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

Chojin Patriarch · Mar 9, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
21st October 2012
20:27 GMT

Trailing grape vines wrapped around pillars of white marble, freezes decorated in the classical style and a small band in the corner playing medieval music.

And a colossally corpulent demon sitting on a throne at the head of the room.

I see Mammon's doing quite well for himself. Putting on a pleasant show for his mortal colleague. Or for his rivals. Demons tend to be rather shallow in terms in perception, so playing the decadent fop might distract them from his intellect.

"Illustres, m'boy!" Mammon smiles broadly, raising… In all fairness, relatively muscular arms, in greeting. "What can the President of Hell do for you today?"

I take a moment to look around. "I see that you've remodelled."

Cribbing a little from Erebus, and Hades' throne room, eh? Well, if you're going to steal, steal from the best.

"My power rests on the support of my subjects… But it's my power. I felt that the Greek model of an enlightened tyrant was better than anything suggesting hereditary.. kingship."

"And styling yourself as a king would suggest that you ultimately wanted direct control of all nine circles, whereas if you look fat and happy-"

Also, it's the way OL would rule a place, if he were so inclined...

"Which I do and am!"

"-it reassures the others that you aren't interested in the Crown of Horns. Though on the subject of expansion, have you appointed a ruler to The Odium yet? I imagine that putting one of the senior Renderers-."

Anyone loyal to the old leadership would be suspect, and anyone one new would have to be dangerously powerful to gain their new underlings' respect...

"Ah." He actually manages to look a little awkward. "No. As it turns out, there was an outstanding candidate. So outstanding, in fact, that appointing anyone else would have looked ridiculous. And since my ruling council is consent-based…"

"Anyone I need to worry about?"

I mean, while you don't have the Sword of the Fallen anymore, there's always angel-feather railgun rounds...

"Did you have any dealings with Lucifer?"

"Not knowingly."

Which leaves so much room for speculation about unknowing dealings. That's going to itch at the Lords of Hell's suspicious natures.

"And how do you feel about a cosmology ruled by a single, all-powerful, all-knowing and all-righteous divinity?"

"I'm against it. I'd rather that people be free to make a mess of things."

Even more amusing when you consider the nature of a comic-book world, and the many writers that have shaped it...

"Then I imagine that the two of you would get on well enough. She was something of a Lucifer-loyalist, but that ardour appears to have been dimmed by him abandoning creation."

"He's gone? You're sure that he's actually left?"

Nice to have that finally confirmed in-story.

"With beings like Lucifer it's almost impossible to be completely certain. But Lady Mazikeen was his consort for a very long time. If she thinks that he's gone, then it's as good as true." He leans forward slightly. "Unless you know differently?"

I shake my head. "No. I'm just relieved that I've got one less arbitrarily powerful entity to deal with."

Though I can't imagine Mr Zoat is looking forwards to writing her distinct speech patterns. The kind that come from having half her face be a burnt, rotted ruin...

"I ask because there's been a certain amount of… Idle speculation. Concerning your true nature."

"I've been fairly open about my origin."

Though not too open. He's still sitting on the 'You're all fictional characters in my universe.' reveal. I expect that will come out someday.

"Yes, but we're not known for honesty or faithfulness down here, and we're biased to assuming that others share our habits. Your appearance in the wake of his final vanishing act, your attitudes, your ascent in the ranks of power… Your mystically-obscured name, even your totemic bond with a great serpent-."

"You think I'm Lucifer?"

Well, looking at it... Mammon does have a point, there are a lot of suspicious similarities and anomalies.

"The possibility has been mooted. In certain circles."

"You think I'm actually Lucifer, or just some creation of his?"

To be fair, how do you know you aren't? I mean, we know it's not so, but can you be absolutely sure in-universe?

"Lucifer would be perfectly capable of granting an aspect of his character their own agency. Though it would be uncharacteristic for him to create someone purely as a pawn."

"To the best of my knowledge, I am neither Lucifer nor a creation of his."

And honestly, what would it matter if you were or not? Would it make a difference to what you do?

"But it's not as if we can check, is it? But…" He waves his right hand. "Idle speculation. And we've drifted away from the subject of your visit."

"I'm looking for the soul of a woman named Jill Carlyle. Died a few hours ago after murdering quite a few people."

And finally, he gets to the point of this little look-in. But, proprieties must be maintained...

"If she came to Hell and retained coherence, she would have gone to Internecia. I will summon the lists."

"There are a few other names I'd like to check out as well." I fabricate an updated list of Crimson Avenger's victims and-. And pass it to a demonic flunky in robes who scurries across the floor and up the podium to Mammon's side with remarkable speed. "Would-be heroes who might have-"

Good, crossing the 't's and dotting the 'i's.

A huge book resting on an equally huge lectern appears next to Mammon, cover opening and pages turning as he looks over my list.

After a few moments the book stops.

No doubt running the mystical equivalent of a search engine on it.

"No. Nothing for a recent inductee named Jill Carlyle and nothing for any of these people." He smiles. "What a remarkably virtuous collection."

"Okay, do you have anything on their sins? I assume that those would be recorded even if they didn't end up coming here?"

...'Virtuous'? OL, you did include White Dragon's name on that list?

"Yes, we're subcontractors for a variety of places that find it more efficient for us to do their legwork for them." He smiles. "Sloth. It was such a wonderful invention."

He claps his hands and another lectern with an even larger book appears on his opposite side. The pages don't move, prompting a mild frown.

"...What do you mean, 'no results found'? Ugh, this is worse than Lex-icon!"

"Strange."

He grips the cover with his left hand and starts flicking through it with his right, slowly at first by quickly gathering speed until the pages move in a blur, the back cover slamming shut a moment alter.

Man, doing it manually? How medieval!

"Problem?"

"Nothing. According to our records, not one of them so much as coveted their neighbours ass for even a moment."

Well, that seems incredibly improbable.

"Is that possible?"

"The odds against it are steep, so say the least. Where they all warrior-saints raised in monasteries?"

...I find that highly unlikely.

"One was a nazi. Several of them were killers."

"Do you know what this means?"

Someone's mucking about in your business?

"Demons are failing to detect sins?"

He looks horrified.

I know, it sounds horrifying, right? It would cause the collapse of Hell's economy...

"We'll be ruined! I've built my premiership on the idea that I'm a safe pair of hands, and I had no idea that someone was dodging-. People come up with ways of dodging Hell all the time, and some of them work for decades. This, we didn't even know this was happening!"

The musicians stop, cringing. Mammon notices and waves at them to carry on as he calms himself.

Oh, they are so doomed. I mean, if he wants to keep this secret... Or he can bring it to the other Lords and play the hero...

"I can trust you to investigate?"

He nods, the books and lecterns vanishing in a puff of pure white cloud. "For my own sake, as much as anything else."

After all, if someone's nibbling at the wobbly pillars holding him up... It's either 'stop them' or 'come tumbling down'.

"Thank you. And don't feel too bad about it. You found out because of your alliance with me. The other Lords of Hell don't have anything similar."

"That you know about. But you're right; that might mollify them. Bless it, we need to get on this immediately. Do you have any idea what might have caused this?"

Ah, demonic vocabulary. At least we can understand it, at least, unlike stuff like 'Kill Six Billion Demons' patter.

"The murderer was using possessed handguns, but-."

"Wouldn't have been enough. Even if the demon in the guns got greedy, we'd still have a record of their sins. What gun was it?"

Hmm... But can you be sure of that? What if it were some off-the-books project? Or the work of the Silver City?

"I don't know their names. The guns the Crimson Avenger used to use."

"Them? Yes, we know who they are." He heaves his bulk out of his seat and strolls down the podium. "Why don't we go call 'em up right away?"

Oh-ho! This will be fascinating. I wonder what they'll have to say for themselves?

...I'm getting a funny feeling about these Guns. Their victims don't show up in Hell, despite generally being prime candidates? And the Guns have seemingly bottomless magazines? Could whatever's inhabiting the Guns be claiming their victims as ammunition? I wonder... At any rate, it looks like checking in with Mammon was a good call. Perhaps he'll be getting to the bottom of this sooner than we thought.

Sojiko · Mar 9, 2022

I was going to comment "Now this is getting even more interesting" and then I noticed that it was literally the first sentence in the first post.

Obviously, I agree!

AmericanNumbers · Mar 9, 2022

Given what they know about Paul's origin in story he could very well be the Morningstar after abandoning the Universe and erasing himself (similar to the claimed origin of Grayven Paul). No way to tell really.

Mr Zoat · Mar 9, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
Good, crossing the 't's and dotting the 'i's.

Adding the -'s in the right places...

Darko · Mar 9, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
Though I can't imagine Mr Zoat is looking forwards to writing her distinct speech patterns. The kind that come from having half her face be a burnt, rotted ruin...

Paul could just make it so that his ring can translate what she says in an understandable manner.

BartlettMagic · Mar 9, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Why don't we go call 'em up right away?"

splendid idea, Mammy... leave it to an executive-level demon lord of hell to get things done when others can't

BR549 · Mar 9, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
...I'm getting a funny feeling about these Guns. Their victims don't show up in Hell, despite generally being prime candidates? And the Guns have seemingly bottomless magazines? Could whatever's inhabiting the Guns be claiming their victims as ammunition? I wonder...

...that sounds like something out of Enter the Gungeon to me...

Radix · Mar 9, 2022

Honestly it would be interesting to see a Paul who pretends to be Lucifer like Grayven does.

I have only seen the show, but he also has the accent and the theme of what people desire. He dislikes tyrants.

Enochi · Mar 9, 2022

Yeah I must say I could really see Paul being an aspect of Lucifer.

Mr Zoat · Mar 9, 2022

Radix said:
I have only seen the show, but he also has the accent and the theme of what people desire. He dislikes tyrants.

Comic Lucifer is... Not much like television Lucifer.

Bramble Thorn · Mar 9, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Them? Yes, we know who they are." He heaves his bulk out of his seat and strolls down the podium. "Why don't we go call 'em up right away?"

Has someone/something has replaced the demons in the gun to run their own scheme under a false flag operation?
Or have the demons in the guns been embezzling and cooking the books?

Although it would be interesting if it was the opposite of what OL was thinking.
Where instead if being a done to damn those on the dividing line, it was done to do the opposite.
Like killing them for their sins and mystically using that as the full and complete punishment.
Invalidating any claim Hell would have, on account of 'they have already been punished for their crimes; sentence served'
Finite one-and-done punishment for a life's wrongdoing sounds much better then what Hell does.

Darko · Mar 9, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Comic Lucifer is... Not much like television Lucifer.

Yeah, they're basically different in everything from appearance to power to motivation to ultimate goals.

One of the few traits they share is their love of free will and being douchebags.

Though TV Lucifer is a loveable asshole that can get better as time goes on, while comic Lucifer is practically a sociopath that doesn't really get all that better.

Michael Vonica · Mar 9, 2022

I_S said:
Huh, to be honest, would Paul know if he was unbound aspect of lucifer that had a fake set of memories made.

I mean we know he's not, but we only know that because of the big SI tag on the story. To the paul in the story his origin is More mythically unreachable than krypton, or shangri-la. Its a world he can't interact with even during an infinite crisis. It would be equally plot relevant if it didn't exist at all.

Its only his own arrogance that makes him assume he's an out of context problem and not the creation of a well informed Power.

Honestly, I don't think his origin matters. Unless he is literally a puppet for some other being, which there has been little to no indication of so far, he is who he is, and how he got to be who he is is only relavent in terms of informing the choices that he makes going forth. It doesn't matter if his memories and personality were entirely fabricated by some demon somewhere, they would still be fully real to him, and if he hadn't found any problem with them before, he shouldn't suddenly find a problem with them, should he realize their falsified nature.

Of course, the intention of whatever being created him should definitely be taken into consideration and balanced with Paul's own desires, in order to find the path that will best get Paul the outcome that he wants.

Michael Vonica · Mar 9, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
That's not going to draw unwanted attention from Hades is it? Because he was not too long ago got ticked off by the Silver City taking something that rightfully belongs to him.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

PDV · Mar 9, 2022

Kalem_Lee said:
Either Smiley is pulling the same trick he did on Paul or someone made Oblivion Bullets.
Both are terrible things.

In Pathfinder's official setting, the French Revolution But Worse country has guillotines armed with Final Blades, which entrap the soul of anyone they kill. (They wouldn't want to send any souls to Hell or the Abyss where they would be turned into soldiers and sent right back.) Her guns may do the same, and that might trap the information about their sins right along with them. That would be a relatively good outcome.

AR760 · Mar 9, 2022

Darko said:
Yeah, they're basically different in everything from appearance to power to motivation to ultimate goals.

One of the few traits they share is their love of free will and being douchebags.

Though TV Lucifer is a loveable asshole that can get better as time goes on, while comic Lucifer is practically a sociopath that doesn't really get all that better.

Comics Lucifer is more capable, willful, and just all around a badass than the absolutely terrible attempted tv adaptation. He's a guy who pretty much does his own thing, minds his own business, and ultimately due to his belief in free will, is infinitely better than the cavalcade of DC Divinities interested in fucking with people or writing the script for them.

And funnily enough, when it does come to him fucking with you, he doesn't blink you out of existence. He usually doesn't do the whole smite you with all the starfire in creation thing. He plays your own game according to the rules you've written, and still manages to come out on top.

Personally, I feel like the TV Lucifer is an abomination compared to the comics version. One infinitely less interesting and significantly more modern tv style generic, especially with the cliche Chloe Decker love story bullshit.

Music selection throughout the series was decent though. I will give them that.

Someguy Somewhere · Mar 9, 2022

Random ass theory.

In the comics, Lucifer wandered off out of the multiverse, getting as far as possible from the source. Beyond the light of god and all.

And then he went on to make his own little universe, and his own little planet, and his own little people. And he told them to NOT worship him.

Maybe that world is Earth Prime.

Maybe why Prime isn't on the normal charts, and why the laws of physics aren't bent by the weirdness of everything else.

Because the Source didn't do it.

Coda · Mar 9, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
not one of them so much as coveted their neighbours ass for even a moment

neighbour's

Pinklestia · Mar 9, 2022

Massgamer said:
Now this is getting even more interesting, since it seems like the guns were doing more than just killing people.

Could they be soul destroying their victims so they leave no record of their sins?

Complete erasure? Huh. But wouldn't that also affect people memories and human records?

Mr Zoat · Mar 9, 2022

Coda said:
neighbour's

Thank you, corrected.

Bud-E · Mar 9, 2022

Someguy Somewhere said:
Random ass theory.

In the comics, Lucifer wandered off out of the multiverse, getting as far as possible from the source. Beyond the light of god and all.

And then he went on to make his own little universe, and his own little planet, and his own little people. And he told them to NOT worship him.

Maybe that world is Earth Prime.

Maybe why Prime isn't on the normal charts, and why the laws of physics aren't bent by the weirdness of everything else.

Because the Source didn't do it.

It is now my headcanon that all the Pauls are the result of Lucifer fucking around with the multiverse.

hkim · Mar 10, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Trailing grape vines wrapped around pillars of white marble, freezes decorated in the classical style and a small band in the corner playing medieval music.

"friezes", surely?

Mr Zoat · Mar 10, 2022

21st October 2012
20:35 GMT

'Gaudy' is the word that comes to mind when I look around Mammon's summoning chamber. The main body of the room is marble once again, only this time it's black with grey veins running through it. The actual summoning glyphs are poured gold which remains molten in the grooves carved for it in the floor in the centre of the room. Gold braziers burning with golden fire illuminate the room, and wards made of more gold cover the walls.

"I've been meaning to redecorate, but this has sentimental value."

"Really?"

"No. Every atom of gold here is associated with a grave sin, making it a perfect conduit for my magic. And I really like gold." Mammon takes his place at the head of the room. "I delight in shallowness. Out there, I have to appear to have entirely converted to the creed of enlightened self-interest. In my private spaces I can go back to being my true self."

"A giant demonic magpie?"

"Crudely stated, but not untrue. Now we must simply wait for-."

A woman walks in unescorted, dressed in a kimono-inspired dress covered in a cloak made of the same cloth. Which knowing demonic aristocracy is probably something far fouler. Her skin is tan and her hair jet black and if I saw her on Themyscira I wouldn't look at most of her twice. The exception is the left side of her head, where a… Mask? Prosthetic? Cybernetic? An artificial eye, and the side of her jaw is… Rebuilt? Reinforced?

She stares at me with piercing intensity the moment she has line of sight, something in her cybernetic eye refocusing itself and flickering as it does… Something.

"My Lady Mazikeen. Thank you for joining us. I felt that given the nature of the artifice involved it would be appropriate for you to-."

Her organic eye blinks at me. "Father."

Without turning his head, Mammon eyes me for a second and then takes a step away.

"Um. I'm.. reasonably confident that I'm not-."

"You call it the Ophidian, a great elemental being so bound into you that I cannot tell where it begins and you end. You may as well be its human face."

"I've… Always perceived the Ophidian's presence as feminine. Though since she-. It's not biological, that's an honourific."

"The Ophidian granted my mother a small portion of its power to quicken me, so I call it my father. And since you are the Ophidian made flesh, I may as well address you in that fashion."

"Ah… I'm going to need a little while to explain that logic to my girlfriend. And I suppose that I'm going to need to know when your birthday is. Um."

I approach her and slightly awkwardly open my arms for a hug, waiting for some sort of indication that she's actually interested in-.

"You offer your affection freely?"

"Familial relationships are reciprocal. I offer to start such a relationship freely." I shrug. "I can't deny that I sometimes forget that the Ophidian and I are separate beings, and I accept that for better or worse. And if you're on board with Mammon's plans then you can't be all that bad."

She looks up at Mammon. "I believe that we can rule out him being the Morningstar. Though he does sound like someone the Morningstar may have left in my path."

"So is..? Is that a 'no' on the hug..?"

Ignoring me, she walks around the ritual space until she's standing on the opposite side of the summoning pit. I lower my arms, shrugging. I've got no idea how old she is but she's clearly an adult. I'll ask Angelica about her background later.

Lady Mazikeen's eye shifts again as she reviews the summoning grid.

"Accurate. And since The Odium has accepted my suzerainty we won't need to trouble ourselves with true names. By the power of Hell: guns, appear."

For a fraction of a second I see a.. forge? A gun smithy? And some people in classical evil cultist gear. Honestly, I was half-expecting to see John Constantine, but I suppose that the twenties were a bit before his time. And Johanna Constantine was too far back for that style of gun.

And then there's a sort of spark and the guns I remember all too well appear in the centre of the ritual space, about two metres off the ground. The… Flecks of blood and brain that ended up on them after Ms. Carlyle turned them on herself are still visible on the barrel.

"Mistress?"

"Guns." Mammon leans on his podium, as if attending to a tiresome duty. "Explain to me what you were doing with that Jill Carlyle human."

"Nothing, lord."

"It sounds like someone wants to do this the easy way."

Lady Mazikeen's eye clicks and strobes as I connect to the Ophidian, though her posture remains unaltered.

"Nothing! We delight in spurring mortals to murder, but in her there is a great pit. She could not hear us at all! Our voices went… Somewhere, somewhere cold and pressing. And a dull echo came back. Until the blue light blinded and burned it, we could not speak to her at all!"

"Lady and gentleman? Is that claim credib-?"

The glyphs below the guns glow blue and their firing pins glow red with heat! The blood encrusting them blackens and burns, foul smoke rising off them.

"Mistress!"

"Do not think to sneak a lie past my eyes by concealing it within truth. Answer honestly and in full."

"We could speak to her at the beginning! She fought us! Then the darkness came!"

The firing pins dim slightly.

"Who put the darkness in her?"

"Mistress, we were not made with eyes! We can see only dimly!"

"What did you see, then?"

"A god! Cold, forceful! Alpha-Predator! Rock of unyielding will!"

That narrows it down nicely. An evil, strong-willed god. But it does let us know that neither Jill Carlyle nor… The demons, were responsible for all of the deaths.

Mammon frowns. "What about the other sinners?"

"It cared not for sin, and so there was none. It cared only for obedience, and so obedience is all there was!"

Mammon nods. "Illustres, is that at all helpful?"

"It clears a few things up. And gives the investigation a new direction. Thank you, thank you both."

"Do you want the guns?"

"Not particularly. Do you?"

Mammon considers the idea.

"You suggested that I consider sponsoring a vigilante. Having seen what can be achieved by someone acting contrary to Hell's interests, I think that I may just do that."

"Anyone I know?"

"Oh, no, Lantern." He shakes his head. "That'll be my little Secret."

Mr Zoat · Mar 10, 2022

hkim said:
"friezes", surely?

Thank you, corrected.

Ganurath · Mar 10, 2022

Whatever happened to Harm's sister, anyhow?

Ngamer11 · Mar 10, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"My Lady Mazikeen. Thank you for joining us. I felt that given the nature of the artifice involved it would be appropriate for you to-."

Her organic eye blinks at me. "Father."

Without turning his head, Mammon eyes me for a second and them takes a step away.

"Um. I'm.. reasonably confident that I'm not-."

"You call it the Ophidian, a great elemental being so bound into you that I cannot tell where it begins and you end. You may as well be its human face."

"I've… Always perceived the Ophidians presence as feminine. Thought since she-. It's not biological, that's an honourific."

"The Ophidian granted my mother a small portion of its power to quicken me, so I call it my father. And since you are the Ophidian made flesh, I may as well address you in that fashion."

"Ah… I'm going to need a little while to explain that logic to my girlfriend. And I suppose that I'm going to need to know when your birthday is. Um."

I approach her and slightly awkwardly open my arms for a hug, waiting for some sort of indication that she's actually interested in-.

"You offer your affection freely?"

"Familial relationships are reciprocal. I offer to start such a relationship freely." I shrug. "I can't deny that I sometimes forget that the Ophidian and I are separate beings, and I accept that for better or worse. And if you're on board with Mammon's plans then you can't be all that bad."

She looks up at Mammon. "I believe that we can rule out him being the Morningstar. Though he does sound like someone the Morningstar may have left in my path."

"So is..? Is that a 'no' on the hug..?"

Ignoring me, she walks around the ritual space until she's standing on the opposite side of the summoning pit. I lower my arms, shrugging. I've got no idea how old she is but she's clearly an adult. I'll ask Angelica about her background later.

How many people are going to call Paul their dad? First it was that Spider Guilder princess, now a high ranking demon who was also Lucifer's follower/lover.

Mr Zoat said:
"Guns." Mammon leans on his podium, as if attending to a tiresome duty. "Explain to me what you were doing with that Jill Carlyle human."

"Nothing, lord."

"It sounds like someone wants to do this the easy way."

Lady Mazikeen's eye clicks and strobes as I connect to the Ophidian, though her posture remains unaltered.

Mr Zoat said:
"Nothing! We delight in spurring mortals to murder, but in her there is a great pit. She could not hear us at all! Our voices went… Somewhere, somewhere cold and pressing. And a dull echo came back. Until the blue light blinded and burned it, we could not speak to her at all!"

"Lady and gentleman? Is that claim credib-?"

The glyphs below the guns glow blue and their firing pins glow red with heat! The blood encrusting it blackens and burns, foul smoke rising off them.

"Mistress!"

"Do not think to sneak a lie past my eyes by concealing it within truth. Answer honestly and in full."

"We could speak to her at the beginning! She fought us! Then the darkness came!"

The firing pin dims slightly.

"Who put the darkness in her?"

"Mistress, we were not made with eyes! We can see only dimly!"

"What did you see, then?"

"A god! Cold, forceful! Alpha-Predator! Rock of unyielding will!"

That narrows it down nicely. An evil, strong-willed god. But it does let us know that neither Jill Carlyle or… The demons, were responsible for all of the deaths.

Mammon frowns. "What about the other sinners?"

"It cared not for sin, and so there was none. It cared only for obedience, and so obedience is all there was!"

Mammon nods. "Illustres, is that at all helpful?"

"It clears a few things up. And gives the investigation a new direction. Thank you, thank you both."

Is Darkseid creating an army of undead superheroes or something?

Mr Zoat said:
"Do you want the guns?"

"Not particularly. Do you?"

Mammon considers the idea.

"You suggested that I consider sponsoring a vigilante. Having seen what can be achieved by someone acting contrary to Hell's interests, I think that I may just do that."

"Anyone I know?"

"Oh, no, Lantern." He shakes his head. "That'll be my little Secret."

Ganurath said:
Whatever happened to Harm's sister, anyhow?

Unless Mr Zoat read the Young Justice comic before starting this story, and Paul remembers reading it, he won't be able to see this one coming. I remember Mr Zoat said something about Secret being stuck on Earth not too long ago due to her canon events not happening. Now instead of moving on, she's going to become an agent of Hell. I hope she and Harm don't meet while she has this job.

Darko · Mar 10, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
when I look Mammon's summoning chamb

'I look at'

Mr Zoat said:
'Gaudy' is the word that comes to mind when I look Mammon's summoning chamber

He is a greed demon.

Mr Zoat said:
A woman walks in unescorted, dressed in a kimono-inspired dress covered in a cloak made of the same cloth. Which knowing demonic aristocracy is probably something far fouler

Like the skin of babies sacrificed to demons.

Mr Zoat said:
My Lady Mazikeen. Thank you for joining us. I felt that given the nature of the artifice involved it would be appropriate for you to-."

Her organic eye blinks at me. "Father."

Well...shit.

Mr Zoat said:
Without turning his head, Mammon eyes me for a second and them takes a step away.

Smart move, big boy.

Mr Zoat said:
Um. I'm.. reasonably confident that I'm not-."

Hey, who knows you just may be.

Mr Zoat said:
"The Ophidian granted my mother a small portion of its power to quicken me, so I call it my father. And since you are the Ophidian made flesh, I may as well address you in that fashion

Hmm, I thought that the angel behind the creation of the Silver City was her father.

Mr Zoat said:
I approach her and slightly awkwardly open my arms for a hug, waiting for some sort of indication that she's actually interested in-

Don't count on it.

If she approaches you then it's probably to stab you.

And now you try to show one of your kids affection, when you just left Princess?

Mr Zoat said:
You offer your affection freely?"

Something she's not used to, what with her mother being Bitch Queen Supreme, Lucifer bring a manipulative and self centered egomaniac etc.

Mr Zoat said:
Do not think to sneak a lie past my eyes by concealing it within truth

She's probably learned to pick up a lot of half-truths from Lucifer and all of his misdirections.

Mr Zoat said:
"Oh, no, Lantern." He shakes his head. "That'll be my little Secret

Welp this should be interesting.

Kalem_Lee · Mar 10, 2022

Random Demon: Daddy?
Paul: Booting Parental Faculties. Engaging Hug Mode.

Michael Vonica · Mar 10, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Familial relationships are reciprocal. I offer to start such a relationship freely." I shrug. "I can't deny that I sometimes forget that the Ophidian and I are separate beings, and I accept that for better or worse. And if you're on board with Mammon's plans then you can't be all that bad."

So, a creature that was born using a small portion of a being that Paul is, himself, only a very small portion of is enough of a basis for him to attempt to start a familial relationship, but Princess, who was created on the basis of the ideology and teachings that Paul made, and whose existence is a direct consequence of his actions, gets a stern warning and not even a second glance of consideration? Paul is very biased towards dangerous demons and against cute spiders.

Darko · Mar 10, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
How many people are going to call Paul their dad? First it was that Spider Guilder princess, now a high ranking demon who was also Lucifer's follower/lover.

Paul really is just a deadbeat.

Ngamer11 said:
Is Darkseid creating an army of undead superheroes or something?

That sounds more like Nekron to be honest.

This could be his work.

Though Darkseid could be doing this as a sort of philosophical experiment.

He basically corrupted a person's desire for justice into a quest of senseless murder and destruction.

Maybe he wanted to see how even noble intentions could be corrupted and turned towards evil.

Ngamer11 said:
starting this story, and Paul remembers reading it, he won't be able to see this one coming. I remember Mr Zoat said something about Secret being stuck on Earth not too long ago due to her canon events not happening

Apparently she didn't witness her brother bring defeated due to Artemis and Zatanna beating him early.

Ngamer11 said:
Now instead of moving on, she's going to become an agent of Hell. I hope she and Harm don't meet while she has this job.

I don't think your hopes will come true.

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

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