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

Reader mode
Rafin said:
Is it me or did almost nothing of relevance happen to Paragon? I mean what are the consequences for him? Irrelevant knowledge about more parallel versions of him, the confirmed ability to use a violet ring in a pinch, Angelika making a big stride in overcoming her racism, and... that's it. Somehow it really feels like a letdown for what was supposed to be the great and long awaited Crisis of Infinite Pauls arc. And it didn't even have much of the "you're so similar, but so different" fun conversations or culture shock stuff either.
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So you feel like I did after reading Zero Hour.
 
I read the reveal of all the SI alts on the Tuning Fork of Doom to include three of them who caused surprise, and that didn't include those with 'cranial work'. So, Clayface, 'Clayling', what was the third?

Now, a magical pony SI alt would have been a real surprise... :)
 
That was a fun storyline! Very climactic, lots of cool perspectives.
 
Duplication (part 26)
  • Threadmarks
    • I feel a moment of disorientation-.

    "…intervention of the Chinese army under General Wu in the Autumn of sixteen fifty seven, the war shifted decisively in favour of crown prince Shukoh Dara, so preventing…"

    I open my eyes, reaching out across the bed. It's still instinctual, a triumph of hope over experience. No, a warm patch-.

    I've seen myself doing this thousands of times, but this is only the second time I've actually done it.

    22nd October
    06:14 GMT +8

    I come to full alertness immediately, jerking up into a sitting pos-.

    "I don't know how you sleep through that."

    Jade. Jade, my Jade. She's-.

    She's-.

    She's looking at me with an air of concern. "Bad dream?"

    I haven't… Spoken to her-. I haven't been Orange Lantern, for-.

    Do I lie and try to preserve the day, or-.

    No. No.

    "Sorry. Time travel." I wipe my eyes with my right hand. "This is my.. second time through.. today, and the first time… Didn't go very well."

    Half a second, then she's already walking towards our bedroom's phone. "Do we need to notify anyone?"

    "It's-. It should be dealt with. I'll-. I'll write up a report, submit it to Nabu-."

    "Lord Nabu."

    "No, it's-. I get elevated later today. Since it's part of my personal timeline, it's still valid. So I don't need to use his title every time."

    She stops, taking a moment to absorb that. I.. gingerly get out of bed, standing on the floor. The carpet feels…

    I wipe my eyes again.

    Jade frowns. "How bad was-?"

    I transition across the room and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my chest and pressing my face into the side of her head.

    After a slight hesitation she hugs me back. I.. take a few moment, breathing in the… Damp towel that's wrapped around her hair. She's just gotten out of the shower, yes, I.. remember.

    "Sorry." I relax my grip enough that we can look one another face to face. "I'll be.. fine once the shock has worn off. At the moment I'm.. still…"

    "Controllers in the Imperial Security Agency are taught how to handle operatives experiencing battle fatigue." She takes a careful breath. "If you have received the Mandate, you can simply inform Lord Fang that you are unable to attend."

    "No, that-. It's too big a deal for Souma. I want the part where I receive the Mandate to happen in the same way. Nabu will probably have a few questions for me, but I should be able to defer them until afterwards."

    I have observed many timelines where Nabu behaved in various ways. I'm confident I know enough to communicate to him that he should let me speak in my own time-.

    I need to check whether Nylor Truggs ended up here. He shouldn't have, but ironically the changes I made to the rules concerning time travel weren't retrospective.

    Jade gives me a serious look.

    "Do not offend Lord Fate."

    "I can promise that I won't leave him offended. Though I technically have seniority on him now."

    A small frown. "Lord Fate is-. Oh."

    "Yes. Incidentally, I completely agree with you about Jade, and the pie restaurant was-" She blinks. "-an interesting choice."

    "Pie..?"

    "Jade decides we should celebrate my elevation by going to an 'English' restaurant. Oh, and she prefers it if you call her 'Jade' when we're on a date."

    "How.. do you remember that?"

    "I broke and remade the universe to get you back. There is nothing about our time together that I haven't played through my mind a thousand times in order to remind myself why I was doing it."

    "Oh."

    "Sorry, I realise that this is quite a lot to drop on you." An orange wave passes over me as I neaten myself up, then filaments tag the clothes Jade selected for me… Last time. I smile as they appear on my body. "A red tunic with the blue trousers, indicating my relative inexperience and desire to grow. Technically a lie now, but it matches what I wore last time and no one complained." I pull away and give her a shallow bow. "Thank you for your good advice, oh patron of my heart."

    "What other good advice did I give you that I don't remember?"

    "That Intelligence would be perfectly happy to provide me with an early morning news summary. You were quite right about that, thank you."

    She nods.

    "And-. Ah, when I said that Jade would prefer you to use her first name when we're together-."

    "I'm.. probably not going to be-."

    "Yes, yes, I'd forgotten that you thought that. Jade." I take her hands in mine. "I'm not trading up. I'm not moving to a relationship with a higher status partner. I don't care about that. I love you, and while I know you find my lack of ambition strange and a little frustrating, please accept that I'm telling the truth about it."

    Her head turns a little to the right.

    "Yes, I-."

    "Jade."

    She looks me straight in the eyes. "I know that."

    "And how do you feel about you dating Jade?"

    "That's not usually how it-. You've had this conversation before. You know how I feel about whatever it is you're actually asking."

    "I know how you responded to the idea. I know how it unfolded over the next two very busy days. I said that I'd only consider it if all parties were equally involved, and you asked if it-."

    "Was some sort of European homosexuality fetish."

    My eyes widen.

    "Do you remember saying that?"

    "No, it just occurred to me. If I remember my temporal mechanics lectures correctly I'm still almost the same woman as the one who mentioned it in the timeline you experienced. And… Jade… Liked the idea?"

    "She was more than a little nervous about trying to have a relationship at all. She's found the awkwardness that comes with being mandated when her potential partner isn't makes it too awkward. So-."

    She nods. "So it will be easier for her if I don't mention it at all. I.. think I can manage that. What else do you already know?"
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Mr Zoat said:
    I feel a moment of disorientation-.

    "…intervention of the Chinese army under General Wu in the Autumn of sixteen fifty seven, the war shifted decisively in favour of crown prince Shukoh Dara, so preventing…"
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    And apparently a flashback to his last day in his timeline. Which is now the first of many more, I would think.

    I open my eyes, reaching out across the bed. It's still instinctual, a triumph of hope over experience. No, a warm patch-.

    I've seen myself doing this thousands of time, but this is only the second time I've actually done it.
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    I hope the experience isn't too much of a let-down. Imagining something is often far more exciting than actually doing it...

    22nd October
    06:14 GMT +8

    I come to full alertness immediately, jerking up into a sitting pos-.
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    And this is the opening moments of the Episode 'Mandated', bringing him full circle back to where he began.

    "I don't know how you sleep through that."

    Jade. Jade, my Jade. She's-.
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    Easy, Maul. It may have been a long time for you, but...

    She's-.

    She's looking at me with an air of concern. "Bad dream?"

    I haven't… Spoken to her-. I haven't been Orange Lantern, for-.
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    A very, very long time, I would suspect...

    Do I lie and try to preserve the day, or-.

    No. No.
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    Honesty would be the best policy, methinks. No way would you be able to hide the shifts in personality for long.

    "Sorry. Time travel." I wipe my eyes with my right hand. "This is my.. second time through.. today, and the first time… Didn't go very well."

    Half a second, then she's already walking towards our bedroom's phone. "Do we need to notify anyone?"
    Click to expand...
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    And it says so much about her life that she accepts that with hardly a second's hesitation.

    "It's-. It should be dealt with. I'll-. I'll write up a report, submit it to Nabu-."

    "Lord Nabu."

    "No, it's-. I get elevated later today. Since it's part of my personal timeline, it's still valid. So I don't need to use his title every time."
    Click to expand...
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    Heh, the joy of dropping back into an earlier point than you were taken. Just have to be careful about paradoxes, and his changes make that unnecessary.

    She stops, taking a moment to absorb that. I.. gingerly get out of bed, standing on the floor. The carpet feels…

    I wipe my eyes again.
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    It's not quite your bedroom back on Earth-Prime, but I suppose there's no place like home?

    Jade frowns. "How bad was-?"

    I transition across the room and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my chest and pressing my face into the side of her head.
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    "That bad, then?"

    After a slight hesitation she hugs me back. I.. take a few moment, breathing in the… Damp towel that's wrapped around her hair. She's just gotten out of the shower, yes, I.. remember.

    "Sorry." I relax my grip enough that we can look one another face to face. "I'll be.. fine once the shock has worn off. At the moment I'm.. still…"
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    Still more than a little scattered. Hopefully all of him made it back in one piece.

    "Controllers in the Imperial Security Agency are taught how to handle operatives experiencing battle fatigue." She takes a careful breath. "If you have received the Mandate, you can simply inform Lord Fang that you are unable to attend."

    "No, that-. It's too big a deal for Souma. I want the part where I receive the Mandate to happen in the same way. Nabu will probably have a few questions for me, but I should be able to defer them until afterwards."
    Click to expand...
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    I'm sure they'll be understanding. Protocol and ceremony comes first in this culture, after all. It may take a little give and take of Face...

    I have observed many timelines where Nabu behaved in various ways. I'm confident I know enough to communicate to him that he should let me speak in my own time-.

    I need to check whether Nylor Truggs ended up here. He shouldn't have, but ironically the changes I made to the rules concerning time travel weren't retrospective.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    So if he was here before the divergence point engineered by your return, he'll still be here in this timeline.

    Jade gives me a serious look.

    "Do not offend Lord Fate."
    Click to expand...
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    I suppose the altered history does make the buckethead a big cheese here...

    "I can promise that I won't leave him offended. Though I technically have seniority on him now."

    A small frown. "Lord Fate is-. Oh."
    Click to expand...
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    ...But rank and the age of his current hosts probably play a part too.

    "Yes. Incidentally, I completely agree with you about Jade, and the pie restaurant was-" She blinks. "-an interesting choice."

    "Pie..?"

    "Jade decides we should celebrate my elevation by going to an 'English' restaurant. Oh, and she prefers it if you call her 'Jade' when we're on a date."
    Click to expand...
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    Smoothing over a few arguments before they even happened. So cavalier about causality...

    "How.. do you remember that?"

    "I broke and remade the universe to get you back. There is nothing about our time together that I haven't played through my mind a thousand times in order to remind myself why I was doing it."

    "Oh."
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    Oh, my. Is that a crack in her professional veneer I see?

    "Sorry, I realise that this is quite a lot to drop on you." An orange wave passes over me as I neaten myself up, then filaments tag the clothes Jade selected for me… Last time. I smile as they appear on my body. "A red tunic with the blue trousers, indicating my relative inexperience and desire to grow. Technically a lie now, but it matches what I wore last time and no one complained." I pull away and give her a shallow bow. "Thank you for your good advice, oh patron of my heart."
    Click to expand...
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    And now he's teasing. Be nice, Maul.

    "What other good advice did I give you that I don't remember?"

    "That Intelligence would be perfectly happy to provide me with a early morning news summary. You were quite right about that, thank you."

    She nods.
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    Ah, and admitting your own fault. Good way to smooth matters over.

    "And-. Ah, when I said that Jade would prefer you to use her first name when we're together-."

    "I'm.. probably not going to be-."
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    Protocol and ceremony. To not show proper respect would be an insult.

    "Yes, yes, I'd forgotten that you thought that. Jade." I take her hands in mine. "I'm not trading up. I'm not moving to relationship with a higher status partner. I don't care about that. I love you, and while I know you find my lack of ambition strange and a little frustrating, please accept that I'm telling the truth about it."

    Her head turns a little to the right.
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    Ah, might that be a hint of a blush in there too?:D

    "Yes, I-."

    "Jade."

    She looks be straight in the eyes. "I know that."
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    She is very firm about not being taken seriously, isn't she? Must come from having to work her way up the ranks.

    "And how do you feel about you dating Jade?"

    "That's not usually how it-. You've had this conversation before. You know how I feel about whatever it is you're actually asking."
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    She's a smart one. Clearly if he knows what happens, he knows her feelings.

    "I know how you responded to the idea. I know how it unfolded over the next two very busy days. I said that I'd only consider it if all parties were equally involved, and you asked if it-."

    "Was some sort of European homosexuality fetish."
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    Heh. And she can surprise him, I see.

    My eyes widen.

    "Do you remember saying that?"
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    Maul, please. You were the one with the ripple-proof memory as Time Trapper...

    "No, it just occurred to me. If I remember my temporal mechanics lectures correctly I'm still almost the same woman as the one who mentioned it in the timeline you experienced. And… Jade… Liked the idea?"

    "She was more than a little nervous about trying to have a relationship at all. She's found the awkwardness that comes with being mandated when her potential partner isn't make it too awkward. So-."

    She nods. "So it will be easier for her if I don't mention it at all. I.. think I can manage that. What else do you already know?"
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    Ah, taking advantage of his foreknowledge to gain some advantage. Now that is the Jade we know...
    And so ends the episode. Good to see Maul got his happy ending (not that kind... Not yet!x3) after everything he's done. I don't doubt that he'll have to struggle with some of those things, too. But I doubt we're going to see that anytime soon... Onwards!

    I'm not moving to relationship with...
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    I'm not moving to a relationship with...
     
    Fun times with Time Travel! Have any other Pauls had similar (but obviously not as grand in scope) Groundhog's Day-like events, or is Mandated!Paul now the token Bill Murray!Paul?

    If there is one beat I'd like to see from the Mandated side of things in the wrap-up, it's a meet-up with the Harmonious One and the Hat about what was actually in that scroll/plan of theirs they gave Mandated Paul to make him become Time Trapper. They certainly deserve a chance to be smug on-screen about saving the universe/multiverse!
     
    I can't help but be happy for Maul... but I have the sinking suspicion that the longer he stays in his timeline the more discontent and disheartened he's going to become. He spent an indescribable amount of time 'saving' their timeline literally by an act comparable to a god and recreated his timeline, I'm uncertain how the higher-ups in his fairly hierarchal society are going to feel about that.
     
    moralrelativity said:
    Too many Lords? (This is from the story only thread. Someone linked to the previous Mandated chapters and I've been reminiscing.)
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    207.png
     
    Lucidum said:
    I can't help but be happy for Maul... but I have the sinking suspicion that the longer he stays in his timeline the more discontent and disheartened he's going to become. He spent an indescribable amount of time 'saving' their timeline literally by an act comparable to a god and recreated his timeline, I'm uncertain how the higher-ups in his fairly hierarchal society are going to feel about that.
    Click to expand...
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    He may just double-down on his lack of ambition and decide to semi-retire with his two beloved Jades. Regarding the higher-ups, I'm 99% certain that he has founded his own Lantern Corps in this timeline as well so they're probably just patting themselves on the back over the fact that they already got him promoted and double-married.
     
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