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

Sockmonkey · 2025-02-10T03:40:02+0000

Steelplaza said:
(and I'm not even sure if it was animated series or comics or what)

It's cannon to the specific version of the X-men universe he's using.

Prince Charon · 2025-02-10T04:28:44+0000

Lord Ernest said:
The only thing that I clearly remember from this saga is that it ended up being the origin for Morbius in the animated universe. However, due to censorship or something, he's a vampire that sucks people from his hands through some weird holes rather than the classic biting and blood-sucking. Honestly, it ended up looking more disturbing than classical vampires.

I think that was part of Morbius's thing in the comics, but I may be mixing him up with someone else. *goes to check* No, you're right, cartoon Morbius has suckers on his hands to feed on blood-plasma because Fox didn't want to show him drinking blood. Now I wonder if the people who designed the Wraith from Stargate Atlantis were inspired by the cartoon.

Mr Zoat · 2025-02-10T06:19:59+0000

7th May 2013
10:32 GMT -2

Fortunately, the wards for burning my eyes out doesn't seem to do anything when I'm inside looking out.

Henry King Senior's grave looks entirely undisturbed. It's not just that the grass look unmoved, there are literally roots and worm tunnels moving through the ground that anyone exhuming him would have had to dig through and then replace. I could do it, but that's not something a casual Resurrectionist would be able to do. No obvious teleportation residue either. Some signs that the soil underneath his second-to-last resting place has been disrupted, but that could have been caused by dozens of things and I'm not quite obsessive-compulsive enough to scan every millimetre of the Earth's soil daily.

So, a soil manipulator. I haven't stopped by to say hello to Mr. Hagen for a while, but… He never demonstrated the ability to 'swim' through soil. I could ask him, but so far this says 'elemental' to me rather than anyone else. Which… Is weird because Atlanteans aren't big on that sort of thing. It's not… They will bind and use elementals, but it's looked down upon even if there's no worship involved. Basically, they think you should just learn to cast the spell yourself.

And Atlanteans aren't good at manipulating soil because they live underwater. Lived underwater. So, no ide-.

Tefé Holland, maybe. Maybe. I can't see any reason for her to steal a corpse and turn it into a clay zombie, but it's at least not impossible that she could. And she might be able to detect something that I can't, so it's worth talking to her anyway.

Or-. Oh, good grief. I never checked what sort of funeral Henry King Senior had. If he was cremated and the grave is purely social… Then someone could have created him entirely out of clay, used just about any kind of correspondence ritual…

Would that make it telepathic? Oh, I don't know.

What's the time wherever Henry King Junior is? G.M.T. -5? And he's awake? Oh, he's taking the 'getting back in shape' thing seriously, good show. Phone him.

Compliance.

"Hank here."

"Mister King, Orange Lantern here."

"Oh hey, Paul. How you been?"

"Considering… Everything?"

"Heh, yeah. I hear yeh."

"Pretty good apart from that. You?"

"Well, the lecture circuit's died a death." I wince. "And my investments aren't worth dick, so I'm acting as a police consultant."

"If you're taking tips, I have it on good authority that Cadbury's is going to explode."

"Since when do you do stock tips?"

"Since I bought the company and they used Dolmen Gates to become a giant logistics hub. Now, technically, Cadbury's itself is a sole proprietor company wholly owned by me, but the logistics arm is a separate Private Limited Company which I split off to allow people in countries on the far end of the Gate to invest and benefit financially. Now, I've got no use for money, but by the time the planet's economy pulls itself together-"

And I show Queen Artemis how to make Dolmen Gates, assuming that she doesn't already know.

"-we're going to be the first and last word in long distance shipping."

"Huh. I'll look into it. Is that why you called?"

"No. Ah. The actual reason is a bit weird. We just got into a fight with a zombified version of your father."

"I wish I could say it was the first time someone had that happen to them. Did anyone get hurt?"

"Not seriously. Ah. So, we've got… Either his body, or a surprisingly realistic clay replica, minus the head because that got eaten by a shark… Um. And I… I was wondering what you wanted us to do with it?"

"Sharks eat clay?"

"He wasn't happy about it."

"Well, ah… Do you need what's left for the investigation?"

"Yes, but none of the tests are destructive, so we're still going to have most of a body… And a lot of clay, left at the end."

"Honestly, I'm not really…" He sighs. "Dad did right by me, in the end, but I know perfectly well that he was a nasty piece of work. Do you know where his burial plot is?"

"Yes."

"Then you can just stick him back there when you're done. No need to.. tell me. We said our goodbyes while he was in prison."

"Will do. And I'll drop off the prospectus for the Cadbury's Logistics thing."

"I'm sure it'll be an interesting read. Speak to you soon."

"Goodbye."

I hang up.

That's that dealt with. Next is-.

Kaldur walks into the waiting room, a small smile on his face. "Paul. I was not sure that you would remain after speaking with Lord Ahri'ahn."

"Well." I shrug, shaking his hand. "Ahri'ahn is thinking over an offer I made. And since I've got permission to be here I thought I'd take care of a few things."

He sits down just across from me. "Such as?"

"Did King Orin give you any sort of clue what he had planned for Koryak? He's about the age that Robin and Kid Flash were-."

He's shaking his head. "I… Do not know who you mean."

"You..? Don't remember Koryak?"

"You once told me that you use your ring to enhance your memory. Not all of us have your recall."

"Koryak." He looks fairly blank. "Okay, do you remember when Orm unleashed Oceanus?"

He nods. "Of course."

"Do you remember how he managed that?"

"He used Neptune's Trident. I.. do not see the significance."

"And?" He keeps looking blank. "Breaking the bond required the blood of a living member of the Atlantean royal family. We had Prince Artur and Thomas Curry locked down just in case, but..?"

I look at him expectantly.

He blinks, and… Then it's like he-. Like he's waking up.

"My king had-. He had a son, in Canada. One you concealed from him."

"I didn't conceal. I just didn't unconceal. So where is he? And why did you have no idea who he was?"

boo600 · 2025-02-10T06:26:59+0000

Still a bit sad, seeing Paul through Kaldur's eyes. They're still friends, I think, but every major interaction between them lately has had Kaldur seeing Paul as quite hostile to Atlantis, or at least Aquaman.

Signaller · 2025-02-10T06:28:08+0000

Does this mean Ahri'ahn didn't know about Koryak, and will now be able to find out?

boo600 · 2025-02-10T06:30:05+0000

I mean. Kaldur didn't remember Koryak, because he'd been wiped from thinking about him. Possibly specifically.

If he's under Ahri'ahn's power, then the archmage in question likely could have pumped him for info at any time - mind control, telepathy-equivalents, etc.

Lord Ernest · 2025-02-10T06:42:25+0000

I hate when a villain's plan is so overly complicated, I can't tell where their scheme ends and coincidences begin!

What could be the significance of Kaldur not remembering Koryak, for example? Is it a spell? I thought it was a spell back in Nanauve but it turned out to be some weird psychic clay-zombie. Is the poor kid in Racist Arch-Wizard's hands, same as Orin or is this something else? Who knows.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-02-10T06:57:55+0000

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2013
10:32 GMT -2

Fortunately, the wards for burning my eyes out doesn't seem to do anything when I'm inside looking out.

Seems an oversight, but I suppose if you're inside, you're allowed to be there. As long as you don't go poking anything warded, anyway. I see OL isn't letting having to sit around waiting stop him from checking on details.

Henry King Senior's grave looks entirely undisturbed. It's not just that the grass look unmoved, there are literally roots and worm tunnels moving through the ground that anyone exhuming him would have had to dig through and then replace. I could do it, but that's not something a casual Resurrectionist would be able to do. No obvious teleportation residue either. Some signs that the soil underneath his second-to-last resting place has been disrupted, but that could have been caused by dozens of things and I'm not quite obsessive-compulsive enough to scan every millimetre of the Earth's soil daily.

More importantly, there aren't any bones in there? If someone teleported his corpse out of his coffin, there'd be some trace of him having been there...

So, a soil manipulator. I haven't stopped by to say hello to Mr. Hagen for a while, but… He never demonstrated the ability to 'swim' through soil. I could ask him, but so far this says 'elemental' to me rather than anyone else. Which… Is weird because Atlanteans aren't big on that sort of thing. It's not… They will bind and use elementals, but it's looked down upon even if there's no worship involved. Basically, they think you should just learn to cast the spell yourself.

And there are a surprising number of geokinetics in the DC universe, both hero and villain.

And Atlanteans aren't good at manipulating soil because they live underwater. Lived underwater. So, no ide-.

Tefé Holland, maybe. Maybe. I can't see any reason for her to steal a corpse and turn it into a clay zombie, but it's at least not impossible that she could. And she might be able to detect something that I can't, so it's worth talking to her anyway.

It'll be interesting to see what she has to offer advice-wise.

Or-. Oh, good grief. I never checked what sort of funeral Henry King Senior had. If he was cremated and the grave is purely social… Then someone could have created him entirely out of clay, used just about any kind of correspondence ritual…

Would that make it telepathic? Oh, I don't know.

Too many unknowns. Too little time to unravel them...

What's the time wherever Henry King Junior is? G.M.T. -5? And he's awake? Oh, he's taking the 'getting back in shape' thing seriously, good show. Phone him.

Compliance.

Polite of you to check the time. Sounds like Hank's keeping healthy, too.

"Hank here."

"Mister King, Orange Lantern here."

"Oh hey, Paul. How you been?"

Amusingly, Henry doesn't have the usual 'oh no, here's trouble' instinct when he hears OL's voice. ...Yet.

"Considering… Everything?"

"Heh, yeah. I hear yeh."

It's been that kind of year, yes.

"Pretty good apart from that. You?"

"Well, the lecture circuit's died a death." I wince. "And my investments aren't worth dick, so I'm acting as a police consultant."

Not that telepathic scans are permissible as evidence, are they? But I suppose he can provide 'They're hiding something' advice.

"If you're taking tips, I have it on good authority that Cadbury's is going to explode."

"Since when do you do stock tips?"

Since he bought it and it's now providing long-range transport?

"Since I bought the company and they used Dolmen Gates to become a giant logistics hub. Now, technically, Cadbury's itself is a sole proprietor company wholly owned by me, but the logistics arm is a separate Private Limited Company which I split off to allow people in countries on the far end of the Gate to invest and benefit financially. Now, I've got no use for money, but by the time the planet's economy pulls itself together-"

Especially if they can get Atlantis to produce more Gates. Or find other sources...

And I show Queen Artemis how to make Dolmen Gates, assuming that she doesn't already know.

"-we're going to be the first and last word in long distance shipping."

Ah, of course. I wonder if Sephtian's runic arrays can be adapted to Artemis' world's thaumic structures.

"Huh. I'll look into it. Is that why you called?"

"No. Ah. The actual reason is a bit weird. We just got into a fight with a zombified version of your father."

Ah, right, back to hero business.

"I wish I could say it was the first time someone had that happen to them. Did anyone get hurt?"

"Not seriously. Ah. So, we've got… Either his body, or a surprisingly realistic clay replica, minus the head because that got eaten by a shark… Um. And I… I was wondering what you wanted us to do with it?"

Yes, do ask if he was cremated. Remember?

"Sharks eat clay?"

"He wasn't happy about it."

And was very vocal about it, yes. He can probably still taste it.

"Well, ah… Do you need what's left for the investigation?"

"Yes, but none of the tests are destructive, so we're still going to have most of a body… And a lot of clay, left at the end."

And it smacks of carelessness not to take proper responsibility for its disposal.

"Honestly, I'm not really…" He sighs. "Dad did right by me, in the end, but I know perfectly well that he was a nasty piece of work. Do you know where his burial plot is?"

"Yes."

As we saw earlier.

"Then you can just stick him back there when you're done. No need to.. tell me. We said our goodbyes while he was in prison."

"Will do. And I'll drop off the prospectus for the Cadbury's Logistics thing."

More stuff for the to-do list. These ones are simple, at least.

"I'm sure it'll be an interesting read. Speak to you soon."

"Goodbye."

I hang up.

Got to love when a discussion goes well, and without interruption.

That's that dealt with. Next is-.

Kaldur walks into the waiting room, a small smile on his face. "Paul. I was not sure that you would remain after speaking with Lord Ahri'ahn."

Excellent, time to see if there's anything untoward about him.

"Well." I shrug, shaking his hand. "Ahri'ahn is thinking over an offer I made. And since I've got permission to be here I thought I'd take care of a few things."

He sits down just across from me. "Such as?"

I suspect that 'permission' stretches to cover a lot of things, given how tightly Ahri'ahn seems to be holding the reins.

"Did King Orin give you any sort of clue what he had planned for Koryak? He's about the age that Robin and Kid Flash were-."

He's shaking his head. "I… Do not know who you mean."

...Okay, I find that highly unlikely. Counting that as strike one.

"You..? Don't remember Koryak?"

"You once told me that you use your ring to enhance your memory. Not all of us have your recall."

True, but you'd think someone used as a tool in Orm's plan would be a bit more memorable.

"Koryak." He looks fairly blank. "Okay, do you remember when Orm unleashed Oceanus?"

He nods. "Of course."

Little hard to forget, certainly. Not every day you see a mile-high man made of water running amok in the Atlantic.

"Do you remember how he managed that?"

"He used Neptune's Trident. I.. do not see the significance."

...And how did he gain control of it, again? Isn't it bound to Orin?

"And?" He keeps looking blank. "Breaking the bond required the blood of a living member of the Atlantean royal family. We had Prince Artur and Thomas Curry locked down just in case, but..?"

I look at him expectantly.

He blinks, and… Then it's like he-. Like he's waking up.

...Strike two, I think. That's quite concerning that he seemed almost asleep for a second.

"My king had-. He had a son, in Canada. One you concealed from him."

"I didn't conceal. I just didn't unconceal. So where is he? And why did you have no idea who he was?"

True, he didn't exactly expose him, which was polite. That's definitely a concerning reaction, though and now Kaldur is aware he's been affected by something.

Interesting. Remember what Lori Lemaris said earlier about when she visited Tritonis? That she seemed to fall asleep? And now Kaldur seeming to 'wake up' when confronted. There definitely seems to be some kind of mental effect in place, and the symptoms are looking more and more dream-magic based. Let's see where this is going, then...

NightmareWarden · 2025-02-10T07:18:31+0000

So is Ahri'Ahn Koryak, the baby prince, and Aquaman's blood for however many spells are flooding Atlantis?

Is there an artifact or repeatable to duplicate objects in DC? A wizard could tweak things so that the original body of Henry King Senior would overcome whatever problems would pop up, then attach the resulting spirit to a-

a-

… Oh. The golem that was built for the fear elemental as well as Nabu. Along with the suctioning technique for the spirit in the helmet. Perhaps Ahri'ahn thoroughly studied the scattered notes and recovered fragments post-Nabu on that golem, created a clay body, and used that to shove Henry King Senior's brain in it. All before he revealed himself to Atlantis. Just need a spell or two to make the head of the construct form, rather than making King think with his soul.

Vaermina · 2025-02-10T07:30:24+0000

Mr Zoat said:
And Atlanteans aren't good at manipulating soil because they live underwater. Lived underwater. So, no ide-.

There's this thing in the ocean floor called "silt", which is basically just soil.

WereDragon · 2025-02-10T09:10:38+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"You..? Don't remember Koryak?"

…didn't OL already confirm that everyone in Atlantis is under mind control? Why is he surprised by this?

Ngamer11 · 2025-02-10T10:03:20+0000

WereDragon said:
…didn't OL already confirm that everyone in Atlantis is under mind control? Why is he surprised by this?

He knew it in a general sense. But until now, he had no reason to believe Ahri'ahn was trying to make the Atlanteans forget Koryak.

Dur'id the Druid · 2025-02-10T10:04:12+0000

Chojin Patriarch said:
symptoms are looking more and more dream-magic based. Let's see where this is going, then...

...... here's a thought. Could he be planning to pull Atlantis into the dream realm? And that is why he's gathering everyone there, sit they won't be forgotten because they're outside the dream/spell?

Lord Ernest · 2025-02-10T10:44:56+0000

It seems to me, also taking into account what he was doing on Renegade's side, that he wants to put Atlantis as the premier power in the world as it was in its heyday.

How he's trying to do it, I'm not certain, but he's consolidating all Atlantean assets in his grasp and cutting off any possible sharing of knowledge or resources, while keeping those interested in what's going on relatively in the dark.

hkim · 2025-02-10T14:06:40+0000

Dur'id the Druid said:
...... here's a thought. Could he be planning to pull Atlantis into the dream realm? And that is why he's gathering everyone there, sit they won't be forgotten because they're outside the dream/spell?

OL did consider that, but thought it was unlikely for various reasons. Guess we'll see if he was wrong!

Ardy · 2025-02-10T18:13:39+0000

Mr Zoat said:
It's complete.

Did not expect it to turn into smut. My goodness

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

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