Darko
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Yeah, but I was wondering if it was just random bits of the Ophidian, or something a bit bigger, like her heart, acting as his soul.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
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- self insert young justice
Yeah, but I was wondering if it was just random bits of the Ophidian, or something a bit bigger, like her heart, acting as his soul.
Faed Away (part 17)
Mr Zoat
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5th May
03:15 GMT -5
Canis takes a moment to look over the stupefied undead mutant before us.
"How?"
"I'm curious to know that myself."
I don't know if Melmoth can see us or is limited to hearing us, but in either case I want him not to be.
I still the air and absorb the light around the periphery of the room, causing the walls to turn jet black. I don't know if that actually works, but it's the best I can do for now.
"Was your Mother Box able to work out how Melmoth is interacting with this place?"
"No. She deciphered an impression of his work that may help Doctor Mist comprehend it, but all I can say is that it he is not using New God technology." He continues to stare at Aurakos. "I did not even know she was here."
"Ping."
"Where?"
I.. step closer. I've never tried using a purple ray on an undead before, and I.. don't think this is a good time to experiment. Without armour an x-ionised blade should be able to cut through the.. mutated parts. Cut them off-.
"Ping."
"Canis, if a New God has a limb cut off, how quickly do they regrow it?"
"Unaided? If they focus their efforts, perhaps a month."
"And aided?"
"That would depend upon the nature of the aid. With a Mother Box, a skilled New God healer and a ready source of magic, less than a day."
I closely examine the hole I made in her forehead. It's scabbed over and the skin of her face was affected by the uncontrolled growth a little, but… Okay, I can scan the bone and flesh… Somewhat. My magic sense is telling me that there's.. more that I'm not seeing, but… Whatever I do will literally be better than a hole in the head.
A quick flash of orange light and the hole is patched.
"How about… Internal organs?"
"A little faster. Depending on the damage."
"I ask because her head is least affected. If I cut it off and rebuilt a facsimile of her body, would she survive?"
"That is… Somewhat outside my field. You could ask my uncle, or his natural father." He smiles broadly, still unable to tear his eyes away. "This is a fascinating experience. I had foolishly thought that I was beyond horror. When I commemorate this day, I will paint feelings that I thought I had forgotten."
"Wraith, let her speak."
"I am not preventing that, Master."
"Okay. So, Canis, any idea on whether waiting and handing her over to someone else would be better than trying to restore her myself?"
"I have never heard of anything like this."
"Ping."
"And neither has Mother Box."
Hm. Well, I've seen enough people that I know what the fundamental drives look like. Implanting them in someone without them is well within my abilities. They won't be balanced; I can't give other emotions. But combined with New God physiology, it… Should jumpstart her. Without turning her into Larfleeze Mark 2.
'Should.'
"Orange Lantern to anyone."
I wait, but there's no response. Then-.
I look at the stairs, then at the giant grundywoman.
She won't fit. Leaving her down here -even temporarily- seems like a bad idea. So I can either cut bits off her or try and fix her. Or I could blast my way out and potentially destroy Sheeda equipment which we need to analyze. Or.. I could send Canis outside of the area and request guidance.
I fabricate a length of fibre optic cable, communication relay at both ends.
"Canis, head back to the surface. Lay this along the way."
I hand it to him and he takes it, nodding, finally looking away from Aurakos.
"I'd like to help Aurakos, but the people of Columbia take priority. Tell Diana what happened and ask for orders."
"Very well." He nods, turns to leave, then… Hesitates. "May I ask you to inform me before you work on her? I wish to see everything which occurs with my own eyes, hear it with my own ears. Smell it with-."
"Mission permitting, yes."
He runs for the stairs at what I recognise is his maximum 'not-trashing-the-environment-with-super-strength' running speed.
And… Then it's me and Aurakos. Who's… Drooling slightly. Ugh. Okay, not doing anything major is only sensible, but I can… Tidy things up a little. And… Maybe a small shrine to Hades? She is undead, and I don't know anything about religious practices in her era. If she has another death god then she'll go to them anyway, but some death gods really don't like the idea of undeath and I don't want to create a restless shade if she gets rejected.
As far as I can tell, her mutated flesh has grown in fairly predictable way. Veins, arteries and nerves… Yes, they're distorted, but they're still there, even if they're not doing their usual job any longer. And whatever New God exotic defence she would usually have appears to have been destroyed by Melmoth's work. Or at least massively weakened. So while a full genetic analysis is probably…
Oh. No, that makes perfect sense to me. A bit more Neanderthal than most modern humans, but perfectly comprehensible. So I can clone the tissue I need for a patch-job, rather than cloning DNA-free tissue and hoping that her body adapts it. Grundies only decay from damage rather than microbial infection, so the lack of biological activity shouldn't be a problem.
Right. Done. It's a patch job and it's probably magically wrong, but she could function as an organic life form now. I mean, she'd probably have trouble moving in a controlled way, but-. Actually what was Melmoth going for here? Boosted strength wouldn't help her against me. My main defence is agility, with selective immunity as a secondary. Being more muscular wouldn't help.. much, particularly not when it would cost her agility like this. An accident? Was she fighting his control and disrupted the spell? I didn't… See a flare of orange, but that's not a completely reliable guide.
I send filaments to pick up the broken pieces of her armour and fabricate a clay bowl, along with a flask of scented oil and a piece of string to serve as a wick. Kneeling is.. awkward in this armour, but I pour oil into the bowl and lie the wick in it as I put in on the ground.
"Lord Hades, please aid this fallen hero. I ask that you either receive her swiftly and painlessly and judge her fairly, or grant her forbearance and allow her to return to the living world."
I watch it burn for a moment, focusing my mind on the image of Hades sitting in judgement. Going by the lines I saw last time I was there, he probably won't get to her quickly even if he hears me.
Not much else I can do until I hear from Canis.
03:15 GMT -5
Canis takes a moment to look over the stupefied undead mutant before us.
"How?"
"I'm curious to know that myself."
I don't know if Melmoth can see us or is limited to hearing us, but in either case I want him not to be.
I still the air and absorb the light around the periphery of the room, causing the walls to turn jet black. I don't know if that actually works, but it's the best I can do for now.
"Was your Mother Box able to work out how Melmoth is interacting with this place?"
"No. She deciphered an impression of his work that may help Doctor Mist comprehend it, but all I can say is that it he is not using New God technology." He continues to stare at Aurakos. "I did not even know she was here."
"Ping."
"Where?"
I.. step closer. I've never tried using a purple ray on an undead before, and I.. don't think this is a good time to experiment. Without armour an x-ionised blade should be able to cut through the.. mutated parts. Cut them off-.
"Ping."
"Canis, if a New God has a limb cut off, how quickly do they regrow it?"
"Unaided? If they focus their efforts, perhaps a month."
"And aided?"
"That would depend upon the nature of the aid. With a Mother Box, a skilled New God healer and a ready source of magic, less than a day."
I closely examine the hole I made in her forehead. It's scabbed over and the skin of her face was affected by the uncontrolled growth a little, but… Okay, I can scan the bone and flesh… Somewhat. My magic sense is telling me that there's.. more that I'm not seeing, but… Whatever I do will literally be better than a hole in the head.
A quick flash of orange light and the hole is patched.
"How about… Internal organs?"
"A little faster. Depending on the damage."
"I ask because her head is least affected. If I cut it off and rebuilt a facsimile of her body, would she survive?"
"That is… Somewhat outside my field. You could ask my uncle, or his natural father." He smiles broadly, still unable to tear his eyes away. "This is a fascinating experience. I had foolishly thought that I was beyond horror. When I commemorate this day, I will paint feelings that I thought I had forgotten."
"Wraith, let her speak."
"I am not preventing that, Master."
"Okay. So, Canis, any idea on whether waiting and handing her over to someone else would be better than trying to restore her myself?"
"I have never heard of anything like this."
"Ping."
"And neither has Mother Box."
Hm. Well, I've seen enough people that I know what the fundamental drives look like. Implanting them in someone without them is well within my abilities. They won't be balanced; I can't give other emotions. But combined with New God physiology, it… Should jumpstart her. Without turning her into Larfleeze Mark 2.
'Should.'
"Orange Lantern to anyone."
I wait, but there's no response. Then-.
I look at the stairs, then at the giant grundywoman.
She won't fit. Leaving her down here -even temporarily- seems like a bad idea. So I can either cut bits off her or try and fix her. Or I could blast my way out and potentially destroy Sheeda equipment which we need to analyze. Or.. I could send Canis outside of the area and request guidance.
I fabricate a length of fibre optic cable, communication relay at both ends.
"Canis, head back to the surface. Lay this along the way."
I hand it to him and he takes it, nodding, finally looking away from Aurakos.
"I'd like to help Aurakos, but the people of Columbia take priority. Tell Diana what happened and ask for orders."
"Very well." He nods, turns to leave, then… Hesitates. "May I ask you to inform me before you work on her? I wish to see everything which occurs with my own eyes, hear it with my own ears. Smell it with-."
"Mission permitting, yes."
He runs for the stairs at what I recognise is his maximum 'not-trashing-the-environment-with-super-strength' running speed.
And… Then it's me and Aurakos. Who's… Drooling slightly. Ugh. Okay, not doing anything major is only sensible, but I can… Tidy things up a little. And… Maybe a small shrine to Hades? She is undead, and I don't know anything about religious practices in her era. If she has another death god then she'll go to them anyway, but some death gods really don't like the idea of undeath and I don't want to create a restless shade if she gets rejected.
As far as I can tell, her mutated flesh has grown in fairly predictable way. Veins, arteries and nerves… Yes, they're distorted, but they're still there, even if they're not doing their usual job any longer. And whatever New God exotic defence she would usually have appears to have been destroyed by Melmoth's work. Or at least massively weakened. So while a full genetic analysis is probably…
Oh. No, that makes perfect sense to me. A bit more Neanderthal than most modern humans, but perfectly comprehensible. So I can clone the tissue I need for a patch-job, rather than cloning DNA-free tissue and hoping that her body adapts it. Grundies only decay from damage rather than microbial infection, so the lack of biological activity shouldn't be a problem.
Right. Done. It's a patch job and it's probably magically wrong, but she could function as an organic life form now. I mean, she'd probably have trouble moving in a controlled way, but-. Actually what was Melmoth going for here? Boosted strength wouldn't help her against me. My main defence is agility, with selective immunity as a secondary. Being more muscular wouldn't help.. much, particularly not when it would cost her agility like this. An accident? Was she fighting his control and disrupted the spell? I didn't… See a flare of orange, but that's not a completely reliable guide.
I send filaments to pick up the broken pieces of her armour and fabricate a clay bowl, along with a flask of scented oil and a piece of string to serve as a wick. Kneeling is.. awkward in this armour, but I pour oil into the bowl and lie the wick in it as I put in on the ground.
"Lord Hades, please aid this fallen hero. I ask that you either receive her swiftly and painlessly and judge her fairly, or grant her forbearance and allow her to return to the living world."
I watch it burn for a moment, focusing my mind on the image of Hades sitting in judgement. Going by the lines I saw last time I was there, he probably won't get to her quickly even if he hears me.
Not much else I can do until I hear from Canis.
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RichardWhereat
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And so a dead god shows up in Hades, and Hades just says "Pavlos".
BlueMangoAdea
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"Pavlos, another gift for me? These gifts just keep getting better! Do you treat Eris even better than this?"
Fellow
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'continuing' or add an 'as he' before continues. The 'regards' part may also be a bit redundant unless it was in reference to his statement, I'm not entirely sure.
Darko
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remove 'regards'
Does he mean Scott Free and Izaya?
And we thought he was becoming better.
Maybe 'death god' or 'other deaths gods', 'another' just sounds weird.
Does paragon have the actual Heart of the Ophidian for a soul, or was it just a metaphor?
Nice thinking with the whole Hades thing and I really hope he does build a temple on Tamaran in the future, and the introduce Helios thing.
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Cherico
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to be fair look at his family he's dealt with worse.
Darko
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He hasn't done anything for her since that training episode, where he apparently asked for her advice.
For shame Pavlos!
Though I bet he's never had to deal with a son in law.
Fellow
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In the grim darkness of whatever place they're in, are there even gods still around.
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Darko
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It couldn't hurt to be careful and make the necessary rituals just in case.
Sceptic
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Wasn't he having trouble with subspace storage? Or did I miss something?
BlueMangoAdea
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Ah. Amputation, then. I suppose that's much safer with a power ring.
Has Paul's magic sense been noted before? My memory is being unreliable again.
Canis is always a delight.
...Why do I see parallels between this and what Grayven did to Lynne?
Sensible.
Canis is really thirsty for this, huh?
Promising. That's better than being mind-controlled undead, I guess?
Either is better than her current state, but I don't think I'm the only one hoping for the latter.
Darko
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He may have made some just in case he needed to perform something like a funeral.
After they encountered the Sheeda he may have decided that it was better if they were prepared for their deaths and what followed.
Fellow
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The stuff he had stored in subspace before he entered the portal to this place didn't come with him. It still works, though I imagine he won't be able to bring anything back through subspace when they go home.
Edit: He probably made a bunch of stuff after he realized his inventory was empty, though why a clay bowl would be something he'd add is beyond me. I mean it did prove useful
Darko
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I don't think it has but it does make sense for him to have it if he can absorb magic and is capable of doing some small spells.
He's like candy.
A bit is always nice, but too much and you'll feel sick.
Huh, you've got a point.
We tend to forget that just because paragon isn't his Common Sense counterpart that doesn't mean he isn't capable of being sensible.
It's something he hasn't seen before so yeah.
A lot of things are better than that.
I'm also hoping for the latter, if only to have her destroy Melmoth herself for revenge.
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Darko
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To solve this all he would need to do is build some kind of carrier for any stuff they bring with them, which should be fairly simple for him to do.
He may want to be prepared in case one of them dies and he needs to perform some kind of rights to get them into Erebus.
He's got a good relationship with Hades and may be able to convince him to resurrect the one who died.
Yeah Hades may not like bringing people back to life, but he may make an exception for Paul given everything he's done for him.
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Galacticplumber
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He lost access to his old pocket. Presumably, this does not prevent him from making another one. That's the simplest solution at least.
Chojin Patriarch
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Hardly the worst sight he's probably seen. Still something that would put most people in search of a place to vomit...
Seriously, how is Swirly-cheeks even still listening in? That magic surveillance system is certainly paying for itself.
And there's no other obvious viable sources of observation? No protrusions of flesh or fitted lights? Anything could be used to watch you, given his sneakiness.
Probably because she was technically dead until OL cut her out. She didn't start channelling the Source until Melmoth forced her to, did she?
Wonder what she's pointing out to him. Something pertinent? Or just telling him off for inattentiveness?
A sensible question, as expected in this situation. It's an extreme measure, though, amputating everything...
Well, once they get back to Earth, it shouldn't be hard to get her medivaced to New Genesis. Whether New Genesis would help, that remains to be seen.
Yeah, having her brain exposed to the open air is probably a bad thing, even for a New God.
Which we've seen with Grayven. A few hours of mana-bathing and he was right as rain.
Things like fear, horror and disgust, or are we talking compassion, sympathy and concern here?
Which leaves us to wonder, is it because of structural damage or a conscious choice to remain silent... It could be a good thing. I suspect there would be a lot of screaming, if she could feel her body's twisted state.
Yes, most of his experience with anatomy has been in laying waste to it, or savouring the sweeter aspects of it. Making medical decisions for a complete stranger of a New God Zombie is kind of outside his wheelhouse.
To be fair, how much data does she have? She's still young, isn't she, relying on uploaded databases rather than personal experience?
No, this is not the time to be experimenting. Especially on someone who can't give any kind of consent, informed or not. And you know what happens when someone gets their inner light out of balance, after all.
Admittedly, they are miles underground, and who knows what sort of signal-disrupting the Sheeda Kudzu possesses?
That last option sounds good. You just have to hope he doesn't get ambushed by Sheeda on his way out.
Hopefully, he gets signal sooner rather than later. For all you know, he'll have to climb all the way back to town...
What's to stop him subspacing her and hauling ass out? A reluctance to subspace a technically living creature? I mean, it's not like he could make things that much worse for her...
Geez, Canis, keep your pants on. There'll be time for that later. Besides, don't you want to gather materials for some 'art'?
Hades is likely long dead or unreachably distant, but going through the motions might at least make you feel better about it...
Honestly, she's mostly human anyway. After all, her parents were an ascended Neanderthal and a regular woman, with his New God nature breeding true, as I understand it.
Heck, if it's magically neutral, it'll probably be easier for her body to incorporate and energise it. Just a matter of feeding her enough mana to do so. This is completely unknown territory for him, much less for Canis.
Or, like I suggested, her regeneration went into an uncontrolled spiral of overloading. With that much magically active blood inside ehr, I'm amazed it didn't 'malfunction' sooner. I bet it turned the blood into something like magical cancer cells...
Trying to recall what was known of Neanderthal funereal rites? Unfortunately, short of discovering some manner of time-viewer, we'll never know for sure. I presume he fabricated the ritual materials earlier, or had them stowed separately during the transit?
And now we settle in for a deathwatch.
Heh, he's been keeping Hades busy, hasn't he? Of course, the Lord of the Dead does enjoy his job, so he's probably glad to have something to do more than once a month or two now.
A remarkable change of pace from the last couple of chapters. From desperate fight to defend himself from a more skilled opponent, to watching over her comatose form as he tries to work out how to tend to her... It's things like this that make me enjoy this story.
This seems to be an unfinished statement...
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Darko
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Maybe add a dot at the end there.
Or done.
I know we like to call out the New Genesians for being bastards, but remember that while they're not saints, they are good people in the end.
Yeah they can be hypocrites, but just because Apkaliptians are more honest than them doesn't somehow make them better than the New Genesians.
If a guy was just a bit of a hypocrite, but was otherwise a good guy, then he's going to be morally superior to a guy that likes to kill, rape and burn everything, but is honest about his bad side.
Are you really asking this?
It's the first one.
After everything she's experienced she may want to be alone.
He may have some medical knowledge, seeing as he probably used surgical techniques to torture people for his art rather than just beating them to death.
I don't think it was ever stated how old she is.
If she was taken from a soldier then she may have medical data needed to heal the wounded, and the things Apokalips can inflict on people would mean that she may be able to do a lot.
You had to invoke Murphy, didn't you.
At least he has power armor to help him.
He may be reluctant to put in her subspace her due to her condition, and he may also be unable to transition out of there due to some Sheeda tech or magic, and the Honden may be out since even if she could potentially travel through it when she was still, well, more alive she may not be able to now.
If this is sometime in the future then he could either be dead, the Sheeda did have a Box so may have found some way to kill gods, or at the very least prevent them from having an influence on the mortal world by cutting them off from it.
That or something else happened that did those things, like whatever happened to the sun.
He may also be still alive, but has just lost interest in the mortal world.
More like a dozen times a year, as I remember Paul mentioning that they get a couple of dozen souls each year, at least before he got him all those other souls.
And now onto the final showdown with the main boss.
moralrelativity
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Briefly, and recently, it's not well-developed yet. But he's trying to develop it.
Baladar
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Cue laughtrack.
Handlewithcare
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Canis is growing on me.
All these characters so enthusiastic about horrible things are just hilarious.
All these characters so enthusiastic about horrible things are just hilarious.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
The Ophidian does not in any literal sense have a heart. The Ophidian created an intimate connection between the two of them.
Thank you, corrected.
Whenever Possible
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She's dead, but can she dream?
Someguy Somewhere
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My mind wandered off on a hypothetical, that OL ended up with Death of the Endless showing up to claim a New God's Soul rather then her subcontracting to Hades, and hanging around to chat with Paul while Melmoth Gibbers in panic.
transhumansage
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melmoth isnt dead yet? im guessing he is probably not nearby....
Mr Zoat
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I doubt that Melmoth would know who she is. And if he did, he probably wouldn't care. He grew up on a dead planet and led the Sheeda as they clawed their way back into an economic surplus. I imagine he is well familiar with small d death.
Darko
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Ohh to see his face if he figures out the death he dealt with is virtually nothing compared to her.
Mr Zoat
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I don't really understand where this is coming from? Melmoth is a repugnant individual but he's certainly not a coward.