Tag Archives: Courtney

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 47

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A second look gave me a few clues I’d missed when I’d first seen what I’d thought was Adam. “Adam” had the same thin build and overall look, but he seemed taller than normal. It wasn’t by much.

Haley bent down, obviously getting a closer look. “Is she okay?”

Daniel stared at “Adam’s” face briefly. “I think so. There’s no way of knowing how she’ll take this later, but she didn’t kill anybody, or even hurt anyone. She relayed Artaxus’ orders to Hunter and the fae. That’s all. It’s not out of the question that being mind controlled might still traumatize her, but she didn’t do anything particularly terrible under his influence. She was more of a glorified gofer.” Continue reading Faerieland: Part 47 →

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 46

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“If you think you can do it, I’m all for it,” I said.

Alex grinned. “Trust me. I’ve seen worse, and it worked out. Now, can you take off your glove?”

I thought about it, checking my HUD for alerts. There weren’t any left. “Assuming the repair systems worked, yes.”

I used my right glove to set the left gauntlet to split and be absorbed into the left forearm. It worked. That didn’t surprise me and it shouldn’t have. It wasn’t the first time I’d tried it after all, but it was the first time I’d tried it after the suit took massive damage.

“Oh,” Haley said, staring at my hand. Continue reading Faerieland: Part 46 →

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 3

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Travis’ mouth twitched. “I’m pleading the fifth on that, but yeah, I like the idea. That might get us what we need. Do we have any other way we can find out more? Like his ex-girlfriend… Jaclyn, do you know where she is? Or what about Samita and Rod? Can’t you, I don’t know, summon up something?”

Samita’s mouth turned into a flat line. “Summoning is very dangerous. One wrong move and you could release whatever you summon into the world. Worse, depending on what you summon, you could put your life or even your soul in danger.”

Jaclyn started tapping furiously into her phone.

Vaughn looked up from whatever he’d been checking on his phone. “Hey, it doesn’t have to be something dangerous does it? I read one of those Dresden Files books, and in there the guy summons up fairies and feeds them pizza. Can’t you do something easy like that?” Continue reading Faerieland: Part 3 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 10

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Vaughn shrugged. “It’s not like the Russians know it’s us. That’s the whole point of using the fake suit, right? Plus, even if they did, it’s not like the Russians are exactly friendly to the Turk… um… Turkmens? Turkmeni? Last I heard, the Russians weren’t saying anything nice about them at all. They’re not going to be sharing information. So no biggie.”

Amy shook her head. “Maybe, but you’ve got to think bigger. This isn’t just espionage. This is politics. If we had something their rulers wanted, I could easily see them telling us that they’ll tell the world that we were there.”

Cassie let out a breath. “Exactly. That’s exactly the sort of thing I’m worried about.” Continue reading Go Time: Part 10 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 8

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Who was the second glow? Russian Victory Jr.? Victoryboy?

The way I remembered it, all Russian superheroes were state sponsored. The ones that weren’t state sponsored were officially criminals no matter what their motivation.

A third glow appeared behind the two I’d already noticed, reminding me of something. Russian Victory was part of a group of three soldiers in powered armor. My grandfather had mentioned it was connected to Russian folklore somehow.

For the life of me I couldn’t remember the name of the group though. Continue reading Go Time: Part 8 →

Arc 7.5: Off Campus

Off Campus: Part 10

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In my rearview mirror, I saw Courtney’s shoulder’s tense. “That bothers me. Remember Mr. Beacham from high school?”

Keon glanced over at Courtney, and said, “I can’t say I remember him at all.”

Courtney nodded. “I know. You didn’t go to high school with us, but give me a second. Nick and Camille will remember him.”

“Nick’s mentioned him,” Haley said, “and I met him once. He was the teacher Evil Beatnik possessed.”

Courtney looked from Haley to me (to the back of my head, anyway). “Evil Beatnik possessed Mr. Beacham?”

Keon frowned. “Wasn’t Evil Beatnik a big deal back in the 1950’s or 60’s?”

From the back Camille said, “Yes. It was awful.” Continue reading Off Campus: Part 10 →

Arc 7.5: Off Campus

Off Campus: Part 9

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The photographer said, “Not happening. I took those pictures. They’re mine. End of story.”

He pulled his camera with one hand, and held his left a little away from his body as if he intended to block with it. It didn’t look like he’d had any kind of martial arts training. The way he held his arm, it would come up too slowly.

Hunter asked me, “Isn’t there some kind of law against taking pictures of people like us?”

I glanced over at Haley, and she shrugged.

Continue reading Off Campus: Part 9 →

Arc 7.5: Off Campus

Off Campus: Part 8

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Haley and I both laughed a little at that. Ironically, if we had broken his camera, the trend would have continued. Calling us celebrities wouldn’t be quite accurate, but thanks to our grandparents, the Rocket and Night Cat were household names.

Then Haley’s expression changed to a frown, and she glanced backward. I followed her gaze to see Gifford walking towards us followed by Hunter, Courtney, Camille, and Keon.

Gifford reached us first, taking long steps that I hoped weren’ t obviously boosted with his power–a hope that ended as a gust of wind passed me.

Continue reading Off Campus: Part 8 →

Arc 7.5: Off Campus

Off Campus: Part 4

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I blinked. “That’s going to get awkward. What are we supposed to do about that?”

Haley frowned. “I don’t think there’s much we can do without leaving. I think we should warn Courtney and see what she wants to do.”

Keon rolled away, briefly looking down at the ground. It was all rocks and dirt, and couldn’t have been easy to roll over. Shaking his head, he looked up, and rolled toward the club.

I would have helped, but he started moving before I could say anything, and once he started moving, he didn’t look like he wanted help.

At any rate, he didn’t need it, and he didn’t ask for it.

Plus, Camille stepped out of the van and joined him.

Continue reading Off Campus: Part 4 →

Arc 7.5: Off Campus

Off Campus: Part 3

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Camille smiled at the group. “Someone talked about going dancing.”

Hunter raised his hand. “That’d be me. My mom has friends who own a club in Denver. It’s called Club 32. It used to be an old factory. We can walk right past the line if we want to. Vincent Sucks is playing, but they’ve got a DJ after that.”

Keon rolled to a stop next to the van. “I’m in. I love dancing.”

I’d been thinking Keon would be my best potential ally for going to a movie instead.

Evidently, I made too many assumptions about paralyzed people.

Continue reading Off Campus: Part 3 →