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

PDV · Jul 3, 2024

Darko said:
Hey, use of LSD and other such drugs has been shown to have positive results for mental health.

Sort of. Increases Openness to Experience, which is generally correlated with success in some ways like the other three of the Big Five (and the inverse of Neuroticism, the fifth). Do it too much and, well, it's unethical to experiment too extensively but based on the sample of scientists who experimented before they knew what the effects were, 'have an open mind but not so open your brain falls out' is more literal than you might expect.

Though MDMA is rather different both in mechanism of action and effects, and definitely has some seriously beneficial psych effects. Actually, MDMA therapy is probably approximately ideal for Lex, if he could stand it, which probably he couldn't; it's principally used for trauma treatment, but would probably help enormously with paranoia. But it produces strong feelings of emotional openness and vulnerability as a direct part of its beneficial properties, which I can't see even the healthier Lexes like Inviolate!Lex tolerating.

Z000 · Jul 3, 2024

well these Green creature are tree, they don't think like us meat flesh

can't exactly judge them by our standard

Mr Zoat · Jul 3, 2024

The encounter with Inviolate Lex was here.

PDV · Jul 3, 2024

Z000 said:
well these Green creature are tree, they don't think like us meat flesh

can't exactly judge them by our standard

I mean, it's unfair to judge them by our standard, since they're not trying to meet it. That doesn't mean we can't do it anyway and find them wanting. Cultural relativism is a fuck.

thebishop8 · Jul 3, 2024

My first guess that the Dominators are involved is starting to look a little more correct. It's one of the most awkward places he could have gone. What are the odds that he ended up at J or Alstair and Paul just didn't notice him?

Ngamer11 · Jul 3, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"The oldest of us knew that the…" He unfocuses for a moment, raising his arms and growing leaves and garlands of vines. A human taking that posture would struggles to maintain it, but I suppose things are rather different for a tree.

That should say 'struggle'.

Mr Zoat said:
"How to be human. I've been a plant for longer than my memories tell me I was a man. Everyone I knew is long dead, now, feeding the roots. I feels natural to plant myself and watch the world. That is why Alec Holland was chosen. I struggle to move, but I can move slowly if I must."

That should say 'It'.

Mr Zoat said:
"I didn't. The eldest did. They dwell deeply within the roots of the world. Many things are know to-."

That should say 'known'.

Mr Zoat said:
"Is it called the Sprout? When we get Swamp Thing back, is the Parliament going to try and get him to eat it because they don't want two champions active at once? Again?"

Gumbo Man manages to frown in confusion. "Did one of the others get here first?"

"I read the script. Why are you even trying to get Swamp Thing back if you've already started on a replacement?"

I'm curious as to what the others think Paul means when he says this. Do they think he's just researched things about Swamp Thing and the Green and thus has a good idea of what they would do in this situation?

Z000 · Jul 3, 2024

PDV said:
I mean, it's unfair to judge them by our standard, since they're not trying to meet it. That doesn't mean we can't do it anyway and find them wanting. Cultural relativism is a fuck.

other way around will apply if we start judging them with our standard

which mean Green creature is gonna start doing shit just because some one step on grass or Red will start thinking that human should get some reevaluation on their position on the food chain

Lord Ernest · Jul 3, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
I'm curious as to what the others think Paul means when he says this. Do they think he's just researched things about Swamp Thing and the Green and thus has a good idea of what they would do in this situation?

If memory serves, I believe only Batman used to question where the Illustres got his information from. Alan also, sometimes he may ask where the Illustres found out about something. But the rest of the heroes seem already more than aware that the Illustres likes to investigate and get his grubby hands in all type of info, facts and miscellaneous data. So whenever he shares a random detail or is already more aware of something I think they just consider it par for the course.

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 3, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
15th April 2013
10:26 GMT -5

"The oldest of us knew that the…" He unfocuses for a moment, raising his arms and growing leaves and garlands of vines. A human taking that posture would struggles to maintain it, but I suppose things are rather different for a tree.

He doesn't resume talking.

Ah, just as I thought. Not completely all here in this layer of the world. I'm gonna say keeping him focused is going to be a frequent occurrence during this encounter. Kind of like a high-functioning amnesiac or similar...

"Mister Gumbo Man?"

"Oh. Yes. I'm sorry. I've been a tree for so long that I've… Forgotten some things."

Like interacting with humans, of course. Not much need for words in the Green.

I glance at Donna, but she seems content to let me take the lead. "Like what?"

"How to be human. I've been a plant for longer than my memories tell me I was a man. Everyone I knew is long dead, now, feeding the roots. I feels natural to plant myself and watch the world. That is why Alec Holland was chosen. I struggle to move, but I can move slowly if I must."

Safe to say that's why each Avatar is chosen, then. The previous one begins to settle and stiffen, losing their focus on the now...

Kara frowns. "Why did they pick you, then?"

"Speaking is something I remember where the rest of the Parliament has long forgotten. Choosing someone new on short notice would be too much of a risk."

Plus, if being burned to death is a requirement... Not many people suffering from that during the Anti-Life exposure, or after.

I nod. "Not that many naturalists being burned to death." And… During that 'Sprout' mess, wasn't there someone random..? Bloke who got roped into it? "So where is Swamp Thing?" I frown. "And why aren't you going to Euanthe with this?"

"She is not one of us. She doesn't think like us. She does not share out responsibilities."

Maybe she would if you asked her about it. But you're too afraid of what happens if she says 'no', aren't you?

"But you don't work for a higher power. Do you?"

"Only the Green."

...Did the Green actually tell you that, or did you parliamentarians decide that for yourself?

"Then aren't your responsibilities more.. self-appointed than anything?"

He stares at me blankly. "I suppose. But that doesn't mean that they're not important."

Well, things have been handling themselves well enough for now.

Literal jumped-up elementals. Marvellous. On the other hand, Swamp Thing has been nothing but helpful to me so far.

"And I don't know where Swamp Thing is. Before the Anti-Life spread across the Earth, the eldest of us called upon him to leave the physical world for a time. They were concerned that-."

Huh. Interesting. trying to force him to retire, or just wanting him to undergo more in-depth training, perhaps?

"Wait a second." Donna holds up her right hand. "Are you saying that you knew that was going to happen?"

"I didn't. The eldest did. They dwell deeply within the roots of the world. Many things are know to-."

Most likely by way of the Black Orchid influence. She has historically had links to the Green.

"And you didn't think about maybe telling the rest of us?"

"No. The affairs of meat are none of ours."

Even when they're powerful enough to affect the plant-life of the world? Rather short-sighted of them.

"And you thought that Swamp Thing was just going to abandon his wife?"

"It would have been better. He was powerless to protect anyone, and the creatures of the Grey nearly broke through."

Yeah, He's still too green to let go of his earthly connections. They should have known that.

"You're welcome, by the way."

"You helped them? Why?"

Wrong end of the stick, boyo.

"No, I stopped them. I sent them back to their own realm."

"Oh." … "Thank you."

I suppose that's the closest OL's going to get to a proper thanks from the Parliament.

"So he couldn't cope with the Anti-Life, the fungoids attacked, and..?"

"He tried to flee, but he didn't arrive with us. We're not sure where he is."

Ah. Yes, I believe I see where this is going. He had the plant computer in place, so... He uploaded himself through its older connections.

"And the Parliament? Where are they?"

"Deep in the Green, repairing it and hiding it. The Anti-Life reached us, too."

I'll bet they panicked a little. That deep in their Kingdom, they'd normally be well-protected form nearly any arcane attack.

I sigh. "They've already started work on a replacement, haven't they?"

Ah, that's new. I've never see a tree look sheepish before.

I'll bet it's quite the fascinating expression on a Swamp-creature's face...

"Um."

"Is it called the Sprout? When we get Swamp Thing back, is the Parliament going to try and get him to eat it because they don't want two champions active at once? Again?"

Ah, OL's metaknowledge making him look prescient again...

Gumbo Man manages to frown in confusion. "Did one of the others get here first?"

"I read the script. Why are you even trying to get Swamp Thing back if you've already started on a replacement?"

Pity he can't read ahead in this script. Might help him track down where Swamp Thing went.

His leaves waggle for a moment.

"Because we're vulnerable without him. It takes time to grow a new sprout. And because I like Swamp Thing, and he's not ready to move on from the material world yet."

Why not a system of master and apprentice, then? Have one Avatar train his successor while still functional?

"And the new Sprout?"

"The plant world is in constant conflict for water, soil and light. The sprout is just a bundle of green energy at the moment. Consuming it is perfectly natural. It may even make him stronger."

Though I suppose you run the risk of the apprentice getting overeager or greedy... And a seedling is going to be far less able to survive than old growth in a fight...

"That's up to him, though I doubt that he'll go for it. But you're sure that he vanished after the Anti-Life broadcast?"

"Yes."

Meaning if he was off-world, he could still be contaminated by it. Oh, fertilizer.

"And you haven't heard from him since?"

"I have not. We have not."

He'd probably have been very eager to make contact with his wife, after all.

"Did you see or feel anything that might let you know where he went?"

"No."

Can he be sure of that? He is very old, and probably not that attentive while taking root.

In the comics, Swamp Thing escaped being burned to death by the Sunderland Corporation while Lex Luthor's jammer preventing him from using floramancy by switching to a different 'frequency' and matching himself to alien plant life. If he's done that here, then we're going to need a serious magician to track him. Or we could just leave him; while it might be useful to have him around, it's not strictly essential.

And OL knows he eventually makes it back to Earth, by way of Lantern Medphyll.

Okay, it's not worth searching the galaxy, but if he's still in Sector 2814 then we should be able to find him. There are only so many planets with plant-like life.

"Do you at least know where he was when he left?"

Don't feel too pinned down by your existing classification of plant-life, though, OL. Remember the techno-organic planet?

"Oh. Yes."

"Can you take us there?"

In any reasonable time, at least? I doubt he's that fast these days.

He looks at me, and then down to where he's taken root.

Kara perks up. "No problem! I can pick up this whole-."

Let's not go rearranging the bayou just yet, Kara?

"Can you tell us where he was?"

"Yes. North of here. I will mark it out for you."

Now, whether it'll be picked out in a way they can identify as marked out...

"In what-" His eyes dim and his tree-like body hardens. "-way." I sigh. "Kara, could you-?"

A blur as she flies away, and a blur as she flies back

Oaky, that didn't take long. Must be close.

"There's a really tall tree with really pretty flowers that wasn't there before."

"Then that's where we're going next."

Okay, then. Let's hope the magical signature isn't too muddied after this long and the labelling.

So, then, it looks like Swamp Thing is off on his little Space Odyssey. Probably not going to be exactly like the comics version, which was trippy as hell. Interestingly, there was a period not long after where the Dominators tried to target him during the Invasion event. Which ended up with him taking a trip through time. Let's hope things don't go quite that crazy here...

jasonh23761 · Jul 3, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Can you take us there?"

He looks at me, and then down to where he's taken root.

A sassy plant man? Oh, that's just wonderful.

Mr Zoat · Jul 3, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'struggle'.
That should say 'It'.
That should say 'known'.

Thank you, corrected.

Ngamer11 · Jul 3, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I bring us to ground level, then stride towards the inner sanctum. Blaze shrinks back behind Adom as she sees me. She's.. actually not all that impressive in person. Skinny, short, and.. frankly emaciated. Even her clearly underwear-free semi-robe.. thing doesn't make her look appealing, just… Wrong. Ill, frankly. And the horns sticking out of her forehead are far too large to be aesthetically appealing. Now Melinoë, there's a woman who can pull off horns.

I was rereading and found a link that doesn't work anymore.

Edit: Found another dead link.

Mr Zoat said:
"Recognised, Orange Lantern, B Zero Six, Angelica Blaze, A Four Three."

Steelplaza · Jul 3, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"In what-" His eyes dim and his tree-like body hardens. "-way." I sigh. "Kara, could you-?"

Honestly taking the opportunity to "nope" out of that conversation after having communicated all the useful information he felt he had to provide was the most human thing Good Gumbo Man did during this entire scene.

Kurai · Jul 3, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
Why not a system of master and apprentice, then? Have one Avatar train his successor while still functional?

Though I suppose you run the risk of the apprentice getting overeager or greedy... And a seedling is going to be far less able to survive than old growth in a fight...

Assuming that we do end up following Tefé's canon origins, here, her main issues (at least, when she was a child) was simply not realising what she was doing - such as using her flesh-crafting powers to mutilate loggers - and being too easily influenced by the more extremist elements of The Green (a problem which continued into her teenage years), because she simply didn't know any better.

Confirmation of her existence (or at least, the entity she started as) is very exciting to me, though; I've been hoping for her to make an appearance for years, ever since Paul started adding characters from the wider DC universe to the team! Not only is Tefé exactly the kind of young, powerful character that Young Justice is meant to represent, her abilities make her a natural healer - something every superhero team needs.

In this version, I could see her being friends with Zatanna very easily, at least.

dw7thdoctor · Jul 3, 2024

Kurai said:
Assuming that we do end up following Tefé's canon origins, here, her main issues (at least, when she was a child) was simply not realising what she was doing - such as using her flesh-crafting powers to mutilate loggers - and being too easily influenced by the more extremist elements of The Green (a problem which continued into her teenage years), because she simply didn't know any better.

Confirmation of her existence (or at least, the entity she started as) is very exciting to me, though; I've been hoping for her to make an appearance for years, ever since Paul started adding characters from the wider DC universe to the team! Not only is Tefé exactly the kind of young, powerful character that Young Justice is meant to represent, her abilities make her a natural healer - something every superhero team needs.

In this version, I could see her being friends with Zatanna very easily, at least.

Didn't she already appear when Swamp Thing overran Gotham with plants she was kidnapped by Arcane to kill off all plant life

Mr Zoat · Jul 3, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
I was rereading and found a link that doesn't work anymore.

I'll replace it, thank you.

Edit: Found another dead link.

Deviantart? Okay, I'll just search for 'Angelica Blaze' and-.

Oh my goodness I'm glad no one else was in the room. I don't know who you are, but please put your baps away before DC sues you.

Okay, found another source for what I think that's more or less the right image.

dw7thdoctor said:
Didn't she already appear when Swamp Thing overran Gotham with plants she was kidnapped by Arcane to kill off all plant life

Yes. The Parliament aren't good at changing the way they operate.

Someguy Somewhere · Jul 3, 2024

Hmm.

Kara is here, Bleez is here....Donna is here. I Was a little curious why they grabbed Donna out of the blue for this, but her ability to ask Gaia for favours makes some sense when looking for plant stuff, so I was willing to just go with it.

But.

OL just showed Meta Knowledge about events he shouldn't know about. He passed it off as 'Read the Script' here and while Mr Gumbo Man isn't going to likely push further on the subject, this may stand out to the others.

His knowledge of Bleez's Stalker was also Meta Knowledge, one he passed off as an Oracle from his people. His 'people' are the Amazons....and Donna is an Amazon, and knows very well that Apollo and his Oracles *Do Not Like* OL for the whole Pigsty incident.

If the gals start comparing notes while working on this case, Paul here might get asked some very direct questions about his information sources.

Ardy · Jul 3, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Yes. The Parliament aren't good at changing the way they operate.

Obviously this requires evolution. We must burn all the parliamentarians that don't adapt to change well, while providing room for spawnlings for the remainder!

CrazyNoVa · Jul 3, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
15th April 2013
10:26 GMT -5
"She is not one of us. She doesn't think like us. She does not share out responsibilities."

Shouldn't that be "our"?

Also, what does he mean by that? How is Euanthe so different from the parliament that they wouldn't accept her? Is it because she's one of Gaia's offspring?

Stsword · Jul 3, 2024

For those not into Swamp Thing- They dealt with the situation by having Swamp Thing possess Constantine's body who then impregnated Abby so Sprout was Swamp Thing's biologically human daughter. Thanks to Constantine's demonic blood she was also born with Red elementalism as well as of the Green.

I imagine that will get butterflied away since what with what happened to Constantine he's an even worse choice to get involved than normal, and with Paul's ring it's not like it's necessary anyway. Amethyst inherited her father's Lord of Order status, so I for one wouldn't suggest the possibility of Sprout popping out a Green elemental and a Lord of Order and Chaos.

Heck Paul might be able to find Alec Holland's actual DNA.

Mr Zoat · Jul 3, 2024

Someguy Somewhere said:
Hmm.

Kara is here, Bleez is here....Donna is here. I Was a little curious why they grabbed Donna out of the blue for this, but her ability to ask Gaia for favours makes some sense when looking for plant stuff, so I was willing to just go with it.

But.

OL just showed Meta Knowledge about events he shouldn't know about. He passed it off as 'Read the Script' here and while Mr Gumbo Man isn't going to likely push further on the subject, this may stand out to the others.

His knowledge of Bleez's Stalker was also Meta Knowledge, one he passed off as an Oracle from his people. His 'people' are the Amazons....and Donna is an Amazon, and knows very well that Apollo and his Oracles *Do Not Like* OL for the whole Pigsty incident.

If the gals start comparing notes while working on this case, Paul here might get asked some very direct questions about his information sources.

If asked, he'd probably imply that he asked Tefé or Abigail what happened last time, and was referencing Tiny Toons for his own amusement.

While Donna might be confused if she didn't know about him talking to a Themysciran oracle, there are other oracles around the place.

CrazyNoVa said:
Shouldn't that be "our"?

Thank you, corrected.

Also, what does he mean by that? How is Euanthe so different from the parliament that they wouldn't accept her? Is it because she's one of Gaia's offspring?

It's because she's not One Of Them.

CrazyNoVa · Jul 3, 2024

Stsword said:
For those not into Swamp Thing- They dealt with the situation by having Swamp Thing possess Constantine's body who then impregnated Abby so Sprout was Swamp Thing's biologically human daughter. Thanks to Constantine's demonic blood she was also born with Red elementalism as well as of the Green.

I imagine that will get butterflied away since what with what happened to Constantine he's an even worse choice to get involved than normal, and with Paul's ring it's not like it's necessary anyway. Amethyst inherited her father's Lord of Order status, so I for one wouldn't suggest the possibility of Sprout popping out a Green elemental and a Lord of Order and Chaos.

Heck Paul might be able to find Alec Holland's actual DNA.

This does raise a good question, though: Is it possible to be both an avatar of the Green, Red, Clear, Rot, Black, White, Flame, Metal, Melt or Divided AND a lord of Order or Chaos at the same time?

xSieg · Jul 3, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
I'm curious as to what the others think Paul means when he says this. Do they think he's just researched things about Swamp Thing and the Green and thus has a good idea of what they would do in this situation?

It's really hard to imagine they'd notice any meta-knowledge Paul has considering they aren't living in his head 24/7 to understand the breadth of his information.
To everyone who isn't a chronic paranoid genius like Bruce or Lex he acts just like any other superintelligent human in the setting

NightmareWarden · Jul 3, 2024

CrazyNoVa said:
This does raise a good question, though: Is it possible to be both an avatar of the Green, Red, Clear, Rot, Black, White, Flame, Metal, Melt or Divided AND a lord of Order or Chaos at the same time?

Maybe if you have two souls in one body, such as two-headed giants and the like. I think that would only happen if the universe was falling to pieces, billions of worlds fading each day; wouldn't be ideal though, assuming they only had partial control over their movement.

As for a general humanoid with two or more sets of powers: why would you want an avatar limited to half of their attention, half of their dedication, when you could throw your avatar at problems 24/7/365 when necessary?

Chaoswind · Jul 3, 2024

Stsword said:
For those not into Swamp Thing- They dealt with the situation by having Swamp Thing possess Constantine's body who then impregnated Abby so Sprout was Swamp Thing's biologically human daughter. Thanks to Constantine's demonic blood she was also born with Red elementalism as well as of the Green.

I imagine that will get butterflied away since what with what happened to Constantine he's an even worse choice to get involved than normal, and with Paul's ring it's not like it's necessary anyway. Amethyst inherited her father's Lord of Order status, so I for one wouldn't suggest the possibility of Sprout popping out a Green elemental and a Lord of Order and Chaos.

Heck Paul might be able to find Alec Holland's actual DNA.

Tefe was born before the Paul came into the setting, so that entire plot already happened.

Paul tried to find her and he failed so he assumed she hadn't been born yet, but in reality she was one of the first people shielded with magic that Paul failed to find with his ring.

Someguy Somewhere · Jul 4, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
If asked, he'd probably imply that he asked Tefé or Abigail what happened last time, and was referencing Tiny Toons for his own amusement.

While Donna might be confused if she didn't know about him talking to a Themysciran oracle, there are other oracles around the place.

Well that wraps things up nicely. And I can hardly shoot down a good Tiny Toons Reference.

Shoot, now what do I get to ramble about now?

Oh! This could be the start of Birds of Prey....or ~~Charlie's~~ Paul's Angels....come on one of them has actual wings! How many BoP were actually part bird?

CrazyNoVa · Jul 4, 2024

Someguy Somewhere said:
Well that wraps things up nicely. And I can hardly shoot down a good Tiny Toons Reference.

Shoot, now what do I get to ramble about now?

Oh! This could be the start of Birds of Prey....or ~~Charlie's~~ Paul's Angels....come on one of them has actual wings! How many BoP were actually part bird?

Joking aside, that's actually a good point. In the comics, the team is called the "Birds of Prey", but only one or two of them are actually bird-themed. And even then, that doesn't really add up, because canaries aren't actually birds of prey!

Mr Zoat · Jul 4, 2024

15th April 2013
10:31 GMT -5

Huh.

Kara's eyes are unfocused, and I think that's because she's using her augmented vision to try and study the… Thing, we're looking at. Donna's taking a look at what is probably Swamp Thing's most recent body, which has fallen on its face after stepping off his… Throne? It's clearly a chair, and the complex network of underground roots and tubers suggest that it was built with far more deliberation than his usual structures. That's… That's a chemical power plant, effectively converting magic into electricity. If we can train up enough druids, that could be useful. Nothing geothermal… Maybe I should show him Mother of Mercy's design next time I speak to him?

And the headrest… Last time I spoke to him, he'd clearly incorporated elements of dominator computer design into his body. But this is actually an improvement on the design I gave him. And that's just the parts I can scan. The magic element might make it better still. I don't know if it's similar to actual dominator designs, but Alec Holland was a botanist, not a computer engineer. I'm honestly impressed that he came up with this, even with his improved processing speed.

And unlike his body, it's still alive.

We might need to plug Gumbo Man in.

Bleez just shakes her head. "What is it?"

"A plant-based supercomputer which he was using to increase his intelligence. I don't know why, and I don't know enough about biotechnology to know how big a deal that is."

Would dominators come after him over that? I know that Mr. Kharhi thought that they would come down hard on people creating knock-off versions of their technology, but… How would they even know about Swamp Thing using their computer? He…

I focus for a moment, scanning the world for any sign of Dominion technology or dominator biology. Nothing, but... But there are ways to dodge my scans, the dominators aren't stupid or too speciesist to adopt useful alien technology, and they're very advanced on their own. Dodging ring scans is something they would almost certainly be able to do on their own. And I remember a.. comic where they had a small research centre on Earth for a long time before Superman and Batman found it. And another where they had a base inside the moon and blew it up. They're good at sneaky-.

And they were interested in the metagene. And I think they'd be interested in seeing how much better than their current generation someone like Swamp Thing could make their computers.

"Bleez, does Thanagar have any particular relationship with the Dominion?"

"You mean the Girgurgian Dominion? I think-."

"No, the dominator Dominion." I create a construct image. "These people."

"I didn't know the name, but I think they tried buying Nth metal from us one time." She wing-shrugs. "But we don't sell to aliens. They didn't take that for an answer, so our manager told them that it needed special permission from the Thanagarian government so they should speak to them. I didn't hear anything after that. Are they dangerous?"

"To you, a bit. To us, quite a lot. They're ruled by a caste of evil scientists who'd think nothing of live vivisection to understand how Nth metal integrates into your body."

Bleez moves her eyes to Kara and then Donna. "And Earth has a way wider variety of things to study."

"Yes indeed we do. With the Thanagarian Empire, they'd probably just abduct a few dozen people and then leave you alone, because as well as being evil they're quite capable scientists. With Earth…" I nod. "Yeah. I'm not sure what they'd do if they found out what it's like here. We're too far away to be annexed, really."

Kara snaps back to the present situation. "And we'd beat them!"

"Kara, we beat the Sheeda and Apokolips. How is the Earth doing?"

She pouts. "Better than it would be if we'd lost."

I nod. I suppose that's true.

Donna shakes her head. "Before we assume that it's the dominators, who else could it be?"

"Doctor Jason Woodrue would probably like to nobble Swamp Thing, but he wouldn't leave this here. Not without using it. In theory, any sufficiently capable magic user could trap Swamp Thing, but it would be difficult. Swamp Thing might have just left the planet under his own power, or got stuck in the Grey, or dived too deeply into the Green to easily come out again."

Kara perks up. "Ooh! I know!"

"You know-?"

And she's gone.

And then she's back again, with the body of Gumbo Man in her arms, roots and soil dangling beneath him. But if-. No, from the way he's looking around it looks like he hadn't abandoned his body, he'd just gone to sleep. Either that or he's gone back to it, but given his startled expression that seems unlikely.

"Here you go!"

She lightly tosses him at Swamp Thing's chair, and… He doesn't fit. His hard bark-covered legs don't bend, and he's a little too big. The effect is like trying to put a toy from the wrong playset into the driving seat of a toy car.

"Hmm."

Kara drops down and takes hold of him, then tries to reposition him.

"Kara-."

"Nearly got it!"

She twists him a little to the left, then picks him up and sort of thumps him back down. And then she does it again. And again.

"Mister Gumbo Man, I think you-"

CRACK!

"-should-."

She hasn't-?

Phew. The chair's arms have given way, and in a blue blur Kara is back with vines to tie him in place. It's still not a great fit, but at least she isn't breaking his arms and legs off. I mean, he could easily grow replacements and probably doesn't have much feeling in them, but… Still.

Gumbo Man looks around at us, seemingly confused. "Why did you bring me here?"

Kara points to the headset. "We need someone to operate the plant computer chair, and you were closest!"

"Computer? I don't understand."

…

Right. He might predate electronics, in which case he'd think a 'computer' is a person who performs calculations.

"We think that Swamp Thing created a plant based device to make himself more intelligent. You're sitting in it, and should be able to connect with it. It might have a recording of what happened to him, and we'd appreciate it if you could try and use it."

"Oh. Alright."

His bark becomes malleable once again, and he flops into the seat. He looks up, and then grows his neck until his head is in line with the appropriate part of the seat back. Then vines extrude from the headrest and plug into his head.

"Oh. Oh."

"Mister Gumbo Man?"

"I… I hadn't thought of it like that. I-."

The vines retract and he rises to his feet, staggering forward on his newly flexible legs.

"That changes everything. I need to tell-."

He collapses onto Swamp Thing's body, light fading once more from his eyes.

Ngamer11 · Jul 4, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Bleex, does Thanagar have any particular relationship with the Dominion?"

That should say 'Bleez'.

Mr Zoat said:
His bark becomes malleable once again, and he flops into the seat. He looks up, and then grows his neck until his head is in line with the appropriate part of the seat back. Then vines extrude from the headrest and plug into his head.

"Oh. Oh."

"Mister Gumbo Man?"

"I… I hadn't thought of it like that. I-."

The vines retract and he rises to his feet, staggering forward on his newly flexible legs.

"That changes everything. I need to tell-."

He collapses onto Swamp Thing's body, light fading once more from his eyes.

Hopefully they can track where Mister Gumbo Man just went so that they can also find Swamp Thing.

The Froggy Ninja · Jul 4, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
He collapses onto Swamp Thing's body, light fading once more from his eyes.

God damn it. I hate it when everyone who finds out what you need to know reacts like it's obvious in hindsight and then dies/suffers amnesia/attains a higher state of being before they can tell you.

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