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

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-02-06T06:57:38+0000

Mr Zoat said:
19th November 1995

Where did he go?

I'm looking at Kun-. Sebastian, but it doesn't like he's got any idea either.

Venus, I see. Still on their mission to find the Silver Crystal. Not being made any easier by Jadeite's illusions, I presume. Let's hope they manage to succeed anyway, or at least free other captives.

"Can he teleport?"

Sebastian nods. "We all can, but that was just an illusion. He's close."

Just in case he had to actually fight them himself, of course. And for convenient gloating.

I look around-. Right, the knives. "Can you feel anywhere the dark energy is doing anything weird? Orange Lantern's elf wizard could do stuff with it. Even if he's been captured-."

"Alright." Black energy crackles around him for a moment, and then he gasps, looking upwards.

Ah, bit risky when the mother of all dark energy nexii is swirling about not far away. Like staring at the sun...

"What? Is it above us?"

"No. But I-." He looks down at me. "Orange Lantern's plan to get her full attention has worked. Beryl is drawing on vast amounts dark energy, but there's an eddy forming below us. I don't know what it is, but other than searching this-."

Sounds as good a lead as any. Either it's the Silver Crystal, or it's Mazikeen or Lushun.

Great. "Down?"

"Yes. The quickest way-."

bruv, you're a superhero now. And Superheroes...

I grab my compact and point it at the ground. A direct line between two places might only be the second shortest route, but we can't all teleport! "Furious Crescent Beam!"

Golden light smashes into the floor and blasts through, and-.

...Rarely use doors or stairs.

And then it cuts out no!

We both stare at my compact, and Sebastian shakes his head. "You're out of power. You can't-."

Welp, there goes that option. Anyone good at smashing?

I pull Paul's emergency nuclear grenade off my belt and remember his instructions. "Pull the pin." I pull it. "Toss." I toss. "And hope being a Sailor Guardian makes you immune to gamma radiation."

I turn away from the hole, and hope really hard.

Dang, the local Paul believed in being prepared, huh?

Sebastian blinks, then copies me, throwing his cloak over us as the fission grenade goes off. Most of the blast goes upwards, but it still ruffles my skirt and Sebastian's cloak.

I wish the armour he made for me was still in one piece.

...Wait, where'd Zoisite go? Or did they stay behind as a last-chance backup?

"What?"

I pull my chain off my belt as I turn, throwing it up into the air as I leap towards the hole. The top part of the hole where my beam blasted it is neat, before it ran out of power. The bottom part is red hot, melted-.

Hardcore. A chain climbing rope? Helps that it's magic, I suppose.

I form my chain into a drill-

"Venus… Rock-Breaking Chain!"

...Even more hardcore. These Senshi don't play around.

-and slam it down, boring through the soft rock and-.

Crunch!

Not quite piercing the heavens, but that series is like a decade off anyway.

And I fall through into the level below us, landing in a crouch and lashing out with my chain scything through the youma clustered below! Most of them were facing the door, and the rest weren't prepared. I swing-.

The end of the chain stops moving about an inch from Jadeite's raised hand. "Still not enough."

Okay, ah… I pull my chain back and look around. The youma are moving around and trying to surround me, but I can deal with that. Jadeite's just standing there, and just behind him-.

Now, the question is that really him or another illusion?

Lushun is chained up to a bench. He doesn't look too good; half the time it's like I can see his skeleton! They must be doing something to him with dark energy. Trying to turn him into a skeleton youma, maybe? And there's a woman tied to another bench next to him with half her face missing! And past them there's a stone archway with-. The crystal! It's embedded in the stone, and in front of the archway there's an altar with Lushun's staff on it.

Ah, right on top of the captives. I don't fancy them fooling around with extradimensional magical artefacts, though...

Sebastian lands next to me. "Get the crystal. Nothing else matters."

I nod. "Right."

I run, swinging my chain in an arc to smash through the youma guarding the crystal. "Definite Kill Venus Chain!"

Yeah, when you basically have a magically-monofilament whip, there's not much that can stop you besides fumbles.

Chain links of burning gold disintegrate gargoyles and pigmen, and a couple who look like cavemen try scrabbling out of the way. They don't make it. I can hear Sebastian's footsteps behind me as he guards my-. My back, and I reel in my chain to take another swing at Jadeite, whose just smiling-.

That must be a peculiar feeling, having someone who was trying to kill you a day earlier watching your back.

Wait.

I swing my chain around me in a tight arc, like one of those ribbon dancers-.

Ah, good catch. Why would he be smiling when you're about to turn him into confetti, unless...

The chain stop in thin air, and Jadeite appears as his illusion fades. "Do you understand? With the crystal, we can spread dark energy all across the world. But with this staff and these off-worlders, we can spread it to infinite worlds! All will be one in Met-."

I leap- "Sailor V kick!" -and hit him right in the jaw! He staggers backwards, losing his magic grip on my chain which I pull back towards me before lashing it forwards!

...An image displacement spell, eh? and off to a good start with the beatdown, using her 'classic' special move.

I swing my chain again, but he's already recovered. It stops still in the air and he looks behind me-.

I pull on my end of my chain as hard as I can, pulling myself off my feet and sending me flying towards him! His eyes widen and he catches me with his magic, but he loses control of my chain so I pull and wrap it around his legs!

Rarely will you ever see realistic Newtonian physics being applied via magical razor-chain...

"What?"

Pull!

Pity you couldn't fire up the chainsaw mode and relieve him of his feet, but...

"Oof!"

He's on his back and I'm free and I swing my chain while he's stunned-

...I suppose it's a little hard to focus in this close a melee.

"Get the Crystal!"

-and I start running past him, not really getting a full-on hit but just sort of flicking him away, and that'll have to do. There's nothing between me and the crystal-.

Sadly, I doubt it's going to be the instant win they hope it will.

The arch flickers, and the space inside it-.

Oh that's what Hell looks like.

Wait, did they use Mazikeen to pry open the gate, or maybe Lushun's gear...

And it looks like Paul made himself at home, because he actually looks pretty calm as he walks back through..

And then he sees me. And I wish I could do banishment like Mars or healing like Moon, because-.

I throw myself right as he lunges towards me, his claws -ah- gashing my left cheek. But I don't have time to fight him! What do I-?

It'll heal, especially if she can secure the Crystal.

Yes! I throw my chain forwards, wrapping the end around the archway and pulling! I don't know if it's the chain's magic or my magic, or maybe it's all that physical training Paul made me do, but I'm a lot stronger than I used to be! Paul-. The youma lunges at me again but I'm already out of the way, flying towards the arch-.

Probably a mixture of all three. I would imagine the transformation is a multiplier to her baseline, specialised enhancements aside.

Too far! Too far! I went through and some flying red demon face is looking at me-. Pull back! Good! And reach up and grab the crystal-! Yes! Got it! I-.

Paul body slams me through the arch, and I-. I can't feel my legs. They should hurt, but-.

...Oh, dear. That's not great at all.

Agh!

He's-.

Hitting-.

Goddamit, what a foul-up. Where's Kunzite go? Dealign with youma and Jadeite, or what?

I can't-.

I'm sorry.

...Then again, the Silver Crystal is sometimes at its most powerful when the holder is near death...

Either Venus is about to join her teammates in death, or the series' big Deus Ex Machina is about to trigger in her favour. Because it sometimes seemed like the Silver Crystal had some measure of will about it. Like the time it saved Usagi and Luna from a demon's portal and repaired her broken transformation trinket...

Rebu · 2026-02-06T07:00:27+0000

Mr Zoat said:
My back, and I reel in my chain to take another swing at Jadeite, whose just smiling-.

Wait.

I swing my chain around me in a tight arc, like one of those ribbon dancers-.

Because Venus learns from her mistakes.

GhostKing 666 · 2026-02-06T07:03:32+0000

Mr Zoat said:
19th November 1995

You know, I thought this was the Sailor Moon anime what with Venus having her Cresent Beam attack and Jadeite having been in Eternal Sleep instead of dead. The fuck is this shit with Minako needing her Sailor V compact to shoot energy beams(instead of pointing her finger) and her using an actual physical chain instead an energy construct heart chain. This is making fanon Pluto looking accurate.

Vaermina said:
It makes you immune to all radiation.

I mean, that should be the case for both the anime and the manga... but Zoat's apparently decided that even the anime didn't nerf things nearly as much because Minako is stuck using her Sailor V equipment despite Sailor V being a nerfed disguise that Minako dropped after she came back to Japan and joined up with the other Senshi, and a physical chain weapon like in the manga. So who knows right now.

BR549 · 2026-02-06T07:06:00+0000

GhostKing 666 said:
You know, I thought this was the Sailor Moon anime what with Venus having her Cresent Beam attack and Jadeite having been in Eternal Sleep instead of dead. The fuck is this shit with Minako needing her Sailor V compact to shoot energy beams(instead of pointing her finger) and her using an actual physical chain instead an energy construct heart chain. This is making fanon Pluto looking accurate.

It was either explicitly said, or very heavily implied, multiple times earlier that this was the manga continuity.

GhostKing 666 · 2026-02-06T07:15:55+0000

BR549 said:
It was either explicitly said, or very heavily implied, multiple times earlier that this was the manga continuity.

No, it wasn't. And you know what? If it was the manga, Jadite would be dead. Oh, and so would everyone on Earth because Metalia waking up was enough to drive everyone not a Senshi murderously insane and kill each other in just the first few minutes. Usagi resetting time to a year before the Dark Kingdom fighting wasn't just to resurrect her friends but all of humanity.

This is some weird composite of multiple different versions of Sailor Moon, which I would call the most unique take on the setting I've ever seen... if it weren't for the fact that Zoat's own SI is currently fighting Metalia by himself while Minako is apparently stuck fighting like Sailor V and not Sailor Venus.

Duke Long · 2026-02-06T08:01:15+0000

Mr Zoat said:
I'm looking at Kun-. Sebastian, but it doesn't like he's got any idea either.

'look like'?

Mr Zoat said:
"No. But I-." He looks down at me. "Orange Lantern's plan to get her full attention has worked. Beryl is drawing on vast amounts dark energy, but there's an eddy forming below us. I don't know what it is, but other than searching this-."

'of dark'

Mr Zoat said:
I grab my compact and point it at the ground. A direct line between two places might only be the second shortest route, but we can't all teleport! "Furious Crescent Beam!"

Oh, I just remembered that compact is a word for a little makeup thingy. I thought it was just the name for whatever gave her magic.

Mr Zoat said:
Chain links of burning gold disintegrate gargoyles and pigmen, and a couple who look like cavemen try scrabbling out of the way. They don't make it. I can hear Sebastian's footsteps behind me as he guards my-. My back, and I reel in my chain to take another swing at Jadeite, whose just smiling-.

'who's'?

Mr Zoat said:
Oh that's what Hell looks like.

Now, is this Ashan Hell, some other Hell that Angelica was sent to, or Hell 16? I'm betting on number two.

Mr Zoat · 2026-02-06T08:48:24+0000

Duke Long said:
'look like'?
'of dark'
'who's'?

Thank you, corrected.

boo600 · 2026-02-06T09:16:02+0000

GhostKing 666 said:
No, it wasn't. And you know what? If it was the manga, Jadite would be dead. Oh, and so would everyone on Earth because Metalia waking up was enough to drive everyone not a Senshi murderously insane and kill each other in just the first few minutes. Usagi resetting time to a year before the Dark Kingdom fighting wasn't just to resurrect her friends but all of humanity.

This is some weird composite of multiple different versions of Sailor Moon, which I would call the most unique take on the setting I've ever seen... if it weren't for the fact that Zoat's own SI is currently fighting Metalia by himself while Minako is apparently stuck fighting like Sailor V and not Sailor Venus.

...maybe it's an Elseworld? Or maybe Paul's help meant that Sailor V never left London, and never realized she was a full senshi or... something?

It's kind of the Worm problem - Mr Zoat has an encyclopedic knowledge of DC, and it's a setting with enough alternates - and Young Justice is small-view, wide-implications - so we're used to him basically getting everything 'right.' Then he decides to poke at a new sandbox, which he apparently hasn't read the canon of, and he starts making mistakes - which are extra noticeable after millions of words of WTR.

Neruz · 2026-02-06T12:49:47+0000

Yeah it's not manga or anime continuity, its a pastiche of some kind that Zoat has presumably created due to not having a full grasp of either continuity.

Clell65619 · 2026-02-06T12:59:22+0000

Mr Zoat said:
I haven't, but while I've read... Like, one and a half Dune books? I didn't think much of them.

It's like... Okay, there's been a major galactic invasion and Arrakis itself has been carpet nuked, and you had that happen off-page while we get multiple chapters of these numpties having sex. What are you even doing?

Thank you. I first read Dune in '83-84-ish, and had heard all the hype.

I came away asking myself what kind of drugs Herbert was on, because the story was meh and the characters were insufferable.

I rarely come across anyone whose opinion aligns with mine

Clell65619 · 2026-02-06T13:03:15+0000

Mr Zoat said:
The end of the chain stops moving about an inch from Jadeite's raised hand. "Still not enough."

Knowing nothing of Sailor Moon beyond what I found on youtube last night (Team 4Star's Sailor Moon Abridged), I have to say I agree with Team 4Star: Fuck Jadeite.

Radiant Knight · 2026-02-06T13:16:40+0000

Clell65619 said:
Knowing nothing of Sailor Moon beyond what I found on youtube last night (Team 4Star's Sailor Moon Abridged), I have to say I agree with Team 4Star: Fuck Jadeite.

Jaedite being still alive/but having been trapped means this is the anime, but all the changes, like the castles stuff powering the Senshi is definitely from one or more fanfics. Zoat has used fanfic worlds before, so this is most likely what's going on here.

boo600 · 2026-02-06T13:28:29+0000

...I wonder if Paul could end up in Dungeon Keeper Ami? I'd love to see him Assimilate a Heart. Plus, it'd be confusing and fun for everyone! (And Zoat can just read the story online, and it's not too long, and I think he'd like it).

PDV · 2026-02-06T16:55:36+0000

Mr Zoat said:
I haven't, but while I've read... Like, one and a half Dune books? I didn't think much of them.

It's like... Okay, there's been a major galactic invasion and Arrakis itself has been carpet nuked, and you had that happen off-page while we get multiple chapters of these numpties having sex. What are you even doing?

Why show it on the page when we already knew it was going to happen? Though also that's not until book four so you're going to be very confused. The timelines and genre changes every two books.

Mr Zoat · 2026-02-07T08:41:46+0000

PDV said:
Why show it on the page when we already knew it was going to happen?

Because I want to know what happened to all the people I got to know in the previous book and the culture I got to know in the previous four books. I want to know about the people doing the invasion, what their society and military looks like. I'd like to know why they're invading, and what they hope to get out of it. If an author doesn't care about their own characters, why should the reader?

Mr Zoat · 2026-02-07T08:42:13+0000

Day 3, Week of Hen, 990 YSD, 6th Eclipse
Last Time I Checked

Isn't this a novel experience. One moment I'm building a Pillar of Bones and studying the dark energy of an entirely new world -or if what I suspect is true, something rather larger than a world- and then the next I'm getting a rather uncomfortably up-close introduction to the demonic form of my current patron.

And I lost consciousness. I can't even remember the last time that happened. But on the grounds that it's wise for favours to be reciprocal -something which my studies show that Markal never learned- I suppose that I should-.

Oh dear. That nice young woman in the leotard is getting beaten to death. So what exactly-? Oh, the restraints are powered by that jewel, I wonder how it-?

A problem for later.

Now… A small Eldritch Arrow from both hands unlocks the manacles, another two free my legs, and without a more potent magic preventing it, it's easy to call my staff to my hand.

And Puppet Master.

The 'youma' creature stops moving at once, claw paused in the act of-. Yes, back off, off you go.

The lesser youma appears to be divided between those charging… A man with oddly green hair? I suppose that he's on 'our' side then, and the rest who are charging me.

Mass Slow. And… Blade Barrier.

And they work… Just as they did on Ashan. The youma slow to a crawl, so whoever that is can cut them down with little difficulty. And those heading towards me will have to be bold indeed to charge through a wall of rotating blades.

It's so nice having this staff again.

Just across the way there's one of the women the Orange Lantern was looking for. She appears to be recovering too, though not so quickly as I. Hm. I'm not sure exactly what she is, but I think that I'll leave her there. Better for her to wake up to a friendly face.

I turn away from her and walk towards Venus, the nice young lady who is currently bleeding to death. Mm. Still alive, for now. Regeneration should see her right in a few minutes.

Now, where did my cloak g-?

There's a knife in my stomach. How odd.

Mass Decay.

The knife is withdrawn, and my attacker's invisibility fails as Decay necrotises their-. His extremities. He's uniformed like the fellow in the melee, but his skin is green instead of his hair. I wonder what that signifies?

Blindness.

He stumbles, clutching at his face as he tries to work out why he can't see. He must be unfamiliar with dark magic, which is a little strange-. Ah, of course. A transformation. He may well be suffering from excess dark energy exposure. Light Magic isn't my best skill, but…

Cleansing. Not strong enough to disrupt Blindness, but lesser influences-.

Ah yes, that seems to have worked. His skin has turned to a warm ivory colour. It's not practical for me to cast Cleansing on everyone-. Perhaps that Venus girl's crystal might be able to help?

"Nnhhrrr…"

Oh, she's waking up. Marvellous!

"Miss Venus? Are you well?"

Her eyes snap open-. Ah, she's trying to get away from-. Perhaps I should move him? Yes, those youma are of no use to us.

"L-lushun?"

"Yes. Well done for liberating the crystal. I assume that you have a plan for it?"

"Huh?" She looks at her arms as her cuts knit themselves closed. "Ah…"

I reach down with my left hand, and she takes it and allows me to pull her upright.

"I… I need to-. Look-"

And the dagger is back in my stomach. How vexing.

"-out!"

Hm. It looks like the dark energy overload wasn't what was making him oppose us. Some sort of blessing from 'Metalia'? It would explain why he is so wroth with me. Ah, I removed Decay when I used Cleanse, that's why he's still fighting fit.

Weakness. Suffering. And Vampirism on myself.

He tries withdrawing his knife, but it appears to be stuck.

I level my left hand at his head and loose a bolt of concentrated dark energy, striking him full in the face and -with apologies to my fellow captive- eating the flesh right off. And from the vital force transferred to me by Vampirism it appears one with more than human vitality. That is convenient.

I turn to Venus us the first youma brave enough to attack my Blade Barrier loses an arm and I receive another burst of vitality from Vampirism.

"Do we need him alive? He appears to be in his right mind."

She appears to be having a little trouble getting up to speed.

Haste.

"The others didn't remember their current life because Queen Beryl cast a spell on them to only remember their past one. If you undid that, he might go back to normal."

"That's not really something I can do under current circumstances. But…" I crouch down and pick him up my the collar with my left hand, carry him over to the bench I was strapped to and close the manacles around his arms and legs. With those spells on him he shouldn't be strong enough to break out, and if we haven't dealt with the situation by the time they wear off then it's probably too late anyway. "There."

She's looking at the large mutant. "What about him?"

"Oh, I'd say that we've got another… Twenty seconds or so until Puppet Master ends and he savages us both."

"Can you turn him back?"

"That's a little more than I can do with Cleanse, I'm afraid. I can't raise him from the dead because he's physically alive. Even if I could cast Resurrection, it wouldn't work because he lacks a soul. So I'm afraid that it's up to you and the Crystal." I turn back towards the now-depleted youma horde. "I'll leave it to you."

That should motivate her. It's a lie, of course. She'll actually have about another minute. Now-. Ah, Mass Slow is beginning to wear off, but that fellow has cut quite the scythe through them. And my own Blade Barrier is in my way.

Eldritch Arrow. And…

"Hold still a moment!"

Circle of Winter.

The uniformed man freezes in place, looking at me. And then the jagged blades of ice erupt from the stone floor around him and skewers is assailants. He throws knives, I throw bolts of concentrated dark energy, and before too long there are no survivors. Splendid.

He eyes me warily. "Are you Lushun?"

"The very same. Is there a plan, and what is my place in it?"

"There is, and you need to get to the surface now."

BR549 · 2026-02-07T08:49:00+0000

I admit I am a little curious where Zoicite has gotten to.

Bigking321 · 2026-02-07T09:00:00+0000

Lushun has been a really solid ally so far.

I hope there's no sudden betrayal or anything and he just decides to keep following Paul around and see new and interesting things to learn about.

Mr Zoat · 2026-02-07T09:05:50+0000

BR549 said:
I admit I am a little curious where Zoicite has gotten to.

Zoisite is back tomorrow.

Bigking321 said:
Lushun has been a really solid ally so far.

I hope there's no sudden betrayal or anything and he just decides to keep following Paul around and see new and interesting things to learn about.

You may be surprised.

Duke Long · 2026-02-07T09:23:31+0000

Mr Zoat said:
The lesser youma appears to be divided between those charging… A man with oddly green hair? I suppose that he's on 'our' side then, and the rest who are charging me.

'appear'

Mr Zoat said:
It's so nice having this staff again.

Ah, is he Sandro in disguise? That would explain why this random guy was so enthusiastic about going to another world, and why he's so competent. And the reason he was in the Dungeon might have been to covertly study the corpse of Paul, since he suspected him of being extrauniversal?

Mr Zoat said:
I turn away from her and walk towards Venus, the nice young lady who is currently bleeding to death. Mm. Still alive, for now. Regeneration should see her right in a few minutes.

Did he and her have a conversation Oh El wasn't privy to, or wasn't paying attention to? Oh El only learned that her name was Venus after 'Lushun' was kidnapped.

Mr Zoat said:
"That's not really something I can do under current circumstances. But…" I crouch down and pick him up my the collar with my left hand, carry him over to the bench I was strapped to and close the manacles around his arms and legs. With those spells on him he shouldn't be strong enough to break out, and if we haven't dealt with the situation by the time they wear off then it's probably too late anyway. "There."

'by'

Mr Zoat said:
The uniformed man freezes in place, looking at me. And then the jagged blades of ice erupt from the stone floor around him and skewers is assailants. He throws knives, I throw bolts of concentrated dark energy, and before too long there are no survivors. Splendid.

'skewer his'

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-02-07T09:43:24+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Day 3, Week of Hen, 990 YSD, 6th Eclipse
Last Time I Checked

Isn't this a novel experience. One moment I'm building a Pillar of Bones and studying the dark energy of an entirely new world -or if what I suspect is true, something rather larger than a world- and then the next I'm getting a rather uncomfortably up-close introduction to the demonic form of my current patron.

Lushun, this time. And now we see why he's not been active: He's been restrained this whole time and exposed to their dark energy. The only problem is that as a necromancer, he's already quite used to dark energy, is he not? It's only the method of infusion that disabled him...

And I lost consciousness. I can't even remember the last time that happened. But on the grounds that it's wise for favours to be reciprocal -something which my studies show that Markal never learned- I suppose that I should-.

Oh dear. That nice young woman in the leotard is getting beaten to death. So what exactly-? Oh, the restraints are powered by that jewel, I wonder how it-?

So many things to study. No time for that now, though, fellah.

A problem for later.

Now… A small Eldritch Arrow from both hands unlocks the manacles, another two free my legs, and without a more potent magic preventing it, it's easy to call my staff to my hand.

I doubt the Dark Kingdom's casters would even recognise the magic he's using, perhaps...

And Puppet Master.

The 'youma' creature stops moving at once, claw paused in the act of-. Yes, back off, off you go.

Okay, Local Paul contained for now. Might be trouble in a bit.

The lesser youma appears to be divided between those charging… A man with oddly green hair? I suppose that he's on 'our' side then, and the rest who are charging me.

Mass Slow. And… Blade Barrier.

Wonder if all the youma in the room count as a single 'stack' for combat purposes?

And they work… Just as they did on Ashan. The youma slow to a crawl, so whoever that is can cut them down with little difficulty. And those heading towards me will have to be bold indeed to charge through a wall of rotating blades.

It's so nice having this staff again.

I'm guessing it's doing a lot to translate the mechanics of his magic into the methods of the local paradigm. No need for shouted activation phrases, for example.

Just across the way there's one of the women the Orange Lantern was looking for. She appears to be recovering too, though not so quickly as I. Hm. I'm not sure exactly what she is, but I think that I'll leave her there. Better for her to wake up to a friendly face.

I turn away from her and walk towards Venus, the nice young lady who is currently bleeding to death. Mm. Still alive, for now. Regeneration should see her right in a few minutes.

All right, imminent death averted. Though I hope that regeneration process is painless, or this is going to sting for Minako.

Now, where did my cloak g-?

There's a knife in my stomach. How odd.

Nice translation of HP mechanics, I see. He's got such a large total with his buffs that a knife wound is a small sting.

Mass Decay.

The knife is withdrawn, and my attacker's invisibility fails as Decay necrotises their-. His extremities. He's uniformed like the fellow in the melee, but his skin is green instead of his hair. I wonder what that signifies?

Ah, excellent, Jadeite shouldn't be a threat from here on out.

Blindness.

He stumbles, clutching at his face as he tries to work out why he can't see. He must be unfamiliar with dark magic, which is a little strange-. Ah, of course. A transformation. He may well be suffering from excess dark energy exposure. Light Magic isn't my best skill, but…

Regeneration being easy enough, of course. Purifying a corrupted human is evidently a bit trickier.

Cleansing. Not strong enough to disrupt Blindness, but lesser influences-.

Ah yes, that seems to have worked. His skin has turned to a warm ivory colour. It's not practical for me to cast Cleansing on everyone-. Perhaps that Venus girl's crystal might be able to help?

Well, that might be one way to help fix things. Won't raise the dead, unless he can get his necromancy to work right...

"Nnhhrrr…"

Oh, she's waking up. Marvellous!

Though not without some trauma, having her crush beat her like a drum...

"Miss Venus? Are you well?"

Her eyes snap open-. Ah, she's trying to get away from-. Perhaps I should move him? Yes, those youma are of no use to us.

Setting him on the youma? Sensible.

"L-lushun?"

"Yes. Well done for liberating the crystal. I assume that you have a plan for it?"

At this point, they're in full Indy Ploy territory. Running by the seat of their panties and making it up as they go...

"Huh?" She looks at her arms as her cuts knit themselves closed. "Ah…"

I reach down with my left hand, and she takes it and allows me to pull her upright.

Yes, do give her a moment to catch up with things...

"I… I need to-. Look-"

And the dagger is back in my stomach. How vexing.

"-out!"

Got to like that he's not even feeling any significant pain from it, only a mild annoyance.

Hm. It looks like the dark energy overload wasn't what was making him oppose us. Some sort of blessing from 'Metalia'? It would explain why he is so wroth with me. Ah, I removed Decay when I used Cleanse, that's why he's still fighting fit.

Weakness. Suffering. And Vampirism on myself.

He tries withdrawing his knife, but it appears to be stuck.

He always was a bit of an ass. Though mind control isn't out of the question, yes.

I level my left hand at his head and loose a bolt of concentrated dark energy, striking him full in the face and -with apologies to my fellow captive- eating the flesh right off. And from the vital force transferred to me by Vampirism it appears one with more than human vitality. That is convenient.

Even if he can heal that, it's gonna hurt. Good.

I turn to Venus us the first youma brave enough to attack my Blade Barrier loses an arm and I receive another burst of vitality from Vampirism.

"Do we need him alive? He appears to be in his right mind."

Eh, better to just restrain him. Hopefully in a way that prevents him from teleporting, mind.

She appears to be having a little trouble getting up to speed.

Haste.

"The others didn't remember their current life because Queen Beryl cast a spell on them to only remember their past one. If you undid that, he might go back to normal."

I take it she learned that from OL 'curing' Kunzite and Zoicite. Does make sense, in a nasty way. No need to have modern memories of kindness and compassion getting in the way, after all.

"That's not really something I can do under current circumstances. But…" I crouch down and pick him up by the collar with my left hand, carry him over to the bench I was strapped to and close the manacles around his arms and legs. With those spells on him he shouldn't be strong enough to break out, and if we haven't dealt with the situation by the time they wear off then it's probably too late anyway. "There."

Unfortunately, those restraints aren't energy-draining, since he was able to cast in them. So if Jadeite wakes up, he is probably going to teleport away... Could be a problem for later.

She's looking at the large mutant. "What about him?"

"Oh, I'd say that we've got another… Twenty seconds or so until Puppet Master ends and he savages us both."

One would think he'd be a little more concerned. Then again, perhaps he can recast it?

"Can you turn him back?"

"That's a little more than I can do with Cleanse, I'm afraid. I can't raise him from the dead because he's physically alive. Even if I could cast Resurrection, it wouldn't work because he lacks a soul. So I'm afraid that it's up to you and the Crystal." I turn back towards the now-depleted youma horde. "I'll leave it to you."

Huh, might be a decent reason to get her to try and use the Crystal. Or discover she can't.

That should motivate her. It's a lie, of course. She'll actually have about another minute. Now-. Ah, Mass Slow is beginning to wear off, but that fellow has cut quite the scythe through them. And my own Blade Barrier is in my way.

Eldritch Arrow. And…

Good to see Kunzite hasn't been idle.

"Hold still a moment!"

Circle of Winter.

Targetted on the place Kunzite is standing, no doubt, so that it spreads around him without harming him?

The uniformed man freezes in place, looking at me. And then the jagged blades of ice erupt from the stone floor around him and skewers his assailants. He throws knives, I throw bolts of concentrated dark energy, and before too long there are no survivors. Splendid.

If they were once human, I guess they'll get revived by whatever mass magic will end up fixing all this...

He eyes me warily. "Are you Lushun?"

"The very same. Is there a plan, and what is my place in it?"

"There is, and you need to get to the surface now."

No doubt to do something about Metalia's dark energy...

Not quite a Silver Crystal interrupt, but a luckily-timed save from their necromancer ally.And Jadeite is out of the fight for the time being though I don't doubt he'll make a nuisance of himself at the worst moment. Now, how's OL been doing topside, and what part does he want Lushun to play in the fight, I wonder..?

Darko · 2026-02-07T10:05:43+0000

Mr Zoat said:
And the dagger is back in my stomach. How vexing.

Now I'm imagining Richard from Looking For Group.

"What you did was an error".

Mr Zoat said:
turn to Venus us the first

"as the first"

WereDragon · 2026-02-07T10:30:38+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Day 3, Week of Hen, 990 YSD, 6th Eclipse
Last Time I Checked

A very impressive showing. Not quite the same as OL's better efforts but it has a similar 'has the most versatile tool in the universe and actually uses it' vibe.

So I'm afraid that it's up to you and the Crystal."

Time to see if the eldritch outer god masquerading as a girl in a miniskirt and a shiny rock is awake enough to fudge things a little.

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