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

Assblaster5000 · Oct 11, 2022

ZzzSlothzzZ said:
I can't remember. Have we seen Paragon Earth's Grayven yet?

Briefly. He and Paragon had a power waving contest during an encounter with the Reach. I don't think there's been anything else besides a few name drops after that though.

Mr Zoat · Oct 11, 2022

Citizen said:
"infected"

Chojin Patriarch said:
...as he watches the glowing ball of magic...
Then both Dr. Balewa's spell and the mist are both gone.
Mr. Zatara keeps up his effort for several seconds...

Thank you, corrected.

Neruz · Oct 11, 2022

BR549 said:
I am going to guess that we're going to find this to be the work of Desaad.

One, he's very familiar with Anti-Life and its technology.

Two, he's been on Earth working with Intergang before.

Three, 'Alliance of the Just(ified)' really is a turn of phrase for a project that sounds like him...

'Lets build a teleportation network that secretly Anti-Lifes everyone who uses it' does sound like a Desaad plot, now that I think about it.

Sockmonkey · Oct 11, 2022

Bud-E said:
I thought Zatara's magic got stronger after he was possessed by Nabu?

Yes but only slightly.

Duke Long · Oct 11, 2022

Is Mazikeen still in the room?

Sordid Snake · Oct 11, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Zauriel smiles. "My mind is not so small that I cannot doubt.

Have you been teaching an actual angel to play 40k, OL you naughty person?

Prosecutor-0 · Oct 11, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
I will speak to Betman now."

The Bat-glare intensifies.

Roll for Will Save, Mr Zoat!

rkyeun · Oct 11, 2022

Sordid Snake said:
Have you been teaching an actual angel to play 40k, OL you naughty person?

The angel likes the theocratic and exterminatus elements.

Silveraith · Oct 11, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
pushing barriers and helping other do the same.

Others.

mastermenthe · Oct 11, 2022

I wonder if this infection is using the True Anti-Life Equation, rather than Darkseid's Anti-Life Equation.

Mr Zoat · Oct 11, 2022

Silveraith said:
Others.

Thank you, corrected.

Darko · Oct 11, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
He looks at Zauriel.

"I don't know about you."

Zauriel smiles. "My mind is not so small that I cannot doubt. There are avenues of attack which the Anti-Life could use."

And after meeting Paul you've probably have been doubting a lot of things.

Mr Zoat said:
and his eyes moves back to Mr. Free.

"move back"

Mr Zoat · Oct 11, 2022

Darko said:
"move back"

Thank you, corrected.

Vaermina · Oct 11, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
31st December 2012
13:55 GMT -5

This is going to be a PR nightmare.

Coda · Oct 11, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Batman's eyes move in my direction

Missing full stop.

One thing I've always liked about WTR is that people beyond just the main characters can be competent. Doctor Mist isn't just brute-forcing things. He understands what he's doing, he knows what he's up against, he fully recognizes the operational implications, and he's taking it seriously without panicking.

Mr Zoat · Oct 11, 2022

Coda said:
Missing full stop.

Thank you, corrected.

Mr Zoat · Oct 12, 2022

31st December 2012
14:06 GMT -5

"This is the last place I remember seeing her."

Scott Free brings his aero-discs to a stop above a disused industrial site. A confluence of intent between the 'Burn Hub City' campaigners and the Sheeda resulted in what little life there was in the city being strangled during their occupation. Perhaps worse, the destruction of a harvest ship not too far from here has resulted in the region being partially Sheeda-formed. The closest example of Sheeda-life is a colony of maggots living in a storm drain about thirty metres from our position, but there are bigger and badder things around.

Which is why the region… Can't really call it a city. It doesn't offer enough high-order services anymore. It's having a small amount of revitalisation. Mostly because the larger criminal groups have moved away, and partially because both the government and private collectors will pay a lot for Sheeda technology, including biotechnology. And at the same time, the few people who still choose to live here need protection from the monsters squatting in the ruins.

"What exactly happened?"

"I wish I knew. Though it might be better that I don't."

Zauriel lands and crouches to lay his right palm on the ground.

"An… Absence."

"Is it an absence you can track?"

"I fear not, though I would recognise it if I came upon it again."

Mr. Scott waves around his multi-cube. "No boom tube. I'd have thought that I'd have heard it, but it shouldn't be that easy to creep up on either me or Barda."

"Is Darkseid slow on his feet?"

"I don't think so. He's monstrously strong. But I've never seen him run."

"You said that New God technology needs a New God running it. Do you think that's why he took Barda?"

"No. Darkseid has plenty of New Gods he could command to take control of it. I think he took her because she used to be his and he thinks it's wrong that things can ever stop being his."

"How much does he weigh?"

"I have no idea. Footprints." He nods. "He can't fly by himself, and though he's got a flight system built into his armour he usually walks."

"Slowly and purposefully." I nod. "He doesn't want to seem to be reacting to his opponents. He needs to be seen to be in complete command at all times."

"I can't think of a time when he wasn't. Sometimes I thought that he stayed on Apokolips because he couldn't be so in command anywhere else. And then I got hit by the Anti-Life and it was like I'd never left the X-Pit, so I guess that was nonsense."

Zauriel lays his right hand on Mr. Free's left shoulder.

"In God, whose word we praise, in God we trust; we will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to us?"

"Zauriel, I'm no more mortal than you are. And he's even less." Walk From Was.

"Zauriel, was the Sword of the Fallen actually destroyed, or did the Kings just say they destroyed it while they actually kept hold of it?"

"If they spoke an untruth, they would not have been so foolish as to inform me when I would be in proximity to you."

That's a fine point.

"Could you please notify them that if they made use of a 'social untruth', I'd really appreciate it if they could coincidentally find a sword just like it. The paint could be wet and I wouldn't complain."

"I will relay your message. Doctor Mist, have you been able to locate our target?"

"There are places where the world is… Tilted. They may be signs of the Sheeda, but it is also possible that they are locations where there is New God technology."

He raises his right hand, and an illusory map of the region appears with a handful of areas highlighted. Mr. Free looks it over, and then points.

"We already tried there and there. Maybe we set something off, but we didn't see anything."

"Zauriel?"

"The energies of this place are already so discordant that I can hear nothing more amiss."

We reach out, flicking our tongue to taste the air. Anti… Life. Yes, we taste it, the miserable negatory black that would snuff out our light. But where is it-.

"We're going about this wrong. Doctor Mist, could you enshroud this whole city?"

"A reasonable idea, were not the Sheeda creatures magic-eaters. Detecting a distortion would mean little."

Vexing. Then where are the cut threads? Where did people stop living for themselves and start living for another? When did they lose self-derived motivation and begin to just go through the motions out of habit?

Strangely, it's not… Obvious. There are disruptions that we can taste and they share enough of a flavour that we judge that they share a cause. But if they are Anti-Lifed… It is nothing like the people we have seen who have been Anti-Lifed before. Not yet active? Or perhaps it is because it is bound to their personality rather than overriding and crushing it. We open our mortal eyes and look at the map. And we point.

"We do not know if it is what we are looking for, but there is something that should not be here. This… Place… Tastes foul."

Mr. Free nods. "The Anti-Life will do that. Did you taste Barda at all?"

We… I shake my head.

"Sorry. Normally, I'd be able to tell, but with this… Novel Anti-Life use, I'm not sure about anything. Um." I look over his equipment harness. "Do you want a..? Gun or something? I've still got some New God equipment from Kahndaq?"

"No, I'm going to be trying to free people from the Anti-Life. Having to use a normal weapon would be a distraction."

"Alright."

Zauriel, Mr. Free and I take to the air, while Dr. Balewa just vanishes. It's a relatively short flight to the former apartment building he and I highlighted, though I take the time to bombard the maggot colony with white phosphorus along the way. Their agonised screeching is satisfying to hear, and hopefully will encourage other Sheeda-life to bury itself a little deeper.

"Mister Miracle." Zauriel sort of frowns with his eyes. "You are correct in your assertion that your divine empowerment will make freeing any of Darkseid's victims far easier. However, I have noticed that you appear reluctant to use your abilities."

"I wouldn't be much of a God of Freedom if I told people how to live."

"It is more than that. You are an aspect of the Source made manifest. You cannot be what you are afraid of becoming."

"Yeah, I'm with Zauriel. I could see how uncomfortable the idea makes you. Quite aside from anything else, it's an avenue of attack for the Anti-Life."

"Don't worry about that. The Anti-Life always finds a way. That's why it's so terrifying."

Zauriel shakes his head as we come into land.

"The only omnipotent power is the Most High. Everything else is merely deception, and you should reject it as you have rejected Darkseid."

"I'll take it under advisement. How are we getting in?"

I make a crumbler battering ram construct.

"Like this."

Pinklestia · Oct 12, 2022

Honesty being the new god of freedoom has to be one of the less troublesome godhods ever, you literally have the freedom to do what you want to do, even faking being human.

oct9010 · Oct 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Zauriel, I'm not more mortal than you are. And he's even less." Walk From Was.

Invisitext.

I don't claim to understand it, though. Doesn't parse.

Handlewithcare · Oct 12, 2022

Honestly, the terrifying thing about the Anti-Life is that it is such an easy trap to fall into in the real world.

Giving up while still going, dreams becoming dim and grey, going trough the motions, being miserable while being so afraid to change anything because you tell yourself it could always be worse until suffering just becomes normal...

Chojin Patriarch · Oct 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
31st December 2012
14:06 GMT -5

"This is the last place I remember seeing her."

Scott Free brings his aero-discs to stop above a disused industrial site. A confluence of intent between the 'Burn Hub City' campaigners and the Sheeda resulted in what little life there was in the city being strangled during their occupation. Perhaps worse, the destruction of a harvest ship not too far from here has resulted in the region being partially Sheeda-formed. The closest example of Sheeda-life is a colony of maggots living in a storm drain about thirty metres from our position, but there are bigger and badder things around.

...So, Hub City has honestly improved a little?

I kid, I kid. But seriously, Gotham and Bludhaven are like Metropolis in comparison to this shithole. It... It's what 'Frank Miller's Sin City' would be if it existed in the DCU.

Which is why the region… Can't really call it a city. It doesn't offer enough high-order services any more. It's having small amount of revitalisation. Mostly because the larger criminal groups have moved away, and partially because both the government and private collectors will pay a lot for Sheeda technology, including biotechnology. And at the same time, the few people who still choose to live here need protection from the monsters squatting in the ruins.

And anyone still here is either too poor to leave, too stubborn or too stupid. Or is The Question.

"What exactly happened?"

"I wish I knew. Though it might be better that I don't."

Well, you'll have to find out, if only to be sure that it doesn't happen twice.

Zauriel lands and crouches to lay his right palm on the ground.

"An… Absence."

I wonder. If Jack Hawksmoor was here, what would he feel, as God of Cities?

"Is it an absence you can track?"

"I fear not, though I would recognise it if I came upon it again."

If only by the horrible aftertaste? I can't imagine any of the local atmosphere is pleasant.

Mr. Scott waves around his multi-cube. "No boom tube. I'd have thought that I'd have heard it, but it shouldn't be that easy to creep up on either me or Barda."

"Is Darkseid slow on his feet?"

So, he doesn't know about or has forgotten about Hush Tubes, huh.

"I don't think so. He's monstrously strong. But I've never seen him run."

"You said that New God technology needs a New God running it. Do you think that's why he took Barda?"

Running would imply concern. As an absolute, Darkseid would never show such weakness... Could never shot it.

"No. Darkseid has plenty of New Gods he could command to take control of it. I think he took her because she used to be his and he thinks it's wrong that things can ever stop being his."

"How much does he weigh?"

In the physical sense or the metaphysical? In the latter, His dying fall nearly collapsed an entire multiverse...

"I have no idea. Footprints." He nods. "He can't fly by himself, and though he's got a flight system built into his armour he usually walks."

"Slowly and purposefully." I nod. "He doesn't want to seem to be reacting to his opponents. He needs to be seen to be in complete command at all times."

And walking slowly lets His foes attack Him without success, to show them that they can do nothing to stop Him.

"I can't think of a time when he wasn't. Sometimes I thought that he stayed on Apokolips because he couldn't be so in command anywhere else. And then I got hit by the Anti-Life and it was like I'd never left the X-Pit, so I guess that was nonsense."

Zauriel lays his right hand on Mr. Free's left shoulder.

The X-Pit being a deathtrap-filled dungeon where the inconvenient were thrown in order to dispose of them. Scot... Thrived in it. He mastered it. I suppose the Anti-Life glob took him to an early period in it, before he'd gained his modern skills.

"In God, whose word we praise, in God we trust; we will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to us?"

"Zauriel, I'm not more mortal than you are. And he's even less." Walk From Was.

Interesting Godspeech. I'm guessing he's trying to buoy his own spirits, reminding himself to be free of his past.

"Zauriel, was the Sword of the Fallen actually destroyed, or did the Kings just say they destroyed it while the actually kept hold of it?"

"If they spoke an untruth, they would not have been so foolish as to inform me when I would be in proximity to you."

So... Good chance it is, but they're holding on to it because it makes for some Hellish paperwork.

That's a fine point.

"Could you please notify them that it they made use of a 'social untruth', I'd really appreciate it if they could coincidentally find a sword just like it. The paint could be wet and I wouldn't complain."

To be fair, he did generally use it responsibly. Only employing it against those with extremely dangerous metaphysical abilities... And trying to kill him with them.

"I will relay your message. Doctor Mist, have you been able to locate our target?"

"There are places where the world is… Tilted. They may be signs of the Sheeda, but it is also possible that they are locations where there is New God technology."

No doubt because either would be a corruption of Life, and thus stand out against the background noise of the world...

He raises his right hand, and an illusory map of the region appears with a handful of areas highlighted. Mr. Free look it over, and then points.

"We already tried there and there. Maybe we set something off, but we didn't see anything."

Well, which of them is the last place you remember being? Might be work a second look. From a very safe distance, naturally.

"Zauriel?"

"The energies of this place are already so discordant that I can hear nothing more amiss."

Given his musical-themed abilities... This place must feel like listening to Skrillex-wannabes at max volume. With a different track playing in each direction. A cacophony of chaos and pain...

We reach out, flicking our tongue to taste the air. Anti… Life. Yes, we taste it, the miserable negatory black that would snuff out our light. But where is it-.

"We're going about this wrong. Doctor Mist, could you enshroud this whole city?"

Bit hard to sense something that's all-pervasive in the area, eh?

"A reasonable idea, were not the Sheeda creatures magic-eaters. Detecting a distortion would mean little."

Vexing. Then where are the cut threads? Where did people stop living for themselves and start living for another? When did they lose self-derived motivation and begin to just go through the motions out of habit?

There's a more logical approach. And for the Ophidian, downright effortless, I bet.

Strangely, it's not… Obvious. There are disruptions that we can taste and they share enough of a flavour that we judge that they share a cause. But if they are Anti-Lifed… It is nothing like the people we have seen who have been Anti-Lifed before. Not yet active? Or perhaps it is because it is bound to their personality rather than overriding and crushing it. We open our mortal eyes and look at the map. And we point.

"We do not know if it is what we are looking for, but there is something that should not be here. This… Place… Taste foul."

And his companions pause, look at him, and back away slowly. Because they remember the last time he went all pluralistic...

Mr. Free nods. "The Anti-Life will do that. Did you taste Barda at all?"

We… I shake my head.

Probably best to leave Best Snek well away from here. The Anti-life is just a bit too dangerous to have near an emotional Embodiment's direct manifestation...

"Sorry. Normally, I'd be able to tell, but with this… Novel Anti-Life use, I'm not sure about anything. Um." I look over his equipment harness. "Do you want a..? Gun or something? I've still got some New God equipment from Kahndaq?"

"No, I'm going to be trying to free people from the Anti-Life. Having to use a normal weapon would be a distraction."

Assuming you can manage it. Mr 'I don't want to be a god...'

"Alright."

Zauriel, Mr. Free and I take to the air, while Dr. Balewa just vanishes. It's a relatively short flight to the former apartment building he and I highlighted, though I take the time to bombard the maggot colony with white phosphorus along the way. Their agonised screeching is satisfying to hear, and hopefully will encourage other Sheeda-life to burry itself a little deeper.

If only to keep it out of the way of normals, I guess. Because it doesn't get rid of it.

"Mister Miracle." Zauriel sort of frowns with his eyes. "You are correct in your assertion that your divine empowerment will make freeing any of Darkseid's victims far easier. However, I have noticed that you appear reluctant to use your abilities."

"I wouldn't me much of a God of Freedom if I told people how to live."

So... He'd ironically like to be Free of his own nature?

"It is more than that. You are an aspect of the Source made manifest. You cannot be what you are afraid of becoming."

"Yeah, I'm with Zauriel. I could see how uncomfortable the idea makes you. Quite aside from anything else, it's an avenue of attack for the Anti-Life."

On the other hand, Freedom can take many forms, good and bad. Freedom from restraint. From culpability. From caring or consequences. From Morality...

"Don't worry about that. The Anti-Life always finds a way. That's why it's so terrifying."

Zauriel shakes his head as we come into land.

"The only omnipotent power in the Most High. Everything else is merely deception, and you should reject it as you have rejected Darkseid."

"I'll take it under advisement. How are we getting in?"

Not surprised he's thinking of the Presence as a minor local deity.Like someone coming from the big city and assuming they know better, but not realising the locals know tricks they don't...

I make crumbler battering ram construct.

"Like this."

So, your usual level of subtlety?

Well, I suppose if they trash the place, it can't make Hub City any worse. It's hard to go down from 'America's asshole'. Still, it might be worth coming back later and burning the place past the bedrock, just to be safe. Having all these Sheeda critters lurking around can't be great for the planet's ecosystem. Never mind a possible Anti-Life outbreak...

Bit of a messy chapter, this one, Mr Zoat...

Scott Free brings his aero-discs to stop above a disused industrial site.

Scott Free brings his aero-discs to a stop above a disused industrial site.

"Zauriel, I'm not more mortal than you are.

"Zauriel, I'm no more mortal than you are.

...while the actually kept hold of it?"

...while they actually kept hold of it?"

"Could you please notify them that it they made use of a 'social untruth'...

"Could you please notify them that if they made use of a 'social untruth'...

Mr. Free look it over, and then points.

Mr. Free looks it over, and then points.

...and hopefully will encourage other Sheeda-life to burry itself a little deeper.

...and hopefully will encourage other Sheeda-life to bury itself a little deeper.

"I wouldn't me much of a God of Freedom if I told people how to live."

"I wouldn't be much of a God of Freedom if I told people how to live."

"The only omnipotent power in the Most High.

"The only omnipotent power is the Most High.

I make crumbler battering ram construct.

I make a crumbler battering ram construct.

ForeverShogo · Oct 12, 2022

For the invisitext . . . A common thing with Darkseid is the phrase "Darkseid is."

It kind of started with a bad future story where Darkseid got the Anti-Life and conquered everyone. Glorious Godfrey hypes him up and says, "Who is your new God, now and forever?"

Then Darkseid shows up and says, "Darkseid is."

It's been used in other ways, but it's also a reference to one of the various titles for the Abrahamic God . . . He Who Is. And so it's basically Darkseid claiming to be your one and only god.

Walk From Was is likely just Scott reaffirming his conviction to reject Darkseid. Thus, is becomes was.

Mr Zoat · Oct 12, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
Bit of a messy chapter, this one, Mr Zoat...
Scott Free brings his aero-discs to a stop above a disused industrial site.
"Zauriel, I'm no more mortal than you are.
...while they actually kept hold of it?"
"Could you please notify them that if they made use of a 'social untruth'...
Mr. Free looks it over, and then points.
...and hopefully will encourage other Sheeda-life to bury itself a little deeper.
"I wouldn't be much of a God of Freedom if I told people how to live."
"The only omnipotent power is the Most High.
I make a crumbler battering ram construct.

Thank you, corrected.

BR549 · Oct 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"I'll take it under advisement. How are we getting in?"

I make a crumbler battering ram construct.

"Like this."

The wall explodes!

Duke Long · Oct 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
This… Place… Taste foul.

'Tastes'

mastermenthe · Oct 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Which is why the region… Can't really call it a city. It doesn't offer enough high-order services any more.

Holy fuck, that diagram, now I really understand why America is called a third world country: we turned both the food pyramid, and the city services pyramid, completely upside down!

Windona · Oct 12, 2022

Oh Scot, still messed up. Though I can see why- the only associations with New Gods he has that isn't misery is his relationship with Barda, whereas his life on Earth is much more pleasant. He associates being human with happiness and a good life, New Gods with Apokalypse and all that brings. Plus freedom has its downsides.

(Huh, now I'm wondering if that will tie into the Renegade questioning how much he likes- or doesn't like- his conquest domain)

...in a disadvantaged, impoverished area it might be harder to detect Anti Life from a special source versus people who are just crushed by hopelessness.

Mr Zoat · Oct 12, 2022

Duke Long said:
'Tastes'

Thank you, corrected.

mastermenthe said:
Holy fuck, that diagram, now I really understand why America is called a third world country: we turned both the food pyramid, and the city services pyramid, completely upside down!

Oh? How so?

Radiant Knight · Oct 12, 2022

I'm surprised Paul hasn't tried to track down Merry Poppins to help with this.

Darko · Oct 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
It's having small amount of revitalisation.

'a small'

Mr Zoat said:
Zauriel lands and crouches to lay his right palm on the ground.

"An… Absence."

I'm betting it's either some Anti-Life from the last time they were there or some new stuff.

Mr Zoat said:
"Zauriel, was the Sword of the Fallen actually destroyed, or did the Kings just say they destroyed it while they actually kept hold of it?"

Good question.

They may have wanted to keep such a powerful object in case they faced a powerful being they couldn't match.

Mr Zoat said:
"Mister Miracle." Zauriel sort of frowns with his eyes. "You are correct in your assertion that your divine empowerment will make freeing any of Darkseid's victims far easier. However, I have noticed that you appear reluctant to use your abilities."

Paul mentioned that too.

Mr Zoat said:
Don't worry about that. The Anti-Life always finds a way. That's why it's so terrifying."

But you would be giving it one less avenue of attack.

Mr Zoat said:
"The only omnipotent power is the Most High. Everything else is merely deception, and you should reject it as you have rejected Darkseid."

True, but that doesn't mean that Darkseid can't fuck up your day.

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

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