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

Mr Zoat · Monday at 5:04 PM

Silveraith said:
"legacy to color"; you can also change "allow" to "let" as an alternative.

Thank you, corrected.

I'm also a bit surprised you're using the american version of colour.

Lex is American.

RoninSword · Monday at 6:39 PM

The gold power ring Lex himself did show up, but he showed up without a gold power ring. He wqs from that fanfic where he had been dosed with a variant of fear toxin to cause paranoid tendencies. Part of that fics Guardians trying to use Warth as essentially a weapon storage location while using undercover manhunters to sabar9gw human advancement.
He showed up, looked for undercover manhuntets, couldn't find any, and then he never showed up again so who knows what happened to him. Left for a new parallel?

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 6:13 AM

15th April 2013
10:21 GMT -5

Well this brings back memories.

Bleez awkwardly tries to navigate the bayou foliage in the air, mud still dripping off her boots where she briefly gave up and tried walking. Donna waves around a broken branch as she channels Gaea's magic to try and work out where Swamp Thing is hiding. Kara-

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Empty!"

-is busy flying around checking his abandoned bodies, which will at least make this faster than the first time we tried this.

Pamela and Euanthe aren't interested in helping with farming, but South America will have enough fruiting plants to ensure that starvation shouldn't be an issue. Though reclaiming land… Might be. I don't know, maybe I'm just too set in my ways to accept shamanistic culture as an equal to material technological culture even in a world where it can be. Adrianna will similarly prevent starvation in North Africa, with enough produce left over to take the pressure off the Mediterranean basin and central Africa. Swamp Thing… Could be really helpful. Even if he's not prepared to go all-out, we could stop worrying about a significant chunk of the planet if he could do a little reforestation. Or design a super fruit or two for us.

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Empty!"

"Kara! Kar-"

And she's right in front of me, arms folded behind her back and smile beaming.

"-a! Can you tell how old any of the bodies are? He's around here a lot."

"Um. Kind of? He makes magic-plants, and I don't really know how fast they break down or go mouldy? But you said in your report that he looked different last time you saw him because he had a computer plant-brain, and I haven't seen any computer plant-brain bodies."

"Drat."

Her eyes widen. "And double drat!"

"No, no, it's 'drat, drat, and double drat'."

"But then you've already got two drats."

"No one's calling Dick Dastardly a rational agent. Donna, anything?"

She shakes her head. "He's used so much green magic that this whole area is inundated with it. I couldn't tell you where he's been recently. Maybe… You should have asked for Zatanna."

"No, she's working on the Atlantis situation, Garth and Tula are inside Atlantis and Robert is actually doing farm work. If you can't find him then you can't find him."

Super strength's lack of utility presenting a problem again. Donna did a remarkable job of keeping peoples' hopes up after the Broadcast as well as engaging and defeating the Justifiers without inflicting a single fatality, but there honestly isn't much she can do to help fix things in the aftermath. Which includes using Cronus's blessing on farmlands because apparently being ritually castrated messed up his ability to do anything… Generative.

"Did his wife say anything?"

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Empty!"

I shake my head. "Hasn't seen him since the Broadcast. Which isn't all that unusual because he sometimes loses track of things, except that he'd stopped doing that recently thanks to his newly functional brain. Might have been the fungoids, might have been the Anti-Life, might… Actually have been something entirely unrelated."

Bleez awkwardly drifts a little closer. "I don't think I understand how big a deal this is."

"We don't understand how big a deal this is. The Parliament of Trees has been missing since the Broadcast, but earthly plant life has carried on just fine."

I very vaguely remember something from the Hellblazer comics about the Parliament being killed, and Swamp Thing refusing to allow plants to regrow in the place they died because he was tired of them messing him about and wanted to make a point. It could.. be that there's no problem because Euanthe and Pamela are doing the required part of the job. Euanthe was clear that she didn't think the Parliamentarians died, and I assume that she could feel that.

"So..?"

"So a head of state being kidnapped doesn't necessarily cripple the state, but they're probably going to know a lot of things you don't really want their kidnappers to know, plus kidnappers aren't usually particularly nice people."

"Okay, so what is he?"

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Empty!"

"Once upon a time, there was a man named Doctor Alec Holland. His life's work was the creation of a formula which would allow plants to grow in extremely adverse conditions. For that, he was repeatedly shot, doused in his own work, set on fire and then…"

Huh. That could work.

"'And then'..?"

"And then thrown into the swamp where he died. Then the semi-conscious magical world of plants copied his mind and created a new life form with that as its mind but with a body made of plant matter which it could control." I smile. "With me so far?"

"Why didn't they just use..? Him? If he was trying to help plants…"

"Because apparently that's not how it works, and I don't know anyone who wants to study a magical mechanism which involves burning someone to death. So he wandered around for a bit, survived John Constantine by being able to switch to new bodies due to being a magic energy based life form rather than an intelligent plant, killed the most evil man on the planet, married his niece, fought some other things and tried to make a life for himself." I sigh. "In theory, he should have been hit by the Anti-Life while the Parliament should have been at least a little insulated due to not being in the material universe. But it looks like something else happened to them."

Bleez frowns thoughtfully. "Does Thanagar have a Parliament of Trees?"

"Probably not. As I understand it, your thaumosphere is weaker than ours. You might have had a single weak plant god, but I imagine that the Seven Devils would have taken action to prevent a consciousnesses like that emerging."

"Can we borrow one of yours like we did Vulcan?"

Huh. Um.

"That might be possible, if your plant life is similar enough to ours for them to be compatible. I'm not sure they'd want to go, though. If we track them down, you're free to-"

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Full!"

"-ask."

The water in front of me erupts as Kara throws… A man-shaped mass into it.

"Found him!"

Ah. Well, that was simple enough. "Swamp Thing?"

The mass under the water moves slowly towards us, head breaking the surface-.

Hunched back, and a head that merges into the torso. Swamp Thing hasn't ever used a body that shape.

"Who am I talking to?"

Weakly yellow-glowing eyes take us in, what little emotion I can see in the face suggesting uncertainty.

"Can you understand me?"

The creature stops, focusing on me a little. "Yes. Around here they used to call me the Good Gumbo Man. When I was human… No. The human I was made from, he was called Alexander Olsen."

"Swamp Thing? The Parliament? What happened?"

"Ah yes. That. Nothing good, I'm afraid."

Ngamer11 · Tuesday at 6:22 AM

Mr Zoat said:
The creature stops, focusing on me a little. "Yes. Around here they used to call me the Good Gumbo Man. When I was human… No. The human I was made from, he was called Alexander Olsen."

"Swamp Thing? The Parliament? What happened?"

"Ah yes. That. Nothing good, I'm afraid."

The fact that Swamp Thing's predecessor is active again is a big indicator that something big happened to both the Parliament of Trees and Swamp Thing. At least now that plot thread will be resolved soon.

moralrelativity · Tuesday at 6:47 AM

Mr Zoat said:
around a broken brance

brance -> branch

Mr Zoat said:
left over to take the pressure of the Mediterranean basin

of -> off

Lord Ernest · Tuesday at 6:48 AM

Mr Zoat said:
"No, she's back to school

The heck is she doing back in school? Are the other members of the Team back in school as well? Why? With the current situation I would have expected an "all hands on deck" for the Justice League and its affiliates.

In the first place, how are schools back in operation? The government is in shambles but school administration isn't? There are places in danger of possible starvation and some others can just open their schools?

I don't know why but hearing schools being opened so soon after the world as we know it almost ended, figuratively speaking, doesn't sit right. Maybe I disliked my school too much.

Chojin Patriarch · Tuesday at 6:52 AM

Mr Zoat said:
15th April 2013
10:21 GMT -5

Well this brings back memories.

Bleez awkwardly tries to navigate the bayou foliage in the air, mud still dripping off her boots where she briefly gave up and tried walking. Donna waves around a broken branch as she channels Gaea's magic to try and work out where Swamp Thing is hiding. Kara-

Heh. What, the first time he went looking for Swamp Thing, with the Team lending a hand? At least this group is comprised of all fliers, so no need to worry about getting stuck in the mud.

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Empty!"

-is busy flying around checking his abandoned bodies, which will at least make this faster than the first time we tried this.

Though in most cases, it's easier to tell his fresh bodies from his older ones. The latter are usually less green.

Pamela and Euanthe aren't interested in helping with farming, but South America will have enough fruiting plants to ensure that starvation shouldn't be an issue. Though reclaiming land… Might be. I don't know, maybe I'm just too set in my ways to accept shamanistic culture as an equal to material technological culture even in a world where it can be. Adrianna will similarly prevent starvation in North Africa, with enough produce left over to take the pressure off the Mediterranean basin and central Africa. Swamp Thing… Could be really helpful. Even if he's not prepared to go all-out, we could stop worrying about a significant chunk of the planet if he could do a little reforestation. Or design a super fruit or two for us.

Now, whether he'd bother to do so for beings of the Red...

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Empty!"

"Kara! Kar-"

And she's right in front of me, arms folded behind her back and smile beaming.

Sheesh. At least give a person some warning when you practically teleport like that.

"-a! Can you tell how old any of the bodies are? He's around here a lot."

"Um. Kind of? He makes magic-plants, and I don't really know how fast they break down or go mouldy? But you said in your report that he looked different last time you saw him because he had a computer plant-brain, and I haven't seen any computer plant-brain bodies."

...How big a difference could it make? He's not going to have, say, a giant exposed mass of brain.

"Drat."

Her eyes widen. "And double drat!"

Heh. She's learning to curse a little, eh? At least, in the family-safe kind of cursing old cartoons use.

"No, no, it's 'drat, drat, and double drat'."

"But then you've already got two drats."

"No one's calling Dick Dastardly a rational agent. Donna, anything?"

At least they have taste. I still prefer Captain Haddock's method: String together various foreign-sounding words that at first sight look rude, but aren't.

She shakes her head. "He's used so much green magic that this whole area is inundated with it. I couldn't tell you where he's been recently. Maybe… You should have asked for Zatanna."

"No, she's back to school, Garth and Tula are inside Atlantis and Robert is actually doing farm work. If you can't find him then you can't find him."

Bit at odds and ends for magical support, eh? I suppose the mystical big guns of the league are busy elsewhere, of course.

Super strength's lack of utility presenting a problem again. Donna did a remarkable job of keeping peoples' hopes up after the Broadcast as well as engaging and defeating the Justifiers without inflicting a single fatality, but there honestly isn't much she can do to help fix things in the aftermath. Which includes using Cronus's blessing on farmlands because apparently being ritually castrated messed up his ability to do anything… Generative.

Kind of fits with the myth, certainly.

"Did his wife say anything?"

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Empty!"

Kara's almost like ASMR isn't she? Just a quiet background noise...

I shake my head. "Hasn't seen him since the Broadcast. Which isn't all that unusual because he sometimes loses track of things, except that he'd stopped doing that recently thanks to his newly functional brain. Might have been the fungoids, might have been the Anti-Life, might… Actually have been something entirely unrelated."

...Hmm. Is it possible he's gone walkabout off-planet. That's a thing he did in the comics.

Bleez awkwardly drifts a little closer. "I don't think I understand how big a deal this is."

"We don't understand how big a deal this is. The Parliament of Trees has been missing since the Broadcast, but earthly plant life has carried on just fine."

Just because the engineers are asleep or missing, doesn't mean the engine will stop running (Fortunately, no deadman's switches here.) It might start to play up, but the Green can generally get on with things by itself.

I very vaguely remember something from the Hellblazer comics about the Parliament being killed, and Swamp Thing refusing to allow plants to regrow in the place they died because he was tired of them messing him about and wanted to make a point. It could.. be that there's no problem because Euanthe and Pamela are doing the required part of the job. Euanthe was clear that she didn't think the Parliamentarians died, and I assume that she could feel that.

Still, you can't rely on the two of them forever. Sooner or later, one or the other will grow old and pass on. Maybe they'll form the core of a new parliament, maybe not...

"So..?"

"So a head of state being kidnapped doesn't necessarily cripple the state, but they're probably going to know a lot of things you don't really want their kidnappers to know, plus kidnappers aren't usually particularly nice people."

Such as the mechanics of elemental avatars.

"Okay, so what is he?"

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Empty!"

Still going in the background, I see. Must be a lot of old bodies around.

"Once upon a time, there was a man named Doctor Alec Holland. His life's work was the creation of a formula which would allow plants to grow in extremely adverse conditions. For that, he was repeatedly shot, doused in his own work, set on fire and then…"

Huh. That could work.

OL, if you're thinking of recreating the original process, don't.

"'And then'..?"

"And then thrown into the swamp where he died. Then the semi-conscious magical world of plants copied his mind and created a new life form with that as its mind but with a body made of plant matter which it could control." I smile. "With me so far?"

"Why didn't they just use..? Him? If he was trying to help plants…"

Given that each of the parliament's members were an animal transformed by fire, I suspect it was something of a tradition.

"Because apparently that's not how it works, and I don't know anyone who wants to study a magical mechanism which involves burning someone to death. So he wandered around for a bit, survived John Constantine by being able to switch to new bodies due to being a magic energy based life form rather than an intelligent plant, killed the most evil man on the planet, married his niece, fought some other things and tried to make a life for himself." I sigh. "In theory, he should have been hit by the Anti-Life while the Parliament should have been at least a little insulated due to not being in the material universe. But it looks like something else happened to them."

Which raises all manner of concerns.

Bleez frowns thoughtfully. "Does Thanagar have a Parliament of Trees?"

"Probably not. As I understand it, your thaumosphere is weaker than ours. You might have had a single weak plant god, but I imagine that the Seven Devils would have taken action to prevent a consciousnesses like that emerging."

If anything, I expect one of the Seven devils fills the role.

"Can we borrow one of yours like we did Vulcan?"

Huh. Um.

There's bound to be some amongst the many nature deities of Earth. And perhaps one or two might be willing to relocate temporarily in hopes of new worshippers...

"That might be possible, if your plant life is similar enough to ours for them to be compatible. I'm not sure they'd want to go, though. If we track them down, you're free to-"

"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Full!"

Given that Swamp Thing was able to build a body on a planet of techno-organic creatures... It's possible? Heh. Wonder if that world was anything like Cybertron in its more psuedo-organic variations...

"-ask."

The water in front of my erupts as Kara throws… A man-shaped mass into it.

I hope he's not too upset by the manhandling.

"Found him!"

Ah. Well, that was simple enough. "Swamp Thing?"

Wonder how she told it apart form the rest? Something about the 'liveliness' of the plant matter? At least one variation of Kryptonians could see life energies...

The mass under the water moves slowly towards us, head breaking the surface-.

Hunched back, and a head that merges into the torso. Swamp Thing hasn't ever used a body that shape.

It sounds more simian than humanoid. Does it walk on all fours with the knuckles?

"Who am I talking to?"

Weakly yellow-glowing eyes take us in, what little emotion I can see in the face suggesting uncertainty.

Well, given he appeared to be napping when Kara so rudely hauled him out of his garden-bed...

"Can you understand me?"

The creature stops, focusing on me a little. "Yes. Around here they used to call me the Good Gumbo Man. When I was human… No. The human I was made from, he was called Alexander Olsen."

Interesting.

"Swamp Thing? The Parliament? What happened?"

"Ah yes. That. Nothing good, I'm afraid."

Drat, drat and double drat.

Well, that's an ominous statement to end a segment on. Hopefully he'll explain himself tomorrow, though looking at his background, he may struggle to find the right words for a little bit. So, then: Bets on what happened? Mass ego-suicide by the parliament thanks to Anti-Life? Catatonic state induced by it? Or a war with the Red or the Grey within the mystical realms they inhabit, perhaps...

The water in front of my erupts as Kara throws… A man-shaped mass into it.

The water in front of me erupts as Kara throws… A man-shaped mass into it.

Vaermina · Tuesday at 7:16 AM

Given this took him functionally five minutes to do.

And given how important the Green is.

Why the fuck did it take him so long to do this?

Darko · Tuesday at 7:27 AM

Mr Zoat said:
In theory, he should have been hit by the Anti-Life while the Parliament should have been at least a little insulated due to not being in the material universe. But it looks like something else happened to them."

Manheim did have Black Orchid as a prisoner and was doing something to her.

Maybe he used her to infect the Green.

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 8:19 AM

moralrelativity said:
brance -> branch
of -> off

Chojin Patriarch said:
The water in front of me erupts as Kara throws… A man-shaped mass into it.

Thank you, corrected.

Lord Ernest said:
The heck is she doing back in school?

Learning stuff.

Are the other members of the Team back in school as well?

Most of them.

Why? With the current situation I would have expected an "all hands on deck" for the Justice League and its affiliates.

Doing what? They were all in the field while Mannheim ruled the world, but 'societal breakdown' isn't something that you can punch in the face. The only one it would really make sense to take out of school to help with that is Beryl.

In the first place, how are schools back in operation? The government is in shambles but school administration isn't? There are places in danger of possible starvation and some others can just open their schools?

Yes. While most countries today have a comprehensive education system controlled by the national government, it's perfectly possible to have schools run on their own. National government isn't anything like as essential as it like you to think that it is.

I don't know why but hearing schools being opened so soon after the world as we know it almost ended, figuratively speaking, doesn't sit right. Maybe I disliked my school too much.

A school needs teachers and children. The teachers probably need to be paid, but they usually don't care who signs the cheques. Anything else might be useful but is unnecessary.

thebishop8 · Tuesday at 8:28 AM

The title of the episode being Codominion makes me wonder if the Dominators are involved, but I don't feel strongly about that guess.

Here's a better one: Anton Arcane. He's still unaccounted for as a prisoner missing from the Tower of Fate. We've even had Cranius show up this episode, which makes this guess feel a little stronger.

Neruz · Tuesday at 9:16 AM

Vaermina said:
Given this took him functionally five minutes to do.

And given how important the Green is.

Why the fuck did it take him so long to do this?

I would assume because there was no actual sign of anything going wrong; plants were still growing and the environment was still operating as intended, therefore there wasn't really any rush to address the issue.

Bud-E · Tuesday at 9:55 AM

I thought Zatanna quit school. She got a GED when Paul was in space unless this is college.

CTrees · Tuesday at 11:30 AM

thebishop8 said:
The title of the episode being Codominion makes me wonder if the Dominators are involved, but I don't feel strongly about that guess.

Their computers are involved, at least. Dominator malware infecting Alec Holland before the anti-life? He did apparently use the computer to make himself smarter.

Chaoswind · Tuesday at 11:52 AM

Bud-E said:
I thought Zatanna quit school. She got a GED when Paul was in space unless this is college.

This is true in both the renegade and the paragon timelines, even if the details of how it was done are slightly different.

BartlettMagic · Tuesday at 12:26 PM

Mr Zoat said:
"Swamp Thing? The Parliament? What happened?"

"Ah yes. That. Nothing good, I'm afraid."

oh boy, a Swamp Thing story. how exciting! probably one of my favorite aspects of this fic.

Mr Zoat said:
"Empty!" … "Empty!" … "Full!"

"-ask."

The water in front of me erupts as Kara throws… A man-shaped mass into it.

"Found him!"

insufferable

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 1:17 PM

Bud-E said:
I thought Zatanna quit school. She got a GED when Paul was in space unless this is college.

Are you sure?

Chaoswind said:
This is true in both the renegade and the paragon timelines, even if the details of how it was done are slightly different.

Oh. Okay. Let me change that...

Ardy · Tuesday at 1:59 PM

Mr Zoat said:
Are you sure?

Oh. Okay. Let me change that...

Also, what's up with mercury, er the mercury shadow/clone thing. Haven't seen her since their I'll-fated attempts to reach hades during the anti-life crisis

Ngamer11 · Tuesday at 1:59 PM

Mr Zoat said:
Oh. Okay. Let me change that...

I see the change, but now there's a new error.

Mr Zoat said:
"No, she's working on the Atlantis situationl, Garth and Tula are inside Atlantis and Robert is actually doing farm work. If you can't find him then you can't find him."

That should say 'situation'. Also, I don't remember if it was ever mentioned that Garth and Tula were in Atlantis when the Anti-Life Equation hit. Can anyone find any mention of this? As well as any mention on Aqualad's status?

Edit: I found the part that says Zatanna got her GED in the Paragon timeline, Episode 65: Converse, but I'm still not sure where it says she also did this in the Renegade timeline.

Mr Zoat said:
"No! I had the G-Gnomes give me a full high school education and passed my General Equivalency Diploma instead. I mean, spending three more years going to high school just felt like such a waste of time when I could learn everything in a couple of hours instead." Mister Zatara's gaze makes it clear who he blames for that bit of lateral thinking. Not that she's wrong… "And I want to be a stage magician and a superhero anyway, and high school doesn't teach that. So were you here for something special?"

Chaoswind · Tuesday at 3:11 PM

Ngamer11 said:
I see the change, but now there's a new error.

That should say 'situation'. Also, I don't remember if it was ever mentioned that Garth and Tula were in Atlantis when the Anti-Life Equation hit. Can anyone find any mention of this? As well as any mention on Aqualad's status?

Edit: I found the part that says Zatanna got her GED in the Paragon timeline, Episode 65: Converse, but I'm still not sure where it says she also did this in the Renegade timeline.

Renegade Zatanna became a goddess of magic and eventually took Grayven suggestion to download the entire school/college curriculum using genomorph telepahy (just like Paragon Zatanna), to save herself some time and focus on her god given nature.

God its been years since that entire thing was even plot relevant, I think when the negade dealth with the beast with no name that wanted to kill everyone.

CrazyNoVa · Tuesday at 3:27 PM

Mr Zoat said:
"Not everyone wants to be a squid-man."

Oh, I think I might know a guy…

View: https://youtu.be/zDRUn_wvWWA

Mr Zoat said:
"No." He shakes his head, eyes dropping momentarily to his glass. "I came close to needing to have a word with Starman about his… Relationship, but he did the right thing before it got that far."

What is he talking about? Do I even want to know?

PDV · Tuesday at 4:33 PM

Mr Zoat said:
situationl

extra l

RoninSword · Tuesday at 5:03 PM

thebishop8 said:
Here's a better one: Anton Arcane. He's still unaccounted for as a prisoner missing from the Tower of Fate. We've even had Cranius show up this episode, which makes this guess feel a little stronger.

Cranius has been very explicit about how Arcane is dead and not just imprisoned.

CrazyNoVa said:
What is he talking about? Do I even want to know?

Remember in Justice Society International how he cheated with the first Canary? It looks like he got close to doing that but didnt actually in this parallel.

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 5:06 PM

Ardy said:
Also, what's up with mercury, er the mercury shadow/clone thing. Haven't seen her since their I'll-fated attempts to reach hades during the anti-life crisis

Who? The SI has a clone left and has no idea where it is, if that's what you mean.

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'situation'.

Thank you, corrected.

RoninSword · Tuesday at 5:15 PM

Mr Zoat said:
Who? The SI has a clone left and has no idea where it is, if that's what you mean.

Mercury created that sending rather then take 5 minutes to actually speak to Paul. Presumably it decided to stay in Otherworld since it already decided that it wasn't going to go back and merge with Mercury.
Mercury has presumably come to terms that part of her psyche isn't returning.

Chaoswind · Tuesday at 6:07 PM

Mr Zoat said:
Who? The SI has a clone left and has no idea where it is, if that's what you mean.

Thank you, corrected.

He is talking about the hippie commune with the shaman lady that grew drugs.

She showed up when Paul was looking for fairy rings.

RoninSword said:
Mercury created that sending rather then take 5 minutes to actually speak to Paul. Presumably it decided to stay in Otherworld since it already decided that it wasn't going to go back and merge with Mercury.
Mercury has presumably come to terms that part of her psyche isn't returning.

thebishop8 · Tuesday at 8:24 PM

CTrees said:
Their computers are involved, at least. Dominator malware infecting Alec Holland before the anti-life? He did apparently use the computer to make himself smarter.

The plant computer Alec Holland was using was apparently designed independently of Dominator tech:

Mr Zoat said:
"You're wondering about this? I once made a bio-computer to try and work out what to do about Sprout. But I didn't know much about magic. Doctor Isley helped me design this. Thinking is far easier, now. I know I should keep my head down. Don't worry about it. Merry Christmas."

RoninSword said:
Cranius has been very explicit about how Arcane is dead and not just imprisoned.

Being dead doesn't mean he can't show up, especially because he has before:

Mr Zoat said:
"SWAMP THING!"

And the sound. Damp but strong, rotting but vibrant. I know who it is even before Swamp Thing bellows back.

"Arcane!"

And I remember the Demon, his tormentor and later lover, whom their demonic overseers bonded him to after she enabled one of his escapes. Don't remember her name, but that does go some way to explain how he's back again. Bet Cranius and his mob will start shitting themselves if this gets back to Aberrance.

Mr Zoat said:
After Nabu sent Dark Druid back to… I'm not actually sure. Wherever he put the wizards after Roanoke Island. His tower, presumably. That caused the unlife to go out of the severed torso of Deacon Blackfire so I took a couple of pictures as proof and then disintegrated it. Anyway, he did that and my team went a-hunting while Swamp Thing and Diana battered what was left of Arcane into submission. Then Nabu blasted that down into a vaguely humanoid lump of meat and plant and sent it away to join his partner in crime.

So, Nabu imprisoned Anton Arcane, Dark Druid, Onomatopoeia, Wizard, Blackbriar Thorn, and Felix Faust in the Tower of Fate. The latter three were infected with the Anti-Life and were their when Paul and Co. fought their way into the Tower and defeated John Quinn. Onomatopoeia showed up briefly while the Earth was Anti-Lifed before disappearing again. Anton Arcane and Dark Druid are still M.I.A.

CTrees · Tuesday at 9:11 PM

thebishop8 said:
The plant computer Alec Holland was using was apparently designed independently of Dominator tech:

Ah, looks like I misinterpreted the bit in Codominion 2 that mentioned Isley and Swamp Thing. In my defense, it's been almost two years since the chapter you quoted, and I forgot just how many different plant-based computers were independently designed in this story.

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 9:24 PM

thebishop8 said:
The plant computer Alec Holland was using was apparently designed independently of Dominator tech:

He did, but it was huge and inefficient. What he has now is much better.

Mr Zoat · 2024-07-03T07:46:36+0100

15th April 2013
10:26 GMT -5

"The oldest of us knew that the…" He unfocuses for a moment, raising his arms and growing leaves and garlands of vines. A human taking that posture would struggle to maintain it, but I suppose things are rather different for a tree.

He doesn't resume talking.

"Mister Gumbo Man?"

"Oh. Yes. I'm sorry. I've been a tree for so long that I've… Forgotten some things."

I glance at Donna, but she seems content to let me take the lead. "Like what?"

"How to be human. I've been a plant for longer than my memories tell me I was a man. Everyone I knew is long dead, now, feeding the roots. It feels natural to plant myself and watch the world. That is why Alec Holland was chosen. I struggle to move, but I can move slowly if I must."

Kara frowns. "Why did they pick you, then?"

"Speaking is something I remember where the rest of the Parliament has long forgotten. Choosing someone new on short notice would be too much of a risk."

I nod. "Not that many naturalists being burned to death." And… During that 'Sprout' mess, wasn't there someone random..? Bloke who got roped into it? "So where is Swamp Thing?" I frown. "And why aren't you going to Euanthe with this?"

"She is not one of us. She doesn't think like us. She does not share our responsibilities."

"But you don't work for a higher power. Do you?"

"Only the Green."

"Then aren't your responsibilities more.. self-appointed than anything?"

He stares at me blankly. "I suppose. But that doesn't mean that they're not important."

Literal jumped-up elementals. Marvellous. On the other hand, Swamp Thing has been nothing but helpful to me so far.

"And I don't know where Swamp Thing is. Before the Anti-Life spread across the Earth, the eldest of us called upon him to leave the physical world for a time. They were concerned that-."

"Wait a second." Donna holds up her right hand. "Are you saying that you knew that was going to happen?"

"I didn't. The eldest did. They dwell deeply within the roots of the world. Many things are known to-."

"And you didn't think about maybe telling the rest of us?"

"No. The affairs of meat are none of ours."

"And you thought that Swamp Thing was just going to abandon his wife?"

"It would have been better. He was powerless to protect anyone, and the creatures of the Grey nearly broke through."

"You're welcome, by the way."

"You helped them? Why?"

"No, I stopped them. I sent them back to their own realm."

"Oh." … "Thank you."

"So he couldn't cope with the Anti-Life, the fungoids attacked, and..?"

"He tried to flee, but he didn't arrive with us. We're not sure where he is."

"And the Parliament? Where are they?"

"Deep in the Green, repairing it and hiding it. The Anti-Life reached us, too."

I sigh. "They've already started work on a replacement, haven't they?"

Ah, that's new. I've never see a tree look sheepish before.

"Um."

"Is it called the Sprout? When we get Swamp Thing back, is the Parliament going to try and get him to eat it because they don't want two champions active at once? Again?"

Gumbo Man manages to frown in confusion. "Did one of the others get here first?"

"I read the script. Why are you even trying to get Swamp Thing back if you've already started on a replacement?"

His leaves waggle for a moment.

"Because we're vulnerable without him. It takes time to grow a new sprout. And because I like Swamp Thing, and he's not ready to move on from the material world yet."

"And the new Sprout?"

"The plant world is in constant conflict for water, soil and light. The sprout is just a bundle of green energy at the moment. Consuming it is perfectly natural. It may even make him stronger."

"That's up to him, though I doubt that he'll go for it. But you're sure that he vanished after the Anti-Life broadcast?"

"Yes."

"And you haven't heard from him since?"

"I have not. We have not."

"Did you see or feel anything that might let you know where he went?"

"No."

In the comics, Swamp Thing escaped being burned to death by the Sunderland Corporation while Lex Luthor's jammer preventing him from using floramancy by switching to a different 'frequency' and matching himself to alien plant life. If he's done that here, then we're going to need a serious magician to track him. Or we could just leave him; while it might be useful to have him around, it's not strictly essential.

Okay, it's not worth searching the galaxy, but if he's still in Sector 2814 then we should be able to find him. There are only so many planets with plant-like life.

"Do you at least know where he was when he left?"

"Oh. Yes."

"Can you take us there?"

He looks at me, and then down to where he's taken root.

Kara perks up. "No problem! I can pick up this whole-."

"Can you tell us where he was?"

"Yes. North of here. I will mark it out for you."

"In what-" His eyes dim and his tree-like body hardens. "-way." I sigh. "Kara, could you-?"

A blur as she flies away, and a blur as she flies back

"There's a really tall tree with really pretty flowers that wasn't there before."

"Then that's where we're going next."

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

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