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

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Mr Zoat said:
Apparently necessary disclaimer
The views expressed by a character or by characters in this story do not necessarily reflect those of the author. There are no author mouthpiece characters, only individuals with their own perspectives and opinions.
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Except for the SI, of course.
...who is our only viewpoint character, and has been confirmed repeatedly by you to not be an objective observer.

Mr Zoat said:
It wasn't a karmic backlash, it was the practical downside of the risks he took. I'm not Steve Ditko. I'm not using this story to espouse a particular moral philosophy which always results in the characters getting what they want while their enemies always fail. If a character takes a risk, sometimes it will blow up in their face. If they keep taking risks, eventually one will.
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Actually, until the idiotic post-LoS arc Renegade was the far more realistic story; he had wants and desires, actually evolved and changed as a person, had negative interactions with people and attempts at self-empowerment that went wrong and weren't fixed within the same episode with a little 'and this is what we've learned' moral-of-the-week, he didn't have every unattached female cooing over him while he dorked around like a harem protagonist, he helped people and had them either shit on him in return or have them fail to show up out of the blue to help him at the 11th hour...

And all the while you're going 'hah, don't worry, I'll do something terrible to him soon.' And then you did, by having him act completely out of character by a mutual failure to communicate with someone who's been in on his plans since the beginning and used to questioning him intently when she has any doubt or confusion on something, basically abandoning her for several days after the threat has passed without a word when he's normally hyper-vigilant with those he cares about, have her act completely out of character when they meet, and apparently have Darksied intently monitoring his progress 24/7 and go 'ah-hah! The perfect time to strike! And I just so happen to have nothing else taking up my attention at this time!'

In case that was unclear, I'll sum it up; if someone suddenly acts completely out-of-character for literally no reason and have a completely OCP ambush them with dramatic timing?
That's not a 'natural risk of taking chances', that's laser-guided karma straight from the writer.
 
useless101 said:
I can see it. He'd dig his way out eventually, and by the time he was out everyone who knew about him would be dead, as would their children. At that point no one would know who he was, and any records of him (assuming it's an age with a written language) would have crumbled to dust. He'd have a fresh start.
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Or they keep him as Sealed Evil In A Can and stick a society on top that's dedicated to keeping him sealed. Once writing is invented, they add written warnings.

Probably good enough for most purposes.
 
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Falling Action (supplementary, Renegade option)
  • Threadmarks
    • Life
    =
    …

    "Auuuuhh?"

    "Alright, he's coming round. Everyone out."
    I lie broken on the floor of the Thanagarian bridge as the heavy weapon team fire again.
    "But-?"
    Father picks her up from his knee and inserts her into the Anti-Life broadcaster.
    "Lynne, we don't know how much of him is left. If we were… Too late, you shouldn't be here."
    Outside the bar, Barda pulls back the mega rod for another strike while I'm still stunned from the first hit.
    "You didn't need to put it quite like that."

    "She encountered Darkseid. There is no point trying to shelter her from the realities of Apokoliptian life."

    "Huah-uhhau-hah?"

    "Grayven? Can you understand me?" "Be liberated, my brother."

    I open my eyes. I'm… The room is… White, with New God circuitry picked out in gold on.. several places on the walls, as well as the bier I'm lying upon.

    "Ah? A-aaaaah?"

    "Grayven?" Scott leans over me, his face covering most of my field of vision. "Can you speak?"

    "I… I…"

    He leans away, raising his eyes to the heavens. "Praise the Source."

    "Whu-? Wha' ha'?"

    Barda gives me a hard look. "You encountered Darkseid."

    I.. try.. nodding. "Else? Wh' else?"

    "Okay, Grayven?" Scott waves his right hand back and forth. "Focus on me."

    I try… I try to move, to look… I know it's-.

    "Ping!"

    "Oh, not again. Hold on." "I'll free you yet."

    "Mruh ba'?"

    Barda nods. "The Mother Box I captured believes that protecting people from the Anti-Life is more important than continuing to defy me."

    "How about now?" Scott looks back at me. "Try moving again." "Step by step."

    I-. I put my right hand down on the surface I'm laid out on and use that leverage to work myself into a sitting position. "Wha'-. Wha'-TTT. Hap-happened?"

    Barda folds her arms across her chest. "Darkseid came for you. He exposed your servitors and warband to the Anti-Life."

    "Mmm-mmm-mmm-mme?"

    "Okay, you have to understand what Anti-Life exposure is." Scott pulls up a floating chair and sits in it, facing me. "Normally, Darkseid keeps all that he knows in himself and projects it outwards in the same way you or I do when we use New God technology. Indirect exposure. He comprehends, and you get knocked aside by his spiritual bow wave." "It's there, and the sheer horror of it spreads its influence."

    "Felt-. Felt more."

    Barda shakes her head. "You just aren't used to it." "You know, but you haven't learned."

    Scott clasps his hands on his lap as he leans forward. "He said something to you, didn't he?"

    I shudder as I nod.

    "That was him… Imparting his understanding of part of the equation to you." He glances away. "You remember when you gave Lynne a part of your soul? Something like that." "You understood the universe a little like he does."

    "You… Got it out?"

    Scott closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and shakes his head slowly. "No. I don't… Know how it happened. Normally, just being a New God would prevent this, but… It's integrated. It's… Stuck, for want of a better term. You've got a part of the Anti-Life Equation lodged in your soul, and I don't know how to get it out." "I'm sorry."

    "I still-. Function."

    He shakes his head. "I.. had to cannibalise your soul to… I created a pearl, a spiritual tool to isolate it. You'll be… Weaker, physically and metaphysically. Zatanna and Sunset-" He points to a device bound to my left forearm. "-made that to try and help."

    "A personal mana infuser."

    "She said that since you weren't really a member of the Light, she didn't have any reason not to help you."

    "I still feel… Not just weak, but…"

    "I…" I failed. "Grayven, I had to isolate the Anti-Life Equation fragment as quickly as I could. You didn't have enough power, it was turning you so fast… I took the extra power I needed from your rings. From what I.. can tell, you'll keep experiencing surges of fear and avarice until you're fully recovered." He shifts slightly closer. "I'm.. sorry to have to ask, but do you remember how Darkseid was able to affect you this strongly? If he's found some way to bypass our normal-."

    My eyes dip. "Worst… Worst day. Proposed to Jade. Turned down. Rejected."

    He frowns. "Why?"

    "She thought I was really with the Light. Scott, need… Need it out. Can't can't-. Function. Like this."

    "Grayven…" He looks away. "If I could get the Anti-Life Equation out of someone, don't you think I'd have done that to Darkseid by now? I wouldn't have left you like this if I had a choice."

    "Your.. father. Izaya."

    He considers for a moment. "He might be able to help, but I've got no way to contact him."

    Wait. "Not just… Fear. Missing. Missing, Scott, missing!"

    His head drops. "Binding you that closely to fear and avarice… It's muting your ability to feel other things. You should recover eventually. The Anti-Life isn't converting you any longer. With the mana infuser, you'll build your strength back up-."

    I crumple, head in my hands. "Noo."

    He raises his hand to try to placate me. "It's just temporary-."

    "Can… I can go without… Will, or… Hope. Or rage. Or compassion. I can't go without love, Scott. I think-. I think 'Lynne' and I don't feel! Nothing, there's nothing! She needs me to love her and I can't!"

    Scott sags. "I can… Now that you're awake, there are a few things we can try-."

    "No." Keep that feeling keep that feeling. "I need to fix this now." I stand, staggering as I do so but keeping my balance. The rings are still on my fingers. Ring.

    Awaiting command.

    Link to the Mountain    . Hush tube to the Mojave Desert.

    By your command.

    "Okay, if we get Lynne in here-" Scott steps towards the door while Barda watches me cautiously. "-I might be able to use your bond to-."

    The tube opens and I lumber through, out onto the dull yellow sand.

    "Grayven, wait!"

    "Daddy!"

    Don't look back.

    Shut it down.
     
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    • Whelp, Grayven is on the warpath.

    But seriously, what actually happened to make Paul Grayven? It just seems to happen somewhere and I can't work out why.
     
    Ragnar said:
    Whelp, Grayven is on the warpath.

    But seriously, what actually happened to make Paul Grayven? It just seems to happen somewhere and I can't work out why.
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    The Renegade path (Grayven) started the day before he woke up in space with the ring. It was a really, really shitty day for him, which combined with ring mental shenanigans, influenced him to take basically the 'Renegade' path.
     
    Ragnar said:
    Whelp, Grayven is on the warpath.

    But seriously, what actually happened to make Paul Grayven? It just seems to happen somewhere and I can't work out why.
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    Let me explain as I currently understand.

    Originally, when the Renegade encountered the Forever People they thought he was Grayven because apparently the Orange Light feels Apokoliptian. So he decided to go with it for shits and giggles.

    Then he stole Desaad's Father Box, which he used to build himself a soul. Unfortunately that required keeping up the facade of being Grayven so the Father Box would listen to him.

    Naturally because the Father Box thought he was a weakened Grayven, it built him a soul befitting as such. This is when the Renegade actually started becoming a New God.This also meant it messed with his mind to the point where he started referring to Darkseid as Father in his internal monologue.

    Then once Apokolips turned it's attention closer to Earth, the Renegade had to keep up the act of being Grayven out of fear of Darkseid showing up like just now.

    Then in the episode where the Renegade went to the Justice Lords Earth, he fucked himself up by taking a piece of Anti-Life into himself IIRC. To get rid of it he flew to the Source Wall and put it in there, and knocked himself out by saying his actual name Paul. This also fixed the false memories that Father Box was putting in his head I believe.

    But he kept up the act once it became clear that not doing it would make things... riskier, regardless of whether or not Darkseid actually believed he was the real Grayven.

    A couple episodes later, here we are now.
     
    Okay Unless I missed something it's a little after 0000 GMT and we usually get our fix a lot closer to 0700 GMT or 0200 EST. Am I the only one wondering about this?
     
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