Ostentatiousnessness
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Should be grows
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- self insert young justice
Should be grows
BlueMangoAdea
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Kalmin dying here would be unexpected, but hilarious, ngl.
Assblaster5000
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Pretty sure that should be 'Daar's laboratory'
Darko
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Shit is about to go down.
Well you've let down potentially billions when you didn't kill Kalmin.
But his absence will stop his mood from growing worse
Well you've let down potentially billions when you didn't kill Kalmin.
But his absence will stop his mood from growing worse
Chojin Patriarch
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Still seems rather foolish to perform this little process so close to home, but we can but hope that Draan has taken the appropriate precautions. Honestly, using Orion's Boom Tube to set up a site at the edge of the universe might have been safer, but haste won out over safety...
Yes, definitely a good idea to put people at the ready.
Anything from 'rage-berserk New God' to 'Oh shit, here comes the Butcher!' You're a smart guy, Dox, I'm sure you can imagine the worst.
In other words, if this fucks up, OL is the one who'll be neck-deep in it.
Showing some professional courtesy? 'Hey, we're about to try and make the thing you didn't want to. Wanna stand there and laugh at us if we fail?'
Heh, now you've got him curious, eh?
I mean, you'd think that, given OL's other hires, but...
OL, I don't think he'll take 'we're trying to aim him at acceptable targets' as an excuse.
Why do I get the feeling Orion's having second thoughts?
And it's not like New Genesis' hands are clean of blood, you know.
And at least you know what he's doing. Would you rather have him out there doing Source-knows-what?
"Sweetie, keep the dog under control. We still have things to do before you can clean house."
And I'm sure Orion would be happy to take you up on that offer. I'm sure you've got plenty of anti-New God weaponry you'd like to test.
"Remember the bigger picture, Sweetie. We can deal with this louse later."
Oof. Even if he didn't hear the words, at least OL caught the sentiment behind Orion's mood.
Kalmin, keep your mouth shut, before it gets you into trouble you can't treat like a nail...
"What next in the parade of constant interruptions?"
Honestly, does everyone need a heart-to-heart right now?...I mean, he did put a railgun shot through his head. But I don't think she means temporarily.
To be fair, that is a good reason not to talk about eliminating a global threat permanently.
And he's like a bad penny. He'll turn up sooner or later, fresh from a Lazarus pit.
Yeah, them being here would have been the perfect cap for a long, frustrating day. Especially if it turned out Draan had hired them to collect Spectrum tech before OL came to him...
Dude's a grade-A jerk-ass. Don't take it personal.
Please, don't poke the weird science, Kalmin. I doubt your host would take kindly to it.
...Draan's pulling some sort of psychological trick, aren't they? Make them angry enough to make forging easier?
Oh, this isn't a trap at all, no sir.
Seriously, guys. Compare 'weapons' some other time. More important things to do than stroke your 'egos'.
Interesting. What kind of construction, though?
...At least he shut up?
So.. .Double-cross or just interpersonal conflict? Draan pulling a fast one on OL and company, or does he just not like Kalmin? The Qwardian stuff suggests he's gotten some expert advice from someone else. Lysis, perhaps? Or maybe Draan's been indulging in a little theft of Qwardian intellectual property...
So many possibilities, and I'm sure we'll find out tomorrow.Ngamer11
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Maybe he's being influenced by the mind of the Erdammeru?So.. .Double-cross or just interpersonal conflict? Draan pulling a fast one on OL and company, or does he just not like Kalmin? The Qwardian stuff suggests he's gotten some expert advice from someone else. Lysis, perhaps? Or maybe Draan's been indulging in a little theft of Qwardian intellectual property...
ForeverShogo
Not too sore, are you?
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Unless he is constantly making significant, game-changer improvements to the designs of NEMO's ships, I feel like Kalmin must surely have hit a point of diminishing returns such that his continued survival really can't continue to be justified.
Darko
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Because he is.
True, but compared to the Qwardians their sins are nothing.
It's like saying that someone that once committed accidental manslaughter is as bad as the Nazis.
There's an easy solution to that.
Kill Kalmin.
"Focus on the mission first. The muder comes later."
"Focus on the mission. The castration and beating coming to the Qwardian comes later."
Cuchulin
Versed in the lewd.
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I don't think OL would really mind it much if Orion did kill Kalmin, he isn't of that much use anymore and is a massive potential danger.
Bigking321
Not too sore, are you?
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I find this arc very interesting. But at the moment I'm mainly confused.
Ah well. I sure all will be explained.
Ah well. I sure all will be explained.
Darko
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Paul's not necessarily all that good at figuring out when he should get rid of certain problematic individuals.
Look at how long it took him to figure out that Luthor is a lost cause.
He may still think that Kalmin has some use.
Duke Long
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'its'?
It's possible that he actually is semi-regularly making major improvements, by holding back his technology and releasing it slowly, because of this very reason. Also, I think his continued survival can be justified quite easily even with a low return. With the scale they operate on, a very small improvement to technology could save thousands of lives, and obviously a larger one could save millions or billions. Given that Kalmin isn't really doing much harm right now (except to the Reach), I don't think there's much reason to kill him now. The war will last years, after all.
dw7thdoctor
Getting sticky.
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I'm sure Paul doesn't count that as killing if the man just gets back five minutes later.
Old Knife
Not too sore, are you?
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He shot him as soon a he finished resurrecting and then collapsed the already spent Lazarus pool.
Or maybe I'm misremembering things.
Lord Ernest
At the End...
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I think he shot him, watched him get resurrected and then nabbed the Lazarus sarcophagus. Then he brought that and the info to the cave, which prompted the raid on Infinite Island, I think the name was? But by then Ra's was alive and gone from the place.
dw7thdoctor
Getting sticky.
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I think your miss remembering Paul just shot him that time to find the location of the pit. Once he had that he called in the Justice League.
Lord Ernest
At the End...
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I'm sorry to say you're mistaken, my friend. He shot Ra's, then shot a bunch of stuff in the island, then stole the sarcophagus and finally went to the cave.
He originally thought he had killed Clayface and was a bit morose, but after a chat with Batman he got better about it and then explained what he did, presenting the sarcophagus from subspace and everything. It wasn't until then that the League found out about the Island and had to improvise a raid on it.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Jade is assuming that someone did something to make him permanently dead. The SI is standing by his assersion that it wasn't him.
Vaermina
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By this point you've let a lot of people down.
Mr Zoat
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Coda
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Not an abbreviation, so just "Wouldst".
Usually one word.
RoninSword
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Mr Zoat was there something we missed where Paul actually got samples of the Butcher's Blood? My understanding was that all he managed to do was allow Orion to absorbed residual Red Light. But that's not the same thing as having the actual Blood (which by all appearances the Free Lancers got from both planets).
Butcher's Blood (part 20)
Mr Zoat
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21st January 2013
16:09 GMT
I try scanning him, only to have his personal shield baffle my effort. Touching him-.
Jade starts to reach out, then stops herself and drops her hand.
Trying to touch him when he's got a force field I don't recognise active would be a bad and quite possibly terminal idea. It's eaten through the bit of the… Deck? It's… Is this stone? But only a little way, because Kalmin's far too capable a technologist to set a disintegration field to 'just keep going' unless that's useful.
"Dead?"
Orion doesn't sound particularly concerned.
"I can't tell. His shield-."
"Ah, I'd almost forgotten that Weaponers could sense the machines of war, if they were powerful enough."
News to… Me. "Draan Del Daar, would you mind explaining?"
"I didn't invite a Weaponer into a maltusian's workshop. You can hardly blame me if he suffers some ill-effects."
"Right. I thought that your workshop was the room on the surface."
"At my age? That's barely a foot locker."
"So..? Where do you want us?"
Guiding lights appear along the corridors ahead.
"This way. Leave the Weaponer there or bring him; it makes no difference to me. Though I imagine that he might find it quite interesting, if he regains consciousness."
Yes, yes, we're being betrayed.
I try scanning through the surface of the moon, and get nothing. The corridor behind us has firmly closed.
Hm.
He's a maltusian. He doesn't have any material desires that he can't meet himself. Members of the actual Controller faction compete for influence and renown through taking positions and proving them viable. That's why Hinon has seniority at the moment and the guy who founded the Darkstars is number two. Killing useful assets reduces that, and while I doubt that killing us would actually trouble him, he wouldn't do it as a result of acquisitiveness. I don't think that I have anything that he wants. If he was interested in the orange light there's an Orange Central Power Battery sitting in the open for him to look at. It's advertising for unaligned maltusians anyway, no one's going to stop him studying it or connecting himself to it.
Turns out that I can't guess the motives of a being millions of years old.
Ah, crumblers under the floor that's under Kalmin, cut through and pick him up… Yes, that worked, and now I can carry him along. I-.
"I should have known that we would face betrayal."
"Yeah, I feel the same way."
Jade turns her helmet my way. "You weren't expecting it?"
"It's just… So illogical." I turn to Orion. "Up to you. He's clearly up to something crazy, but I don't know what and I still want that ring. If you say 'no', I'll do my level best to return you to New Genesis at once."
He regards me cautiously. Measure of a Man.
He keeps regarding me. Once Bitten, Thrice Shy.
Then he turns towards the path. "No. We will finish this. If this is mere mummery then I will merely express my displeasure at his gamesmanship. If he acts against me, then he will not leave here alive."
He powers up his astro-harness and shoots down the corridor.
"After he..? Makes the ring?"
"There are plenty of other maltusians, Paul."
"It's a specialist-. Shall we?"
She nods, and we accelerate after Orion with Kalmin floating along like a trailer.
"It's a specialist subject. Most power ring specialists either stayed Guardian or are Controllers because that's where the specialty gets used. There are actually only three on Maltus who could make a red ring within a reasonable timeframe, and the others are even more neurotic. And so far, he hasn't actually done anything to us other than be a bit cagey and annoying."
"Do you think that's all he'll do?"
"Not in a million years."
We catch up with Orion, and… There isn't really a lot to say. Ring scans are returning nothing at all helpful. The walls look like they're made of stone blocks, but since we've got air and gravity-.
"Draan Del Daar, this isn't some sort of maltusian bachelor pad, is it? The design is very gothic but-."
"No. It doesn't like being changed."
"'Maltusian bachelor pad'?"
"I know they breed like pandas, but the core motivating factors of organic life must be in there somewhere."
"I've long since moved beyond such things."
"You know, a few years ago I more or less shut down my sex drive so that I wouldn't be distracted from my work." I shake my head. "It's not a good idea."
"Again, speak to me when you are a million years old. Ah, you've arrived."
There's a door of… Some sort of highly sophisticated material that I can't scan. It splits into twelve sections, each sliding into the surrounding wall to reveal a short corridor leading to a metal-lined chamber. Two… Troughs? Of glowing red… Stuff, sit on either side of a ring-forge, the contents looking like a cross between a liquid and a construct.
Did he..? Already have this?
Orion is incensed. "If you already had the Butcher's essence, why did you send us on that quest!?"
"Because you could absorb what was left, and create a link between yourself and the Butcher Entity. It will improve the quality of the ring."
"Then why are you not here?"
"I am here. Just… Diffuse. I will be overseeing the process, but I will need you to carry out some of the physical actions."
Orion turns to me. "Lantern, is that plausible?"
"Krona was punished with dematerialisation, so that's something that maltusians can undergo and survive. Hinon implied to me that a ring forged for a specific person will respond better, but she's never said anything about one I make being better for me."
"That is because I do not precisely feel rage or hatred any longer, while Hinon Hee Hannanan continues to feel avarice. Age takes its toll, even on us."
"I've forged rings before. It didn't cause me any harm. It should be fine; just keep your focus."
Orion nods, and flies over to the forge.
16:09 GMT
I try scanning him, only to have his personal shield baffle my effort. Touching him-.
Jade starts to reach out, then stops herself and drops her hand.
Trying to touch him when he's got a force field I don't recognise active would be a bad and quite possibly terminal idea. It's eaten through the bit of the… Deck? It's… Is this stone? But only a little way, because Kalmin's far too capable a technologist to set a disintegration field to 'just keep going' unless that's useful.
"Dead?"
Orion doesn't sound particularly concerned.
"I can't tell. His shield-."
"Ah, I'd almost forgotten that Weaponers could sense the machines of war, if they were powerful enough."
News to… Me. "Draan Del Daar, would you mind explaining?"
"I didn't invite a Weaponer into a maltusian's workshop. You can hardly blame me if he suffers some ill-effects."
"Right. I thought that your workshop was the room on the surface."
"At my age? That's barely a foot locker."
"So..? Where do you want us?"
Guiding lights appear along the corridors ahead.
"This way. Leave the Weaponer there or bring him; it makes no difference to me. Though I imagine that he might find it quite interesting, if he regains consciousness."
Yes, yes, we're being betrayed.
I try scanning through the surface of the moon, and get nothing. The corridor behind us has firmly closed.
Hm.
He's a maltusian. He doesn't have any material desires that he can't meet himself. Members of the actual Controller faction compete for influence and renown through taking positions and proving them viable. That's why Hinon has seniority at the moment and the guy who founded the Darkstars is number two. Killing useful assets reduces that, and while I doubt that killing us would actually trouble him, he wouldn't do it as a result of acquisitiveness. I don't think that I have anything that he wants. If he was interested in the orange light there's an Orange Central Power Battery sitting in the open for him to look at. It's advertising for unaligned maltusians anyway, no one's going to stop him studying it or connecting himself to it.
Turns out that I can't guess the motives of a being millions of years old.
Ah, crumblers under the floor that's under Kalmin, cut through and pick him up… Yes, that worked, and now I can carry him along. I-.
"I should have known that we would face betrayal."
"Yeah, I feel the same way."
Jade turns her helmet my way. "You weren't expecting it?"
"It's just… So illogical." I turn to Orion. "Up to you. He's clearly up to something crazy, but I don't know what and I still want that ring. If you say 'no', I'll do my level best to return you to New Genesis at once."
He regards me cautiously. Measure of a Man.
He keeps regarding me. Once Bitten, Thrice Shy.
Then he turns towards the path. "No. We will finish this. If this is mere mummery then I will merely express my displeasure at his gamesmanship. If he acts against me, then he will not leave here alive."
He powers up his astro-harness and shoots down the corridor.
"After he..? Makes the ring?"
"There are plenty of other maltusians, Paul."
"It's a specialist-. Shall we?"
She nods, and we accelerate after Orion with Kalmin floating along like a trailer.
"It's a specialist subject. Most power ring specialists either stayed Guardian or are Controllers because that's where the specialty gets used. There are actually only three on Maltus who could make a red ring within a reasonable timeframe, and the others are even more neurotic. And so far, he hasn't actually done anything to us other than be a bit cagey and annoying."
"Do you think that's all he'll do?"
"Not in a million years."
We catch up with Orion, and… There isn't really a lot to say. Ring scans are returning nothing at all helpful. The walls look like they're made of stone blocks, but since we've got air and gravity-.
"Draan Del Daar, this isn't some sort of maltusian bachelor pad, is it? The design is very gothic but-."
"No. It doesn't like being changed."
"'Maltusian bachelor pad'?"
"I know they breed like pandas, but the core motivating factors of organic life must be in there somewhere."
"I've long since moved beyond such things."
"You know, a few years ago I more or less shut down my sex drive so that I wouldn't be distracted from my work." I shake my head. "It's not a good idea."
"Again, speak to me when you are a million years old. Ah, you've arrived."
There's a door of… Some sort of highly sophisticated material that I can't scan. It splits into twelve sections, each sliding into the surrounding wall to reveal a short corridor leading to a metal-lined chamber. Two… Troughs? Of glowing red… Stuff, sit on either side of a ring-forge, the contents looking like a cross between a liquid and a construct.
Did he..? Already have this?
Orion is incensed. "If you already had the Butcher's essence, why did you send us on that quest!?"
"Because you could absorb what was left, and create a link between yourself and the Butcher Entity. It will improve the quality of the ring."
"Then why are you not here?"
"I am here. Just… Diffuse. I will be overseeing the process, but I will need you to carry out some of the physical actions."
Orion turns to me. "Lantern, is that plausible?"
"Krona was punished with dematerialisation, so that's something that maltusians can undergo and survive. Hinon implied to me that a ring forged for a specific person will respond better, but she's never said anything about one I make being better for me."
"That is because I do not precisely feel rage or hatred any longer, while Hinon Hee Hannanan continues to feel avarice. Age takes its toll, even on us."
"I've forged rings before. It didn't cause me any harm. It should be fine; just keep your focus."
Orion nods, and flies over to the forge.
Last edited:
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
No, it's pretty much the same, but the Free Lancers did get most of it from both places.
Darko
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"Kalmin's a far"
"then I will"
"powers his"
I remember a comic where the Guardians and Zamarons were planning on turning into energy.
Bigking321
Not too sore, are you?
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So... this guy sent the freelancers to grab the blood, then sent Paul and company to the same spots to absorb the residue?
Odysseus2099
Versed in the lewd.
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They're in the Void Hound aren't they? I remember Zoat mentioning it as being in the Maltus system years ago. I suppose that's as good a place as any for making a Red ring.