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

Reader mode
Mr Zoat said:
"Someone just tried to kill him using inter-planar weaponry. I actually don't know how that works. I've stopped is by using a device intended for a completely different purpose. Or to put it another way, Mister Mackensen is alive by pure fluke, and I don't know if I could stop a follow-up attack." I turn back to the would-be drug dealer. "So, Mister Mackensen, I would strongly advise you to make a clean breast of things, because the chance that this was a coincidence is very low."
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That should say 'it'.
 
Mr Zoat said:
-continued making nonsense noises, and if my ring's translator can't translate them then they are indeed nonsense. Alright, padded restrain construct, teeth shield construct, mitten construct… Good, now he's not going to damage himself. Check for emotion drug pads-. Ah, a shame. Remove them. That should disrupt the correspondence ritual, but I don't like the way his brain is lighting up.
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'restraint'
Mr Zoat said:
"It's all plants and stuff. 'erbal. And it makes people feel better."
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Assuming this is true, these things are made from plants in another plane? Weird. Don't know what that implies.
 
...so either these things are connected to the Silver City (low chance), Hell (very high chance), or something much, much weirder...

EDIT: Waiiiiiiiit. Emotion inducing. Plants. Other plane.

...Is the Paragon about to take a trip to Wilson?
 
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Mr Zoat said:
1st September 2013
16:31 GMT -6

Edward Mackensen is indeed lying on the floor a short distance from what I assume is his desk-

"Dhrur-! Dhrur-! Dhrur-! Dhrur-!"
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At a guess, he'd just stood up to head over to Phil's office. At which point he got pole-axed by whatever's causing this. I hope the carpet's soft, because that could not have been a fun landing, especially in a dead flop.

-shaking and shuddering, hands clenched tightly -scan- heart racing, jaw clenched and saliva being expelled as he-

"Dhrur-! Dhrur-! Dhrur-! Dhrur-!"
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At least you have a picture of what to fix, given the last time you saw this.

-continued making nonsense noises, and if my ring's translator can't translate them then they are indeed nonsense. Alright, padded restrain construct, teeth shield construct, mitten construct… Good, now he's not going to damage himself. Check for emotion drug pads-. Ah, a shame. Remove them. That should disrupt the correspondence ritual, but I don't like the way his brain is lighting up.
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A user too. That explains the avenue of attack at least. And definitely marks them as dangerous if someone can hit you like this through them.

So assuming this is the same thing that happened to Timothy, fixing it should be a simple matter of feeding on the part of the spell that's on his body, and then removing the residual potion from his body. And done!

I feel his shakes slow and stop through my construct, and his eyes become a little more focused. Good show.
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Yes, right quick fix. Hopefully whoever triggered it isn't watching...

I remove the teeth shield construct.

"Mister Mack-."

"Fprh-! Fprh -!"
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...And there they go again. And this time it isn't purely via the patches, since they and the physical element are gone. That means the mystical connection remains even after the spell is removed. This just jumped up in priority significantly.

Ah..? Brain activity-. Yes, he's having a seizure again. Feed, and-. I take a spare spell eater out of subspace and tie it around his neck.

Phillip jogs up behind me. "What's-? What's happening?"
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I can't imagine it looks good from the outside, all that restraint equipment.

"I'm not sure. Please stand back."

No change. So the first fit was caused by magic just like Timothy's was, but this is something else..? How-?
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The sympathetic connection being exploited, no doubt. Every user of every variant of the emotion-modifiers is at risk of attack via whatever method this is.

I fabricate a mind shield and carefully place it over his head. It's not completely reliable without training, and I don't know why someone who could do this with telepathy wouldn't just wipe his mind of whatever they're trying to hide-.

It's not doing anything. Not telepathy.
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OL, do try to work it out faster? I doubt this is a fun time for the unlucky Eddie.

Um.

Sonic..? Sound baffle.

Doesn't work.
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Too indiscriminate, really. Get someone with similar pitch ranges as the target and they'd cop a hit too.

Nothing in the immediate environment. Lights..? No, illumination's stable.

Ah…
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Same issue as the sonics, really.

Planar barrier? If only because I'm running out of things to-.

He goes limp, his brain activity returning to normal.
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Extra-planar? what the heck could that be, then? Parallel universe drugs... Earth Minus Fourteen? One of Earth Fourteen's pocket dimensions? Far too many possible causes to guess yet.

The… Heck..?

"Is he okay? Or..?"
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Don't distract him or things might go poorly.

"I don't want to jinx it, but there's nothing wrong with him at this precise moment."

How would-? How would that even… Work?
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And how long is all this going to last? Will they drop the attack after a while, guessing that he's dead, or will Eddie need to keep this planar barrier in place until they get found?

Okay, the machine I'm using to block inter-planar contact doesn't have to be as big as the standard model, because I'm only blocking one person rather than an entire planet. That.. should do it. And a backup, and I'll leave the spell eater there just in case…

I transform the restraint construct into a soft chair construct, removing the mittens… Yes, his hands are more open, good. And remove the teeth guard.
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Best to keep him secured for now, regardless.

"Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck..?"

"That's what I want to ask you, actually."

"Hey." Phillip puts his right hand on my left shoulder. "Give the guy a minute."
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He doesn't really have a minute, you know. If this planar barrier system shuts off and he goes right back into overdose mode, he's dead. The sooner OL can track down his attackers, the better.

"Someone just tried to kill him using inter-planar weaponry. I actually don't know how that works. I've stopped is by using a device intended for a completely different purpose. Or to put it another way, Mister Mackensen is alive by pure fluke, and I don't know if I could stop a follow-up attack." I turn back to the would-be drug dealer. "So, Mister Mackensen, I would strongly advise you to make a clean breast of things, because the chance that this was a coincidence is very low."
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And really, someone who just tried to kill you on the off chance you might talk doesn't deserve any loyalty.

"U-h-! Haa!"

I take a purple healing ray out of subspace and shoot him with it.
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Right, brain might still be wobbly. Shock is a thing, even with Power Ring healing.

"Uh."

Alright, he appears to be… Somewhat recovered. Given how he's been sweating he'll need a shower, and given how he's been a party to turning my company into a drug distribution network I don't feel inclined to handle that for him.
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And I doubt his pants are in the best shape, given the whole seizure thing. That room might need a deep clean too, after...

"Mister Mackensen?"

"Ah. Shiiiiiiiit. What the what was what-." He focuses on me. "Who-?" I raise my left fist in his direction and make my ring's sigil glow. "Ah. Oh, okay, can I make a full confession?"
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Well, at least he's quick on the uptake. Not even needing to be told 'you're nicked'.

"I would appreciate it."

"And… Then what happens?"
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If it were any other hero? Righteous face-punching. In OL's case, judicious application of force in the interest of correcting this folly.

"I deal with this mess, make sure that your business partners don't kill you using whatever they just tried, and then put in a good word with the judge overseeing your case to try and make sure that you get the minimum sentence for whatever it turns out that you did. Naturally, your full confession better be jolly darn full."
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So no hiding anything, sonny Jim. Every scrap of information you know, right quick...

"They seriously tried to kill me?"

"Either someone did, or you just had the weirdest reaction to-" I hold up the patches that I removed from him. "-these things that I've seen so far."
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If you're lucky, OL won't add possession and trafficking to the docket. Or at least recommend charges for it are dropped in court. However it works...

"That wasn't-. I-. I-. Uh."

"Is anyone else likely to have been marked for death in the same manner?"
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I'm more worried if anyone important has been using these things. We know Bleez has. Any notable politicians using them for a mood balancer or other OMACs wanting to feel something... Anyone could be targetted by those seizures or worse.

"I don't think so? I'm the main point of contact in Hub City. I don't really-. No one else has contact with the-. Suppliers."

Phillip looks a little irritated. "Charlie, what the Hell?"
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Phil, I know this is shocking, but please, save any outbursts till the end?

"I included shipment manifests!"

"Like Hell you did! You listed them as 'erbal medicine!"
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Heh, your accent's slipping, mate. I can understand being upset, though.

"That's a disciplinary."

"Technically, they are. As far as I knew, they're, like, mild narcotics. Less dangerous than alcohol."
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...Until now, anyway. Most alcohol doesn't give someone hooks into your metaphysique that can allow them to short out your nervous system like that.

"That doesn't make them herbal medicine."

"It's all plants and stuff. 'erbal. And it makes people feel better."
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And there are plenty of plant products that can be poisonous in edge cases. Would you claim that's fine too, then?

"Happy does. Angry doesn't."

"Anger makes people feel better. I know it doesn't fix their life or anything, but it sure works to get someone moving."

"Uh-huh. Your union representative might believe you, but I'll warn you now that your employer doesn't. Keep going."
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And hope his suppliers don't mount a more direct attack to silence him.

Whoever's behind this evidently has a long reach. Or access to some very powerful technology. This whole situation is going to have to be resolved very quickly, before whoever's behind it starts targetting people OL can't zoom in and save as easily. Hell, worst case scenario, anyone who's used these patches could be in danger of being potential hostages...
 
Anti-Life ate the Parliament of Trees. Perhaps Mannheim-side ate the pre-Aztec pantheon/mythology, swallowed, and sent some notes to Darkseid. But the Parliament could have been eaten and spat back out, contained where they couldn't interact with The Green.

We don't know the full history of the battle in which The Grey (funguskind) ripped through The Green. It's possible the Grey ate the parliament while anti-life influenced both groups; that's basically what we were told. But, if the plants are a factor in this magic? Well, why not pull the sympathetic resonance trick seen with Paul's stolen bodies on intoxicated targets?
 
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