Okay, not immediately hostile, but that much darkness is a bad thing. Better to restrain him ASAP, and check him over for the gooey stuff. I have no doubt this is related to their investigation, after all. Perhaps Batman called him and Barda in...
Oh, that's not concerning at all, noooo... Looks like something's causing a feedback loop in his Godname.So, his Godhead just told OL to fuck off with that 'poking around' shit? A little more active than we've seen before.
Not sure a good dose of Life is going to help here, Doctor. This might not be something you can just burn out like a cancer.
Oh, god, no. Do not let Anti-Life anywhere near the Life Entity's energies.
Ooh, she's never seen the ludicrously over-engineered metaphysical structure of a New God, has she? It'd be like a caveman looking at a printed circuit: Shiny and pretty, but incomprehensible...
Not the smartest idea to go poking around in something you don't understand, but this is an emergency.
Something to goose him out of this logical short-circuit he's in? Could work, cloud get you stabbed.
Interesting. The infection is a targetted attack on... His reluctance to embrace his Godhead? And OL making him want to follow his role has removed it's attachment points?
So, if he wants to not have this stuff ripping him up, he's going to have to live up to his Godname.
The infection is self-replicating? Or it's rooted to him and bubbling up out of his reluctance...
Yeah, that's not good. Definitely going to have to keep him altered, or he'll be infecting everyone he goes near.
A clever idea. Not inserting new desires, but reshaping the ones he has to be... More resistant to the infection.
Ah, looks like OL managed to force him to reboot his Godly self and purge the infection. Like a divine version of Wholeness Rightly Assumed.
You're welcome, by the way. So don't get pissed about him poking around in your souls.
At least they've got a nice big sample to examine now.
Because Enlightenment reframes what it says into nonsense.
...Oh, crap.
So... My analogy of a sledgehammer and a scalpel is more apt than I thought. Or in this case, a ballista bolt versus a poisoned senbon needle.
I can see him being a little embarrassed about having someone who's practically a stranger look into his soul that deeply.
Hence the 'hamster wheel' comments his Godspeech was making. And yes, people can be surprisingly complacent when they find themself in a place that's comfortable.
...As thoroughly as you could check it. Really have to work on the arcane side of things, you know. A simple 'Is this magic? Yes/no?' runestone is looking kind of sub-par at this level.
Yeah, you're realising you need to learn how, aren't you?
So, there's going to be a rescue mission involved, very soon.
My money is still on Doctor Impossible. He's actively encountered OL, and had his schemes disrupted. I could see him targetting Earth in revenge because 'Fuck the Orange Man.'
I mean, it's the obvious option, but that is Scot's guess. I'm sure some of the big guy's followers have been doing research into Anti-Life on their Master's orders. He can't do it all Himself, after all.
Yeah, the sooner you get that shit out of his less-well-protected soul, the better. Especially if it's designed to target the very thing that powers him.
No, from what I understand, he gave Scott the desire to free himself.
No, Scott got rid of them.
Nope, once Scott was awake again his own powers of Freedom wiped clean the deliberately unnatural changes Paul made.
lol no: It takes a lot more than a bit of Orange Light to permanently change a New God.
It amuses me greatly that LePaul actually thought his mind control could trump the very concept of Freedom.
Strictly speaking, Wholeness Rightly Assumed was already based on Titanic magic from the same setting as Renegade has been drawing New God inspiration from.Ah, looks like OL managed to force him to reboot his Godly self and purge the infection. Like a divine version of Wholeness Rightly Assumed.
'seriously'
Apparently freest is a word. Weird.
My best guesses are she was kidnapped by someone who realized what she had, she realized something was wrong and decided to try something similar to what her counterpart in Tangseid's universe did, or she's already dead.
Comma instead of semicolon.
Why do you think he thought that he could? He certainly didn't want to cause significant changes; you'll note how much care he took to avoid doing anything that would be contrary to Scott's nature. He was only doing what he thought he had to in order to save him from Anti-Life -- and it only worked because it agreed with the Anti-Life infection. That is to say, Anti-Life was telling Scott that Freedom wasn't good enough, which meant Scott's metaphysique found relief in having its own Freedom overridden by external control. But that also meant that the manipulation the Anti-Life was whispering wasn't effective anymore, weakening its grip on Scott, which let Doctor Mist drain it away.
He probably could, but why would he want to?
Thank you, corrected.
No, the Godspeech was all from Scott Free and his Anti Life infection, the Desire injection merely short circuited things so a different result was broadcasted.
I thought Zatara's magic got stronger after he was possessed by Nabu?
Becoming part of the 1% strongest magic users can still put you well below the top 0.1%.
Not a pretty idea, is it? I mean, every person has darkness in their soul, things they refuse to acknowledge, which is probably what this stuff is latching on to. Hiding in the places within oneself that you would never look of your own accord... It's insidious. It's genius. And it's entirely monstrous...
On it's own? Probably nothing. But it gives someone else a hook into you, that they could tug on, and...
True, the master of the stuff is probably able to monitor those touched by it. Probably not passively, but I bet they're watching OL very closely, given his track record.
Oh, that does not make this scenario play out any better... At least it's only a partial sample.
Yeah, that's how you ended up in your position, after all. The doubt, not the Anti-Life.
And stop the opponent from turning you against your allies... Because I have no doubt that if the unknown master of this stuff tugged on it, everyone infected would fall in line with their will.
Yeah, New God technology has a lot more metaphysical horsepower than anything short of the Life Entity itself. I don't fancy that any Earthly defence could resist a concerted attack for long.
Oh, is that a amused 'would we even notice?' glance or a worried 'how strongly were they able to affect him?' glance, I wonder.
Of course, you saying that doesn't prove anything. If someone was controlling you, they could tell you to say that...
But, if they could target one person at a time and take control long enough for them to disrupt an attack...
Indeed, Darkseid is not one for subtlety, especially when coming in His capacity as an invading Tyrant. No, this may not be Him, but He's almost certainly holding the leash of the one who is...
Ha, even he knows Canis would be crowing about it from the rooftops.
...Well, that was anti-climactic. Though no doubt very conditional.
So if it's hooked into someone, their own soul will act as protection for the globs...
That would be a mind-fuck, wouldn't it? Letting them think they've dealt with it, only to discover it right back where it was...
...All signs point to 'No.' After all, you're only human. This stuff is forged by a god.
Though it's certainly going to be a dramatic attempt.
Ow. That would feel unpleasant as. Probably like having someone scrape their fingernails down the chalkboard of your soul...
Not enough metaphorical horsepower. He's a Ferrari trying to outpull a tank.
Don't be ashamed of failing. At least you tried, and confirmed it's there.
Yeah, even with a tap to Order Magic, he's not got a lot of flow-through. He's more suited to precision work.
...And warn the bad guys you're coming. Yeah. That's a hard nope.
Like injecting something into someone. You're not gonna be able to suck it back out once it's dispersed...
Just be honest with them: A dark God's followers tried to manipulate their systems into setting up an army of blindly-loyal slaves...
A New God... Or something with similar traits. And as BR549 pointed out earlier, Anita Fite is still missing...
And hope that nothing goes badly wrong in Hub City...
No Jinx....as he watches the glowing ball of magic...
Then both Dr. Balewa's spell and the mist are both gone.
Alan nods. "Apparently, I'm infected too. Take your best shot."
Mr. Zatara keeps up his effort for several seconds...
