What Happened in Edmonton

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

The floating paper rotated towards Liam as more script appeared on its surface.

I— Before Liam could read any more, Kokichi snatched the illusory paper from his face and read it. He opened his mouth to object but froze when he saw Kokichi’s rapidly darkening expression. And that wasn’t the only thing darkening. The color of the world dulled, shadows growing longer and bolder. Distant objects became murky and even the sun seemed to dim. Only Calamity remained bright, eerily glowing crimson. Kokichi glared at the illusion in their hands, only an inch away from actually glaring daggers. Their eyes took on a malevolent gleam, and their teeth were pointed and canine.

When they spoke, there was no usual pip or joking in their voice.

“That’s cute. How you think to threaten me.” The words were saturated with threat and hung in the air like a venomous spider. “As I said, we are on our way to kill Karabiner. If you care for your life, you won’t interfere.”

Nothing was said. Liam didn’t dare move an inch. Even the van’s motor seemed to quiet in fear.

Then the eerie darkness and ambient dread retreated as quickly as it came as all of the malice and danger in Kokichi’s face disappeared. “’Kay?” they asked, as if what just happened had never occurred.

The paper disintegrated in response.

And everything went black.

For a startled moment, Liam found his voice again. “HOLD ON!” He shouted as he slammed on the brakes, sending the van screeching to a halt. He blinked, then blinked again, but he still couldn’t see anything. Not even the lights on the dashboard.

“Kokichi?” Liam called. His voice felt muffled by the darkness.

 After what seemed like an eternity—but Riley had managed to dissociate through part of it—the two of them reached a shopping center. The vacant lot was littered with rubbish, and most of the stores were defaced. Riley glanced around. To his luck, a half-broken shop sign declared: “A VIL Co fee  ou s .” A coffeehouse, no doubt. Good thing too; he was exhausted, and Arachnerd looked like she might pass out any minute.

“Hey, look!” Riley exclaimed, pointing towards the café. “Coffee!” Arachnerd perked up immediately.

[Ataraxian Wist she/her]

Amanda Whitaker tried to blink back the tears. They had her. There was no escaping now. Karabiner had decided that she would be the best bate for a trap he was setting, and there was no escaping after the monster involved you in a business venture.

Try as she might, she could not keep the tears from coming. She couldn't scream yet; Karabiner wasn't about to tip some vigilante off that there was a damsel in distress before she was close enough for his quarry - Bloodlight, this one was called - to hear her.

She wasn't new to these kinds of operations; she had been used as bait in several other cities already, and had notably been invaluable in the creations of the Haywire and even the Quarantine; an obscure device that could be used to keep everything within a certain area inside and everything without the area outside. Karabiner had yet to use it for anything big, as it had some nasty side effects when moved.

Her familiarity with the process kept her from worrying about what would happen to her, took away the terror that had been present in her first mission. She couldn't truly worry about an outcome she already knew. Instead, she was left to writhe in horror at what she knew would happen again.

Before Calamity, there had been laws to protect her, and others in her situation. Many women had been afraid to speak out about their abuse anyway, but at least they had been able to. If Amanda were to try that - again - the response would invariably be along the lines of "he's an Epic! Why should I risk my neck if I can't even save yours?" 

Amanda struggled again to blink away the tears. When her eyes opened, there was only blackness. Amanda blinked several more times, still trying to scream through her gag, but all of it to no avail. She wasn't blindfolded, she could tell; she would have at least seen bits of sunlight through any type of cloth, and she surely would have felt it on her face, considering her acute awareness of the gag.

Calamity...

Arachnerd caught herself in the middle of a yawn at the words, perking up audibly.

"Coffee?" She asked, unsure if she'd heard right.  Yes, coffee sounded perfect. Then she could... Why do I need to stay awake, again? Nate. Right. Gotta catch Nate before he gets settled. A sudden worry occurred to her. Before he gets settled...

"What day is it?" She inquired of Riley. Oh, Calamity, if he's here...

Then the world went black.

Arachnerd instinctively tapped her Spyderweb for vision, but still saw nothing. She could hear just fine on all channels, but all of her Spyders saw only blackness. There's supposed to be a way around that, right? Didn't she have a Gemborn who could see without light, rather than just in the "dark?"

Then she remembered that Jetmaw was gone. Her new, Gemborn was Aqua Marine, and all she did was swim really well and use echo-locate. Under water.

She would just have to triangulate with Aqua Marine and the other two nearby Spyders, one of whom had been following Riley until recently. She tried, but it was too much math for her tired mind.

"What's that?" She asked Riley, yawning once again.

 

(I am having a few more obligations come up than I expected, so expect the other POV reactions in a day or two.)

[Kidpen he/him]

                                                                                                           

Armageddon was standing outside the Webrynth, hoping that he would be noticed when the world went back. Well that's interesting. The so-called "Blank," perhaps? They seem rather powerful, and what I've seen of them would fit rather well with this. Thinking quickly, he shouted out to his guards. "Apocalypse Guard! Gather around my voice. We'll wait this out. Hopefully it's not specifically targeting us."

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

So much to be done today. Thank Calamity Finley made his time count.

He stopped pacing and lowered himself into his armchair, letting out a long sigh. He would need to have Quietus screen Jacklyn at the soonest possible opportunity. Speaking of which... Finley shifted his vision, focusing in on the checkpoint that Quietus was defending, taking in the scene from multiple angles. The street was suffused with smoke drifting lazily away from the two combatants, impeded on one side by Finley's own barriers. The two epics glowered at each other from across the street, apparently having reached a lull in activity. This has gone on for too long. Epoch felt a swell of impatience.

"Ashla," he called out, demanding her attention. "Have the counter-epic division rush the checkpoint. No holds barred."

These were individuals whose training and arsenal was guided by the assumption that conventional attacks would be ineffective; they might upset the balance in the best possible way. Perhaps he should bring Phytomagnet to bear as well... Unfortunately, Finley's own time barrier was coming back to bite him in the arse. It took just as long to lift a time zone's effect as it did to lay it down in the first place.

"Your team is to wait inside ERA territory until I give the go-ahead that the slow-zone blocking their way is gone."

The epics at the checkpoint would see the team coming, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Satisfied that his orders were being followed, he focused back on the border. That was when things started to get weird.

A red VW bus pulled up on the street, screeching to a halt. It was a familiar vehicle. The fugitives from the government break-in? An eclectic party filed out from the van, including one woman that looked uncannily similar to the one engaged with Quietus, and an epic that was packing more neon than Las Vegas.

The woman ran headlong into the fight. Probably an epic as well.

Adding to the general confusion, a scroll popped into existence next to the vehicle, seeming to float in the air while the fugitives examined it.

Sparks. Alarm seeped through Epoch. He was dealing with 5+ unknown epics all converging on a single inconsequential checkpoint, and it was all because of the girl that made coincidences happen. How the hell was that even possible? How did--

Void.

He could see nothing. The entire scene was gone. Finley's unease multiplied. His vision had never failed him before. Could one of the new arrivals have an ability that countered his sight? He shifted his focus further out, trying to determine how large an area was rendered unobservable. Blackness. With growing concern, he scrolled his vision rapidly across the city. More blackness, everywhere he went. Epoch recalled his sight back into his own surroundings. Within the confines of headquarters, he could see fine. And yet, pressing in from the outskirts of the facility, there was still darkness. Absolute darkness, blanketing the entire city. Either the rumors of Nightwielder's death had been greatly exaggerated, or an epic of similar capabilities was making a move. Now that he knew what to look for, Finley realized that the darkness did not completely bar him from seeing other parts of the city. If he focused in the right places, he could still peer inside of buildings. With the structures as a reference point, he began sealing off the entry points to his headquarters.

"Order all citizens to shelter in place," he addressed his staff in a measured tone. "We go on the defensive until we figure out what's happening."

Edited September 21, 2018 by Drake Marshall

[Ataraxian Wist she/her]

 

Nudge watched the pathetic bait with a hungry eye. The main reason Amanda usually pulled through for their operations was that she was absolutely gorgeous; her perfectly tan complexion added to the soft lines of her face in a way that would have caught the attentions of every young man around even if it was the majority of her exposed skin. It was, however, a sever minority, as these operations didn't call for modesty. Especially since what clothing she had on her - short shorts and a very low cut shirt that also left her beautiful shoulders bare - would suffer severe damage, if Amanda was able to keep it at all. Nudge, for his part, wasn't hoping she would.

Her looks meant that most Epics would come when she was threatened, either because they would rather be the ones she was endangered by or - in a few rare cases, like those of Alcatraz and Downburst - to come to her rescue. These latter always failed, luckily. Amanda had been fitted with a Linked collar that would teleport her back to the Picket if she was ever seriously injured or somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, as well as any time Karabiner pressed a button on his super-cool console.

She tried to scream, and Nudge started to laugh at the pitiful sound that made it through her gag. She had to have been stupid to try screaming after she had learned so many times that it would do her no good.

Then the world went dark, and Nudge's laugh cut off with his sight.

Nudge felt himself decelerate suddenly as Skeet - a kinetic Epic, like Nudge but more powerful and limited - pulled their white van to a quick stop. It seemed he couldn't see either.

Amanda clearly didn't have as easy a time of the sudden halt as Nudge and Skeet, and the former laughed as he heard her roll and slam into the the metal grate between the cab and the bay of the van. She let out a tiny moan through her gag, and Nudge laughed again at how pathetic the sound was.

"Shut up!" came the driver's angry reply. At first, Nudge thought he was talking to the helpless girl in the back, but then he felt something strike his upper arm.

"Oww!" Nudge whined, firing off a concussive blast to his left, hoping to hit skeet with at least enough force to bloody his nose. He knew it was unlikely, as his blasts were typically too weak to do that much, but Skeet's response of "What the sparks is wrong with you?" was muffled enough that Nudge was sure he was at least covering his face, if not to stop the blood than to protect himself from another blast.

He knew where the next blow was aimed, and he raised both hands in from of him, firing two blasts just to the left of his head to push Skeet's flying fist backwards into the head rest or the grate. It worked.

"Stop this sparking bullcrap, now!" the other Epic yelled. Nudge felt everything vibrate ever so slightly as Skeet's own concussive blast was distributed throughout the street around them instead of actually damaging anything. That quirk never gets old.

"Why should I shut up? I'm in charge of this assignment!"

"Because it's a bad idea to spark off the driver, and you're torturing the poor Maple! I mean, she's pathetic, but is the trauma really necessary? She's got to be responsive when we spring the trap, or Bloodlight won't know the difference, probably won't even hear her! Then we get fired and I blow you up as soon as you trip!" Skeet's response was wholly void of sarcasm, but Nudge didn't think for a second that he was so mad because he could lose his job; it was no secret that Skeet could go soft on people if he couldn't presently kill them because they were touching the ground or something.

"Going soft?" Nudge retorted.

"What if this is just around us, huh?" What if Bloodlight's here and we've already lost the bait?"

Nudge was fuming almost like Skeet now, but he calmed himself.

"You're right." He replied. He hated to admit it, but Skeet was right. They needed a plan, and any extra noise they made would be to their disadvantage.

"We need to figure out what the sparks this is."

(I'll wait till tomorrow in in case Voidus is able to respond, and I'll put Bloodlight's reaction up then)

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

“Coffee?” Arachnerd asked. Then she paused and glanced around confused. Likely a symptom of fatigue. “What day is it?” Riley started to respond but realized he didn’t know what day it was either. Tuesday?

Suddenly, his eyes stopped working. Or, at least they seemed to be. He blinked several times, but still only saw pitch darkness. He focused, and the world reappeared in false color infrared. The sun seemed to still be shining, and the asphalt radiated heat, which crossed off the remote possibility of the sun going out. Of course, Riley rationalized, with Epics around, it was possible, right? Using his heat vision, he glanced around. The glowing figure of Arachnerd glanced around warily.

“What’s that?” She yawned. She was too tired to care about the sudden blackness.

“Well, seems like the light’s gone out,” Riley replied. He glanced around again. He had poor depth perception when his heat vision was activated and didn’t really want to walk all the way to the café, but Arachnerd would be much more useful if she had a caffeine boost. Sparks. This was all so irritating.

He sighed. “If you aren’t too blind to follow, I’m going to find you coffee.”

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

The first thing light up again was, of course, the area Blank had claimed.  Power was gifted out, and the solar panels started generating electricity again.  Hopefully the lapse in electricity generation hadn't actually affected the grid, but a few residents of the city were probably cut off from power for a few seconds.  The area around the fight dissipated next, and a signed apology briefly appeared in front of the combatants and spectators, as Blank didn't want to potentially alienate the powerful newcomers.  The area surrounding the van was left for now.  Anyone who looked at the area around the van now wouldn't just see darkness.  It looked somehow... Blank, like an all-consuming void.  Then, everywhere else was restored to it's former state. 

Using this much power felt... good, but as always, plans came first.

Jacklyn was waiting patiently, her power trying to figure out what persona would please Epoch the most, when everything went dark.  Jacklyn's heart started beating wildly.  

No, not AGAIN-

Unbeknownst to her, her body language went through several subtle changes as she cringed back.  She became more pitiable, inspiring feelings of compassion in anyone who could see her.  She curled up into a ball and whimpered.

Without a mask to wear, and with the absolute darkness triggering something deep inside of her, she was exposed to the horrors of her past.

As Nicroburst took the trenchcoat, a large hand grabbed his face.  The initial surge of power that always came when he touched an Epic occurred, and this time he found himself pouring more energy into whoever had grabbed him, as the hand's owner hadn't let go immediately, and the initial uncontrollable shockwave hadn't killed him immediately.  The hand blocking his vision began to swell.  That wasn't a good sign.  Then it began to shrivel.  The man pulled his hand back, but the damage was already done.  He soon collapsed backward, flesh hanging loosely off of bone, and revealing a collection of stunned faces.

Here we go again, Nicroburst thought.

Then the world went black.

Nicroburst started panicking.  It was probably him, which was very bad.  And so the Epic did what he always did when he was faced with something he couldn't handle;  He ran like hell.

Fortunately, everything lit up again soon after, or else he probably would have ran into something sooner.  As it was, he narrowly avoided running into...

Edited October 28, 2018 by The Young Pyromancer

[Ataraxian Wist she/her]

(I had to speed things up after all)

Karabiner watched the walls go black as something clearly interfered with the Imager.

"What was that?"

"It seems that the city has been filled with a black... Something. My definition database is rebooting. Algorithms suspect an illusion, though it must have been created by a very powerful Epic to work so completely."

"Thank you, Charles."

 

“If you aren’t too blind to follow, I’m going to find you coffee.”

Arachnerd stopped trying to triangulate as Riley finished. Thermal vision. Duh. Even so, she disliked relying on a power she couldn't yet confirm he had. He sounded only a little uncertain, however, so she shushed her worries.

"Coffee. Yes." She needed coffee. She didn't care what kind, though it would probably serve best if it was as black as... Everything, just then.

She was forced to rethink her simile as the darkness disappeared a few silent moments later.

 

Nate dropped his bagel in surprise as everything turned black.

 

"That was a mistake." He thought out loud. "Things - notably bagels - tend to be hard to find when one is blind."

 

Though his voice was calm, Nate was grateful for the cover the darkness provided, because he was as tense as a rattlesnake a foot from being crushed at the thought of danger. He couldn't let the monster out, he had to stay safe! If Bloodlight was unleashed, Nate did not want to be the one at fault.

 

He found his bagel a moment later, muttering too quickly to tell how that lovely baker couple or the other patrons had reacted over the low sound of his voice.

 

Amanda lurched as the van jerked to a stop, rolling right into the grate that separated her from her escort, and not without a few bumps and scrapes on the way. She hated Karabiner's way of phrasing things. Skeet and Nudge were no more an escort than she was a consenting adult, but the monster thought of himself as some greater morality than the ones society had lived by for centuries, so he didn't care.

 

She heard Nudge laugh as she smashed into the cold metal of the grate, and she lost all hope of ebbing the flow of her tears.

 

"Shut up!" Skeet yelled. Oh, Skeet, you wonderful softy. For the briefest moment, she felt something she hadn't in a long time: hope.

 

Then she heard fists fly, Epics curse, and she realized that her softy was likely to get himself killed and leave her alone with Nudge. She almost puked at the thought. She had insisted that Skeet come with her when she had heard about the operation. Skeet had promised her that he would go along, to protect her, and had blackmailed and scared the other prospectives for the task away so that he could. His next words bit her deeply.

 

"... I mean, she's pathetic, but..."

 

She refused to hear anymore. Skeet was no better than the others, no matter what he said when they weren't listening.

 

Amanda Whitaker cried herself silently to sleep as the darkness dispersed.

Edited September 21, 2018 by Sazedezas

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Arachnerd nodded, facing a bit to Riley’s left but close enough, “Coffee. Yes.” Riley turned and headed towards the coffeehouse. He made it a few feet before the crutch caught in a crack in the pavement and he stumbled. Startled, he reflexively reverted to normal vision, and was more startled when he realized he could see. Rising to his feet and sheepishly glancing around, Riley continued.

Kokichi’s voice responded from the darkness, still to Liam’s right. “Here. That darkness wasn’t me, FYI.” Good to know, Liam thought. That answered one of his questions. They continued, “Directly, anyway. That Epic probably panicked at seeing that. I… might’ve overreacted. Just a little bit.”

The understatement hung in the air, making what wasn’t said painfully obvious. That was an image Liam wouldn’t be able to shake from his head. A moment of silence passed between them as Liam felt along the dashboard. After fiddling around for a bit, he had collected his shotgun, jacket, and van keys.

“Hey,” Liam spoke, the silence between them getting too awkward. “This darkness isn’t going to get any brighter if we stay here. The Epic probably had some sort of proximity effect to the paper, so by my reasoning, the darkness will disperse the further we get from the van.” At least he hoped it would. Being perpetually blind wasn’t beneficial to their mission. “The van has a tracker, so we’ll be able to come back for it when the illusion wears off.”

He felt around for the door handle and stepped out. He hoped Kokichi was doing the same.

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Liam shuffled around in the darkness, his boots scuffing against the asphalt of the street. His steps were small and deliberate as he worked out where he was. The van had stopped in the middle of the road, it seemed.

“Marco,” Kokichi called out. Liam paused, and a slight smile slid onto his face.

“Polo,” he called back. This was more like what he knew of Kokichi. Humor. Not—no, ignore that. Focus on the now and what needs to be done. He repeated this to himself as he continued walking down the street.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Blindside was blinded.

Was this sort of thing normal in Olympia Polaris?

She couldn't see a thing. Nada. Nil. Worse, she had no idea why. After a moment of utter loss and panic, she hit the ground, reflexively enabling her power. The asphalt was still sun-warm beneath her skin, incongruous with the nothingness that surrounded her. She could hear her heart thrumming furiously against the hard ground. She could hear exclamations of alarm from other people, footfalls stumbling and fumbling about the street.

Don't tread on me, the double commented with an impression of irony.

Amid the confused commotion of blindness-induced blundering, the darkness lifted abruptly. Blindside was quickly on her feet again, dusting the road-grime off of her clothes. A stranger was barreling full speed straight towards her. Not quite able to percieve that she was situated in his path. She realized her own power was hindering her, and disabled it. The stranger stumbled to a halt, as the delayed revelation that she was standing in his path struck home.

"Look where you're going," she commanded.

Taya blinked. A power outage? It was really dark. Disconcertingly so. She couldn't even see her own hands.

Light? She fetched her mobile, mashing the buttons to light up the screen. Nothing. Still pitch black.

She felt a growing sense of alarm. Was she blind? Was this some kind of trap? The local government had reason to be pissed at anyone claiming to be from the Circle. She took a step back from where she had last seen Premier Notley, paranoia growing. Part of her realized that this was irrational. Part of her understood that the government already had many opportunities to harm her that they did not take. That part of her was overlooked in favor of the reality of being unexpectedly blinded.

And then, before her concerns could really sink in, the darkness vanished. Like flipping a switch, she could see again. Everything is fine. She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. What just happened?

"Did... Did you see that?"

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

Nicroburst stumbled to a stop, almost running into someone... or did he?  She was standing up... then on the ground... He shook his head.  Maybe a lingering effect of the darkness?  "Sorry."  He reached down to help her up, smiling in apology.  He was still irritated that his power was activated, but he wasn't about to be disrespectful to someone he had almost hurt.  He hadn't been able to get any gloves, but his luck couldn't be bad enough to run into two Epics randomly in one day, right?

Edited October 28, 2018 by The Young Pyromancer

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Quietus cocked his head, staring up at the sky with intense curiousity. The sun had just winked out of existence. Funny thing, that. The sky was making a valiant attempt at mirroring the shade of his soul.

He glanced back across the myriad of new arrivals. A cabal of epics. Their heat glowed like beacons in the gloom. Behind him, Epoch was evidently trying to raise the barrier to send in additional redshirts. You'd think the man would have figured out by now that redshirts can't do jack. Ever.

Probably, there were too many powers in play. It was a total clusterspark. With the right presentation, that would work out in his favor.

.  .  .

He moved with speed and silence under the curtain of blackness.

Quietus scanned the scene, and noticed the telltale glow of a human form cowering under a dilapidated ford minivan. One of his enforcers? Eh. The vanilla could fend for itself. More importantly, there was the red epic, who was waiting patiently with her face in the dirt like a good little hostage. She would make a satisfactory prize. He snatched her shackled figure up off the road, hauling her over the border into Epoch's territory and then expeditiously dumping her roughly on the ground again.

"Not to worry chérie, I'll be with you shortly."

He had lost at most a second or two wading across the checkpoint; the barrier was as good as open. Quietus grabbed some things from the team of waiting enforcers. A few finishing touches, and then he would ask Epoch to close the barrier again.

A colorful Welcome to Edmonton! brochure deposited near the flying epic, just as promised.

An explosive, hurled on a whim in the general direction of the red Samba. He could see that it was empty, but with any luck, it would be disabled. The vehicle was obviously well cared-for, so the damage would be felt.

And now I make my dramatic exit under cover of absolute darkness. Quietus turned his back on the checkpoint and re-entered his territory.

.  .  .

The lights went up. He would leave it to Epoch to figure out what the storms that was all about. Quietus stood before a group of confused looking ERA special forces, the red epic restrained at his feet.

A bedraggled-looking enforcer also stood before him. Apparently the cowering vanilla from before had made it after all.

"Who the hell are you?"

"A- Alder, sir," the enforcer replied, standing up straighter. He looked badly shaken.

"Right then, Alder. I'm disappointed by how these epics were handled, but I don't blame you."

"Thank you, sir." Alder was visibly relieved.

"See, it's not actually your fault. What you really needed," he continued cheerfully as he kicked Alder in the gut, doubling him over, "is more contact with epics."

Another blow connected with Alder's nose with a fleshy crack, followed by a combat-booted kick between the legs that sent him sprawling. Quietus continued to rain down choice blows on the enforcer's cringing body.

"I completely accept the blame for this lapse in your training, and I am rectifying it with all haste."

He kicked Alder savagely to drive the point home, breaking at least one rib in the process. Another impact followed. And another. When the man finally ceased all effort to defend himself, Quietus knew he was nearly finished. When he paused, and Alder made an effort to stand, he knew he wasn't quite finished.

.  .  .

Quietus turned on the red epic.

"Now it's your turn. Who the hell are you?"

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

Blank chose the exact moment that the nonbinary Epic grabbed onto their partner to lift the darkness, revealing a crowd of curious onlookers who were investigating the apparent rent in space that remained after everything else dissipated.

A message appeared.

Don't do that again.

Then the car exploded.

That wasn't me.

Edited October 28, 2018 by The Young Pyromancer

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Tarina accepted the stranger's hand up, finding her way to her feet. Kind of him, although running about like that had still been reckless. The sun was shining again, and a scattering of other people around them were recovering from that darkness thing, whatever it was. Speaking of which...

"I am a new arrival. Do you know anything about what just happened?"

Ask him where I can find something to eat in this Calamity-forsaken city.

Shush, you. We'll get to that.

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

Nicroburst's vision exploded.  A dozen illusory copies of her appeared, each doing a different activity.  Some reading, some talking, and three were even playing jump rope.  Nicroburst looked down at his outstretched hand.  What was he doing?  Then he stopped the power flow.

Sparks.

Nicroburst jumped back a little, visibly startled.  He tried to mask it, but was unsuccessful.  He smoothed his expression.

"Sorry, static electricity.  There's an illusion Epic over there," he said, gesturing in the general direction of the forcefield, "so this might be their um, work." Nicroburst was still flustered from encountering another Epic, though this one seemed all right.  He was lucky she seemed to have not noticed the effects of his burst yet.  

Then her stomach growled.  

"If you're hungry, I have some food back at my place."  He gestured towards his warehouse, which was conveniently away from both the MEE forces and Blank's territory.

It's probably a good idea to bring her along, just in case.  Even though her powers are gone for a while, he could still burst her to get a temporary usage, though that was inefficient.

Edited October 28, 2018 by The Young Pyromancer

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

"Epoch, sir?" an attendant voiced timidly. "The darkness is--"

"I know," Finely said tiredly. "Lockdown's canceled."

He stared across the room at the assistant with a trace of agitation.

"O- Oh. Right. So... What do we do now?"

"Now," he answered, "We cut to the heart of this nonsense. I'm calling for a meeting. Commonwealth Stadium, tonight."

He reached out across the city with his mind, extending his powers, grasping the flow of time and squeezing it into the right shape. He plotted out six spokes radiating out from the stadium, precipitating the gradual formation of six massive corridors. Conjoined paths that cut across the city, leading from the outskirts to the meeting place.

"An invitation is to be delivered to each of the major players. This meeting will be relevant to any epic who cares about the rulership of Edmonton. We meet on neutral ground, and I am prepared to allow the epic Justice to witness that I shall make no move to harm or entrap those present for the duration of the meeting. We all have a great deal to discuss."

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

Blank smiled.

 

Then they spun in their swivel chair.

They liked swivel chairs.

Edited October 28, 2018 by The Young Pyromancer

[The Swan Dragon he/him]

"Here's the list of recipients, Ethan," Joel snapped. "Get those invitations delivered ASAP. Use the developing speed lanes."

"Yessir!" the grunt replied, already spinning on his heel at a run.

"Ironwood?"

The sharply dressed man grimaced--it was faint, but not fully hidden. "Aye, boss. First platoon is ready to move to secure the meeting area, and second platoon has already dispersed to cover the perimeter while we're away. Seventh squad will return and fill in gaps in security once they're done delivering."

"Is something wrong, Richard?" Phyto queried.

"I'm still not comfortable with Seventh being on their own, especially with a new Sergeant. Ethan is good, but..."

"He'll be fine. He's proved himself quite fine on other missions." Phyto shrugged. "Let's get moving."

*About 30 minutes later, regular time. Arrival at Commonwealth Stadium*

"Second, third, and fourth squads, start sweeping the area. Second, you've got Southwest. Third, North. Fourth, Southeast. First squad, you're with me."

They replied with a round of "yessir's," almost in sync, followed by a much more polished salute.

"Remember! Epoch has included in his message a guarantee that he will not cause anyone harm here--that means, by extension, that no one is hurting anyone at this meeting. Priority One is protect Epoch; Two is keep the peace; Three is keep unwanted rabble out."

"Here's the list of recipients, Ethan," Phytomagnet snapped, and "Ethan" groaned inwardly. "Get those invitations delivered ASAP. Use the developing speed lanes."

"Yessir!" the newly promoted Sergeant Ethan McLogan almost yelled, spinning around and running towards his squad. At just under two metres, he towered over the diminutive Epic--but no one in their right mind messed with someone who was impossibly strong and could kill you with your own armor. 

Why me? I need to be at that meeting. Why couldn't he have the Seventh help at the Commonwealth Stadium? But nooooooo, we're the best scouts--sparking slontzes Nico and Kacey--so we're on post duty. He shook his head. What am I thinking? I belong to this unit as much as I belonged to the Circle. But I still gotta get to that meeting.

"Alright Seventh, we've got some work to do. Big Man Epoch is planning a meeting and we've got some Timelord brochures to deliver. Stay in pairs, don't stay to chat. Drop the flyer and run. We're gonna be outside of Tree-boss' range so no fancy armor. Partner up and move out."

Unsurprisingly, Nico and Kacey were practically already standing next to each other. The rest followed suit, grabbing their papers and gear, albeit more slowly, until--also unsurprisingly--only Tash was left. At least she should be easy to lose once we're out.

"Ya wanna--" she started.

"No. Let's get this over with and get back."

*About 45 minutes later, regular time. "Ethan" and Tash done delivering*

"Hey Tash," he called out. "I've got something I wanna check in on. I'll catch up in a few."

"Uuuuhg, fine," she moaned. "But you gotta tell me about her when you get back, or I'm telling the Boss."

"That's not--y'know, fine. Deal."

Ethan waited until she turned the corner, then did a u-ey and headed North, towards the conveniently nearby football stadium. I'm probably gonna regret that later.

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

What would I do?  I'd ruin your life.

I wouldn't have to do much.  But I'd always be there.  Watching. 

You could never shoot a gun, knowing you might be aiming at an ally.  You could never drive a car, or even ride in one, not knowing whether you'd run into a building.  I could make you look like someone's worst enemy, and your friends look like yours.  I could make you constantly trip, run into walls, run around in circles.  And I wouldn't do it all the time, so you'd start to trust your senses again before you are again attacked, or run off a ledge, or someone crashes into you.  And then, when you have killed all of your friends, they thinking you were their worst nightmare, I will tell all the enemies that you have made through this process EXACTLY where you are. 

And then they will take a turn, torturing you with whatever twisted horrors that their nightmares have birthed.

I will destroy your mind and will until you are unable to think, unable to scream.

Until your mind is...

Blank.

Edited October 28, 2018 by The Young Pyromancer

[Voidus]

A burst of movement caught the corner of Impacts vision as she watched the other Epic for a response. Keeping her eyes on the Epic, she tilted her head towards the movement slightly, trying to catch it in her periphery vision.

A figure with tangled blonde hair ran towards them, the stumbling gait of their run triggering a wave of memories.

Her head snapped towards the figure in an instant.

Megan? How the sparks did she get here?

Her mind whirled with suspicions, plans, reactions. Should she use Megan's assistance with this Epic?

No, I don't need her help anymore. I've managed on my own since the Dalles. I've survived, killed, thrived since then. I don't need my sister Megan's help. I don't even need the Epic MV's help.

As the darkness within her swelled to a peak, all light around her was extinguished from the world.

 

Allison turned in her direction as she ran, briefly their eyes connected with each other as Megan smiled towards her sister.

And then nearly stopped when she saw the cold, icy gaze that was returned to her. She saw eyes that were almost identical to her own twist into something much different and for a moment she felt a lurch of fear in her stomach.

What has happened to her?

And then the world went dark, even the brief, cold view of her sister vanishing from sight.

She stumbled in the darkness, losing her footing and sliding to the ground, instinctively she halted her own momentum and then that of some of the surrounding air, lashing out blindly in an attempt to protect herself.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

"If you're hungry, I have some food back at my place."  He gestured in a general direction.

Blindside narrowed her eyes slightly. Even before Calamity, that kind of hospitality was suspect, and Calamity hadn't exactly done humanity any favors in that department.

But, she was an epic. A basic like this stranger couldn't be a serious threat to her if he tried. And he was offering food. It was such a bother to take every necessity by force.

"Kind of you. I would like that. What is your name?"

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

"N- Nathaniel."

He almost said Nicroburst, but that probably wasn't a good idea.

He was pretty obviously lying, but that wasn't an issue.  Lots of people lied about their name nowdays.  He had heard about some Epic that could do things to you if you told them your true name.  Others might have too.

Epic was unaffected.  They would push this kid a little further, then they would leave them alone.  Blank had just needed to get that  out of their system.  

Why do you assume I'm not here?

Then the paper turned to face the other person, displaying Blank's writing and a recorded log of the things Kokichi had said/written.

Edited October 28, 2018 by The Young Pyromancer

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Liam spun around at the boom, just in time to see the van engulfed in a cloud of dust. The van! He started but stopped himself. It was likely another illusion, just like everything else. Hopefully.

“If that wasn’t you, who was it?” Kokichi called out. The message Epic, Liam realized. The slontze wouldn’t leave them alone. His grip tightened on shotgun as he glanced around. The sparking Epic had to be near. As far as he knew, illusion Epics worked by sight.

Kokichi laughed, throwing their head back in a cackle edged with malice. Liam tensed, the sound bringing the face unbidden to his thoughts. They continued to laugh, in response to another message no doubt. Liam continued to scan the buildings lining the street, searching the windows for a silhouette, anything to not look at Kokichi.

Kokichi giggled. “Why should I be afraid by someone who isn’t even here?” There was tension in their voice, and Liam couldn’t help but look back. He saw another illusory paper, hanging in front of them. Liam leaned closer to see what it said.

“Cuz if you were here, you'd have run crying for your mommy at the sight of that face against yah,” Kokichi continued. An apprehensive glance noticed that their face hadn’t begun to distort yet. Yet. “You'd never have tried to threaten me again. So, since you're clearly not smart enough to get the subtext, I guess I'll have to spell it out for you.”

“If you so much as look at me ever again, well, let's just say, it won't be pretty. Course, I won't kill you, not even if yah beg for it.” Liam mentally shuddered at the vehemence in Kokichi’s words. It almost seemed like they were shaking from the rage leaking out through their mouth, their words. “Just break your bones, again and again and again and again, cut your skin open to scar you as mine, shock yah, twist everything you love and burn it till it's unrecognizable, make it so you can't ever escape cuz there's no where to escape to, and when all the dust's settled, you'll be so shattered, so twisted, you'll never be able to pull yourself back together again.”

There was a dreadful silence.

“Get. Out.”

The paper slowly pivoted towards Liam. In response, he fired the shotgun into it, as a warning. The paper dissolved, exploding into billions of particles that were swept away on the breeze, leaving only Liam, Kokichi, and the van in the street—silent, expectant, and harrowed. Slowly, Liam walked over to Kokichi and cautiously placed a hand on their shoulder.

“It’s okay now,” he said. Kokichi shivered. He scanned the houses again, seeing nothing. “It’s best we get going.”

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Kokichi continued to shiver, perhaps unknowingly. The breeze scattered bits of trash across the road, as solemn as tumbleweeds in the desert. Liam struggled for the right words to say, but none came. Thus he stood silently.

“No—” Kokichi choked, looking up. As their hair parted, Liam saw their eyes—truly—for the first time, and he couldn’t hold back a gasp. Each was a watery pit of anguish, a whirlpool filled with every emotion, but happiness was drowning. In that moment, Liam believed that the eyes are the windows to the soul, but Kokichi’s soul…

“Please, no—”

…terrified him. It was unfathomable, paradoxical. And it was coming out—

Liam staggered back, into a stone wall. The street was gone; in its place was a cramped dungeon. Kokichi was gone as well; in their place was a destitute child, quivering shirtless on the disgusting floor marked with dead cockroaches and putrid bloodstains. Its back was lacerated and painfully clear in the light of the ceiling lamp. Liam gagged, but it wasn’t unfamiliar. He had simply tried his best to forget.

“No!” The child screamed hoarsely, now Kokichi, then Kokichi.

“No!” Diaphrax screeched, as the armored soldiers struggled to pick the scrawny child up. The apartment was dark and decrepit, with peeling wallpaper and moldy carpet. Diaphrax clawed at the wool scarf around his neck, but it was fastly secured: his weakness.

“No, no—stop, stop!” Kokichi shrieked, pleading, begging, defeated.

Liam remembered a rat, half eaten. It was the only edible thing in the apartment. The door had been locked; he had battered it down. Diaphrax: Sonic hallucinations, catastrophic sonic booms. Creates avatars of sonic energy. Weakness: knitted fabrics.

Another enters the room, and it seems to darken because of it. No taller than Liam, perhaps shorter, but muscled, and fearsome calloused hands seemingly stained with blood. One held a wicked knife. Liam watched the face and its cruel sneer. This was a bully if Liam had ever seen one. Even his voice was dripping with malice and arrogance: “_______”

And then the beating began.

Liam kept his eyes open for a moment, heard the shrieks, but turned away. It was too much. The screams echoed in the small stone cell. They echoed in his head. Oh sparks, make it stop!

Suddenly it was gone, the quiet Edmonton street returned. Kokichi collapsed to the ground, quivering, covered in a cold sweat. “Please,” they whimpered. Liam focused on a rooftop in the distance to keep from staring. How could I help? Even fathom empathy? Sparks, sparks, sparks… Slowly, Liam looked down at Kokichi, still lying on the ground.

Carefully, Liam scooped them up and carried them to the van. They were lighter than he expected. Gently, he set Kokichi on the couch on the back. As he walked around to the driver’s seat, he gazed up at the sky. If that man, the demon, was still out there somewhere, Liam swore he would send him so far down even Satan wouldn’t save him.

Edited October 10, 2018 by Hemalurgic Headshot