The mark six was a walking contradiction.
Every material it was composed of was so resistant to tarnish that it could reattach itself at the molecular level. It absorbed carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to fill the oxygen tanks while repairing any dings, cuts and scratches with complex carbon chains.
The wiring for the circuits was so inefficient as to be completely useless for any other Tinker. Each wire was a single hydrocarbon molecule, grown so large and complex, folded ov...
2023-03-04 17:36:33 +0000 UTC
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Click click click.
The soft clicks of a digital keyboard emanated from Dave and Donna’s cell phones as they ran a quick search.
Perry slouched in his seat, glaring at Chemestro.
Chemestro ignored Perry’s death glare and went over to his seat to eat his custom order protein-plate.
Dave Smith raised the phone up, glancing between Perry and the screen, obviously comparing his face to a picture he’d scrounged up on the internet.
“Paradox?” Dave ask...
2023-03-01 16:32:07 +0000 UTC
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“Sorry I’m late,” Perry said, sliding into the booth beside Nat. “My Ferrari broke down and I had to break out the loaner.”
Natalie's dad chuckled, but her mom had an expressionless mask imperfectly plastered over seething disdain.
Off to a good start.
“Got it from a friend of mine, who said I could keep it if I fixed it up,” Perry said, thumbing at the hippie van. “High schoolers gotta have a car, and I’m not too picky.” Civilian street cred...
2023-02-27 17:16:43 +0000 UTC
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When Natalie's mom finds out that Perry is the sole heir to the richest family in Manita...
1: She sticks to her guns and continues being mean (racist)
2: Instantly changes her tune and becomes super nice. (Hypocrit)
2023-02-24 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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After making sure the black steel was just black steel and not nanobots, – or as I like to call them, no-no bots, - or covered in human-infesting cordyceps or something similarly terrible, Perry moved on to the next stage. It took a few days and a few tries to get the guts of the building right. The electrical system inside the building was much more complex than the frame, and he never got it completely right.
Instead Perry just had his swarm of sheet metal Mk. 3’...
2023-02-24 13:47:11 +0000 UTC
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“I had a dream where psychic spiders caused us to hallucinate the whole camping trip, and they’ve been eating us this entire time.” Perry said, poking the fire with a stick. He and Nat paused for a moment, waiting for the hand of fate to visit some delicious irony upon them.
When nothing happened, Perry reached out and knocked on a nearby spruce before returning to cooking up last night’s ambush.
POP!
The meat popped and sizzled as superheated water attempte...
2023-02-22 17:03:03 +0000 UTC
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Perry pulled out his phone and scrubbed through some of the surveillance footage as lunch wound down. Brendon was, as always, just being Brendon. He scrolled through the video on fast-forward, watching Brendon move about the city at high speeds a normal person wouldn’t even be able to process.
Nothing new.
It seems like I’m gonna have to settle in for the long haul on that quest, Perry thought. Or pay someone to tell me what the heck makes him so valuable?
2023-02-20 16:05:45 +0000 UTC
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***Natalie****
Grampa Collins wiped some dirt off his hands before he nudged Nat’s shoulder. “Check it out, Perry’s outstanding in his field.” He murmured, pointing at where Perry was standing in the center of the north field, still as a statue, his eyes closed.
It took a moment for the dad joke to register, before it wrenched out a strangled chuckle and snort out of her.
Nat covered her face, embarrassed at the odd sound she’d just made.
“So what are you t...
2023-02-16 18:29:17 +0000 UTC
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***Chase Rogers****
“Come on, man, I’ve been casing this joint out for days, it’s just one old man. No helpers, no powers, just a damn dump truck filled to the brim with potatoes.” Dan said, nudging Chase with his elbow. “He fills the thing over the course of the day then goes to bed and moves it out the next morning, transporting it to some other farmer for some goddamn reason. Do you know how much that truck is worth!? It might as well be filled with gold.”
Chase cou...
2023-02-14 14:39:18 +0000 UTC
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“Alright,” Perry said, rubbing his hands together as he scanned the assembled crew: Breaker, Plagius, Heather, and Sophie. “I’ve gathered you all here today to do some very important work.”
The four of them collectively held their breath.
“We’re gonna stalk Brendon today and see what the hell is up with that dude.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Heather said, waving over at Brendon pushing his mop along the halls of the lair. Brendon waved back.
“Excuse me, ...
2023-02-10 16:11:55 +0000 UTC
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The next two months went by without much to speak of.
Sure, there were tons of newbie heroes causing a mess, and Role got a hold of the deed to the city and declared himself King of Franklin City by making a paper crown out of it, but his rule was just and fair.
Which lasted until Solaris noticed the discrepancy in the discretionary budget and kicked him out on his ass.
The thing that really bothered Perry was how much XP each level was taking now. Each level cost roughly 25...
2023-02-08 16:32:34 +0000 UTC
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“Daaaamn,” Perry muttered, spinning and gawking at the changes Natalie had wrought on the spirit forge.
The shiny blue reflective crystals that lined the entire dome were fluttering gently, almost like a breeze was rolling through them.
Perry stepped closer and marveled as the crystals turned their reflective surfaces away from him as he waved his hand in front of it.
“So I gave the crystals some articulation and connected it to a central AI. It guides the crystals to ...
2023-02-06 15:27:23 +0000 UTC
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***Chemestro***
Chemestro opened the door and stepped through into the conjugal visit room.
Inside, his therapist was waiting for him on the couch.
“Here’s the deal.” Lu’ann said as he stepped inside. “You need to tell the girls in the other rooms to go home. I expect you came to me first because you recognized my name on the ticket?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Chemestro said, nodding.
“What they’re here for is something that you’re not ready for. I do...
2023-02-03 14:52:35 +0000 UTC
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They’d given the ‘official’ story, and now Amber Hardy was just tossing them questions, as was her prerogative as an interviewer.
Perry couldn’t help but notice a tiny bit of favoritism.
“Chemestro, the recent allegations of misconduct against you have, and I mean, every single one, have been reversed by the actresses in question. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were part Minder. How did you manage to convince these women to risk their reputation to help you i...
2023-01-30 18:28:05 +0000 UTC
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In the beginning, there was no infrastructure to incarcerate supers, and authorities quickly realized that the current facilities were insufficient to the task.
Between 1970 and 1990 there were no less than fifteen hundred violent escapes by supers from prisons and jailhouses. That number represents 84% of the (successful) arrests made on supers. The other 16% simply chose not to escape.
Calls for more secure holding facilities became louder and louder, as co...
2023-01-23 21:36:08 +0000 UTC
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“Sir, we’ve taken all of Neuron’s children into custody, and are beginning the forensics sweep of the lair.” John said. Solaris’s assistant was juggling a massive stack of papers, some of which had Solaris’s name on them.
“Where’d they get put?” Solaris asked, accepting the paperwork from John and making it neat on his desk.
“The Great Wall Resort. We didn’t have an orphanage big enough to house all of them, and I didn’t want to split them up, so I commande...
2023-01-17 18:26:23 +0000 UTC
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I feel like I’m playing Fallout, Perry thought, whistling as he navigated through the stuffy the maintenance catwalks with a makeshift laser canon over his shoulder, wearing homemade steel armor covered in spray-on rubberizer. At first he’d sprinted around at full speed, trying to dodge Neuron’s counter-attack, as the Thinker surely knew exactly where he was, and would be sending children to kill him.
Except he hadn’t. It was as though Neuron had completely forgotten ab...
2023-01-14 15:04:46 +0000 UTC
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“Nope!”
Multi-tool
Perry pulled out a cutting tool out of the ether and started slicing through the solid steel wall.
SLAM!
Perry’s body had the wind driven out of him as the two sides of the hall slammed together, stopping just shy of crushing Perry entirely.
Either play my game or die where you stand, Paradox. You’re in my lair, and in my lair, I am god. I see everything. I know everyt...
2023-01-09 19:04:16 +0000 UTC
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Without hesitation, the closest technician’s arm grew a shiny black keratinous coating that converted their entire left arm into a wicked spike. They drew it back and angled it towards Perry’s chest.
Gogogogogogogo!Perry thought, clenching his teeth as he scratched away at the inside of his boot covering as fast as physically possible. Try as he might, the boot didn’t crumble fast enough, and Perry could only watch helplessly as the shiny black spike closed in on his hear...
2023-01-07 22:39:41 +0000 UTC
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A reader DM'd me and asked why their stuff wasn't getting updated, and I went on this long-winded tangent about how i was saving up for a public release bomb next month, as well as saving energy because i'm gonna be on the road most of the month.
Then I realized that was stupid. I have the chapters, and I can release them to you guys right now.
...As long as you promise not to get salty when the public releases catch up to your tier next month.
So what I'mma do is un...
2023-01-07 03:15:26 +0000 UTC
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“Go back three frames.” Natalie told the computer.
Click. Click. Click.
From the point that Perry’s armor suffered a critical damage shutdown, they scrolled backwards three frames.
“Look at that!” Heather said, pointing at the smaller screen below Perry’s primary viewpoint. ‘Warp’s right hand was hidden under his left elbow, but they could see that the tips of his fingers were pointed directly at Perry.
“Do you think that was it?” Breaker a...
2023-01-06 16:26:34 +0000 UTC
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My artist sent this to me right as I was leaving for vacation and I didn't check my work email until just now!
Anyway, this is for book 3 of Wake of the Ravager, Which you may not have read. Book 3 covers a lot of 'business transactions' between calvin and the good people of...I forget the country. I think he conquers it at some point. It ends with Uleis get...
2023-01-04 01:32:02 +0000 UTC
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“In a shocking turn of events, Chemestro, once hailed as a bright new star with the potential to become one of Franklin city’s five Anchors, has seemingly gone berserk, attacking multiple homes and businesses overnight.”
Perry’s jaw slowly began hanging open as the newscaster continued.
“Additionally, several allegations of sexual misconduct have surfaced over the last twenty-four hours, from actresses who have publicly expressed support for the super in the past.”
...
2023-01-02 01:33:52 +0000 UTC
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***Chemestro***
“So like, what’s your secret identity?” Sin-eater asked, sidling up close to him, her arms crossed under her chest.
“What?” Chemestro asked, cocking his head. The question was completely out of left field. He’d been explaining due process and Cline’s law.
“You knooow,” Sin-eater said, wiggling in place, peering up at him through her eyelashes. “When two supers like each other very much…they’ll share their secret ident...
2022-12-26 16:01:46 +0000 UTC
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Perry let out a grunt of effort as he forced the steel bar away from his chest, his arms shaking with the need to give out.
Quest Complete! Finish an extra set!
Reward: 5 XP
Blargh, Perry thought, hanging the bar back up, his vision gradually clearing as the pressure in his skull receded.
“Wow, dude, three thirty five on the bench. That’s pretty amazing.” Titan said from his machine, where he was doing ...
2022-12-23 14:29:30 +0000 UTC
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Two young women stood on either side of an altar made of bone, a single spike of corrupted areonite driven through a block of iron in the center. They wore silk robes of crimson red, parted in the center, the hoods drawn low over their faces. One chanted under her breath while the other’s voice raised along with her arms, causing the robe to spill aside.
“Gintax, lord of blood, please accept this sacrifice, that you may spread your influence through this base metal, blessing it with...
2022-12-20 16:47:50 +0000 UTC
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Crap, Crap, Crap!
Perry scrambled away.
Zero HP and no armor made for a rather risk-averse Perry.
Perry glanced over his shoulder as he sought shelter, keeping a close eye out for Monolith. Getting blindsided by monolith of all people, and dying of blunt force trauma would be embarrassing.
Speaking of my armor…
Perry’s armor was toppled face-down on the ground, where Chemestro had used his power to disrupt the inner workings enough to cause ...
2022-12-16 16:27:40 +0000 UTC
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Buzzz. Buzzzz.
Darryl grunted and fished his cell phone out of his pants, glancing down at the message.
Paradox Team Vs Chemestro Team. Est. start in ~5 minutes. Bets?
Darryl opened the illegal app he’d buried in the Nexus mainframe and placed a healthy bet on Paradox, because what kind of father would he be if he didn’t?
Even though his track record against that Chemestro kid isn’t great.
Chemest...
2022-12-14 16:49:56 +0000 UTC
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I mentioned this in a comment but figured it deserved a full post after a few days of silence:
I caught a cold.
it landed just as I was finishing last chapter.
I think the peak was yesterday so I should be healthy again in a couple days. In the interim, I have been playing video games with my family and laying on top of a forced air heater, which is the best way I know of to recover.
while the cold is not bad enough to actually prevent me from writing,...
2022-12-12 14:08:12 +0000 UTC
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Steve Campbell is doing a cold read of Industrial Strength Magic
2022-12-07 17:14:54 +0000 UTC
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