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

Reader mode
Mr Zoat said:
Sockmonkey said:
I think more like an alicorn with wing and horn stumps.
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Basically.
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Makes me wonder what would happen if she gets hit by major magical healing... Heal the (magical) body, help the spirit to heal? So, what if she gets Harmonized? Or, are there less drastic methods available?
On a different subject, does this suggest to Grayven he could try and mimic Starswirl's Mirror with a modified Boom Tube?

I recall a comic where the New Gods were giants, and they got shrunk/enlarged by Boom Tube travel, as the reverse occurred to humans (etc.). I think a Kryptonian got there by a different route, and was maybe a couple of inches high... How DC canon this ended up being was unclear...
I'd be curious to know if the various g-gnomes (and Jean) can learn the Changeling illusion disguise trick. That could make them a lot more socially acceptable, back home... They could impersonate faery beings, or something... Also, does this mean Jean could learn to fly on her visit, and take that new ability (presumably as some sort of TK) home?
 
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Ace Dreamer said:
Makes me wonder what would happen if she gets hit by major magical healing... Heal the (magical) body, help the spirit to heal? So, what if she gets Harmonized? Or, are there less drastic methods available?
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Luna said they may have ways to heal broken horns, so maybe there are other way aside from using Harmony.

However while they may be able to heal the horns of unicorns, or the wings of pegasi, healing an Alicorn may be more difficult as they may not know that much about how they work.

Still now that Sunset has already ascended she may be able to learn more about Alicorns and figure out a way to heal them, so maybe Mortalla can be healed.
 
Mr Zoat said:
Duplication

2nd April 2012
09:22 GMT -6
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Makes you wonder how often there are multiverse threatening crises that the POV characters just don't notice.

changeling queen Jean
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Interesting that Grayven chose to bring them as changelings rather than circumventing the mirror.
Speaking of changlings is he going to go check on the ones he left leaderless? I assume he didn't genocide the whole hive.

but otherwise I'll need to be adding it to Sunset's slate
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Convenient that his chief science minion couldn't reconnect with her home and thus will be sticking around longer. Sad, but convenient!
 
WereDragon said:
Interesting that Grayven chose to bring them as changelings rather than circumventing the mirror.
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You get to pony, you get to pony, everyone gets to pony!
Speaking of changlings is he going to go check on the ones he left leaderless? I assume he didn't genocide the whole hive.
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Probably not.
Convenient that his chief science minion couldn't reconnect with her home and thus will be sticking around longer. Sad, but convenient!
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She's not a minion. She's at least a lieutenant.
 
Pinklestia said:
Okay; is Jean gonna to be made the new Queen by the Changelings that are left?
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Doesn't seem likely, unless Grayven does something like take Jean to the de-Queened hive. Doesn't seem likely he'll do that, as she's likely only agreed on a brief-ish visit. Only reason he might do that is if he wants to experiment with acquiring new g-gnomes, 'on the cheap' (i.e. exporting changeling drones back home through the Mirror, so drones hopefully become g-gnomes). But, don't forget 'dietary issues'.

It seems likely that there's both multiple Hives, and that Hives have ways of generating new queens (from Princesses?) if they lose one. If there's multiple Hives, then each is likely hooves-off with each other's drones. That all assumes they work like insects - if there is only one Hive, and it's never split to generate more (the 'accidental magic origin' bit), then things may be different. And, don't forget the 'improved' changelings that are 'free' individuals.
 
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In that same line of thought about dietary needs, maybe the mirror gave them the ability to feed on knowledge? Basically a new mutation of changelings more in line with what g-nomes are. After all, I don't think changelings really have any magic but shape changing, and suppression of all magic around their hives. But Jean and company are using their horns like ponys.
 
Zoat has Saul done some mass healing in other countries aside from America, like when Paul had Jade heal those people in Vietnam and make the land less radioactive?

Can you list some of the other things Saul has done, aside from healing, training his team and trying to reform American Consolidated?
 
Dur'id the Druid said:
In that same line of thought about dietary needs, maybe the mirror gave them the ability to feed on knowledge? Basically a new mutation of changelings more in line with what g-nomes are. After all, I don't think changelings really have any magic but shape changing, and suppression of all magic around their hives. But Jean and company are using their horns like ponys.
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They did that green biotic charge thing in the Canterlot Wedding.
Darko said:
Zoat has Saul done some mass healing in other countries aside from America, like when Paul had Jade heal those people in Vietnam and make the land less radioactive?

Can you list some of the other things Saul has done, aside from healing, training his team and trying to reform American Consolidated?
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No, because that would require me to write an entire additional story.
 
Timetech said:
Sadly, methinks you underestimate what Zoat puts into even his tiniest snipit.
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Overestimate, really.

Indigo has been working on reforming Vought. His compassion compulsion means that it's almost impossible for him to simply condemn them and leave, and he's well aware of how much damage they could do if they doubled down on their pre-Washington stupidity. So he's been working on his new training program, talking the remaining supers about being decent people and upskilling, and raising his public profile to arm-twist people in American Consolidated into doing what he wants. He used to have a list people could put their names to for healing, then he found out that Vought were controlling who reached the top and... He moved away from that idea.
 
Duplication (part 1)
  • Threadmarks
    • Under Attack
    By Manhunters

    "By the command of Krona, no man escapes the Manhunters."

    The large Manhunter has a copy of Red Queen contained within its chest. Violet armours himself and shields our Red Queen while Red, Supergirl and Komand'r immediately move to attack.

    Intellectually, I recognise that this automaton is a threat. But.. I.. think that vampire's heart is wearing off already. The only things I was able to ingest were avarice and anger, but the particular flavours of those emotions don't lend themselves to acting in this situation.

    "Time Trapper, what are we doing?"

    And the ring is no help. Robots don't have hearts. Or blood.

    A few fragments of crystal skitter across my environmental shield as the Manhunter begins using its Red Queen to begin breaking this pocket universe apart. That's… Interesting, in the abstract, but I didn't consume that tramp's heart. I can't work up the fear to be personally concerned.

    Still… I should try to do something.

    The Red Queen in its chassis has a heart. And her despair is palpable.

    For Nekron.

    Komand'r hits the ground, Supergirl gets shot and the Manhunter begins draining Red's power as I dive forward, construct claws extended. It's a curious mental state which I usually try to avoid: knowing that it is right that a thing dies and that you are obliged to bring that cessation about. The Manhunter doesn't block me as I strike its chest, and my claws cleave easily through its energy shield and armour.

    I hear a quiet.. click, and then Red Queen's head explodes. But it doesn't matter. In a universe of this size there's nowhere for her soul to go. My claws turn into reaping hooks as I tear the Manhunter's armour asunder and shove my right hand into Red Queen's corpse.

    For Nekron.

    "For Nekron."

    Violet crystal traps the Manhunter in place and I.. pull back, heart decaying in my grasp. The crystal is already cracking, so I doubt that it will last long. I wonder exactly how tough Glory's blood made me? If they keep sending me hearts…

    "Go."

    A portal opens next to the spire as another Manhunter drifts through their portal, a shot from its integrated weapon systems hitting my environmental shield and.. not doing much at all.

    Bleed them. Take their hearts. Make a ring. Create a Black Queen. Scour all that is and can be and make it silent.

    I… Don't… Think that's-.

    The others need to leave. I glance back, seeing that Red, Time Trapper, Supergirl and Komand'r are gone. Red Queen is presumably keeping the portal open while Violet is hanging back to… Buy me time?

    "Go."

    Violet takes my advice with haste, leaving myself and Red Queen to face the two Manhunters. The crystal around the first one fades rapidly with its creator gone so I recreate the reaping hooks and tear through the late Red Queen's corpse and into its chassis. The Manhunters may not be truly alive, but they have substance, they're a proof that life existed. That purpose existed. The first Manhunter comes apart as my blades extend into scythes and bisect its torso, and I catch the upper portion and hurl it at the second.

    It.. doesn't reach, instead… Dissolving just before it hits. The second Manhunter then drifts towards me, freeing the space for a third to come through.

    "By the command of Krona-"

    I bring a construct scythe blade down towards it, and it raises its arms and tries to use its forearm weapons to drain my power. The blade bites into its arm and through, but I could see it wavering-

    Local entropy detected.

    -as it did so. Perhaps Krona is less skilled in manipulating the black light than the other colours? It certainly appears to function differently to the others.

    "-no man escapes the Manhunters."

    The stump-armed Manhunter sets its other siphon to try and drain me while it overcharges its shield, a swarm of blue slightly convex squares forming up into a wall between us.

    Local entropy detected.

    The third is moving slowly towards Red Queen. She points her left hand at it and blue-black lines briefly connect them, the Manhunter's armour twisting and warping both front and back as they pass through it.

    Another scythe swing and the wall bends, feedback from my construct reporting that it was varying in composition and texture in an active attempt to discover some way to block my assault. I generate a boar spear construct and ram it into the barrier as well. It's clearly stressed, but given Krona's age and experience… I don't use constructs anything as much as the non-black versions of me appear to.

    But there's still a heart in that chest.

    The barrier only protects the Manhunter's front arc. Flying around the stressed shield and tearing into the Manhunter's head with goddess blood-enhanced strength is a matter of simplicity. The outer part is relatively weakly armoured, but my new strength shears the collar bone reinforcement with little more difficulty. The central processor is there and the internal armour is nothing like as strong as the force field. I'm still losing power, but it-.

    The barrier drops, my constructs slice into the Manhunter's body and a black bolt blasts from its siphon and strikes Red Queen in the head. She drops at once, armour and flesh stripped from her skull and the portal undulates. The Manhunter she attacked opens its chest compartment and the Red Queen inside dives through-.

    I fire energy pulses and score a hit before she makes it through. The portal is already destabilising from this side-.

    I tear off my ring finger and send it flying for the portal. It.. just gets through before the portal collapses.

    Huh.

    I've never been entirely sure whether my consciousness was stored on my ring or not. I assumed not, because I'm essentially an unusual demon-free vampire and vampires demonstrably think with their brains.

    I don't think I'd have bothered doing that before I became a Black Lantern. I'd value my continuity too much. As far as I was concerned, if the thing that kept going wasn't this me then why bother? Now I can barely work up the enthusiasm to keep this me going.

    I wonder if my new instance will remember this?

    The Manhunter that just lost its Red Queen shimmer and decays into dust, and.. as I look around I see that most of this pocket universe has gone the same way.

    Hardened nails bared I tear into the damaged but still functional Manhunter that I'm perched on. It's slow going, but between my vampire-.

    The Manhunter's hand closes around me and lifts, pulling me free of its damaged torso. Darn, didn't get the core or the Red Queen. If I'd gotten her blood I might have been-.

    Guuugh
    Ughaaaa

    Black Lantern re-instanced. Power level one point one percent.

    My eyes open.

    Oh.

    I appear to have retained all memories up until the moment of my brain's destruction. That… Would probably be uplifting if I could feel uplifted.

    And… I'm in a.. storage… Not a tent. The material says 'portacabin' but the metal armour says 'secure storage'. The others should have noticed my body regrowing. That's rather-.

    "…one other ring, attached to a severed finger."

    "Thank you. I'll-" There's a clank as the fortified door unlocks. "Take a look." The door swings open. "What color-?"

    A woman in the gold and black uniform sees me, and her power ring flares.
     
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    • Mr Zoat said:
    Under Attack
    By Manhunters

    "By the command of Krona, no man escapes the Manhunters."
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    Ah, we find out what happened to Zaul? Interesting, and I expect it's pertinent to the situation Raul and Saul dropped neck-deep into.

    The large Manhunter has a copy of Red Queen contained within its chest. Violet armours himself and shields our Red Queen while Red, Supergirl and Komand'r immediately move to attack.

    Intellectually, I recognise that this automaton is a threat. But.. I.. think that vampire's heart is wearing off already. The only things I was able to ingest were avarice and anger, but the particular flavours of those emotions don't lend themselves to acting in this situation.
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    Well, Anger might, but the last trickle of Avarice won't help much.

    "Time Trapper, what are we doing?"

    And the ring is no help. Robots don't have hearts. Or blood.
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    Not great, either for a Black Lantern or a Vampire...

    A few fragments of crystal skitter across my environmental shield as the Manhunter begins using its Red Queen to begin breaking this pocket universe apart. That's… Interesting, in the abstract, but I didn't consume that tramp's heart. I can't work up the fear to be personally concerned.

    Still… I should try to do something.
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    Oh, dear. Motivation without emotion? Pure rational logic? This could get messy.

    The Red Queen in its chassis has a heart. And her despair is palpable.

    For Nekron.
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    ...[Concern] I do hope that's just the Ring goading him into action...

    Komand'r hits the ground, Supergirl gets shot and the Manhunter begins draining Red's power as I dive forward, construct claws extended. It's a curious mental state which I usually try to avoid; knowing that it is right that a thing dies and that you are obliged to bring that cessation about. The Manhunter doesn't block me as I strike its chest, and my claws cleave easily through its energy shield and armour.

    I hear a quiet.. click, and then Red Queen's head explodes. But it doesn't matter. In a universe of this size there's nowhere for her soul to go. My claws turn into reaping hooks as I tear the Manhunter's armour asunder and shove my right hand into Red Queen's corpse.
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    Time to Nom!

    For Nekron.

    "For Nekron."
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    Oh, it's a good thing no-one heard that in the clamour of combat...

    Violet crystal traps the Manhunter in place and I.. pull back, heart decaying in my grasp. The crystal is already cracking, so I doubt that it will last long. I wonder exactly how tough Glory's blood made me? If they keep sending me hearts…

    "Go."

    A portal opens next to the spire as another Manhunter drifts through their portal, a shot from its integrated weapon systems hitting my environmental shield and.. not doing much at all.
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    I'm betting the energy is simply being dissipated by the shield, not consumed...

    Bleed them. Take their hearts. Make a ring. Create a Black Queen. Scour all that is and can be and make it silent.

    I… Don't… Think that's-.
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    Yeah, Zaul, that's not a voice you want to be listening to..

    The others need to leave. I glance back, seeing that Red, Time Trapper, Supergirl and Komand'r are gone. Red Queen is presumably keeping the portal open while Violet is hanging back to… Buy me time?

    "Go."
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    Seriously, OL. Zaul can handle himself...

    Violet takes my advice with haste, leaving myself and Red Queen to face the two Manhunters. The crystal around the first one fades rapidly with its creator gone so I recreate the reaping hooks and tear through the late Red Queen's corpse and into its chassis. The Manhunters may not be truly alive, but they have substance, they're a proof that life existed. That purpose existed. The first Manhunter comes apart as my blades extend into scythes and bisect its torso, and I catch the upper portion and hurl it at the second.
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    Rip and Tear! Doomguy would be proud.

    It.. doesn't reach, instead… Dissolving just before it hits. The second Manhunter then drifts towards me, freeing the space for a third to come through.
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    Presumably because it had no living battery to stabilise it. The whole purpose of the Jades they're using, If I remember the earlier chapter.

    "By the command of Krona-"

    I bring a construct scythe blade down towards it, and it raises its arms and tries to use its forearm weapons to drain my power. The blade bites into its arm and through, but I could see it wavering-
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    Damn annoying energy leeching ability. Too bad its' trying to drain the absence of anything it normally works on...

    Local entropy detected.

    -as it did so. Perhaps Krona is less skilled in manipulating the black light than the other colours? It certainly appears to function differently to the others.
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    As long as it doesn't divide by zero, you'll be fine.

    "-no man escapes the Manhunters."

    The stump-armed Manhunter sets its other siphon to try and drain me while it overcharges its shield, a swarm of blue slightly convex squares forming up into a wall between us.

    Local entropy detected.
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    Suggesting that by trying to absorb the light of unlife, it's basically causing itself to lose energy. Hah!

    The third is moving slowly towards Red Queen. She points her left hand at it and blue-black lines briefly connect them, the Manhunter's armour twisting and warping both front and back at they pass through it.

    Another scythe swing and the wall bends, feedback from my construct reporting that it was varying in composition and texture in an active attempt to discover some way to block my assault. I generate a boar spear construct and ram it into the barrier as well. It's clearly stressed, but given Krona's age and experience… I don't use constructs anything as much as the non-black versions of me appear to.
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    It'd be hard to, given the way your ring charges...

    But there's still a heart in that chest.

    The barrier only protects the Manhunter's front arc. Flying around the stressed shield and tearing into the Manhunter's head with goddess blood-enhanced strength is a matter of simplicity. The outer part is relatively weakly armoured, but my new strength sheers the collar bone reinforcement with little more difficulty. The central processor is there and the internal armour is nothing like as strong as the force field. I'm still losing power, but it-.
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    I bet that boost'll come in handy while it lasts...

    The barrier drops, my constructs slice into the Manhunter's body and a black bolt blasts from its siphon and strikes Red Queen in the head. She drops at once, armour and flesh stripped from her skull and the portal undulates. The Manhunter she attacked opens its chest compartment and the Red Queen inside dives through-.
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    So, she hopped from the freshly killed incarnation to the one Zaul just freed? Giving Causality the middle finger! Or is this one going to be a sleeper agent for Krona in their midst?

    I fire energy pulses and score a hit before she makes it through. The portal is already destabilising from this side-.

    I tear off my ring finger and send it flying for the portal. It.. just gets through before the portal collapses.
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    And since Blacks can regenerate from the ring out... This one is now a backup copy...

    Huh.

    I've never been entirely sure whether my consciousness was stored on my ring or not. I assumed not, because I'm essentially an unusual demon-free vampire and vampires demonstrably think with their brains.
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    It's likely a bit of both. The brain does the processing, while the ring is the RAM.

    I don't think I'd have bothered doing that before I became a Black Lantern. I'd value my continuity too much. As far as I was concerned, if the thing that kept going wasn't this me then why bother? Now I can barely work up the enthusiasm to keep this me going.

    I wonder if my new instance will remember this?
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    Good question...

    The Manhunter that just lost its Red Queen shimmer and decays into dust, and.. as I look around I see that most of this pocket universe has gone the same way.

    Hardened nails bared I tear into the damaged but still functional Manhunter that I'm perched on. It's slow going, but between my vampire-.

    The Manhunter's hand closes around me and lifts, pulling me free of its damaged torso. Darn, didn't get the core or the Red Queen. If I'd gotten her blood I might have been-.
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    And so ends Zaul 1.0. Now, onto to Zaul 1.0.1.

    Guuugh
    Ughaaaa

    Black Lantern re-instanced. Power level one point one percent.

    My eyes open.
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    Well, I suppose that helps with his thanatophobia...

    Oh.

    I appear to have retained all memories up until the moment of my brain's destruction. That… Would probably be uplifting if I could feel uplifted.
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    Yay for you. You've got your own kind of immortality going on. Too bad it's linked to Nekron's un-life support...

    And… I'm in a.. storage… Not a tent. The material says 'portacabin' but the metal armour says 'secure storage'. The others should have noticed my body regrowing. That's rather-.

    "…one other ring, attached to a severed finger."
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    Achievement Unlocked: Wake up in the Morgue... Again.

    "Thank you. I'll-" There's a clank as the fortified door unlocks. "Take a look." The door swings open. "What color-?"

    A woman in the gold and black uniform sees me, and her power ring flares.
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    Ah, someone knows the prophecy of the Book of Oa... Or she's just surprised to see someone in an empty room.

    Well. That happened. I can only hope the Red Queen that got through the portal has similar goals to the one that got wasted. Otherwise, they got a mole!
     
    So just to be clear the version of RQ that was in the robot escaped through the portal?

    If this is true then Krona could have some way to track them.

    Yeah if the crater Raul and Saul find themselves in is any indication then he may be able to track them through her.
     
    Darko said:
    So just to be clear the version of RQ that was in the robot escaped through the portal?

    If this is true then Krona could have some way to track them.

    Yeah if the crater Raul and Saul find themselves in is any indication then he may be able to track them through her.
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    1. I think the crater was made by the Gold Lanterns, is my assumption...though unclear.
    2. I suspect that RQ who was in the manhunter is either trackable, or was a spy (or both), who took the opportunity to replace the RQ who was holding the portal open, as the folks on the other side of the portal didn't know she wasn't RQ prime, and she neglected to say. I kinda assumed the RQs in the manhunters were wearing different armor, but I realize that was not specified one way or the other.
     
    Did the Gold Lanterns not bother talking to anyone before they attacked?
     
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