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

Darko · Feb 28, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
genuinely despairing what in whatever

Remove "what".

Chojin Patriarch · Feb 28, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2013
14:10 GMT -2

The… Person I'm looking at is short and so fat as to be virtually spherical. He or she is also naked, and the adipose flaps make it hard to tell which is appropriate. Their skin is chalk white and their hair is pitch black, done up in a topknot like a sumo wrestler but more messily Their eyes are black, with tiny little points of white where an unusually small pupil might go.

I bow courteously. "Despair. I'd say that it's a pleasure to meet you, but I fear your power too much to lie."

Wise. The Endless are too powerful for dissemblance and social chicanery. I suspect honesty and confidence will be the go here. Show no fear, offer no offence and politely request that she stop killing the VIP...

I glance behind me to see Ahri'ahn backing away rather frantically.

"Huh. Do you think he's going to fail?"

If you kill him now, of course he will. And the spell affecting Delirium might not end with his death...

"The only way to avoid failing is to avoid trying. But if he doesn't snap out of it and get a move on then he's definitely going to fail here."

Despair waddles up until she's standing besides me. "You're doing well."

True, such is life. To do nothing is safe, but gains nothing.

"Thank you. Did you enjoy our exposure to the Anti-Life?"

"A little. It's too forced, really. I prefer it when it's more individualistic. Like being sacrificed to the Tezcatlipoca every day for centuries with no hope of-."

Good to know she has a low opinion of Darkseid's little science project.

Ahri'ahn falls to the ground clutching at his bleeding chest.

"-being released, knowing that your friends could probably have rescued you if you hadn't betrayed them completely unnecessarily."

Well, that makes it pretty clear that isn't really Ahri'ahn.

Lumps of… Ahri'ahn fall-. No, drip off, the cloth of his clothing becoming partially liquid and running off his outline, taking colour and physical integrity with it. Then the effect spreads to his face, his features warping like molten wax-.

"So you are Queen Gamemnae under there. Let me just-."

I'm definitely getting a feel of her quagmire spell. Perhaps Ahri'ahn is still alive inside.

I step forward, intending to pull the clay off her smaller frame so that she can breathe… And clone her a new heart while I'm at it, because I guess that Despair just made Gamemnae's lowest point just a bit more real which means that she doesn't have one at the moment.

"No."

Ah, I see Despair really wants her to suffer for a bit first.

Despair takes hold of my arm-.

…

"Huh."

I'm guessing she is far stronger than you, and if she doesn't want you to move, you aren't moving.

"Would you rather hold hands?"

"No, it's just-. I've been hit with the Anti-Life before. I was sort of assuming that physical contact with you would… Do something similar."

I mean, she could if you wanted her to, I guess?

Despair makes an expression that might generously be called a smile.

"Try moving."

Oooh. Preventing OL from doing something he intends to? That would probably induce a little despair.

I-.

Ah. It turns out that Despair is quite strong. No matter. I-.

Nothing racial in this comparison, but she might well be strong in the same way other primates are strong and humans aren't.

I.. don't seem to be able to cut off my own arm. Or remove friction. Or transition. Or extend a filament. I'm not going to try stepping out while Despair is holding on to me because that sounds like a higher order terrible idea. Instead, I reach into my armour's sheath with my free hand and pull out an x-ionised dagger.

...It should say so much that your first response to someone holding your arm like that is to cut it off...

"That's your best idea?"

"Please let me go?"

Politeness is always a good first option.

Probably-Gamemnae collapses onto her face, weakly clawing at the molten clay covering her face.

"Guess."

Ah, a test of character. Nothing hidden about this one, though.

I bring my knife across and-. The blade doesn't cut through my armour.

"That should work. Is that you?"

Well, that's impressive. Presumably Despair's doing.

"You can cut your arm off if you want. But you won't get it back."

"Promise?"

"I said it, didn't I?"

Be careful what you wish for, OL. You just might get it.

"Yes, but was it an observation or an offer of a pact? Are you guaranteeing that if I cut it off you'll use your despair powers to keep me from growing it back, or are you just saying that arms don't grow on trees because you're a busy being and you don't actually know anything about me."

It's not like it would slow him down for long. Prosthetics are a thing. Unless her 'curse' would affect even them.

"A lasting wound that you couldn't fix would undermine your entire personal philosophy, wouldn't it?"

"That's an observation, not an answer."

Well, she's not going to spoon-feed you all the answers, is she? Where's the despair in that?

"Stop playing-" Gamemnae manages to claw the clay away from her mouth. "-it's game! Work out what the rulesmgph-!"

That's not even slightly acting like clay. It's deliberately oozing over her mouth, nose and eyes.

Presumably to aid in inducing despair. Or to keep her off-balance so she can't spell her way out of this.

Ah…

Okay, she can hear me. The problem is her despair. I'm not sure if Despair can make someone despair about something that didn't actually bother them. And despair isn't fear, so just saying 'it might not happen' isn't going to be enough if things have gotten to this stage.

So it falls to speech skills and helping her work through the cause of it.

I glance at the picture of Desire-.

"My sister-brother wouldn't help. They'd be fascinated to see what you want most."

Given his current nature, it'd be like a super-fast slideshow with a few consistent background images...

Okay, er…

Rules.

Gamemnae was genuinely despairing what in whatever part of the Aztec afterlife she was stuck in. Despair is making her relive that. How-?

Therapy time. Engage Talk-no-jutsu!

"Gamemnae! Shout, 'Hail Hephaestaean, King of the Gods and Master of Technology'!"

"Muh?!"

If nothing else, it might get his attention on you. Not likely to help against Despair's effect, but...

"That way, if you die, you'll go to Erebus rather than Mictlān! Hades only does finite punishments! You can sidestep the whole heart thing! I mean, you'll be punished, but he might take time served into consideration!"

"Muh-ugh?!"

Safe bet that was a 'Are you serious?'

"I'm not good at this sort of puzzle, but it will work."

"Ugh! Mhm Muhmhmughmum, muh mh mh mugh mh muhmh mh mumumugh." … "Mughmuh?"

'Now what?' Now, you try and actually believe it.

"It helps if you mean it, but if you've never seriously worshipped any other god then that should do." Ah… other thing. Everyone in Atlantis going mad. "Okay, I think that the affect of any Delirium-related magic would fade if they were disconnected from the system, right?"

Okay, where are you going with this?

"Muyomugh!"

"So even if it does go wrong, then all we have to do is change them back into baseline humans and give them counselling for the induced madness. Most of them should recover eventually. Then we can shut the whole thing down, and if they want to become Purebloods or whatever again, we can do that. That should work, shouldn't it?"

...I shudder to imagine the casualty rates, but most of Atlantis should survive... Maybe? Better than losing the whole nation.

"Muh… Might..?"

Queen Gamemnae looks her dry-clay-covered form over, then reaches up to her chest to check that her heart is back again. Then she awkwardly and unsteadily stands, staring wide-eyed at Despair, who let's go of my arm.

Okay, she's snapped out of it, a little. Time to get her back on track.

"Thank you."

Despair gestures vaguely in the direction of Gamemnae. "Carry on. You haven't succeeded yet."

And that one sentence may send her right back into depression. Hopefully she can focus past it.

So that's one more Endless taking an interest in OL. And we're bound to meet Delirium before this is over. All he needs to do it meet Destruction and he can make it a full set, because Destiny is sure to pass by soon. Meanwhile, looks like Gamemnae is shedding her disguise at last. hopefully she'll see sense and be helpful.

Neruz · Feb 28, 2025

B00ki5h said:
It seems like all of the Endless he meets end up liking Paul to some degree.

He's new and different, when you are an endless embodiment of fundamental forces of the universe new and different things are very rare.

Mr Zoat · Feb 28, 2025

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'too'.
That should say 'effect'.

Darko said:
Remove "what".

Me said:
Ah… other thing.

Thank you, corrected.

Ardy said:
Remember Paul, Ahriman being Gemenae means that you've let an eligible woman examine your naked body intensely and record it for "research."

She must die, so jade may never know.

One of the people who put them there in the first place was a woman. And there was that time they both woke up in bed with Eris.

Ardy · Feb 28, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
Thank you, corrected.

One of the people who put them there in the first place was a woman.

and Jade doesn't know that. QED.

Vaermina · Feb 28, 2025

Somewhat disappointing.

I was really hoping Despair was just going to refuse to play Paul's normal game even the slightest amount.

Mr Zoat · Feb 28, 2025

Ardy said:
and Jade doesn't know that. QED.

Uh.

Huh.

I don't think that I've written him telling her, and I'm not sure if it would have come up. You could be right.

Darko · Feb 28, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
I'm definitely getting a feel of her quagmire spell. Perhaps Ahri'ahn is still alive inside

Maybe she tried to absorb him, but he proved to be the dominant one and took over.

Zig · Feb 28, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
"Okay, I think that the effect of any Delirium-related magic would fade if they were disconnected from the system, right?"

I think affect was actually more right in this case, but then I take every opportunity I can to use affect as a noun and effect as a verb.

hkim · Feb 28, 2025

boo600 said:
The question is, if this is Gamemnae, where's Ahri'ahn? How did she make sure he was out of the way before taking his shape?

If this has been Gamemnae all along, then presumably Ahri'ahn is still out wherever he's been these last few millennia. He hasn't been involved at all.

Mr Zoat · Feb 28, 2025

Zig said:
I think affect was actually more right in this case, but then I take every opportunity I can to use affect as a noun and effect as a verb.

I don't even know what those words mean...

Bud-E · Feb 28, 2025

How come Despair and Desire aren't enlightened to their emotional color?

Zig · Feb 28, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
I don't even know what those words mean...

Effect (v): Bring about
Affect (n): state of being (usually temporary)

Mr Zoat · Feb 28, 2025

Zig said:
Effect (v): Bring about
Affect (n): state of being affected by something

No. Verb. And noun.

Though affect and effect as well, I guess.

Bud-E said:
How come Despair and Desire aren't enlightened to their emotional color?

'Desire' and 'avarice' aren't quite the same. Despair doesn't actually feel despair most of the time. They're actually fairly upbeat inside their own head.

Bud-E · Feb 28, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
'Desire' and 'avarice' aren't quite the same. Despair doesn't actually feel despair most of the time. They're actually fairly upbeat inside their own head.

Desire is always feeling Desire it seems weird that their twin isn't the same.

Steelplaza · Feb 28, 2025

Bud-E said:
Desire is always feeling Desire it seems weird that their twin isn't the same.

They don't approve of this human tendency to seek symmetry everywhere, I guess.

Mr Zoat · Mar 1, 2025

7th May 2013
14:14 GMT -2

Gamemnae doesn't pause to brush off the residual clay before dashing over to Delirium's portrait and… Touching it. I assume that she's doing something magical. I walk towards her more slowly-.

Then I pause.

"I don't suppose that you'd be prepared to tell me what turned Delight into Delirium in the first place?"

"Why would I?"

"Because if we did turn her back, she'd constantly be aware that she could flip out and go back to ruining peoples' lives and there wouldn't be anything she could do to prevent it, constantly undermining her harmony with her own nature?"

"She's aware now. Though there is a way to change her."

"I don't intend to try to kill her, if that's what you're implying. Aside from anything else, I don't have a candidate."

And while I could say that 'her death toll isn't that great', I'm not that stupid.

"Is your brother okay with us being here?"

"Which one?"

"Destiny. This is his home."

"He's visiting Earth to find out why Atlantis is out of the water ahead of schedule."

I breathe in somewhat sharply.

"Gamemnae!" I dash towards her, and… Clean up her-. Oh, she wasn't wearing-. I give her some clothes, including a couple of tracking devices just in case. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Stop talking."

"In the interests of avoiding you falling back into despair before you finish, I will make strong representations to the relevant authorities that you've served your time for your outstanding offences. Should the rulers of Earth be unwilling to keep you around, I can find a place for you to live in exile on Maltus, or somewhere else in N.E.M.O.-controlled space."

"That-." … "Thank you."

"So what are you doing, roughly speaking?"

"This painting has the most primal possible link to Delirium. If I understand how it works, I might be able to use it to supersede the one I created."

"Have you considered asking politely?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I know that it-."

"No, she's right. It wouldn't work. She'd either like the idea or babble incoherently."

Well, darn. Asking for help does come with fairly major…

For a moment a vivid image of me giving the Justice League both barrels over the Nabu situation appears in my head.

Fairly major downsides in that if the other party isn't on board with your preferred solution then they now know that you're working against them.

I… Let her work. There are things that I want to know, like exactly what she did to King Orin and Koryak, but this is both more important and more urgent. And I'm curious about why she betrayed the League of Ancients, if that's even what happened. And I'd like to give her some further reassurance about what's going to happen to her because Adom is not a forgiving man.

But, yes. Concentrating.

Wait. I assumed that she wanted to study my tattoos to learn how to bypass them in a fight. Did she intend to use the setup to improve her grand design? It doesn't exactly use the standard Atlantean epistemology…

"Despair, would Delirium be aware if I removed a portion of this painting?"

"She's dimly aware of you now. But it would make her more aware of you."

"Problem?"

"Returning Delirium's power to her isn't a problem. But I can't create a strong enough bridge quickly enough." She staggers away a step. "I.. can't do it. Even if I held the spell together manually, it wouldn't be enough!"

"Is there any object or material I could get for you that would fix that problem? I worked with Professor Sephtian on-."

"There isn't enough time to enchant it!"

"There is."

We both turn, and Despair smiles unpleasantly.

"You're just overcomplicating it."

Gamemnae frowns, clearly having no idea what Despair's talking about.

"Bringing one of the load bearing runes here would work?"

"Probably not."

"Then what are you talking a-bout…"

Gamemnae is staring into space with an expression I'm familiar with due to the vast number of Anti-Lifed people I've seen with one very similar.

"What?"

"Pay attention, Lantern. Why aren't the sharks included?"

"Because Gamemnae has Ahri'ahn's root access to the transformation spells. Is that still working?"

She nods, numbly.

"So?"

"That connection doesn't need any extra spells to maintain it." Despair's smile broadens, and that's a lot of yellow teeth. "She just needs a way to transfer the energy, after all."

I frown.

So-?

Oohhhhhhh.

"Gamemnae… If you do this, I'll try and work out how to fix things so that we can undo it. You should… Recover eventually. And if there's anything you want me to tell anyone..."

Her jaw moves without any sound coming out of her mouth.

"I-."

She nods once, extremely stiffly, and disintegrates the clothes I made for her. Then she puts her hands on her chakra points, fingers… Cutting her flesh in the shape of runes that I recognise all too well.

Despair grins even wider.

"Beautiful."

Lazurman · Mar 1, 2025

One hell of a sacrifice play, if my guess is right. Color me surprised, and impressed.

PDV · Mar 1, 2025

She finds being piscine that bad?

Bigking321 · Mar 1, 2025

Whatever is going to happen to her is clearly going to suck.

But I have limited empathy for her.

In the end it's the consequences of her own actions. She tried messing with forces beyond her, and rushed it without making sure of things.

Hopefully whatever happens can be fixed but... it's her own fault that this situation even exists.

Ngamer11 · Mar 1, 2025

I can't wait to see Paul explain all of this to the Justice League, the Team, and the League of Ancients.

Z000 · Mar 1, 2025

Ngamer11 said:
I can't wait to see Paul explain all of this to the Justice League, the Team, and the League of Ancients.

honestly, i need Paul to do an after-action report too, i'm kinda lost

NightmareWarden · Mar 1, 2025

She isn't dreading the pain or loss of power, is she… Is she going to gain animalistic traits from every affected Atlantean subspecies? She's afraid of mutilating herself, deforming herself? Gammenmae…

The olympians had better make a dang good present for you after all this. Moreso because they are helmed by Hephaestean than because she deserves it, but she does at least deserve acknowledgement for this whole situation, praise without feeding their own egos like Zeus would.

Okay, so does Gamemnae just need to give this new spell sufficient momentum? Eventually the old version will falter due to destroyed runestones and other countermeasures designed by Paul's recently returned wizards. Once the old spell is defanged, Paul and co will have to unplug G-Mae from this transformation/comatose state?

Old Knife · Mar 1, 2025

Ngamer11 said:
I can't wait to see Paul explain all of this to the Justice League, the Team, and the League of Ancients.

Queen G was depressed because of Anti-life. She absorbed the Delirum spell using my tattoos thereby separating it from the universe and it killed her.

Nervaqus987 · Mar 1, 2025

Z000 said:
honestly, i need Paul to do an after-action report too, i'm kinda lost

She's got to drain the Delirium juice out of Atlantis and the doesn't have the time to build the kind of channel that could do it fast enough to matter. So she's going to use the root access she already has and channel the power out through herself.

Which means she's going to get full exposure to all of Delirium's power that's spread out across the entire population of Atlantis and does not expect to survive that on basically any level.

Darko · Mar 1, 2025

So she's going to become a shark.

Mr Zoat said:
And while I could say that 'her death toll isn't that great', I'm not that stupid

You only saw the damage she did on Earth in the comics.

Given the fact that they're universal beings, the number of deaths she has caused over time may not even have a number.

Mr Zoat said:
"He's visiting Earth to find out why Atlantis is out of the water ahead of schedule

Hmm, maybe using Delirium's power interfered with his powers and that's why he's confused.

Mr Zoat said:
"This painting has the most primal possible link to Delirium. If I understand how it works, I might be able to use it to supersede the one I created."

"Have you considered asking politely?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I know that it-."

"No, she's right. It wouldn't work. She'd either like the idea or babble incoherently

And even if she likes it, she may still just drive you crazy.

Mr Zoat said:
And I'm curious about why she betrayed the League of Ancients, if that's even what happened.

She may have never been loyal to begin with.

With her being exiled she may have found it a good idea to surround herself with powerful people in case she needed protection.

Plus, the Ancients united to fight a dangerous threat, so she may have also stayed with them to help them stop world-destroying threats since if the world is gone then she's also dead.

Mr Zoat said:
And I'd like to give her some further reassurance about what's going to happen to her because Adom is not a forgiving man.

He may not tear her in half, but he's definitely going to be pissed.

Mr Zoat said:
Wait. I assumed that she wanted to study my tattoos to learn how to bypass them in a fight. Did she intend to use the setup to improve her grand design

Absorbing magic and hiding from magical detection sound useful.

Mr Zoat said:
It doesn't exactly use the standard Atlantean epistemology…

That may have provided some benefits.

The Endless may know about how Atlantean magic works since it's a magical civilization, but they may not know about the magic of some British wizards.

Mr Zoat said:
"Pay attention, Lantern. Why aren't the sharks included?"

"Because Gamemnae has Ahri'ahn's root access to the transformation spells

I think Sha'ark mentioned that they used their own blood magic to turn themselves into shark people.

Chojin Patriarch · Mar 1, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2013
14:14 GMT -2

Gamemnae doesn't pause to brush off the residual clay before dashing over to Delirium's portrait and… Touching it. I assume that she's doing something magical. I walk towards her more slowly-.

Then I pause.

Best to make sure of what she's planning before you let her do it, after all. And make sure it isn't going to make matters worse. Though, given the potential dangers ahead, there's probably not many was it can get worse.

"I don't suppose that you'd be prepared to tell me what turned Delight into Delirium in the first place?"

"Why would I?"

That sounds like a bad idea, OL. Trying to poke your nose in places it shouldn't be might get it pulled off.

"Because if we did turn her back, she'd constantly be aware that she could flip out and go back to ruining peoples' lives and there wouldn't be anything she could do to prevent it, constantly undermining her harmony with her own nature?"

"She's aware now. Though there is a way to change her."

Huh. Let's pencil that in for another time, then. Preferably with lots of protection set up and lots of backup.

"I don't intend to try to kill her, if that's what you're implying. Aside from anything else, I don't have a candidate."

And while I could say that 'her death toll isn't that great', I'm not that stupid.

It could be cataclysmic. In the comics, when Morpheus passed, the whole universe felt a faint shudder of existential dread...

"Is your brother okay with us being here?"

"Which one?"

I mean, it's an easy deduction, but I could see her playing dumb to irritate him.

"Destiny. This is his home."

"He's visiting Earth to find out why Atlantis is out of the water ahead of schedule."

I breathe in somewhat sharply.

Just her wording implies all sorts of future problems, yes.

"Gamemnae!" I dash towards her, and… Clean up her-. Oh, she wasn't wearing-. I give her some clothes, including a couple of tracking devices just in case. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Stop talking."

That's like asking the ocean to not be wet. Like a certain streamer I follow, he likes to yap.

"In the interests of avoiding you falling back into despair before you finish, I will make strong representations to the relevant authorities that you've served your time for your outstanding offences. Should the rulers of Earth be unwilling to keep you around, I can find a place for you to live in exile on Maltus, or somewhere else in N.E.M.O.-controlled space."

If nothing else, her experience and knowledge of Atlantean magic should be very useful in maintaining the mystical side of NEMO's operations.

"That-." … "Thank you."

"So what are you doing, roughly speaking?"

And do remember to keep it simple enough for the peanut gallery.

"This painting has the most primal possible link to Delirium. If I understand how it works, I might be able to use it to supersede the one I created."

"Have you considered asking politely?"

So, break the connection and stop the flow of delirium's energies? that sounds dangerous, because all that power's gotta go somewhere.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I know that it-."

"No, she's right. It wouldn't work. She'd either like the idea or babble incoherently."

Or possibly both. The kind of mad, happy babbling that tells you far too much.

Well, darn. Asking for help does come with fairly major…

For a moment a vivid image of me giving the Justice League both barrels over the Nabu situation appears in my head.

Ah, having a moment of 'This feels oddly familiar...'

Fairly major downsides in that if the other party isn't on board with your preferred solution then they now know that you're working against them.

I… Let her work. There are things that I want to know, like exactly what she did to King Orin and Koryak, but this is both more important and more urgent. And I'm curious about why she betrayed the League of Ancients, if that's even what happened. And I'd like to give her some further reassurance about what's going to happen to her because Adom is not a forgiving man.

Yeah, if she's still alive to meet him, there's going to have to be some very fast talking to prevent him pulling her head off.

But, yes. Concentrating.

Wait. I assumed that she wanted to study my tattoos to learn how to bypass them in a fight. Did she intend to use the setup to improve her grand design? It doesn't exactly use the standard Atlantean epistemology…

She might be skilled enough to create a spell structure that mimics their function if not their exact operation.

"Despair, would Delirium be aware if I removed a portion of this painting?"

"She's dimly aware of you now. But it would make her more aware of you."

And that might not be a good thing.

"Problem?"

"Returning Delirium's power to her isn't a problem. But I can't create a strong enough bridge quickly enough." She staggers away a step. "I.. can't do it. Even if I held the spell together manually, it wouldn't be enough!"

It'd be like trying to direct a raging river, then. With your bare hands.

"Is there any object or material I could get for you that would fix that problem? I worked with Professor Sephtian on-."

"There isn't enough time to enchant it!"

Ah. Time pressure combined with difficult circumstances. This isn't going to be pretty, is it?

"There is."

We both turn, and Despair smiles unpleasantly.

...Not pretty at all, if she's that happy about it.

"You're just overcomplicating it."

Gamemnae frowns, clearly having no idea what Despair's talking about.

There's something they've missed, then. A critical assumption they made.

"Bringing one of the load bearing runes here would work?"

"Probably not."

Not enough throughput, if Gamemnae designed them for a slow feed...

"Then what are you talking a-bout…"

Gamemnae is staring into space with an expression I'm familiar with due to the vast number of Anti-Lifed people I've seen with one very similar.

Ah, crap, she's gone bye-bye again...

"What?"

"Pay attention, Lantern. Why aren't the sharks included?"

...Because they used a different spell to alter themselves.

"Because Gamemnae has Ahri'ahn's root access to the transformation spells. Is that still working?"

She nods, numbly.

And thus there's a connection, from alteration spell to her to...

"So?"

"That connection doesn't need any extra spells to maintain it." Despair's smile broadens, and that's a lot of yellow teeth. "She just needs a way to transfer the energy, after all."

And guess what she just studied earlier? Oh, boy...

I frown.

So-?

Oohhhhhhh.

Light dawns over blockhead. Yup.

"Gamemnae… If you do this, I'll try and work out how to fix things so that we can undo it. You should… Recover eventually. And if there's anything you want me to tell anyone..."

Her jaw moves without any sound coming out of her mouth.

No need for an execution, or punishment, then...

"I-."

She nods once, extremely stiffly, and disintegrates the clothes I made for her. Then she puts her hands on her chakra points, fingers… Cutting her flesh in the shape of runes that I recognise all too well.

Not surprising, given they're the ones inscribed on his skin, aren't they?

Despair grins even wider.

"Beautiful."

...Okay, that's just disturbing...

So, a sacrifice play, using the design of OL's soul-feeding tattoos to redirect the flow of Delirium's energy into Gamemnae instead of the runestones. Gruesome, terrifying, but unspeakably brave of her. Hopefully this goes some way to paying off the karmic debts she's earned over the years. Wonder if the people of Atlantis will see it that way?

Blackshard · Mar 1, 2025

PDV said:
She finds being piscine that bad?

Darko said:
So she's going to become a shark.

Sure, she's going to physically become a shark... but with that much Delirium power involved, she's probably going to become one mentally as well. There won't be a simple undo to be had afterwards. There'll probably just be an ordinary shark, and the fact that said shark used to be a brilliant ancient magician won't even matter, not with the bridge back so thoroughly burnt.

Old Knife · Mar 1, 2025

Blackshard said:
Sure, she's going to physically become a shark... but with that much Delirium power involved, she's probably going to become one mentally as well. There won't be a simple undo to be had afterwards. There'll probably just be an ordinary shark, and the fact that said shark used to be a brilliant ancient magician won't even matter, not with the bridge back so thoroughly burnt.

Good thing Orange Light doesn't care about HOW. just WANT.

Blackshard · Mar 1, 2025

Old Knife said:
Good thing Orange Light doesn't care about HOW. just WANT.

The Orange Light doesn't trump Endless power, as evidenced by Despair's threat to permanently remove Paul's arm, which he took seriously.

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

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Not too sore, are you?

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