What Happened in Corvallis

[Blaze1616 he/him]

 

Seeing Mannequin arrive with IcyHot and Resistor, Buttercup jogged over to meet them. "No need to use Cornucopia's plants, IcyHot and Resistor are here," Buttercup spoke into her mobile quickly.

 

Returning Mannequin's salute, she ignored his use of the word liege, now wasn't the time to get snappy about trivial matters. "Good work," she replied, "Set up a perimeter using your puppets. I don't want this one getting away if IcyHot and Resistor fail."

 

She looked the other two Epics over. They seemed eager to help, which was a good thing. "You two, there's an Epic inside those winds. She seems to have the ability to absorb, convert, and expel energy in all its forms, including heat and electricity. You two need to work in tandem to get some of these industrial strength restraints on her. We don't want her getting away."

 

The two Epics nodded, heading off to grab the necessary supplies from the dump truck. Buttercup looked to Rainmaker and her sister. Today has been something else...

 

 

Blossom had stopped her ice breath, it wasn't helping any. Rainmaker seemed to have things under control anyway, and her chest's temperature returning to normal was welcome. Using her powers never bothered her, but it did feel weird. Hearing Buttercup's notification, relief swept through her. Perhaps now things can return to normal. Glancing to her sister, another Epic, a member of the police force, had also shown up. Blossom didn't recognize him, but if he was a member of the police then there was no reason to doubt him.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Blaze1616

[TheSilverDragon he/him]

pic to be inserted 'cause I'm on my tablet right now

Without the giant hail stone pinning her down, Converter was able to survey the battle ground. It seemed that they were in the middle of a run down baseball field. Part of the backstop was still standing, and she could make out were the bases were.

The air around Converter billowed and churned, but it never quite hit her. It seemed as if it stopped right before it even touched her. Odd. Converter stuck her hand into the air vortex, only to have it blown back. So it the wind doesn't touch me, just blows around me, Converter thought. Interesting.

Converter walked forwards, but she was prepared for the winds this time. She instantly started absorbing the wind’s kinetic energy when it hit her. She was at an impasse right now. She couldn’t move, because she was absorbing all of the kinetic energy, but if she stopped she would be blown back so she stopped moving to gather some energy for future use. Always be prepared, She thought to herself. I think someone important said that, but it doesn't’ matter who. I’m more important than them anyways.

A flash of something whipped past her vision, getting sucked up into the winds around her. She turned her head and saw a man throwing a blast of fire towards her head. What the spark’n, she realized what the epic was trying to do before she finished the sentence in her head.

“It won’t spark’n work,” she tried to yell, but the Calamity cursed winds blew her words away before they got anywhere. The bolt of fire was snuffed out before it could even get within three feet of her. Pathetic. She then watched as he was doused with water, and then shot. Spark’n pathetic excuse for an epic.

SHe was still looking at the pile of ashes that was that was left of the idiotic epic, when a loud thump sounded behind her. Turning around, she saw a large truck settle after being dropped. In the back were large chains. They think they can chain me up? I’ll burn anyone who tries to even touch me. Just then something large and white dropped in front of her and she felt something hit her back. Sparks, not again![/] Converter thought as giant hail stones fell from the sky to surround her. One would think that using hailstones would get old after a while.

Converter was crouched down again, and was getting really angry at Rainmaker. I will kill you she threatened inside of her head. I just need to get out of here first. She pushed her hands up against the cold block of ice in front of her, and started to absorb all of it’s heat energy. It didn’t give her that much energy, but it was something at least.

With her hands on the hailstone, she sent a jolt of kinetic energy into it, shoving it out of her way, and it knocked down the leaning backstop. She then sent her self after it, but at a slower speed. The winds around her knocked her back towards the three hailstones and before she could do anything, she was thrown into them.

Sparks that hurt she thought to herself as she got her wits back together after the hit. She immediately started to absorb all of the wind’s kinetic energy. TUrning her head, Converter could see Rainmaker standing there, watching her. She will die! Converter vowed to herself.

With the kinetic energy she had gotten from the wind, Converter threw one of the three remaining hailstones back at the weather epic. Lets see if she likes her own medicine. Converter thought bitterly. Movement in the corner of her vision caught her eye and she saw two people walked from the truck and started towards her with chains in their hands. A small contingent of what looked like store mannequins set up a perimeter around Converter. What in the name of Calamity? Converter thought. Why do they spark’n have mannequins?

The two Epics, at least Converter assumed they were Epics because Rainmaker didn’t seem stupid enough to send normals against her, got close to her and Converter readed herself for a fight. Edited May 23, 2015 by TheSilverDragon

[Comatose he/him]

 

Rainmaker allowed the thrown hail stone to pass through her as she shifted in and out of her cloud form, ignoring it for the annoyance it was.  She had noticed the epic react to the pain as she was knocked back into one of the remaining hail stones.  So she can be harmed.  Why the slam against the ice had succeeded where her falling hailstones had failed, Rainmaker could not tell, but any sign of weakness from her foe was a good sign.  

 

Rainmaker watched the epic carefully, reading to adjust her winds if needed to keep the epic in place.  "Move in with the restraints.  Cornucopia, keep an eye out for signs of trouble, and try to restrain her if she attacks.  If you can pin her down even for a moment with your plants, it may give Buttercup's men an opportunity to get the restraints on."

[Blaze1616 he/him]

 

Buttercup watched as IcyHot and Resistor gathered what they'd need to restrain the Epic still trapped by Rainmaker's winds. "Move in with the restraints.  Cornucopia, keep an eye out for signs of trouble, and try to restrain her if she attacks.  If you can pin her down even for a moment with your plants, it may give Buttercup's men an opportunity to get the restraints on." Rainmaker's voice spoke through her mobile.

 

Walking up to the two, she began tying weights to her ankles and waist, as well as theirs. If they were going to get through Rainmaker's winds they'd need to be heavy enough to not get blown away. As she finished, she looked at the Epics. "You two ready?" Seeing them nod, she grabbed them both by their arms, making sure to have skin to skin contact, and they began marching in unison towards the winds. 

 

If all went as planned, Buttercup's strength would keep them mobile with the weights in the wind, IcyHot's control over heat would negate any heat manipulation by the Epic, and Resistor would negate any electrical shocks she attempted to send their way as well. This all hinged on the three of them maintaining physical contact. 

 

Giving Rainmaker one last nod before moving in, Buttercup's breath whisked away as the torrential winds engulfed her. Taking a short moment for her and the other two to adjust, she had to breath more quickly to ensure the air wasn't stolen away from her. Once acclimated, they began their slow march forward once more.

 

Coming within a few steps of the Epic, Buttercup hefted the other two over and ahead of her. They had linked arms, ensuring their skin touched and allowing the use of both hands. They then moved in to restrain the hostile Epic.

 

 

Blossom's mobile buzzed softly in her ear as she waited for her call to connect. When the answer finally came, Blossom interrupted the greeting, allowing her irritability to bleed through her voice, in addition to her annoyance. "One of these days, Broadcast, your childish antics will get you killed."

 

"Oh-ho!" the reply sounded all too joyful, as though Blossom's annoyance pleased him. "Well,  happy to hear from you too, my liege. You seem to call me less and less these days. I feel like we're growing apart."

 

Blossom felt the urge to growl at him, give him an earful to put him in his place. She restrained herself, though. Even if she did rip him a new one, he'd probably just put her on mute to aggravate her more. Besides, he had called her liege. She loved that, even if she wouldn't admit it. The fact that he only did it to annoy Buttercup made it even better. "Your fake pouting will get you no where today. If you didn't know, we're in the middle of a crisis."

 

"Oh I know. Dreadfully awful. Just dreadful." his voiced was filled with fake concern. "What ever shall we do? At this rate, Epics will start getting picked off, right on the street!"

 

"Well, if we're lucky, you'll be the first to go. Now listen," she really didn't have time for banter.

 

"Oh!" he scoffed, interrupting her without any regards to her current situation. "You wound me!"

 

"Yeah yeah, listen! I don't have time for this! Can you confirm Bubbles's location?" 

 

"Fine, I see how valuable I am, you don't even have the time to talk anymore! Woe is me!"

 

Blossom kept silent. Sometimes the best way to deal with Broadcast was to simply ignore him. She watched as Buttercup approached the winds. Seeing her sister's nod to Rainmaker, Blossom held her breath for a short moment as the winds engulfed the three Epics. She needed to know Bubbles was secure. If Buttercup died, Blossom wanted to be able to rush to her sister should the need arise. She needed to know where Bubbles was.

 

Broadcast's voice broke Blossom's train of thought. "The car she's in just turned east onto 34."

 

Blossom nodded. That meant her sister was being taken to Bunker Beta, not Alpha. Broadcast wouldn't know that, though. "Thanks," she responded.

 

"Anything for you. Anything for you. Next time why don't you call just to tal-" Blossom hung up on the man, turning her full attention to Buttercup, IcyHot, and Resistor.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Blaze1616

[Comatose he/him]

 

Leila fumbled with her keys, praying that her father would not be waiting on the other side, sitting at their kitchen table.  "Listen Danny..." 

 

"I know, I know.  Just go downstairs, don't look at anyone, don't touch anything.  All your usual mumbo-jumbo."  Danny, oblivious to the fact that he had interrupted her, just gave one of those infuriatingly cheerful smiles of his.  

 

"I'm serious Danny.  No games like last time.  This thing between me and my dad; it's our business, and I don't want you getting caught up in it."

 

Danny rolled his eyes.  "Since when are you not serious?"  Leila fixed him with a flat glare.  "All right, all right, I get it.  No smart talk.  I'll head downstairs like a good pup, and wait for further instructions from my mistress."  

 

Leila scowled as Danny burst out laughing, wishing that her friend had at least one serious bone in his body.  Deciding that she couldn't reasonably delay opening the door any longer, Leila stuck her keys in and the door swung open.  

 

Her father was waiting on the other side, sipping a coffee as he worked on a cross word puzzle at the kitchen table.  

 

"You're home late," he said, checking the gold watch that Leila's mother had given him for their first and only anniversary.  

 

Leila waited until Danny was safely in the basement before responding.  "Daniel and I hung out in the library for a bit after school."

 

"Fooling around on the computers I suppose?"  Leila caught a slight grimace on her father's face as he glanced at the ripped boys' jeans, and baggy t-shirt she was wearing.  

 

"Actually, I was helping Daniel with his math homework."  Leila's glasses slipped down her nose a ways, and she pushed them back into place.  "We have a big test coming up, and he needs to be prepared."  

 

Leila's father studied her for a moment, letting the room go uncomfortably silent.  Finally, he spoke.  "So have you and Daniel made things official yet?" The way he said Danny's name made his distaste clear.  "You seem to have been seeing each other for some time.  I would love to officially meet him, instead of just greeting his back as he runs down the stairs." 

 

"For the last time, Dad, Daniel is just a friend, like he has been since elementary school.  Just because he's male and I'm female doesn't mean our unstoppable teenage hormones are pushing us together against our wills."  Leila adjusted her back-pack, and started towards the stairs.  "I'll let you meet him when you show me that can happen without you making things inappropriate and uncomfortable."  
 

"Let me meet him?"  Leila froze as she realized her mistake.  "This is my house, young lady.  Here, you don't let me do anything."  Her father was in the process of standing when a timer on the microwave went off.  Frowning, he looked down at his watch and sighed.  "Looks like my lunch is over, I'll see you after work.  I will expect you to be at home."  Leila's father picked up his blazer from where it was folded neatly over a chair, and headed out the door.  Leila waited to breathe until he was gone.  

 

Danny was waiting for her downstairs, pretending to check his email on her computer, even though she knew he had been listening to every word of their conversation.  Danny and his mother were best friends, he didn't understand that sometimes parents and children had complicated relationships.  To him, every fight or scrap between Leila and her father was some big tragedy that she needed to be comforted for, not realizing that was just the way things were.  

 

"Kind of weird how your dad takes his lunch breaks at, like, 3:15, just so he knows when you get home, isn't it?"  

 

Leila sat down on the couch nearby, shooting Danny a warning stare before she began taking out her books.  

 

"Ugh," Danny groaned.  "Are we really going to study?"

 

"We are if you want to pass English."  Leila had told her father they were studying Math because she knew it would frustrate his sensibilities.  To him, a young lady like Leila had no business being as good at Math as she was.  Science and Mathematics were male disciplines meant for Financial Consultants like him.  Leila was just lucky he still didn't force her into those awful pink dresses he used to make her wear, and that he had decided that sending her to those beauty pageants would be too embarrassing.  

 

"Fine."  Danny flopped down to the floor, spreading his arms and legs like he was making a snow angel.  "So, Romeo is from House Capumen..."

 

"Montague.  Capulet is Juliet's house.  Now get up, you know you don't learn anything if I'm just talking to you.  Let's go over the flashcards again."  

 

 

Euphoria blinked as the vision faded, and the world returned to black and white.  Looking to her side, she could see that Rainmaker seemed to have the situation with the rogue epic well in hand.  With IcyHot and Resistor, Buttercup should have the energy epic restrained soon enough.  

 

"Are you behind this one as well?" Euphoria asked, nodding towards the energy epic while ignoring the vision they had just shared.  She had given up trying to get anyone's attention.  Whatever Insight had done to her, she was completely incapable of being perceived by anyone besides him.  

 

Insight, as he now called himself, shook his head.  "No.  It's amazing, isn't it?  Just look how quickly things begin to fall apart without you.  Soon nothing will remain of this wretched place but dust and memory."  Insight fell silent for a moment, no doubt contemplating what he had just seen in Euphoria's past.  Calamity was cruel indeed to give such a power to a man like Insight.  Euphoria had to stop him before he could uncover too much, and ruin everything.  

 

"I wouldn't be so certain," Euphoria began, trying to distract Insight from his thoughts.  "Rainmaker is powerful.  Many epics like her rule through fear alone.  Look at the Diamond Queen in Astoria.  Lucentia has created an incredible alliance of powerful epics through will and force alone.  What's to stop Rainmaker from doing the same?  She still has Cornucopia to supply the city, and the other Queens to help control it.  All you've done is to provide her with a set-back."  

 

Insight smirked.  "Rainmaker is no Lucentia, and Corvallis is not Astoria.  Your fellow rulers have grown lazy, relying on your power to keep the population complacent.  True, we might need to help things along here and there, but you, my terrible Enslaver, are the the lynch pin that held this beautiful little nightmare together.  Without you, things will fall apart eventually.  The only question left is how and when."

 

Euphoria prepared to respond, but stopped when Insight held up a hand.  "No more talk.  We have more work to do."   

[Blaze1616 he/him]

 

As IcyHot and Resistor closed in, Buttercup focused her gaze on the trapped Epic. She seemed angry, furious even. She was watching the two Epics coming to restrain her like a predator watches prey, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Buttercup watched as the girl's eyes widened in shock when her powers didn't work.

 

Relief washed over the Queen. She had been worried that Blossom and Cornucopia were wrong about the girl's powers, worried that she'd lose two more Epics from her police force. That hadn't happened, and after the initial shock subsided, the Epic began fighting back, but it was too late, the restraints were mostly on.

 

As IcyHot and Resistor finished, they began to slowly back away, the Epic left to sit in her restraints and fume. She had calmed down, no longer violently trying to escape, but rather sitting there, eyes looking towards Rainmaker. Buttercup's gaze was drawn to the girl's eyes. They blazed with hatred, a fury unlike any Buttercup had seen before. She gasped softly for air, a chill running down her spine.

 

It was in that moment, staring at pure and unadultered anger, that Buttercup knew. They had won this fight, but they were far from winning the war.

 

 

Bubbles hummed as they drove along. She couldn't explain why, but she liked driving down 34. She enjoyed watching Corvallis fall away, and the farmland open up. She knew this area had, prior to Calamity, been filled with both farmland and neighborhoods, but that had all been flattened to give Cornucopia the space she needed. Cars and barrels of fuel grew side by side; industrial materials like chains, wire, and steel sheets grew in the next plot over; flat screen televisions, blu-ray players, and movies, titles by the thousands, grew in the following plot after that.

 

She found it calming, watching the vanillas work. Sweat glistened from their skin, far brighter than usual due to the field lights shining bright, allowing the workers to continue into the night. She turned to look at her drawing of Denver. It was no longer burning, and instead was being attacked by a flock of giant Pterodactyls, with one flying away clutching a whole building in its feet. Bubbles didn't know how plausible that was, the building staying whole and all. She did know, however, that she didn't care.

[Comatose he/him]

 

Rainmaker supervised as the energy epic was chained, and watched as the heavy chains were anchored to the ground.  Buttercup's security team worked quickly, wearing insulated suits to avoid being fried by any electrical currents coursing through the metal.  For the moment, if you ignored the fury in her eyes, the rogue epic seemed restful, watching and waiting for an opportunity to escape.   Rainmaker readied more hailstones to block her path should she try.  Rainmaker also applied a downward wind on the chain wherever her workers were not handling it, to prevent the epic from sending it flying as she had those hail stones.  

 

Finally, after a couple of close calls where Rainmaker had to step in to help subdue the epic again, the chains were anchored and tightened, trapping her in place.  One of the workers had his arm broken by a chain moved with kinetic energy, but otherwise, they had kept casualties in the later half of the attack to a minimum.  Rainmaker gave instructions to have a shelter built around the epic's area over night, so that once the sun rose behind Rainmaker's clouds, they could limit the amount of energy she could gain.  Once preparations were under way, Rainmaker made sure the bubble of freezing air was still in place around the epic, and then turned to leave.  She would return once the sun shelter was completed, to place protective winds around the make-shift prison, but for now the guards would have to suffice.  With epics to help, the construction of the sun shelter would not take long.  

 

Rainmaker landed back on the stage, feeling exhausted from the long day, and from all of the instructions she had been forced to give.  She was unused to coordinating her people directly, and her irritation with their inability to read her mind was evident.  Losing Euphoria was more than just a blow to the peace in Corvallis.  The loss of her administrative capabilities was a loss to Rainmaker as well.  

 

Rainmaker motioned for the remaining Queens, Buttercup, Cornucopia, and Blossom, to gather around her.  "It seems we have the situation in hand for the moment.  Now, it is time to decide our next move.  I cannot continue to be bogged down trying to explain my wishes to these simpletons.  For the short term, we will need to find a suitable replacement to perform Euphoria's administrative duties.  We also need to work out a plan of action to track down the other epics involved in the attack tonight, and for locating Euphoria.  Is there anything else you think we should add to the agenda?"

[Blackhoof]

Iconoclast walked through the streets, not running as he had before. Despite his desire to get back to Firefly's house, sprinting through the groups of vanillas and Epics returning to their own homes would have been too conspicuous given the skirmish at the riot. He needed to remain discreet.... For now at least.

Suddenly he overheard a few nearby vanillas talking about some fire Epic and energy Epic that had attacked after the "weird beast Epic" had been killed. Iconoclast's ears piqued, and he turned to the group. "More Epics? Thank Calamity I got out if there before they showed up, eh?"

The vanillas turned to him. "You sure are! One nearly got Robbie here. Well, thank goodness Rainmaker and her Queens killed that fire Epic and trapped the other." Interesting.... An energy Epic could make a useful ally. Iconoclast faked a smile and nodded, before leaving the conversation.

It took at least an hour to get back to the house. So many vanillas around, but he resisted the urge to kill or turn them. That was for tomorrow. Tomorrow, he would release the ghouls in his cellar and go out to those fields. The field workers he had passed looked like the type that would need a little more.... Freedom. Thry would be the first to rebel against Rainmaker and her tyranny. He would help them. "I'm such a good Epic" Iconoclast said aloud to himself, as he opened the door. Settling into Firefly's former bedroom, Iconoclast fell fast asleep, smiling at the thoughts of how many people he could kill tomorrow.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Blackhoof

[The Honey Badger he/him]

Scott quietly knelt down, he pulled out the small two part stand. It Clicked. Tonedeath leapt up and whirled around the sound illuminating Scott in his vision. Tonedeath whipped out his pistols, raising both simultaneously. Scott picked up the rifle manually and got a shot off. Tonedeath, anticipating this, had thrown himself to the side the moment before. Larry sprinted down to the inside. Tonedeath raised his pistols and began firing. Bullets began to shatter the plaster around him. Why did I ever think this was a good idea, Scott thought as he raised the rifle for possibly the last time. A bullet caught him in the leg as he pulled the trigger. Despite the pain, he saw Tonedeath crumple to the ground.

Larry, emerging from the lower level, saw this last part happen. He roared with rage and cast aside the massive machine gun he had just retrieved and disappeared back into the building. Scott took the opportunity to begin pulling himself away, his foot useless. Larry reemerged, this time brandishing an old RPG back from the United States days. Larry quickly aimed and fired a shot.

Fire, Pain, then Darkness.

 

Larry's Narrative

 

The roof of the building across from Larry exploded in flames. The assailant no longer a threat. Larry threw the gun to the ground, he raced over to Tonedeath’s side, without him he had no protection, no layer separating him from the rabble in that crowd, carelessly slain by an Epic’s hand. The shot had caught Tonedeath in the upper hip, almost gut. The armor piercing round shaved through Tonedeath’s chest plate, as the name implied. Blood already soaked his clothes and leaked onto the ground. 

Larry jammed in his earpiece, “Medic, we need a medic, I am at the apartments on Crystal lake Drive. Epic down, repeat Epic down. Tonedeath had taken a gunshot to about the stomach.”

Larry, remembering some first aid, tried to apply pressure on the wound and the like. But he knew that if real help didn’t arrive soon Tonedeath wold be dead, and soon after Larry would follow. 

Edited June 11, 2015 by The Honey Badger

[Tyson]

 

One year ago

 

Gunsmoke arrived in Corvallis with little more than the clothes on his back, the cigar in his mouth and the vague outline of a plan.

 

Stage one, conquer a city. Stage two, conquer the world. It was nothing fancy, Gunsmoke hated overcomplicating matters. In his mind, the two points of his plan was more than a sufficient start. It left ample room for improvisation and fewer chances of things going wrong. There’s no wrong decisions when you don’t have a plan, he told himself. Just detours.

 

The city itself seemed like the perfect place to begin. It was sustainable, defendable and most importantly, vulnerable. The Queens maintained their reign through manipulating the citizens rather than raw power. It worked well enough, he admitted as he looked around the bridge. Refugees, both human and Epic alike, mingled in an orderly crowd, waiting patiently for Rainmaker to make her entrance, to grovel beneath her radiance and make a new life in a seemingly pleasant city. Gunsmoke brushed the grip of his revolver in distaste. It was all so smokin’ perfect.

 

A platform was set up partway down the bridge, forming the official gateway into Corvallis. A mixture of bureaucrats and law enforcement officers stood on the raised platform watching the crowd and writing notes down on clipboards held tight against their chests. Here to, humans and Epics shared job roles. He could pick them out so easily. How they stood. How they held their weapons. Most of all it was in their eyes. They watched the crowd intently, where the dark shades of fear lurked behind the eyes of humans, Epics watched everyone with a sense of paranoia, as if they expected Steelheart himself to attack at any given moment.

 

Thunder rumbled in the distance, a strange sound on such a clear day, and one by one people began to turn their eyes skyward, a growing murmur of excitement running through the crowd. Gunsmoke watched as nervous frowns were replaced with smiles on the crowds lips. He narrowed his eyes. Someone’s playing with emotions, he thought, scrutinizing each Epic on the platform with renewed interest.

 

Another bout of thunder pulled his attention back to the sky, where a cloud coalesced in the air directly above the bridge, momentarily casting a shadow over the audience. People pushed against each other, though the humans wisely left Gunsmoke a circle of space. A single, golden ray of sunlight broke through the blanket of cloud and cast its light at the centre of the platform.

 

Then she came. The personification of sun and snow, wind and water, thunder and lightning. Rainmaker fell from the sky, illuminated by the single ray of sunlight, her arms stretched wide and faint rainbows trailing her fingers.

 

Smiles of nearby humans widened. Excitentment buzzed among the crowed as they watched Rainmaker descend. Gunsmoke watched, not in awe, not in respect, he watched for weakness. If this city would be his, the Queens would have to fall. A chorus of cheers rose in the crowd as humans called to Rainmaker, begging for her blessing. A small girl nearby broke into laughter as her father lifted her onto his shoulders. Gunsmoke had twiched to his revolver, sweat beading his forehead and his hands shook in anger. The urge to kill rising inside him.

 

Humas shouldn't act like this. They should cower and hide and keep their lips closed. It all felt so wrong. Unatural.

 

Wind buffeted the crowd as Rainmaker’s feet touched the platform and she began her welcoming speech, but Gunsmoke looked past her, focussing instead on the sharp suited bureaucrats and uniformed police force that had greeted the refugees on the bridge. Rainmaker didn’t hold the power here, he realized. Corvallis wasn't ruled with forks of lightening and torrents of wind. Corvallis was ruled with joy.

 

There was a dangerous Epic here. An Epic more dangerous than any of the other Queens. An Epic that must be killed.

 

And just like that, Gunsmoke had formed the next part of his plan.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Tyson

[18th Shard he/him]

Phoenix struggled in the darkness, the void consuming him, the darkness burning his very essence. He was burning, always burning, consumed, yet still on fire, his flesh devoured by tongues of lightless flames. A small orange flame ignited above his chest, tiny and insignificant compared to his pain, but he stared at it. The darkness receded around the flame, blazing bonfires erupting, pushing back the dark. Phoenix yelled, sensations returning to his senses, the night sky gleaming above him. Phoenix looked around at the charred circle around him, the startled guards drawing guns, the beautiful life and light around his ashes. He breathed deeply and held out both hands, a column of white-hot flames surrounding him, cocooning him from the dangers outside. A gunshot went off, but the bullet melted away, the metal droplets falling over the ground. Phoenix turned in a circle, searching for a way out. He spun, looking at the puppet-like guards. They continued to fire bullets ineffectually at him, metal splashing on the ground. Can't get out, gotta leave. I won't be killed again, I won't. Phoenix glanced at the energy Epic restrained, then turned away. As he held out both hands, the column flared, expanding to nearly double its size, burning so bright it was hard to look at. Singeing guards and trees alike, it morphed into a figure that roughly resembled him, holding a flaming sword. "Die, humans!" Phoenix screamed, then turned and ran, hoping against hope that the giant, flaming him would distract them. It swung its massive sword as he jumped behind a tree, then ran for his life. Fortunately, he had run track in college. He ran as fast as he could, adrenaline pushing his feet over the rough ground into the trees, guards scrambling behind to find where he'd gone. Phoenix sprinted into an apartment complex, stopping behind an old man opening his door. Phoenix grabbed the elderly man, wrenching the key from his hand, burning the man into thin air with his offhand. He twisted the key, slamming the door behind him. Safe, for now, he heaved in relief.

  

Jumpdrive leaned back in his chair, careful to keep his bare feet on the ports below. His office in the Valley Library basement had a new floor-to-ceiling screen on one side and several massive, high tech hard drives on the other. Remote controls for scores of toy helicopters, cars and bugs that he had placed all over the city sat on the third wall, each labeled in order. Wires coiled around the walls and floor, connecting every device to his computer desk, the flatscreen on the fourth wall displaying a single video at half-time. Information streamed into his mind in tiny 0s and 1s, recording the spy cameras' footage from all over the city, but the footage in front of him held his attention. He hit the replay button, slowing the movie down to quarter speed. "Legolas clearly miscounted, he clearly killed two Orcs with that arrow - he should be tied with Gimli at this point." Opening the proper folder in the Corvallis Archives, Jumpdrive added the new entry onto the note, then closed the file. He spun back toward the large screenwall, looking at the field where Epics had attacked earlier. The Queens had moved earlier to the far side of the park - no point in discussing what to do with enemy Epics nearby. "Still nothing," he sighed, boredom evident on his face. "Pretty lame fire Epic, no prime invincibility or healing. And this energy Epic seems contained pretty well. No way she can burn through tungsten - it's melting point is like 6191 degrees Fahrenheit. Wikipedia said that tungsten was a hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as a metal in 1783. The free element is remarkable for its robustness, especially the fact that it has the highest melting point of all the elements. Also remarkable is its high density of 19.3 times that of water, comparable to that of uranium and gold, and much higher (about 1.7 times) than that of lead. I should probably check to see if it's been changed though. I might be wrong." Jumpdrive shuddered. Nothing was worse than outdated information - well, almost nothing. There was that pesky weakness, which - suddenly, the fire Epic's ashes burst into orange flames, flames that formed into a human figure in a massive explosion, then a column of fire absorbing the bullets the Mannequins fired. "And nevermind, he's got reincarnation. Phoenix, fire, reincarnation - should have known better. There goes my afternoon." Then the column burst even brighter, frying the camera. Jumpdrive spun his chair over to his remote wall - man, this chair is great - and grabbed a remote for a helicopter with an infrared scanner. It flew over the field, but there was nothing. "Where could he have gone?" Jumpdrive mused, helicopter flying by the ashes on the ground. Sir, someone escaped from the column of fire, a woman's voice sounded in his ear. Locator, his personal AI hallucination, hovered over his shoulder. "What?!" Jumpdrive said. "Replay the video feed, I wasn't paying attention." Locator nodded, and Jumpdrive closed his eyes, imagining that his eyelids were tiny projector screens. The video feed he'd been recording played in his mind. Jumpdrive watched as the last footage from the burnt camera played in his mind. "Hold it," he said, and the video paused. Jumpdrive carefully zoomed in on the column where a dark shape was making its way out the back side. He tried to enhance the image, but the flames interfered with any clear image. He sat back in his chair, studying the image. He's running toward the treeline, but he's got to hide somewhere. Jumpdrive mentally opened his files on nearby residents, then called the police. "Please check each house and register who is in there. Send me the photos of each resident in the area when you're done." Jumpdrive opened his dossier of known facts on Phoenix and added "Reincarnator", then leaned back and waited for the police to finish their searches. It was going to be a long night.

[Tyson]

Present Day

The church was nice. High ceilings, stained windows, dark mood. Gunsmoke had been given the building on his first day in Corvallis. A home to match your power level, they had told him. It was large enough to house fifty human servants, ten large dogs and sixteen statues of Jesus Christ, which Gunsmoke had lined up next to the pulpit like some kind of blasphemous shooting range. It was a nice place to live. Even so, the grey stone walls had begun to feel more like a prison every day.

Rainmaker didn’t trust him, none of the Queens trusted him, it would seem. So they give him a big church, supplied servants as fast as he could shoot them and gave him pointless duties just to keep Gunsmoke away from real city affairs. It was so frustrating.

He had come to Corvallis to conquer; instead they had caged him like a feral beast, left him to prowl the hallowed halls of his church like the devil himself, plotting some way to take their power. Even more frustrating was the weather. Sunshine. Every day, more smokin’ sunshine. It’s like the city had never heard of variation. You can, he had most definitely decided, have too much of a good thing. Yet the blasted woman named herself Rainmaker, the irony. Tonight, though, was different. Gunsmoke paused halfway down a hallway and glanced out a large stained glass window with a smile.

Rain.

How long had it been since he last saw droplets running down windows? Or listened to the patter it made on tiled roofs? How long had it been since Rainmaker’s mood had soured? Excitement sent a shiver down the back of his neck. Genuine excitement, none of Euphoria’s synthetic crap. He had forbidden his servants from their weekly doses, unwilling to allow the Queens even an ounce of influence over his subjects.

Turning away from the window, Gunsmoke hurried along the corridor, his footsteps leaving echoes in his wake. A servant girl stepped out of a room with an armful of blankets and into his path. On a normal day, his revolver would he out of its holster in a heartbeat and a bullet buried in her pretty little face. She froze, wide eyed and expected as much, but Gunsmoke hardly noticed her, passing right by, his eyes focused on a door at the end of the hall. He heard her running down the hall, fear turning to sobs as she round the corner at the end. Maybe he would punish her later.

As he approached the door, Gunsmoke patted his jacket pockets for the old brass key. He always found it amazing how many different pockets you can find when ones looking for a key. Pockets seem to appear out of nowhere, playing a petty game of hide and seek. Giving up on the search, Gunsmoke continued his pace towards the door and disintegrated into thick black smoke. It flowed beneath the heavy door and squeezed through the key hole, reforming on the other side in the shape of a man. A moment passed before Gunsmoke’s features returned, a few faint fingers of smoke evaporating from his face.

He stood in a small, windowless room. Back before Calamity, it might have been where the church janitor kept his brooms or maybe a store room for bottles of holy water. If holy water came in bottles. Gunsmoke didn’t know. Gunsmoke didn’t care. Now it held only two items of furniture. A low, moth-eaten armchair, more holes than cushion, and a tall mirror which reflected the soft light of candles dotted around the floor.

Gunsmoke sank into the armchair and looked into the mirror. His own face looked back. Dark skinned and wide nosed. A dark grey trilby hid his greying hair, a black feather tucked into the band around its centre. His jacket was also black and slightly too small, revealing a silver wristwatch that should have been hidden beneath the cuff. Tight trousers and well polished riding boots completed his outfit. He looked good he decided, for his age at least.

Gunsmoke lifted his leg and lay a boot across his left knee, settling into the chair with a smug smile spread across his face.

“Boy,” he called at the mirror. Silence. The room remained still but for the flicker of candlelight and the frown of Gunsmoke’s reflection. “Malevolence.” He called again, attempting to coax the boy out of hiding by using his preferred name.

Gunsmoke remained the only figure in the mirrors frame. “I have a few Oreo’s” he called, remembering the half eaten packet in his inside pocket.

“I’m not a servant to be summoned,” replied an insolent voice. Something stirred in the mirror, a boy stepping into view. Gunsmoke resisted the temptation to turn around, he knew that the other Epic wasn’t really inside the room, but reflex is a hard thing to break. “Nor am I a child to be tempted with biscuits.”

Edited June 13, 2015 by Tyson

[Comatose he/him]

 

Rainmaker wrapped things up with the other Queens quickly, sending Cornucopia to prepare for the coming day, and Blossom to work on a media release spinning the attack in the Queens' favour.  She also replied to Chase's and Jumpdrive's messages, telling them both to keep an eye on 'Phoenix', and to have him apprehended should he attack again, or attempt to approach Converter.  Jumpdrive, of course, would defer to Chase if an order needed to be given, unless Chase was unavailable.  At the very least, it would seem that Phoenix reincarnated in the spot where he died, meaning that it should be easy enough to trap him, even if killing him proved necessary,  By the time she had finished sending out a security team to prepare to apprehend Phoenix on Chase's order, the energy epic's sun shelter was completed, and it was time to see that it was reinforced properly.  

 

"Clear the area!"  Rainmaker shouted, as she rose into the air once more.  She could not help but hear the obvious irritation and exhaustion in her voice, side effects from giving too many orders.  On top of it all, she still had yet to find a suitable replacement for Euphoria, and until she did she would be stuck coordinating personnel when she should be busy accepting her due rest and relaxation time as ruler of the city.  If I don't find someone to replace her soon, I'll get wrinkles from all of this stress!  Of course, Rainmaker knew that new wrinkles were the least of her worries, but focusing on one of her more frivolous frustrations made everything seem more manageable.    

 

Once everyone was back, Rainmaker blasted the metal shelter with ice, rain, and snow.  The shelter was made of sheets of metal bolted together to block the epic from absorbing light from above or any other angle.  The water in the sleet storm was meant to leak into the cracks in the metal, and then freeze, hopefully holding everything together better.  Next, Rainmaker dumped an avalanche of snow over top of the metal prison, freezing the entire pile over with an icy rain and careful temperature regulation.  Normally, piling snow like she was would insulate the inside, but throughout the process, Rainmaker kept the interior temperatures as cold as she could possible make them.  

 

The epic's impromptu prison now resembled as ice-coated snow drift.  Rainmaker hovered in front of the mound of snow, and then carefully began adjusting the temperature again, melting a tunnel through the snow and ice so that the small observation window cut into the side of one of the metal sheets would still be visible.  Gazing into the hole, Rainmaker could see nothing but darkness.  She resisted the urge to glow, and shed light on her defeated adversary.  "I hope you are happy in there, my dear.  I'm not sure how far your apparent immunity to the cold extends, but I will ensure you have plenty of time to sit and think about what you've done while you freeze in here.  It will take time, but eventually I will find a way to destroy you."  Rainmaker did not give the epic a chance to reply.  She rose gracefully into the air again, and placed her strongest hurricane-force winds blowing  several meters outward in every direction from the prison, to prevent any epic from attempting to aid her prisoner.  

 

"There we go." Rainmaker landed near Buttercup to admire her work from a distance.  "Keep IcyHot and Resistor stationed on watch here, and add an epic or two with enhanced senses or x-ray vision.  I'll have Jumpdrive increase his surveillance of this area as well.  If she breaks out of there, I want to know about it immediately."  Rainmaker flipped open her mobile, checking the time.  "When you are finished here, I'll need you to meet me at the Harrison Street Bridge.  There's one more thing we need to wrap up tonight before we get some much needed rest."  

[Tyson]

 

One year ago

 

It was wonderful watching the world tear itself apart. It induced a primal pleasure, the sort of happiness a small boy experiences when throwing a fire cracker into an ant hill and watching the tiny insects scurry around in frantic circles.

 

It was a pleasure Malevolence had learned from an old master, the day Houston melted.

 

Malevolence sat in his own little world, an eager observer, taking another bite out of his sandwich and giggling as he watched London being reduced to rubble. Not his own work, he might have given a few Epic’s a nudge in the right direction, he might have whispered greater ambitions into their ears, but Malevolence wouldn’t soil his hands with destruction. That was a hobby for men with lesser minds.

 

He sat crossed legged on an island floating in an abyss of blackness. Mirrors hung motionless all around him, giving glimpses into the real world. A bedroom here, a dining room there. They were windows for him. Windows into a world where London shook with the war that raged in its streets.

 

Popping the remainder of his cheese sandwich into his mouth, he pushed himself to his feet and walked away from his current window. The island wasn’t large. Maybe fifty paces in either direction, but hundreds of motionless mirrors levitated above the around, forcing him to pick a careful path or push them out of his way. In the distance, dotting the pitch black skies was other islands, suspended on nothing and connected by long, arching bridges each one lined with even more mirrors, large and small, round and rectangular.

 

A labyrinth of islands, bridges and mirrors filled the skies as far as his eye could see.

 

This was his kingdom. This was the Otherside.

 

 

 

Present Day

 

“Boy,” called the voice. It lingered in the air, waiting for a response. Malevolence sighed, crinkled his empty bag of Doritos and tossed the packet into a nearby trash can.

 

He sat on an island, a current favourite of his, legs crossed and back rested against a low bed that he had somehow squeezed through a large enough mirror. Pokémon red version hummed from a portable games console nestled in his lap, an unfinished battle between Charmander and Pikachu awaiting the next move.

 

“Malevolence.” This old man really isn’t going to quit, he thought. He could ignore the man, pretend to be occupied elsewhere. There were a million other places he could be, a thousand other ways he could be causing chaos, but something in the old man’s voice piqued Malevolence’s interest. Eagerness?

 

War was brewing in Corvallis.

 

Malevolence stood and brushed the creases from his shirt. May as well make it look like I’ve been doing something other than play games all day. He tried to straighten his hat and organise his stray hair in some semblance of style, then gave up. It’s hard when you can’t see your own reflection. Throwing his Nintendo onto the bed, he walked to a large rectangular mirror that hung motionless a few paces away.

 

“I have a few Oreo’s,” called the old man. Oooh Oreo’s. Malevolence hadn’t tasted Oreo’s in years. In was hard to come across such pre-Calamity delicacies these days. Cornucopia really did have an amazing gift. It was part of the reason he lingered behind Oregon’s mirrors. He idly wondered what he would do with such a power. Orange soda trees? Big Mac bushes? Fields of canned spaghetti hoops?

 

“I’m not a servant to be summoned,” he said, stepping in front of the mirror so that Gunsmoke could see him. The old man sat in his customary armchair, a cigar tucked behind his ear and a black feather poking out of his silly little hat. “Nor am I a child to be tempted with biscuits,” he finished.

 

I really would like an Oreo though.

 

The other Epic ignored Malevolence’s retort and tossed half a packet of Oreo’s towards the mirror. Malevolence reached out, pushing his hand through the glass surface as if it wasn’t there, and caught the biscuits. He pulled them back through onto his side of the mirror and quickly set to eating them. They tasted so good.

 

“Good news,” said Gunsmoke. “It’s raining. It’s smokin’ chucking buckets of it down.”

 

Malevolence paused halfway through a biscuit. “So?” he asked. A downpour of rain would have been a mild reaction from Rainmaker after losing her closest ally. He had been keeping a close eye on Euphoria up until…wait. Gunsmoke didn’t know. Cooped up in his little church, plotting his next attack on the Queens, he wouldn’t have heard the news.

 

“It means Rainmaker is angry, you wool headed idiot. It means something is wrong, it means…”

 

“Euphoria has disappeared,” Malevolence announced, nonchalantly continuing his biscuit.   

 

Gunsmoke almost choked. His eyes bulged and his words dried up in his mouth. The old man leant forward in his chair, fingernails digging into the arms. A few wisps of smoke rose from his trilby. “Disappeared? What do you mean she has disappeared?”

 

Malevolence shrugged. Surely the man had enough brain sense to understand the word disappeared. “Vanished,” he said. “She was there one minute, then…pufffff.” Oreo’s scattering from his mouth across the ground.

 

Silence enveloped the old man. He stared at mirror as if expecting a joke. Enough time passed for Malevolence to finish his pack of Oreo’s and wish there were more.

 

“And when were you going to tell me this?” demanded Gunsmoke. “You should have notified me straight away.”

 

“I got distracted,” he shrugged. “There are other places I can go. Other places to stir trouble. Portland. Astoria.” And it doesn’t help that you have smashed all your mirrors, all but this one. That was the down side of revealing his powers. Paranoid Epics tended to quickly destroy the mirrors in their homes. It was better if he remained a secret. London. Korea. Mumbai. They all fell without Malevolence’s meddling being realized. Oregon would follow. He liked to think of himself as the mastermind, the puppet master, hiding behind his walls of smoke and mirrors.

 

“We must act quickly if we are to take Rainmakers throne. The Queens must fall,” Gunsmoke continued.

 

We? thought Malevolence. There was no we. Gunsmoke had been trying to assassinate the Queens for almost a year, and each attempt only emphasised his incompetence. Besides, Malevolence didn’t want to rule. There was no enjoyment to be found on a throne, constantly watching for people trying to put a knife in your back. Malevolence had simpler pleasures. He wanted to watch the world burn.

 

“Your right,” he agreed. “We must.”

[Blaze1616 he/him]

 

Buttercup nodded at her orders. She bowed her head slightly in salute before leaving the High Epic's side, approaching IcyHot and Resistor. "You two!" she called. The two Epics quickly turned, clicked their heels, and saluted her.  She saluted them back before delving into their instructions.

 

"You two have a long night ahead of you. You'll both be staying here to keep an eye on the Epic. Take turns sleeping, and always be within arms reach of each other. If she tries to escape, it's on you two to stop her." She noted how their faces drooped slightly, a reaction she expected. "Promotions await you when this Epic is finally dealt with." That perked them up. Employing Epics in the security force, and having them serve alongside vanillas, was risky business. The vanillas were canon fodder, but the Epics proved useful on many occasions. It's only natural that they be the ones to climb the hierarchy ladder. Plus, promotions were great motivation.

 

Dismissing them, Buttercup watched as the pair walked away with a new bounce in their step. Hopefully they'd survive, but Buttercup wasn't so sure that the Epic would leave quietly. The fury that had been in her eyes left quite the impression on Buttercup, and her palms began to sweat just thinking about it.

 

Physically shaking her head to clear her thoughts, it was time to call him again. She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly as she dialed him on her mobile.

 

It rang. He never answers the first ring. And rang. She allowed her annoyance to grow, he always did this. And rang. Her annoyance turned to anger. And rang. When the answer finally came, she exploded.

 

"Hel-"

 

"Why in Calamity do you always let it ring forever before answering!" She screamed. She noted some of the people in her vicinity turned to look, IcyHot and Resistor among them. They all quickly turned away though as she gave them all the stink eye.

 

"Oh. Oh ho!" Broadcast was chuckling at her. Buttercup could barely contain the anger. If he wasn't so Calamity Rendered useful, she'd kill him. Kill him twice if she could find a resurrection Epic. Maybe even three times. "I must apologize, my liege. It is getting rather late, and you rang just as I was brushing my teeth."

 

Liege. He called her liege. Again. That was the last straw. Turning from the people, she bent slightly over and spoke very softly, her fury seething in her voice. "Listen here, you obnoxious man. It's been a long day, my patience has been tried. Harass me further, and I will spend tomorrow hunting you down and pulling your vocal chords from your throat, so that all you can do is use text to speech to communicate for the rest of your sorry little existence. Do you understand me?"

 

The line was silent for a moment, and in that moment Buttercup knew what he was doing. She knew what was about to come. She tried to breath, to calm herself down, but it did nothing to help the situation. 

 

"YES. I UNDERSTAND. MY LIEGE." It was the text to speech feature. 

 

Buttercup boiled in place for a moment. Biting her tongue, it began to bleed. She then released it, the flesh healed, and then she chomped down again. This repeated until she had let the line sit for a good minute. She could hear Broadcast chuckling to himself on the other side. He knew she could do nothing to him, he was safe, his protection stemming from Corvallis's need for his power. She could threaten all she wanted, but in the end would do nothing to him.

 

When the pain had dulled her anger, she spoke normally, as though nothing had happened. "Broadcast, I need you to contact Monokill and send her to the park. She's needed for surveillance." This was followed by another long moment of silence. He had probably expected her to react further to his shenanigans. 

 

"As you wish, my liege. Should I give her any orders?" Broadcast sounded somewhat defeated. Her anger completely dissipated at her victory over the insufferable man.

 

"Yes, tell her she is to aid IcyHot and Resistor in monitoring the energy Epic from the attack today. She can get further details from them." Buttercup heard the man's affirmation, and hung up. She didn't want him to have another chance to upset her.

 

Looking around to make sure she had addressed everything, a burst of green light illuminated the park as Buttercup took flight, heading straight for Harrison Street Bridge.

 

 

 

Blossom paced her own kitchen. Her brain was moving like a rocket as she pondered the edit to her written press release. The teapot began to whistle, so she paused her train of thought to pour the boiling water into a teacup. She rummaged through a cabinet until she found the tea ball. She filled it with her favorite tea leaves, and dumped it into the cup. She began to pace more, waiting a sufficient amount of time for the tea ball to steep. She then removed the ball from the cup and placed it in her sink, before relocating to her couch.

 

It was the comfiest couch, Blossom loved every inch of it. She sank into it when she sat down, cradling her cup of tea to not spill a drop. She sipped for a good ten minutes before moving, placing her cup on a coffee table and picking up a journal and pen, scribbling edits to the speech. She wouldn't sleep until it was done, and it wasn't done until it was perfect.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Blaze1616

[Comatose he/him]

"I'm sorry," Leila said as she handed Danny a mug of hot tea, "You know I'm not good with criers."
 
A radiant smile spread across Danny's face as he wiped away his most recent tears.  "Thanks!  That's okay, I'm just being a baby anyways.  I guess it just wasn't meant to be, right?"  
 
Leila shrugged.  Cassandra wasn't Leila's favorite out of the string of girlfriends Danny had acquired since they started University, but she certainly wasn't her least favorite.  "I guess not.  Can I do anything for you?"  
 
Danny took a sip of his tea, flinched upon realizing how hot it was, and set down his mug.  "No, I should be fine.  Just being a baby, as per-usual."  He fell backward, lying on her apartment floor next to the coffee table.  Leila, comfortable with silence, sipped at her tea, and began poking around on her computer, checking if a professor had returned her latest e-mail.  When he was heart-broken, Danny just needed time to process his emotions aloud.  Leila certainly wasn't good at consoling people, or at solving emotional woes, but she was an old hand at listening to Danny vent.  
 
"Man love sucks.  I just can't believe its over.  Things seemed like they were going so well.  What?" he asked, responding to the quirk in Leila's lips.  
 
"It's nothing."
 
"Leila, you don't need to shelter me.  Actually, if you told me right now that Cassie was an angel sent down just for me, and that's its all my fault things didn't work out, I might believe you, so a little harsh criticism might do me some good."   
 
Leila snorted.  "Fine.  Since you've had a bad day, I'll ignore the blatant sexism in your assumption that any woman's sole purpose could possibly be ''just for you'."
 
"I appreciate the sympathy, oh wise critic of man's failing."  Danny sat up straight, giving a mock bow.  Leila swatted the back of his head in response.  "Ow!  I thought you said you were ignoring my blatant sexism today!"
 
"I was.  But then you decided to use the word 'man' to refer to the entire human species, over half of which happens to be female."  Leila rolled her eyes and took another sip of her tea, preparing what she was going to say next.  "Look, I know you were 'in love' with her, but honestly Danny, Cassie was kind of stuck up.  She was always picking at poking at you, making sure your shirt's were neat, and that your hair wasn't stick up at odd angles, like she knew what was best for you."
 
"Exactly!  I loved that!  Being with her made me want to be so much... better than I am.  Isn't that healthy for a relationship?"  
 
Leila sighed impatiently.  "Perhaps.  But Danny, sometimes it seemed less like she was trying to make you a better person, and more like she was trying to make you less you.  Plus, your communication styles were completely incompatible."
 
"What's that supposed to mean?"
 
"Danny, you're a talker.  You need to process your thoughts verbally.  You ask obvious questions, not because you can't figure out the answer, but because asking them out-loud helps you understand better.  Cassandra, being the perfectionist she is, has difficulty going over the same problem or topic again and again.  Your talking made her impatient, and she wasn't good at sitting and listening to what you had to say."  
 
Danny frowned, thinking Leila's words through.  She could see him resisting the urge to rephrase what she had said in his own words, or to ask questions he already knew the answers to.  "I guess that makes sense," he said finally, obviously trying too hard to not prove Leila right.  "But that's just focusing on the bad stuff.  Cassie is amazing.  I mean, she smart and athletic.  She loves the outdoors, and is passionate about changing the world.  Aaand, we had the best conversations.  Like, about the meaning of life and stuff.  Sure, I guess we had some issues, but what couple doesn't?"  
 
"Danny, it's not that you had issues that is important, it's the issues that you had.  Common interests and conversational compatibility are fine and good, but if you can't problem solve as a couple, I'm sorry but the relationship is just doomed."
 
Danny flopped back down onto the floor, his tea remaining forgotten on the coffee table.  "I guess I just need time to figure things out.  Remember who I am on my own, and all that jazz.  You're probably right, and it will just take me a while for the rose-coloured glasses to wear off so I can see clearly."  
 
Leila resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  Invariably, a 'while' for Danny really meant until he found someone new to be the object of his affections.  Until that happened, Cassandra would continue to be the gorgeous and brilliant goddess he would do anything to win back.  Leila hated seeing Danny beating himself up again and again over girls who, through no fault of theirs or his, just weren't right for him.  She would have given almost anything to make him see his memories clear and objectively, without his cursed idealism getting in the way.   
 
"So, I need to get my mind off things.  What's new with you?"
 
Leila poured herself another mug of tea, ignoring Danny's still full one.  "You know, same old.  I'm waiting to hear back from Professor Hadrian about my latest assignment.  The rubric he gave us wasn't very clear, and the syllabus is of no help.  I need to know what he wants before I can proceed, but the man can't seem to find time to check his email.  It looks like it'll be two days of clicking 'refresh' until he gets back to me, and then an all-nighter to get the actual assignment done...  And what's that for?"   Danny, who had been rolling his eyes, froze in place.  
 
"Nothing, it's just you being you.  I sit down and pour my heart out, but all you're worrying about is school."  
 
"Maybe that's because I came to college to actually learn things, not chase girls around campus."  
 
"Come on!  I mean, I get that you have your priorities figured out and everything, but surely there must be someone you have a crush on, or have at least noticed.  I'm a bleeding heart here; give me the goods!"  
 
"All right, drama queen.  I know you would love it if I was falling head over heels for some Adonis in my stats class, but the truth is, I'm not.  Maybe some day, getting into a relationship will be important to me, but right now, it's the least of my concerns."  
 
"Well, it's not like falling in love is something you choose, Leila.  It just happens, like getting struck by lightning."  
 
"Maybe for you that's the case.  If it's true for everyone, I guess I'm just lucky to be lightning free."  
 
"But don't you get lonely?  Don't you want someone to cuddle with on a cold night, or that you can trust to be there no matter what?  Someone who you can see having a future with, so that you can build a life together?  I mean, I get that you'd prefer to write a paper for extra credit, but we're talking about love here.  Even though it hurts like crazy, most people agree that it's worth it."  
 
Leila let out an exasperated sigh and gave Danny a flat look.  "Look, Danny, I know that you view all of this love stuff as true, but personally I just don't agree.  You talk about feelings that overpower your sense of reason, and make you want to compromise yourself for another person, but I've never felt that way about anyone.  For all I know, love is just a fantasy people create to give themselves hope or something."
 
"You can't believe that!"
 
"I'm not saying I do, I'm saying that I don't know.  But honestly that makes more sense to me than putting myself through the emotional turmoil you go through each time it doesn't work out."  As soon as she said it, Leila realized she had gone too far, but it was too late to take it back.  
 
"So that's you think, that I'm doing this to myself?  That I choose to feel this way?"
 
"Danny, that's not what I meant and you know it!"  
 
Danny let out his breath all at once, blowing his brown curls temporarily away from his face.  "Fine, whatever.  Don't believe in love then."  Slowly, a sly grin began to slide across his face.  "That just leaves more ladies for yours truly."  
 
Leila rolled her eyes and turned back to her email, happy to finally hear the sound of Danny's laughter.  
 
"You should have seen the look on your face!"   

 
Euphoria's vision swam as the latest memory faded from view.  The field was mostly empty now, except for the guards surrounding the energy epic's prison.  She and Insight hovered across from each other, seeming to be the only spots of colour in a sea of black and white.  Euphoria still hadn't figured out what he had done to her, or how his power to view her memories worked, but it seemed like some sort of more powerful form of incorporeality.  
 
Buttercup strode in between them, close enough to touch if Euphoria had still had the ability to do so.  "Broadcast, I need you to contact Monokill and send her to the park. She's needed for surveillance." The words were muffled, as if coming from behind a closed door or from under water.  Monokill's a good choice.  It had been difficult, seeing the snippets of Rainmaker and the other Queens dealing with the situation without her in between memory sessions with Insight.  Either they were making mistakes she could have corrected with ease, or they were managing fine, and demonstrating how little they really needed her. Funny, when its my powers that are concerned, I'd rather be anything but important, but any threats to my management position and I'm up in arms.  While the thought was of trifling amusement, the moment of good cheer did not last long.  There was a reason why Euphoria didn't feel the same about her management duties as she did about her powers.  People weren't constantly trying to kill her because she was good at managing people.  

 

Buttercup took off suddenly, streaking off into the distance.  Insight frowned, before moving too fast for Euphoria's eyes to follow.  That's new, does he have super speed as well?  Before she could finish the thought, she found Insight's hand on her shoulder.  He was wearing gloves and long, tight sleeves, no doubt to protect him from her powers, which required skin contact.  Does that mean my powers might work on him, even like this?  

 

"Come on, let's go.  We can finish once we know what those two are up to."  

 

Euphoria snorted.  "You can't possibly expect us to catch up with Buttercup floating like this.  She's already out of sight."  

 

In response, Insight only pointed.  Following his gesture, Euphoria found Buttercup, hanging in the sky as if frozen.  Upon closer inspection, Euphoria could see the Chief of Security was still moving, but slowly, as if passing through molasses.  "You slowed her down?"  If Insight could affect time, then he was even more powerful than she originally thought.  

 

Insight smiled grimly, shaking his head.  Reaching out, he grabbed her firmly by the wrist, and started floating off in the same direction as Buttercup.  As they approached, Buttercup began moving more quickly again, but not fast enough to lose them completely.

 

Even if I can use my powers on him, he knows too much for me to surprise him like I did with Fast-Forward.  And even if I did escape, I'd be trapped like this until I starve to death.  At the moment, Euphoria didn't know what was more frightening, the thought of allowing Insight to learn more about her past, or of starving to death unseen and unheard in a city overflowing with plenty.  

 

 

 

Rainmaker landed on the Harrison Street Bridge without much ceremony.  She had made a quick detour back to her home to change out of her sparkling costume in favour of comfortable black pants, a fashionable top, and a dark knee-length rain coat.  Her skin still shone faintly in the darkness, but she did her best to keep it to a minimum, for once not wanting to draw undue attention to herself.  That would have to wait until Hypno and Buttercup arrived.  

 

Seeing Hypno nowhere, in sight, Rainmaker flipped open her mobile.  I'm here.  You know how I feel about waiting.  

[Mailliw73 he/him]

 

The darkness befit Hypno. It shrouded him in its shadows, shying away sneaky eyes. He had watched the riot today with glee. Action in town meant more work for him, work he enjoyed. Usually death work. Sometimes pain.

Knowing that Rainmaker was unlikely to ever provide a time until she arrived at the bridge, he had left his house as soon as the mess at the field had begun to clear up. He waited further down the river, three bodyguards around him. The other servants were locked in the house when he left, so that he could use his powers on others. One of the servants was Commanded to never let anyone leave until Hypno returned. He had never failed.

Twice today, Hypno had sat on this bank. First for relaxation, second for recruitment. Both gave him pleasure. As he saw a dim glow land on the bridge he stood and Commanded his chair and body guards to follow. The chair stood and followed, back stiff.

Hypno's mobile buzzed gently with Rainmaker's message. I'm here.  You know how I feel about waiting. He stepped on the bridge."I do." Her "undercover" costume didn't stifle her glow too much; Hypno thought she enjoyed the attention. Glowing skin was too much. A simple purple cape was enough. Enough to distract from sleight of hand, but not too much that audiences would stare.

"You have a job for me?" He asked.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Mailliw73

[Blaze1616 he/him]

 

Green light streaked through the sky as Buttercup flew to the Harrison Street Bridge. The wind whipped her hair, but she didn't mind. She really enjoyed flying, it was a blast to see the landscape pass by underneath you. Crossing over the Williamette River, she started her descent as she reached the Orleans Natural Area. Swooping low, she passed through the metal bars of the Van Buren Street bridge and came to a soft landing next to Rainmaker, her green light dissipating. Crossing her arms, she looked to Hypno, then scanned the deserted bridge before looking back to Rainmaker. What's going on? she wondered, confused by all the secrecy. Why else fly out to meet just another Epic? They were Queens, if secrecy wasn't the goal, Hypno should have come to them.

[Comatose he/him]

 

"Yes," Rainmaker said, reminding herself of Hypno's usefulness to avoid the urge to electrocute him.  "We are going to have ourselves a little interrogation, that you, Hypno, will be facilitating.  As you can imagine, the subject matter of the conversation, and the identity of the person I wish to converse with, are both highly sensitive, and I will be trusting in your discretion."  As Rainmaker spoke, she gathered mist, shrouding the entire city in a dense fog, leaving a wide swath of clear air around the bridge.  "When we leave her, I expect you to refrain from sharing what you have seen and heard with anyone.  Once the task has been completed, and you've assured me of your loyalty, I have your payment ready.  Do I make myself clear?"  Waiting briefly for Hypno's response, Rainmaker turned to Buttercup.  "Be ready to follow my orders.  If Hypno is unable to do his job, I'll need you here, ready to step in if things go poorly."  

 

Once she was certain her two companions understood, Rainmaker rose into the air, hovering a few meters away from the bridge over the Williamette River.  Taking a breath, she gestured upstream, creating  a powerful localized cyclone.  The winds immediately began to suck up the water from the river.  The rest of the water not caught in Rainmaker's storm, continued to rush down stream, exposing the river bed below.  

 

And there, with her mouth bolted open, staring up with undeniable hatred and rage in her eyes, lay the Iron Ogress in her chains.

 

Rainmaker had told Euphoria that her attacker had drowned to comfort her, and had let the city believe the same as a show of strength.  In truth, her experts had been unable to discover the Iron Ogress's weakness.  Noticing that her iron skin seemed to rust like regular iron, it had been proposed that they chain her at the bottom of the river to see if the rusting would force her to reverse her transformation.  However, despite her rusted skin, and the fact that her body must be full of river water, the Iron Ogress was very much alive and well, a secret that Rainmaker hoped to use to her advantage.  

 

Gesturing again, Rainmaker carefully manipulated her cyclone, bending the winds into an arch that spanned the bridge.   At the end of the arch, she let the winds die, so that the river water could continue down it's course.  Even with an exit point, Rainmaker still found herself having to constantly monitor the wind tunnel, as the full force of the river fought against her.  

 

"Let's get to work.  Hypno, I want her to answer all of my questions truthfully.  See that she does.  Buttercup, fly down there and remove the restraints on her mouth.  There's a lever I believe that should help you unlock them.  Then, stay ready and watch for signs of trouble." 

[Blaze1616 he/him]

 

Buttercup could not believe her eyes. Stepping up to the railing along the side of the bridge, she gripped the metal with a gaping mouth. Her shock quickly changed to anger, and her grip tightened, deforming the railing. She wheeled around to stare Rainmaker in the eyes, wanting to lash out and yell at the High Epic. Instead, she took a deep breath through flared nostrils, trying her best to keep the fury from her voice. "Why did you not tell me about this? I am the Queen of Security and this is exactly the kind of thing you should be telling me about!"

 

She closed her eyes to compose herself further, not expecting an answer, and slowly lifted off the bridge, floating down to the Epic trapped on the riverbed. Once landed, she leaned over, staring directly into the Ogress's eyes. "I wasn't there on the day you attacked. You should feel relief over that, because had I been there, I'd have ripped you limb from limb. If you so much as try to escape, I will personally crush you down to the size of a baseball, and keep you in a trophy case on my mantle." As she straightened back up to a standing position to look for the lever Rainmaker spoke of, she gave the Iron Ogress a rough kick in the ribs. "That's for Bulletproof, you slontze."

 

She had no idea if that would even hurt the metal Epic, but it was worthwhile. Finding the lever, she released it, and the contraption around the Epic's mouth released as well. Buttercup then flew up to wait a few feet above the river's water level. There was no sense in waiting on the riverbed when Rainmaker could easily release the river upon the Ogress at any moment.

 

 

Bubbles hummed softly as she brushed her hair in front of a mirror. The rest of the drive to Tangent had been uneventful, as it usually was. Uneventful, like her life these days. She stopped humming to let out a sigh, placed the brush down, and moved onto the bed, her comfy pajamas making the comfy bed even more comfortable. She squirmed a little to reach maximum comfort levels, then closed her eyes. 

 

There was one good thing about leading an uneventful life, she could draw just about any time that she wanted. The drawing she had been working on during the car ride, for example, was yet another beautiful masterpiece. The pterodactyls had been a nice touch, but she still hadn't been satisfied. The drawing became finished once she added in Godzilla.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

 

Buttercup's signature sapphire light briefly illuminated the bridge as she touched down. Rainmaker spoke, attempting to hide her irritation at Hypno. He grinned internally, externally keeping a sober face. He knew how and when to gently push her buttons. It did Rainmaker good to remember his use. 

 

Rainmaker gathered up grey fog, blanketing the city, but leaving the bridge clear as she explained the interrogation. "Once the task has been completed, and you've assured me of your loyalty, I have your payment ready.  Do I make myself clear?" 

 

"As always, milady, you are as clear as rain," Hypno responded. New subjects pleased him. 

 

Her next words to Buttercup soured his mood, "Be ready to follow my orders.  If Hypno is unable to do his job, I'll need you here, ready to step in if things go poorly." Poorly? His Commands never did poorly. 

 

The High Queen created a cyclone that exposed a surprise. Chained in the river was a large mass known to most as the Iron Ogress. Hypno raised a single eyebrow. The Ogress was supposed to be dead. But Her Majesty had her ways. 

 

Ignoring Buttercup's outburst, Hypno forced down the fury that came from Rainmaker again underestimating him. He wasn't a simpleton who needed every explanation expounded on; his powers would obviously keep the Ogress honest. After a petty kick, Buttercup opened the iron mouth. 

 

My turn. "Iron Ogress, Calamity urges you to turn from your fallen ways," he said. Sometimes, Commands were best kept simply at one word, but other times, the showmanship needed a free rein. Putting his power into his voice he continued, "You shall answer the High Queen Rainmaker's questions truthfully and to the fullest extent." He ended the Command and flared his cape toward Rainmaker, signaling her to begin. 

[Comatose he/him]

 

Rainmaker ignored Buttercup's miniature outburst, content to let the Head of Security go about her assigned duties.  Attitude problems could be dealt with later, when they were in less questionable company.  For the moment, Rainmaker felt no need to explain her actions.  She was a goddess, and had no need for accountability to lesser beings.  

 

"Iron Ogress!" Rainmaker called once Hypno's command was complete, "Do you know where Euphoria is?"  

 

The Iron Ogress seemed to resist for a moment, before shaking her head.  "I do not know."  The epic hesitated, no doubt fighting Hypno's command to give full answers.  "She is likely with Insight.  He planned to abduct her himself if Fast-Forward and I failed to destroy the Enslaver."  

 

Now we are getting somewhere.  "This Insight, is an epic?  Was he the one who ordered you to attack Corvallis?"  The thought of yet another rogue epic running loose in Corvallis was discomforting, but at least she was finally getting answers.  Both questions were answered with affirmative nods.  "Does this Insight have any form of base?  Some place he might be hiding with Euphoria?"

 

The Iron Ogress shook her head.  "No, he moves around.  His powers allow him to hide in plain sight."  Rainmaker frowned.  The ability sounded dangerous.  She needed to know more about her strange enemy.  

 

"What do you know of Insight's powers?  Why did he take Euphoria?  Is it likely Euphoria is still alive?"  

 

Again, the Iron Ogress paused for a moment, no doubt fighting against Hypno's compulsion.  Before she could answer, an unfamiliar figure appeared out of nowhere, dropped what looked like a lily on the Iron Ogress, before vanishing again in less than a second.   Could it be Insight?  Had he shown himself at last?  "Insight, is that you?  Show yourself coward!"  

 

The effect of the flower on the Iron Ogress was instantaneous.  As soon as it made contact with her she changed, re-assuming her human form.  The figure--Insight--appeared again, this time carrying two sticks in his hands.  This time, Rainmaker noticed that she could see through him if she looked hard enough.  That meant he was an incorporeal.  As Insight faded away completely, she heard Hypno shouting for the mysterious epic to stop.  It seemed like the command might take hold, but after a moment of hesitation Insight was gone, before she had time to react and strike at him with lightning or trap him with her winds.  

 

Rainmaker found herself beginning to glow with new-found anger, but was distracted by the Iron Ogress, who now had sticks piercing her head and chest.  Parting gifts from Insight.  Hypno continued to call out, but Insight did not return.

 

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed in the distance, responding to Rainmaker's fury.  The Iron Ogress was dead, killed while her weakness was activated, and with her, whatever secrets Insight was willing to kill to keep.  

 

Rainmaker took a few moments to calm herself before speaking.  "Well, we know more than we did before, at least, and may have gotten a look at our foe.  Hypno, you may leave.  Your payment will arrive first thing tomorrow.  Buttercup," as Buttercup rose above the water line, Rainmaker unwove her cyclone, letting the river continue on its regular course. "Get Jumpdrive and Reflection..." realizing that Insight might still be nearby listening in, Rainmaker stopped speaking suddenly, and instead, brought out her mobile and began texting.  "Get Jumpdrive and Reflection working on tracking down this 'Insight'.  Just tell them he's an epic with the power to turn invisible and incorporeal, and that he's an enemy of the city.  I don't want them knowing he has anything to do with Euphoria's disappearance, or where we got this information.  Once they've confirmed receipt of their instructions, get some rest.  Tomorrow will be busy."  Satisfied that her underlings could figure things out from there, Rainmaker took off, a flew towards home, eager to get some much needed beauty rest.  

 

 

Euphoria watched as the group at Harrison Street Bridge slowly dispersed.  After nearly being taken in by Hypno's initial command, Insight had sped up time to avoid hearing the rest, until he and Euphoria were both floating high above the bridge, and out of earshot.  

 

 It had been good to see that at least something could surprise Insight, even if he had managed to get things back on course without much trouble.  Evidently, he had not taken time to research all of the epics in the city thoroughly, and had not realized that Hypno's powers could be so effective on other epics.  If he could be surprised, that meant he could be beaten, Euphoria just had to wait for an opportunity.  Now that Rainmaker knew he was out there, she would start being more careful with her communications, and might find a way to locate them before it was too late.  

 

"Wipe that smug smile off of your face."  Insight appeared suddenly, hovering in the air next to her.  His voice contained hints of anger, even though his face remained composed.  He took her hand, and began tugging her towards the ground.    "Our night isn't over yet."  Yet another memory took over before Euphoria could respond.  This time, they came quickly, one after the other without pause.  It would seem that Insight was getting close to whatever he was looking for.  

 

 

Euphoria looked around, disoriented.  What am I doing here?  More importantly, why was she carrying her father's gun, and why was her outfit splattered with blood?  

 

"Leila?"  Euphoria turned at the sound of her name.  That's right, her name was Leila.  The name felt strange and foreign to her, even in her thoughts.  Her thoughts were fuzzy, and her recent memories were fragmented.  She wasn't sure where 'Euphoria' came from, but somehow the name felt right, far more so than Leila did.  Something about her old name was wrong, like a sweater that didn't fit any more.  The last thing she remembered clearly was looking up at Calamity, and being blinded by a red light...

 

"Leila?  What's going on?"  On instinct, Euphoria raised her gun at the man standing in front of her, pulling the trigger before she knew what she was doing.  Unfortunately, the weapon announced it was empty by clicking uselessly.  Stupid gun!  Euphoria cast it aside angrily.  When did I use all of those bullets?"  

 

"What the heck, Leila!?"  Danny was there, eyeing her with shock in his eyes.  "Did you just try to shoot me?"  

 

Euphoria frowned.  His expression was wrong, somehow.  The shock and fear in his eyes seemed unnatural.  Danny should have been happy to see her, everyone else in town was.  He should have a dopey smile on his face, and his eyes should be blank and trusting.  

 

"ANSWER ME!"  Danny lunged at her, attempting to take her by the shoulder, but Euphoria batted him away, retreating a few steps.  Why wasn't he happy?  The others all had been.  Others?

 

"I..." Euphoria's voice came out strained and weak.  That's impossible, I'm not weak.  Why was she having so much trouble thinking?  "Danny... I... I don't know what's happening."  Danny's flinched as she took a step towards him.  Why was he afraid of her?  He was supposed to be happy.  My powers.  They don't work on him.  For some reason, the fact that her powers weren't working was far more startling than the realization that she had powers in the first place.  Of course she had powers, she was Euphoria.  

 

Barely understanding what she was doing, Euphoria reached out with her powers, hitting Danny with a powerful does of positive emotion.  She had vague recollections of doing this before, and seeing people relax instantly as they adopted dazed smiles.  

 

"Leila..."  Danny remained unaffected.  He was... immune to her powers somehow.  Shaking her head slowly, Leila began to back away, terrified by the expression on Danny's face, and the look in his eyes.  What is happening?  Euphoria turned and fled, ignoring Danny's frantic shouts for her to stop.

 

*****

Euphoria sat in her room, trying to convince herself to kill her best friend.   She had gone into hiding, alternating between her childhood home, and the University Dorms.   Her father was nowhere to be found, and she could only assume she had killed him with his own gun.  The details of the time after she discovered her powers were still a blur to her.  She knew she had killed people, but not how many or who.  All she remembered is that she had tried to kill Danny by lulling him with her powers and then shooting him, as she had others.  But her powers hadn't worked.  Something about Danny had blocked them somehow, and though she didn't know why, that fact terrified her. 

 

After a week of secretly testing her powers, both on Danny and on other people, she was certain that something about Danny personally was making him immune, which meant that Euphoria wouldn't feel safe until he was gone.  As long as he was around, even if she tried not to use her powers, it was only a matter of time before an enemy epic tried to use him against her.  But could she really kill him, even for her own security?  This was Danny, the boy who had offered to be her friend when no one else was interested, and the man who made her laugh and had stuck by her all these years.  

 

Remembering those feelings of friendship and affection confused Euphoria.  Aside from the brief periods during which she was testing them, she had not used her powers much since they failed to work on Danny, but she was still having trouble piecing together exactly who she was.  She certainly wasn't Leila anymore, that much was clear, but was she really the sort of person who could kill Danny of all people?  Euphoria sighed, and reached for her coat.  She had been avoiding leaving the house except to test her powers, fearful that some of the remaining citizens of Corvallis would remember what she had done and would recognize her.  Nonetheless, she had to find Danny, and try to talk some sense into him.  

 

She wouldn't be safe as long as he was near.  If she couldn't bring herself to kill him, she would just have to find another way to ensure Danny was removed from her life, permanently.  Reaching for her phone, she texted him, asking him to meet her at the Crystal Lake Sports Field so they could talk.  

 

*****

 

"So you're an Epic now, huh?"  The sun was setting on the horizon.  They were alone, sitting in the middle of one of the soccer fields.  Euphoria's rending, if it could be called that, hadn't been the first encounter the city had with epics, and people were generally keeping indoors.  "I heard that the powers changed people, but I didn't realize it happened so quickly."  Tentatively, Euphoria reached out with her powers, hoping that maybe, they would work now that Danny realized she was an Epic.  Danny remained oblivious, his expression unchanged.  

 

"I can't believe it either.  Danny... I think I did some really horrible things.  I'm pretty sure I killed people.  I know I killed people.  And you were almost one of them!"  She had pointed a gun at him and fired.  How could he still sit and talk with her like this?  

 

"That wasn't you though Leila, it was the powers, or whatever it is that makes Epics go all evil.  I know you Leila.  You're a good person.  You would never have done those things if you were in your right mind.  It's like when an insane person or a sleepwalker commits a crime.  You weren't in control of your actions.  From the sounds of things, you don't even remember them."  

 

Euphoria frowned, biting her lip.  What was it that she was missing?  What was it about Danny that made him immune?  Talking with him, here and now, everything felt so natural, almost like they could pick up their friendship again and pretend nothing had happened.  And yet, Euphoria knew that their friendship would never be the same, not when Danny was carrying with him the key to her destruction.  She could never feel safe with him again.  

 

"Danny... I think you need to leave the city.  Get out of here.  I don't think it's safe for you, or for anyone to be around me anymore."

 

Danny looked at her, an incredulous expression spreading across his face.  "Are you crazy?  Leila, you're my best friend, I couldn't just abandon you, especially not after all that's happened.  The way I see it, you need more than ever.  Can you really expect me to leave?"  

 

"But Danny.."

 

"Nope, I don't want to hear anything more about how 'unsafe' you think it is for me to be here.  I'll deal with it, okay?"  Danny took a deep breath, and Euphoria recognized that he was building up his courage to say something.  "Listen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now, and with everything's that been happening, I feel like I need to tell you know, while I have the chance.  While Mom and I were away, and we started hearing about all of these people with super powers on the news... well, let's just say there's a reason why I was calling you pretty much every day.  If something had happened to you, while as I gone, and I had missed my chance to... I don't know if I could have forgiven myself."  

 

Euphoria felt shivers run down her spine as she realized where Danny was going. No, no, no, no,no...  "Danny.."

 

"Let me finish."  Danny cleared his throat, and Euphoria thought she caught a glint of moisture in his eyes.  "When I found you that night, and you were... you weren't yourself, and you pointed that gun at me, it really put things in perspective for me.  I mean, I think I've always known deep down, and I've been figuring things out this last while, but when it comes down to it, almost losing the person you care about most really forces you to confront how you feel about them.  And that's what I wanted to tell you: how I feel about you."  

 

Danny paused again, organizing his thoughts.  Reaching out, he took Euphoria's hand in his own.  "Leila, I think... no, I know, that I'm in love with you."

 

He's in love with me!  How could she have been so stupid?  Of course he was in love with her.  The string of girlfriends that never worked out, their constant debates about the nature of love, how could she have been so blind?  It had been naive to assume that Danny was different than other guys, and that they were actually just friends.  For all she knew, he had been actively hiding his feelings from her for years.  Their friendship had been one of the few things Euphoria had cared about, and then he had gone and ruined things by falling in love with her. How could she trust him now that she knew at least part of their friendship had been a lie, disguising his true feelings for her?  Furthermore, how could she continue on now that their friendship would never be the same?  

 

All at once, Euphoria realized just how much the thought of Danny's love terrified her, and that she had been actively avoiding evidence of his feelings for years, all in the hopes that her suspicions were wrong and that their friendship was exactly what it seemed.  And now, after years of looking the other way when he made a flirtatious comments, her worst fears had been realized.  Danny was in love with her.  

 

And that was why her powers didn't work on him.  

 

The two sat in silence, staring into each other's eyes.  The expectation in Danny'e eyes terrified her.  She had to run, to flee, escape before something worse happened.  If she left now, maybe she could forget everything that had just happened, and they could go back to being friends again.  

 

Only, they couldn't go back to being friends.  As long as Danny loved her, he provided proof that Euphoria's powers had a flaw that could be exploited.  He was living evidence that she had a weakness.  As long as he was there, loving her, she would never be safe.  She might not be able to bring herself to kill him, but if she was going to ensure he could never be used against her, she would have to make him stop loving her, and then make sure he stayed away.

 

"I know it's a lot to take in."  Danny finally looked away, staring at his hands, which were playing with the grass.  "And, obviously, if you don't feel the same way... I mean, that's fine.  We can get through it.  I just wanted you to know, I guess. And there's lots of time.  If you aren't ready right now, just change the topic and we can chat more later, when you're ready"  Danny chuckled, forcing a grin.  "Look, if you could say something and break this tension, that would be great, but your silence is kind of killing me."  

 

For a moment before Euphoria gathered the courage to speak.  "I've... I've been afraid to ask, but is your mother... is she..."

 

Danny's eyes widened.  "No Leila!  She's fine!  She was with me on our trip.  When I found you... we'd just gotten back."  Danny shivered at the thought of her killing his mother.  Euphoria tried her powers again, but still they had no effect.  She'd basically just admitted that she could have killed his mother, the most important person in his life, and still he was in love with her.  

 

"I... I need to go."  Euphoria stood suddenly.  She needed time to process, and to plan her next move.  "I... I shouldn't have come here."

 

"Leila wait, this isn't about the whole love thing, is it?  I'm sorry, I should have waited to say something. Please, I can help you.  Maybe you can learn to control your powers.  You don't need to be afraid!"  

 

"Danny, I think... I just need some space, okay?  I'll let you know when I'm ready to talk again."    Euphoria waved good-bye awkwardly, and then ran as fast as she could for home.  

 

*****

Euphoria watched Danny's house from her hiding spot across the street.  He'd tried to text her dozens of times, and had even stopped by and tried breaking into her house.  She'd taken to sleeping in other abandoned houses on the street, ignoring the fact that they might be abandoned because she had killed the original occupants.  

 

Taking a deep breath, Euphoria opened her mobile and set her plan into action with a simple text message.  "Meet me in the soccer field, just like last time.  Don't text me back or try to call me.  I might be late, but wait for me."  In moments, the door to Danny's house opened, and he came running out, dashing towards to soccer field.  Euphoria counted to a hundred, and then came out of hiding.  She crossed the street.  In his haste, Danny hadn't locked the door, so Euphoria just entered, not bothering with the spare key he had given her years ago.  

 

Danny's mother was sitting at the computer, reading new stories about epics.  Apparently one who called himself Steelheart was beginning to make headlines.  She spun around as Euphoria shut the door behind her.

 

"Leila!  Danny just left to find you.  He said it was urgent.  Thank goodness you're okay, with everything that's been happening.  Have you heard from your father?  Here, let me call Danny..."  It seemed like Danny hadn't informed his mother of Euphoria's new powers.  She would make him regret that oversight.  

 

"There's no need, Karen, let's just wait for him here."  As she spoke, Euphoria slammed Danny's mother with a powerful dose of happiness.  "Just put down the phone, and let's sit and chat while we wait for him, shall we?"  Karen nodded, a blissful smile spread across her face.  She sat down at the table and motioned for Euphoria to do the same.  

 

"Now Karen," Euphoria continued, "I'm going to hold your hand for a bit, is that okay?  Just hold still, and I promise everything will be all right."  Karen, nodded enthusiastically, and held out her hand.  Keeping her placid with a constant blast of happiness, Euphoria grasped Danny's mother's hand firmly in her own, and began using her second ability.  

 

Memory by memory, she began to rewrite the history of the only person Danny might love more than herself, clouding every moment of laughter and joy with the perception of hatred and disgust.  Knowing Danny's history as well as she did made it easier.  As she worked her way backwards, she increased the intensity of the hatred while focusing on moments that she knew Danny held dear.  After reaching the date of Danny's birth, which she had memorized long ago, Euphoria started over, layering her revision with more negative emotions.  Once and a while, a troubled expression would cross Karen's face momentarily, until Euphoria increased her happiness dosage, forcing the smile to return.  She might not be able to stop Danny from loving her on her own, but she could stop Danny's mother from loving him, and maybe that would be enough.  

 

*****

She was still at work, hours later, when Danny returned.  "Leila?  Mom?  What's going on?  Why didn't you call me?  I've been waiting in that field for hours."  

 

"Karen, give us a moment?"  Euphoria kept Karen's dosage high as she went into the other room.  "Listen Danny, I would like to say I'm sorry, but I'm not.  This is the way things are, and you can just deal with it.  If you need to talk more, you can meet me in the field tomorrow night at eleven.  This time I'll be there, I promise.  After that though, I never want to see your pathetic little face again, understand?"

 

Danny's eyes started to water slightly.  "Leila, what's going on, is it the powers?  Is this about what I said earlier?"  

 

"No," Leila snapped.  "This is all me Danny.  The truth is, I'm a pretty awful person."  Stupid, he hates seeing people beat themselves up.  "Actually, nevermind.  I'm not a terrible person.  You are just pathetic, and after we talk tomorrow, I never want to see you again."  

 

"I don't believe you.  It's your powers.  Leila, just listen to me, if we put our heads together we can find a way..."

 

"My name is Euphoria!  And I haven't been using my powers until today, when I used them on your mother."  

 

"My mother?  Leila... what did you do?"  

 

"I just gave you what you deserve.  Now go be a good boy and talk to your mother."  Euphoria turned and left, slamming to door behind her.  She waited until Danny stopped calling after her, and then withdrew all the happiness she had given his mother.  

 

Let's see him love me now.

 

*****

He was waiting for her at the soccer field when she arrived at 10:30.  His face was red, and streaked with dirt and tears.  One of his eyes was bruised.  "I don't understand."  His voice sounded dead and hollow.  "How could you?  I don't even know how you did it.  Do you have some sort of mind control powers or something?  What did you say to hear to make her hate me that much?"   

 

"I'm not interested in explaining myself to you." Euphoria knew she had to be careful.  If she revealed too much, Danny might realize why she was doing what she was doing, and discover her weakness.  "The only reason I'm here is to offer a trade.  I can make your mother love you again, but I want you to do something for me first."  

 

Danny narrowed his eyes, and stared at the ground.  He was making a small nest out of grass.  "Leila's gone, isn't she?  What did you say your name was?  Euphoria?  You've destroyed her, haven't you?  Just like you destroyed my relationship with my mom."  Danny looked upward.  Calamity continued to shine, bright and red in the sky.  "Congratulations, you stupid star.  You did it.  You took the two people I love most away from me."  Euphoria held her silence, not daring to try using her powers again until she was certain they would work.  

 

"Well, what do you want then?"  

 

Euphoria took a breath, steeling herself for what was to come.  "I want to hurt you Danny.  I want to hurt you really bad.  Then, once I've reversed what I did to your mom, I want you both to leave town, and never come back again."  

 

Danny laughed.  The sound, which used to bring a smile to her lips even at the worst of times, sent shivers down her spine.  "Hurt me more than you already have?  Fine, go ahead.  Give me your worst."  

 

Euphoria hesitated, wondering if the next part of her plan was even necessary.  For this to work he has to hate you.  She couldn't be too thorough.  The only other way was to kill him, which she still couldn't convince herself to do.  "First," she said, removing a packet of pictures from her jacket, "I want you to look at these."  The pictures all depicted her either kissing or in some other way engaging in some form of romantic behavior with men she knew Danny detested.  It had taken her time to track so many of Danny's enemies down, he didn't have many, especially not many left in Corvallis, but he did have some.  She hadn't actually slept with any of them, but some of the pictures implied she had.  All of the guys in the photos were looking at her with adoration, dosed into a stupor by her powers.  

 

"When you're done," she continued, "I want you to kiss me."  

 

Danny's hand began to shake, and he threw the pictures to the ground.  "You disgusting animal.  You're sick, you know that?  Sick.  I should kill you for what you've done to her..."  Euphoria's spine stiffened and she suddenly wished she had brought her gun.  "I won't... I couldn't... but I should."  Danny sniffed loudly and stood.  "Well, let's get this over with then."

 

"It has to be the real thing, not just a peck on the cheek.  I want a long one, the full Danny experience, so you have lots to regret later."  The kiss was necessary.  She needed an excuse to touch Danny for an extended period of time.  If she was up front about it, like she had been with his mother, he might get suspicious, and she didn't want him wondering what she had changed, lest he uncover her secret.

 

"Well," she asked after a moment.  "I'm waiting.  Should I..." she was interrupted when Danny grabbed her forcefully, and pressed his lips into hers.  As soon as he made contact, Euphoria began using both of her powers at once, slamming with him a powerful dose of emotion, which given the current context could only be lust, while setting to work rewriting his emotional perception of his memories.  To her surprise, she could feel them working.  She kept the dosage strong enough to encourage him to keep kissing her, but not so strong that the emotions would overpower him and force him to enjoy it. Each time their lips parted briefly for air, she made sure that a hand was resting against his cheek, or his neck.  After a few close calls, she ripped his shirt open and pushed him to the ground, all to better maintain skin to skin contact.  

 

Euphoria did her best not to cringe as his hands slipped inside her jacket.  There was no trace of love or affection in his touch, only desperation and an overpowering hunger for more.  Knowing she did not have as much time as she had with his mother, Euphoria worked on multiple emotions at once, intensifying them during all of their shared memories.  Hate, fear, disgust.  Hate, fear, disgust.  She repeated the mantra again and again as she worked, ensuring that Danny would never love her again.  

 

Finally, she reached the day they first met.  They had been paired together for a group activity, and Danny had made her laugh by sticking pencils in his nose.  With one last burst of negative emotion, Euphoria pushed away from Danny, recalling all of her power as she did so.  

 

On the ground, Danny gasped for air a couple of times, before beginning to sob quietly to himself, responding both to what had just transpired between them, and the sudden withdrawal of emotion.  

 

"Stay away from your house until sunrise."  The frost in her voice almost scared her.  "I'll undo what I did to your mother before you return.  Then, you both need to leave immediately.  If you don't, I'll make you hate her next time, and then watch you kill her."  Danny continued to sob on the ground.  Euphoria rolled her eyes.  "Raise your hand if you understand.  I said..."  Slowly, Danny sat up and raised a hand for a moment.  As soon as he met her eyes, the sobbing started again, and he collapsed back to the ground.  

 

Satisfied, Euphoria straightened her clothing, and buttoned up her coat, and then walked away, leaving her best friend to cry himself to sleep.  

 

 

Euphoria gasped as the vision ended, breathing heavily.  He knows.   Euphoria tried to calm herself, but she remained paralyzed by fear.  He knows, he knows, he knows, he knows.  

 

"Well now."  Insight's face quirked into some semblance of a smile.  "That was a fun trip down memory lane, wasn't it?  Making sure they were alone on the bridge, Insight struck at her, returning them both to the physical plane just as the back of his hand connected with her face.  Euphoria, who had been floating several feet above the bridge, was sent sprawling to the ground, while Insight landed lithely nearby.  She was struggling to regain her breath as he kicked her in the side, forcing the air from her lungs once again.  "Your little scheme almost worked, you know.  For years I lived in terror of you, unable to comprehend what had ever possessed me to stick around you for as long as I had.  Even after I got my powers, I might still have stayed away, if you hadn't made a mistake."  

 

Before Euphoria could begin to guess what he meant, he kicked her in the side again, and all she could think of was the pain.  

 

"You don't even know what you did wrong, do you?"  Insight laughed.  He vanished for a moment, and then reappeared with a stick, likely from the same tree as the ones he had used to kill the Iron Ogress.  He's going to kill me.  Euphoria tried to struggle to her feet, but Insight forced her back down with a sharp blow to her back.  

 

"You forgot.  You remembered wrong.  You see, we didn't meet that day I stuck pencils up my nose like a buffoon.  We met a week before that.  You were on the swings, and I..."  Insight trailed off, and a look of concern spread across his face.  "Anyways," he struck her across the back again for emphasis.  "The point is you missed a memory.  And that memory has been bothering me ever since I left Corvallis.  'How,' I thought, 'Is it possible that I was so wrong about her?  Why was I so certain we were going to be friends, when every other time I remember spending time with you, I was terrified.  When I gained my powers, and was able to review my own memories, I realized I wasn't crazy, and that something really was strange about them."  How long had they been viewing the memories?  Had it been minutes, hours?  Usually the memories seemed to take place in real time, but Insight could distort time relative to the physical plan while they were intangible.  Perhaps Rainmaker or Buttercup was still nearby.  If they heard her scream...

 

Her scream echoed into the night, but was cut short by another kick the ribs.  "Your allies are long gone, Enslaver.  They are probably snug in their beds now, dreaming sweet dreams.  Even if they were close by, I could kill you now, before they ever had the chance to save you."  

 

"Do it then," Euphoria spat, trying to stop herself from shaking.  "Just get it over with."  

 

Insight laughed again.  "Kill you?  Now why would I do that, Enslaver?"  Reaching down, Insight touched her on the shoulder.  Colour that Euphoria hadn't yet realized had returned vanished again, and she felt her now intangible body begin to float now that it was no longer supported by the bridge.  

 

Insight sunk down into the bridge, so that he could meet her eyes.  "I don't want to kill you, Euphoria.  I want to hurt you.  I want to hurt you really bad."  

 

END OF DAY ONE 

(Day Two will start shortly)

[Comatose he/him]

 

Her Royal Highness, Princess Genevieve Ornatia Oprah Delicious awoke from her blissful slumber at precisely 6:02 AM, right on schedule.  She yawned cutely, and then stretched as she greeted the new day.  She could see from her large bedroom window that Rainmaker was still making a show of her displeasure outside.  Going about her day in all that rain would be such a bother.  Then again, some of the most romantic kisses happened in the rain, so perhaps this was a chance for Princess Genevieve Ornatia Oprah Delicious to meet her one true love!  Smiling at the thought of a romantic encounter in the rain drops, the Princess hummed a little tune, summoning her two pet birds to her side.  The birds obediently gripped her blankets in their beaks and pulled them back.  Once the Princess was out of bed, the birds set to work making the bed, and in moments the sheets were finely laid out as if they had never been slept in.  

 

Stifling another yawn, Princess Genevieve Ornatia Oprah Delicious called the birds over to the bathroom so that they could help her in the shower.  "Now little ones, I know the dropply wopplies can frighten you, but you are going to need to be prepared to get a little wet today.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Queen Rainmaker has any sunshine for us today."  The bird chirruped happily, and proceeded to work together to pick up her loofah.  The Princess still hadn't decided if Rainmaker was a good queen or the evil step-mother kind, but for the most part it didn't matter.  As long as she was the only Princess in town, there wasn't really a thing to worry about.  After all, Queens never attracted the attention of handsome young princes, no matter how silky smooth their hair was, or how good they were at controlling the weather.  That would be just silly!

 

Once she was done in the shower, Princess Genevieve Ornatia Oprah Delicious  opened her walk in closet, which was full of hundreds of different bolts of fabric.  After humming and hawing for a while, the Princess chose a bright yellow number that would stand out on the dreary day.  A single touch was all it took to transform the cloth into a beautiful dress.  "But how am I to keep such a beautiful dress dry in such positvely dreadful weather, hmm?"   Her birds shrugged obediently.  They knew it was her job to come up with the ideas.   

 

In the corner, the Princess spied a bundle of brightly coloured parasols that had been gifts from one of her many admirers.  With fair skin like hers, it was easy to burn in Rainmaker's constant sunshine, so it always paid to have a parasol and a willing pair of arms to carry it handy.  "Oh, these will do nicely, don't you think?"  In moments the Princess had created a stylish rain coat to match her dress.  

 

With help from her birds, it took less than a minute to fashion her lovely orange curls into a stylish up-do braided with yellow ribbons.  With a quick once-over in the mirror, the Princess Genevieve Ornatia Oprah Delicious grabbed one of the remaining parasols, and headed out her bedroom door.  Her butler, who she decided should be called Sebastian today, was waiting patiently, and she dumped the parasol into his waiting hands.  Sebatien had a gloomy look on his face, no doubt dreading the prospect of following his mistress around in the rain.  

 

I'll fix that!  Euphoria wasn't the only Epic good at making people smile.  

 

"Sebastien, Sebastien, 

Why that gloomy face?

Don't you know it's easy to smile,

When you know your place!

 

Sooo, scrunch your cheeks,

And quirk your lips,

Because you're right where you're meant to beeeeeeee,

And that is holding my umbrella for meeeeeeee!"

 

Despite himself, a slight spring developed in Sebastien's step as he followed Princess Genevieve Ornatia Oprah Delicious to the door.  

 

"Now we're talking," the Princess said with the cutest of giggles.   "Let's make this city beautiful!"  She threw open the double doors to her house, exposing the working crew who were shivering in the rain on the other side.  They were a mixed group, including both humans and animals, and all were looking positively gloomy as they tried their best to stay dry.  

 

"Now, now, everyone, just because you've gone and upset Queen Rainmaker and Queen Euphoria, doesn't mean we can't be pleasant to one another!  Now, come and sing with me!

 

"Come all you workers,

Let's all do our part,

Helping me to clean things up,

Is the place to start!

 

So let's go pick up garbage,

And make this city shiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

I wish every city could sparkle just like miiiiiiiiiine!"  

 

At first, Sebastien struggled to keep up with his mistress as she pranced through the streets, but as her song continued he quickly fell into a rhythm, keeping her umbrella in place with ease.  Her cleaning crew fell into step behind her, marching in time as the began to tidy up the streets.  Princess Genevieve Ornatia Oprah Delicious led the charge herself,  letting her power flow out as she  made everything she touched sparkle.  

 

Who said a rainy day couldn't be lovely?

 

Day 2 is Open!!!

[Blackhoof]

 

 

Iconoclast slept. And like almost every night since Calamity had given him the power to free the world, he was tormented by nightmares.

 

"No...." He whispered, twisting in Firefly's bed. "No.... Mary.... no..."

 

He was walking with her along the street. He began singing one of the songs from the play they had just seen, and she laughed at his poor reproduction. 

 

"I only ask what I'd ask any superstar

What is it that you have got

That puts you where you are? Oh, ho ho

I am waiting

Yes I'm a captive fan

I'm dying to be shown

That you are not just any man!"

 

It had been a lovely and amusing play. 

 

He was still singing as dark silhouettes emerged from an alley, and approached them. "No, don't stop.... Keep singing." One figure mocked, as the silhouettes turned into demonic shapes. The shapes cackled and hissed, sharp teeth gnashing as they ripped the couple from each other's arms. "Roger!" Mary pleaded.

"Leave her alone! Please, I am a priest, we have no money!"

The demons paid no attention as they restrained him and attacked her. They made him watch, threatening to kill her if he didn't. She screamed and the cross on her neck seemed to glow as everything faded into black. The cross grew in size in his vision, becoming a gigantic, flaming afterimage, burnt into his mind. 

.........

 

The demons departed, and he cried as he held his wife's body in his arms. They had beaten her, the cross on her neck still flaming. It laughed at him, promising forgiveness for the demons and emptiness for him.

 

........

 

Roger ripped the pictures from his walls, tore down the hanging crosses. He took every bible, ripping the pages out and piling them with every other holy symbol in his house. A splash of gasoline and a match set it all ablaze. The crosses burnt, accusingly, growing in his vision, until all he could see was fire.l

 

.......

 

The demons, laughing as they were set free. "You're honour, there is no way that Mr Moore could accurately identify these men, not on such a dark night!" More demons whispered in the ears of the jury, the attorneys, the judges. Roger felt nothing but anger as they walked away.

 

.......

 

The demons, shrieking in fear as he killed them. But the crosses tattooed on their skin glowed, filling his vision, accusing him. The crosses turned red, and stabbed into him like knives.

 

The visions replayed in his head over and over. Mary dead, burning crosses, demons laughing, red knives. Mary, burning, demons, knives. Mary, demons, knives. Knives Mary crosses. Mary!

 

"MARRRRY!" Iconoclast shot up, breathing ragged. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Light flooded in through the open window, illuminating the room. 

He realised that he was crying. Again. Iconoclast felt a mild flash of annoyance as he turned his tear ducts back into mere flesh. But every morning, they always turned back. 

 

"Who's Mary?" A small, curious voice asked from the window. Still rattled from his nightmare, Iconoclast started, turning to see a young boy looking through the window. The window had been smashed at some stage, and the boy paid little heed to the jagged remains of glass as he leant against the windowsill. Iconoclast froze.

 

The silence stretched on.

 

"Is Mary you're wife? How come you are dreaming about her, if she isn't? I bet she is."

 

Iconcolast stared at the boy. "I should kill him." He thought. 

 

"You aren't saying much. Hey, how come this window is broken? I was just exploring over there when I saw it."

 

"Or turn him." Children made good Ghouls, but only in numbers. People were much less willing to fight children, but they were correspondingly much less useful in combat. They needed numbers to kill. And both morality and numbers were usually useless against Epics.

 

"You're an odd fellow, aren't you? Haven't seen you around, so you can't be an Epic. Which Epic lives here? Firefly isn't it? Mummy says that it is ok to talk to people in these parts, the Epics here aren't dangerous."

 

Despite himself, Iconoclast smiled. "How could a child in slavery be so happy? Let him go back to his mother." 

"Child... I won't kill you. Run on back to your mother." The boy looked confused, but was silent as Iconoclast got out of bed. He had a long day of chaos ahead of him, and he needed to get to it as quickly as-

 

Suddenly he realised that his hands were wet.... and warm. He looked down, confused, and saw this his fingers had become talons at some point, and they were covered in glistening, fresh blood. A chill went through him. But... he had spared the child, hadn't he? But Roger Moore knew without looking that he had not.

 

He felt tears glisten in his eyes. "What... what have I become? I... I can't even control myself anymore. Is.... is this freedom? Is this.... what Mary would have wanted?" 

 

He used his powers, changing his annoying tear ducks back into flesh once more and returning his fingers to normal. He then changed his appearance, turning into a muscular, blonde figure. He felt his fears slip away, his concerns subsiding. He scoffed. "Who cares about one child? I have killed many children! It is the price that must be paid for freedom. After all, the founding fathers did say that the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of weaklings and tyrants.... or something like that." Smiling evilly, his teeth becoming points, Iconoclast left the room and started towards the cellar. It was time to begin.

 

It was time for chaos.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

 

One...two...three... Buttercup counted silently along with the chiming bells, standing atop the Oregon State Campanille. The sun rose in the east, though on this day Buttercup could not bathe in its rays. Instead, rain gently pattered all around her, the gray overcast stretching as far as she could see.

 

...Six...seven...eight. The bells stopped. Buttercup lifted gently off the roof, looking up at the clouds. It was going to be a long, wet day. Setting into motion, she flew over to the Crystal Lakes Sports Fields to check in on the police stationed there before going to meet with Bubbles. It would be a couple more hours before her sister even bothered to wake up.

 

 

Blossom stared at her reflection in the foggy mirror, towel wrapped around her body as she dried her hair delicately. She always showered in the morning. It not only woke her up, but also allowed her the time she needed to care for her hair. Sure it meant sacrificing an hour of sleep, but her hair was worth it.

 

Once her hair was sufficiently dried and styled, straight and long down her back, she moved over to her vanity table to apply makeup before getting dressed in her usual dress suit with open toed heels. Overdressing is never an issue, she chuckled to herself.

 

Moving out of her bedroom, she made herself a cup of tea, drinking it slowly as she ate her breakfast. Once finished, she grabbed the finished press release off of her coffee table and an umbrella from a closet before leaving her home. The rain meant she had to fly slowly for the umbrella to still be functional, but she had time to spare before meeting with Rainmaker.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Blaze1616