Tag Archives: Camille

Arc 14.4.0: Jody

Jody: Part 14

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Within seconds of that conversation, I’d landed and so had not only Daniel and Izzy, but we’d also been joined by Sean, Dayton, Camille, Sydney, Vaughn, and Haley. Jaclyn had already been on the ground, of course.

Cassie, Julie, and Rachel all opted to stay on the roofs of the buildings around Justice Fist’s base. It wasn’t a bad idea. For all we knew, Jody had signaled for help. Someone needed to be in position to act.

Upon landing (Justice Fist seemed to have metal woven into their costumes), Dayton looked around the yard and said, “Wow. What a mess.” Continue reading Jody: Part 14 →

Arc 14.4.0: Jody

Jody: Part 10

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“That… fits,” I replied. “Do you think his shield is natural or the product of technology? Because if he’s blocking you, that’s something I can’t do.”

Daniel nodded, “I know. With you, a telepath can get in, but then they’re hit by waves of madness. Getting out with sanity intact is the bigger challenge. His telepathic shield might be a device. It feels too consistent to be natural. Even with a strong natural shield, there’s an ebb and flow. You feel like it’s moving. This feels solid, but the hints of madness-inducing interference pulsing through it feel natural.”

Izzy shook her head, “How did we not notice this before? Didn’t your dad put in his Stapledon block?” Continue reading Jody: Part 10 →

Arc 14.4.0: Jody

Jody: Part 9

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This spot wasn’t too bad as mushroom goo went. While near downtown, it was on the edges. Best practices for superhero bases amounted to giving them some distance from nearby civilian buildings to avoid collateral damage when attacked and to make it obvious when someone was approaching.

Justice Fist’s base adhered to that as best a building in the middle of a city could.

With money from Futuremen Capital, they’d bought most of a small city block that used to hold an old warehouse, demolished the warehouse, and put up a squat, circular tower that I’d once heard Vaughn refer to as the “Justice Penis.”

I’d laughed because my sense of humor hadn’t emerged from adolescence either. Continue reading Jody: Part 9 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 42

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Izzy laughed.

Alex eyed her, “What?”

She shook her head, “You’re confident.”

“I’m stating a fact. You brought me here to do a job and I’m ready.” Alex looked over at a group of Jennys, possibly for support. More than one of them rolled their eyes.

Over the comm, Brooke AKA Portal AKA Guardian’s daughter and Alex’s girlfriend said, “Alex…”

Daniel interrupted before the conversation went any further, “Our chances of success start going down the longer we take here.” Continue reading Courtesy: Part 42 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 37

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“Huh,” I checked around us again for hostiles with the suit’s sensors and didn’t see anything while my mind raced.

How much could they get out of Arete at this point? He’d been dead for a bit by now. On the other hand, your opponent always did things for a reason. Best to assume that they were going to copy his voice, add it to the telepaths, and create some kind of super-influencer or add it to every fungus construct they could.

“Does everyone have buzzers? As in anti-voice control buzzers? Preferably my design?” I looked around the group for responses. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 37 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 9

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Could the mushroom zombies replace Arete’s missing parts or access his memory? The latter option would represent a major security leak both for the Defenders and the Nine.

It didn’t seem likely, but if it was possible, I didn’t like it. From what I’d seen of it, even acting collectively the zombies weren’t very smart, but if they could integrate Arete in, maybe they could be. Plus, what if they could reproduce his powers in the mushroom zombies?

We needed to end this, but we’d have to figure out where to hit it. We’d destroyed the “brain.” We’d need to figure out where the backup was or if it could operate as some kind of swarm without a center. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 9 →

Arc 13.5.0: Simple Choices

Simple Choices: Part 7

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Well, at least the call was over. It wasn’t as if I hated Sean at this point, but I didn’t love unpredictability and if Sean had been turned by the Dominators, it would definitely be a surprise.

On the other hand, if they turned him and asked about me, they’d know our history. If they knew that, they’d know that he’s not someone I’d trust without question, making him a bad choice for betrayal. Still, if they could get him and couldn’t get anyone closer, they’d use him.

The screen went blank and Haley and I looked at each other. Continue reading Simple Choices: Part 7 →

Arc 11.1.5: The Power

The Power: Part 6

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Dayton laughed, “Yeah, but he’s good at fighting, better than anyone else we’ve trained with. I do feel like he’d kill just about anybody if he felt like it—including us, but, he hasn’t. That’s a point in his favor.”

Thinking back to his father’s death, Sean forced a chuckle, “Yeah, you remember that we’re officially signing the contract tomorrow, right? Make sure that Jody remembers. He’s got to be there or he’ll have to sign later. They’re in and out in a day and if we’re not all there, it’s going to look bad. Maybe they’ll cancel everything. I don’t know.”

Not laughing, Dayton spoke in a calm, deep voice, “I get it. This is a big deal to you. It’s a big deal to all of us. Me too, believe me. We’ll be getting professional football player salaries. I know Jody’s interested in that.” Continue reading The Power: Part 6 →

Arc 11.1.5: The Power

The Power: Part 5

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Sydney frowned, “You’ve checked them out, right? I mean, we spent our whole childhood with Dad telling us about people who wanted us for our powers. You checked and made sure it’s not connected to the Cabal.”

Camille pursed her lips, glancing over at Sydney, and then back to Sean, not saying anything.

She never seemed to stop talking normally, but Sean knew why. Even if she hadn’t grown up with them, her mother had been part of the same group as his dad. She’d known that she could be snatched away and murdered or brainwashed from childhood. Continue reading The Power: Part 5 →

Arc 11.1.5: The Power

The Power: Part 4

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Sydney had been looking back at Camille, but in response to Camille’s question, she turned to look past the closet next to the door and into the main room.

Tall and thin with long blond hair and pale skin, anyone who saw Sydney with Sean assumed that they were brother and sister. Sean knew this. Seeing Camille with Sydney made him wonder how he’d ever missed that Camille was also his sister.

Even though Camille had long, dark brown hair and tan skin, courtesy of her mother, her face had the same oblong shape and lips as Sean and Sydney. Her height was only a little shorter than Sydney’s.

He could see an echo of his father’s face in both of theirs. It wasn’t the only way his father had disappointed him, but that wasn’t Camille’s fault. Continue reading The Power: Part 4 →