All posts by Jim Zoetewey

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 9

3 Comments

Then Kid Biohack Thing turned away from Vaughn and began to pace the circle. As it passed him, it spoke in a low voice. “They don’t like you, you know. Not really. They like what you can do for them.

Vaughn stared at it and stepped away from the circle. “You’re not as good at that as you think you are.”

He stopped next to where Samita, Rod, Amy, Cassie and I had clumped together between the two nearest circles.

Looking around at the group of us, he added, “I used to worry about that a lot.” Continue reading Harvest: Part 9 →

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 8

6 Comments

Samita glared at her but Amy grinned and Kid Biohack began to run, presumably adjusting himself as he went.

And it worked. He moved so quickly that he became a blur, but he wasn’t alone. Another blur ran out of the front doors of dePuit Hall, followed by a mass of The Thing That Eats headed college students.

Amy and Samita ran to the oval, shouting for Kid Biohack to stop, but he couldn’t. When he began to slow enough that I could identify his silver costume, the other blur aimed itself toward Samita. Continue reading Harvest: Part 8 →

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 7

10 Comments

Whatever sorcery had created the Graffiti Knight’s staff, it worked against The Thing That Eats. He hit it, and with every hit, the Thing That Eats deflated a little more and the embodied ghosts faded.

With the last hit, any remains of The Thing disappeared, leaving Necromancer bruised, bloodied and unconscious. In that same blow, all the ghosts disappeared.

Maybe there was something to the idea that Graffiti Knight’s powers came from an old god. Continue reading Harvest: Part 7 →

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 6

11 Comments

More to the point, I could answer the question of why there was even any kind of fight going on. With Marcus and Sydney raining down lasers from above and Amy, Cassie and Vaughn getting out of that side of the van, they had a lot of firepower to work with.

In the moment that I looked over there, I fully understood why the fight was still going. Worse, it was coming for us.

Amothel fought Necromancer Thing, but not directly. She couldn’t get near her, and neither could anyone else. Continue reading Harvest: Part 6 →

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 5

11 Comments

Vengeance stood straighter. “We can banish you from this universe. Don’t think we can’t—”

He didn’t get to finish the sentence. In that moment, Alden’s head changed to that of The Thing That Eats. He wasn’t the only one. With a scream, the head of the woman that the elf had called Necromancer changed too.

Her hands continued to smoke, but she didn’t use them. The Thing’s mouth opened and swallowed the Graffiti Knight, weird, inscribed armor and all. Continue reading Harvest: Part 5 →

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 4

7 Comments

From behind me, I heard the sound of a seatbelt clasp clicking open. After a few footsteps, Rod pushed his way to the front between Amy and me.

“Hey,” Cassie said, but Rod ignored her.

“The Graffiti Knight. Rumor in the magical community is that the Council got some guy to wear that armor. I heard that it’s cursed or connected to an old god or something. There’s a price for using it, so they only get it out for emergencies.”

“So, it’s got powers?” I glanced over at Rod, and he nodded. Continue reading Harvest: Part 4 →

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 3

7 Comments

“The gun thinks I should shoot him now.” Cassie stood, pointing the gun in his general direction, but not directly at him.

“Does it have anything nonlethal?” I watched Alden as he stood. The combination of speedster and being infected meant that he’d be able to do more damage than I liked to think.

The only person fast enough to counter him inside the city was Kid Biohack, and he didn’t have a ward to protect him.

Thinking strategically, killing Alden was a good choice. Morally, killing someone who was controlled by an outside force struck me as questionable—except that if keeping him alive destroyed the city, killing my parents and untold others…

I ignored a wave of worry—mostly. Continue reading Harvest: Part 3 →

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 2

6 Comments

I thought about that. “If the animals were summoned by wizards, I’m not sure I’m impressed. If you think about it, The Thing That Eats is powerful enough when it’s taken over supers that animals can’t hurt it much, but it can hurt them.”

Amy cocked her head, thinking. Then she straightened. “When I was back home, my father used to say ‘think sideways’ a lot. My mother is the queen. My father acts as her spymaster. My guess is that they’re using the animals for reconnaissance and maybe to scare normal people away from the battle. If they do make them fight, it’s probably because The Thing can’t possess them.”

Over the comm, Haley made a noise. “I hope they know cougars are on the endangered species list in Michigan.” Continue reading Harvest: Part 2 →

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 1

5 Comments

Amy looked over the group. “I wish we could take all of you. You don’t know right now how much I wish we had time to construct more wards, but we don’t.”

We had a large group, but we were leaving one too—Kayla, Chris, Dayton, Julie, Shannon, and even Kid Biohack could have helped. Despite his lack of powers, Jeremy might have too. That went for the injured (Haley, Sean, and Jody) and the infected as well.

It was depressing to think about as well as pointless. I might as well wish for Daniel, Izzy, Rachel, and Jaclyn to show up. Continue reading Harvest: Part 1 →

Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 10

13 Comments

Even though I wasn’t sure that he was on our side, I decided to act as if I thought so. “How soon?”

He made a gurgling noise. “I can’t say—-”

Whatever he said after that turned into indecipherable noise, and then he hung up.

I stood there, smelling my own sweat and a faint burned smell that seemed familiar. Then I knew why. It reminded me of the smell my arm had given off when I’d been hit by dragon fire. Continue reading Revelations: Part 10 →