Darko
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Sivana Senior wasn't so interested in his youngest physical strength as much as he was interested in their intelligence.
By breaking a lot of their bones.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- self insert young justice
Sivana Senior wasn't so interested in his youngest physical strength as much as he was interested in their intelligence.
By breaking a lot of their bones.
WereDragon
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I miss scrapheap challenge.
With a bit of luck Thaddeus will take more damage to his ego than his body. And also lose a limb or two.
Soul Shocker
Not too sore, are you?
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"Paul, look at me. There's not that much of me too injure."
To injure
To injure
Steelplaza
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I didn't read "beings younger and weaker than me" as a reference to Titans or gods, but as a reference to "magic" being produced by the connection of regular mortal beings to the Dreaming. The weaker beings are the general population of the universe who collecting help produce magic/etheric ripples.
DrThoth
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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I felt that her words were dismissing magic entirely as unproductive, and taken in conjunction with one of her earlier memorable statements about being older than Earth's gods, it led me to think she was also considering arcane-based entities. But what you say does make sense.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Stsword
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Pretty much anything they want.
The Maltusians are immortal psychics and they were that even before they learned how to manipulate the Glow.
The Controllers didn't embrace the control over the Orange Light until after this story started.
Their control over the emotional spectrum is a facet of their psychic power, not the source of it.
Assblaster5000
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I know of only one bloodline that cares so much for Styling on their opponents... Tad isn't a Sivana, he's a Son Of Sparda.
Medidiction (part 3)
Mr Zoat
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26th August 2012
17:32 GMT
"-thre-"
Thaddeus leaps back as Daciya throws her arms forward, qwa-matter forming in front for a fraction of a second before detonating, her force fields channelling the destructive output at her enemy!
"-e."
From what I can see of Kalmin's expression he's not exactly impressed with such a beginner level application of his god's gift. Logically, I can see the utility. There are species that feed matter into singularities in order to use the x-rays it generates as a power source, where I use singularities as a weapon.
Daciya is sliding sideways on some sort of force field roller skate and firing another shot at Thaddeus while he's still in mid-air. He spots it-. He's snorting as he presses a button and teleports half-way across the arena before it can hit, the shot carrying on and striking the shield protecting the stands. One of the Lanterns on the far side suffers from a control lapse and shields their part of the stands as the incandescent plasma splashes and causes the arena's barrier to flare. No, you Muppet, they're easily strong enough to take it.
Thaddeus thumps his frame's hands into the ground with an odd snapping sound. A moment later a chunk of the arena floor has turned to dust, and as Thaddeus raises his arms the crackling dust cloud billows forward!
"Hn."
I glance at Kalmin. "Interested?"
Cables twitch along Daciya's forearms as she reconfigures her tools while retreating in an arc away from the electrified plume.
"Ionised dust is commonplace."
A thin conductive staff flashes into being in her hands and she throws it into the cloud without turning.
"The magnetic steering mechanism is of mild-"
The staff pierces the cloud, a flash of light radiating out as it tries turning the miniature electrical strikes it's suffering into a magnetic field strong enough to disperse the cloud. Some dust falls away, but Thaddeus gestures and the greater mass of the cloud rises up over it or slips to flow around it.
"-interest. The disintegration mechanism-"
Daciya flash-forges a series of balls and tosses them back into the cloud. They do something similar to the staff, rapidly glowing red hot as they generate a strong enough magnetic-
"-is more-"
-field to push the dust away but they're still-
"-interesting."
-glowing and they explode, dust changing to a.. low temperature plasma and surging back towards Thaddeus, who brings his frame's arms together in a block. The cyan fizzing intensifies slightly as the plasma washes over him. Daciya takes the opportunity to reconfigure her bracers again and waves-.
She vanishes from view, though I can still see her as she's still feeling avarice. Her involvement in this fight is as much a result of her need to win as any anger she's feeling at Thaddeus.
"Disappointing."
Thaddeus has his frame jog towards Daciya's last visible location, coils of electrified cabling lashing out-
Daciya reappears, forearms glowing while the rest of her body is-. She's absorbing light and focusing it. That seems inefficient, but-.
The laser beam lances out and touches Thaddeus's shield, which switches to two dimensions, twists, and fires it back. Daciya's light absorption field takes it along with the ambient light and fires it back, triggering Thaddeus's shield…
Which deals with the attack faster this time, the beam of light flickering back and forth between them, visible per instance only because the angle is slightly different each time. I don't know if Thaddeus's defence can run out of power, but I doubt that it would fail against a laser this quickly.
"Ooh, a laser! I have never seen that before."
Daciya changes her angle slightly as Thaddeus stomps around to face her, using the projector on her right arm to maintain the assault.
"What next, a sharp stick?"
Her left arm fires a volley of weaker shots across Thaddeus's frontage, because perhaps he can only block one attack at a time? Looks like 'no'. Several shots go unblocked as they pass through the gaps in the frame, but the ones which would have hit the frame trigger the same response as the going 'main' attack.
Okay, it's not working, where's she going with-?
She clenches her fists and light erupts from Thaddeus's shield-. No, the shield's gone and he's awkwardly staggering backward and Daciya's still in light absorption mode so she's unaffected. A qwa-matter-decay-generated plasma bolt hits his cyan dust and disperses it, and Thaddeus-.
Teleports across the arena, some sort of-. That's a purple healing ray, deploying and giving him a quick shot in the eyes before folding away.
"You broke my shield."
Destroyed the device emitting it too, I notice.
"You might actually have a reasonable intellect after all."
He extends his frame's hands and the top centimetre of the area floor explodes upwards into dust! Daciya fires another laser shot but Thaddeus's cyan cloud effect manages to absorb it as electricity surges through the dust now covering the arena floor!
Daciya shudders, then darts off the ground into the air, her armour regaining its usual colour as her bracers reconfigure again. Thaddeus moves his frame's arms and sends the dust after her, but this time the electrical discharges are more obvious. Daciya responds by changing her direction of travel, heading for the inner surface of the arena's shield with her bracers acting as additional thrusters.
I suppose that if he can only control a finite volume like that, it should be perfectly possible for her to keep away as long as she moves faster than the cloud does. And I don't think that Thaddeus can make the electricity jump to her because her armour's insulated and there's nowhere for it to jump to.
"How are you scoring this?"
I glance at Kalmin with a surprised frown.
"You're asking me?"
Daciya lurches in the air as her right arm is knocked out of alignment. She recovers, then it happens again-.
Ooh.
Thaddeus is using the electrified dust as a coil gun, the rest of the cloud concealing it from visual and electromagnetic detection. Streams of dust are evacuated at speed-
Daciya takes a hit to the chest and slams into the perimeter wall.
-and shoot at the target. Okay, I understand the physics of the coil gun, but how the heck is he aiming?
"Yes."
Most of the rest of the dust cloud falls to the ground as Thaddeus focuses on his gun. I hear the cracks as supersonic grains of dust hit Daciya, her force field active and keeping her safe but she appears unable to retaliate.
"I'm on the verge of calling-"
Thaddeus teleports and his cloud undoes her shield-.
"-this Cease!"
Thaddeus teleports away, smiling smugly, while Daciya glares at me for a moment before running for her workshop.
"Ten minutes. Make the most of it."
17:32 GMT
"-thre-"
Thaddeus leaps back as Daciya throws her arms forward, qwa-matter forming in front for a fraction of a second before detonating, her force fields channelling the destructive output at her enemy!
"-e."
From what I can see of Kalmin's expression he's not exactly impressed with such a beginner level application of his god's gift. Logically, I can see the utility. There are species that feed matter into singularities in order to use the x-rays it generates as a power source, where I use singularities as a weapon.
Daciya is sliding sideways on some sort of force field roller skate and firing another shot at Thaddeus while he's still in mid-air. He spots it-. He's snorting as he presses a button and teleports half-way across the arena before it can hit, the shot carrying on and striking the shield protecting the stands. One of the Lanterns on the far side suffers from a control lapse and shields their part of the stands as the incandescent plasma splashes and causes the arena's barrier to flare. No, you Muppet, they're easily strong enough to take it.
Thaddeus thumps his frame's hands into the ground with an odd snapping sound. A moment later a chunk of the arena floor has turned to dust, and as Thaddeus raises his arms the crackling dust cloud billows forward!
"Hn."
I glance at Kalmin. "Interested?"
Cables twitch along Daciya's forearms as she reconfigures her tools while retreating in an arc away from the electrified plume.
"Ionised dust is commonplace."
A thin conductive staff flashes into being in her hands and she throws it into the cloud without turning.
"The magnetic steering mechanism is of mild-"
The staff pierces the cloud, a flash of light radiating out as it tries turning the miniature electrical strikes it's suffering into a magnetic field strong enough to disperse the cloud. Some dust falls away, but Thaddeus gestures and the greater mass of the cloud rises up over it or slips to flow around it.
"-interest. The disintegration mechanism-"
Daciya flash-forges a series of balls and tosses them back into the cloud. They do something similar to the staff, rapidly glowing red hot as they generate a strong enough magnetic-
"-is more-"
-field to push the dust away but they're still-
"-interesting."
-glowing and they explode, dust changing to a.. low temperature plasma and surging back towards Thaddeus, who brings his frame's arms together in a block. The cyan fizzing intensifies slightly as the plasma washes over him. Daciya takes the opportunity to reconfigure her bracers again and waves-.
She vanishes from view, though I can still see her as she's still feeling avarice. Her involvement in this fight is as much a result of her need to win as any anger she's feeling at Thaddeus.
"Disappointing."
Thaddeus has his frame jog towards Daciya's last visible location, coils of electrified cabling lashing out-
Daciya reappears, forearms glowing while the rest of her body is-. She's absorbing light and focusing it. That seems inefficient, but-.
The laser beam lances out and touches Thaddeus's shield, which switches to two dimensions, twists, and fires it back. Daciya's light absorption field takes it along with the ambient light and fires it back, triggering Thaddeus's shield…
Which deals with the attack faster this time, the beam of light flickering back and forth between them, visible per instance only because the angle is slightly different each time. I don't know if Thaddeus's defence can run out of power, but I doubt that it would fail against a laser this quickly.
"Ooh, a laser! I have never seen that before."
Daciya changes her angle slightly as Thaddeus stomps around to face her, using the projector on her right arm to maintain the assault.
"What next, a sharp stick?"
Her left arm fires a volley of weaker shots across Thaddeus's frontage, because perhaps he can only block one attack at a time? Looks like 'no'. Several shots go unblocked as they pass through the gaps in the frame, but the ones which would have hit the frame trigger the same response as the going 'main' attack.
Okay, it's not working, where's she going with-?
She clenches her fists and light erupts from Thaddeus's shield-. No, the shield's gone and he's awkwardly staggering backward and Daciya's still in light absorption mode so she's unaffected. A qwa-matter-decay-generated plasma bolt hits his cyan dust and disperses it, and Thaddeus-.
Teleports across the arena, some sort of-. That's a purple healing ray, deploying and giving him a quick shot in the eyes before folding away.
"You broke my shield."
Destroyed the device emitting it too, I notice.
"You might actually have a reasonable intellect after all."
He extends his frame's hands and the top centimetre of the area floor explodes upwards into dust! Daciya fires another laser shot but Thaddeus's cyan cloud effect manages to absorb it as electricity surges through the dust now covering the arena floor!
Daciya shudders, then darts off the ground into the air, her armour regaining its usual colour as her bracers reconfigure again. Thaddeus moves his frame's arms and sends the dust after her, but this time the electrical discharges are more obvious. Daciya responds by changing her direction of travel, heading for the inner surface of the arena's shield with her bracers acting as additional thrusters.
I suppose that if he can only control a finite volume like that, it should be perfectly possible for her to keep away as long as she moves faster than the cloud does. And I don't think that Thaddeus can make the electricity jump to her because her armour's insulated and there's nowhere for it to jump to.
"How are you scoring this?"
I glance at Kalmin with a surprised frown.
"You're asking me?"
Daciya lurches in the air as her right arm is knocked out of alignment. She recovers, then it happens again-.
Ooh.
Thaddeus is using the electrified dust as a coil gun, the rest of the cloud concealing it from visual and electromagnetic detection. Streams of dust are evacuated at speed-
Daciya takes a hit to the chest and slams into the perimeter wall.
-and shoot at the target. Okay, I understand the physics of the coil gun, but how the heck is he aiming?
"Yes."
Most of the rest of the dust cloud falls to the ground as Thaddeus focuses on his gun. I hear the cracks as supersonic grains of dust hit Daciya, her force field active and keeping her safe but she appears unable to retaliate.
"I'm on the verge of calling-"
Thaddeus teleports and his cloud undoes her shield-.
"-this Cease!"
Thaddeus teleports away, smiling smugly, while Daciya glares at me for a moment before running for her workshop.
"Ten minutes. Make the most of it."
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Darko
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'moves'
gustyeagle
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This is like the super version of chess boxing.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Chojin Patriarch
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Off to a solid start, if not a crowd-pleasing one. Honestly, a Qea-matter-fueled shaped charge might sound impressive, but it's just sound and fury, signifying nothing at this level.
Indeed. Seems a bit wasteful, really. I understand that she might have been told not to try and utterly annihilate him, so throwing the Qwa-matter at him might not have been an option, even if she could shape it properly... But using it to fuel a blast? Overkill.
Bet his buddies are already ribbing him about it. I expect this first round will just be them feeling each other's design philosophies out. No need to blow the good stuff on a warmup.
Points for using the terrain as a weapon. But I rather suspect she's hardly going to be troubled by a sandblasting.
I'm sure he had high hopes of seeing something clever from the Earthman.
Not much of a riposte, either. Is Daciya just assuming Tad has nothing in his box of tricks, or is she being cagey about surprises...
Slightly better, but she's still on the back foot.
Tad probably used a sonic or crumbler weapon to break the surface and pulverise it. Spray some nanites in to add control and bam.
Heh. I doubt invisibility holds much concern for Tad. Probably has at least two different ways to track her...
A feint to draw her out, or just him being dumb? Who knows what he's thinking...
Oh, that's a nasty potential loop. Just a matter of which gives out first.
And he's started trash-talking? Looking to make her angrier? Probably not a good idea.
Careful, or she'll show what she can do with a sharp stick... It involves you wearing it as a tail, probably.
On the upside, she's determined the frame has a weighted priority for its defences. Only shots that would contact the actual solid parts look to be blocked.
I'd say that counts as a point. She managed to damage him enough to require mid-bout repair.
Overloaded, probably. I doubt it was designed to take an attack of that wide a dispersal, nor operate for that long in a single burst.
At least he's not letting it slow him down. Though I suspect he's coming across as a one-trick pony with the cloud again.
It'd more likely ground into the arena floor, unless he could create a suitable leader arc to her.
"You're more familiar with the boy's methods. Is he actually bothering to make an effort, or is this the limit of his skills?" Indeed, neither are making a good show of it. Understandable, if they are testing each other...
1-1 each way, then. Can he score again?
Probably some exotic method of detection. Discreetly pre-placed sonar nodes, perhaps? Because I don't doubt he'd cheat if he could get away with it.
I expect she's not happy about being pushed this hard by a child.
2-1, Tad's favour. Yes, that counts, it would easily have been a kill-shot.
Round one to Tad Sivana. Wonder what Daciya'll break out next?
A solid warmup, I suppose. Let's see if Tad changes things up for round two, because Daciya will almost certainly put something together to counter that dust-coilgun trick. I bet the crowd are taking notes, though, especially the smarter Lanterns. I wonder how much their different mentalities will affect the psychological tactics, though. Compare how vocal he was as opposed to her...
Double Space.
...her force fields channelling the destructive output at her enemy!
Darko
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Qwardians are very xenophobic, so she may view him as inferior.
Ngamer11
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True. At the very least, this will teach her not to underestimate non-Qwardians who aren't Maltusians or those who work for Maltusians. I'm not sure what Thaddeus would get out of this though.
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Darko
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That people outside of his family are capable of giving him an intellectual and technological challenge.
Mr Zoat
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The only life point that matters is the last one.
Thank you, corrected.
Ngamer11
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I'm pretty sure he already knows that, even if he won't admit it out loud. However, I don't think he'll really be challenged by a wanna-be Weaponer.
crazygrox
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Someone to test his weapons against?
Always nice to see whether another technologist can find ways to subvert them or exploit a flaw.
Note he's been mostly using various exotic effects that might be expected to be easier to counter than a big gun.
Pez
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And the Reach spies...
Handlewithcare
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Wow, Zoat. A dust coil gun is really creative. Did you come up with that yourself?
Neither seems to use minions/drones or was thst part of the rules?
Neither seems to use minions/drones or was thst part of the rules?
Darko
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This is the first round, so they may use drones later on.
At least Junior may.
If I remember correctly several Qwardians seemed to dislike robots, by how they acted around Paul when they thought he was a robot and Varnathors two drone companions, so she may not use drones.
Mr Zoat
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I think so.
Qwardians don't really go into that. The Sivannas do sometimes, but Thaddeus wasn't worried.
Someguy Somewhere
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The Reach Spies...on Maltus.
Yeah...I'm gonna say good luck to them wandering in under the controllers radar on their home world.
Pez
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You never know.
They knew an awful lot about Paul and the workings of the OLC (from his discussions on that planet with the eggs). And he apparently has some kind of new nemesis that confounds Dox.
Vaermina
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Why? As much as Paragon might like to think otherwise the Reach is in fact a pear to the Controllers.
inglorius
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I wonder if Controllers are secretly embarassed about being at war with a fruit.
Someguy Somewhere
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As much as folks are focused on the possible mad science romance going on, I'm just pondering this coming out completely platonic....and moving forward as a sort of Maltus College football game.
Scitzotech-U vs Qwa-tech semi annual Disaster-Ball match.
Scitzotech-U vs Qwa-tech semi annual Disaster-Ball match.
Medidiction (part 4)
Mr Zoat
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26th August 2012
18:14 GMT
Daciya waves away the arena's medics, preferring to hobble back towards her workshop-
"Daciya!" Thaddeus smiles arrogantly as purple light plays over the ripped flesh of his right arm. "Would you like to borrow my healing device? Just my little way of thanking you for being a good sport."
-under her own power. Thaddeus's frame has seen better days, but there's no real doubt as to who the winner was.
Kalmin considers the scene.
"I'm sure there is some reason why you and he are letting her live. Explain it."
"On Earth, there's a television series called Dragonball Z. One of the characters by the name of Vegeta was born with the second greatest amount of raw spiritual power of any member of his species, second only to his father. For years he coasted on that, and then he ran into a chap called Goku. Goku started weak, but worked extremely hard to get stronger. When they fought, Goku won. It was close, but it was a definite win. That lit a fire under Vegeta to copy Goku's work ethic. For the rest of their lives the constant presence of Goku made Vegeta obsessed with getting stronger, with always improving himself."
"I just apply electrodes. I find pain and the threat of death to be efficacious motivational tools."
I shake my head.
"You're a Weaponer at the height of his powers. Thaddeus is roughly her age. He's had better equipment for most of his career, but she's clearly more physically able and… Qward is far more advanced than Earth."
"You think that she will focus her efforts on besting him." He nods. "If he were q'ardajin I would approve. As it is, I suppose it could be a useful data point."
"Besides, they weren't, were they? Efficacious, I mean. That's why you're bothering to teach the remedial students."
"Actually, I'm teaching them because the system was too corrupt for me to have any confidence in their designation. Though I do want to be clear: you are not planning on… Breeding them, as you are with the human female and the Coluan, are you?"
"That was more a case of taking advantage of their instincts to encourage them to act in a more useful fashion. Dox's father made him paranoid and untrusting. For him, that was useful because it reduced the chance that Dox would try and escape his laboratory. For me, it makes it harder for him to work with the rest of N.E.M.O. and that's not helpful."
"What do you intend for the male human to get out of this 'rivalry'?"
"Hopefully, Daciya wins the next one and he gets the same encouragement she just received. Failing that, he gains confidence in his interactions with people and becomes a little more social."
BOOM!
I look around as Georgia walks through the portal in the middle of the arena, her brother taking a moment to strike a pose.
"Congratulate me, Georgia. I am triumphant."
"Is that really important?"
"Is field testing important?! What do you think we've been doing since we left school?!"
Inwardly, I sigh.
"I'm sure that Daciya will want a rematch, but make sure that she's got something new to bring to the table."
Kalmin glowers through his helmet's eyeslits.
"Do not presume to give me orders."
"I wasn't trying to give you an order; I was giving you advice on the assumption that our goal here is the same." He appears to be willing to let that go. "How will you handle Daciya?"
"Handle? This is a test for her as much as any practical examination. If this duel had taken place on Qward she would be dead now. We shall see if the effect on her is what you desired."
I nod, and-. Ah, good, he's here. "Excuse me."
Kalmin turns and trudges towards the closest exit, while I fly into the stands and land close to Lantern Onik. And a few of his associates.
"Lantern Onik, a moment of your time."
He takes a moment to check that I'm actually talking to him, then cautiously approaches me.
"Yes, Great Master?"
"I'm heading to Karax soon, and it would be helpful to me if you'd come along to show me around. Clarissi Dox has informed me that he doesn't need you for anything. Do you have any of your own business you need to take care of? Or is there some reason why you can't go home?"
"No, Great.. Master. I… Can go home."
"Any reason why you might not want to go home?"
"It-. I…" He takes a moment to collect himself. "Source worshippers are a minority on Karax, and… Compared to other Source-worshipping religions, my… The monastery where I studied, our practice was far closer to Lanternism than other Source-focused faiths."
"Have you made yourself an apostate?"
"I… No. For anyone from Karax, we all see taking up a ring as a great honour. And I do regard the Source as the ultimate origin of the universe and all order within it. But while what I am doing here is in theory perfectly within the tenets of our religion, this is the first time this particular thing has happened to one of us. I am an irregularity."
"Do you object to coming back?"
"No. Now that I have a better understanding of how the emotional spectrum actually works and the place of the orange light in it, it is far easier for me to justify my decision." He smiles faintly. "When Clarissi Dox first offered me a ring, accepting it was… Something of a leap of faith."
"I can imagine."
"I… Have been reassured by your policy of collegiality. Ah. If that helps."
"In what way?"
He removes a… Paper copy of my book from a pouch, and opens it to a page about two thirds of the way through.
"'No one part of the whole is complete by itself.' You wrote that about the colours of the spectrum. Before you, I didn't even know what the other colours were. My denomination believes that the green light is a manifestation of the Source, but… We also believe that there must be others. And now we know that there are!"
"That's not exactly… I mean, you're making a bit of a leap between healthy psychology and a significantly distinct part of the Source."
"My last leap went well."
"Right, but…" Oh. I didn't actually put much in there about Apokolips or New Genesis, and the New Gods in general. And I think we're still keeping the white light under wraps. "Well, we'll have plenty of time to discuss this on the journey. Please make whatever preparations you need to be away from Maltus for an indefinite period of time."
He bows.
"At once, Great Master."
He steps back and then flies from the arena at considerable speed. I raise my right hand to my forehead
and
18:14 GMT
Daciya waves away the arena's medics, preferring to hobble back towards her workshop-
"Daciya!" Thaddeus smiles arrogantly as purple light plays over the ripped flesh of his right arm. "Would you like to borrow my healing device? Just my little way of thanking you for being a good sport."
-under her own power. Thaddeus's frame has seen better days, but there's no real doubt as to who the winner was.
Kalmin considers the scene.
"I'm sure there is some reason why you and he are letting her live. Explain it."
"On Earth, there's a television series called Dragonball Z. One of the characters by the name of Vegeta was born with the second greatest amount of raw spiritual power of any member of his species, second only to his father. For years he coasted on that, and then he ran into a chap called Goku. Goku started weak, but worked extremely hard to get stronger. When they fought, Goku won. It was close, but it was a definite win. That lit a fire under Vegeta to copy Goku's work ethic. For the rest of their lives the constant presence of Goku made Vegeta obsessed with getting stronger, with always improving himself."
"I just apply electrodes. I find pain and the threat of death to be efficacious motivational tools."
I shake my head.
"You're a Weaponer at the height of his powers. Thaddeus is roughly her age. He's had better equipment for most of his career, but she's clearly more physically able and… Qward is far more advanced than Earth."
"You think that she will focus her efforts on besting him." He nods. "If he were q'ardajin I would approve. As it is, I suppose it could be a useful data point."
"Besides, they weren't, were they? Efficacious, I mean. That's why you're bothering to teach the remedial students."
"Actually, I'm teaching them because the system was too corrupt for me to have any confidence in their designation. Though I do want to be clear: you are not planning on… Breeding them, as you are with the human female and the Coluan, are you?"
"That was more a case of taking advantage of their instincts to encourage them to act in a more useful fashion. Dox's father made him paranoid and untrusting. For him, that was useful because it reduced the chance that Dox would try and escape his laboratory. For me, it makes it harder for him to work with the rest of N.E.M.O. and that's not helpful."
"What do you intend for the male human to get out of this 'rivalry'?"
"Hopefully, Daciya wins the next one and he gets the same encouragement she just received. Failing that, he gains confidence in his interactions with people and becomes a little more social."
BOOM!
I look around as Georgia walks through the portal in the middle of the arena, her brother taking a moment to strike a pose.
"Congratulate me, Georgia. I am triumphant."
"Is that really important?"
"Is field testing important?! What do you think we've been doing since we left school?!"
Inwardly, I sigh.
"I'm sure that Daciya will want a rematch, but make sure that she's got something new to bring to the table."
Kalmin glowers through his helmet's eyeslits.
"Do not presume to give me orders."
"I wasn't trying to give you an order; I was giving you advice on the assumption that our goal here is the same." He appears to be willing to let that go. "How will you handle Daciya?"
"Handle? This is a test for her as much as any practical examination. If this duel had taken place on Qward she would be dead now. We shall see if the effect on her is what you desired."
I nod, and-. Ah, good, he's here. "Excuse me."
Kalmin turns and trudges towards the closest exit, while I fly into the stands and land close to Lantern Onik. And a few of his associates.
"Lantern Onik, a moment of your time."
He takes a moment to check that I'm actually talking to him, then cautiously approaches me.
"Yes, Great Master?"
"I'm heading to Karax soon, and it would be helpful to me if you'd come along to show me around. Clarissi Dox has informed me that he doesn't need you for anything. Do you have any of your own business you need to take care of? Or is there some reason why you can't go home?"
"No, Great.. Master. I… Can go home."
"Any reason why you might not want to go home?"
"It-. I…" He takes a moment to collect himself. "Source worshippers are a minority on Karax, and… Compared to other Source-worshipping religions, my… The monastery where I studied, our practice was far closer to Lanternism than other Source-focused faiths."
"Have you made yourself an apostate?"
"I… No. For anyone from Karax, we all see taking up a ring as a great honour. And I do regard the Source as the ultimate origin of the universe and all order within it. But while what I am doing here is in theory perfectly within the tenets of our religion, this is the first time this particular thing has happened to one of us. I am an irregularity."
"Do you object to coming back?"
"No. Now that I have a better understanding of how the emotional spectrum actually works and the place of the orange light in it, it is far easier for me to justify my decision." He smiles faintly. "When Clarissi Dox first offered me a ring, accepting it was… Something of a leap of faith."
"I can imagine."
"I… Have been reassured by your policy of collegiality. Ah. If that helps."
"In what way?"
He removes a… Paper copy of my book from a pouch, and opens it to a page about two thirds of the way through.
"'No one part of the whole is complete by itself.' You wrote that about the colours of the spectrum. Before you, I didn't even know what the other colours were. My denomination believes that the green light is a manifestation of the Source, but… We also believe that there must be others. And now we know that there are!"
"That's not exactly… I mean, you're making a bit of a leap between healthy psychology and a significantly distinct part of the Source."
"My last leap went well."
"Right, but…" Oh. I didn't actually put much in there about Apokolips or New Genesis, and the New Gods in general. And I think we're still keeping the white light under wraps. "Well, we'll have plenty of time to discuss this on the journey. Please make whatever preparations you need to be away from Maltus for an indefinite period of time."
He bows.
"At once, Great Master."
He steps back and then flies from the arena at considerable speed. I raise my right hand to my forehead
and
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