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

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Mr Zoat said:
Zigzag

29th April
10:58 GMT +2

Jade looks around at the bustle of activity all across the archaeological dig site. "It's certainly classier than anywhere I've been on a date before. Not sure about the food…"

I shrug, left hand holding onto the box whose strap is slung over my left shoulder. "I can take you to somewhere in Shiruta afterwards. I should warn you though… I'm quite popular there. We might not get much privacy."

Though it hasn't been a priority of his reign so far, Adom is well aware of the value of tourism to the Kahndaqi economy. He also knows the location of a great many valuable sites that have been lost in history, though I know for a fact that there have been clashes with Cairo University's Archaeology department about how to treat them. For an archaeologist, historical sites should be preserved as much as possible. For Adom, a place sacred to the gods he worships should be repaired, repainted and put back into use. What exactly is to become of the now partially buried Temple of Zehuti hasn't been agreed on, but for now it serves our purpose nicely.

I frown as we head towards the recently excavated entrance. "I.. thought you said didn't want to-."

"I didn't say we were. But this is."

"Look, I've had enough criticism about my romantic intention communication failures that-."

"I never said that I wouldn't flirt with you." She's not looking at me, but she is smiling.

I look directly at her, then wave at the archaeology student beyond her who's excitedly pointing his camera phone at us. "I said I was interested, you said it was against your professional ethics."

"It is. We were the League of Shadows, not the League of Ninja Hookers."

"But you're not an assassin any longer." That gets an eyebrow. "Not professionally. This is a.. hobby thing. The rule doesn't need to apply if you don't want it to."

We pass under the awning and start down the slope into the Temple proper. "Date with Sivana go that badly, huh?"

"There was a near-unstoppable time travelling gravity manipulator and Thaddeus Junior and Georgia stole everything from my subspace pocket." Jade stops and this time looks at me with genuine alarm. I shrug. "They gave it back, but it was pretty unnerving."

Got back everything the breach of the warehouse complex didn't completely burn up or melt to sludge, anyway. After their mother glowered at them for a while I got what certainly sounded like a genuine apology… Which -given how they normally behave- is probably all I can hope for.

I pull ahead of Jade slightly as we reach the first chamber. "Beautia and I will be meeting up again. I just want to be clear that you have… First refusal." She doesn't say anything. "How's the bodyguarding thing going?"

"It pays the bills."

"No problems with the other henchmen?"

"Not after they found out I'd been to Belle Reve. Besides, I'm not supposed to get involved in the 'family business'. I'm just temptation-free protection for the boss's daughter." Her face stills for a second, and the next thing I know her sai is out, fully extended at thin air. Her eyes have narrowed. "I know you're there."

"Between you an' the Bat, think I need to work on me hidin' spells."

John… Appears. It isn't the shift that I saw when Thaddeus turned off the invisibility generator. The best way I can describe it is the reverse of what Granny Weatherwax did in Masquerade. Parts of wall and floor I was perfectly aware that I was seeing before suddenly come together in my mind as being parts of John. He holds his hands open and to the sides, trying to make clear that he isn't a threat while at the same time not deigning to pay her knife much attention.

Wait a second. No cigarette. The rings run full scans on our surroundings, bands of orange light running swiftly over everything. My rune stone comes out of one of my pouches and I turn up my empathic vision, taking a good look in all directions.

"What's wrong with you?"

"No cigarette." The stone is glowing… John usually makes it grow brightly, but the Scholars of Zehuti were big magic users back in Adom's time. This whole place sets it off. Scans don't show anything I wasn't expecting.

"Oh, come on. I can go five fuckin' minutes." His hands and eyebrows flick up for a moment in appeal at the gross slur on his personal habits.

"Almost certainly him."

"So does that mean I put the knife down, or stab him twice just to make sure?"

John smiles, right hand patting the left of his coat before tensing up and lowering itself again. "Where'd you find this one?"

"'This one' grew up in Gotham City." Jade lowers her sai and returns it to her coat. "John Constantine. The League had a file on you."

"Oh yeah?" The left side of his mouth turns upwards. "Anything good?"

Zatanna walks through from the inner chamber. "No one who has a file on you has anything good to say about you. I thought you realised that."

"Charmin'." He looks around the room, then turns and ambles towards the doorway to the inner chamber. "Adom's warmin' up the wards. We can get started in a mo."

Jade nods, then glances at me. "And the defences here are good enough..?"

I shrug. "If you know somewhere better…"

Zatanna nods. "We don't know enough about what we're up against to judge it perfectly. But this temple is as well protected as anywhere else we could go without rousing even more suspicion."

Adom stands as we enter, his normal black and gold costume covered by white robes. A display of modesty before one of the gods empowering him. Not something he does for anyone else. There's a smell of burned perfume in the air. "My preparations are complete. We may speak freely."

John nods, then looks at me. "Did'ja get it?"

I open another pouch and pull out a Golden Apple. "I asked when we were dumping Apollo in a pig pen."

"She ask what it was for?"

"I said it would be a surprise. She didn't seem to think it was such a big deal. Apparently she's got a whole grove of them."

"An' that'll work, will it?"

"We'll find out." Filaments take hold of my box, pulling out the prototype elemental rifle I received from Sephtian's workshop. "In theory, it's this simple." The Apple flickers as my constructs push, then deforms as the gold it's made of says that it should. The metal stretches over the chamber of the gun, making it the most bling firearm I've ever held. I hold it out to Jade, who takes it, works the mechanism then nods.

Zatanna makes a small beckoning gesture with her right hand and a small stone rises off the floor. "Dleihs fo redro."

A small golden barrier forms around the stone as it hovers in the air. Order magic isn't Zatanna's speciality, but we've been studying what Nabu might be able to do so much that she's picked up a few things.

Jade raises the gun to her shoulder, sights and fires. The stone explodes, its arcane shield doing nothing at all. She lowers the rifle.

Zatanna looks at her cautiously. "Remember, the aim isn't to kill him. He's holding my Dad-."

"I know." Jade nods. "My job is to disrupt his spells unless ordered otherwise. Then shoot to wound."

I nod. "You've had plenty of time to look over our plan so far. What do you think?"

"It's… Basically well thought out. But as far as the ideal outcome goes, I'm worried about what happens if your arcane mana draining device doesn't do the job. I think you need-."

I nod, looking down. I was worried it would come to that.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow."
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Well ladies and gentlemen it has finally happened. Paragon paul has actually gotten a date which might actually get past going up to bat.
Who knows he might actually get to this mythical thing I once heard about, what was it? Oh yes, first base. However do not get your hopes up, lord Zoat will probably just crush it under his giant orange boot.

Speaking of boots Paul should probably be careful not to receive one himself, because we all know a certain nynth of nightmares has her eyes on him and might not like she has competition. Lets all hope she inherited at least some of her father's lack of insanity.
 
Undead bear said:
Well ladies and gentlemen it has finally happened. Paragon paul has actually gotten a date which might actually get past going up to bat.
Who knows he might actually get to this mythical thing I once heard about, what was it? Oh yes, first base. However do not get your hopes up, lord Zoat will probably just crush it under his giant orange boot.

Speaking of boots Paul should probably be careful not to receive one himself, because we all know a certain nynth of nightmares has her eyes on him and might not like she has competition. Lets all hope she inherited at least some of her father's lack of insanity.
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Meh, in terms of shipping I would prefer him to go for someone other then Jade, thats Grayven's girl, having them both end up with the same seems kinda odd/lazy. Id prefer him to hit it off with Eris considering his actions or someone a bit more in line with his views.
 
Mr Zoat said:
I open another pouch and pull out a Golden Apple. "I asked when we were dumping Apollo in a pig pen."

"She ask what it was for?"

"I said it would be a surprise. She didn't seem to think it was such a big deal. Apparently she's got a whole grove of them."
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This is so awesome. I started to maniacally laugh out loud. Mwahahaha!

Mr Zoat said:
The metal stretches over the chamber of the gun, making it the most bling firearm I've ever held.
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Bling gun of chaos. Oh yeah, this is gonna be good.


PS: arg, I can only Like this post once!
 
Tyrant's Bane said:
Meh, in terms of shipping I would prefer him to go for someone other then Jade, thats Grayven's girl, having them both end up with the same seems kinda odd/lazy. Id prefer him to hit it off with Eris considering his actions or someone a bit more in line with his views.
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I agree with the 'not Jade' sentiment, but I'm not hot on him ending up with Eris. For one thing, she's a terrible person. She's a good patron because he's invested in changing the social order, and she for that. But she would be just as happy for him to cast everyone into barbarism, or convert them to worshiping the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whatever. In a pantheon filled with unlikable monsters, she was considered an asshole.

That said, I'm not against him having a second date a nightmare, or for him to make special friends with a benign scientist, or so on. People who aren't, you know, terrible people.
 
Tyrant's Bane said:
Meh, in terms of shipping I would prefer him to go for someone other then Jade, that's Grayven's girl, having them both end up with the same seems kinda odd/lazy. Id prefer him to hit it off with Eris considering his actions or someone a bit more in line with his views.
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+1 for "not Jade" sentiment, but I by far favour the nightmare nymph Melinoe for shipping, Eris is great and all as a patron, friend, whatever. But I don't think she's really that interesting as romance material.
 
Mr Zoat said:
The Apple flickers as my constructs push, then deforms as the gold it's made of says that it should. The metal stretches over the chamber of the gun, making it the most bling firearm I've ever held. I hold it out to Jade, who takes it, works the mechanism then nods.
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Could do with a little more description of what exactly happened here and how the gun turned out, I'm having a hard time.
 
Daimonin said:
+1 for "not Jade" sentiment, but I by far favour the nightmare nymph Melinoe for shipping, Eris is great and all as a patron, friend, whatever. But I don't think she's really that interesting as romance material.
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Yeah, Eris is the best wingman. She will totally get you out of your comfort zone and you'll end up with someone you never thought would make sense. Melinoë would definitely be the girl you'd end up with after going to a club with Eris.
 
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stsword said:
According to Plato, both origins were correct- there were two Aphrodites, one celestial whose domain is spiritual love, and one "common" whose domain is physical love/desire.
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....Man, the more of Plato's assertions I read, the more I become convinced he was just totally full of it. This, the Cave analogy, Atlantis. Maybe he was a fiction writer and the translator never got the memo?
 
Mr Zoat said:
"It's… Basically well thought out. But as far as the ideal outcome goes, I'm worried about what happens if your arcane mana draining device doesn't do the job. I think you need-."

I nod, looking down. I was worried it would come to that.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow."
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Oh dont get discouraged POL, the plan will go pear shaped no matter how big your Nabu storage device is. This is a comic book story, if it went perfectly there would be no tension.
 
Karuadin said:
One version of the tale actually suggests that it may have been the same apple of immortality from Hera's Garden of the Hesperides, that Eris had actually taken the fruit from the garden before tossing it into the banquet and sparked the whole thing.

Eris 16 seems to either have her own separate grove or Hera let her have one in her garden.
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heck, there's a chance that Eris might have just ASKED...
i mean, its not exactly the EXPECTED course of action in this case!
 
Crimson Doom said:
She kinda stops being a snake at that point, though... seriously, in order to do what you're suggesting, she'd have to turn herself into a naga at bare minimum.

Honestly, given how heavily Ophidi-chan features in this story, it's a surprise to me that this topic hasn't come up sooner.
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She isn't an actual Earth snake. Even if she wasn't crazy powerful there's no reason to think the limits of normal Earth snake physiology apply.
 
Avernus said:
Since it's being used to create an anti-Order gun, it seems a safe assumption that it was an Apple of Discord, and not Immortality. They don't want to make Nabu tougher by shooting him after all.

A Sniper Rifle of Immortality is an amusing image though.


"My job is to shoot the wounded."

"...doesn't that make you the bad guy?"

"Not really. It does feel weird when somebody thanks me for shooting kids fleeing a flaming orphanage, though."
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sainen said:
it worked in Overwatch, so why not?
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Z000 said:

healing gun
where people thank you for shooting at them
now we just need healing grenade
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Hey, I already made that joke!

sockmonkey said:
She isn't an actual Earth snake. Even if she wasn't crazy powerful there's no reason to think the limits of normal Earth snake physiology apply.
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Am I just explaining myself poorly, or is nobody understanding what I'm trying to say? Based on the way her face normally is (i.e., exactly like an Earth snake because the implication is that an Earth snake is what she was before she became the embodiment of avarice), she literally can't drink from a cup, straw, or pump without making adjustments to her mouth. At that point, she would no longer qualify as pure snake, because cups, straws, and pumps are really only meant for humanoid use.
 
frozenchicken said:
....Man, the more of Plato's assertions I read, the more I become convinced he was just totally full of it. This, the Cave analogy, Atlantis. Maybe he was a fiction writer and the translator never got the memo?
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A lot of the major Hellenic gods and goddesses have more than one canonical representation of themselves; IIRC Zeus and Apollo both have three, for example. Hellenic religion wasn't particularly centralized, and there were different cults venerating different deities or groups of deities all over the damn place; conflicting versions of myths, contradictory myths, myths that got made up much later (see Theseus), differing aspects of gods, et cetera.
 
Crimson Doom said:
Am I just explaining myself poorly, or is nobody understanding what I'm trying to say? Based on the way her face normally is (i.e., exactly like an Earth snake because the implication is that an Earth snake is what she was before she became the embodiment of avarice), she literally can't drink from a cup, straw, or pump without making adjustments to her mouth. At that point, she would no longer qualify as pure snake, because cups, straws, and pumps are really only meant for humanoid use.
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Or you know, she's a extremely powerful being and can just will it (or avarice it I suppose) into working regardless of how it should work?
 
Dr. Bob Doom said:
@Mr Zoat was that one of those immortality granting golden apples, or just a generic golden apple?
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Apple of Discord
.
Mythology has tons of golden apples, but they don't want to mesmerise Nabu or make him immortal, they want an anti-order weapon.
Plus, Paul did literally get it from the goddess of chaos and strife. It's a discordian apple.


Also, "It's a surprise" is probably the best way to convince Eris to do anything.
 
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Silverias said:
Don't get your hopes up, bruh.
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No, do! That way it's more fun for me when I dash them!
uju32 said:
Probably the Shade.
Only other magical heavyweight on Earth I can think of that might lend a hand.
For Kent Nelson's sake.
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The Shade doesn't really like Nabu, and wasn't massively fond of Mister Nelson. Nabu rather considered him to be a Creature of Darkness and went for the kill whenever they fought, and Mister Nelson was the guy who kept putting him on.
 
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