What Happened in Edmonton

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Thankfully, whatever the blast from before had been hadn’t damaged the van. In fact, it looked fine. Liam set the shotgun in its compartment and sighed. This was going to be one of those missions, he thought. Once one had spent some time with the Circle of the Shield, they started to regard missions as part of one of two categories: these and those. “These” missions were simple: get in, kill or capture the target, get out. Sometimes, these missions were solo but on occasion the Circle provided backup. Fortunately, more than half fell into this category.

Then there are those missions. Diaphrax was one of those missions. Liam doubted anyone had gone home that day with a clear conscience. They—no, that would be better left unsaid. Those missions ended with therapy, sometimes months. Liam recalled one soldier who had accompanied Hawk on the Flipside mission. In short, the mission was a failure, and the soldier, no older than twenty-five, was one of the few survivors. In reality, Liam was only a few years older than him, but he felt so much older. The soldier—Jansen, his name was—would sit in his dorm for hours. Liam tried to avoid interacting with him. It brought up memories of other missions.

He supposed that this was the obvious consequence of entering an unknown city with several significant Epics and expecting it to go fine.

Kokichi muttered something, breaking Liam from his thoughts. “So, I guess this is when you start hating me,” they said. Liam was quiet. “Or thinking I’m pathetic, or whatever. Can’t really tell the difference.”

“No,” Liam said, after a moment. He twisted in his seat to look at them. “I don’t hate you. And you aren’t pathetic either.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “I’ve met some great people, some very close friends, who have so many scars it’s hard to look at. But sparks, they aren’t pathetic. I can’t do some of the things they’ve done. Pain is human. It reminds us we’re alive.” Liam realized he was clenching his fists and relaxed them. “I’ve been told you only fail if you don’t get up. So get up.”

Out of things to say, Liam turned around and started the van, trying to suppress the emotion in his face. Sparks, I’m talking like an old person. Sparks.

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

“It’s been ten years,” Kokichi said. Liam focused on the road. Was Kokichi really that old? It was hard to tell sometimes… “If I was gonna get better, I’d have done it by now.” Right turn, navigate around potholes.

“It might’ve been different if I’d killed him—Agor—myself. Closure, y’know?” They nearly choked while saying the name. “But he’s dead. Gone from everywhere except my head.” There was a shuffling noise, and Liam assumed Kokichi had turned around or laid down. Agor… the man from the flashback. Good riddance, Liam thought. He rubbed the steering wheel distractedly. If only he could do something for Kokichi, but sparks, he wasn’t a therapist. It took someone much more qualified than him to deal with crippling self-doubt, night terrors, sudden panic…

He shook his head. “Hey, do you mind if I…” he asked while reaching over to the dash. If Kokichi had said something, Liam couldn’t hear it, so he turned on the stereo.

There must be lights burning brighter, somewhere

Got to birds flying higher in a sky more blue

If I can dream of a better land

Where all my brothers walk hand in hand!

Tell me why (why), oh why (why), oh why can’t my dream come true!

Oh why

There must be peace and understanding, sometime

Strong winds of promise that blow away the doubt and fear

If I can dream of a warmer sun

Where hope keeps shining on everyone

Tell me why (why), oh why (why), oh why won’t that sun appear

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwqbuus8QPU)

 

[Comatose he/him]

"Premier Notley, your visitor set off our scanners."  

So the newest visitor from the Shield was either an epic, or, more likely, was carrying motivator tech.  "Anything on her that might have done it?"

The agent shook his head.  "Nothing we could. . ."  The room went dark.  

The next few minutes were a blur for Rachel as she was rushed from her office, into a safety bunker off to to the side, and her agents rushed to apprehend and secure the visitor--the likely cause of the darkness.  

By the time the lights came back on, Rachel was breathing heavily.  

"Well, where is she?"

(OOC: @Drake Marshall - I'll let you decide whether or not Taya was captured - Sorry for being late everyone)

 

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

The border unrest was just a symptom, Finley told himself. A microcosm of a larger issue. The flood of refugees meant the increasing intervention of displaced epics. He grabbed a hardcover book, a pen, and a napkin, and started writing:

To all epics displaced displaced epics fleeing to seeking residence in Edmonton, I extend my welcome.

I also offer a deal. I would will gladly host any of you within ERA territory, with access to every amenity within reason. The rules are few and simple:

• Rampaging within ERA territory will not be tolerated. Similarly, assaulting ERA officers will not be tolerated. If you Free transportation will be provided to and from other regions of the city, should you desire to pursue these activities.
• If ERA territory falls under attack during your time of residence, you will coordinate with ERA authorities to defend it.

You will not be Provided you make your intent to accept these terms clear, you will not be harmed when approaching ERA territory.

Yours truly,

     Epoch

"This'll do."

Considering how rare working television sets had become after Calamity, it would have to.

"Get this typed up and circulate it around," he ordered, passing the napkin off to Vera, the ambassador. If she thought there was anything out of the ordinary about mass-publishing the contents of a paper napkin, she didn't let on.

"I am also authorizing further increases in recruitment of enforcers in response to the influx of refugees."

Epoch leaned back in his chair. Once the probability epic was out of his hair, he could begin preparing for tonight's meeting in earnest.

[ShadowLord_Lith he/him]

Orbit examined the reports from his people, checking on the progress that had been made in the investigation. So far, those sparking thieves had been almost unfindable. 

He was almost tempted to take that flame epic up on her offer, but he found the idea less than desirable. She and her group were an unknown force in the game he was playing, and he already had to juggle a dozen pieces. No need to add in yet another set of pieces that might turn out to be more important than he thought. He might be forced to though... 

Regardless, he was not happy about the summons. Apparently, people didn't know how to leave that sparking time epic alone. He'd have to go, since none of his men had the same immunity he had. Sparking time manipulator...

He needed ways to keep Epoch down for good, but considering how many people he'd have to fight to kill Epoch, and how many of them were loyal to him, he'd be hard pressed to force Epoch into a situation that would make him powerless. He'd be a sparking nightmare to kill. 

He looked at his mobile, considering. He had time...

He'd at least see what the girls had to say. He could always kill them if this was a trap, after all. Or if he didn't like what they offered. He'd leave longbow in charge while he went to the clandestine meeting, with orders to keep his empire from collapsing and to keep their borders stable. Honestly, he wasn't exactly confident in most of his men, but he trusted Longbow could at least keep any hostiles from entirely decimating his forces.

After the city-wide blackout earlier... it appeared there were more powerful epics in this city than he'd assumed, and since none of them seemed to be well known enough for him to have expected the blackout, well... he didn't plan to take any more chances than necessary. And if these girls got him his amberlight back, maybe he could use them to knock down a few other dominoes.

So he picked up his mobile and called Longbow.

"What's up, Orbit? Need a message delivered or something?" His time was simultaneously annoyed and humored, a tone perfected over time to express his continued disdain for his low status and weak power while also coveying his actual feelings.

"I'm leaving the base. You're in charge until I get back, make sure we don't lose everything to the first new epic who takes a liking to my property."

"Yes sir. Total authority?"

"Except for messing with the hierarchy in this system. And no ordering my death. Now get working." He hung up, standing and fiddling with his tie. He then headed out, eager to see the three girls before meeting with Epoch.

This could turn out to be a very interesting meeting.

Edited October 17, 2018 by ShadowLord_Lith

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Several Weeks Ago

Casper, Wyoming

It wasn't until Casper that Jade mentioned her mother. 

Wyoming hadn't been the first destination on Nathan's mind, once he and Jade left what remained of Oregon. His first thought had been of Newcago, of his friends still there and how much of the blame had landed on their shoulders. But even if they'd had some means of getting that information out of people who would know it while escaping recognition, the sudden reappearance of an escapee and the strange, sparkling Epic who had facilitated his escape would stir up even more trouble. Better to ponder his questions alone in the dead of night than force others to pay the price of answering them.

A few more suggestions had been followed up on. Las Vegas had been a city with more Epics than laws, more sins than slot machines, but the thought of placing themselves under another Epic dictator didn't appeal to them, and so Babylon Restored was off the table. Detroit had been half a wasteland even before Calamity, and years of Epics hadn't helped matters. So when Jade mentioned Wyoming, it seemed as good a destination as any. 

They'd started in Sheridan, found most of the buildings either destroyed or abandoned, and moved on. Gillette, Thermopolis, Worland—judging by the numbers on their signs, those towns had never been major population centers, but it seemed Calamity had driven them all to pastures that, if not quite green, at least weren't brown and overgrown with weeds. Teleporting along the highways, taking small jumps with frequent breaks, had brought them to Casper. There might have been destroyed buildings, abandoned areas, but there were people and those people were willing to take them in. That was where they were when news blew in from Newcago, and that was where Jade first mentioned her mother. 

"So she's still in Alaska?" Nathan stirred his soup before taking a spoonful. He hadn't expected the Casper authorities to offer the usual rate—three square meals and a bed for the night in exchange for assisting with whatever work needed done—to two outsiders who showed up out of the blue, but then again, he hadn't expected ordinary humans to be in charge of the city government, either. "Did she go there after Calamity, or was she there before?" 

"Before. I mean—I grew up there, with her. In Wasilla." 

She'd been Doctor Funtimes when he met her, and he could still see Doctor Funtimes if he focused only on her features. Those dark curls, those wide brown eyes, that small sharp nose set in a round face—it was all the same as the night she'd pranced over to that table, but that was where the similarities ended. Gone was the glitter in her hair, the lift in her voice and the childlike words. Her multicolored prom dress and light-up socks were somewhere among the rubble of Oregon, replaced by blue jeans and a pink shirt. Her Converse high-tops still didn't match, but one was white and the other pale grey—an echo of Doctor Funtimes, but one so soft you might miss it. Her once ever-present smile was gone too, replaced by something more uncertain and—somehow—friendlier. Nathan didn't know her near as well as he'd known his friends back in Newcago, but he knew her well enough to guess that there was something she'd left unsaid. 

"Did she leave and go back, after Khione took control?" 

"No. I left, she stayed." 

That unsaid thing crawled onto the table, made itself comfortable between them. Nathan thought he'd guessed at the shape of it. Alaska had Epics—every place had Epics—but some areas had more than others. If one Delancey had been singled out by Calamity, maybe another had been chosen too. Still, it was best to hedge a bit, let Jade answer how she wanted. "What happened to her?" 

"She got weather powers, killed my dad, and kinda took over Alaska." 

Nathan's next bite got stuck in his throat. Once the choking ended, the concerned onlookers had been shooed away, and he'd gotten his wind back, he glanced both ways to be sure no one had heard, no one would hear what he said next. "Your mom is Khione?" 

Jade didn't look up from the soup she stirred absently. "Yeah." 

"Calamity, Jade." He coughed again as a tickle resurfaced. "I thought you were gonna say she's one of Khione's Epics, not the Storm Goddess herself." 

"Nope. She's the big cheese." She lifted a spoonful of broth and let it pour back into her bowl. "Well, frozen cheese, I guess. Heard she'll stick you in your own personal blizzard if you make her mad."

"I heard that, too." Most of Newcago's elite had discussed local politics, who was in favor, who was out and who was seeking it, but sometimes the conversation had turned elsewhere. Khione had wound her way in and out of those discussions, a hushed and reverent whisper about what she had done, what she could do, what she might do. "You…you want to go find her, I'm guessing?" 

"Yeah, I…." She bit her lip. "Whatever happened to me….whatever you did—" 

His hand strayed, almost unconsciously, to the iPod buried deep in his pocket. It needed recharging, but he'd long since committed the lyrics of that song to memory. Committed her weakness to memory. "You're the one who told me to keep it." 

"Which I couldn't have done if you weren't there. Anyway." A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips, as it always did when she thought she'd won that old argument, but it disappeared just as quickly. "I need to find her. Try and get whatever happened to me to happen to her. Somehow." 

They'd discussed her unexpected transformation more than once, both back in Oregon and after Oregon ceased to be. Nathan's theory—that Epics, like Time Lords, could not only regenerate but needed to in order to conquer the initial corrupt regeneration—might have gotten Jade's approval, but it didn't explain what triggered said regeneration or why excessive power use seemed to invite that corruption back in.  A tentative theory holding remorse as the key ingredient had been floated back and forth, but Jade still wasn't sure how well it fit. Every conversation attempting to get to the bottom of it ended at a wall. The transformation involved an Epic's weakness. That was all they knew. "You know her weakness?" 

"No, but I know her, so I can probably figure it out. I know it's probably not, like, black licorice or something, even though she hated that stuff, but….yeah. I can get a guess once I see her." 

"Alaska's stable, Jade. I mean, I don't know too much about what it's like nowadays, but I know that much. Khione—your mom—she might not be the nicest, but she keeps everyone clothed. I…" He fought to get the words out, still connected as they were to memories he didn't want. "Anchorage won't become another Portland." 

"It's not just that." She set her spoon down. "I—before—before whatever happened—I remember what it was like. What thinking was like. What I was thinking when….all the time. It…" She buried her head in her hands, maybe to hide tears but maybe out of frustration, letting her hands fall mere seconds later. "I don't want to go back to that, and I know my mom won't, either." 

There were a few things that sprang to Nathan's mind, things he could have said, but they all seemed inadequate. They sat in silence for a few moments, Jade staring into her soup, Nathan trying and failing to think how to break that silence. 

"Steelheart's dead," she said at last. "If—if you wanted to go back to Newcago, check on your friends, it's probably a lot safer than it was. I could take you there. And if things go wonky I can get you out." 

A pang of guilt went through him. He'd mentioned his friends a while back, just an offhanded reference, but he shouldn't have mentioned them at all. The other servers at the casino, those left to face Fortuity's wrath—there was a chance all the fallout in Newcago would have occurred to Jade eventually as she continued to take stock of everything she'd done during her corrupt regeneration, but he shouldn't have brought them up. Shouldn't have made certain she thought of them. "It's fine." 

"Look, if you don't want to see what happened, then….I mean, you don't have to, and I might not want to either. I mean, I might. Might not, if I were in your shoes. But if you do, I can get you to Newcago, and then I can bring you back here." 

He looked up a little more sharply than he'd intended. 

"Or to Cheyenne, since they might wonder how you got back here so fast. They're saying Cheyenne's in decent shape, too. Or Lincoln. Someplace Epics aren't really in charge. Or where they're sort of in charge but sort of not." 

He already had a response for her second offer, but his mind was still trying to work through the first.

He should have died that night. It wasn't a thought soaked in despair, or regret, or anything else—it was simply a fact. Jade had saved his life, but what she'd done as Doctor Funtimes had been, by the laws of Newcago, theft and property damage and probably a whole host of other crimes Nathan couldn't name. She'd left reminders of what she'd done in Fortuity's penthouse and by the side of the road, tokens that would dredge up memories of that humiliation every time he glanced down the hall or out the window. Epics didn't forgive things like that. With the Epic responsible halfway across the Fractured States, Fortuity would have vented his wrath on whoever happened to be near, singling out whoever might have spoken to Funtimes as a potential accomplice. 

Odds were, Nathan's friends were long dead. 

And yet there was a chance, perhaps a slim one but still a chance, that a few had survived. It tapped him on the shoulder, refused to let him decline the offer to find the truth. Even if they were dead, he thought, he owed it to them to learn what had happened, to retrace their final steps and remember them as they'd been. 

"Yeah. I mean—I want to go back. To Newcago." 

Jade nodded slowly, not looking at him. "Any idea where you want to go after that? You don't have to decide right now, but—" 

"Alaska." 

Her mouth opened, closed, and softened into an expression of disbelief. "Nathan…." 

He glanced to left and right, saw people immersed in their own food, their own conversations, and leaned forward, keeping his voice low. "You might not have Kh—your mom's weakness," he said, "but I have yours." 

She looked down into her soup again. The implication was clear: If she lost control, or began to, he could bring her back to herself. Negating her powers helped clear her head. He might not be the only person in the Fractured States capable of that, but she likely wouldn't find one of them among strangers in Alaska. 

"And besides. Once you figure out what her weakness is, if I go with you, there'll be two people who know it. Not just one." 

Jade nodded again. She didn't like the suggestion, he could see that much, but she wasn't about to reject it, either. Maybe she knew he'd keep insisting until she relented. Maybe she knew she wouldn't put up much of a fight. 

"Why?" 

She'd asked that question before, after she'd closed his fingers over that iPod and told him he was free to go, free to leave her to grapple with whatever had happened and to grieve her sister all on her own. After he'd said he'd stay with her, for as long as she needed him there. His answer then had been the same as his answer now. 

"Because you shouldn't have to do this alone."

[+Ark1002]

Tendril sat in Blank's lair. He knew he needed something to do. He had just got there, so he didn't really know anyone. Ugh...

Edited October 29, 2018 by Ark1002

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Several Weeks Ago

Newcago

Fortuity was dead. 

The families working the farms surrounding the city tended to stay out of politics. Feuds between government Epics weren't of much interest to them. The dizzying cycle of who had fallen into favor and who had fallen out of it had seemed like common knowledge to Nathan only because he overheard the gossip on every shift. To those just outside the city, it might be mentioned offhandedly, if at all. The Reckoners in Newcago, however—that was news. An assassination was news. And the death of an immortal, invincible, downright divine Epic was the biggest news of all. 

"It's probably best if you go in alone," Jade said. Nathan hadn't completely absorbed the news—but then, he wasn't sure a week would be enough time for it to sink in. "I mean, Enforcement doesn't work for Steelheart anymore, but they probably got my face on one of their cameras or whatever." She paused before cracking half a grin. "'Cept they might not recognize me without all that glitter." 

He'd considered making a quick joke about that. If Jade brought it up herself, he assumed it wasn't a sore spot. "Unless you used more glitter." 

She nodded, lower lip protruding as though she'd pondered the notion and found it acceptable. "Not a bad idea. Just, like, put on a whole tub of it so all they see is this big shiny thing walking down the street." 

"Between that and the rest of the city, everybody'd be too blind to try and nab you." 

She smiled, then cast a quick glance around, made certain they were alone, and waved a hand over the dirt. Two radios appeared, each small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. She handed one to him and pocketed the other. 

"If anyone gives you trouble, or you think they might, call me and I'll get you out, okay?" 

So it was happening. The shining city behind him, the place he thought he'd never return to in his lifetime—he would walk its streets soon, retrace steps he'd taken a thousand times and thought he'd never take again. All of those questions that had kept him awake, all the questions that had become nightmares and awful sick certainties, would have answers. He'd greet his friends or learn where to find their remains. 

Not for the first time, he wanted to beg Jade to come with him. Tell her to put a hood over her hair, don wide enough sunglasses to make identification difficult, maybe hide her chin under an especially high turtleneck. From all they'd learned, it would be a friendlier city, a kinder government, a gentler Enforcement he'd find—and yet he couldn't shake the image of black-suited officers swooping in on him the moment his foot touched steel, of one of Steelheart's former government grabbing his arm. 

But once they had him, who would they return him to? Fortuity was dead; Steelheart had followed in his footsteps. Every other Epic was now a threat to the government, rather than the government itself. 

"What sort of signal should I use?" 

She shrugged. "Just whatever." 

So she didn't expect him to give her a running commentary on the city from inside. That eased two burdens—the other being what sort of signal he'd need to remember. If she had nothing in mind, he could simply scream incoherently into the radio and she'd be there in a heartbeat. 

******************** 

He hadn't been certain he'd remember all his friends' old addresses after two years and everything that had filled them, but it didn't matter—Carmen wasn't in her old apartment. Sympathy crossed the new tenant's face when she saw the look on his, and before too long he stood outside another door, still in the understreets but mere steps and staircases from Fortuity's old penthouse. 

During the journey over, he'd wished more than once that Jade was at his side. Not just for the sort of protection only a matter manipulator could provide, but so she could elbow him and call attention to some completely ordinary thing only she would notice, to make an observation only she would make. He wanted to hear her opinions on the trashcans, the old cars frozen in place, the absolute relentless shininess of it all and the city's attempts to make it bearable. Walking through Newcago in sunlight was almost as disorienting as it was familiar, and he wished Jade had been there to stave off the worst of the confusion. 

Now, standing before an apartment a good deal larger than the one he'd had, he wished for Jade again even through the relief that he was alone. Whatever he found, whatever his reaction, he didn't want her to see it—and yet he didn't want to face the truth alone. 

Newcagoans weren't known for cruel pranks. Not ordinary people, anyway. Epics, sure, but not those who lived beneath them. The thought threatened to slip through Nathan's mind as he knocked on the door. 

"Oh my god." 

Carmen's voice. Breathless with fear, but her voice. She'd survived. 

A male voice answered back, the words an indistinct hum, and Nathan couldn't tell who owned it. For an awful moment he thought the farmers had been wrong, that Fortuity hadn't died; a glimpse toward the future would've told him where to wait, how to best lay a trap, when to barge through the door with gun raised—

The door swung open. Carmen's hands flew to her mouth. 

Nathan had known he'd see her, sooner or later, once he heard her voice. He knew he'd see her dark straight hair, falling loose around her shoulders as she always allowed it to on her days off. He suspected he'd see her brown eyes glimmering with tears, as they had been on that last night, when he'd been too wrapped in terror for a proper goodbye. He thought he'd say something then, maybe not something witty but something friendly at least; but all he could do was stare. 

"What," she said, and her voice trembled, "did I say when you told me what Lord Snakehands ordered?" 

Damien had appeared just behind the doorway, his expression mirroring Carmen's but without any tears Nathan could see. Victoria stood at the opposite side of the doorway and a few feet back, frantically tapping out a message on her mobile. Carmen's hand gripped the door, as if ready to close it at a second's notice. A shapeshifter. Of course. The one that came immediately to Nathan's mind didn't seem the type to play such a cruel prank on some lowly servers—whether or not she was the real Taylor Swift, she'd been pretty busy keeping up the pop star persona—but she wasn't the only one in the Fractured States. Carmen had to make sure. Better to give up hope all at once than have it torn away. 

A slight smile tugged at Nathan's mouth. For any business catering to Epics, the safest motto had always been some variation on Give the Customer What They Want, and the LaBeau Restaurant and Casino had adopted that one nearly word for word. Managers and servers alike made it their guiding philosophy—even when a minor Epic with snakes for hands demanded his chicken parmigiana be cooked medium rare. "You said, 'Guess he wants food poisoning.'" 

The words were scarcely out before Carmen threw her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. 

**********************

Jade had an atlas to keep her company. Whenever it didn't seem like much, she reminded herself she could have had nothing at all. 

At first, she traced and retraced the possible routes from Newcago to Anchorage with her finger. The atlas was old enough to call the city at the edge of Lake Michigan Chicago, and the metropolis dominating the upper East Coast was still called New York City, but the highways still followed the same routes now as they had back then, so the atlas wasn't quite obsolete. 

Anchorage wasn't the only place in Alaska they could travel to. Without a car, she could bypass the little loop of highway leading through Marsh Lake and Hanes, cutting to Juneau directly from Treslin or Watson Lake. Even Kodiak was a viable option, what with teleportation eliminating the need for a ferry or plane. But from all she'd heard, Anchorage was still the largest city and therefore the most likely place to find her mom. 

Jade's stomach clenched. Maybe they ought to go to Bethel first. It was a longer trip, but a longer trip meant longer breaks and longer breaks meant more of a delay. And delays weren't always a bad thing. They could be a good thing, like when you stopped for a few hours to find old friends. 

Unless those friends had each been strapped to a table, one after the other, long before you even dreamed of returning to find them. 

She longed to stand, to try and walk off the shaking that threatened to set in, but stayed where she was. It was best if she didn't walk around too much, best if she didn't give anyone happening by the long-vacant home something interesting to see through the windows. Nathan had taken a big enough risk walking into the city, albeit a calculated one, after learning what he had from those farmers. He didn't need the rogue Epic who'd gotten his friends into that mess causing a stir. 

She forced her attention back to the map. The most direct routes already avoided Calgary, consumed as it was with a stampede of Epics. An old atlas couldn't know that—most maps wouldn't know that—but it was good for her to know that they wouldn't have to go out of their way to avoid the city. That same path would lead through cities and towns with some of the best names she'd heard—Creelman and Dundurn and Saskatoon. If they wanted to go a little off that path, they could head north at Fargo and hit Winnipeg, though they'd miss Portal entirely. She made a mental note to get Nathan's opinion when he returned. 

Jade frowned at the sky. Still bright, but the sun had moved a good bit further across the horizon. Hours had passed without so much as a peep from her radio. Maybe Nathan had run into an Epic, or exactly the wrong Enforcement officer—though with the way he'd kept one hand near his pocket on his way toward the city, he would've had time to at least press the call button and if Jade had heard that staticky blip, she would've been in the city before anyone could blink. The chance he'd been attacked before he even had time to think about the radio nearly made her risk Enforcement and port into the city, but a different thought gave her pause. 

He might have found his friends. 

If one or two had survived, he would have spent the past several hours with them and nowhere else. Even if they all avoided mentioning the worse parts of the past two years, that was a long time to be apart and they would have had a lot to talk about. That thought—it was a good one, or as good as it could be, given the situation. 

The other conjured up an image: Nathan alone on a steel bench somewhere, head in his hands. 

She bit her lip, turning the oversized page in a vain attempt at distraction. She'd humiliated a very dangerous Epic, sent him from sadistic pleasure to fury in the space of a minute, toyed with him when she ought to have fled without looking back. It had been fun, sure—but that was all she'd thought about. Fun. Having fun, poking fun, being fun. Not about the people left with the consequences. 

Jade flipped away from Canada and turned to a random page toward the front, only barely registering it was a map of Georgia. She'd get a call from Nathan soon, just a quick one saying they needed to talk. Or maybe he wouldn't deliver the words in person; maybe he'd say what he needed to the moment he heard her voice: "I'd rather stay here. It's safer now. My friends are gone, but I…I can't go back. I can't go with you."

She'd expected something similar when she gave him that iPod, and something stronger when they'd left an Oregon beyond hope, but it had made sense for him to stay then. She'd been his best option, an Epic he could rely on for safety when she was in her right mind, one he could neutralize when she wasn't. Sometimes she thought he might consider her something like a friend, though the actual designation would always elude her. It was only fair, after she'd kidnapped him, made him her boyfriend, and paraded him around a war zone in a paper-thin disguise. Jade didn't quite believe in miracles, but the fact Nathan had stuck around as long as he had certainly qualified as one. 

Once he saw what she'd done, he'd end that nonsense for sure. 

**************************

When the sun was nearly at the horizon once again, her radio gave out a sudden burst of static and a familiar voice. 

"Hey, Jade. Sorry I couldn't call you before. I'm on my way now." 

Jade looked to the suede duster he'd left folded neatly on the floor. They'd agreed it was best if he went into Newcago without it; having him masquerade as an Epic had never been one of her better ideas, and leaving even part of that illusion in place would be even worse in a city stuck fending them off. She had spent the better part of the afternoon wondering if he'd be back for it, wondering if she ought to turn it to dirt or water to help the memory fade. "I still have your duster." 

"Yay." 

He sounded tired, but glad. Jade half-smiled. "You know, I could've just made you another one." 

"It wouldn't be the same." 

She couldn't think why he'd want to hang onto a wrong-colored coat he'd gotten from a dangerously unstable Epic on a night he'd been kidnapped twice, but his tone turned her half smile into a whole one anyway—one that fell when she remembered what he might have found. "Is—how did it go?" 

"I'll tell you once I get there." 

Heat rushed to her cheeks. She should have known that question was better answered in person. "Yeah, okay." 

"It went fine, though." 

Those words were tricky. They sounded encouraging, and he'd said them in an encouraging way, but they could mean almost anything. Maybe he meant two of his friends had survived instead of one, or that they were far happier to see him than he'd thought they'd be. Or maybe he meant their ashes were contained in nicer urns than he'd thought they'd get. She was still working through all the possible meanings of It went fine when Nathan appeared out of the distance, gleaming city at his back. 

He wasn't her boyfriend. He'd never asked for the title, and she'd long since abandoned it, to his obvious relief. He wasn't an Epic, either, but as he strode forward with hands in pockets she was reminded of an old comic book, one with the hero walking casually and pensively from the city he'd just saved. Of course, he hadn't saved it—he'd just visited, and for a while too—but she thought maybe he could have. He'd saved her, after all, found her remaining humanity and dragged it to safety. If Newcago or Babilar or any other city needed saving, she had no doubt Nathan could manage. 

She gave him his duster and he readily pulled it on. The day itself had been fairly warm, but evening chills set in quickly. Maybe she should have let him speak first, waited for him to answer before she asked the question, but she couldn't wait. "So it went okay?" 

"Yeah." Surprise laced the word. "He didn't kill them." 

Jade could only blink. 

"I guess—you know how he couldn't see too far into the future? Apparently, he decided that if he kept them around awhile, they'd have to crack sooner or later. Figured that day was always just a little further than what he could see, so he moved them closer and kept an eye on them." He gave a small sniff, like something a couple dozen steps away from a laugh. "They figured he got so mad, he left them alive." 

Nathan didn't quite smile, but Jade saw enough amusement to know he'd meant that last bit as a quip. All she heard was what he didn't say—what moved them closer and kept an eye on them must have meant. She wouldn't ask for details, and there was a chance his friends hadn't shared them anyway, but her mind supplied a few possibilities. She suppressed a shudder. "Are they okay?" 

He didn't answer immediately, drawing a long breath and looking off into the distance just past her before speaking. "Think so." 

It wasn't a definite answer, and Jade appreciated that. He wasn't lying for her benefit. His friends had walked through hell for the past two years, a hell partially of her creation, but they'd come out alive. They'd outlived their tormenter and the immortal Epic who had permitted it all. That was something. 

For a long minute, Nathan said nothing and Jade didn't try. He was looking for the words, she thought, to tell her he'd decided to stay. She tried to find the words to tell him that was okay. That's fine was the safest answer, so long as she didn't make it sound sad enough to make him want to go with her. It was short, yes, but I don't care sounded too harsh and I don't mind was a flat-out lie. Maybe she'd just nod, ask if there was anything he needed. 

"So," he said. It had a businesslike air about it, and she thought she'd anticipated what he'd say next. Thought she'd need one of the answers she'd prepared. "Did you want to stay here for the night, or head north now?" 

Edited October 28, 2018 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

Viktor moved over to the new Epic.  Cautiously, since apparently those tentacles were plasma.  Or so the man said.  If it was plasma it should radiate heat, and act as a plasma torch to whatever it passed through.  Viktor smiled.  He had gotten that knowledge soon after he was Turned.  The original owner was an overweight, balding man in a lab coat.  Funny how even though he was a theoretical physicist he still wore a lab coat.  It protected him from what, chalk dust?  That man had lasted almost a month before he snapped.  Having your talents forcibly extracted from you, the knowledge and expertise of a lifetime slowly drained from your mind tended to do that to people.  Of course, Viktor took more care with those whose skills were useful, or rare, but the man didn't seem to have anything valuable.  Though Viktor didn't know.  After all, he couldn't drain someone's skill if he didn't know it existed.  Except if he did a general drain, but that was terribly inefficient. 

Viktor focused back on topic.  He was supposed to be nice to the newcomer, so he settled into the chair opposite 'Tendril', holding out a cup.

"Care for some tea?"

One of the things Viktor drained most often, if he had time, was tea brewing.  It had started out as a joke, but then he discovered that knowledge like that didn't affect people too much.  Many times people didn't seem to notice.  Of course, since almost no one was actually good at making tea, the amount he could drain wasn't very large.  Especially once he started getting good at it and the diminishing returns kicked in.  Still, Viktor enjoyed tea, so it was worth it.

Edited October 28, 2018 by The Young Pyromancer

[+Ark1002]

 

Tendril looked over at the man.

"Yes, I would like some."
Tendril smiled, thinking back to the last time he had gotten tea. A thievery, a knife to the back, money in a pouch. He had taken the vintage tea as a trophy.

Edited October 29, 2018 by Ark1002

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Before he knew it, Liam was driving down a road lined by small shops. Though the road itself wasn’t in the best shape and the shrubbery lining it had overgrown, most of the shops were in good condition. A window was bashed in here and there, but often the window had been covered with wood or cardboard, and Liam saw customers in a few of them. There was an air of life on this road, a resilience of community that had survived Calamity.

The van slowed down, and Liam moved over to the curb. He noticed a few side glances and even an open stare as he did so, but many more averted their eyes. Simultaneously he noticed the telltale signs of concealed weapons on a few of the pedestrians. Calamity had still left its mark, and the red war-fitted Volkswagen wasn’t exactly inconspicuous.

“One hundred and twenty-somethingth street,” Kokichi mumbled, squinting through the window. Liam relaxed inwardly. Seeing Kokichi back on their feet lifted a weight that had been resting on his shoulders. “Wanna poke around or keep moving?” They asked. Liam glanced around at the street and nodded.

“I was thinking the same thing,” he replied as he grabbed his jacket and shotgun. “Let’s go see why we’re here.”

Liam elected to move the van to an alley before they went snooping around. Though he doubted that many of the citizens would do much, Liam would prefer not to attract the attention of any local Epics. Once on the sidewalk, he turned to Kokichi and gestured to the row of stores. “So, where to first?”

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Present Day 

Edmonton wasn't Edmonton anymore. 

That was more or less expected. Some Epics kept the names of the cities they conquered; others decided names like Miami and Atlanta were too sensible and changed them. Still, Olympia Polaris wasn't bad, as city names went, and there wasn't much point in complaining anyway, so Nathan didn't bother. Entering from one of the southeastern checkpoints would have been simplest, but Jade thought it best to approach cities from angles that gave fewer clues as to their point of origin. 

"You think your mom has spies this far east?" 

She'd shrugged, and the unease he'd glimpsed had made him drop the subject. She took his hand and an extra jump, and they landed a fair distance from the northeastern edge of the city, hopefully far enough to evade notice from any lookouts and to give the impression they'd reached Olympia Polaris by ordinary means. The packs on their backs—stocked with survival gear, which Jade insisted was a must in the northern wilderness, superpowers or no—helped sell the illusion.

Walking after a series of jumps seemed to help Jade clear her head, and it seemed they needed to do a good bit of it before reaching the areas where people lived. The northern sector didn't seem to be a popular locale; the first cluster of houses they passed stood empty, some windows broken and others crusted with years of dirt and grime. When they did pass an occupied dwelling, the owners called their children inside and then stood in the open door, watching them until they were gone. The slam of a door echoed down the street. 

Nathan thought of Portland, and then shook the thought away. This wasn't Portland. The locals they'd spoken to had mentioned competing factions and a semblance of peace. It wasn't Portland. 

Sightings of residents increased as they moved toward downtown, and while Nathan still sensed tension, it was a different sort. The residents here didn't hide in whatever structures were available, but walked out in the open. More than one sported the conspicuous bulge of a barely-concealed firearm; simple logic dictated that others would have weapons better hidden in their bags or clothing. He and Jade attracted more than a few long stares, but those usually ended at their packs and the apparent conclusion that they were just passing through. 

He'd been no stranger to walking in Newcago, and he'd only done more of it since Oregon's destruction. But weariness always set in sooner or later, and he longed for a place to set his pack down, something to drink and maybe to eat. Despite the odd broken window, downtown Olympia Polaris boasted a number of restaurants, aromas wafting out from open doors. He was just about to ask Jade if she had a destination in mind when the answer appeared before him, written in yellow script on a black sign. 

"Destination Doughnuts," Jade read aloud. He could hear the smile in her tone, growing with each syllable, probably due to the smell of fried sugar drifting toward them, enticing as the promise of warmth and comfort and relative safety it implied. 

Seems like a sign. Nathan almost said it, but the unintended pun was bad enough to give him pause. "Looks like a good place." 

"No." Jade took his hand, her voice breathless with wonder, and led him toward the door. "It's destiny." 

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

"Whoever you want me to be, master."

A pure and perfect orb of blood bloomed from the epic's outstretched hand, suspended for a moment in the empty space between her and Quietus.

The display was... Pleasing. Blood epics had a good aesthetic going, without even trying.

Her offer of servitude, although suspect, was also pleasing. She could be more than a mere prisoner or plaything.

"My name's Red."

Red. A simple name. To the point. Blunt. Unlike the sharpened steel that gave her those scars.

It was not lost on Quietus that she still asserted her name, immediately after offering up her identity to him. Consciously or not, she resisted giving up her individuality completely. Quietus would fix that. Women were like shoes, in that both of them had to be broken in.

His pupils dilated as he switched into heat vision, sizing her up. Her body was warm. Not unusually warm however: she was unafraid. A sweet and delicate moth drawn nearer to the flame. The marks on her body laid her bare. They bespoke a special familiarity with physical pain, but probably as a coping mechanism for emotional pain. He caressed her bare neck and shoulders, feeling her warmth, running his fingers along the criss-crossed scarring.

"Great. Red," Quietus drawled out with a slight smile, hand still resting on her bare skin. "You can call me Quietus. I will be exacting your servitude either way of course, but why should I trust that your offer is genuine?"

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

The epic answered in a breathy voice, positively dripping with submission. Quietus was going to enjoy her considerably.

“With your strength, Quietus, as I’m sure it is vast enough to dissuade any thoughts of betrayal, and precise enough to punish those who dare disobey."

"Yeah, pretty much."

An interesting case. She was literally begging to be abused, in every way. While they might be diverting, conventional methods of breaking her in would probably fall short. Quietus debated with himself the merits of finding a creative weak spot to control her with, or instead deliberately assailing what he knew to be a less vulnerable side of her and seeking heights of physical pain that could master her anyhow.

Or he could just do both of those things.

"The way this works is pretty simple. I don't generally take on prisoners as slaves, because most prisoners aren't worth my time. Fail me, and you're not valuable enough to be a slave, and so you get the same ending most prisoners do."

He rested his hand on the cuffs that restrained her.

"You will start by explaining in detail what you can do for me, apart from getting captured by a team of incompetents."

[Kidpen he/him]

                                                                                                

Armageddon sighed. In hindsight, coming to the Webrynth completely unannounced might have been a bad idea, but he had somehow assumed that Arachnerd spent all her time in here, just whiling away the hours spying on everyone else. Standing up in defeat, he was about to call to his Apocalypse Guard to head home when a small spider came up carrying a rolled up piece of paper.

Alright... there are two possibilities here. One, it's for me from someone who knows I'm here. Two, it's for Arachnerd, who isn't here. Might as well take it. Opening it up, he found himself more and more interested in the contents. A meeting, scheduled by Epoch? Sure to be interesting. "Change of plans!" he yelled, "We're heading for Epoch's territory!"

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

"Very well, N- Nathaniel. I'm Stephany."

A false name, but it would have felt weird to give her real one since she hadn't used it in ages. She never even liked her given name that much anyways. Plus, she kind of doubted his name was genuine either.

"So, are there any people and/or places I should stay away from? I'm from Calgary," she explained truthfully.

Maybe he could give her an idea of which factions she might approach. Epics of Blindside's caliber had to take refuge in a bigger name epic eventually, willingly or not. It was better to do it by choice. The important decision was who.

"Miss Rook, you are under arrest for using an unknown epic power against this government facility, and accomplice in the epic-assisted break-in of another government facility."

Taya blinked in the bright light, clearing the last of the drowsiness from her eyes. She noticed the guns pointing at her.

"What."

"You will relinquish your bag and put your hands above your head."

Taya let out an inarticulate noise of displeasure. "Can we not do this right now."

"You are under arrest," the officer repeated.

"I can see that. And I very do not have time for it."

"You will make time fo--"

"Did you miss the fact that I was here on diplomatic business? Or perhaps you missed the part where the actual government pulled out and left us all at the mercy of complete monsters."

"If you do not comply within three seconds, force will be used to subdue you."

Slowly, she placed her hands above her head. "I wonder, have you ever read their files? The epics outside your little haven?"

"Not personally, no. Now drop the bag."

"Chrysalis. Violent takeover of Calgary. Several hundred instances of unwilling bodily control over civilian bystanders. Several war crimes."

"That is unrelated. Kick your bag over to me, now."

"Karabiner," she continued quickly. "Vicious local arms trafficker. Kidnapping, exploitation, premeditated murder, desecration of the dead, and the occasional act of ethnic cleansing. Zealous neo-Nazi and epic supremacist."

"I said now!"

"Quietus," she pressed on stubbornly. "Chief enforcer of ERA. Multiple counts of perversion of justice, several types of theft, premeditated murder, rape, cold-blooded torture, mutilation, blackmail, a few instances of slavery, and inducing suicide."

"Detain by forc--"

A flurry of dark and indistinct feathers filled the room, followed shortly after by several gunshots.

.  .  .

"Well, that could have gone better," Taya said to nobody in particular, looking back over her shoulder towards the Alberta Government office.

You win some and you lose some. Or something like that. She flung her pack over one shoulder, stifled a yawn, and left the office behind her.

She hoped the illusory storm of feathers wouldn't take more than a few days to fade.

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

A newcomer?  Probably a Minor Epic, judging by the fact that they didn't seem to be too arrogant.  Probably perception based.

"Well, for starters, don't go into South Common."  Nicroburst started ticking off fingers.  "The Epic there is named Typhon.  He's really big and dumb, and just stays there, but anyone who goes in dies.  Next, don't go through areas where the air seems weird and shimmery unless you are completely sure of the time distortion ratio and that it isn't a wall.  If it's an area of slowed time, then you could be stuck there for years while only seconds pass for you, and if it's a wall of distorted time, you'll get stuck there for days or weeks or until someone gets you out.  And it isn't very pleasant."  Nicroburst grimaced.  Not pleasant was an understatement. When he had first come to Olympia Polaris, he had thought the distortion was water vapor or something and had gotten taken in by Epoch's goons temporarily.  Getting stuck in the barrier was like getting slowly sucked through a straw, then being inflated back to proper size by some kid with a bicycle pump.

Where was he?  Ah yes.  "If you see a black forcefield, that's where some sort of light Epic has set up.  It's not certain death, like South Common, but people who go in there either can't or won't talk about what happened inside.  Some people have come out insane, others with portions of their memories missing, and still others never come out at all.  There are regular supply runs for food, but besides that, not many people go in or out anymore.  The Epic there supplies a large portion of the city's electricity in exchange for the food."

Nicroburst scratched his hair unconsciously.  "In the west there is the Belt, a group that is led by a gravity manipulator named Orbit.  They supply a drug-like substance called Amberlight.  Past them is a large group of Minor Epics.  They aren't much of a threat, but there is a bunch of them.  I would advise staying away from them, as they act a lot like petty thugs."

"Below and to the east of the middle of the city is an area covered by webs.  Don't go there.  No one really knows for sure who or what is in there, but there are a bunch of spiders."

"If you are after somewhere to stay, I would advise either Epoch's territory- he's the one who creates the barriers, an area still under the control of the old government, or a place where there aren't many others around, like the north.  That's where I am."

"Oh, and if it's night and it looks like it's raining backwards, get inside or you will start losing your memory."  Nicroburst grinned at Stephany.  "Any questions?"

[+Ark1002]

Tendril, growing bored, decided to ask a question.

"So. This city seems to have a complex political environment. Where in the town is safe for me, and where is dangerous? What are the biggest powers of the city? How dangerous is the city overall? If I were to take a stroll around the perimeter of the city, how many epic territories would I enter? And, on estimate, how many epics are in the city?"

Well, maybe more than a question.

While he had been speaking, he had subconsciously unfurled his tendrils and started poking holes in the ground. Looking down, he realized that there was a complex spiral pattern going in a circle around him, smoking. He also realized he and his chair were hovering at least a foot of the ground. I need to learn to control that.

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

 

Part 1 of the HH/Winter/Twi collab. HH is in black, Winter is in purple, and Twi is in blue.

---

“Big want,” Kokichi said. Big want… what? Liam didn’t have time to ponder the phrase before Kokichi dashed off to pastry paradise, or more specifically, Destination Doughnuts. How… appropriate, Liam thought.

Their burst of speed didn’t end up trampling anyone.

The only thing it did damage was the door, which they basically completely blew off its hinges with their enthusiastic kick.

“MAPLES, HOLY F--”

The word which was totally not going to be a swear, Mister Moral Prissypants, was interrupted by the unnecessarily loud clang of the door against the ground.

Maples, Jade had learned, did not usually refer to the delicious syrup. And in this case, she was pretty sure it didn’t refer to the long rectangular donut topped with glaze made from the aforementioned syrup.

But she didn’t have time to be pleased at being mistaken for a vanilla. Or a maple. Or whatever people everywhere called people who didn’t have Epic powers, because whoever had broken the door off its hinges was either an Epic or literally the most colorful maple she’d seen.

An Epic. Another Epic. In the donut shop. Only the fact she was next in line for the chocolate-covered creme-filled donuts in the display case kept her from grabbing Nathan’s hand and making a run for it.

Liam barged through the--well, the door wasn’t there anymore--entrance. “Kokichi!” He yelled. He opened his mouth to scold them for literally destroying property but stopped when he noticed that they had the attention of the entire establishment. Several customers were hiding under their tables, and those in line seemed like they weren’t sure whether to bolt or turn invisible.

Instead, Liam shifted his grip on his shotgun. “My apologies for your door,” he said to the cowering clerk.

He leaned close to Kokichi. “What are you doing,” he whispered.

“Uh, getting donuts?” They looked from Lee to the people, who seemed a little skittish. Their entrance had been a little bit surprising, they supposed. Still, there wasn’t any real good reason not to have a super cool dramatic entrance when they could. “You do have bucks, right?”
They could pull their own bucks out of nowhere, but like, that was probably bad for the economy? Or something like that.

Wait, did they even have bucks here? What even was money. Why did some peeps ask them for it and others just give them free stuff? The world is a confusing place.

Jade allowed herself to relax a little, but not much. That Epic, the one with the admittedly amazing hair--Kokichi, apparently--was just there for donuts. Only donuts. Of course, Jade knew firsthand how a simple diversion like that could turn into something far more involved, and that was assuming nothing happened to remind Kokichi that things didn’t always go their way. But a quick glance toward the display case told her there were plenty of donuts to go around, and a good number of each kind. The chances of things getting ugly weren’t quite slim, but they weren’t as great as they could be.

The clerk finally tore his gaze from Kokichi,  as though suddenly remembering he could busy himself with something aside from cowering. Look busy, act helpful. That was the way to keep Epics as close to happy as you could, and the clerk remembered that just in time to hand the woman in front of Jade her box and take her money. The woman hurried out the yawning doorway, head ducked as she passed Kokichi and their bearded companion.

Jade’s turn.

She’d gotten an order from Nathan, but hadn’t thought to write it down and only remembered the way he’d looked at everything, the way he’d discretely counted the money they’d earned working odd jobs along the way. He wouldn’t protest if they got one of everything, and yet….

“Uh--chocolate. And, um, apple.” He’d ordered apple something. Something with apple in it.

“Apple fritters, or apple topping?”

Jade managed to look away from Kokichi just in time to escape notice--or so she hoped. Calamity, those earrings were cool. “Y-yes.”

“And what kind of chocolate--”

“I said yes.”

The tension in the shop lessened as the clerk resumed his duties. The next person in line was getting her order. Liam checked his pockets. “Bucks? Do you mean money?” He asked Kokichi.

They gave a thumbs up.

“I can pay for you if you need it.” That was all the answer they needed. Liam sighed as the nervous patrons moved aside to let Kokichi get in line, right behind the woman getting her order. This is certainly awkward, he thought as he scanned the shop again. If Kokichi’s cutscene has taken them here, there had to be something of importance, somewhere.

Kokichi scanned the list of flavors. They couldn’t read some of the words thanks to their very in depth education which tots wasn’t the result of a patchwork of lessons from different peeps and the few years of actual school they’d attended, pre-shenaniganry nonsense. A  few had been crossed out or written over a few times. Kokichi could probably find/make the stuff for those ones, but that’d be kinda weird. There were plenty of available flavors, images of which floated in their eyes.

The background maples went back to whatever they were doing, though the noises were a lot more subdued. The only peeps who weren’t all blurry and vague-like were the person who worked at the counter and the couple in front of them.

So many options. They could go for which one looked the prettiest, but then they’d have to eat it and tots destroy that pretty. They seated back and forth, donuts appearing around their head where stars of confusion post-boinking would usually go.

Kokichi leaned to the side and forward, poking their head towards the woman in front of them who looked like a maple. There was something up with her, so maybe there was a reason they were here, beyond just donuts. (Not that “just sugary stuff” wasn’t a great reason to do literally anything.)

“What did you get?” Were her shoes different colors? Probs she lost one and found another, in a different shade, to replace it. That was logical.  Didn’t account for why they focused on it as if it was some sort of clue. “Totally random definitely maple-ific stranger who is probably completely irrelevant in every way?”

If they weren’t relevant before, they would be now, cuz fate or Calamity or whatnot liked to mess with them.

“Um. Chocolate. And apple.” Kokichi was sizing her up, though for what, Jade had no idea. Hopefully not a fight. She wasn’t sure what a fight with an Epic who could make donuts swirl around their head would look like, but she was fine not knowing. Perfectly happy in her ignorance. “I mean, not together, ‘cause that’d be kinda weird, but--well, they’re in the same box, but they’re not on the same donut so they’re kinda together and kinda not, so I guess you could eat them together but that would be even weirder and they might not go, so…”

She didn’t hear Nathan’s footsteps over the noise of the shop, but she felt him beside her even before he spoke. “Did you, uh, get the donuts?”

“On their way,” the clerk said.

Jade didn’t look to see how many donuts were in the box. She knew she’d ordered too many, if only because putting that many donuts in a box took time.

Nathan didn’t ask who Kokichi was, but a quick glance showed her a more veiled version of an expression she’d seen back in Nevada when a rattlesnake had crossed their path. Fear wrapped in exaggerated calm. But with a rattlesnake, she could simply port them to a safer area. She didn’t yet know what to do with Kokichi.

“Nice to meet you,” Nathan said, though he didn’t extend a hand. “I’m Nathan.”

“Jade,” she said, catching Kokichi’s glance toward her shoes. Maybe she could change them quickly, make them the same color--but Kokichi had seen them both and there was no way to know if they would dismiss what they’d seen as a trick of the light or put two and two together. Probably best to keep Kokichi and math as far away from each other as possible.

The newcomer, Nathan, gave Kokichi an appraising look. He seemed to Liam the type of person who sought out weaknesses in his opponents before he struck. He wasn’t sure what Nathan would find in Kokichi, but his companion was clearly nervous.

Liam stepped up to the pair and extended a hand to Nathan. “Liam. A pleasure,” he said.

“And I’m Kokichi.” An awkward moment passed. They were pretty sure this was the encounter that was gonna have some shenaniganry results and might end up heavily influencing the outcome of their murder quest, but for now, they just sort of stood there. “So… now what?”

“Got your doughnuts, ma’am.”

Jade nearly snatched the box from the clerk’s hands, barely ducking Nathan and Liam’s clasped hands as she did. “Donuts!” she said. “Donuts are next.”

Nathan caught the clerk’s slightly panicked look a moment before she did, dug the money out of his pocket and handed it over. We don’t need change, change is for losers, just don’t worry about the change, she wanted to say, but she didn’t know how much more money they’d need and leaving the change behind wasn’t a great idea.

She traded a glance with Nathan, but the glance didn’t decide anything. There was simply no way to tell if it would be safer to stay or safer to leave or safer to run off and hide in the bathroom until Kokichi got bored.

But there was one option. One option that was nearly always safe, assuming you weren’t dealing with a Steelheart or a Nighthound.

“You guys want some donuts?”

Donuts? Liam blinked, his train of thought broken. He had been too absorbed in deciphering every word anyone said. There had to be something here… sparks, it hadn’t even been a whole day with Kokichi and he was already thinking like this. This couple could very easily be innocent, completely ordinary, yet here he was, analyzing them as if they were hiding secrets.

“That’s very kind of you. Should we sit down?” Liam gestured to an empty booth. He couldn’t shake the feeling that these two people were important, but at least he could be cordial.

 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Part 3 of the HH/Winter/Twi collab. HH is in black, Winter is in purple, and Twi is in blue.

 

“I move around a lot,” Liam explained. No need to mention the Circle. “I’ve been to every province except the Northern Territories. Even before Calamity, they were hard to get to, but I’ve heard that some particularly… territorial Epics have taken up residence there.” He wiped his hands on a napkin. These donuts were good. “I haven’t had much of an opportunity for sightseeing, though.”

“So, what brings you to ‘Olympia Polaris?’”

 Jade didn’t look to Nathan, and Nathan didn’t look to her. They’d fielded this question before in a few other places they’d stopped, and their answer had been the same each time.

 “Just passing through,” Nathan said. “We never stay in one place too long.”

 Jade nodded, trying to avert her gaze from Kokichi without making it too obvious she was doing so. She must have been staring, must have been making some sort of face, because now they were the one giving a strange look. No, not strange—questioning, and more apprehensive than curious.

 Sparks. She’d have to just stare at a wall or something the next time she and Nathan stopped.

 “Canada’s chill.”

 She’d noticed them noticing her noticing them, which meant they now noticed her noticing them noticing her noticing them and... okay, that was getting a bit ridiculous.

 Talking about places like this could lead to talking about the past, more generally. “In which I mean it’s literally freezing in— what is it, late August? Early September?”

 Who even kept track of that, yo.

 Liam deliberately avoided eye contact with Nathan, instead glancing out the window. Conveniently avoiding the question; nice move, Nathan, he thought. Thankfully, Kokichi had recovered, because Liam knew there was more to this couple, and he was getting closer. Not quite, but closer.

 “Where were you last? I wonder if I’ve been there once,” Liam inquired.

 Jade saw Nathan freeze for a second. No one in Saskatoon or Fargo had seen fit to ask where they’d been; but then, Olympia Polaris was in better shape than most cities. People here had time to ponder questions like that.

 “Came over from Saskatchewan,” Nathan finally said. It wasn’t an answer to Liam’s question—probably not the one he wanted, anyway—but it was true enough and didn’t give away which direction they’d come from.

 He might just be curious, Jade told herself, but she didn’t sound too convincing. When people wanted to know out of curiosity, they asked where you’d come from or where you were going. They didn’t ask where you’d been last.

 “Ah, from the east.” Liam mentally calculated the possible routes. Likely Saskatoon, but since Nathan has mentioned Calgary, they might have gone through Regina… “Honestly, everything from Winnipeg to British Columbia is just flat and farmland. A pain to drive through.”

 What else can I glean from this information, Liam pondered. Saskatchewan… the highways through the province only really link Alberta and Manitoba, so they’d likely have come through Winnipeg if they came going west. He reached for another donut, more brain food. They seem like the rugged sort to travel that kind of distance, but Nathan’s voice… it’s not eastern enough. Certainly not the Maritime Provinces. Could it be American? Liam wracked his brain. Wasn’t there an American agent? Salmon?

 Jade’s stomach clenched the way it had back when she was in school and the teacher set a test on her desk. Even one she’d studied for. Even one in math class, or science class, or some other subject she knew backwards and forwards and sideways and upside-down. That question was a test, and she hadn’t studied. They’d seen a good bit of the scenery, but not from behind a wheel or the window of a passenger seat. It had come in glimpses before she ported them fifty or so miles ahead, or more slowly as they followed the general lay of the road. Sparks, there had been times when they’d gone off-road, walking a few miles through the middle of nowhere while Nathan hummed a couple bars of “I Miss You” just to be on the safe side.

 “We’ve done more walking than driving, honestly,” Nathan said with a small chuckle. Jade could only nod, trying not to look as though she wanted to hug him then and there.

 Liam’s eyebrows raised. “You walked? Sparks, you have my respect. How long did it take you?”

 Nathan laughed, taking another apple fritter. “Too long. It’s good to be back in civilization, I’ll tell you that.”

 It was the best answer either of them had. Jade knew Canada was a country even bigger than it looked—and it looked pretty big. She didn’t know how long it ought to have taken them to travel by foot, but she did know that by all logic they shouldn’t have been so far north and west only weeks after setting out. Liam could either fill in the blanks with what he knew...or he could take that vague statement and use it to pick the rest of their story apart.

 Liam chuckled and took a bite of his donut. A dead end, he thought. If he wanted to get more specific answers, he’d need to ask more specific questions. However, the more he considered it, Nathan did sound American. Likely northern, but Liam didn’t know enough American dialects to be sure. This didn’t give Liam any definite conclusions; Nathan could just be an immigrant pre-Calamity. But if he wasn’t… Liam considered the possibilities. If the pair had come up from the States, through Winnipeg… which state was that? His American geography was lacking.

 Geography was not one of Kokichi’s strong suits and it was made worse by the fact they knew next to nothing about how time/space was SUPPOSED to work. This conversation wasn’t going anywhere. There was something weird going on, and they wanted to know what it was!

“What’s your deal?” they interrupted, pointing at Jade. “Why are we here? There’s nothing special about these donuts, and you guys are the only noticeable peeps here, so why you?”

 Jade wasn’t sure what Kokichi meant by only noticeable peeps—there were plenty of people there, and the guy in the corner feeding his pet ferret bites of maple bar was certainly noticeable—but she knew the question meant she had to come up with something, and come up with it quick, before their temper flared.

 “We didn’t come from Winnipeg,” she blurted before she could think of anything better. “We started a little further south.”

 “Yeah, just a little,” Nathan agreed.

 “A tad.”

 “So you are American,” Liam smiled, setting his donut down. That settled one thing. “And I agree with Kokichi. There is something special about the two of you. Whatever forces of destiny that control the world brought us here, and we met you.” Liam paused. “The forces of fate or whatever (aka Kokichi) deemed this place important enough to draw us here, and I am confident that one or both of you is the reason.”

 He spread his hands on the table. “Both of you seem like good people. But Kokichi is right: ‘what’s your deal?’”

 “Sooooo cool,” they added, very constructively. They waved back and forth, stars in their eyes. Lee looked awesome when he talked toughlike that.

 His natural stare was buffed up by their power. Not anywhere as scary as them, but it was plenty intimidating.

 Jade had never done well with people staring at her or speaking too sternly—not when she was in her right mind, at least—but there was something about Liam’s stare that made it hard for her not to quail beneath it.

It’s probably Kokichi’s powers, she told herself. An Epic who could make stars appear in their eyes and set up some sort of awesomeness field around a donut and--apparently--lead them to the two people harboring the most interesting secret out of anyone else in a crowded donut shop could intensify a stare. It was logical, it made sense, and Jade still had to bite her lip to keep from spilling everything out in a panicked apology.

“Look, we’re here by choice,” Nathan said, leaning forward and driving an index finger into the table for emphasis. “And we’re not here to make any trouble. We just want to rest up and enjoy some donuts before hitting the road again.”

Jade bit her lip, trying to think how much Liam wanted, how much Kokichi wanted, how much Nathan wanted to hold back. She had something in mind, but didn’t speak it aloud. Best to let Nathan decide how much to reveal.

“We have rubbed shoulders with some pretty powerful Epics in more than one city, if that’s what you mean by our ‘deal.’” 

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

"Taya?"

It was Jayce on the line. 90% sure.

"Hiya. What's up?"

"I heard about the government incident."

"Oh. That."

"What happened?"

"I slightly did not reconcile the Shield to the government. They weren't so much interested in talking. Can't imagine why."

"I noticed. Government people are still laboring to get rid of the feathers you left behind," Jayce sighed. "We're sending one of ours to quietly remove them. Keep in mind that the whole situation is somewhat sensitive... Can I still count on you to pull this off?"

"Probably. See, I'm still alive and whatnot. And I still have a plan."

"Do you?"

"Most of a plan," Taya amended. "There may be a sprinkling of pieces to metaphorically stitch together, or wrinkles to metaphorically iron out. But, it would hardly be fair if things continued to go wrong, now, would it? Thanks for dealing with the feathers, by the way."

"I see." There was a long pause before she spoke again. "Is there anything we can do to assist you?"

"Well, now that you mention it. Yeah. There's a thing you could do."
 

Probably-not-actually-Nathaniel grinned at her. "Any questions?"

"Calamity," Blindside thought out loud, walking in step behind him. "That's one oddball city, even for epics."

The provincial government, the drug kingpin, or the barrier epic. One of these would have to do.

"So what's the deal with the old government? How do they fit into things? Are they epics or what?"

Asking casual and innocent-sounding questions had never been her forte. Oh well.
 

I still need to find these people. Before the big meeting thingy.

"Yo, has anybody seen anything weird lately?"

Unconsciously, some of the passerby looked warily back over their shoulders. Towards... A donut shop. The door was blown clean off of its hinges. The smell of fresh baked goods wafted from within in the form of visible lines suspended in the air.

"Well, that could have been more difficult."

From what little Taya knew of her mark, it was actually a legitimate lead.

Funny how that worked.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Drake Marshall
spacing

[Voidus]

 

Dark.
Megan stumbled through the darkness, left hand stretched out in front of her, feeling for something solid to use to guide her way. Her right hand instinctively dropped to her side, searching for the matching warmth from Alisons hand. How many times had Alison helped her when they were younger and the power went out? How many times had she snuck into her sisters bed during a storm?

But she didn't find the warmth. All she could feel was the cold, matching the cold that she'd seen behind her sisters eyes when they'd finally reunited.

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

As her vision faded, Impact cursed softly to herself. She held one hand out to steady her body, ready to break her fall. But this wasn't a feinting spell. She still felt dizzy, but no more than she had a moment ago.

Cursed Epic had another secondary power. Must have been scared when he saw Megan, thought she might be backup.

She pulled herself back and up, making sure that she wasn't in the same place as the last time the Epic had seen her. Unless he was a complete idiot he'd probably have some way to see in this darkness but it didn't seem like he could fly. She hovered just out of arms reach, straining her ears for any sound, but it was her sense of touch that noticed the rapid movement of the Epic. The displaced air rushed past her, almost pulling her along in his wake.

She shot after him, arms waiting for any slight feel that would indicate a body for her to crush.

Light returned to the world just in time to alert her to the wall she was about to crash into. She forced herself to a stop mid-air, thanking Calamity for perhaps the thousandth time for the unique quirk of her ability that let her apply it uniformly across her body and prevent whiplash.

Perhaps a hundred feet away she saw a huddled shape, Megan knelt on the ground and seemed to be crying.

How can she do that in public? Impact marveled. Idiot girl.

She glided towards her sister, roughly jerked her hand up and growled to her in an authoritative tone.

"Come on. We need to talk."

Neverthere watched from a distance as the darkness vanished from the city. She'd managed to jump outside of the range of it, but she hadn't had enough time to guage the epicenter. But still, there were only two likely candidates. Two blank spots on the map that she had yet to explore.

"Now, Typhoon? Or the mystery man?" She wondered to herself. She projected into the sky above the city, looking down at it, towards the two locations.

"Well, who doesn't love a little mystery?" She said, vanishing from the sky into a wisp of mist.

[Ataraxian Wist she/her]

Nate had just stepped outside of the bakery, and was finishing the last of the eight bagels he'd purchased, when something down the street caught his attention.

"What the...?" He wondered aloud. "Destination Doughnuts? That's an unfair name. Just glad I didn't notice it before I ate, or I might have overdosed on sugar and let the monster out." He shuddered. Last time he had eaten more than a serving of ice cream, he had never ended up finishing it. He had started policing peoples 's calories by Bloodlighting them to keep them from ever actually eating their ice cream. Granted, they had been perfectly pleased with him when they weren't busy phasing their spoons through the table or cutting - and regenerating - their suddenly weak mouths with them. That part had been painful.

Nate realized he had been saying parts of that thought out loud, and quickly slammed his mouth shut. It was easier to keep quiet when he was thinking about memories than when he had to process new information. It was not any easier to contain Bloodlight, however. He got even more distracted by remembering things than talking, which left him prone to silly accidents. He had to exercise constant vigilance, or he'd stub his toe and turn Epic.

"My boots are not in good repair. I mean, they're great boots, but I don't know when I'll be able to find another pair. I'll take the Saab to be safe. Traffic is so light, that's actually safer. Nice change."

Carefully pulling the key to his red 9000 Aero from the front pocket of his jeans, he unlocked the door, climbed in, and started the engine.

"I love that sound," he said as the engine roared to life.

Nate drove the few city blocks between the bakery and Destination Doughnuts, then parked the car. Climbing out, he noticed something he hadn't before: the door to the doughnut shop had been completely thrown from off its hinges, and was lying amid pieces of its glass front between him and the counter. "Bother. Gotta save the shoes." He grumbled, stepping carefully around the glass shards so as not to slide one under his foot and slip and fall to the ground, where the corpse of the door awaited him, bearing keys to unlock the cage that was his body and let out the monster he held there.

"No need to get all poetic now."

He turned his head sharply to find the source of the voice that spoke so knowingly to the the things in his head. Then he realized it had been his own voice, and his mouth still remembered the shape of the words coming out. Clamping his mouth shut so as not to appear insane - which he was definitely not - Nate finished moving into line. There were three people in front of him.

Nate looked at the doughnuts in the display case as he waited his turn. "Maple. Ha!" The man in front of him - not quite six feet tall, probably forty years old with a brown goatee and full head of neatly styled hair - chuckled at his joke.

"If there were also some vanilla flavor that would be quite ironic," the man commented.

Nate was about to ask how the man knew that term for non-Epic people, but one look at his face - specifically his reaction to what Nate's own face must have looked like - told him the man had already said too much and would not speak further on it. Nate nodded to show that he respected that, and returned to his mumbled inventory of the display case.

"Glazed... Bacon? Chocolate frosting... Pink frosting with sprinkles... CHOCOLATE-CHOCOLATE..." Nate had decided.

"One of those pink ones, with the sprinkles," the man in front of him said, then put some money on the counter and walked away.

"Must be a regular," Nate mumbled.

"How can I help you?" The man behind the counter asked.

"FOUR-HUNDRED-THOUSAND CHOCOLATE-CHOCOLATE DOUGHNUTS!" He said excitedly. Then he realized how much sugar that must have meant, and that he was not that rich, and that his stomach physically could not hold that many doughnuts, and that... He had said it alone. He looked around for Celia, but couldn't see her anywhere. "But she always says that with me..."

Nate suddenly realized that the man behind the counter was giving him a funny look.

"Or, ya know, just two. That will do."

Nate purchased the doughnuts and looked for a table to sit at. In a matter of moments, he had gone from cheery - albeit cautious - hopefulness to a familiar sense of despair that he knew the pastries would only worsen. He had always gone out for doughnuts with Celia before.

"And coffee, of course, though I generally didn't drink any myself because that was too risky."

He hadn't noticed before, but he suddenly realized that there was a peculiar texture to the air at the table behind him. As if... One of those Japanese cartoons - "an-ih-may" he recalled - had somehow been superimposed on reality. Nate noted, after a moment, that it was also affecting his table, and stretched even farther behind him, but the epicenter was definitely a girl at the table where he had first noticed it, with painfully - but also awesomely - bright purple and gold hair.

"Epic," he thought aloud. "And wait... Is that a girl?"

He was thinking softly, but he was sure one of them must have heard him by now. He wanted to bolt, rather than stick around and see what An-Ih-May Epic did. Unless they were a Canceler or an Assumer, he could probably take them, and he could even take the casualty count down by a significant amount, but... Well, he was in all likelihood more dangerous to the civilians as Bloodlight than she was. He was? They were.

Nate was sure they'd noticed hi now. If not An-Ih-May Epic, then surely one of their companions. There were three others at the table, including a bearded Canadian man, - at, least, if the stereotypes were at all accurate - another man who did not look like a stereotypical Canadian, and a young bright-eyed woman with curly black hair.

"Might as well introduce myself, with how long I've been staring at them," he muttered through his doughnut.

He swallowed, walking over and extending his hand to An-Ih-May Epic - whose gender he still could not determine to save his life - since they were the one who'd probably have felt his eyes boring into their head.

"Hey, noticed your, ah, aura. Pretty cool." He stammered. "I'm-Nate-please-don't-kill-any-innocents-right-now."

Edited November 29, 2018 by Ookla the Palindrome
Added picture.

[The Young Pyromancer he/him]

Viktor blinked.  "You should probably avoid South Common, though it is not necessarily what it seems.  The biggest powers are probably the Epic known as Epoch, The Belt, an underground motivator group that has been lurking about, and the Epic known as Typhon.  There is also two other large groups, but they are mostly filled with rabble."  Viktor allowed a note of condescension into his words.  "There is a government of humans that only survives by bargaining with Epoch to the east, but they have barely any real power.  Oh, and there's us."  Viktor smiled and sipped his tea.  "I would say the city isn't very dangerous if you don't draw attention to yourself.  Most of the headstrong Epics left for Calgary long ago, or were 'disappeared'.  If you went around the border, by which I assume you mean the part inside the bubble, a lot of it is no man's land."  Viktor paused, considering.  Of course, he didn't actually have to pause.  He had already figured out the answer.  Viktor would unsettle the man if he answered a question like that right away.  "About five," he said slowly.  "And as to the number of Epics, I have no idea."

Viktor leaned forward.  "Now, I have a question for you.  What is your goal?"

Oh, and please don't burn fractals in the carpet."

Nicroburst shrugged.  "They are normal people.  They only survive due to making a bunch of deals with ERA.  I heard they were planning on arranging something with Steelheart of all people, but, well, obviously that didn't work out.  Honestly, I think they are kind of brave, to maintain independence like that."

"So what's with you?"

[+Ark1002]

"Goal?" Tendril smiled. "I want to survive, I want to live life how I want to. Currently, I'm just waiting for a good opportunity to show what I mean." He hovered further up, letting the chair drop, and smiled. "Any further clarification necessary?"