Ngamer11
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That happened in Episode 131: Jet Fighter.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- Tags
- self insert young justice
Hellish Content (part 3)
Mr Zoat
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Day 3
14th March 2013
11:20 GMT
The reality of the man matches the statues, though as I'm led towards the surprisingly simple seat where Colin 'Satanus' Thornton sits I can't help but think there's something a little off about them. And wasn't that a surprise, learning that a Lord of Hell has an amazing double life as a media mogul. Lex had been keeping an eye on him for some time and while he deduced that he was a magic user he apparently found out that he was literally a demon by chance when someone spilled some salt on the ground and he couldn't cross the spill. Satanus has artistically bulging but not binding muscles, polished black metal and leather apparel with gold-. No, orichalcum decoration, and…
No. Compared to the statues-.
He's made himself larger. He enlarged the seat too, but not the dais. I can see the marks on the floor where it usually sits. Did he do that so that I don't loom over him quite so much? I suppose that an emissary being sent who looks more powerful than your current overlord is a strategy that the First could use to undermine him, but unlike most people down here he's certain to know who I am. How I work. So he grew himself for the benefit of his people?
"Lord Satanus, I present Grayven, God of Conquest and emissary of the First of the Fallen."
"Be welcome, Grayven. Would you care for refreshment?"
"Thank you, Lord Satanus. It would be the civil thing to do. Alas, I am bound for a month and since I do not need to eat, civility is barred to me. I do appreciate the offer, however."
"Bound? You are no demon."
"No, but my word is my bond regardless. The First has tasked me with discovering ways to improve his realm and its people."
Satanus leans forwards slightly, the glowing ovals of his eyes widening.
"Yes, that was my first thought, too. And I imagine that my second was much the same as yours."
"That it's obviously a scheme."
I shrug. "Everything always is. But he has something I need, and I'm pretty sure that my soul goes to the Source when I die whatever I do, so I can stand using my talents for him for a little while."
He nods, relaxing back into his seat. "And what is my part in this?"
"I'd like to hear -in your own words- how you run things here and why. I will then most likely have a few questions, perhaps a few observations…" I shrug. "I can't offhand think of a way to say this isn't supposed to be a threat without making the assurance sound like a threat, but my pact with the First doesn't include fighting for him either personally or with my wider resource base."
"You're here as a conquest consultant."
"More or less."
"I'm surprised that the First's pride allowed it. That it allowed the suggestion that anyone else could have useful input."
"I'm half expecting him to read through my report and then tear it up in front of me." I shrug. "But whatever. I'll have fulfilled my part of our bargain."
"Would you like to tour my realm?"
"Depending on what I learn… Perhaps later. Since you clearly take pride in what you've achieved here, I'm happy to take your word for it."
"My study, then." I nod, and he rises to his feet. "Sergeant Wu, thank you, you and your detail are dismissed."
Wu bows and then she and her fellow soldiers about-face and march out of the audience chamber. Satanus then rises from his seat and steps down from the dais.
"This way."
The doors open at our approach as he leads me through his palace. It's well-lit, though I can't see where the light is actually coming from. The same was true outside: light filtering down from above but without an observable source. Of course this is a less physical place than the material world, but I suppose that it might be significant. But this palace…
"Do you like it?"
Devil May Cry! That's what this place reminds me of! You go through various parts of Hell -or whatever that game called it- and then your final fight with Mundus starts in a Greek temple against a three-eyes Greek statue.
"Is this real stone?"
"That would depend on what you mean by 'real'. It's not quarried from Earth and then brought here."
"I suppose that would be a bit expensive. Was it quarried locally?"
"In a manner of speaking. Purgatory was more or less formless; you're familiar with Dante's description?" I nod. "It wasn't too hard to impose form on it, taking examples from the Earth and altering the nature of this place to reflect them. I take it that you recognised the Parthenon?"
"And I thought you were simply being vainglorious."
He smirks. "Well… I could have picked something more modest, but it set the tone I was going for."
"And you made the fields in the same way."
"It was a considerable investment, but one which has paid off nicely. Purgatory's undefined neutral state means that it takes such impressions well, and the population appreciates having actual work to do."
"Sergeant Wu was a relatively recent addition to the population. I take it that you have older residents?"
"Unlike in the other circles of Hell, there was nothing here for them to interact with. As such, they stayed remarkably preserved. There's still a limit: I haven't met any soul here older than five thousand years old."
"Where does the power from their breakdown go?"
"The mists. It happens slowly, so there's no build-up in specific places."
I raise my eyebrows. "And none to you?"
"A little." He glances my way and smiles, nodding. "Most of the power I gain is from having this realm as an anchor. Ah, here we are."
He leads me inside a… Hm. A planning room. Maps of fields and mines are pinned to the walls, while reference books on farming and mining sit on a bookshelf next to books containing records of his holdings' yields.
It nice to see someone taking this seriously-.
The door closes and Satanus speaks a word that echoes oddly in my ears. A shimmering, burning rune appears on the inside of the door, sealing it shut.
Satanus shimmers, the demon lord being rapidly replaced by… A short man in a grey business suit.
"Not a surprise, then." I tilt my head to the side. "Luthor isn't as subtle as he thinks he is. I was prepared to ignore it because it makes his eventual descent here more enjoyable."
"It makes no difference to me what form you take. I haven't been retained to assess your fashion sense."
"You were serious about that then? I assumed that this was part of some scheme to kill the First, if not everyone."
"It might come to that. But that sounds like an awful lot of work, even if I was entirely successful, which is far from guaranteed. And it would just cause chaos, and the First has recovered from such injuries before."
"You're a little harder to hurt than a human magician."
"Don't underestimate Mister Constantine. But I fear we're getting off-topic. What's going on with the cybernetics?"
14th March 2013
11:20 GMT
The reality of the man matches the statues, though as I'm led towards the surprisingly simple seat where Colin 'Satanus' Thornton sits I can't help but think there's something a little off about them. And wasn't that a surprise, learning that a Lord of Hell has an amazing double life as a media mogul. Lex had been keeping an eye on him for some time and while he deduced that he was a magic user he apparently found out that he was literally a demon by chance when someone spilled some salt on the ground and he couldn't cross the spill. Satanus has artistically bulging but not binding muscles, polished black metal and leather apparel with gold-. No, orichalcum decoration, and…
No. Compared to the statues-.
He's made himself larger. He enlarged the seat too, but not the dais. I can see the marks on the floor where it usually sits. Did he do that so that I don't loom over him quite so much? I suppose that an emissary being sent who looks more powerful than your current overlord is a strategy that the First could use to undermine him, but unlike most people down here he's certain to know who I am. How I work. So he grew himself for the benefit of his people?
"Lord Satanus, I present Grayven, God of Conquest and emissary of the First of the Fallen."
"Be welcome, Grayven. Would you care for refreshment?"
"Thank you, Lord Satanus. It would be the civil thing to do. Alas, I am bound for a month and since I do not need to eat, civility is barred to me. I do appreciate the offer, however."
"Bound? You are no demon."
"No, but my word is my bond regardless. The First has tasked me with discovering ways to improve his realm and its people."
Satanus leans forwards slightly, the glowing ovals of his eyes widening.
"Yes, that was my first thought, too. And I imagine that my second was much the same as yours."
"That it's obviously a scheme."
I shrug. "Everything always is. But he has something I need, and I'm pretty sure that my soul goes to the Source when I die whatever I do, so I can stand using my talents for him for a little while."
He nods, relaxing back into his seat. "And what is my part in this?"
"I'd like to hear -in your own words- how you run things here and why. I will then most likely have a few questions, perhaps a few observations…" I shrug. "I can't offhand think of a way to say this isn't supposed to be a threat without making the assurance sound like a threat, but my pact with the First doesn't include fighting for him either personally or with my wider resource base."
"You're here as a conquest consultant."
"More or less."
"I'm surprised that the First's pride allowed it. That it allowed the suggestion that anyone else could have useful input."
"I'm half expecting him to read through my report and then tear it up in front of me." I shrug. "But whatever. I'll have fulfilled my part of our bargain."
"Would you like to tour my realm?"
"Depending on what I learn… Perhaps later. Since you clearly take pride in what you've achieved here, I'm happy to take your word for it."
"My study, then." I nod, and he rises to his feet. "Sergeant Wu, thank you, you and your detail are dismissed."
Wu bows and then she and her fellow soldiers about-face and march out of the audience chamber. Satanus then rises from his seat and steps down from the dais.
"This way."
The doors open at our approach as he leads me through his palace. It's well-lit, though I can't see where the light is actually coming from. The same was true outside: light filtering down from above but without an observable source. Of course this is a less physical place than the material world, but I suppose that it might be significant. But this palace…
"Do you like it?"
Devil May Cry! That's what this place reminds me of! You go through various parts of Hell -or whatever that game called it- and then your final fight with Mundus starts in a Greek temple against a three-eyes Greek statue.
"Is this real stone?"
"That would depend on what you mean by 'real'. It's not quarried from Earth and then brought here."
"I suppose that would be a bit expensive. Was it quarried locally?"
"In a manner of speaking. Purgatory was more or less formless; you're familiar with Dante's description?" I nod. "It wasn't too hard to impose form on it, taking examples from the Earth and altering the nature of this place to reflect them. I take it that you recognised the Parthenon?"
"And I thought you were simply being vainglorious."
He smirks. "Well… I could have picked something more modest, but it set the tone I was going for."
"And you made the fields in the same way."
"It was a considerable investment, but one which has paid off nicely. Purgatory's undefined neutral state means that it takes such impressions well, and the population appreciates having actual work to do."
"Sergeant Wu was a relatively recent addition to the population. I take it that you have older residents?"
"Unlike in the other circles of Hell, there was nothing here for them to interact with. As such, they stayed remarkably preserved. There's still a limit: I haven't met any soul here older than five thousand years old."
"Where does the power from their breakdown go?"
"The mists. It happens slowly, so there's no build-up in specific places."
I raise my eyebrows. "And none to you?"
"A little." He glances my way and smiles, nodding. "Most of the power I gain is from having this realm as an anchor. Ah, here we are."
He leads me inside a… Hm. A planning room. Maps of fields and mines are pinned to the walls, while reference books on farming and mining sit on a bookshelf next to books containing records of his holdings' yields.
It nice to see someone taking this seriously-.
The door closes and Satanus speaks a word that echoes oddly in my ears. A shimmering, burning rune appears on the inside of the door, sealing it shut.
Satanus shimmers, the demon lord being rapidly replaced by… A short man in a grey business suit.
"Not a surprise, then." I tilt my head to the side. "Luthor isn't as subtle as he thinks he is. I was prepared to ignore it because it makes his eventual descent here more enjoyable."
"It makes no difference to me what form you take. I haven't been retained to assess your fashion sense."
"You were serious about that then? I assumed that this was part of some scheme to kill the First, if not everyone."
"It might come to that. But that sounds like an awful lot of work, even if I was entirely successful, which is far from guaranteed. And it would just cause chaos, and the First has recovered from such injuries before."
"You're a little harder to hurt than a human magician."
"Don't underestimate Mister Constantine. But I fear we're getting off-topic. What's going on with the cybernetics?"
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Someguy Somewhere
The Critical Fumbler
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Back here in the story thread is where he calls the Orange Lantern Corps, informing them of anti life on earth, and gets recalled for the war with the Reach soon after.
Ngamer11
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That should say 'surprise'.
That should say 'expecting him'.
Darko
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A power move.
"more powerful"
"him to read"
"you and your"
Well technically Satanus is his actual name.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Fallen Gods Rise
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Thay should say 'Harder to hurt' I assume
Chojin Patriarch
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Nothing too demonic, of course. Don't want the rubes to twig that his ancestry is a little closer to their downstairs neighbours than they'd appreciate. Nor provoke the folks upstairs into sending some angels with plans for chastisement.
Though I doubt there are too many gathered to watch the meeting. Still, word probably spreads fast around here.
...Why am I suddenly hearing Christopher Walken in my head?
Or possibly Christian Bale.Fortunately, this place probably doesn't operate on traditional rules of Hospitality, so no offence given or privileges denied by refusing...
Oh, I can see the concern already. Any improvement downstairs might mean trouble for him.
I mean, he could honestly be sick of things as they are, and want a change.
I doubt the First is looking to expand, but if he finds out his Lords are getting extra resources from the chaff here... Well, he might be vexed.
Which is something he'd certainly understand thanks to his current mortal guise, of course. No commitment, merely a mercenary association.
Perhaps he's curious to hear what would be said, and prepared to laugh in the Renegade's face even as he pays him.
I'd be wary of traps, but the Renegade is a fairly formidable individual. It'd have to be a rather obvious and hastily assembled one.
Ah, somewhere private, where he doesn't have to maintain this appearance, eh?
Bet the size difference makes it a little more awkward, unless the dais has long steps...
Ah, it was kind of obvious that he was inspecting the architecture, eh?
...That raises all manner of amusing possibilities as to how he learned of the design.
That would be an interesting shipping docket. Imagine the delivery instructions: "Just drop it off by the oddly-too-small warehouse, the owner will see to it from there."
Presumably such structure will eventually dissolve without maintenance. Hence why the Silver City doesn't seem too concerned.
And strokes your ego in a pleasing way too, no doubt.
Could be interesting if their memories are still good. Arrange some day visits with history professors, perhaps...
Must have been boring as heck, though. I suspect his improvements include a subtle nudge to do things as if they were still alive.
Maybe he has a large-scale tap on the entire realm. It's functionally infinite, I bet.
How much of said room was as it is now before he opened the door may be uncertain, given that he noted the place is malleable.
Just a little bit of demonic magic, disguised nicely.
Direct to Purgatory, you think? I could see Hell making a raid to capture him if they learn of it, though. A mind like Luthor's would be a great assets for any Demon lord.
Oh, don't be foolish. The Renegade has just the thing for the First, but we know he got better from it.
I would not be surprised that the First went along with it because it was amusing, and had plans to recover himself quickly.
Well, good to see Satanus isn't being a completely paranoid ass about things. After all, he almost certainly has some inkling of the Renegade's link to the new Light. And of the changes they've undergone following his takeover. Still, chaos is bad for business, and I suspect Satanus' business here is doing quite well as it is. So I expect he'll play along with the Renegade, and keep watching what happens...
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Darko
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They probably already know that he's a demon.
I don't think Angels have special authority over Limbo.
Granted they technically do have authority over Hell, but Limbo is a part of Hell since Lucifer gave Satanus dominion over it.
Well if his neighbors start being smarter then his takeover may be more difficult.
I doubt it.
He's not that smart and he may have allowed the renegade to do this because he is worried that he has the Sword of the Fallen, so while the renegade is busy it allows him time to potentially find a weakness in the renegade.
Duke Long
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Maybe I'm stupid, but this sentence seems to be missing something.
'on his realm'?
'well-lit'?
'my way'
Mr Zoat
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Honestly, I don't remember. I'll change it.
Silveraith
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Whenever.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
No, that's correct. He means 'regardless of the actions I take'.
inglorius
Getting sticky.
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"Harder to herd" as "harder to control" makes complete sense to me.
Something something herding cats.
BartlettMagic
peekaboo, you fucks you!
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yes THANK you
Dur'id the Druid
Know what you're doing yet?
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It just occurred to me. Remember the earlier parts of this story when Paul made a public statement about the stupidity keeping yourself safe by banning fire because someone has nukes? That the only true way to protect yourself is to learn what the danger truthfully is?
Now that the entire world has been so hurt and rescued by entities very far up the metaphysical ladder than anyone on Earth, do you think anyone will still be trying to figure out magic? Or not develop a very large stigma about anything metaphysical?
Now that the entire world has been so hurt and rescued by entities very far up the metaphysical ladder than anyone on Earth, do you think anyone will still be trying to figure out magic? Or not develop a very large stigma about anything metaphysical?
Hellish Content (part 4)
Mr Zoat
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Day 5
16th March 2013
07:31 GMT
Neron sneers at me as his giant henchmen carry me into his presence, one holding my right arm and the other holding my left.
And then I fall towards the floor as the pair of them double over in pain. Activating my aero-discs I stabilise before I actually land, and reorientate myself so that I'm feet-downwards.
"I didn't say carry him by his arms! I said rip his arms off and then drag him before me!"
Neron stomps towards his fallen flunkies as green-black runes burn from their foreheads, hearts and… Well, there's a faint glow from their loincloths that I'm trying to ignore.
"Off! OFF! How hard is it for you stupid creatures to understand!"
I raise an interrogative finger. "Lord Neron-."
His head jerks around so that he can better glower at me. "Oh, I'll get to you."
I shrug. "It's the First's time you're wasting."
"ARMS!" He leans forwards slightly and then kicks upwards with his right leg, the demon's left shoulder exploding as he smashes its arm from its torso. "THESE THINGS!"
I knew this would happen when I started with the best, but I'm not even halfway down the list yet.
"ARMS!"
Soon enough, the spasming giants are denuded of both arms while Neron-
"Well!?"
-is still glaring at them. They can't actually respond due to him not having turned off the torture spell he's got running on them, and they're both bleeding freely from their wounds… I'm pretty sure that sort of damage would kill a human.
"Neron, they can't respond while you've-"
"I don't need your help in disciplining my slaves!"
"-got that spell running. They literally can't respond."
"I'm not shouting at them for their benefit! I'm shouting at them for the benefit of everyone in range of my voice!"
If he has nothing else to recommend him -and I'm beginning to suspect that he doesn't- Neron has a powerful set of lungs.
I smile. "This does actually remind me of the way the First acted out after being told how to kill his 'brothers'. Just wrecked his whole palace. But please, carry on. I'd like to see how strong the resemblance is."
He gurns, and I fairly obviously fail to keep my amusement from showing. That act of profound disrespect results in him getting himself under control and making a slashing motion with his right arm. The runes flare and then die, and-
"Uuuuuuuuunrrrrr…"
-they regain control of their bodies, though they might be in too much pain to really do anything with that ability. Neron strides back towards me, waving negligently at his groaning guards.
"Drag them out. And staple their arms back on."
Flunky demons who had been lurking around the corners of his throne room scurry/scuttle/slime to obey, though they're all much smaller than the objects of their attention and it looks like they're a bit confused about how they're supposed to actually carry out the order.
But Neron has already shifted his attention back to me.
"I want your arms."
"Good for you. 'May all your dreams come true but one', as the Ventrians say. And to be clear, while I am not authorised to kill any of Hell's inhabitants at will I can kill in self-defence."
"Kill me?" His demeanour changes at once. He appears to find the idea genuinely amusing. "Ha! Me… Kill-."
He thrusts his arm out to the right, and-. Green fire is everywhere! The wall explodes, and the wave of fire erupts out across his castle ground. It eats through the walls and converts them into shrapnel, through demons and converts them into carbonised skeletons or simply ash, and then out through the curtain wall into the Province of Gull.
It burns through streets, houses and markets, arcane shields flickering and failing around some of the better properties but failing moments later. It burns and spreads until a wedge of destruction has been wrought upon the unsuspecting metropolis.
"Me."
He keeps looking at me, still smiling.
Yes, killing a great swath of people far weaker than you to show off to someone who isn't interested in competing with you. What am I supposed to take away from that, exactly? That you're childish and insecure? That you have no interest in promoting your province's strength? In building at all?
"I see. Then there isn't much else to say. I suspect that I've learned… Everything useful that I can here." I land, and walk towards the coagulating stone at the edge of the blast zone. "Thank you for your time, my lord."
"Yes, go, you wretched waste of my time."
I look around for a moment and then jump, landing on a parapet that was just out of the arc of the fire.
It appears that my earlier idea about focusing work on the more powerful demons was misguided to say the least. I failed to take their arrogance into account. Top end demons aren't going to be interested in service jobs because there isn't anything that can 'pay' them a meaningful amount. Satanus's human heritage lets him bypass the normal limits on demons getting to Earth and staying there, but for the others…
They don't have the same needs that mortals do, even if their drives are fairly similar. I think it was in… Hellblazer, where the First remarked that angels and demons have just enough free will to occasionally wonder what the point of that sort of existence is. With nothing to work towards, they become childish and self-destructive.
But weaker demons… They need to cooperate. They need to overcome their instincts and cooperate because they can't get through the day without each other.
I glance upwards as I hear the work crew manage to slide one of the giants a short distance across the stone floor.
I activate my aero-discs again as the still-burning fire eats one of the supports beneath the parapet I'm standing on and causes it to crumble into rubble.
The First must know what sort of being Neron is, surely? So why leave him in position? I'll have to speak to some of the other-.
"Begging your pardon, milord."
A demon dressed like a butler stands a little way along the parapet. From the slight disordering of his clothes I'd guess that he was in the line of fire but was able to throw himself out of the way before it would have hit him.
"It's not my place to pardon anyone here, but you have my attention."
"My mistress suspected that you might find Neron's presence tiresome, and bid me offer you the hospitality of her house."
"I doubt that was particularly hard to guess. Who is your mistress?"
"The Lady Rosacarnis, milord."
"Hospitality, I don't need. Information and intelligence I would appreciate. I am after all here to perform a task."
"As your say, milord. I am sure her ladyship knows best."
"Then lead on. Goodness knows I'm not going to learn anything else of value here."
16th March 2013
07:31 GMT
Neron sneers at me as his giant henchmen carry me into his presence, one holding my right arm and the other holding my left.
And then I fall towards the floor as the pair of them double over in pain. Activating my aero-discs I stabilise before I actually land, and reorientate myself so that I'm feet-downwards.
"I didn't say carry him by his arms! I said rip his arms off and then drag him before me!"
Neron stomps towards his fallen flunkies as green-black runes burn from their foreheads, hearts and… Well, there's a faint glow from their loincloths that I'm trying to ignore.
"Off! OFF! How hard is it for you stupid creatures to understand!"
I raise an interrogative finger. "Lord Neron-."
His head jerks around so that he can better glower at me. "Oh, I'll get to you."
I shrug. "It's the First's time you're wasting."
"ARMS!" He leans forwards slightly and then kicks upwards with his right leg, the demon's left shoulder exploding as he smashes its arm from its torso. "THESE THINGS!"
I knew this would happen when I started with the best, but I'm not even halfway down the list yet.
"ARMS!"
Soon enough, the spasming giants are denuded of both arms while Neron-
"Well!?"
-is still glaring at them. They can't actually respond due to him not having turned off the torture spell he's got running on them, and they're both bleeding freely from their wounds… I'm pretty sure that sort of damage would kill a human.
"Neron, they can't respond while you've-"
"I don't need your help in disciplining my slaves!"
"-got that spell running. They literally can't respond."
"I'm not shouting at them for their benefit! I'm shouting at them for the benefit of everyone in range of my voice!"
If he has nothing else to recommend him -and I'm beginning to suspect that he doesn't- Neron has a powerful set of lungs.
I smile. "This does actually remind me of the way the First acted out after being told how to kill his 'brothers'. Just wrecked his whole palace. But please, carry on. I'd like to see how strong the resemblance is."
He gurns, and I fairly obviously fail to keep my amusement from showing. That act of profound disrespect results in him getting himself under control and making a slashing motion with his right arm. The runes flare and then die, and-
"Uuuuuuuuunrrrrr…"
-they regain control of their bodies, though they might be in too much pain to really do anything with that ability. Neron strides back towards me, waving negligently at his groaning guards.
"Drag them out. And staple their arms back on."
Flunky demons who had been lurking around the corners of his throne room scurry/scuttle/slime to obey, though they're all much smaller than the objects of their attention and it looks like they're a bit confused about how they're supposed to actually carry out the order.
But Neron has already shifted his attention back to me.
"I want your arms."
"Good for you. 'May all your dreams come true but one', as the Ventrians say. And to be clear, while I am not authorised to kill any of Hell's inhabitants at will I can kill in self-defence."
"Kill me?" His demeanour changes at once. He appears to find the idea genuinely amusing. "Ha! Me… Kill-."
He thrusts his arm out to the right, and-. Green fire is everywhere! The wall explodes, and the wave of fire erupts out across his castle ground. It eats through the walls and converts them into shrapnel, through demons and converts them into carbonised skeletons or simply ash, and then out through the curtain wall into the Province of Gull.
It burns through streets, houses and markets, arcane shields flickering and failing around some of the better properties but failing moments later. It burns and spreads until a wedge of destruction has been wrought upon the unsuspecting metropolis.
"Me."
He keeps looking at me, still smiling.
Yes, killing a great swath of people far weaker than you to show off to someone who isn't interested in competing with you. What am I supposed to take away from that, exactly? That you're childish and insecure? That you have no interest in promoting your province's strength? In building at all?
"I see. Then there isn't much else to say. I suspect that I've learned… Everything useful that I can here." I land, and walk towards the coagulating stone at the edge of the blast zone. "Thank you for your time, my lord."
"Yes, go, you wretched waste of my time."
I look around for a moment and then jump, landing on a parapet that was just out of the arc of the fire.
It appears that my earlier idea about focusing work on the more powerful demons was misguided to say the least. I failed to take their arrogance into account. Top end demons aren't going to be interested in service jobs because there isn't anything that can 'pay' them a meaningful amount. Satanus's human heritage lets him bypass the normal limits on demons getting to Earth and staying there, but for the others…
They don't have the same needs that mortals do, even if their drives are fairly similar. I think it was in… Hellblazer, where the First remarked that angels and demons have just enough free will to occasionally wonder what the point of that sort of existence is. With nothing to work towards, they become childish and self-destructive.
But weaker demons… They need to cooperate. They need to overcome their instincts and cooperate because they can't get through the day without each other.
I glance upwards as I hear the work crew manage to slide one of the giants a short distance across the stone floor.
I activate my aero-discs again as the still-burning fire eats one of the supports beneath the parapet I'm standing on and causes it to crumble into rubble.
The First must know what sort of being Neron is, surely? So why leave him in position? I'll have to speak to some of the other-.
"Begging your pardon, milord."
A demon dressed like a butler stands a little way along the parapet. From the slight disordering of his clothes I'd guess that he was in the line of fire but was able to throw himself out of the way before it would have hit him.
"It's not my place to pardon anyone here, but you have my attention."
"My mistress suspected that you might find Neron's presence tiresome, and bid me offer you the hospitality of her house."
"I doubt that was particularly hard to guess. Who is your mistress?"
"The Lady Rosacarnis, milord."
"Hospitality, I don't need. Information and intelligence I would appreciate. I am after all here to perform a task."
"As your say, milord. I am sure her ladyship knows best."
"Then lead on. Goodness knows I'm not going to learn anything else of value here."
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Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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Thank you, corrected.
Darko
Connoisseur.
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"him by"
Maybe if you gave them some free will.
Add a " at the second sentence.
And powerful magic.
"at the"
"They"
I mean, Neron isn't that bright and he can easily be manipulated and angered.
Plus if other demons try to ally with him to overthrow the First then the chances of him trying to take over and screwing the whole enterprise becomes very possible.
"bid me"
Granted, these are demons.
Duke Long
Glomerulus
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'causes it'
Chojin Patriarch
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Ah, Neron. That asshole. Best known for his part in 'Underworld Unleashed', an event in which he gave various supervillains an offer: Increase their power, for his own reasons... And he's not really done much of note otherwise, really, besides be a tempter and stand-in for the Devil.
Hey, now. I'm sure they tried their best. It's just that the Renegade's parts are quite firmly attached, thank you.
...Fellow has quite the problem with anger, doesn't he? Megalomaniac surrounded by fools, I guess.
I doubt this guy has the good sense to care about the First's ire.
...It's gonna be a long month, isn't it?
No, not going to make the obvious jokes.
Fortunately, demons are made of somewhat sterner stuff... And don't exactly rely on conventional biology, in many cases.
Well, that tells you quite a lot about him, doesn't it? How a man treats his subordinates is very telling of their character.
Which I'm sure gets quite screechy at this level of rage. I'm picturing Starscream, as voiced by Chris Latta in the G1 cartoon.
Ooooh, burn. I bet that comparison does him no favours with Neron.
No doubt stuffing that little unspoken insult into his book of grudges. Which is probably very large, but very petty.
I don't imagine the pain spell on their loins is doing them any favours, either.
Heh. And of course, not doing as they were ordered will probably give him an excuse to torture them, too. Something for later...
In other words, try it and see where it gets you. I'm sure the First would be happy to replace him with someone less annoying...
Well, that's some temper tantrum. Does little baby not like being reminded he's not that powerful?
No doubt he does this every so often to keep his 'slaves' busy rebuilding and not trying to overthrow him...
I wonder if he even realises he's technically weakening his holdings every time he does that?
Someone's time was wasted, and I think yours is not so valuable as the Renegade's...
I expect there are a great many such defectives with more power than sense amongst the upper ranks of Hell's nobility.
But none of them would be able to scrounge enough power to rise above the others, and if they tried, their comrades would pull them back down, like the classic 'bucket of crabs'.
Ah, right. Place is still on fire.
Because him being there keeps him out of the way, trying to climb the ranks and failing.
Heh. Nice comeback, Renegade. Still, this fellow seems quite a bit more competent than Neron, so be wary...
Yes, tall, green and stupid does seem rather predictable.
Oh-ho. There's an interesting name.
It'll be interesting to see what she wants.
I suspect the Renegade has already seen the cream of Hell's leaders thus far, and the majority of those he visits from here on out are going to be absolute wastes of a useful domain. Now, how much use actually meeting all of them will be remains to be seen. I suspect a good part of his advice for improving Hell would be 'better leadership', but I suspect the First keeps a lot of them where they are to ensure they don't challenge him...
Darko
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And fighting Satanus for control of Hell.
As well as losing that fight and being promoted to a decoration for Satanus' throne room.
Just the way he likes it because if any of them had a brain then they'd know what a waste if space he was.
He is a powerful demon, so he may be able to put up a good fight.
Few do.
Power hungry lunatics even less so.
Probably not.
He also may not care even if he does realize it since he probably thinks all he needs is his own personal power.
Or if they do challenge him, they won't be able to go more than a day before they try to kill each other.
BR549
This is filth! FILTH!!
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Lord Ernest
At the End...
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Ah, Neron, what a waste of power and space... no other clever thought passes through that empty and arrogant head beyond "I will give you power, give me your soul".
Does anybody remember where was it that we got a detailed explanation of Hell's geography and political landscape? At least as it was before Fawcett City? That was fairly interesting information and I'm curious how it develops here with Grayven's input.
I don't even remember if we got the New Sabbac episode in the Renegade side, did we?
Does anybody remember where was it that we got a detailed explanation of Hell's geography and political landscape? At least as it was before Fawcett City? That was fairly interesting information and I'm curious how it develops here with Grayven's input.
I don't even remember if we got the New Sabbac episode in the Renegade side, did we?
earlyriser
Getting sticky.
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unsure about the first part.
renegade did get an interlude in prayer, where he was too late to spare most of the damage to fawcett city. He killed the 2nd sabbac legally by acting as officer grayven
Silveraith
Argent Phantasm
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Quotation mark missing from the beginning.
Ryumancer
Dragons Are Romance
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'by his arms', i would assume
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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Is anyone else getting a blank page for this link?