University of Console Herorics: Chapter 21

Faith was laid on Lacey’s bed, using her legs as a pillow of sorts. She had been crying, evidenced by the obscenely large pile of used tissues on the bed. Her eyes were red and its doubtful that she’s gotten any decent sleep in the last few days. Lacey was running her hand through Faith’s hair as she continued to cry. The Alarm on Lacey’s phone went off, sending her phone into a noisy fit. She grabbed it and quickly silenced it. “Ok, one hour till meeting, into the shower with you.” Lacy commanded.

Faith rotates and gave Lacey a comical pout. “I can’t just skip it?” She asked.

Lacey looked down at her friend. “The shower or the meeting? Because at this point I honestly wouldn’t recommend skipping either of them.” She couldn’t help the smile from showing. Faith stuck her tongue out. “Well that’s mature. Look, you and I both know that if you don’t do this now it’s going to eat you up inside for a very long time.” She was trying to sound as matter of fact as possible.

Faith rolled over to face the crappy romance on the TV again. “Or I could just move as far away from this school, my family, and boys, as possible.” She grumbled.

Lacey started to poke at her friend in an attempt to get her to move. “Uh huh, and when you find this mythical island of Amazon’s, what do you plan on doing there?” She asked sarcastically.

Faith held out her hands and made a wave motion with her right hand. “Weave baskets. Pretty ones, with shiny shells threaded in them.” She explained.

Lacy moved her legs out from under Faith plopping her on the bed by herself. “Well then, shall we take a basket weaving class first or you do you just wanna pack and jet?” She asked.

Faith sat up grumbling. “No, I can’t run away from my problems for the rest of my life. I’m a big girl, I’m getting in the shower.” She got up and grabbed her towel and stopped near the bathroom door to turn back to her friend. “You’re making me adult, I’m never going to forgive you for this.” She said with a smile.

Lacey pointed at the bathroom. “SHOWER, NOW!” She was trying not to laugh.

Faith opened the bathroom door. “RUDE!” She said as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Forty five minutes later Lacey and Faith were standing outside the Nu Tau Delta house. Faith had really cleaned up. Her makeup was perfect, she had her favorite Nu Tau Delta letter shirt on, her shoes matched the letters in the shirt. Sisters passed the pair and headed into the house. Faith watched as the last of the sisters headed into the house. She looked at Lacey to her left. “Whatever happens in there, we’re still friends, right?” She asked.

Lacey nodded and they headed into the house together.

In order to be a sister in good standing with the sorority you only had to attend ten hours of sorority functions a month, including weekly meetings. There were rules and regulations from their own organization as well as school that kept them from demanding a larger mandatory time commitment. The result was that these weekly meetings were often only ever attended by the girls who lived in the house, or were trying to become more involved in sorority politics. Tonight however the house was standing room only. Every active sister had arrived no less than five minutes early. Faith knew instantly that her sister had leveraged some very serious threats to get the entire sisterhood to be in the same place at the same time, and that it was supposed to embarrass and humiliate her.

Tanya and the other five girls on the sorority council were sitting at the only table in the room. Set right in front of the fireplace. Tanya rapt her gavel three times before she spoke. “I call this meeting to order. Before we get on with our official business we have a sister who would like to address the chapter.” She said with a smile on the verge of predatory.  Some of the girls turned to look at Faith, others were polite or reserved enough to wait for her to reach the front of the room, crawling over and stepping in between the girls filling every available space in the gigantic living room. Once she reached the front of the room there was no denying that every set of eyes was on her, many staring angry laser beams into various areas of her body, attempting to turn their mental judgement of her crimes into physical punishment by way of their eyes.  Faith looked around the room and realized that she couldn’t name even ten girls in the room. She cleared her throat. “Sisters of the Beta Sigma chapter of Nu Tau Delta. I come before you tonight to ask forgiveness. I come before you to clear my conscience. I come before you tonight, to admit my faults and failures.” Her opening did little to lessen the intensity of the stares she was receiving. Never the less she persisted. “Some of us thrive in this, class based society. Where it’s not what you do, it’s the image of yourself you present to the outside world. It’s not about the quality of your life, it’s the size of your bank account. It’s not how you make other people feel it’s all about how many people worship you.” A few of the glares had softened. Many soured and she could feel the silent wave of acidic rage washing over her from behind. “I am here to apologize because I thought I was immune to the realities of that system. You see, I had friends and a life before I became this, person.” She pulled the pins out of her hair, letting it fall messily to her shoulders. “I let my Sister warp and distort how I saw myself. They say you can become a brand new person in College and I was so afraid of who I might become that I somehow convinced myself to become the person I hate most.” She lifted her feet one by one and pulled her shoes off tossing them gently to the floor. “I’m not saying this world is wrong for everyone, or that it’s a horrible reality that destroys more decent human beings than it creates. Many of you will go on to become outstanding and exceptional people. But for me it means becoming a carbon copy of my sister. “She pulled off her Nu Tau Delta Shirt revealing a plain black tank top underneath. “And honestly I’d rather die.” She turned and tossed the shirt at her sister. Her fist picked it out of the air like a bear trap snapping shut. “So, Tanya, I quit.” She spun toward the door and stepped her way out of the room. Girls practically diving out her way this time.

Tanya stood up, barely controlled fury in her eyes. “You walk out of this house, I tell our parents everything. “ She threatened.

Faith threw up the middle finger on both hands still heading for the door. “I dare you, lets see who comes out of that info dump on top.” She said as she opened the door and headed out into the night. Lacey scampered out of the room and snuck through the door before it closed. The room was dead silent for a moment. Then the front door opened again and Lacey tossed her own letter shirt on the floor and closed the door again. For a split second Tanya lost control and tossed her gavel at the nearest window, shattering it. A majority of the room got up and filed toward the door, murmuring as they left the house. None of the girls picked up the abandoned shirt.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 25

The elevator stopped on the second level and the doors opened to reveal two Cretacian warriors. Dante made a grab for his glasses. “Step into Sh- ugh!” The Cretacian on his right kicked him hard in the stomach. He dropped to his knees clutching his stomach. “Well, if we’re not going to behave ourselves..” He groaned on the floor as he took a Cretacian fist to his left jaw.

There were a few people waiting for the elevator on level two. The indicator light turned on and the doors of the elevator opened to reveal Dante standing on his own two feet,  holding his ribs where blood had started to seep through his shirt, the wound visible under his hand and the torn fabric. His left eye was already sporting a quickly darkening fresh bruise, The cut above his right eye and his nose were both bloody. The two Cretacian’s were in two separate piles, crumpled on the floor of the elevator. Dante glared at the people waiting for the elevator. “You might want to call maintenance.” He said stepping out of the elevator and turning right down the hallway.

He had memorized the apartment number and hobbled his way down to the correct door. He found it and reached his hand out to knock . The door opened before he touched it.

“Come in.” a voice invited from the darkness.

Dante considered for a moment. His hesitation was noticed by the voice. “Do not be afraid. You were expected.” The voice assured him. Dante looked up and down the hallway and then back into the darkness of the room. Shrugged his shoulders as much as his broken body would allow and then walked into the room, the door shutting behind him, leaving him in total darkness. “Please hold.”  The voice asked and suddenly the apartment was bathed in light from lamps built into the wall. Against the back wall there was a bipedal creature with what appeared to be three heads, each at the top of their own three foot neck. Each of the heads had a set of video goggles on. The body was strapped into housing on the wall. The sight caused Dante to take a small jump back in surprise. “I apologize for my appearance.  It is disturbing, to be sure. But from what I have seen, this is only the most recent in a long line of disturbing things. “ The middle head spoke to him alone.

Dante’s hand brushed a chair causing him to look down. He grabbed it and moved it so he could sit down. “Are you the Witness?” He asked.

All three heads nodded. “We are the Witness. We know why you are here, do you?” All three of the Witnesses’ heads asked in unison.

Dante nodded. ‘I am looking for a Shimmeron named Lumarion.” He replied.

Even with the video goggles over their eyes all three of the heads looked directly at him. “You know nothing, you cannot ask the right questions or do what is needed with the answers I have for you. You must learn.” From the wall a robotic arm with a new set of video goggles extended out toward Dante. “Come, there is little time.”  The heads all said at once.

Dante gave a skeptical glance at the video goggles.  

Blood and Profit: Chapter 48

Eamon had always been closer to his mother. He and his father had never butted heads but he, like his mother, was a hands on real world problem solver, where his father was always more of a dreamer. He had turned his dreams into an impressive writing career which afforded Eamon and his mother the freedom to spend a majority of his youth volunteering and being involved in the community.

Mew had been asleep almost an hour before Eamon got around to updating his father on the current situation. At first he had only intended to tell his father about passing his seat to Kepi but once he started talking it all came out, from the vision the Starseeds had shown him, to the danger the colony was in and how strongly he felt that he needed to help the Starseeds record their memories. By the time he had finished he had been talking for almost two hours.

His father had listened patiently and made very little commentary. When it was clear that Eamon had reached the end of his rambling his father nodded. "Sounds like one of my books." He said with a smile.

Eamon nodded. "It does, I'm sorry I quit my job." He said almost as a reflex.

His father shook his head. "No you're not, and you have no reason to be. You are your mothers son. You both had such altruistic ideas about what could be accomplished with that much power. She was always too busy getting actual work done to run for office but you were determined and I think this outcome was the best possible way this could have ended for you. Besides, I think your mother would be just as proud and probably even more so with your new mission in life." he assured him.

Eamon finished his tea, got off the couch and went into the kitchen. "I didn't hit me until just now how much I'm going to miss this house when were gone." he admitted as he reached for the tea kettle.

His father stood up. "About that." He said moving into the kitchen. "I'm not leaving." He stated flatly.

Eamon almost dropped his cup. "W - What?" He stuttered.

His father took his cup from him and refilled them both as he explained. " You mother is here, you kids are grown and ready to take on the universe. I'm going to stay here, with her." He said sadly.

Eamon was still in shock. "Dad..." he trailed off, not knowing what else there was to say.

Lidarion: Chapter 20

It took Squints all of an hour and a half to gather every piece of writing that said anything about the Sigil’s of the Paragon’s because every piece of writing happened to be one paragraph in one book. Squints still took a few more hours to look through the catalog of each library searching of anything he could think of that might lead to information about the sigils. After two days of research he still had just the one book.

He dreaded returning to his friends with the book because all it said what that far to the south, beyond the Gnome’s island chain was the Elven continent. There they would find the city of scrolls, where five scrolls held the secrets of how to find, and procure the sigils of the Paragon’s. Two days of research and all he had found was a book that led him to another series of books on the other side of the planet.

His mind returned to the present to find that it was well past sun down and he had been standing outside Alex’s bar for some time. He sighed heavily gripped the book in his hands and charged toward the bar as if he were walking against the wind.

Alex had closed the bar less than an hour ago, she and Lisa were wrapped up in a conversation when Squints entered the nearly empty building with determination. He looked around the bar in confusion. “Where’s Trent?” He asked.

Lisa and Alex glanced In his direction. “He and Brooke are off enjoying their much delayed wedding night” Alex answered.

Lisa saw the book in Squints hands. “Is that our first clue?” She asked.

Squints walked over to the bar and hopped on up a chair. He placed the book on the bar. “This is our only clue.” He said with finality.

Lisa didn’t get it. “I’m sure once we go through the rest of the library district –“ She started.

“This is the only mention of the Sigil’s in the entire kingdom of Lidarion.” Squints interrupted.

Lisa paused and then shrugged her shoulders. “One book’s still a lot to go on.” She acquiesced.

Squints shook his head and opened the book to the relevant page. “It’s just one paragraph, on one page. Nothing more, thankfully nothing less.” He grumbled.

Alex and Lisa looked at the paragraph together. Lisa’s lips moved as she read the passage to herself. Then she looked up at Squints. “We’ll need a ship.” She pointed out. Squints nodded. “I’m pretty sure I can help with that.” She offered.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “How and what do you know about ships?” She asked in surprise.

Lisa smiled. “Everything my father could teach me without my mother finding out that he was grooming his daughter to be a sailor just like her old man.” She answered.

Alex smiled. “When you get a moment I would love to know how you went from being a second generation sailor to a healer.”

Some of the light disappeared from Lisa’s eyes. “Its not much of a story. The wind is always ready to catch your sail, you just have to want it bad enough. The same cannot be said for my mother.” Lisa shook off the sadness. “But that’s a story for another time. Tomorrow we get charter the first leg of our quest.” She said with a new smile.

The XP: Chapter 20

The town around the arena is filed with players, all of them watching screens that have been placed in nearly every available space. The arena itself is overfilled with spectators, all of whom are cheering for The End of the World Club. Bob, Blackout, Stygian, Torcano, and Trart. The last team standing, the winners of the Tournament.

Up in his private box Volnado expands his voice again. “Congratulations are in order! The End of the World Club has emerged victorious from the most intense competition this game has ever seen!” The crowd goes even wilder, their cheers backed by the spectators in the streets. Volnado looks down on the group. “But to be truly legendary, there is one more challenge they must defeat.” The Arena of spectators and the streets outside go silent as if someone turned their sound off. The End of the World Club look up at Volnado in disbelief.

“What’s the Challenge?” Stygian yelled.

Volnado hopped over the railing of his balcony and effortlessly landed on the ground in a superhero crouch. As he stood to his full height they could see that he was smiling. “You’re looking at it.” Volnado growled.

Torcano shook his head. “You’re a GM, that’s not a challenge that’s suicide.” He said.

Volnado had landed roughly twenty feet from the group. As he walked toward them He took his clothing off. Starting with his suit jacket, followed by his shirt, exposing skin that looks like cracked lava, black with bright red lines separating the plating. He tossed his GM weapons and violently shook his head until his hair disappeared and his face matched the skin of his body. The Arena goes mad. Everyone in the group takes a slight step back. Volnado holds his hands out as if proving that he hides no threat. “I am no longer a GM, I am Volnado, the god of destruction. In this form, it is entirely possible to kill me, you only have to figure out how. Would you not agree little brother that this is a more than fair concession on my part?” He looked down at Torcano with glowing red eyes.

Torcano shook his head. “Onlly you would consider agreeing to a fair fight a ‘concession’” He spat.

Volnado smiled. “What can I say?” He smiled. “I’m magnanimous like that.” He gave an exaggerated bow. And the crowd laughed.

Torcano shook his head. “Yeah, our parents would be sooo proud.” He spat back.

Volnado glared at his brother. “You have ten minutes to prepare yourselves. You may leave the arena but if you do not return you forfeit the competition. Is that understood?” The End of the World club all nodded, turning to leave. “There’s one more thing you should know.” Volnado said, stopping the group. “If you return, this fight is Eternal Death. If you are dead for more than 30 seconds, your character is deleted.” Volnado had a predatory smile on his face. “How good are you Blackout?”

Blackout turned and walked out of the arena, he threw his middle finger up in the air. “You’ll see for yourself ten minutes from now.” His voice echoed off the walls. The rest of the club followed behind him. 

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 20

The Intro to Energy classroom lights were off. Foster was sitting in the middle of the room, alone. Rigid in his meditation pose, his eyes closed in tight frustration. Arctic blue flames washed off him in erratic waves. He was still trying to force his way to some sense of even calm breathing pattern, the clockwork three second in and out cycle of breathing feeling and sounding as unnatural as ever. There is a knock on the door frame. Foster opens his eyes. Thompson was leaning in the doorway hands  in the pockets of his hoodie.

“So, this is why I haven’t seen or heard from you in over a month?” He asked as he stepped into the room and flipped the light switch. “I honestly don’t know why you’re here right now, if you couldn’t meditate before you certainly won’t be able to now, what you’ve chosen is the furthest away from peace of mind you’re ever going to get kid.” Thompson slowly paced the front of the room.

Foster choked his fire out completely and relaxed his posture.  “Don’t get mad at me for exploring an option you gave me.” He replied.

Thompson glared at Foster. “I was trying to warn you about how awful this option really is.” He growled.

Foster shot to his feet. “Oh sure,  right, a ‘warning’ that’s what that was. Warn the freshman away from limitless power, by telling him exactly how to reach out and take it, great plan Thompson.” Foster spat.

Thompson shook his head. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, In hoping you would learn from mine it appears I have done nothing more than make another.” He admitted sadly.

Foster stepped back, a smile on his face. “Mistake? How can you call this feeling, this power, a mistake?” he asked, blue flame building up his arms and legs.

Thompson held Fosters gaze without flinching. “Because I earned it , you haven’t. You’re just floating around in the shallow end right now. If you want to stay in the pool you have to dive in.” He explained.

“What makes you think I haven’t?” Foster asked as the blue flame brightened.

Thompson shook his head. “Because when you look into the darkness, it looks into you, and it’s not in you yet.” He said, dropping into his fighting stance.

Foster looked at him wearily. “I won’t hold back.” Foster said as he readied himself for what was coming.

Thompson was calmer than he expected to be. “Everything comes with a price Foster.  Daigo paid, I paid, so will you.” Thompson launched himself at Foster who had no way of conceiving what the fight was going to be like. Foster pushed himself to his absolute limits just to protect himself from the onslaught that Thompson was laying down.  He was five steps ahead of anything Foster tried, he blocked ever strike, side stepped ever trip, and replied with multiple blows to every attack Foster made. He was so rattled by Thompson’s ferocity that he was making strings of poor moves and bad mistakes. Thompson practically walked him into overextending himself, throwing him off balance finally and catching him in a choke phone. Thompson slowly lowered him to the ground as he gasped for air, his fire still burning brightly. “Let it die Foster, don’t force me to make this choice.”

Foster feebly scrambles to pull Thompson's arm away from his neck. “You, couldn’t!” Foster gasped, still fighting for air. “To, many, questions.” He grunted, his struggles were getting weaker.

Thompson smiled slightly. “I fought and murdered a professor in this room and stand before you a free man,  and students disappear far more often than professors.” There was the smallest flicker of flame in Thompsons eyes as Fosters fire began to wither and fade. Foster dug deep and gave one last push to escape the headlock. Thompson shut him down with ease. “You or the fire Foster, one dies in the next five seconds.”  The fire in Thompson’s eyes gets brighter. Foster is now struggling for his life, the fear has set in and Thompson holds steady like a professional bull rider. “Being an adult is all about making choices.” Fosters fire flickers erratically Foster vision starts to go dark around the edges. The flame gives a few final flicks of life and then is snuffed out completely, then smoke rises from Fosters body as if he were a doused campfire.  Thompson lets him go and he flops onto the floor of the classroom on his back, Taking huge gulps of air. Thompson stands up, the fire in his eyes is raging now, fighting to get loose. His hands are shaking a little bit. He turns away from Foster, counting to ten and then laid down on the floor close to Foster who was trying to get his breathing back under control. When Thompson opened his eyes the fire was gone.

“You were right.” Foster said between deep breaths.

Thompson nodded. “You should have listened to me in the first place, you don’t want this burden.” He said finally.

Foster shook his head. “No, I mean t you were right about the breathing. It’s a lot harder to control it when you’re beat to hell.” He laughed at himself which sent him into a tiny coughing fit.

Thompson laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t breathe, can’t fight.” He said with a smile.

Foster nodded. “No kidding.” He said.

The pair laid in the room in silence for a moment. Foster had gotten his breathing back under control and it was clear that while he would be fine, his neck would be sore for a few days.

Foster stopped investigating his neck for a moment. “Hey Thompson?” He asked.

Thompson opened his eyes. “yeah?” He asked.

Foster put his hands on the floor again. “You know you have to help Cynthia in her showcase now right? I  was supposed it, as the student with the highest score but without the fire I’m not nearly good enough and she needs someone who can match her for her exhibition.” He explained. Thompson stared silently at the ceiling. Foster continued. “I mean I appreciate what you did for me, but now you need to help her.” He finished.

Thompson was staring a hole into the corner of a ceiling tile as he listened to Foster. “I don’t want to hurt her.” He replied.

Foster sighed heavily. “I don’t know if you noticed, she may bruise when you hit her, but she dies inside when you ignore her.” Foster offered.

Thompson closed his eyes. “So what happens if I lose control?” He asked.

Foster shrugged his shoulders. “So far you’ve fought an old man that was ready to die, and a complete unskilled freshman. You’re good but it’s entirely possible that she’s better.” Foster said.

“And what makes you think that?” Thompson asked.

Foster thought about it for a moment. “Because she loves brighter than you burn.” He said after sitting up.

Thompson looks over at Foster in mild surprised. “I know we just tried to kill each other, but Thomas Foster.” He said sitting up and holding out his hand.  “It has been an honor to be your friend.” 

They shook hands and Foster smiled which made him wince in pain. “Same here, just don’t, ever, try to ‘help’ me again.” He demanded.

Thompson laughed. “Deal.” He agreed.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 24

Dante glanced over both shoulders to make sure there was no one close enough to eavesdrop. He looked back at the purple bartender. “I’m looking for someone.” He said.

The bartender raised its eyebrow. “Doesn’t your command center have all kinds of equipment to help you find what or whoever you want? The cyclops asked.

Dante nodded. “Yeah, but we can’t get any of it to scan anything off planet.” He admitted quietly.

The cyclops blinked. “Why can’t Lidarion Jus- oh!, Ohhh.” The cyclops realized who Dante was looking for and set the glass it was cleaning on the counter top, then grab a pen and Dante’s wrist to write a series of characters. “There’s an elevator own the hall to the left. Two floors down is where you need to be to find this address. Knock on the door. Ask for The Witness.”

The cyclops finished writing the address  on Dante’s wrist and he pulled his hand back to inspect it himself. ‘Who’s the witness?” Dante asked.

The cyclops picked up another glass and got back to polishing. “If anyone or anything within a hundred light years  knows where you need to go or who you need to see, the witness knows.” The cyclops explained.

Dante got up off the bar stool before the Cyclops stopped him. “Just between you and me.” The cyclops  started quietly, leaning over the bar. “How  bad is it?” The Cyclops asked.

Dante tried to smile and shrug it off but he just looked sad. ‘ I’ve been a Justice less than a week, Lumarion and Technarious are gone and our command center has been trashed. How bad does that sound?” he asked.

The cyclops nodded and reached under the bar to grab something it tossed at Dante. Dante caught it and it appeared to be a switch to turn something on or off. “When you see him again, tell Technarious that Narlath’s debt is paid.” Narlath went back to cleaning glasses.

Dante nodded and investigated the switch. “Will do, but first what is this thing?” he asked.

Narlath smiled. “Intergalactic strobe, an emergency beacon that sends and S.O.S to the other Justice teams.”

Dante looked up from the beacon. “There are other teams?” He asked.

Narlath nodded. “It’s a big galaxy kid. There’s a lot out there worth protecting, so the Shimmeron made sure there were people training and geared to protect it. But that’s not important now, you need to get going.” Narlath finished.

Dante nodded. “Thanks.” He said before he pocketed the beacon and left the bar.