Project: Gamer Ver. 2 (Young Justice/Gamer/Multicross OC)
- Thread starter Mister Ficser
- Start date
- Location
- U.S.
Who summons m-oh its you, what a Terrabull way to start the day.
- Location
- The Roots of Yggdrasil
You missed a pun there, Trigon evolves into Tri-gone, a ghost type
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Alchemist was riffing on Batman for being a furry, but he decided to outright become a dragon, so he's a furry now, too. Well, scalie.
Do he and Jinx plan on visiting any conventions any time soon? They'd have the best costumes.
Even better if they can somehow finagle Bruce to join them.
Do he and Jinx plan on visiting any conventions any time soon? They'd have the best costumes.
Even better if they can somehow finagle Bruce to join them.
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Nah, Al's a Humie. That is, an anthropomorphic creature of some kind that believes, deep down, that they're actually a Human.
...I never thought I'd actually have a reason to make that reference. Especially given it's both weird and obscure, but, well, here we are.
- Location
- U.S.
what is the term for a human furry? skin-nie? oh nvm, you meant Humie for that term, was confused why ork speak waz 'ere.
- Location
- Whadjuk Noongar boodja
If he makes the mistake of pissing off Al and crew, he'll lose the Tri and just be Gon(e).
Ahh, I see someone beat me too it, curse this weak meatsack and it's constant demands for trivialities like 'sleep', 'food' and 'water'!
No it is right in the name already, Tri- Gone.
Chapter 297
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 2.9.7
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
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19/07/2003 (TT)
Robin crept out of the woodshed that had apparently been converted into a miniature home, sneaking through the shadows of twilight.
He didn't really remember the trip his team took to enter the strange place they were, an observation that both Beast Boy and Cyborg had shared after being pressed. He didn't know if Starfire or Raven experienced the same issue.
He'd bet Raven didn't, at least. This was magic, from the top to the very bottom.
...Or someone had gotten into the Hatter's technology and Robin was a drooling mess with a mind-control chip puppeting his largely insensate body.
But if that was the case? It wasn't like there was too much that he could do about it.
That, at least, would make everything else make sense.
The boy looked around, trying to take in... everything. The series of steel men that were hibernating in stables, the strange little orb in the sky that pretended at being a star.
The door that just... stood in the middle of nothing, right at the border of the strange, impossible world they were in.
He could leave at any time. They all could. It wasn't like they were locked in...
But they didn't have a plan of action, not yet. Everyone had agreed, after some hemming, hawing and eating some delicious fish, that they needed to clear their heads to come up with a proper plan. They had a rough outline on what needed done but nobody had worked out any details, not yet.
But, again, Robin found himself saddled with a golden opportunity. The dragon, and Robin couldn't argue that at this point considering their host had assumed its true form not long after dinner, had taken them all into its residence. Or... lair?
Alright, Dick wasn't sure on the proper terminology, there.
...Lair. Robin was going to stick with lair.
The dragon had as good as invited them into its lair. Which gave Robin an opportunity, a real opportunity, to finally try and gather some intelligence!
The first step? Confirming that the creature was actually where it said it would be!
Which, after dinner and showing Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy to the cabin it said it used to sleep in before building its house, was the workshop just to the... east?
Alright, Robin's internal compass was thrown out of whack and he couldn't tell north from south in the place he'd found himself. Regardless, directly from the door that led back to the real world was the cabin and, to its right, was the workshop. Right where 'Alchemist' had said he would be.
There were windows that looked right into the building and Robin could make out movement within. Sneakily, quietly, he crept up to one of the windows and pressed himself flat against the wall to try and listen in.
"-do we have any more gems?" one voice asked. A familiar one, a voice he'd grown accustomed to all too quickly. Tiffany, Player One. "I thought we had more grand gems than this?"
"That'ss on me," a sibilant voice hissed. "I found a meth-od to re-fine them fur-ther."
"Alright. I guess we can work with the lesser versions?" Tiffany sounded... calm. Actually, really calm.
Robin would have expected a tantrum of some kind, given the near fight they'd had earlier.
"Hang onn," that sibilant voice rasped out. "I'll get more."
"No, don't worry about it. It's fine." Tiffany actually seemed... pleasant? Robin supposed that her earlier hostility really had more to do with Baran than he'd thought. "What are you doing with the broken ones, anyway?"
Robin slid to the side, slowly, so he could look through the window. With one eye, he could see that Tiffany was leaning over some kind of glowing workbench while the dragon was across the room from her, hovering over a cauldron.
"Isolating the vol-a-tile com-po-nents," the dragon explained as it daintily stirred the cauldron with a wooden spoon. "A ba-sic ma-gic po-tion sus-pen-ded over mer-cur-y. They..." the dragon growled for a moment before speaking again, though it sounded much more natural, now. "They can absorb a trace of magic and sink, precipitating below the mercury. It leaves the inert minerals floating atop the metal."
"...Is that safe?" the girl asked as she turned to look at the dragon and its vat of toxic chemicals.
"So long as it remains below one-hundred degrees, yes." The dragon stirred the mixture, slowly, as it spoke. "Otherwise the potion can boil and it can evaporate some of the mercury. Nasty stuff, I'd imagine."
"...Why does so much alchemy use mercury, anyway?"
Robin wasn't about to admit it but he was curious about that, too.
"It has unique properties. A dense, heavy metal that's liquid at room temperature, it was quite the oddity in the dark ages. Quite a few alchemists were convinced that it could be used to refine an elixir of life, unveil the secrets of immortality," the dragon happily explained. "Its ability to dissolve otherwise inert metals like gold was absolutely fascinating for many dark age scientists. It also made up the core of 'traditional' Chinese medicine, called the milk of umber, and every step of the nobility took pride in consuming it. To... rather predictable effect, honestly."
"...That's honestly a lot less surprising than I thought it would be," Tiffany admitted.
"The truth often is," Alchemist agreed.
Robin watched the duo work in silence for a long moment before the dragon craned its long neck to look at the girl. The Boy Wonder couldn't make out whatever it was thinking, its face too alien for his training to parse, but it certainly seemed to be considering something.
"...Tiffany?" Alchemist asked as he turned back to look at the cauldron. "I think I owe you an apology."
"What?" the girl asked. "For what?"
Robin was wondering the same thing.
Was he about to witness an admittance of betrayal? Was Alchemist secretly the girl's captor and he was about to admit to a guilty conscience? Were they actually blood related, unlike whatever relationship the dragon had with Levia- Yuffie?
"When I yelled at you earlier," the dragon continued as it kept on stirring its cauldron. "I don't want you to think I was angry, or upset."
"...So what were you, then?" the girl asked.
Robin was... unimpressed.
That was so much more mundane than he'd been hopin- expecting. So much more mundane than he'd been expecting.
"I was interrupting Robin's little gambit to trick you."
Robin froze. He swallowed, slowly, but kept his eyes locked on the back of the dragon's head.
It never saw him, he was sure of it. The creature never once laid its eyes on him!
"...He was just being annoying," Tiffany mumbled. "It wasn't a big deal."
"He was doing it on purpose," Alchemist continued, heedless of the unseen blush creeping down Robin's neck. "Batman trained him to be a bright, loud distraction. It's why he wears those eye-watering colors, so he'll attract the bullets while Batman sneaks into position."
...Okay, wow.
Robin wasn't exactly fond of Batman at the moment, no, but even he wouldn't go on to say something like that!
"What? Why was he trying to make me angry, then?"
"So you'd slip up and say something he doesn't know. Maybe reveal something he could use against you, later. Robin's smart, Tiffany, and he's been trained by Batman."
"...Oh," Tiffany mumbled. "I... hadn't thought of that. So... thanks, I guess? For apologizing, I mean?"
Robin's mouth twisted in a scowl.
On the one hand? A part of him was absolutely pleased that people thought he was that good. That people knew he could be that talented.
On the other hand?
Robin... hadn't been trying to do that.
Any of that.
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"-and Friend Cyborg's glare is most fierce!"
Raven... didn't really 'get' how the whole 'slumber party' thing was supposed to go.
"While Friend Beast Boy is most surprising and clever!"
She knew, vaguely, that it was how 'normal' girls would spend time together. That it usually covered things like 'gossip' about boys, doing some kind of thing with makeup, and...
Well, that actually covered her knowledge on the subject.
Raven was raised by monks in a monastery. They didn't really do slumber parties.
"Yeah, well, my dad could sneak into a super-secure building! And the guards would just let him!"
Raven wasn't the only one silent during this little event. Yuffie had dragged, literally, another dragon into the room. The creature was only about waist high at the horns and there was a literal fog obscuring parts of it from sight.
Apparently, its name was Reis and Yuffie swore she could talk but just didn't like to. Instead the small dragon liked to growl if someone paid too much attention to her and her green eyes were fixed into a permanent glare. How Yuffie manhandled the creature without losing a hand was a mystery.
"That is a most impressive skill," Starfire agreed. "The treacherous arts are less honorable, this is true, but they are most valuable. At least, my sister believes so."
Raven... wasn't really contributing. She knew it, the other girls knew it, it just wasn't happening.
It wasn't a lack of interest. Not really. Raven liked participating, she liked being included, she just... didn't really do 'social' things.
And the intense warmth pressing against her skin, dulling her senses, did not help in the slightest.
"...I need to get some air," Raven finally said, cutting through whatever Starfire was about to say to Yuffie. The words the alien princess had been saying buzzed in the half-demon's ears. She could understand everything Starfire had been saying but a lot of it felt... distant. Like she was listening from under water.
"Of course, Friend Raven," Starfire said with a wide, bright smile on her face. "We will be here, talking of the boys and doing of the hair when you return."
Raven had already experienced some of Starfire's ideas on what a slumber party should entail.
Specifically?
She'd somehow been convinced to let the duo paint her nails pink. In Raven's opinion, the color clashed garishly with her skin.
Stepping out of the small room that had a pair of bunk beds and into the hallway of the cabin basement, Raven could hear Beast Boy and Cyborg talking through the door to their own room. She was not in the mood to interfere and listen to another argument, however, so instead she turned to the side and made for the stairs leading up, then to the door leading out.
The cool night air of the plane felt... better. Raven still felt hemmed in by the overwhelming amount of magic pressing against her but at least she didn't feel like the walls were closing in on her.
She... wasn't sure what to make of things. Of the events that led her to this strange place, full of strange people.
Or, well, she did. Raven just couldn't acknowledge them because that gave way to anger, which made room for rage and rage was the tether between her and...
Raven inhaled sharply and looked around herself, taking in the realm. Grass underfoot, trees in the distance, rows upon rows of magical herbs and reagents growing nearby, strange, alien stars hovering overhead, golems resting instead of being put to relentless work...
Robin, sitting against the wall of the workshop nearby. The teen was radiating confusion. Well, he was radiating a lot of emotions but confusion had settled atop all of the rest. He looked up and met her eyes before shaking his head slightly and looking back down.
He wanted to be left alone, then. Raven understood, he was probably taking the assault on the tower personally.
A flicker of light through the window he was sitting under caught her eye, however.
It was actually fairly late; everyone really should be getting ready for bed. Her communicator's clock function suggested it was closing in on eleven at night. Who would still be working so late?
Cracking open the door, she was greeted by the sight of the other two dragons within the realm. The massive, midnight black Alchemist and the iridescent, almost purple and far smaller...
Raven... never got the other dragon's name.
The two of them were working on something at the furnace that sat in the middle of the workshop.
"If you're coming in, grab a pair of goggles by the door," the larger dragon said, though Raven noted that his mouth hadn't moved as he spoke.
Still, Raven followed the directions she'd been given. The goggles, actually a number of pairs, were just dangling on a hook by the door as he'd said. Slipping them over her head, the world got a lot darker.
"What are you doing?" she asked as she approached the pair.
Getting closer, she could see that there seemed to be a strange sort of contraption inside of the furnace. A large metal funnel suspended overtop a block of stony material that seemed to be going brown around the edges. Alchemist, the large dragon, had both of his claws settled under the bottom of the funnel and he was channeling a thin stream of white-hot flames from the tips of two fingers.
The smaller dragon was awkwardly situated next to him and was holding some kind of metal rod against the funnel that was buzzing loudly.
"Making an artificial gemstone," the smaller dragon replied. It, she, was female from the sound of her voice. "Turns out it's less complicated than I thought."
"...Why?" Raven found herself asking as she worked her way around to get a better view of what they were doing.
"Normal ones don't hold enough magical charge for the really good enchantments," the smaller dragon- Raven really needed to ask her name- explained. "So we're making a better one."
As she spoke, Raven watched a thin stream of material drip out of the funnel, pass through the flames cast by Alchemist and disappear into the mold underneath. It had been a powder until being superheated, so it was collecting in the mold as a liquid?
Raven... didn't actually know anything about creating gemstones of any kind. And her knowledge of enchantments was honestly very limited.
She knew quite a bit more about bindings, seals and magics related to preserving dimensional boundaries, however.
"So... do you know who I am?" Raven asked after several long moments of silence.
It seemed as though the two dragons, while capable of talking with her, were actually rather focused on their task.
"Yes and no," Alchemist answered, which wasn't really much of an answer at all. "Of your role in the prophecy regarding your father and your place as his favored heir? We're aware. Who you are as a person, however? Unfortunately, Miss Roth, I've never made it my business to stalk children."
"I'm not his heir!" Raven exclaimed, causing several sets of hammers and tongs nearby to rattle in place. "I'm just a- Why would he even care?!"
"Creatures like your father appreciate obedience, Raven. But they respect defiance. It could be considered a... virtue among them. Among his seven deadly children? You represent his pride."
Raven... didn't know what to make of that at all. That was more than she'd ever even known about her father as a person instead of a force of nature.
Like the fact that she had siblings. Half-siblings, sure, but they apparently obeyed Trigon while she didn't. And that... actually made the old demon like her?
No, no, not 'like'.
Respect.
The dragon hadn't said much, but... he'd said quite a lot inside of very little.
She needed to think on that. And she needed to not have more such bombs dropped on her.
Not today.
"...You said you guys are making some kind of enchanting gem? Where did you learn how to do that?" That sounded so much safer to discuss as a topic, right?
"From multiple sources," Alchemist answered, his voice just audible over the dull roar of his flames. "I learned of the secrets to charging them from a series of primers that came from a land called 'Faerun'. The materials themselves come from a place called 'Nirn'. They'd explored a multitude of ways to trap magic to craft enchantments, from focusing starlight to bartering the souls of the dead with ascended necromancers and dark gods. One of their master artificers, a scientist of magic, made significant strides to create larger and more efficient repositories but ran into some issues of his own."
"Such as?" Raven asked. She didn't know where either of those locations were, and it sounded as though the methods they used were abhorrent, but she was following along just fine.
"The majority of their soul gems could only store a single soul at any given time, the one exception that I can think of being a literal divine artifact, and they already had equipment that could store the largest souls that were readily available." Which was horrific just to think about. "So, since their methodologies couldn't overcome the issue, Sotha Sil created a larger battery but was unable to charge it to capacity. He may have had some success if he imitated the Heartland High Elves of his world and created starlight condensers to trickle feed his creations over time but, again, that was a different methodology to what he was familiar with."
"...So you're taking his research and applying it in a different way?" Raven asked. The large dragon maintained his flames but it looked as though there wasn't any more powder inside the funnel.
At least, right up until the smaller dragon smacked the side of the funnel with her buzzing wand and broke loose a chunk of material that was clogging it.
"I'm certainly not about to harvest living souls for what amounts to a painfully small amount of magic when I can just charge everything myself," Alchemist huffed. "It's monstrous, it's wasteful and, worse, it's inefficient. There are only so many hours in the day."
"...If the research was so heinous, why would you use anything from it?" Raven had to ask as the smaller dragon tapped the funnel a few times with the vibrating rod but nothing else came out.
"The methods were evil, the results were underwhelming, that doesn't mean we can't make something worthwhile out of it," the small dragon said as she put the rod down and turned to look at Raven.
And Raven realized that the other girl was actually wearing a pair of thick, black welding goggles just like she'd been instructed to.
"After all, we're still doing organ and limb transplants and the people that figured those things out were literal Nazis." The purple-ish dragon continued as Alchemist carefully reached into the furnace to extract the device they'd been working at.
Raven really didn't know what to say about that. She'd read about the second World War that happened on Earth; she'd read about the horrific experiments that had been performed by every world power.
She hadn't, however, thought about whatever good might have still come from those things.
"I'd imagine Robin will probably want to have a meeting with all of you in the morning," Alchemist said to her as he set the mold on top of an anvil to cool off. "So you might want to consider heading to bed."
"...I suppose so," Raven agreed. It wasn't a conversation she was looking forward to, not at all... But she also really wanted to get back home.
It was where her stuff was.
"Raven?" Alchemist called to her as she took off the goggles she'd been using. She turned to look at him and he was facing her, though she couldn't see his eyes through his own protective gear. "Just a small thing for you to keep in mind-"
The dragon cleared his throat and actually cracked open his mouth, revealing very large, very sharp teeth.
"Iff an Angel can fhall, can a Demon rise?"
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20/07/2003
*Klang!*
Koriand'r jolted up, her breathing harsh and green light gathering in her fists. Her eyes danced around the dark room she shared with Raven and Yuffie, alighting across the unimpressed glare of the strange fog-beast that Yuffie had dragged in the night before.
The creature growled, low and deep from her spot being cuddled by the younger girl. A threat and warning all at once.
Koriand'r breathed deeply and extinguished her light. There were no foes, no Gordanians, no war.
The ringing of steel and the stench of burning flesh were just memories, they could harm her no-
*Klang!*
...That was not just a memory.
Hovering off of the top bunk in the small barracks, Koriand'r kept her distance from the growling fog-creature and made her way out to the narrow hallway, then upstairs into the commons. There were no lights and the view through the windows suggested that it was still twilight inside of the strange realm controlled by the father of Yuffie.
It did not take the princess long to find the source of the sounds that awoke her.
Alchemist, Yuffie's father, was wearing a tight outfit of padded cloth as he held a long sword in both hands. To Koriand'r's trained eyes, it was a wonderful weapon of black, polished steel, though even she could tell, even from a distance, that the dented blade was dull.
Across from him, holding a copy of the same sword, stood Kar'Yashlan. The woman wore a much looser outfit and wielded her blade in only one hand. Her eyes, as green as Koriand'r's own, were locked on to Alchemist's face with a precision that the princess had only seen in the most experienced of warriors.
Alchemist lunged, his elbows tight, his footing sure, and thrust with his mighty weapon!
It was deflected, barely, by Kar'Yashlan. She raised her own blade the barest amount possible and sent his dull blade screaming to the side, then used the opening to step and twist into the man's guard to slam her elbow into his jaw!
Koriand'r clapped apprecitively as the two stepped back into position, the man rubbing at his sore jaw.
The closest she'd seen to proper combat practice during her time on Earth had been her dear friend, Robin. And, though she wouldn't admit it, she thought the young man put too many 'flashy' techniques into his staff work.
Twirling one's weapon overhead was very intimidating, yes, but it also left much of the acrobatic boy's body exposed for what amounted to a very minor threat display. If Robin acted so on Tameran, at least one warrior would see fit to fire a blast of ultraviolet energy into his midsection.
This time, it was Kar'Yashlan who made to attack first. She placed both hands on the hilt of her blade and crouched low, the tip of her sword nearly touching the grass before she lunged forward. Her sword came up in a tight, swift arc-
*Klang!*
-that was stopped abruptly by Alchemist, blocking it with his own sword. He kept one hand on the hilt but placed his other along the base of the sword and shoved, sending the woman back a step in a bid to keep the man out of her guard.
They were not complicated maneuvers that the two were practicing, Koriand'r could tell with firm certainty. They were fundamental ones, though. Something that many of the foolish dead had forgotten.
*Klang!*
But the duo were actually very fast, and getting faster.
*Klang!*
Koriand'r frowned in thought for a moment as she saw Alchemist getting pushed back by the taller woman, his feet digging grooves into the soil underneath. With that amount of force, the blades wouldn't just be getting dented or dull...
They should be breaking. Snapping off at the hilt, like as not.
She'd heard of blades shattering but never actually seen the phenomenon.
*Klang!*
The man twisted, turning to the side and sending Kar'Yashlan's blade wide before he reversed momentum and slammed a fist into the woman's face. She flinched in turn but brought her blade back up, slamming the blunted weapon into man's side and earning a pained hiss in response.
Koriand'r watched, her eyes wide in wonder at the spectacle.
*Klang!*
"They're up early," a deep voice said from just behind Koriand'r. She turned to look and met with Cyborg's mismatched eyes. "...Here I thought the dragon was the biggest threat here."
"She is most talented," Koriand'r agreed, her eyes locking back on to the fight. It had definitely moved on from simple sparring practice as both fighters were making a serious effort strike each other. "But Elder Alchemist is deceptively fierce!"
"...I guess that's a good word for it," Cyborg grumbled before he sat on the grass. "Can't say I see the point. Dude's got claws like knives when he shapeshifts."
"There are many benefits to learning the arts of war, Friend Cyborg," Koriand'r told the teen as she put a wide smile on her face. "It is good to keep in shape and builds great camaraderie!"
Rather than a klang of ringing steel like she'd been expecting, Koriand'r heard what sounded like flesh and bone crunching behind her. She was just in time to watch Kar'Yashlan, with a split lip, slam the pommel of her weapon into Alchemist's cheek.
"...I think I'll pass," Cyborg said in a droll deadpan. "Can't say I'd enjoy getting my teeth knocked out in training."
Koriand'r wilted a bit at Cyborg's blunt statement but perked back up at seeing Robin step out of the cabin and into the growing light of morning. Her dear friend looked tired, terribly so, but she knew he would better understand her point of view!
*Klang!*
"Starfire, Cyborg," the leader of her team greeted. For a long moment, his gaze was locked on the lovers quarreling before he shook his head. "...Let's head back in. I'll get Beast Boy, you should get Raven. I want to go over yesterday and start working on a plan to get our home back."
"Sounds like a plan, Rob," Cyborg said as he got to his feet. He walked past Robin, heading into the cabin, but paused briefly to clap one massive hand on Robin's comparatively thin shoulders.
The two didn't exchange any further words but they did nod to each other, an exchange that surely meant something. Sadly, it was something that Koriand'r could only vaguely make out, and not in any detail.
Ascending into the air, Koriand'r shot one last look at the dueling duo before she followed Robin back in.
"...They fight like they've got a Lazarus Pool hidden somewhere," the boy grumbled, his voice quiet enough that Koriand'r barely heard it.
The princess didn't know what that was. And given Robin's rather focused mood, she was uncertain about asking. He tended to be irritable if he was trying to focus on something.
*Klang!*
Softly closing the door behind herself, Koriand'r was left wondering one thing about the almost vicious training the two had been working on.
...What would she need to do to get a sword as durable as theirs?
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
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19/07/2003 (TT)
Robin crept out of the woodshed that had apparently been converted into a miniature home, sneaking through the shadows of twilight.
He didn't really remember the trip his team took to enter the strange place they were, an observation that both Beast Boy and Cyborg had shared after being pressed. He didn't know if Starfire or Raven experienced the same issue.
He'd bet Raven didn't, at least. This was magic, from the top to the very bottom.
...Or someone had gotten into the Hatter's technology and Robin was a drooling mess with a mind-control chip puppeting his largely insensate body.
But if that was the case? It wasn't like there was too much that he could do about it.
That, at least, would make everything else make sense.
The boy looked around, trying to take in... everything. The series of steel men that were hibernating in stables, the strange little orb in the sky that pretended at being a star.
The door that just... stood in the middle of nothing, right at the border of the strange, impossible world they were in.
He could leave at any time. They all could. It wasn't like they were locked in...
But they didn't have a plan of action, not yet. Everyone had agreed, after some hemming, hawing and eating some delicious fish, that they needed to clear their heads to come up with a proper plan. They had a rough outline on what needed done but nobody had worked out any details, not yet.
But, again, Robin found himself saddled with a golden opportunity. The dragon, and Robin couldn't argue that at this point considering their host had assumed its true form not long after dinner, had taken them all into its residence. Or... lair?
Alright, Dick wasn't sure on the proper terminology, there.
...Lair. Robin was going to stick with lair.
The dragon had as good as invited them into its lair. Which gave Robin an opportunity, a real opportunity, to finally try and gather some intelligence!
The first step? Confirming that the creature was actually where it said it would be!
Which, after dinner and showing Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy to the cabin it said it used to sleep in before building its house, was the workshop just to the... east?
Alright, Robin's internal compass was thrown out of whack and he couldn't tell north from south in the place he'd found himself. Regardless, directly from the door that led back to the real world was the cabin and, to its right, was the workshop. Right where 'Alchemist' had said he would be.
There were windows that looked right into the building and Robin could make out movement within. Sneakily, quietly, he crept up to one of the windows and pressed himself flat against the wall to try and listen in.
"-do we have any more gems?" one voice asked. A familiar one, a voice he'd grown accustomed to all too quickly. Tiffany, Player One. "I thought we had more grand gems than this?"
"That'ss on me," a sibilant voice hissed. "I found a meth-od to re-fine them fur-ther."
"Alright. I guess we can work with the lesser versions?" Tiffany sounded... calm. Actually, really calm.
Robin would have expected a tantrum of some kind, given the near fight they'd had earlier.
"Hang onn," that sibilant voice rasped out. "I'll get more."
"No, don't worry about it. It's fine." Tiffany actually seemed... pleasant? Robin supposed that her earlier hostility really had more to do with Baran than he'd thought. "What are you doing with the broken ones, anyway?"
Robin slid to the side, slowly, so he could look through the window. With one eye, he could see that Tiffany was leaning over some kind of glowing workbench while the dragon was across the room from her, hovering over a cauldron.
"Isolating the vol-a-tile com-po-nents," the dragon explained as it daintily stirred the cauldron with a wooden spoon. "A ba-sic ma-gic po-tion sus-pen-ded over mer-cur-y. They..." the dragon growled for a moment before speaking again, though it sounded much more natural, now. "They can absorb a trace of magic and sink, precipitating below the mercury. It leaves the inert minerals floating atop the metal."
"...Is that safe?" the girl asked as she turned to look at the dragon and its vat of toxic chemicals.
"So long as it remains below one-hundred degrees, yes." The dragon stirred the mixture, slowly, as it spoke. "Otherwise the potion can boil and it can evaporate some of the mercury. Nasty stuff, I'd imagine."
"...Why does so much alchemy use mercury, anyway?"
Robin wasn't about to admit it but he was curious about that, too.
"It has unique properties. A dense, heavy metal that's liquid at room temperature, it was quite the oddity in the dark ages. Quite a few alchemists were convinced that it could be used to refine an elixir of life, unveil the secrets of immortality," the dragon happily explained. "Its ability to dissolve otherwise inert metals like gold was absolutely fascinating for many dark age scientists. It also made up the core of 'traditional' Chinese medicine, called the milk of umber, and every step of the nobility took pride in consuming it. To... rather predictable effect, honestly."
"...That's honestly a lot less surprising than I thought it would be," Tiffany admitted.
"The truth often is," Alchemist agreed.
Robin watched the duo work in silence for a long moment before the dragon craned its long neck to look at the girl. The Boy Wonder couldn't make out whatever it was thinking, its face too alien for his training to parse, but it certainly seemed to be considering something.
"...Tiffany?" Alchemist asked as he turned back to look at the cauldron. "I think I owe you an apology."
"What?" the girl asked. "For what?"
Robin was wondering the same thing.
Was he about to witness an admittance of betrayal? Was Alchemist secretly the girl's captor and he was about to admit to a guilty conscience? Were they actually blood related, unlike whatever relationship the dragon had with Levia- Yuffie?
"When I yelled at you earlier," the dragon continued as it kept on stirring its cauldron. "I don't want you to think I was angry, or upset."
"...So what were you, then?" the girl asked.
Robin was... unimpressed.
That was so much more mundane than he'd been hopin- expecting. So much more mundane than he'd been expecting.
"I was interrupting Robin's little gambit to trick you."
Robin froze. He swallowed, slowly, but kept his eyes locked on the back of the dragon's head.
It never saw him, he was sure of it. The creature never once laid its eyes on him!
"...He was just being annoying," Tiffany mumbled. "It wasn't a big deal."
"He was doing it on purpose," Alchemist continued, heedless of the unseen blush creeping down Robin's neck. "Batman trained him to be a bright, loud distraction. It's why he wears those eye-watering colors, so he'll attract the bullets while Batman sneaks into position."
...Okay, wow.
Robin wasn't exactly fond of Batman at the moment, no, but even he wouldn't go on to say something like that!
"What? Why was he trying to make me angry, then?"
"So you'd slip up and say something he doesn't know. Maybe reveal something he could use against you, later. Robin's smart, Tiffany, and he's been trained by Batman."
"...Oh," Tiffany mumbled. "I... hadn't thought of that. So... thanks, I guess? For apologizing, I mean?"
Robin's mouth twisted in a scowl.
On the one hand? A part of him was absolutely pleased that people thought he was that good. That people knew he could be that talented.
On the other hand?
Robin... hadn't been trying to do that.
Any of that.
-----
"-and Friend Cyborg's glare is most fierce!"
Raven... didn't really 'get' how the whole 'slumber party' thing was supposed to go.
"While Friend Beast Boy is most surprising and clever!"
She knew, vaguely, that it was how 'normal' girls would spend time together. That it usually covered things like 'gossip' about boys, doing some kind of thing with makeup, and...
Well, that actually covered her knowledge on the subject.
Raven was raised by monks in a monastery. They didn't really do slumber parties.
"Yeah, well, my dad could sneak into a super-secure building! And the guards would just let him!"
Raven wasn't the only one silent during this little event. Yuffie had dragged, literally, another dragon into the room. The creature was only about waist high at the horns and there was a literal fog obscuring parts of it from sight.
Apparently, its name was Reis and Yuffie swore she could talk but just didn't like to. Instead the small dragon liked to growl if someone paid too much attention to her and her green eyes were fixed into a permanent glare. How Yuffie manhandled the creature without losing a hand was a mystery.
"That is a most impressive skill," Starfire agreed. "The treacherous arts are less honorable, this is true, but they are most valuable. At least, my sister believes so."
Raven... wasn't really contributing. She knew it, the other girls knew it, it just wasn't happening.
It wasn't a lack of interest. Not really. Raven liked participating, she liked being included, she just... didn't really do 'social' things.
And the intense warmth pressing against her skin, dulling her senses, did not help in the slightest.
"...I need to get some air," Raven finally said, cutting through whatever Starfire was about to say to Yuffie. The words the alien princess had been saying buzzed in the half-demon's ears. She could understand everything Starfire had been saying but a lot of it felt... distant. Like she was listening from under water.
"Of course, Friend Raven," Starfire said with a wide, bright smile on her face. "We will be here, talking of the boys and doing of the hair when you return."
Raven had already experienced some of Starfire's ideas on what a slumber party should entail.
Specifically?
She'd somehow been convinced to let the duo paint her nails pink. In Raven's opinion, the color clashed garishly with her skin.
Stepping out of the small room that had a pair of bunk beds and into the hallway of the cabin basement, Raven could hear Beast Boy and Cyborg talking through the door to their own room. She was not in the mood to interfere and listen to another argument, however, so instead she turned to the side and made for the stairs leading up, then to the door leading out.
The cool night air of the plane felt... better. Raven still felt hemmed in by the overwhelming amount of magic pressing against her but at least she didn't feel like the walls were closing in on her.
She... wasn't sure what to make of things. Of the events that led her to this strange place, full of strange people.
Or, well, she did. Raven just couldn't acknowledge them because that gave way to anger, which made room for rage and rage was the tether between her and...
Raven inhaled sharply and looked around herself, taking in the realm. Grass underfoot, trees in the distance, rows upon rows of magical herbs and reagents growing nearby, strange, alien stars hovering overhead, golems resting instead of being put to relentless work...
Robin, sitting against the wall of the workshop nearby. The teen was radiating confusion. Well, he was radiating a lot of emotions but confusion had settled atop all of the rest. He looked up and met her eyes before shaking his head slightly and looking back down.
He wanted to be left alone, then. Raven understood, he was probably taking the assault on the tower personally.
A flicker of light through the window he was sitting under caught her eye, however.
It was actually fairly late; everyone really should be getting ready for bed. Her communicator's clock function suggested it was closing in on eleven at night. Who would still be working so late?
Cracking open the door, she was greeted by the sight of the other two dragons within the realm. The massive, midnight black Alchemist and the iridescent, almost purple and far smaller...
Raven... never got the other dragon's name.
The two of them were working on something at the furnace that sat in the middle of the workshop.
"If you're coming in, grab a pair of goggles by the door," the larger dragon said, though Raven noted that his mouth hadn't moved as he spoke.
Still, Raven followed the directions she'd been given. The goggles, actually a number of pairs, were just dangling on a hook by the door as he'd said. Slipping them over her head, the world got a lot darker.
"What are you doing?" she asked as she approached the pair.
Getting closer, she could see that there seemed to be a strange sort of contraption inside of the furnace. A large metal funnel suspended overtop a block of stony material that seemed to be going brown around the edges. Alchemist, the large dragon, had both of his claws settled under the bottom of the funnel and he was channeling a thin stream of white-hot flames from the tips of two fingers.
The smaller dragon was awkwardly situated next to him and was holding some kind of metal rod against the funnel that was buzzing loudly.
"Making an artificial gemstone," the smaller dragon replied. It, she, was female from the sound of her voice. "Turns out it's less complicated than I thought."
"...Why?" Raven found herself asking as she worked her way around to get a better view of what they were doing.
"Normal ones don't hold enough magical charge for the really good enchantments," the smaller dragon- Raven really needed to ask her name- explained. "So we're making a better one."
As she spoke, Raven watched a thin stream of material drip out of the funnel, pass through the flames cast by Alchemist and disappear into the mold underneath. It had been a powder until being superheated, so it was collecting in the mold as a liquid?
Raven... didn't actually know anything about creating gemstones of any kind. And her knowledge of enchantments was honestly very limited.
She knew quite a bit more about bindings, seals and magics related to preserving dimensional boundaries, however.
"So... do you know who I am?" Raven asked after several long moments of silence.
It seemed as though the two dragons, while capable of talking with her, were actually rather focused on their task.
"Yes and no," Alchemist answered, which wasn't really much of an answer at all. "Of your role in the prophecy regarding your father and your place as his favored heir? We're aware. Who you are as a person, however? Unfortunately, Miss Roth, I've never made it my business to stalk children."
"I'm not his heir!" Raven exclaimed, causing several sets of hammers and tongs nearby to rattle in place. "I'm just a- Why would he even care?!"
"Creatures like your father appreciate obedience, Raven. But they respect defiance. It could be considered a... virtue among them. Among his seven deadly children? You represent his pride."
Raven... didn't know what to make of that at all. That was more than she'd ever even known about her father as a person instead of a force of nature.
Like the fact that she had siblings. Half-siblings, sure, but they apparently obeyed Trigon while she didn't. And that... actually made the old demon like her?
No, no, not 'like'.
Respect.
The dragon hadn't said much, but... he'd said quite a lot inside of very little.
She needed to think on that. And she needed to not have more such bombs dropped on her.
Not today.
"...You said you guys are making some kind of enchanting gem? Where did you learn how to do that?" That sounded so much safer to discuss as a topic, right?
"From multiple sources," Alchemist answered, his voice just audible over the dull roar of his flames. "I learned of the secrets to charging them from a series of primers that came from a land called 'Faerun'. The materials themselves come from a place called 'Nirn'. They'd explored a multitude of ways to trap magic to craft enchantments, from focusing starlight to bartering the souls of the dead with ascended necromancers and dark gods. One of their master artificers, a scientist of magic, made significant strides to create larger and more efficient repositories but ran into some issues of his own."
"Such as?" Raven asked. She didn't know where either of those locations were, and it sounded as though the methods they used were abhorrent, but she was following along just fine.
"The majority of their soul gems could only store a single soul at any given time, the one exception that I can think of being a literal divine artifact, and they already had equipment that could store the largest souls that were readily available." Which was horrific just to think about. "So, since their methodologies couldn't overcome the issue, Sotha Sil created a larger battery but was unable to charge it to capacity. He may have had some success if he imitated the Heartland High Elves of his world and created starlight condensers to trickle feed his creations over time but, again, that was a different methodology to what he was familiar with."
"...So you're taking his research and applying it in a different way?" Raven asked. The large dragon maintained his flames but it looked as though there wasn't any more powder inside the funnel.
At least, right up until the smaller dragon smacked the side of the funnel with her buzzing wand and broke loose a chunk of material that was clogging it.
"I'm certainly not about to harvest living souls for what amounts to a painfully small amount of magic when I can just charge everything myself," Alchemist huffed. "It's monstrous, it's wasteful and, worse, it's inefficient. There are only so many hours in the day."
"...If the research was so heinous, why would you use anything from it?" Raven had to ask as the smaller dragon tapped the funnel a few times with the vibrating rod but nothing else came out.
"The methods were evil, the results were underwhelming, that doesn't mean we can't make something worthwhile out of it," the small dragon said as she put the rod down and turned to look at Raven.
And Raven realized that the other girl was actually wearing a pair of thick, black welding goggles just like she'd been instructed to.
"After all, we're still doing organ and limb transplants and the people that figured those things out were literal Nazis." The purple-ish dragon continued as Alchemist carefully reached into the furnace to extract the device they'd been working at.
Raven really didn't know what to say about that. She'd read about the second World War that happened on Earth; she'd read about the horrific experiments that had been performed by every world power.
She hadn't, however, thought about whatever good might have still come from those things.
"I'd imagine Robin will probably want to have a meeting with all of you in the morning," Alchemist said to her as he set the mold on top of an anvil to cool off. "So you might want to consider heading to bed."
"...I suppose so," Raven agreed. It wasn't a conversation she was looking forward to, not at all... But she also really wanted to get back home.
It was where her stuff was.
"Raven?" Alchemist called to her as she took off the goggles she'd been using. She turned to look at him and he was facing her, though she couldn't see his eyes through his own protective gear. "Just a small thing for you to keep in mind-"
The dragon cleared his throat and actually cracked open his mouth, revealing very large, very sharp teeth.
"Iff an Angel can fhall, can a Demon rise?"
-----
20/07/2003
*Klang!*
Koriand'r jolted up, her breathing harsh and green light gathering in her fists. Her eyes danced around the dark room she shared with Raven and Yuffie, alighting across the unimpressed glare of the strange fog-beast that Yuffie had dragged in the night before.
The creature growled, low and deep from her spot being cuddled by the younger girl. A threat and warning all at once.
Koriand'r breathed deeply and extinguished her light. There were no foes, no Gordanians, no war.
The ringing of steel and the stench of burning flesh were just memories, they could harm her no-
*Klang!*
...That was not just a memory.
Hovering off of the top bunk in the small barracks, Koriand'r kept her distance from the growling fog-creature and made her way out to the narrow hallway, then upstairs into the commons. There were no lights and the view through the windows suggested that it was still twilight inside of the strange realm controlled by the father of Yuffie.
It did not take the princess long to find the source of the sounds that awoke her.
Alchemist, Yuffie's father, was wearing a tight outfit of padded cloth as he held a long sword in both hands. To Koriand'r's trained eyes, it was a wonderful weapon of black, polished steel, though even she could tell, even from a distance, that the dented blade was dull.
Across from him, holding a copy of the same sword, stood Kar'Yashlan. The woman wore a much looser outfit and wielded her blade in only one hand. Her eyes, as green as Koriand'r's own, were locked on to Alchemist's face with a precision that the princess had only seen in the most experienced of warriors.
Alchemist lunged, his elbows tight, his footing sure, and thrust with his mighty weapon!
It was deflected, barely, by Kar'Yashlan. She raised her own blade the barest amount possible and sent his dull blade screaming to the side, then used the opening to step and twist into the man's guard to slam her elbow into his jaw!
Koriand'r clapped apprecitively as the two stepped back into position, the man rubbing at his sore jaw.
The closest she'd seen to proper combat practice during her time on Earth had been her dear friend, Robin. And, though she wouldn't admit it, she thought the young man put too many 'flashy' techniques into his staff work.
Twirling one's weapon overhead was very intimidating, yes, but it also left much of the acrobatic boy's body exposed for what amounted to a very minor threat display. If Robin acted so on Tameran, at least one warrior would see fit to fire a blast of ultraviolet energy into his midsection.
This time, it was Kar'Yashlan who made to attack first. She placed both hands on the hilt of her blade and crouched low, the tip of her sword nearly touching the grass before she lunged forward. Her sword came up in a tight, swift arc-
*Klang!*
-that was stopped abruptly by Alchemist, blocking it with his own sword. He kept one hand on the hilt but placed his other along the base of the sword and shoved, sending the woman back a step in a bid to keep the man out of her guard.
They were not complicated maneuvers that the two were practicing, Koriand'r could tell with firm certainty. They were fundamental ones, though. Something that many of the foolish dead had forgotten.
*Klang!*
But the duo were actually very fast, and getting faster.
*Klang!*
Koriand'r frowned in thought for a moment as she saw Alchemist getting pushed back by the taller woman, his feet digging grooves into the soil underneath. With that amount of force, the blades wouldn't just be getting dented or dull...
They should be breaking. Snapping off at the hilt, like as not.
She'd heard of blades shattering but never actually seen the phenomenon.
*Klang!*
The man twisted, turning to the side and sending Kar'Yashlan's blade wide before he reversed momentum and slammed a fist into the woman's face. She flinched in turn but brought her blade back up, slamming the blunted weapon into man's side and earning a pained hiss in response.
Koriand'r watched, her eyes wide in wonder at the spectacle.
*Klang!*
"They're up early," a deep voice said from just behind Koriand'r. She turned to look and met with Cyborg's mismatched eyes. "...Here I thought the dragon was the biggest threat here."
"She is most talented," Koriand'r agreed, her eyes locking back on to the fight. It had definitely moved on from simple sparring practice as both fighters were making a serious effort strike each other. "But Elder Alchemist is deceptively fierce!"
"...I guess that's a good word for it," Cyborg grumbled before he sat on the grass. "Can't say I see the point. Dude's got claws like knives when he shapeshifts."
"There are many benefits to learning the arts of war, Friend Cyborg," Koriand'r told the teen as she put a wide smile on her face. "It is good to keep in shape and builds great camaraderie!"
Rather than a klang of ringing steel like she'd been expecting, Koriand'r heard what sounded like flesh and bone crunching behind her. She was just in time to watch Kar'Yashlan, with a split lip, slam the pommel of her weapon into Alchemist's cheek.
"...I think I'll pass," Cyborg said in a droll deadpan. "Can't say I'd enjoy getting my teeth knocked out in training."
Koriand'r wilted a bit at Cyborg's blunt statement but perked back up at seeing Robin step out of the cabin and into the growing light of morning. Her dear friend looked tired, terribly so, but she knew he would better understand her point of view!
*Klang!*
"Starfire, Cyborg," the leader of her team greeted. For a long moment, his gaze was locked on the lovers quarreling before he shook his head. "...Let's head back in. I'll get Beast Boy, you should get Raven. I want to go over yesterday and start working on a plan to get our home back."
"Sounds like a plan, Rob," Cyborg said as he got to his feet. He walked past Robin, heading into the cabin, but paused briefly to clap one massive hand on Robin's comparatively thin shoulders.
The two didn't exchange any further words but they did nod to each other, an exchange that surely meant something. Sadly, it was something that Koriand'r could only vaguely make out, and not in any detail.
Ascending into the air, Koriand'r shot one last look at the dueling duo before she followed Robin back in.
"...They fight like they've got a Lazarus Pool hidden somewhere," the boy grumbled, his voice quiet enough that Koriand'r barely heard it.
The princess didn't know what that was. And given Robin's rather focused mood, she was uncertain about asking. He tended to be irritable if he was trying to focus on something.
*Klang!*
Softly closing the door behind herself, Koriand'r was left wondering one thing about the almost vicious training the two had been working on.
...What would she need to do to get a sword as durable as theirs?
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- Location
- Raleigh, NC
Just ask, probably. Alchemist is kind of a softy.
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
You still need to remove that 'd'. Also, 'admittance'.
- Location
- Elsewhere
After an entire lifetime of gathering stupidity, he can finally gather intelligence!
You don't know that.
Maybe you just weren't invited?
Maybe they have Meditation Mat Fights?
Psalm Slams?
Truth or Meditate?
Poor Starfire, the only one with super strength inherent to her, who marvels and wonders at it. The warrior of the party where no-one else can understand the joys of a warriors arts for the sake of the arts. Not in the way she does.
Overall this was a great chapter getting to see a bit of the three different titans dealing with this world.
Robin has to be dealing with some serious shit as he thinks over every interaction he can recall and wonders if he was unconsciously doing everything Alchemist accused him of.
Overall this was a great chapter getting to see a bit of the three different titans dealing with this world.
Robin has to be dealing with some serious shit as he thinks over every interaction he can recall and wonders if he was unconsciously doing everything Alchemist accused him of.
Daecl
CURSED BY THE DICE
Now how much of this is Alchemist's actual expectations of Robin, and how much of it is Alchemist fucking with Robin since he's so obviously listening under a window?
Was Robin too woozy to notice that Alchemist healed all his injuries with a literal snap? Or is he just being grouchy.
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Simply asking to get information? And getting a straight answer back? You can't do that, that's illegal
Steel men hibernating in stables?
Awww, Alchemist made sleeping quarters for his golems! Gotta treat your steel boys right to avert a robot uprising!
Scene:
Golem: "Ponies sleep in stables. I sleep in stables. Therefore, I am a pony."
Alchemist: "Can't argue with that logic. WELCOME TO THE HERD!!!"
🐴🐎🏇🎠
Picture link: Freefall 00432 December 29, 2000
Frescko
Transhumanist
Off the paths before Raven two stand out the most, Rejection and Usurpation.
If she goes the path of Rejection she'd rise above being a Half-Demon, while in Usurpation she would take Trigon's Role as a Demon God.
both have their upsides and downsides, Rejection can lead to mental instability and lack of humanity if the Future version of Raven we see is anything to go by.
Usurpation also can lead to mental instability and Lack of Humanity, though she's probably be more powerful and be able to manage Hell.
Hell will always exist but Raven could definitely turn it into a realm of punishment instead of legions of monsters ready to invade the next realm if she kills and Usurps Trigon.
Sure she could still Kill Trigon in the Rejection path but eventually someone else will fill in the vacuum Trigon's death leaves.
That's just two paths out of countless I could think of, and both are kinda extreme, perhaps the best path would be of Balance between the two?
If she goes the path of Rejection she'd rise above being a Half-Demon, while in Usurpation she would take Trigon's Role as a Demon God.
both have their upsides and downsides, Rejection can lead to mental instability and lack of humanity if the Future version of Raven we see is anything to go by.
Usurpation also can lead to mental instability and Lack of Humanity, though she's probably be more powerful and be able to manage Hell.
Hell will always exist but Raven could definitely turn it into a realm of punishment instead of legions of monsters ready to invade the next realm if she kills and Usurps Trigon.
Sure she could still Kill Trigon in the Rejection path but eventually someone else will fill in the vacuum Trigon's death leaves.
That's just two paths out of countless I could think of, and both are kinda extreme, perhaps the best path would be of Balance between the two?
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Oh, he absolutely is.
Not sure who is more directly dangerous for second place, however.
Is Alchemist going to offer Cyborg a new body or a fully regenerated original one? Because Al totally could, and Cyborg could build himself an armored suit, instead.
- Location
- England
According to DC canon, I believe the answer is "Maybe, but the Silver City is having none of that business, thank you very much!"
Lopezelpesado
Space worm best worm.
- Pronouns
- Something
Bruh..... Robin cmon man, you are embarrassing yourself and batman here.
- Location
- Brazil, Minas gerais
I think the dragon will only directly act when adults villains start appearing.
And he not using checks all the time.
So slade appears and ninja princess use the terrible magic knows as 'tell/call father'.^^.
And he not using checks all the time.
So slade appears and ninja princess use the terrible magic knows as 'tell/call father'.^^.
- Location
- Australia
Who needs that hack job when they're perfectly capable of healing magic!
- Location
- 47° 09′ S, 126° 43′ O
Can i ask where you have seen that ?,as far as i know experiment on transplantation under the reich was either Pseudoscience or total failure and the litle they "discovered" was either BS either was already know
- Location
- Philippines
Or they snuck in Lazarus Island the place where someone took Damien's heart