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

Darko · Oct 3, 2023

Ardy said:
I wonder what happened to the hitlers, they were in Brazil so are they working for euanthe now?

Mr Zoat said:
Fled the country

The clone Hitler apparently then worked for the Alliance of the Just by helping them design some of their teleporter towers.

Ardy · Oct 3, 2023

Darko said:
The clone Hitler apparently them worked for the Alliance of the Just by helping them design some if thei teleprompter towers.

I can't tell if that's a joke or if that was mentioned somewhere and I forgot. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if that happened but…

Chaoswind · Oct 3, 2023

Ardy said:
I can't tell if that's a joke or if that was mentioned somewhere and I forgot. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if that happened but…

Darko said:
The clone Hitler apparently then worked for the Alliance of the Just by helping them design some of their teleporter towers.

It was mentioned when Paul went to check on the leadership of the alliance.

Also it wasn't the teleporters, it was the buildings that housed the teleporters. Our Brazilian Hitler is a world renowned architect not a scientist.

Darko · Oct 3, 2023

Chaoswind said:
Also it wasn't the teleporters, it was the buildings that housed the teleporters. Our Brazilian Hitler is a world renowned architect not a scientist

Yeah.

I remember Paul mentioning that the teleporters looked advanced and futuristic, but really weren't compared to ones on alien planets and I thought that he just designed their look.

Coda · Oct 4, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
It's an elaborate Aztek headdress

Aztec?

Chojin Patriarch said:
Don't be fooled, OL. In the right conditions, such a weapon could be horrifyingly effective.

Oh yeah, Cortes himself took a nasty hit from one that pierced his armor and was only stopped thanks to the gambeson underneath.

(I can only imagine it hit part of his armor that WASN'T a solid metal plate for that description to be accurate.)

Mr Zoat · Oct 4, 2023

Coda said:
Aztec?

Thank you, corrected.

Mr Zoat · Oct 4, 2023

17th February 2013
17:49 GMT

A claw goes through my chirurgical construct, shattering it and causing the spear to drop.

Construct mace.

He flap/dives, grabbing the spear and bring it to bear on me just as my mace comes around and shatters the head, knocking the haft down.

"Are you a man?"

He tries to vanish from sight, but with a heart pumping orange light in his chest I can still see him.

"Or a-" I sidestep his charge, mace knocking the closest claw away from my face as I let him continue past me. "-beast? Because if the answer-"

He bends slightly, and I think he's… Yes, he's shaking, and I can see the orange colour percolate through his body more thoroughly. And…

"-is 'no', things are going to get unpleasant."

Orange filaments flash out, drawing runes for concealment and mana-eating on the rocks around us for me to tie into my soul. Okay, if that doesn't-

"M-an."

-work, then…

"Say again?"

"Man." He shimmers back into full visibility, looking me in the eyes. "I am a man, not a beast. Who are you?"

"Orange Lantern. And there are a great many things I need to ask you, but let's stick to the most urgent for now. What do you know about the broadcaster?"

I point, because I'm fairly sure that the Aztecs didn't have a word for 'broadcaster'. He follows the direction with a quick flick of his eyes.

"I am not a BEAST!"

He lunges for his scabbard, grabs a new spear and hurls it in a single smooth motion. The spear flies true, striking the main armoured shaft of the broadcaster and failing to penetrate.

"Is that what it's telling you?"

"Yes! That I am a toy, a tool for the evil god that made it! That I have no other function!"

"What is your name, man?"

"My-." He winces, then raises his right claw to his mouth-. He's bitten his lips, then cut them with his claw as he tries to feel it. "My name is Qualpopoca."

"There's a heart beating inside it-."

"Of course there is."

"Is it yours?"

"No. They took my heart as an offering to Tlazolteotl."

"Then who does it belong to?"

"An old man. Thin, with pale skin like yours. I thought that they were honouring him; he was smiling as they opened his chest. None of us had such courage." He shakes his head. "But instead they just took his body like the rest, while they made me… This."

Someone overwhelmed by the Anti-Life? A city master, perhaps? Not like I can show him a picture of every old man in the world and ask which it was. But if he's still alive, I should try and take the heart with me.

"Why did they leave you here?"

"To slay anyone who interfered with it. I am glad that you stopped me, but if your magic only shields my mind for a little while… I don't have the courage to reincarnate, but I would rather cease existing than continue as an attack-beast."

"Alright, but I'm trying to make it permanent. I'm not destroying you completely unless I know your mind can't be brought back. The results could help your entire afterlife."

But given that I appear to have cut him off from the control system which uses his original heart…

I generate a construct crumbler ram, inscribe it with runes of energy absorption and nullification and hunger and connect it to my tattoos.

And then I slam it into the broadcaster, just under where I can hear the heartbeat. I'm used to these things being supernaturally tough, fortified by the souls all of the Anti-Life sufferers within the city and by Mannheim himself.

This time it goes right through.

I'm so surprised that for a moment I hesitate, then I dive forward and tear into the failed structure, ripping through the material containing the heart and pulling it free and ugh.

Mannheim Is.

Yeah, I can feel that. Whoever this was, they were Anti-Lifed hard. But at least it's not broadcasting any more. Let's.. see. I can't reach the suppression chain I have stored in subspace, but I could create something similar using my tattoos to drain the energy. The runic system isn't really designed for this, but it's the best I can do on short notice and without a magic user on hand. I forge a chain, inscribe the runes and forge a connection before clamping it around the heart. That makes it quieten down, but I can just about still hear it.

"Feeling any better?"

"It is no longer screaming in my mind, but that does not mean that I don't hear its echoes in my soul. I know that I am less than a man, and was even before they treated my form as a-" He looks at his right hand. "-rag-quilt."

"What makes you say that?"

"Do you know where you are?"

"The Aztec afterlife."

"Aztec. That is what the Spanish called us. We are the Mexica. And this is just one part of the afterlife." He looks around. "Mictlampa. A place of respite for defeated warriors. It's supposed to be a temporary reprieve before we resume our journey to rebirth."

"And you didn't do that?"

"By the time that was an option our empire had already been destroyed. I could not face being reborn as a servant to the people that defeated us. Forgetting our ways, and forgetting our gods."

Forgetting the gods that commanded you to ritually murder people. But I'll be nice.

"Empires rise and fall. Your people weren't always empire-rulers. My people used to rule the largest empire the Earth has ever seen, and all we have now is a few islands."

"Were you the one that made it fall?"

"Ah, no." I frown. "That happened in my grandparents' and great grandparents' generations. And I doubt that you could have been responsible for the Spanish."

"No. But it was my attack on one of their outposts that caused the war which saw our defeat."

I shake my head. "I think that was the way they were going anyway. Ritually killing people for a god was considered to be a very bad thing in Europe, and the last people who did it were destroyed for it. You might have triggered the war, but it was already inevitable."

His posture suggests that he's not convinced.

"But if you want to quiet the voice in your head telling you that is true, why not help me stop what is happening to what's left of your people." I break open the house I bricked up to contain the heartless woman and pull her still-recumbent body out. "If I understand your thought-."

"Yes. I will."

"Glad to hear it. Superboy, the broadcaster is destroyed. Come on down."

ptb_ptb · Oct 4, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
I shake my head. "I think that was the way they were going anyway. Ritually killing people for a god was considered to be a very bad thing in Europe, and the last people who did it were destroyed for it. You might have triggered the war, but it was already inevitable."

The war was already inevitable, but your MC is kidding himself if he really thinks that the sole, or primary, reason for that war was the human sacrifice thing they had going on. Land, money and power. If the Aztec gods were being worshiped via ritual display of floral arrangements their territory was still going to be on the Spanish shopping list for conquest.

Might have sped things up a bit, though. Having some truth to go with the propaganda to rile up the fanatics doesn't hurt.

Vaermina · Oct 4, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Were you the one that made it fall?"

"Ah, no." I frown. "That happened in my grandparents' and great grandparents' generations. And I doubt that you could have been responsible for the Spanish."

On the other hand.

He is responsible for the entire planet getting anti-lifed. And invaded by the Sheda. And a lot of people killed by Angels.

Chojin Patriarch · Oct 4, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
17th February 2013
17:49 GMT

A claw goes through my chirurgical construct, shattering it and causing the spear to drop.

Construct mace.

He flap/dives, grabbing the spear and bring it to bear on me just as my mace comes around and shatters the head, knocking the haft down.

Okay, still not certain if he's okay or not. He might just be very angry at what's been done to him, after all. But hopefully that little bit of lashing out was just that rage. If he stops now... Then you can talk to him.

"Are you a man?"

He tries to vanish from sight, but with a heart pumping orange light in his chest I can still see him.

Which must be a little unsettling, someone tracking you when you think they can't see you.

"Or a-" I sidestep his charge, mace knocking the closest claw away from my face as I let him continue past me. "-beast? Because if the answer-"

He bends slightly, and I think he's… Yes, he's shaking, and I can see the orange colour percolate through his body more thoroughly. And…

Okay, the tang is spreading. Hopefully that's enough to make him want to stop.

"-is 'no', this are going to get unpleasant."

Orange filaments flash out, drawing runes for concealment and mana-eating on the rocks around us for me to tie into my soul. Okay, if that doesn't-

Hope for peace, prepare for war.

"M-an."

-work, then…

Ah, good, he is coming to.

"Say again?"

"Man." He shimmers back into full visibility, looking me in the eyes. "I am a man, not a beast. Who are you?"

Excellent. He can talk, and he can stop fighting. All you need to make peace.

"Orange Lantern. And there are a great many things I need to ask you, but let's stick to the most urgent for now. What do you know about the broadcaster."

I point, because I'm fairly sure that the Aztecs didn't have a word for 'broadcaster'. He follows the direction with a quick flick of his eyes.

Wise, not taking his gaze from the obvious threat for more than a moment.

"I am not a BEAST!"

He lunges for his scabbard, grabs a new spear and hurls it in a single smooth motion. The spear flies true, striking the main armoured shaft of the broadcaster and failing to penetrate.

Well, one guess what it was telling him.

"Is that what it's telling you?"

"Yes! That I am a toy, a tool for the evil god that made it! That I have no other function!"

...Yeah, that's pretty much how Mannheim wants the world to be. He has not so grand an ambition as his Master, after all.

"What is your name, man?"

"My-." He winces, then raises his right claw to his mouth-. He's bitten his lips, then cut them with his claw as he tries to feel it. "My name is Qualpopoca."

Well, shit, I was joking about him having been around for Cortez.

"There's a heart beating inside it-."

"Of course there is."

Such is the nature of this place. You need power? You use a heart in it.

"Is it yours?"

"No. They took my heart as an offering to Tlazolteotl."

Good to have it confirmed that she's behind this. Or is at least acting as Mannheim's patsy.

"Then who does it belong to?"

"An old man. Thin, with pale skin like yours. I thought that they were honouring him; he was smiling as they opened his chest. None of us had such courage." He shakes his head. "But instead they just took his body like the rest, while they made me… This."

One of the Justified, then. Probably a minor wizard, to ensure his heart has the arcane oomph to serve as a power source.

Someone overwhelmed by the Anti-Life? A city master, perhaps? Not like I can show him a picture of every old man in the world and ask which it was. But if he's still alive, I should try and take the heart with me.

"Why did they leave you here?"

Isn't it obvious, OL? Why expend more than the minimum effort guarding a place you rule utterly?

"To slay anyone who interfered with it. I am glad that you stopped me, but if your magic only shields my mind for a little while… I don't have the courage to reincarnate, but I would rather cease existing then continue as an attack-beast."

"Alright, but I'm trying to make it permanent. I'm not destroying you completely unless I know your mind can't be brought back. The results could help your entire afterlife."

That's a brave thing to admit, friend. That you don't want to live again, for whatever reason.

But given that I appear to have cut him off from the control system which uses his original heart…

I generate a construct crumbler ram, inscribe it with runes of energy absorption and nullification and hunger and connect it to my tattoos.

Ah, removing the broadcast tower with extreme prejudice?

And then I slam it into the broadcaster, just under where I can hear the heartbeat. I'm used to these things being supernaturally tough, fortified by the souls all of the Anti-Life sufferers within the city and by Mannheim himself.

This time it goes right through.

...Anticlimactic. But pleasantly rewarding.

I'm so surprised that for a moment I hesitate, then I dive forward and tear into the failed structure, ripping through the material containing the heart and pulling it free and ugh.

Mannheim Is.

Careful, OL. Let's not play around with the Anti-Life-saturated mystical object?

Yeah, I can feel that. Whoever this was, they were Anti-Lifed hard. But at least it's not broadcasting any more. Let's.. see. I can't reach the suppression chain I have stored in subspace, but I could create something similar using my tattoos to drain the energy. The runic system isn't really designed for this, but it's the best I can do on short notice and without a magic user on hand. I forge a chain, inscribe the runes and forge a connection before clamping it around the heart. That makes it quieten down, but I can just about still hear it.

Let's hope it isn't flowing too strongly into him.

"Feeling any better?"

"It is no longer screaming in my mind, but that does not mean that I don't hear its echoes in my soul. I know that I am less than a man, and was even before they treated my form as a-" He looks at his right hand. "-rag-quilt."

And you have a right to be angry about that, friend. Perhaps you'll get a chance to use the changes they wrought upon you to hurt them back.

"What makes you say that?"

"Do you know where you are?"

Well... The setting is easy enough to make a reasonable guess at...

"The Aztec afterlife."

"Aztec. That is what the Spanish called us. We are the Mexica. And this is just one part of the afterlife." He looks around. "Mictlampa. A place of respite for defeated warriors. It's supposed to be a temporary reprieve before we resume our journey to rebirth."

Ah. Which explains the training grounds, of course. Not point letting your skills get rusty even if you'll be reborn as a baby.

"And you didn't do that?"

"By the time that was an option our empire had already been destroyed. I could not face being reborn as a servant to the people that defeated us. Forgetting our ways, and forgetting our gods."

Not that you'd be remembering that, really, but it would probably result in a young person with a resentment of 'the white man'.

Forgetting the gods that commanded you to ritually murder people. But I'll be nice.

"Empires rise and fall. Your people weren't always empire rulers. My people used to rule the largest empire the Earth has ever seen, and all we have now is a few islands."

Not that the British Empire wasn't down to commit a few atrocities. Like the Opium Wars. No-one came out of those smelling like roses.

"Were you the one that made it fall?"

"Ah, no." I frown. "That happened in my grandparents' and great grandparents' generations. And I doubt that you could have been responsible for the Spanish."

I mean... The article linked above pretty much says just that.

"No. But it was my attack on one of their outposts that caused the war which saw our defeat."

I shake my head. "I think that was the way they were going anyway. Ritually killing people for a god was considered to be a very bad thing in Europe, and the last people who did it were destroyed for it. You might have triggered the war, but it was already inevitable."

True, sooner or later, the Spaniards would have found a cassus belli.

His posture suggests that he's not convinced.

"But if you want to quiet the voice in your head telling you that is true, why not help me stop what is happening to what's left of your people." I break open the house I bricked up to contain the heartless woman and pull her still-recumbent body out. "If I understand your thought-."

And given his augmentations, he'll be a useful ally in any fighting to come.

"Yes. I will."

"Glad to hear it. Superboy, the broadcaster is destroyed. Come on down."

Now, how will he react to all these warrior women?

All right. A good result from a rough start. And now OL has some useful intel and a new ally with local knowledge. All it took was getting stabbed in the lung.

I have the feeling the destruction of that broadcaster won't have gone unnoticed, though. They're going to have to move fast, before someone more dangerous comes looking to find out what happened to it...

CTrees · Oct 4, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"-is 'no', this are going to get unpleasant."

"this is" or "things are"

Mquz · Oct 4, 2023

ptb_ptb said:
The war was already inevitable, but your MC is kidding himself if he really thinks that the sole, or primary, reason for that war was the human sacrifice thing they had going on. Land, money and power. If the Aztec gods were being worshiped via ritual display of floral arrangements their territory was still going to be on the Spanish shopping list for conquest.

Might have sped things up a bit, though. Having some truth to go with the propaganda to rile up the fanatics doesn't hurt.

Sure, but, like, without the human sacrifice bit the Aztec culture could have held out. The European culture genuinely believing that human sacrifice was a cardinal sin in part convinced locals to join them in the war against the Aztecs. That and them having guns. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire was very much a matter of the opportunity being there and them taking it. They didn't have any sort of territory or ability to build fortifications. There were 600 men in Cortez's army. If the Aztecs weren't kind of close to civil war allready and the only way for them to gain supplies and men was shipping them from overseas due to just the crushing amount of locals against them, they would not have succeeded.

moralrelativity · Oct 4, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
rather cease existing then continue as an attack-beast

then -> than

Ct613hulu · Oct 4, 2023

Mquz said:
Sure, but, like, without the human sacrifice bit the Aztec culture could have held out. The European culture genuinely believing that human sacrifice was a cardinal sin in part convinced locals to join them in the war against the Aztecs. That and them having guns.

It was actually a pretty unlikely chain of events that gave Cortez the opportunity to throw the Aztec Empire into chaos and then use native forces (enemy powers and rebellious tributary city-states) to takeover. There wasn't any unified plan from Spain as Cortez had quite literarily mutinied after the charter for his expedition was revoked. History could have gone very differently if Moctezuma had taken decisive action to respond to Cortez or even just not made the ridiculously stupid move that let him be taken captive and briefly let Cortez take direct control over the Aztect Empire by using him as a puppet. There would likely have been quite a delay before the Spanish sent another expedition as there would be hesitance on wasting their resources in a region that had already defeated one expedition.

There are too many variables to predict history after that but at the very least the conquest of the Aztec Empire wouldn't have been so sudden and complete. The Spanish might have gone with their original plan to establish trade relationships and focus on cultivating Cuba when they didn't have an overwhelming victory to serve as foundation for a more lasting plan of conquest. The Aztec Empire would still be in a pretty terrible position given their tremendous losses from European diseases (some estimates put it as around 70%) but they would almost certainly have eventually recovered if given enough time.

I found an interesting thread on R/WhatIf discussing this point. Note the key idea in the top-ranked post of how Moctezuma could have quite easily defeated the Cortez expedition and how that might have allowed the Aztec Empire to avoid European conquest.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoricalWhatIf/comments/19h5ld/what_if_cortes_was_defeated_by_the_aztecs/

Qualpopoca blaming himself for the fall of his home is still irrational as Monctezuma was the one making all the bad decisions. It is not as if Qualpopoca could have disobeyed orders to investigate what was disrupting the tributary payments of a subjugated state and violence was the only option after he stumbled into the Spanish outpost that had "liberated" the region.

Sceptic · Oct 4, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Now remove my knives and send them to subspace

Mr Zoat said:
I can't reach the suppression chain I have stored in subspace

He can put things in subspace but can't take them out?

Senevri · Oct 4, 2023

Vaermina said:
On the other hand.

He is responsible for the entire planet getting anti-lifed. And invaded by the Sheda. And a lot of people killed by Angels.

Well, sort of. Frankly, canon YJ events would not have happened as-is in this world anyway, and sheeda invasion was already on it's way... probably from before Paul appeared in the orbit.

Darko · Oct 4, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"An old man. Thin, with pale skin like yours.

Mr Zoat said:
Yeah, I can feel that. Whoever this was, they were Anti-Lifed hard

Hmm, maybe Vincent Edge.

He was an old man if I remember correctly and Manheim was with him fir a long time.

Darko · Oct 4, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
Yeah, that's pretty much how Mannheim wants the world to be. He has not so grand an ambition as his Master, after all.

He's pretty much the same.

He had Bear think that he was only good for destroying things.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Good to have it confirmed that she's behind this. Or is at least acting as Mannheim's patsy.

Maybe he had her enslaved and gave her hearts to empower her.

Chojin Patriarch said:
That's a brave thing to admit, friend. That you don't want to live again, for whatever reason.

He's had centuries to come to terms with himself.

Chojin Patriarch said:
True, sooner or later, the Spaniards would have found a cassus belli.

Like a reader above posted, anything would have worked.

The fact that the locals were walking on dirt would have been enough since the Spanish would have wanted that dirt.

Mr Zoat · Oct 4, 2023

CTrees said:
"this is" or "things are"

moralrelativity said:
then -> than

Sceptic said:
He can put things in subspace but can't take them out?

Thank you, corrected.

boo600 · Oct 5, 2023

ptb_ptb said:
The war was already inevitable, but your MC is kidding himself if he really thinks that the sole, or primary, reason for that war was the human sacrifice thing they had going on. Land, money and power. If the Aztec gods were being worshiped via ritual display of floral arrangements their territory was still going to be on the Spanish shopping list for conquest.

Might have sped things up a bit, though. Having some truth to go with the propaganda to rile up the fanatics doesn't hurt.

Ignoring the questions of Aztec history, this is Paul. He believes that Nazi-ism is a thing that the world has learned is Evil (as anyone who's looked at the news recently can tell you, it clearly hasn't - but to be fair, he escaped years before Trump and Brexit and Russia v Ukraine and every other bit of Western lunacy went hot), he openly wants an Empire, and the Renegade (clearly sarcastically) openly thought about how people tend to think that the place they're from is the best, and, as a product of the Greatest Civilization ever produced, he can understand why they might believe that foolish delusion.

Paul just responded by being stabbed with "and your weapon design is why your genocide was OK!"

He's not really politically correct. He's an enlightened orange lantern, he's a bit of an imperialist, and he has a few other flaws that round him out as a character. It's kinda nice; he openly goes for positions you wish more people would go for, he's helping with Uplifting Earth a bit, but at the same time, he's a bit different from the Superhero Ideal without being Homelander. It's a nice bit of nuance, and one that I respect Zoat for going through with.

Ngamer11 · Oct 5, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Contingency (part 23)
Contingency (supplementary, Renegade option)

I was rereading and found that these don't link to the correct posts.

Mr Zoat · Oct 5, 2023

17th February 2013
18:00 GMT

It's easier, here. I spotted that the first time Granddad brought me here, but it's getting more and more obvious. Miss Martian wasn't too happy about talking to the fire fomorians but we need to know exactly who's gone missing or we're just fumbling around in the dark, aren't we?

Wasn't expecting them to try setting me on fire right away, but it's elemental stuff. Don't use it all that much as a superhero because setting people on fire causes serious injuries and because the fire service usually get to fires quicker than I can. But right now three fomorians are trying to burn me to death and it's not working at all.

Actually…

Yeah, there we go. And now I can store up that fire for later.

I look through the fire towards Miss Martian, to try and-. Okay, I'm going to need to get her some flowers or something. I should have warned her-.

"Why won't you burn!"

I look up at the flaming giant with my face just like Granddad showed me for dealing with idiots. "'cause I'm a wizard. I don't fear your fire. I'm here because I want to help." I give them a moment, because I want them to have that in their heads for the next bit. "Did someone disappear? You're not the only ones."

It's a bit hard to tell when they're in walking bonfire mode, but I think they're all looking at the one who was talking for a decision. He ignores them and keeps looking at me. And I keep staring back at him. Am I too young for this to work? Does he think I'm an apprentice someone sent because they couldn't be bothered to come themselves?

Well then he can put up with it, can't he?

He takes a step back, then starts becoming less bonfire and more person. And he's old. His hair and beard are mostly white with just a little bit of red, and his beard covers most of his cheeks so there isn't much of his weathered skin visible. His eyes turn back last, and I can still see just a little bit of fire in the middle of his pupils.

"You're a Cornwall."

"I'm the current living Cornwall. And this…" Miss Martian isn't getting any closer, but she is out from behind that rock now. "This is Miss Martian."

"Hello!"

"Who else has been taken?"

"Just about every fomorian clan has lost someone. And that's just the ones where they live together. I don't know where all the hermits live so I can't check up on them. Who did you lose, and when did they get taken?"

"Brian. He's a child, he doesn't know enough to defend himself yet. He's been gone less than a day. We're searching for him ourselves."

That explains why they went for me. I'm the odd thing out. Interrogating me would have been more intelligent, but they just had a little boy kidnapped. So, be a hero and try reassuring them. "As far as we know, they're taking everyone alive. Where did you last see him?"

The old fomorian looks over to… A woman. Looks like she's been crying, and hasn't been sleeping. Maybe his mother?

"He was near by. I was tending the charcoal oven just over there." She points. "I turned my back turned for just a moment, and then he was gone and I couldn't find him!"

The old man nods. "She started shouting and we came running. I guess that's what you heard as well."

Actually it was Miss Martian hearing their panicking minds, but close enough. I just nod.

"Miss Martian, can you hear anything?"

She flies closer and her eyes start shining white. They go back to normal as she shakes her head. "No. I can't hear Brian or anyone who could have taken him."

Fuck! I hate missing person cases when it's kids! Alright, think. If she can't hear him then he could be dead-. But with his family searching they'd have found the body by now. Or he's gotten out of range super fast.

"Are you his mother?" The woman nods. "Alright. I need one of your hairs."

The old man scowls. "Wizard-."

I take a small knife off my belt, prick my right thumb so some blood ends up on the blade, and then I offer it to him. "Give it back when we're done, yeah?"

He blinks in surprise, then takes it and nods to the woman, who pulls a hair out of her head and hands it to me. I wrap it around my right forefinger and.. reach out for attachments. A hair's not the strongest link, but it's not bad and he's probably got a couple of her hairs on him-.

Yeah, got it.

I start running, feeling where his feet went. He was… Just running around, playing in the woods without going far enough away from the group to get worried. There are dangerous animals in Otherworld, but most of them know not to pick fights with fomorians.

**Robert?**

Right, I'm in a daze when I do this. Mind probably feels weird to her.

**I'm fine, M'gann.**

More trees, more nearly bare earth. I wouldn't say I'm going deeper but I'm definitely going away. Doing this spell tells me where he went, gives me impressions of what he was thinking but it doesn't tell me-

I stop where the trail ends.

-why.

A small clearing. Some plants on the ground, taking in light for as long as they can until the trees around it grow over the top or one germinates in the middle-. The trail ends. It doesn't go into the air. That leaves teleportation.

"You haven't-"

I can't feel a teleportation spell, so that leaves-.

"-found-."

I bring my arms together in front of me and then push them out to the sides, the earth in front of me splitting open in sympathy.

Yeah. They covered it over but they didn't actually collapse the hole in the earth completely.

"Magic gate. Not like the gnomes or elves use." I clench my right fist so the earthen slope reforms into steps and start walking down, M'gann floating down after me. "Don't know where it goes, but I can feel the trail right up to-."

To the blood on the little altar next to it.

"To the gate."

A stone archway, and the carvings look… Aztec? I don't really know South American history. I don't want to get confused between different groups. I glance back at the old man, who has led the family in following us down.

"Can I have that knife back?"

He silently nods and holds it out to me.

"Thanks."

I tap the bloody tip against the altar, trying to see-.

The blood vanishes, and the gate opens. Simple enough. Not all that secure, mind, but maybe it's guarded at the other end. Soon see-.

"We're coming."

"No." I shake my head. "We-."

"He's our blood."

"Miss Martian and me can hide in plain sight. Can you?" He doesn't immediately respond. "And I know that Brian went through there. I don't know that the person who took him did, or that they didn't come back. They could still be around here, so I need you to keep this end safe. If we need you, we can-" I burn up the hair around my finger before sheathing the knife. "-come back and get you. Okay?"

He keeps looking at me, then grudgingly nods.

"Thank you. Miss Martian?" She nods, floating just in front of the gate, and then goes invisible. I pull shadows and air around me as I do the same. "Go."

I run through the port-.

SHITSHITSHIT!

Ngamer11 · Oct 5, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
To the blood on the little altar next to it."

That quotation mark should be removed.

Mr Zoat · Oct 5, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
I was rereading and found that these don't link to the correct posts.

Ngamer11 said:
That quotation mark should be removed.

Thank you, corrected.

moralrelativity · Oct 5, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
I run through the port-. SHITSHITSHIT!

Thanks Mr Zoat, I was just wondering how the other teams were getting along.

Chojin Patriarch · Oct 5, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
17th February 2013
18:00 GMT

It's easier, here. I spotted that the first time Granddad brought me here, but it's getting more and more obvious. Miss Martian wasn't too happy about talking to the fire fomorians but we need to know exactly who's gone missing or we're just fumbling around in the dark, aren't we?

Ah, a chance to see what Rob 'Cornwall Boy' Marrack and M'gann have been up to. And no, I don't expect her to be too happy about spirit beings aligned with her kryptonite. Good idea to ask around the local tribes, but, well, some of them might not be in the best of moods.

Wasn't expecting them to try setting me on fire right away, but it's elemental stuff. Don't use it all that much as a superhero because setting people on fire causes serious injuries and because the fire service usually get to fires quicker than I can. But right now three fomorians are trying to burn me to death and it's not working at all.

Actually…

Fomorians being Celtic/Gaelic giants. Sometimes elementally aligned, as you can see here. If you're familiar with D&D, think of the Fire giants.

Yeah, there we go. And now I can store up that fire for later.

I look through the fire towards Miss Martian, to try and-. Okay, I'm going to need to get her some flowers or something. I should have warned her-.

How considerate of you. Better to clean up her trigger now, though.

"Why won't you burn!"

I look up at the flaming giant with my face just like Granddad showed me for dealing with idiots. "'cause I'm a wizard. I don't fear your fire. I'm here because I want to help." I give them a moment, because I want them to have that in their heads for the next bit. "Did someone disappear? You're not the only ones."

Hopefully they at least recognise his colours, and think of the Marrack clan.

It's a bit hard to tell when they're in walking bonfire mode, but I think they're all looking at the one who was talking for a decision. He ignores them and keeps look at me. And I keep staring back at him. Am I too young for this to work? Does he think I'm an apprentice someone sent because they couldn't be bothered to come themselves?

Well then he can put up with it, can't he?

Aye, don't let their assumed opinion of you get you down.

He takes a step back, then starts becoming less bonfire and more person. And he's old. His hair and beard are mostly white with just a little bit of red, and his beard covers most of his cheeks so there isn't much of his weathered skin visible. His eyes turn back last, and I can still see just a little bit of fire in the middle of his pupils.

"You're a Cornwall."

Finally. Now, you can get down to the business of talking about your troubles.

"I'm the current living Cornwall. And this…" Miss Martian isn't getting any closer, but she is out from behind that rock now. "This is Miss Martian."

"Hello!"

Heh. Still a bit nervous around them, even if they're not currently burning.

"Who else has been taken?"

"Just about every fomorian clan has lost someone. And that's just the ones where they live together. I don't know where all the hermits live so I can't check up on them. Who did you lose, and when did they get taken?"

Worrying. This is quite the potential disaster. At least they can point them in the direction of Mannheim.

"Brian. He's a child, he doesn't know enough to defend himself yet. He's been gone less than a day. We're searching for him ourselves."

That explains why they went for me. I'm the odd thing out. Interrogating me would have been more intelligent, but they just had a little boy kidnapped. So, be a hero and try reassuring them. "As far as we know, they're taking everyone alive. Where did you last see him?"

Yeah, being professional will count for you in their eyes.

The old fomorian looks over to… A woman. Looks like she's been crying, and hasn't been sleeping. Maybe his mother?

"He was near by. I was tending the charcoal oven just over there." She points. "I had by back turned for just a moment, and then he was gone and I couldn't find him!"

A very adult fear, realised. But worrying that they were able to move that quickly. Even if it was just luring him away to somewhere they could snatch him up...

The old man nods. "She started shouting and we came running. I guess that's what you heard as well."

Actually it was Miss Martian hearing their panicking minds, but close enough. I just nod.

I have no doubt any ruckus they make would be audible for quite a ways.

"Miss Martian, can you hear anything?"

She flies closer and her eyes start shining white. They go back to normal as she shakes her head. "No. I can't hear Brian or anyone who could have taken him."

So they're long gone. But how?

Fuck! I hate missing person cases when it's kids! Alright, think. If she can't hear him then he could be dead-. But with his family searching they'd have found the body by now. Or he's gotten out of range super fast.

"Are you his mother?" The woman nods. "Alright. I need one of your hairs."

Ah, clever. I bet that'd prove useful in other missing persons cases for him.

The old man scowls. "Wizard-."

I take a small knife off my belt, prick my right thumb so some blood end up on the blade, and then I offer it to him. "Give it back when we're done, yeah?"

A fair trade, given what you could do to him with a single drop of his blood.

He blinks in surprise, then takes it and nods to the woman, who pulls a hair out of her head and hands it to me. I wrap it around my right forefinger and.. reach out for attachments. A hair's not the strongest link, but it's not bad and he's probably got a couple of her hair on him-.

Yeah, got it.

And I doubt she'd be willing to offer blood in return. Not as upset as she is now.

I start running, feeling where his feet went. He was… Just running around, playing in the woods without going far enough away from the group to get worried. There are dangerous animals in Otherworld, but most of them know not to pick fights with fomorians.

**Robert?**

All right, Cornwall on the trail. Hopefully he can find some sign of where they went.

Right, I'm in a daze when I do this. Mind probably feels weird to her.

**I'm fine, M'gann.**

Probably feels like a muffled sound to her, like someone speaking through several thick blankets.

More trees, more nearly bare earth. I wouldn't say I'm going deeper but I'm definitely going away. Doing this spell tells me where he went, gives me impressions of what he was thinking but it doesn't tell me-

I stop where the trail ends.

Interesting. They would probably have seen something flying away, so... Down or Away?

-why.

A small clearing. Some plants on the ground, taking in light for as long as they can until the trees around it grow over the top or one germinates in the middle-. The trail ends. It doesn't go into the air. That leaves teleportation.

Yes, this looks like the perfect place for some fairy to take a child away. If they weren't already in fairyland.

"You haven't-"

I can't feel a teleportation spell, so that leaves-.

A fixed node, rather than a loose spell. Right. So where's the circle, the portal? Etched into the trees? Scraped into the ground under the leaves and shrubs?

"-found-."

I bring my arms together in front of me and then push them out to the sides, the earth in front of me splitting open in sympathy.

Tough luck for the plants, but they'll grow around it.

Yeah. They covered it over but they didn't actually collapse the hole in the earth completely.

"Magic gate. Not like the gnomes or elves use." I clench my right fist so the earthen slope reforms into steps and start walking down, M'gann floating down after me. "Don't know where it goes, but I can feel the trail right up to-."

Clever. And presumably they used similar earth magic to open and close the hole themselves.

To the blood on the little altar next to it.

"To the gate."

Well, there's a familiar sight.

A stone archway, and the carvings look… Aztec? I don't really know South America history. I don't want to get confused between different groups. I glance back at the old man, who has led the family in following us down.

"Can I have that knife back?"

Yes, I'd say he proved his trustworthiness.

He silently nods and holds it out to me.

"Thanks."

Now, what to do and where to go.

I tap the bloody tip against the altar, trying to see-.

The blood vanishes, and the gate opens. Simple enough. Not all that secure, mind, but maybe it's guarded at the other end. Soon see-.

Well, you do happen to have some rather large folks right there, if you don't mind asking them to help.

"We're coming."

"No." I shake my head. "We-."

Yeah, Rob, they seem very determined to go through.

"He's our blood."

"Miss Martian and me can hide in plain sight. Can you?" He doesn't immediately respond. "And I know that Brian went through there. I don't know that the person who took him did, or that they didn't come back. They could still be around here, so I need you to keep this end safe. If we need you, we can-" I burn up the hair around my finger before sheathing the knife. "-come back and get you. Okay?"

Okay, good point. That's what makes him such a better hero than his father is.

He keeps looking at me, then grudgingly nods.

"Thank you. Miss Martian?" She nods, floating just in front of the gate, and then goes invisible. I pull shadows and air around me as I do the same. "Go."

Let's hope those stealth effects hold up to the transit.

I run through the port-.

SHITSHITSHIT!

Well, that doesn't sound great.

So, a chance to see how the other are doing. And it looks like things are going well on Rob's end. Wonder if we'll see a similar chain of events on the third team's front? And whether they'll end up taking a portal too, only to drop right into the same spot as the others. It'll be interesting to see how the threads of plot recombine. And how much ass the Team will kick once they meet up.

Cuchulin · Oct 5, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
Fomorians being Celtic/Gaelic giants. Sometimes elementally aligned, as you can see here. If you're familiar with D&D, think of the Fire giants.

Giants mostly in mythical Greek sense of the term, they are just as easily compared to Norse Trolls.

Lord Ernest · Oct 5, 2023

Cuchulin said:
Giants mostly in mythical Greek sense of the term, they are just as easily compared to Norse Trolls.

I have to disagree, I would equate them more with the Jotnar if we are talking Norse mythology. They're a divine-like race, just not worshipped, and typically depicted as rivals to the main pantheon, i.e the Tuatha De Danann.

Darko · Oct 5, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
them and keeps look at me.

"looking"

Mr Zoat said:
some blood end up on the

"ends up"

Mr Zoat said:
couple of her hair on him-.

"hairs"

Mr Zoat said:
know South America history.

"American"

Mr Zoat · Oct 5, 2023

Darko said:
"looking"
"ends up"
"hairs"
"American"

Thank you, corrected.

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

Connoisseur.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Lord of nonsense

Connoisseur.

Versed in the lewd.

Dedicated ragequitter

Dedicated ragequitter

Getting out there.

Well worn.

Veteran Lurker

Chasing the ring

Versed in the lewd.

Recovering pendant.

Experienced.

Critical Irrationalist

Not too sore, are you?

Connoisseur.

Connoisseur.

Dedicated ragequitter

Welp

Experienced.

Dedicated ragequitter

Experienced.

Dedicated ragequitter

Recovering pendant.

Veteran Lurker

Versed in the lewd.

At the End...

Connoisseur.

Dedicated ragequitter

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