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

Darko · Feb 13, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
His smiles fades

"smile"

Mr Zoat · Feb 13, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
He keeps walking, two gazelles pausing to observe his progress.
...but strong enough that they were welcomed...
He opens his right hand, and the staff floats...

Darko said:
"smile"

Thank you, corrected.

Coltsguy · Feb 13, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
Don't know why it doesn't work for you. It's fine for me.

Edit: Okay, that was a wrestling match, but it should be there now.

I got a Spinnerette comic. Was that what it was supposed to be?

Mr Zoat · Feb 13, 2025

Coltsguy said:
I got a Spinnerette comic. Was that what it was supposed to be?

Yes. Because she fires webbing out of her posterior.

Steelplaza · Feb 13, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
He bows his head and turns back to where the palace image is fading to reveal… A man in a hide skirt, a necklace of fetishes around his neck and… Part of the right side of his body appears to be made of clay.

Huh. So... an ancient sorcerer resurrected out of clay.

I remind you that no one has yet explained where Ahri'ahn was all this time or how he returned. Ahri'ahn made a claim that he has a method of immortality that involves hibernating for long periods of time to prevent soul decay, but that is just a claim. There are no records of such a thing.

We have been seeing Ahri'ahn as the mastermind, but is he himself just a clay puppet revived to play a role? If you poked a hole in him, would clay ooze out? Interesting thought.

I know he showed up in the Renegade timeline, but perhaps he was clay there as well, and when Renegade pasted the doll whomever is the dollmaker decided to go back into hiding.

boo600 · Feb 13, 2025

…oh, I'm such a moron!

If Paul has any of the Fruit of Eden left over, the pomegranate (which bridges mystical gaps) could blend the Danner and Garrick formulae! It might even allow Wally to upgrade to the normal Garrick formula without needing to use New Godhood!

…I suppose it's a bit late for him to get any of it, and Paul himself wouldn't eat any in case it fucked with his morals. But damn. I missed that for years!

Ardy · Feb 13, 2025

boo600 said:
…oh, I'm such a moron!

If Paul has any of the Fruit of Eden left over, the pomegranate (which bridges mystical gaps) could blend the Danner and Garrick formulae! It might even allow Wally to upgrade to the normal Garrick formula without needing to use New Godhood!

…I suppose it's a bit late for him to get any of it, and Paul himself wouldn't eat any in case it fucked with his morals. But damn. I missed that for years!

The pomegranate only lets you understand good and evil, it doesn't let you blend different alchemical formulas that are otherwise mutually exclusive. That's not a thing?

Also, new godhood doesn't allow you to use multiple variants like danner v. garrick, it lets you temporarily use them (or garrick, at least) before godhood "resets" you to who you were without the power, and thus can take the other.

boo600 · Feb 14, 2025

The pomegranate doesn't just grant morality; it literally allows incompatible magics to coexist. That's how it let Angelica (formerly Blaze) get grafted Angelic Wings.

Meanwhile, the Garrick and Danner formulae are both alchemical.

I'd bet there's a good chance of Wally being able to add in the actual Garrick formula, instead of the discount version he has.

I wasn't saying that New Godhood lets you use multiple formulas; I was saying Wally wouldn't need it, because the Fruit could be a different way of fixing his Speedster-ness (by adding in the actual Garrick formula). Thus, Paragon!Wally could upskill to the same level as Renegade!Wally, but with additional alchemical knowledge (and less mystical sensitivity).

Mr Zoat · Feb 14, 2025

7th May 2013
14:58 GMT +2

I fly up and left, a giant grasping rock hand shooting past me!

"Friend of yours?!"

Dr. Balewa raises his right hand and the fist falling towards him crumbles to dust. Then he dives aside as another punches through the soil behind him!

"Perhaps, once!"

The fist that missed me stops and… Hardens, losing animation and becoming-

Another fist shoots out of the side of it, grabbing at me. I slash at its forearm with an x-ionised sword-. Can't penetrate, it's reinforced with magic, dodge!

-just another rock.

Alright, conceptual level geomancy. Impressive, but he's using physical actions and I've seen the same thing from Rama Kahn. It's not quite the same as Rama Kahn was given the authority to do it by the spirit of his state while this man is doing it manually, but in terms of shock value-.

This man was able to do this thousands of years ago. He was swinging these fists against people with flint spears.

Dr. Balewa places his hands on the ground and… Water precipitates upwards, surrounding him like a bubble. A moment later a fist slams down, and… The water doesn't move at all while the earth of the fist is suddenly saturated with water. The fist falls apart in sodden clumps around him as he rises to his feet and dusts his costume off.

"Do I offend you, man of Kor? Do you know me? Or do you simply walk the ground-"

A hand comes out of the ground to grab him, but it fails to make an impression on his water shield before the fingers slough off. Another fist rises up behind him, stone hammer in hand, and swings down to flatten him. The hammer hits and cracks into pottery shards while the hand liquefies and falls into a pile of mud around him.

"-of your death?"

"You didn't check? Even once?"

He glances up at me. "These things are not always immediate." He then turns back to where the wizard is standing on a short stone pillar. "Tell me your name."

"Ged."

His voice sounds surprisingly normal. He has a strong accent, and I assume that's what the original Korian accent sounded like, but other than that it could have come from a human throat and not that of a magical super-zombie.

Dr. Balewa's eyes narrow for a moment. Then he shakes his head. "No, I do not remember you."

"I was born long after you left, King of Kings. I saw the final fall of Kor, though I did not long outlive it."

"You do know me, then?"

"Yes. I thought that the stories were merely self-aggrandisement, yet here you stand, radiating the essence of life."

Is this some sort of 'test your might' thing? Did he want to see if Dr. Balewa was worth talking to? That would make sense for a magocracy, but if he can feel his power anyway-.

The dust isn't settling.

"I know that I cannot kill you, but I think that choking you under the Earth for a few lifetimes will satisfy me."

"What made you rise?"

"She was surprised that I could still speak. But her people are learned, and I cannot criticise her mastery either."

"A person? A wizard? You were raised-. Who did this?"

I'm not completely sure that he can control the dust, but I'm getting a little concerned. I mean, yes, jaw, jaw is better than war, war, but I imagine that a magician of his era might need a little while to build up to something big.

"Someone who respects me."

"You were peaceful beneath the Earth. Do you hate me enough to walk again?"

"I do not hate you, King of Kings. I just know that this is your fault. We would have followed you, but you refused the authority that went with your power."

Dr. Balewa sighs. "There is more to existence then the accumulation of power. There is more to creating eh better world than crushing it to your will."

"Choosing to do nothing is still a choice, King of Kings. But, my words are not enough. Perhaps-"

Because of course, who raises just one super-zombie?

"-my fellow masters can make you see?"

Some tear their way out of the ground. Some rise easily, leaving the ground undisturbed. Others appear in bursts of fire or gusts of air. And one-

"Ah!"

-steps out of the water surrounding Dr. Balewa on the inside of his shield and grabs him from behind.

Mage-slay-grugk!

Uh-h.

Ring, check status.

No impairment detected.

Then why does it feel like-. Oh right, magic. Spell-Eater… Not detecting anything? It's not getting hotter-.

A magician with a blank face and hands and feet enveloped in fire leaps up, arcing above me and coming down towards me with his right fist cocked!

Railgun.

It doesn't-.

Feed-.

FGAAAGH!

Burning pain across half my-! Body!

Feed-.

No! Expert in fire magic! Eating fire when he's right there is probably a bad idea, but they're not thaumaturgists! I

step out and hold myself in the Honden of Avarice… Ew. I can see the bond of intent and injected desire that is attaching the spell to me. Can't tell exactly what it does… But it doesn't look like something that belongs to a long dead Korian magician. So the first one said that… Whoever raised them was surprised that he could speak. Clay zombies, but the earth wizard's magic could work with clay. So he had his own will. Did Henry King? I saw genuine anger but I didn't look closely enough to know whether it was truly his or not.

I'd like to spend more time examining it, but Dr. Balewa needs my help. I pluck the desire from myself and leave it floating in the middle of the 'room', unattached to anything. I'll take a closer look later. With that done I aim for Ged's desires and

step back in, railgun loading mage-slayers and aiming at the back of his head!

Shadowj6480 · Feb 14, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
I fly up and lef, a giant grasping rock hand shooting past me!

Left.

Interesting development. I wonder how exactly they managed to almost attach a foreign desire to OL (or at least, I think that's what happened here?). Curious to see who this mastermind lady is.

Signaller · Feb 14, 2025

Two options come to mind: low chance, the Kobra woman that OL spoke to after the anti-life was dealt with. Higher chance, Queen Gamemnae of Poseidonis.

boo600 · Feb 14, 2025

Or… hm. Did Paragon have to deal with Morgan Le Fay yet?

Also, while 'with great power comes great responsibility' isn't an absolute mandate… it is good to see that Dr. Balewa's beliefs will be tested, and perhaps changed.

And a source of super-wizards Ahri'ahn knows about… this is going to be good.

Mr Zoat · Feb 14, 2025

Shadowj6480 said:
Left.

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch · Feb 14, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2013
14:58 GMT +2

I fly up and left, a giant grasping rock hand shooting past me!

"Friend of yours?!"

Asking a lot, OL. It's been a long, long time, and there's no guarantee this guy was ever alive at the time Nommo ruled. Still, there's some measure of authority there, having been king at one time. The question is whether it overrules the one who raised this guy.

Dr. Balewa raises his right hand and the fist falling towards him crumbles to dust. Then he dives aside as another punches through the soil behind him!

"Perhaps, once!"

It has been thousands of years, I doubt Nommo remembers every face he's ever seen...

The fist that missed me stops and… Hardens, losing animation and becoming-

Another fist shoots out of the side of it, grabbing at me. I slash at its forearm with an x-ionised sword-. Can't penetrate, it's reinforced with magic, dodge!

So the spells are more fire-and-forget than ongoing. Probably a case of mana efficiency.

-just another rock.

Alright, conceptual level geomancy. Impressive, but he's using physical actions and I've seen the same thing from Rama Kahn. It's not quite the same as Rama Kahn was given the authority to do it by the spirit of his state while this man is doing it manually, but it terms of shock value-.

There's the question of what Rama Khan has been doing, yes. I doubt he'd really interfere with the outside world like this, though. His focus was on his land and little else.

This man was able to do this thousands of years ago. He was swinging these fists against people with flint spears.

Dr. Balewa places his hands on the ground and… Water precipitates upwards, surrounding him like a bubble. A moment later a fist slams down, and… The water doesn't move at all while the earth of the fist is suddenly saturated with water. The fist falls apart in sodden clumps around him as he rises to his feet and dusts his costume off.

A solid counter to earth magic.

"Do I offend you, man of Kor? Do you know me? Or do you simply walk the ground-"

A hand comes out of the ground to grab him, but it fails to make an impression on his water shield before the fingers slough off. Another fist rises up behind him, stone hammer in hand, and swings down to flatten him. The hammer hits and cracks into pottery shards while the hand liquefies and falls into a pile of mud around him.

There's a definite gulf between the zombie's power level and Nommo's.

"-of your death?"

"You didn't check? Even once?"

He glances up at me. "These things are not always immediate." He then turns back to where the wizard is standing on a short stone pillar. "Tell me your name."

It's not like he has a super-ring that can plunder databases world-wide. Nor does the zombie fellow exist in any of them anyway.

"Ged."

He voice sounds surprisingly normal. He has a strong accent, and I assume that's what the original Korian accent sounded like, but other than that it could have come from a human throat and not that of a magical super-zombie.

To be fair, the clay is apparently only part of his chest (an old battle wound repaired, perhaps?) I'm just impressed he has enough presence of mind to speak. The brainwave zombie didn't.

Dr. Balewa's eyes narrow for a moment. Then he shakes his head. "No, I do not remember you."

"I was born long after you left, King of Kings. I saw the final fall of Kor, though I did not long outlive it."

No doubt there were plenty of statues to recognise him from, though.

"You do know me, then?"

"Yes. I thought that the stories were merely self-aggrandisement, yet here you stand, radiating the essence of life."

Ah, the sort of tales people tell of their nation's founders, eh? The sort that gain mythic proportions, anyway.

Is this some sort of 'test your might' thing? Did he want to see if Dr. Balewa was worth talking to? That would make sense for a magocracy, but if he can feel his power anyway-.

The dust isn't settling.

And they're fighting a geourgist. That's not good.

"I know that I cannot kill you, but I think that choking you under the Earth for a few lifetimes will satisfy me."

"What made you rise?"

A critical bit of information. Best to find it now before they destroy him and banish his spirit...

"She was surprised that I could still speak. But her people are learned, and I cannot criticise her mastery either."

"A person? A wizard? You were raised-. Who did this?"

'She', eh? Ominous. And definitely leans towards Gamemnae. But People? Gamemnae worked alone, outside of her morass spell. That smacks of a cult leader. The Kobra lady, perhaps. Or some new threat we haven't thought of...

I'm not completely sure that he can control the dust, but I'm getting a little concerned. I mean, yes, jaw, jaw is better than war, war, but I imagine that a magician of his era might need a little while to build up to something big.

"Someone who respects me."

I have my doubts on that front. We'll see, I suppose.

"You were peaceful beneath the Earth. Do you hate me enough to walk again?"

"I do not hate you, King of Kings. I just know that this is your fault. We would have followed you, but you refused the authority that went with your power."

Ah, that makes sense. Nommo abandoned his throne in favour of wandering. I suspect his descendants were not the rulers he was.

Dr. Balewa sighs. "There is more to existence then the accumulation of power. There is more to creating eh better world than crushing it to your will."

"Choosing to do nothing is still a choice, King of Kings. But, my words are not enough. Perhaps-"

The exact logic that brought down so many kingdoms, on both fronts. The conqueror and the dreamer, both end in fire.

Because of course, who raises just one super-zombie?

"-my fellow masters can make you see?"

The big concern is whether they were all waiting here for OL and/or Nommo, or if their master can teleport them as needed?

Some tear their way out of the ground. Some rise easily, leaving the ground undisturbed. Others appear in bursts of fire or gusts of air. And one-

"Ah!"

Ah, elemental mages-a-gogo. Hoo boy.

-steps out of the water surrounding Dr. Balewa on the inside of his shield and grabs him from behind.

Mage-slay-grugk!

Hopefully he an handle himself well enough, with ten thousand years of experience and Life magic.

Uh-h.

Ring, check status.

No impairment detected.

Emotional disruption? Is someone wielding the ring of Heart?

Then why does it feel like-. Oh right, magic. Spell-Eater… Not detecting anything? It's not getting hotter-.

A magician with a blank face and hands and feet enveloped in fire leaps up, arcing above me and coming down towards me with his right fist cocked!

Ah, one of the few places OL can't just auto-win via Ring: melee combat while disrupted.

Railgun.

It doesn't-.

So something is draining or warping his emotions to prevent avarice. Is the responsible party aware of his focus or just winging it?

Feed-.

FGAAAGH!

Burning pain across half my-! Body!

Through the armour, or through the armour? Is the fire inside or outside?

Feed-.

No! Expert in fire magic! Eating fire when he's right there is probably a bad idea, but they're not thaumaturgists! I

No, but they are clearly very good at what they do.

step out and hold myself in the Honden of Avarice… Ew. I can see the bond of intent and injected desire that is attaching the spell to me. Can't tell exactly what it does… But it doesn't look like something that belongs to a long dead Korian magician. So the first one said that… Whoever raised them was surprised that he could speak. Clay zombies, but the earth wizard's magic could work with clay. So he had his own will. Did Henry King? I saw genuine anger but I didn't look closely enough to know whether it was truly his or not.

It would be interesting to explore that, but Nommo is kind of alone against a whole mess of battlemages...

I'd like to spend more time examining it, but Dr. Balewa needs my help. I pluck the desire from myself and leave it floating in the middle of the 'room', unattached to anything. I'll take a closer look later. With that done I aim for Ged's desires and

step back in, railgun loading mage-slayers and aiming at the back of his head!

I wonder if that will protect him from further attacks that way, or leave the Honden in danger? I assume the Ophidian would just rip it apart if the spell attacked her place...

Some useful clues there. A female controller, assisted by a group? Quite a few possibilities, though on-screen culprits are few. The hard part will be surviving the ambush, especially with someone disrupting OL's ability to focus Avarice. He might need to be careful about dumping that magic in the Honden, though...

...but it terms of shock value-.

...but in terms of shock value-.

He voice sounds surprisingly normal.

His voice sounds surprisingly normal.

Mr Zoat · Feb 14, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
...but in terms of shock value-.
His voice sounds surprisingly normal.

Thank you, corrected.

CTrees · Feb 14, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
I can see the bond of intent and injected desire that is attaching the spell to me.

So this bypasses his spell eater and is attached to him despite his tattoos. Right after he lets Ahri'ahn thoroughly examine his tattoos. Nah, it's probably just a coincidence.

Bud-E · Feb 14, 2025

Some female mage raised the Korian wizards... Who are our options in the paragon timeline Circe, Queen of Fables, Morgan Le Fay. Queen Gamemnae...Am I forgetting anyone?

Darko · Feb 14, 2025

Bud-E said:
Some female mage raised the Korian wizards... Who are our options in the paragon timeline Circe, Queen of Fables, Morgan Le Fay. Queen Gamemnae...Am I forgetting anyone?

The Queen of Fables is probably in Tartarus.

Gamemnae is a possibility.

Darko · Feb 14, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
That smacks of a cult leader. The Kobra lady, perhaps.

Last time we saw her she accepted becoming Mist's disciple to gain white enlightenment.

Sordid Snake · Feb 14, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
"Ged."

Probably not an invasion from Earthsea, though.

Darko · Feb 14, 2025

Sordid Snake said:
Probably not an invasion from Earthsea, though.

Hey, maybe the Korian's came from another world, or they went to another one.

Though you gotta wonder if Zoat chose that name because it's a guy using earth to fight another guy that's using water.

Steelplaza · Feb 14, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
step out and hold myself in the Honden of Avarice…

Kind of surprising OL doesn't use this tactic more often when he's in a tight spot. There are disadvantages in that he can't see what's going on the battle or protect his allies once he's stepped out, but on the other hand the enemies don't know where or when he'll reappear. As long as he makes it quick, it's a good way to break up the flow of a fight when an enemy has him on the ropes and is chewing on his leg or something. As well as execute a surprise attack when he suddenly reappears next to an enemy, as he's doing with Ged here.

Sordid Snake · Feb 15, 2025

Darko said:
Hey, maybe the Korian's came from another world, or they went to another one.

Though you gotta wonder if Zoat chose that name because it's a guy using earth to fight another guy that's using water.

Geb is the Egyptian god of earth, so maybe that would have been too much on the nose for a mud-zombie geomancer

Mr Zoat · Feb 15, 2025

7th May 2013
15:01 GMT +2

I fire, and his body turns to stone a fraction of a second before it hits! The round has enough kinetic force that the statue's head explodes, fragments of stone-.

Being neatly tided away into subspace because I can spot patterns.

The withered husk of the water wizard drops to the ground as Dr. Balewa staggers out of his own shield, water splashing over his body as he loses control of his spell. A zombie wearing a lion's pelt charges him next, muscles rippling and claws sharp. Dr. Balewa recreates his staff to block the first swipe as he sidesteps around the charging lionman-.

And he's forced to call up a wall of… Grass? To block a blast of fire from the fire magician who hit me.

Speaking of which, Wholeness Rightly Assumed.

Compliance.

The zombie wizards are forming a rough circle around Dr. Balewa, but those furthest away from him are beginning to orientate on me instead. One opens his mouth to-.

I hit him in the roof of the mouth with a mage-slayer round, breathing a little easier when his head explodes… Into clay, but at least his body collapses.

"Doctor Mist! Orders?!"

A stone palm shoots out of the ground beneath him, causing him to drop to all fours! Fingers close around him to crush him, before stopping as he brings his own magic to bear but a flying wizard is already on-site and is pulling the air away from him! I fire a trio of railgun shots at the wind wizard but-. Something happens with the space between us and… Three bullets fly past the target on either side.

That's surprisingly sophisticated for the era…

Fine. I'm fairly low on mage-slayers, but I need to talk to Queen Artemis again anyway…

Full auto into the zombie crowd.

An antelope wizard leaps out of the way, that fiery wizard blasts out of the way on a plume of fire and the path-splitter goes in two different directions and dodges out of my cone of fire, but the rest start taking hits. Hits to the 'meat' appear to cause it to revert to clay with ancient fragile bones sticking out of it, but hits to the body or limbs don't seem to kill them. 'Kill' them. Several hit the ground-.

I jerk to the side as a gorilla wizard slams his fists down onto the ground where I was standing. Target the head and fire and-.

The round undulates in mid air, hitting and knocking the apeman back without nullifying the magic animating him.

One of these people is a metal wizard, great.

Retask railguns. One on the wind wiz-.

The wind wizard falls out of the air as Dr. Balewa waves his staff at him, and I can see the air distort as he pulls fresh air into the low pressure area.

Track them falling and fire and boom, there goes their head and-.

YYIIIGHYYHHH-guh!

My bones snap and then get shoved back into place by my ring and-. Oh, of course, auto-aim spells probably weren't invented in their day. They all know how to aim manually! Railguns target the one with the bone-fetishes and-.

And half my visual field vanishes as he crushes… Some sort of monkey skull, in his right hand while his left points right at me.

Heal and railgun, THANK YOU.

His skull explodes, and my eye orbit flows back into place. I'll leave that eye as a construct just in case they've got an eye wizard as well.

The gorillaman is coming back around so railgun and load-.

Supply expended.

And that's why I don't usually use full automatic. Fine, x-ionised slug, target the head and fire.

Compliance.

The shot hits and punches through but he keeps coming, and the clay sort of… Oozes back over the neat hole in his forehead.

Alright, no flesh, these are bone and clay. Resonance frequency of human skull bones?

Frequency of target 1122 hertz.

I dart left to dodge a swing and block a plume of fire with a construct shield tied to my spell-eater, which is finally starting to make itself useful.

Sonic cannon.

Compliance.

Fire.

The gorillaman's false flesh ripples as I put enough force into the attack to peel it back, the clay flying away in places and reverting to its default state. A moment later enough of his face has been flensed the bones in the front of his skull become exposed, cracking and fragmenting-.

CRACK!

The bone loses integrity and crumbles, the wizard collapsing onto his chest a moment later.

Antelopeman drop-kicks me in the chest, but it's mostly physical force and my inertia shield can soak it. I grab him with an orange claw construct, slam him to the ground and apply the sonic cannon to his head. This close I feel the woom and see the dust shoved aside as the antelope skull crumbles and then his does. Again, the wizard goes limp once I'm finished.

"Doctor, please respond."

I glance up as-. As two fire wizards bombard him with white hot elemental fire. He gestures, and the air bends around him and redirects the fire at… Not sure what that wizard does, but the fire completely consumes them.

"I em well!"

Alright, thinning the field. As long as none of them get back up again, I think we can clear them up without too much-

I deploy construct chains and lash them around my body as I think it, just in case.

-difficulty.

And I hit someone.

I turn as Ged looks at the clay arm my chain construct is embedded in. Then his body roils, hard earth and stone expanding to turn him into a war golem. Which would be easy to deal with if I had any mage-slayers left.

Try the sonic cannon.

Compliance.

The clay ripples weakly but doesn't fall apart, because he can hold it together with magic just fine.

Fine. Dismiss constructs. Not like I get anything out of fighting him myself.

I turn and fly towards the pyromancers, replacing my sonic cannon with cold guns. Two shots-. Yes, good, no more fire wizards, and I send a couple of regular railgun slugs into each of them to make sure they're shattered.

"You are both skilled in your arts."

I turn back to Ged, trying to work out what the most efficient way to kill him is.

"And you will not fall here. I was deluded in thinking-. I will see if she has a better idea."

His golem body… Petrifies, and goes still.

That's a problem, but for now we've got zombie wizards to put down.

nogoodnames · Feb 15, 2025

I have to wonder the wider impact OL getting his mage slayer roads from elsewhere in the universe. Does where the rounds are made have any effect, will it be used against him somehow.

Silveraith · Feb 15, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
around D. Balewa

Dr.

Signaller · Feb 15, 2025

Could Mammon manufacture mageslayer rounds, perhaps with the trade being that the redirect flows to power him, instead of simply cancelling all effects?

Ngamer11 · Feb 15, 2025

Signaller said:
Could Mammon manufacture mageslayer rounds, perhaps with the trade being that the redirect flows to power him, instead of simply cancelling all effects?

I sincerely doubt Paul would think of outsourcing his ammunition to Hell unless it's absolutely necessary.

Chojin Patriarch · Feb 15, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2013
15:01 GMT +2

I fire, and his body turns to stone a fraction of a second before it hits! The round has enough kinetic force that the statue's head explodes, fragments of stone-.

Being neatly tided away into subspace because I can spot patterns.

If he was inside, he's not any more. Looks like Ged can swim through the earth, which is going to make him annoying to pin down. At least his buddies aren't so mobile, from the looks of things.

The withered husk of the water wizard drops to the ground as Dr. Balewa staggers out of his own shield, water splashing over his body as he loses control of his spell. A zombie wearing a lion's pelt charges him next, muscles rippling and claws sharp. Dr. Balewa recreates his staff to block the first swipe as he sidesteps around the charging lionman-.

I'm assuming some kind of melee-focused mage, using a totemic connection to the spirit of the lion.

And he's forced to call up a wall of… Grass? To block a blast of fire from the fire magician who hit me.

Speaking of which, Wholeness Rightly Restored.

Good to see it expressly called out for once. Since we can assume any time he heals himself he's using it.

Compliance.

The zombie wizards are forming a rough circle around Dr. Balewa, but those furthest away from him are beginning to orientate on me instead. One opens his mouth to-.

None of that, mate. Take a dirt nap.

I hit him in the roof of the mouth with a mage-slayer round, breathing a little easier when his head explodes… Into clay, but at least his body collapses.

"Doctor Mist! Orders?!"

I suspect his order will be 'disable them quickly, please.'

A stone palm shoots out of the ground beneath him, causing him to drop to all fours! Fingers close around him to crush him, before stopping as he brings his own magic to bear but a flying wizard is already on-site and is pulling the air away from him! I fire a trio of railgun shots at the wind wizard but-. Something happens with the space between us and… Three bullets fly past the target on either side.

Safe to assume Ged is focusing on him, unless there's another earth-mover.

That's surprisingly sophisticated for the era…

Fine. I'm fairly low on mage-slayers, but I need to talk to Queen Artemis again anyway…

A missile deflection spell, or maybe some kind of metallokinesis.

Full auto into the zombie crowd.

An antelope wizard leaps out of the way, that fiery wizard blasts out of the way on a plume of fire and the path-splitter goes in two different directions and dodges out of my cone of fire, but the rest start taking hits. Hits to the 'meat' appear to cause it to revert to clay with ancient fragile bones sticking out of it, but hits to the body or limbs don't seem to kill them. 'Kill' them. Several hit the ground-.

So headshots. Easy with aimbot capabilities, but trickier to execute when they're not standing still.

I jerk to the side as a gorilla wizard slams his fists down onto the ground where I was standing. Target the head and fire and-.

The round undulates in mid air, hitting and knocking the apeman back without nullifying the magic animating him.

Oh, that's cheeky. Warping the round to disrupt the runes.

One of these people is a metal wizard, great.

Retask railguns. One on the wind wiz-.

Watch out for some manner of arrow repulsion spell. Don't want a railgun shot getting turned off course into someone valuable.

The wind wizard falls out of the air as Dr. Balewa waves his staff at him, and I can see the air distort as he pulls fresh air into the low pressure area.

Track them falling and fire and boom, their goes their head and-.

Don't get cocky, OL, that's not the only problem left.

YYIIIGHYYHHH-guh!

My bones snap and then get shoved back into place by my ring and-. Oh, of course, auto-aim spells probably weren't invented in their day. They all know how to aim manually! Railguns target the one with the bone-fetishes and-.

Ooh, some kind of voodoo-esque sympathetic magic thing. That doesn't require a part of the target. That's nasty.

And half my visual field vanishes as he cruses… Some sort of monkey skull, in his right hand while his left points right at me.

Heal and railgun, THANK YOU.

...Ow. Fortunately your braincase is a lot tougher than the facial bones.

His skull explodes, and my eye orbit flows back into place. I'll leave that eye as a construct just in case they've got an eye wizard as well.

The gorillaman is coming back around so railgun and load-.

Not surprised animal totemic transformations were this common in the ancient times. Easy to get skins to convey their power, easy to shape and direct the spells... And in the case of a gorilla mage, the fun of punching stuff hard.

Supply expended.

And that's why I don't usually use full automatic. Fine, x-ionised slug, target the head and fire.

Well, that's going to bite him in the ass later, I bet.

Compliance.

The shot hits and punches through but he keeps coming, and the clay sort of… Oozes back over the neat hole in his forehead.

So the magic is probably tied to their bones. Time to start making bonemeal.

Alright, no flesh, these are bone and clay. Resonance frequency of human skull bones?

Frequency of target 1122 hertz.

Better break out the Soprano Cannon.

I dart left to dodge a swing and block a plume of fire with a construct shield tied to my spell-eater, which is finally starting to make itself useful.

Sonic cannon.

Better a little heat from the Spell Eater than the general heat of the flames.

Compliance.

Fire.

The gorrillaman's false flesh ripples as I put enough force into the attack to peel it back, the clay flying away in places and reverting to its default state. A moment later enough of his face has been flensed the bones in the front of his skull become exposed, cracking and fragmenting-.

Reminds me of the sonic cannons scene from the Incredible Hulk movie. Not surprising, that kind of projected force is like a physical impact.

CRACK!

The bone loses integrity and crumbles, the wizard collapsing onto his chest a moment later.

Okay, definitely tied to the intact bones. Looks like a prime weakness, as long as you and Doctor Balewa don't mind ringing ears.

Antelopeman drop-kicks me in the chest, but it's mostly physical force and my inertia shield can soak it. I grab him with an orange claw construct, slam him to the ground and apply the sonic cannon to his head. This close I feel the woom and see the dust shoved aside as the antelope skull crumbles and then his does. Again, the wizard goes limp once I'm finished.

A literal smackdown.

"Doctor, please respond."

I glance up as-. As two fire wizards bombard him with white hot elemental fire. He gestures, and the air bends around him and redirects the fire at… Not sure what that wizard does, but the fire completely consumes them.

Does that deserve a 'Toasty!' callout, I wonder?

"I em well!"

Alright, thinning the field. As long as none of them get back up again, I think we can clear them up without too much-

Fortunately, they're respecting the traditional defeat method for zombies. No head, no more zombie...

I deploy construct chains and lash them around my body as I think it, just in case.

-difficulty.

And I hit someone.

Because of course there was an invisible guy. Or just one popping out of concealment right into...

I turn as Ged looks at the clay arm my chain construct is embedded in. Then his body roils, hard earth and stone expanding to turn him into a war golem. Which would be easy to deal with if I had any mage-slayers left.

Try the sonic cannon.

Knew that'd bite you back.You're really going to have to learn how to make them yourself at some point, for just such an occasion.

Compliance.

The clay ripples weakly but doesn't fall apart, because he can hold it together with magic just fine.

Simply too much to push away.

Fine. Dismiss constructs. Not like I get anything out of fighting him myself.

I turn and fly towards the pyromancers, replacing my sonic cannon with cold guns. Two shots-. Yes, good, no more fire wizards, and I send a couple of regular railgun slugs into each of them to make sure they're shattered.

Even if they might reform, they're not doing that anytime soon.

"You are both skilled in your arts."

I turn back to Ged, trying to work out what the most efficient way to kill him is.

Might need to scale up a bit. Light orbital strike, perhaps?

"And you will not fall here. I was deluded in thinking-. I will see if she has a better idea."

His golem body… Petrifies, and goes still.

That's a problem, but for now we've got zombie wizards to put down.

Escaped, but it was clear they were his targets. And they got some useful knowledge out of it.

Always a pain when the enemy flee before you. There's a reason most combat-focused games make them suicidally brave or simply chaff before a scythe. Because players will chase them down to avoid losing loot. At least they aren't leaving this encounter empty-handed, even if OL's inventory is a little lighter.

...their goes their head and-.

...there goes their head and-.

Mr Zoat · Feb 15, 2025

Silveraith said:
Dr.

Chojin Patriarch said:
...there goes their head and-.

Thank you, corrected.

Signaller said:
Could Mammon manufacture mageslayer rounds, perhaps with the trade being that the redirect flows to power him, instead of simply cancelling all effects?

Sort of. He could make something that has a similar outcome, but it would be nastier and more expensive and probably less efficient.

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

Connoisseur.

Dedicated ragequitter

Colts fan. Anime fan. Breast and back fan.

Dedicated ragequitter

Custom Title

Welp

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Welp

Dedicated ragequitter

Getting sticky.

Know what you're doing yet?

Welp

Dedicated ragequitter

Veteran Lurker

Dedicated ragequitter

Chasing the ring

Stand up so I can push you down!

Connoisseur.

Connoisseur.

(Verified Viper)

Connoisseur.

Custom Title

(Verified Viper)

Dedicated ragequitter

Getting out there.

Argent Phantasm

Know what you're doing yet?

Experienced.

Veteran Lurker

Dedicated ragequitter

Users who are viewing this thread