What Happened in Portland

[Voidus]

Aren't trying to kill? Oh... The energy Epic.
Purple Phoenix took a moment to collect himself before replying.
"I imagine she'd still prefer that to your company, you really need to learn what the word 'no' means" He said with a grin, before directing his attention to Ray.
"I am sorry about that, bad experience with an Energy Epic once, but that's all resolved now, nothing to fear."

He doubted that his words would comfort her in the least but they were all he had to offer now, you couldn't exactly just walk up to people and explain that you had multiple personalities and that it wasn't really you trying to kill them.
As his thoughts turned towards Penumbra he felt the now familiar stirring inside of him, indicating that Penumbra was becoming more active again, his whispers crept back into Phoenix's consciousness.

Rip him apart, tear his heart out of his chest and see if he can grow that back. Then finish what we started with the girl.

He shook his head briefly to try to get rid of the voice, though it didn't help.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Penumbra, or whatever his name is, was a very weird man indeed, one time he threw shadows at you the other time he apologized for an attempted murder and appeared sincere about it. Granted, he wasn´t exactly trustworthy but just about anything was better than Nighthound. A quick look over to Voidgaze gave her some reassurance, if something happened she could probably deal with him. However, the problem was getting there without having her head ripped off.

 

Her attention snapped back as she was pinched in her tight, much too high up to be anything but harassment. By instinct she moved to slap him, sadly he moved fast enough to catch her hand. He pressed it against his face, making sure that she couldn´t point at his face. His free arm caught her around her waist. Get him away!

 

With a pleased tone Nighthound started talking again. “Don´t worry Penumbra, it´s not that I don´t know what no means, just as with any proper relationship, I love everything about her, especially her nos. But Aldo mentioned you having a wife, didn´t he? How do you get along with her?” No matter what Nighthound intended, from his smile it wasn´t anything good.

[Voidus]

Phoenix tried to ignore Penumbra to focus on Nighthound, this was a dangerous man, he needed to be prepared to act at the slightest of signals that things were turning violent.
"Don´t worry Penumbra, it´s not that I don´t know what no means, just as with any proper relationship, I love everything about her, especially her nos. "
What a sick idea of a relationship. Phoenix looked briefly at Ray, struggling to free herself from his grip, she deserved better than to be stuck with this creep but he was already on shaky ground with Lightwards, he couldn't risk antagonizing anyone.

"But Aldo mentioned you having a wife, didn´t he? How do you get along with her?” Nighthound said.

Marigold! He turned his head despite himself checking to make sure she was all right. She was sitting with Funtimes, enjoying what looked to be a tea party. The thought of Nighthound even knowing of her existence let alone meeting her turned his stomach.

Kill him first, protect her, stop him from hurting anyone again. Penumbra whispered, his voice growing steadily louder.

Phoenix tried to be firm with himself.
No, that's no way to protect people, protection can't involve violence, violence begets more violence.

Who would miss him? Who would seek revenge for Nighthound? Penumbra countered.

Phoenix considered it, just for a moment opening himself to the possibility. That was all it took.

Penumbra roared to the forefront, whispers becoming screams and shouts of triumph as he took control over their shadow, thinning it into the tendrils he employed to such lethal efficiency. They writhed behind him, seeking other shadows to join with and gain even larger form.
He turned his head to seek more, to find weapons to use and again saw Marigold sitting at a table, sipping tea.
NO! I can't let her see me like this! With all his willpower he forced his shadow to still and forced Penumbra back to a whisper again.

Panting heavily at the effort he looked back into Nighthounds eyes, steely resolution taking the place of malice and bloodlust in his own he dropped his voice to a whisper as he stepped close.

"So much as mention her again and I'll ensure that you spend the rest of your unnatural life in as much agony as you can tolerate, I will push you to your limits, I will find and destroy everything you care about and leave your life in ruins. Are we clear?"

Edited October 1, 2014 by Voidus

[Tulir he/him]

Parity had been so engrossed in the dinosaur she failed to hear the conversations around her, and only looked away when she noticed some shadows writhing.  Parity turned around and saw the man with the beard staring darkly at another.  Doctor Funtimes seemed to be having a tea party, and the population of the museum was quite a bit smaller than it was when Parity arrived.

 

Given that she had nothing to do, Parity quickly drained three small rocks nearby, and started juggling with two black spheres and one white one.  Immediately, she dropped a black sphere onto her foot, where it made a small explosion.  Parity cursed quietly, and healed herself with the remnants of the white sphere.  Lets try that again, she though, and maybe disturb those two.  

 

After recreating her juggling set, Parity flicked a black sphere in between the two Epics having a death stare, making a tiny explosion break their staring contest.  "Hey, it's obvious we are all on the same side here, don't be trying break it up.  I know enough about Corpsemaker and Altermind that they would undoubtedly take advantage of that situation, and I would prefer not to have to deal with either of those two again."  Parity continued to juggle after she finished talking, occasionally attempting a trick.

[mail-mi he/him]

Timeport heard footsteps in the hallway next to the food court. He chuckled. 

 

The informant had arrived. 

 

Seth had never really liked the man. His prices were too high, in his opinion, for the small amount of information he gave, and he always hinted at the fact that he had much much more. Seth had wanted to know what more he had, and even the rest of the Reckoners had started to get slightly fed up with him. 

 

Now, Timeport set the price. 

 

As the footsteps got closer, Timeport grabbed Robert's shoulder. "You'll be my first hostage," Timeport smiled, then teleported closer to the food court entrance.

 

Robert didn't come with him. 

 

Oh Cala-- Timeport stopped himself. No, he would not use the name of Calamity in vain. Calamity had given him his powers. Calamity was God. In his hand, Timeport held Robert's shirt, and the man--now shirtless--stood behind him, where he had stood before. No transporting other people, then, Timeport thought as he warped back to Robert, then grabbed his arm and towed him closer to the entrance. 

 

Gordon, with two other people, walked around the corner. They jumped back in shock as they saw "Seth" holding a gun up to Robert's head. Before they could speak, Timeport smiled. 

 

"Ah, Gordon," he said wickedly. "You're here. Just in time, too. You see, I've got a group of Reckoners here, and they're all just begging me not to shoot them." He pressed the gun up to Robert's forehead, and the man whimpered softly. "I want to shoot them, Gordon. But I won't..." He teleported closer to Gordon, so he was standing just a few feet away. He made sure to drop himself back into time a few seconds later so he could keep his gun trained on Robert. 

 

"...for a price." 

Edited November 25, 2014 by mail-mi

[A Joe in the Bush]

 

Gordon tried to match the man before him with the Seth of his Memories. Seth had always been a cheerful, if rebellious young man. He'd never even seen him hold a gun before. Yet now he stood before him, a cruel smile, and his finger on the trigger of a gun pointed at Robert's head. The two images just couldn't link up, until the man Teleported. He disappeared, for long enough that Robert and Gordon both started looking around, but then he reappeared, an Arms length Away. An Epic.

 

Gordon scowled at Seth. "Why is it always teleporters? None of my contacts across the world have ever seen a Teleporter, yet I get three of them? All right then. What's you price Seth?" Idiot. He only held Robert Hostage. He could see Charles and Dr. Pace carefully sneaking away. Rachel was was in the far corner, uncovering what looked like a Cannon. Gordon and Max just had to Stall for time.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Sightline teleported. He didn't bother saying goodbye. Voidgaze could handle herself, and eveyone else at the museum was distracted. He made sure to keep hold of his Kukri's, so he didn't leave them behind. He Teleported again and again, taking a scenic route through Portland. He actually spent some time teleporting in place above the Kliever Armory, watching troops mill about, before continuing on to Thoughtown. He teleported in through a Window again. And then walked down the halls to the meeting room. He teleported inside, disrupting the meeting. There were a lot of New Epics in the Room.

 

"Altermind, Emperor Lightwards wants to arrange a meeting with you." He ignored the fact that they had been talking. He didn't care.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Toymaker gestured to the yard, full to the brim of soldiers. Her other hand rested on Upgrade's shoulder. "He works! I can make as many Soldiers as I want to when I'm touching him, though As soon as I let go, I can't make any more. But they still obey Orders when we're not in contact. The Epic Models don't work though."

 

CorpseMaker smiled at the large group of Soldiers. His Army had doubled in size. This Upgrade was going to be very useful indeed. He'd tested himself, and he could target multiple soldiers at once when he was in contact with the knife-like man.  "So he works in Testing Circumstances. But I'm not going to rely on him until I get a Field Test."

 

He turned to where Electro was sitting on a bench, watching the soldiers. "Electro. do you remember the church that Gordon lived in? We sent assasins to kill him earlier, as well as all the other informants in the city. They failed and Gordon is on the run. I want you to take Upgrade, and destroy the church. Completely. Cause as much Collateral damage as you want." Oh yes, this City would be his soon.

[mail-mi he/him]

 

Timeport saw Gordon look behind him. He took a glance back, and saw that Dr. Pace and Charles were getting away, and Rachel was uncovering the Cannon.

Gordon looked at Timeport and grumbled. "What's your price, Seth?"

Timeport tensed up. He was in charge of the situation, he was the Epic here! Maybe... maybe he could go backwards in time as well as forward. He tried to jump back so he could take control of the situation again, but it didn't work. "Gah!" he shouted. There was only one other way.

He pulled the trigger.

Robert slumped to the floor, dead in an instant. Timeport growled at Gordon. "My price, human, is that you will start telling me everything you know about every Epic in town, or I start killing everyone off, one by one." He teleported to the man, not much older than Timeport himself, standing next to Gordon. "Starting with him.

"You have one minute to decide whether you want him to live or die."

Edited November 25, 2014 by mail-mi

[Edgedancer he/him]

The beards seemed very angry at the mention of his wife, looks like he hit exactly the right point; maybe he should throw in a divorce joke, given his outburst. But first, “So now you´re back to murdering Ray? Honestly-“

 

There was a small explosion in front of his face. In the short moment of confusion created Ray pulled herself free and ducked behind Voidgaze. Great, which Slontze wanted to mess with him this time?

 

As he turned around he found a woman wearing obscenely colorful clothes and looked easily distractible at best.

"Hey, it's obvious we are all on the same side here, don't be trying break it up.  I know enough about Corpsemaker and Altermind that they would undoubtedly take advantage of that situation, and I would prefer not to have to deal with either of those two again." After her short speech she started to juggle a few energy balls.

 

Either she wasn´t taking Nighthound seriously or she was very dim, possibly both. Naturally neither of the two could go unaddressed. He took a step towards her and gave an over exaggerated bow, “Well, my beauty, I and my many named friend here just enjoyed some male bonding but if you’re worried about the empire´s cohesion I would be more than pleased to spent some quality time together.” Nighthound licked his lips, while letting his eyes travel up and down the woman’s body.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

As Altermind finished his sentence, Sightline teleported into the room. Without Voidgaze. "Altermind, Emperor Lightwards wants to arrange a meeting with you," Sightline said.

"He is not your emperor. You do not have an emperor. I will meet with him. Did he suggest a time and place? Sightline, where is Voidgaze?" Altermind asked. He decided then that he'd have a scribe compile a list of each Epic and give a basic summary of their powers. It was too hard to have to debrief everyone each time. He wondered why Sightline had left Voidgaze. The woman was a powerful asset. Leaving her with their enemies didn't seem to be a good idea.

Two more Epics sauntered into the room, a male and a female. He had his arm around her waist and he spoke up. "Altermind," he said, looking between Sightline and Altermind, seeming to try and decide which of the two standing was the leader. He decided that Altermind looked most impressive and addressed him. "We are here to join you. I'm Summoner." A sword appeared in the man's hand. "I can store things in another dimension. This is Smoke Bomb."

The attractive woman stepped forwards and said, "My friends call me Smoky." Smoke began billowing out around her hands. It rose upwards and obscured her torso. These demonstrations were a good way to impress him with their powers.

"We want to work with you," Summoner said. Altermind was frustrated with all these arrivals.

"Yes, yes. You too. Come, sit. I'll get a handout written up with all your names and abilities," Altermind said, gesturing to a scribe. He turned back to Sightline expectantly.

[TheSilverDragon he/him]

Wraith looked up at the long chain of diamonds leading up to the floating museum. I wonder what type of person this Lightward is. I hope he isn’t confrontational. That would be bad.  Just then, a spec started to plummet from the other spec that was the museum.

What the heck! Are they bombing the city now? Mabey Lightward isn’t the best epic to make an alliance with. Wraith thought as he turned away and started walking towards Thoughttown.

As he walked away he heard three bodies hit the ground but not splatter. Wait, they’re not dead? Wraith thought in amazement. They must be Epics. That’s not that bad. They probably jumped off to get down relying on their powers. Lightward might not be as bad as I thought. Wraith turned back to the diamond chain. As he walked towards it he willed his body into smoke.

Wraith’s vision disappeared replaced by a dim feeling for where everything was. It was kind of like echolocation or radar. Not seeing but still knowing what is out there. It took some getting used to but for Wraith it was second nature by now.

He then let the hot air currents from the cement lift him up into the air. Anyone who saw it would think nothing of it. Just a wisp of smoke drifting through the air. He let his wraith body continued to rise until he could sense that  the museum was right next to him. Wraith gathered up his body and threw it off of the thermal and on to the floating ground. He snaked his body along the cement and passed a giant bronze statue of a dinosaur.

The front doors were closed but Wraith just squeezed his body through the crack in between the two doors. What lay on the other side amazed him. Prehistoric plants, he assumed that they were prehistoric, covered the floor. Upon closer scrutiny he found that there wasn’t a floor but a carpet of soil. This is so cool, he thought to himself. This make me want to join up right here and now.

Just then he heard a small explosion.

“Hey, it's obvious we are all on the same side here, don't be trying break it up.  I know enough about Corpsemaker and Altermind that they would undoubtedly take advantage of that situation, and I would prefer not to have to deal with either of those two again.” A feminine voice said. Wraith “looked” around and saw an astonishing sight. The forest was practically crawling with Epics, vanillas, and... Were those DINOSAURS?  Maybe I won’t have to spy on Altmind after all. I can hide very well in this group. So many was to become invisible in an alliance this big. Wraith moved over towards two men talking. One looked like a street magician and the other like a teenagerwho had raided his fathers closet. This looks interesting. He moved in to listen. 

Edited October 1, 2014 by TheSilverDragon

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Max began to draw his fun as he saw the man with his own waiting for them. When he saw the hostage, shirtless oddly enough, he stopped. That was not the way to handle this. Gordon seemed to recognize the man, calling him Seth. Max stood slightly behind Gordon, waiting to see what he should do. When the man shot the hostage, Max was done. He put his hand on his gun again when he heard the teleporter's voice, "My price, human, is free. You will tell me everything you know about every Epic in town, or I start killing everyone off, one by one. Starting with him. You have one minute to decide." Max felt the gun pressed to his head instantly. He took his hand off of his gun, wishing he had a knife.

He didn't know what to do except let Gordon handle this Epic. This guy was quickly rising on Max's list of most hated Epics. His heart was pounding, from adrenaline and fear as much as anger. He saw the other people huddled in a corner of the food court doing something. He could only hope they were planning to help.

"Woah. Calm down," Max said, slowly raising his hands in surrender, trying to be calming. "I'll help you. There's an Epic who goes by the name of Freeze. She can shoot jets of ice. One of Corpsemaker's assistant Epics, Electro, an electric Epic, recruited her from the northern part of town." Max wasn't able to keep a slight trace of hatred out of his voice as he mentioned Mel's murderer. "If you would kindly take the gun away from my head, I may be able to think better." Max knew he was taking a risk, but he knew his life would have those the moment he chose to fight the Epics.

[mail-mi he/him]

 

"Whoa, calm down," the boy that Timeport was threatening said, raising his arms up into the air. "I'll help you. There's an Epic who goes by the name of Freeze. She can shoot jets of ice. One of CorpseMaker's assistant Epics, Electro, an electric Epic, recruited her from the northern part of town." Timeport could hear the hatred in the man's voice for Electro. "If you wold kindly take this gun away from my head, I may be able to think better." 

 

Timeport growled, but he complied, stepping a bit away from the boy, though keeping his gun still trained on him. That's interesting, he thought, but utterly useless. "I already knew that. I was with the Reckoners, don't you think we pick up on things like that? What of Lightwards and Altermind?" He glanced over at Gordon. "I want weaknesses. Tell them to me now, or"--he put his finger on the trigger--"he goes." 

 

 

 

If anyone had been watching outside of Portland that afternoon, they might have seen a small crowd of children walking down one of the roads that lead into it. In the center of the crowd, with a crying baby in one arm and a small child in the other, stood a middle-aged woman. Of average height and build, she wore an ankle-length, plaid light-blue dress with a white undershirt. 

 

Mommy cooed to the crying baby. "Hush now, everything is going to be alright..." Tears stained the child's face, and quick as an eyeblink the tear streaks vanished, though they were almost instantly reformed as the tears kept coming. Mommy had trekked all the way from Astoria, picking up abused or abandoned children and putting them under her care, or taking them to better families along the way. The children with her now were those who refused to leave her side, content on keeping her as their mother. 

 

Mommy looked out over her next--and possibly final--destination. Portland, Oregon. This city was probably teeming with un-cared-for children. She'd also heard wind of a Minor Epic Empire forming, where other Minor Epics like her were grouping together to try and create a new Empire. Perhaps, she thought, this will be my final destination. Minor Epics weren't touched as much by Calamity's corruption, and most were, while not necessarily good, at least not totally evil. Maybe she could start there, ally herself with the Minor Epic Empire, and get these kids--and many more--to the good homes they deserve.

 

The baby cried again. "It will be alright," Mommy said softly, then straightened her back and looked down at the children around her. "Children," she announced, "We are going to find you a home, food, a nice bed. And it will be in there." She pointed to the city. "You guys rested and ready to go?"

 

Several children nodded, a few looking up at her hopefully. Mommy smiled. "Let's go." 

Edited March 30, 2015 by mail-mi

[Kobold King he/him]

 

Aldo the Enigmatic smiled.

 

"I'd be honored to tell the first tale," he told Traveler warmly. The man looked like he might have a nervous breakdown if asked to go first--he was an oddly flightly person.

 

"Let's see..." Aldo began, recalling memories. "It began four years ago...

 

"Back then I was a lone wolf. Not a thing to tie me down, not a thing to draw me any which way. I spent my days roaming the country, helping out Epics in need of my special talents."

 

"Thrall was one such Epic. He could tear a football stadium out of the earth with one hand, and his fists had pulverized many overly confident opponents. Yes, Thrall was an amazing man in every respect--every respect save intellect."

 

Aldo gave a nervous chuckle. "I know it's not seemly to speak ill of the dead, but Thrall wasn't what you would you would call the lightest gravatonic in the garage. He was strong and he was quick--but he was not clever, and he was not invulnerable. Without those two key traits, he was open game for any Epic with an interest in deposing him.

 

"That's where I came in. I was bored and looking for something to apply myself to. Thrall was looking for a way to not be murdered. So I became his personal bodyguard. Thrall never traveled unless I personally planned out his movements, and no one but he and I could know the path we'd finally take. When he came into a town to demand tribute, I'd stand by his side and let my keen eagle eyes pick out would-be assassins.

 

"I was getting pretty good at my job... until she decided to give the ol' assassination game a try."

 

Aldo had told this story quite a few times before, and now as ever he gave a dramatic pause before continuing.

 

"The Tennessee Sibyl. Potentially the most powerful precog in the Fractured States--if not on the planet. When she stood in a spot, she could see its future laid out like an open book. No plan could account for her. It didn't matter how cunning I was; she'd know my plan's every detail before I did.

 

"With that being the case, I believe it's perfectly understandable that poor Thrall met his end on my watch. We'd just rolled into town under the cover of night, ready to ambush some unsuspecting vanillas... and a distant sniper put a bullet straight between Thrall's eyes. Someone had planted the sniper exactly where he needed to be at exactly the right time. For the Sibyl this was child's play. But I was left clueless.

 

"I was enthralled. Or rather... de-Thralled." Aldo laughed a moment at his own joke before continuing.

 

"I've always been fascinated with remarkable Epics. The Armsman, Night's Sorrow, Earl Greyback... whenever I hear of a new and exciting man with a new and exciting story, I simply cannot rest until I've tracked 'em down and heard everything they have to say. So I was straight on the Sibyl's heels, anxious to hear her story from her own mouth.

 

"At first, she wasn't interested in meeting me. In hindsight, I'm lucky that she didn't just order my execution. But instead, she just ran. She dodged me at every turn. At times, I could have sworn she was staying just within my reach, giving me just enough hope to keep moving forward.

 

"It took me a year and a day--a poeticism that she likely chose on purpose. I'll never know why she finally gave in to meeting me, but I was quite pleased with myself. After a year and a day of constant chasing, I found her in an old trailer park in east Tennessee. 

 

"Decided to be a gentleman, I strode up and knocked on her trailer door. I'd never actually seen her, but I knew what to expect from descriptions. Her tired old voice invited me in, and I introduced myself with a bow and a flourish."

 

Aldo smiled fondly. "The sweet old gal had to be in her nineties--and that's a conservative estimate. She hauled the same trailer all over the country with all her family and belongings in tow, scraping out a living for herself however she could. It turned out the snipers she employed were her own grandchildren. She wasn't interested in ruling; her only hobby was eliminating anyone she found particularly bothersome. Apparently poor Thrall just rubbed her the wrong way.

 

"We chatted for a while. I told her all about my old magic show in Nevada; she told me about her childhood, growing up right here in Portland.

 

"Now I'd never been to Oregon by that point, but I knew it was said to be a lovely part of the country. So I asked her why she decided to move. She just smiled at me, telling one of her boys to bring her watercolor case.

 

"She showed me a painting I've never quite forgotten. The old gal had a way with a brush, and the picture she'd drawn up sent a shiver down my spine."

 

Aldo the Enigmatic shifted to a conspiratorial whisper, smiling at Traveler's intent expression.

 

"The painting was called 'What Happened in Oregon.' It was a landscape piece--a piece of the most twisted landscape I'd ever seen. Mile after mile of ashes and devastated countryside. No cities. No trees. No people. Nothing but the ashes left after the greatest carnage the world will ever see."

 

He let the words hang in the air for a dramatic moment before continuing in a slightly louder voice.

 

"That painting has stuck in my mind ever since. After I said my farewell to the Sibyl, I carried on exploring the country. I met my assistant Cricket, and the pair of us toured the country for years. But over the past month, I've found myself increasingly drawn to Oregon. I had to find out what happens. I had to see it unfold for myself. I had to play my own part in this exciting new story. So I talked Cricket into accompanying me on our biggest trip yet.

 

"We came to see what happened in Oregon."

Edited October 2, 2014 by Kobold King

[Fatebreaker he/him]

 

 

"We came to see what happened in Oregon."

 

 

Roll Credits.

Edited October 2, 2014 by Fatebreaker

[A Joe in the Bush]

 

Gordon clenched his fists as he stared down at the body of Robert. He had been one of only two people alive that Gordon had known from the pre-calamity days. And now it was just him and Rachel. “Seth, Killing my friends makes me less likely to give you Information. And If I knew the weaknesses of Lightwards and Altermind, they’d be dead.”

 

He reached up, and scratched the back of his head, flipping a small switch in his ear as he did. “While I can’t tell you their weaknesses, I can tell you the weakness of another Epic though. An Epic that CorpseMaker has sworn Vengeance on. So If you swear not to kill anymore of us, I’ll tell you Sightline’s Weakness.” Rachel ushered Charles and Dr. Pace out a side door, then closed and locked it behind them. None of them were fighters.

 

“Sightline’s weakness is Glasses. Now why don’t you take that information to CorpseMaker, and leave us alone? If you don’t you’re going to get hurt.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kyle stared down at his useless legs. Bloody Nighthound had to break them. And then I had to go and leave my blighted Wheelchair behind. He was useless. Gordon wouldn’t let him take Normality inside the Airport Terminal,so he was stuck outside watching the vehicles.

 

His earpiece deeted as it turned on. “While I can’t tell you their weaknesses, I can tell you the weakness of another Epic though. An Epic that CorpseMaker has sworn Vengeance on.” Huh. Gordon must have accidently switched it on while talking to the Reckoners. “So If you swear not to kill anymore of us, I’ll tell you Sightline’s Weakness.”

 

Kyle stared into nothingness as he he replayed that sentence. “Kill anymore of us”. There weren’t Reckoners in there. He didn’t even think. He reacted.

 

He palmed the ignition on the bike, revving both the Engines, and the gravitonics, accelerating faster than any Dragster. He aimed straight for the glass doors at the front of the Terminal, and went right through them in an explosion of glass. “You’re going to get hurt.” Yes, whoever it was would definitely Hurt.

 

As the doors exploded inwards, Max, Gordon and a spiky haired man with a gun all turned in shock. Spikes had a gun at Max’s head, and a body at his feet. Kyle pulled the trigger on his guns, before anyone could react further.

 

[Tulir he/him]

On the good side, that fight is averted, Parity thought as the man stopped talking, twisted his head around, and stalked towards her.

 

“Well, my beauty, I and my many named friend here just enjoyed some male bonding but if you’re worried about the empire´s cohesion I would be more than pleased to spent some quality time together.” He said as he leered at her.

 

Hmm, he doesn't seem like the type to just stop, so... Parity tossed the two small black spheres at his eyes, dropped the small white sphere, and drained her shirt to white and a nearby wall to black, in one smooth motion.  Rearmed, she stared at the man, waiting to see his next move.

[mail-mi he/him]

 

Gordon did not look happy. One part of Timeport's mind thought that killing one of the Reckoners was maybe not the best idea, but the rest of his mind had felt too much exhilaration to care. He'd never thought it would be this fun to kill! 

 

"Seth, killing my friends makes me less likely to give you information. And if I knew the weaknesses of Lightwards and Altermind, they’d be dead.” Gordon scratched his head. Timeport thought he might've seen something in his hair, so he quickly moved the gun away from the boy and pointed it at the informant. "While I can’t tell you their weaknesses, I can tell you the weakness of another Epic though. An Epic that CorpseMaker has sworn vengeance on. So If you swear not to kill anymore of us, I’ll tell you Sightline’s Weakness.”

 

Timeport was about to tell the informant that he was not about to swear a no-killing oath, and prove it by killing the boy, but Gordon continued anyway. "Sightline’s weakness is glasses. Now why don’t you take that information to CorpseMaker, and leave us alone? If you don’t, you’re going to get hurt." 

 

Timeport scoffed. "Hurt?" he said incredulously. "I'm an Epic. I don't get--" Suddenly, there was a sound of crashing glass, and before anyone could do anything, a motorcycle with a middle-aged man sitting on it appeared from the hallway. 

 

There were guns on the front of the motorcycle. And they were trained on Timeport. 

 

In the confusion of the moment, Seth forgot about his Epic powers. Frantically, he tried to dive out of the way of the guns, but the man was too quick. He pressed the trigger, and multiple bullets fired rapidly out of the two barrels. More than a few of them ripped through Seth's body. He barely had time to register the pain before he dropped to the ground, dead in an instant. 

Edited November 25, 2014 by mail-mi

[Voidus]

Purple Phoenix jumped in surprise at the interruption, a small explosion triggering near his face.

What the?

He watched the woman approach, taking in her tie dyed clothing and the ball of energy in one hand.

Another Energy Epic? Well I know how to deal with those. 

He sat back and watched her confrontation with Nighthound, finding some amusement from the inherent irony of her throwing an explosion at them to try to break up a fight.

He scowled at Nighthounds attitude though, even such hostility as this woman displayed didn't deserve Nighthound as a response.

Can't he at least stick to creeping one girl at a time out?

He was about to interrupt when the multi-colored woman moved suddenly, throwing two balls straight at Nighthound and then whirling, touching both her shirt and the wall which drained of color somehow.

Responding purely by instinct Purple Phoenix stretched his shadow in front of Nighthound, flicking the two balls which detonated on contact.
He whirled suddenly on the woman, his cloak billowing with the sudden movement.

"What is wrong with you? Is everyone in this museum completely insane?"

Purple Phoenix was by no means fond of the man he'd just helped, he didn't even know why he'd bothered from what he knew the balls would be unlikely to harm Nighthound for long anyway. But he was still trying to adjust to the urges left behind in Protectors wake, that personality had been based entirely around protective instincts, strong instincts and difficult to shake off.

 

Refill left Zip in charge at their new HQ, they'd commandeered an old school gym to accomodate all the Epics who had rallied once word began to spread, rooms were being set up in the school buildings and the surrounding houses were slowly being disinhabited.

He looked in distaste at the thing beside him. No longer recognizably human the corpse had been decaying for some time. Several bones were visible and one of its eyes was missing. It was made even worse by the mishmash of threads woven seemingly at random throughout the body, as far as Refill could tell they were all that was holding it together.

The body was one example of the new application of minor abilities that he'd been less thrilled about, Zip had come up with the idea for Stitch's powers and the Epic had seized upon it immediately, heading straight for the nearest graveyard.
He'd had another Epic melt a pointed metal spike onto the end of the thread he carried everywhere so he could make more if needed, though Refill had suggested repeatedly that he'd be better just using the spike as a weapon directly.

Subtext and Flowerface both walked far to the rear, their powers tended to get away from them at times and neither were particularly pleasant to experience.

Refill took out his recently filled flask and took a drink, grimacing at the taste, feeling and smell of the liquid within. An unfortunate necessity if he was to make full use of his powers.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Instead of answering in any way the woman threw her explosive balls at him, she sure got some fire. Nighthound got ready to doge, while she created new ball by leaching colors out of her clothes and a nearby wall but before he could move a wall of shadows caught the balls out of the air.

 

Did the beard just help him? Not that he minded but what kind of Slontze helps you after you were done pissing him off, especially if the attack wouldn´t hurt you anyway?  

 

"What is wrong with you? Is everyone in this museum completely insane?" he asked the woman.

Nighthound walked a small bit towards Penumbra and scratched himself on the back of his head. “Afraid so, just look at her, first she interrupts our nice talk and then she ruins one of Lightwards walls. Not only that but she also calls us the disrupting ones, the nerve.”

 

He turned away from the two, getting Ray back from Voidgaze might turn out to be a bit problematic, the white fluff ball wasn´t exactly harmless. Now-

 

They were gone, Calamity! He didn´t pay attention for one moment and they ran away. Did they have any clue how bothersome searching for them would be in this jungle and what that would do to his mood?

 

“Well then, as fun as our conversation was, it seems that my two escorts already got bored with you, so if you would excuse me, I have a pet to reclaim.” Pushing down his seething anger he turned away from the two and started to walk away with fast strides.

[TheSilverDragon he/him]

Well, at least one person here knows how to tell a good story, Wraith thought as he tried to process the information that was just revealed. I wonder if it's true. Anyone can make up story and the magician guy seemed like he pull stories out of thin air if he wanted to. The other guy seemed to have bought it though. I wonder if the magician still has the painting? 

 

Wraith's thoughts were a jumbled mess as he continued to watch the pair. The other man seemed go be really nervous, looking everywhere except at the magician. Wraith waited a while and soon the nervous one opened hi mouth to tell his story, I hope it's as good as the other one Wraith thought, as the other began to speak. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

"Where do you find your inspiration?"

 

Inspiration. That was a nice word. It made Doctor Funtimes think of lighthouses, whales diving into the sea, candles shining in the darkness with words written in pretty letters. Glossy covers that opened to messages like You have a special place in my life, you fill a hole I didn't know I had. Wait—no, that wasn't right. Maybe it was CUSTOMER SERVICE: Steering Our Customers Away from the Rock of Competition? No, that was a poster. No one had liked that poster, so she had turned it into a poster of a kitten holding a lacy pink box and saying….

 

Wait—she was supposed to be answering a question. What was it again? Inspiration. Where did she find it? And something about bunny castles? Doctor Funtimes grinned at Saccharine. "I like bunnies. And hamsters. And kittens." She giggled, staring at the feast Saccharine had produced from her pockets. Sugar, tea, cookies, doilies, tablecloths, a kettle, and fire. Saccharine could take fire from her pockets. Even if it was just chemicals, she could take fire from her pockets. 

 

She invited people to tea. She gave them cookies. She looked at Purple Phoenix like he was the only man in the world who mattered. She knew that Nathan needed to be kept safe, and not only because he was a "brave little body" who might go to waste if Lightwards didn't shoot him and turn him into a—

 

Stay positive. 

 

Funtimes looked down at her hands, which had coiled to fists around the tablecloth. Her heart pounded like it had when she trapped Lightwards in tar. Not that he didn't deserve it. If anything, he deserved to be trapped in acid, some sort of acid that pulled him down like quicksand. 

 

Stay positive. Stay. Positive. 

 

Kittens. Hamsters. Pug puppies in giant sunglasses shaped like hearts. Nathan holding a pug puppy wearing sunglasses shaped like hearts. Nathan and Sam and Revolution and Remington and the Unicyclist all holding pug puppies in sunglasses shaped like hearts. All of them smiling and cooing over the pug puppies, happy because of the little balls of cuteness in their arms. Nathan would like pug puppies. No—he would love them. Not like her last boyfriend. 

 

She felt herself begin to smile and allowed it to spread, welcoming the giggle like an old friend. Her stomach unclenched, and she felt light again. Like she could skip through the jungle, tossing flowers in her wake. Maybe she could do that later. 

 

"People inspire me. Nice people. Like my friends." She drew in a long gasp, clapping her hands to her cheeks. "You haven't met my friends yet! You're nice and my friends are nice and my friends would like you so much! We should go—" 

 

Tea. Cookies. Labs. 

 

She sat back down. "Later," she said with a giggle, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and cradling her chin in her hands. "Why do you like labs?" 

 

"We came to see what happened in Oregon." 

 

Silence followed Aldo's story, and Nathan had no words to fill it with. Mile after mile of ashes and devastated countryside. No cities. No trees. No people. Nothing but the ashes left after the greatest carnage the world will ever see. 

 

That was Oregon as seen by the most powerful precog in the Fractured States. 

 

Nathan was staring, but he couldn't stop himself. Couldn't think of a thing but Oregon, burned to ashes and left to rot. The Tennessee Sibyl, the most powerful precog on the planet, had seen it. Oregon would burn. Funtimes had brought him to a battlefield. 

 

​That sweet old gal…most powerful precog….

 

Aldo was staring expectantly. What was he waiting for? A reaction of some sort, or payment for the story—

 

A story for a story. Nathan forced a smile and a chuckle. "Well, aside from the painting, I'd say you're lucky. I've known a few precogs, and 'sweet' is the last word I'd use. The night I met Funtimes, I was—believe it or not—a server, working for a precog named Fortuity…." 

 

He described the night in detail—locking Fortuity in his bathroom with a malicious doorknob, turning a door into bubble wrap and bullets into croutons, Funtimes' glee and Fortuity's helpless rage. He left out the knife, the table, and the white robe in favor of gumball doors and plenty of laughter. Aldo didn't need to know everything. 

Edited October 3, 2014 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Max was relieved that this Epic wasn't so far gone as to reject his orders. Seth stepped back from Max, keeping the gun trained on his head. Gordon began talking, “Seth, Killing my friends makes me less likely to give you Information. And If I knew the weaknesses of Lightwards and Altermind, they’d be dead. While I can’t tell you their weaknesses, I can tell you the weakness of another Epic though. An Epic that CorpseMaker has sworn Vengeance on. So If you swear not to kill anymore of us, I’ll tell you Sightline’s Weakness.” Max saw the Reckoners in the back leave through a side door. Talking to them had lost some priority once there had been a gun put to his head.

“Sightline’s weakness is Glasses. Now why don’t you take that information to CorpseMaker, and leave us alone? If you don’t you’re going to get hurt.” Gordon continued. That's right, Max remembered, Kyle is still outside.

Right then, Normality, with Kyle, burst through the glass doors, shattering glass everywhere. Kyle began shooting his guns toward Seth. Max dropped to the ground and crawled further from where the bullets were hitting. The bullets stopped firing and Max stood up. He looked over and saw Seth dead on the ground.

"I guess he didn't have any invincibility powers," Max said. Max looked over at Kyle and nodded, "Thanks for that." Turning to Gordon, Max asked, "Do you know where the Reckoners went? We need to find out what happened and I need to talk with them. They may want a new headquarters now though."

Electro stood to the side as Corpsemaker had Upgrade tested with Streetwise. He had to admit, the man ha a very useful power. If he could make it so that Corpsemaker could negate all powers near him as kill instantly, he'd be unstoppable. For now, Electro would accept that. He needed to think of a way to bribe Upgrade to work for him instead. With Upgrade, Electro could be rid of Corpsemaker and rule for himself. "Good job Electro. Take the rest of the day off," Corpsemaker said. Electro nodded and walked away. He went to sit on a bench and watched as Toymaker created more soldiers with Upgrade's help.

"Electro. do you remember the church that Gordon lived in? We sent assassins to kill him earlier, as well as all the other informants in the city. They failed and Gordon is on the run. I want you to take Upgrade, and destroy the church. Completely. Cause as much Collateral damage as you want." Corpsemaker said. Electro grinned and saluted. This would be fun.
------------
Electro decided he would use this time with Upgrade to learn about his personality as well as experiment with what his power was like when boosted.

"How did an Epic whose power boosts another's stay by yourself?" Electro asked.

Upgrade looked at him as he answered, "Have you heard of money?" The little snot was sparking arrogant. He didn't even have a real power of his own besides enhancing his weapons. "I rented my powers to various Epics in return for payment."

"Interesting," Electro said. "Shall we do this then?" He looked at the church while Upgrade laid his hand on Electro's shoulder.

"Go ahead."

Electro felt the power burst out of him as he created a huge electric beam that was easily ten times larger than normal. He destroyed a whole room with one hit. He could get used to this. Imagining his Scrambler made this powerful, Electro realized he could Scramble tens and tens, if not hundreds of people at once. His radius would be immense. He also realized that his electric field was flaring much larger than it did even when he was furious. He was sure no knife or bullet or any type of metal could hit him while this kept up. He could shock people from a large distance as well. This power boost was incredibly powerful.

Electro felt immense glee at his power and the destruction he was able to cause as he destroyed the church in seconds. The entire structure was vaporized. Electro stopped his electricity and went over to see if any of the building remained. Only the foundation was left. He motioned for Upgrade to join him. Corpsemaker did give him permission for as much damage as he wished. And he wished for a lot. The foundation, which normally would've been hard for him to cut, was sliced through with ease. Electro also began destroying trees and plants in the area. They put up no resistance. Electro relished in this feeling of total power. Even Corpsemaker couldn't beat him when he was like this. Electricity of this magnitude would destroy everything around the Epic and, as long as Electro kept his eyes away, he could hold Corpsemaker off.

"Let's head back," Electro said. He had Starscream pick him up. He still was exhilarated from the destruction. He'd cause more on the way back. Starscream also lifted up Upgrade so that he could boost Electro. As they traveled back, Electro caused mass Scramblings and commanded Starscream to shoot missiles randomly. Portland, then Oregon, would be crushed.

[Tulir he/him]

Parity waited for the spheres to detonate in him, but to her surprise, a shadow from the bearded man caught them and exploded them safely.

 

"What is wrong with you? Is everyone in this museum completely insane?" he asked as he walked towards her.

 

The target of her spheres started talking to him.  “Afraid so, just look at her, first she interrupts our nice talk and then she ruins one of Lightwards walls. Not only that but she also calls us the disrupting ones, the nerve.”  He turned around and seemed to scan the room, then muttered something darkly and stormed off.

 

"Ok, really, tell me that the conversation between you two wasn't going to destroy half the museum, because from my perspective it was heading that way."  Parity tossed the black sphere into the wall, and let some of the spears hit her to shrink down the healing sphere.  Draining some more objects, Parity started juggling as she looked at the bearded man again.

[A Joe in the Bush]

 

Toymaker scratched another test off her list. “Alright, Even with Upgrade, I can’t actualize a Death Star, or Cthulhu. So we can’t count on those. But the Mechs are still up even after I’m back to Normal. So I can easily outfit a dozen Legions, I just need the materials and the Time.”

 

CorpseMaker skimmed through the reports. That explained why Commander hadn’t taken over Portland earlier. “Well keep making more troops. And more Mechs. We’ll need them to take on The Empire’s Dino’s.”

 

One of the Hangar doors started sliding open. Someone was returning. Only Mundivore was out right now, recruiting. So it was probably him. Sure Enough, Mundivore’s distinctive Mech came in, with another man following. An Epic hopefully. He turned back to Toymaker. “Keep up the production. We’ll be needing as many troops as possible soon.” He walked the down the side of the Hangar, to where Mundivore was jumping out. When he landed, he turned to face CorpseMaker.

 

"Corpsemaker, I bring back an Epic for your Dominion. His name is Quota, and he wishes to serve you." Mundivore was so formal ever since he’d seen Scorch die. CorpseMaker wished he could go kill someone again. All this planning, it was tedious. Even though it would give him Dominion over Portland, he didn’t like it. He really needed to let loose sometime soon.

 

“Quota is it? What’s your power, and why did you choose to serve me?” Once he was done here. Maybe he’d go recruiting his own way. . .

________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Gordon kicked Seth’s body hard, just to make sure he wasn’t regenerating or anything. He appeared to be staying dead. Good. He heard Max began talking, but didn’t really listen. "I guess he didn't have any invincibility powers, Thanks for that." When had Seth developed Powers? Recently? Or was he a Spy the whole time? "Do you know where the Reckoners went? We need to find out what happened and I need to talk with them. They may want a new headquarters now though." Max continued on.

 

Gordon replied without even thinking. “Through the door, into the cafeteria. They’ll be in one of the Bomb disposal rooms.” Right, he needed to go check on Rachel and the others. ”Kyle, I was wrong, you can bring Normality inside the Airport. Stay with us.” He slipped his arms underneath The neck and knees of Robert’s Body, lifting him off the floor. He didn’t deserve to be abandoned here. “Come on. We need to go find them. Let’s hope they have a safehouse we can borrow.” They hurried through the doors the Reckoners had left through.

[Voidus]

Purple Phoenix grimaced at Nighthounds reference to his 'pet' but tried to keep himself in control, finding himself glad that the man had simply decided to move on without further incident.
"Ok, really, tell me that the conversation between you two wasn't going to destroy half the museum, because from my perspective it was heading that way." said the tie-dye woman.

She threw another ball to the side where it exploded, some kind of shrapnel from the explosion hit her and the other ball she held slowly shrank as she healed from the wounds.

Black harms, white heals, got it. His mind busily filed the information away, he never knew what might come in handy but it was mostly just an old reflex from his days of studying Epics and trying to unravel their abilities.

"Will you Stop blowing things up?" he scolded. "This museum is already laced with explosives, one wrong move and we all go plummeting hundreds of feet before meeting a very abrupt end, and trust me when I say it's not a fun trip."
He was as angry at himself as he was her.
Why did I put so many explosives in a flying museum again? Sparking Protector and his over reacting.
"We may have been having a disagreement but trust me, if I'd wanted to destroy this museum I could, I wouldn't waste time yelling about it."
Out of the corner of his eye Phoenix saw a small creature scurrying through the forest, one whose camouflage was more suited for the urban city below than this prehistoric jungle.

"Soulswitch" he muttered, recognizing the raccoon as the same one that the Epic had used while reporting to Penumbra.
A small tendril of darkness snaked towards the unwary Epic who seemed more interested in Aldo and Traveler, the shadow snagged Soulswitch's leg before he could flee and dragged him out of the tree.
"And what are you doing here?" He asked the small creature, which was squirming about in a very human manner.