Tag Archives: Shifter

Roll the Dice: Part 15

Among the figures flying along with South Beach Surfer were two women curled up as if somersaulting through the air. I knew them instantly—Ina and Leena, the Human Cannonballs.

They were from Mime’s team, a group with a Circus theme. I’d never done the necessary research to know if someone just liked circuses or if they’d been circus performers cursed (or blessed) with thematically appropriate powers.

Either way, they were weird—not the people, their powers. Continue reading Roll the Dice: Part 15

Fonts of Magic: Part 4

It was hard to read Shifter’s face. Cats didn’t have the same facility with facial expressions that humans did—at least not that I could see. For my family’s cat, Grunion, you only had body position, ears, and tail to work with if you wanted to understand the animal.

Shifter’s ears weren’t flat, but her tail twitched a little, almost as if she were an intelligent person capable of stifling most of it.

“This is none of your business,” Shifter barely moved, her arms loose, eyes not looking anywhere in particular—the kind of pose you might go with if you were expecting to be attacked at any moment and were trying to be aware of your peripheral vision. Continue reading Fonts of Magic: Part 4

Fonts of Magic: Part 2

Haley frowned, “I hope they’d trust you. You nearly died killing The Thing and their team didn’t get anywhere close to doing it. They were more of a problem and a distraction than they were a help.”

Amy shook her head, “I know. It’s stupid, but blood magic is different here or at least the kind that they’ve seen is. I wouldn’t trust blood magic either if only vampires used it.” Continue reading Fonts of Magic: Part 2

Distractions: Part 8

I thought back to yesterday and what happened to Ana and Colette. Implanted commands might have unexpected side effects.  Is Kals confident she can get to us if something goes wrong?

We’re only upstairs, Daniel thought back at me. Kals says she’ll contact you via implant with the words.

I felt him withdraw even though our connection was never completely closed. Continue reading Distractions: Part 8

Distractions: Part 7

Cassie smirked, “Are you saying that you think the first Captain Commando was a quiet, subtle guy? Because that’s not how I remember him. I remember him as the kind of guy who’d go after the Nine and not give a damn what happened because they’re a danger. He’d be smart about it, but direct and he wouldn’t wait for permission.”

Major Justice’s thin lips tightened and for the first time, I thought about how much of his face his helmet showed—almost all of it by way of a transparent faceplate. I pegged him as being in his late 50s, maybe early 60s, from his white hair, and lined face. Continue reading Distractions: Part 7

Distractions: Part 6

To the degree that they were a multi-team delegation, they weren’t from what I’d think of as the upper-tier teams. The Arizona Defenders had a reputation for being retirees from other teams. This wasn’t all true. Probably half of the team was younger people. This wasn’t all bad since the younger heroes would have competent advice, but also, Arizona wasn’t a hotbed of supervillain activity either.

Shifter’s private team and Mime’s circus-themed team? They were big in Oklahoma City and Tampa respectively but didn’t make national news. I knew that Mime regularly fought someone named Florida Man, but couldn’t name anyone else in their rogues’ galleries. Continue reading Distractions: Part 6