Silverias
Not too sore, are you?
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Nope, still more illegal. Human produce.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- self insert young justice
CTrees
Chasing the ring
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Human produce isn't categorically illegal to sell. In (at least most of) the US and, from a quick search, the UK, selling breast milk is legal and largely unregulated. Selling your hair is legal. Selling blood plasma is legal in the US, selling blood or semen is a little more complicated and heavily regulated, but legal. Organs are generally illegal to sell, of course.
I would guess that selling emotions syphoned off a person is probably not specifically regulated, and thus technically legal. Of course, if all of this is noncensensual, that will obviously be illegal. Along with kidnapping, torture, etc., it might just be sale of stolen goods or similar.
Zig
Not too sore, are you?
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was gonna be him or Rainbow Raider
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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In our defence, DC has a LOT of characters for Zoat to choose from.
HappyHappy (part 21)
New
Mr Zoat
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September 1st, 2013
15:11 UK Time
I finish going through the last of the Andrews guy's drawers and turn around to look at the mess we've made of his room. Just regular guy-stuff, as far as I can tell. Okay, a guy who's more worried about his appearance than most guys, but there's no… I don't know. Magic drugs or whatever. Guess he doesn't try his own supply. Or maybe he moved to Bournville before that all started? There isn't really any dust, but… If the room's sealed-.
Is there some sort of magical house-cleaning spell?
Wally's looking through his herb collection and typing things on his computer. I step over the perfectly regular clothes I've thrown on the floor and head over to the workroom. Huh. Just realised that people having supervillain names makes it a lot easier to talk about them. 'Charles Andrews' is kind of… Not that memorable. And it's like two first names, so are you talking about some guy called 'Andrews'-. Paul would probably call him 'Mister Andrews', but that makes it sound like I'm respecting him.
I look over Wally's shoulder and… Yeah, that's dried… Dirt? "Find anything?"
"Ah, maybe?" He moves the pot of dirt over to one side and takes out a packet of dried leaves. "Most of this is stuff any alchemist would have. Just about all the stuff he'd need to make… Like, a prototype potion is here… But not everything."
"Okay, is-." What the-? "Does this guy have one of those posters in every room in this place?"
It's a yellow smiley face on a white background. There was one in the living room, in the kitchen, in his bedroom and there's one behind his chemistry bench. This one has 'Smile! You're my number one guy!' written on it.
"Yeah. There's even one in the bathroom."
"Is it a magic thing?"
He frowns at me-. What?
"What?"
"Putting up weird motivational posters?" He shakes his head. "No, that's not a magic thing." He goes back to sorting through the bench compartments. "Except… Ah, Jay told me about this one magic poster that kinda did a reverse Picture of Dorian Grey, where a wizard stuck it to a wall and a demon came out and killed people."
"I don't remember that. Was it recent?"
"No, it was about twenty years ago in Opal. Starman… Ah… Four? He destroyed the poster. The wizard got a life extension for everyone the demon killed. He'd already been doing it for over a hundred years. No one really picked up on it."
"Think this guy gets a life extension every time someone sends a text message?"
Wally pushes the… Leaves aside and pulls a book off a stand.
"Shouldn't think so. He'd have to go to wherever the main servers are, do a bunch of stuff and hope that Hephaestaean didn't notice. And he'd have to stay there, or bind some kinda demon to the system-."
I raise my left eyebrow.
"Oh, joke, right." He sighs as he opens the book. "Sorry. It's just, we kinda have to think about this stuff now. You find anything?"
"A lotta clothes that looked like they got worn, like, once." Huh. I fold my arms across my chest. "Does this kinda thing happen a lot?"
"What kinda thing?"
"This guy isn't that powerful, right?"
"Seeing how we're here? Wouldn't think so."
"And he's been living in this hotel for years."
"Oh. Yeah. Ah, maybe? I mean… How would we know?"
Huh. He's got a… Point. I try reading the book over his shoulder, but… I don't understand… Whatever language that is. Something on my chest itches and I scratch it without looking away.
"Can you actually read that?"
"Uhh, not all of it. I'm just-" He turns the page. "-looking for names. Ingredients. Or if he's been making some kind of deal with a demon or something."
"You haven't… Done that, right?"
"No? For me, this is, like, chemistry with extras. The reason why I like it is because I'm… Working out how the world really works. By myself, not just doing what some demon's telling me. And, y'know, those kinda deals are always messed up anyway." He scratches his chest. "Uh. Babe?"
"What?"
"Are you using a new detergent or something? 'cause we're both scratching ourselves, and if we're both alergic…"
"Uh, no? Same old-."
There's something… On my chest. I can feel it. But I can't remember what it is. It feels warm, whatever it is. And it wasn't warm earlier.
Something's stopping me thinking about it. Magic-.
I grab Wally and throw myself towards the closest window, smashing through it and falling towards the parking lot at the back of the hotel! Wally's eyes widen as we slam into the ground, and I bend my legs a little to absorb the energy.
Huh, the asphalt only cracked a little bit.
"Ah, babe? What.. the heck..?"
It's-. A spell eater. And it's warm, because it's been absorbing something. I put Wally down, take hold of my spell eater and wave it at him.
"I was wearing it, but I couldn't think about it. How 'bout you?"
"I-." His eyes widen. "No! I forgot I even had it."
"There wasn't anyone up there, right?"
"No." He shakes his head. "If we were that distracted, whoever it was would have attacked us."
"And the freakiest thing up there was those posters, right?"
He nods. "Yeah. Definitely."
"Okay." I hold out my right hand. "Gimme your spell eater and all the magic acid you got."
"Artemis… That would melt the hotel."
Huh? "How much do you carry?"
"Not… That much. It's powerful."
"You got something to neutralise it?"
"Kinda defeats the point of 'super acid'. But if they're magical..?" He thinks for a moment. "Alright, just… Throw me up there. I can pull 'em off the walls…" He looks around. "Yeah, it shouldn't matter too much if this parking lot gets a bit melted." He carefully passes me one capsule, and I stick it in a pouch very carefully. "Use this on the first one and put it on the ground. That'll make a hole for you to put the rest in."
"Right. And that'll do it?"
"If they're where it's coming from, sure. If not, eh, we destroyed some weird posters."
"Right." I bend down and make a stirrup with my hands.
He… Hesitates. "Is that the best way to do this?"
I glare at him. "Do you wanna practice or do you wanna get the evil posters?"
"Okay-" He climbs on, and thanks to the Danner Formula I barely feel his weight. "-then, Ar-"
Check the sight line and throw!
"-teeeee-!"
15:11 UK Time
I finish going through the last of the Andrews guy's drawers and turn around to look at the mess we've made of his room. Just regular guy-stuff, as far as I can tell. Okay, a guy who's more worried about his appearance than most guys, but there's no… I don't know. Magic drugs or whatever. Guess he doesn't try his own supply. Or maybe he moved to Bournville before that all started? There isn't really any dust, but… If the room's sealed-.
Is there some sort of magical house-cleaning spell?
Wally's looking through his herb collection and typing things on his computer. I step over the perfectly regular clothes I've thrown on the floor and head over to the workroom. Huh. Just realised that people having supervillain names makes it a lot easier to talk about them. 'Charles Andrews' is kind of… Not that memorable. And it's like two first names, so are you talking about some guy called 'Andrews'-. Paul would probably call him 'Mister Andrews', but that makes it sound like I'm respecting him.
I look over Wally's shoulder and… Yeah, that's dried… Dirt? "Find anything?"
"Ah, maybe?" He moves the pot of dirt over to one side and takes out a packet of dried leaves. "Most of this is stuff any alchemist would have. Just about all the stuff he'd need to make… Like, a prototype potion is here… But not everything."
"Okay, is-." What the-? "Does this guy have one of those posters in every room in this place?"
It's a yellow smiley face on a white background. There was one in the living room, in the kitchen, in his bedroom and there's one behind his chemistry bench. This one has 'Smile! You're my number one guy!' written on it.
"Yeah. There's even one in the bathroom."
"Is it a magic thing?"
He frowns at me-. What?
"What?"
"Putting up weird motivational posters?" He shakes his head. "No, that's not a magic thing." He goes back to sorting through the bench compartments. "Except… Ah, Jay told me about this one magic poster that kinda did a reverse Picture of Dorian Grey, where a wizard stuck it to a wall and a demon came out and killed people."
"I don't remember that. Was it recent?"
"No, it was about twenty years ago in Opal. Starman… Ah… Four? He destroyed the poster. The wizard got a life extension for everyone the demon killed. He'd already been doing it for over a hundred years. No one really picked up on it."
"Think this guy gets a life extension every time someone sends a text message?"
Wally pushes the… Leaves aside and pulls a book off a stand.
"Shouldn't think so. He'd have to go to wherever the main servers are, do a bunch of stuff and hope that Hephaestaean didn't notice. And he'd have to stay there, or bind some kinda demon to the system-."
I raise my left eyebrow.
"Oh, joke, right." He sighs as he opens the book. "Sorry. It's just, we kinda have to think about this stuff now. You find anything?"
"A lotta clothes that looked like they got worn, like, once." Huh. I fold my arms across my chest. "Does this kinda thing happen a lot?"
"What kinda thing?"
"This guy isn't that powerful, right?"
"Seeing how we're here? Wouldn't think so."
"And he's been living in this hotel for years."
"Oh. Yeah. Ah, maybe? I mean… How would we know?"
Huh. He's got a… Point. I try reading the book over his shoulder, but… I don't understand… Whatever language that is. Something on my chest itches and I scratch it without looking away.
"Can you actually read that?"
"Uhh, not all of it. I'm just-" He turns the page. "-looking for names. Ingredients. Or if he's been making some kind of deal with a demon or something."
"You haven't… Done that, right?"
"No? For me, this is, like, chemistry with extras. The reason why I like it is because I'm… Working out how the world really works. By myself, not just doing what some demon's telling me. And, y'know, those kinda deals are always messed up anyway." He scratches his chest. "Uh. Babe?"
"What?"
"Are you using a new detergent or something? 'cause we're both scratching ourselves, and if we're both alergic…"
"Uh, no? Same old-."
There's something… On my chest. I can feel it. But I can't remember what it is. It feels warm, whatever it is. And it wasn't warm earlier.
Something's stopping me thinking about it. Magic-.
I grab Wally and throw myself towards the closest window, smashing through it and falling towards the parking lot at the back of the hotel! Wally's eyes widen as we slam into the ground, and I bend my legs a little to absorb the energy.
Huh, the asphalt only cracked a little bit.
"Ah, babe? What.. the heck..?"
It's-. A spell eater. And it's warm, because it's been absorbing something. I put Wally down, take hold of my spell eater and wave it at him.
"I was wearing it, but I couldn't think about it. How 'bout you?"
"I-." His eyes widen. "No! I forgot I even had it."
"There wasn't anyone up there, right?"
"No." He shakes his head. "If we were that distracted, whoever it was would have attacked us."
"And the freakiest thing up there was those posters, right?"
He nods. "Yeah. Definitely."
"Okay." I hold out my right hand. "Gimme your spell eater and all the magic acid you got."
"Artemis… That would melt the hotel."
Huh? "How much do you carry?"
"Not… That much. It's powerful."
"You got something to neutralise it?"
"Kinda defeats the point of 'super acid'. But if they're magical..?" He thinks for a moment. "Alright, just… Throw me up there. I can pull 'em off the walls…" He looks around. "Yeah, it shouldn't matter too much if this parking lot gets a bit melted." He carefully passes me one capsule, and I stick it in a pouch very carefully. "Use this on the first one and put it on the ground. That'll make a hole for you to put the rest in."
"Right. And that'll do it?"
"If they're where it's coming from, sure. If not, eh, we destroyed some weird posters."
"Right." I bend down and make a stirrup with my hands.
He… Hesitates. "Is that the best way to do this?"
I glare at him. "Do you wanna practice or do you wanna get the evil posters?"
"Okay-" He climbs on, and thanks to the Danner Formula I barely feel his weight. "-then, Ar-"
Check the sight line and throw!
"-teeeee-!"
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EgyptianDio
DAJAKU! DAJAKU!
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Oh great, this guy.
GhostKing 666
Know what you're doing yet?
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Think it might be enough to get Paul cursing? We all know how much he does not like Boss Smiley. The guy is basically his nemesis at this point. And this time Smiley is basically subverting one of Paul's projects too.
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Rebu
hey, little Anna, you're the one
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Maybe call it in in case you get neutralized?
Like you very nearly just were?
Silverias
Not too sore, are you?
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Called it.
I specifically avoided saying anything when Zoat liked this message.
Darko
Connoisseur.
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"He goes"
Chojin Patriarch
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Entirely possible he was recruited here by whoever originally made the whole game. Still, at least they didn't find ritual sacrifice setups or anything like that. Or bound demons.
Bound elementals, arcane constructs, that sort of thing, surely. Would he have spared the magical energy to use one? who knows?
Ironically sensible. And it's a lot easier to know what villain you're talking about, if two or three have similar civilian names.
Such as the emotional component, whose source we just saw.
Oh fuck, no! That's gotta be Boss Smiley-related.
Like some sort of magical '1984'. He's probably watching them through the posters and fuming about the changes resulting from OL's interference.
Wally's an alchemy specialist, Arty, not a general practitioner. Zatanna might have been able to answer that, maybe... But she's one of the last people I'd want anywhere near this.
Because of course someone would try something that bizarre.
...No-one caught onto the poster being a common element, or did the wizard remove it promptly?
...Wally, she's joking. No need to puzzle out the mechanics of such an arrangement.
He's not wrong, though. Another unexpected variance because of OL...
Maybe he has specific preferences? Or a taboo linked to his power that says he can't wear the same clothing more than once?
It's not a matter of power, it's how it's applied. The right levers in the right places...
OL's tracking of his movements? There can't be that many viable locations to live in the area, after all.
...Huh, that's suspicious. Also, never read a random book in a wizard's room without extensive self-protection, you never know how it's protected.
A journal, perhaps, then?
No shit, Wally. Because demons.
Or something is trying to get their attention...
Huh, the Spell Eater running overtime. I wonder how badly they would have been affected without it?
Which says how desperate the situation was.
Amusing that she's surprised at that. I doubt either of them weighs over 90 kilograms. Hardly going to do much damage to concrete with that kind of force.
Sounds like the spell was aimed at making them do just that. Good to see it did it's job well.
Except the posters and the weird book. Either one of which was suspicious.
There we go. Drawing the right connections.
Doubling up to make sure of her protections, eh?
It's not a matter of how much, but of 'how strong'.
Sounds like a good plan to have, just in case the capsules of it get broken.
Efficient. Better to patch a bit of asphalt than multiple floors of a hotel.
In which case the book might be a viable cause.
It's that or run all the way back up.
She could probably also pull off a decent Fastball Special. Although it helps there if the person being thrown can withstand or heal form the impact.
Let's hope she's on target.
So, the smiling bastard is involved in this somehow, and maybe just tried to modify the minds of Artemis and Wally. I bet he was aiming for a little nudge back into their canon personalities. hanks goodness for the Spell Eaters, even if they forgot about them for a moment there. Though it might be best if they get checked out later anyway in case of lingering effects...
Wivk
Not too sore, are you?
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I would absolutely call in a perception altering event before it deleted my memory of having my perception altered.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
BR549
This is filth! FILTH!!
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Given Boss Smiley is Sir Stations of Canon, I'd suspect the intended effect was "Magic is something only questionably real and only useable by a few people like Zatanna and Faust", which would more or less be the canon state.
I'd suspect it 'bypassed the Spell Eaters' through sheer power (after all, there were a lot of smiley-face posters); thanks to the Spell Eaters it only had the effect of making the two forget about the Eaters. Had they stayed longer...
Sarlar
Wildly Perturbed
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Should be "they're", I believe? Aside from that, freaking Boss Smiley. Spooky.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Duke Long
Glomerulus
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'shoulder'
How much did you have to rewrite to make it Mannheim instead of Donna Troy? Obviously she wouldn't have to run from some ordinary humans. Or had you not written this yet when you changed your mind?
'thought'
Very. Always glad to see them out and about.
'by'
'makes'?
'to check'?
Well, here are the herbs that were mentioned previously. Apparently nothing special.
'kinda'
Well, we already knew that some sort of influence could be exerted through smiley faces. At least from that one time Boss Smiley subverted a smiley face construct. Can't remember any other times it happened. I wonder if he has some ability to act via any sufficient detailed description of him, and that manifests as him being able to appear when named or exert power through representations of his face. Or if he has just specifically put spells on his names and face to let him do that.
Do these guys not take Oh El seriously when he talks about/writes reports on Boss Smiley, or have their minds been altered after entering the line of sight of the posters to forget him, or has Oh El not been mentioning him often because bad things tend to happen when he does?
Honestly I've forgotten how Spell Eaters are supposed to work, but I sort of thought that they always convert magic into heat and the way to bypass them is to use magic to create a non-magical effect. I think the only time we've seen them overpowered was with Oceanus, and in that case it was very obvious because the Spell Eater sublimated.
Dur'id the Druid
Not too sore, are you?
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Good grief, I thought he was completely trolling us about smiley! But no, this looks like an actual reoccurrence of him.Finally.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Hadn't written it yet.
It's just not the first place your mind goes when you see something pretty normal.
They drain magic to try and make the spell collapse, like taking out a supporting wall in a building making it collapse even though you haven't removed much of the mass.
Clell65619
Know what you're doing yet?
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I'm relatively sure that the proper term is 'sight line'. Normally, in this story, I ask myself if this is a 'divided by a common language' kind of thing, but this is Artimis narrating.
I'm wondering if Boss Smiley got residuals on the sale of his portraits in the '60s.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
His benefits were less material than that. Mostly, not ending up with an avatar that looked like Kilroy.
Duke Long
Glomerulus
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Ah, so one way around them is to have a sufficiently redundant/resilient spell design that some of it gets through.
Huh, I hadn't realised his form was mutable like that. I'd been thinking that smiley faces look like Boss Smiley, rather than Boss Smiley looking like a smiley face.
Mr Zoat
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There's a bit more to it than that, but there's no countermeasure that does not itself have a countermeasure.
The last sentence wasn't entirely serious.
PDV
Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer
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No, no, we've been over this. Paul is a pedant about nemeses. (And about most things.) Smiley can't be his nemesis because he didn't create or cause Smiley. It's just that Reach guy.
Archenemy, though, that's fair.
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Mr Zoat
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He could be Smiley's nemesis though.
LazySloth13
Versed in the lewd.
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I can imagine during whatever meeting the Light or its minions have there's small talk between them wandering who has to deal with Paul for the next coming projects, individuals complaining that they've done their bit at great cost and it's someone else's turn, Lex has to mediate often given he tends to interact with Paul the most. They also constantly take shots at each other whenever one of their plans fails due to Paul's intervention. The sort of scene and dialogue seen in the older DC superhero shows like Justice League.