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

Tower Offence (part 22)
8th November 2012
12:43 GMT -5


Quinn doesn't say anything; he just raises his sceptre and makes the Order-aligned crystals shine in an attempt-.

Purple clouds leap from the lower portion of the room, ripping apart Quinn's shields and forcing him to tighten the protective spells around his body. There's a tremendous-

KLANGKLUNK!

-noise above us as Dr. Balewa finishes ripping through main support and the whole assemblage slips sideways, slamming the platforms rotating around in into side platforms and armatures! The armatures respond by snapping, portions of the machine-.

I grab and catch the wheel The Demon Constantine was bound to with a construct claw and throw it aside.

Dr. Balewa shimmers and vanishes as the magic discharges in earnest, and I-. I dash to the side of the chamber, raising construct shields and trying to track pieces of falling machinery and exploding crystals.

Alan takes cover next to me a moment later.

"Did we win?"

"I hope so, because I can't think of another way to-."

A giant golden arrow manifests and flies at my shield! My eyes widen as I deploy a flak construct and Alan adds a shield of his own before it hits. The flak shot does nothing and the Order arrow is spinning as it starts fracturing our combined shields!

Fine. FEED-.

Warning! Low Power.

Um. Okay, yes, that does rather thrash the batteries. Ah.

I use filaments to wire my construct into my tattoos and pull, the arrow weakening as I pull the Order into my soul. I'm a little uncomfortable at the idea, but I don't think that being a little more orderly will do me much harm. The fracturing slows-.

Alan drops his shield, manifests a 100 ton weight construct just above it and drops it. The arrow is crushed, raw undifferentiated magic exploding outwards in a form my shield can easily cope with.

Another lump of machinery lands hard next to our corner of the room with a CRASH and a wince from us.

And then, quiet.

Not silence. Some of the crystals are still in the middle of discharging. I see one cluster break together and reform a lump of metal into a series of perfect cuboids, causing the loose wreckage above to fall a little further.

Cautiously, Alan and I float up and towards the centre of the room. One of the major platforms has wedged the central shaft against the side of the chamber, preventing the entrance area from getting buried. Still, that doesn't look stable.

"Everyone dead!?"

Alan gives me a mild glare, looking decidedly put out. "Paul."

"Between the immortal wizard and the man made of Dream sand, it's really more a matter of working out what happened to them and bringing them back. If anyone has died, it'll be the Johns."

I sigh.

Yes, Demon John II was an arse who actively tried to betray us, but he didn't commit the crimes that Demon John I did so I shouldn't lump the two of them together. And given that they weren't the same person, we put him in prison and ended his relationship with Ms Ryan and dragged him on a mission which stood a good chance of killing him without just cause.

That's on us.

"What do you think Quinn meant?"

"I'm not sure."

I look through the wreckage for any sign of life. Nothing right now, though I can see dream mist through the gaps in the wreckage. Okay, calculate the load-bearing qualities-.

Are the walls getting closer?

Confirmed.

"Alan, the room is shrinking. Most likely due to the fact that the crystals are broken and so the room isn't channelling power anymore."

He nods. "Yeah, I noticed. My ring can calculate how I can shift this stuff around-." His eyes flicker blue. "Thought as much."

A crane construct hauls a snapped-off part of a platform out of the way, while a construct blowtorch welds a girder to the snapped shaft to create a solid 'ceiling'.

"You remember what 'we' sounded like when I merged with the Ophidian for the first time? How we thought and acted?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"I guess it was the same thing. With parts of his mind dropped off in another body, things that… Wouldn't have made sense to him normally suddenly made perfect sense."

"John Constantine's the sort of man who might decide that the universe shouldn't exist? I mean, I… I talked with John Quinn several times. He seemed like a good guy. And that… Our demon John didn't."

"He had the run of the Earth since breaking out of Belle Reve, and the worst thing he did was pretend to be someone else while trying to woo his old girlfriend. If I was more self-absorbed, I can't imagine that I'd have killed a fraction as many people as I have." he looks-. "They were all bad. But the point is that if you don't feel strongly about things, there's no motivation to do anything really bad. Cut away a chunk of someone's mind and they decide some strange things. Decide to do things that they wouldn't do in a normal state of mind."

"Ah…"

Dr. Balewa shimmers into being, his skin knitted back together but his clothing still burned. He takes a moment to catch his breath, then looks at us.

"Are you well?"

Alan nods, digging deeper towards the last known location of John Quinn.

"Think so. What happened to the Johns?"

"Arcane diffusion. He should be-."

"A little help down here?"

I send out claw and excavator constructs, pulling apart rubble and detritus until there's a clear path to the lower portion of the room.

Sanderson clambers out, carrying a bruised and battered…

Well, he's in the blue and gold getup that Quinn was wearing, Helmet strapped to Sanderson's equipment harness. But the face isn't Quinn; it's too careworn and the hairline has receded. I mean, I can see parts of Quinn, but parts of The Golden Man and the Demons as well.

In short, it looks like John.

But to check, I look at Dr. Balewa. He holds out his hands for a moment, then nods.

"I believe thet it is him. But I think that we should evacuate before making a definite evaluation."
 
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8th November 2012
12:43 GMT -5


Quinn doesn't say anything, he just raises his sceptre and makes the Order-aligned crystals shines in an attempt-.

Purple clouds leap from the lower portion of the room, ripping apart Quinn's shields and forcing him to tighten the protective spells around his body. There's a tremendous-
Hoist by his own petard, eh? :p Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow. And while he's pressed like that, he won't be as able to strike out at them. At least the other John knows his stuff, and isn't afraid to use it.

KLANGKLUNK!

-noise above us as Dr. Balewa finishes ripping through main support and the whole assemblage slips sideways, slamming the platforms rotating around in into side platforms and armatures! The armatures respond by snapping, portions of the machine-.
Oof, that's gonna make one hellacious mess. Wouldn't wanna be cleaning up after this party.

I grab and catch the wheel The Demon Constantine was bound to with a construct claw and throw it aside.

Dr. Balewa shimmers and vanishes as the magic discharges in earnest, and I-. I dash to the side of the chamber, raising construct shields and trying to track pieces of falling machinery and exploding crystals.
Oh, I hope that was just a 'teleport to safety' move and not something more destructive...

Alan takes cover next to me a moment later.

"Did we win?"
You're still alive, aren't you? Any fight you can walk away from is a win.

"I hope so, because I can't think of another way to-."

A giant golden arrow manifests and flies at my shield! My eyes widen as I deploy a flak construct and Alan adds a shield of his own before it hits, The flak shot does nothing and the Order arrow is spinning as it starts fracturing our combines shields!
Ah, one last 'fuck you' from Fate. And it's built to rip right through constructs? Bet it's homing, too.

Fine. FEED-.

Warning! Low Power.
Not what you want to hear right now, is it, OL?

Um. Okay, yes, that does rather thrash the batteries. Ah.

I use filaments to wire my construct into my tattoos and pull, the arrow weakening as I pull the Order into my soul. I'm a little uncomfortable at the idea, but I don't think that being a little more orderly will do me much harm. The fracturing slows-.
Maybe if you work at it, you can make magic-draining more energy efficient. Perhaps one day, it'll actually earn it's energy back...

Alan drops his shield, manifests a 100 ton weight construct just above it and drop it. The arrow is crushed, raw undifferentiated magic exploding outwards in a form my shield can easily cope with.

Another lump of machinery lands hard next to our corner of the room with a CRASH and a wince from us.
At least it didn't have a trap spell on it in case you managed to absorb the energy. That would have been entirely in character for Quinn.

And then, quite.

Not silence. Some of the crystals are still in the middle of discharging. I see one cluster break together and reform a lump of metal into a series of perfect cuboids, causing the loose wreckage above to fall a little further.
It ain't over until the last tinkle of broken glass finishes. At least the random changes didn't make it into anything volatile.

Cautiously, Alan and I float up and towards the centre of the room. One of the major platforms has wedged the central shaft against the side of the chamber, preventing the entrance area from getting buried. Still, that doesn't look stable.

"Everyone dead!?"
To be fair, if they answer you, then they aren't dead. So that's honestly effective.

Alan give me a mild glare, looking decidedly put out. "Paul."

"Between the immortal wizard and the man made of Dream sand, it's really more a matter of working out what happened to them and bringing them back. If anyone has died, it'll be the Johns."
I mean, Sandy could easily be filtering his way through the wreckage. And Doctor Balewa teleported away back there...

I sigh.

Yes, Demon John II was an arse who actively tried to betray us, but he didn't commit the crimes that Demon John I did so I shouldn't lump the two of them together. And given that they weren't the same person, we put him in prison and ended his relationship with Ms Ryan and dragged him on a mission which stood a good chance of killing him without just cause.
Dude, he still killed at least one person for that disguise of his. He was still a Demon.

That's on us.

"What do you think Quinn meant?"
Eh, Guy's brain was a bag full of cats, with holes in. Amazed he lasted as long as he did, really.

"I'm not sure."

I look through the wreckage for any sign of life. Nothing right now, though I can see dream mist through the gaps in the wreckage. Okay, calculate the load-bearing qualities-.
Might want to save your charge, OL. Let Alan do the heavy lifting, because you're getting close to the danger zone...

Are the walls getting closer?

Confirmed.
And it looks like a quick exit might be needed, so you wanna be able to fly fast.

"Alan, the room is shrinking. Most likely due to the fact that the crystals are broken and so the room isn't channelling power anymore."

He nods. "Yeah, I noticed. My ring can calculate how I can shift this stuff around-." His eyes flicker blue. "Thought as much."
;) ...That's one way to bring the house down.

A crane construct hauls a snapped off part of a platform out of the way, while a construct blowtorch welds a girder to the snapped shaft to create a solid 'ceiling'.

"You remember what 'we' sounded like when I merged with the Ophidian for the first time? How we thought and acted?"
I don't think anyone who encountered you is going to forget that anytime soon, 'Cake Man.'

"Yeah, I remember."

"I guess it was the same thing. With parts of his mind dropped off in another body, things that… Wouldn't have made sense to him normally suddenly made perfect sense."
And with the resulting Swiss cheese being stewed in Order... Yeah, I can see how he slipped into his little 'Anti-Life is so orderly!' shtick.

"John Constantine's the sort of man who might decide that the universe shouldn't exist? I mean, I… I talked with John Quinn several times. He seemed like a good guy. And that… Our demon John didn't."

"He had the run of the Earth since breaking out of Belle Reve, and the worst thing he did was pretend to be someone else while trying to woo his old girlfriend. If I was more self-absorbed, I can't imagine that I'd have killed a fraction as many people as I have." he looks-. "They were all bad. But the point is that if you don't feel strongly about things, there's no motivation to do anything really bad. Cut away a chunk of someone's mind and they decide some strange things. Decide to do things that they wouldn't do in a normal state of mind."
Like unironically enjoying all those silly foods the English made up... (Props for the True Lies reference, though. Great movie.)

"Ah…"

Dr. Balewa shimmers into being, his skin knitted back together but his clothing still burned. He takes a moment to catch his breath, then looks at us.
Glad to have you back with us, Doctor. At least they don't have to go looking for you in whatever afterlife you'll be headed off to.

"Are you well?"

Alan nods, digging deeper towards the last known location of John Quinn.
Hopefully the recombination protected him, or you'll be needing a mop to clean John up...

"Think so. What happened to the Johns?"

"Arcane diffusion. He should be-."
...In one piece, hopefully? Though probably not happy about it.

"A little help down here?"

I send out claw and excavator constructs, pulling apart rubble and detritus until there's a clear path to the lower portion of the room.
Ah, that'll be him or Sandy.

Sanderson clambers out, a bruised and battered…

Well, he's in the blue and gold getup that Quinn was wearing, Helmet strapped to Sanderson's equipment harness. But the face isn't Quinn; it's too careworn and the hairline has receded. I mean, I can see parts of Quinn, but parts of The Golden Man and the Demons as well.
...Hopefully not the latters' skin conditions, at least. Rotting skin isn't exactly the best look.

In short, it looks like John.

But to check, I look at Dr. Balewa. He holds out his hands for a moment, then nods.

"I believe thet it is him. But I think that we should evacuate before making a definite evaluation."
Yeah, best to evacuate first, before counting your loot.

So, we have one John Constantine. But who's in the driver's seat? Let's hope it's not Quinn, or things may get noisy once he wakes up. Might be a good idea to throw some suppression chains on him as a matter of course, until you're certain he's not going to try kicking your arse for messing up his foolproof plan to master Order and Chaos...
 
Paul, you don't see any problem with being a little more Orderly? You don't already have a Chaotic Lady and Savior who you have accepted into your heart? You don't think Eris might decide you need to be... instructed on how to be a more faithful follower?
 
and the Order arrow is spinning as it starts fracturing our combines shields

"combined"

construct just above it and drop it.

"drops"


"quiet"

Alan give me a mild glare,

"gives"

"He had the run of the Earth since breaking out of Belle Reve, and the worst thing he did was pretend to be someone else while trying to woo his old girlfriend

Along with killing some guy and stealing their face.
 
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Dude, he still killed at least one person for that disguise of his. He was still a Demon.

Paul has a habit of forgetting things like that.

Just look at most of his interactions with Luthor.

Hopefully not the latters' skin conditions, at least. Rotting skin isn't exactly the best look.

It is if the other person is a necrophilliac and finds rotting skin appealing.

And knowing John, he probably does know some necrophilliacs.
 
Paul has a habit of forgetting things like that.

Just look at most of his interactions with Luthor.
The Yellow Aliens from Animal Man explain it best. 'He wasn't a major character, he didn't even have the bare bones of characterisation. 'Killing' him to heighten tension is entirely reasonable.'
 
Mr Zoat, since this episode seems to be winding down, can we the Constantine family reunion where Paul brings John's long lost nephew?
 
Mr Zoat, since this episode seems to be winding down, can we the Constantine family reunion where Paul brings John's long lost nephew?
That will probably happen at some point, but it won't be tomorrow. Everyone involved is going to want to make sure that John's heada is on straight before doing anything like that.
 
That will probably happen at some point, but it won't be tomorrow. Everyone involved is going to want to make sure that John's heada is on straight before doing anything like that.
Good to know. Also, just for fun, I tried to think of possible candidates for vulnerable young women who could end up falling for Paul the way Zatanna and Kara did. Secret might be a possibility, assuming we see her as an agent of Mammon in the future. Looking for candidates from the comics got me Allure of the Relative Heroes. She has ties to a Greek god, so Paul might be sent by Hephaestaean to look for Eryx only to find Allure and her siblings fighting/fleeing the god. Any chance these obscure characters can end up in the story?
 
Good to know. Also, just for fun, I tried to think of possible candidates for vulnerable young women who could end up falling for Paul the way Zatanna and Kara did. Secret might be a possibility, assuming we see her as an agent of Mammon in the future. Looking for candidates from the comics got me Allure of the Relative Heroes. She has ties to a Greek god, so Paul might be sent by Hephaestaean to look for Eryx only to find Allure and her siblings fighting/fleeing the god. Any chance these obscure characters can end up in the story?
Not unless I've already read stuff with them in it. And in their case, I haven't.
 
Not unless I've already read stuff with them in it. And in their case, I haven't.

If thats a requirement for what you will include, I applaud the breadth of your exploration of DC comic's works, the only comparable author would be Ryuugi on spacebattles, I don't know how thoroughly he reads his source material but considering his information tabs occationally extend into mini essays on the various settings I assume he puts in the work.

By the by loved this arc, looking forward to more, thanks for all the work you put into this story.
 
Mr Zoat how long was Demon-Constantine pretending to be someone else and dating I forget her name?
 
"Anti-Life! Explain!"
Is it really a good idea to ask someone to explain the Anti-Life?!



As for Quinn... really? If he's a mix between Order and Chaos, what's chaotic about AL? He's clearly not being rational about this.
Anti-Life is the purest spiritual representation of entropy. Its purity makes it orderly, but its end state is undifferentiated chaos.

I'm a little uncomfortable at the idea, but I don't think that being a little more orderly will do me much harm.
Famous last words...



Corrections follow:

with a red-burning boarder
border

Quinn doesn't say anything, he just raises
Either a semicolon, or "say anything, but just" (or maybe "say anything, but he just" but that doesn't scan as nicely to me)

before it hits, The flak shot does nothing
Replace comma with full stop

A crane construct hauls a snapped off part of a platform out of the way
Usually "snapped-off"

Sanderson clambers out, a bruised and battered…
Since you don't finish the sentence, the intended meaning might be clearer if you were to say "followed by a bruised and battered" or "carrying a bruised and battered" or something.
 
Corrections follow:
border
Either a semicolon, or "say anything, but just" (or maybe "say anything, but he just" but that doesn't scan as nicely to me)
Replace comma with full stop
Usually "snapped-off"
Thank you, corrected.
Since you don't finish the sentence, the intended meaning might be clearer if you were to say "followed by a bruised and battered" or "carrying a bruised and battered" or something.
It would have been something like 'a bruised and battered John Constantine in his arms'.
 
It would have been something like 'a bruised and battered John Constantine in his arms'.
That was my point. It isn't clear from what was written that Sandman was carrying him; Constantine could have been following him instead. My suggestion was to move the action to the front of the phrase to communicate that more clearly.
 
Paul, you don't see any problem with being a little more Orderly? You don't already have a Chaotic Lady and Savior who you have accepted into your heart? You don't think Eris might decide you need to be... instructed on how to be a more faithful follower?
Now now, Eris is the goddess of strife and discord, not of chaos. Strife and discord are perfectly easy to make orderly. Just invent social media. Now everyone is having their strife and discord in a perfectly ordered way.
 
It will be really interesting to see the merged John. And hopefully it won't be something that makes Earth shake in fear...
 
Paul, you don't see any problem with being a little more Orderly? You don't already have a Chaotic Lady and Savior who you have accepted into your heart? You don't think Eris might decide you need to be... instructed on how to be a more faithful follower?

Paul was already very orderly for a chaos agent; he'll just make chaos out of order while making disorder in an orderly way.

Now now, Eris is the goddess of strife and discord, not of chaos. Strife and discord are perfectly easy to make orderly. Just invent social media. Now everyone is having their strife and discord in a perfectly ordered way.

Very true.
 
Tower Offence (part 23)
9th November 2012
10:11 GMT +3


"Fuuuuuuuuhhhhh…"

From my chair next to John's bed, I beam.

"Good morning, John."

His eyes open a little more, but he doesn't appear to be able to focus properly. He opens his mouth.

"E-uh?"

"Yes, I know that you said that you didn't want to see me for a while, but you did something rather unwise and I had to-."

"Where-?" He winces, closing his eyes tight shut for a moment and then opening them up again. "Where am I?"

"Themyscira. Reformation Island, to be precise. It used to be where the Amazons tried to reform female American criminals, so the women who worked here are a little more used to outsiders than most."

He looks at his bedding, then around at the room.

"Fag."

"Conservative."

He looks mildly surprised for a moment, then slightly amused. "Cigarette."

"Amazons don't smoke. It's a filthy habit, though I must say that I'm impressed that you kept it up after being right there when a man died of explosive lung cancer right next to you."

He flops back in his bed. "Hell. I died, an' that's where I went."

"Given that you're comprised of two people who both identify as 'The Demon Constantine', I imagine that you'd fit right in."

"Never said I didn't deserve it. I-?" He winces. "What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Saw you off in the hospital. Went to Nabu's tower to try and… Dump some of it." He narrows his eyes at me. "How come I'm feeling so normal?"

"The crystals. Doctor Balewa set up an interference matrix around the island using them to absorb your power."

"Crystals-? Right, the… Brownies. Yeah. I remember getting hold of them. I remember setting them up with a farm. And I-." He winces. "Something about a machine?"

"Yes. Impressive piece of work, actually. We're sending images of it to Professor Sephtian to see what he makes of it. Do you remember what it was for?"

"To balance me out." He frowns, eyes unfocusing again. "It didn't work."

"No, technically it worked. You appear to have decided to split yourself in two, using your demonic doppelgänger and The Golden Boy as counterweights. We had to fight a version of you who called himself John Quinn."

"Fuck." He sighs. "Sorry, I was-. Trying t'..."

"Get your head on straight. I get it."

"It was like… Two.. great… Things, bellowing in my soul, doing it the whole time."

"I'm sorry. I should have found someone else for the other half, to handle Order."

He shakes his head. "I coulda done that. Told you to knock it off, wouldn't change anything if we left it a week. Had t'be at the centre of things."

I nod sympathetically. "You feeling alright now?"

"Feel like I'm coming off a week-long bender and the headache hasn't caught up with me just yet." He pushes himself up slightly. "Who got hurt?"

"Some of the Tower's prisoners got Anti-Lifed, along with the brownies. We killed some of the brownies when we attacked. We haven't seen any evidence of your John Quinn aspect killing anyone, and Demon Constantine Two was too busy dating Kathryn Ryan to-."

"What?" His eyes open wide, his body tensing. "What did-?"

"She's fine, just angry."

He sags a little in relief.

"We'll be checking up on everything, but we're not expecting to find a warehouse full of bodies or anything. Doctor Balewa is going to occupy the Tower while you're… You're here."

"Right. Here. Where the tribe of man-hating lesbians put their criminals."

"No no no. It's where the tribe of man-hating lesbians used to put their criminals."

"If I lift this sheet off, are my balls still gonna be there?"

"Amazons don't go in for mutilation. They tend to treat criminality like a mental disorder."

He smiles wryly, looking away. "Yeah. Guess I'm here for a while. Least it beats Ravenscar."

"Healthy exercise in a sub-tropical environment, no alcohol or cigarettes, no demons and a spell set up to prevent you getting driven mad by the Order-Chaos discord."

He turns his face back to me. "But I'm in prison."

"You're on a health retreat." I shrug. "I mean… We can't-. We literally can't force you to stay here. But you split yourself in half because you couldn't cope, and that wasn't a clever thing to do."

He looks away again. "Yeah."

"And you've got four different sets of memories to sort through."

"Four?"

"Yes, the… Demon Constantine decided that the best way to keep you miserable was to make sure that you exist. So now you've got all of him back, which is probably why you felt so strongly about Ms. Ryan. So." I get off the chair next to his bed. "Take it easy and try and get yourself straightened out. I'll visit again tomorrow. Oh, and I'll let Mister Chandler know that you're alright."

He nods distractedly.

"So, um…"

I hold out my right hand. He hesitates.

"A lot of my friends don't last all that long."

"Then you need to get friends who are tougher and not keep risking the squishy people. We walked through a Dream Storm to get to you, you know."

"Oh yeah?" He leans forward and takes my hand. "Tell me about that-." He appears to get dizzy for a moment, then recovers. "Tomorrow."

I nod. "I'll see you tomorrow, John. Get well soon."
 
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And he's back, ladies and gentlemen. Better and worse than ever, the one and now only, John Constantine!!

For some reason I'm expecting John and Paul to end up as best buddies for eventual centuries. Who else can cope with the type of crazy stuff that the other gets into? Just imagine, Paul and John, buddy "heroes", kind of fixing up the universe! One fuck up at a time!
 

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