Chapter 65
The PRT was already on the scene, a pair of large vans covering the entrance of the hospital with confoam sprayers, both the handheld variety and the vehicle mounted ones. In addition, I spotted a blur making it’s way around the building at regular intervals. Velocity.
“What’s the situation?” I asked the trooper with a squad leader’s badge on one shoulder.
“Magus.” The trooper gave me a small nod. “At least four hostile parahu...
Sorry for the late announcement, but the usual weekly chapter won't be out tonight. I just did not have enough time at all this weekend to get much written. I'll do my utmost to get it out tomorrow or Tuesday, but you have my apologies regardless.
2025-10-06 02:59:41 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 64
Sunday, April 10, 2011
I finished transferring one last charge to Dauntless. “And that’s all for today.”
Dauntless flexed one gauntlet and then summoned his Arclance. The already dangerous weapon was now in a league of it’s own, crackling with the potential for violence. I was excited for when Dauntless finally got a chance to use the thing for real.
“Thanks. Still having trouble rounding up all the objects?”
I gr...
2025-09-29 05:02:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 63
I drifted through a familiar void lighted by an endless sea of stars. My transmigrated soul, held together by the gravity of the Celestial Grimoire floating in the center. If my soul was a galaxy, then the Grimoire was the supermassive blackhole that everything orbited around.
“Well isn’t this a familiar sight?”
I willed myself to turn and beheld Raziel’s form for only the second ...
Chapter 62
Saturday, April 2, 2011
I let myself back into my apartment with a small yawn. I’d woken up a little earlier than usual to make Taylor breakfast, all part of my master plan to convince her to go talk to her dad. She’d folded once I’d laid out my arguments and made it clear that I wasn’t trying to force her to talk to him, thank God. I didn’t want to have another girl who wasn’t my girlfriend living under my roof, even if Cr...
2025-09-15 02:26:51 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 61
Interludes: Various
Colin Wallis swung his halberd around in another complex maneuver, relishing in the power singing through his limbs. Ordinarily he’d have to be wearing his power armor in order to swing the weapon with such speed, but thanks to Magu- Mak’s enhancements, he could lift the weapon with ease. He felt a twinge of jealousy at the younger hero’s abilities before burying the feeling and reminding himself that Mak was no Dauntless, cont...
2025-09-08 04:20:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 60
Short answer: Eidolon didn’t suddenly gain control of the Endbringers that day.
Longer answer: Due to how strong he already was, even the impressive amount of power granted by his sacrifice wasn’t enough to boost him to the level we wanted. But it sure as hell did give him a power upgrade.
“Four powers!” Eidolon laughed triumphantly. “Before, I could choose to take additional powers beyond three, but at greatly reduced capacity. Now I...
2025-09-01 04:18:43 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 59
Taylor cradled her mug, peppermint tea if I smelled right, and shifted nervously in the pajamas that I was pretty sure belonged to Mimi. “I… I don’t really wanna talk about it.”
“Tough,” I said. I started to make myself a cup of hot chocolate, then stopped and poured a couple fingers of bourbon instead. Self medicating wasn’t healthy, but it was healthier than screaming my frustrations into my pillow. “You’re asking us to provide you a...
2025-08-25 04:41:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 58
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
“It’s official: I hate paperwork,” Mimi told me flatly as she signed another form. “It’s a stupid pain in my ass. Why does it exist?”
“For bureaucracy and administrative purposes. Keep things organized. Or something. I dunno, I don’t really care for it either,” I admitted.
Thanks to the later hour the previous night, the PRT had been happy to send Mimi home with a packet of papers to fill ...
2025-08-18 05:45:41 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 57
Finding criminals who were high as a kite or peddling drugs wasn’t the problem. Finding ones who were actual members of the Merchants proved to be an entirely different one.
“This will go a lot easier for you if you just talk,” I advised the dealer. “Who are your suppliers? Is it Skidmark? The Merchants?”
“I dunno man, I dunno!” the dealer wailed. His eyes were bloodshot, pupils dilated. I suspected he was high on his own supply. “...
2025-08-11 05:22:21 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 56
Mimi found me slumped over the kitchen island, eyes bloodshot as I kind of just stared out into space.
“What the hell happened to you?” she asked.
“Oh, just dealing with the moral complexities of life. Also I hid an entire dimension from a god’s sight. Nothing major,” I said dully.
Her eyebrows shot into her hairline, but she didn’t comment further. Instead she went over to the fridge and grabbed a pair of sodas, setting one d...
2025-08-04 04:50:10 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 55
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
I woke up with a start, the kind of full body flinch that happens when you just know that you’ve overslept. I checked my phone and sighed in relief when I noticed the text messages.
Colin: I saw the news. You’re cleared for a late start.
Colin: On second thought, just take the day off to recover. Second story just broke.
The first was marked as having been sent an ...
2025-07-28 04:29:11 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 54
“Alright, so where to first?” I asked Eidolon.
“Eagleton.”
“The Machine Army?” I’d read about them when I’d gotten Protectorate clearance to review S-class threats. I didn’t remember reading about them previously and chalked it up to something that had been expanded upon in Ward. “I’m surprised you haven’t done anything about them sooner. Not like they’d be of much help against Sc...
2025-07-21 05:10:57 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, there may or may not be a chapter this week and it might be delayed at that. Visiting family and it's hard to write and spend time with them at the same time. I'll still do what I can, but figured I'd give you all a heads up.
2025-07-12 16:32:20 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 53
Monday, March 28, 2011
“Knock knock,” I said cheerfully. I leaned my head into the workshop and glanced around at the ongoing projects and maintenance that Kid Win had going. “How’s it going down here?”
Kid Win flinched and looked up from his welding with a wide-eyed look, though that might have just been the goggles. “Oh, Magus, sir, c’mon in. I didn’t realize you were visiting HQ today.”
“Not in any official ca...
2025-07-06 19:47:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 52
The Thinker before me gave an innocent smile that I knew hid a cackling fiend. As much as I loved her, Lisa could be such a little chaos gremlin at times. Meanwhile, Taylor looked embarrassed to be there, clearly out of her element.
“Lisa,” I said with a practiced smile. I swear, my eye wasn’t on the verge of twitching. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a guest.” I turned my eyes onto Taylor. “Hi, nice to meet you, miss…?”
Ta...
2025-06-29 06:12:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 51
Saturday, March 26, 2011
I sighed into my coffee mug as I scrolled through my calendar, seated at the kitchen island and going over my schedule.
A peaceful and restful week had been exactly what the doctor ordered. No new villains trying to muscle their way into Brockton Bay. No new S-class threats popping into existence. No Endbringers. Just the bustle of everyday life. Finishing up getting all the little bits that make an apartment habi...
2025-06-23 04:05:36 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 50
Ellisburg would have looked like a quaint little town, if it wasn’t for the wall. The PRT’s quarantine consisted of a massive wall of concrete and steel, manned by dozens of troopers with a variety of lethal weapons and several capes in different rotations, a mix of Blasters, Shakers, Brutes, and Tinkers. A lethal medley, some of them not even technically Protectorate, parahumans with powers so deadly or dangerous that they were considered ‘parahuman as...
2025-06-16 04:00:43 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 49
Thursday, March 17, 2011
I appreciate this, Raziel, but this is seriously way more than necessary.
The Grimoire, as oddly silent as it had been lately, had given me a huge power-up.
Sorcery (Libriomancer, 800cp): Well, it’s been a quite some time since one of you came along. You are a true sorcerer, able to “see” or “feel” or “sense” magic as is appropriate to your chosen medium. For Bi Wei it was st...
2025-06-09 05:11:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 48
The halls of the hospital were crowded with the injured from the day’s events. I normally would have used my powers to sneak by without a trace, but that could raise undo suspicion on both myself and Lisa. So I dealt with my anxiety has I fidgeted and tapped my fingers restlessly against my leg, waiting in line to speak to the nurse at the front desk.
I was an antsy mess by the time it was my turn. “Hi, my name is Mak Inouye. I’m the emergency con...
2025-06-02 04:52:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 47
Raziel smiled after his little introduction, clearly expecting some kind of reaction.
“Never heard of you,” I said truthfully. “Only named angels I know are Michael and Gabriel. Discounting fictional ones of course.”
“Ah yes, you belonged to that silly little sect,” Raziel mused as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Interesting ideas you all had…”
“Please don’t go...
2025-05-26 08:18:21 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 46
Seeing as the day was already completely crap, I wasn’t too surprised to see that Lung was already over ten feet tall and hurling fireballs like free candy at a downtown parade. His form was covered in armor plating and flames poured off of him like liquid, enough to make me question my sanity just a bit at actually wanting to fight him. After all, this was Lung, the Dragon of Kyushu (canon could bite me, it was a cool nickname), arguably the most...
2025-05-19 08:25:53 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 45
I stepped out into the slightly overcast daylight, already rendered invisible and silent thanks to the always useful Lunatic Eyes. The Empire had arranged their forces in a loose U shape around the outside of PRTHQ, both as a show of force and also to make sure there were no easily identified and exploitable gaps in their lines. Pretty basic siege formation. Definitely waiting for something… Couldn’t immediately spot any of their capes, b...
2025-05-19 08:15:29 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 44
I rolled out of the shadows and straight into the Wards’ common room. I instantly had half a dozen containment foam sprayers pointed at me before I shouted out my Protectorate authorization, causing them to retract.
“Magus!” Kid Win nearly fell out of his chair getting to his feet. They’d put him on the Console. Why him and not one of the PRT agents who were supposed to be trained for the role during an emergency, I wasn’t sure. Maybe they jus...
2025-05-12 05:15:43 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 43
Between both of our power sets, Assault and I were able to cross wide swathes of the city in short order, circling around the Bay itself to get to the Docks portion. The Docks was a sad state of affairs, sort of a satellite city and slum rolled into one. It had it’s nicer portions where some business and commerce from the more affluent parts of the city helped bring in money, but it was extremely common for people from other parts of the city to look down ...
Chapter 42
Monday, March 14, 2011
I made it back to the Bay just about in time for my shift, walking in with a massive yawn, most of my fatigue only being held back thanks to caffeine and a jolt of magic through my system. Even if I was physically fine, I still felt mentally and more than a little emotionally tired after my little nighttime jaunt.
“Morning,” I said to Ethan as I entered the Protectorate equipment room (a fancy way of saying ...
Chapter 41
“You were right, she is pretty cool.”
I grunted, too busy reviewing the new power that had been projected into my soul to be paying attention.
Greatest of Fairies (Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure, 600cp): It’s never been quite clear how the relationship works, but Fairies seem to be able to convert Rupees into an energy of some kind. Some Great Fairies will refuse to so much as speak to mortals without the proper bribe, an...
Chapter 40
Once I’d finished writing and sending my report to the Director, I got back to my apartment as quickly as I could. My clone had done his job well, the apartment was at least basically furnished (temporarily) and groceries were at least bought, though untouched.
I set about preparations as Mimi walked out of her room wearing sweats and an overly large hoodie. She glanced around at the furnishings, then flopped onto the couch.
“God, I misse...
1
I dreamed of home. What that even meant anymore, I wasn't sure. I just know that as I slept, I felt warm and safe. Clear blue skies. A crowd of people, walking, talking, laughing. The scent of food being prepared. Was it the Viltrum of old that I dreamt of? Before the civil war, before the Great Purge and then the virus?
Sometimes I wondered what it was like…
“Sir, we've reached the edge of the target system.”
My eyes snapped open, my brain ...
2025-04-08 18:32:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 39
“Well, how is it?” I asked hopefully.
I’d chosen to make a simple meal for the Undersiders. Pan seared salmon, mixed veggies, and a side of rice. Alec accepted his plate with a small nod and ate bites in between respawns of his game.
“Not bad,” he said with a small thumbs up.
I took the praise as it was intended before handing Lisa hers, then dishing up a plate for myself. The leftovers, I arranged on two extra plates, cover...