What Happened in Portland

[Edgedancer]

Nighthound followed Lightwards to one of the skeletons. The dinosaur that he ultimately revived was a big horned theropod. Lightwards send it over and it began to muzzle him, which given its reptilian skin was less cute than one would expect.

 

Still it seemed fairly obedient. He gripped one of its horns and threw himself in the dinosaur’s neck. First Epic to ride a dinosaur!

 

There was another thing he wanted to try, could he take over one of Lightwards´ zombies? Something gave resistance, most likely Lightwards´ power but it wasn´t as strong as the one an Epic would give.

 

While he concentrated on his attempt to take over the dinosaur, he barely paid attention to the other guy stepping up to the group or Funtimes handing out hats.

 

Finally he managed to inject his power into the Carnotaurus. Both of them let out a roar, while the dark shrouds enveloped his new hound. He just had to test it out, right now.

 

Ignoring the meeting at hand Nighthound ordered the dinosaur to start into a mad rush. While running through the different exhibition halls he knocked over other skeletons, with its tail, until he entered a bigger hall with multiple pillars in it. He let it ram one of the pillars with its horns and ordered to pick it up with its mouth. Under maniacal laughter he trashed around in the hall, with a pillar club wielding dinosaur.

[Voidus]

"What do you want?" The teleporter asked him, insufferable little Epic that one was, trying to look so confident. This is what he got for trying to help them out.  "You tried to kill us" the teleporter accused. He was about to respond when with a squeal the glittery Epic said "Your. Hat. Is. Amazing!" and snapped her fingers, producing several other bowlers and attempting to place them on the nearby Epics and dinosaurs. What was wrong with her? Purple phoenix was just about to respond to the teleporter when with a savage roar one of the Epics, now riding one of the dinosaur proceeded to rampage around the museum, smashing pillars.

What on earth was that black stuff around the dinosaurs head, it made it look canine almost, and Purple Phoenix was sure it hadn't been there a moment ago when it was brought back to life.
Trying to make himself heard over the din he responded to the young Epic couple.
"Er... thank you, my... lady." He said, trying to at least ingratiate himself with one of them, and since the scary one was riding on a dinosaur and the professor seemed to be more interested in the display that left these two.
"As for before I am sorry about that, I wasn't trying to hit you, there was an invisible Epic around and I was trying to make sure the way was clear for myself, however it seems your companion" he gestured towards the one riding his dinosaur "has taken care of that one, as a gift I give you the technopath, he's over there near the rubble, still alive for now I think, I leave it to you to decide what to do with him."
The teleporter continued to stare at him in a most unnerving way and the glittery one was still focused on the hats more than him.
"I must say you make an interesting pair, especially you my lady, I've never seen an Epic with powers of transformation so varied, it's usually just the one thing they can transmute, you know one of the elements, fire, earth water, or a mineral or metal such as gold or steel, I've never heard of one who can produce organics like you can"
Be careful of that one. His Voice advised. An Epic that powerful could be serious trouble for us, and I don't know if that silliness is all an act or not but she's dangerous either way, and that other one, the teleporter somethings off about him, he almost reminds me of... the Voice trailed off into the distance unhelpfully.
Great just what he needed, useless advice and his Voice was steadily growing more insane.
"Well" he started up again "If there's going to be any other fights as exciting as that one I'd definitely enjoy hanging around some more, especially if you continue to produce such wonderful... amusements my lady..." he supplied trying to ask for her name.
He just hoped she didn't turn him into a pile of jelly instead.

[Mailliw73]

Out of the corner of his eye, Altermind saw Joshua and Mason locking in intense combat. Mason somehow still fighting even with the screams in his head. Dropping the illusion of guards on his side, Altermind put a white screen on Mason as well. He wasn't sure how well it would work with his telepath abilities still active, but he was going to try and help Joshua as much as he could. He gave the guard on his knees a solid kick to the back of the head and sent him sprawling to the floor. One of the last two, the one with a white screen, was heading towards Altermind, controlled by Mason. The other, fighting against screams in his head, was heading towards Joshua's back. Altermind knew he had to do this. He regretted it, but he aimed and sent a bullet flying towards the guard on a collision course with Joshua. Pushing on it with his mind, it ripped through the skull of the guard and out the other side. The man dropped to the ground with a vacant expression in his eyes.

Altermind spun around his last guard putting a hallucination of himself staying in front to confuse the man. He rammed both the hilt of his knife and the butt of his gun into the back of the last guard's head. Like his comrades, he fell to the floor of the roof. Altermind dropped all his hallucinations and created one for Mason, one of sharp pain in his side and in his feet.

[Matrim Bloody Cauthon]

Psy-fi's entire world melded into two things, action and reaction. He spared no thought for either, he just did. Thrust, dodge, parry, cut. After what felt like hours but culdnt have been more than a few minutes, Psy-fi ducked a swing and spun around to give his swing more force.

After he felt the resistance to the blade, he finished the spin and stood up. As he started to walk away, without even a glance for the corpse of his enemy, he pulled out a rag and cleaned his dagger. He stopped by Altermind long enough to say "its finished." Then he turned and shot Mason in the head to make sure.

Then he silently turned amd walked off.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Matrim Bloody Cauthon

[Kobold King]

Hotwire slowly sat up, rubbing her aching head and trying to see past the stars that swirled in her vision. That purple man was more dangerous than she'd thought. She needed to get the rest of the Bone Burglars together...

 

Oh wait. They were dead.

 

Though she couldn't see worth a spark, she could hear unfamiliar voices not far from her. There was also a loud crashing sound, as if the current occupiers had set about trying to destroy the place. She gritted her teeth at the thought that the museum had been taken right from under them. She still wasn't sure how it all had happened.

 

She shakily got to her feet, straightening her headdress and trying to blink her vision back. One thing was certain, there was no way she was letting these slontzes steal her museum. In her mind, she got a lock on the location of every car in the museum and immediately outside. Plenty of the vehicles were wrecked by the foundations of the building--she could easily activate the car bombs hidden in every one of them and bring down half, if not more, of the museum. She smiled as the thought of these clowns getting buried in the rubble, while she herself ingeniously escaped through the back door.

 

She smiled wider as her vision returned, splotchy but definitely usable. She looked askance at a peculiar grey pillar she hadn't remembered being here before. She looked up its length--

 

It wasn't a pillar. It was the leg of a massive animal.

 

"Kill her," a voice said absent-mindedly.

 

The Allosaurus thrust its head down in a quick, smooth movement and clamped her in its jaws.

 

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

 

"No, no, no!" said Lightwards, stamping his foot. "I said kill her, not completely devour her!"

 

Vincenzo the Allosaurus dutifully began coughing up fragments of its latest meal, spreading a perfectly vile mess on the floor. Between the gory dinosaur vomit and Nighthound's insistence on trashing the place, Lightwards almost wanted to find a new HQ. But no... it had to be a museum.

 

He turned to face Funtimes again, looking at the hat she'd made appraisingly. It actually wasn't that bad. Obviously the daisy would be going to the first herbivorous dinosaur he came across, but the rest was actually quite nice. Smiling slightly at his strange ally, he took the hat and placed it on his head in a smooth motion. An Epic should stand out from a crowd. An Epic should not look like a professor who's lost his job.

 

"My attire can wait," he told the Doctor, smiling at Purple Phoenix. "Welcome to the Empire of Light, newcomer. Stick with us, and we'll show you marvelous things. Fight by our side, and you'll earn marvelous things."

 

He laid his hand on a smaller, more lightly built skeleton. A Coelophysis shook itself, rearing a delicately built head on the end of a long, graceful neck. Its mouth glittered with razor sharp teeth. It seemed to walk with quick, precise movements.

 

"He's yours," Lightwards informed the man, sending the smaller dinosaur his way. "A token of good will."

 

With that, he turned to face Funtimes. "Now, my dear... if I might, I have a small request." He twirled his bowler hat in his hands and leaned in closer. "Remember that fight where we met Nighthound? I seem to recall you creating a wonderful system for defying gravity. It made for a very interesting car, but I think we could do better..."

 

He leaned in even closer, whispering the rest in the Doctor's ear.

[Mailliw73]

Altermind saw as Joshua finished off Mason. The body lay, dead, as the blood began to pool up around it. Altermind called in his mobile for a cleaning team to clean up the blood and body. Flashpoint landed next to him. "Boss, I saw the last part of the fight from above. He's dead?"

 

"Yes. Get everyone back in the Planning Room. I'll get Psy-Fi and meet you there," Altermind told his security Epic. His guards he had knocked out were coming back to now, after Mason's hold on their minds had vanished. Altermind walked down the stairs and found Josh. "Joshua. I'm sorry. We need to meet together and finish planning. Death and sorrow can't get in the way."

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

With all his flattery, Purple Phoenix seemed a mere step or two away from literally kissing Funtimes' feet. In most Epics, that was a sign of fear. Deciding to press it a bit, Nathan rolled his eyes. "Flattery will get you nowhere." At least, I hope not. 

 

She giggled at the second repetition of my lady. "I'm not your lady. I'm his lady, silly!" After planting a quick kiss on Nathan's cheek, she stood on tiptoe and tapped Purple Phoenix's nose. "Your explosions are pretty. Like your hat." 

 

Nathan relaxed. He wasn't being dumped, and if one of the two more powerful Epics in their little band of nutjobs decided the newcomer was welcome, he would defer to her. "I suppose that's your cue to stay, then." 

 

She giggled again, still staring in open admiration at his purple bowler hat. 

 

Speaking of hats, Lightwards seemed taken with his. The thing had so many contrasting elements all meshed together that Nathan wondered why his eyes didn't start bleeding on sight. But if Lightwards liked it, he would have to learn to live with it. 

 

Stone and plaster scraped against each other as a nearby pile of rubble shifted, and a woman in a bright Indian-style headdress got to her feet. Funtimes giggled, Nathan looked for a suitable weapon, and—

 

"Kill her." 

 

Vincenzo gobbled her up in a single bite. 

 

"No, no, no!" Lightwards stamped his foot like a three-year-old denied cake for breakfast. "I said kill her, not completely devour her!" 

 

The Epic was spat on the floor in a pile of blood and dinosaur saliva. Nathan gave the mess a look of open distaste—some Epics disdained the sight of gore, calling it uncouth and inelegant—and turned away. 

 

Lightwards, too, seemed to accept Purple Phoenix, turning another skeleton into a small, quick-looking raptor. "A token of goodwill," he said. And that settled it. If the second more powerful Epic was willing to give Purple Phoenix a dinosaur, Nathan would learn to get along. 

 

He watched Lightwards send the dinosaur toward the newcomer. He looked so ridiculous in his bowler hat, yet that somehow made him look more sinister. Perhaps it was the blood still staining his clothes, perhaps the deaths that had put it there. There were so many things he wanted to tell the necromancer—he didn't have to kill that last Epic, why not have the stupid dinosaur eat her if he was going to go to the trouble of killing her, this was wrong, so wrong, his hat made him look like an idiot….

 

But Nathan tamped all those things down. Lightwards wouldn't hear a single one of them. More likely than not, his mind would rewrite each and every sentence to sound like, "I'm weak. Kill me now. I'd make a good zombie!" 

 

So he rolled his eyes. "You're a weird Epic, Lightwards." 

 

But Lightwards was whispering something in Funtimes' ear. Something that made her nod and say "Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Yeah—oh!" Her face lit up, and she clapped her hands. "That is the most amazing idea in the history of amazing amazingness!" She darted forward, caught Nathan's hand in hers, and with a breathless "Entrance, please!" teleported there with one last giggle. 

 

"What are we doing?" 

 

She laughed and jumped in place, then knelt on the floor. She began to crawl, tapping her hands against the dusty tile. The building creaked and groaned as something down below cracked and changed shape. 

Edited August 13, 2014 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Voidus]

"Flattery will get you nowhere" The teleporter said staring at him haughtily.
Touched a nerve there I see. His Voice said, still seeming unusually active today.
"I'm not your lady. I'm his lady, silly!" said the crazy one.
Yes, they're definitely together, be careful don't make him jealous.
Giving the teleporter a quick peck on the cheek, she came up and tapped Purple phoenix on his nose.
"Your explosions are pretty. Like your hat." she said.
Slightly bewildered and not entirely sure what to make of this strange yet powerful Epic, he thought he had the rest more or less figured out, the strange dark one riding the dinosaur seemed to be reluctant to form a group at all and held himself aloof, the necromatic professor seemed to relish the opportunity, providing the other with gifts as he was, however he certainly wasn't weak by any means, and the Teleporter seemed to be still stretching his wings as an Epic, either only having recently received his powers or else having recently become freed from another regime. But this strangely clad glittery woman completely baffled him, she seemed the most powerful by far, the sheer extent of her transformative skills were nothing short of astonishing and she certainly had the creativity to make best use of her abilities, but she seemed utterly disinterested in leading.
The Teleporter had grudginly accepted his presence as he was musing and he heard the sounds of the Necromancer finishing off the technopath, he then approached Purple Phoenix greeting him, he stopped by another pile of bones and resurrected it into a small but beautiful looking raptor of some kind, small pin feathers riddled it's body giving it the appearance of a bird of prey, it was about waist height and very sleek looking.
"He's yours. A token of goodwill" he said. as the raptor headed towards Purple Phoenix, who stood there in awe, not entirely sure what to make of this.
Amazing, a real live dinosaur, a Coelophysis if I'm not mistaken. His Voice chimed in, how on earth did it know about dinosaurs? He seemed to dimly recall being interested in dinosaurs himself as a small boy, his interests in science still varied and undeveloped, but that belonged to a different life now.
Shaking his head he saw that the Necromancer was collaborating with the woman on some matter, she seemed to be quite enthusiastic about it. The Teleporter seemed to be glaring at the necromancer, "You're a weird Epic Lightwards" he said, seemingly to himself. The strange woman called the teleporter and they warped to the entrance
Well at least he knew one of their names now.
"Lightwards is it? Thank you for the gift it is truly remarkable, a Coelophysis isn't it?" he asked, hoping that his Voice knew what it was talking about. He needed to figure out the dynamics of this group, and that meant making a good impression, after all he never knew when he might need to kill one of them.
Then the building began to shake.

[Matrim Bloody Cauthon]

"I know. Its just that for ten years i thought he was my friend, but all i was to him was a slave." He sighed "Lets get to the meeting," Psy-fi continued.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Matrim Bloody Cauthon

[Mailliw73]

Altermind and Joshua sat in the Planning room as, one by one, the other Epics and Travis showed up. The last to come in was Voidgaze and Flashpoint. Apparently, she had been in the kitchens and found a snack to eat while she was there. "Mason is dead. He was a traitor and manipulator. He is no more of a worry to us though. Planning for our fight, how does that Sportsman's Warehouse sound?"

[Edgedancer]

Seems like the Commander had no proper invincibility after all, more of a resistance, one way or another he was now death. Averting his eyes from the Commander´s remains he surveyed the battlefield. Scorch was fighting overgrown weeds, Electro dealt with a bus and vermin was still crawling all over the place.

 

Before he could do anything else something covered his face and he was pulled up. Corpsemaker tried to shake off the fool that grabbed him of but didn´t succeed, the grip was just too tight. He would have to negate the strength before he was pulled up to high and… that might work to his advantage.

 

They continued to fly higher into the sky for a good couple of minutes; did the attacker think that a high enough drop could harm him? Fool. Deciding that they were up high enough now, Corpsemaker negated his opponent´s super strength and used his surprise at being depowered to push him away. Next, he pulled of the cloth that blocked his vision and negated his flight. In fact the boy looked a bit like the Commander.

 

In free fall Corpsemaker twisted his body, so he could see the ground below, as well as all the soldiers. The display of power made it clear where Scorch and Electro were, so he left their general vicinity alone, to avoid hitting them on accident. On the rest he rained death, literally. One new body every five seconds, they had their warning.

 

Ultimately he hit the ground. Judging from the little crater he made it hurt the ground more than it did him. Corpsemaker pushed up his sunglasses as he walked out of the crater and took in his work. Now where are my minions?

                                                                                           

 

Nighthound enjoyed his dinosaur, as it turns out he also enjoyed using said dinosaur to play baseball with the skulls of other dinosaurs. His game was interrupted by tremors in the ground. Either an attack by another Epic or Funtimes was up to something. That woman´s presence can explain just about any annoyance, can´t it?

 

Deciding that, no matter what was going on, it would be better to check what caused the tremors, he signaled his dinosaur to return to the entry hall. Maybe her should also tell them that there´s a good chance his sister is on the way.

                                                                                          

 

Voidgaze returned to the planning room after she was told that they dealt with Mason. She was a little bit peeved that everyone seemed to assume that she just organized herself some snacks, it wasn´t her fault that they dealt with him before she could search another place, but she couldn´t really complain either given how she contributed exactly nothing to solving the problem.

 

Instead on ruining her mood over it she simply ignored the matter and agreed with Altermind´s plan.

[Kobold King]

The ground underfoot shook and wobbled as monsters sprung to life.

 

Lightwards half-ran, half-danced across the museum hall, his hands brushing up against stone skeletons that erupted into fleshed out beings at the tap of his fingertips. He knew this feeling of glee wasn't likely to last forever, so he made the most of it.

 

There were two other Allosaurus specimens in the museum's collection, another male and an larger female. With a tap the pair of them stood submissively in the hall, awaiting orders. Other species came to life at his touches. An armored Ankylosaurus, to which he fed his bowler hat's daisy. Three horned Triceratops, unexpectedly sporting odd patches of quills on their tails. Half a dozen feathered Deinonychus, their servantile postures mixed with an element of lingering predatory movement. A giant ground sloth came back to life, lazily lying its tremendous bulk in the middle of the floor. An enormous Quetzalcoatylus pterodactyl, its leather wings taking up an enormous amount of space.

 

Purple Phoenix seemed lost in thought for a few moments, then spoke up. "Lightwards is it? Thank you for the gift it is truly remarkable, a Coelophysis isn't it?"

 

"That is correct," Lightwards responded, restoring a bulky scimitar-toothed cat to life. "Another aficionado of long-departed creatures, I take it?"

 

Without waiting for an answer, he laid his hand on what appeared to be one of the museum's signature skeletons--a Tyrannosaurus rex. The skeleton shook and rattled along with the floor until its flesh solidified, revived as a frightful-looking predator larger even than the Allosaurus. Its arms were smaller but well-muscled, and surprisingly endowed with a number of bright feathers.

 

It was just as the big rex reanimated that Nighthound returned to the main hall. The broken pillar he'd been lugging around before dropped to the ground with a clatter, appearing to frighten Funtimes' pterodactyls.

 

"Nighthound, my good man," Lightwards lied. "I'm glad to see you enjoying the fruit of my labors so much. If you're quite done demolishing our base of operations, I have a small favor to ask you."

 

Lightwards locked his eyes on the Carnotaurus-mounted Epic. "The Empire of Light is about to rise, and it will rise higher than any of the pathetic little groups already infesting in this city. But with every rise must come an equal fall--the people of the surrounding blocks may be unaware of their new masters. They need to learn whom they now belong to. They belong not to CorpseMaker, or to Altermind, but to us. Here is the favor I ask of you. Take these spare allosaurs in addition to Phteven. Go out into the city. Round up all the normal humans between the river and the highways, essentially everyone within Southeast Portland, and inform them of their new masters. Let them know their options; either they acknowledge our rule and offer up all of their services to us, or they will become dinosaur fodder or worse. Deliver the same ultimatum to any Epics that still cower within the area. Acknowledge the Empire--pledge your allegiance--or die."

 

He smiled at Nighthound, gesturing for the two newest allosaurs to walk by his side. "We can rule this city and do what we please with it. But it'll take coordinated efforts from each of us. Are you prepared to carve out an empire, Nighthound?"

[Edgedancer]

After he sauntered back into the entry hall Nighthound was greeted not only by an Epic but also with a speech from Lightwards. Oh, how much joy. The contents of the speech however, made Nighthound grin, dinosaurs and a lot of helpless people. Lightwards liked his recruits as corpses, didn´t he? Nighthound could help with that.

 

“First, Phteven is not a name. Second, spare me the pleasantries,” Nighthound let the Carnotaurus make a slightly disgusted headshake, “Third..” He started to laugh manically, gave the allosaurs a signal to follow him and charged out of the building, punching away Lightwards´ new hat with a flick of the Taurus´ tail. As he left the building he saw Funtimes playing with dirt, which explained the tremors, and jumped above her, lifting up the bowl head on top of his hound in a cowboy gesture.

                                                                       

 

He had a lot to ground to cover, so Nighthound decided to split the area up in multiple districts. Obviously, he started with area close to the museum itself. The procedure was simple, his own Carnotaurus ripped down the walls followed by the Allosaurs jumping in and driving out the people. The group he gathered following him worked well, after the allosaurs ripped out the throats of the first few idiots that tried to escape. They should still be in a condition for Lightwards to resurect them, so all is well.

 

Nighthound gathered a good amount of people and lead them in an open place. It most likely wasn´t everyone in the area, he worked to sloppy for that, but more than enough to spread the word. Each side of the frightened group was flanked by an allosaurus. The Epic walked up and down in front of the crowd and prepared to give a speech, while his dinosaur quenched his hunger on them. “I´ll be nice and give you the good news first,” before he could finish a couple tried to make a break for it.

 

Drawing back his power from Taurus, Nighthound pounced on them. He landed on the man crushing his head underneath his feet and offhandly punched the woman in the side, tossing her over to a allosaurus, which began to devour her.  

 

“To get back to the good news, the big dinosaur over there was death for a rather long while as some of you might have guessed, so he´ll only eat a couple of you, if you behave. If you don´t, getting eaten by him is the more pleasant alternative,” he chuckled as if he made a joke, “The bad news on the other hand is that the town is now more or less under the control of my associates, which are all rusting insane. Sparks, I wouldn´t even work with them if not for the dinosaurs but whatever, none of your concern. Just start to worship Lightwards, the self-proclaimed emperor of Light, and hope he doesn´t want to stock up on his zombies.”

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Between the increasingly loud tremors beneath the museum and the roars and chirps of dinosaurs returning to life, Nathan didn't hear Lightwards' orders to Nighthound. But he could guess when he tore out the front door, tipping Phteven's bowler like some deranged cowboy from a drug-induced haze. Nathan pressed himself against the wall, but Funtimes laughed as the dinosaur leaped over her head and onto the sidewalk with a loud thud. Two more dinosaurs followed. 

 

He didn't need to ask where he was going. He already knew. 

 

Before Nathan could process the implications, the museum gave the most violent shake of all. Something below cracked, giving way to a loud humming noise. His stomach lurched the way it did when an elevator in need of repair moved up a floor. He was knocked sideways, grabbing at the information desk to remain upright. 

 

Funtimes stood, dusted off her hands, and clapped them. She laughed, jumped in place, and pranced over to wrap her arms around him. 

 

"Are we….flying?" 

 

She laughed and jumped, still hugging him. "This is so amazing! We're flying and it's going to float and everybody's going to see the pretty colors!" 

 

Nathan gave a small laugh of his own. "That's….pretty awesome." 

 

Funtimes stood back, hands on hips in mock annoyance. "Pretty awesome? It's fantasmagorical! We have flying dinosaurs!" 

 

Flying dinosaurs. Ensconced in a floating fortress, the people below safe from all but those that had followed Nighthound. Moreover, he was safe, so long as Lightwards believed Funtimes' story about his powers. 

 

Nathan laughed and hugged her again, wishing he could do something about the helpless people below. He had to keep up appearances. This was Annexation Day, after all. It was Annexation Day, and he was one of them. 

[Kobold King]

An enormous pair of Acrocanthosaurus slowly shook themselves, growling softly as the last mottled green and brown skin grew over their skeletons. The predators took a few nervous steps before the ground began to shake, causing the dinosaurs to roar in alarm and Lightwards to let out a cry of shock. That cry quickly gave way for a laugh as he peered out the window.

 

The museum was rising. It climbed higher and higher, splitting free from the pavement below with a loud crack. A low hum began to permeate the facility, and there was a cool breeze that began to drift through open and shattered window panes. Lightwards looked down out the window--he could already see the city of Portland shrinking, larger and larger parts of the city opened to view. He estimated that they had already risen five hundred feet... make that a thousand... two thousand, three thousand... was this thing going to stop?

 

He was starting to worry about altitude sickness when the museum's rise came to a slow peak. The hum equalized completely and faded to the background. Lightwards let out a sigh of satisfaction, grinning downwards. From here he could see a hefty portion of the city. He looked it over and compared it to a slightly blood-stained map he kept in his pocket.

 

Portland was built around a forked river--the Columbia and the Williamette. The museum floated over the southeastern part of the city, flanked by the Willamette river on one side and city limits on the other. A vast downtown area filled the space between the two boundaries. From this high vantage point, he could make out a very large crowd of people gathered underneath him, undoubtedly where Nighthound had herded them.

 

A sudden idea flitted through Lightwards' brain. I should make a speech. But how was he to get down? He supposed he could ask Traveler for a quick teleport, but that idea lacked flare or independence. He should find his own way down.

 

He turned from the window, pacing across the dust-covered, gore-splattered floor. He peered into a room filled with archaeological trinkets. His eyes lit up as they settled upon a huge litter that had once been carried by servants to transport some ancient Indian sultan.

 

Perfect.

 

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

 

Pete Hedge couldn't stop himself from trembling. He stood in what may have once been a small public park, now re-purposed into a public forum by that insane Epic. It was only abject terror that kept him from running past the rusted swing set beside him and fleeing this terrible place.

 

Abject terror, in this case, was an enormous grey dinosaur that stood beside him, its head far off the ground and fixed intently on the speaking Epic. Every now and then the impossibly large, real-live in-the-flesh dinosaur would shift its feet and shake its head, spreading droplets of an attempted escapee's blood over all nearby spectators. 

 

Pete Hedge tried to figure out some way to get away, any way he could. But the absolutely enormous, fang-baring dinosaurs stood as loyal sentries on both sides of the crowd. And that murderous, off-the-wall crazy Epic was poised to pounce and murder anyone who ran.

 

My house will take weeks to repair, Pete whimpered within the privacy of his own mind. He destroyed people's homes just to make a speech? Calamity, who are these Epics? What are they going to do with us?

 

He was shaken from his thoughts by the mad Epic's chuckling, as if he had made some kind of hilarious joke while he wasn't listening. Judging by the expressions of everyone around him, Pete doubted it had been particularly funny.

 

“The bad news on the other hand is that the town is now more or less under the control of my associates, which are all rusting insane," the mad Epic continued. "Sparks, I wouldn´t even work with them if not for the dinosaurs but whatever, none of your concern. Just start to worship Lightwards, the self-proclaimed emperor of Light, and hope he doesn´t want to stock up on his zombies.”

 

There was a halfhearted cheer of "Lightwards, Emperor of Light," but it quickly died down. Something far more attention-gripping started happening. In the distance, a trembling cracking sound split the air. For a wild moment, Pete and a few other people began mumbling about an earthquake. But then they saw it.

 

The Museum of Natural History had torn free from the rest of the city and was ascending into the sky, unmistakable with its monumental pillars and enormous bronze dinosaur skeleton. It rose with a deep humming sound, floating gently up among the grey clouds. Pete's jaw dropped. Everybody knew to avoid the museum--that was where those four Epics lived. Everyone knew Hotwire, Quickslide, Blindside and Headshot. They raided the neighborhood for supplies every now and then, and had been considered the most powerful Epics in the area ever since CorpseMaker moved out. This dinosaur-riding man in a bowler hat and the self-proclaimed "Emperor of Light" were quite clearly new to this part of town--and potentially far more powerful and dangerous.

 

There were further gasps and screams from the crowd after the museum reached its peak height. Flying out of the museum at high speed were two enormous pterodactyls, each nearly the size of small planes. Between them they carried the supports for a large, finely decorated litter.

 

The pterodactyls landed with a grace unbecoming of any animal their size, their wings kicking up dust and leaves and spreading them out onto the crowd. They set down their litter, and the curtains swung open dramatically.

 

An average-sized man stood in the park facing them now. He looked like a deranged cross between a professor, a homeless bum, and the villain of a pre-Calamity slasher film. His signature items of clothing appeared to be an expensive tweed coat that was now splattered with blood and covered in dust, and a bright green bowler hat that appeared to be brand new. On either side of him, feathered monstrosities walked slowly with their heads held high, as if they were servants waiting on an aristocrat.

 

The professor from hell examined the crowd with a disturbingly warm smile before turning to the man on the horned dinosaur.

 

"Very nice work, Nighthound," said the professor loudly. "Very nice work. There's a Dimetrodon upstairs with your name on it."

 

The man with his velociraptor servants stepped onto a tall merry-go-round, one that was pale and rusted from its time spent without upkeep. The professor used it as a platform, standing above everyone else both figuratively and literally.

 

"Hello, people of Portland," the professor cried out with apparent glee. "I do hope that my associate here was kind enough to introduce me. I am called Lightwards."

 

There was a frantic cacophony of voices, saying such things as "Hail Lightwards" or "Worship Lightwards" without much commitment besides a fear of being devoured by dinosaurs. Pete Hedge began to worry about whether or not he should be bowing.

 

Lightwards chuckled. "There's no need for that. Not yet, at least. I'd much rather you listen to my words than give hollow, not-yet-earned praise."

 

His eyes scanned the spectators, and a second pair of raptors entered the crowd. "People," Lightwards continued. "You have been subjected to the cruelest form of tyranny."

 

The raptors had apparently found a worthy victim in the crowd. There was a scream that cut through the air as an old man had both of his arms firmly chomped by a raptor. The man began to kick and scream as the raptors dragged him to the front of the crowd. The unfortunate man was dragged nearby to Pete, who began to retch upon seeing the savage mauling his arm sockets were going through. It was a wonder the arms hadn't come off.

 

Lightwards continued his speech over the screams of the dying old man. "I am not speaking of the tyrant CorpseMaker. I am not speaking of the four fools who previously occupied the Museum of Natural History. I speak of that cruel overlord that has mercilessly ravaged life on Earth since the first bacteria swam in our seas. I speak not of men or Epics, but of Death Itself."

 

The raptors dragged the hapless old man right beside Lightwards himself. The man by this point was weeping with the pain in his arms, looking up at the blood-soaked Epic and pleading in soft terms. Lightwards snapped his fingers, and the raptors kicked into the man's torso with lethally curved claws.

 

Pete Hedge closed his eyes from the horror as the old man howled in pain, undergoing slash after slash from the dinosaurs until his body lay in too many tatters for continued life. He had been completely shredded.

 

"Death," shouted Lightwards over retching spectators and crying children mixed in with the crowd. "Death is your enemy! Death is what each of you fears right now! Death is what this pathetic geriatric feared with his final breath! You fear for your lives, worried so about transient dangers when it is death itself you should fear."

 

The mad Epic in the professor's coat gave a mirthless laugh. "Well no more. Observe."

 

His bent over from his merry-go-round, laying a finger on the bloodied scalp of the horrifically butchered man. The man opened his eyes with a ragged gasp that somehow carried over the crowd. He pulled himself to his feet, parts of his body that had been completely torn off somehow regenerating at Lightwards' touch. Once the healing was complete, the old man took a place standing behind Lightwards, his face staring vacantly into the crowd.

 

"I am the master of death," growled Lightwards, standing upright once again. "I defeat it with a mere touch. If you you fear death, then fear me doubly so. I am the man who will rescue you from Death's tyranny. But if you are to know my grace, you will do exactly as I say. This city is to become the capital of a brand new empire. An Empire of Light, sprawling across this planet and others and populated by a renewed human race. You will receive glory untold for your role as its earliest citizens, but first you must earn the privilege. If you have a skill, you will offer it to the Empire of Light. If  you have knowledge, you will offer it to the Empire of Light. If you have a life, you will pledge it to the Empire of Light."

 

He smiled once again, his face taking on an alarmingly warm expression. "I'm here to help you. But you will help us far more at first.

 

"Now is the beginning of a new age. You are to meet your new masters. Where four lesser Epics once held this land without a care, now five of the most powerful Epics to watch this planet deign to rule over you. You will listen to each of their words, then you will return to your frail and delicate lives until you are required. Am I understood?"

 

Overcoming shock, Pete Hedge joined in with others with a cry of "Yes."

 

The massive dinosaurs roared, their sounds carrying over the crowd and nearly popping eardrums.

 

"I asked if I was understood," Lightwards said harshly.

 

"Understood, Emperor," a louder cry declared.

 

"Marvelous," said Lightwards with a smile. "In years to come, each and every one of you will thank us for this..."

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

The museum reached what seemed to be the intended height, and stopped. It didn't lurch or shudder, but came to a slow, even and gentle halt in the sky. Funtimes giggled. "Let's go see let's go see!"

Hand in hand, they walked to the nearest window. Nathan dared not let go of hers. He trembled, wondered dimly if she could feel it, and decided it did not matter. If it mattered to her, she would have let go already.

At the window, Nathan caught his breath.

Portland lay spread out below them. Skyscrapers glittered in dim sunlight, roads twisted like black rivers, and trees sprang up between everything, like moss on stone. The blue of a river he couldn't name flanked their territory. Clouds surrounded their fortress, drifting here and there across the city.

"Wow." That was all he could say.

Funtimes squealed in delight. "It's so pretty!"

He had to agree.

Nathan could have admired the view forever. He might have, had a litter mounted between two pterodactyls not floated past before it began its descent. Even that may not have been enough to tear him away, but a certain necromancer was on that litter. Nathan didn't know what he would do, what he could do, but he felt he had to be there on the ground to do it.

"Should we follow him?"

With a giggle, they were on the ground.

Nathan was not surprised to see the blood covering the grass and concrete. He was not shocked to see the zombie with torn and bloodied clothes on the playground. And he was not thrown for a loop by Lightwards' pompous declarations about the Empire of Light.

He was surprised when Doctor Funtimes stepped to Lightwards' side and began a speech of her own.

"People of the Oregano." She had one hand wrapped around Nathan's and the other in the air, index finger pointed skyward. "The Great Noodly One smiles upon you today, because this is the day it rains pancakes!"

A wave of her hand, and the leaves of several trees became pancakes that fell on a very confused crowd.

"Pancakes are amazing," she continued, "and so is my boyfriend!" She pulled him into a kiss. Nathan could see Lightwards stiffen, but he ignored it. Doctor Funtimes was a far better speaker than he was, sudden make out sessions or no. "He's the Traveler. I'm Doctor Funtimes, and you're all part of our Empire thingy. That means you get free yak meat on Saturdays!"

As playground equipment and fallen branches became enormous platters of yak meat, a voice from the crowd shouted, "But it's Wednesday."

She gasped in pleasure and clapped her hands. "Wednesday too! Everyday is yak meat day because you're....you're beautiful." Was he mistaken, or were those tears in her voice? "All of you....so beautiful."

Yes. Those were definitely tears.

"I look around," she continued, her voice steadier, "and I see potential. You have potential! You have potential! You have....a nice T-shirt! It's like a Tennessee barbecue, there's so much potential!"

The tears were back, and Lightwards looked irritated. Before he could talk himself out of it, Nathan addressed the crowd. "What my darling Doctor means is that many of you here have the potential to be useful. To us. As we prefer servants with a, shall we say, wider range of facial expressions..." He cast a sidelong glance at the newborn zombie. "Only those with so much potential it literally moves her to tears will serve us and our dinosaurs, rather than be served to them." He forged ahead, pointing at one of the people Funtimes had indicated. "You. And you. And...."

"You!"

She was pointing at two men. One held an assault rifle in a firm grip, a scowl on his face and a dirty white tank top on his back. The other wore a kilt and a Darth Vader mask, a bagpipe in his hands as he sat atop a unicycle. "Them? Darling, are you sure?"

"They have so much potential!" She jumped and clapped her hands, squealing in glee. "So much so much so much!"

"All right," he said, waving them to where their fellow servants stood. The unicycle man did so immediately. The other clutched his weapon.

"And if we don't?"

Nathan wanted to shake him. The choice was so clear. "Then we'll feed you to the dinosaurs. Or you can become a Warrior. I honestly don't care."

He turned away, heart pounding. He did care. It was between life and pride, and only one choice was sensible.

"That rifle of yours won't do much against a T-Rex."

Scowling, the man emptied his magazine, dropping the bullets to the ground, and joined the others.

Not everyone would survive. Not everyone could. But maybe, just maybe, these few would be spared.

Edited August 15, 2014 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Matrim Bloody Cauthon]

"I have no problem with it." Joshua replied. "I would like to get a new rifle and more ammunition."

[Voidus]

"The building is flying" Purple Phoenix muttered in a monotone.
Yes I know, it must be that matter manipulator how I don't know how could she possibly construct something as complicated as this without any engineering knowledge? I doubt I'd be able to do it. His Voice muttered back.
"The BUILDING is FLYING!" Purple Phoenix said again, the disbelief creeping through.
Er.. yes it would seem so, now we need to-
"BUILDINGS DON'T FLY" He screamed, interrupting his Voice
The building continued it's jolting ascent upwards, Purple Phoenix struggled to keep his footing, the others all seemed to have left, Lightwards rigging up some kind of a litter between two of his flying creations.
The building finally came to a halt, jarring the whole museum and sending Purple Phoenix flying into a nearby display where his head smashed upon the marble base, blackness consumed him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Protector stood up, looking around it wasn't rusting night time yet, he wasn't needed!
His head was pounding and a slight trickle of blood flowed down his cheek.
"How do you always manage to hit the sharpest part of any given object" He mused to himself.
Well if he was up and about he might as well take some proactive protection measures, he needed to ensure that Phoenix survived this alliance, if that meant killing the rest of the crazies in the group then that was fine by the Protector. He had to admit he'd never thought to find another Epic as insane as he was, but if anything this group seemed even worse.
"No not an Epic, just a fraud" He reminded himself.
"Leave that kind of thinking for the Phoenix, we need to keep a rational outlook, now what do we have available?"
Searching the museum he noticed some stuffed displays, he pulled out his knife and slit them open, pulling out the fluff inside.
"This should do nicely" he said as he went about his business.
He grabbed some bags from the gift shop and filled them with the stuffing, then reached into one of his many pockets to pull out some of the larger rocks that he kept charged, placing them in the bags. The stuffing should protect them from any impact so they should only detonate if he sent out the signal, it was times like this he was extremely thankful for the neural interface they'd hooked him up with, it hurt like hell when it was first installed and he still had terrible headaches from it sometimes but being able to remotely detonate his explosives was definitely worth it.
He placed his packages around the museum, hiding them as best he could, a number went under the floor, holes created with smaller explosions and then filled with some of the rubble, he placed a few at the entrance and then he set to work on the hardest project, destabilizing a good portion of the concrete underneath the floors surface, he couldn't protect this from impacts but it was large enough that only a significant impact would set it off anyway, as long as no more dinosaurs were rampaging around destroying things it should be protected by the surface layer, but in an emergency it should take a good portion of the museum with it when it exploded, and hopefully destroy whatever was keeping it in the air.
It was good to be prepared.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Purple Phoenix came to slowly, not entirely sure how he was standing up if he'd just been knocked out, could he have accidentally died again? No, there was blood on his cheek, must have just been that his incredible fortitude kept him standing.
He looked around the museum, waiting for everyone else to return, not having a way to get down from a flying building without assistance. He was at the entrance trying to look underneath the building to see what was holding it up when he felt something nudge his back.
"Ah! Of course, how could I forget my dinosaur?" He said to the magnificent creature, lean and sleek, standing before him.
"I still need to name you don't I?" He crooned to the beast.
"Hmm.. let's see, flash is already taken obviously but you do seem to be quite fast, falcon perhaps? You do look like one almost. Well how fast are you? Go run to the rubble over there and back, I need to know your capabilities."
The dinosaur was off in a flash, it's sleek body moving effortlessly over the floor at incredible speeds, in no time at all it had reached the rubble, and was on it's way back, it had almost reached him when it realized that museum floors do not provide the best traction for dinosaur feet and it skidded as it tried to arrest it's forward momentum, turning itself around and gripping the tiles with it's claws it stopped just short of where Purple Phoenix was standing, but then it's massive tail flicked back in an attempt to regain balance, knocking Purple Phoenix over.
And out of the entrance, beginning a several thousand foot drop.
"Sparks" he said as he vanished from sight of the museum, falling with no way to stop himself.
 

[Mailliw73]

"Then if we're all agreed, let's make a plan on when to head out. There are useful supplies and vehicles there. If no one has any objections, let's all go there as soon as possible," Altermind said to the group.

[Edgedancer]

As if waiting on his signal the museum rose in the sky, after he finished his speech. Their insanity might be slightly charming. Shortly afterwards Lightwards descended in what could only be described as a flying dinosaur carriage.

 

Nighthound pulled himself into the background, while Lightwards held one of his speeches, nothing surprising here, megalomania, delusions of grandeur and zombies with murder inclusive. Nighthound underlined the importance of the monologue by bringing one of his hands up to his head and making a circular movement, as if he was loosening a screw.

 

And because giving speeches is now in Funtimes appeared and gave one herself, makes sense. Her speech was… less predictable, involving yak meat, pancakes and barbecues. Nighthound underlined this with the same gesture, only using both hands.

 

After Funtimes picked up someone with a Darth Vader mask, why would you ever deal with something like that, Nighthound mounted his dinosaur and turned to ride away. “Don´t let her fool you citizens, that madwoman is a cannibal!” He shouted at the crowd. Yeah, no way can I pass up on that.

                                                                                              

 

He moved to the next district to round up. A good amount of people was already following him. Sadly, he had no problems yet, terrorizing vanillas was fun but he hoped to meet a rogue Epic. Oh well, he could only-

 

Something pierced his tight. With a rage filled roar he searched for the origin of the attack. Standing down the road he could see a woman, determined expression, short red hair, overall sporty looks, wearing jeans and a shirt with a stylized image of a rising sun and most importantly holding a slightly glowing toothpick in one of her hands. How lovely, there is the toy I wanted and it´s my favorite kind.

 

The two allosaurus charged at her. She pointed her toothpick at the ground and out of it extended a slightly yellow-white energy lance that was as thick as the toothpick. As the lance hit the ground it continued to extend and pushed her up in the air.

 

Nighthound took out one of his grenades and tossed it at her. The female Epic moved her toothpick, while the energy construct disintegrated, and aimed at the grenade. Another lance pierced the grenade causing it to explode in the air.

 

At the same time the Carnotaurus surged forward and under the explosion, waiting to devour her as soon as it could see her again. Its master crouched on its back, just as ready to jump into action, with a manic grin on his face.

[Kobold King]

Lightwards smiled down at the people. This was how an Epic ruled: with fear and a firm hand. Lightwards had done his research. This was how Steelheart dominated his city; this was how Möbius kept her little kingdom under control. He could play the benevolent ruler later on; now he was a teacher. He would teach them the meaning of fear.

 

Suddenly there was an explosion of rainbow and glitter standing on the ground near him, hopping onto the rusted merry-go-round with an enormous smile spread across her face.

 

"Perhaps Traveler should make the speech," he hissed, but it was too late. The good Doctor seemed thoroughly enthused at the idea of delivering a speech, and he couldn't imagine a more terrifying past-time than trying to keep Funtimes away from something she was enthused about.

 

"People of the Oregano," Funtimes proclaimed, a finger pointed dramatically at the sky. "The Great Noodly One smiles upon you today, because this is the day it rains pancakes!"

 

She wouldn't.

 

She would. Dry leaves from the autumn trees became warm pancakes and rained down upon the crowd. The two Deinonychus abandoned the severed arm they were entertaining themselves with and began fighting over the new pancakes.

 

Lightwards wanted desperately to pay more attention to his raptors, as he was fairly confident that even in a volitionless state they were more intelligent than the imbecile standing next to him. But he felt compelled to do his best and listen to the whole thing.

 

For this he was rewarded by a zealous make-out session between Funtimes and Traveler, passionately going at it right beside him. He stiffened irritably before muttering "For Calamity's sake" and taking a few steps back off the merry-go-round.

 

Doctor Funtimes continued giving the most idiotic, infuriatingly sappy speech Lightwards had ever heard before Traveler stepped up and began helping. The pair began to pick up random people from the crowd, conscripting them into servant status. And by random, he meant random. Most noticeable among the new servants were a surly-looking redneck bearing a rifle and... someone in a Darth Vader mask who wore a kilt, carried a bagpipe, and rose a unicycle.

 

How the sparks has this man survived so long?

 

As Traveler intimidated the low-life into joining them, Nighthound apparently decided that he'd had enough. “Don´t let her fool you citizens, that madwoman is a cannibal!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. He turned his Carnotaurus aside, and whistled for the two allosaurs to follow him.

 

"I was using those!" Lightwards proclaimed loudly, but the Epic and the dinosaurs were already racing down the streets and out of sight. A few cautious people began to edge their way out of the crowd. Lightwards let out an irritable sigh, glaring at Funtimes.

 

"Did you bring Purple Phoenix down with you?" he demanded of Traveler. The other Epic shook his head.

 

"Perfect," Lightwards growled softly. "The coordination in our group is astounding to say the least." He gingerly nudged Funtimes down from the merry-go-round and took her place on the platform.

 

"You will be free to go momentarily," he informed the increasingly anxious crowd. "First, I wish to introduce you to somebody."

 

From a bloodied coat pocket he pulled out a single, bloody feather he'd plucked from the vulture carcass before he left the museum. Restoring this particular speciment was quickly becoming second nature to him, and so reanimating it with a single feather presented no difficulty at all.

 

The feather quickly grew a body to match it, a now thoroughly bedraggled vulture with a dull expression that rivaled most sticks and stones.

 

"This is Claudius," Lightwards told the crowd. "Do not let his looks deceive you. He is one of my most trusted lieutenants. He will circle my territory every day. If he sees strange activity, I will know about it. If he hears dissenting murmurs on the streets, I will know about it. If he is shot out of the sky, I will know about it. Claudius is one of the many wardens to your existence we will be installing."

 

He let the vulture glide into the sky, circling above them with a determined flight pattern. Lightwards tipped his bowler hat to the crowd and turned. "You are dismissed."

 

With that, he directed a final scowl at Funtimes and Traveler and headed back to his litter, raptors following dutifully behind him.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

 “Don´t let her fool you citizens, that madwoman is a cannibal!”

 

The reaction, though devoid of screams and frenzied running, was immediate. Feet shuffled nervously in the crowd as parents clutched their children's hands tighter or lifted toddlers into their arms. Others took steps backward, murmuring to themselves or one another. By the merry-go-round, their servants took small steps away from their new mistress. Only the redneck, who fingered his rifle and muttered angrily, and the man on the unicycle, whose bagpipes emitted a small blast of flame, did not seem afraid. Well, the redneck didn't seem afraid. It was hard to read emotions through a Darth Vader mask. 

 

​"Me? But—no—I'm not—" Her pleas did nothing. Scowling, she reached down and lifted a handful of gravel, which became a can of Spam. With a shrill cry of frustration, she threw it at a retreating Nighthound. It missed, and was quickly gobbled up by a dinosaur. 

 

The word cannibal was difficult to refute, especially with no proof to the contrary, but Nathan feared what might happen if Funtimes had to work under that label. An angry Lightwards would roll his eyes and growl and perhaps shoot someone, but an angry Funtimes could do nearly anything. As Lightwards introduced Claudius the reanimated vulture, he determined the best method for damage control.

 

When Lightwards turned back toward his litter, Nathan rolled his eyes. "A cannibal? Her? Oh, please,​" he said, loudly enough for those in the back to hear. "Our idiot associate—" sparks, did I really just say that?​—"is only trying to distract you from the fact he fought nude last night. A bit embarrassed to be seen that way." Nighthound was already gone, so he added a smug half-smile and a lift of his eyebrows in a sort of unspoken if you know what I mean. "And would she have really given you yak meat if she wanted to eat you?" 

 

Members of the crowd looked at one another with shrugs, nods, and shakes of their heads as they considered these words. So far as Nathan could tell, some believed him and some didn't—which was the best he could have hoped for. 

 

Funtimes looked at him with shining eyes, and he knew he had done well. Before he could think what to say, she grabbed his tie and pulled him into another kiss as the few leaves that had not been transformed rained down as peppermint candies. 

Edited August 15, 2014 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Voidus]

There was something oddly calming about falling through the sky, Purple Phoenix thought as he plummeted towards the ground, it gave him a sense of clarity about things.
The museum had risen to frankly insane heights so he had a lot of time to think as he began his descent, briefly images flashed through his head, his old lab, walls disintegrated a glowing Epic roaming it's halls, obliterating everyone he saw, and one scared man taking up their latest prototype, charging a nearby piece of rubble and throwing it as hard as he could at the Epic, just as his entire team was bathed in the glow of imminent death.
No, no time to think about that, not even now, no focus on how to get out of this. He took a quick stock of what remained in his myriad pockets, toolkit, a few fuel cells, some spare projects he'd been working on, a handful of charged pebbles left, and a crumpled piece of paper. Any chance any of that would be helpful? No not likely. He briefly considered trying to arrest his momentum with a few timed explosions but the explosions were just as likely to kill him as the impact of the ground was, he'd just accepted his inevitable fate when his Voice began screaming in his head, screaming for him to take action, any action.
"Well I'll just have to hope that I manage to reincarnate again" He calmly told his voice, confident in his invincibility, he knew that he'd somehow survive this.
Of course you won't reincarnate, you can't reincarnate you rusting idiot! His Voice yelled. Ah, it seemed his Voice had gone insane again, sometimes his Voice didn't remember that he was an Epic.
You're not an Epic! It screamed. You're a regular person who invented some cool toys and who has a voice in his head that tries to keep him alive, which is difficult when he JUMPS OUT OF BUILDINGS!
"I didn't jump, Falcon pushed me, and I don't think I'm going to talk to you when you act all crazy like this." he shot back to his Voice.
Ok, we're almost to the ground, quick any metal structures? No, flying dinosaurs around? Also no, ah sparks why do you always make things so difficult!?
The ground was closing the distance between them rapidly, too rapidly Purple Phoenix himself was beginning to feel a trickle of fear, the imminent nature of his demise causing him to realize his mortality in a way that he hadn't done, couldn't have done in a long time.
As the last gap between Purple Phoenix and the ground rapidly closed his outer and inner voices were at last in harmony again, both screaming in terror.
But then he almost thought he heard a third voice.

[Mailliw73]

Altermind had decided to leave Flashpoint in charge. Promising to bring him back a shotgun, Altermind was able to leave one of the two people he really trusted in charge.

Altermind had a guard make two cars ready. Sightline, Psy-Fi, and Travis in one and Voidgaze, Kathy, and Al in the other. Altermind himself rode his bullet bike. They were about to travel into territory that wasn't claimed by any major Epic, but lesser ones had probably staked out small areas. Because of that, Altermind put hallucinations of a couple tanks following and leading the group to scare off any lesser Epics. He didn't want to have to deal with them.

He led the cars around Corpsemaker's old territory to the southeast of the city. He had remembered visiting the Warehouse with his father when he was younger. Back then, he had no interest in hunting gear. Now, it would be of great assistance. As he approached the store, he noticed no one was walking around. The store seemed either already ransacked or lived in with a mess of the outdoor displays and the remnants of signs. Altermind made a mental note to be wary. When they reached the parking lot, he waited for the other Epics to get out and then told the drivers, "Go back to Thoughttown and report to Flashpoint. We'll find our own rides home." Altermind remembered seeing ATVs and dirt bikes among other outdoor vehicles in the store. Each of them could claim their own and bring it back to Thoughttown.

[Edgedancer]

Ray balanced herself on one of her lances, perched between the two street sides, and used her free hand to pull out two more toothpicks, putting one of them in her mouth. She watched the dust of the explosives for her opponent. She moved to this part of town after Corpsemaker was taken out of the picture, she didn´t intend to leave. If anything, taking him out would be the perfect stepping stone, judging from what she heard about that empire group.

 

The horned dinosaur busted out of the smoke, pulling a dark cloud behind it. She aimed at its head and extended a lance towards it. Her aim was death center; still the monster simply turned its heat around much faster than should be possible and evaded her attack.

 

The Epic on its back jumped towards her, also with a lot more speed then he should have. He was already on her level by the time she pulled up the toothpick in her mouth and stabbed him right in the head. Sparks that guy´s smile is creepy. Something kicked her in the stomach stomach, barely connecting but still sending her plummeting to the ground. I got it, way too much strength in that body.

 

She was headed straight for the jaws of a dinosaur, one of those without horns. One of her lances extended straight down and into its skull, causing it to collapse into itself. With another she hit the ground and pole vaulted herself away from the remaining dinosaurs.

 

Alright, I can do this. Even if the psychotic Epic is still alive, I still have the range advantage and downed one of the dinosaurs. As if on command the other Epic descended back on the ground and, seemingly unconcerned with wound in his forehead that was now leaking a dark substance, sprinted towards her.

 

Another energy construct journeyed towards his chest, another held ready to hit him after he dogged. He didn´t, he just took the attack head on and let it pierce his chest. Instead of doing as much as flinching he pushed against the sides of the lance, further ripping open his steaming wound, ramming  it into her side, hurling her against a wall, and knocking the lance out of her hand, causing it to disintegrate.  

 

Before she could gather her breath her opponent stood before her and pinned her against the wall, pulling Ray up with one hand that was also chocking her. His expression was a mix of disappointment and smugness. Ray concentrated on her right hand. Just wait until I wash that look from your face.

“Please tell me that wasn´t everything.” He said while appearing to examine her more closely.

“Storm of, Slontze!” Careful don´t hit any bones.

A bit of the disappointment seemed to disappear from his face. “How nice, now we only-“

She hit him into his side, just under his rib cage, sending energy into his body. She could feel something in there rip apart, maybe she exploded one of his kidneys.

 

The psychotic Epic collapsed, while holding his side. Ray kicked at his head. That felt good, okay next-

A horned dinosaur crashed through the wall behind her.

                                                                                                  

 

Voidgaze shared a car with Big Al and Kathy. She attempted to have some small talk with Kathy but she didn´t exactly take well to hearing her talk about how she died three times yesterday. For quite some time there was an awkward silence between them that Big Al managed to break with his characteristic serenity.

 

However, before their conversation could develop properly they arrived at the hunting store. They all gathered in front of the shop. She pushed on of her hands on her hips and pointed towards the store. “Let´s scavenge this place!” After her excited proclamation she rushed into the building and into a random section.

 

She found herself surrounded by different kind of knives. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see something flying towards her. Instinctively she raised a tassel up and knocked it out of the air. A man was ducking behind a shelf. Most likely he shot the object.

 

After taking out a sheet of paper, she tossed it between the shelves’ boards and at the man. Her target blew hard enough to throw it off course. Epic breath it is then.

 

Change of tactics, Voidgaze let her paper sheets spread across the floor. It would take a while but eventually this will catch him. She suddenly became dizzy.

Edited August 16, 2014 by Edgedancer