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

This story has the Ophidian giving a bit of energy to Mazikeen's mother in the past, which resulted in Mazikeen's conception. As she can sense that Paul and the Ophidian are so tightly bound spiritually that they may as well be the same thing on some level, she refers to Paul as father.
We literally had someone tell us last chapter they weren't that tightly bound.
 
I reknit the corpse's skin and return the residual blood to the body.

"Okay, but-."

BOOM!

A boom tube opens in the far corner of the room, and my armour appears around me!
When the player rolls a nat 1 on the investigation roll, but the GM wants to move the scripted plot along anyway.
 
31st December 2012
13:34 GMT -5


"…for New Year."

Mazikeen schools the visible half of her expression as she studies me in a way that I've long become accustomed to. I call it the 'is this fool actually serious' glare, and it never works on me because I always am.
And it's a look he's seen often, of course. Usually when he's pulling exactly this sort of schtick, because OL. This will be an interesting moment, though. I assume he's calling her in to consult on the 'black mist' they found. But knowing OL, he's always got multiple angles.

"You're going to keep doing this until I say 'yes', aren't you?"

"I assume that you'll die eventually, and at that point I'll stop. The universe does have a finite lifespan."
Worth noting that for anyone else, that would sound like a threat. But OL does intend to live forever. I assume he's easing her ability to communicate with others, remembering that since she's technically missing half her face, it's rather difficult to vocalise without a cheek.

"Of all the.. pacts-. This is the deal you wish to make. I appear in New York, partake in a meal with you, remain as the year changes and then I am free to depart."

"There will be other people there. And you don't need to treat it like some great task you're being bound to perform. I want to get to know you."
But for appearances, it has to be a demonic pact. I expect her rivals Below would find her doing something without demanding a price for it to be objectionable.

"And you want nothing else."

"Ah…"

She actually smiles.
Like I said, OL always has multiple angles in play. :rolleyes: When he's not being an oblivious dolt...

"It's not conditional. I do genuinely want to get to know you as my larger half's daughter. However, I recently encountered a strange magical influence that… You know I've got a pretty good set of contacts, yes?"

"Do you want me to unpick a curse for you, 'father'?"

"No, I could handle a curse myself. Even the clever ones. I was just wonder if, given your long and varied experience, you might recognise whatever this is. I don't even need you to do anything about it, just tell us if you recognise it and give us a hint if you do."

"And what do you offer in exchange?"
Because this is something other than the initial request, after all, and worth more of her time. Of course she's going to haggle. :p

"I'll take you to Maltus and introduce you to my better half. And explain to her what you are and how that relationship usually works. I don't know how she'll react to that, but it occurred to me that you might be interested."

"No power ring?"
Let's take things one step at a time. Besides, you have other obligations here in Hell.

"I realise that as a Lilim you're more anchored in the physical than a lot of Heaven South's residents, but would you..? Really want one? I mean, heck, I don't mind. Dox always wants more magicians for the Corps. I just assumed that ruling a circle of Hell was something you'd.. want to keep doing. I mean, with… Xalitan back in the Reach Periphery I do have an opening for a partner. It could be a good way for us to get to know each-."

"Never mind. Yes, I will attend your festivity and yes, I will examine this new magic for you. Lucifer showed me many things that never made it into Creation and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them escaped their prison."
Ha, She folded fast in the face of spending far more time with OL than she'd ever want to. :V

I smile. "Great!"

I reach forward with my right foot and use the sole of my boot to erase a segment of the magic circle.
Boy, how cavalier. It's a good thing you're basically unkillable... :confused: No, wait, he's honestly pretty killable... A good thing he's basically very hard to keep dead, then. :p

"Come on through."

She looks down at the scuffed chalk mark, which completely breaks the confinement spell.
Any lesser demon, or just one with far less sense than she, would take that as a signal to pounce and kill their summoner then go hog wild Earthside...

"How are you still alive?"

"I've died twice!"
...Not something to be proud of, OL.

"Do you understand how insulting it is to imply that I am so weak that you don't need any sort of binding spell to restrict my actions on Earth?"

For a moment I consider making it a joke. 'Is it more or less than walking into the circle and sticking a dummy in your mouth' or something similar. But that would only serve to alienate her further.
And she's not someone you want to tick off. Her revenge tends to be long-term, slow and terrific.

"I don't think that you're weak. But I'm not some random magician. I have a reasonable track record against high end arcane life forms, and we're on good terms anyway."

She makes a quiet growling noise and then stalks out of the chalk diagram. "If anyone asks, you offered me a dozen virgins."
She has a vile reputation to maintain, after all.

I raise my eyebrows as I see her relatively simple dress shift shape into something artful in gold and black, her small half-mask growing into something fit for a masquerade.

"What species?"
Classy. If there's one thing the lady has in spades, it's a great sense of style.

She ignores me.

"Because depending on what counts, all fish-."
OL, just stop. You got what you want, no need to poke the demon king.

"Where are we?"

"You remember that business with the demon-possessed handguns?" She nods. "The human who was carrying them, Ms. Jill Carlyle, had a provision in her will that she wanted to donate her body to science. And that ended up being thaumatic science, because we still don't really know what the heck was going on with her."
Since, if i remember correctly, they tracked her down after pulling the 'suicide to escape' trick, and separated her from the Guns. And since they were the only thing keeping her dead body moving...

"After two months?"

"Sadly, frustrating as it is for everyone involved, sometimes there just isn't any evidence. We can legally request access for any sort of arcane study-"
Well, Doctor Mist can request it on your behalf.

She half-turns her head to look at me-.

"-and when I say 'we', I mean Justice League members and allies, not the Noble Emissaries of the Loyal Opposition."
So no sneaking in a request for something, honey.

I erases the chalk diagram behind us as we walk into the examination room where Dr. Balewa is getting ready. Ms. Carlyle's body is as… Intact as the bullets left it. The morticians tided it up as much as they could, but when someone shoots themselves in the head from point blank range, there's… Only so much you can do. Jars containing other biological materials -blood, brain and bone fragments- are also stored here, but we're going to be trying this with the main body first. The rest of the brain was also removed, because with the giant hole in the skull it would just have… Plopped out, otherwise.
...Yech. Something you don't see on most forensic crime shows on conventional TV, because Network Standards and Practices tends to frown on graphically damaged corpses that still look reasonably human otherwise...

Dr. Balewa looks at her. "Thank you for coming, Mazikeen."

"I think that ignoring my father's request would be more trouble than going along with it."
She learns quick about how to deal with OL. :p

I nod. "Probably. Um. Do you want me to stick her skull back together? It's not that hard to work out what it should look like, based on the recovered fragments and her DNA."

"No. Not for now."
She's likely seen far worse Below anyway. This is nothing.

He extends his hands towards her corpse, faint white mist drifting from them to her chest.

"I doubt that you'll feel anything but the most powerful influences after two months."
...Or the most adhesive. And what they're looking for is more clingy than a misfolded sticky plaster.

"I used spells to isolate her from external influences. She is much as she was. Please, examine her yourself."

Mazikeen walks closer, placing the long nails of her right hand in the middle of Ms. Carlyle's forehead. Then she curls her fingers, nails cutting a shallow furrow in the skin. Magically preserved blood oozes slowly from the wound, and Mazikeen scoops a small amount up and then brings her fingers up to her eyes for a closer examination.
Because of course her nails are sharper than any scalpel. Magic!

"'The darkness came'. I see what the demons in her guns meant."

Dr. Balewa nods. "A grievous spiritual injury. But it is hardly unique."
So, confirmed then that she was affected by the same glob of darkness that was stuck to OL's soul? I'm guessing it was a stronger link, allowing its maker to control her perception of intended targets.

I reknit the corpse's skin and return the residual blood to the body.

"Okay, but-."
Since we all know OL doesn't like a mess. :p ...And the bits could still be useful.

BOOM!

A boom tube opens in the far corner of the room, and my armour appears around me!
Hmm... Now who could this be, I wonder?

So, the Frees come a-calling when they heard about 'darkness in men's souls' being weaponised, or an agent of New Genesis? Or perhaps a Sivana or Vril Dox (since we know he has a scratch-built prototype Boom-tube generator.) If it's the former, they may well be upset when they find out someone's been playing with Anti-life. So... Potential ally in the investigation into 'Father Bruno'...


I erases the chalk diagram behind us...
I erase the chalk diagram behind us...
 
for New Year."

Mazikeen schools the visible half of her expression as she studies me in a way that I've long become accustomed to. I call it the 'is this fool actually serious' glare, and it never works on me because I always am.

Always serious or always a fool?

"And you want nothing else."

"Ah…"

She actually smiles

She's back in familiar territory.

Even her romance with Lucifer was basically transactory.


"wondering"


"erase"

morticians tided it up as much

'tidied'

A boom tube opens in the far corner of the room, and my armour appears around me

Welp, this is either Apokalips or New Genesis.
 
So, the Frees come a-calling when they heard about 'darkness in men's souls' being weaponised, or an agent of New Genesis

Hopefully, they don't attack Paul or friends on sight.

If it's from New Genesis then they may have intel on OL and know that he's not an Apokoliptian.

But with Maze...
 
She was born from a fragment of the Ophidian I think and since Paul is bound to the Ophidian he considers himself part of the relationship
I think Mazikeen herself called OL "father" first, since as far as she could tell he was basically the Ophidian's human face, and he just decided to roll with it and not contradict her and accepted the role.
 
We literally had someone tell us last chapter they weren't that tightly bound.
In the chapter where Paul and Mazikeen first meet, she refers to him as father first. Claiming that Paul and the Ophidian were bound so tightly together that she had difficulty telling where he ended and Ophidian began.
 
This story has the Ophidian giving a bit of energy to Mazikeen's mother in the past, which resulted in Mazikeen's conception. As she can sense that Paul and the Ophidian are so tightly bound spiritually that they may as well be the same thing on some level, she refers to Paul as father.
Really seems more like a stepfather. Let the shippers rejoice.
 
Hmm...

So is the hypothesis that she was killing people that were affected by the teleporters antilife and Bruno or killing people that found out about the teleporters antilife and Bruno?
 
Wait how is Paul Mazdikeen's dad?
Explained in Vantavendi (part 19)
"My Lady Mazikeen. Thank you for joining us. I felt that given the nature of the artifice involved it would be appropriate for you to-."

Her organic eye blinks at me. "Father."

Without turning his head, Mammon eyes me for a second and then takes a step away.

"Um. I'm.. reasonably confident that I'm not-."

"You call it the Ophidian, a great elemental being so bound into you that I cannot tell where it begins and you end. You may as well be its human face."

"I've… Always perceived the Ophidian's presence as feminine. Though since she-. It's not biological, that's an honourific."

"The Ophidian granted my mother a small portion of its power to quicken me, so I call it my father. And since you are the Ophidian made flesh, I may as well address you in that fashion."

It's also been hinted at that the Ophidian was the serpent from the Garden of Eden that tempted Eve.
 
Explained in Vantavendi (part 19)


It's also been hinted at that the Ophidian was the serpent from the Garden of Eden that tempted Eve.

And since Maze is a daughter of Lilith whose father is canonically a snake demon, it makes sense as far as canon wielding goes.

Unless one finds the "tying the emotional embodiments to biblical creatures" pretty stupid.

Which I do. But since this isn't a quest, it's not like I get a vote.

Although now that I'm thinking about it, the April Fool's Day episode had a Paul stuck in a video game.

There could be a Paul stuck in a quest story.
 
Wait how is Paul Mazdikeen's dad?

This story has the Ophidian giving a bit of energy to Mazikeen's mother in the past, which resulted in Mazikeen's conception. As she can sense that Paul and the Ophidian are so tightly bound spiritually that they may as well be the same thing on some level, she refers to Paul as father.

She was born from a fragment of the Ophidian I think and since Paul is bound to the Ophidian he considers himself part of the relationship

Dont forget the part where, she implied that Lucifer 'walked' out of creation, again. She was of the opinion that a part of him may have returned in the form of Paul. She seemed to draw this conclusion from the numerous mystical & descriptive similarities that are shared between Paul and Lucifer. I.E. Near-unkillable Supernatural beings with an association to snakes, the propagation of Vice, and the punishing of sinners.

Note: I personally would have put much stock in these similarities but I'm not an ancient demon almost as old as dirt.


The fact that neither of them ever thinks 'Anti-Life' is really implausible for Paul's particular brand of genre-savviness.
Anti-life is almost never this subtle in application or behavior, so I feel like not thinking of it is reasonable. This is assuming there isn't also some kind of memetic effect making them forget about Anti-life. We saw the memory of Father Bruno decay within a day. Whose to say that any thoughts regarding Anti-life isn't being filtered by what ever spell is in effect.
 
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Dont forget the part where, she implied that Lucifer 'walked' out of creation, again. She was of the opinion that a part of him may have returned in the form of Paul. She seemed to draw this conclusion from the numerous mystical & descriptive similarities that are shared between Paul and Lucifer. I.E. Near-unkillable Supernatural beings with an association to snakes, the propagation of Vice, and the punishing of sinners

In the comics, Maze was a small child when she first met Lucifer, who was a grown man at the time, so the fact that they became lovers is just all kinds of disturbing.

If she sees Paul as Lucifer then that means that Paul's relationships with women can still become weird and wrong.
 
I feel like it's been a while since we last ended an update with an explosion. I mean, this isn't a real explosion, but close enough.
 
Dont forget the part where, she implied that Lucifer 'walked' out of creation, again. She was of the opinion that a part of him may have returned in the form of Paul. She seemed to draw this conclusion from the numerous mystical & descriptive similarities that are shared between Paul and Lucifer. I.E. Near-unkillable Supernatural beings with an association to snakes, the propagation of Vice, and the punishing of sinners.

Note: I personally would have put much stock in these similarities but I'm not an ancient demon almost as old as dirt.

Eh, if comics Lucifer became a lantern he'd be a greenie. Lucifer willed existence into creation. And disconnected green rings, their constructs are fiery. So yeah Lucifer would be rocking the green flames.

Now TV Lucifer would definitely be an orange lantern, but he's a horse of a different color.
 
Eh, if comics Lucifer became a lantern he'd be a greenie. Lucifer willed existence into creation. And disconnected green rings, their constructs are fiery. So yeah Lucifer would be rocking the green flames.

Now TV Lucifer would definitely be an orange lantern, but he's a horse of a different color.

True.

And I think the one from the 2018 comic would do well with a yellow ring due to his generally more intimidating presence and behavior.
 
Pete Tong (part 10)
31st December 2012
13:38 GMT -5


Armourconstructarmourrailgun-.

Scott Free stumbles through, clutching his head!
Freedom is a Hamster Wheel.
"Mister Free?"
Round and Round with No Escape.
His costume is slightly battered, though he doesn't appear to be seriously injured. His Mother Box is on his utility belt, and.. looks fine? Reaching out with-
You Don't Look and You Don't See.
Oh. Yeah, he's clearly not human.

-my eldritch senses, I see… Something, trying to attach itself to his metaphysique? It doesn't look like the mist that Dr. Balewa found in me, but there's clearly… Something wrong with him.

Dr. Balewa gestures, and white mist rises from Mr. Free's skin. He collapses to the floor, curling into a foetal position and wrapping his arms around his chest like he's trying to clasp his hands behind his back.

The stuff attacking him is flowing with the strands that make up his metaphysique, aping them, acting like it's a part of the structure. More than that, it looks like the energy that Dr. Balewa just tried to use to cleanse him is… Trying to more fully merge it-.

"Stopdoingthatstopdoingthat!"

He clenches his hands into fists, ending his spell. "I do not-. Mazikeen, do you know this?"

"Which part?"

Okay, okay, the engraftment points. It fits naturally, but I should be able to… Introduce something unnatural.

Given that he grew up on Apokolips, I shouldn't be surprised that he doesn't really want to be a god. But what if he did?

What if I just… Add a little…
One Foot in Front of Anoth-.
Desire.

Orange light sparks across his metaphysique, drawing on what's already there and shifting it. I mean, if I was picked by the Source to be the New God of Freedom, I like to think that I'd have done a little more with the office than he has. And… Yes, as I change things the whatever-it-is starts losing its grip, floating free and being drawn to the white orb that Dr. Balewa has set up.

"And now? Do you recognise it now?"

Okay, but what happens if I turn the areas I've changed back into what they were before-. The mist just… Reappears, already connecting to the parts I just cleared.

"Where did that come from?"

"From heem."

Oh. Oh dear.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Okay, so the New God of Freedom is apparently spontaneously creating something fundamentally contrary to the concept to freedom. I alter him once more, mist flowing off and into Dr. Balewa's orb.

"Mazikeen, you don't have to-"

And this time I don't hesitate or undo my own work. No, I twist and warp, reconnecting certain impulses so that he'll think of his aggressive and godly actions in more positive terms. I tie in a desire to be a god and rebuild his desire to be a normal man into a desire to be able to be a normal man. Nothing contrary to his nature, but it's all helping get rid of the miasma.

"-contribute, but you'll be getting coal for all the Christmases we missed if you don't."

Okay, that's… Most of it. He no longer has any desire to not be the freest god that he can be, pushing barriers and helping others do the same. I've radically altered his character, and he's… He's looking a little better. He's awkwardly rising to all fours, and-
Freedom Is Absolute
-my changes are gone and he's glaring at me from the floor.

"What did you just do?"

"Got rid of whatever the heck that was."

I glance at Dr. Balewa's binding spell.

"You were producing that. And a little while ago I had that inside me too. What is it?"

"It's Anti-Life."

"Oh. Shit." I frown. "But I'm… I've encountered the Anti-Life before. It's never done anything to me. I just.. hear it talking nonsense, and that's it."

Mr. Free pulls himself upright, clearly wrung out.

"And you thought that was it?"

"Yeah? I've put a lot of effort into fortifying myself against that sort of thing, and it looks like it was paying off."

"That's not it. That's-. That's not it at all." He reaches up, pulling his mask off his face. "That's just a simplest way of using it. With someone who understands it properly, they can reach into you and they… They don't need to overpower you. They can work off what's already there, the weaknesses that already exist in your… Soul."

He stares me in the eyes.

"What did you see?"

"Something about… Freedom not really being a thing if you just kept doing the same thing and ignored everything else?"

"There's more to it than that. It's the idea that… Freedom doesn't matter if you don't use it. You can be free and still… Plodding along in the way you would be if you were a prisoner. Because the prison isn't just in the material world, it's in your mind and soul. Because the prison… Someone imposes on you is much weaker than the one you make for yourself."

"I didn't feel anything."

"Where did you get exposed?"

"Probably the Alliance's teleportation system. But I checked it thoroughly-."

"Did you check for New God technology?"

"No, I… Can't actually do that."

"I did. I don't know where they got it from-. Barda didn't get away."

"Where?"

"Some place in Hub City. I thought I felt another New God around the place. They… I guess they got the drop on us."

"Do you know anyone who could do this? Other than-."

"Darkseid."

"He's on Earth?"

"I doubt it, but maybe? I can't think of anyone else. I need to get back-."

"We need to muster the League. If Darkseid is here, or if someone has corrupted the Alliance, it will take our full strength. I will speak to Betman now."

"And I need to talk to Alan."
 
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Some Godspeech today, a rare sight in Paragon Timeline...
Scott Free stumbles through, clutching his head!
Freedom is a Hamster Wheel.
"Mister Free?"
Round and Round with No Escape.
His costume is slightly battered, though he doesn't appear to be serious injured. His Mother Box is on his utility belt, and.. looks fine? Reaching out with-
You Don't Look and You Don't See.
Oh. Yeah, he's clearly not human.

What if I just… Add a little…
One Foot in Front of Anoth-.
Desire.

Okay, that's… Most of it. He no longer has any desire to not be the freest god that he can be, pushing barriers and helping other do the same. I've radically altered his character, and he's… He's looking a little better. He's awkwardly rising to all fours, and-
Freedom Is Absolute
-my changes are gone and he's glaring at me from the floor.
 
31st December 2012
13:38 GMT -5


Armourconstructarmourrailgun-.

Scott Free stumbles through, clutching his head!
Freedom is a Hamster Wheel.
"Mister Free?"
Round and Round with No Escape.
His costume is slightly battered, though he doesn't appear to be serious injured. His Mother Box is on his utility belt, and.. looks fine? Reaching out with-
You Don't Look and You Don't See.
Oh. Yeah, he's clearly not human.
Alright yeah that's definitely not normal Anti-Life, not in the slightest.

Someone has gone and fucking SCIENCE!'d Anti-Life haven't they.
 
I won't be surprised per say if Father Bruno is connected in some way obviously, but I'd be a bit surprised if he's Darkseid in full. Though he DID give off vibes that reminded me of his human incarnation ... thingy from the comics.
 
Alright yeah that's definitely not normal Anti-Life, not in the slightest.

Someone has gone and fucking SCIENCE!'d Anti-Life haven't they.
it is normal AL from what the guy say

it just the more advance version

basically the actual spell instead of cheap cantrip
 
it is normal AL from what the guy say

it just the more advance version

basically the actual spell instead of cheap cantrip
More like the spell wielded by a master who actually understands how it works.


Still seems off though; Darkseid is certainly capable of playing shenanigans like this, but I cannot think of any canon instance where he has actually done so.

So either someone is doing something fucky, or we have a genre-savvy Darkseid on the loose.


If it's the latter, then everyone is in incredibly deep shit; because pretty much the only thing that ever really stopped Darkseid from conquering the everything was his own inability to not be an excessively large ham at every opportunity.
 

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