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

[Lord Ernest]

Remind me, is Demon Jizz a transitory infusion of demon magic powers, a persistent infusion, or a vector to allow Demons in Hell to possess addicts on Earth?

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If memory serves, it's an alchemical formula designed to grant temporary demonic powers/forms to the consumer. However, I can't recall if it has addictive properties like Venom or if it provides some level of permanent connection to Hell. I imagine that its consumption does strip some of your "soul energy" or whatever, since that's the primary currency in Hell and it was conceived as a tool by Satanus in its plan to dominate Hell.

 

[Coda]

Wonder why Karshon isn't being affected much.

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I assume it's because he's not human.

 

[RoninSword]

It looks like LePaul has finally found someone with a part of the Life Equation.

Now the question is whether he will realize it or not.

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Where is that information? I can't find any reference to him having any part of the Life Equation.

 

[Vaermina]

Where is that information? I can't find any reference to him having any part of the Life Equation.

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White text and not effected by the Anti-Life?

 

[Rafin]

White text and not effected by the Anti-Life?

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The website style I'm using has (off-)white text as default. Was the shark's speech white-white?

 

[Darko]

The website style I'm using has (off-)white text as default. Was the shark's speech white-white?

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No. No it wasn't.

 

[Venustoise]

He walks into storage with a trolley, and… The interior camera shows him loading stuff up. I see the Mask for half a second-. No, he's not just grabbing everything. He's going for specific things. He knows where things are.

So… Did he have this planned and was just waiting for an opportunity? Did he.. know in advance that it was going to happen-.

The shark. The first time Jordan fought him, he found a way to turn him back into a normal…

I enter the database, looking for records on aquatic creatures and… Mutagens. Jordan never found out exactly what it was that turned a normal tiger shark into Karshon, but-.

They had him. A tiger shark. He was here in normal animal mode.

Carlyle recovered the mutagen from the vault. He-.

The Head of Research appears to have regained some of his wits. He says something to Carlyle, who draws a gun and shoots him. Fatally.

"Asshole!"

"Depends why he did it. He's a baseline human: he can't just bulldoze past obstacles like we can."

It's a bad angle, but it looks like he's… Yes, that's Karshon, mutating from normal shark to his augmented form. He and Carlyle appear to have a short conversation. Which suggests that Karshon maintains his memories while in animal form.

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OL: Karshon, I'm curious about your conversation with Mister Carlyle. Will you tell me or do I have to assimilate you?

Karshon: Assimilate?

OL: Very well. Karshon of Earth, you belong to Agent Orange.

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th February 2013
18:54 GMT -5

Red blood sprays out of my.. neck-.

Going dark…

Get the… Ring-.

…

"-up!"

Hu-?

I'm-. I'm over Tuppence's shoulder, being held on my one-.

I glance up, see a scientist point some sort of ray gun at us and fire a construct filament to grab it out of her hand!

One arm. We're not far from the office and-. The alarm's going off.

"I'm good."

She tosses me aside and I fly next to-.

Her chest and neck are covered in blood, and her right hand joins her left in clamping her neck. I grab her with a flight aura and zoom down the corridor. Scan for… Great, just about everyone I can scan is heading this way. Can't detect Onomatopoeia and I can't pick up anything outside of the building.

"W-what was that?"

No storm drains near here, and I don't want to get trapped underground. Go out through a wall or head to the roof? Wall route… Can't get a clear scan of some places and I'll run into some people in any direction. Route to the roof looks relatively clear.

"Cover's blown and the Mask's not here. Time to leave."

I begin flying us towards the lift and she glares at me, her hands tightening their grip.

"Tell me-!"

"His name's Onomatopoeia, and he makes things happen by making the sounds they make."

Scan the office-. Yeah, he made my-. Our jugulars burst. Ring's on my finger-. I grab the other one and put it on as well, then form a construct compression bandage.

"Tuppence, it was a small cut and you heal fast. Let go. If it's still bleeding then I'll deal with it."

She takes a couple of breaths to steady herself and then pulls her hands away-

We're going more slowly than we should. Don't know why. Can't feel an Anti-Life infection… Don't know.

-and partially solidified blood oozes between her fingers and down her neck but the wound itself appears to have sealed itself. I generate a crumbler ram and slam it into the lift doors before flying us through the hole and up the shaft. A quick orange glow removes the worst of the blood from her neck and takes a mirror out of subspace so she can check it.

"See?" Her eyes lock onto her reflection and she stares at her neck for a good two seconds. "You'll need to eat more later, but the Danner Formula makes you heal fast."

She nods and I put the mirror back into subspace before slamming my crumbler ram into the top floor lift shaft door. "Ah ain't never been cut lahk that before."

"Me neither. You put my ring on my finger?"

"Yeah."

Interesting. "Didn't think about putting it on yourself?"

"Gawd no."

"'wup poof'"

I stop us in the air, looking out at the ladder up to the roof.

"What-? Y'all heard that, raht?"

"Yes." Construct armour and railgun. "Lethal force authorised."

"No she-yet."

I fly up the ladder, bulldozing the exit and looking for my target. Tuppence jumps up through what's left a moment later. He's-.

"'boof'"

I slam face first into a fucking mime force field! I take a sound suppression system out of subspace and throw it-

"'kssssh'"

-at him, only for its battery to explode and electrocute all of its delicate internal components.

Lasers.

They-

"'poof'"

-miss completely as he teleports away scrambler!

…

Don't know if I got him, but I rather doubt it. Even if I was in time, his teleportation is probably magic-based and I can't stop that.

Enhanced optical scan upwards… Yes, there are Mannheim-controlled jets within view but even if they turn this way they'll need time to reach us. I grab Tuppence again and fly up-

"'woom'"

-and straight into a faintly glowing barrier which… Appears to have covered the entire city. How is-

"'krack'"

"A-AGH!"

Tuppence's right shin is now… Bent at ninety degrees forwards. Mine is too, but a quick flash of orange fixes that. Onomatopoeia is… There, finally spotted him. Smoke grenades and lasers, and then drop down out of his line of sight and hope that he needs to see us to use his ability on us.

"You regenerate! Push it back into position!"

"Wha-?"

She's not doing it. I generate a leg support construct around the break.

"This will hurt. Ready?"

She nods, the pain making tears leak from her eyes. The Danner formula doesn't do anything about the pain if you actually get hurt, other than fix the injury faster. So I-

"Ah-!"

-force the bone back into position and then create a metal clamp to hold it in place while she regenerates.

Bullets fired from the ground hit my construct armour and her skin, doing nothing but remind me that there isn't a safe place in Philadelphia.

Where do we go now?

 

[Vaermina]

The website style I'm using has (off-)white text as default. Was the shark's speech white-white?

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No. No it wasn't.

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It was, you can very obviously see the difference on Flexile Dark.

 

[Pinklestia]

Honesty Oh El having problems with Onomatopoeia just reminds me how easily Grayven could deal with the guy if he was the one facing it.

 

[Vaermina]

Interesting. "Didn't think about putting it on yourself?"

"Gawd no."

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It is now confirmed that Tuppence has more common sense then LePaul.

"'krack'"

"A-AGH!"

Tuppence's right shin is now… Bent at ninety degrees forwards. Mine is too, but a quick flash of orange fixes that. Onomatopoeia is… There, finally spotted him. Smoke grenades and lasers, and then drop down out of his line of sight and hope that he needs to see us to use his ability on us.

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So... Why doesn't he just say boom and explode all of LePaul's rings?

 

[Ngamer11]

So... Why doesn't he just say boom and explode all of LePaul's rings?

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He has enough self awareness to realize that causing a tiny object that holds incredible power to explode might literally blow up in his face?

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

15th February 2013
18:54 GMT -5

Red blood sprays out of my.. neck-.

Going dark…

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Whoops! See, OL, this is why you need to have a ring in skin contact at all times. Or find a way to give yourself a Deadpool-grade healing factor... Preferably minus the super-cancer skin. Though it looks like I might have guessed wrong about the grenade drop.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Get the… Ring-.

…

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Oh, shit. Is he actually going down? Paging Lord Hades!

"-up!"

Hu-?

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Hup! Last-second save from the sidekick!

I'm-. I'm over Tuppence's shoulder, being held on my one-.

I glance up, see a scientists point some sort of ray gun at us and fire a construct filament to grab it out of her hand!

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Oh, boy. That's going to be fun. Running the gauntlet of whatever crazy gadgets the best of Star labs could come up with...

One arm. We're not far from the office and-. The alarm's going off.

"I'm good."

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Okay. So Onomatopoeia pulled a 'draw, cut, sheathe' trick on them, rather than anything explosive. Ouch.

She tosses me aside and I fly next to-.

Her chest and neck are covered in blood, and her right hand joins her left in clamping her neck. I grab her with a flight aura and zoom down the corridor. Scan for… Great, just about everyone I can scan is heading this way. Can't detect Onomatopoeia and I can't pick up anything outside of the building.

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Oh, joy. Total lockdown with a bunch of mind-whammied mad scientists.

"W-what was that?"

No storm drains near here, and I don't want to get trapped underground. Go out through a wall or head to the roof? Wall route… Can't get a clear scan of some places and I'll run into some people in any direction. Route to the roof looks relatively clear

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And any kind of nice, open shaft like a central green space would be a death tunnel.

"Cover's blown and the Mask's not here. Time to leave."

I begin flying us towards the lift and she glares at me, her hands tightening their grip.

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Yes, running like fuck. That's sure to make her calmer, OL.

"Tell me-!"

"His name's Onomatopoeia, and he makes things happen by making the sounds they make."

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Which, again, is a nasty upgrade from his comic-book self who merely seems to be an assassin with a compulsion to pre-echo sounds he made.

Scan the office-. Yeah, he make my-. Our jugulars burst. Ring's on my finger-. I grab the other one and put it on as well, then form a construct compression bandage.

"Tuppence, it was a small cut and you heal fast. Let go. If it's still bleeding then I'll deal with it."

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Joy. Dealing with a magical sound-mimicking assassin and a teenage girl's nervous breakdown at being really hurst.

She takes a couple of breaths to steady herself and then pulls her hands away-

We're going more slowly than we should. Don't know why. Can't feel an Anti-Life infection… Don't know.

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What's the bet something in their security system is causing it? Or Ono-boy?

-and partially solidified blood oozes between her fingers and down her neck but the wound itself appears to have sealed itself. I generate a crumbler ram and slam it into the lift doors before flying us through the hole and up the shaft. A quick orange glow removes the worst of the blood from her neck and takes a mirror out of subspace so she can check it.

"See?" Her eyes lock onto her reflection and she stares at her neck for a good two seconds. "You'll need to eat more later, but the Danner Formula makes you heal fast."

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Still, it's probably the first time anything's done that much damage to her in her less-than-twenty years of life. So a little panic is understandable.

She nods and I put the mirror back into subspace before slamming my crumbler ram into the top floor lift shaft door. "Ah ain't never been cut lahk that before."

"Me neither. You put my ring on my finger?"

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Good thinking, honestly. Though you're lucky OL was still awake enough to register the Ring's presence.

"Yeah."

Interesting. "Didn't think about putting it on yourself?"

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...And be easy meat because she has no idea how to use it.

"Gawd no."

"'wup poof'"

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And of course he's right on top of them...

I stop us in the air, looking out at the ladder up to the roof.

"What-? Ya'll heard that, raht?"

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...Admittedly, Ono-boy's probably going 'dammit, I set up the trap, why aren't you flying into it?' right now.

"Yes." Construct armour and railgun. "Lethal force authorised."

"No she-yet."

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That's assuming she can get close enough to introduce him to the sound of a human body being dismantled by hand.

I fly up the ladder, bulldozing the exit and looking for my target. Tuppence jumps up through what's left a moment later. He's-.

"'boof'"

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-waiting for you to try that.

I slam face first into a fucking mime force field! I take a sound suppression system out of subspace and throw it-

"'kssssh'"

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...And that. Goddammit, he's been reading your playbook, hasn't he?

-at him, only for its battery to explode and electrocute all of its delicate internal components.

Lasers.

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Nice. Utterly silent, about from the faint whipcrack of the water in his body exploding into steam inside him.

They-

"'poof'"

-miss completely as he teleports away scrambler!

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Oh, seeing him go down will be so satisfying, won't it? If you can find the slippery bastard.

…

Don't know if I got him, but I rather doubt it. Even if I was in time, his teleportation is probably magic-based and I can't stop that.

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Not easily, anyway. And you can't Feed without a line of sight.

Enhanced optical scan upwards… Yes, there are Mannheim-controlled jets within view but even if they turn this way they'll need time to reach us. I grab Tuppence again and fly up-

"'woom'"

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Plan 'Getting the hell lout of here' is a go. Almost.

-and straight into a faintly glowing barrier which… Appears to have covered the entire city. How is-

"'krack'"

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Whoops, no time to stand still, OL.

"A-AGH!"

Tuppence's right shin is now… Bent at ninety degrees forwards. Mine is too, but a quick flash of orange fixes that. Onomatopoeia is… There, finally spotted him. Smoke grenades and lasers, and then drop down out of his line of sight and hope that he needs to see us to use his ability on us.

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Ouch. That's probably the first broken bone she's ever had, too. Which makes it a deep pain.

"You regenerate! Push it back into position!"

"Wha-?"

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Eighteen-year-old girl in massive pain and fear, OL. Your callousness is not helping matters.

She's not doing it. I generate a leg support construct around the break.

"This will hurt. Ready?"

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Because her bones are already knitting, so he's going to have to re-break it to set it...

She nods, the pain making tears leak from her eyes. The Danner formula doesn't do anything about the pain if you actually get hurt, other than fix the injury faster. So I-

"Ah-!"

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Which is probably an effective method for taking an Enhancile down: Pain-induction via psychic attack...

-force the bone back into position and then create a metal clamp to hold it in place while she regenerates.

Bullets fired from the ground hit my construct armour and her skin, doing nothing but remind me that there isn't a safe place in Philadelphia.

Where do we go now?

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Wherever you plan to go, do it fast, Mannheim's probably lining up a Boom Tube packed full of Suicide Jockeys right now.

Man, Onomatopoeia's new powers are fucking broken. Line-of-sight (and hopefully limited to it) ability to induce the cause of any sound effect he can imagine? But it clearly has limits. Notice that he simply broke their legs, rather than behead them with a simple "Schling." Hopefully OL can work around those limits and drop him, while avoiding getting himself and Tuppence killed by the Justified that are no doubt enroute.

---

...see a scientists point some sort of ray gun at us...

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...see a scientist point some sort of ray gun at us...

Yeah, he make my-. Our jugulars burst.

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Yeah, he made my-. Our jugulars burst.

 

[Lord Ernest]

OL: Karshon, I'm curious about your conversation with Mister Carlyle. Will you tell me or do I have to assimilate you?

Karshon: Assimilate?

OL: Very well. Karshon of Earth, you belong to Agent Orange.

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Unfortunately, the Illustres is ruthless enough to let a possible innocent individual get eaten alive in his quest to save the planet, but not ruthless enough to assimilate a most certainly guilty villain. Who would have thought?

Don't ask me how he squares that up either.

 

[Ngamer11]

Unfortunately, the Illustres is ruthless enough to let a possible innocent individual get eaten alive in his quest to save the planet, but not ruthless enough to assimilate a most certainly guilty villain. Who would have thought?

Don't ask me how he squares that up either.

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He usually only goes for that if it's absolutely necessary. Even if he did assimilate Karshon, it's not like he'd really be useful to Paul.

 

[Vaermina]

He has enough self awareness to realize that causing a tiny object that holds incredible power to explode might literally blow up in his face?

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He's Anti-Lifed and being controlled by Manheim.

No way he cares enough about his own life not to do that.

 

[Ngamer11]

He's Anti-Lifed and being controlled by Manheim.

No way he cares enough about his own life not to do that.

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The stronger villains are more aware and in control than the helpless masses.

 

[Mr Zoat]

...see a scientist point some sort of ray gun at us...
Yeah, he made my-. Our jugulars burst.

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"What-? Ya'll heard that, raht?"

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Thank you, corrected.

Unfortunately, the Illustres is ruthless enough to let a possible innocent individual get eaten alive in his quest to save the planet, but not ruthless enough to assimilate a most certainly guilty villain. Who would have thought?

Don't ask me how he squares that up either.

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Oh, he'd be willing to assimilate Karshon. But that would probably let everyone in the city know that's he's here and where he is and he'd prefer not to assimilate all of them.

 

[Duke Long]

Wall route… Can't get a clear scan of some places and I'll run into some people in any direction. Route to the roof looks relatively clear

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Missing full stop.

I'm glad to see the return of Onomatopoeia.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Missing full stop.

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[CTrees]

He has enough self awareness to realize that causing a tiny object that holds incredible power to explode might literally blow up in his face?

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Counterpoint, he's been anti-lifed. So he probably doesn't have that much self preservation.

 

[Stsword]

The website style I'm using has (off-)white text as default. Was the shark's speech white-white?

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Shark didn't speak at all, he used telepathy.

His telekinesis was mentioned to be white.

The white text probably had more to do with it being conveyed through Shark's telepathy, just like colored text has been used when speech is conveyed through a power ring.

 

[BartlettMagic]

so wait, does Onomatopoeia have powers in this? i had no idea who he was, so looked him up, and it was suggested that his durability was enhanced in some way. wikipedia stated he mimicked the sound of whatever he was doing, but nothing i saw said that his sounds become real.

again, i know nothing about this character, so i just want to make sure i'm understanding things correctly.

also, for some reason, i really dislike him and was hoping that OL would fire a crumbler into his neck or permanently shut him up in some other way.

 

[Mr Zoat]

I have just given up on reading The Weaver Option, and it's made me even more greatful than the usual 'thank you, corrected' for you people checking my spelling and grammar. Because that thing... That story needs people like you.

 

[Ngamer11]

so wait, does Onomatopoeia have powers in this? i had no idea who he was, so looked him up, and it was suggested that his durability was enhanced in some way. wikipedia stated he mimicked the sound of whatever he was doing, but nothing i saw said that his sounds become real.

again, i know nothing about this character, so i just want to make sure i'm understanding things correctly.

also, for some reason, i really dislike him and was hoping that OL would fire a crumbler into his neck or permanently shut him up in some other way.

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He does indeed have powers. His first appearance is with Klarion, and Mr Zoat confirmed that he used to be a non-powered villain who went after non-powered hero until the Lord of Chaos got his hands on him.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Hm. Paul never told him what he needed the mask for. But still, if he hasn't been Antilifed, why the hell is he lying?

 

[Clell65619]

Because he thought that it was more important to maintain cover and believed that Karshon was asking because that's what Gotham S.T.A.R. people turned up for. And honestly, most formulations of Devil Jizz don't make a superhuman psychic shark all that much more dangerous.

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Is a shark, mutated to sorta-kinda humanoid a 'superhuman'? Surely, Supershark.

 

[Duke Long]

Is a shark, mutated to sorta-kinda humanoid a 'superhuman'? Surely, Supershark.

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'Superhuman' can just mean 'better than a human'. Karshon doesn't need to have ever been human to be superhuman. I could, not inaccurately, say that an entirely normal dog has superhuman sensory abilities.

 

[DeathReaperZ]

Spoiler: Spoilered to save space.

I believe he puts it on his non dominant hand so that if he were to instinctively grab something and someone reacts by incapacitating/dismembering his hand, his ring hand would stay uninjured/attached.

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That would make sense, but I doubt that would really work now, especially with his forcefield, armour, and the other ring he has.

They've had years. If they can't be bothered to even pay the fans for fixes they've already made, I can't be bothered to buy it.

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You could always pirate it.

It would probably be a few posts of him wandering around with no idea what's going on, then running out of ring power and doing a normal blind Morrowind run. If he actually remembered Morrowind, he'd fly to Dagoth Ur and assimilate the Heart of Lorkhan. After that, play preblivion while trying to fix the Empire?

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I see the issue.

Just to be different, really. Green Lanterns wear them on the right.

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Ah, well, that was a bit anti-climactic.

It was something I looked up after going to a friends wedding and getting accused of a hidden engagement just for wearing a plain stainless band on my right middle finger.

I was never known for wearing jewellery, and actively avoid rings due to doing electronics work and not wanting to spot weld my hand to anything while working.

Just the Groom being shocked and still getting used to his own new bling that night. But having shared a table with an Ex didn't help with his vocal over reaction.

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That's an interesting story.

Zoat's already answered this with 'it's to be different' but depending on culture which hand and finger a particular style of ring is on has meaning...a bit like flower language in that it's out there to convey some level of information.

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Yep, he's already said so.

It's a bit pompous but this and this covers a degree explanations for what all goes where (in their opinion).

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Thanks.

 

[DeathReaperZ]

14th February 2013
13:24 GMT -5

"The old hometown just… Looks the same,
Like a derelict man who had died out of shame."

But that's Gotham, I suppose.

This place is going to need a lot of work once this is over. Not a lot of people out on the streets, and those are a mixture of long term homeless and… People who just don't have any real objective. Within their limits the homeless are better able to care for themselves…

Wasn't there an Authority comic where something like that happened? Someone broadcast a signal that made socially dominant people kill themselves? They haven't quite gotten to that stage yet, but they can see it from where they are.

Empathic vision shows threads of black clogging up everything in everyone I can see. No broadcaster, and no obvious organisation by a strong man figure.

"Orange Lantern to Justice League assets. Please respond."

"Orange Lantern. Proceed to New York."

"Mister Atom?"

"Ah, I apologise. Proceed to New York now."

"Right." I turn towards New York and accelerate. "You're working with the League?"

"I judged it to be the course of action most likely to result in there being a world for me to rule in thirty nine point four years. Approximated."

"What's happening in New York?"

"A group of Justified are attempting to raise an Anti-Life broadcast tower. A Task Force X group were assigned to stop them, but both groups are under attack from a group not on file."

"There are aliens parked around the moon."

"We do not have the resources to fight them effectively. Vexing."

The United States flashes by beneath me. Nice to see that the fires have gone out. "Lawrence Crock isn't there, right?"

"No. Currently in need of rescue: Cameron Mahkent, Tuppence Beresford, Wade Eiling and Abra Kadabra."

"Has Mannheim learned to do Anti-Life feedback through a power ring scan?"

"No."

I form a railgun construct and start scanning New York, wincing a little as I… Hear the whispers of the Anti-Life, and see that the state of the place is much more orderly than Gotham. Gunfire appears to be coming from Newark, and there's an Apokoliptian structure-.

Figures in airborne power armour use plasma throwers to force the… I recognise some of them as Alliance members, but their uniforms now have a degree of actual uniformity. Along with the helmets that mark them as Justified. Another alien in power armour is attaching… Teleport beacons to the large antennae sticking out of the top of the structure.

A building's front explodes, chunks of rubble shooting out as Eiling and… Anthony Woodward, try punching each other! Eiling's efforts have the most visible effect, but Woodward's metal face just snaps back into place while the tears in Eiling's skin aren't healing anything like as fast.

Woodward isn't vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses and I don't have a specific anti-metal weapon. Anything I could hit him with would do just as much damage to Eiling. On the other hand I doubt that Eiling is going to die in the next thirty seconds, so there's no particular rush.

Woodward somehow manifests a mechanical crusher from his chest and uses it to grab Eiling's head.

Okay, he is going to die in the next thirty seconds.

Particle beam.

Compliance.

A pale blue beam lances out, cutting a groove across Eiling's right shoulder and hitting Woodward full in the face. A tiny shift in the angle of the beam and it slices across the top of Woodward's head, confusing whatever passes for his mind enough that Eiling is able to free his right hand and tear the clamp off.

And now I've arrived.

Eiling shoves his hands through the hole in Woodward's chest and pulls, tearing a vertical cleft in him and literally ripping him apart. I grab both halves and shove them into two separate furnace constructs, melting them into solid masses before freezing both and dumping them on the floor.

Eiling grimaces at me as he gets his breath back.

"Lantern."

"Eiling. Situation?"

"Kadabra's still in the tower, Mahkent's laying face down in a ditch and the Terror girl got disintegrated." He grimaces. "And I got a voice in my head telling me it was all inevitable."

"You're not pardoned yet. Find enemies to kill."

He grunts, then leaps in the direction of the broadcaster. I scan to try and find where Mahkent ended up… Not in a ditch, but a squad of… Justified soldiers are demonstrating that if you don't mind killing the target it's perfectly possible to fight supervillains with guns. I rapid-fly in his direction, crumblers on construct cables punching through their helmets and jamming their central nervous systems. The one half-coated in ice gets a quick blast of hot air while I pull out my purple healing ray.

"Icicle!"

"Haah. Hahh. Hahh."

I drop the soldiers and dash into a building site, my construct barrier blocking the blast of ice he sends my way for a second before realising that I'm a friendly. The expression of guilt on his face would be funny of not for the three bullet holes in the upper right side of his chest, and the blood covering his hands.

"You look-" Filaments touch him and I begin knitting his flesh together. "-like shit."

"Fuck you, Lantern. Fuck this hurts."

"I realise it's not stylish, but I suggest body armour."

The bullets made a mess on their way out, but on the positive side that means that they're out. After I finish fixing the holes in his lungs and ribs and also give him a courtesy dry clean.

"Not worth it. They all use tungsten bullets. Go right through anyway." He grunts, then pulls himself up. "Where's everyone else?"

"Kadabra and Eiling are at the tower. Apparently Tuppence got disintegrated."

"Ah, shit. I liked her. So..?"

"Up and at 'em, champ."

He takes a deep breath, then nods. I fly up-.

The antennae on the top of the broadcaster shimmers for a moment and then vanishes. The aliens take that as their sign to evacuate as well, throwing plasma grenades at the ground-bound Justified before activating their armours' flight systems and going for height.

Railgun.

I fire three times, knocking out the main thruster from the alien closest to me before punching through their leg armour with the follow up shots. I don't hear a cry, but they fall out of the air a moment later.

Mr. Mahkent dashes along below me, throwing up walls of ice to cover his flanks. Eiling is at the tower, and takes advantage of the explosions going off to rip the entrance door out of the walls.

"Kadabra! Get out here! Time to go, before-!"

BOOM!

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the post.