IdeasGuy

Fool's World: The Start (ch. 30)

In a perfect world, we would have a grand fleet of nine ships and freed a total of a thousand prisoners. We wouldn't have taken any losses either. But, my entire existence was a testament that we didn't live in a perfect world. Freeing a thousand earthbenders assumed that each ship had been loaded up to capacity and they weren't. It also assumed that the Fire Nation would just roll over and let us take their ships. They didn't. The opposite, really.

Of the right ships we attacked, two h...

Fool's World: Prison Break (ch. 29)

"Zuko lied, but Iroh's answer lined up with the consensus," I said, drawing a circle around the stretch of ocean between Kyoshi Island and Omashu. Some of it had been guesstimates by members of the crew, but the firebenders had better intel. Some were downright honest, not hesitating in the slightest to sell out the Fire Nation, but others tried to mislead us. They were close to the truth, enough so that if we pressed later, they could say that they had only been a little off. That they tried...

Legends Never Die: Hard Living (ch. 3)

The pace of change was a fickle thing, I learned. It can crash over you like a tidal wave, sweeping you out to sea. Yet, other times, it was slow. Gradual. Glacial. Like the slow encroaching of a glacier. Change was something that you couldn't run from. You couldn't hide from it either. Change was a fundamental aspect of the world -- something so easy to achieve, yet so impossible to control.

Because, once things changed, 'normal' was forever lost. Forcing people to adapt to a new 'norm...

Legends Never Die: Forewarned (ch. 2)

Another two years passed without incident, making me twelve years old. Everything returned back to normal after my visit to the Wise Woman. Mother had just embraced me when I returned, and Father had told her what had been said. She had said that he wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t know. I got some teasing from my brothers for being cursed by the gods, but they got bored of it soon enough.

Nothing really changed in my little slice of the world. Brandr, my eldest brother… wel...

See No Evil: Do No Evil (ch. 90) (Finale)

Jason Todd looked at me like he barely recognized me, his gaze sweeping over my attire. I cocked an eyebrow right back at him, taking in his ratty red hoodie and cargo shorts. "What are you wearing?" He asked me bluntly, sounding actually disquieted at seeing me anything other than a three piece suit.

"I'm retired. I don't need to be wearing suits all hours of the day," I returned, my tone flippant as I gave him a shrug. "I'm free to return to my own sense of style."

"I didn't thi...

See No Evil: Speak No Evil (ch. 89)

"I won't accept this!" Kalibak, one of Darkseid's favored sons, a half man half beast looking god. He was a powerful warrior. God-like, but not a god in truth. Darkseid had conceived him in every universe because despite his shortcomings, he was a worthy second in command that had led Darkseid's armies well.

"Accept it or not," I started, having the same conversation over a dozen times at the same time. "The truth does not change. You, Kalibak, I have no use for." I stated in no uncerta...

Gone Native: Old Enemies (ch. 46)

I breathed in deeply, holding the air in my lungs, before letting it out slowly after a long minute. Only once my lungs were empty to the point it felt like they were going to collapse did I repeat the process -- taking in a long slow breath, holding it, then letting it out. Even the small action of breathing was difficult for me, sweat dripping up my brow, then down it as I hovered in the air despite the two hundred times the galactic standard gravity that tried to crush me, spinning at a st...

Gone Native: Big Leagues (ch. 45)

The power that surged through me wasn’t an explosion of strength like what I associated with the Wrath State or Super Saiyan transformations. My ki didn’t multiply several fold, granting me impossible strength and speed. It didn’t feel like raw electricity flowing through my veins, sharpening my senses to a razor's edge while I felt like a too-small vessel for the pure raw power that I contained. It was the opposite, really. A completely new sensation.

It was like my entire body h...

Gone Native: Killing Because I'm Hungry (ch. 44)

Even as I absorbed the power into myself, I could already feel it fading. Much like a flickering candle in the wind that slowly ran out of wick to burn, but it remained lit with stubborn defiance. With my expanded senses and the ability to feel the cosmos brushing against my skin, I could feel the power vanishing. It was so alarming that it took me a second to register everything else about the power.

My spirit, my soul, suddenly felt so much vaster. The only thing I could compare it to...

Gone Native: Hard Truths and Training Wheels (ch. 43)

“What am I witnessing?” I heard Diana mutter to herself as we watched a battle of gods erupt in the skies above Themyscira. Ares apparently hadn’t needed his chariot to fly, but he seemed to prefer fighting in it as the two streaked across the darkening skies that churned violently. Any other time I might have brushed it off as a normal storm, but given what Yamoshi said, it seemed very likely that Zeus was making his displeasure known.

I said nothing, choosing to give the fight m...

Fool's World: Sliver of Hope (ch. 31)

"Your first deadly challenge shall be… to beat me in a game of Pai Sho," The King of Omashu declared after a dramatic pause that made everyone else in the room tense. I waited a moment, vaguely familiar with the game on account that Iroh had also requested a game with me if we ever got the chance.

"... Over a bed of lava?" I questioned, wondering exactly where the deadly part of the challenge entered the equation. King Bumi seemed surprised before his face lit up in a wide smile, clea...

Fool's World: The Start (ch. 30)

In a perfect world, we would have a grand fleet of nine ships and freed a total of a thousand prisoners. We wouldn't have taken any losses either. But, my entire existence was a testament that we didn't live in a perfect world. Freeing a thousand earthbenders assumed that each ship had been loaded up to capacity and they weren't. It also assumed that the Fire Nation would just roll over and let us take their ships. They didn't. The opposite, really.

Of the right ships we attacked, two h...

Fool's World: Prison Break (ch. 29)

"Zuko lied, but Iroh's answer lined up with the consensus," I said, drawing a circle around the stretch of ocean between Kyoshi Island and Omashu. Some of it had been guesstimates by members of the crew, but the firebenders had better intel. Some were downright honest, not hesitating in the slightest to sell out the Fire Nation, but others tried to mislead us. They were close to the truth, enough so that if we pressed later, they could say that they had only been a little off. That they tried...

Fool's World: Clashing Tides (ch. 28)

Firebenders, I quickly found, were very easy to read. Zuko, the scarred prince, channeled his bending from a deep well of resentment, anger, and frustration. It welled up from deep in his gut that he channeled up his chest, down his arm, then through his fist as a torrent of flames leapt from his clenched fist that he threw in my direction. I was an obstacle in his way that was between him and his goal, Aang. Not really sure what the story was there, but it wasn’t like I exactly cared eithe...

Legends Never Die: Forewarned (ch. 2)

Another two years passed without incident, making me twelve years old. Everything returned back to normal after my visit to the Wise Woman. Mother had just embraced me when I returned, and Father had told her what had been said. She had said that he wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t know. I got some teasing from my brothers for being cursed by the gods, but they got bored of it soon enough.

Nothing really changed in my little slice of the world. Brandr, my eldest brother… wel...

Legends Never Die: The Honored One (ch. 1)

“Pot licking, foul-assed, bitch,” I cursed, getting Havi into a chokehold. He was my least eldest brother, though still three years older than me. We didn’t share a mother, but no one really cared about that. In response, Tormond, one of my other older brothers at fifteen, got me in a chokehold of his own with a laugh. I should have never taught him how to do a proper one, because he put me in a good one. Havi flailed in my grip as I refused to let go, while our third brother, Halfdan, ...

See No Evil: Do No Evil (ch. 90) (Finale)

Jason Todd looked at me like he barely recognized me, his gaze sweeping over my attire. I cocked an eyebrow right back at him, taking in his ratty red hoodie and cargo shorts. "What are you wearing?" He asked me bluntly, sounding actually disquieted at seeing me anything other than a three piece suit.

"I'm retired. I don't need to be wearing suits all hours of the day," I returned, my tone flippant as I gave him a shrug. "I'm free to return to my own sense of style."

"I didn't thi...

See No Evil: Speak No Evil (ch. 89)

"I won't accept this!" Kalibak, one of Darkseid's favored sons, a half man half beast looking god. He was a powerful warrior. God-like, but not a god in truth. Darkseid had conceived him in every universe because despite his shortcomings, he was a worthy second in command that had led Darkseid's armies well.

"Accept it or not," I started, having the same conversation over a dozen times at the same time. "The truth does not change. You, Kalibak, I have no use for." I stated in no uncerta...

See No Evil: Hear No Evil (ch. 88)

Apokolips was hot. Of all the things I could have noticed when I stepped out of the wormhole through time and space to arrive on the homeworld of the evil New Gods, that was it. The sky was completely pitch black, not so much as a star to be seen nor a sun. The only source of light seemed to come from below -- the fires of the engine that was the planet. I didn't know a whole lot about Apokolips -- just that it was probably the most evil place in the entire universe. No life could grow here, ...

Risk It All: Gambling Principle (ch. 38)

"You killed him," I heard myself say, my gaze looking beyond Klarion the Witch Boy to the fallen form of Kent Nelson. He laid on the street, his white shirt dyed red as his blood seeped out into the pavement. I couldn't see his face. I… I hadn't even really noticed the fight. I had just… I just assumed that he would be fine. Even with the warning, Dr. Fate seemed so powerful. Where we had been struggling to save a single city, Dr. Fate saved the entire world.

I didn't think he would...

Gone Native: Big Leagues (ch. 45)

The power that surged through me wasn’t an explosion of strength like what I associated with the Wrath State or Super Saiyan transformations. My ki didn’t multiply several fold, granting me impossible strength and speed. It didn’t feel like raw electricity flowing through my veins, sharpening my senses to a razor's edge while I felt like a too-small vessel for the pure raw power that I contained. It was the opposite, really. A completely new sensation.

It was like my entire body h...

Gone Native: Killing Because I'm Hungry (ch. 44)

Even as I absorbed the power into myself, I could already feel it fading. Much like a flickering candle in the wind that slowly ran out of wick to burn, but it remained lit with stubborn defiance. With my expanded senses and the ability to feel the cosmos brushing against my skin, I could feel the power vanishing. It was so alarming that it took me a second to register everything else about the power.

My spirit, my soul, suddenly felt so much vaster. The only thing I could compare it to...

Gone Native: Hard Truths and Training Wheels (ch. 43)

“What am I witnessing?” I heard Diana mutter to herself as we watched a battle of gods erupt in the skies above Themyscira. Ares apparently hadn’t needed his chariot to fly, but he seemed to prefer fighting in it as the two streaked across the darkening skies that churned violently. Any other time I might have brushed it off as a normal storm, but given what Yamoshi said, it seemed very likely that Zeus was making his displeasure known.

I said nothing, choosing to give the fight m...

Gone Native: Battle of Gods (ch. 42)

"So, if I call this Zeus guy a sissy, he'll come down to fight me?" Elery questioned and, upon reflection, I realized I made a terrible mistake by bringing my family to this event. Because my mother wasn't any better.

"Or make fun of his dick size. Doesn't matter the species or gender, that one always riles them up," Mom responded, looking directly at a pillar that was decorated with iconography dedicated to the god Zeus. I did my research. The Greek gods had fallen out of favor on Eart...

Fool's World: The Start (ch. 30)

In a perfect world, we would have a grand fleet of nine ships and freed a total of a thousand prisoners. We wouldn't have taken any losses either. But, my entire existence was a testament that we didn't live in a perfect world. Freeing a thousand earthbenders assumed that each ship had been loaded up to capacity and they weren't. It also assumed that the Fire Nation would just roll over and let us take their ships. They didn't. The opposite, really.

Of the right ships we attacked, two h...

Fool's World: Prison Break (ch. 29)

"Zuko lied, but Iroh's answer lined up with the consensus," I said, drawing a circle around the stretch of ocean between Kyoshi Island and Omashu. Some of it had been guesstimates by members of the crew, but the firebenders had better intel. Some were downright honest, not hesitating in the slightest to sell out the Fire Nation, but others tried to mislead us. They were close to the truth, enough so that if we pressed later, they could say that they had only been a little off. That they tried...

Fool's World: Clashing Tides

Firebenders, I quickly found, were very easy to read. Zuko, the scarred prince, channeled his bending from a deep well of resentment, anger, and frustration. It welled up from deep in his gut that he channeled up his chest, down his arm, then through his fist as a torrent of flames leapt from his clenched fist that he threw in my direction. I was an obstacle in his way that was between him and his goal, Aang. Not really sure what the story was there, but it wasn’t like I exactly cared eithe...

Fool's World: War and Peace (ch. 27)

"I think you're wrong about Aang," Katara informed me as I leaned over a few maps. They seemed a bit dated, but the terrain was unlikely to have changed that much. I had a map of the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation that marked villages and cities. Drawn on them were notes about Fire Nation activities -- patrols, garrisons, and forts. They were good maps. The kind that you would want during a war. It was just a question of how old the information was.

"I'm not," I responded, checking a...

See No Evil: Do No Evil (ch. 90)

Jason Todd looked at me like he barely recognized me, his gaze sweeping over my attire. I cocked an eyebrow right back at him, taking in his ratty red hoodie and cargo shorts. "What are you wearing?" He asked me bluntly, sounding actually disquieted at seeing me anything other than a three piece suit.

"I'm retired. I don't need to be wearing suits all hours of the day," I returned, my tone flippant as I gave him a shrug. "I'm free to return to my own sense of style."

"I didn't thi...

See No Evil: Speak No Evil (ch. 89)

"I won't accept this!" Kalibak, one of Darkseid's favored sons, a half man half beast looking god. He was a powerful warrior. God-like, but not a god in truth. Darkseid had conceived him in every universe because despite his shortcomings, he was a worthy second in command that had led Darkseid's armies well.

"Accept it or not," I started, having the same conversation over a dozen times at the same time. "The truth does not change. You, Kalibak, I have no use for." I stated in no uncerta...