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

Rebu · 2026-02-18T06:45:22+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
Yeah, that part I get, but it's still weird that it came as a secondary concern next to the whole cube world thing.

Did you notice that he waited until his subordinates were out of the room and he could have a private conversation?

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-02-18T07:11:04+0000

Mr Zoat said:
20th August 2013
10:50 GMT -7

I look out across the mountainous terrain, rain pelting down from a storm-encrusted sky The atmosphere... Even if it wasn't more suitable to be breathed with gills rather than lungs at the moment, it would be difficult for a human to breathe. Plenty of carbon dioxide and not enough free oxygen. Ah… What sort of plants would work somewhere like this? Something historical, resurrected from the Archean? Something new, because plants can actually cope pretty well with an atmosphere like this?

Honestly, this place seems better suited to Atlanteans. Otherwise you'd have to spend far too long making soil capable of growing plants in torrential rain and flooding. And they'd probably refuse to come here...

"Hm."

Persuader looks up at the sky for a moment, looking around as she takes in the full size of the storm. Iname just ducks under her umbrella slightly, looking generally less than happy.

Hard to gauge a storm from the inside, unless you've got a very good set of senses. The eye must look spectacular, though.

"Master?"

"Yes?"

"Why are we not in the Absolute Dominion?"

That's a good question. I suppose there are good reasons besides him wanting to feel the rain on his skin.

"Because of the Knights of Passage."

"Do they not like you?"

Ah, right. I can imagine they'd be quite vexed by Apokaliptian activities. And anyone using their tech is going to be somewhat suspicious.

"Never met them. But while Father's obsession is the Anti-Life Equation, my grandfather was fixated on the Source Wall. The Knights of Passage spent a long time fighting Apokoliptian warships, and while the Absolute Dominion is a decent warship its stealth systems are pretty basic. They'd detect it, muster a fleet and come here to pick a fight."

Even if the Renegade doesn't want one, he'd probably have a hard time convincing them of that.

"The Pax Lex, perhaps?"

"Lex is doing something with it. Besides, it's not exactly roomy. And we can just open a boom tube home whenever we like."

I expect most of Lex's ships are more like space-going submarines in terms of comfort. I hope they at least have artificial gravity and inertial dampening...

Iname huddles up a little more.

"Iname, it's rain. I know that the material parts of your costume can get waterlogged, but it can't actually hurt you."

Heh. I bet she hates feeling like a drowned rat, then. Her pigtails must take forever to dry out...

Persuader lowers her head to look at her. "Don't you have a helmet?"

"…no. Master, what are we here to see?"

Can't enjoy big fluffy pigtails in a helmet, after all.

"We're here to go to and fro on the earth, and walk up and down on it." I stride forwards, water running down my face. My skin is sensitive enough to the feel of it on me, but… Heh, it can't even make me feel cold.

"That isn't very helpful, Master."

Pity his subordinates haven't got the same level of natural resistance.

"Feel the unformed firmament as a god, Iname. Extend your metaphysique into it, become a part of it. What does it feel like?"

She peers up at the sky for a moment, then takes a deeper than usual breath. Life To Death

Heh, so Goth that even her power focuses on the dying of things...

I notice as Persuader tries to copy her. Most of her lessons with Knockout have focused on physical manifestation; how to magnify her physical abilities in combat with her innate magics. Knockout… Well, there's no reason why Granny Goodness would have taught her things like that, and she isn't really the sort to take the initiative on intellectual or spiritual matters. But… To Destroy

And of course Persuader focuses on destruction. Plenty of that around here, certainly.

I make a blade of my hand and stab it downwards into the rock, fracturing the layer of settled debris and reaching the harder rock beneath. Ah, not eroded away enough to make soil. It's going to be easier to import soil…

"I feel…" Iname looks in the direction of the nearest ocean. "Something… Barely alive. In the sea."

Proto-lifeforms, then. Not advanced enough to feel more than the basic drives.

"Ah, good." I nod. "Simple plankton, probably. Anything else?"
Death To Life
Her eyes widen slightly, her grip on her umbrella loosening. "Yes… There used to be… More. An ecosystem." She shivers, and while she may not be as tough as me I don't believe for a moment that it's from the cold. "And now it's all gone."

Presumably by the 'orbital impact' that produced all this atmospheric disturbance. The stuff Hinon commented on. I'd be worried about something having been buried here, maybe.

Persuader abandons her own… Honestly, it looks like she's trying to force out a fart. And puts her left hand on Iname's left shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Iname blinks. "Hm?"

Good to see concern between them. It's only natural that Persuader would have trouble with the more spiritual aspects, given that her own expression of godhood seems to be destruction and division.

"You kinda spaced out a bit."

"I've never felt an cycle that's been severed like.. this…" She looks to where the umbrella is hanging loose from her hand as the rain flows freely over her. "Huh. You were right, Master."

That must be quite an experience for her, death on that scale. Practically the death of a world, forcing it to start over again.

"It has been known to happen. Nothing left, then?"

She shakes her head, frowning. "But… There is magic here. I can feel that. It… Doesn't feel like Earth."

Well, that happens when a global extinction happens. I suppose in a million years, things would settle back down.

I nod. "It won't. Earth's special. Still, it doesn't feel as weak as Vega, does it?" She shakes her head. "Could you get a feel for the planet itself?"

"No, Master. It's too slow."

Too big for her inexperienced senses, eh? To big, too slow... Such is geology.

"That's why we call it a geographic timescale. Persuader?"

"Ah… Maybe? I think… Something wasn't destroyed here."

The worry is if she's feeling something other than the planet itself...

"The planet is mostly in one piece, though it's nice to know it's not on a delayed collapse."

"No, like… Something got hit real hard, but they decided not to hit it hard enough to kill it."

Which means the Renegade is going to have to bat cleanup for whoever they were, more than likely...

Hm. Alright. "Any idea who? Or what they hit?"

She shrugs, shaking her head. "Uh-uh-uh?"

Ah, yes. The teenager's reply of confoundedness. When they don't want to just say 'I don't know.'

"Anything at all?" She shakes her head again. "Okay, I'm going to schedule you some more god-power usage lessons. I'm not annoyed at your progress, but it's an area it would be helpful if you improved."

"Fine. What about you?"

"Let's have a look." Be Raised Up In My Sight

If anything, the better she is at applying them, the more easily she'll be able to do her part for him.

It takes a moment for my vision to settle, but just as it did for Equestria I see what this planet could become. Places where rivers will flow when the storm systems stabilise. Places for mining, places for farming, places for industry, ship-building… And more to the point, I feel no resistance to it. Because… There's no one here, presumably. No world-sphere of predetermined ideas providing inertia. That… Could be interesting for future colonisation sites, but for now… It's probably easier to go with what we know.

Nothing on a human level of perception, anyway. Even to a New God, it might feel like a blank slate...

Wouldn't want to waste a place like this on the Citizenry, not while-.

…

While…

...There might be something here with a prior claim, if only by occupation.

I frown at Persuader and Iname. "Did you feel that?"

Persuader shrugs, while Iname frowns. "I felt you envelope the whole world, Master. Was there something else?"

Joy of their less-developed and differently-specialised senses.

"I thought there was. Maybe… Something left over from when this planet actually had living things on it. Didn't get a… Bearing…"

"Is it a problem, Master?"

That suggests it's deeper inside the planet? Or is so pervasive that it's literally everywhere...

"Probably not, but I need to look into it anyway." Probably impact point is… That way. Mother Box?

Ping.

"All right, dear. I'll even dry you out in transit..." Hopefully they can make anything of it besides 'giant plain that's hard to identify as a crater.' Especially if it happened long enough ago that everything's settled.

I look at the space where a boom tube hasn't appeared.

"Mother Box?"

… Ping.

"...Yes, Dear, I know. I appear to be experiencing... Difficulties." Well, that's not good.

"Ah." Persuader hefts her axe. "We stuck?"

I nod. "Looks like. Don't use that on Mother Box."

Ping.

"I second that sentiment whole-heartedly!" I doubt a Mother Box or Father Box would respond well to percussive maintenance anyway.

"Yeah, obviously." She slashes downwards, a green line forming-.

BOOOMPF!

The slash collapses explosively, sending Persuader flying across the mountainside! She manages to dig the axe half in to arrest her movement, but she's clearly surprised.

Well, that's a strike against the place's suitability. Can't teleport on or off at all? Suspicious.

As am I.

"Well. This just got interesting."

Hopefully whatever causing that is something he can easily punch into submission.

Peculiar and worrying. You can teleport here, but not teleport away? Strikes me as some manner of honey trap, then. Like a planetary pitcher plant designed to attract visitors only to consume them somehow... I'm getting the feeling that impact event was something being imprisoned here. And if the episode title is any hint, it's something tied to Fear... That isn't Parallax, anyway.

Duke Long · 2026-02-18T07:18:43+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"Probably not, but I need to look into it anyway." Probably impact point it… That way. Mother Box?

Either I'm failing to understand this paragraph or there's something wrong with it.

Mr Zoat · 2026-02-18T08:34:24+0000

Duke Long said:
Either I'm failing to understand this paragraph or there's something wrong with it.

Just this once, it's not you.

Agumentic · 2026-02-18T09:34:05+0000

Mr Zoat said:
She manages to dig the axe half in to arrest her movement

Haft?

DAT_NOOB · 2026-02-18T10:14:29+0000

Man Hinon must really dislike grayven

CTrees · 2026-02-18T10:40:51+0000

He still has power rings. No attempt to just fly off the planet?

Chaoswind · 2026-02-18T10:59:08+0000

Anyone has any idea about the knights of passage?

Are they an expy or canon to DC?

Also anything pertinent from the backstory of Yuga Khan that can be involved in this planet getting fucked? Maybe he punched an underling so hard it killed the planet and sealed the underling and this gave the planet its magic?

Checks episode name...

Is Parallax sealed in this shithole?

Dur'id the Druid · 2026-02-18T11:49:41+0000

So sleepy cthulu? Something eldritch? Resting place of the blacklight entity?

Darko · 2026-02-18T12:06:00+0000

CTrees said:
He still has power rings. No attempt to just fly off the planet?

This is one if the planets that Hinon gave them so he may as well investigate it.

Chaoswind said:
Anyone has any idea about the knights of passage?

Are they an expy or canon to DC?

Also anything pertinent from the backstory of Yuga Khan that can be involved in this planet getting fucked? Maybe he punched an underling so hard it killed the planet and sealed the underling and this gave the planet its magic?

Checks episode name...

Is Parallax sealed in this shithole?

The Knights are apparently a creation of Zoat.

And Parallax is in the GLC Central Battery fighting Ion.

GigaVanguard · 2026-02-18T12:16:41+0000

Mr Zoat said:
She peers up at the sky for a moment, then takes a deeper than usual breath. Life To Death

Well. Don't I feel a bit stupid now. I hadn't made the thematic connection between "Iname is Misa Misa" and "Inami is a Next Goddess of Death", or at least if I did then I forgot.

WereDragon · 2026-02-18T12:21:37+0000

Mr Zoat said:
20th August 2013
10:50 GMT -7

To no ones surprise the State Executioner and the Pet Murderblender are not terribly well suited to scientific exploration.

Also to no ones surprise there is something problematic here that Hinon didn't bother to mention.

Attention Counting · 2026-02-18T12:41:13+0000

WereDragon said:
Also to no ones surprise there is something problematic here that Hinon didn't bother to mention.

Or didn't notice, which is worse considering she is an experienced Maltusian eons old. I reckon something serious is obfuscating itself.

NightmareWarden · 2026-02-18T12:43:36+0000

Mr Zoat said:
She peers up at the sky for a moment, then takes a deeper than usual breath. Life To Death

Mr Zoat said:
"Ah, good." I nod. "Simple plankton, probably. Anything else?"
Death To Life

Mr Zoat said:
Let's have a look." Be Raised Up In My Sight

It takes a moment for my vision to settle, but just as it did for Equestria I see what this planet could become. Places where rivers will flow when the storm systems stabilise. Places for mining, places for farming, places for industry, ship-building… And more to the point, I feel no resistance to it. Because… There's no one here, presumably. No world-sphere of predetermined ideas providing inertia. That… Could be interesting for future colonisation sites, but for now… It's probably easier to go with what we know.

Wouldn't want to waste a place like this on the Citizenry, not while-.
…

While…

Hidden text.

Steelplaza · 2026-02-18T13:08:48+0000

DAT_NOOB said:
Man Hinon must really dislike grayven

WereDragon said:
Also to no ones surprise there is something problematic here that Hinon didn't bother to mention.

Attention Counting said:
Or didn't notice, which is worse considering she is an experienced Maltusian eons old.

Just to be clear, one of Hinon's two major concerns about this planet was "Because there are so many unknowns". She talked a lot more about the pilgrims to the Source Wall because that's something where she knows what is happening.

But the planet itself is unknown unknowns and she admitted it.

Mr Zoat · 2026-02-18T13:16:29+0000

Agumentic said:
Haft?

Thank you, corrected.

CTrees said:
He still has power rings. No attempt to just fly off the planet?

Having just observed what happened to Persuader, he doesn't particularly want to risk his rings. Plus, he's not feeling actively threatened.

BartlettMagic · 2026-02-18T14:16:34+0000

Mr Zoat said:
rain pelting down from a storm-encrusted sky The atmosphere...

missing a full stop

Mr Zoat said:
"I felt you envelope the whole world,

drop the ending 'e' to envelop the meaning you intend

Steelplaza · 2026-02-18T15:53:21+0000

So I was going back to look up Persuader's previous appearances. (Not many!)

Mr Zoat said:
"I want to study your god-powers. Given how you've described the process of getting it, it sounds like the closest analogue to getting a cutie mark or becoming an alicorn. And since-. Actually, are you going to Awaken Persuader?"

"Not any time soon. I'm actually curious if a human can trigger the process without someone external forcing it."

This is pretty interesting. Did she end up triggering an Awakening on her own?

I might have missed it because searching for "Persuader" brings up an awful lot of posts that used "Persuade", and not all her appearances use "Elise".

Also I had not remembered that she's a (near) sociopathic murderer who killed her gym teacher because someone paid her to do it. Imane might actually be the more moral of the two; at least she theoretically only kills "bad people" even if she's also happy to define "bad people" as "including anyone Grayven wants dead".

Mr Zoat · 2026-02-18T17:00:32+0000

BartlettMagic said:
missing a full stop
drop the ending 'e' to envelop the meaning you intend

Thank you, corrected.

Steelplaza said:
This is pretty interesting. Did she end up triggering an Awakening on her own?

No. But that's at least in part because I forgot that I wrote that.

RoninSword · 2026-02-18T22:22:01+0000

Darko said:
And Parallax is in the GLC Central Battery fighting Ion.

Seeing as how Parallax wasn't in the GLC in the first place (no yellow weakness), why shove it into the GLC when they had it asleep in storage in the first place?

Mr Zoat · 2026-02-19T06:15:57+0000

20th August 2013
10:50 GMT -7

Persuader stares at her axe. "The fuck?" "Work properly!"

I hold out my right hand in a 'stop' sign. "Don't do-."

BOOOMPF!

"That." I amble over to where Persuader is lying on her back. "Persuader, I know that Knockout is very much in favour-" I offer her my right hand. She takes it, and I pull her upright. "-of beating lessons into a person's head, but that isn't the only way that you're allowed to learn."

"Right. Yeah. So what's wrong with my axe?"

"I don't know." Scan the thing… Arm Loyal Vassal

No errors detected.

I shrug. "Seems fine to me. Does it feel strange?"

Persuader looks are it carefully. "My hands kinda hurt."

"Oh!" Iname zips in, purple healing ray in hand. "Do you-?"

"It's fine, really." Persuader waves her off. "It's just bruising. Can I still cut..? Regular stuff?"

I shrug. "It's tied to your bloodline. I can't test it for you." I bend down and pick up a rock. "Ready?"

She nods, and I gently toss it towards her in the easily predictable arc which I've mastered playing French Cricket with my children. While I do have better reactions and coordination than they do, it's basically impossible to protect my legs with a bat that-

Persuader swings, slicing the rock neatly in two.

-small.

I nod. "Okay, good. Regular cutting is fine, spatial cutting is not."

"So, what now?"

"Now?" I turn away and start walking in the direction of the probable impact point. "Now we've got five hours before Jean's alarm goes off and she makes enquiries as to our location. Maybe seven before a ship turns up. So as long as you've brought water and a snack, you should be fine."

Persuader looks up at the clouds again. "I think water's covered."

"Persuader, nutrient packs are a standard survival item included with those E.D.F. belts that we-."

"Yeah, I-." She slumps slightly "It's a perfect size for my phone, so I just take it out and put the phone in."

"By the Source, you're a teenager. Iname-."

"I have many pockets, Master." She points. "My phone goes here-" She points to a pouch on her abdomen. "-and my snack goes here." She points to a pouch on her side."

I nod. "Well prepared. Persuader, if you want a phone pouch then we can just make one for you. It's not complicated, but getting cut off from resupply-." She mutters something. "I beg your pardon?"

"I just-. I bet the Justice League sidekicks don't have a snack pouch. It sounds lame."

"Lame-? Okay, for one, Kid Flash most certainly used to have a snack pouch because otherwise he'd starve to death. And I'm pretty sure that Robin did too. And Robin had his communication system strapped to his arm. Now, if you're quite finished..?"

She nods. I suspect that she rolled her eyes, but her eye guards make it difficult to tell.

"Right. The only interesting feature on this planet is the impact crater, so that's where we're going in the meantime. Start walking, girls."

I stride across the rain-slick ground, Persuader and Iname just behind me.

"Master, I can run there?"

"I know. But if this is the action of a hostile party, I don't want you turning up on your own."

"Then why not use your power rings?"

"They're a bit less resilient than the atomic axe. Also, they glow, and power ring constructs are remotely detectable far more easily than passive usage is. Similarly, I'm not doing bounding leaps because seismic sensors could pick that up easily."

"So what is it, Master?"

"I don't know. A stronger New God could prevent a boom tube opening, if their nature aligned with the action and they had the right equipment. I'm slightly concerned that my brother Orion might have set something up, but that would require him to know in advance that we would be here and I can't think of a reason for Hinon to stab us in the back like that. Plus, he's not patient. If this was an ambush, he'd be here already."

Iname frowns thoughtfully. "Maybe he doesn't like rain?"

"Ah… I doubt that's an issue, but I can't say that I've ever actually asked him. Mother Box, make a note."

"Ping?"

"Are you busy?"

"Ping."

"Right. The possibility that I'm actually worried about is it being my grandfather. It shouldn't be; I checked a couple of weeks ago and he was still on the Source Wall, but he could definitely do that."

Persuader nods. "Is he worse than your dad?"

I nod emphatically. "Oh heck yes. Take away the Omega Force and Anti-Life Equation and my father is just a mildly enhanced guy. Either of you could kill him. My grandfather doesn't need external power sources."

"Knockout hasn't mentioned him."

I flap my right hand. "He overreached and got stuck on the Source Wall long before she was born. Father doesn't talk about him much. But it's almost certainly not him, because you don't come back from the Source Wall. And… It shouldn't be as easy for a New God to stop the atomic axe as it is to stop a boom tube. I honestly have no idea how that thing works. Which… Means that this is probably something else."

"Master… Is it something to do with why this planet has magic?"

"It shouldn't have anything to do with that, because I can't think of anything that would bind a piece of the material universe to the Dream and block exotic transportation methods. But as of right now I suspect that it does."

It is strange. The only thing I can think… Of-.

I look downwards. "I'm a fool. The planet's thaumosphere is blank. If this planet because thaumically active early in its life like Earth did, there would have been an impression made by the existing plants and animals. And it would linger. That means that it only became thaumically active after it was devastated."

Persuader nods. "Okay. So does that tell us what did it? Like… Did something magical just hit the planet really hard and make it magical?"

"Ah… I doubt it but I can't rule it out. The amount of magic that you'd need in order to force a connection like that is… Huge. We're not talking about tearing apart one big elemental or something. This is… Odd."

"But we can kill it, right?"

"Persuader." I frown at her. "Of course we can kill it."

Darko · 2026-02-19T06:20:59+0000

Mr Zoat said:
abdomen. "-and my snack goes here." She points to a pouch on her side."

Remove the " at the end.

Mr Zoat said:
But it's almost certainly not him, because you don't come back from the Source Wall

He did come back in the comics.

Mr Zoat said:
planet because thaumically active early in

"planet became"

Bigreader · 2026-02-19T06:28:32+0000

My guess is, it's the fifth dimensional impose name he said

Silverias · 2026-02-19T06:44:11+0000

Maybe -THIS- is where the starheart landed.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-02-19T06:59:28+0000

Mr Zoat said:
20th August 2013
10:50 GMT -7

Persuader stares at her axe. "The fuck?" "Work properly!"

I hold out my right hand in a 'stop' sign. "Don't do-."

BOOOMPF!

Sometimes you have to let them make their own mistakes, Renegade. Pain can be a better teacher than words. Especially for teenagers, who typically haven't learned they aren't indestructible yet...

"That." I amble over to where Persuader is lying on her back. "Persuader, I know that Knockout is very much in favour-" I offer her my right hand. She takes it, and I pull her upright. "-of beating lessons into a person's head, but that isn't the only way that you're allowed to learn."

And I'm sure getting blown up repeatedly isn't that much fun.

"Right. Yeah. So what's wrong with my axe?"

"I don't know." Scan the thing… Arm Loyal Vassal

Tricky, given it's 30th-Century technology, and who knows what stable but batshit crazy schizo-tech humanity has gained in that time?

No errors detected.

I shrug. "Seems fine to me. Does it feel strange?"

Nothing changed about the axe, then. Check the person, then the environment?

Persuader looks are it carefully. "My hands kinda hurt."

"Oh!" Iname zips in, purple healing ray in hand. "Do you-?"

Better make sure the polarity is set the right way. Wonder if her god-senses give her any interesting sensations when she uses it either way, given her eagerness.

"It's fine, really." Persuader waves her off. "It's just bruising. Can I still cut..? Regular stuff?"

I shrug. "It's tied to your bloodline. I can't test it for you." I bend down and pick up a rock. "Ready?"

Also something worth testing, I guess. It'll help eliminate the axe as the issue.

She nods, and I gently toss it towards her in the easily predictable arc which I've mastered playing French Cricket with my children. While I do have better reactions and coordination than they do, it's basically impossible to protect my legs with a bat that-

Persuader swings, slicing the rock neatly in two.

-small.

Huh, never knew that as a thing. And I can see exactly why his feet are an easy target... Unless he used an extra-long bat, I suppose. And that would hardly be fair to the kids.

I nod. "Okay, good. Regular cutting is fine, spatial cutting is not."

"So, what now?"

So she can kill just about anything that doesn't require any exotic methods to cut. I suspect she'll have to at some point.

"Now?" I turn away and start walking in the direction of the probable impact point. "Now we've got five hours before Jean's alarm goes off and she makes enquiries as to our location. Maybe seven before a ship turns up. So as long as you've brought water and a snack, you should be fine."

Well, at least they'll have someone to come looking for them. Hopefully Jean will be smart enough to open the portal without stepping through and send a comm-signal first.

Persuader looks up at the clouds again. "I think water's covered."

"Persuader, nutrient packs are a standard survival item included with those E.D.F. belts that we-."

Plus, I don't think you want to try drinking that water without checking for any nasty trace chemicals. Ancient Earth supposedly had some vicious chemistry in early weather and I doubt this planet will be any different...

"Yeah, I-." She slumps slightly "It's a perfect size for my phone, so I just take it out and put the phone in."

"By the Source, you're a teenager. Iname-."

...To be fair, I get that. I buy good cargo shorts based on how my mobile fits into the leg pocket...

"I have many pockets, Master." She points. "My phone goes here-" She points to a pouch on her abdomen. "-and my snack goes here." She points to a pouch on her side.

I nod. "Well prepared. Persuader, if you want a phone pouch then we can just make one for you. It's not complicated, but getting cut off from resupply-." She mutters something. "I beg your pardon?"

Heck, a proper phone pouch can be given enough armour and padding to prevent stuff like cracked screens, I would bet.

"I just-. I bet the Justice League sidekicks don't have a snack pouch. It sounds lame."

"Lame-? Okay, for one, Kid Flash most certainly used to have a snack pouch because otherwise he'd starve to death. And I'm pretty sure that Robin did too. And Robin had his communication system strapped to his arm. Now, if you're quite finished..?"

Don't forget that said communication device was incorporated into an armoured bracer. The delicate bits would have been on the inner parts of the arm to avoid damage while fighting.

She nods. I suspect that she rolled her eyes, but her eye guards make it difficult to tell.

"Right. The only interesting feature on this planet is the impact crater, so that's where we're going in the meantime. Start walking, girls."

Hopefully it's not that far. Otherwise they could be in for a trek. I would assume they'd have touched down within a five minute walk of it.

I stride across the rain-slick ground, Persuader and Iname just behind me.

"Master, I can run there?"

"I know. But if this is the action of a hostile party, I don't want you turning up on your own."

Better to move slowly in a group than run headlong into a trap alone.

"Then why not use your power rings?"

"They're a bit less resilient than the atomic axe. Also, they glow, and power ring constructs are remotely detectable far more easily than passive usage is. Similarly, I'm not doing bounding leaps because seismic sensors could pick that up easily."

It'd be a bit rough for Persuader to hitch a ride if he did that too, since she probably wouldn't have nearly as much leg power for her own bounding run.

"So what is it, Master?"

"I don't know. A stronger New God could prevent a boom tube opening, if their nature aligned with the action and they had the right equipment. I'm slightly concerned that my brother Orion might have set something up, but that would require him to know in advance that we would be here and I can't think of a reason for Hinon to stab us in the back like that. Plus, he's not patient. If this was an ambush, he'd be here already."

Yeah, Orion is not that subtle. If he came after the Renegade, it would be public, loud and violent. Probably steaming full speed in his astro-harness out of a boom tube, beams blazing as soon as he had the Renegade in sight..

Iname frowns thoughtfully. "Maybe he doesn't like rain?"

"Ah… I doubt that's an issue, but I can't say that I've ever actually asked him. Mother Box, make a note."

"Ping?"

"Really? You want me to write that down..?" I can just feel the eyeroll from here.

"Are you busy?"

"Ping."

"I don't appreciate statements like that. I'm quite sure the issue is not my fault." And then the Box equivalent of a low-lidded stare. You know the kind.

"Right. The possibility that I'm actually worried about is it being my grandfather. It shouldn't be; I checked a couple of weeks ago and he was still on the Source Wall, but he could definitely do that."

Persuader nods. "Is he worse than your dad?"

How fortunately timed. Doesn't preclude alternate-reality fuckery, though...

I nod emphatically. "Oh heck yes. Take away the Omega Force and Anti-Life Equation and my father is just a mildly enhanced guy. Either of you could kill him. My grandfather doesn't need external power sources."

"Knockout hasn't mentioned him."

I wouldn't call that wall of beef 'mildly-enhanced'. He probably has much the same level of physical might as the Renegade does...

I flap my right hand. "He overreached and got stuck on the Source Wall long before she was born. Father doesn't talk about him much. But it's almost certainly not him, because you don't come back from the Source Wall. And… It shouldn't be as easy for a New God to stop the atomic axe as it is to stop a boom tube. I honestly have no idea how that thing works. Which… Means that this is probably something else."

Don't be too sure about that, Renegade. The Source has its own plots and agendas, so if releasing someone from its bondage will further one of them, it would do so.

"Master… Is it something to do with why this planet has magic?"

"It shouldn't have anything to do with that, because I can't think of anything that would bind a piece of the material universe to the Dream and block exotic transportation methods. But as of right now I suspect that it does."

And almost certainly tied to the crater. I expect there'll be something of note at the center.

It is strange. The only thing I can think… Of-.

I look downwards. "I'm a fool. The planet's thaumosphere is blank. If this planet became thaumically active early in its life like Earth did, there would have been an impression made by the existing plants and animals. And it would linger. That means that it only became thaumically active after it was devastated."

Yes, you are a fool. If you'd stopped to consider it before you dove in with both feet, you wouldn't have your feet metaphorically stuck in the bottom right now.

Persuader nods. "Okay. So does that tell us what did it? Like… Did something magical just hit the planet really hard and make it magical?"

"Ah… I doubt it but I can't rule it out. The amount of magic that you'd need in order to force a connection like that is… Huge. We're not talking about tearing apart one big elemental or something. This is… Odd."

So, starting to feel a little worried yet?

"But we can kill it, right?"

"Persuader." I frown at her. "Of course we can kill it."

...Okay, I know he kind of has to talk himself up to maintain his godly Narrative advantage here, but seriously, he must be sweating under there just a little.

Well, I guess they've got a bit of a hike over wet, boring terrain ahead of them. So unless something happens, I expect we'll cut away soon. Anyone got any ideas as to what this could be? Some manner of buried entity cast down from somewhere seems the most likely one, but who and where becomes the question...

Frankly, I'm stumped...

BR549 · 2026-02-19T07:05:27+0000

I'm also taking a wild guess that this is Mxy's doing, because you don't just mention his name - especially as derogatorarily as Grayven did - and get away with it without some sort of shenanigans happening.

Duke Long · 2026-02-19T07:10:14+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Persuader looks are it carefully. "My hands kinda hurt."

'at'

NightmareWarden · 2026-02-19T07:57:35+0000

Silverias said:
Maybe -THIS- is where the starheart landed.

I'm wondering if it could have been that super-Tamaranean escaped experiment, X'Hal. She could have been a super-Tamaranean AND a goddess on top of that, in which case she'd be magical.

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