Tag Archives: Alden

Arc 8.6.5: Harvest

Harvest: Part 8

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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 5

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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 3

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“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

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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 8.5.0: Crisscross

Crisscross: Part 7

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My HUD showed my armor’s status as 89%—as in 11% of the armor’s cells had been damaged and no longer responded to commands. Even though the anti-tank mini-missile hadn’t hurt me, that counted for something.

If she had more of those, I might be forced to use the laser or the killbot.

It did strike me though that she was clearly in a mood to talk. If I could keep her talking, it would be better than killing her. Continue reading Crisscross: Part 7 →

Arc 8.5.0: Crisscross

Crisscross: Part 6

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“Getting people out of the way,” Haley said. “That’s what we’re doing.”

The woman in the Eagle suit was standing up, but not doing anything yet. I pointed my arms in her direction, saying, “Don’t move!” The Rocket suit’s PA system made sure she heard me.

I was about to tell Kid Biohack that as long as he was getting civilians out of harm’s way, he might also watch for Alden. He was the only one of us with a realistic chance of catching the guy. Continue reading Crisscross: Part 6 →

Arc 8.3.5: Precision

Precision: Part 9

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I swallowed. I’d met a woman who used eagle themed powered armor. She’d been a professional mercenary who worked for Rook directly, and indirectly the Nine. She’d been in Rook’s headquarters when we broke in to rescue Cassie. I’d assumed that she’d survived the headquarters blowing up, but hadn’t expected to see her again.

I hadn’t beaten her as much as escaped from her, so this wasn’t good news. Continue reading Precision: Part 9 →

Arc 8.3.5: Precision

Precision: Part 7

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Jillian’s boyfriend straightened up, letting go of Jillian’s arm, and standing in between her and Kid Biohack. Meeting Kid’s eyes, he said, “I told you I wasn’t going to do the hero thing after graduation. The system’s corrupt, and I know you know it. We talked about it back—” and there he blinked, “—in days we can’t talk about.”

Jeremy glanced over at me, and I guessed he’d recognized the same thing I had—the slack-jawed look of a guy whose psychic block had kicked into action.

Haley grabbed Jillian’s arm and whispered into her ear while pulling her backward, and nudging Camille and the guys next to her.

That was the smart play. Getting a ringside seat at what might be a superpowered fight was not. Continue reading Precision: Part 7 →