What Happened in Portland

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

(((Part two of mine and Joe's compilation post. ))) 

 

“CorpseMaker?” Doctor Funtimes teleported down from her perch, made a face, then tapped him on the nose. “That’s a yucky name. I will call you Jeffrey.”

 

Nathan’s mind whirled with the news CorpseMaker--or was it Jeffrey?--had given. Great. There was more than one powerful Epic in Portland, and from what he could tell, not a single one seemed allied with another. Funtimes had dropped them smack in the middle of a war between warlords.

 

I will not answer to Jeffrey, that wasn’t even my name before I was an Epic! You people don’t say anything do you? Not names, not abilities. But I’ll tell you Mine, I kill people, and you people, are asking for it.

 

Funtimes tilted her head, still smiling. So far as Nathan could tell, she never stopped. “I’m Doctor Funtimes. I like to take things.” Seemingly unaffected by the threat that left Nathan shaking, she flounced over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Like him! See? He’s fun. So I took him. You’re not fun.”

 

Nathan sensed a threat in her words, cheerful though they were. He wanted to bolt, but Funtimes had claimed him. He was hers. If he wanted her protection, he would have to stay. He gave an uneasy smile.

 

“Well, I never said I was fun for others, Though I have fun a lot, of course, no one’s ever seen me have fun, and lived to tell about it.” He had killed all the witnesess for fun. But these guys, two unknown Epics, one who could transform, and one who could, What? He was keeping his powers secret. “Anyway, could You make me some actuall clothes? Pants and a Shirt? Sunglasses maybe?

 

She stuck out her tongue. “You’re lame. Like Fortuity. His gun is free now, running through the forest like a flock of little birdies.” Nathan resisted the urge to comment on the mixed metaphors. Doctor Funtimes unwrapped her arms and stepped back, tilting her head and surveying CorpseMaker. After a moment, she clapped her hands.

 

She waved her hand over the chair and carpet, taking a little matter from each. A leg vanished, sending the chair toppling to the floor.

 

Sunglasses were the first thing she gave him--wide, cats-eye glasses with pink frames. Then, pants: hideous orange things that nearly glowed in the weak light, a style Nathan thought he recognized from old pre-Calamity pictures of some artist named MC Hammer. A bright purple blazer and pink shirt finished CorpseMaker’s ensemble as the last of the chair and carpet vanished.

 

Doctor Funtimes burst into laughter.

 

It was a power play, Nathan knew. She had full sway over what he wore, and if she decided she didn’t like him, he would wear whatever she wanted him to wear. Nathan wanted to run. Giving an Epic named CorpseMaker an outfit that resembled something from his worst, most rotten pepperoni-fueled nightmare was the worst idea he could think of.

 

CorpseMaker stared at the provided clothes, Orange pants, pink shirt, purple blazer. He would kill her for sure for this! He would- Wait, had she said Fortuity? That was the future seeing Epic that she beat? He would have to be more careful about her then, even in Portland, they had heard of Fortuity and his powers of Precognition, allowing him to be immune to all danger. “Ah, Thank you for these, clothes. Dr, Funtimes.” He quickly put them on. It beat being Naked. But as soon as he figured out both of their powers, and killed the Teleporter, he would kill them as well. “So, boy. What’s your name and Power?”

 

Nathan froze. Power? What is he….

 

An Epic. CorpseMaker thought he was an Epic.

 

Nathan unconsciously felt the soft suede of his duster. A duster, a suit--he was dressed like an Epic, so why shouldn’t he be mistaken for one? Did Funtimes plan this from the beginning?

 

Covering quickly, he let a smile curve his lips, mimicking the Epics he had served. “I’d rather not talk about them just yet. And as for names, you can call me…” He cast about in his mind, searching for a name, any name, that sounded Epic-like. There were too many that fit the bill, and too many that sounded absolutely stupid. Bookman? No…. Duster Dude! Sparks, no. Let’s see…..random word, random word…..

 

“The Traveller.”

 

Doctor Funtimes wrapped her arms around his neck again. “I call him Doctor Awesomesauce.”

 

“Only when we’re alone!” he hissed, then turned to CorpseMaker again. “I’m the Traveller. That is all you need to know.”

 

The Traveller. Speed powers maybe? Well, if he wanted to  keep his powers secret, He could just ask tan informant. “So, why did you guys save me anyway?” And what do you want?

 

Funtimes tilted her head. “I thought you looked fun. That’s why.”

 

“Prove her right, or prove her wrong. I won’t stop her either way.” He hoped he sounded like an Epic. He had heard them talk like that, but only spoke when spoken to. Only looked at them when they demanded it. He stood up a little straighter and let his arms slip around Funtimes’ waist. She didn’t pull away.

 

Well then, an Epic couple? That didn’t happen very often. and when it did, it was much more dangerous. Especially since the woman appeared to be Insane. “Well, then, what are your plans for Portland? I think we both have something the other could Help with. You both look new to Portland, But I’m born and raised here.”

 

Funtimes giggled, and Nathan smiled. “Well, there’s your answer. We’re here for fun.”

 

She nodded enthusiastically. She was close, so close, and Nathan’s heart pounded. He couldn’t mess this up.

 

“Give her fun, give us fun, and we’ll stay as long as we see fit.”

 

This could be very good for him “Well, what’s your idea, of Fun? I can take you to all the fun places and people in town, if you help me deal with a problematic Epic. the Teleporter I told you about earlier.”

 

Funtimes giggled. “Okie dokie lokie!” Releasing Nathan, she pranced over and tapped CorpseMaker’s sunglasses. They changed form, turning from something a teenage girl in the 1950s might wear to something he had seen on rock stars in old pictures. Nathan thought back to the forest, to the clothes she had given him, and decided the change was a sign. She was willing to give CorpseMaker a chance.

 

“Well, there you have it. As for our idea of fun…” He smiled at Funtimes, and she returned it. Her eyes were shining. “We’ll make that up as we go.”

[Mailliw73]

The guards carried off the screaming Fire Epic, to take her to a special jail cell that was a concrete room half-filled with water. Just enough for the Epic to touch the bottom with her head above the water line. She would be held there until Altermind talked to her and decided whether or not she could be useful. If she couldn't be useful, she'd stay in the cell until an occasion arose. A second fire Epic might not work so well, though this lady seemed to be less fiery than Scorch was.

Altermind went back over the the guy that was caught by his guards. The incompetent imbeciles stood there with their arms holding him tight, not knowing what to do. This guy intrigued Altermind though, what human thought they could break into Thoughttown and act as one of the leading Epics? The man was either an imbecile or very clever. "What were you planning on doing in this town, idiot?" Altermind asked the man. He made the man smell sweet perfumes and good food to relax him, while at the same time, making him see snakes slithering around Altermind's hallucination's ankles. Throwing him off was what Altermind was trying to do. Trick the man into not knowing what's real and what isn't.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Mailliw73

[Edgedancer]

Nighthound didn´t exactly enjoy traveling from one town to another, however a single place could only entertain him for a while until all the interesting targets were killed. Right now he sat in a well cushioned rickshaw and had a full powered hound pull it for him. A gagged vanilla was chained to the back of the rickshaw, so he was pulled along. One hound wouldn´t last him for the entire trip and he needed a replacement. In fact the first one was bound to keel over soon.

Portland sounded like a promising town, though, lots of epics and thoughttown sounds somewhat promising. His last stop on the other hand was a fluke, then again what did he expect from epics named Cupcake King, Double Bubble and the Catinator, although the last one was supprissingly challenging.

 

He reached towards his back and pulled out a book, a story about a hunter killing rare and near extinct tigers, just when his dominance over his hound ended the man collapsed and the power rushed back to Nighthound. Frigging imbecile can´t even pull a rusting rickshaw. In a fit of rage jumped down to the slontz, hunched down in pain, his legs slightly twisted, grabbed him with an arm covered in dark mist and tossed him in a trench besides the road.

He jumped over his vehicle and landed next to the other vanilla and gave him a sharp kick in his rips. At the same time he poured his power into the man and gained dominace over him. The hound stopped trying to get away from the Epic as well as his whimpering as the black mist covered his entire body. bonding his body and forming claws, theeth, ears and a snout all with canine features around his body.

Nighthound unchained his pet and it obediently started to pull the cart.

 

The Epic slounged himself back into his set and picked up his book. After he dropped it without though his bookmark slipped out and he had to search for the right page. I ought to do something about those mood swings.

He was at a good part, the hunter was about to skin a tiger for trophies and.... and that is not how biology works. Hack writter. Nighthound flipped to the back of the book. The few authors that still existed, more as pets for Epics than as an actual job, had to make their address available in their book in case something they wrote angered an Epic. Apparently, this author lived in thoughtown, how appropiate, although it´s almost a shame given that only a few authors are left.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

The other Hound collapsed near the city. Nighthound disregarded the body and started running towards the city. Together with his power he could fell an rush of exitement surging within him. He sprinted. He pounced. Until he reached the city perimeter. There he leaped from the wall of one building towards another. His darkness embraced him like a fine fur and strenghtend his limbs. The mist leaking along his ponytail like like a tail, tracing the arc of his jump in the air.

Finally, he found a larger gathering of people, some of them already aware of his presence but trying to ignore him. Nighthound threw himself into them, crushing one of them beneth him. He could feel his legs breaking from the impact and his power mending them at the same time. Howling in pain and exitement, he smashed another person next to him, all while the darkness that gathered around his healing legs swirled upwards. "Come on, run! Run!"

The entire area erupted in panic and all tried to run away. Nighthound was already charging toward to ones farthest away. Drowning himself in screams, violence and his own laughther.

May Calamity care if I´m rampaging on anothers turf without any preparation, right now I need a welcoming party.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Edgedancer

[Lightsworn Panda]

Uh, is it too late to join? 'Cause this looks pretty fun.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

(((Of course not. Post your character bio to the Question thread and PM me your character's weakness if he/she is an Epic.)))

[Mailliw73]

Electro laughed as the clerk slumped to the floor, her head rolling on the floor and her neck singed. The woman had tried to stop him from taking food from the store. Who was she to declare him stealing? He had the power, therefore, he declared right and wrong. Most people had realized long ago that resistance against Epics was futile. Some of them, the stupid ones, thought they were being brave when they stood up to an Epic. Those ended up dead, most often. Electro walked outside and glared at anyone who dared glance at him.

He Scrambled random people who walked past him. Electro liked to see the humans stop walking, dazed and disoriented, before they finally remembered what they were doing. It was funny to watch them bow to his will, regardless of what they asked him to do. "You there," Electro picked out a random man from the crowd. The man froze, and trembling, looked up to meet Electro's eyes. "Bow to me. Get on the ground and beg me to spare you," Electro commanded. The passerbys glanced at the man and walked a little faster as they passed the scene. The man Electro had chosen slowly dropped to the ground and bowed on his knees to Electro. Laughing, Electro mocked the man, "What, you don't have the guts to challenge me? Wimp." He shot a pulse of electricity out and cut the man's head from his neck. His kneeling body slumped and civilians walked around the body. Electro laughed again and kept on his way, Scrambling people as he walked, and occasionally brushing past people to give them a shock.

[Theorymaker]

"What am I doing here?" Travis repeated trying to think up an answer. "Well Master, Sir I wanted to get into Thoughttown to um, get your autograph. I failed all of the entrance exams and when I heard that there were explosions I was afraid for you safety, sir. So I disguised my self as an Epic hoping to distract any evil Epics from attacking you, master. I'm terribly sorry if I caused trouble. Please forgive me Commander Scorch and Master Altermind." It was always good to be very repentant to Epics. Lay it on thick and hope that they let you live or that they killed you painlessly.

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

Kathy looked around her cell. She was already generating heat to stay warm so if she generated more she could evaporate the water then... then what? She didn't know where she was, or if Altermind was still close by and ready to subdue her again. Even if he wasn't there to stop her which way was the way out? She wasn't paying attention when the illusion had hold of her and when it had left she was already at the prison. No there was nothing to do but wait.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

"Autograph. Sure." Scorch was painfully aware that he passed Altermind's entrance exams by the skin of his teeth, but even he knew no one sought the ruler's autograph. Not unless it was for some permit or another, in which case it was called a signature. He did like the way the vanilla called him Commander. It had a nice ring to it. "Your outfit sucked, by the way. You don't look a thing like me." 

 

"He's ugly!" Flashpoint chirped, obviously intending to draw similarities between the ugly vanilla and Scorch himself. He was rewarded with a fireball tossed at his arm, and Scorch was rewarded with an indignant yelp. 

[Edgedancer]

After his little rampage Nighthound poured his power into the last two vanillas in his sight.  It was better to have a calm mind when planning a hunt, not that letting lose wasn´t fun. After a short stop in a clothing store to replace his blood stained outfit, he decided to head to thoughttown, to the author´s place to be specific. He had to start gathering information somewhere and it would be best to take care of his more petty dealings before the actual fun started.

Entering thoughttown turned out to be a lot simpler than expected. The guards where stretched fairly thin in some places. Maybe something distracted them. Finding the right house was only a minor problem and was solved without any interference.

He let his hounds break down the door and let himself inside. There he found an old man with greying hair, his body shivered visibly.

“Hello. Did you by any chance write a book?” Nighthound asked him, while letting a fake smile creep on his face.

“I… Yes great one. Did it please you?” the man´s voice shacked with fear.

“Oh, it did. At least up to the part where it insulted my understanding of biology. But don´t worry now, we all make mistakes sometimes, well you guy do, however that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, I won´t kill you instead I´ll give you one chance to repent, so how about you sit down while we talk?” Nighthound gestured towards a couple of chairs standing in the room. The author staggered towards them and half collapsed into one of them. Nighthound himself pulled another chair over and seated himself opposite of him. The hounds leaned on the geezers shoulders, putting an uncomfortable weight on him.

Still smilling, the Epic just stared at the author, letting him squirm until he broke the silence himself. “Excuse me if I´m rude, your excellence, but how might I serve you?”

“You know, I just arrived here and this seems like a lovely town. Do you think there are any attraction here worth my time?” Nighthound gave of a slight chuckle as he observed the vanilla perk up.

“Of course, thoughttown is a very gorgeous place itself and…” Nighthound silenced him by raising a hand.

“No, no, no. When I ask for attractions,” the Epic leaned forward and bit his tongue, causing his regeneration to gather black mist in his mouth, which he blew at the man, “I´m talking about other Epics. With details, please.” He leaned back and watched the man´s fear rushing back to him. This time Nighthound´s smile was genuine. I love it when their hopespot gets crushed.

“Other Epics… Well, master Altermind is a very powerful one and very wise as well, he can create illusions and move objects with his mind.”

“What kind of illusions?”

“Is… Is there any kind of difference, sir?” In response to his question Nighthound just shook his head, sighted and signaled him to continue.

“There are two more Epics under Altermind´s command. A fire Epic named Scorch and Flashpoint an Epic with control over electricity. I don´t know a lot about the Epics outside of thoughttown but most of the city is controlled by someone named Corpsemaker, apparently he can kill people just by looking at him and disempower other Epics.

“A couple of years ago there was also talk about a powerful Epic that could make things within her gaze disappear. I haven´t heard about her in years but no one has claimed to have killed her, which means she could still be alive.”

“Good, good. Those sound nice. Anything else that is interesting?” Nighthound inquired further.

“Nothing certain but there are rumors about someone making cats appear all over town. That is all I know. I hope that pleased you.”

 Sparks, first the Catinator and now this. Are these things haunting me?

“I suppose. Guess I´ll first search for a place where I can get some equipment and then pay a visit to some Epics, maybe verify the more dubious information first. Shall we get started with you redemption then?” All color left the authors face.

“Didn´t we already do that, sire?”

Nighthound just sneered at him. While his two hound were still pinning his victim down, he pulled some of his energy back from them and petted his new hound.

[Mailliw73]

Master, Altermind liked that. But regardless, this man was an idiot and a suck up. "Didn't you ever learn not to lie to Epics? You're trying my patience. You have one more chance to tell me what you were doing here. This time, tell the truth, or you'll regret it," Altermind told the man. "Shut it, imbeciles," he hushed his assistants. The prisoner gulped and stared off to the side of Altermind. That had been disorienting at first, seeing people look to the side when talking to you, but the safety of it was invaluable. Altermind had gotten used to it after years of practice.

Seeing the man's reluctance to answer, Altermind fished a bullet out of his pocket and held it in the air with his mind. He gave the man hallucinations of all the guards pulling out their guns and the snake images slithered towards his feet from Altermind.

[Left]

Ricochet strode up the street. It had taken him weeks to get to Portland from his old library. He'd heard rumors of a lot of epic activity here so he'd decided to walk over. Before he left his old city he had made sure to kill his old landlord. The look on his face as he fell towards the concrete from 500 feet was wonderful. 

It had taken so long to get to Portland because Ricochet had decided to walk. Using his powers would have been quickest but he didn't want rumors of another epic coming to town. Ricochet didn't trust cars. They were too likely to break down. His legs though, they were strong and wouldn't fail on him.

As the sun shone on his face Ricochet looked around, waiting for something to happen.......

[Theorymaker]

Travis looked up at Altermind surprised that he had seen through the lie. It was a pretty good lie to make up at the moment. Now Altermind wanted another story. Suddenly, the guards took out their guns to point them at Travis and Altermind's snakes started to slither towards Travis. Travis wasn't worried about the snakes they had appeared out of nowhere and were fake, but the guns, the guns were real. Travis would need a new story.

 

"I didn't mean to lie. I'm sorry it's just they have her. The criminals, they have my fiancee. They broke into our apartment and threatened us with guns, telling us to do what they said. They forced me to wear this costume and had me set explosives. Then they sent me over the wall with one of their agents. She told me to run off and be a distraction. I didn't know what to do so I started going back to the fence when I got caught. Please you have to let me go! If one of us don't return they'll kill my fiancee!" Then Travis broke down crying. Travis hoped that he had convinced Altermind, otherwise there would be no third try.

[A Joe in the Bush]

She lay dead in the square, killed by a blow to the head. Gordon carefully examined her, looking for anything, unnatural. but she was just like others, killed with extreme physical violence. There were many corpses in the square, all dead in the same way. Other than one, who had taken a bullet to the chest. The Epic? Unlikely.

 

 There were a few people hiding in nearby alleyways, probably witnesses to the attack. An unknow Epic had attacked and murdered a large number of people. There was a new Epic in town. People paid good money to know about things like that. The Blind man would probably pay a great deal. He wasn't going to learn anything more from the Corpses. He'd need to talk to the Survivors.

 

The man cowered back as Gordon entered the mouth of the alley. He was a bit older than Gordon, less fit. rugged clothing, probably a worker in one of the nearby labor yards. "Sir, are you OK?" It was always best to approach people like this carefully, and quietlly.

 

"He killed them all. Just jumped off a building and started hitting!" Jumped off a building? Either durability or something else.

 

"Who was he?" It was doubtful that the man knew, but there was always a chance.

 

"He killed my Boss, we were walking, and he jumped down and started killing, and he killed my boss, and he's gonna kill me!" The man tried to wrap his arms around his head, but got tangled in the coat.

 

"It's all right sir, the Man is gone. He can't hurt you now, you'll be Ok." Gordon wasn't even sure if the man could hear him.

 

"Someone shot him, but he didn't even notice! The bullet went in one side and out the other. It hit someone else." So it hadn't been the Epic.

 

"Sir, I need to know what this man looked like? The Epic, what did he wear?" That could help him narrow the suspects at least. And a lot of Epics had a theme, that included both clothing and name.

 

"Darkness, so much Darkness, Crimson, covering the floor." The man started rocking back and forth as he spoke. "Their blood covered eachother. None got on me, so he didn't kill me. I can't let the blood catch me." The man was actually getting creepy now.

 

Gordon stood up. "You don;t have to fear, the blood won't get you. I have to leave now sir." The man didn't appear to notice. Gordon watched him for a few moments, then hurried out of the Alley. This man at least wouldn't be of any Help.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

"Criminals, huh?" Despite the Capitulation Act, despite the turf wars, despite Steelheart's success in Newcago, criminals was still something of a catch-all term for anyone who did anything that might be considered unsavory. Many a vanilla had pronounced Scorch a criminal before meeting a flaming demise. He stepped forward, marching in slow, deliberate circles around the vanilla. "What kind of criminal? Like you, or like us? Because if they're like you, then you can handle 'em. And if they're like us…" Scorch let his hand rest on the man's shoulder. He was already tense from whatever illusion Altermind had placed in his head. "Then I'd like to know why I wasn't in on it." 

Edited July 4, 2014 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Edgedancer]

Voidgaze lay on her bed dropping a couple of grapes into her mouth. There really wasn´t anything to do for her at this point, she should just watch a movie. Sparks, she didn´t even bother to get dressed properly yet and still wore a white combo of a short-sleeved shirt and short pants. Then she noticed an old man standing in the door to her bedroom. He just stood there hunched over, staring into nothing. A faint black something was swirling around him, contrasting with his grey hair and gathering around his head… were those dog ears? An Epic? And here I thought those were finally leaving me alone.

She stood up, rubbed her temples and took a step towards him. “Okay, what do you want from me. I…” He lunged at her.

Voidgaze reached for a pillow and threw it at him.  When it hit the attackers head, she made it disappear and his head along whit it. Feathers erupted from its inside and covered his body as it collapsed on the ground, remains of the pillow covering his neck stump, staining it red.

She made the body sink into the ground, slowly forming a bowl in the white ground gathering the feathers and blood inside.  

 

She dropped herself on her bed and leaned back. Her mood was ruined; it was always ruined when something like this happened. Multiple pairs of footsteps sounded from the floor, snapping her out of her thoughts. This time three men stood in her room. Two of them stood with the same broken posture as the first one. The darkness covering them seemed more solid, obscuring the entirety of their face only leaving the eyes open, clearly forming the ears she thought she recognized earlier and a snout and claws and… just plain wrongness.

They flanked another man. He seemed to be in his… twenties, hard to tell when one barely interacted with others. Like the first man only a little mist gathered around him. In contrast to his following there was actually some kind of intelligence in his eyes, which concentrated on the blood on the floor, a smile creped on his lips, a genuine smile at the sight of blood.

“You wouldn´t just go away, would you?” Voidgaze asked him.

 “Hmmm?” the leader turned his head to her in an exaggerated manner, “My apologies, it must have made a bad impression. Given that you killed it. My hounds are rather dumb as you might have noticed.” He looked at her, as one would at a piece of meat.

Voidgaze grabbed her bed sheet with one hand and just plainly stared back at him.

“Just arrived in town and I wanted to show my… reverence to the big Epics on the hunting ground. Have to admit it´s impressive, a house all white like this would have driven me insane ages ago.” He paused, most likely waiting for a reaction. Voidgaze just stared.

“Not very talkative, are you? Pity, I like the talking, especially the disturbing parts.” He shrugged slightly.

“You know, I´m convinced that you´re just another psycho in over his head. You really should just leave before I kill you.” She told him.

The dark Epic erupted into laughter, more darkness seeping out of his mouth, and turned toward one of his hounds. “You heard that? She actually said that with a straight face, almost cute, isn´t it.” The hound just continued to stare into nothing.

With a snap of their master´s fingers the two men jerked towards her. Voidgaze snapped her arm up and flicked her bed sheath towards the Epic, who didn´t even made an effort to attack her himself.

One of his lackeys threw himself to the side, into the sheet shielding her target. She cleanly annihilated his midsection, sending two halves of meat to the ground. The other hound-

She was slammed into the wall. Sparks, this guy is fast. She struggled against the grip but had no success. She could barely breathe, her lungs starting to burn. Instead of continuing to struggle she twisted her head until she could see the ground beneath the lead Epic and ripped a hole into it, big enough that she would be able to see where he landed. He plummeted downwards, towards her bathtub, filled with milk.

The hound pinning her down rushed towards the hole and leaped towards his master. Both of them slammed into the wall emitting a cloud of darkness around them. The lead one managed to push himself of the wall, pulling a trail of black behind himself, his servant wasn´t as lucky and disintegrated on the white tiles.

Voidgaze regained her breath and made the remains of her sheets set into the edge of the hole. Using the sheet she lowered herself down. There were a few bloodstains on the ground. However, they stopped halfway towards the door. Did he have some kind of healing power?

There was only one path her attacker could have taken, so she hurried after him. No one was behind the door, neither behind the next corner. A thump above caused her to look upwards. She barely managed to see darkness and a manic grin, before she was rammed into the ground. A pair of feet pinned her arms on the ground and there was a crunch as her bones shattered. Calamity, why am I not wearing my sleeves. Immediately afterwards she felt a push on her chin and with another crunch her head was pushed back. In her daze the only thing she could make out was the ceiling. She made it collapse.

[Mailliw73]

Who did this guy think Altermind was, a stupid human? What 'criminal' would tell people to dress up and set explosives? It logically made no sense. "Idiot. Another lie? Though this one is closer to the truth. Well, I gave you your chance. Too late now," Altermind said to the man. He pushed the bullet forward with his mind, ripping it into the man's right shoulder. He got rid of the gun hallucinations and made the snake ones bite. He gave a feeling of sharp pain on both the man's ankles. The man screamed.

"Take him to the prison as well," Altermind ordered his guards. "Unless he'll tell the truth this one last time. It's your choice, man." Altermind motioned for the guards to begin dragging the man away.

[Left]

Ricochet walked towards an alley. He needed information. If he wanted to be able to do well in this new city then he was going to need every bit of data on the other Epics and powerful humans. As he entered the alley humans scurried away in fear of a possible Epic. Seeing one who moved slower than the rest, Ricochet ran over and grabbed it. She was young, probably would have been in early high school back before things went to a turkey's nest in a costume.

Once he had a good grip on her she went limp.

"What can you tell me about the stranger elements in town?"

She was pale as a sheet, but answered him promptly.

"Wasing the three blocks north of here wasing strange Epic."

While the slang confused him, it also intrigued Ricochet.

"Show me"

As they headed north the Epic thought he could hear a quiet giggling.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

I'm an Epic now. Not really, but close enough. 

 

Nathan was no actor, but he had met a few. "A role is like a coat," one had told him, applying a fresh coat of lipstick. "You have to take it on and off at will, and pray the audience likes it enough to see you model it again." 

 

She had survived a good deal longer than most actors at the Reeve, so Nathan decided her advice had been sound. He had been handed a new coat—the Traveller—and all he had to do was wear it long enough to fool CorpseMaker. 

 

But what did that coat look like? 

 

Giving CorpseMaker a benevolent smile, Nathan crossed to the mesh that served as a window to the street. Rain fell in a drizzle Oregonian transfers claimed was typical of their home state. The sidewalks, so far as he could tell, were empty, and if he had to venture a guess he would have said Doctor Funtimes' bouncy castle was to blame. Most humans, himself included, knew it was wiser to scatter when an Epic claimed a building as their own. Nathan didn't mind. The simple beauty of raindrops against a tree-canopied sidewalk helped him think. 

 

"A name you choose is a promise." So said one of his heroes. But what sort of promise was Traveller? He had chosen it because it promised nothing at all, but if he were to stay alive, he would need to attach one and deliver on it. 

 

From the misting rain he made out two figures. One walked as though he had everything to see and nothing to hide, his head held high and his gait unhurried. The other moved with the quick, nervous step of one whose life could depend on the successful completion of the task at hand. 

 

Nathan's first instinct was to hide. His second was to urge Funtimes toward a hasty retreat. 

 

Act like an Epic. 

 

He smiled at Funtimes, who had begun changing a water cooler into various items, and CorpseMaker, who watched curiously. "It appears we have company." 

 

"Company?" Funtimes looked up sharply, an impish grin on her face. In the blink of an eye she was at his side, hands and face pressed against the mesh. Nathan pointed at the human and Epic, who were nearly there. 

 

Funtimes pounded her fists against the mesh. "Hi!" she called. "You look fun! Are you fun? Come in here and have fun with us!" 

[Edgedancer]

Nighthound pulled himself out of the rubble. His mist rose from several wounds on his body, both internal and external, licking the edges of the collapsed ceiling. Voidgaze herself was reduced to barely more than gore spilled all over the floor. That little slontze, just when it was about to get fun! How could someone that made the big Epics in town leave her alone be this pathetic... she wouldn´t. If she wasn´t dead, that means she would need to have a resurrection power to heal from being crushed alive. Either she really was death or Nighthound had to find out her weakness first. One way or another there was no reason for him to stay. He attempted to stand up but a piece of rubble buried in his side caused him to flinch back down. Howling, Nighthound ripped it out of his body and threw it at what little remained of Voidgaze´s face.

Staggering along the wall the Epic started to search for an exit, trying to gain orientation after the drop. After dragging himself through white corridors, his speed increasing as his wound healed. An exit presented itself after a turn in the form of a row of milky windows, at the end of another hallway. Not exactly perfect but it would do.

A door swung open and Voidgaze calmly sauntered out of it, trailing a towel behind her. Placing herself between him and his exit.

Excited, Nighthound threw himself up to the ceiling and dashed forward, the skin of his feet dissolving and healing with every step. His prey tossed something at him. A crumpled up piece of paper? He pushed himself to the side. As it flew barely besides his right leg, it unfolded and cut right through his leg, causing him to trip over and sending him skittering over the floor. Face, elbows, back, just everywhere the white ripped away his skin and flesh, all accompanied by screams of pain.

Stopping on the ground like this would spell his death. Can´t let that happen yet. Snapping his remaining three limbs against the ground and pushed, sending his body away from the ground.

The towel wrapped itself around his left wrist, pulling him to Voidgaze, towards death. Nighthound grabbed his own arm just under the elbow and squeezed, hard, throwing the severed part of his arm in Voidgaze´s face knocking her back. Using his momentum he managed to toss himself further towards Voidgaze, who was already locking on to him with cold eyes for another swing of the towel.

In one swift motion Nighthound ripped out one of his own teeth and threw it at Voidgaze. It pierced her shoulder knocking her of balance, causing the towel to grind over his ribs.

With one final push Nighthound slammed into his opponent, covering her eyes with his hand and sending both of them out of the window, smashing her head in on the pavement as they landed.

The wounded Epic pulled himself over to a shocked bystander, taking control over him and ordering him to carry him of. It was hard to tell if it was because of the darkness creeping out of his wound and forming almost a cloud over him or because of his manic laughter but the streets emptied long before he arrived. I´m going to have a lot of fun with that woman!

[Left]

Ricochet looked up at the building's window and saw a humanoid outline there. It didn't seem aggresive, but he would have preferred to have been unnoticed.

"Knock on the door girl"

She was still pale, but seemed smart enough to realize that it was best just to do what was demanded of her. As soon as she rapped on the door it swung open. Ricochet cursed under his breath, but nothing came out, so it must be at least a little safe. Deciding it was best just to get it over with he ran over grabbed the girl and started bouncing into the house, moving quickly enough to protect himself but not so fast that he couldn't get his bearings.

Again there was nothing.

Except for that silly little giggling....

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

She had taken Nathan to the back of the bouncy castle, out of direct sight of the door. Together, they waited as the stranger stepped inside, followed by the girl. 

 

Funtimes giggled. "He's coming, he's coming!" 

 

Nathan said nothing and tried to look enthused. Another Epic had joined their party. Another Epic he had to fool. His heart pounded as the rubber creaked beneath the new Epic's feet. 

 

She bounced up and down. "Ohhhh this is too exciting! C'mon we'll go surprise him let's surprise him!" 

 

Before Nathan could object, Funtimes took his hand, dropped him a few feet away, and leaped toward the new Epic with an enormous grin on her face and intent to tackle. "You're here!" 

[Edgedancer]

Voidgaze stepped out of her house. It seems that she would have to hunt down some mutt, so she dressed appropriately. She wore her old cloak, covering the entirety of her skin in white fabric. Furthermore, the cloak had multiple strips of fabric hanging lose on it, to lash out at people coming to close, especially on her cuffs, where the addition, if unfasten, could give her up to 2m extra range. She also carried an empty sketch book and a bottle of milk on her waist. Admittedly, it looked a bit ridiculous but she had more important stuff to worry about right now.

 

Not that that would help in any way with repairing her house. She turned to a man standing close to her. “Excuse me, could you tell any kind of craftsman that my house needs some work done on it?”

The man visibly tensed up when he saw her. “Yes, of course I´ll do that.”
“Thank you.” Voidgaze smiled at him, which did not help, if anything it made the man more afraid.

With that finished Voidgaze strode towards the city and… she turned to the man again.

“You don´t happen to know where a good place to start would be, if I want to find an Epic?”

“Ma´am, I think asking Corpsemaker for help would be a good idea, he has control over most Epics outside of thoughttown. You can find him in the bank, where he made his lair, it´s that way.”

“Okay, good to know.”  She lifted a hand for a thankful gesture but that was a bad idea as well, worse, if anything. This time he flinched away. Lowering her hand she just walked in the direction he pointed at. I will have to work on not scaring people.

[Theorymaker]

Travis looked at Altermind with a grim face. He didn't have another story to tell and the truth would definitely get him killed, so he said nothing as they took him away. The bullet hurt a lot but he knew they wouldn't let him die until they knew the truth. And the truth will set you free...

[Mailliw73]

"No response? Fine. Enjoy prison," Altermind told the man. He put a last hallucination of the sounds of screams in the man's brain. He got rid of all the other hallucinations and left the screams to torment the man. "Make sure to search him completely before you put him in his cell," Altermind ordered. "Remember Private Soran? You don't want hat to happen to you. If he decides to talk, contact me immediately."

"Scorch, check around the perimeter and make sure all the guards are on full alert and the guard is increased. If they need motivation to do so, you know what to do," Altermind grinned at the fire Epic. Scorch loved an excuse to use his fireballs. Speaking into his mobile, Altermind told Flashpoint to stay at HQ. "I'm heading into the city to check out these rumors of a new Epic."

————————————————————————————————————

Electro enjoyed destruction. Being able to kill with a gesture or cut through the hardest metal with a finger and a thought gave him a feeling of immense power. How many other people could sever a head from a neck with a bolt of electricity? Who else could Scramble people's minds? Only Electro.

Seeing an enormous bouncy castle where a bank that had doubled as CorpseMaker's lair, Electro became curious and decided to check and see who was impulsive enough to challenge one of the most powerful Epics in Portland. He went around the back and cut a hole that he could fit through to get into the castle. He slithered in just in time to see a woman dressed in strange clothing jump on top of some man. What goes on in this place? Electro thought. He made sure he was ready to Scramble some people and sever heads if necessary.

[A Joe in the Bush]

The trail had lead him to here. A Broken down Rickshaw, next to a nearly dead man. A slave of the Epic who had come north to Portland, chasing after the Author of a books it appeared. Gordon had found the book The Last Hunt, left open to a scene in which a tiger was killed. the tiger was portrayed incorrectly. It was quite possible that was the reason for Nighthound's journey to Portland.

 

The unconcious Survivor's legs were both broken. He was laying next to the rickshaw, as if he had been thrown there. But he was still breathing. If Gordon could get him to safety, the man might survive, and if he survived, He coul give valuable information abouth the murderous Epic. Gordon carefully picked up the man, and placed the man in the seat of the Rickshaw. Then, he picked up the handles of the vehicle, and started for Portland.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Dr. Pace straightened up from the cot with an Audible sigh. "He'll live. It was touch and go for a while, but he'll survive." He stood up, and began gathering his Kit. "He'll probably wake up soon, with a roaring headache, a dull pain throughtout his body, and a huge appetite."

 

Gordon smiled wearily at the Doctor. "Thanks Doc, knew I could count on you. Could you say what happened to him? Is there anything strange?"

 

Pace pondered that for a while before answering, "Just exhaustion. He worked himself to death, then kept going until his legs shattered beneath him. The only odd thing was the amount of willpower it took. I'd have to do a full check up to be sure, But I'd bet that he was drugged in some way. Now, about my Bill."

 

Gordon reached into the pack that Sightline had given him. There was enough left to pay the Doctor, but not much more. The rest of the money had gone into outfitting a new Hideout, one better than any of his previous. "Don't worry doc, I've got enough. Will a couple thousand do?"

 

"Of course." Pace was expensive, but he was also a dying breed. He'd gotten his accredidations as a doctor scarecly two weeks before the United states Government signed the Capitulation act. There weren't many freelance doctors left. "Have a nice day Mr. Walker." Pace put the cash in his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and walked out the far door.

 

Gordon waved, then sat down next to the Survivor, and waited, wondering about the state of affairs in Portland. Everything was going Haywire since Sightline showed up. Though he had brought a lot of cash with him. Once the survivor had given him any Information, he would have to head down to CorpseMaker's bank and look for more cash.

 

The Survivor lifted his hand a bit, and turned his head towards Gordon. Awake then. "Ah, good. I was worried you wouldn't wake up. Welcome back to the land of the living."

 

The Survivor looked around slowly, "Where, where am I? and where is Nighthound?" The man looked Scared Sparkless at the mention of that word.

 

"Is Nighthound the Epic that brought you here? Here being Portland. Welcome to Portlandia by the way. It's not as crazy as the newspapers made us out to be."

 

"I didn't read the papers, always read the, it doesn't matter now though, the net is gone. Only KnightHawk remains. and yes, Nighthound did bring me here. My name's Kyle, by the way. Are you an Epic?"

 

Gordon had to try hard to not laugh at that. "No, I'm not an Epic, I'm an Informant, and I'm looking for Information about this, Nighthound. And seeing as I saved your life, I was wondering what you could tell me about him."

 

Kyle let out a breathy laugh. "Nighthound? He's a menace! That's all you need to know, He can't be killed, he just heals from anything, he's strong as an Ox, and he can control you with a tap of his hand. Called me his hound." Kyle gazed off at the far wall. "But I'll get him back. I saw him fight, I know his weakness!" He stopped talking as a coughing fit overtook him.

 

Gordon leaned towards him eagerly, "Really? I know an Epic who's would pay for that information. He's been killing other epics. What is his weakness?"

 

The man looked at him, for the space of several heatbeats, before answering him.

 

Gordon just stared. "You're joking, he's weak to, that?" Ky;e just nodded, and Gordon burtst out laughing.