people moving wards the factory outside."

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wards -> towards, unless some people are busy fiddling with magical protections.

 

[Darko]

This is where Richard Simpson died.

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Yep, it's him.

I've met him and he seemed reasonably rational

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For a demon, which isn't exactly a high bar.

Simpson died was been entirely

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'has been'

when the redid the factory's

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'when they'

She's saying in loud for my benefit

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'saying it'

And he can't possess Gemma unless she does something silly and voluntarily vacates her body.

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She is a Constantine.

Doing stupid shit is kinda in the blood.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Last part reads a little jumbled.

Anyway, Paul seems a bit too overconfident again.

But then we know he doesn't think baseline anymore.

He is so averse to inefficiency he doesn't leave enough room for the unexpected.