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

Also. I haven't read this whole story, so I apologize if this question has been answered before, but has Paul not gotten some form of protection against magic for his ring? I feel like from what I've read it's come up several times.
I believe the tattoos he used to help create a framework for a soul by drawing in ambient mana disrupt ongoing workings cast on him, but don't quote me on that. It's been a while.
 
I believe the tattoos he used to help create a framework for a soul by drawing in ambient mana disrupt ongoing workings cast on him, but don't quote me on that. It's been a while.
Oh, that protects him against ambient effects and prevents him being targetted, but it doesn't help when someone alters the rules of the universe around him. That sort of thing is a little more difficult to defend against.
 
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Terror Nova (part 12) New
August 20th, 2013
Like five seconds after the big snake hit me


How the fuck did someone hide a whole-ass town from orbital scans? Apart from the big gash in the road where I used my axe to slow down, it looks just like-.

Just like the town where I grew up.

I frown. That doesn't sound right.

But what the fuck ever. I can't see or hear the boss-.

"Persuader to Grayven. You win yet?"

I mean, probably, but I should check.

I wonder if I can hotwire any of these cars? Need to find something old enough that it doesn't have computer controls… And maybe four wheel drive? With the rock and the rain, the surface is probably kinda slippery-.

Why isn't it raining?

I look up and-. Yeah, it's a clear night. Was it night before? I didn't bother checking-.

"Elise!"

No one called Elise here, but I recognize the voice. I take a moment to check that my helmet is still on, and it is. Okay, turn around-.

Around-.

What the fuck is this shit? Mom's a crazy manipulative bitch, but there's no way she can follow me to another planet. The boss's lawyers even got a deal where she doesn't get contact or a forwarding address.



I mean, another planet means that there's no witnesses

No, no, the boss would know, and either I'd be the main suspect or Dad would be and neither of us need that.

"Go fuck yourself, bitch."

That'll do. Boss might be making a whole supervillain alliance to kill his Dad, but Mom's not actually a threat to the whole universe. I turn back around and start looking for a… I dunno, a humvee to jack? Or some other kinda truck? Not gunna be any military vehicles someplace like this. Maybe I could steal a regular car so I can check I know what I'm doing and drive it around to find something actually worth-. Hkk!

"Listen to me, you worthless-"

Mom's picked me up by my neck what the fuck?

"-thug, I know exactly what you did to your teacher-"

Oh fuck. Ghk! Hold her wrist-!

"-and that means that I own you and your limp-dick father."

Oh fu-. Wait, how is Mom strong enough to hold-? I can feel her fingers on my bare neck, what happened to my-?

My armour's… Gone. And I'm… Small. I'm small.

"So here's how this is going to go."

But I've still got my axe, and this is self defence now, right? Close enough. Not like anyone's going to give her a character reference. Kinda awkward one-handed but it's not like I need a solid-

She catches my wrist.

-hit…

"Do you think this toy matters?"

She-. Oof! She just slammed me against a car! And it actually hurt a little! Mom isn't strong enough to-.

She choke-slams me again, and-. I dropped my axe.

"Weak and stupid. Why couldn't I have had a daughter who was actually worth something?"

Can't-. Reach her eyes. Can't kick-.

Agh! Mom hasn't-. Hasn't… Done this for years. Not since she broke my arm after I gave her a black eye hitting her with a shampoo bottle.

Something's… Making me small. Can't do anything about that, but Knockout taught me exactly how easy it is to break someone's fingers. Always Be Hitting

"Ah!"

She actually… Actually let go.

I cough a couple of times, 'cause my neck's all kinds of bruised. But I've got air, which means I can-.

See cops arresting my father, while my mother fake-cries at them. And Mr. Johnson's family-.

Wait, what kinda Silent Hill bullshit is this? Just… Showing me all the worst stuff that could happen-? Well, fuck all of you, Dad's safe at home so dragging him away-.

He makes a break for it, and the police draw their guns and shoot him.

There's a slight... Shudder, but I know it's fake. It's not him.

It's not-.

Where's my axe?

On the ground. I pick it up with both hands… Both tiny child-hands. I hope the boss can fix this, because-.

"Drop your weapon!"

Yeah, fuck you. But-. If I'm a child right now, there's no way I can cross the distance between me and him before he shoots. I back up a little, slashing down-. Alright, short distance slashes still work. I step through, with another slash for the fucker who killed fake-Dad.

"Aaagh-AH-AH!"

More Silent Hill bullshit. There's no way someone with his lungs cut in half could scream like that.

Blood spray's realistic, though. Never liked that part. Just… Messy.

"Open fire!"

I step around the police car -which has to be good to stop small bullets- and slash again, opening a portal to the top of a nearby roof. I wanna slash up all of those fuckers and fake-Mom… But they're not real. And if whatever is making this happen could make them, then it can probably just make more…

Okay, they're all over there, so I slash again and move that way. Still tiny, still awkward holding my axe because I'm so short-.

Shouldn't I be getting tired by now or something? I didn't start getting exercise until I was bigger than this.

Anyway, there's a truck… Toyotas are reliable, right? Slash through the door, climb up-

Bang!

-and someone's shooting at me again, and it's started raining.

I look up. It's not? So where's the water-?

Oh, that's my blood.

My-.

I fall into the footwell.
 
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Specifically, when Johnny Sorrow was attacking Themyscira, he contacted the guardians for a way to reinforce reality. It worked, but was extremely draining (presumably this part changes if only due to his higher skill level)

 
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"Do you think this [toy matters?"
Extraneous square bracket.
Specifically, when Johnny Sorrow was attacking Themyscira, he contacted the guardians for a way to reinforce reality. It worked, but was extremely draining (presumably this part changes if only due to his higher skill level)

Yeah, but looking at that it wasn't just reinforcing reality, it was specifically called a 'dimensional stabiliser' which sounds like it was specialised in stopping the thing Johnny was doing with multiplying spatial dimensions. And of course, with our current situation, I'd be unsurprised if it didn't function in another universe.
 
The corridor around me bulges outwards, the apparently solid stone walls rippling like sheets in the wind. Then two points seem to pull back, the rest twisting around them like water running down the drain. Maybe popping his dimensional stabiliser wasn't the most sensible-. The area of intense distortion around his head bubbles outwards as he takes his hands from his head and starts grabbing at the door! Integrity Prana thing!

Not on file.

That only came from the original ring. I felt the Stewart ring hesitate. Stewart ring, what have you got?

During this ring's assimilation a small number- I dart back to avoid what looked suspiciously like a tentacle mouth made of ice and brick. -of high security files were erased to preserve secrecy.

Something's starting to feel really r̢e̷allỳ badly̷ we͘ i̧r͘d! C̴a҉n͟ ҉y̵ou w̕ór̵k͏ i͞t͘ ơu͘t̢ ͘w͠i͘th̵out thąt?

Te͏chniq͠ues ̶fo̶r ̛re̴sis͘ti̡ng dìm͟en͟siòņal͢ ̛al̢t͠era͝tio̴n̡s h̴i̶g̢hly s͏pec͘ula͘tivé-.̢

O͟f͏f̀er ͟t͟he ͡G̷u̷a͏rḑi̵áns͡ a c͠opy͏ o͞f͠ our̀ ͘t̡ést d͜at̨a!

S͡t̴ánd ͠by͝.̧

B͘y͡ ̴t͡he̸ n̵ow ̨fļa̕tt̷e͘ne͡d͟ ̵an̨d ̷c̶urv͏e̸d ̨do҉or ͜M̸iste͡r S̛o̕rr҉ow̧ ͢fin͘ally ̢m͜a̧nag͞es͘ ̴to͜ h̷i҉t͢ ͠s̸o̷m̧et̵h̡in҉g v̷ita͝l̵ w͞i͏th͜ ͜a̵ ͢d̕is̢torti̛òn̢ and͝ ͞fo̧r̛ce ̀it̴ o̶pen͞. H̨ȩ ̢di͜ves̵.́. ͏no,̡ f̛ąlls̴ into̴ t̵he͢ o̷p̡e͟n͞i̛n͠g. I try to ́fol̸low͜ ͝b̸u͝t ͘I̕ can'͟t ̕m͏a̧k͜e̢ h͟eadwa̕y̨. ͜ I͏'ḿ g̸e͢ttin̶g͞.͠.̀? Ít̷'s c̨ur̡ving̛ ͞aw̕a̴y͢ i̴n͝tó..? Th́e͞ s͟ơnic͜ ̧feȩdback̵ I'̕m̕ ̴g̷e̕t́t̨ing ̀m͘a͝k҉es͟ l̶it͞tl̴e̢ s̀e͟nse ̵an̕d͢ ̢I͜ ͝t̡h̢ink ̢I̕'m ͞gl͡a̴d t̴h̸at̵ ̢I can̢'t ͢se͢ę it.

Dąt҉a͢ ̨ŗec͠ęive͘d͏. Th͢e͜o̡r͜e̴t͞ical̀l͢y͜ s̡oun̵d́ ͜d͏im͡ensi̶o͡nal̶ s̀ta̵bi̡lise͜r ̡t̷e҉ch̛niqu͞e͞ ̵a̵v͢àil͞a͞b̵le. W̕a̷rninģ, s͝ųc̛c̢e͞ss ҉ǹo͠t͡-.

D͞O ̢IT!

Ti̕n͘y̵ ͠o͏r͏ang͘e l̷i̡n̡e̕s̡ ̷rad͡i͞ate͘ ̛from m͟y҉ ҉eņvi͞ŗo͏n̨me̕ńta͡l ̨s̴h͞ie͏l͏d, b͝raņch,͜ bra̴nch͟ ͜a͜gain ̕an͏d a bubble of apparent sanity reappears around me. It doesn't go very far, but I'll take what I can get.
He's talking about this part of the fight with Johnny Sorrow. Even if doing this would stop the Doom ritual from affecting their immediate surroundings, he needs his rings to do it, and the effect stopped his rings from working, so it doesn't seem relevant here.
 
August 20th, 2013
Like five seconds after the big snake hit me


How the fuck did someone hide a whole-ass town from orbital scans? Apart from the big gash in the road where I used my axe to slow down, it looks just like-.
Heh. Of course Persuader's not going to care about timestamps. Unlike the Renegade, whose rings can track time to the femtosecond and Misa whose speed likely gives her an incredible sense of time, Persuader doesn't have anything to monitor that. Nor the temperament to.

Just like the town where I grew up.

I frown. That doesn't sound right.
Just like the others, being placed in a familiar yet undesirable scenario.

But what the fuck ever. I can't see or hear the boss-.

"Persuader to Grayven. You win yet?"
At least this explains why she disappeared from the Renegade's perception. She's been wrapped in her own illusion.

I mean, probably, but I should check.

I wonder if I can hotwire any of these cars? Need to find something old enough that it doesn't have computer controls… And maybe four wheel drive? With the rock and the rain, the surface is probably kinda slippery-.
Not that the source of this will allow you to succeed at anything. Like a global -20 to any roll...

Why isn't it raining?

I look up and-. Yeah, it's a clear night. Was it night before? I didn't bother checking-.
Yeah, big bonus to disbelieve. This thing is a really bad DM. Railroading everywhere.

"Elise!"

No one called Elise here, but I don't recognize the voice. I take a moment to check that my helmet is still on, and it is. Okay, turn around-.
On the upside, her slight split-identity issue might protect her from an issue that targets one persona but not both.

Around-.

What the fuck is this shit? Mom's a crazy manipulative bitch, but there's no way she can follow me to another planet. The boss's lawyers even got a deal where she doesn't get contact or a forwarding address.
Ah, parental issues. Although clumsily done by the illusion's creator.



I mean, another planet means that there's no witnesses
It's not really her anyway, but Persuader doesn't realise that yet.

No, no, the boss would know, and either I'd be the main suspect or Dad would be and neither of us need that.

"Go fuck yourself, bitch."
Well, that's an entire background summed up in a couple of lines.

That'll do. Boss might be making a whole supervillain alliance to kill his Dad, but Mom's not actually a threat to the whole universe. I turn back around and start looking for a… I dunno, a humvee to jack? Or some other kinda truck? Not gunna be any military vehicles someplace like this. Maybe I could steal a regular car so I can check I know what I'm doing and drive it around to find something actually worth-. Hkk!
Sadly, the illusion will have her engage with it, whether she likes it or not...

"Listen to me, you worthless-"

Mom's picked me up by my neck what the fuck?
Wonder if the illusion's assumed all humans are this powerful based on the Renegade and persuader's examples?

"-thug, I know exactly what you did to your teacher-"

Oh fuck. Ghk! Hold her wrist-!
More backstory stuff, I assume. A bad situation the Renegade pulled her out of after she was recruited by the other Persuader...

"-and that means that I own you and your limp-dick father."

Oh fu-. Wait, how is Mom strong enough to hold-? I can feel her fingers on my bare neck, what happened to my-?

My armour's… Gone. And I'm… Small. I'm small.
Ugh, forcing a change of physique. Sloppier and sloppier. At this rate she's going to casually have enough bonuses to disbelieve to overcome the innate malus.

"So here's how this is going to go."

But I've still got my axe, and this is self defence now, right? Close enough. Not like anyone's going to give her a character reference. Kinda awkward one-handed but it's not like I need a solid-

She catches my wrist.
Rude! That's it, though, keep pouring on inconsistencies...

-hit…

"Do you think this toy matters?"

She-. Oof! She just slammed me against a car! And it actually hurt a little! Mom isn't strong enough to-.
Stop thinking like Elise, honey, and start thinking like Persuader. Even if that kind of goes against what the Renegade recommended earlier.

She choke-slams me again, and-. I dropped my axe.

"Weak and stupid. Why couldn't I have had a daughter who was actually worth something?"
Yeah, she totally deserves whatever she gets. Exaggeration or not.

Can't-. Reach her eyes. Can't kick-.

Agh! Mom hasn't-. Hasn't… Done this for years. Not since she broke my arm after I gave her a black eye hitting her with a shampoo bottle.
Yes, there you go. It's stopped making sense, hasn't it? Go on, see what else is wrong.

Something's… Making me small. Can't do anything about that, but Knockout taught me exactly how easy it is to break someone's fingers. Always Be Hitting

"Ah!"
Pretty sensible move. Can't hold her without working fingers. be it a broken bone, wrenched joint or numbed pressure point.

She actually… Actually let go.

I cough a couple of times, 'cause my neck's all kinds of bruised. But I've got air, which means I can-.
Grab your weapon and start carving slices off this illusion, see how long it can hold itself together...

See cops arresting my father, while my mother fake-cries at them. And Mr. Johnson's family-.

Wait, what kinda Silent Hill bullshit is this? Just… Showing me all the worst stuff that could happen-? Well, fuck all of you, Dad's safe at home so dragging him away-.
All it's missing is the fog, isn't it?

He makes a break for it, and the police draw their guns and shoot him.

There's a slight... Shudder, but I know it's fake. It's not him.
And whatever's causing this is escalating in an attempt to provoke a reaction. That's unsustainable, because sooner or later, it'll try something it can't back up.

It's not-.

Where's my axe?
A connection the illusion can't disrupt or cover up.

On the ground. I pick it up with both hands… Both tiny child-hands. I hope the boss can fix this, because-.

"Drop your weapon!"
Oh, yeah, like a cop would shot a little kid, even one holding a giant eff-off axe... Keep pushing your luck, illusion...

Yeah, fuck you. But-. If I'm a child right now, there's no way I can cross the distance between me and him before he shoots. I back up a little, slashing down-. Alright, short distance slashes still work. I step through, with another slash for the fucker who killed fake-Dad.

"Aaagh-AH-AH!"

More Silent Hill bullshit. There's no way someone with his lungs cut in half could scream like that.
I bet it just used a canned Wilhelm, drawing upon her memories for it. 😏

Blood spray's realistic, though. Never liked that part. Just… Messy.

"Open fire!"
An unfortunate weakness, but if she can maintain her focus, the illusion can't exploit it.

I step around the police car -which has to be good to stop small bullets- and slash again, opening a portal to the top of a nearby roof. I wanna slash up all of those fuckers and fake-Mom… But they're not real. And if whatever is making this happen could make them, then it can probably just make more…
Good, well-spotted. Escape is the first choice in this scenario.

Okay, they're all over there, so I slash again and move that way. Still tiny, still awkward holding my axe because I'm so short-.

Shouldn't I be getting tired by now or something? I didn't start getting exercise until I was bigger than this.
Another inconsistency to weaken its hold. Sooner or later, she'll be back to her normal body.

Anyway, there's a truck… Toyotas are reliable, right? Slash through the door, climb up-

Bang!

-and someone's shooting at me again, and it's started raining.
Not even a source for the gunshot, just 'you've been shot!' The illusion is really stretching now, trying to stop her.

I look up. It's not? So where's the water-?

Oh, that's my blood.
No it isn't, keep moving!

My-.

I fall into the footwell.
Not quite what I meant, but if it thinks you're accepting what it wants you to think... It might let up.

The power causing this is really having a hard time with the three of them, isn't it? If it's caught anyone else who came here before, they've probably not been nearly so resistant to mental influence. Never mind the heroic determination. 🤔 Of course, that's assuming this is something trying to cause fear in order to feed or manipulate... Not some defensive system running wild.
 

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