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

Fear Ourself (part 17)
20th January 2013
19:14 GMT


Space… Judders. I'm not sure what qwa-matter does to spacetime, but the feedback from that detonation just destroyed my warp module. And that doesn't make sense. A region around the rear half of Parallax's construct body flares in a sort of white-gold colour, which fades almost immediately and…

Joseph Harrolds stares, clearly stunned, at the broken remains of his passenger's construct form. It's not just that the back end is gone, but that the destructive effect appears to be propagating along its body. If he drops the construct then we've got an opportunity to grab him right away.

"What-?"

On the planet itself the yellow colour is beginning to fade. Lantern Priest wasn't willing to inject peoples' souls with his own willpower, but he was willing to use his power to create a sort of barrier between their psyches and the yellow light. The result will be that they're still not thinking straight, but at least their fear won't be strengthening Parallax and they're more likely to survive with that thing being weaker.

Some sort of serpent-insect thing dashes up the side of a skyscraper, claws tearing through the exterior of the building as it tries to reach Priest. I don't know whether it actually has any intelligence or instinct or Harralax isn't as distracted as he looks, but it's managed to head towards the one person who can deny him the planet as a power booster. It reaches the top of the building and bunches up, ready to leap at Priest with claws-.

Ragnar flies in, his construct sword slicing through the legs on its left side. It loses its grip at once and begins to fall even as the legs of its right try to scrabble to maintain their hold. A moment later and it's the building that fails, chunks of metal, glass and concrete tearing their way out of the structure as…

Gravity… Takes a firm grip on something that… Should by all rights be able to fly.

Huh.

But Ragnar's already in position, giant construct boar spear upraised and ready as the construct monster plummets downwards to impale itself, decaying into yellow motes an instant later.

Ragnar grins as the motes begin to coalesce around him, then frowns as Priest dismisses them with a wave of his hand. A moment later and the motes are gone and he's back into the fray, relishing the opportunity to go ham on the construct monsters, though just about disciplined enough to stick with Priest rather than charging after the next monster to catch his eye.

Warp module reformed.

Thank you.

Parallax appears to be coping with its damage by shrinking, letting its outer parts fade and focusing its efforts on a smaller and more intense construct body. Which could work, except that Lord Malvolio isn't giving him time to recuperate and is instead pushing through the fading yellow body parts with sword and shield at the ready. Jade and Lysis are clear of the combat area-.

Harrolds spots Malvolio as he batters aside a section of carapace and twists, lunging at him with mouth open wide and-.

And fire, because someone forgot to obscure my line of sight and now doesn't have enough construct volume protecting himself.

And fire continuously, because I can still feel people dying on Yaolsan because when people in our weight class fight it's everybody's problem.

Parallax's mouth bites at Malvolio, who shoves his shield between its jaws and enlarges it just as my shots start hitting the back of its neck. The chitin construct begins to disintegrate as Malvolio brings his sword around to stab at its throat. It doesn't go in easily, but construct flesh parts around it as it-.

"GAH!"

The construct Parallax vanishes, Harrolds-

"Not."

-appears in front of me, and-.

And the Earth is Anti-Lifed because of my interactions with-.

I don't-. Believe that!

SHIELD!

The colossal beam of yellow power slams into my decidedly rushed shield, and my mind hasn't quite-!

Dodge!

"Allowed."

Oh, yes? Because I'm fairly sure that Harrolds had desires before he went to Yellow Planet.

Lets see what they were. Desire amplification.

We see fights between superhuman warlords, brief and inconclusive affairs as neither party is strong enough to withstand the attention it will draw from others. We see his desire to take control of the syndicates as he takes control of his-.

This time I fire the blast, his construct armour fading as he's knocked flying-

"Uh."

-and the lights on Yaolsan go out as he restores himself, battering the beam away with a gauntlet construct, stabilising himself.

"Do you want another go?"

"We're in no hurry. What do you think of our first attempt?"

"I imagine you scared quite a few people. I mean, given how powerful you are the number probably wasn't anything special, but you've been away for a while, so… Well done?"

What did I learn from that snapshot of Joseph Harrolds' life? The impression I got was that he's rational, pragmatic and self-interested. I didn't see any positive association with the Crime Syndicate. Not as an achievement he worked toward or as a team he liked being a part of. Which means that they're just a group that he tolerates because he needs to in order to do other things. They're his syndicates, and the best way for him to keep them that way is for him to cooperate with the other Syndicate members.

"Though I suspect that Ultraman is taking advantage of your absence to do something stupid back home."

He rolls his eyes. "Very subtle."

"Yeah. True, though."

"We need to grow used to our power before returning home."

"Does the part of you that is Parallax really care about that?"

"Do you care if we threaten your home?"

"Right now? No. Honestly, my Earth's-"

Lord Malvolio's battering ram construct strikes him in the side, punching through his construct defences as the two of them carry on away from the planet.

"-a mess."

"Did the villein say ought of significance?"

The battering ram splits in two as Parallax prepares to re-enter the fray.

"We can hear your fears too, Green Lantern. You can't bury them deep enough to escape our notice. Let us show you."
 
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20th January 2013
19:14 GMT


Space… Judders. I'm not sure what qwa-matter does to spacetime, but the feedback from that detonation just destroyed my warp module. And that doesn't make sense. A region around the rear half of Parallax's construct body flares in a sort of white-gold colour, which fades almost immediately and…

Joseph Harrolds stares, clearly stunned, at the broken remains of his passenger's construct form. It's not just that the back end is gone, but that the destructive effect appears to be propagating along its body. If he drops the construct then we've got an opportunity to grab him right away.
Let's hope he's that cowardly. After all, OL knows just how nasty Qwa-Matter is, and just how nasty it can be when interacting with Spectrum energies.And what he fears, Parralax knows...

"What-?"

On the planet itself the yellow colour is beginning to fade. Lantern Priest wasn't willing to inject peoples' souls with his own willpower, but he was willing to use his power to create a sort of barrier between their psyches and the yellow light. The result will be that they're still not thinking straight, but at least their fear won't be strengthening Parallax and they're more likely to survive with that thing being weaker.
About what I'd expect a Green Light Shaman to be capable of, without the backing of an Entity.

Some sort of serpent-insect thing dashes up the side of a skyscraper, claws tearing through the exterior of the building as it tries to reach Priest. I don't know whether it actually has any intelligence or instinct or is Harralax isn't as distracted as he looks, but it's managed to head towards the one person who can deny him the planet as a power booster. It reaches the top of the building and bunches up, ready to leap at Priest with claws-.

Ragnar flies in, his construct sword slicing through the legs on its left side. It loses its grip at once and begins to fall even as the legs of its right try to scrabble to maintain their hold. A moment later and it's the building that fails, chunks of metal, glass and concrete tearing their way out of the structure as…
Certainly nothing subtle about his fighting style here, thankfully. Fair's fair, since Harralax isn't being subtle about things either.

Gravity… Takes a firm grip on something that… Should by all rights be able to fly.

Huh.
...That's odd. I have the feeling that's significant somehow, but it might take a bit for how to become clear.

But Ragnar's already in position, giant construct boar spear upraised and ready as the construct monster plummets downwards to impale itself, decaying into yellow motes an instant later.

Ragnar grins as the motes begin to coalesce around him, then frowns as Priest dismisses them with a wave of his hand. A moment later and the motes are gone and he's back into the fray, relishing the opportunity to go ham on the construct monsters, though just about disciplined enough to stick with Priest rather than charging after the next monster to catch his eye.
Good, not losing himself in the joy of battle, I see. Though I suspect he almost wanted to get hit with that Fear, to test himself...

Warp module reformed.

Thank you.
Now to reach out and touch someone... With superior firepower.

Parallax appears to be coping with its damage by shrinking; letting its outer parts fade and focusing its efforts on a smaller and more intense construct body. Which could work, except that Lord Malvolio isn't giving him time to recuperate and is instead pushing through the fading yellow body parts with sword and shield at the ready. Jade and Lysis are clear of the combat area-.

Harrolds spots Malvolio as he batters aside a section of carapace and twists, lunging at him with mouth open wide and-.
Pfft. Like that would work? And cutting Parallax's construct down to size in the process? That'll make it easier to capture him.

And fire, because someone forgot to obscure my line of sight and now doesn't have enough construct volume protecting himself.

And fire continuously, because I can still feel people dying on the Yaolsan because when people in our weight class fight it's everybody's problem.
Yeah. Even one missed beam or slug is going to end up making a mess around here.

Parallax's mouth bites at Malvolio, who shoves his shield between its jaws and enlarges it just as my shots start hitting the back of its neck. The chitin construct begins to disintegrate as Malvolio brings his sword around to stab at its throat. It doesn't go in easily, but construct flesh parts around it as it-.

"GAH!"
Well, he's either on the ropes, or...

The construct Parallax vanishes, Harrolds-

"Not."
...He's entering his second boss phase. :rolleyes:

-appears in front of me, and-.

And the Earth is Anti-Lifed because of my interactions with-.
Wonder if that was a transition or a spookiport... Would Harrolds have advanced that far in that short a time?

I don't-. Believe that!

SHIELD!
To be fair, OL. He's right. Pretty sure this whole Mannheim thing didn't happen in canon.

The colossal beam of yellow power slams into my decidedly rushed shield, and my mind hasn't quite-!

Dodge!
...And it looks like his second phase ups his damage output. Hooray.

"Allowed."

Oh, yes? Because I'm fairly sure that Harrolds had desires before he went to Yellow Planet.
All's fair in a fight, Harralax. An old thug like you should know that...

Lets see what they were. Desire amplification.

We see fights between superhuman warlords, brief and inconclusive affairs as neither party is strong enough to withstand the attention it will draw from others. We see his desire to take control of the syndicates as he takes control of his-.
Ah. I see. That's why the Crime Syndicate system works: No-one can get rid of the rest because they might expose a weakness to the little fish nibbling at their capes...

This time I fire the blast, his construct armour fading as he's knocked flying-

"Uh."
Since Harrolds wouldn't have that much experience with ring-to-ring combat...

-and the lights on Yaolsan go out as he restores himself, battering the beam away with a gauntlet construct, stabilising himself.

"Do you want another go?"
Come on, then. If you think you're hard enough...

"We're in no hurry. What do you think of our first attempt?"

"I imagine you scared quite a few people. I mean, given how powerful you are the number probably wasn't anything special, but you've been away for a while, so… Well done?"
Just a warm-up, huh? I shudder to imagine what they could do when they try.

What did I learn from that snapshot of Joseph Harrolds' life? The impression I got was that he's rational, pragmatic and self-interested. I didn't see any positive association with the Crime Syndicate. Not as an achievement he worked toward or as a team he liked being a part of. Which means that they're just a group that he tolerates because he needs to in order to do other things. They're his syndicates, and the best way for him to keep them that way is for him to cooperate with the other Syndicate members.
And that's how a reverse-morality Earth can function. One alone can be crushed. Many together will do the crushing...

"Though I suspect that Ultraman is taking advantage of your absence to do something stupid back home."

He rolls his eyes. "Very subtle."
I mean, he's not wrong. Any version of Ultraman tends to think with his fists before anything else.

"Yeah. True, though."

"We need to grow used to our power before returning home."
Ah, I see. This really was a warm-up, then. Harrolds needing to get used to wielding Fear instead of Will, while Parallax needed to get used to working through a mortal mind.

"Does the part of you that is Parallax really care about that?"

"Do you care if we threaten your home?"
Oh, he cares very much. Why do you think he's fighting so hard to stop you?

"Right now? No. Honestly, my Earth's-"

Lord Malvolio's battering ram construct strikes him in the side, punching through his construct defences as the two of them carry on away from the planet.
And Harrolds forgot the key rule of a fight like this: Don't get distracted.

"-a mess."

"Did the villein say ought of significance?"
...You know he probably didn't hear the last bit, right, OL?

The battering ram splits in two as Parallax prepares to re-enter the fray.

"We can hear your fears too, Green Lantern. You can't bury them deep enough to escape our notice. Let us show you."
This isn't going to go the way one of them thinks it will. I just wonder who'll be getting the surprise, though...

Well, doesn't look like either side is going to be performing a total curbstomp yet. But Harralax is giving as good as he seems to be getting, if not as directly. But this next move could be interestign to see. Will the yellow space bug be able to overcome the Determination that Malvolio is marinated in, or will he find that minty taste doesn't agree with him? :D
 
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So far we've seen Ion bonding, Ophidian bonding, and (Nega?) Parallax bonding. That's 3 of the 9 embodiments of the lights. So I think he's doing pretty good on 'Lantern: Catch 'em All' events. But it doesn't seem like it'd be enough to throw off the Anti-Life.
 
Fear and Hope are just weird to me

why do these 2 are the only one mainly external when every one else is just internal

spread hope, cause fear

what about feeling hope or fear, Para-Joseph here isn't pissing his pant and being afraid running from everything
 
Fear and Hope are just weird to me

why do these 2 are the only one mainly external when every one else is just internal

spread hope, cause fear

what about feeling hope or fear, Para-Joseph here isn't pissing his pant and being afraid running from everything
Blame DC, they established the lights as pure evil antagonists and pure good protagonists without thinking about the greater implications until way later.
 
So far we've seen Ion bonding, Ophidian bonding, and (Nega?) Parallax bonding. That's 3 of the 9 embodiments of the lights. So I think he's doing pretty good on 'Lantern: Catch 'em All' events. But it doesn't seem like it'd be enough to throw off the Anti-Life.
Zoat has tentatively confirmed that a Universe - Anti-Universe Pair share an Embodiment.
Also, Paul doesn't want all of the Embodiments, he wants a Power Ring of each color (and a wielder). Presumably to be worked into whatever plan the League (Dr Mist) have to deal with the Anti-Life.
 
Told you Malvolio wouldn't be fear free.

I guess...probably fear of loss of control? Fear of being wrong? Of being too out of date and forgotten?
 
Told you Malvolio wouldn't be fear free.

I guess...probably fear of loss of control? Fear of being wrong? Of being too out of date and forgotten?
Fear of fear.
His principle foundation is forthrightness, his only weakness is in that foundation being somehow crumbled, and the only thing that can crumble it, is his own emotions.
So, fear of his own fear.
 
Weird question, but other than feeling everyone's fears and relishing in them, shouldn't Parallax also be able to feel fear to the fullest? The yellow light isn't just about causing it after all, right?
 
Weird question, but other than feeling everyone's fears and relishing in them, shouldn't Parallax also be able to feel fear to the fullest? The yellow light isn't just about causing it after all, right?
I'm guessing that'll only happen if he's on the backfoot, which isn't happening right now.
 
Weird question, but other than feeling everyone's fears and relishing in them, shouldn't Parallax also be able to feel fear to the fullest? The yellow light isn't just about causing it after all, right?
yeah, Yellow and Blue is just weird like that

they all about causing an emotional response in other but not in yourself

in Yellow case it kinda make sense, being afraid is mutually exclusive with terrorizing other, so they have to pick one or the other

Blue not so much, inspiring hope and feeling it aren't mutually exclusive, you can do both

i guess it also spread more easily since the second some one freak out, mob mentality kick in and every one panic, or if some one seem like they know what the fuck they are doing, every one else will flock to them out of hope
 
One, two, three, four construct hands grasps the tail, holding it in place.
hands grasp

Ten, a hundred, a thousand crumbler rounds
Well. Guess those aren't considered to be in limited supply anymore.

Parallax appears to be coping with its damage by shrinking; letting its outer parts fade
, instead of ;

There are two possible ways this is correct: Either he's saying Harralax is a serf, or DC Comics used an anachronistic word incorrectly and you're just copying that. "Villein" isn't a synonym for "villain."

You should, because we know for a fact it's true.
You're not wrong, V, but he doesn't want to believe it. And if he doesn't want to believe it, he doesn't believe it.
 
Blame DC, they established the lights as pure evil antagonists and pure good protagonists without thinking about the greater implications until way later.

Eh, not really.

Hallalax still saved the Earth by reigniting the sun. Sure that was before the retcon, but if Hal was possessed than Parallax allowing Hal to sacrifice himself to save the Earth is telling.

Later, Parallax possessed Hal to fight Black Lantern Spectre in Blackest Night.

And in Convergence, Halallax travelled to Crisis with Barry and Superman and with their help the heroes kick the ever loving shit out of Anti-Monitor so Crisis was retconned. Sadly DC forgot about that 5 minutes after it happened.

So Parallax saved the Earth, helped save all life in the universe, and an infinite number of universes.

That's more good than a lot of superheroes can claim.
 
Some authors don't give a damn about the little number under the chapter and are self conscious enough about their abilities as a writer to need the positive affirmation

There's literally no content to the 'positive affirmation'. It doesn't even say you liked it! It doesn't show you read it, it's a polite form of "FIRST!!!" and nothing more. If an author finds it more cheering than a like... sorry, but they're just fooling themself. And, again, it clogs up the discussion for everyone else. Whatever reassurance an empty comment provides, active discussion of the content of the post/chapter/whatever surely provides much more.

But more importantly, this isn't RR, it's QQ.
This isn't RR yet.

RR is a lost cause. Loudly discouraging the first ones to bring their stupidity here is the best way to prevent QQ from becoming another. Consider how much effort and annoyance would have been saved if we'd made enough of a stink about Vaermina being a bitch to discourage him at the start.

I'm not doing this because I have a particular dislike for the guy I initially replied to. I'm not hiding them and don't expect to, and don't even remember the username: I'm doing this because this is how you defend a social norm against a competing norm. (Well, maximally effectively you do it more politely, but that takes constant engagement I don't have time for and also I find it slimy. Someone else is free to be the good cop and I'll happily shut up if that works.)
 
sorry, but they're just fooling themself.

Welcome to the world of psychology. Human minds are not wholly rational things and people take comfort from or believe in things that are, in a large number of cases, entirely untrue or less efficient than just seeing the funny number go up. That's the reason office meetings often take place in person when email and video conferences are a thing, people aren't efficient or smart about this stuff. Denying that doesn't make you better or more correct than them in any way that matters, it just makes you look like either an idiot or an ass, usually both.


That's a faulty argument. You assume that Vearmina is the kind of person who would stop from peer pressure or people simply ignoring them. A very, very long post history on multiple sites can attest to the fact that they won't, and the same is likely to be true of may others who are sincerely thanking an author for a story the enjoy but lack any grand words to say, who can follow the same advice to just put someone on ignore I gave you if they seem to be an unreasonable dick about this.

Because at the end of the day being an asshole to make people stop doing something doesn't work, it just makes you look like an asshole. Which immediately telling someone to shut up and not comment unless they have slightly more entirely useless words to say makes you look like. This is a (mostly) free site where people can comment as they damn well please, and if you don't like it then go read the story only thread and spare the rest of us your impotent rage.
 
hands grasp
, instead of ;
Thank you, corrected.
There are two possible ways this is correct: Either he's saying Harralax is a serf, or DC Comics used an anachronistic word incorrectly and you're just copying that. "Villein" isn't a synonym for "villain."
He doesn't call himself 'Lord' for fun.
Well. Guess those aren't considered to be in limited supply anymore.
Were they supposed to be? Mage slayers are limited, were you thinking of them?
What is RR?
 
Royal Road. It's a bit more like SB or SV from what little I know of it, maybe a bit less popular.
Uh, other way around.
RR is immensely popular, in terms of user passthru and total unique viewcount.
QQ has more steady user base and user interaction, in comparison.

A prime example of this popularity difference: the Dungeon without a system is earning $1500 monthly purely from RR users, but has barely any traction on SV despite it and all his other fics being first born on SV before he began crossposting to RR.
 
He doesn't call himself 'Lord' for fun.
Can't complain, then!

Were they supposed to be? Mage slayers are limited, were you thinking of them?
I was under the impression that he was able to manufacture them on his own but they were still physical objects that he kept stored in subspace. If he's shooting thousands of them without much of a second thought then he's stockpiled up enough that he basically doesn't have to worry about it anymore.

That is: This one wasn't a correction, just an observation.
 
I was under the impression that he was able to manufacture them on his own but they were still physical objects that he kept stored in subspace. If he's shooting thousands of them without much of a second thought then he's stockpiled up enough that he basically doesn't have to worry about it anymore.

That is: This one wasn't a correction, just an observation.
True, but... You remember Lex Luthor's gun rampage in Inviolate? The SI has enough of them stored up that unless something stupid happens he effectively has unlimited shots. Subspace disruption is more likely than running out.
 
True, but... You remember Lex Luthor's gun rampage in Inviolate? The SI has enough of them stored up that unless something stupid happens he effectively has unlimited shots. Subspace disruption is more likely than running out.
The only indication about ammo limit for his Crumbler Rounds was back when he was trading rounds to the Green Lantern from Hellhole (don't remember its real name). His opening ask was for ten thousand rounds and Paul responded that he didn't have ten thousand or anything like ten thousand.
 
Green Lantern from Hellhole (don't remember its real name)
That's Jack Chance, and to be honest most of the inhabitants of Garnet don't bother thinking of it by that name.

Here's the quote you were referencing:
"Alright. Your money, or other fungible assets. Let's say… Ten thousand rounds?"

"I don't have ten thousand rounds, and I don't want to take the chance that someone on your homeworld gets the design. I'll offer you two hundred." He sneers. "And I'll throw in a freeze ray."

But that was February 2011 in-universe. It's currently January 2013.

As I said, he's been... stockpiling.
 
Fear Ourself (part 18)
20th January 2013
19:18 GMT


Malvolio's flame aura collapses, leaving only a few faint wisps protecting him from the vacuum of space. His eyes flicker with yellow light as Parallax does whatever it does to dig up his fears, and his other constructs fade to nothing.

I accelerate towards Parallax.

Gauntlet, activate.

Compliance.

"You intend to punch us? A classic-"

I swing, a clawed hand five times the size of my body appearing from nowhere and swinging to slap me aside. It disintegrates as it hits my fist and I fly on through-.

Parallax moves, appearing a few hundred metres away, clearly unfazed by my attack.

"-choice. Uncharacteristic."

Malvolio blinks once and then reignites, staring at Parallax with utter revulsion.

"You suppressed it, but you never stopped feeling it, did you? For centuries."

"My weaknesses do not govern me, demon."

"It sure looked like it governed you. Of course, since you never went back to Earth, you'll never know."

"Is it something you want to talk about, or shall we just get back to-?"

"My mother. After I mistakenly slew her lover. I explained my actions at once, but we were never reconciled. I fear that she died hating me."

"I know some really good necromancers. If you don't mind visiting Earth, we can see about communicating with her soul."

"'t'would be ungodly."

"No, I got the heavenly host to okay it. Not for you specifically, but in general."

"Then it would ease my mind greatly."

Jammer.

"But that's just the first! A man as old as you has fears aplenty. And you've spent so long drowning them out! Such a shame. If you'd actually processed them like a normal man instead of stamping down on them then-."

I see it coming a mile off, crumbler constructs shooting across the intervening space and nearly reaching him before he vanishes-.

Oooooh. That's what it looks like when someone tries to transition through a jammer effect.

"Yuugh..."

And that's what it looks like when the embodiment of fear reassembles its mortal body, because it's thoughts are contained within the yellow light and it mostly keeps the body going because very few people aren't at least a little afraid of death. But while they're distracted-

Desire amplification.

-let's introduce a little dissonance between host and graft.

Parallax blinks out, and Joseph Harrolds stares at me through the vacuum. Oh, darn it. I drop my jammer construct and transition towards him, a space suit-.

"Oh."

The Parallax construct rematerialises, two of its claws clasped around me.

"Let's see how you like it!"

Desire amplification.

"Fear us!"

It abandons subtlety, reaching… Reaching back into the thought echoes of my earliest ancestors. Fear of insects and snakes and strange noises and outgroups and they're all around me everywhere all the time! I'm shivering, quaking, barely able to get the empty lantern that should protect me must protect me she said it would protect me!

"What's that-?"

And I can think again as the yellow light around me dims and what I can see of Parallax through his hands looks confused.

Cables.

Compliance.

Glowing orange cables lunge out, connecting Parallax's hands to the empty battery as Malvolio grabs it around the head with giant construct gauntlets.

Desire amplification.

"Ah-? Ah?"

"You see, at a very fundamental level, the desires of a giant fear elemental and a remotely normal human aren't compatible. Whereas we understand one another very well. You want people to be afraid of you all the time and we just want them to want."

The cables surge and Parallax's construct body dims, Joseph's mouth returning to normal as he looks around-.

"You won't be rid of me so easily!"

Parallax's mouth moved but Joseph's didn't. Okay, their minds are separating, now-.

Parallax shines brilliantly for an instant and then shrinks, collapsing into-. Into Joseph's body. Ah.

Keep the cables attached, keep draining-.

Malvolio's construct hands slam closed around Joseph as Parallax downgrades him from partner to puppet. Joseph's skin writhes as if Parallax is trying to physically fit inside him, yellow light seeping out of every joint. And worst of all, this is something that Joseph is actually afraid of.

"No, that'sNot happening."

But enlightenment means that he's not ruled by it. Ah, stop amplifying his desires, because that's just going to be a distraction-.

Weaponer Lysis appears next to me in a flash of orange, qwa-bolt in hand. She aims-.

"No, don't do that."

She turns to me with a frown. "Why not?"

"Because-."

"I am entity Volthoom. Returning to prior owner."

Jade tosses the ring, which passes through Malvolio's construct hands and onto Joseph's right ring finger as Ragnar pulls her away again.

"Now. Get. OUT!"

The yellow light is thrown out, surging down my cables and igniting the lantern into a radiant bonfire. Joseph continues to glow, pushing just as hard as I pull to free himself. I get one last glimpse of Parallax's malevolent face before it vanishes into the lantern and its shielding panels slam down to contain it.
 
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It abandons subtlety, reaching… Reaching back into the thought echoes of my earliest ancestors. Fear of insects and snakes and strange noises and outgroups and they're all around me everywhere all the time! I'm shivering, quaking, barely able to get the empty lantern that should protect me must protect me she said it would protect me!

"What's that-?"

And I can think again as the yellow light around me dims and what I can see of Parallax through his hands looks confused.

Those... did not seem to be the SI's memories? What's that about an 'Empty Lantern'?
 

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