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

9th November 2012
10:11 GMT +3


"Fuuuuuuuuhhhhh…"

From my chair next to John's bed, I beam.
And well you should. Oh, this is going to be fun. Rubbing John's big, big mistake in his face probably won't help him any, but it may pound home that it was a stupid plan and maybe he should have looked for help elsewhere. Too used to working alone, I guess.

"Good morning, John."

His eyes open a little more, but he doesn't appear to be able to focus properly. He opens his mouth.
Time to see who's home, then. Which John is he today?

"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-."
Aw, so eloquent. Hope he feels like he's been on a week-long bender, it'll be a good start.

"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."
Which should make you feel honoured, John. It's been years since they had anyone to look after, so you can expect to be mothered a little. :p

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

"Fag."
Now, now. :D OL might not mind you, but he's not that into you.

"Conservative."

He looks mildly surprised for a moment, then slightly amused. "Cigarette."
Really? Off to ruin what, your third set of lungs already?

"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."
If memory serves me correctly, you also had to swindle three separate Lords of hell to get out of it. I don't think they'll take so kindly to seeing you again.

"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?"
Memory loss? Understandable, but a little irritating. Then again, he hasn't been him for months...

"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?"
As opposed to what? Flying apart at the seams in a burst of Gold and Red? Well, wasn't that the point of your little vacation?

"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?"
Oh, yes. I bet they're very interested in finding out how much you remember of it all.

"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."
Well, good to see it's not a complete blank. I shudder to think what Sephtian made of it, apart from being terrified and possibly aroused. :oops:

"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'..."
I suspect he just got a little flash of it, didn't he? Still, it wasn't the worst result for a Constantine plan. :oops: Weren't all that many deaths, after all.

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

"It was like… Two.. great… Things, bellowing in my soul, doing it the whole time."
Well, at least they're being quiet for now?

"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."
Yes, you never can seem to trust that other people know what they're doing, can you? Might have to work on that, if you're gonna keep playing in superhero circles, John...

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?"
Ah, good, he is feeling hungover. Not surprised, after playing silly buggers with his soul, Order and Chaos...

"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-?"
Oh, that's the bit that upsets you? Good to see you're not completely heartless. :p

"She's fine, just angry."

He sags a little in relief.
Might want to go and apologise to her for all that, though. Preferably with some decent defensive spells, because she will probably give you at least one well-earned punch in the jaw.

"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, where they put American criminals. At least the Tower won't be unguarded while the current owner is indisposed.

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

"If I lift this sheet of, are my balls still gonna be there?
I doubt they'd pull an Endymion on you. They're not that man-starved.

"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."
Better looking nurses, if nothing else. Let's not go hearing about any little Amazonian Constantines running around anytime soon, though. ;)

"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."
A very pleasant prison. Your components did do some bad stuff back there.

"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."
Who knows, this might be good for you. Let you sort things out in peace and quiet.

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

"Four?"
Be glad it's only four. You could have split more... :confused: Aw, shit, the Universe is hiding under the bed now... Sorry!

"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.
Boy, that's going to be one heck of an explanation for Chas.
"So, he split himself into four copies of himself, including two demons, to get his head back together? Typical John." :rolleyes:

"So, um…"

I hold out my right hand. He hesitates.
Come on, John, has he ever done you wrong?

"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."
Like it or not, you're a Superhero now, John. And they do everything bigger.

"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."
Now why do I get the feeling he's going to end up developing a Justice League for the mystical side of things one day? :p

And so the grand hunt for John Constantine comes to a close. And I still have no idea if all the distractions he kept running into were something Quinn or Original John did, or if OL's protagonist energy is just that damn strong. And we're also close to the effective end of another season of 26 episodes, aren't we? Things should get very interesting soon, then.
 
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If memory serves me correctly, you also had to swindle three separate Lords of hell to get out of it. I don't think they'll take so kindly to seeing you again

Two of them are dead and one is powerless.

Still, it wasn't the worst result for a Constantine plan. :oops: Weren't all that many deaths, after all.

Not a high bar.

I doubt they'd pull an Endymion on you. They're not that man-starved

And if they see what a relationship with him is like then they'll forever be repulsed by anything even remotely male.

Now why do I get the feeling he's going to end up developing a Justice League for the mystical side of things one day? :p

Hello Justice League Dark.
 
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.
If there's a mandatory psych hold until John's been given a clean bill of health by three separate magic specialists, he may be sidelined for a while...

Mr Zoat what is the scepter Quinn was holding?
Just a random scepter.
Spontaneous scepter fixation is a symptom that occurs occasionally when going full on comic book Evil.
Just look at Xur in The Last Starfighter, or Maximillian Zeus.

"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-."
And how many of the brownies did you absolutely have to kill to complete the mission, I wonder?
And how many were just mind controlled victims you could have taken out non-lethally, if you actually cared enough to put in your best efforts towards that end like Batman, Superman, and most everyone else in the Justice League would have?

Is this the beginning of his falling out with Batman?
He kills more people getting to the Baddie than the Baddie himself had killed?
With all of those dead people being innocents...
 
If John sorts out being a lord of Balance and finishes the retreat, do you think he'll be asked to join the justice league so that they can keep a goddamn eye on him?
 
If there's a mandatory psych hold until John's been given a clean bill of health by three separate magic specialists, he may be sidelined for a while

More than a while.

Just a random scepter.
Spontaneous scepter fixation is a symptom that occurs occasionally when going full on comic book Evil.
Just look at Xur in The Last Starfighter, or Maximillian Zeus

I've read about this.

Psychologists believe that the scepter comes into play because the subject has issues with their genitalia and their sexual adequacy and thus they use a phallic-like instrument to overcompensate for their impotency.
 
9th November 2012
10:11 GMT +3



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."


You managed the impossible, you actually made m fl little sad for 5he laughing magician. Don't get me wrong I still see him as a dangerous arcane gorce of nature who I font want to.be within 3 countries distance of but now I can kinda empathise?
 
So did Dr Mist move the tower to somewhere in Africa? Or perhaps a part of the UK that Constantine has been banned from?

I hope whoever is Eris' orderly counterpart doesn't start snacking on those Order crystals. Nothing good will come from a goddess collapsing into meat cubes.
 
Call Quinzel for his psychological rehabilitation?

Then they get along like a house on fire? 'On fire' being the operative words?
 
Aww, it's always nice to see Paul care so much about friends.

..it occurs. Since part of John was a League member... does that make Constantine technically still a Leaguer?
I doubt it they initially only accepted Quinn to keep up appearances that Doctor Fate was still on the JL. At this point, they might publicly say Doctor Fate died so they don't have to deal with this nonsense anymore.
 
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!

With the Controller lady being the boss that chews them both out when they mess up.

The most important question here is who is going to be the renegade lone wolf that doesn't play by the rules and who is going to be the by-the-book cop?

I know you'd say that Paul would be the second one, but let's face it, he has broken a lot of rules.

Call Quinzel for his psychological rehabilitation?

She's probably too busy.

I doubt it they initially only accepted Quinn to keep up appearances that Doctor Fate was still on the JL. At this point, they might publicly say Doctor Fate died so they don't have to deal with this nonsense anymore.

Well unless John fills that role.
 
Call Quinzel for his psychological rehabilitation?

Then they get along like a house on fire? 'On fire' being the operative words?
The last thing any universe needs is a Harley Quinn who's obsessively in love with John Constantine instead of the Joker.

Because you just know that Eris would cackle at the possibilities as she surreptitiously gifts Dr. Quinzelle with enough magical potential to actually learn from John...
 
I doubt it they initially only accepted Quinn to keep up appearances that Doctor Fate was still on the JL. At this point, they might publicly say Doctor Fate died so they don't have to deal with this nonsense anymore.
I remember after Paragon woke up from being fragged by his overloaded spell eater, and overloaded tattoos, he told the public that Nabu died helping him kill a lich.
 
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The last thing any universe needs is a Harley Quinn who's obsessively in love with John Constantine instead of the Joker.

Because you just know that Eris would cackle at the possibilities as she surreptitiously gifts Dr. Quinzelle with enough magical potential to actually learn from John...

Thank you for giving me this nightmare.
 
Essentially before leaving for space he came up with a plausible cover story as to why Nabu/Fate is gone and Giovanni Zatara is back, when the League lied about how the former was using the latter as meat puppet and weren't really planning on separating the two save for Batman, and it didn't help they sort of bungled how to help/handle Zatanna who thought they wouldn't accept Nabu into the League so easily or give him her dad's spot/vote.

Since Nabu is dependent on his helmet to remain connected or act in the mortal world he could be considered a lich by definition of being an undead being who's soul in contain within a phylactory/object. Especially in England where such magics or actions could be considered unlawful and gives Paul leeway in trapping and killing Nabu in order to release Zatara.

Plus given the fact that no one decided to tell the public the truth it was a lie the League were willing to go with, though Guy did mention it nearly tore the group apart. Zoat has also mentioned how more than half the League has little idea of the situation such as the newer members, other like Wonder Woman thought that with time they could petition Nabu to give Giovanni his freedom, while some like Black Canary who have little to no knowledge/experience with magic decided there was nothing they could do and leave things as is.
 

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