Science
If you're reading this, omae wa mo shindeiru.
- Location
- Killeen, TX
Or turning Scarlet Witch into a Lord of Chaos.
With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Twelve)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
- Status
Teeki referred to John as a Laughing Magician if it means anything.
Undermined (part 19)
- Location
- Hampden Park
18th June
16:14 GMT
Mister Hol goes to work on the Watchtower's computers immediately. Ms Thal looks at what's left of the robot for a moment, then lunges at it, punching the very cold metal in what's left of it's chest with her right fist. Metal fractures and snaps as it gets knocked backwards and falls to the floor.
I hold out my right hand and look at her expectantly. She keeps staring at the robot for several seconds, breathing hard. Then she remembers that I'm there and turns back around, looking at my hand with a frown. Then resheathes the Sword, detaches the sheath from her belt, and passes it over.
"Thank you, sir."
She glances at the robot again. "Do I want to ask?"
"Richard Simpson was a practitioner of a sort of computer-based parapsionics. He assisted John in investigating a religious group called the Resurrection Crusade. They had arcane computer defences… His mind and soul were inside their system when the defences triggered. His physical body was completely destroyed, and John just walked away without trying to help."
"So he's become some sort of living computer program?"
"No, that made him a weak arcane being. But… After that, John was trying to escape a powerful Demon called Nergal. He couldn't get away, so he used Mister Simpson's equipment to transfer himself into a local computer network while Mister Simpson occupied his body. Nergal caught him, got him to explain how the system worked and then went in after John."
"Demons can do that?"
"Apparently. Needless to say, if Mister Simpson was still Human I'd have recruited him for KordTech months ago. So, Nergal goes in, John tricks him into projecting himself into some sort of anti-Demon trap… Then Mister Simpson decides that he'd rather keep John's body."
"Heh. Sounds like it serves him right."
"Except that as John points out, his body has lung cancer and only a couple of months to live. But, Nergal's brain dead body is just sitting there. So they do a swap. John gets his own body back, and a little while later manages to trick the First and his brothers-" I tap the hilt of the Sword. "-into fixing his lungs. Mister Simpson takes Nergal's body and all the Demonic energy bound into it and reconfigures it. John told me that he claimed to have become some sort of technology Demon. Except, that isn't allowed, and a couple of high level Demons turned up to force him to go through the proper process."
I sigh. "But with the First gone, the old rules of demonic society got thrown out of the window. If Satanus wants him freed with as much of his Human intelligence and initiative intact as possible, then that's what happens unless a Demon of equal power stands against him."
I feel a slight wind against my skin as the air supply comes back on. Ring, give me the bad news; there wasn't any wind when the window was punctured. All of the horses are dead, aren't they?
All horses are presently in their stable. Stable air supply still functional.
Oh, that's a relief. The horses will be a bit grumpy about being shut in, but after a few…
"Sir? Have you checked on Major Adams and Mister Freeman?"
"They're fine, but I'm leaving the door to their cell sealed until the atmosphere is fully restored." He presses a few more buttons and the main holodisplay appears with Batman, Red Tornado and Ms Lance all showing incoming communications. "Watchtower to League. Hawkman here. We've-."
Batman's first to react. "What's the situation?"
"We've retaken the Watchtower from a Computer Demon… Thing." He glances my way. "I'm running a full reset of the Watchtower's systems now. The zeta tube network should have been unaffected. Captain Atom and Icon have non-life-threatening injures and we will take them to the infirmary as soon as the atmosphere is restored."
"The horses are fine too."
Ms Lance looks off to the side, making a very quiet sigh-laugh. The other two don't react.
Ms Thal and I walk around to be comfortably within the arc of the camera. Now that I get a better look at him, Batman looks like he's been in combat. There's dirt and a little blood visible on his mask. Raquel was shadowing him today, hopefully demonstrating by example the advantages of a personal force field. Red Tornado looks fine, as does Ms Lance. Then again, I think she was working her civilian job today.
Another window lights up and Mister Allen's face appears, his eyes flick swiftly around the other floating heads. "Everyone else get attacked too?"
Batman nods. "A professional assassin by the name of Constantine Drakon."
"At least that's one less assassin we'll have to worry about."
Batman's head lowers slightly. "Unfortunately, he was able to disengage successfully. Were you also targeted?"
"Yeah, it looks like we've got a new Mirror Master on the loose. Do you think I could talk Zatanna into making Central City her regular beat?"
Ms Thal nods. "We had to deal with a robot, a Sabbac, a swarm of Demons-" I look away from the screen and cough quietly into my right fist. "-Satanus and a Demon-possessed robot."
There's a slight whir from Red Tornado. "I was not subjected to a targeted attack. However, someone transformed several dozen people in my vicinity into monstrous beasts."
Mister Allen frowns slightly. "That sounds like an attack to me."
"If it was intended as such, then they failed in their objective. They were unable to control their creations. Most fled in a panic, others lashed out at whatever was close at hand."
Ms Lance nods. "We were attacked by a huge alien with four arms."
Batman's eyes narrow. "The League's being targeted. Now that communications are back up and running I'll try contacting everyone. Stay on your guard. Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Orange Lantern. Stay on the Watchtower until I relieve you. Everyone else, if you have dealt with your assailant go to the Watchtower and prepare to deploy. Batman out."
Mister Hol nods, then deactivates the display and stares into space for a moment. "After today, I think we should try and persuade the others to reconsider their position on integrating weapons into the Watchtower's structure."
Ms Thal nods. "Weapons, shields and a standing security force recruited from the armies of UN Security Council members."
I blink in surprise. "Do you think there's any chance they'll go for that? I mean, I thought I was pushing things-."
They both look at me like I'm an idiot. Yeah. Okay.
"While we're on the subject of weapons, sirs." I take two cold guns out of subspace. "Might I offer you each one of these to augment your arsenals? I can be available to train you in their use just as soon as Batman-" Ms Thal takes the one closest to her and begins examining it closely. "-gives the all-clear."
Mister Hol nods. "I think I will take you up on that." He holds out his hand and I pass the remaining gun to him. He takes it and looks at it thoughtfully for a moment. "I see that you've remodelled it based on Thanagarian designs."
"Just these two, sir. I thought that it would help if it were familiar."
He nods, smiling. "Given what has happened, I feel obliged to let you know that today's exercise was in part an opportunity to review members of your team who might be capable of serving in the Justice League. Diana warned us that you were an over-achiever, but seeing you in action was… Impressive."
"Thank you, sir. But I was rather expecting to get black balled by Nabu."
"True, you were. But Batman raised the idea of moving to qualified majority voting rather than unanimity. If we reach agreement on that, Nabu's objections will no longer be a barrier."
I smile outwardly. "Well…. Thank you, sir. Ah-." I turn to Ms Thal, who looks up from her shiny new gun for long enough to roll her eyes and nod. "Thank you sirs. I'm not certain how frequently I'd-."
Batman's face reappears on the holodisplay. "All available Justice League members capable of operating under the ocean are to deploy to Poseidonis at once. They're under a major attack."
16:14 GMT
Mister Hol goes to work on the Watchtower's computers immediately. Ms Thal looks at what's left of the robot for a moment, then lunges at it, punching the very cold metal in what's left of it's chest with her right fist. Metal fractures and snaps as it gets knocked backwards and falls to the floor.
I hold out my right hand and look at her expectantly. She keeps staring at the robot for several seconds, breathing hard. Then she remembers that I'm there and turns back around, looking at my hand with a frown. Then resheathes the Sword, detaches the sheath from her belt, and passes it over.
"Thank you, sir."
She glances at the robot again. "Do I want to ask?"
"Richard Simpson was a practitioner of a sort of computer-based parapsionics. He assisted John in investigating a religious group called the Resurrection Crusade. They had arcane computer defences… His mind and soul were inside their system when the defences triggered. His physical body was completely destroyed, and John just walked away without trying to help."
"So he's become some sort of living computer program?"
"No, that made him a weak arcane being. But… After that, John was trying to escape a powerful Demon called Nergal. He couldn't get away, so he used Mister Simpson's equipment to transfer himself into a local computer network while Mister Simpson occupied his body. Nergal caught him, got him to explain how the system worked and then went in after John."
"Demons can do that?"
"Apparently. Needless to say, if Mister Simpson was still Human I'd have recruited him for KordTech months ago. So, Nergal goes in, John tricks him into projecting himself into some sort of anti-Demon trap… Then Mister Simpson decides that he'd rather keep John's body."
"Heh. Sounds like it serves him right."
"Except that as John points out, his body has lung cancer and only a couple of months to live. But, Nergal's brain dead body is just sitting there. So they do a swap. John gets his own body back, and a little while later manages to trick the First and his brothers-" I tap the hilt of the Sword. "-into fixing his lungs. Mister Simpson takes Nergal's body and all the Demonic energy bound into it and reconfigures it. John told me that he claimed to have become some sort of technology Demon. Except, that isn't allowed, and a couple of high level Demons turned up to force him to go through the proper process."
I sigh. "But with the First gone, the old rules of demonic society got thrown out of the window. If Satanus wants him freed with as much of his Human intelligence and initiative intact as possible, then that's what happens unless a Demon of equal power stands against him."
I feel a slight wind against my skin as the air supply comes back on. Ring, give me the bad news; there wasn't any wind when the window was punctured. All of the horses are dead, aren't they?
All horses are presently in their stable. Stable air supply still functional.
Oh, that's a relief. The horses will be a bit grumpy about being shut in, but after a few…
"Sir? Have you checked on Major Adams and Mister Freeman?"
"They're fine, but I'm leaving the door to their cell sealed until the atmosphere is fully restored." He presses a few more buttons and the main holodisplay appears with Batman, Red Tornado and Ms Lance all showing incoming communications. "Watchtower to League. Hawkman here. We've-."
Batman's first to react. "What's the situation?"
"We've retaken the Watchtower from a Computer Demon… Thing." He glances my way. "I'm running a full reset of the Watchtower's systems now. The zeta tube network should have been unaffected. Captain Atom and Icon have non-life-threatening injures and we will take them to the infirmary as soon as the atmosphere is restored."
"The horses are fine too."
Ms Lance looks off to the side, making a very quiet sigh-laugh. The other two don't react.
Ms Thal and I walk around to be comfortably within the arc of the camera. Now that I get a better look at him, Batman looks like he's been in combat. There's dirt and a little blood visible on his mask. Raquel was shadowing him today, hopefully demonstrating by example the advantages of a personal force field. Red Tornado looks fine, as does Ms Lance. Then again, I think she was working her civilian job today.
Another window lights up and Mister Allen's face appears, his eyes flick swiftly around the other floating heads. "Everyone else get attacked too?"
Batman nods. "A professional assassin by the name of Constantine Drakon."
"At least that's one less assassin we'll have to worry about."
Batman's head lowers slightly. "Unfortunately, he was able to disengage successfully. Were you also targeted?"
"Yeah, it looks like we've got a new Mirror Master on the loose. Do you think I could talk Zatanna into making Central City her regular beat?"
Ms Thal nods. "We had to deal with a robot, a Sabbac, a swarm of Demons-" I look away from the screen and cough quietly into my right fist. "-Satanus and a Demon-possessed robot."
There's a slight whir from Red Tornado. "I was not subjected to a targeted attack. However, someone transformed several dozen people in my vicinity into monstrous beasts."
Mister Allen frowns slightly. "That sounds like an attack to me."
"If it was intended as such, then they failed in their objective. They were unable to control their creations. Most fled in a panic, others lashed out at whatever was close at hand."
Ms Lance nods. "We were attacked by a huge alien with four arms."
Batman's eyes narrow. "The League's being targeted. Now that communications are back up and running I'll try contacting everyone. Stay on your guard. Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Orange Lantern. Stay on the Watchtower until I relieve you. Everyone else, if you have dealt with your assailant go to the Watchtower and prepare to deploy. Batman out."
Mister Hol nods, then deactivates the display and stares into space for a moment. "After today, I think we should try and persuade the others to reconsider their position on integrating weapons into the Watchtower's structure."
Ms Thal nods. "Weapons, shields and a standing security force recruited from the armies of UN Security Council members."
I blink in surprise. "Do you think there's any chance they'll go for that? I mean, I thought I was pushing things-."
They both look at me like I'm an idiot. Yeah. Okay.
"While we're on the subject of weapons, sirs." I take two cold guns out of subspace. "Might I offer you each one of these to augment your arsenals? I can be available to train you in their use just as soon as Batman-" Ms Thal takes the one closest to her and begins examining it closely. "-gives the all-clear."
Mister Hol nods. "I think I will take you up on that." He holds out his hand and I pass the remaining gun to him. He takes it and looks at it thoughtfully for a moment. "I see that you've remodelled it based on Thanagarian designs."
"Just these two, sir. I thought that it would help if it were familiar."
He nods, smiling. "Given what has happened, I feel obliged to let you know that today's exercise was in part an opportunity to review members of your team who might be capable of serving in the Justice League. Diana warned us that you were an over-achiever, but seeing you in action was… Impressive."
"Thank you, sir. But I was rather expecting to get black balled by Nabu."
"True, you were. But Batman raised the idea of moving to qualified majority voting rather than unanimity. If we reach agreement on that, Nabu's objections will no longer be a barrier."
I smile outwardly. "Well…. Thank you, sir. Ah-." I turn to Ms Thal, who looks up from her shiny new gun for long enough to roll her eyes and nod. "Thank you sirs. I'm not certain how frequently I'd-."
Batman's face reappears on the holodisplay. "All available Justice League members capable of operating under the ocean are to deploy to Poseidonis at once. They're under a major attack."
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- Location
- texas
That's an oddly specific phrase, so I'd guess it does.
It's not like Constantine is known for being the lighthearted and merry life of the party, after all.
- Location
- Somewhere out there
my hand (out of curiosity: where you're from, do people speaking informally say "me" in this context?)
Then she resheathes the Sword, detaches the sheath from her belt, and passes it over.
then they failed
Uh-oh.
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Link is broken for me.
backgroundnoise
Getting Too Old For This...
- Location
- The Shadowlands
Drakon? Damn... he's the guy you send in when the heroes are getting too cocky and need to get knocked down a peg.
Typos:
"my"
"passes"
"they"
Give me an Access Denied, does not allow hotlinking error message.
"on"
- Location
- There
Massgamer
Advance toward the Future
- Location
- The Future
Forgive me if being stupid but isn't Barry's last named spelled Allen?
So all this was a distraction so the League couldn't quickly help out Poseidonis?
- Location
- Somewhere out there
Possibly. Or the attack on Poseidonis might still be part of the distraction, and something BIGGER is going on.
- Location
- texas
Yes I know, the possibility of Constantine being a Laughing Magician was what we were talking about.
- Location
- Caladan
Nabo is Spanish for turnip, and I hope you google it with safe search on or else things might get a bit NSFW (it can also be slang for penis).
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
No! They're targeting Manta-Mage! Go OL, save your magical gadget dude!
- Location
- Oblivion
I swear to god if this is another robot army...
- Location
- Hampden Park
Where I'm from? No. I'm from
Thank you, corrected.
Hot linking prohibited, apparently. It's supposed to show the purple shirts from Justice League Unlimited. I'll try sorting out a replacement link later.
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aeqnai
Nerdy Homu
- Location
- Laniakea Supercluster
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Is that near Medium Sussex and Hard Sussex?
- Location
- Earth, 3rd rock from the Sun
That worries me. Not the city itself, but that is where OL keeps his spellforge and best craft monkey. Which has actual, serious security as a important gov't installation once it started do revolutionary new magic research, and would need a major attack to breach it.
Ditto. Needs to be changed to the page the image it is on, rather than the image itself.
- Location
- madison
ok, what's the lights game plan here? The league was just the typical supervillain stupidity, but what could they hope to gain by attacking Atlantis? To my understanding razing it would very much be killing the goose that laid the golden egg as far as advancing human spellcraft would be. Then again, given that not all the lights members are actually on board with that goal, it could explicitly be an attempt to stall out magical advancement so they can retain their advantage.
- Location
- Oblivion
From what I remember Zoat doesn't really like Lucifer.
Mainly because he's near Omnipotent.
- Location
- texas
Not too likely, Zoat isn't a fan of the show last time it was brought up.
Paul, or Grayven for that matter, might wander into a watering hole called Bewitched owned by a hundred plus old alchemist and where a Queen of Hell is the waitress.
aeqnai
Nerdy Homu
- Location
- Laniakea Supercluster
- Pronouns
- She/Her
They wanna do it on their own terms without the League or associates. And Poseidonis houses some very critical infrastructure backing that most annoying of all the League associates to the Light's plans...
Really it's a wonder they never went after it before.
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
I see this is getting more than a bit ridiculous. I don't see how attacking Atlantis is going to accomplish more than "Piss off OL heavily" at the most. And, really that is not something you should have as a goal.
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Don't forget epic level revolutionary city-scale water shields with spell eater functionality (or at least some sort of magic defense).
I mean, attack on Atlantis makes sense. They are the only nation on the planet who could potentially meaningfully resist and wage war against Hell. All others, save maybe Themiscyra, lack ability to even get there, and don't utilize arcane weaponry enough to be able to fight stronger demons.
I will find it darkly hilarious if this forces the Manta Guy (I forget how to spell the name) into developing the Manhattan Project equivalent. Something along the lines of offensive holy magic (take an angel's wing, violently destroy it spreading its effect around) equivalent of spell eaters (which are what, an order of magnitude more powerful than anything previously seen?).
It makes sense if you think about it in terms of all out Hell vs. Earth war, rather than terrorism / supervillainy. They are trying to take out enemy's arcane industrial base in preparation of full-on invasion.
- Status