Tag Archives: Accelerando

Arc 2.9: Rivalry

Rivalry: Part 6

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“You’re going to have to talk to a judge if you want to get out.” Jaclyn stood opposite Chris’ grandfather. “We don’t have any power over that.”

Cannon didn’t seemed fazed by her response. “The old League was in bed with the FBI. You’re telling me you aren’t? Besides, I’m not expecting you to do it directly. I’ll tell you what you want to know about the ball, and after that you’ll call the FBI and I’ll tell them something they want to know.”

“Like what?”

“Not while the Mystic’s in the room. Get him out and we’ll talk.”
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 6 →

Arc 2.9: Rivalry

Rivalry: Part 5

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By the time we left Lee’s, everybody wanted in on it. Not everybody went. Nine people would have been overkill. Not to mention that we might not all fit in the room.

Prison cells weren’t known for their spaciousness.

In the end, only five of us got in the jet — Jaclyn, Cassie, Daniel, Haley, and I.
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Arc 2.9: Rivalry

Rivalry: Part 3

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I ran the ball up and down the room a couple times before I felt comfortable with the controls. We’d had to charge the batteries. Even though they charged relatively quickly, they only made it halfway before we gave up on waiting.

Chris clicked a button, opening a tunnel that led to the surface. Just like the Heroes League’s tunnels, it had concrete walls. Chris ran out first, the machines that powered his legs giving him a massive stride. The clipped sound of his footfalls echoed in the tunnel.

I followed, listening to the hum of the ball’s engine, rolling straight up the tunnel after him.
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 3 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 2

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“So you just told him?” Jaclyn didn’t seem to be able to contain her disbelief.

“It’s not like I invited him to train with us,” I said. “I just told him the same thing I’ve always told anyone curious about who I’m taking martial arts from.”

“It’s not that bad,” Haley said. “Of all Sean’s friends, Dayton’s the only one who’s actually nice.”
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 2 →

Arc 2.7: Hysteria

Hysteria: Part 9

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Sean looked over the oncoming crowd a little nervously, and asked me, “What are we supposed to do now?”

“No idea,” I said.

Then I turned on the loudspeaker.

They were halfway across the lawn, and the growing darkness gave the group a “Night of the Living Dead” feel. Not that they were really zombies, but a crowd of people walking toward you isn’t a normal situation.
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Arc 2.7: Hysteria

Hysteria: Part 8

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Payback screamed and fell over, his body outlined in electricity.

The air smelled of ozone, and smoke.

When the lightning stopped, I could see Payback more clearly. His chest still moved, but he wasn’t doing much more than that. His right arm looked uncomfortably red and blistered.

From behind me Vaughn shouted, “I got him, right?”
Continue reading Hysteria: Part 8 →

Arc 2.7: Hysteria

Hysteria: Part 6

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Punching yourself in the face isn’t a great tactic in most fights, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The ice fell off my helmet and hit the floor. I swung back out onto the bumper behind the only remaining door, and tried to get a second to think.

I could blast away with the sonics, distract everybody, fly into the middle of them and start punching, but I didn’t like my odds. Besides Keith’s uncle didn’t deserve to have his ears bleed from the noise.

Then the solution struck me. I’d lean out, blast one of the rear tires with the sonics, and they’d have to stop. If they didn’t, I’d blast the other tire.
Continue reading Hysteria: Part 6 →

Arc 2.7: Hysteria

Hysteria: Part 3

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By the time we got there, there were four of us. Vaughn met us in the air. Jaclyn met us at the house.

The house didn’t stick out normally. A white, two story house in a subdivision full of modern, two story homes of almost exactly the same design (basically a rectangle), it didn’t have much of a chance of looking ominous. The lawn had been mowed, the bushes clipped. The trees still looked bare of leaves, but, if the rest of the yard was any indication, not because the owner had neglected anything.

Tonight the house stuck out. The front door hung by two of the three hinges. The windows in its upper half had been shattered. Its metal body bent inward.
Continue reading Hysteria: Part 3 →

Arc 2.4: King of Storms

King of Storms: Part 12

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Vaughn never got hit by the lightning.

When the strikes stopped, he stood there unharmed, smiling nervously, glass shards and glass craters surrounding him.

“He’s cheating! You can’t do that.” The King of Storms shouted at Lee.

“He’s controlling weather.” Lee said. “Get on with it or yield.”
Continue reading King of Storms: Part 12 →