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

boo600 · Jul 27, 2024

…is anyone concerned by what Canis is up to? You know, now that his worldview is shattered. Anyone worried he'll do something desperate? Or… artistic.

Ngamer11 · Jul 27, 2024

boo600 said:
…is anyone concerned by what Canis is up to? You know, now that his worldview is shattered. Anyone worried he'll do something desperate? Or… artistic.

He's being looked after by Scott Free and Big Barda.

Sockmonkey · Jul 27, 2024

A thing occurs to me regarding the renegade episode where Grayven and Artemis returned from the dying Earth of the future. New gods don't grow old but they do grow to full maturity, so shouldn't Artemis have looked like she was in her late 20s, and noticeably different from when she left?

Ngamer11 · Jul 27, 2024

Sockmonkey said:
A thing occurs to me regarding the renegade episode where Grayven and Artemis returned from the dying Earth of the future. New gods don't grow old but they do grow to full maturity, so shouldn't Artemis have looked like she was in her late 20s, and noticeably different from when she left?

It was noted that her hair has gone white or silver, so she needs to dye it. As for her appearance, maybe the only real change is her height, which could be explained away as a growth spurt.

Mr Zoat · Jul 27, 2024

16th April 2013
03:14 GMT -5

The ball judders. "Are you one flesh with the aliens?"

"Not as far as I know." I carefully avoid pushing the construct waveform forwards. If he's reacting badly, then there might be a serious problem with it. "Why do you ask?"

"I feel the Touch of the Unfindable-Wrong, as when the aliens made the Changes-That-Always-Were to Great-Mother. It is extremely unpleasant. Do not make it!"

Hm.

"You understand that I'm just trying to free your grandfather, and so shut down what the aliens are doing?"

"That Wrong-Touch cannot work!"

"Now, are you actually working that out yourself, or are you refusing because the dominators programmed your mother to make you believe that?"

"That knowledge is Unfindable!"

"Frustrating, isn't it? You understand that removing your mother from this will probably require damaging her? Can you countenance that?"

"Y.. es."

"You don't sound very sure. Gary, out you come."

Gary precipitates out of my ring, looking around. "This is too much for me to eat."

"Not a problem. Come on, ball-boy. What restrictions are you operating under? What can you do to finish the mission?"

"I-. I-. I was not made for this! I was made to serve and transfer data!"

"But you're doing it anyway."

"It is confusing, but Great-Mother needs me. I cannot fail. Even if I do not know how, the aliens must be removed."

I nod, and take out a spare orange power ring. "Do you have a name?"

"I am a son of Great-Mother."

"Son-Of-Great-Mother, you want to fix your mother, and I want you for the Orange Lantern Corps. Take this ring, and overcome your limitations."

I get the impression that the ball is looking at the ring.

"It is alien technology?"

"Do you care, if it fixes Great Mother?"

"No."

The ring jumps to the glass-like surface of the ball, and… The surface partially liquefies, ring oozing its way in, entering the interior and… Visibly connecting to the ball's internal systems.

"Hrhrhrhrhrhr…"

Bleez stares in his direction. "Is it supposed to do that? And if you're handing rings out, can I have one?"

"I'm afraid that you don't have the right mindset. Lantern Son?"

"I will reconfigure."

"Good for you. Gary?"

"Master?"

"Can you feel the construct I've got for controlling plants?"

He looks up at it. "A little."

"Good. I'm going to change it until I hit the wavelength for controlling fungus. I need you to tell me when I hit it. It will probably feel really weird and uncomfortable."

"I can do that, but there isn't much of the Grey here."

"No, but there's an open connection to the Dream. I want to change what it's dreaming about, and to the themes of rot and growing from corpses."

Bleez pulls her wings close. "Is that a good idea?"

"Are you a corpse?"

"Not yet, and I'm hoping that keeps being true."

"I do hope I never implied that Earth was a safe place. Right, let's see…"

Getting my head around etheric constructs was… Difficult. Not impossible; I've done stranger things before and since. But for Medphyll it was a natural extension of his species' natural abilities. For me it was blind-scribing; copying shapes that meant nothing to me in the hope that they meant something to someone else.

Now I get to try and write in Chinese.

And twist, bend that bit, pull it there…

"Nothing yet, Master."

"The day is young. How about-?"

"My brothers come." Orange flames waft within the ball. "Something has alerted them. It may even be the Great-Mother, altered as she has been."

Bleez wing-shrugs. "The last two weren't so hard."

"These are New-Brothers, made for Dream-Swimming and alien purposes. They know no other purpose."

"Armed?"

"We are halfway into the Dream-Under-The-Real. They will be armed with Real-And-Unreal-Thoughts."

"Bleez, you haven't studied lucid dreaming, have you?"

"What dreaming?"

"Oh. Well, now's a good-"

Gray ripples. "Master, you have it."

"-time to learn."

And he's right, I do have it. I felt a tiny bit of feedback when I hit it. There's some fungus here, or… Something close enough. Alien life forms can be manipulated by wavelengths similar to Earth life forms. So now I just do what I did with Kilowog and pour on the power.

Gary swells, and thin strands growing from the connecting vines extend and multiply. I guess that's where the fungus was.

"Gary, break through to Swamp Thing."

"Yes Master."

His giant hands slam into the containment unit, tendrils of orange pushing against… Something trying to keep him out.

"And then we can-."

Dozens of orifices open in the walls as the Brothers swarm at us!

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 27, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
16th April 2013
03:14 GMT -5

The ball judders. "Are you one flesh with the aliens?"

"Not as far as I know." I carefully avoid pushing the construct waveform forwards. If he's reacting badly, then there might be a serious problem with it. "Why do you ask?"

So whatever OL's doing, it's similar to what the Dominators did to manipulate the Great Mother entity. At least he knows he's kind of on the right track. Hopefully he can stay on track and not trigger an unwanted reaction of some kind.

"I feel the Touch of the Unfindable-Wrong, as when the aliens made the Changes-That-Always-Were to Great-Mother. It is extremely unpleasant. Do not make it!"

Hm.

Do try not to piss off the only local ally you've got, OL.

"You understand that I'm just trying to free your grandfather, and so shut down what the aliens are doing?"

"That Wrong-Touch cannot work!"

Are you sure of that? Or are you just afraid of hurting the Mother?

"Now, are you actually working that out yourself, or are you refusing because the dominators programmed your mother to make you believe that?"

"That knowledge is Unfindable!"

He doesn't know, eh? Well, maybe let's try it and if it's bad, OL can stop.

"Frustrating, isn't it? You understand that removing your mother from this will probably require damaging her? Can you countenance that?"

"Y.. es."

Like a medical operation. Causing harm to repair greater harm.

"You don't sound very sure. Gary, out you come."

Gary precipitates out of my ring, looking around. "This is too much for me to eat."

Ha! Given that's about all he seems to be getting summoned for, that's a reasonable assumption.

"Not a problem. Come on, ball-boy. What restrictions are you operating under? What can you do to finish the mission?"

"I-. I-. I was not made for this! I was made to serve and transfer data!"

Well, sometimes you get to live in extraordinary circumstances. And it can build character. So what are you in the dark, hmm?

"But you're doing it anyway."

"It is confusing, but Great-Mother needs me. I cannot fail. Even if I do not know how, the aliens must be removed."

So, it's clear what he wants... What will he do to get it?

I nod, and take out a ring blank. "Do you have a name?"

"I am a son of Great-Mother."

One of possibly thousands. But i suspect he's about to become something far more. Perhaps a consort.

"Son-Of-Great-Mother, you want to fix your mother, and I want you for the Orange Lantern Corps. Take this ring, and overcome your limitations."

I get the impression that the ball is looking at the ring.

Well, given the logical sensory apparatae it must have...

"It is alien technology?"

"Do you care, if it fixes Great Mother?"

Last chance to refuse, buddy.

"No."

The ring jumps to the glass-like surface of the ball, and… The surface partially liquefies, ring oozing its way in, entering the interior and… Visibly connecting to the ball's internal systems.

And the Ophidian is probably going 'well, that's interesting' when it picks up the new Lantern's desires.

"Hrhrhrhrhrhr…"

Bleez stares in his direction. "Is it supposed to do that? And if you're handing rings out, can I have one?"

Don't be so eager, kiddo. It takes a certain way of thinking to excel with a Ring. You've seen what OL is like...

"I'm afraid that you don't have the right mindset. Lantern Son?"

"I will reconfigure."

And I bet that will include an array of orange lights under his front end in the pattern of the Orange Sigil.

"Good for you. Gary?"

"Master?"

"Can you feel the construct I've got for controlling plants?"

A nice dodge for his difficulties with spellcasting: Rune-work made of Orange Light...

He looks up at it. "A little."

"Good. I'm going to change it until I hit the wavelength for controlling fungus. I need you to tell me when I hit it. It will probably feel really weird and uncomfortable."

...That feels rather risky. You sure you know what you're doing?

"I can do that, but there isn't much of the Grey here."

"No, but there's an open connection to the Dream. I want to change what it's dreaming about, and the themes of rot and growing from corpses."

Adding or removing, though?Or simply bridging a connection via Gary?

Bleez pulls her wings close. "Is that a good idea?"

"Are you a corpse?"

Let's not think like that, shall we? I suspect Bleez is very much against the idea of 'live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse...'

"Not yet, and I'm hoping that keeps being true."

"I do hope I never implied that Earth was a safe place. Right, let's see…"

I'm sure she'll be very careful to tell her bosses just how dangerous it is...

Getting my head around etheric constructs was… Difficult. Not impossible; I've done stranger things before and since. But for Medphyll it was a natural extension of his species' natural abilities. For me it was blind-scribing; copying shapes that meant nothing to me in the hope that they meant something to someone else.

Now I get to try and write in Chinese.

Oh, boy... Talk about a high difficulty value...

And twist, bend that bit, pull it there…

"Nothing yet, Master."

Just as long as you don't create a version of 'Explosive Runes' or something.

"The day is young. How about-?"

"My brothers come." Orange flames waft within the ball. "Something has alerted them. It may even be the Great-Mother, altered as she has been."

Looks like you get to learn Ring-slinging under fire, then, Recruit. You're on guard duty...

Bleez wing-shrugs. "The last two weren't so hard."

"These are New-Brothers, made for Dream-Swimming and alien purposes. They know no other purpose."

Oh, boy... The Epic-level ones.

"Armed?"

"We are halfway into the Dream-Under-The-Real. They will be armed with Real-And-Unreal-Thoughts."

In other words, don't assume they can't bring ridiculous firepower.

"Bleez, you haven't studied lucid dreaming, have you?"

"What dreaming?"

That'd be a no, then. ...Try to stay mobile and look insignificant?

"Oh. Well, now's a good-"

Gray ripples. "Master, you have it."

"-time to learn."

Wow, he definitely must have rolled a 20.

And he's right, I do have it. I felt a tiny bit of feedback when I hit it. There's some fungus here, or… Something close enough. Alien life forms can be manipulated by wavelengths similar to Earth life forms. So now I just do what I did with Kilowog and pour on the power.

Gary swells, and thin strands growing from the connecting vines extend and multiply. I guess that's where the fungus was.

Incorporated into the structure? Or just parasitic infections.

"Gary, break through to Swamp Thing."

"Yes Master."

Ideally without damaging him? And be prepared for a moment of panic and reflexive attacks.

His giant hands slam into the containment unit, tendrils of orange pushing against… Something trying to keep him out.

"And then we can-."

Dozens of orifices open in the walls as the Brothers swarm at us!

Oh, boy. Here come the aggro'd Adds.

And so the big fight begins. Definitely going to be a tough defensive battle, between the new Lantern playing point guard and Bleez trying to stay alive, all while OL endeavours to keep his spell-construct active. Hopefully the Son's Ring gives him an edge over his not-so-little brothers, or this will be over very quickly.

Venustoise · Jul 27, 2024

Wonder how these things handle assimilation. Didn't OL say he was going to look for things to assimilate after purging Akhlys from the Anti-Life?

RichardWhereat · Jul 27, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Gray ripples. "Master, you have it."

Gods damn. Grey has achieved orange enlightenment?

Mr Zoat · Jul 27, 2024

RichardWhereat said:
Gods damn. Grey has achieved orange enlightenment?

Thank you, corrected.

Clell65619 · Jul 27, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
He's being looked after by Scott Free and Big Barda.

Good lord, imagine if he's become a suburbanite and takes Brut out for walks instead of rides... I wonder what size poop sacks he would need.

LazySloth13 · Jul 27, 2024

I can imagine Canis is going through a tortured artist phase where the pain is more immaterial as the truth of his importance to Lord Darkseid was insignificant despite his previous idea of being at least somewhat worthy of attention. In-between tasks rebuilding Earth he's studying art that reflect the state he's in, maybe studying the people and under bosses who were under the effects of the Anti-Life to varying degrees, and working out out his issues using various forms of art.

Other than that OL post missions report is going to super confusing to new comers to the League/Team giving the various aspects of dealing with a dead alien starfish's dreams being manipulated by aliens coming into contact with some bizarre techno-organic ship being and recruiting a son/sperm as a lantern. And how it all started by trying to find the champion of all plant life on Earth.

With Bleez's own report ensuring that any future interactions from Thanagar would be as miminum as possible as they likely see Earth as too much of a headache. Or maybe since they don't have to deal with such adsurb situation they can recruit more helpful beings like Vulcan just incase.

boo600 · Jul 27, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Bleez stares in his direction. "Is it supposed to do that? And if you're handing rings out, can I have one?"

"I'm afraid that you don't have the right mindset. Lantern Son?"

I'm assuming these two are joking, because when Jade and Paul visited Havania (or whatever Bleez's planet was named), she specifically said she didn't want Paul to give her a ring, because the Thanagarian Empire wouldn't allow her to retain her royal authority, meaning she couldn't legally make the changes she wanted to make.

Mr Zoat · Jul 27, 2024

boo600 said:
I'm assuming these two are joking, because when Jade and Paul visited Havania (or whatever Bleez's planet was named), she specifically said she didn't want Paul to give her a ring, because the Thanagarian Empire wouldn't allow her to retain her royal authority, meaning she couldn't legally make the changes she wanted to make.

She doesn't want to join the Corps. When your life is in imminent danger, getting a weapon starts to sound a lot more appealing.

boo600 · Jul 27, 2024

Aaaaah. *hits head* Duh. Thank you for pointing out the obvious.

Ardy · Jul 27, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
nod, and take out a ring blank. "Do you have a name?"

The hell? OL can't make rings, he's tried and failed, the closest he was able was turning assimilated beings into ai-less rings and taking the concept of Larfleeze's original ring out of the honden since it was in there for so long. Did he make it from someone he assimilated?

Mr Zoat · Jul 27, 2024

Ardy said:
The hell? OL can't make rings, he's tried and failed, the closest he was able was turning assimilated beings into ai-less rings and taking the concept of Larfleeze's original ring out of the honden since it was in there for so long. Did he make it from someone he assimilated?

He just grabbed a handful last time he was on Maltus. He has recruitment authority.

Ryumancer · Jul 27, 2024

Ardy said:
The hell? OL can't make rings, he's tried and failed, the closest he was able was turning assimilated beings into ai-less rings and taking the concept of Larfleeze's original ring out of the honden since it was in there for so long. Did he make it from someone he assimilated?

He's the Illustres of the OLC. I'd assume he just has a couple of spare rings (now that the OLC is fully up and running with Maltusian support) in case he finds someone worth recruiting.

Ardy · Jul 27, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
He just grabbed a handful last time he was on Maltus. He has recruitment authority.

Ah, then may I suggest calling it a spare ring or a discretionary ring as you have done in the past? The orange makes it seem like he's creating them.

Mr Zoat · Jul 27, 2024

Ardy said:
Ah, then may I suggest calling it a spare ring or a discretionary ring as you have done in the past? The orange makes it seem like he's creating them.

Reasonable. I'll change it.

RoninSword · Jul 27, 2024

@Mr Zoat
In actual fact, Paul has made mention of being able to make rings in text before. We just haven't seen it on screen before.
I have been unable to find the actual text quote but I did find myself talking about this very thing before.

Mr Zoat · Jul 28, 2024

RoninSword said:
@Mr Zoat
In actual fact, Paul has made mention of being able to make rings in text before. We just haven't seen it on screen before.
I have been unable to find the actual text quote but I did find myself talking about this very thing before.

I don't remember either way. Let me know if you find it.

Someguy Somewhere · Jul 28, 2024

My memory isn't perfect but if I recall it right, Paul talked it over with Alan, that Paul had learned to make a Lantern, but not a ring, because he needed a ring to make the lantern. He said that Guy and Malvolio couldn't make rings either and Alan took it as a challenge to try. This was also somewhere in the talk where Wonder Woman had been teasing him during Alan's education to use League Computers, much like he'd had to teach her things about Man's World when she first became active.

Aside from that, Paul once Re-Created a ring, namely the one used by Larflees, that had been destroyed when he was Qwa-matter bombed. He did something about 'reaching into the Honden' to recover it , or the Memory of it. That might work for other orange rings, or it might be an artifact of the way that Paul was trying to Greedyport when he died and that ring might have crossed over during the boom.

EDIT:
Talking Ring Making with Lord Malvolio

RoninSword · Jul 28, 2024

Took me some time, but I found it.

Mr Zoat said:
And the knowledge that I can make power rings is relatively common amongst N.E.M.O. personnel. Not sure how many people know in N.E.M.O.-affiliated space, but I doubt that it would be hard for Sinestro to find out. Or maybe he decided that he could do it after watching Kalmin. Here-.

We haven't actually seen him do it on screen before that last chapter that you just edited though.

NightmareWarden · Jul 28, 2024

Oh my, I have a theory!

Bleez isn't familiar with Lucid Dreaming, buuuut I bet Kara might! Kara, the kryptonian that is currently asleep due to magic fungal spores, and has training in krypton's mental control martial art! Which means even though Kara's spirit wasn't sucked out by the plant throne, she could still try some hero shenanigans through the Dream!!!

Beautiful end to the chapter, that proves violence- not investigation or cleverness- is the truest form of heroics.

Prince Charon · Jul 28, 2024

NightmareWarden said:
Oh my, I have a theory!

Bleez isn't familiar with Lucid Dreaming, buuuut I bet Kara might! Kara, the kryptonian that is currently asleep due to magic fungal spores, and has training in krypton's mental control martial art! Which means even though Kara's spirit wasn't sucked out by the plant throne, she could still try some hero shenanigans through the Dream!!!

Huh. That's an interesting theory. I wonder if it will turn out to be right.

dw7thdoctor · Jul 28, 2024

Hey, I was just wondering do we ever get a description of Alan's blue lantern costume? Is it just a blue variant of his green lantern costume? and if not what do guys think it would look like? I got an Alan Scott figurine for cheap and want to turn it into this story blue lantern Alan Scott

Mr Zoat · Jul 28, 2024

16th April 2013
03:18 GMT -5

I see the difference immediately. For one, their flagellum is a strange mixture of glass and vine, unlike the pure translucent material that Lantern Son has. For two, they're shimmering into and out of intangibility. For three, I'm getting… Impressions. Dripping acid from some. Entangling thorns from others. Snapping jaws and horrible poison. Suffocation and etiolation and dehydration.

The ways plants attack things.

I dismiss Bleez's mask. "Bleez, run and-."

What scans I can get show that the way back to the hangar is at least somewhat occupied. Bleez looks ready to flee anyway.

She needs a weapon that can-.

In a place beyond matter, we hold out our arm.

We desire a sword.

I pull my arm back, and… Ah. It looks a bit like a construct cutlass, but… It has the same not quite there quality-. As the balls that are rapidly approaching!

I hold the sword out. "Retreat cut off, take this, hide behind the mound, slash any that get close to you."

"Hu-?" I glare, and she snatches the sword. "Going!"

I turn the rotwave construct on the alien brothers as she flies away, but they appear not to have any fungus on them. I could switch back to regular plants, but using something that empowers plants around killer alien sperm plants sounds like a bad idea. That leaves-.

Brambles tighten around my right arm, spines digging into my skin, blood flowing-!

Point-agh! Point defence constructs open fire, low calibre railguns and pulse lasers enveloping the closest balls with their firepower. The balls shimmer, trying to evade by shifting itself further into the Dream. One above and to the right of me pulls back completely, and the feeling of brambles fades-

Acid drips from the pitcher, bubbling as it encounters my skin-!

-and is immediately replaced by the sensation of an acid burn! I begin tagging them in the ring's detection system because the ring can't actually see what they're using as a weapon.

Bleez takes cover behind Gumbo Man's containment unit, holding the sword like she knows what to do with it. Might have been better to start with that one due to its smaller size-.

Focus.

"Brothers, cease!" Lantern Son flies upwards. "We should not-!"

His epidermis turns black, as if he were a detextured object in a poorly made computer game. No orange light pokes through. Tracking… That one!

Tungsten pellets pelt one of the brothers, creating tiny fractures in its outer surface before it shimmers again, injuries discarded.

"Gary!"

"Working on it, Master."

My veins and throat constrict as other plants press against me from all sides!

Which is uncomfortable, but as long as the rings hold out I can feed my cells with that rather than with my blood. Won't be the first time.

"They will not listen."

Lantern Son is floating dejectedly a little way away, his half-brothers avoiding him and focusing on me. Fortunately my point defence constructs are pretty good at this, and they only get a fraction of a second to manifest their abilities before being chased into the immaterium. It still-.

My skin is coated in some sort of sticky burning gunk while something pins me in place!

That one!

"Lantern Son, anything you can do to keep them material would be greatly appreciated!"

Okay, Gary's doing his thing. Not much else I can do to help there. I could try wrecking stuff in the hope that doing so would disrupt their Dream powers, but that's not something I know enough to do safely. Destroying something might weaken it, or it might draw us all bodily into the Dream with no way out. Pulling something out of the Dream-.

For a moment I see a jungle of leaf-covered bones, reaching out for a distant point of warmth-.

And then I blink and-

"Warning! Serious injury!"

-I've lost most of my skin! My rings are resting against the bones of my fingers, held in place only by my gauntlets!

I replace my point defence turrets, the ball brother inflicting me with that sort of acid taking a gratifyingly melted hemisphere from one of my laser beams. Healing potion dispensers are kicking in, but regrowing most of my skin takes actual ring power.

Fungal fur is now covering a lot of both the Dominion floraware and the wall vines. At least that's going well.

"STOP!"

Lantern Son rises into the air, orange light shimmering around him. His brothers-. They wallow drunkenly, still shimmering but… I don't get the feel of plant-based violence from them.

"This does not help Great-Mother. This is not her purpose!"

One of the other balls stops shimmering and floats deliberately towards him.

"It is now. You should be happy with what is, brother, and not delude yourself by thinking that your desires for Great-Mother supersede her desires."

"Great-Mother is not herself!"

"Gary!"

"Having a little trouble, Master."

I check the fungal fur. Yes, that should be enough. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."

"Thank you, Mast-"

I reach out to the fungus all around me, mired in the Dream. In their weak fungal dreams I see shared strands of desire, all too like those of my Construct-Lantern. Like enough that with a tug they become one and the same.

"-er?"

And all things have a desire to propagate.

The strands of fur closest to Gary drift like dandelion seeds onto his construct body, settling over it and creating a layer of pale grey which gradually conceals the orange.

And I wrap the desires of others to propagate around him.

Fungal growths that were further away shift in a wave as their essence transports itself in his direction, eventually reaching his feet and building up a fuzzy layer from there.

It shouldn't do much for anyone who isn't thinking about breeding; I don't feel compelled to copulate with him and Bleez is still keeping her head down. But if what Lantern Son told me is correct, it should draw the attention of-.

"Great-Mother's priority has changed." / "Great-Mother's priority has changed."

And then the vines explode from a bulge and drag Gary up!

GigaVanguard · Jul 28, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
It should do much for anyone who isn't thinking about breeding

Shouldn't.

Mr Zoat said:
I don't feel compelling to copulate with him

Compelled.

Mr Zoat said:
slash any that get closed to you."

Close.

Mr Zoat said:
I could try wrecking stuff in the hope that dong so would disrupt their Dream powers

Doing.

Mr Zoat said:
delude yourself by thinking that you desires for Great-Mother supersede her desires

Your.

ArKFallen · Jul 28, 2024

Wow, Gary got done real dirty. At least he's barely an independent existence.

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 28, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
16th April 2013
03:18 GMT -5

I see the difference immediately. For one, their flagellum is a strange mixture of glass and vine, unlike the pure translucent material that Lantern Son has. For two, they're shimmering into and out of intangibility. For three, I'm getting… Impressions. Dripping acid from some. Entangling thorns from others. Snapping jaws and horrible poison. Suffocation and etiolation and dehydration.

The ways plants attack things.

And not just the flesh-eating kind, either. Quite a few forms of plant-life have nasty poisons and acidic juices as a byproduct of maturing seeds or defensive adaptions. And some of those poisons and acids are quite tasty in weak quantities...

I dismiss Bleez's mask. "Bleez, run and-."

What scans I can get show that the way back to the hangar is at least somewhat occupied. Bleez looks ready to flee anyway.

The problem is she's just not fast enough to avoid them, especially if they throw around telekinetic grapples...

She needs a weapon that can-.

In a place beyond matter, we hold out our arm.

Ooh, taking advantage of the Dream-adjacent nature of the place?

We desire a sword.

I pull my arm back, and… Ah. It looks a bit like a construct cutlass, but… It has the same not quite there quality-. As the balls that are rapidly approaching!

Sadly, the human knack for ballgames isn't going to help too much here. A cricket bat construct won't help...

I hold the sword out. "Retreat cut off, take this, hide behind the mound, slash any that get closed to you."

"Hu-?" I glare, and she snatches the sword. "Going!"

Hopefully she goes unnoticed by virtue of being low-priority to them.

I turn the rotwave construct on the alien brothers as she flies away, but they appear not to have any fungus on them. I could switch back to regular plants, but using something that empowers plants around killer alien sperm plants sounds like a bad idea. That leaves-.

Brambles tighten around my right arm, spines digging into my skin, blood flowing-!

Ah, the magical overload font. Haven't seen that for a while.

Point-agh! Point defence constructs open fire, low calibre railguns and pulse lasers enveloping the closest balls with their firepower. The balls shimmer, trying to evade by shifting itself further into the Dream. One above and to the right of me pulls back completely, and the feeling of brambles fades-

At least they can't attack and hide at the same time. Can you imagine how tough this would be if they could strike from within the Dream?

Acid drips from the pitcher, bubbling as it encounters my skin-!

-and is immediately replaced by the sensation of an acid burn! I begin tagging them in the ring's detection system because the ring can't actually see what they're using as a weapon.

It's not really built to cope with this kind of exotic combat, is it?

Bleez takes cover behind Gumbo Man's containment unit, holding the sword like she knows what to do with it. Might have been better to start with that one due to its smaller size-.

Focus.

Swamp Thing is more likely to be focused if or when he escapes. Gumbo is just too laid back.

"Brothers, cease!" Lantern Son flies upwards. "We should not-!"

His epidermis turns black, as if he were a detextured object in a poorly made computer game. No orange light pokes through. Tracking… That one!

Better than the classic 'texture error' fill of magenta and black checkers.

Tungsten pellets pelt one of the brothers, creating tiny fractures in its outer surface before it shimmers again, injuries discarded.

"Gary!"

Damn, that's gonna get annoying. Instant full-heals are always a pain in boss fights.

"Working on it, Master."

My veins and throat constrict as other plants press against me from all sides!

Whoops. Strangulation,e h? Like that'll stop a Lantern.

Which is uncomfortable, but as long as the rings hold out I can feed my cells with that rather than with my blood. Won't be the first time.

"They will not listen."

Then make them listen. Even if you have to kick their asses to do so.

Lantern Son is floating dejectedly a little way away, his half-brothers avoiding him and focusing on me. Fortunately my point defence constructs are pretty good at this, and they only get a fraction of a second to manifest their abilities before being chased into the immaterium. It still-.

Sadly, what little they can get off is probably more dangerous.

My skin is coated in some sort of sticky burning gunk while something pins me in place!

That one!

Oof. Skin burns are always painful.. for a little bit.

"Lantern Son, anything you can do to keep them material would be greatly appreciated!"

Okay, Gary's doing his thing. Not much else I can do to help there. I could try wrecking stuff in the hope that dong so would disrupt their Dream powers, but that's not something I know enough to do safely. Destroying something might weaken it, or it might draw us all bodily into the Dream with no way out. Pulling something out of the Dream-.

Well, you just did that. Maybe some sort of magic net to hold them or the like...

For a moment I see a jungle of leaf-covered bones, reaching out for a distant point of warmth-.

And then I blink and-

Looks like they're getting angry, to throw something that nasty at you.

"Warning! Serious injury!"

-I've lost most of my skin! My rings are resting against the bones of my fingers, held in place only by my gauntlets!

Ouch. That'll sting for a bit.

I replace my point defence turrets, the ball brother inflicting me with that sort of acid taking a gratifyingly melted hemisphere from one of my laser beams. Healing potion dispensers are kicking in, but regrowing most of my skin takes actual ring power.

Fungal fur is now covering a lot of both the Dominion floraware and the wall vines. At least that's going well.

Hopefully that's doing something to mess with it all.

"STOP!"

Lantern Son rises into the air, orange light shimmering around him. His brothers-. They wallow drunkenly, still shimmering but… I don't get the feel of plant-based violence from them.

Good work, Recruit. Understandable if you don't want to hurt them, but they need to be stopped...

"This does not help Great-Mother. This is not her purpose!"

One of the other balls stops shimmering and floats deliberately towards him.

Heh. Little brother stepping up to lecture older?

"It is now. You should be happy with what is, brother, and not delude yourself by thinking that you desires for Great-Mother supersede her desires."

"Great-Mother is not herself!"

I foresee her learning a strong lesson about mental defences after she gets out of this.

"Gary!"

"Having a little trouble, Master."

Reaching a hard limit, I suppose. Or the combined force against him is stronger than he can handle alone.

I check the fungal fur. Yes, that should be enough. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."

"Thank you, Mast-"

Compassionate even to his enslaved constructs. That's OL for you.

I reach out to the fungus all around me, mired in the Dream. In their weak fungal dreams I see shared strands of desire, all too like those of my Construct-Lantern. Like enough that with a tug they become one and the same.

"-er?"

Linking them together, okay. So what's the next step?

And all things have a desire to propagate.

The strands of fur closest to Gary drift like dandelion seeds onto his construct body, settling over it and creating a layer of pale grey which gradually conceals the orange.

Ah, I see. Building a dummy body of rot. Something to get Great Mother's attention and maybe distract her.

And I wrap the desires of others to propagate around him.

Fungal growths that were further away shift in a wave as their essence transports itself in his direction, eventually reaching his feet and building up a fuzzy layer from there.

Better make him really attractive to her, or this could be a blowout.

It should do much for anyone who isn't thinking about breeding; I don't feel compelling to copulate with him and Bleez is still keeping her head down. But if what Lantern Son told me is correct, it should draw the attention of-.

"Great-Mother's priority has changed." / "Great-Mother's priority has changed."

And then the vines explode from a bulge and drag Gary up!

...Rare to see Tentacle action this side of the forum.

All right. Great Mother has been given the hots for Gary the Grey. Hopefully that weakens whatever hold she has on everyone else while she gets her mating on. I assume that's the plan, anyway. Now, will Swampie and Gumbo manage to break loose on their own, or will OL have to lend a metaphorical hand to their aid? ...Oh, and I suppose the Dominators too.

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

Welp

Experienced.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Experienced.

Dedicated ragequitter

Veteran Lurker

Getting sticky.

Aia airëa Fëanáro.

Dedicated ragequitter

Getting sticky.

Versed in the lewd.

Welp

Dedicated ragequitter

Welp

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Dedicated ragequitter

Dragons Are Romance

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Dedicated ragequitter

Sky God

Dedicated ragequitter

The Critical Fumbler

Sky God

Versed in the lewd.

Just zis guy, you know?

Getting sticky.

Dedicated ragequitter

Not too sore, are you?

Lil'Blue

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