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

Darko · 2025-02-28T07:24:09+0000

Mr Zoat said:
genuinely despairing what in whatever

Remove "what".

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-02-28T07:43:18+0000

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2013
14:10 GMT -2

The… Person I'm looking at is short and so fat as to be virtually spherical. He or she is also naked, and the adipose flaps make it hard to tell which is appropriate. Their skin is chalk white and their hair is pitch black, done up in a topknot like a sumo wrestler but more messily Their eyes are black, with tiny little points of white where an unusually small pupil might go.

I bow courteously. "Despair. I'd say that it's a pleasure to meet you, but I fear your power too much to lie."

Wise. The Endless are too powerful for dissemblance and social chicanery. I suspect honesty and confidence will be the go here. Show no fear, offer no offence and politely request that she stop killing the VIP...

I glance behind me to see Ahri'ahn backing away rather frantically.

"Huh. Do you think he's going to fail?"

If you kill him now, of course he will. And the spell affecting Delirium might not end with his death...

"The only way to avoid failing is to avoid trying. But if he doesn't snap out of it and get a move on then he's definitely going to fail here."

Despair waddles up until she's standing besides me. "You're doing well."

True, such is life. To do nothing is safe, but gains nothing.

"Thank you. Did you enjoy our exposure to the Anti-Life?"

"A little. It's too forced, really. I prefer it when it's more individualistic. Like being sacrificed to the Tezcatlipoca every day for centuries with no hope of-."

Good to know she has a low opinion of Darkseid's little science project.

Ahri'ahn falls to the ground clutching at his bleeding chest.

"-being released, knowing that your friends could probably have rescued you if you hadn't betrayed them completely unnecessarily."

Well, that makes it pretty clear that isn't really Ahri'ahn.

Lumps of… Ahri'ahn fall-. No, drip off, the cloth of his clothing becoming partially liquid and running off his outline, taking colour and physical integrity with it. Then the effect spreads to his face, his features warping like molten wax-.

"So you are Queen Gamemnae under there. Let me just-."

I'm definitely getting a feel of her quagmire spell. Perhaps Ahri'ahn is still alive inside.

I step forward, intending to pull the clay off her smaller frame so that she can breathe… And clone her a new heart while I'm at it, because I guess that Despair just made Gamemnae's lowest point just a bit more real which means that she doesn't have one at the moment.

"No."

Ah, I see Despair really wants her to suffer for a bit first.

Despair takes hold of my arm-.

…

"Huh."

I'm guessing she is far stronger than you, and if she doesn't want you to move, you aren't moving.

"Would you rather hold hands?"

"No, it's just-. I've been hit with the Anti-Life before. I was sort of assuming that physical contact with you would… Do something similar."

I mean, she could if you wanted her to, I guess?

Despair makes an expression that might generously be called a smile.

"Try moving."

Oooh. Preventing OL from doing something he intends to? That would probably induce a little despair.

I-.

Ah. It turns out that Despair is quite strong. No matter. I-.

Nothing racial in this comparison, but she might well be strong in the same way other primates are strong and humans aren't.

I.. don't seem to be able to cut off my own arm. Or remove friction. Or transition. Or extend a filament. I'm not going to try stepping out while Despair is holding on to me because that sounds like a higher order terrible idea. Instead, I reach into my armour's sheath with my free hand and pull out an x-ionised dagger.

...It should say so much that your first response to someone holding your arm like that is to cut it off...

"That's your best idea?"

"Please let me go?"

Politeness is always a good first option.

Probably-Gamemnae collapses onto her face, weakly clawing at the molten clay covering her face.

"Guess."

Ah, a test of character. Nothing hidden about this one, though.

I bring my knife across and-. The blade doesn't cut through my armour.

"That should work. Is that you?"

Well, that's impressive. Presumably Despair's doing.

"You can cut your arm off if you want. But you won't get it back."

"Promise?"

"I said it, didn't I?"

Be careful what you wish for, OL. You just might get it.

"Yes, but was it an observation or an offer of a pact? Are you guaranteeing that if I cut it off you'll use your despair powers to keep me from growing it back, or are you just saying that arms don't grow on trees because you're a busy being and you don't actually know anything about me."

It's not like it would slow him down for long. Prosthetics are a thing. Unless her 'curse' would affect even them.

"A lasting wound that you couldn't fix would undermine your entire personal philosophy, wouldn't it?"

"That's an observation, not an answer."

Well, she's not going to spoon-feed you all the answers, is she? Where's the despair in that?

"Stop playing-" Gamemnae manages to claw the clay away from her mouth. "-it's game! Work out what the rulesmgph-!"

That's not even slightly acting like clay. It's deliberately oozing over her mouth, nose and eyes.

Presumably to aid in inducing despair. Or to keep her off-balance so she can't spell her way out of this.

Ah…

Okay, she can hear me. The problem is her despair. I'm not sure if Despair can make someone despair about something that didn't actually bother them. And despair isn't fear, so just saying 'it might not happen' isn't going to be enough if things have gotten to this stage.

So it falls to speech skills and helping her work through the cause of it.

I glance at the picture of Desire-.

"My sister-brother wouldn't help. They'd be fascinated to see what you want most."

Given his current nature, it'd be like a super-fast slideshow with a few consistent background images...

Okay, er…

Rules.

Gamemnae was genuinely despairing what in whatever part of the Aztec afterlife she was stuck in. Despair is making her relive that. How-?

Therapy time. Engage Talk-no-jutsu!

"Gamemnae! Shout, 'Hail Hephaestaean, King of the Gods and Master of Technology'!"

"Muh?!"

If nothing else, it might get his attention on you. Not likely to help against Despair's effect, but...

"That way, if you die, you'll go to Erebus rather than Mictlān! Hades only does finite punishments! You can sidestep the whole heart thing! I mean, you'll be punished, but he might take time served into consideration!"

"Muh-ugh?!"

Safe bet that was a 'Are you serious?'

"I'm not good at this sort of puzzle, but it will work."

"Ugh! Mhm Muhmhmughmum, muh mh mh mugh mh muhmh mh mumumugh." … "Mughmuh?"

'Now what?' Now, you try and actually believe it.

"It helps if you mean it, but if you've never seriously worshipped any other god then that should do." Ah… other thing. Everyone in Atlantis going mad. "Okay, I think that the affect of any Delirium-related magic would fade if they were disconnected from the system, right?"

Okay, where are you going with this?

"Muyomugh!"

"So even if it does go wrong, then all we have to do is change them back into baseline humans and give them counselling for the induced madness. Most of them should recover eventually. Then we can shut the whole thing down, and if they want to become Purebloods or whatever again, we can do that. That should work, shouldn't it?"

...I shudder to imagine the casualty rates, but most of Atlantis should survive... Maybe? Better than losing the whole nation.

"Muh… Might..?"

Queen Gamemnae looks her dry-clay-covered form over, then reaches up to her chest to check that her heart is back again. Then she awkwardly and unsteadily stands, staring wide-eyed at Despair, who let's go of my arm.

Okay, she's snapped out of it, a little. Time to get her back on track.

"Thank you."

Despair gestures vaguely in the direction of Gamemnae. "Carry on. You haven't succeeded yet."

And that one sentence may send her right back into depression. Hopefully she can focus past it.

So that's one more Endless taking an interest in OL. And we're bound to meet Delirium before this is over. All he needs to do it meet Destruction and he can make it a full set, because Destiny is sure to pass by soon. Meanwhile, looks like Gamemnae is shedding her disguise at last. hopefully she'll see sense and be helpful.

Neruz · 2025-02-28T07:54:14+0000

B00ki5h said:
It seems like all of the Endless he meets end up liking Paul to some degree.

He's new and different, when you are an endless embodiment of fundamental forces of the universe new and different things are very rare.

Mr Zoat · 2025-02-28T08:24:20+0000

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'too'.
That should say 'effect'.

Darko said:
Remove "what".

Me said:
Ah… other thing.

Thank you, corrected.

Ardy said:
Remember Paul, Ahriman being Gemenae means that you've let an eligible woman examine your naked body intensely and record it for "research."

She must die, so jade may never know.

One of the people who put them there in the first place was a woman. And there was that time they both woke up in bed with Eris.

Ardy · 2025-02-28T08:26:07+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Thank you, corrected.

One of the people who put them there in the first place was a woman.

and Jade doesn't know that. QED.

Vaermina · 2025-02-28T08:41:12+0000

Somewhat disappointing.

I was really hoping Despair was just going to refuse to play Paul's normal game even the slightest amount.

Mr Zoat · 2025-02-28T11:19:02+0000

Ardy said:
and Jade doesn't know that. QED.

Uh.

Huh.

I don't think that I've written him telling her, and I'm not sure if it would have come up. You could be right.

Darko · 2025-02-28T13:12:54+0000

Chojin Patriarch said:
I'm definitely getting a feel of her quagmire spell. Perhaps Ahri'ahn is still alive inside

Maybe she tried to absorb him, but he proved to be the dominant one and took over.

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

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