Saturday Super Stories - Skulduggery 110 Part 1c

"Malefactor, Reprobate, Charlatan, Neerdowell, or Gentlemen Thief, names associated with villainy.  I pull from the universe tales of Larceny and Legerdemain focusing on the evil that fills the world."  The Nameless.

Skulduggery 110 Part 1c - The Saga's for Darion Gray

Chapter 5 (Futures)

Darion walked once again through the portal outside the Free Zone, he had first gone to his apartment and retrieved the picture, concentrating to lift and place it in his jacket pocket, and he was amazed when it stayed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2273, four years later...

There were bright flashes overhead, followed by many reports. He had come through into a war. He glanced down at the picture and saw that it had made the journey with him. He smiled, and then he noticed that he could touch it with no problem. It had become as unstable as he had. 'Interesting" he thought.

Several bullets passed through him then, he looked down, ash pouring from the wounds. "You have made a mistake...?" An android stood before him, basically human shaped, but very alien in appearance. It auto loaded a new clip into its gun and shot him again. Again he was fine, his curse would let him live through this. Suddenly a ship flew low overhead and dropped several more of the androids to the ground; these seemed to be armed with laser rifles and pistols, these too passed through him leaving only a tingle in its wake.

He stopped next to a body, picking up its pistol. He turned to the first beast and shot it in the chest until the clip was dry. The monster stood there, still firing at him. He walked between them and they destroyed themselves, lasers easily cutting through their armor, and he picked up one of their pistols and started towards the city.


Old Neutron City, 2273

The city was a warzone, the new breed of android was systematically killing all of the populace, leaving only shells of buildings in their wake. The world was very different than when he had left, how could this have happened? He searched for a safe zone so he could get answers, he killed tens of the monsters to get to it, but he made it. The rebel leader against the beasts was called The Red Dragon, and he was soon brought before him.

The leader stood over a map of the city, an elemental made of concrete, dirt and rocks stood guard behind him. He had his generals nearby and conferred with them occasionally while devising battle strategies.

"I need answers." Darion spoke before waiting to be addressed.

"Yeah, well that’s real nice there; I need to win a war so I guess were even." He pointed out some locations on the map and sent a messenger off. "I hear your some kind of bad...ass?" Red Dragon stared at Darion for a long moment. "Kill him," and he turned back to the map. The Elemental moved to attack and Darion stood his ground.

"Why attack me, I’ve done nothing to hurt you."  Darion questioned.

"Because I hold a grudge." Red Dragon responded.

The elemental swung a huge fist and Darion collided with it, and he was flung backwards and slammed into a debris bin, knocked him, it, and its contents to the floor.

"I’ve never seen you before!"  Darion wailed.

"It’s been a long time, ten years give or take, but I remember you, you look different somehow, but I know it’s you." The elemental strode slowly forward and moved to stomp on Darion’s leg, and he backpedalled away, causing it to miss.

"I’ve never seen you before; I’m not even from here! This isn’t my world, I only want answers!" The Red Dragon waved his hand and the elemental stopped its attack.

"Leave us." His men objected but reluctantly left.  "Six months ago a force of androids marched out of the ReXunited ARCology. Led by an AI called TechnoSyde, they single handedly destroyed most of downtown, within hours of the opening. While authorities tried to stave off the attack, TechnoSyde sent huge transports to the other cities. NeoGothic City was nuked on the second day, DeeCee by the end of the first week. Within a month TechnoSyde and his followers had a foothold in the Americas.

"The entire time the underground was planning a counter assault. The blackrunners were united in a common goal; we made strikes against the ARCology and TechnoSyde's various forces biding our time, until we could get a hold of this." He walked over to a tarp and lifted it, a huge bomb sat there. "It’s an E.M.P. the most powerful one still on the planet."  Red Dragon finished.

"E.M.P.?" Darion asked.

"Electro Magnetic Pulse, an explosive device that sends a pulse of electricity so powerful that it knocks out all of the electronics in an area. I saw it in a movie once."  Red Dragon Replied.

"I can stop all of this. I can fix everything that has happened."  Darion responded.

"I told you once before, Time Travel. I must warn you that you will only make things worse the more you mess with time." He continued to stare at Darion. "How are we to know that all of this didn’t happen because you went back and changed things."

"Because I haven’t left yet, this is my world too." He pulled the picture from his pocket, there was going to be a gate soon, within hours. He tucked the photo away. "I need all the information you have, I know I will get it if what you’ve said is true, because no matter what I have to leave."

Red Dragon stared at him long and hard, minutes passed as he contemplated the ramifications of this decision. He grabbed some files from a cabinet and threw them at Darion. As they flew through the air, it bubbled and rippled as one of the ARCologies creations stood before them. It swatted the files out of the air and they smacked into the ground.

"Shit." Dragon hissed and willed his elemental to fight, as he started casting at the same time.

Darion scrambled and grabbed the files as the fight started right above him. He rolled out of the way and the machine stomped a foot at him. He stood and began to run, Dragon glared at him and cast his spell. The area flooded with light and Darion was blasted away, flying through the air, smashing into a half wall. He lay dazed for a few moments and then shook his head clear and began to move again as the battle raged behind him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

He stepped through the portal to his next destination, this time in the past; it was time to change things.

TBC in Skullduggery Part 2

Saturday Super Stories - Skulduggery 110 Part 1b

"Malefactor, Reprobate, Charlatan, Neerdowell, or Gentlemen Thief, names associated with villainy.  I pull from the universe tales of Larceny and Legerdemain focusing on the evil that fills the world."  The Nameless.

Skulduggery 110 Part 1b - The Saga's for Darion Gray

Chapter 3 (Remnants)

He spent weeks wandering the city, production had been halted immediately, and all the YG series androids that could be found were recalled and destroyed. 

He had tried to find Jason but was unable to locate him, he had seemingly disappeared, but some blackrunners he had hired were able to locate him; and a group of people he was traveling with, by tracking down where they had been. The blackrunners could not find them per-say  for they had seemed to vanish soon after they had been located, it was odd. 

He mailed the pictures to an associate of his, with the intent of using the pictures to find their back-story, and went about his life as best as he could, the Dragons curse filling his ears every moment of everyday, but he tried his best to forget about it. 

Then came the day his building was attacked. Some blackrunners had planted explosives and destroyed the upper levels of the building knocking it into the streets below. Then the next morning an employee killed himself for no apparent reason. Perhaps the curse meant he would never again be successful.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Several days passed and his contact was murdered in his home, there was no apparent break-in, but all of the photos had been stolen. This was beginning to bother him; it was as if someone was systematically destroying his life piece by piece. He tracked down one of the people responsible for runs, a fixer called Bryon. Bryon told him about the workings in the darkness and how to go about hiring blackrunners to get things done. He stored the information away for later and began to work on revenge, starting with those who had slighted him in the past.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The first of the revenge plan would be a runner called the Janitor. He was an expert at infiltration and poisons. He was one of the ones who had blown up his building. He tracked him down on another job, and what would come would be the revelation that would fuel his passion for destruction.

His fight awakened him to the nature of the curse. He blindly attacked the Janitor and was shot several times, and fell many stories to his death. He woke on the street looking up as the glass from the window he had broke rained down on him, this was his second death. Then a secluded eye cruiser clipped his body and sent it spinning into a hydrant breaking his neck and spine and crushing much of his skull, his third death, and finally the explosive he had for the Janitor detonated killing him another time, and all the passersby that had stopped to see what had happened.

He stood up and brushed himself off; a fine ash covered his body in many places. His curse was Immortality?!? How could this be a curse? He laughed long and loud, as the bodies lay in ruin around him. He walked into the street and he noticed then, he could see through himself just slightly. He touched the street, and while it felt solid his hand passed through it. His curse was more than Immortality; he was out of phase with the world around him. 

Dragons can be a cruel race.

Chapter 4 (Crossroads)

He returned to his home some time later, sort of willing himself to stay in one place to ride the lifts up. He pushed himself through the door of his apartment passing through it and he called to the alarm the correct code to disable security. He had found that while hard to react to the physical plane he could talk just fine.

He walked around his place, looking at the items he had recovered from Jason’s gift. Many different swords, books, colored magazines with crazy stories of fiction, maps torn from other books, pictures, and a backpack full of strange items. The Capsule that contained the Truck lay on his desk, a remembrance of times before. He looked over the photos and that’s when he saw it, a map.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It took many days, but he finally moved the picture to his desk and had the computer analyze and enlarge it. He superimposed the image on his wall sized Vid. Selecting and zooming in on the map in the hands of the strangers. It took many hours of planning but he found a doorway, a permanent one, here in NeoGothic City, and he had no idea where it would take him but he had to find out.

He left for the portal, and arrived outside the Free Zone several hours later. The portal lay in between several crumbled alleyways two vagrants slept under it, as if they could not even see it. Perhaps only those who knew were a portal was could see said portal, hmm this could bear looking into. Then he was gone.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2269, four years later.

He stepped out of the portal, he glanced around the area was different, it looked older somehow. He walked into the city, watching and absorbing what he saw. It was four years later, some of the blackrunners tech looked slightly different, advanced, but it wasn’t like that was strange, Argus OneWorld was constantly making advancements, but he noticed the name on one of the pistols, ReXunited, but ReXunited didn't make weapons, they made cyborgs, and hacking gear, plus when he had left the ARCology was still under siege by the "AI" TechnoSyde.

The world was different in those four years, he had to get to the map, he ran for NeoGothic City and that’s when he realized he wasn't in NeoGothic City or even outside the Free Zone anymore. It looked a lot like DeeCee.

"So the portal was stable, but the exit point wasn't?" He started walking then, avoiding eyes that had been watching him as he ran.

"Darion Gray." A voice came out of an alleyway nearby. "Stop, but don’t look."

"Who are you?"

"A friend. Someone who knows what has happened to you, and someone who can help slightly."

"But why help me?"

"Because you would do the same for me." He stood with his back to the alley, trusting that the stranger would not kill him, or couldn't, at least not permanently.

"You have many days ahead of you Darion, you must plan for the future. Return to the portal and find your destiny."

"Why do you keep calling me Darion, my name's..."

"Because you are not that man anymore." The voice interrupted, "Because your condition is similar to that of a 19th century story. That and it sounds mysterious."

"Okay, but I still don’t understand why."

"Someday you will, and on that day all will make sense in your life, all the hardships, and the pain, all of it. You should be prepared for anything, a deck can be stacked, but occasionally a wildcard slips into the game."

"What game, what are you talking about?"

"The game of life."

He turned around and looked into the alleyway, but it was empty. He had the feeling that his life had just gotten more complicated.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He started the journey back to NeoGothic City it would take many days, maybe even weeks but he would do what he had to find his destiny...

TBC in Part 1c on Friday!!

Saturday Super Stories - Skulduggery 110 part 1a

This week I will attempting something different, the next chapter will be three days this week instead of just Saturday, so theory suggests a post from the Super U for the next six days.

"Malefactor, Reprobate, Charlatan, Neerdowell, or Gentlemen Thief, names associated with villainy.  I pull from the universe tales of Larceny and Legerdemain focusing on the evil that fills the world."  The Nameless.

Skulduggery 110 Part 1a - The Saga's for Darion Gray

Chapter 1 (Returner)

A wind blew.

A dog barked.

Litter blew across the streets of Old Neutron City, kicking up some dust and the stench of decay. It had been some time since he had had a good meal, real warm food, cooked by a professional chef, not scrounged from a debris bin after hours. He rolled over and pulled the newspapers closer to his body to keep warm.

Morning...

The morning traffic roared past him, the common folk of Old Neutron City ignorant to his pain and suffering. He smiled at the occasional passerby and begged for some spare coin, then moved on to a different locale.

He walked through the back alleyways and scouted for a place to sleep later, and some discarded scraps. He came around a corner and that was when he saw it, a fresh apple just sitting there atop a waste bin. He stalked closer to it, creeping, slower, slower, than he was on it, reaching for it, his fingers touched the skin, and a hand closed around his.

He felt the pressure than heard the snap as cartilage and bone was destroyed. "Excuse me I do believe that is mine." He forced his head up to look into the face of his captor, who grinned.

"My name is GT, let’s be friends."

* * * * * * * * * *

Months later...

He adjusted his suit, checked his tie, put on his cufflinks, and put on his dress jacket. He looked in the mirror one last time, and smiled. He had come a long way since the alleys, and he owed all of it to GT. He had taken him from the streets and helped him regain his prestige, helped him rebuild his fortune, aided him in forming his new company, and had become his best friend.

The banquet tonight was to be held in his honor, and he really had to go. He called for his car, and took the private elevator to the bottom floor. He met the car at the front, and rode the way in silence. He arrived at the party fashionably late, but no one greeted him at the door, everyone was inside watching the Vids. He watched over their shoulders at the news just coming in. 

"...the new President elect has just been assassinated. We repeat Dun..."

He shrugged, and went into the building’s interior. 'Serves the bastard right, a Dragon can’t run this country...'

* * * * * * * * * *

The reading of the Will was a blow to the world. The balance of power had shifted and it seemed the Dragon had one upped the planet. His company, only a few months old was swept out from underneath him, and his assets were all gone, once again he was penniless. He walked into the night to see where it may take him. Weeks later he found himself in NeoGothic City; it was time to rebuild...

Chapter 2 (Dragons)

He arrived in NeoGothic City with little difficulty, skirting the patrols, and maneuvering into the Dragon run city. He was a vagrant and most passed him by just as they had when he was in Old Neutron City. He soon found a place where he could squat and set up shop.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Months later...

He stumbled out of the alleyway and hit the pavement hard, a black truck slid to a stop just inches from his head. The driver got out bitching and grabbed his soiled shirt. He pulled him up hard and held him at arm’s length. His nose scrunched from the smell, "I ought to kill you for almost dinging my ride, why don't you fly off little dirt, get out of my sight."

"GT?!?"

"What did you just call me?"

"GT, my old friend, I’ve been looking all over for you."

"I’m not GT, the names Jason, and I’m new here. You've got me mistaken for someone else, let me buy you some coffee.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Some time later...

"Hmmm, what you've said is interesting. It is possible that I have a double, they say everyone does somewhere in the world. It’s possible that you met mine. You know you’re not a bad guy for being a stinky vagrant. Let me help you get on your feet." He dug in his pockets and pulled out a small capsule. "You just press the button and stand back, but not indoors." He thanked the man and left with his gift.

He pressed the button and the capsule vibrated and got heavy, so he dropped it on the ground, gas and steam began to erupt from the sides, and soon a cloud filled the street, when the cloud cleared the truck that had almost hit him sat on the street before him. He smiled, he could sell it, maybe get a good price for it, and it looked vintage, then he saw what was in the back, a robot.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The dragon looked down on its servant, shocked slightly at the news that was just given to it. A new type of android had hit the markets, an assassin droid that were all designated YG class, had recently influxes into the market. Some of the other Mega Corporations had taken to using these instead of blackrunners to do their dirty work. He demanded that the creator of these monstrosities be brought before him.

So he was brought before the great Voidwalker, ruler of the Free Zones of NeoGothic City. The great Dragon lay stretched out before him, its massive belly prone, almost inviting deceit. As soon as he was in position he began to growl and spoke. The augment at his side began translating...

"You have been brought before me, for crimes against nature. Your machines are deemed offensive to the nature of the world. You will stop their production and order a recall on all the models that have been sold prior to this meeting."

He interrupted the Dragon, anger filled his voice. "I will do no such thing. I’m tired of you Dragons telling the common people what to do, because of your kind I have had to rebuild my company three times, this will not pass. My androids comply with all governmental standards and are completely legal in every way; they are classified as Bodyguards not assassins, what the consumer does with them after the purchase is not my problem!"

Voidwalker flipped over and reared onto his hind legs, he took a deep breath and roared, the death smell on his breath made him stagger back, and the wind knocked him down. In broken common, Voidwalker began to scream.

"IF I DEEM ANYTHING THAT YOU MORTALS CREATE UNWORTHY, THAN YOU WILL COMPLY, WITHIN THESE WALLS MY WORD IS LAW, DO YOU STILL DISOBEY MY ORDERS?"

"Yes, I do."

"SO BE IT." The magical energy that was released was catastrophic; the flash of power and light filled the NeoGothic City sky. When the sky cleared, things had been changed in the room. He stood there wondering what had just happened, the augment had excused itself, and Voidwalker had taken his human shape, a tall white haired human male.

"You are now cursed, forever to roam the universe until I deem you worthy of death." He looked down at himself, he didn’t look any different, and he didn’t feel any different.

"What have you done to me?"

"I have changed you."

"But...how, what did you do to me?"

"Someday you will figure it out. Perhaps now you will treat your elders with some respect" Then Voidwalker was gone, and he was left alone.

TBC in Part 1b on Wednesday 

Saturday Super Stories - Stand Alone 10

“My life is a series of events, one thing after another, each of these things eventually culminating into some kind of life changing event that then alters my destiny from that point forward.  I was born in another universe and because of that I was in line for an Event that ripped our universe to the ground and forced us to go to war with a parallel universe that was invading us.”

“In truth we went to war with them because they accidentally invaded us and we retaliated in the only way we knew how, and at the same time an unseen hand was moving us forward to their own end for some unknown reason.”

“I watched as my universe was sealed away from me and lost my parents and family forever because the way back was gone.  This left me in the care of one of world’s greatest heroes and his training brought me against my greatest enemy, Zero.”

“Zero in turn forced me to locate a new source of knowledge so that I might continue my education and find a way to cure my…father, the man like my father.  I know it’s impossible, but we’re super heroes and that’s what we do every day.  So I will use the Knowledge and weed out the answers I need until I figure out a solution to the problem I have given myself.”  Sapphire looked at Zoe who nodded at her.  “I have to ask it the right questions, everyone has a boss, and that led me to Andreas Darkk, whom I stood over in Carcass his prison.  I saw the birth of Genesis, the Coming Darkness, the thing which is coming next and that which I am now preparing myself for.”  She rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. “What are the right questions?  What can I ask to start and knit together the last threads to see the whole tapestry.”

Stand Alone 10 - The Little Things 1

“Who was Doctor Kirby?”

“Presenting Doctor Alexander Kellan Kirby noted physicist and quantum engineer.”  The crowd roared in approval as the Doctor came up on to the stage.  He waved his hands for calm and the group quietly rapidly.

“Good morning every one, I feel like a rock star.”  The crowd laughed at the joke.  “Today I am going to go over several of my recent discoveries relating to the evolution of stars.  We think that these celestial bodies are just lights in the sky that twinkle and eventually fade away, but I believe that they are so much more.”  He pointed at the white screen behind him and slides began to follow what he was saying changing from star type to star type across a common stars life cycle.  “What I am saying is…what if the stars themselves are alive and they follow an evolutionary life cycle from birth to death?”  Several people in the crowd gasped and in the silence someone muttered blasphemy.

“I am working with several government and businesses to attempt to draw some of the energy down from the stars and get long range readings; we are currently building several laboratories across the world to attempt to better understand my theories and possibly harness the energy to remove ourselves from a dependent resource like oil.  I would like you all to meet my main financier Rex Ruthless!!”  A young man barely into his twenties stepped onto the stage and joined Dr. Kirby at the podium.  He waved at the crowd.

“Hello everyone,” he spoke quietly but his voice carried, “I believe in Dr. Kirby’s theories and have put forth considerable resources towards this venture.  We already have several ARC, advanced research collectives, in multiple countries across the planet and construction has begun on the equipment that will draw some of the energy down to the Earth.  I have personally hired two doctors that have specialized in this field to oversee that project, and we should have results in a few years.”

“Who is Oswald Johnson?”

“Who are you really Oz?”  Rex Ruthless sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the young man before him.  “I have had some of my people look into you, since you are my roommate, and one cannot be too careful you understand.”

Oswald nodded, “That is a good question Rex.”  He turned and sat at his desk.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Who are you?!”  Rex’s voice raised a few decibels.

“I am the son of Kaliope and Jaswell Johnson.  My IQ is 37 points higher than yours.  I come from no money and a middle class background and have had to achieve all of my college funding through scholarships and holding three jobs during high school.  I also gamble occasionally and raised money that way as I am able to count cards quite easily.  Dr. Kirby put in a good word with the school board and found me placement here.  Other than that I am just a young man looking to make his mark on this world, and your roommate for now.”

Rex ground his teeth, “I knew all of that already but I think you are hiding something.”  Oswald turned in his chair and looked Rex right in the eye.

“Everything I told you was true,” he stared intently at Rex.  “The things I have left out about who I am are none of your concern and therefore none of your business.  So DROP it.”  The single word echoed slightly.  Rex looked away first and immediately felt ashamed, but he nodded.

‘You won’t be my roommate for long.’ Rex thought to himself as he stood and walked out of the dorm room calmly.  Oswald sighed as the door clicked shut and then smiled. 

‘Everything about that story was true Rex,” he thought to himself, ‘Except I’m not actually Oswald Johnson, I replaced him months ago.’ He started to laugh to himself.

Darwin Dexter the Baron of the Side-realms, and King of the Anathema went back to his homework, after all the Star Force wasn't just going to come to him without some work.

“Why was SuperDude in Nevada when Shrulk made its first appearance?”

‘I will guide you where you are needed most, when the greatest dangers arise on this world.’  Dawnbringer voiced its thoughts directly into his mind.  SuperDude banked left as a feeling began to pull him in that direction.

“So you are like a danger magnet?”  Superdude asked the entity that dwelled within him.

‘In a way, I go to the danger, I do not bring the danger to me,’ it responded.  SuperDude nodded.

‘I feel something towards the West Coast of this country, continue on this path and we may be able to prevent many deaths.’  SuperDude nodded again and pushed himself faster.

“How did Doctor Kirby die?”

“Why are you doing this?”  Kirby screamed over the wind howling through the alleys created by the skyscrapers of Megalopolis.

“Because I tire of your repeated failures, I have invested too much time and money on you and your protégés, perhaps your suicide will spur them onto greater achievements.”  He shoved and the good doctor fell down from the penthouse of Ruthless Unlimited.

TBC in Skullduggery 110 Part 1

Saturday Super Stories - Mythology 109 Part 4

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

Sapphire’s eyes snapped open and she gasped for breath.  She looked around wildly and her hands lashed out to try and grab anything solid just to prove to herself that she had awoken in the real world.

Her fingers dug deep into the stone of a side table and it cracked under the pressure of her strength, bits crumbled to the ground and rested quietly.  Then the screaming started from somewhere outside and she forced herself to stand.  Her legs held her wait and she pulled herself out of the room, bumping into the tables, chairs and walls and eventually the door.

A man in a top hat appeared in front of her.  She blinked at him and kept walking avoiding his gaze.  “You know what you must do Mercedes Whitman, save the Hunter, the Woman in White must not break free of this prison.”

“Shut up, you aren’t real, I’m sick and you’re a hallucination.”  She fell to her knee’s and continued moving toward the screaming.

“I am the Black King and it is my job to watch the Woman in White and keep her contained within the Hollow City which itself is the Black Room and her prison.”  His image flickered and he was in front of her again and this time his chest was glowing slightly illuminating his rib cage.  “I was once a man named George and my friend Clarissa asked me to watch over the void reborn, and I agreed because I am very powerful, if I wanted, even in this place I could rip the Earth apart with little effort.”

“I guess its good you’re a hero then.”  Sapphire paused and vomited all over the cobblestones.

“I never said I was a hero.”

Mythology 109 - Part 4 “…of all Trades”

The Woman in White carved Wynn’s chest slowly and she watched as the tattoo’s reflected his future and they always ended with him dead, and this pleased her.  The skin was flayed and she watched the muscle twist and turn as Wynn struggled against his bonds.

She began to laugh and watched as the Orrery twisted into a new position overhead.  Her freedom was at hand.

*******

Mercedes turned to look at the Black King.  “Then stop her.”

“Not my place, she is your responsibility.  Mine is making sure she does not leave this place, and she will not leave for it is her duty to choose a vessel to carry her special plague into the universe, and that door is quickly approaching us.”

Sapphire wretched one more time and forced herself to stand straight up.  “Okay chuckles I can save the universe once more with feeling.”  She clenched her hands at her side and steeled herself as another wave of temporal chaos pulled at her soul.  She took a breath and released and walked towards the continued screaming and broke into a run as it started to break off and start again.

She slide around the corner and to a stop as she saw the cities center for the first time and the fountain that Wynn was tied to, blood poured from the gaping wound in his chest, the flesh had been pulled back, the muscle lay loose around the edge and the woman in white had begun to crack the ribs open and tear them loose, casually dropping them to the ground at her feet.

Sapphire growled and ran, her speed augmented with her abilities and she leapt instantly releasing the speed and pumping up her muscles and strength to deliver a blow that tore through the shoulder of the woman and smashed it like porcelain.  She screamed and spun away as the force drove her from Wynn’s side.  The knife clattered across the cobbles away from them.

“You whore!!”  The Woman screamed at Sapphire.

“Been called once,” she smirked, “But I really need to ask what your deal is.  You seem to be leaking all over the place.”

The Woman grabbed her shoulder and the white energy pouring from the wound slowed to a stop and the shoulder regenerated before Sapphires eyes.  “He is the vessel to spread my divine word, he is perfect and you brought him to me in your pathetic quest to save your false father.  You cannot purge the darkness of the seed within him.  He is Death, and his goal is to claim the universe just as mine is its obliteration.”

“I would call you mad but everyone has a purpose, just like mine is to beat your ass and leave you stuck here and make sure the mystic society back on earth knows to never come here again.  You lose bitch.”  The Orrery overhead clicked into place and the energies of the Hollow City coalesced into another portal.  In a second Sapphire was slamming back into the woman and send her hurtling through the walls and across the city away from them. 

Sapphire smiled.  “It’s always nice to be able to hit something with full force and not have to worry about it dying.”  She pulled a blade from her pack and sliced the leather straps holding Wynn to the fountain, already his wounds were healing, the bones re-growing as the muscle shifted back into place and the flesh knitted the hole closed.  “Come on chief lets go home.”  She picked him up and started to leap into the portal.

His eyes snapped open and he pulled away from her as she passed into the event horizon of the mystic opening that pulled her back into reality, she managed a glimpse back before she was gone.  Wynn was sad and reaching into the healing hole as he fell back to the cobblestones and ripping his heart from the open wound which was glowing white, Sapphire could hear the Woman roaring in anger.  Wynn managed to mouth the word Sacrifice before she was gone and the heart exploded.

She slammed into the ground of Sham’bala and the Proctors were waiting, each had a different look of sadness on their face.  “Victory always comes at a huge price young one.”  Thaddeus said as he helped her to her feet.

“You won this day and lost an ally but the universe lives on.”  Kimalia spoke from his side.

“He lives on in you now,” Annelletta whispered, “but not literally.  Go home now, you’ve earned it.”

********

She finished her story of the last few weeks and waited for Walters to comment.  He stood up from the chair and his cane clicked on the stone floor.  He paused and glanced back over his shoulder at her.  “So you did all of that and accomplished nothing in the end.”

“I found out I can’t save Alex and stopped a god from destroying all of reality, so I would say I accomplished enough to keep me from getting fired.”  Sapphire retorted.

“Who said anything about getting fired?”  He replied.

“You did on the phone last week when you called to bitch at me for not watching the city.”

“I never called you…” He was interrupted as reverb from all of the speakers in the Avenging Cave turned on at once and a voice spoke a single word.

“ONE,” Walters turned to her and started to run as the first explosions shook the foundations and were quickly followed by secondary and tertiary Sapphire screamed as the flames overtook Walters and the concussion ripped into her.

YEAR ZERO coming this November, barring any unforeseen circumstance that is…

TBC in Stand Alone 10

Saturday Super Stories - Mythology 109 Part 3

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

“Where am I?”  Wynn asked as the drugged tea wore off.

“Still inside the Hollow City darling,” the woman in white responded.  You are about to become the most important creature in the whole universe, it really is too bad that the Cascade was sealed so long ago or the sickness could spread into the multi-verse.”

“You’re crazy!”  Wynn managed to raise his voice as he began to take notice of the area he was being held captive in.  She smiled at him.

“I prefer to think of myself as uniquely enlightened.  The Hollow City isn’t reality its actuality, nestled inside the astral plane in the cleft created by the hollows of Love and Hate, and as they burn with the power of Sham’bala and Carcass I rest here, in the Hollow City waiting, biding my time until the host arrives and unlocks the Black Room.”  She turned to watch his eyes with her head cocked to the side, the look was unnerving.  “Everything you see in the Hollow City was once the city of Pompeii; I almost gained me freedom that day, but only managed to supplant an echo of the city on the face of the Black Room.”

“But you are alone here.”  She tsked at him and then pointed right at his heart. Wynn’s eyes widened slightly and she smiled in response.  “Fuck we walked right into this.”

“You are the perfect host for this universe you are immortal and will be able to contain the void.”

“I’m not an immortal but my father was it didn’t pass on to me.  I just age well, I might look like I am in my twenties, but I’m only 33.”  Her head straightened and she frowned.

“You are the host, this I know, but not the perfect host.”  She turned and the topic of discussion completely switched, “They were always focused on the numbers you see, three proctors, two brothers, and one king to watch over their prisons, the homes of the worst of the worst of all villainy.”  The woman in white spoke to Wynn quietly as the orrery spun overhead.

“There were four people watching the Dark City.”  He mumbled in return.

She smiled at him, “Only two that mattered, the oldest brothers, the other two were incidental, and only managed to hold back the dark for so long.  Already he stirs.”  Wynn frowned at her.  “Oh it’s not an immediate problem, he ate one of his two guardians and unless the other dies it will take him centuries to gain enough power to break free.”  She drew a long blade carved of the stone of the Hollow City and ran it lightly over his chest.  “Whereas I will be gaining my freedom eminently by tearing your heart from the chest cavity and eating it in front of you as the orrery predicts the next conjunction of dimensions and my window to slip free of my shackles and bring about the white once again.  I did try so very, very hard before to wipe this universe clean.”

Wynn laughed, “Didn’t take though…”

“BECAUSE THEY INTERFERED WITH THE GRAND DESIGN!”  She screamed as she plunged the blade into his chest and began to carve.

Mythology 109 - Part 3 “The Warrior Princess”

“My mother Penthesilea was an immortal warrior queen from another world, exiled to the Earth many eons ago by noble blood.  She had made the best of this new world and this new life, but the field of battle was something that she loved with all her heart and without that rush of fist against flesh or blade against blade she was lost in the wilderness of life.”  Amazona spoke to Hrolf after he finished his tale.

“So she raised her daughter to be the greatest warrior princess ever to walk the face of the Earth.  Penthesilea was disheartened by what was coming; she could feel that the Queen was coming for her, a gloom that overtook her normally cheerful personality.”

“It was within a day when the Queen arrived and the visit was late at night, Penthesilea did not go without a fight however and the struggle was brief and ended quietly, a small puncture wound in her abdomen was the only clue to her true fate,” Amazona sighed, “They say the curse took her and in a way it was a curse one that I will never fully understand.”

“Her daughter Daphne grew up and led her people to the best of her ability, they raided the lands of Earth without compare, until she met her king.  Their romance did not last long but ended splendidly,” she smiled at him then and took his hand in hers.  “Then came the Culling, the three immortals came and decimated my people leaving only a handful alive, those born on Earth and therefore low bloods, on her mothers homeworld the low bloods were charged with mining the mineral of the immortals, but on Earth there was no such task to be handled and so they were left alone.”

“I have heard only rumors of one of the killers in the America’s but every lead have come up short, some day I will find them and drive them into the ground.”

TBC in Mythology 109 Part 4

Saturday Super Stories - Mythology 109 Part 2

This tale was timed to be placed with a strip that has been cut until Chapter 3, so remember this tale in the future!!

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

“When am I?”  Black Sapphire asked herself in the void that was her unconscious mind.  Her waking mind had been jumping back and forth between the present and her past training with Mr. Walters the former Dark Avenger when she had collapsed in the Hollow City, the third of the trinities holy places.

Sapphires eyes snapped open and she found herself staring at the wizened aged face of a filthy woman who smiled down at her.  “What?”  She explained before passing out once again.  Wynn sighed and took another sip from the tea he had be given to assist with the anxiety he had been feeling since they had arrived here as had been prophesied by his mystic tattoo’s.

“You were saying?”  Wynn prodded at his host.

“She is suffering from post traumatic temporal dysplasia, her body and mind are fighting one another and attempting to come to grips with the reality she now finds herself in.  She comes from another world as do you, together you are bound to one another as you rush towards your destiny.”

Wynn sighed again and took another sip.  “But we aren't from the same universe and why aren't I suffering from this affliction?”

“You are far more in tune with the universe than she is,” she rested a hand on Sapphire’s breast and it began to glow softly.  “She comes of fire and ice, a raging battle between two vastly different personality types and underneath those emotions lay endless movement, her bane and true source of power.  She is restless and seeks to cure a man than cannot be cured for the person he once was no longer exists and she troubles her as her mind and soul grow to understand the futility of her quest.”

Wynn set the glass down and looked up at the glass ceiling that filled the entirety of the shacks roof taking in the Orrery that filled the air above them in the center of the Hollow City.  He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in.  “That thing up there is a representation of this universe?”

She nodded.  “The two primes sit at the center of all, and the shadows and echoes of the other universes rotate around them, the walls grow thin in places and events and things bleed through.  Our world should not be, and Those Who Came Before should have left this universe dead as had been intended by the Man in White and his Black Room.”  Wynn’s head whipped around.

“You’re talking about the void, why is…how the conversation switched to…” Wynn’s eyes drooped and he fell into the table and knocked the tea over as he slammed into it and then the ground.

“Outworlders are always the same,” she muttered to herself as she straightened and began to change into her true self, “Always taking for granted that which always comes with a price never realizing the price is their soul.”  She leaned over and ripped open Wynn’s shirt and saw the prophecy written beneath, he lay on a table beneath multiple earths and his heart had been ripped from his chest by a woman in white in a black room.  She smiled at the truth written on his skin.

Mythology 109 - Part 2 “Legendary Journeys”

He slammed his flagon down on the table top and foam sloshed over the side and he wept.  “I had armies once, vast warriors and champions and OH MY BERSERKERS!!”  He wailed.

“You do realize I have no idea what you’re going on about right?”  She spoke slowly to the drunken Hrolf.

“There was a battle many years ago, we had been celebrating the deaths of the last of the dragon wings and then they showed up, those three!!”  He clenched a fist and thrust it upwards and lightning crackled outside as his mind drifted back to the battle.

*******

King Hrolf Kraki wielded Skofnung and twirled it around his palm and wrist and he walked towards the three invaders that had summoned him and his warriors.  A light rain had begun and the sky grew darker as his mood soured, the celebration had been stopped because of this interference.

“I do not know who you are, or why you have come to this place, but you have entered the kingdom of King Kraki and we are the defenders of this realm.”  The lead male thrust out a finger and lightning crackled behind him, illuminating the trio.  His words were lost in the crack of thunder.  The man next to him laughed and rested his hands on his hips, and a young woman seemed to float slightly behind the pair.

“I did not hear a word you said,” King Hrolf said.  The man once again thrust a finger out and screamed as a second bolt leapt from the heavens and interrupted his speech.  The King sighed and his warriors rushed forward, followed by his champions and the berserkers brought up the rear.  He urged his horse forward and bellowed commands and watched over the course of several hours as his people were slaughtered by the trio that would not die.

*******

Hrolf finished the tale and Amazona patted him on the back and paused in her consoling.  “Wait…three immortals?”

TBC in Mythology 109 Part 3