Tag Archives: Joe Vander Sloot

Arc 14.2.5: Waning Moon

Waning Moon: Part 2

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The Xiniti had addressed the Soviets at the UN with everyone else after the last Abominators died. They’d made it clear enough that developing Abominator technology could result in Earth’s destruction.

Joe had spoken a few words himself as the Rocket.

Hadn’t the Soviets been listening? On the other hand, it had been a secret session and the USSR’s ambassador had been recalled shortly after. Some faction there might be keeping it a secret from the others.

Idiots, Joe shook his head. Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 2 →

Arc 14.2.5: Waning Moon

Waning Moon: Part 1

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Abominator Moonbase, March 1979

Joe stepped back from the controls of the Interdimensional Travel Plate (IDTP) and checked around the room for everyone else.

In a room filled with madness, he had superheroes and villains to fall back on—though in this case the question of which was which depended on whether journalists from the USA or USSR wrote the story. Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 1 →

Arc 14.1.0: Before Midnight

Before Midnight: Part 3

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Joe restrained his response, hoping that he wasn’t grinding his teeth. The group didn’t need more right now. Something was off about Giles. He couldn’t put his finger on what. If that wasn’t enough, new people with powers were appearing.

Man-machine, of all people, had visited by his office to tell him about it. Wearing a cheap suit, the kid claimed to be starting a business that made auto parts. He couldn’t hide his nervousness, constantly checking out the window. Continue reading Before Midnight: Part 3 →

Arc 14.1.0: Before Midnight

Before Midnight: Part 2

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“I’ll know him?” Joe looked up at Gunther, mouth in a straight line, “I’m going to need more information than that.”

Gunther shook his head, “No, you won’t. You’ll need more information than that to find it, but not more when you’ve got it and need to hand it off.”

The creature’s information had always been good even if “his” true motives weren’t obvious. If this thing that Gunther lost explained what Gunther was doing on Earth, Joe could live with it. He didn’t enjoy having that hanging out there as a potential surprise. Continue reading Before Midnight: Part 2 →

Arc 14.1.0: Before Midnight

Before Midnight: Part 1

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Grand Lake, Michigan, December 31, 1958: Ten Minutes before Midnight

Snow fell outside. Joe watched from the seventh floor of the tallest private home in Grand Lake, wondering if it would be a blizzard. The big, white flakes meant that skiing wouldn’t be great and neither would the shoveling. He wouldn’t have to worry about either until tomorrow. Romy and he were staying over at Giles tonight anyway.

He stood waiting in the music room because Giles’ mansion had enough rooms that he could afford to devote one purely to music. A grand piano stood on one end and a pipe organ on the other. Along the walls were bookshelves filled with music, music stands, and enough instruments for a small orchestra. Continue reading Before Midnight: Part 1 →

Arc 8.1: Bloodmaiden

Bloodmaiden: Part 15

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As the  bright light faded, the first men entered the room, pistols drawn.  They were dressed in black suits, none of them unusual, but seen all together, they were obviously the same design.

She didn’t see them for long.

A bolt of reddish tinged lightning surged forward from Giles Hardwick’s hands, and the men fell forward, unconscious, or dead.

“Careful with that,” Joe turned away from the dimensional gateway’s control panel to give Giles a look. “They’re not going anywhere if you short out the system.”

The next man stepped over the bodies, pistol in hand, and a web of red floating in front of him. Continue reading Bloodmaiden: Part 15 →

Arc 8.1: Bloodmaiden

Bloodmaiden: Part 14

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Moments later, three more people came through the door. The first two were teenagers—a boy and a girl, holding hands.  The boy wore a sporty blue jacket made of wyvern leather in a style that had been popular at Court last year. He was short—only a little taller than the girl who came in with him—and his brown hair went down to his shoulders, a style that was still popular.

His eyes darted from one spot to another in the room, and he grinned as he took it all in.

A low murmuring came from the voices in her head when she saw the girl. Blonde, blue eyed and pale skinned, the girl wore a brown leather coat and pants—the kind Amy had seen in illustrations of colonists and frontiersmen. From her clothes alone, it was obvious to Amy that this person didn’t care about fashion at all, but that was the least of it.

The girl’s ears had a slight point, and her walk hinted at a physical strength that didn’t fit with her slim frame. Continue reading Bloodmaiden: Part 14 →

Arc 8.1: Bloodmaiden

Bloodmaiden: Part 13

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Amy gave a small smile. “I’ll see you and your grandfather both then. Maybe I’ll send your greetings.”

Nick grinned. “Yeah, that would be neat. ‘Another you told me to say hello?’ I’d want to know how much he was like me, and how. Of course, whoever that Nick is, he wouldn’t be me. It’s anyone’s guess what he’d think.”

She raised an eyebrow. “How different could he be?” Continue reading Bloodmaiden: Part 13 →

Arc 8.1: Bloodmaiden

Bloodmaiden: Part 11

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The women in her head agreed. He wasn’t descended from the Elders. He’d existed before they’d come through the portal to Earth. The first Bloodmaiden knew him then. Her voice echoed in Amy’s mind. “We only thought he was a mercenary, but when the gilfangs of Korandur’s Deep crawled up to the surface, it became obvious that he was more than simply a man. He didn’t wear his current shape then, but he liked those swords.”

The other Bloodmaidens whispered, and Amy caught glimpses of their memories. Whatever he was, he was dangerous and so powerfully magical that he didn’t even appear to be connected to magic.

In his favor, he terrified the Harcourts. This was someone she needed to know better. Continue reading Bloodmaiden: Part 11 →

Arc 8.1: Bloodmaiden

Bloodmaiden: Part 10

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They walked back to the gyrocopter landing area hand in hand. She wasn’t precisely sure how that had happened. Their hands had bumped a couple times, and then, if she was honest with herself, she had to admit that she’d taken his hand. On the other hand, he didn’t have to walk next to her, and she was fairly sure that he’d bumped her hand first. So, they’d had the same mutually bad idea.

And it was a bad idea. She was literally leaving tomorrow, possibly for ten years. Plus, if everything went well, and her parents brought her home next year… Well, if any hint of this reached the tabloids, it would be the royal scandal of the season. Continue reading Bloodmaiden: Part 10 →