What Happened in The Dalles

[Comatose he/him]

 

"Just leave her."  Taylor wanted to shift and punish the impudent epic for ignoring her.  Had she been able to assume her true form no one would have dared to ignore...  "We've got better things to do.  We'll--"  Taylor relaxed as she felt Deathwish's gaze take in her form and features, taking temporary pleasure in his appreciation of her appearance.  That was better.  

 

"Actually" Deathwish said, slicking back his hair, "We're heroes, Edgerunner.  We can't just leave a damsel in distress behind, can we?"  Judging by Deathwish's body language, Taylor guessed that Edgerunner was the female epic with that enviably thin waist.   Edgerunner rolled her eyes in response--it would seem she did not care for Deathwish much.   Taylor resisted the urge to slim down her figure further to one-up the pretty woman.  It wouldn't do to undermine her disguise now.  

 

The third epic moved close to Edgerunner, adopting a protective posture as he whispered in her ear.  He was rather attractive, and once again Taylor found herself growing jealous of the attention the two men paid to Edgerunner.  Perhaps there was a song in there somewhere?  Wanting to know what was happening, Taylor made some subtle alterations to her ears, hoping to improve them enough to let her hear what was being said.  Unfortunately, the third epic stepped away from Edgerunner before the alterations were complete.  In response, Edgerunner mumbled something as she turned to study Taylor.  Had her ruse worked?  What was going on?  

 

"Please," she said, the raw distress in her voice sounded grating to her enhanced hears.  "I.. I don't know what to do."

 

[OOC Note: Edgerunner's response was given to me by Mailliw.  No god-modding occured here

 

[EDIT: Made some small changes after consulting with Mailliw.  Should be good now].  

[Quiver he/him]

Everyone had some possession they found too precious to be without. For most people, it was their phones; for the more practical minded, firearms.  For Elizabeth "Lyla" Robin, it was the digital camera strapped around her neck, an item that she wore so often and so ubiquitously that if anyone else wanted to touch it, they would have to pry it from her cold, dead hands.

 

The medical professionals of the Dalles very nearly had had to do just that.

 

"I'm fii-iii-iiine," she protested, again, just in case anyone in the medical ward hadn't heard or was still paying attention. When it became obvious that they weren't, she settled for folding her arms in a huff. No doubt if she tried to leave her sick bed, suddenly then they would pay attention to her, forcing her back there instead of doing more important things..

 

More important things like getting her film developed. The teenager fingered her camera, looking through the shots she had managed to score. Sure, maybe she -quite technically- shouldn't have been outside on the street's during the invasion; after all, she didn't have any kind of martial training, and she certainly didn't have any kind of weapons.

 

On the other hand, it was an epic invasion. Just the thought of it made her grin. Just how sparking cool was that?! So many epics, all in one place, all at once, powers flying left and right, guards, and Dalles epics and new epics.

 

And panda's. There were pandas. Lyla had never seen a panda in person before, just pictures in books. But they were there, in the six foot tall, weapon-wielding, growling flesh. It was weird that the books didn't have pictures of the winged pigs, or mention pandas propensity for violence, but that left only one possible conclusion:

 

Epic Animals.

 

No one knew where epic's came from, after all. And if people didn't know where epic's came from, and anyone could at any time become an epic -'But not lil ole Lyla Robin, nope,' she reminded herself with frustration - if anyone could become an epic at anytime, why couldn't animals? Maybe the reason there weren't more epic animals was because most epics didn't spend enough time around them. 

 

Maybe. It was just a theory. But even if it didn't pan out, it didn't change the fact that there had been, what, twenty different epics, all attacking the city at once. It was, far and away, the coolest thing that had ever happened in the Dalles, and the idea of sitting that out, of being locked indoors while so much cool stuff was going on just outside? That was practically criminal. 

 

Plus, it meant she got some great shots for her collection. She'd have to go through them in private later, obviously, but she was certain she must have gotten a few pictures of the epic's in the guards using their powers. They didn't do that often enough for her liking; those would make for great shots, even ignoring just how storming cool it was.

 

Lyla Robin was a lot of things. Orphan. Photographer. Would-be assistant to Redlight.

But more than any of that, she was a fangirl.  

[Voidus]

Lucy Lockser was completely unsure of how she was supposed to react. Idly she wondered vaguely if Arsenal had set up an official protocol for what to do if a teleporter came up to you and kept hugging you and calling you cute.

She quickly realized however that he probably did and the official response was probably to arrest them for public indecency or something like that.

Rather than attempting to arrest the curious and excitable woman, Lucy's body made the decision that it was going to turn bright crimson and look at the floor in embarrassment

.She looked up just in time to see a sudden deep and serious expression on the teleporters face as she looked intently at Lucy.

“Now, is there anything I can do to thank you for your adorableness brightening both my day and the world up?” She asked.

"Er...."

Very elegant Lucy. She mentally chided herself. You should get one of those public speaking awards for a speech like that.

Refusing altogether was probably the wisest choice, accepting a gift from an unknown Epic was not the best idea in the world. But then again, refusing the offer of an unknown Epic was potentially an equally bad idea.

She started speaking several times before she realized she had no idea what to say.

Suddenly she just blurted out the first thing that came into her head.

"Squid!" She squeaked out, before looking intently back down at the floor. "For uh... you know, ink and stuff. That's my power."

With the amount of blushing and the strange joy she got from the constant barrage of attention and compliments, she was very happy that this Epic was not one of those attacking the Dalles. That would be all she needed, for Arsenal to see her getting embarrassed into fainting when an enemy Epic hugged her too much. Or worse for Deathwish to see and then spend the next week inviting her to threesomes. Gross.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

 

The smell got clearer as Canis approached Centerville. Smoke. Something in the town had been burning recently.

 
Not surprising. It was ruled by a fire Epic and a guy who summoned gasoline, but Comet wasn't really the type to raze his domain just for kicks. The prick was always going on about how his podunk town would be considered a metropolis by the time the turf wars were over.
 
Though if Comet had burned and ditched the place, Canis wouldn't have to worry about recruiting him. That'd be good. The chull was annoying as Calamity to work with, even if they might need him. When had the City Guard gotten so strong anyway? Sparkly teleporters with the ability to summon spontaneous explosions? Frost manipulators of questionable copyright-infringing status? It was all too much. Too much for Canis' weak little group of allies. Freq was right. They needed to branch out and get some more Epics to fight with them, if they wanted to take The Dalles.
 
As he got within a few hundred meters, Canis slowed to a trot. He sensed a few people. A couple of those he had once touched the blood of. He smiled as he remembered them. Jogging at normal speed, he could make out a few more details. Smoke in one of the corners. Northwest, or southeast, or... he could never quite remember. No big deal. Directions were stupid anyway. If Canis got lost, he could always just turn around and run until he found someplace he recognized. Sure, you occasionally ran into an ocean or something, but directions were for slow people, and that was that.

 

Canis sped up again, kicking up dust on the dirt road. Within just a few seconds, he was crouched between two buildings on the edge of the city. He peeked out onto the street, trying to figure out where all the vanillas had gone. Calamity, this place was tiny. Just from right here, even with buildings blocking his view and stuff, he could make out a full third of the houses in the town, including the school building that Comet used as a "palace." If anything, this just proved how much of a sparkhead Comet was for bragging about ruling it. Tiny little farming town, that's all it was. Canis dashed out at normal speed, turned a corner, and found himself facing a group of eight-something people dressed in matching, ragged red T-shirts. They jumped, surprised, then raised their guns, yelling at him to get on his knees. Canis grinned, lifting his blood-stained arms in mock surrender.
 
He dashed between them as they began firing, letting their bullets and buckshot graze the empty air, slicing small cuts in each member of the group. Well, by small, he meant not-limb-severing. He licked up a drop of each person's blood, then continued down the street and veered left. Sparks, you never got used to being shot at, no matter how much you loved violence. Though to be fair, other peoples' blood did always taste better when your own was pumping hard and fast. Also, what in Calamity just happened?

 

This wasn't the city militia Comet had kept around during his rule, and it wasn't the army of another Epic taking over. He snuck a peek through a few windows. Bodies pumped full of bullets, trails of blood indicating people being dragged out of their homes and executed. A conqueror looking for someplace to rule wouldn't systematically empty the town, right? These were bandits, though disturbingly, Canis found the odd signs that indicated that some sort of Epic was leading them. Small objects randomly turned to metal, trails of water criss-crossing the streets. Not powersets that he recognized, but... you might as well have put up a sign that said "multiple Epics were here. And destroyed stuff."

 

Canis rushed into the schoolbuilding just as he felt the bandits round the corner onto his street. More squads seemed to be running in from other parts of town. Last chance for Podunksville. If Comet, or any of his associates were around, they'd be there. If not, it was time to leave. He started flipping open doors. Sparks. It smelled like gasoline. Really pungently. Huh. The floor was wet, too. Actually, it looked this whole place was covered in gas. Comet's buddy, Slick, probably had something to do with that. Oh, yeah. Also, it meant that this place was super flammable. Just as he was noting this, a voice called out from above.

 

"Alright! I didn't figure you Calamity-cursed idiots would be stupid enough to come for me again after what I pulled last time, but here goes: You've got five seconds to leave before I burn this building to the ground!"

Edited April 6, 2016 by Mckeedee123

[Edgedancer he/him]

The connection between Shiny and Scribbler was a deep one, born from pure affection and adorableness. It was no wonder that such a young girl would be overwhelmed by that kind of emotions. She herself remembered her younger days perfectly, the days she couldn’t do much more than drool at her loves, instead of putting her effort into expressing the amorous waves of emotion inside of her.

 

While watching Scribbler work through the weight of her own adorableness, Shiny hang at every word she was trying to say, until finally she spoke of what she desired.

 

Squid!

 

Perfect, Shiny knew just the Epic, one of the more unusual benefits of having like-minded friends. Without hesitation she pulled out her mobile and dialed up Squidmark.

“Sup Shiny?”Squidmark’s voice greeted from the phone.

“Hey, sorry to spring this on you but I need an unaltered squid for a very special girl,” Shiny told him.

“Special, eh?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter; I’m talking about a young, beautiful, earnest, cute, innocent, adorable, hardworking Epic girl and not some simple pretty face.”   

“Wow, almost every second one of those was about her personality, must be a minor miracle.”
“She’s a major miracle,” Shiny made sure to correct his grave mistake.

 “Sure… anyway, you’re in luck. I just got a new shipment in and haven’t got past the housebreaking stage. I also still have one of the transport aquariums around from the last time you made some deliveries for me. Just gimme a minute to make some arrangements and he’s all yours.”

“Thanks, I’ll make it up to you, once I settled some business over on my end.”

“In that case, the pleasure's all mine.”

 

After putting her mobile away, Shiny gave Scribbler another squeeze. Some of Shiny’s excitement washed over Scribbler, causing the girl’s clothes to sparkle in colorful light that was only a fragment of her inner radiance. “You’re such a good girl. That squid will be the happiest squid around, just thanks to spending its time with cute little you. Now, give me just a moment and I’ll bring you two darlings together.” With that Shiny Sparkle teleported away.

A short time later, Shiny reappeared in the clinic. Clad in a red bikini, she was submerged inside the aquarium Squidmark prepared for her. She had one hand on the aquarium itself and another on Scribbler’s new squid. Looking around the room, her popping in seemed to have startled Scribbler and the Doctor out of a conversation.

 

Shiny teleported back to her apartment, grabbed a towel and her sunglasses and from there back into the clinic. A faint glow from the gravitronics mounted to the underside of the aquarium, so she could teleport it in the first place, played of the water drops clinging to her ankles. While wiping herself dry with the towel Shiny addressed Scribbler, “Here’s the squid you’ll make very happy. Now, did I earn Ms. adorable actually giving me a hug herself?”

[Kobold King he/him]

 

 

Explosions shook the city. Missiles flung through the sky. Quicksilver was stark against the cityscape, tossing aside everything sent against him and overflowing the command center with liquid metal. The mad High Epic was waging destruction across The Dalles, towering over the city on his tower of steel with no meaningful opposition. It was long past time for someone to rise up, stand up, and fight against his monster.

 

Deathwish turned his back on the sight.

 

"Please," the pretty female Guard whimpered, completely beside herself with panic.  "I.. I don't know what to do."

 

"Shhh," Deathwish crooned, stepping closer to the woman and tilting her chin. "No worries. I've got everything under control."

 

Another missile hurled overhead, spinning out of control as if it had been thrown by a giant tentacle. There was a great opportunity to fly into its path and get knocked into a thousand pieces, finishing Quicksilver's rampage in a heartbeat, but Deathwish had more important things to do. His free hand, feeling left out, went to the pretty Guard's waist.

 

"I'm just about to bring all this pointless fighting to a close," he promised with a smile. "Why don't I fly you a little closer and give you a front-row seat? It's gonna be spectacular."

 

Nothing impressed the chicks like stabbing a murderous demigod to death in a thrilling high-octane sky duel, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The meeting with Shiny Sparkle--or rather, Liz Tanner--was forced to a close.

 

First came the sound of explosions, nearly shaking the building they were so close. Then the only window in the office went dark, a thick layer of fluid metal settling over it.

 

This had just become a crisis. The cause was obvious, but within a minute a harsh voice began booming over every radio in the office.

 

"People of the Dalles, HEAR ME!"

 

Vondra gritted his teeth. So that's what Quicksilver's voice sounded like. The arrogant, gravelly tone was unsurprising. The boldness in making an announcement to the entire city was.

 

"I ask you to look at your city, at this haven for humanity amidst a world ruled by Epics," Quicksilver began. "This city, where those sworn to protect you rain missiles down on your heads even as the one branded as an outlaw fights to stop it. Your protectors allow wild animals to roam the streets and sanctioned epics to destroy your homes."

 

Dewhickey was authorized to deploy missiles, but by the sound of things he wasn't taking much care in said deployment.

 

" And still Vondra claims he can protect you!" the Epic went on, his voice growing more passionate and almost patronizing. "He maintains that Arsenal is under his control, that Deathwish follows his strict orders, that he is still in charge. But even as he says these things Deathwish and his ilk continues to molest the city while Arsenal's totalitarian hold grows tighter and tighter. 

 

"I have been here for years! Not once have I gone on rampages through your homes, or one by one stolen your freedoms. I fought the invaders when they came just yesterday and even now I stave off missiles aimed at your children in hopes that I might preserve what remains of this city. Ask yourself who is the true villain in the Dalles. Because I guarantee you Stephen Vondra knows."

 

Vondra gritted his teeth at the speech and the mention of his name. The gall...

 

"Don't you Stephen?"

 

With that the announcement ended. Vondra's fist clenched as he turned to his secretary, just in time to see Liz Tanner disappear in her signature flash of sparkles. No matter. She could be found and dealt with later, if she stayed in The Dalles.

 

"Follow me, Rhonda," he ordered, packing an extra pistol onto his belt and making a beeline for the hallway. "Be alert and stay away from windows."

 

 

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

 

 

 

Dewhickey was to be found in a darkened command room, vacant of all souls save himself and a couple of terrified technicians panicking over computer screens. The rest of the usual staff had fled the room in horror when their commander had begun hurling missiles practically out the window, and those who remained did so only out of fear for their jobs. Perhaps their lives too, if the frenzied voices of the technicians who'd left were to be believed.

 

Vondra stepped into the room with Rhonda close behind him, eyes fixing on the Epic chaplain's back. 'Arsenal' was tense, head bowed and his fists clenched as if lost in his own rage.

 

"Daniel." Vondra's voice was clear in the room, but Dewhickey neither moved nor responded. Vondra felt a wave of trepidation pass over him. Dewhickey had been exerting his powers more than he had in years. That had a terrible effect on his kind.

 

Abruptly, Dewhickey raised a fist towards the metal-glossed window and opened his hand. The window frames were instantly destroyed as a pile of porcelain bathtubs appeared in them, tearing a hole in the building that disrupted the sheet of metal covering. Wall fragments and a very large number of bathtubs went crashing through the hole to the street below, over and over until the metal on the building's outside stopped rushing to cover the gap.

 

Sunlight streamed in and revealed the outside, in particular the towering pile of liquid metal looming ominously not far from the command center.

 

Quicksilver.

 

With no time wasted Dewhickey began conjuring new missile rigs outside, some sort of controller appearing in his own hand to allow him to trigger the artillery himself. The missiles began roaring outwards towards Quicksilver, exploding in fiery blasts the instant any of them were stuck by a metal tendril.

 

The barrage was immediate and fierce, driving Quicksilver nearly a block backwards as the metal in his control was blasted into shrapnel, but already a few were being knocked off course and hurtling blindly into the city. If this battle continued, it would leave piles of corpses and burnt infrastructure in its wake.

 

"Daniel!" Vondra repeated, more harshly than before. "Stand down!"

 

The missile strikes continued, new rigs continuing to appear as speedily as Quicksilver could suck out their metal. The explosions wouldn't stop...

 

Vondra began striding forward angrily. "Storm it, Dewhickey! I gave you a direct or--"

 

He was barely halfway through the room before Dewhickey had swiveled around to face him. The man's face was wild, completely distorted in anger and an inhuman snarl across his mouth. There was sweat dotted between his wrinkles, and though he was beginning to slump in exhaustion there was fire in his eys.

 

"I do not," he hissed sharply, "accept that order."

 

Not much human was showing. Right now he was the Epic Arsenal through and through--in his glory, as the newer generation said.

 

Vondra's hand moved to his belt, gripping his pistol. Rhonda tensed behind him, poised to freeze the Epic the moment things went sour.

 

"You take orders from me," Vondra said, quietly but sternly, "for the well being of this city. You don't want to destroy it."

 

Arsenal breathed raggedly, glaring at his commander with a look of pure hatred. "If that's what it takes to eliminate this threat..."

 

"There's no point to eliminating this threat if the people we protect are blasted out of their homes."

 

"Not to you, perhaps. I have to defeat him."

 

"No, you don't," Vondra stated firmly. "We have other Epics. We'll bring Quicksilver down without excessive casualties. Hawk and Runes--"

 

"Are scum and an idiot!" Arsenal snapped. "And they're nowhere to be seen. I am here. I have the power. And I will stop him."

 

There was a moment of silence. Quicksilver's tower of shimmering metal was still visible out the window, creeping cautiously in the distance as if waiting to see what the moments of respite would bring.

 

Vondra took a breath and slid his pistol slightly out of its holster, in clear sight of Arsenal.

 

"Right now, you are the bigger threat to this city."

 

Arsenal's eyes flashed. For a moment he seemed torn in an internal struggle, leaning dangerously close to creating a weapon and attacking with everything he was worth... but, slowly, miraculously, his eyelids drooped and he let out a long, frustrated breath.

 

"What are my orders?" he growled softly.

 

Vondra breathed an internal sigh of relief, though didn't yet relinquish the hold on his pistol. "Go to your office. Close yourself in. Do not use your powers. I'll be by in a few hours to discuss this incident. At length."

 

The other man seemed about to raise an argument, but in the end kept his mouth shut. Stiffly, he put one foot in front of the other and headed down the hallways in the direction of his office.

 

Keeping his eyes on him until he disappeared, Vondra finally backed out of the room himself, away from that window and the sight of Quicksilver towering over the streets.

 

The Dalles was in a state of extreme crisis now, but at least one major threat had been neutralized.

 

Now it was up to any City Guard Epics still capable of doing their jobs to neutralize the one that remained.

 

 

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Welp, there it was. Crush had bared his soul to an efficient-looking government worker, and all he got for it was to be shunted aside like inorganic fois gras on a snooty Frenchman's plate. Sure, she had a little pile of notes that were supposed to help one of the higher-ups make an informed decision, but in a bureaucracy like this, her "recommendation" would probably just go through a rigorous 5k being handed from orderly to orderly until someone finally got tired and chucked it in the garbage, leaving Crush to be assigned to pick up litter on Highway 84 for the rest of his life. Sparks! She was supposed to clear him, not... do whatever that was.

 

Crush wasn't having any of it. He'd give it a week, maybe. Just enough time to meet the people, see the sights, and maybe figure out how to kill Deathwish or something, then he'd bust out. There was no prison that could hold Orange Crush, no chains that could keep him bound, when he was fueled by the power of boredom. His only regret was that he wouldn't be able to give that awesome speech he'd been planning.

 

So he didn't even bother resisting when a pair of soldiers grabbed him and pulled him out of the office to escort him back to his cell. They'd all regret it when some High Epic appeared and blew the town to smithereens while they stood by helplessly, but it wasn't really Crush's problem anymore.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Mckeedee123

[Comatose he/him]

Taylor gave a shy smile as Deathwish approached her, tilting her chin up towards him.  Had she been in her true form, wearing her signature heels, she likely would have been taller than him, or at least his height, but she let herself enjoy being shorter, at least for the moment.  There was something disconcerting about the way he felt entitled to touch her, both at the chin and at the waist, but Taylor found herself enjoying the attention nonetheless.  It wasn't as if she was expecting Deathwish to be her prince charming, she just needed him for the moment.  He could get away with a little disrespect.  
 
"I'm just about to bring all this pointless fighting to a close," he promised with a smile. "Why don't I fly you a little closer and give you a front-row seat? It's gonna be spectacular."

 

Taylor used her powers to momentarily simulate tears, if only so she could blink them away at the right moment.  "Oh... Okay?"

[Kobold King he/him]

 

 

Deathwish usually didn't make it this far. He actually couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten this far. He was not complaining.

 

"Oh... Okay?" the woman stammered. Her eyes filled with tears that she promptly blinked away, making her look even more pathetic than she did already.

 

Easy pickings.

 

Giving another heroic smile to the Guard, Deathwish turned to face Edgerunner with a sanctimonious look.

 

"Now Edge. I'd say Quicksilver's little rampage has gone on long enough, wouldn't you? Time we showed him who's in charge around here."

 

He paused a moment, shooting a glance at the City Guard woman before showing his teeth in a sort-of smile. "That would be Vondra, of course. Let's show Quicksilver that Vondra's in charge."

[Mailliw73 he/him]

 

Just as Emma was about to interrupt Deathwish's incessant flirting-if what he did counted as such-when he turned back to her, arrogance almost tangible. He had finally succeeded with this "Guard" member who Ethan had confirmed as an Epic. Deathwish was right though; they did need to deal with Quicksilver. Whoever this woman was, she didn't seem to be much of a threat yet. One problem at a time. 

 

"Right. Let's go," Emma said to the slontze. "Ethan and I will fly around back of the tower while you get in Quickie's face and, I don't know, get hit with a couple of missiles or something. Just keep his attention." Emma grabbed Ethan's hand and began to slowly reverse her gravitational pull, giving him time to adjust the momentum and fly with her. 

 

Edgerunner hadn't ever seen Quicksilver up close, but she still remembered what he had done to those soldiers the day before. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Edgerunner planned to make sure he paid for that.

[Voidus]

The Epic instantly pulled out her phone and dialed a number, how on earth she had a contact for acquiring squids, or indeed why was something Lucy Lockser tried not to think about.

Giving Lucy another hug and somehow managing to make her clothes briefly glitter, she teleported away, leaving Lucy sitting awkwardly next to doctor Game.

"So..." She began, averting her eyes. "That's an... interesting acquaintance to have."

The two looked at each other awkwardly, Lucy was about to start speaking again when a shower of sparkles heralded a new arrival yet again. A tank, the steady hum of gravitonics sounded beneath it and inside, she caught a brief glimpse of the Epic, now in a  bikini before she teleported out again.

Lucy had enough time to wander up to the tank, staring at its other occupant. A large black eye drifted slowly past her as the squid inside floated leisurely around, not seeming all that startled by its sudden spatial alteration or encounter with an Epic.

Its eyes seemed kind somehow, almost like they were crinkled up in a smile although she wasn't entirely sure where its mouth was, let alone whether it was smiling.

She was startled herself by the reappearance of the Epic, Shiny the man on the phone had called her.

“Here’s the squid you’ll make very happy. Now, did I earn Ms. adorable actually giving me a hug herself?” Shiny asked while drying herself off.

Scribbler smiled shyly at Shiny as she was complimented yet again, still feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the attention.

"Oh um.. yes I guess, thank you mrs. Shiny."

The politeness that her mother had drilled into her took over as she awkwardly tried to hug Shiny. She was aiming for a polite hold but Shiny's enthusiasm quickly took hold of her and she felt a grip on her back pull her in tightly where she was squished against the womans body.

A single black eye looked comfortingly at her from the tank as she was being held, helping her to relax into the hold a bit more. She hadn't even realized how tense she'd been, a night of no sleep would always do that to her but it had seemed even more than that, it felt like there was a tension in her mind that was slowly being released.

"Thank you." She muttered again, somewhat more sincerely this time. Not sure whether she was talking to the squid, to Shiny, to Doctor Game or simply the universe at large.

Whatever it was that had done it, she was glad to feel more relaxed now. Her rage at Arsenal had faded back to simple anger, she would talk to someone about what had happened but she no longer felt the urge to find him and turn his head into a nest of wasps.

[Quiver he/him]

She hated waiting. No, scratch that - she hated waiting. Waiting around meant doing nothing, and nothing was more boring that nothing, and there was a limit to how many times even an uber-fan could look at the same handful of photo's before getting bored.

Lyla moaned, loud and obnoxiously, dropping back on the bed. She wanted to do..., she didn't know, something. Get her photo's developed. Add them to her scrapbook. Try to get a meeting with Redlight and convince the epic of Lyla's potential as an apprentice and/or sidekick.

More than anything, though, Lyla wanted to not be confined to a clinic bed. It had been however-long since the epic invasion, and she had only suffered the minorest of scratches.

She straightened up at once. She was fine. Really, who would know her body better- a bunch of medical "professionals", or her?

A shame none of them are healing Epics, she thought, pulling a jacket around her. She would have stayed then. But of course, the only healing epic she had ever heard about was-

She stopped in her tracks, seeing Doctor Game.

It wasn't because of Game, of course; the doctor didn't seem to have seen her yet. His attention was more focused on the tank, and the fish -were squid fish?- and the girls in front of him.

It was the latter that got Lyla's attention, too.

"Oh. My. Calamity."

The girl felt herjaw drop in naked amazement, and the fact that she was supposed to be sneaking away was immediately forgotten.

"Scribbler!" She approached the epic -an epic! and a friend that Lyla didn't recognise, but the important part was an epic!- her face split with a grin.

"This is so. Cool. I had no idea an epic was in the clinic! This is... this is awesome! Can I get a picture of you? No, wait - can I get a picture with you? And can you sign it? 'Cause it's be really sweet if I could get a personalised photo with Scribbler!"

[Edgedancer he/him]

Presents always were a good way to charm the ladies, especially the ones that weren’t about the material value but about making the cutie happy. Scribbler, even if the realtionship with her was platonic, didn’t seem to be an exception, as they embraced each other tenderly. At first the girl was a bit tense but she slowly melted into the embrace, as the situation sunk into her mind.

 

Gently, Shiny stroked her hair to help her relax, while whispering soothing words to her. A young girl like Scribbler really shouldn’t have to gather up this much stress. Just another sign of what was wrong with this town’s oppressive nature. Most likely it would be best if Shiny just took her along on a journey, to allow Scribbler to grow up in freedom and develop into the wonderful woman she’s meant to be. Sadly the grip this place had on her was likely too tight. In this moment though, Shiny could give her some ease of mind.

 

The serenity of their embrace was disturbed, as someone exclaimed sheer joy at the sight of Scribbler. Something Shiny was incapable of holding a grudge over, even if it disrupted the moment. The voice belonged to a scrawny girl that was about Scribbler’s age. More important was the fire in her eyes, the proper passion upon seeing a darling like Scribbler, very much a girl after Shiny’s own heart.

 

It felt like her urges were ripping her apart but eventually, Shiny let go of Scribbler and instead threw herself at the other girl for a hug. Given the difference in their sizes, the force behind her approach was enough to pull both of them to the ground. For a while she softly rocked the girl in her embrace, while snuggling up to her.  “You’re a good girl, you know,” Shiny poured into her ear. “It takes a special kind of passion to pick out someone as wonderful as Scribbler on first glance, the potential to mature into a very lovely woman rest within you.”

 

Shiny came to rest on all fours over the girl, lifting her head from the all-important snuggling position to look back at Scribbler, “You know, I also think that a photo would be wonderful to celebrate out meeting and I think she’ll become fast friends with us as well.” Shiny turned back to look the black haired girl in the eyes, “You think the same, right?”

[mail-mi he/him]

BusDriver had no idea what was going on.

 

One moment, he had been the center of a chase. Then missiles started flying, and his radio connection to Quicksilver cut out. After that, the focus on his bus had vanished as the Epics and other cars stopped trying to, well, stop them. 

 

Mistwraith blew back in through the upper window and condensed in her human form. "They're gone," she said. "The Epics all met on a roof a little ways back and stopped chasing us." 

 

"Well, good then," BusDriver responded. "Whatever Quicksilver did, it's working. Platoon, dissolve your clone. I'm taking back control of this bus." Platoon nodded, and his clone started to dissolve. BusDriver retook his seat at the driving wheel, getting back into the familiar rhythm of driving the sparked bus.

 

Soon, they were at the gate that lead out. Not many were guarding this gate, probably because of whatever was happening back in the center of the city. The two guards held up their hands, and BusDriver came to a reluctant stop and rolled down the window. "Are you on a sanctioned errand out of the city?" one guard, a skinny female that BusDriver might have thought attractive if he was thirty years younger, asked. The other went into an office off to the side of the gate.  

 

"Sure thing," BusDriver said grumpily. "Regular scrap metal transport." 

 

The girl nodded, and was about to let them through when the other guard came back out of the office. The woman leaned over to him as he whispered in her ear. She raised an eyebrow, and grabbed the pistol at her hip. 

 

Then they were both strangled by solid mist. 

 

BusDriver grumbled as Mistwraith reformed. "I had that," he said as he stepped out of the bus. He reached out and touched the gate, activating it so that they could pass through without having to ram the gate open. The gate morphed into one of those mini school buses, and the bus carrying almost all of Quicksilver's army passed out of the Dalles. 

 

To Rowena we go. 

Edited April 24, 2016 by mail-mi

[Quiver he/him]

Lyla had heard some people talk about how weird epics were; how their powersets could seem random or ill defined, how they could move and operate outside laws like "physics" and "gravity". She had always dismissed those claims; they were epics. Being able to do awesome stuff like that was in the name.

 

Today was proving her thesis true because really, the weird part of today wasn't that a group of demi-gods had laid seige to a town; it was that a semi-naked lady was kneeling over her with a look and a whisper that bordered on the predatory.

 

More importantly, she was dripping water over the camera. 

 

Lyla managed to squirm out of the grasp, the objects of her obsession and consternation momentarilly forgotten as she started wiping it down. "Don't be water damaged," she muttered. "Don't be water damaged, don't be water damaged, don't be water damaged..."

 

A click of a button. For a second, it stalled, and a panic rose to the girls throat and 'It's broken, don't tell me it's broken, I didn't get copies of them yet, and there were some really cool ones and-' and the cheap camera whirred to life, the logo of some long forgotten, now defunct, pre-war company flashing to prominence.

 

Lyla sighed with relief, straightening the camera around her neck again. She needed to get something better. A cheap digital camera was fine for every day use (or for covert picture taking), but it was just a matter of time before it gave up the ghost. If there was one thing she would concede, it was that epic's invariably brought with them a lot of wear and tear, and did she just say they would be friends?

 

"Friends," she repeated, certain she had misheard. "You want me. To be friends. With Scribbler."

 

Was Lyla dreaming? No; she dismissed that pretty quickly. Scribbler wasn't the epic she had dreams about, but that wasn't entirely relevant. She was still an epic, still one of the absolute coolest people - coolest things- ever and Lyla had just been asked to be her friend?

 

"Yes," she said, her voice flat for a moment from the sheer, stunned prospect of it all.

 

It didn't last long, and a second later, her eyes almost literally sparkling as she split into a toothy grin.

 

"Yeah! We should all be friends," she repeated. "Besties! We're gonna be the closest, tightest, bestest friends foreverever!"

 

She looked away from Scribbler for a second, back to whoever-she-was. She really needed a name for that face. Most people seemed to react to epics with screaming, obeisance, or both at the same time. Someone who seemed to get just how cool epics were on the other hand? Those were a rare few, rare enough that (coupled with no permanent damage being done), Lyla was more than willing to ignore her... empathetic greeting.

 

"That's a cool cosplay," she announced. "Who are ya supposed to be? Regalia? I don't think she wears a bikini though. Actually, do any epics wear bikini's... anyway, cool costume!"

 

She went Hoed for a minute there.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Quiver

[Edgedancer he/him]

Shiny felt a bit guilty, watching the unknown girl’s cute back hunched over her camera, with the bones of her shoulders protrude like they were meant to grow into beautiful wings for a celestial being, the way her face was full of dedication and strands of dark hair framing her head like a dark halo… Sparks, it took effort to just not pounce on her again.

 

As she finished with her camera, the offer Shiny just made seemed to crawl itself into her mind. Eagerly she nodded at every word to reinforce their growing bonds, make them grow from a tender flame to a blazing passion that made happiness spread over their faces and streamed out of her new besties eye’s with all the sparkling of a passionate love.

 

Then came the time for personal introductions and… a Regalia cosplay? Did she really look like someone trying to imitate Regalia? Shiny couldn’t help but pout. Then she took her besties hand and softly made her caress Shiny’s stomach. “Come now, does this perfect skin really look like it could belong to an old woman like Regalia? If anything I’m dressing like Skinnydipper right now,” Shiny gave out a wistful sight recollecting the fun the two of them had playing in the pool over many a night. “Actually, I should introduce you when I get the chance, I’m sure she’d love you just as much as I do.

 

“But no my dear, I am the all-natural all-loving Shiny Sparkle, ally of all that is cute,” Shiny used her free hand to pull off her sunglasses and then pulled her bestie close by her waist, close enough that their noses were touching, Shiny’s eyes full of swirling color painting a canvas of passion staring directly into eyes of her new friend. The moment caused Shiny to sparkle, a red light spreading into the room from her bikini and a similar flicker of light originating from the girl in her arms. The light embraced them like a lover and Shiny knew again that this was indeed the start of a wonderful friendship.

 

“That’s my introductions. What’s the name of my and Scribbler’s new adorable bestie?”

[Quiver he/him]

If Shiny wanted to fan the flames of passion, she couldn't have done a better job if she tried. The lights that sparkled around the pair were downright rapturous.

And yet.

The flame that burned twice as bright was notorious for burning only half as long, and for a moment, it looked like Lyla's flame had been snuffed out. The energy seemed to have sapped out of her body, the grin she wore replaced with an almost empty frown.

"You're an epic?"

Her eye twitched, and the wildfire started.

"You're an epic and you wanna be friends and you have epic friends and you wanna introduce them and you're an epic and I kinda thought maybe you just changed your name to Shiny Sparkle 'cause it was cool but of course it's cool 'cause it's an epic name 'cause you're an epic and you're using your powers on me and that's so cool and your eyes are all shiny does that mean you have mind control powrs and are you using them and you're an epic and and and-"

And it was a good thing they were in a clinic, because at the rate she was going, Lyla was gonna to talk herself into passing out.

Sparks. It was so unfair. Why couldn't she even have 'not needing to breath' as a power? That was the only way she's be able to say everything she was thinking right now and-

And breath. And for Koeschi's sake, slow down. Shiny was an epic who wanted to be her friend. If she kept babbling, she was gonna scare her off.

Right. No ramble. Just be cool.

What did cool kids say in situations like this?

"Ly-Lyla. My name's Lyla."

She paused, stammered, tried to think of something to prove to the pair that she wasn't just another, run-of-the-manilla

"...Can I take your picture's now?"

Edited April 27, 2016 by Quiver

[Voidus]

Lucy Lockser blinked, then she blinked again in rapid succession. Consciousness finally managing to break through her stunned response as she adjusted to the newest element of madness to invade Doctor Games clinic. She sent the doctor himself a confused and mildly reproachful look as she was bombarded with questions and offers of photography, not sure who exactly this Lyla was but relatively sure that she should have been in a different kind of hospital. The kind with padded rooms and less excitement. Lucy was also somewhat surprised that the girl appeared to know her, even making use of the Epic moniker that Lucy barely ever used.
 

 

Nearby the squid seemed to share Lucys startlement, small amounts of ink leaked out as it regarded Lyla with a wary eye and Lucy was briefly tempted to try to use the ink to enable the both of them to get out of the clinic immediately. But no, she had a job to do and she was going to do it.

What's the obsession with photographs? I mean the only reason someone would want photos of Epics is if they were a spy. But isn't she a local? I swear I've seen her somewhere. And what's all that about friends?

The faint sound of an explosion outside also brought Lucy's mind back to a larger problem, the protection of the clinic and its occupants from whatever was outside.

 

Oh, maybe she's like a wartime photographer or something. That's a thing isn't it? And if that's it she must have gotten permission from the commander and HQ, I'm sure I've seen her around there sometime.

Lyla finally seemed to be winding down as she made another request for a photograph and Lucy finally managed to still her rising panic and confusion long enough to speak.

"A photograph? Well I didn't hear from- I mean I wasn't informed of anything but I guess if you need to?"

Maybe it would help keep up morale and confidence in Vondra, and it was Lucy's duty to help the Dalles however she could, whether that was through fighting Pandas or taking photos.

She stilled her tattoos that had been quivering across her skin, they had a tendency to do that when she got surprised or nervous, Autumn had called it an involuntary emotional defense mechanism or something like that, Lucy thought it was just her brain trying to literally make her skin crawl because it hated her or something.

"Uh... ready when you are?" She half said, half asked nervously. Not sure exactly where this girl ranked in the Dalles' structure or what her orders were but trying to be polite anyway.

[Quiver he/him]

'Ready when you are'. As if Lyla was ever not ready to take photographs of Epics.

Granted, it took her a few moments to regain her composure, a few more after that to get her camera ready...but then, she was recovering from a shock.

Scribbler -Lucy Lockser, whatever, her epic name was cool- Scribbler was letting Lyla take pictures of her. More than just letting her, actually.

After all, if Scribbler didn't want her picture taken, she wouldn't be letting her tattoo's move, right? Right. So she wasn't just getting her photo taken, she was showing off her powers too.

This is so going in my collection, she thought, lining up another shot. She's have to try and pass some on to Redlight, obviously, but...

Actually, did she?

She frowned for a moment, stepping back. Her eyes glanced quickly towards Shiny Sparkle.

Shiny Sparkle had epic friends that she was willing to introduce Lyla too. Redlight was an epic whose attention Lyla struggled to get. If she had the one, did she actually need the other-

Yes, she reminded herself sharply. Even excusing the traitorous notion of turning her back on an epic, there were all kinds of reasons to get in with Redlight. After all, Shiny Sparkle might have been awesome - had already proven herself to be really sparking awesome in fact - but Lyla rather suspected that of the two, Redlight would probably be the more likely source of information on the Deathless One...

The girl's grin grew broader. Well, that just meant she was going to need twice as many pictures; one for her files, and one to show to Redlight. And here, in front of her, were two Epic's willing to be photographed, rather than just enduring it.

A really photographic pair, too, she added to herself. Shiny's glowing power could look great on film, as would Scribbler's tattoo's. Of all the Epic's she could have befriended, these were, perhaps, the most perfect.

It was so obviously destiny.

"Okay Scribbler! Those are great!" Scribbler! She was on first name basis with Scribbler. How awesome was that?

Very awesome. In fact, really, there was only one thing missing.

"But hey, would ya be able to do more than just stand there?" she added. "I mean, you're an epic -these are gonna be sparking awesome either way- but they'd be cool with a bit more...you know. Oomph. Superpowers. Poses and stuff. You know what I mean, right Shiny?"

[Edgedancer he/him]

Shiny felt slightly overwhelmed at the sight of the two girls bonding with each other. Friendships between girls were such a valuable thing and it helped if one of them could satisfy the kinks of the other. She’d done well today, introducing these two to each other. It was even worth stepping out of the spotlight for a moment.

 

With an explosion of sparkles she stood next to the Doctor and nudged him slightly in the side. “Those two are wonderful together, aren’t they?”

“I’m a bit worried that the attention may be a bit too much for Scribbler but making friends seems like it would do her some good,” he said with a soft smile on his face.

“Of course it will, a cute girl like Scribbler deserves to be treated properly.”

“I suppose so. Thank you for going out of your way to get Scribbler that squid, by the way,” the doctor said while looking into her eyes and his smile growing a bit wider. Calamity, he really ought to be a couple years younger. He didn’t look like he used to be a stud but the thought of him as an exotic gentleman still made her tingle a bit.

“So, you wanted me to get Backtrack to help search your daughter, right?” Shiny asked, while brushing some of her hair away.

“Yes please, I… it would mean a lot to me.”

“Leave that to the lovely and perfectly reliable Shiny Sparkle then. Just to satisfy my curiosity, your daughter doesn’t happen to have inherited your-“

 

Shiny was distracted from finding out exactly how lovely the maiden she was to rescue was by Lyla requesting her support for the photoshoot. “Oh yes, we should absolutely add some oomph.” Shiny reached behind her back but stopped when she noticed Game’s disapproving look. “So I should keep this appropriate for children?”

He only gave a nod in response. He was an old man after all.

 

“Alright, then let’s start with something simple,” Shiny said as she teleported behind Scribbler. She took booth of the girls arms and raised them, so Scribbler ended up hugging the back of Shiny’s neck. Forcing the girl to stand up straight and display her slender arms with the ink crawling over them. With one hand Shiny kept Scribbler’s hands in position and the other one she rested on the girls hip, causing her clothes to sparkle.

”Scribbler,” Shiny started, “the camera loves you almost as much as I do and that is a lot of love. That are feelings you need to honor and reciprocate. Be bold! Be confident! Push out your chest and show us your true self. There’s no need to be embarrassed or hold anything back, we’ll always accept you, so just show us what you can do.”

[Voidus]

Lucy Lockser was beginning to realize this was almost certainly not a wartime photographer. It may have been the enthusiasm, it may have been the lack of any obvious elements of the war that would be in the shot, or it may have been Shiny Sparkle posing her like some kind of playboy model before whispering advice in her ear.

She sent a pleading look, first at her new squid who had slyly drifted outside of the of the shot and when that received only a blank stare she directed one at doctor Game who smiled back in an encouraging but sympathetic way.

 

I guess if he still thinks it's a good idea?

 

"Be bold! Be confident! Push out your chest and show us your true self. There’s no need to be embarrassed or hold anything back, we’ll always accept you, so just show us what you can do.” Shiny finished while sticking to her back.

We’ll always accept you? That's impossible you don't even know me. You don't know what I've done. She couldn't accept something like that, not even when Autumn said something similar. But then Autumn was a counselor, it was basically her job to say stuff like that.

So why was this new Epic, someone who Lucy barely knew able to say something so honestly? Why would she bother? What kind of motivations did she have?

So just show us what you can do.

Show them what she could do? The thought terrified her, but under the combination of the warm and safe smile of doctor Game, the insane levels of enthusiasm from Lyla and the insistent encouragement from Shiny she managed.

She stretched her power out thinly, causing a few of the words inked onto her skin to begin to peel off, drifting around her arms like the tendrils of some vine seeking sunlight.

 

"Like this?" She asked, actualizing a few of the words and causing a pair of small knives to appear in each hand.

 

A few of the more decorative lines of ink attached themselves to the hilt and with a burst of concentration she managed to actually lift the blades up with the ink. It took a bit of focus to move other objects along with the ink, and she had to make sure to apply pressure properly or the ink would slip off. But, well it did feel kind of cool to pose like some kind of superhero from one of those old comic books a couple of people still kept.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Late November, two years ago

Cold wind slammed against Koschei’s bloodstained shirt, freezing the cloth to his skin. It tugged at his cloak and threatened to push him back, back toward Reader and Frequency and the tattered remains of the National Guard. Back toward fifty more targets demanding his attention.

They would have it. Sooner than they liked, they would have it.

But loose ends always took priority.

The hunter—Remington—and that wife of his had fled in haste, not bothering to cover their trail. Snow always held footprints longer than fleeing parties preferred, and so it was simply a matter of following the prints heading in the same direction he’d seen them go. Koschei set off at a jog, cloak rippling, shirt clinging unpleasantly to his chest.

He paused after a moment, listening. The sounds of firefights and near surrenders had faded, though a siren’s wail still pierced the silence of the woods.

It wasn’t a snapping twig that gave the hunter away. Merely the rustle of boots against snow.

Koschei smiled.

He longed to draw his pistol and shoot with abandon until every tree was riddled with holes and Remington Springfield lay bleeding in the snow, to drag him and his wife back to their captive family, prove that all had been defeated. But he had only two bullets left, and he dared not waste them.

“It is pointless to hide from me, Remington Springfield.”

The distant siren faded to silence, its echo eclipsed by the nearer, muffled sounds of a forest in winter: rustling branches, crunching snow.

“Please.” Springfield’s voice shook ever so slightly. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“You’ve made trouble.”

“You killed my brother.” He paused. “But we’ll leave town anyway.”

Simmering anger approached a boil, warming Koschei against the cold. “Leave town? After that brother of yours betrayed me?”

The hunter was silent again. Koschei moved closer, following his voice.

“Why can’t you just leave us alone?” That was his wife, her voice trembling as well. Koschei drew closer. All he needed was a shot. A clear shot, a mortal wound for each of them.

“Just leave us alone, Koschei,” Remington said, his voice gaining strength as he approached surrender. Koschei would have found it amusing, had the hunter not angered him so. “Leave us alone, and we won’t bother you none.”

The Springfields, his father and sister and mother, belonged to Koschei. He held them like a winning hand. Remington knew it. His wife knew it. One word, one thought, and they would bleed to death before his eyes, and here this traitor’s brother asked for mercy. Koschei felt himself smile, and he was smiling when Remington peered out from behind an old hunting blind.

“I’m afraid that is no longer possible.”

Terror was written all over the hunter’s face. Koschei savored it the way he savored the first whiff of a fine meal. His smile deepened as he drew his pistol.

With a loud BANG, pain exploded between his eyes.

Koschei’s world turned black.


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

The first thing Koschei had learned about his resurrection was its speed. No matter how slowly he died, no matter how grievous the killing blow, he was never dead longer than a few moments.

By the time he came to, Remington Springfield and his wife were long gone.

Koschei’s chest grew tight. A heat worked its way outward, flaming in his cheeks and blooming behind his frozen shirt. He wanted to scream. He wanted to shout until his throat was numb, scavenge every last piece of ammunition until he had enough to cut the whole forest down and Springfield with it.

He hadn’t the time. Remington Springfield was free.

Koschei swiped his sleeve across his forehead, streaking the white cloth crimson. A parting gift from the traitor’s brother. The liar, who pled for mercy before fleeing as a coward.

He got to his feet, digging in his pocket for monkshood, only to find he’d used the last of it at the church, leaving him with an assortment of other plants of which he was less fond. He shoved a few dried oleander leaves in his mouth, cursing Springfield. Like monkshood, oleander brought a swift death. Its prelude, however, was far more unpleasant.

Koschei swallowed the leaves, wincing at the bitter taste, sinking to the snowy ground. Death first.

Then, Remington Springfield. Edited May 10, 2016 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[DeathClutch19 he/him]

    

 

Dwight stood a couple miles outside The Dalles. He and his men, weapons locked, loaded and ready to fire observed from a distance as Epics began fighting. Massive tentacles rose from the ground and rockets were flying through the sky. It reminded Dwight of the time in Afghanistan. But in all the years of his military service he had never been so unsure of what to do.

 

“Well boys, good news is I think there are survivors. The bad news, well I’m sure you can see the bad news” he said semi-jokingly as he adjusted his beret. Dwight looked through his binoculars and thought.

 

He spent about an hour staring at the battle trying to make up his mind. Go guns blazing into The Dalles? Or Stand Down and wait out the fight? Had he been even a year younger Dwight probably would have went all gung ho, but he was 67 now. He was too old and too tired.

 

Dwight turned to his men and stood tall “Well, were gonna wait out this mess, relax, hunker down and try to get some shut eye” he said as he let out a sigh and laid down “Oh and Johnson, your on watch. We don’t want that battle getting too close. Thompson will switch with you in 3 hours”.

 

The Day went on, and so did the battle. Well into the night the noises of war carried. But if there’s one thing to be learned in War, it’s that sleep is necessary so sleep when you can, no matter what

Edited May 13, 2016 by DeathClutch19

[Quiver he/him]

For a second, Lyla was silent. Except it didn't feel like a second, it felt like several days, and she wasn't saying anything, but that was only because she was running out of synonyms for 'sparking' and 'awesome'.

"That is. It's. Wow." She tried not to hear how utterly lame that sounded. "That is so.... and you're like wow, and..."

She couldn't contain herself any longer.

"I've gotta get a picture with you!" She hesitated -just slightly- before pushing her camera into doctor Games hands.

"Wait, better idea! Poses! Like, cross your knives at my throat, or act like you're gonna stab me! That'll look really dramatic and awesome, and can you do sound effects? Like with words? It's be like a real life comic book!"

Short reply. But I think Lyla has crossed the line into Cthullhu cultist levels of madness.

What kind of a maniac asks an epic to "pretend" to stab them?!

[Comatose he/him]

 

Had Taylor heard right?   Did Edgerunner really just tell Deathwish to get hit by a missile or something?  Taylor could not tell if she was being serious or sarcastic.  While Taylor was certain she could survive the missiles, and Deathwish obviously could as well, the vanilla she was playing definitely could not.  She wanted to continue working the relationship with Deathwish to see what she could get out of him, any vanilla would surely balk at the idea of being put in such danger?"  

 

"Ummm, did you say missiles?"  Taylor gulped audibly, and let some panic sneak back into her voice.  "You'll be setting me down before that happens, right?"

 

 

Brandon stared glumly down at his bowl of tomato soup and greasy grilled cheese sandwich.  After a night of being accosted by  a nosy epic telepath, a freaky epic-child with a monkey, and a contingent of the Dalles city guard, he was ready for some comfort food.  On top of everything else, the public housing projects rooms had not been comfortable, and the group room was filled to the brim with a dreadful combination of snorers, sleep talkers, and crying children.  After all of that, Brandon had woken up in the morning, feeling dirty and depressed, with no idea of what he was going to do about finding something to eat.  A kind woman on the street who said he had a nice smile had provided him with a coupon for a soup and sandwich at a local diner, and so here he was, staring at the tomato soup and grilled cheese.  

 

It's funny that I still think of it as a local diner, when every diner is technically 'local' now.  Calamity had made nation-spanning food and retail chains a thing of the past.  Brandon's stomach growled, and he begrudgingly dipped the sandwich in the soup and took a bite.  It tasted amazing, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, along with the remnants of the greasy sandwich.  On their trip to the Dalles, Taylor had him on a diet of lean proteins and vegetables whenever possible.  She ate whatever she wanted, of course, but it was important to her that he maintained his impressive figure.  If she caught him eating grilled cheese of all things, he'd likely be in for a scolding, but at least that would mean they were together, and he was back under her protection again.  Resolving to cancel out the extra calories with some crunches later when he found the time, Brandon took another bite of the sandwich, and tried not to feel so pathetic.