Saturday Super Stories - Skulduggery 110 Part 4

"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.

His eyes snapped open as he was brought out of his meditative reverie, the alarms that sounded indicated someone had been looking into his file, and the first phase of his plan was being initiated.  He smiled and stood from his yoga-like position unfurling his limbs like a flower blooming.

“Time for vengeance old man, and time for your new protégé to meet the old Protégé,” Zero cackled long and loud in his lair.

Saturday Super Stories – Skulduggery 110 Part 4

Sapphire closed the files and frowned.  She began to stand and turn away from the monitors when the entire bank of monitors light up.  They remained blank for a moment and then began to fill with small red dots; they continued to fill until the whole of the monitor wall made a large red number 5.

“What the hell?”  The 5 lasted for a few seconds and then shut off.  Sapphire frowned.  On the other side of the monitors Zero watched the new side-kick with confusion, it was a woman and she was actually very pretty, but the Dark Avenger had never had a penchant for the fairer sex when it came to crime fighting partners.  He watched her walk off wondering if she would mention the odd occurrence that had just happened to her mentor and found that he was pleased when she just exited.

He punched a few keys and started a download of all of the Dark Avengers files and located the online web storage for the journals that ‘Black Sapphire’ kept.  This game was going to be easy.  He started to laugh again.

Sometime later…

Mercedes sat at the bar quietly waiting for her date to arrive. The waiter set down another beer and grabbed the empty from the countertop. The bell dinged above the door as someone entered. She glanced at the mirror over the bar and saw Nicolette Chalm walk in. She was dressed like a normal person, as off-duty as someone in her position ever got. Mercedes swiveled in the stool and grabbed the glass from the bar and stood. She motioned to a booth, and met her halfway.

Nicolette sat as the waiter arrived with two menus and a glass of water. Mercedes thanked him and sat down, picking up a menu after she set the beer on a coaster. She opened it up to the entrees and found a large green "4" colored in crayon across the face. She sighed and waved the waiter back over and ordered an appetizer.

Zero watched quietly from another booth as the two women ate and drank and talked about this day.  He smiled inwardly as he had texted both women to come to this bar and bribed the waiter to deliver the menu with the next warning inside.  Manipulating this one was easy since he had insights into her own memories and experiences.

He waved the waiter over and paid his check, slipping a tainted bill into the tip that would slowly seep into the skin and poison the waiter in a few hours, long after he and the women had left the bar.  He watched the two interact and took notes for awhile before he left after one last beer.

Down the road…

Sapphire wiped the tears from her eyes and blinked at the wall of the alley before her, amongst the graffiti was a huge yellow number three; it caught the light of a nearby doorway’s overhead lamp just right.  She stood and walked to the lamp and pulled the bulb from its socket and looked it over.  “I think it’s a black light?”  She mumbled to herself.  “Why would someone use a black light to light an alley?”

Zero stood watching from overhead, perched on the edge of one of the rooftops near the intersection of alleyways.  Getting Sapphire to this point had taken a lot of effort.  First he had to find the man she was hunting for her, Damien Lockhart had abandoned the identity many years ago and went by equally disturbing nom de plume now Daemon Ravenswood, which when he had discovered it wondered if he had any ties to the Raven Institute which had sat next to the Ravenwood.  It was on odd last name.

Next he had to barricade and block alleys and intentionally lead the two people to where he had wanted them and was surprised when Daemon just vanished into the shadows and escaped after his talk with Sapphire.  But the next clue had been delivered and he was satisfied.

Adamantly failed…

The phone rang and rang before Zero finally heard a muffled “Hello?” as Sapphire finally responded to his summons.  He triggered the voice synthesizer and spoke.

“Where the hell have you been?”  ‘Walters’ voice came through the speaker.

“I’m working on something.”  She muttered in return.

“Are you still working that Scion thing?”  Zero retorted, even he knew that purging any of the celestial power of the God Seed was a fruitless endeavor.

“Yes, I am still working on that Scion thing.  I’m going to cure him and try and regain a little of my past if that’s okay with you.”  She responded.

“It’s not.  I need you back on the job.  There’s something big brewing in the city and I need as many eyes on the ground to try and get ahead of this thing.”  ‘Walters’ growled back at her, her lifestyle of wandering the Earth had slowed his plans immensely and he was growing irritated that it was taking so long.  She was supposed to be some kind of detective.

“I’ll be there as soon I get done with this, I have to go to Sham’bala next and I don’t have a choice.”  She paused for moment before continuing, “My next lead showed up on my doorstep last night and it’s in Sham’bala on the full moon in two days time.”

Zero was shocked for a moment, his informants had seen the man called Wynn Hunter enter the building but had failed to mention he had stayed the night, a flicker of rage crossed his features and his knuckles cracked as he ground his fists together.  He took a deep breath before responding, “I expect you back here by week’s end or you’re fired.”

“Deal,” she responded.  Zero disengaged the call and screamed.

Several days later…

Zero stood alone on a rooftop and waited for Sapphire to stumble upon the next number.  He smiled to himself as he thought over the plan and looked up as the plane from Europe flew overhead just as a massive power outage revealed the number two in the remaining lights of the city below.

His earpiece chirped as his informant on the plane signaled him.  “Sir she wasn’t on the plane as you expected.”  The brief burst fed through the speaker and gave him the readied message.

“Well shit, just where the hell is she?”  He snarled at himself, how could he had have failed in his manipulations.  She had confirmed her flight and reservation and her tickets had been used how had she gotten past his man on board?

Almost two weeks after the missed flight…

Sapphire 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 they were quickly followed by secondary and tertiary ones, Sapphire screamed as the flames overtook Walters and the concussion ripped into her.

Walters slid to the ground as the flames washed over him, the batteries in his personal force shield whined as they were put to the test, he pushed a button in his cane and some of the equipment was jettisoned to safety.  He watched Sapphire slam backwards as the multiple concussion waves hit her over and over and saw the air ripple and saw her vanish and he could swear he heard music.  He came to a rest and triggered the escape hatch and fell into the wide stream that fed one of the hydro electric generators.

He grabbed onto the wave runner that waited for him and muttered to himself, “My Protégé died years ago, how I just heard his voice?  Unless…”

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

TBC in Stand Alone 11

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 - Religion 108 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.

Black Sapphire stood up and set down the book she had been reading.  “Jerusalem Walker really wrote down every single thing he ever did.  This is really, really boring.”  She rolled her head back and forth and listened to the sounds of the bones popping.

“That’s really gross you know.”  Wynn’s voice filtered through the stacks.

“Bruce Lee did it, makes it automatically awesome.”

“Yeah not so much, only a couple of hours left before whatever happens, happens.  So they want us to sit through a ritual for luck for whatever journey is going to take us and we need to head down now.”  Wynn finally appeared around one of the bends.

“Okay, let’s get ready.”

Religion 108 - Part 4 “The New Testament”

‘Let there be Light, and there was Light.’

‘But with Light there must be darkness.’

There once was a man from Chicago and he was a regular man with a regular life and lived quite the normal existence.  But one day he fell into the muti-verse and was lost for quite some time.   He shared in the adventures of heroes and villains until he landed in a dark world far in its future.  This place gnawed at his soul and a shadow took root deep inside of him and as they say ‘absolute power corrupts…’.

So in this black place his rose in power and became a Dark God, an echo for the three lights that burned in the heavens, the Light Gods that watched over this world.  A plan began to form and he realized with a growing intensity that he needed to extinguish those lights and when they were gone he could truly rule.

He gathered followers, like minded individuals, and together they formed an army, and they traveled into the past to kill Those Who Came Before.

The Spider watched as one of stars burned out moments after Andreas Darkk and his men left the future and traveled into the past.  Already the future was changing and as soon as it began it stopped.  Twin Stars burned in the heavens and no further changes occurred.  He turned to his pregnant wife and laid a hand on her belly.  “They must have stopped the invasion and sealed away his evil somehow.”  She smiled at him and rested her hand over his.

Behind them the Spider’s Legion roared in approval.

-------

The ritual finished as the moon reached its perfect fullness, and for a moment nothing happened, and then a portal rips open above the fountain that rested at the center of the nine points of the ley lines.

“I am so going to be fired.”  Sapphire grabbed Wynn’s hand and pulled him along as she leapt through into the unknown.  The portal snapped closed and the world was still for a moment before Thaddeus spoke up.

“I suppose that’s my fault.”

-------

Zero stood alone on a rooftop and waited for Sapphire to stumble upon the next number.  He smiled to himself as he thought over the plan and looked up as the plane from Europe flew over head as a massive power outage revealed the number two in the remaining lights.

His earpiece chirped as his informant on the plane signaled him.  “Sir she wasn’t on the plane as you expected.”  The brief burst fed through the speaker and gave him the readied message.

“Well shit, just where the hell is she?”

TBC in Last Legends of a Dying Earth

Demonology 107 - 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.

In unison the three people in the throne turned as one and spoke.  “Why have you come to Carcass?”

Sapphire responded after a moment.  “We came looking for a man, and a prophetic vision brought us to the…city?”  Wynn nudged her from behind.  “I’m sorry I don’t mean to be rude, but the Mystic City of Sham’bala is an actual city.  The Dark City seems to lack an actual city.”

They pointed the floor and she noticed a pentagram begin to glow, the fountain at its center, and the top of the star pointed north.  The glow spread to encompass the stone at their feet and she began to make out the carvings set into the walls of the pit below them.  Outcroppings that looked like buildings cut into the bedrock.  “Huh, how about that a city built into the stone.”  Sapphire mumbled.  She spoke up, “We do not know why we were guided to this location.”

“You came seeking one man, but did not find him but perhaps you did?”  The female spoke alone.

“They did not come for him sister.”  The brothers spoke in unison.

“We came looking for Damien Lockheart, this man’s father,” Sapphire gestured to Wynn behind her.

“He was here once, many years ago,” once again in unison.

Demonology 107 Part 4 - “Bled Chaos, Raw Power”

Damien stared up through the blood pouring from the wound over his eye and grinned through the blood, a tooth dropping from his maw.  He chuckled at the man attacking him.  “So an artificial immortal thinks he can kill one of the High Blood?”  He cocked an eyebrow.  “WELL BOY!!  YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN KILL ME!!”  The shadows in the temple darkened and the man shifted his fighting stance.  The three others stood back and watched.

“We are the Four Woes and we protect this place from those who would take the power and use it for themselves.  I am bound as one of the first to kill you to prevent its release.  My name is Chang and I am your doom!”  His fists lanced out and a flurry of attacks came at Damien, but each one was swallowed just before impact and landed on the wielder of those fists.  His flurry stopped almost as fast as it had begun.  “I…what?”  He shook his head to clear the clouds that had overcome him suddenly.

“I came to this place looking for an immortal and I find four, guarding a cursed well, my time has been wasted and you will pay for attacking me with your life.”  He stood to his full height and straightened out his coat and held a hand out to his side, a weapon of solid darkness forming in his palm as his fingers closed around the handle.

“We cannot die,” one of the others spoke.  “We are cursed to remain for all eternity.  We must stand watch and prevent the rising.  You must finish the combat.”  Chang nodded and the battle resumed.

When the dust settled the temple was missing part of two of its walls and several of the stained glass windows.  Chang of the four Woes was missing, lost in the ether of the Chasm of Never-ending Darkness deep in the Abyss of Lost Souls.

Damien turned and walked through the wreckage as the three remaining Woes sat in their thrones to watch over the fountain.  He paused next to one of the stained glass images and puzzled at the spelling of dark with two k’s.  He shook his head and left the Darkk City of Carcass behind him.

Epilogue

Sapphire slide into the alley and continued running after him, he had been leading her through these back alleys for several minutes, always remaining just out of her line of sight, she could swear that the shadows were hiding him.  “I just want to talk!!”  She cried out.

“They always say that.”  His voice echoed back to her.

“You may be the only hope I have in saving my…a man I care about.”  Her speed jumped up and she cut the next turn a smidgen faster then he counted on and she grabbed his speed and he stumbled. 

“Please leave me be.  I’m not the man you’ve been looking for anymore.  Damien Lockheart died years ago.  I’ve put him behind me and I have bigger problems than you do.  Any skills I had back when I was him are gone now.” She stared at the man before him, and the shadows were actually swallowing him.

She collapsed to her knees.  “I need to save him.  He’s the only thing that I have that’s even close to my old world.  I hate this place.  My family and friends are lost to me and they only people from my old life that survived the Cascade closing seem to be enemies.  I found a tenuous link to that life and he is infected by a cosmic evil that I wish to purge from him to restore his soul.  Magick was my only hope.”

“There are plenty of other actual magicians out there in the world that are more powerful than I was.  You should find one of them to try whatever it is that you want to try.”

“I did try them but no one wants to attempt to displease the Entity, he has ignored the Earth since the Event and a few of them said that Spectacular made a truce with him to leave us alone.  So I tried to think outside of the box and hunted you down as my only chance.”  She stared with pleading eyes as the shadows grew so dark that she couldn’t even make out a shape anymore.

“Perhaps you aren’t thinking enough outside of the box at all.  Magick is a solution but ultimately always has a price, you might end up curing him and the curse might end up attaching itself to another, probably someone you care about.  I would go deeper.”  The shadows snapped back into place as they resumed their normal density and the man who was Damien Lockheart was gone.  Sapphire knew she would never find him again.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and blinked at the wall of the alley before her, amongst the graffiti was a huge yellow number three; it caught the light of a nearby doorways overhead lamp just right.  She stood and walked to the lamp and pulled the bulb from its socket and looked it over.  “I think it’s a black light?”  She mumbled to herself.  “Why would someone use a black light to light an alley?”

TBC in Stand Alone 9

Astrobiology 106 - 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.

“I am filled with such hate, such rage, it consumes me. I fear that I will lose myself in the days to follow. My soul holds on as my conscience berates me.”

“I do not understand what you are saying.”

“I am saying that my essence is corrupt and fails me.”

“I will cure you and I will save your soul.”

Astrobiology 106 Part 4 - Fate of the… 

“Hope comes with the Dawn.” Dawnbringer

Sapphire exited the ship and stormed off towards the Director, her fist clenched at her side, one mega-ton punch primed. 

“I assume you are angry?” He said when she was within range. “Understand that any attack on my person will constitute an act of aggression and result in your expulsion from the Academy and exile from ever stepping foot on the grounds again. Also you will not receive the information you came for.” The Director smiled smugly.

“MEGA-TON PUNCH!!!” Sapphire’s fist slammed into the Directors jaw and lifted him from his feet and he flew backwards. She watched him sail across the room, heading towards a large pillar. Immediately he slammed to a stop and several potted plants launched in random directions, their momentum accelerated as his was bled off into them. He dropped to the ground a moment later unharmed from an additional impact.

“Look asshat, you sent me to capture or kill someone who actually does need to die for murdering my boyfriend some time back, but now seems to be the only one protecting that world from you.” She straightened from her punching posture and began to walk toward him again. “You people claim to be scholars, but you're thieves and conquerors.”

“That is incorrect,” bright orange blood dripped from his mouth and a cut on his cheek. “We wish to witness the rebirth of a Star Force whole. KhazaRhan refuses to allow anyone on the world. There is only so much we can learn from orbit, readings from the surface would be beyond useful. Can you negoti…” Sapphire growled and cut him off as she took another step closer.

“Not going to happen. Once that thing hatches, I’m going to find KhazaRhan and kill her permanently. Now you are going to hand over the details that you have on the Scions and the one called Alex, and I’ll give you the rest of my report.” The Director stood and brushed himself off and thought it over for a few seconds, then nodded.

“Follow me.” The Director turned and walked away. Sapphire shot a look over her shoulder to Hr’lune and nodded.

Sometime later, Earth…

“We once played a game between the two of us.  Well, my father and I used to play a game. Once my kinetic abilities began to manifest he developed a way to hone them and narrow their field and improve my line-of-sight capabilities. It was all done with a baseball and a blind fold, believe it or not. I was so bruised by the time we got done playing but it was fun and I don’t regret a single minute of it.” Sapphire sat in a chair across from the Scion imprisoned in the SPIRaL.

Alex looked up after a moment, “Please continue. I like hearing stories.” His head sagged again. “I never had a chance to have any children myself. The Entity claimed me as one of his Scions some time ago. I have been trapped ever since.”

“The way that it is understood is that the Entity chooses one whom is worthy to take in the god seed and become his Scion. But he cannot force that choice on to someone. They must choose to become greater?” 

Alex nodded. “Cannot be forced. But who would ever turn down so much?”

“I see. I know there’s a power and responsibility speech somewhere or one that has absolute power corrupting, but I’m not here for moral dilemmas. I am here to try and free you from his hold.” Sapphire stood and walked to stand in front of him. The light weakened him and only had a slight effect on her, but she felt queasy nonetheless. “There are ways to free you. One is by death. A second is if the Entity takes back his seed. Thirdly, there is a way to drain the power from you and move it into another host. The Academy believes that is how the third killed the first; she drained him and then murdered him.” A glimmer of hope shown in his eyes and he smiled.

“But what if I don’t want to be free from the Entity?” His voice had shifted and his demeanor seemed harsher. “What if I am allowing myself to be caught and wish to be held captive in this place? Do you really think humans could hold D’eth, the final Scion?” He began to push at the restraints and the metal began to groan.

“Yes I believe that Alex Whitman is a good man, a human man, and he does not wish to wreck havoc across the universe. You weren’t captured by a human; you were captured by an alien bounty hunter. That proves just how weak you currently are. But then again, you are on Earth, and we have at least a dozen Super Geniuses, and they designed this cell, your restraints and the block you currently reside in.” She took a step away from him and turned back to speak over her shoulder. “Oh, and the power dampener as well. SuperDude might have a hard time escaping from here, and he’s the most powerful person on this planet. Enjoy your stay. I’ll be in touch.”

Epilogue

Mercedes sat at the bar quietly waiting for her date to arrive. The waiter set down another beer and grabbed the empty from the countertop. The bell dinged above the door as someone entered. She glanced at the mirror over the bar and saw Nicolette Chalm walk in. She was dressed like a normal person, as off-duty as someone in her position ever got. Mercedes swiveled in the stool and grabbed the glass from the bar and stood. She motioned to a booth, and met her halfway.

Nicolette sat as the waiter arrived with two menus and a glass of water. Mercedes thanked him and sat down, picking up a menu after she set the beer on a coaster. She opened it up to the entrees and found a large green "4" colored in crayon across the face. She sighed and waved the waiter back over and ordered an appetizer.

TBC in Stand Alone 8

Intro to Education - 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 looked at the screen in amazement, “I have no idea who it could have been.”

Intro to Education Part 4 - The Graduate

“My name is Alejandro Raven and in a roundabout way I am your father, each and every one of you.  You see I was one of the Scientists who experimented on your parents and caused this genetic hybridization in all of you.  That is why you are here today.  I approached your parents and offered them restitution for my crimes and a chance to make up for my actions.  I would like to teach you here at the Raven Institute for the Academically Gifted.  Teach you how to harness your abilities for the greater good if you want, or how to wield them in a way as to allow you to hide in society as a normal person.  The choice is yours.”  The speech was always the same, Alejandro never varied in its recital, and it had become his mantra and drove him forward throughout his life after GeniCon.

“We sit before a massive forest.  The Ravenwood, named for myself of course.”  The crowd chuckled slightly.  “Actually for my father who came to this…land long ago in a different time, a time before Augments and Hybrids and the Super Heroes of this day and age.  He used his wealth to build this home for his mother while he searched for his family who were separated on the journey to these lands.  It was secluded from the world at large and she was able to live in luxury and peace.”

“This will be your home for the next four years and we will teach you everything you need to know to survive in the outside world.”

The Event

Another explosion ripped through the campus as Kristoff unleashed the next wave of attacks generated by his quantum singularity generators.  He cackled as they ran and scurried beneath him.

Vin slid to a stop and pulled out his ray gun and popped a fresh clip into the handle it buzzed to life and pinged green and ready to activate.  “We’re pinned down near the fountain.”

“Who are we?”  Lazerface asked over the communication units.

“Vin Maxwell, Donald Darwin and Christian Gotti.  I have eyes on Zachary and Jezebel near the courtyard.  This Kristoff guy and his orbs are tearing the place apart.”

“Confirmed, the WMD and IED are in route.  Superdude is telling us that we are being invaded on a massive scale from another universe, and that he is just one force hitting the Earth right now.  We have sightings of the Entity and three of his Scions attacking The Family over Neutron City.  I am also getting reports of some kind of fleet coming at us from deep space.”

“This shit is going to get worse before it gets better.”

“Your father Max is now in the field and moving up behind the target.”  Walters’s voice popped in over the unit.  “We’re five minutes out; hold your position until we arrive.”

“I don’t think we can do that sir.  The fountain is on fire and now we really need to move.”  Vin motioned to the others and pointed for a hasty retreat around the gazebo side of the courtyard.  “GO NOW!!” Steve watched in the HUD of his visor and stood back up from the remains of Joan’s body.  He took a deep breath and nodded to the rest of his squad.

“Okay let’s move out and give these kids some backup before they end up being the Final Generation.”

Sometime in the future…

A rather pale and somewhat sickly-looking potential student entered the queue behind me.  "Hey," he said. "Is this the line for admission to the superhero school, or whatever?"

He couldn't possibly serious.  Was it the multitude of capes, masks utility belts that gave it away?  Idiot.  I ignored him.

"Yeah.  Okay."

Jack Rabbit opened the door to the interview room.  "E.P.I.C.?  Come on in."

Jack Rabbit.  His suit was even more ridiculous than his name.  Supposedly his suit's design and the hardware contained within were all necessary to facilitate his power of super-speed.  I would have made it better and, more importantly, not look completely moronic.  I sat across the table from him. "It is an honor to meet you in the flesh, Mr. Rabbit," I lied.

He seemed to think my admiration genuine.  "Thanks.  So..." He looked through my file, no doubt in part compiled by the Dark Avenger.  It seemed a rather meager amount of paperwork.  That made me smile.  "...E.P.I.C.  What makes you think you'll make a good superhero?"

"Four things," I told him.  "Endurance.  My suit, which is of my own design, features  a kinetic dampening field.  It is invisible to the naked eye, and it is skin-tight.  It absorbs any potential physical damage thrown my way, from bullets to the occasional tossed eighteen-wheeler.  The material is impervious to flame and highly resistant to radiation, including most known forms of energy generation."

"What about - -"

"It is also resistant to extreme temperature, and regulates my body temperature.  It is adequately effective versus cold and ice attacks."

"Well, that's very --."

"Power.  My suit features next-generation propulsion technology.  I can fly.  The suit amplifies my own physical strength many, many times over, and in conjunction with state-of-the-art combat simulation software fed to me via a heads-up display, enhances my reflexes.  My visor emits an expanding energy blast that was created to rival the power of a star."

"...How is all that possible?  I don't see any generators or anything on your - -"

"Micro-technology.  Beyond that, I can't say much more, I'm afraid.  I'm sure, being a scientist yourself, you can honor some professional secrets among... equals."  I had a hard time saying that last part with a straight face.

"Actually, I think - -"

"Integrity.  Because what is power without an upstanding moral code?  Dangerous, of course.  A path to villainy.  I vow to use my technology in the name of good."

"Er... that's good."

"Cunning.  Because, as you have obviously by now ascertained, it took a brilliant mind to construct this suit.  Mine.  Moreover, I use my intellect to outsmart my adversaries.  Sometimes it takes more than a super-powered punch or an energy blast to defeat a foe.  I pride myself on the fact that I can think several steps ahead of my enemies, and, frankly, there are few out alive as intelligent as I am."

Jack Rabbit frowned.  "That's all very impressive, E.P.I.C.  But, honestly, I'm not convinced our school is a good fit for you.  You've got a heck of an ego, kid, and that can be a dangerous - -"

I produced my PDA and showed it to him.  "There. I believe this amount is adequate to cover the full four years of my tuition?  As you will note, I've estimated generously for cost inflation."

"Sign here, please.  Welcome to Super U.!"

Epilogue #1

Some time ago…

Walters stood quietly and watched the newest recruits train.  Every year the technology available to him to assist in his methods was stronger and more realistic to be of use in combat situations.  One student jumped out at him in skill and ability.  He pushed that group harder than the rest hoping that the leadership abilities would surface and take charge.

The group ran through the gauntlet and suddenly began to act as a unit, one forged in the heat of battle.  He smiled.  His legacy finally had a successor.

Epilogue #2

Sapphire closed the files and frowned.  She began to stand and turn away from the monitors when the entire bank of monitors light up.  They remained blank for a moment and then began to fill with small red dots; they continued to fill until the whole of the monitor wall made a large red number 5.

“What the hell?”  The 5 lasted for a few seconds and then shut off.  Sapphire frowned.

TBC in Stand Alone 7