Tag Archives: John Kowalski

Arc 14.9.0: Engine

Engine: Part 8

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Tiger, meanwhile, had begun to sniff Nataw and Lee, starting with their butts and crotches.

I wondered if he’d still do that if he understood that they were older than our universe. Then it struck me that, given his understanding of English, he might have decided to start there because he’s a dog.

Nataw watched him and then scratched Tiger behind the ears. Then he said a word that my implant translated as Hideaway’s name in the language of a long-fallen galactic empire. “[Hideaway]. You’re a long way from home. I never liked the Abominators, but I did like what they did with your people. Dogs for hunting dinosaurs. Who’s a good boy?”

Tiger leaned in to the head scratches. Continue reading Engine: Part 8 →

Arc 14.9.0: Engine

Engine: Part 5

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The dog observed the hand and sniffed it, but didn’t lick it. Tiger was smart enough to know he didn’t want to taste the metal-and-ceramic gauntlet.

Within a few moments, everyone had arrived: the old Heroes’ League, the new, Prentkos, and both Jody’s and Colette’s unconscious bodies. Talk about not being able to save everyone. Being turned into Rook’s mind-controlled cyborg was still in this Jody’s future. Though I didn’t need to, I made a check, changing that future had the same problems as saving Travis. I checked on Colette, too, but hers wasn’t any different.

I could do it, but it wouldn’t be worth the price. Continue reading Engine: Part 5 →

Arc 14.9.0: Engine

Engine: Part 1

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As the stone touched my gauntlet, I connected with it and through it the Galaxy Core Device (GCD) itself. How did it feel to use a device that could destroy galaxies and create new ones?

You’d think it would be a moment of enlightenment or maybe ascension, since you assumed powers that you’d normally think were reserved for gods.

What surprised me is how normal it felt. I’d been absorbing knowledge from my implant on demand for years now. I’d been training with Kee to understand what Artificers could do for years and while I’d only been interfacing with Abominator and Artificer technology with those skills for a few days, it felt natural. Continue reading Engine: Part 1 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 18

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No first aid I’d been taught included how to handle how to save someone you’d stabbed with a sword made out of your soul (or whatever), and I didn’t have time to take off Scream Eagle’s armor to see if I could help him anyway.

I could only hope that if he did die, it didn’t make much of a difference in that fight to steal Jody.

Flying closer to me, Grandpa asked, “Did Lee teach you that?”

“Uh… Future stuff.” Continue reading Singularity: Part 18 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 16

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Energy built and then spread outward in an explosion of power, but fortunately not a physical one. Well, sort of fortunately, in the sense that it was a lot of energy that I’d rather not be hit with. It was less fortunate in the sense that Power Burst, Jody, Amnesia Angel, Artemis, Scream Eagle, and maybe again Ray had absorbed a lot of energy and I had little doubt they intended to transfer it in my direction.

If I hadn’t been flying and aiming lasers at the Cabal, I might have tried to reach in and cut off Magnus’ power. That might end the fight, depending on how giving out powers worked. If empowering minions were more like lighting a candle than plugging in a radio, it would be harder. Continue reading Singularity: Part 16 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 15

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Red Lightning grinned, “I’ll be ready. We can’t lose. We’ve got two of you.”

Grandpa laughed. “Glad you think so. I’m feeling behind the times, myself.”

It felt good to see a whisper of the friendship I knew they had. They might have had a conversation, but that’s when the Cabal soldiers all jumped in our direction—not directly at us but close enough that they’d figure it out soon enough.

And that meant that the time to start was before they figured it out. Grandpa had come to the same conclusion. Continue reading Singularity: Part 15 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 10

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C’s eyes narrowed, “They don’t have a daughter named Joan.”

My grandparents turned to look at each other and back to everyone else as Grandma said, “But that is a name we were talking about. Joan, if we had a girl, and Stephen, if we had another boy. So, we’re going to have a daughter?”

“Stephen?” My eyes darted toward Grandma’s belly. She wasn’t showing, but maybe that hint of a curve was Uncle Steve? Even in the 50s and 60s, superhero costumes didn’t leave a lot to the imagination. “Well, if you haven’t had a Stephen yet, no. My mom was born in 1963.”

Grandpa glanced over at the Mentalist, and Daniel’s grandfather nodded, his top hat making the nod more obvious. Though I’d never told him, I’d always thought the Mentalist’s era of magician-themed costumes looked silly. Continue reading Singularity: Part 10 →

Arc 14.5.5: Stage One

Stage One: Part 3

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Original Heroes’ League. Unknown Section of Rain Forest, Brazil, October 1959:

Dr. Madness’ War Machine lay in pieces in the clearing in front of the cave.

It had been massive. Longer than 300 feet and taller than 50 feet near the back, where the conning tower had risen above the hull, it gave the middle finger to aerodynamic design in more than one sense. Continue reading Stage One: Part 3 →

Arc 3.9: 1943

1943: Part 6

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Arik gave a grunt, and his body fell forward as Gunther stepped to the side, and out of his way.

A great gout of flame erupted from his back where Gunther’s blade slipped through.

The flames around Arik’s body grew higher, and pine needles on the ground around the castle caught fire. Continue reading 1943: Part 6 →