What Happened in Portland

[Kobold King he/him]

 

The ride down was uneventful, if filled with annoying chatter. Voidgaze and Lucentia did not seem to get along very well, which was to be expected; Rita Blue was not a pleasant person to work with. Perhaps a pleasant enough person in temperament, but undoubtedly too scatterbrained to be useful. Lightwards preferred focused, driven colleagues like Lucentia.

 

On the ground, the falling saurians had made a far greater mess than he'd anticipated. Feeling only slightly annoyed, Lightwards wasted no time in raising them each to his side.

 

With Epics and Warriors at his back, Lightwards began the journey with an air of anticipation and contentment.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Ross Island Bridge had held up well, considering.

 

Some of the highways leading up to the structure were badly damaged, showing signs of pulverization, disintegration, and melting that only Epic duels could have created. The bridge itself, however, was fully intact and functional, though it was clear it had not been actively tended in the years since Calamity appeared.

 

In all likelihood, Lightwards would have to blow it up.

 

His knowledge of Portland geography was limited, but he knew the Willamette River flowed between the Empire of Light and Thoughttown. When the inevitable war with Altermind began, destroying all bridges connecting the two regions would be essential. Admittedly Sightline could teleport, but he didn't seem anywhere near as powerful as Doctor Funtimes--everything about him bespoke a contact-only teleporter, incapable of transporting large numbers of troops. 

 

While tonight he'd be scheming by their side, Thoughttown would require destruction eventually. And when Lightwards and Altermind finally came to blows, he'd need a plan to make sure he and he alone survived the war.

 

The Empire's representatives came to the other end of the bridge, where they were met by a surprising--and pink--sight.

 

There was an Epic skipping out of a dark alley. Not walking, not advancing in a slow and methodical approach--skipping. She was a young woman, skipping at an almost alarming speed towards their group. Despite the chill air, she wore no jacket, instead wearing a pink t-shirt and a short black skirt. She was barefoot against the cold asphalt, but her idiotic smile showed no sign of discomfort.

 

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeelooooooooo!" she exclaimed happily. Lightwards immediately felt his hand gripping around the handle of his pistol, dinosaurs issuing low growls behind him.

 

The pink, barefoot, undoubtedly cold Epic continued grinning as she spoke. "Lightwards I presume? Mind if I call you LW? Or Elldubs? Hmm... Wardy? Ah we'll figure it out, and who have we here? Lucentia? Ooooh! Lucy! I always wanted a friend called Lucy, and um... Houdini?"

 

The other Epics stared at her in perplexion--or in Lightwards' case, growing anger. Would no Epic in this city give him the slightest respect?

 

His toy Warriors raised rifles at his thought, and he himself stepped close to the woman. His harsh gaze met her ditzy, idotic one, and he pointed his own pistol into her face.

 

"I am assuming you had a greater plan for this introduction than infuriating the lot of us," he growled dangerously, running the possibilities in his mind. Was she an unaligned agent? Was she working for CorpseMaker--or worse, Funtimes? She seemed the kind of imbecile Funtimes would recruit...

 

Focus. With some effort he forced himself to pay attention to the imbecile in front of him, rather than the one back in the Museum. "I am also assuming," he continued softly, "that your plan for this introduction does not involve your being ripped to shreds. Unless you inform me who you represent and why you felt bold enough to greet us with such disrespect, you will find out precisely how far off-plan this meeting can go."

 

His eyes narrowed. "I have an Epic in my service who would love an airheaded young woman to toy with for a few hours. So please, begin explaining before I return to the Museum with a nice present for him."

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Alice didn't respond. Instead, Remington did again, "I tracked you down," he said. "Heard about you. Followed you here because of Lightwards." Remington watched Alice, not Max, as he spoke. Lightwards was the newcomer. Some kind of necromancer in a museum or something.

"Alice here? Used to be one of his. Warriors of Light, he calls them. That's after he's killed them. Raised 'em up without any idea of what he did. He kills 'em just so they can serve him. Breaks them down and builds them up the way he thinks they ought to be. Don't know how Alice got away from him, but here she is." Remington continued. Max just listened as Remington went on, but inside he was seething. Lightwards kills only for servants? Why am I not surprised? All Epics were the same.

"I killed Koschei the Deathless. And I'm going to kill Lightwards, too." Remington concluded.

Max's eyes widened in admiration and surprise. "Koschei? The healer from the Dalles? You? I heard about him from some of the refugees who escaped, but I never thought I would have the honor of meeting the man who killed him." Max couldn't believe that he was in the presence of someone who had killed a tyrant. "This Lightwards sounds just like all the tyrants who I hate. It would be my pleasure to have you join us."

Max had heard of this Koschei. He was said to be a transference Epic. He could gift healing and take it away. Only rumors of cruelty and fear had been told of the Dalles when he took over. Max had later heard of the man who had killed him, but never had heard his name. This man was exactly what the Black Fist needed. Someone with Epic-killing experience as well as the desire to fight. Max had one part and the Reckoners had the other. Remington had it all.

"Rachel! Remington and Alice are coming with us," he called over. Alice could be useful as well. She could be a symbol of Lightwards's horrific rule and could be the key to defeating him.

[mail-mi he/him]

 

Chimera appeared at the entrance, trailed by a large bear and a wolf. He didn't seem to be followed by any other animals, and--

 

Timeport started. Are those....wings? The wolf spread out its wings, and the bear bared its teeth, revealing a pair of poisonous fangs. Chimera looked sideways at his axe, then turned and whispered something to his animals. 

 

He faced Timeport again. "Hello, Timeport, I'm Chimera. I'm not looking for any factions to join at this time, but may I be of service in another way? I have many creatures for sale that could be of use to you," he said coldly, a tone of displeasure hidden poorly behind his diplomatic voice. 

 

Timeport assessed the situation. Chimera had a wolf that could fly, a bear that could poison, plus whatever additional powers he had. But Timeport had an advantage: he could resurrect, and he was pretty sure Chimera's creatures couldn't.

 

He smiled, then hefted his battle axe and rested it on his shoulder. "Oh, but Chimera, Corpsemaker doesn't want just a few of your creations. He wants all of them. And, of course, he doesn't want any of his enemies to have your creatures. So, if you want your creatures"--he looked at the two animals--"and yourself to survive, I suggest you join up with us." 

Edited November 25, 2014 by mail-mi

[Voidus]

 "I have an Epic in my service who would love an airheaded young woman to toy with for a few hours. So please, begin explaining before I return to the Museum with a nice present for him."

Neverthere rolled here eyes at Lightwards.

"You know what? You don't get a cool nickname anymore." She said, eyeing one of the nearby dinosaurs with great interest.
"Oooh, cool pets. Can I call him Numnums?"
She continued on without waiting for an answer.
"I just thought you might like to know that your boring old museum is going to be attacked tonight along with Corpsey's place and the nerd town."

Something at the school caught the attention of her real body, her concentration wavered causing her projection to dissipate slowly into smoke.

"Refill! The Thoughttown Epics have left their base" Muffle yelled as he burst into the room, quickly seeking out the leader of the Minor Epics.
"BioMed sent me on ahead to tell you, he says they've left themselves basically defenseless."

Neverthere sent herself back to where she'd left the Necromancer.

"Actually" She said as the smoke reformed into her body again a few scant seconds after it had collapsed. "It seems that the attack on ThoughtTown may happen even sooner. Apparently some thoughtless person convinced all the Epics to leave."

She giggled and immediately forgot her anger.

"Have you been naughty Wardy?"

Edited November 9, 2014 by Voidus

[Edgedancer he/him]

Hopefully, Altermind would bring proper people to the meeting. Granted, in the long run it wouldn´t matter, all of them would either die in the near future or be too inconsequential to bother with. Still, she meet enough people that she´ll have to dispose of today.

 

Knowing next to nothing about the Thoughttown group wasn´t ideal but what better way to get learn about the exact situation of the town than meeting them head on, certainly it couldn´t be worse than the rest of her day.

 

Her thoughts were disrupted, as a woman skipped out of a dark alley, with her bright colors and pen resting behind her ear, she looked almost like Funtimes secretary, assuming that woman could think straight long enough to hire one. Signaling her Epicenes not only with an audacity rivaling girl scouts trying to sell cookies but also because her hair distinctly lacked the movement such skipping would create.

 

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeelooooooooo! Lightwards I presume? Mind if I call you LW? Or Elldubs? Hmm... Wardy? Ah we'll figure it out, and who have we here? Lucentia? Ooooh! Lucy! I always wanted a friend called Lucy, and um... Houdini?" And the list grew again, before she even got to the meeting.

 

Lightwards responded quite aptly, by not being amused from her hijinks. Although, if Lucentia´s hunch was right, his bravado wouldn´t exactly pay off.

 

Unfazed the pink nightmare continued to rattle on about an attack on all three factions and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Self-projection then, perfect hair condition truly is too rare a power. Assuming she said the truth that would mean yet another faction, one that somehow managed to gather the numbers to attack three major players at once and yet not have a single Epic that would call attention to them… how not threatening.

 

Dealing with whatever business distracted her, the woman reappeared, with the declaration that the attack on Thoughttown already started and that they presumably were foolish enough to leave their base empty. Seems like Voidgaze would get quite the welcome, then again she survived at least one run in with her brother, so she may give them a good scare, one way or another it wasn´t of her concern.

 

“Giving you the benefit of the doubt that an attack is going to happen,” Lucentia said as she stepped up next to Lightwards, “Why would you tell us and more importantly, why would we trust a traitor that hasn’t even bothered to introduce herself.”

                                                                                

 

Having free reign to go and murder a neighborhood or five was nice and all but Nighthound found himself confronted with one major problem, what do you do on your first not work related date with a beautiful woman you wanted to slowly break into an obedient little toy?

 

He watched Ray warily stand up, as he mulled over his options. “How about we go and have a nice candlelight dinner?” She responded to his offer with a stare carrying all the suspicion of the world.

“You wouldn´t let the cook turn you into mincemeat, would you?”

“No, but if you want to eat me I´m sure we can find some privacy.” Nighthound licked over his lips and let his eyes wander over Ray´s body.

 

She threw a punch at him. For once not taking the hit, Nighthound side stepped her attack and grabbed her collar. With one pull he brought the two of them face to face.

“Let me remind you of something. You´re no longer a free woman, you´re my pet and neither Funtimes vanillas nor that white idiot will manage to change anything about that. Understood?”

Ray spat him into his face.

“I promise you a lovely evening, dear.”

 

Nighthound dragged her out of the museum, leaving it to Ray to catch their fall.

[Voidus]

Neverthere giggled at Lucys question.

"Why should you trust me? You shouldn't Lucy, if you look for me I'm Never there!" She burst into a fit of giggles at this point, her insubstantial body heaving in air. She wiped a tear from her eye as she finished.

"I'm telling you because I like dinosaurs, and I like floating museums, and because I like LW and Lucy. But I suppose the most important reason I'm telling you is that I'd rather live as a traitor than die an honest person. Refill caught my attention with his talk of all us less powerful Epics striking out on our own but I know something he doesn't, I've seen all the leaders and he doesn't stand a chance against them. So for now I'm just giving my favourite bunch of Epics an edge in tonights proceedings. Tomorrow you might see me, you might not, but wherever I am, I'm NeverThere."

She gave a final wave and giggle before transporting herself elsewhere.

Time to watch the fireworks at ThoughtTown.
 

Refill strode down the street, his battalion trailing behind him he approached the prepared staging area for the attack, he ducked into an alley near ThoughtTowns border.

"This is it, our first serious blow to these High Epics who have been lording it over us" He said to the assembled Epics and their human bodyguards.

"Synesthesia, Dodgeball, Disrupt, you're frontline, Synesthesia will shroud you in darkness and silence while you take out the border guards, then Growthspurt can get us past the perimeter while our soldiers cover him. Once we're inside, you'll split into groups of two with a guard of 5 soldiers, your goal is simply to cause as much destruction as you can and then pull out. I will enter the main compound to find anyone important they've left behind, and leave them a surprise or two."

Refill took a deep breath, ready to plunge himself and his Epics firmly into a war with one of the largest factions of Epics in the state.

"This will be the first step, the first step towards us ruling ourselves again as we should, taking back this city, we will strike while they are weak. They have left themselves defenseless against us. Tonight my friends, we will teach the soldiers of Thought Town to think twice before calling any of us 'minor' again!"

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

 

"Rachel! Remington and Alice are coming with us!" 

 

Remington knew he ought to be elated, or relieved at the very least. Here he was in a cemetery, a recovering zombie at his side as he faced the leader of Black Fist, who had just given him a ringing endorsement. Permission to enter their hideout. All it took was a mention of Koschei and a promise to kill Lightwards. The former could be easily verified through a quick search of whatever data those Reckoners had managed to collect between tea parties. 

 

Too easy, his mind whispered. Unless they weren't planning on sending him back….

 

"Hold up," he told Max. "I got family expecting me by morning. You can blindfold us, take my gun, take us wherever you want, but if I ain't back by sunrise, you'll have them hunting you down. Asking around, asking questions you don't want asked. I ain't saying that to spook you; just letting you know I've got to be back in one piece. If word gets out about any of this, go ahead and shoot me." 

 

Morning. Unless these Reckoners were known for short meetings, he wouldn't make the meeting with Thougttown. Hope Funtimes don't mind. 

 

 

The beardapalooza had gone about as well as could be expected. 

 

A surprisingly large number of bearded men had gathered near the tailor's shop, glancing around and shuffling their feet nervously. Phrases like said she's a cannibal and fattening us up drifted through the crowd, and for the first time since Fortuity took Leigh, Nathan found himself praying. ​Please, no pancakes. No muffins. No food. Just…nothing edible, all right? 

 

Either God really was listening, or coincidence was a more powerful force than he thought. Laughing, jumping up and down, Funtimes clapped her hands and turned dead leaves into glittering bracelets, necklaces, and other baubles that fell from the sky onto a hundred bearded heads. 

 

"Free shinies! Free shinies for everybody!" As the men ducked, dodged, and stooped to pick them up, she pushed her way through the crowd, passing out free hugs. With every hug, she paused to pull back, smile intently into each man's face, and move on. 

 

She's looking for someone. 

 

Her search was interrupted by a man who wore no beard, but a rather impressive handlebar mustache twisted into a curl at the ends. She drew a gasp, she clapped her hands—and he handed her a letter before melting into the crowd. Funtimes tore open the envelope and let it fall to the ground as another shiny. 

 

Her smile became a frown. 

 

"Thank you all for coming," she said, raising her voice and folding the letter until it was the size of a piece of chewing gum. "The shinies are free. Take—take everything you want. Bye-bye!" 

 

The bearded men had dispersed with their hands full of shinies as Funtimes had read the letter again. "Is everything okay?"

 

"Purple Phoenix," she had said, still frowning. "He needs a party. A really fun one."

 

"Sure. We can do that."  

 

The afternoon wore on, and the only word from Remington was a single yellow light on Funtimes' radio—several minutes after seven o'clock. "He's not coming," she said with a small frown. "We should get ready." 

 

Nathan knew that there was no way she would leave Sam and Revolution alone for the duration. Unlike the Unicyclist, whose flaming bagpipes had convinced Funtimes to leave him at the museum—safely locked away from any hungry raptors, of course—they were unarmed. Also unlike the Unicyclist, Sam especially was almost certain to make a few jokes at Lightwards' expense. 

 

He liked the jokes. But he also liked Sam alive and unharmed. 

 

"Doctor," Nathan said as an idea struck, "could I get a clipboard, a pen, and some paper?" 

 

All three were different shades of pink, though a quick test confirmed the ink was black. He handed them to Sam. 

 

"If anyone asks, you're my secretary," he whispered. "Whenever you think of a joke about Lightwards' hat or something, just write it down there. Okay?" 

 

A few moments later, they stood before the Sadrys'. 

[Kobold King he/him]

 

 

Neverthere is one of those women who shouldn't roll their eyes, Lightwards decided. It makes her look somehow ditzier and more annoying than she looked before.

 

"You know what?" the idiot proclaimed grumpily. "You don't get a cool nickname anymore." Her eyes flickered to Vincenzo the Allosaurus, which made her face light up with enthusiasm once more.

 

 "Oooh, cool pets. Can I call him Numnums?" she gushed lightheartedly. "I just thought you might like to know that your boring old museum is going to be attacked tonight along with Corpsey's place and the nerd town."

 

Lightwards frowned. The girl's claims, if at all accurate, entailed a citywide attempt to supplant the most powerful faction leaders. Any group with enough influence to pull off the simultaneous collapse of Thoughttown, the Empire, and the Dominion would undoubtedly have reached his ears by now. And surely there wasn't a group foolish enough to attempt such a thing unless it was confident it could succeed.

 

He was opening his mouth to question the pink Epic further, but the girl's body dissipated into a vaguely humanoid poof of smoke. The smoke began wisping away, only to converge again into her annoying self.

 

"Actually," she giggled. "It seems that the attack on ThoughtTown may happen even sooner. Apparently some thoughtless person convinced all the Epics to leave. Have you been naughty Wardy?"

 

He responded only with a scowl, but Lucentia stepped to his side. “Giving you the benefit of the doubt that an attack is going to happen,” the queen said harshly. “Why would you tell us and more importantly, why would we trust a traitor that hasn’t even bothered to introduce herself?”

 

The girl giggled again, which was apparently an annoying habit of hers. Sitting alongside such annoying traits as running around Portland in a short skirt and talking to powerful High Epics like teenagers at a slumber party.

 

"Why should you trust me?" she sang happily. "You shouldn't Lucy, if you look for me I'm never there!"

 

This prompted a fit of hysterical laughter that almost knocked the girl off her feet. As she laughed and shook over her own non-existent joke, Lightwards began to seriously doubt the pink little Epic was still fully sane.

 

 The pink, barefoot, insane little Epic wiped a tear from her eye before growing more serious."I'm telling you because I like dinosaurs, and I like floating museums, and because I like LW and Lucy. But I suppose the most important reason I'm telling you is that I'd rather live as a traitor than die an honest person. Refill caught my attention with his talk of all us less powerful Epics striking out on our own but I know something he doesn't, I've seen all the leaders and he doesn't stand a chance against them. So for now I'm just giving my favourite bunch of Epics an edge in tonights proceedings. Tomorrow you might see me, you might not, but wherever I am, I'm never there."

 

And with that, she vanished in a cloud of smoke that kept her form for a few minutes after she was gone.

 

Lightwards scowled at the open smoke for a moment longer before continuing his walk. There was no telling whether the astral projector was honest or not; with her habit of running through downtown Portland barefoot and laughing at random sentences, it was perfectly possible that the whole concept of a simultaneous attack was just a peculiar delusion of hers. Or her idea of a practical joke.

 

Silently folding the conversation to the back of his mind, Lightwards continued along his path.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

The Sadry residence from the outside was just as he had left it. Lightwards smiled as he came to his first residence in Portland, ordering his dinosaurs to stand on the front lawn to keep watch. It was cheerfully whole compared to the devastated suburb across the street from it, aside from a single broken window.

 

The interior was clean and mostly spotless, save for a few bloodstains. Those, Lightwards decided, would be best left uncleaned, as a message to Altermind and his group. It was a proclamation of territory--a message which said "I own this house. I have killed to gain it and I will kill to defend it."

 

Something felt slightly off about the interior decoration, though; Lightwards frowned briefly as he tried to figure out what it could be. Did the house feel somehow... emptier than how he'd left it last? The bloodstains were identical, every shard of glass by the shattered window still in the same place.

 

Whatever it was, Lightwards assigned to flawed memory with a shrug. This meeting was too important to spend the night indulging his growing paranoia.

 

Pamela Tithers, who had dutifully found the location without difficulty, stood in the kitchen with her tray of cupcakes. Lightwards ordered her to arrange the pastries on the dining room table, and had a few toys fill and run the Sadry's generator outside. Lights came on through the house, and the Empire's Epics were settled.

 

They were ready for the meeting.

 

They didn't have to wait long. It was scarcely ten minutes before the sound of motors issued from outside, and the door swung open. The best and brightest of Thoughttown began filing into the building.

 

Altermind was first, striding into the building with his characteristic confidence. He was tall and sandy-haired, a flawless example of the human form. Most illusionists were paradigms of physical attractiveness, a fact which Lightwards doubted was much of a coincidence. The illusionist king of Thoughttown was after a moment accompanied by a pair of human guards, one grizzled veteran and a lad who couldn't have been much more than twenty.

 

Soon other Epics entered the premises; Lightwards didn't recognize most of them. There was another tall man with a dark tan following behind Altermind, slightly spiked hair and a rifle slung over his shoulder. A third man of above average height and muscle mass entered as well, holding hands with a blonde girl in grey mottled clothing.

 

Just as Lightwards was beginning to think absurd levels of attractiveness were a hard requirement for Thoughttown Epics, a man with greasy black hair and a goatee strode into the building, his mouth twitched into a perpetual sneer. He was followed by a shorter woman who seemed of Native American descent. 

 

No more visitors came in through the door, but he caught a glimpse of Sightline standing outside the shattered window in his identifying blindfold. Lightwards blinked, and the knife-wielding teleporter was standing in the Sadry living room.

 

Lightwards smiled and gestured for his guests to pull up seats for themselves. Altermind sat in one already positioned, staring back at him with a serious expression.

 

"I'm here," Altermind said stoically. He looked at Lightwards expectantly, apparently waiting for him to begin.

 

"Welcome," Lightwards said, taking a seat and gesturing towards his allies. "I'm sure you all know who I am. This is her majesty Lucentia, here to aide us in the fight against CorpseMaker. Across the table is my lieutenant Aldo the Enigmatic, with his assistant Cricket."

 

He smiled, making sure to show all his teeth. "Everyone, feel free to take a seat. Take a complimentary cupcake, introduce yourself... and then we can begin."

 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Lightwards, punctual as always, was waiting for them. Funtimes was late and didn’t seem to care.

 

She skipped straight past the sports cars parked at the curb, past the raptors standing vigil on the Sadrys' front lawn, rainbow-painted bowl wrapped in her arms. “Meeting time, meeting time, meeting time with Altermind, pudding, pudding, pudding for the mindy-mindy guy,” she sang. Had he not been on his way to meet with a necromancer who knew his secret and an illusionist who could learn it, Nathan might have smiled.

 

The bruise in his side, which an earlier check had confirmed was several shades of dark grey and sickly purple, ached as he struggled to soothe his nerves. He wasn’t sure what frightened him more—the Epic who had put it there, or the furious glint in Funtimes’ eyes when she saw it. Nathan resisted the urge to hold it as he and Sam, trailed by Revolution, walked through the stares of greedy-eyed raptors. If they could, Nathan thought they might sing along with Funtimes: Lullaby, and goodnight, sleep well, tasty mammals...

 

He stepped into the warm, well-lit living room, past the bloodstained and glass-strewn carpet. Sightline watched him through his blindfold, and Nathan felt he saw through his disguise as well. He smiled smugly, giving him a curt nod, wishing he would vanish. Could a real teleporter discern a false one? Were his shrouded eyes taking in every detail, seeing through his smile to the fear beneath?  

 

Could he see the bruise?

 

A bruise doesn’t prove anything, Nathan told himself, though he knew that was a lie. A teleporter as powerful as Traveler would only sustain a bruise if his weakness prevented him from escaping before the blow landed. He kept his smile in place as he followed Funtimes, still skipping, to the table. Lightwards and Altermind were already seated, the former beside Lucentia and the latter between a young man with greasy dark hair and a young woman who seemed to be Native American. Two others, a muscled man and a blonde woman, held hands. All were undoubtedly Epics.

 

One of the casino’s first rules—never sit at an Epic’s table; kneel if they want you at eye level—nagged at him as he took the seat Funtimes indicated with a grin and several excited taps against the back. She set the bowl on the table, plucked a cupcake from their plate, and turned it to a large dollop of whipped cream as she dropped it onto the pudding. With a giggle—and a pointed glance at Lightwards as Altermind’s gaze drifted to the pudding—she took her seat, positioning herself between Nathan and Lightwards, leaving Lucentia two chairs away. The small table felt unspeakably crowded, even with the folding chairs pushed back as far as possible. 

 

“Okie dokie loki,” she said, grinning at Altermind. Like most illusionists, he looked as though he had walked right off the set of an old Hollywood action movie—chiseled features, tanned skin, well-defined muscles. Nathan had a hunch most illusionists appeared pudgy and pale when caught by their weaknesses. “We’re here. And we brought pudding! With jellybeans. Lots and lots of jellybeans.”

 

She giggled, settling back in her chair, hands in her lap. A small retinue of Warriors stood guard by Lightwards. Two guards—human, if Nathan’s guess was accurate—flanked Altermind, weapons at the ready. Nathan wished he was with them, dressed in their uniform, standing silent and unnoticed behind one of many true Epics in the room. He felt as though his disguise was paper-thin, and Lightwards was not the only one who saw through it. 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Timeport smiled, resting his battle axe on his shoulder. "Oh, but Chimera, Corpsemaker doesn't want just a few of your creations. He wants all of them. And, of course, he doesn't want any of his enemies to have your creatures. So, if you want your creatures and yourself to survive, I suggest you join up with us." Corpsemaker's enemies already had Chi's creations. Chimera had been selling his Chimerans for years and they had infiltrated lots of places throughout the city.

Chi sent a mental command for Argo and Kyrie to be on high alert. Argo stepped forwards and snarled. Chi summoned Calix and some other creatures to the area. He had them hide and stop fifty yards away, ready to attack.

"My apologies, sir," Chi said. "I won't be joining anyone today. As long as you pay, you can have as many of my creatures as you want." He didn't think Timeport would like that, but he was ready for a brawl. His hands crept to his sabers and he stared down the Epic. He wanted to avoid a fight, and hoped that Timeport would leave before it came to that. But, in times of war, it sometimes became necessary to fight. Chi had done it before when Epics had tried to conquer his zoo. He was still here and his wannabe conquerors weren't.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Ray had to follow Nighthound to the streets. He seemed to be searching for something, which probably didn´t mean anything good for the long run. At least currently he restricted himself to surveying the people they passed, which was bad enough given that it´s him. By now the streets were mostly empty, it seems news of his slaughters spread far enough that people had the sense to hide, lucky Slontzes. Her ear throbbed with pain.

 

A group of three stood out from the other people on the street, few as they were. The group consisted of a man with a bandolier stripped across his chest, a pale woman wearing a skeleton themed shirt and another man with flowers woven into his hair. “At least that one isn´t a waste,” muttered Nighthound as he walked up to them.

 

Epics or not, his approach made them uncomfortable, although they didn´t immediately started running, big mistake.  With shaking bravado the bandolier stepped up, “Ah, a represent of the honored Empire of Light, I Knifeketeer and my associates Bloom and Ivory-“

 

Nighthound backhanded him, causing the Knifeketeer to stumble backwards.

 

The other two sprang into action. Bloom extended a hand forward and a green flower shaped energy mass formed out of it. Nighthound dodged backwards, right into a bone spike extending from the woman´s palm piercing into his stomach.

 

His leg crashed into her side sending her to the ground and another bone into his leg. Nighthound whirled around to catch Bloom´s arm but a knife pierced his hand and slapped it to the side, allowing the energy construct to dig into his arm. The Knifeketeer had recovered and readied the next knife.

 

Ray liked her lips. This was happening. It´s not like they were destroying him but he was wounded. The black mist rising from him was proof of that, she knew that well enough by now.

Another knife slammed into Nighthound´s eye socket.

Ray pulled out a toothpick from her pocket.

 

Jumping out of the way of more energy petals, Nighthound turned towards her and raised an eyebrow at her, the other eye obscured by the mist and the knife still sticking in his skull.

 

The collar around her neck felt tight. What was she thinking? Some little stab wounds aren´t a threat to him that´s why he can just go around and pick fights like this in the first place. She took aim, trying to calm her breath while the pain in her ear acted up.

 

Yellow-white burning energy pierced the shoulder of Bloom, ripping him away to the side. Ivory turned towards her, realizing that she was another Epic. Nighthound´s hand surged towards her head, just pushing through the bone spears that pierced his hand and crushing her head in his hand.

 

Next, he pulled out the knife in his skull and hurled it at the Knifeketeer, who barely managed to dodge and threw another one of his projectiles into Nighthound´s stomach. Nighthound threw this knife back as well and this time he hit his mark. Under a wet crunch the lesser Epic´s skull splattered open from the force.

 

Realizing what situation he was in Bloom tried to scramble away from the monster, which kicked him into the back of the knee and grabbed his head, smashing it into his knee.

 

Turning his back on the three corpses he walked back over to Ray, looking at her with a disgustingly pleased smile framed by the black mist seeping from his closing wounds. He cupped his face in her hand, stroking her chin with a bloody finger.  “Those weaklings weren´t exactly the best test but that was a lovely display of obedience. How about, as a reward, I actually treat you well for this evening.”

 

She head-butted him, causing the Slontz to let go of her and spin around, while giving out a loud laughter. “Attention neighborhood! I feel the need to celebrate and my consort is in the mood for violence, so you have to serve as our festival meal. Should, by a miracle, any of you survive you might file your complaints to the megalomaniac Necromancer living in the flying museum.”

[mail-mi he/him]

 

The animals took a step closer to them. The wolf snarled, sending an unwanted shiver up Timeport's spine. No! he thought against his straying nervous emotions. I'm stronger than them! I will beat them! 

 

"My apologies, sir," Chimera said slowly and deliberately, with a fire in his eyes. "I won't be joining anyone today. As long as you pay, you can have as many of my creatures as you want." His hands crept towards his sabers strapped around his waist. He knew what was coming, and so did Timeport. 

 

"The Dominion will not be purchasing any of your creatures today," Timeport said, readying his "battle stance." He'd taken karate for a few years right after Calamity had come, and he decided to adopt his kiba dachi stance and modify it to account for the axe. "He will be getting all of your creatures, which I'm afraid will be less than what you had this morning."

 

Timeport teleported behind Chimera so he was almost kissing the back of his head. 

 

"You go first." 

Edited November 25, 2014 by mail-mi

[Mailliw73 he/him]

"The Dominion will not be purchasing any of your creatures today," Timeport said. He changed his posture, standing in what seemed to be a type of battle stance. "He will be getting all of your creatures, which I'm afraid will be less than what you had this morning." Chi clenched his teeth as a low growl emitted from his throat. Timeport was threatening to kill his children and then abduct the rest.

Timeport suddenly disappeared and Chimera felt a tickling on the back of his neck. The hair there stood on end. "You go first." A whisper said. Chi used the enhanced speed he had borrowed from a cheetah to dash to the side. He whipped out both of his sabers and commanded Kyrie and Argo to help only if needed. This man needed a lesson taught to him personally.

Chimera jumped at him, blades whirling to block the axe. Timeport teleported over a few feet. Chi let go of his speed and absorbed the ferocity of a female lion. "You will kill none of my children," Chi snarled. His guards slowly began creeping behind Timeport, but Chi raised his hand for them to stop. "Give us some room," he said to the guards and commanded his beasts. They stepped back, giving Chi and Timeport a few meters to fight. Kyrie was ready to fly over and attack the man with ferocity if Chi commanded. A few bird creations hovered above, ready to shoot down and attack Timeport. "Your move."

[Mailliw73 he/him]

This is a compilation post between me and mail-mi. I’m blue, he’s green

Timeport blocked Chimera’s blades. “You will kill none of my children,” he said with the ferocity of a lion. His beasts started to advance from behind him, but he raised his hand and said, “Give us some room.” He turned back to Timeport. “Your move.”

Timeport quickly glanced around the “fight ring.” He was alone, but he was immortal. That was what counted in this fight. He scanned the small crowd and found the wolf with wings. Corpsemaker wanted Chimera alive, so Timeport would go after his animals.

Timeport glared back at Chimera, then cocked his head and smiled wickedly at him. Then, he teleported over to the wolf and forward a minute in time.

Timeport blocked Chi's sabers with his axe and then looked around at the ring of guards and creatures. Suddenly, he disappeared. Chi waited, but he didn't reappear. How far could he teleport? Was he a coward after all? Suddenly, Timeport appeared again, right next to Kyrie. "No!" Chi yelled savagely. Kyrie and Argo had been his first creations. They were his best friends.

Timeport appeared next to the winged wolf, his axe impaled in its neck. Timeport took out his axe and then swung it down again, finishing the job. The wolf’s head fell to the floor, its lifeless eyes staring up at Timeport accusingly. He smiled at it, then spun to find the bear.

Argo see the mean man not be seen. Then man seen again was. Sharp, fat stick was in Kyrie. Kyrie's head was off. Argo love Kyrie did. She were nice. Argo hate mean man with stick. Man was bleed soon. Argo roared and ran to man and hit him did. Hard. Claws make man bleed did. Bite was dead making. Argo bit man's head. Hard. Poison from bite come did. Man bleed much. Man stop breath. Argo happy man dead is. Argo sad Kyrie dead is.

Chi let loose a primal, savage bellow. Timeport had killed Kyrie. The winged wolf had been his best friend, aside from Argo. He was furious and devastated at the same time. The conflict of emotions was the only reason Argo beat Chi to Timeport. Bears didn't reason. They acted. Argo roared and charged towards the teleporter. Chi's fury took charge. He laughed as Timeport was raked with Argo's claws and then beheaded by his poisonous fangs. He hadn't deserved life. Chi was glad Argo had been able to avenge his friend. The only person who had loved Kyrie more than Chimera did was Argo. Argo had grown up with Kyrie and Chi. Chi had created them when he first got his powers.

With Timeport's head rolling on the ground, Chi's sadness caught up with him. He dashed to Kyrie and knelt at her side. He wept. He was not ashamed to weep in front of all his guards. Kyrie had been a loyal and trusted friend. He would've been ashamed if he hadn't shed a tear. Argo and Chi sat on opposite sides of the wolf's body and shared in their loss. Chi pet Kyrie one last time. That man, no, he didn't deserve to be called human, Chimera had known beasts more human than Timeport. Timeport was a demon. That demon had taken one of his best friends from him and he had paid dearly.

The bear was on Timeport before he could get away. It shoved him to the side, almost like a human would, then started to claw him. Timeport let out a primordial scream as the bear opened its gaping mouth and bit down on his neck, the beheading killing him before the poison could.

Timeport found himself back in that empty void where he’d been after his previous death, the only light shining on him the red of Calamity. “Have...” Timeport said reluctantly after a few minutes, nervous to be talking to his God once again. “Have I been doing well?”

Yes, child, God’s voice said. Well done, my good and faithful servant. However, your task is not yet complete. I now return you to the world to continue it.

Timeport nodded, a smile creeping on his face from receiving God’s approval. He closed his eyes, and a few moments later the light of the sun shone against his eyelids. He opened his eyes and stood up. It seemed like the entire zoo was focused on the dead wolf, and Chimera was leaning over it with tears falling onto the fallen body. It’s just a wolf, Timeport thought. There’s tons out there, and besides you can make another one that can fly. What was so special about this one?

Shaking his head, Timeport hefted his axe over his shoulder--it had teleported with his body, since he’d been holding it when he’d died--walked over to Chimera, and tapped the Epic twice on the shoulder. Chimera immediately whipped around, and his eyes widened at the sight of Timeport.

Timeport grinned madly. “Miss me?”

Chi was snapped out of his mourning by a tap on the shoulder. Expecting a guard, he turned around to tell him to let himself and Argo be for a minute when he saw Timeport's face. "Miss me?" The teleporter, and apparently, reincarnator, said. Chi glanced at where his body had lain, headless, a minute before. It was gone. Chi's fury returned, hotter than before. He absorbed the armor of an armadillo and stabbed out with his saber, catching Timeport's calf. He sliced the side of it before the Epic could move his heavy axe. Chi jumped to his feet and mentally commanded Calix to burn Timeport. Scalding liquid dropped from the sky.

Timeport's calf screamed. Chimera's saber caught his leg right before he could teleport away. He did manage to warp a few feet away, but appearing again did not do good things for his injured leg. He raised his axe to strike Chimera--not lethally, of course. Timeport would just get him in the arm. Chimera glance up, though it was so slight Timeport wouldn’t have noticed it had he not been intently looking at his opponent’s eyes. Timeport warped two minutes into the future.

When he appeared again, he instantly knew that, if he had stayed, he would have been killed by fire from above. He tried to swing his axe down to attack, but his leg couldn't take landing again and he ended up swinging wildly as he toppled to the cement.

Timeport disappeared as Chi looked back at him. Calix's fiery liquid sizzled on the asphalt harmlessly. Nothing happened for a minute or two. Finally,Timeport appeared again off to the side. He tried to swing his axe, but he fell from the pain in his calf. Chi strode over to the Epic lying on the ground in pain.

Chi decided to put this demon of a man out of his pain. Even though Timeport was cruel, Chi wasn't. He dodged the Epic's feeble attempt to hit his foot with his axe. Chi stabbed both of his sabers into Timeport's chest, puncturing a lung and his heart. The demon passed into peace as his body ceased writhing in pain. Chi yanked out his sabers and had Calix burn the body, hopefully preventing him from coming back. Chi knew it would take a few minutes so he waited, ready for Timeport to appear again. This time, his vengeance was satisfied and he would turn the teleporter over to his children.

Chimera walked over to Timeport as he lay on the cement in pain. He’d left his legs completely open, but Timeport didn’t attack. Chimera killing him would heal his calf, and Corpsemaker would probably want Chimera able to walk. Chimera stabbed him in the chest, and as his life faded away he saw a sparking dragon open his mouth towards him.

I must’ve just been having delusions, Timeport thought when he was in the void. Chimera couldn’t have created a dragon, right?

This time, neither he nor God talked. He floated in the endless darkness, bathed in the red light of Calamity, and waited to wake up.

When he did, Timeport stood up as quickly as he could, then took a quick glance up to see if he had been seeing things. Turned out, he hadn’t. There was, in fact, a dragon circling in the sky. Corpsemaker will want that, Timeport thought. So, instead of teleporting up to take care of it, he faced Chimera one more time.

[mail-mi he/him]

Part 2 of the Chi/Timeport post.

Chimera watched as Timeport's body disappeared and prepped for the battle he knew would come. He looked around and Timeport's body appeared, whole. He shook his head at the teleporter and said, "You shouldn't have come back." He sent the command for his children to attack. Birds dived and the mammals pounced. Chi stepped back out of the ring.

This time, Timeport didn’t pause to think. He teleported around wildly, hacking at animals that flew, dashed, and crawled at him. At first, he tried to teleport away when a creature charged at him to get it to attack one of their own allies, but they stopped as he disappeared, with reflexes even quicker than a prime athlete’s. There were even some human guards with the strength of lions and the armor of alligators. Timeport couldn’t keep track of the ones he killed, or just injured, or missed completely. He had to teleport around as quickly as possible to avoid being hit, but still he took a few gashes and bite marks.

Suddenly, the animals stepped back. Timeport turned around, and saw the most horrifyingly beautiful creature approach him. It was a horse, but with the head of an enlarged snake and the hind legs of a rhinoceros. The snake head stared at him and hissed, and the muscles in its legs tightened. The other animals stayed back from this creature, as if it was their champion, or their God.

Timeport readied his battle stance, choosing to adapt his front stance from karate instead of his kiba dachi. Bring. It. On.

Chi let his children wreak their havoc on Timeport. They weren’t doing as well as he had hoped. Teleporters were hard to fight. Chi hated fighting them; his animals had a hard time processing the sudden jumps. After he judged that too many were dying or being injured, he had them part so that Ares could make it through. Ares was one of his finest warriors, hence why he was named after the god of war. Ares was a fine horse with a black mamba’s head and large hind legs of a rhinoceros. Chi had the wounded animals begin trickling back to their areas of the zoo to heal. This would be Ares’s fight.

Ares stood opposite Timeport and he hissed as he prepared for battle. Chi had seen it happen often before. Not many had managed to harm the beast. Timeport prepared himself by standing in a stance. Chi focused on Ares’s mind, ready to help him out by ordering him if he missed seeing something. Ares feinted forward, flicking his tongue out and then rapidly cantering back. He scratched at the ground with his hooves, anxious to fight. Chi was ready. Ares leaped forward, rearing on his hind legs, kicking with his horse hooves.

The horse-snake-rhino-thing--Champion. It’s just their champion--reared onto its back legs and kicked at Timeport with its horse hooves. Timeport teleported under its body so that he was laying down, then swiped up at its undercarriage with his axe. The champion deftly moved out of the way, using its powerful hind legs to jump to the side, landing with a thud that shook the concrete. Timeport still managed to score a small nick on its side, however.

The champion faced Timeport for its next attack. Timeport kept teleporting around to confuse it, not getting close enough to it to strike, but not too far away either. The snake head hissed at Timeport, extending its neck and trying to bite Timeport whenever he appeared, but Timeport always got away, just barely. Man, he thought, dodging another attack. This thing is fast! Timeport knew that he would tire out before the champion would, so he had to kill it quickly. It doesn’t matter if you tire out, a voice seemed to whisper to him. You’ll just resurrect anyway.

Timeport shoved the voice aside. He figured Calamity wanted him to stay strong, not give up and die over and over again. Every five minutes he spent dead was five minutes he wasn’t completing his mission. And so, Timeport fought on.

What’s the one place it can’t reach me? Timeport thought, still teleporting to avoid the creature’s head. Then, suddenly, he knew.

Timeport teleported onto the champion’s back.

Ares would kill savage man. Savage man with axe was killer. Ares was a better killer. No man beat Ares and no man killed Ares. Ares killed all who angered him. Chi was only nice man. Other men cut and sliced Ares's body. Chi was kind to Ares.

Ares kicked at axe man. Man jumped sideways with no up, just side. Ares was confused. All creatures jump up. But not savage. Ares felt Chi nudge him to look to the side. Ares did as Master said. Master was right. Axe was at Ares's side. Not good. Ares moved and tried to bite axe man. Axe man jumped sides again. With Chi, Ares fighted savage. Both never hit each other. Savage scraped Ares's side. Ares hissed and was mad. Savage will die. No man hurts Ares. Ares feeled heavy on back.

Chi was intently focused on the duel. He wasn't controlling Ares, not directly, but he was aiding the Chimerans in noticing where Timeport teleported too. The horse's reaction time was increased with this help. Timeport was able to just get away most times. He dodged the poison fangs and kept teleporting in circles, but never too far.

Chi, for a split second, lost Timeport. He had been there and then gone. Each time he had teleported somewhere else, but this time Chi didn't see him. Suddenly, it clicked and he saw Timeport on Ares's back. The Epic was at least clever. At that position, Ares would only be able to try and buck him off. Chi sent a mental scream for four birds closest to fly as quickly as they could to dive bomb the teleporter. Two Falcons creations, a hawk, and an eagle spun around in midair, heading straight for Timeport's face. They dropped fece bombs and attacked with their talons.

While the birds did their job, Chi moved closer to Timeport while he was distracted. Both of his sabers were out and ready to strike. Timeport was too busy fighting the birds to notice Chimera coming up behind him. Silently, Chi stabbed out quickly with both sabers and caught Timeport in the back. He withdrew the swords, dripping evil blood. Timeport slumped and fell backwards off Ares's back. Hopefully three times was enough for the demon of a teleporter. Chi sent the birds back, thanking them mentally for their service. He patted Ares, but kept him ready in case the teleporter was stupid enough to reappear again.

Getting on the champion was easy. Staying on was the hard part.

The champion bucked and jumped about, trying to shake Timeport off, but he managed to hold on. Getting his axe in a position where he could lob off the snake head, however, was nigh impossible. Timeport ended up waving his axe wildly, missing the head each time he swung.

Then came the birds.

They dove towards him, slashing at him with their sharp beaks and talons. Timeport managed to get one of them down with his axe, but the others continued to tear him to bloody shreds. Gak! he thought, his ear getting clipped by a falcon’s beak. This is more trouble than it’s worth! I can’t get in any good hits! I’m just gonna get down from he--

PAIN

Chi pulled his sabers out of Timeport’s back. Timeport stayed alive just long enough to feel his body hit the cement below the champion.

This time, God spoke first. Child, God said. You are forgetting your mission.

Timeport would have stuttered, had he a mouth. “But, Corpsemaker asked me to--”

Do you fear man more than God?

“But, I thought he would be the best person to ally with to help complete--”

Do. You. Fear. Man. More. Than. God? God repeated.

“I...no,” Timeport said, giving up his argument. “But, how am I not completing it?”

You are wasting your time. Go back to Corpsemaker. Help begin what he wants to begin.

“And just give up recruiting Chimera? Corpsemaker will kill me!”

Do you still fear death, child? Timeport didn’t respond. Go, and do as I have commanded.

Timeport woke up.

Timeport stood up and found himself immediately face-to-face with Chimera. “I’m leaving you now,” Timeport said to him disdainfully. “Not because I give up, but because God told me to.”

Timeport teleported away, not looking back at the zoo once.

Apparently Timeport was stupid enough to show up again. Chi was furious. This insolent teleporter wouldn't stay dead! Chi would show him that it was better to be dead and in peace than alive while Chi was furious with you. He commanded Ares to bite Timeport now while he was in close range. Ares opened his mouth right when Timeport opened his. "I'm leaving you now. Not because I give up, but because God told me to," the insolent Epic said. He teleported away, a few feet at a time.

Chi shook his head at the fool. God? Chimera didn't believe in God anymore. No God would create such monsters as most Epics were and give them powers. Only a select few, like Chi, had been good choices for the powers bestowed upon them. The others were demons and monsters. Chi couldn't believe that any omnipresent God, like Christians believed in, would allow these devils to wreak their havoc on earth. Now, the "pagan" gods that Chi's Greek ancestors had believed in, those he could imagine. They weren't so different from the Epics themselves.

"You fool! No God would speak to you! That's the devil you hear!" Chi shouted at the teleporter. Chi tried to catch Timeport before he got away to show him that the wrath of the Chimera wasn't easily avoided. Too late, he stabbed into air as the Epic teleported past the zoo's gates. He sighed and caught himself thinking dark thoughts. Not again. I can't be this. I have to be better than them. Chi gifted attributes to his guards, enhancing their abilities. He felt better as he did so, the darkness and evil seeping away. For now, he had avoided war, but it had not been without loss. He would need to strengthen his children and build up his fortress. War would come; he was only postponing it.

Edited November 26, 2014 by mail-mi

[Voidus]

Synesthesia gathered her guards, two burly vanillas she'd recruited when she entered Portland the previous year along with Disrupt, her guards already knew the procedure for this trick and had already grabbed onto one of her shoulders, she turned to her fellow Epic.

"Once I put up the screen you won't be able to see or hear, hold onto one of my arms and I'll lead you. Once the guards are within range I can put the field up around them instead but until then you'll be completely deaf and blind. According to Refill our powers have similar ranges?"

Disrupt nodded. 

"About 100 metres" He said "I can make people clumsy from as far as a mile away but they'll notice that something's up pretty quickly."

Dodgeball had already continued along alone, his powers were enough to shield him from the guards. Synesthesia concentrated briefly, a shroud of pure darkness spreading from her, emitting a strange wailing noise as it swallowed more and more of the air around her. It swallowed her three companions, and three hands stiffened on her shoulder as their owners lost all sight. A small cone of air in front of Synesthesia's eyes was all that retained its light, allowing her to see as she lead her three companions towards the perimeter of Thought Town.

One of the more perceptive guards noticed the cloud of darkness approaching them and pointed it out to his companions, they fired a few shots into it but all flew wide of Synesthesia, who'd deliberately created the shroud of darkness larger than was necessary specifically for this eventuality. A few other shots were fired towards her left, presumably towards Dodgeball, although none seemed to even slow the Epic down as he dodged them all with ease. Synesthesia extended a tendril of power out as far as she could reach, creating a tendril of darkness which reached between her and the guards, who all hastily backed away, perhaps fearing that Nightwielder himself had descended upon them.

Synesthesia pulled out a pistol, she could see neither the weapon nor her hand as she aimed but she trusted to her sense of where her hand was, she fired off several silent shots, the only hints of the firing were some brief flashes of green which pierced through the darkness. Most of the shots missed the guards, trying to hit something at this distance with a pistol was difficult enough when you could see the weapon, but one shot caught a guard in the hip, he fell with a cry. One of the other guards reached for a radio but fumbled with it as he tried to contact someone.

Disrupt. Syesthesia thought. He must have freaked and risked using it.

Synesthesia could hardly blame the man, the first few times she'd tried this before she'd thought to leave herself with eye holes had been terrifying, a world with no sight, no sound, just the thudding of your own heart in your chest, never knowing what was happening around you, just having to trust...

Finally reaching the limits of her range Synesthesia dispersed the cloud of darkness, forming globes of black around the eyes of the ThoughtTown soldiers instead, shots immediately range out as her two bodyguards and Disrupt all took aim and fired, instantly felling three more guards, while Disrupt seemed to put his powers to work, causing people to trip, fumble and collapse as muscles refused to correctly obey the orders their brains were sending.

Shouts in the distance signaled the imminent arrival of reinforcements.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Voidus

[A Joe in the Bush]

Ponytail said something that Gordon couldn't hear, then max turned, a big grin on his face and yelled over to them. "Rachel! Remington and Alice are coming with us!"

 

Alright, definitely recruits then. And apparently they had something that completely Convinced Max of their Sincerity. He looked over at Rachel, Who shrugged, then walked over to meet them. Gordon could barely hear Ponytail, or Remington as it were, as he began to speak.

 

“. . . expecting me by morning. You can blindfold us, take my gun, take us wherever you want, but if I ain't back by sunrise, you'll have them hunting you down. Asking around, asking questions you don't want asked. I ain't saying that to spook you; just letting you know I've got to be back in one piece. If word gets out about any of this, go ahead and shoot me."  He finished his spiel right as Gordon reached them.

 

“You can go and talk to your family if you wish, But, you have to consent to having a bug on you at all times.” Before Remington or Max could Respond, he turned to Rachel. Could you have Sierra get the man a Bug?” She raised an Eyebrow, but then nodded. She knew that meant more than just one bug. She’d put one in the truck, give him one, and plant another on his person.

 

He turned back to the couple. “Or you could simply call them. We have Mobile Service or we could send a messenger. Any of those three options are yours for the taking. Or Death of course. There’s always that.”

[Fatebreaker he/him]

To say that Dodgeball was pumped would be a gross understatement. In his own words he would say he was FRICKIN STOKED! 

He ran towards the guard post, propelled onward by his boundless energy. The guards noticed him and started firing shots.

 

Now it got fun.

 

He could feel the path of the first bullet before it left the gun-barrel. He instinctively shifted an inch to the right and felt the bullet speed by a fraction of an instant later. The guards opened up, but nothing could touch him. He twisted, juked, tucked and rolled, always moving forward. He laughed with exhilaration. This was epic. He shouted at the guards

 

"YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME!!!"

 

Then he was within throwing range. he grabbed a grenade form one of his bandoleers and threw it into the guards house on the right. The guards had a second to get out of the way before it exploded. None escaped. He dove throught the newly created hole and came out the other side. As he ran towards the second guard house he unholstered his dual Uzis. He arrived to find chaos. Syesthesia and her guards were already attacking this one. He lit up the guard dropping them like flies with his wild shots. The uzi was not made for accuracy, but it was excellent for crowded rooms. Soon the guards had all been taken care of and the gate had been opened. Dodgeball pulled out a flare gun and sent up a signal.

 

This was fun.

[Kobold King he/him]

 

Epics. They were easy enough to understand. All their lives and all their energies centered around a single cause--that of domination. Their every act was meant to beat down those around them. Meant to bow their heads. To push their faces into the dirt and demand fealty.

 

That morning, Sam would have sworn on her understanding of the matter. Now, though... 

 

Well, her philosophy had thus far failed to explain the word "beardapalooza," much less the Epic who came up with it. At this point, all she really knew that it'd been a long day and that she was too tired to think about philosophies.

 

And so the evening found Samantha Trattner lightly dozing in an ornamental lawnchair. She blinked wearily as the sun set low enough to shine directly in her face, finally shaking herself awake as Funtimes shouted out to the bearded crowd.

 

"Thank you all for coming," she was proclaiming, folding a piece of paper until it was almost comically small. "The shinies are free. Take—take everything you want. Bye-bye!" 

 

Bearded men began filtering away from the tailor's shop, whispering cautiously to each other as they went. Sam recognized a few of them, and she was pretty sure most of the local residents recognized her back. She gave a languid wave to some of them passed, idly wondering how they'd explain their day's activities to their wives and families back home.

 

Probably "Look at the nice jewelry, honey! Don't ask questions you wouldn't believe the answers to."

 

Nathan was up by the Doctor herself, occasionally talking to her in a low voice Sam couldn't quite hear. For her part, Funtimes was uncharacteristically somber, taking nervous glances at her radio every thirty seconds like she expected it to sprout wings and hover away. While such a thing was undoubtedly possible with her around, the device did nothing more interesting than flashing a yellow light around seven o'clock.

 

A frowning Funtimes paced back and forth down the sidewalk, coming within Sam and Revolution's earshot. 

 

"He's not coming," she said, pouting. "We should get ready." 

 

Sam rose from her chair in response, stretching wearily and taking a peak at the sky. It was already late enough for the sun to have set, and a cool breeze made her wish she'd been kidnapped while wearing a jacket. Revolution was already smiling on her feet, seeming oblivious to the day's tiring activities. The woman practically made her own energy.

 

Nathan trailed behind his girlfriend, brow furrowed in thought. His hand periodically drifted to his chest where he'd been punched earlier, and he seemed concerned about something. His eyes kept drifting towards Sam and Revolution.

 

"Doctor," the man said suddenly, "could I get a clipboard, a pen, and some paper?"

 

The Doctor's face melted into a  grin, and she swiftly conjured up the requested items. All were bright pink, but Nathan took them nonetheless. He walked over to Sam, leaning in close and depositing the garish travesties in her hands.

 

 "If anyone asks, you're my secretary," he whispered kindly. "Whenever you think of a joke about Lightwards' hat or something, just write it down there. Okay?" 

 

Sam blinked in surprise, but smiled quickly. "Thanks," she whispered back. She meant it. Earlier that day she'd have counted herself lucky if the man hadn't tortured and killed her--now he was going out of his way to be kind to her.

 

A minute more, and she was standing in a ring, clasping hands with Funtimes and Revolution. A second after that, and her surroundings disappeared.

 

 

She didn't immediately recognize the part of town they ended up in. They were still in Portland, but the buildings were unfamiliar to her. She had a vague idea that they were somewhere west of the river, in one of the city districts unclaimed by any Epic in particular. The street was littered with blackened woodchips, and several nearby houses seemed utterly demolished. Only one house stood relatively unscathed--apart from a broken window, it seemed positively pristine.

 

It also appeared to be where the Empire had chosen to convene for the night. Sports cars, motorcycles, and convoys surrounded the residence, intermingled with a few raptors glaring at the Funtimes crew with unsuppressed malevolence.

 

Funtimes took one look at the building and set towards it at a full skip, happily chanting as she went. Nathan clearly didn't display her level of enthusiasm; he periodically rubbed at his chest, though Sam couldn't tell whether he did it out of pain or nervous apprehension. Sam took a deep breath, and followed her party into the building.

 

Her first impression was that of a warm, cozy dwelling that smelled faintly of old people. That impression swiftly gave way to one of waltzing into a wolf's den.

 

There were bloodstains on the carpet. There were shards of broken glass littering the floor, in stark contrast to the immaculately cleaned counters and tables.

 

And then there were the Epics.

 

She'd seldom seen this many packed in one place. And she didn't think she'd ever seen so many sitting together without trying to murder one another. Each and every person at the table had a certain tenseness to their posture, though affecting a relaxed and casual manner.

 

Lightwards was sitting calmly at the head of the table, acknowledging Funtimes' entrance with a nod that somehow seemed to double as a threat. He was flanked by Aldo and the Diamond Queen, facing the large body of Epics representing Thoughttown.

 

Sam didn't recognize many of the Thoughttown representatives. There was a greasy man with a thick goatee, sitting near to a thickly set Native American woman. There was Sightline the teleporter, staring at the group through his black blindfold. There was Flashpoint, said to be one of Thoughttown's chief lieutenants. Perhaps the only lieutenant, if the rumors about Scorch were true.

 

And then there was Altermind himself. Sam had never seen him before--and given the reputation illusionists had made for themselves, she likely hadn't seen him now either. His body was ridiculously tan and well-proportioned, a chiseled and perfect face sitting upon his broad shoulders.

 

Sam despised him. He sat straight in his seat, his face a mixture of caution and outright contempt. A pair of guards, likely vanilla, flanked his chair with military precision.

 

Here was the man who had preserved the lives of thousands of Portlanders--and had somehow made an atrocity out of it nonetheless. Whatever else Sam learned about Epics, her view of Altermind would never change. This was a tyrant and a killer. He deserved nothing more than a knife in his back.

 

“We’re here!" Funtimes cheered by way of greeting. "And we brought pudding! With jellybeans. Lots and lots of jellybeans.”

 

Great. Jellybeans for the Epic equivalent of Mussolinni, Sam thought with an inward sigh. Justice dies not with a bang, but with Funtimes deciding it's boring. She thought about writing it down, but she didn't feel an urge to write any moral treatises at the moment.

 

Lightwards greeted the group with a broad crocodile smile. "Welcome and good evening, Doctor," he said loudly. The insincerity was so thick you could cut it with a knife. "Please, do take yourselves some seats."

 

A few of his toy soldiers stepped forward, laying out tall wooden chairs for the Doctor and her company. Sam flopped into a seat. She grumpily considered killing everyone in the room by propping her feet up on the table in front of Altermind, but thought better of it.

 

"Altermind," Lightwards said with another smile. "I'd like to introduce you to Doctor Funtimes and her crew. Without her, my conquests thus far would have taken far longer."

 

The necromancer looked utterly ridiculous, but somehow managed to appear entirely in his element. He held a cupcake in his hand and the unsightly bowler hat in his lap, glasses slightly lopsided on his face. Yet when he smiled, there was a sinister sincerity to the expression that boldly contradicted the hostile formalities he was going through.

 

Lightwards was a happy Epic right now. And Epics, aside from glitter-haired freaks like Funtimes, were at their happiest when they were completely in control.

 

The professor's eyes drifted over to Nathan, the corners of his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly. Sam's heart stopped for a moment, as she was sure Nathan's had done--Lightwards' lightly narrowed eyes told a clear fact.

 

He definitely knew Traveler's secret.

 

Miraculously, he looked away, smiling at Altermind once more. "The fellow to her left is Traveler, a teleporter of no small skill. He's a highly valuable asset to the Empire, and thus to our cause as a whole, I think you will find."

 

Sam let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. That could have gone far worse.

 

"In fact," Lightwards continued gleefully, "I'd wager he and Sightline could learn quite a few tricks from one another. Why don't the pair of you sit down and learn about each other?" Toy soldiers briskly pushed Nathan's chair into closer proximity to Sightline.

 

You sparking sociopath, Sam fumed.

 

Lightwards rambled on, seeming oblivious to Nathan's predicament. His eyes, however, showed continued delight in the false Epic's discomfort.

 

"And of course, this is Funtimes' retinue. Samantha Trattner and Revolution Jones. Not Epics, but she defends them all the same."

 

Lightwards snapped his fingers, triggering rapid footsteps from the kitchen. "So once again--welcome Doctor Funtimes, and welcome to her retinue. My Warrior here shall attend your every need this evening."

 

Sam rolled her eyes in annoyance, glancing at the zombie stepping out of the kitchen.

 

Her face immediately went pale.

 

Pamela Tithers was standing with a tray of cupcakes in her hands, eyes staring vacantly ahead of her. Her face was devoid of expression. Her pace was devoid of her usually relaxed gait. She crossed the distance from the kitchen to the table, placing the cupcake pan in front of Funtimes.

 

Lightwards' eyes were locked on Sam herself, glistening with the same delight at being in control from before. Sam didn't meet them. She was still staring at the old family friend, who was now on one knee in abject servitude. There was a faint burning sensation around her eyes.

 

"Got her just today," the necromancer explained softly. "During a visit to a certain bakery downtown. Hopefully the baker does what she's told--I'd hate to have to collect the baker in her stead."

 

His eyes flickered to Altermind, smiling broadly again. "I've made the final introductions," he proclaimed loudly. "Now... let us begin."

 

Sam clutched her clipboard to her chest, breathing rapidly. Lightwards seemed entirely oblivious to her glares, which were becoming increasingly difficult through the water in her eyes.

 

Revolution shot her a look brimming with concern, but Sam didn't respond. Eyes still locked on Lightwards and Altermind, she put a pen to the clipboard and began to scribble.

 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Altermind left a hallucination that appeared to be sitting normally, looking at Lightwards, while he examined the room. He noticed some bloodstains on the carpet and walls. Lightwards was a messy man. The professor had probably left the stains to mark his territory, just like an animal. The one shattered window had shards of glass still surrounding it. Otherwise, the house was clean. Lightwards probably hadnt spent much time here.

"Welcome," Altermind heard Lightwards say from the table. Altermind went back to his seat to participate. "I'm sure you all know who I am. This is her majesty Lucentia, here to aide us in the fight against CorpseMaker. Across the table is my lieutenant Aldo the Enigmatic, with his assistant Cricket." Lucentia was a woman with an austere, proud look to her. She wore a black dress, and, more interestingly, had one arm created completely of diamond. Considering her name, Altermind deduced that she was likely the Diamond Queen who ruled over Astoria. She deserved some respect, though her arrogance apparent in her posture ruined it for Altermind. Her strength was admirable, in any case.

Aldo grinned as Altermind scoffed mentally at his outrageous getup. He took the style of the old magicians and performers who, even just before Calamity, were laughed at. The street magician look only served to show Altermind that he belonged, most definitely, with this group of wackos that occupied the museum. The woman next to him, Cricket, wore nondescript clothing and, aside from the name, the only thing to manifest her Epicness was a cricket tattoo on her thigh. All in all, a decent, if small, group of Epics. The Queen and the necromancer at least were powerful enough to pose a threat. The other two likely didn't.

Lightwards smiled, "Everyone, feel free to take a seat. Take a complimentary cupcake, introduce yourself... and then we can begin." Altermind was immediately suspicious of the cupcakes. This professor was unstable, wasn't he? He could expect Funtimes to do something like this, but Lightwards? Altermind's estimate of his mental capacity was higher than it should've been.

He created an auditory hallucination for his associates. "Don't even touch one of those." Flashpoint had been eyeing them, but quickly ignored them. The other Epics were slightly confused, if the looks on their faces were any sign. They would get used to Altermind's personal instructions though. It was always strange the first time.

Just as Altermind was going to introduce his partners, he was interrupted by none other than the mistress of insanity herself, Doctor Funtimes. He had seen her the one time before, in the bouncy castle, but had forgotten how crazy she was. She was followed by Traveller and a pair of regular female humans, one in black carrying a bright pink clipboard, the other dressed like a hippie. Neither seemed to be bodyguards or even armed at all. Were they servants? The one in black looked familiar. Something about her triggered recognition in Altermind's mind. He studied her, behind his illusion, trying to remember what it was.

His concentration was broken as Traveller and Funtimes approached the table. The latter had placed a large bowl of pudding on the table and proceeded to turn a cupcake into whipped cream. Funtimes giggled as Altermind watched her little trick.

“Okie dokie loki,” she said, as she smiled at Altermind. “We’re here. And we brought pudding! With jellybeans. Lots and lots of jellybeans.” Altermind didn't think he even needed to warn the Epics from Thoughttown not to eat that stuff. No normal person would. Except, apparently, Madam Crazy here.
 

As the lady known as Doctor Funtimes walked in, Flashpoint was surprised to see that she was attractive. He had mentally linked her insanity with ugliness. That was not the case at all. Though, judging by the way she and the man next to her looked at each other, she was already taken. The two girls who came in behind her were also pretty, in their own ways. One a Goth, the other a hippie. Flashpoint flashed a quick grin towards them.

Lightwards welcomed the new group with a smile. "Welcome and good evening, Doctor," he said. "Please, do take yourselves some seats."

Some toy soldiers brought out wooden chairs and the group took their seats. The goth one was noticeably frustrated. "Altermind," Lightwards continued. "I'd like to introduce you to Doctor Funtimes and her crew. Without her, my conquests thus far would have taken far longer." Fun times it was with this woman. She had brought pudding with jelly beans. Altermind didn't even need to warn him not to touch it, Flashpoint wouldn't have eaten it even if Altermind had ordered him to.

Making eye contact with Altermind, Lightwards continued, "The fellow to her left is Traveler, a teleporter of no small skill. He's a highly valuable asset to the Empire, and thus to our cause as a whole, I think you will find. In fact, I'd wager he and Sightline could learn quite a few tricks from one another. Why don't the pair of you sit down and learn about each other?" Some of the soldiers moved Traveler closer to Sightline in his blindfold. This Traveler seemed very nervous and worried about his side. Flashpoint watched him, wondering why he was so fidgety. Maybe that was what he was like when he was tense. Flashpoint knew he had his own habit of tapping his hand quickly and gently when he was tense. Surrounded by so many other Epics, some powerful ones too, definitely made him tense, so he could understand Traveler.
 

Altermind had merely glanced at Traveler before going back to looking at Lightwards. The teleporter was weak. He could see it in the man's eyes. Traveler had no courage. He would be weak and a dumb follower.

Lightwards introduced the two girls who had entered with Funtimes, "And of course, this is Funtimes' retinue. Samantha Trattner and Revolution Jones. Not Epics, but she defends them all the same." Trattner? Trattner! Samantha Trattner was that insolent fool who had turned down his offer to join Thoughttown. She had rejected him because of her imbecile of a mother. Altermind's real head swiveled to examine this girl. Ah, yes, he saw it now. She was intelligent, that was for sure, but not enough to see that what Altermind offered was the best she would get. Like always, Altermind would offer her a second chance though. A chance to see if she had matured. He would offer her entrance into his paradise one last time.

He barely noticed when Lightwards began speaking again, "So once again--welcome Doctor Funtimes, and welcome to her retinue. My Warrior here shall attend your every need this evening." He did notice though, the look that appeared on Samantha Trattner's face when a middle-aged woman came out of the kitchen. She knew this woman. Altermind could use that.

Lightwards's eyes were also fixated on Sam. Altermind saw in them a faint expression of amusement. He allowed himself a little grin.

"Got her just today," the necromancer said. "During a visit to a certain bakery downtown. Hopefully the baker does what she's told--I'd hate to have to collect the baker in her stead." Samantha's mother was a baker, wasn't she? Lightwards had done his research then.

Lightwards looked back at Altermind, finishing, "I've made the final introductions. Now... let us begin."

Altermind finally spoke up. "Final introductions? I haven't even been able to name my partners here." Gesturing to each in turn, he named them, "Flashpoint, my lieutenant. Intervention and Mare. Sightline, you know, and Summoner and Smoky."

"Now, I believe, the final introductions have been made," Altermind continued. The arrogant professor hadn't even bothered to ask who he was dealing with.

Funtimes had apparently not liked the chairs Lightwards had provided. She changed hers into an inflatable orange bean bag with cup holders, the perfect size to fit at the table. Altermind looked at her and nodded appreciatively. "Impressive, Doctor."

"We can get to business. Corpsemaker. We need to plot how we are going to fight him. He has amassed quite the team, according to my spies and informants." Altermind noticed Samantha begin scribbling on her clipboard. He decided to make sure to deal with her that way.

Laying out photos Travis and his other spies had captured of each of Corpsemaker's Epics, he began to detail their powers.

"Electro. The first to join recently. He was there in the bouncy castle you so wonderfully transformed, Doctor. He has electric powers enabling him to fire beans of electricity as well as some sort of scrambling of neurons. Quite powerful. He isn't invincible, but bullets don't seem to hit him when they should."

He gestured to Flashpoint to debrief on the other Epics: Toymaker, Streetwise, Quota, Timeport, and Leech. He would be back to explain Upgrade. Altermind would speak to Miss Samantha. His illusion maintained the position he had been in, with regular breathing patterns and slight movements. Altermind carefully walked over behind Samantha to be able to see her clipboard. Ignoring the rude comments she had written so far, he used his telekinesis to lift the pen slightly out of her grasp. She stiffened immediately.

He began writing with her pen mentally, loving the excuse to use this power more often. He wrote, Hello, Miss Trattner. Yes, I remember you. Excited to see me?
 

Flashpoint didn't mind when Altermind let him lead the meeting. He covered Toymaker's powers, Streetwise's abilities, Quota's drainings, and Leech's powers. Each could be dangerous, but useful. The first, Toymaker, could probably be hired if paid enough. She didn't seem very supportive of Corpsemaker. Streetwise was too much of a liability. His powers ruined any chance of secrets. Altermind, seeming to be thinking deeply, suddenly spoke up again.

"Doctor, would you mind fixing this problem? We wouldn't want Corpsemaker to know all about the plans we make here. Your floating museum seemed to do the trick, but I don't think we need anything too drastic here," the illusionist asked.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Mailliw73

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

 

The more Doctor Funtimes saw of Lightwards, the more she regretted giving him that tank. And that hat. And the museum.

 

The Sadrys’ house was the same as ever. Each room was still four walls and a ceiling, with a floor covered in wood or linoleum. There were pictures on the walls and the entire house carried that faint smell like potpourri and clean laundry that all old people seemed to have. Lightwards hadn’t bothered to clean the blood off the carpet or even ask her for a vacuum to get the broken glass. He was a stupid Epic, the sort who used blood to show off how awesome he was. A mean Epic.

 

A dirty meanieface full of lame.

 

Now the dirty meanieface stood at the head of the table, announcing her name and wearing a too-bright smile that she wanted to wipe off his stupid ugly face. “Without her, my conquests thus far would have taken far longer.”

 

He was right. Without her, he wouldn’t have taken the MoNA. Well—maybe he would have, but he wouldn’t have an awesome flying fortress. He shouldn’t have had it, anyway. That was one of the few good ideas he had, and she had been considering something like it anyway. Lightwards just gave her an excuse to try it. She flashed him a smile of her own, but it wasn’t a real one, and she didn’t want it to be. I gave you everything, she didn’t say. I gave you everything you have except your clothes, and you sit next to Lucentia the Snotty Snotface like she made the museum fly. 

 

And then his eyes rested on Nathan. His mouth twitched like a rabbit’s nose, like he’d smelled something nasty and wanted it out of the room.

 

His eyes narrowed—just a little, just a little, but they narrowed.

 

I know who you are and I don’t like it, his narrowed eyes said. I like to kill things I don’t like. It’d be such a shame to let that brave little body go to waste.

 

Then his voice said something different: “The fellow to her left is Traveler, a teleporter of no small skill. He’s a highly valuable asset to the Empire, and to our cause as a whole, I think you will find.”

 

Our cause. Not my cause. Our cause. He hadn’t spilled Nathan’s secret, and he hadn’t cut her out of the Empire with his words. Funtimes looked for something to distract her. Something fun and sweet that would turn her thoughts fun and bouncy, something to keep her from thinking about Lightwards’ narrowed eyes and his smile as he punched Nathan—

 

“In fact, I’d wager he and Sightline could learn quite a few tricks from one another. Why don’t the pair of you sit down and learn about each other?”

 

Two of his zombies took hold of Nathan’s chair and pushed it away from her, closer to Sightline. Nathan, amazing as he was, only let his fear flash through his eyes, over his face and toward her, for a second before rising and tugging at his chair, trying to get the zombies to hand it over.

 

They wanted the chair. They kept the chair.

 

Nathan stood aside and let them push it the rest of the way to Sightline.

 

Lightwards had to die.

           

It wouldn’t last, she knew. He could come back from anything that killed him, for as many times as he wanted. But he didn’t like dying. He hated dying. The victor over death licked his lips and begged for mercy when all she did was cover him in gasoline and take out a lighter. Death scared him. Pain scared him.

 

"And of course, this is Funtimes' retinue. Samantha Trattner and Revolution Jones. Not Epics, but she defends them all the same."

 

Death and pain. He deserved both. Lots of both.

 

He snapped his fingers, and feet came tap-tap-tapping across the linoleum floor, carrying an older woman past snotty-face Lucentia and right to her. "So once again--welcome Doctor Funtimes, and welcome to her retinue. My Warrior here shall attend your every need this evening.”

 

The zombie wasn’t anything special. Just an older woman who, for some reason, was made to kneel after she set the cupcake pan in front of her. She had a nice face, a friendly face. The sort of face that made Funtimes think of cookies and cocoa at a scarred wooden table as a blizzard started outside, a blizzard that would cut her off from home and keep her at Grandma’s another night. But her face didn’t look sweet; it looked blank. Like all of Lightwards’ zombies.

 

“Got her just today.” His voice was soft and his eyes were staring right past her, at someone Funtimes turned in her seat to see. "During a visit to a certain bakery downtown. Hopefully the baker does what she's told--I'd hate to have to collect the baker in her stead."

 

Sam. He was looking at Sam, and Sam was about to cry. She had the clipboard raised and was scribbling across it, but she was still upset and it was all Lightwards’ fault.

 

Acid. She’d dunk him in acid, nice and slow. No—not slow. Quick, so none of his stupid zombies could get to him in time. And then when he came back, she’d lock him in a closet. A closet with hungry alligators. And disco balls that cast pretty colors across those ugly alligators, making sure Lightwards could see them as they lunged for him with open jaws and—

 

There was the hollow sound of wood clattering against linoleum, and Nathan was beside her. He smiled down the table at Sightline. “We’ll talk some other time. I’d hate to interrupt this extremely important meeting.”

 

And then he sat. He flashed her a smile, a nice smile, before stretching his arm over her seat and around her shoulders. His arm was tense. Shaking a little, if she felt it right. He was trying not to look at Lightwards, trying to look at Altermind (who had cast a doubtful look at her pudding) but he was still scared of the man who punched him in the stomach and said he wanted to kill him. 

 

She blinked. Acid floor. Disco alligators.

 

Nathan.

 

Nathan would be scared of those things. Scared to see them suddenly appear, scared to see her bring them there. He wasn't brave enough to watch Lightwards die—

 

No. He was braver. Much braver. He was better than Lightwards. 

 

Funtimes scooted closer to him, tugging his arm closer. He didn’t squeeze her tightly like her last boyfriend, or take her hand in his and talk about how small it was, how he could break it with just his little finger. Nathan let her snuggle up closer to him and smiled at her.

 

He had such a nice smile. How Lightwards could look at it and think anything other than He’s the nicest guy I’ve met in a long time and he’s a million times better than I am was just evidence that he needed to die.

 

But not now. Not with Nathan there. Remington was off finding people who would help. She would stay with Lightwards long enough to find a way to make his death permanent, and then they would do it.

 

"Final introductions?” That was Altermind. Funtimes didn’t like the way he looked at Nathan, or the way he looked at her pudding, but she did like the tone he took with Lightwards. “I haven't even been able to name my partners here. Flashpoint, my lieutenant. Intervention and Mare. Sightline, you know, and Summoner and Smoky." Each one was pointed at as he gave their name. Funtimes waved, but they didn’t wave back. Poopie heads.

 

She needed to distract herself. Keep from killing Lightwards. He deserved it, but Nathan didn't deserve to see it. Or Sam. Or Revolution Sunburst Jones. She looked down at the table, then at her chair. Wood. Boring, boring wood. She didn’t mind walking on boring things, and she had been fine with sitting on boring things up until Lightwards looked like he wanted to kill Nathan again. But she didn’t want to sit on a boring thing, and Lightwards needed to be reminded of how lucky he was to have her.

 

Funtimes grinned, holding the sides of her chair. She envisioned what she wanted—glittering orange plastic, not too wide but tall enough to let her see over the top of the table, with an armrest and a place to put the soda she had just decided she wanted. Wood became bouncy, springy and fun. Her palms stuck to the sides just a bit.

 

Nathan gave her a half-smile. She liked his half-smiles just as much as his whole ones. “Nice.”

 

She giggled. The color of the chair made her think less about how much she wanted to kill Lightwards. So long as she focused on the color, the way the glitter sat suspended in the plastic as light shone through it all, she didn’t think so much about how good it would be to see that meanieface’s eyes filled with fear, hear him say how sorry he was to oppose her, to threaten Nathan and make Sam cry, how he wouldn’t have done it if he’d known how powerful she really was….

 

“Impressive, Doctor.” Altermind gave her an approving nod. His illusion did, anyway. She wondered what his real self looked like. Was he ugly? Sort of ugly? Maybe he had big bulgy eyes and hair that stuck out like Einstein’s and he wore clown shoes the color of dead mice. He moved on, laying out pictures of various Epics and named some of their powers. Funtimes took a few spoonfuls of the pudding no one seemed interested in eating, turned plate and pudding into a notepad, and pulled the first picture of Electro closer to her.

 

She studied the picture. Stupid face, mean curve of the lips. Eyes still on the picture, she waved a hand over the notepad, duplicating Electro’s likeness onto the second page, using the first page as ink for the image. There, she wanted to tell Lightwards. I made this for YOU. If you don’t stop giving Nathan that glary-eyeball and making Sam cry, I’ll turn it back into pudding right as you’re looking at it. Then you’ll run around Portland looking for an evil bowl of pudding! HA!

 

After the first few Epics, Altermind shut up and let Flashpoint take over. Funtimes wasn’t sure how much she liked him yet. He had smiled at her when she walked in, but he’d also smiled at Sam and Revolution, and she wasn’t sure whether or not she liked his smiles. He didn’t glare at Nathan, though, or give him the look Altermind had given him, so she decided Flashpoint was okay. For now.

 

Funtimes was just in the middle of copying Streetwise’s photograph when Altermind spoke. “Doctor, would you mind fixing this problem? We wouldn't want Corpsemaker to know all about the plans we make here. Your floating museum seemed to do the trick, but I don't think we need anything too drastic here.”

 

She blinked.

 

“He can connect with cities,” Nathan said, jogging her memory of something she’d only been half-listening to. “So he knows about this meeting. But not about the Museum, since it’s not in the city, correct?” He looked to Flashpoint for confirmation and received a nod.

 

Funtimes frowned. How much did this Streetwise guy know? Did he know about Remington? Maybe, maybe not. No—don’t think about that now. Think about what they need, what Altermind is asking for. Fix the problem.

 

Make the house fly.

 

Her frown became a grin. Fix the problem. Make the house fly. Show Lightwards what a dummy dummerton he really was. He couldn’t make a house fly. He could kill a housefly and make it into a zombie housefly, but he couldn’t make a flying house. Funtimes giggled.

 

“Okie doki loki.” She took Nathan’s hand in hers, stood, and walked a few paces away from the table. She wanted to turn Lightwards’ chair into an electric one—no, no, turn it into a toilet. A toilet would be better.

 

Later. Now, she needed to fix the house.

 

After grinning up at Nathan, who looked a little less nervous but not much, Funtimes envisioned what she wanted. Gravatonics to make it float. A propulsion system, a strong one, to put it in the air. Glowing lights to make everyone see what she’d done. She stamped her foot, closing her eyes, picturing what she wanted and how she wanted it, sending her orders into the foundation. Lightwards would see what an idiot he was. He would see and feel as stupid as he was.

 

There was a small tremor and a dozen cracking sounds as the foundation changed.

 

 

“Or death, of course. There’s always that.”

 

“Bug me.” It wasn’t the least of the options by any means, but it was the only practical one. The messenger would find no one, now that Tom and Mary were twice dead. No one he knew had mobile service, and there was no one to call. That these Reckoners assumed he could afford that luxury rankled, but he didn’t voice his irritation. It wasn't their fault their tea parties kept them so far out of the real world they forgot what most people didn't have. 

 

Lightwards, he reminded himself. This was for Lightwards. For enlisting others in the fight against him, others more stable than the glittering, childlike Epic who had trapped him in tar.

 

He would tell her about the bug later. See what she could do.

[Voidus]

Synesthesia watched the flare go skywards, dropping her pistols as she did so. Blasted things needed to be reloaded so frequently, why did anyone use them?

She pulled out two knives from their sheathes around her waist, one was a push dagger, it's mahogany handle perfectly suited to her hands with a short blade protruding upwards, perfect for thrusting stabs. The other was much larger, with a much sharper edge. She set about stabbing and slicing the remaining guards, they stumbled about blindly, the combination of her abilities and Disrupt had quickly rendered them useless. With a quick slice she hamstrung the final guard and then slammed her fist into his neck, the push dagger penetrating straight through the jugular and windpipe.

Refill and the other members of the MEE reached them just as the guard gurgled out his final bloody intake of breath.

"The other guards will have seen that" Refill said. "If they contact the Epics we may have to contend with them before the night is out."

The surrounding members of the MEE had varying reactions, ranging from joy at the prospect of a fight to terror.

"We outnumber Alterminds little crew, let them try!" Yelled one of the Epics, a fire Epic though Synesthesia could not recall his name. The Epic then walked up to the Steel wall and concentrated, his fists began to glow with a blue light and he threw a quick jab out in front of him, shooting a small fireball at the wall in an obvious attempt to emphasize his point by destroying it, the fireball hit and immediately dissipated, leaving absolutely no discernible damage to the wall.

"Well." Synesthesia broke in. "Perhaps if you spent some more time listening and less time interrupting you might have listened to the briefing that said an Epic made these walls. That's why we need to scale them."

"I will be going solo on my own mission" Refill said "The rest of you form up into your groups, cause as much damage as possible, if you find an enemy Epic don't act rashly, overwhelm them with numbers, they will underestimate us and that will be their undoing. Move out!"

Synesthesia quickly formed into her group with Disrupt, Growthspurt and Dodgeball.

"Anyone care for some theme music?" She asked, applying careful usage of her power across the various colours on her dress to create the opening notes from the Imperial March from Star wars.

[Edgedancer he/him]

The place Lightwards designated as the location for the meeting was a run-down shack, not as bad as its surrounding but still only suited for people without class. The interior was… tidy enough, the bloodstain was an annoyance though. She didn´t even want to remember all the discussions she had with Bloody Mary to keep the rusted stuff out of her private quarters.

 

Lucentia settled down at the table, waiting for the remaining participants to arrive, while Lightwards warriors prepared the place, especially enjoying the remnants of Tither´s setting the table. Showing basic decency the Thoughttown representatives arrived just shortly afterwards. They were a mixed group but didn´t even begin to approach the level of insanity that gathered in Lightwards Empire, in front of them stood Altermind or more likely whatever Altermind considered the idea male body, assuming that he put any effort to make up for his mortality before seeping out confidence.

 

For a moment there was a chance for the meeting to start in order but Funtimes arrived just too early, ruining any chance of professionalism that was present. At least Lucentia could suppress any traces of the groan that wanted to escape her mouth at the sight of the ridiculous jelly-bean pudding she placed on the table.

 

However, Funtimes presence, for once, had something positive about it, getting to enjoy the suffering of her retinue. First was Traveler, who Lightwards decided should sit right next to Sightline. Given the man´s glee at the decision it lent some more weight too her brother´s guess that the worm was a Vanilla, making his predicament all the more amusing.

 

Next, was the main event of the evening, watching the rotten brat as she realized who the newest Warrior was. Lucentia couldn´t keep a small smile from her lips as she watched the girl in the corner of her eyes.

 

After Altermind took a moment to introduce his minions the meeting started in earnest. Thoughttown opened by delivering information about the Epics that gathered under Corpsemaker, the group might just be more problematic than their leader himself.

 

During the explanations the diamond queen couldn´t help but take a couple of side glances at the Goth girl to lift her mood, her interest was picked when the girl stiffened for no discernable reason.

 

Still, the topic of the Epics powers was more important, a lesson that others should learn as well, given that Funtimes was too busy making her little drawings to notice her prompt to make the shack levitate, needing her favorite pet to remind her.

                                                                                           

 

Walking himself while he had hounds running around was bothersome but the massacre they were causing right now would be less of a distraction, if he started right next to his goal.

 

Moving through the corridors of the house it was still the same bland white as before, probably the reason her brain was that useless.

 

Before doing some work proper Nighthound lead Ray to the bath, it seems like someone already started working on the hole in the ceiling. “I know you´re not one for candlelight dinners but I feel the need to give you some kind of reward for your work today and then I figured that you didn´t have a chance to wash up since we meet,” he ruffled through her hair while speaking and then pulled on it to force her to look into his face as he continued speaking, “and given that I like you clean you should take this chance, the collar is staying on though.” He stroked along her neck with a finger of his free hand and tossed her into the room.

 

Nighthound shut the door behind him as he returned to the hallway; an energy spear pierced the wall, protruding just next to his head, what a woman. Letting out a wistful sigh he turned his attention to his actual reason for coming here. Rule number one of the successful stalker, read your victims diary. Their whole house should work just as well… and it better does he was missing out on a slaughter for this.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Gordon and Rachel walked over to where Max was talking to Remington and Alice right as Remington, an Epic killer, finished talking about how he needed to go.

Gordon spoke up before Max could, “You can go and talk to your family if you wish. But, you have to consent to having a bug on you at all times.” He asked Rachel if the woman, Sierra could bring a bug for Remington. Max didn't think Rachel or Gordon trusted Remington much. As long as he was devoted to killing Epics, Max trusted him. He could sense the same feelings of anger and vengeance in Remington that Max felt himself. No one could fake that.

"Or you could simply call them. We have Mobile Service or we could send a messenger. Any of those three options are yours for the taking. Or death of course. There’s always that.” Gordon continued. Max couldn't blame him for the death threat, he himself had done the same a few minutes ago.

“Bug me," Remington chose. Max nodded. That was what he would've chosen too. Sierra came over and, brushing coldly past Max's shoulder, gave Remington a bug to clip to his shirt. Max noticed her slip a smaller one into Remington's pocket as she did so. She also happened to walk past the truck on her way back to the bus. He assumed she bugged that too.

"So, now that we're all close friends," Max said, "Should we get going into Attica? These two only have a little while."

 

Electro had relished using his powers with Upgrade's boost. Now, by himself, his powers felt weak. He had spent the afternoon in the training room of the armory, working out and practicing his powers. He had thought a lot too. He had come to a decision and he would stick to it. Corpsemaker could rule this city all he wanted, but Electro would raze it to the ground.

I will burn this city. My parents were ruined by it and now I will ruin it for them. This city failed me.

Electro shot a beam of electricity right through a practice dummy's head, decapitating it cleanly. He would learn how to enhance his power. He would make himself stronger. And then, this city would pay.

Electro went out on the town, needing to release some stress and anxiety. Some people were ignoring his presence completely and were less shy and frightened by his prowling than most. He hadn't the faintest idea why, but he figured that one of them would work just as well as anyone else. He Scrambled a man who was wearing black gloves and drug him into an alley. He began with the feet. Slowly and gently, Electro started his work. With each use of his power, the weakness and anxiety melted away, replaced by anger and determination. He was careful not to sever the ankles yet, he needed to work on controlling his powers. He gently used his electricity to burn. An awful smell filled the air. Burning flesh. He didn't cut any limb off; dismemberment wasn't his thing, at least, not often.

Electro left the alley alone and headed back to the armory. He felt much better now. The unlucky fellow he had met earlier probably didn't, well, wouldn't, if he could feel anymore. He idly wondered how long it'd take for someone to find the burned body.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Mailliw73

[Edgedancer he/him]

Nighthound wasn´t sure if he could call his search successful. The house was stuffed mostly with rather useless stuff to waste the day away, a good chunk even from pre-Calamity times. Even her bedroom and the like were devoid of things that could give him any useful information. There was only one think that might turn out to help him.

 

Down in the basement stuffed behind a couple of chests he found what seemed to be a very old diary. A quick glance at the last entry showed that it has almost been a decade since the last entry, assuming he deciphered the horrible handwriting correctly. It was bound to hold more information than the entire rest of the house but given its age there was no guarantee. After searching for a couple of things to alter the books cover he decided to take it with him.

 

By the time he returned to the bath, there was no real reason form him to hurry anymore. No matter what he told her, there was no reason that she would still be taking her bath at this point. Anyway, Nighthound threw open the door. In there he found Ray simply sitting on the ground. As she noticed him entering she put up her adorable death-stare and stood up.

 

He beckoned her over; when she stood next to him he took a sniff of her still slightly wet hair. Luckily, whatever shampoo she found it was smell neutral, so nothing interfered with hers. “You smell lovely,” Nighthound said as he breathed into her hear. An uppercut and an energy spear through his brain was Ray´s response.  

 

Sadly, the hounds already did a very good job of decimating the neighborhood he left them in, leaving little to do for him. In case that the diary holds any useful information it would probably make more sense to take it to the museum before doing anything else. After taking a bit of time to kill the people he turned into his hounds, they made way for the museum.

 

Approaching the museum Nighthound noticed a thin something stretching up to it, thin enough that he wouldn´t have noticed at first, if it wasn´t waving around. His interest picked he went to investigate the bottom of the tendril, before heading up to the museum. As he got closer he could tell that it was indeed a tendril of liquid blood. At the origin of the blood surrounded by a pool of the stuff kneeled a woman head bowed before a goblet filled with blood, probably her own. The blood sticking in her hair and the fitting black and red clothing made it quite clear that she was the Epic responsible for this, even if she wasn´t kneeling in front of the tendril. He had a knack for attracting this type, didn´t he?

Nighthound casually called out to her as he approached her further, “And who do we have her? Let me guess, you were lead here by your almost fanatical admiration for my greatness.”