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

Handlewithcare · May 27, 2022

Kinda confused with the timeline here.

Demon!John should be one month behind Paul and Smiley's bossfight.

But 11 months later Balewa reacts to their disappearance?

Timetravel, Balewa was frozen or maybe it was supposed to be 11 November 2011?

Mr Zoat · May 27, 2022

Bud-E said:
This is Doctor Mist he's talking about right?

Yes.

What headset?

The one he was using to speak with the SI.

Darko said:
"ovum is"

Thank you, corrected.

Handlewithcare said:
Kinda confused with the timeline here.

Demon!John should be one month behind Paul and Smiley's bossfight.

But 11 months later Balewa reacts to their disappearance?

Timetravel, Balewa was frozen or maybe it was supposed to be 11 November 2011?

The Demon Constantine got out of prison in January, everything else is happening in November.

Brainwasher-Boy · May 27, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
The old wizard stops whatever spell me was casting and grabs his headset.

"me" should be "he" here, I think

Chojin Patriarch · May 27, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
6th January 2012
07:30 CTZ

Clothes bought from a tramp. The other diners are giving me dirty looks, but all Elle has to do is meet their eyes and they turn away, feeling guilty about getting irritated about what is clearly a nice Christian act of charity.

John didn't mind owing people. I'm a demon, and right now I'm on the wrong end of this transaction.

Yeah, demonic life being basically a game of debt and favour. Owing another demon something gives them primal power over the debtor, after all. Fortunately, most are smart enough to realise that they aren't always going to be the one on top.

"What happened in Fawcett City, John?"

Well there's no point in lying, is there?

Somehow, I think she'll be able to tell if you are. But then, not lying doesn't always mean the whole truth, does it?

"Satanus gave me a job offer. He was trying to get made King of Hell, needed to convince the rest of the demon upper crust to go along with it."

"And so you tried to murder an entire city?"

True, that is a bit damning. Especially to someone who's kind of not-evil anymore.

Bit rich her coming on all high and mighty, but they haven't served breakfast yet.

"So I helped him do something he was going to do anyway, only a bit more subtly than he was originally planning. And I got out of Hell, which made it all worth while."

What he did was subtle? I can't imagine how much more blatant his original plan was.

"You don't like Hell?"

No harm in explaining, I suppose.

No-one likes Hell, even the beings borne of it.

"How long was I down there, before I became a demon?"

"Oh. Not long enough."

Given it usually takes years, if not centuries, for mortals to either repent, dissolve into nothingness or evolve into a Demon...

"Yeah. When John made me, he used his own demon-tainted blood to hold me together. Nergal's blood. Which let me use Hell's magic but doesn't exactly make me a native. And then his plan was for me to bind the soul of some damned arsehole to me and dump all the torment on him. Which worked just fine until some bastard did a séance and summoned him up. And then it hit me."

She doesn't look impressed.

I suppose he had to get loose the first time somehow.

"We all go through that. Even the ones who used to be angels had to fall and burn and suffer before they adjusted."

"Doesn't make it right."

Nor pleasant.

Her eyes dip, and she's thinking about… Well, probably hundreds of things. What happened with Tali first of all.

John kept his empathy, but I don't actually enjoy people suffering. Not if I don't already hate them. She does, or… Did.

Tali being the angel she fell in love with. Kind of an odd name, I would have expected 'Taliel' or similar...

"What happened to you, anyway?"

"You want to know why I ended up in Hell? I barely remember."

Suggesting she is hella-old for a succubus...

"The violet thing. You don't feel like yourself."

"John and the Orange Lantern offered me power as a bribe to stay out of their way. It changed me. I'm not even really a succubus any more."

Well, not in the classical concept. She still gets by on Love. Just doesn't need mortal life-force anymore, though.

Huh. Possible, I suppose. Converting one type of power into another. That's basically what becoming a demon involves, but…

"How?"

Just a little trickier with unconventional energies like the Emotional Spectrum.

"A spell focused through a piece of crystallised love. So you're out of luck."

"Why's that, then?"

Consider what got her in trouble in the first place, mate. Love has no place in Hell. Dreams, yes, Love, no.

"It was my love for Tali that let it work. They can't just grab a demon and change them, or they would already have done. If John gave you all his worst characteristics -and I can barely believe that there was anything left- then there's no way that-."

"I've been in love."

Amusingly, they technically have done that, with Angelica Blaze and Gabriel's Wings. Sure, half-demon, but still.

I mostly say it because I don't like people saying that I'm limited. Yeah, yeah, that's the only reason why I said it. Having the ability to feel human emotions mostly removed isn't something I've ever learned to live with. I don't have John's ability to read people because I can't really emphasise with most things regular people feel. Which means that I only understand total bastards and him.

But I repeat meself.

Heh, there's that Constantine self-loathing coming through.

"Why would John have given you any of his memories he actually liked?"

"Because it was the only way to convince me to kill meself and complete the ritual. If I didn't feel any affection for anyone I'd have told him to fuck off."

Then again, I don't doubt he'd have left enough hooks in you to make you do it anyway. What he did was probably just the easiest way.

"I know John's girlfriends. Which one?"

"Kit Ryan, if you must know."

One of his most stable relationships, at least in the comics. Not that that's saying much.

We've been leaning towards each other, and we both lean back as the waiter appears with out breakfasts. I'm playing up the homeless angle with a full fry up while Elle's just having bacon and eggs. He doesn't look at me more than he has to in order to aim the plate at the table, but his gaze lingers on Elle and she gets a warm smile.

She nods.

Though I suspect he's not exactly looking at her face, I bet.

"Thank you."

"No problem ma'am. Enjoy your breakfast."

I've already gotten scrambled egg and fried slice on my fork and into my mouth. They hadn't quite worked out how to feed us at Belle Reve, and for a demon like me it's not just about shoving fuel down my throat. This egg was freshly cracked, and destroying chicken ovum it ritualistically empowering.

Gee, how pleasant.

The waiter heads back to the counter and I lean forward again, mantling my food and keeping knife and fork going all the while.

"Have you seen her?"

Let me guess: Violet light encouraging a bit of the matchmaker in her?

"What?"

"Since you got back on Earth. Have you visited her?"

"Oh yeah, she'll be dead pleased to see me."

I suspect the first thing she'd do if she ever saw John's face again would be to punch his nose in. And then stick the boot in lower while he's on the ground.

Him. Just another reason it pisses me off, really. I haven't actually had a relationship with her. She's literally the only person I could even think of being involved with. If I-.

But if Satanus is in prison… And I'm on Earth. People are looking for me, but dodging-. Most of them's easy enough.

But the few that you can't dodge...

Just like John. Good enough is good enough, huh?

"You know… They could do for you what they did for me."

"Doesn't seem likely."

Especially since they don't have a handy piece of emotional crystal anymore, what with the Star Sapphire in lockdown (or back in the Zamaron's hands by now.)

But it could. More to the point, I've got John's memories of people back on the other side of the Atlantic. I know spells that'll let me… Absorb parts of John from the environment. Become… Something more like a whole person, even if the new parts are made of John.

Cheryl's back over there. And the other one's not going to care about her.

All the worst bits, eh? Including all the self-loathing and doubts...

"She might."

John doesn't need his life or his messes any more. And if he doesn't need it, I suppose I might as well take it like everything else he didn't need.

And he might well let you, because you'd be good bait.

Or maybe I just want it to be true.

"She might. She might at that."

Which is where he started the whole 'dating the ex' plan. So he wasn't actually up to anything nasty right then...

7th November 2012
10:06 GMT -5

The old wizard stops whatever spell me was casting and grabs his headset.

Ah, back to the big moment of the grinning devil's reveal, eh?

"Orange Lantern? Blue Lantern?"

"Doubt they'll help, mate."

Oh, don't tell me...

"What have you done, demon?"

"Held back things you didn't know to ask about. How about we make a deal?"

Let me guess, you go free and back to your girl (not that she'll have you,) and you'll give Doctor Mist everything you know about him.

So, then. I wonder how much he had to do with the smiling fellow, hmm? Though he ought to know that he's going to be neck-deep in the smelly stuff if he reveals anything... And hopefully, we get to see what's actually going on that's got the good Doctor here so worried.

Ooh, could we see an appearance by the wandering Prez, then?

...and we both lean back as the waiter appears with out breakfasts.

...and we both lean back as the waiter appears with our breakfasts.

Ngamer11 · May 27, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
Especially since they don't have a handy piece of emotional crystal anymore, what with the Star Sapphire in lockdown (or back in the Zamaron's hands by now.)

Paul might still have it. I know he lent it to the alternate Carol Ferris, but she may have given it back.

Fallen Gods Rise · May 27, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
emphasise

Empathise

dw7thdoctor · May 27, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
Paul might still have it. I know he lent it to the alternate Carol Ferris, but she may have given it back.

I know this might be a stupid question to ask, But couldn't they use any lantern as a connection(representation of) the elemental they could become. Like he's not a pure-blooded demon like a succubus right. I'm sure he felt willpower(or maybe hope in the past) before so borrow one of those lanterns for the power or the symbol they represent and repeat the process with whatever demon doesn't want to be a demon anymore(ex. John Simpson).

Vaermina · May 27, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Held back things you didn't know to ask about. How about we make a deal?"

So LePaul's caught in a Constantine plan...

Sucks to be him.

Darko · May 27, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
Suggesting she is hella-old for a succubus...

She's at least around 7000 years old since Shazam summoned her when he still looked fit.

Chojin Patriarch said:
One of his most stable relationships, at least in the comics. Not that that's saying much.

Yeah, if one of John's partners tries to kill him with an age in bed then that's actually a stable relationship for him.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Especially since they don't have a handy piece of emotional crystal anymore, what with the Star Sapphire in lockdown (or back in the Zamaron's hands by now.

They do have at least one Violet Ring.

But whether they'd be willing or even capable of helping is uncertain.

RichardWhereat · May 27, 2022

Darko said:
Well it is Christian charity, but the one doing it isn't connected to your typical Christians.

She did dress up as a nun one time.

DrThoth · May 27, 2022

dw7thdoctor said:
I know this might be a stupid question to ask, But couldn't they use any lantern as a connection(representation of) the elemental they could become. Like he's not a pure-blooded demon like a succubus right. I'm sure he felt willpower(or maybe hope in the past) before so borrow one of those lanterns for the power or the symbol they represent and repeat the process with whatever demon doesn't want to be a demon anymore(ex. John Simpson).

Worst case, between Paragon and the OLC's resources, orange light conversion for demons should be more than achievable. Though without proper enlightenment you do run the risk of getting Drakul Karfang 2.0 or something, but maybe that's something they can work on. It's not like the violet light of love isn't dangerous in its own right.

Mr Zoat said:
"What have you done, demon?"

"Held back things you didn't know to ask about. How about we make a deal?"

Feels like they should really have asked the Demon something along the lines of 'are you holding back information in a maliciously harmful manner/that you know we would be interested in/etc.', give or take some careful phrasing. Especially after we (and Paragon) saw Mazikeen command the Crimson Avenger guns to not lie in spirit as well as word.
Don't know if it's some John-related effect that makes things turn out semi-decently for him when they could otherwise be worse (like he got captured in a country fine with killing demons, but he got captured by a team working under Kaldur whose rules of engagement won't permit execution; Paragon and Mist should really have lassoed him first thing, but they didn't, etc.).

Now I wonder if Boss Smiley and John Quinn are working together. Smiley isn't really a direct-fights kind of antagonist, so I think that would make sense as a narrative development. If Smiley mystically assimilated/possessed/replaced Uncle Sam, then that would be a neat way of tying together the plot threads from these episodes, and also explain his possible influence over American superhero culture (and the world, via globalization and America's prominence on the world stage).

Mr Zoat · May 27, 2022

Brainwasher-Boy said:
"me" should be "he" here, I think

Chojin Patriarch said:
...and we both lean back as the waiter appears with our breakfasts.

Fallen Gods Rise said:
Empathise

Thank you, corrected.

Senevri · May 27, 2022

Vaermina said:
So LePaul's caught in a Constantine plan...

Sucks to be him.

Good thing he can ~~heal~~ respawn

Windona · May 27, 2022

Man, I really need to read Hellblazer.

Interesting conversation with Demon John and Chantel. If the conversion did work, well, what greater weapon is there than to turn an enemy to your cause.

Darko · May 27, 2022

You know, after Lady Liberty met Tyr I got to wondering if she is going to meet some other Norse characters.

Like say, a certain Fire Giant.

Coda · May 27, 2022

dw7thdoctor said:
I know this might be a stupid question to ask, But couldn't they use any lantern as a connection(representation of) the elemental they could become. Like he's not a pure-blooded demon like a succubus right. I'm sure he felt willpower(or maybe hope in the past) before so borrow one of those lanterns for the power or the symbol they represent and repeat the process with whatever demon doesn't want to be a demon anymore(ex. John Simpson).

I think it requires a bit more than just the experience of having felt an emotion. Succubus magic is already closely aligned with love -- a perversion of love, but love. Swapping it out for the pure stuff only required that the succubus had familiarity with the pure stuff.

I imagine that very, very few demons would be compatible with willpower. They're fairly notorious for their impulsivity. Demons have enough raw power that they rarely need to lean on raw determination to get through a situation.

And while you could probably get at least one of Red, Orange, or Yellow to work for most demons... that kind of seems... unwise?

Blue seems utterly incompatible with demons, given that the process of becoming a demon involves torturing away hope.

Indigo... plausible, as tempting a mortal requires understanding them.

dw7thdoctor · May 27, 2022

Coda said:
I think it requires a bit more than just the experience of having felt an emotion. Succubus magic is already closely aligned with love -- a perversion of love, but love. Swapping it out for the pure stuff only required that the succubus had familiarity with the pure stuff.

I imagine that very, very few demons would be compatible with willpower. They're fairly notorious for their impulsivity. Demons have enough raw power that they rarely need to lean on raw determination to get through a situation.

And while you could probably get at least one of Red, Orange, or Yellow to work for most demons... that kind of seems... unwise?

Blue seems utterly incompatible with demons, given that the process of becoming a demon involves torturing away hope.

Indigo... plausible, as tempting a mortal requires understanding them.

They may be impulsive, but they show the ability for long-term planning. Demon Constantine said he talked Santanus into being more subtle. John Simpson basically skipped the steps needed to become a demon and thus still has a more human outlook on things remember he had planned out how to take over the birth of god(Titan?) I'm sure he can feel the emotional spectrum better than others. Also, Demon Constantine was in a normal relationship for nearly eleven months. This implies he knows enough about emotional responses to at least fake them which probably means feeling them on a lower level. As for Hope, the damned hell know hope, as sandman pointed out hell is full of dreams of someday escaping and reaching heaven i.e. hope. maybe once they become demons the hope is beaten out of them, but it could still be there.

Caerwen · May 27, 2022

Coda said:
I think it requires a bit more than just the experience of having felt an emotion. Succubus magic is already closely aligned with love -- a perversion of love, but love. Swapping it out for the pure stuff only required that the succubus had familiarity with the pure stuff.

I imagine that very, very few demons would be compatible with willpower. They're fairly notorious for their impulsivity. Demons have enough raw power that they rarely need to lean on raw determination to get through a situation.

And while you could probably get at least one of Red, Orange, or Yellow to work for most demons... that kind of seems... unwise?

Blue seems utterly incompatible with demons, given that the process of becoming a demon involves torturing away hope.

Indigo... plausible, as tempting a mortal requires understanding them.

Indigo corps mind controlled the worst people. Demons would fit right in.

Bud-E · May 27, 2022

Does demon Constantine partnering with Boss Smiley confirm that he is in fact a demon and not a god?

Darko · May 27, 2022

Bud-E said:
Does demon Constantine partnering with Boss Smiley confirm that he is in fact a demon and not a god?

Not really.

It's possible for different magical beings and races to cooperate with each other.

Patrick Holt · May 28, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
I sigh. Then I open the bag, then the box, then unwrap the burger and lay it on the ground.

"No." He picks up the lettuce leaf in his right claw and tosses it aside. "Freedom

So unless this is one of the changes on Earth 16, American McDonald's burgers don't have lettuce leaf on them, it's all shredded. Hamburgers and cheeseburgers specifically only have; a "beef" paddy, two pickles, rehydrated onions, one squirt ketchup, one squirt mustard, and one slice American cheese if needed.

He could discard the pickles... if he is a heathen.

Also what toy did he get? Looking at the available options at that time it would be

Young Justice fingerboards/Littlest Pet Shop toys (November) picture

Huh did not expect that.

Stsword · May 28, 2022

Well it really should have been a Wacky Meal from Wakdonals, or a meal from Burger Fool, whose name makes it sound like an expy of Burger King and McDonalds with it's clown mascot at the exact same time.

Prince Charon · May 28, 2022

RichardWhereat said:
She did dress up as a nun one time.

I wouldn't want to assume that it was only once, though.

Cuchulin · May 28, 2022

Stsword said:
Well it really should have been a Wacky Meal from Wakdonals, or a meal from Burger Fool, whose name makes it sound like an expy of Burger King and McDonalds with it's clown mascot at the exact same time.

Not Big Belly Burger or O'Shaughnessy's?

Mr Zoat · May 28, 2022

7th November 2012
Roughly 10:07 GMT -5

"Alan?"

"Yeah?"

I push myself off the ground, ignoring something semi-liquid sticking to my gauntlets and cuirass.

"You alright?"

"I've been better."

I look left and see Alan picking himself up slightly more gingerly, his back and left side soaked in the same stuff that my ring is now cleaning off me.

Oh, it's… Blood. A thin film of the stuff is spraying down from somewhere above us. Frowning slightly, I generate a construct umbrella and set my environmental shield to clean me off. Alan copies me, though his umbrella is more classic and less aerodynamic.

"You mind cleaning me off?"

I raise my left hand, a beam of orange playing over him and pushing the blood down like a window washer's scraper pushing suds off a window.

"Thanks. That was bringing back some very uncomfortable memories."

"Happy to help."

I look around. It looks like we're still on Liberty Island, though I'm a bit worried about…

Oh.

The torch of the Statue of Liberty appears to have been replaced by a sprinkler, coating the entire island, a swath of the sea and part of the mainland with a fine misting of vitae. New York itself appears to have been replaced by… Gotham? No, not gothic enough. Hub..?

No. Blüdhaven. Looks like Blüdhaven. Which might explain why no one's shouting about the rain of blood: they're used to it.

Boss Smiley's face is still there, big and yellow, but it doesn't look animated any longer. I fly up, and… No, no reaction. The dimensions of the hands and feet have changed a little and-. The date on the tablet now reads August MDCXIX, which is probably an important date in American history.

"Where did that eagle fellah go?" Alan floats up behind me. "Did he come with us?"

"Don't know. Eagle!?"

"Where is here, anyhow? That doesn't look much like New York to me."

"Rough guess, this is a part of America's collective psyche. Maybe another part of the Heartland-."

I take a closer look at the Statue's tiara.

"There he is."

I drift closer, peering in through one of the glassless window to where the eagle is hunched up in one corner, shivering and fluffing his feathers up.

"Eagle?"

"We're in the bad place we're in the bad place…"

"Is he okay?"

"Alan, I would never normally suggest this, but I think we might need to cheer him up by singing uplifting American patriotic music."

"You must be desperate." He floats up alongside me "Maybe a dead mouse or something?"

"It may surprise you to hear this, but I don't routinely carry dead mice around with me."

"You don't?" He.. actually sounds surprised. "I just thought you had one of everything in there."

"No, because sustaining a larger subspace volume slightly reduced my maximum charge. I try to only carry things I've got a reasonable chance of needing. Usually, I can just fabricate food, but…" I look up at the blood fountain. "I'm a little worried about the sort of spiritual energy it would pick up around here."

Alan flies right up to the window before awkwardly clambering inside. The room inside looks tatty but basically structurally sound, as if… Someone deliberately built the interior to look untidy and it's setting off my OCD.

"Hey, buddy." Alan kneels down next to the clearly freaked out eagle. "You doing okay there?"

"We're in the bad place! We're in the bad place. And that's really bad."

"Okay, can you tell us about it?"

"This is the opposite of the Heartland!"

"Like, the..? The Lungland?"

"What?" The eagle raises his head slightly above his wings so that he can stare at Alan. "What? How is a lung the opposite-?"

"Footland?"

"No-! Like… Like blackhear-rrrrrr…" … "Evil Heartland."

"I'm going to guess that while the Heartlands is a sort of idealised America, this is the less optimistic place."

"Yeah." The eagle nods. "All of the worst bits and the worst interpretation of the rest with none of the positive bits."

"Is it dangerous to you?"

"It's dangerous to all of us. But… No, just being here won't hurt me. But the locals will know that I don't belong here."

"Good show. What locals are we-?"

Something taps on the left side of my helmet. Unlike my heavy armour which doesn't have a separate headpiece, my current generation light armour's helmet let's me look left and right without compromising the protection. So I turn my head, and am greeted by the face of a bird.

"Still alive then? Okay. Let me know if that changes."

"Oh no."

I narrow my eyes. "And what are you supposed to be?"

"Oh, you know. This and that. Don't mind me."

"She's the Vulture of Death!"

"No I'm not." She looks away for a moment. "Scavengers have an important role in the ecosystem, I'll have you know. We don't usually kill things ourselves."

"Someone else does all the work and you get all the benefit!"

Alan looks at the vulture. "You two know each other?"

"Oh. You know." The vulture ruffles her wings. "It's the Nixon-Kennedy thing. 'When they see you, they see what they want to be. When they see me, they see what they are.' We're naturally antithetical. He bangs on about freedom. I just do my thing."

"Eagle, if you want to get out, you need to pull yourself together. You've crashed, there was no parachute, but you're still alive. Do you want to stay that way? Do you want to rescue Sam?"

"Yeah." The eagle straightens up slightly, then flaps its wings and flies over to perch on the edge of the tiara window. "But this is going to be hard."

FreeGod · May 28, 2022

The asslands? Or the crack? I feel like the nane would have something to do with shit.

dw7thdoctor · May 28, 2022

What happened to lady liberty? Wasn't she there with them?

Queshire · May 28, 2022

Honestly glad it's someone from across the pond doing this. I've seen "USA at its worst" type arc from a local before. Let's just say it got... political.

Ganurath · May 28, 2022

FreeGod said:
The asslands? Or the crack? I feel like the nane would have something to do with shit.

The Headwaters contrasts on multiple levels.

Chojin Patriarch · May 28, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
7th November 2012
Roughly 10:07 GMT -5

"Alan?"

"Yeah?"

Ah, good, we're back with our heroic Lanterns. Now, what did the Smiling Bastard do to them, I wonder? I doubt he's got the metaphorical mojo to mess with a piece of the Ophidian, after all, and Adara is probably keeping a close eye on Alan.

I push myself off the ground, ignoring something semi-liquid sticking to my gauntlets and cuirass.

"You alright?"

Wait, 'sticky'... Did he toss Psychoactive Slime on them? From 'Ghostbusters 2'? The fiend!

"I've been better."

I look left and see Alan picking himself up slightly more gingerly, his back and left side soaked in the same stuff that my ring is now cleaning off me.

I do hope he's wearing more than the old red pirate shirt and tight pants he used to, at least. That would be nasty.

Oh, it's… Blood. A thin film of the stuff is spraying down from somewhere above us. Frowning slightly, I generate a construct umbrella and set my environmental shield to clean me off. Alan copies me, though his umbrella is more classic and less aerodynamic.

"You mind cleaning me off?"

Probably a bit harder to visualise cleaning via hope, I guess.

I raise my left hand, a beam of orange playing over him and pushing the blood down like a window washer's scraper pushing suds off a window.

"Thanks. That was bringing back some very uncomfortable memories."

Presumably one of those old cases he doesn't like to talk about at all...

"Happy to help."

I look around. It looks like we're still on Liberty Island, though I'm a bit worried about…

Well, at least they haven't gone far. So, did the grinning jackass dump them into an alternate reality, or...

Oh.

The torch of the Statue of Liberty appears to have been replaced by a sprinkler, coating the entire island, a swath of the sea and part of the mainland with a fine misting of vitae. New York itself appears to have been replaced by… Gotham? No, not gothic enough. Hub..?

No. Blüdhaven. Looks like Blüdhaven. Which might explain why no one's shouting about the rain of blood: they're used to it.

...Ew. Definitely not a parallel world, then. Although that seems so appropriate, that Blüdhaven be here, wherever that be. Bet it appeals to the Smirking Devil's tastes.

Boss Smiley's face is still there, big and yellow, but it doesn't look animated any longer. I fly up, and… No, no reaction. The dimensions of the hands and feet have changed a little and-. The date on the tablet now reads August MDCXIX, which is probably an important date in American history.

'1619'? Oh, dear. Looks like a reference to this: First Africans in Virginia. Let me guess, it embodies the Chuckle-fuck of Exploitation's birthdate, much like July 4th, 1776 would be Uncle Sam's?

"Where did that eagle fellah go?" Alan floats up behind me. "Did he come with us?"

"Don't know. Eagle!?"

I can't imagine it's going to be a pleasant trip for Roger, wherever they are.

"Where is here, anyhow? That doesn't look much like New York to me."

"Rough guess, this is a part of America's collective psyche. Maybe another part of the Heartland-."

Presumably the part filled with self-loathing and recriminations... The part people don't like to talk about.

I take a closer look at the Statue's tiara.

"There he is."

Well, out of the rain, at least.

I drift closer, peering in through one of the glassless window to where the eagle is hunched up in one corner, shivering and fluffing his feathers up.

"Eagle?"

Oooh, that's not good.

"We're in the bad place we're in the bad place…"

"Is he okay?"

Very much not good. Gods only know what's happening back home right now...

"Alan, I would never normally suggest this, but I think we might need to cheer him up by singing uplifting American patriotic music."

"You must be desperate." He floats up alongside me "Maybe a dead mouse or something?"

Come on, man, put that Hope to use. Can't you see he's despairing?

"It may surprise you to hear this, but I don't routinely carry dead mice around with me."

"You don't?" He.. actually sounds surprised. "I just thought you had one of everything in there."

Yeah, what happened to 'being prepared for anything'?

"No, because sustaining a larger subspace volume slightly reduced my maximum charge. I try to only carry things I've got a reasonable chance of needing. Usually, I can just fabricate food, but…" I look up at the blood fountain. "I'm a little worried about the sort of spiritual energy it would pick up around here."

Alan flies right up to the window before awkwardly clambering inside. The room inside looks tatty but basically structurally sound, as if… Someone deliberately built the interior to look untidy and it's setting off my OCD.

Let me guess, that slight lean that gives you the feeling the roof is about to fall on you, even if it's perfectly sound?

"Hey, buddy." Alan kneels down next to the clearly freaked out eagle. "You doing okay there?"

"We're in the bad place! We're in the bad place. And that's really bad."

As bad as stealing 40 cakes?

"Okay, can you tell us about it?"

"This is the opposite of the Heartland!"

Ah. The arse end of the zeitgeist. Because it would have to exist, after all...

"Like, the..? The Lungland?"

"What?" The eagle raises his head slightly above his wings so that he can stare at Alan. "What? How is a lung the opposite-?"

Hey, at least you're not petrified anymore, right?

Good move, Alan.

"Footland?"

"No-! Like… Like blackhear-rrrrrr…" … "Evil Heartland."

Can't bring himself to seem even slightly politically incorrect, even here, can he? Nice of him to try.

"I'm going to guess that while the Heartlands is a sort of idealised America, this is the less optimistic place."

"Yeah." The eagle nods. "All of the worst bits and the worst interpretation of the rest with none of the positive bits."

So, the place fed by the paranoid and the disturbed. The place that brings out the darkness and rage in an American's heart?

Oh, boy...

"Is it dangerous to you?"

"It's dangerous to all of us. But… No, just being here won't hurt me. But the locals will know that I don't belong here."

'Know' as in be able to trace you from anywhere? Could make it hard to run and hide.

"Good show. What locals are we-?"

Something taps on the left side of my helmet. Unlike my heavy armour which doesn't have a separate headpiece, my current generation light armour's helmet let's me look left and right without compromising the protection. So I turn my head, and am greeted by the face of a bird.

"'Sup?"

"Still alive then? Okay. Let me know if that changes."

"Oh no."

And so it begins...

I narrow my eyes. "And what are you supposed to be?"

"Oh, you know. This and that. Don't mind me."

Bit hard to ignore a giant-ass vulture looming over you, with a hungry gleam in their eye.

"She's the Vulture of Death!"

"No I'm not." She looks away for a moment. "Scavengers have an important role in the ecosystem, I'll have you know. We don't usually kill things ourselves."

But you're totally willing to take advantage of other's misfortune? Well, no wonder the Yellow-headed Git has you here.

"Someone else does all the work and you get all the benefit!"

Alan looks at the vulture. "You two know each other?"

Well, no love lost there, it seems?

"Oh. You know." The vulture ruffles her wings. "It's the Nixon-Kennedy thing. 'When they see you, they see what they want to be. When they see me, they see what they are.' We're naturally antithetical. He bangs on about freedom. I just do my thing."

Oh, boooy. Let's at least try to keep the discussion civil, huh?

"Eagle, if you want to get out, you need to pull yourself together. You've crashed, there was no parachute, but you're still alive. Do you want to stay that way? Do you want to rescue Sam?"

"Yeah." The eagle straightens up slightly, then flaps its wings and flies over to perch on the edge of the tiara window. "But this is going to be hard."

Nothing worth doing ever is.

And things are just going to get weirder from here, aren't they? At least the two best people to sort this out are on the job. The one who wants to sort this shit out, and the one who can bring hope to this hopeless place... Let's hope they can pull it off without an upheaval as big as OL caused Olympus...

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

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