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

They're a teenager, aren't they? No adult could have that level of persecution complex...

To be fair to her, her people are honestly kinda despised by most of the others on their world.

Ooh, sub-harmonic 'friendliness' charm? Sneaky, and not something she'd likely recognise

Well that, or he's just very good at putting people at ease.

He is training to be a doctor so it isn't that unusual that he'd be trained in something like that.

Though that charm thing may be happening.

I remember in the comics he mentioned that a previous wielder of the sound powers once scared off an army by growling, so the ability to manipulate emotions may be happening here.

OL! Do not offer to help the clearly bad girl!

It wouldn't be the first time he did that.

Seriously like half of the Paul's we know are in relationships with former villains, Raul, Peter, Baul, Paragon, Renegade, Common Sense.

Well Baul is technically still in a relationship with a villain, but the others are a bit more on the side of good now, not completely, but they aren't exactly evil now.

The only ones I don't think were in a relationship with a former villain are LP, Saul and the one in the Stargirl universe, and maybe Goldie if he goes out with that Queen, Dick or Diana.

And no, Tagseid 'relationship' with his version of Diana doesn't count, we're talking about actual romantic relationships and not ones between slave and slaver.

Seriously Paul really needs to stop trying to get with bad girls. It isn't as fun as it seems.



.It's already too late for that, isn't it?

Gee, ya think.
 
Wait, who was Common Sense Paul dating?

Paula Nguyen.

Artemis was upset about it.

Here's the chapter:

3rd September 2010
23:02 GMT +3


"Artemis-."

Artemis wheels around to glare at me, jerking her hands up to the sides of her head in a sort of grabbing gesture. "Don't even talk to me."

I bow my head and raise my right hand in surrender. "Okay."

She lowers her hands, maintains her glare for a few moments to ensure that she's made her point, then turns away to stalk over to a dune on the far side of our temporary base of operations, Superboy and M'gann stepping back to give her room.

Wallace looks up from the sensor array he and Richard are working on. "What's her problem? Y'know, now."

"I'm.. afraid that it's personal." Kaldur frowns slightly at me. "And I'm sure that it won't be a problem going forward. I.. just gave Artemis a bit of a surprise and she's… Adjusting."

Wallace smirks. "What, did she ask you out without knowing you're the team token adult?"

"No, though I am meeting up with Patrick Dugan in a couple of days so we can compare notes."

Superboy frowns. "Who's that?"

"Stripesy." Richard doesn't look around from the scanner array. He also isn't having to look the name up. "The Star Spangled Kid's sidekick. They were both members of the All-Star Squadron during the Second World War. I think he was twice the Kid's age."

I nod. "A little over, actually. Robin, is that thing picking up anything my scans didn't?"

"You heard Batman, Oh El. Power ring scans aren't admissible as evidence."

LaGN29


"Right. Except that the reason why we're here is that the Justice League doesn't have legal authority to act in Bialya. We don't either, but… For reasons which I'm.. still not clear on, that isn't a problem because as a League-affiliated auxiliary body we aren't covered by the League's UN Charter in which they agreed not to do exactly what we're doing right now."

"That's about the size of-."

"But as we're a black operation squad, this can't ever come to court anyway. The League can't say that they took those scans without admitting to violating their Charter. They can't say that we did without drawing attention to a huge Charter-bypass that Batman is hoping that no one is going to spot and admitting that this team exists. Boom tube radiation requires specialist equipment to detect, so he can't claim that it was picked up by… I don't know, local physicists or something. And unless one of Bialya's neighbours decides that whatever's happening here is bad enough to declare war over, any follow up activity will have to come from us, because… Charter, black operation."

Wallace stands back from the machine, probably frowning under his mask. "So… This is… A complete waste of time."

"No… Ah… Maybe? Batman can get more of those sensors made and he can't get hold of more power rings, so maybe we're here to test it? Or this is a test for us?"

Superboy folds his arms across his chest and huffs contemptuously.

"Is there a…" Wallace waves his right arm. "Reason you're bringing this up now, rather than when we were in the cave?"

"Because Batman doesn't stop being intimidating just because you reach eighteen. Or, indeed, twenty nine. I didn't really think about it until we'd… Been here for a while."

"Oh man, this is exactly what Red Arrow said would happen!"

"Kid Flash." Kaldur regards him with mild displeasure. "Control yourself. We are in enemy territory."

"Yeah, and this…" He glances at the sensor array. "Thing, and Oh El's ring and Miss Em's telepathy and Supey's hearing will all pick up anything heading our way before either of us notice them."

"Even if this is simply a test, I do not want us to fail it. And neither should you."

"Huh." Wallace thinks for a moment. "Okay. So if this is a test, and we need to do these scans to pass, how do we ace it?"

Oh dear.

Superboy perks up slightly. "We could attack the site, beat up the guards and get them to tell us what's going on."

Oh dear.

Richard turns away from the sensor. "This isn't supposed to be an overt mission. It's not even a vert mission. And since it's covert, losing the 'co' means co-failing the mission."

Hm.

"Miss Martian? How good is your mind control?"

"Aaaahh…" She looks around the group. "Bad. Really really bad. Like I could maybe make someone move their arm when they didn't want to or something but I couldn't make them obey me permanently."

I nod. "I suspect that I can permanently alter someone's desires with this ring, but I don't really know how to do it either. Aqualad? Does the Conservatory teach mental domination magic?"

"Yes, but it is a specialist course, and only available to the most advanced students." He bows his head slightly. "My time studying combat under Aquaman has limited the time I have for arcane study."

I nod. "So we can't mind control Queen Bee into telling us what she's doing, stopping, and reforming the Bialyan government. I could try lecturing her on political theory, but I'm not sure that she'd listen."

Superboy frowns. "They're using the boom tube to bring stuff here from… Apokolips, right?"

I nod again. "Probably."

"So why don't we just blow it up?"

"Not very 'co', Superboy."

"Why? I mean, as long as they don't see us they still don't know the Justice League are the ones who stopped them. We can get Batman's readings and still stop them doing whatever they're doing."

"No." Kaldur shakes his head. "I understand your frustration, but this team is intended to act with subtlety. Unless there is a clear reason to break cover, we will limit ourselves to observation."

"Um." M'gann raises her right hand. "I could take a closer look? I can go invisible so the guards can't see me. And I can keep in contact with telepathy."

LaGN29


I shake my head. "Miss Martian, we know that Doctor Simon Jones is over there. Your invisibility doesn't prevent telepaths from hearing you, does it?"

"It… No."

"And Apokolips is very technologically advanced. If they're trading, then there's a good chance that the Bialyans could detect you even without him."

"They didn't detect the Bio-Ship."

"How do we know that?"

Her eyes widen slightly.

Richard nods. "Oh El's got a point. If they know we're here, and they know that the League won't stop them, and that the League wouldn't send someone unless they knew that something was going on, there's no actual reason for them to attack us."

Kon glowers. "So not only does Batman know this is a waste of time, the Bialyans do too?!"

Kaldur turns my way. "Orange Lantern. Are your scans precise enough to tell when Doctor Jones is asleep?"

"Yes."

"Once he is, Miss Martian will cautiously investigate the camp. Unless we uncover evidence that requires us to act immediately, that is all that we do. If any of you dislike the parameters of the mission, you may take it up with Batman upon our return."
 
"If you help us kill them, I can augment you using their corpses."

Mr Tao, Mistress Butler and Abednego turn their heads to look at me.

"What? I can."
This is what happens when you forget that your dialog choices affect your party members' loyalty, not just the reactions of the NPC you're taking to. She's probably not even a romance option, man.
 
"If you help us kill them, I can augment you using their corpses."

Mr Tao, Mistress Butler and Abednego turn their heads to look at me.

"What? I can."
I note he doesn't say he 'will', just that he 'can'.

Avoiding the mild irritation wouldn't be worth it.
And if mild irritation was the only consequence you regret that might actually be true.
 
"So I could become more like them. Strong and powerful, not an ignorant savage living in a forest."

There's a moment of silence.

"If you help us kill them, I can augment you using their corpses."

Mr Tao, Mistress Butler and Abednego turn their heads to look at me.

"What? I can."

Most of this story has turned into utter shite of late. You have to wade through so much junk to get to the good stuff.

But moments like this make it all worth it.
 
scowls

... is anyone else having trouble with quote-posting? My usual way of highlighting text is suddenly not working correctly and it's only quoting the first word unless I carefully drag across the whole span I want to quote.
I generally only post from my phone, and it's pretty inconsistent about whether the "quote/reply" button appears. Fairly irritating, but it's a phone.
 
No. I can barely believe that they made it into canon. They're a stupid idea; secret society that runs a city no one else wants.

Comic supervillains rarely have a motivation and end goal that seems to make sense.

The Court of Owls certainly isn't the worst offender when it comes to stupid end goals.

The Dark Knights Metal storyline at least gave the explanation that they worship an evil god connected to bats, so that would explain why they want Gotham so much given its connection to bats and misery, plus all the weird magical things going on in it.
 
Comic supervillains rarely have a motivation and end goal that seems to make sense.

The Court of Owls certainly isn't the worst offender when it comes to stupid end goals.

The Dark Knights Metal storyline at least gave the explanation that they worship an evil god connected to bats, so that would explain why they want Gotham so much given its connection to bats and misery, plus all the weird magical things going on in it.
There's also so many nods towards Gotham being in the middle of Lovecraft country...Arkham Asylum for instance
 
I've always thought they made sense as a small sad remnant of a competent evil secret society.

Well there was that whole international Parliament of Owls, so it could be possible.

Another explanation could be that they are just bored rich people and they decided to become an evil secret society to get rid of the boredom.
 
Well there was that whole international Parliament of Owls, so it could be possible.
Another explanation could be that they are just bored rich people and they decided to become an evil secret society to get rid of the boredom.

Eh, my thinking is that at this point they are basically a Elks Lodge that used to more like conspiracy theory Free Masons. A couple generations ago they basically had total control of Gotham as well as other cities but became victims of their own success.
 
I like the idea of the Court of Owls if they had been part of the Batman mythos from the beginning, or as part of an Elseword series where they're the mastermind behind the corruption in Gotham and what Batman has to take down to save the city; like a young Batman believing that he has to take down the Mobs to clean Gotham but it turns out that the Mobs are beholden to these ancient families that rule Gotham from the shadows. Like in a Long Halloween-type storyline.

But they were introduced after a reboot that shouldn't be acknowledged and one which the guys at DC couldn't even fully commit themselves. I didn't read it but after so much time (and an animated movie), the concept of the Court of Owls sounds interesting to me.
 
Otherworld (part 18)
2nd May
03:09 GMT -5


The trees are dead as we approach the pro-warlock settlement. Still tall, still solid to the touch, but there's not a leaf on their branches and their bark has.. taken on an almost… Varnished appearance. I'd ask what the heck happened, but we're moving into contact and I don't want to make unnecessary noise.

My preparations for our second encounter are taking most of my attention. My armour's kinetic barrier has been redesigned to reduce the noise it generates when it touches things to near nothing. That cost me its ability to absorb kinetic attacks, but the Sheeda didn't really use those last time so I think it's reasonable. I ran out of internal space for the phasing and invisibility systems I usually use and the next-best replacements wouldn't work well together, so I decided to switch invisibility for active camouflage that's merely good. Entropic weaponry doesn't exactly have a counter… Well, it does, but you have to know exactly how the person shooting you is accessing the Bleed and I don't.

The next best thing is messing up their target acquisition system. Which is what phasing, camouflage and… Dodging are for. In addition to that, a layered plasma shield where the charged gas films are interspersed with layers of vacuum tends to slow down the rate at which it chews through the target. Doesn't really work well with the phasing or the camouflage, but if they've got exotic target acquisition or anti-phasing technology or magic I expect to find out quickly and switch over.

I've also done something that I wanted to avoid doing and implanted my rings inside my body, with one in my chest and the other in my skull. My fingers have glowing pieces of plastic on them instead. A head shot… I'm not completely confident in my ability to survive one. Then again, I'm not confident of their ability to survive me, either.

Leonid said that he was just going to use his own speed for defence. It's not.. a terrible approach, assuming that he can hurt them. Mr. Yao also declined my help, while the magic users have done something.. unsettling-looking with the blood sample I offered them. They're flickering in and out of visibility now, just… Visually merging with their surroundings.

On the far side of the tree line the bare earth starts. The wraith that I think is Abednego takes the lead, and… A shimmering path over the hard-packed soil appears. I drift along it, noting the difference in philosophy as I go.

Mistress Butler's people hide under the canopy, minimising their footprint and using concealment magics. These people clearly don't care about hiding. This is landscaping for fortification: to better enable them to fight potential attackers. They're not hiding at all. Not from a visual inspection at least; I can't speak for their magic efforts. And the wall at the top of the earth slope is made with… Flesh. Beetle shell and beetle meat, human bones and ligaments, wood… All magically preserved and fortified. They drew the runes with artfully arranged veins, and in my rear view camera I can see Leonid glower.

Pretty big wall, and our girl from the inside -who's bound, gagged and blindfolded and geased against using magic for about four hours according to Abednego and is very definitely being kept on the outside- said that her people aren't doing their usual patrols. Their Sheeda overlords didn't order it today, and they've been doing the stupid-evil thing of killing people who try to be helpful when they weren't ordered to be. Still, I'm a little nervous to be floating my head above the parapet, but I'm following the shimmering 'safe' path…

Head-mounted camera shows no activity, and between optic camouflage and my wards I should be pretty hard to see. And.. over I go, up and… Down. Not touching the ground but floating just over it using my kinetic belt.

The buildings are made of… Not sure. It looks like macro insect shell, but crafted with far more skill than the roofs of Mistress Butler's village. Purpose-grown house insects, or perhaps force-grown after their death? Another subject that will be interesting to study at leisure.

Their windows even look like insect eyes. I mean, they're not; I checked. But in the white dwarf's half-light it would be easy to imagine. The individual houses are fairly large and solidly constructed and I can see a few that have been destroyed with vehemence. The carapace is melted and the building sagged before rehardening, the eye-window holes empty and… Yes, the bodies left where they fell.

No Sheeda in sight as yet. No Sheeda insect mounts. Just a shimmering path from the blood-seeking spell Abednego and Mistress Butler cast, leading further into town. Nowhere else to go.

I'm… Getting vision on the town folks. Some of them, anyway. A few who feel brave enough to move through the streets, more sheltering in their homes. Their mutations are more uniform; human or waif proportions, thin limbs and short tentacles projecting from areas of dull green skin. That can't be chance. I think they've learned to at least somewhat control their changes. That could be invaluable for the others.

The blood-path is leading towards… Not the largest building, but one which holds the relics the locals excavated from Melmoth's former home. A sensible enough place for them to make their base of operations. No idea if any survivors from amongst those abducted from Mistress Butler's village are held there, but after killing the Sheeda we can look for them at our leisure.

The door to the landing area is open-.

There's a giant fly that's looking very dead. Tougher looking than the other Sheeda-insects that I've seen, yet somewhat… Bleached? Plus the burns from-. From Leonid's energy blasts. If I'm reading its physiology correctly, it would have lived long enough for a short flight… I don't think we're close to where we encountered the Sheeda, but the locals have shown the ability to reanimate Sheeda creatures. Perhaps its rider kept it going?

The other two giant flies are stabled, troughs of meat paste being rapidly emptied by their proboscises. They've also got the same slightly-bleached look, so I'm going to assume that's what 'Feed Me' does to them. The glyphs inscribed on their carapaces are still there, though, so it didn't drain their magic… Unless they're so innately magical that all I'm seeing is the altered colour. Scanning them is a risk. Shooting them dead… I would expect a magic-focused civilisation to have riders bound to their mounts in some way, so that would tell them that they need to be on the alert.

There's a door here to the interior, and I can see though the external windows that there's light inside. Phase through or try opening it? There are risks-.

A shadowy man figure peels away from a patch of darkness and passes his right hand over the door frame. I don't see a glyph, but a moment later the door retracts and Abednego disappears again.

Good show. Of course, I'm not going to assume that was sufficient to stop whoever is inside from detecting that the door was opened.

I float inside, putting a little more speed into it. Yes, this looks like some sort of military barracks. Wide corridor, thicker walls, bunks…

I can hear something.

The shimmering path leads onwards and left. The sound is coming from the right. No words, just objects moving against each other.

No. Follow the path.

The building isn't huge; this isn't a particularly big settlement and wouldn't have much use for an inner keep. If the witch-hunters got this far then they weren't going to be stopping. It's only about twenty metres further where the path takes me into… A room with… Pits, about two metres by seventy centimetres, filled with… Pale green gas. Fog. I can't see into them any significant depth and I'm not sure how far down they go. The shimmering path leads to one.

I float over to it and look down. I guess that my attacker is in there. Cleaning? Medical? Some sort of healing pit? I dimly remember the Sheeda in the comic using something a bit like this to travel through time, and… Wasn't there a cauldron?

If this is for healing, now seems like an excellent time to assimilate a Sheeda. But I need to confirm this Sheeda's location as well as the locations of the others before kicking anything off.

I float away from the pit, getting a mild frown from Leonid as I do so. Yes, I know we're following the path to our destination but the target isn't here. I look at Mr. Tao, and he nods and gestures to the exit. I float-.

"MRAAAAAAAAAGHHHHuuuugggghh…"

I don't remember the Sheeda particularly caring about the infliction of pain per se, but they certainly don't care about the wellbeing of their guests.

I turn to Mr Tao, who nods and motions for me to investigate, along with-. Ugh, those two puritan-shaped blurs. He then points to himself and Leonid and the pit. Right, makes sense. I'm pretty sure that Leonid can kill anything he can get his hands on, and neither of them have invisibility. If fighting starts they can catch us up.

I trigger my phasing system and fly in the direction of the scream.
 
Last edited:

maybe 'as of yet'


Is this about how her people live and build homes, because if not it may be wrong?


remove 'the'

someone… Bleached?

maybe 'somewhat'

them any significant

maybe add 'at any'
 
2nd May
03:09 GMT -5


The trees are dead as we approach the pro-warlock settlement. Still tall, still solid to the touch, but there's not a leaf on their branches and their bark has.. taken on an almost… Varnished appearance. I'd ask what the heck happened, but we're moving into contact and I don't want to make unnecessary noise.
Very good idea, no idea how good their hearing might be. Though I shudder at what might have killed the trees...

My preparations for our second encounter are taking most of my attention. My armour's kinetic barrier has been redesigned to reduce the noise it generates when it touches things to near nothing. That cost me its ability to absorb kinetic attacks, but the Sheeda didn't really use those last time so I think it's reasonable. Phasing and invisibility don't work well together, but I could switch invisibility for active camouflage that's merely good. Entropic weaponry doesn't exactly have a counter… Well, it does, but you have to know exactly how the person shooting you is accessing the Bleed and I don't.
Ah, the greatest power in Superherodom: Prep time. Well, it's a toss-up between that and Money...

The next best thing is messing up their target acquisition system. Which is what phasing, camouflage and… Dodging are for. In addition to that, a layered plasma shield where the charged gas films are interspersed with layers of vacuum tends to slow down the rate at which it chews through the target. Doesn't really work well with the phasing or the camouflage, but if they've got exotic target acquisition or anti-phasing technology or magic I expect to find out quickly and switch over.
Especially if you remember to accelerate properly this time.

I've also done something that I wanted to avoid doing and implanted my rings inside my body, with one in my chest and the other in my skull. My fingers have glowing pieces of plastic on them instead. A head shot… I'm not completely confident in my ability to survive one. Then again, I'm not confident of their ability to survive me, either.
Good lord, he's finally done it! We've been harping on it for years, and it takes Sheeda to finally make him go that far. No doubt it's temporary, though...

Leonid said that he was just going to use his own speed for defence. It's not.. a terrible approach, assuming that he can hurt them. Mr. Yao also declined my help, while the magic users have done something.. unsettling-looking with the blood sample I offered them. They're flickering in and out of visibility now, just… Visually merging with their surroundings.
And now I'm picturing really weirdly done chromakey. Like, someone wearing mostly green clothes and green lighting on a green screen...

On the far side of the tree line the bare earth starts. The wraith that I think is Abednego takes the lead, and… A shimmering path over the hard-packed soil appears. I drift along it, noting the difference in philosophy as I go.

Mistress Butler's people hide under the canopy, minimising their footprint and using concealment magics. These people clearly don't care about hiding. This is landscaping for fortification; to better enable them to fight potential attackers. They're not hiding at all. Not from a visual inspection at least; I can't speak for their magic efforts. And the wall at the top of the earth slope is made with… Flesh. Beetle shell and beetle meat, human bones and ligaments, wood… All magically preserved and fortified. They drew the runes with artfully arranged veins, and in my rear view camera I can see Leonid glower.
Yeah, these guys don't sound pleasant at all. I guess they figure intimidation is a better defence than avoidance.

Pretty big wall, and our girl from the inside -who's bound, gagged and blindfolded and geased against using magic for about four hours according to Abednego and is very definitely being kept on the outside- said that her people aren't doing their usual patrols. Their Sheeda overlords didn't order it today, and they've been doing the stupid-evil thing of killing people who try to be helpful when they weren't ordered to be. Still, I'm a little nervous to be floating my head above the parapet, but I'm following the shimmering 'safe' path…
Stealth-mission-agogo. Got to hate levels like this. Any other time, you could shoot or diplomance your way through encounters. But no, the Devs wanted to show off their edgelord cred. So here you go, on a slow walking tour...

Head-mounted camera shows no activity, and between optic camouflage and my wards I should be pretty hard to see. And.. over I, up and… Down. Not touching the ground but floating just over it using my kinetic belt.

The buildings are made of… Not sure. It looks like macro insect shell, but crafted with far more skill than the roofs of Mistress Butler's village. Purpose-grown house insects, or perhaps force-grown after their death? Another subject that will be interesting to study at leisure.
He's working up quite a list of 'things to look into later', eh? And all that depends on the Columbians wanting him to come back...

Their windows even look like insect eyes. I mean, they're not; I checked. But in the white dwarf's half-light it would be easy to imagine. The individual houses are fairly large and solidly constructed and I can see a few that have been destroyed with vehemence. The carapace is melted and the building sagged before rehardening, the eye-window holes empty and… Yes, the bodies left where they fell.
Reminders of the price of disobedience, without a doubt. The Sheeda want to be feared.

No Sheeda in sight as yet. No Sheeda insect mounts. Just a shimmering path from the blood-seeking spell Abednego and Mistress Butler cast, leading further into town. Nowhere else to go.

I'm… Getting vision on the town folks. Some of them, anyway. A few who feel brave enough to move through the streets, more sheltering in their homes. Their mutations are more uniform; human or waif proportions, thin limbs and short tentacles projecting from areas of dull green skin. That can't be chance. I think they've learned to at least somewhat control their changes. That could be invaluable for the others.
Unless it makes it easier for the Sheeda to manipulate them using their magic. That would be bad.

The blood-path is leading towards… Not the largest building, but one which holds the relics the locals excavated from the Melmoth's former home. A sensible enough place for them to make their base of operations. No idea if any survivors from amongst those abducted from Mistress Butler's village are held there, but after killing the Sheeda we can look for them at our leisure.
Indeed. Deal with the mobs, then come back and loot, unless there's a one-way gate somewhere ahead.

The door to the landing area is open-.

There's a giant fly that's looking very dead. Tougher looking than the other Sheeda-insects that I've seen, yet someone… Bleached? Plus the burns from-. From Leonid's energy blasts. If I'm reading its physiology correctly, it would have lived long enough for a short flight… I don't think we're close to where we encountered the Sheeda, but the locals have shown the ability to reanimate Sheeda creatures. Perhaps its rider kept it going?
I can picture them pushing it to continue flying even after it conked out. They certainly don't have any respect for their 'pets'.

The other two giant flies are stabled, troughs of meat paste being rapidly emptied by their proboscises. They've also got the same slightly-bleached look, so I'm going to assume that's what 'Feed Me' does to them. The glyphs inscribed on their carapaces are still there, though, so it didn't drain their magic… Unless they're so innately magical that all I'm seeing is the altered colour. Scanning them is a risk. Shooting them dead… I would expect a magic-focused civilisation to have riders bound to their mounts in some way, so that would tell them that they need to be on the alert.
Ah, if only you had drones you could leave on station, or something. One edge the Renegade has over you, but excusable, what with having to work with mere Human tech...

There's a door here to the interior, and I can see though the external windows that there's light inside. Phase through or try opening it? There are risks-.

A shadowy man figure peels away from a patch of darkness and passes his right hand over the door frame. I don't see a glyph, but a moment later the door retracts and Abednego disappears again.
Thank you, NPC lockpicker. It's not quite 'Captain Noisy kicking in doors with his boot', but it works.

Good show. Of course, I'm not going to assume that was sufficient to stop whoever is inside from detecting that the door was opened.

I float inside, putting a little more speed into it. Yes, this looks like some sort of military barracks. Wide corridor, thicker walls, bunks…

I can hear something.
Be on the alert. Who knows whether they can perceive you like this...

The shimmering path leads onwards and left. The sound is coming from the right. No words, just objects moving against each other.

No. Follow the path.
Better to confirm the one possible kill you know about than go haring off after other mobs. That's been the downfall of many a raid.

The building isn't huge; this isn't a particularly big settlement and wouldn't have much use for an inner keep. If the witch-hunters got this far then they weren't going to be stopping. It's only about twenty metres further where the path takes me into… A room with… Pits, about two metres by seventy centimetres, filled with… Pale green gas. Fog. I can't see into them any significant depth and I'm not sure how far down they go. The shimmering path leads to one.
Gods only know what would happen if you fell into one. Watch your footing, folks...

I float over to it and look down. I guess that my attacker is in there. Cleaning? Medical? Some sort of healing pit? I dimly remember the Sheeda in the comic using something a bit like this to travel through time, and… Wasn't there a cauldron?

If this is for healing, now seems like an excellent time to assimilate a Sheeda. But I need to confirm this Sheeda's location as well as the locations of the others before kicking anything off.
The cauldron would be a dodgy callback to Celtic Myth. It was said to provide brave men with meat, and could revive dead bodies placed into it as zombie warriors... At least, it did that in Sláine...

I float away from the pit, getting a mild frown from Leonid as I do so. Yes, I know we're following the path to our destination but the target isn't here. I look at Mr. Tao, and he nods and gestures to the exit. I float-.

"MRAAAAAAAAAGHHHHuuuugggghh…"
Well, that's as good a lead as any. Either someone's having a real good time... Or a real bad one.

I don't remember the Sheeda particularly caring about the infliction of pain per se, but they certainly don't care about the wellbeing of their guests.

I turn to Mr Tao, who nods and motions for me to investigate, along with-. Ugh, those two puritan-shaped blurs. He then points to himself and Leonid and the pit. Right, makes sense. I'm pretty sure that Leonid can kill anything he can get his hands on, and neither of them have invisibility. If fighting starts they can catch us up.

I trigger my phasing system and fly in the direction of the scream.
Rescue mission/revenge attack go!

Well, that was... quiet. A fascinating look at the difference between Warlock-breed communities, at least. Up next, some action, I hope.
 

The Sheeda had that cauldron, it's how Melmoth gained immortality- replaced his blood with the Cauldron of Rebirth and Plenty's water of life. He survived until Frankenstein fed him to the martian giant insects that they use for mounts.

Or perhaps he survived as a pile of Martian insect horse poop.

The cauldron was found in Slaughter Swamp, where Solomon Grundy originates and is reborn when killed.

Frankenstein was revealed to be a Grundyman because Dr Frankenstein gave his creation a drop of Melmoth's "blood," aka the Cauldron's water of life.

Hence my assumption that the Cauldron contaminated the waters of that swamp.

It was a gift from the New Gods to the first superhero, Aurakles the neanderthal, ancestor of the Bulleteer.

One of the Newsboy Army takes it and becomes the Undying Don of LA.

Since Melmoth is being treated as dead, at least so far in this story, it looks like Zoat might be using absolutely none of that. :)
 
At this distance in time I imagine that the entire human species is descended from Aurakles.
Probably. Also Zeus, Odin, Vandal Savage, and anyone else who had children that also had children (et cetra) thousands of years ago. Higher probability with Aurakles and Vandar Adg, of course, but the various gods were around pretty far back, and Zeus in particular really got around.
 

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