With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
10:01 GMT -7

"Mother Box-."

Actually…

"Ping?"

"Persuader, why don't you make a portal for us?"

I can't see her face with that mask on, but I do see her shrug her shoulders. "Because I've got no idea where we're going."

"Do you need to know that? You didn't know what the layout of Challenger Mountain was before you opened a portal to here."

Her shoulders relax as she takes a moment to stare at the blade of the atomic axe. I considered using New God technology to augment it, but I decided against it on the grounds that I've got no idea at all how the blasted thing works and I don't want it to stop working.

"Controller Hinon, right?"

I nod. "Hinon Hee Hanannan."

She raises the axe into a high guard. "Try saying that three times fast."

"Hinonheehanannanhinonheehanannanhinonheehanannanhingonheeharannan-." She stares at me as Iname giggles. I shrug. "I managed three."

Iname stops giggling, looking slightly concerned. "Master, what do we do if the Lady Controller is doing something-"

Persuader swings her axe, slicing through reality and eliminating the space between us and our target.

"- private?"

"Brace for the end-"

Controller Hinon looks up at me through the jagged tear in reality.

"-times. Controller Hinon! Good morning."

She gives me a low wattage glare, then closes her eyes, shakes her head, and drifts slightly to the side so that we can enter…

I look around at the blank walls, utilitarian furniture and the strange machines-.

"Hinon, is this actually where you live?"

"Yes. I don't normally receive guests here, but for you I suppose that I'm obliged to make an exception."

Persuader follows me through, checks for concealed attackers, then for exit points, then puts her back against a solid-looking wall and waits for fighting. Ah, a real knock out the old block.

Iname-. Is already inside, looking around. "It is a very nice home that you have. Very minimalistic."

"It's just because I can't be bothered to decorate."

"I could decorate for you!" Iname smiles. "What colours do you like?"

Hinon sighs, quietly. Then she looks over to Persuader. "Are you going to leave that open?"

Persuader shrugs. Not The Boss Of Me

"Well." Hinon points to the rift with her right hand, and-.

Owowow.

Closes it, causing all three of us New Gods in the room to wince as something very wrong happens to… Something. I cover my reaction best, just tensing up a little. Iname ducks like she just heard the first rumblings of an earthquake and Persuader… She's acting like she's dizzy, staggering a few steps back and forth before she deliberately slams the back of her helmet against the wall to try and clear her head.

"Alright." I make a point of loosening up as the rift snaps shut. "Point made. Be polite to the elderly millennial."

"Especially when you break into her home." Judging us appropriately cowed, she floats over to a… Work surface of some sort. "I have several options for you."

The three of us cluster around, though I sit down because the display is clearly intended to be at a convenient height for maltusians.

"The first is a planet provisionally named Cargg." She brings up an image of a star system… With three suns? "Presently uninhabited. Weakly magical."

Iname peers at it. "Lady Controller, where is the planet?"

The image zooms in…

I frown. "What's it's orbit like?"

"It barely has one. It effectively rests in a LaGrange point while the suns orbit around each other."

"That… Can't be stable."

She rolls her eyes at me. "And yet it is. Cargg has almost constant daylight, though it's far enough away from the stars that the surface temperature is merely 'hot' rather than 'scorching'. If you can't see a star then it's probably raining on you."

I nod. "No seasons, either. Neighbours?"

"No one who wants it. None of them are aggressively expansionist and there are other systems around for them to settle."

"Other planets in the system?"

"Small desolate rocks. They could be mined, but they're all too hot, too small, or have exactly the sort of orbital paths a planet trying to include all three suns sounds like it would have."

"Plants? Animals?"

"Nothing readily domesticable. Quite a few things feed on light or electromagnetic radiation."

That sounds like a killer. "Electromagnetic radiation?"

"Elevated, but you could cope."

I shrug. "We could just build everything underground. This sounds not so much like it's a good option as one which technically meets my requirements." Hm. "Where did the magic come from? Did you drop off you-know-what here?"

"No. We once tried building a superstructure around the three suns."

"Oh? Is any of it still there?"

"No, it was fully demolished."

"Why?"

"The Guardians involved found that Oa made a better centre of operations. Since the superstructure wasn't needed, and we don't continue with pointless projects, the decision was made to scrap it. There are probably one or two odd trace elements in the stars, but that's all that's left."

"This… Sounds like something we can put on the long list." The very long list. "Anything else?"

"Yes." Cargg vanishes, and is replaced by a significantly more normal-looking system. "The Krilt system. Moderate magic presence, no easily inhabitable worlds, but there are a number of planetoids which could easily be adapted to your use."

I sigh. "What's wrong with it?"

"There used to be another planet here. It vanished, and we're not sure where it went."

"You don't know where a planet went?"

"We don't watch everything all the time. Sometimes planets vanish."

"Was it inhabited?"

"Yes-."

"Pass. Next."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
10:44 GMT -7

"…feel that you're being excessively particular about this."

I stare at her in genuine disbelief.

"Hinon, it's a cube."

Persuader gave it her best shot, but then she got bored and got her phone out. Iname is making an effort to stay focused, but every so often her eyes shift to the considerably more interesting game her friend is playing.

Hinon frowns at the image on the display for a moment. "I don't see the problem. Gravity is locally consistent. Even if you step over the edge, you won't see all the way across that face due to light scattering."

"That's not the point. Though, yes, the fact it has edges is a concern for me. It's artificial, right?"

"Yes, it was made by a M-." She frowns. "An extra-dimensional creature."

"When you say 'extra-'?"

"He allegedly exists in five dimensions. I have not checked myself. Based on reports of his behaviour, I think I'd find him quite disagreeable."

"And this place is magical?"

"It has the same connection to the Dream that Earth has."

"And it's not inhabited?"

"It is… Inhabited, in a manner of speaking, but they're more in the manner of organic automata."

"And how many of them are there?"

"About six billion. Humanoid ones. If you include the animal species-."

"I'm not doing a genocide, Hinon."

She sighs. "I'm sure that you'd see it my way if you actually visited the place."

I pointedly make eye contact, then raise my eyebrows. "Yes?" She nods. "Persuader?"

Persuader looks up from her phone. "I dunno, Grayven. I fight with an axe. Six billion could take a while. Wouldn't it be better to use a virus or something?"

"Just go there and see if the people are people or not."

She nods, stows her phone and-

Ping.

-calls for a hush tube before walking through it.

"Master? Should I go as well?"

"Hinon, is that-?" It's a cube planet, of course it's dangerous. "Yes. Observe the pseudopeople, stay out of trouble."

Iname smiles happily. "Yes Master!"

And she's gone.

I sigh, looking down an my midget ally. "Hinon, have I done something to upset you?"

"Worlds that are easy to colonise don't stay uninhabited for long, and magic-rich worlds are rare. Why do you have a problem with cuboids?"

"Because Mxyzptlk will almost certainly come back at some point and I do not want to have to deal with that."

"Whyever not? He never does any lasting harm."

"I just don't want to live in a universe that frivolous and unserious."

She folds her arms across her chest. "Then I'm afraid all I can suggest is suicide. He's here whether you interact with him or not."

"But if I ignore him really hard, then I can pretend until-" I clench my fists. "-I'm in a position to make missiles that fly at right angles to reality." I sigh pointedly, opening my hands. "Do you actually have any serious suggestions?"

"They're all serious suggestions, Grayven. But if you're going to be fussy about it…"

She presses a button, and… Okay, new planet…

"Chemically, it's nearly identical to early Earth. You'll need to do something about the storms, create your own soil and import all manner of plants, animals and microbes. In addition, it's on a major pilgrimage route to the Source Wall so literally everyone will know that someone is colonising it."

I frown. "Pilgrimage route planets don't get left fallow. Even if it's just a layover." I tilt my head back. "Other than needing some work, what's wrong with it?"

"Most species aren't as used to magic as humans are. And there's some evidence of an orbital strike, or… Significant planetary impact, in the recent past. It's not impossible that the planet used to be two planets and actually had an ecosystem but lost it."

My frown deepens. "But it's on a pilgrimage route. Some of those have been active for millions of years. Someone must have seen something."

"This route is only about three thousand years old, and the Knights of Passage only secured it… Two hundred years ago. Planets take a while to stabilise after something like that."

"Okay, ah… How about the neighbours?"

"Source worshippers who are well used to the presence of aliens. There's a Knights of Passage naval yard not too far away and you know how they get about people starting fights near pilgrimage routes."

The Knights of Passage, the second largest law enforcement organisation in the galaxy. Largest in sheer numbers. Anyone who tries to stop people making pilgrimage to the Source Wall can expect a fleet turning up to politely ask them to knock it off. They maintain order in difficult circumstances around sites that are sacred to a lot of religions, many of which don't like each other. Father… Definitely would pick a fight with them, but it would be a big deal.

"That's… Good." I nod. "Alright, I'll take a look myself once the girls are back."

"As you will."

"So why did you put this one last?"

"Because there are so many unknowns, and you would have so much company. The pilgrims will visit."

"Right, but… We'll have our own fleet, and the Knights of Passage are right there."

"Do you want to be dependent on aliens? I rather thought that was something your allies were working to avoid."

"Not in the long term, but this colony only becomes vital if Earth's been wrecked. And if that happens then we've probably lost all of our fleet assets. I won't like it, but I'll swallow my pride if it means that humans don't go extinct. It-."

Iname appears, carrying Persuader in her arms. They both stand still for a moment, Iname breathing hard as she lowers Persuader to her feet.

The Persuader slashes through the hush tube aperture with the atomic axe, forcing it to shut down.

"Girls?"

"Master?" Iname shakes her head. "We should not go there."

I consider them carefully, but I can't see any injuries and Persuader's mask covers up her facial expression. I don't know what's wrong… But I can ask when they've calmed down a little.

"Alright, well, don't worry. We've got a better prospect to check out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
10:50 GMT -7

I look out across the mountainous terrain, rain pelting down from a storm-encrusted sky. The atmosphere... Even if it wasn't more suitable to be breathed with gills rather than lungs at the moment, it would be difficult for a human to breathe. Plenty of carbon dioxide and not enough free oxygen. Ah… What sort of plants would work somewhere like this? Something historical, resurrected from the Archean? Something new, because plants can actually cope pretty well with an atmosphere like this?

"Hm."

Persuader looks up at the sky for a moment, looking around as she takes in the full size of the storm. Iname just ducks under her umbrella slightly, looking generally less than happy.

"Master?"

"Yes?"

"Why are we not in the Absolute Dominion?"

"Because of the Knights of Passage."

"Do they not like you?"

"Never met them. But while Father's obsession is the Anti-Life Equation, my grandfather was fixated on the Source Wall. The Knights of Passage spent a long time fighting Apokoliptian warships, and while the Absolute Dominion is a decent warship its stealth systems are pretty basic. They'd detect it, muster a fleet and come here to pick a fight."

"The Pax Lex, perhaps?"

"Lex is doing something with it. Besides, it's not exactly roomy. And we can just open a boom tube home whenever we like."

Iname huddles up a little more.

"Iname, it's rain. I know that the material parts of your costume can get waterlogged, but it can't actually hurt you."

Persuader lowers her head to look at her. "Don't you have a helmet?"

"…no. Master, what are we here to see?"

"We're here to go to and fro on the earth, and walk up and down on it." I stride forwards, water running down my face. My skin is sensitive enough to the feel of it on me, but… Heh, it can't even make me feel cold.

"That isn't very helpful, Master."

"Feel the unformed firmament as a god, Iname. Extend your metaphysique into it, become a part of it. What does it feel like?"

She peers up at the sky for a moment, then takes a deeper than usual breath. Life To Death

I notice as Persuader tries to copy her. Most of her lessons with Knockout have focused on physical manifestation; how to magnify her physical abilities in combat with her innate magics. Knockout… Well, there's no reason why Granny Goodness would have taught her things like that, and she isn't really the sort to take the initiative on intellectual or spiritual matters. But… To Destroy

I make a blade of my hand and stab it downwards into the rock, fracturing the layer of settled debris and reaching the harder rock beneath. Ah, not eroded away enough to make soil. It's going to be easier to import soil…

"I feel…" Iname looks in the direction of the nearest ocean. "Something… Barely alive. In the sea."

"Ah, good." I nod. "Simple plankton, probably. Anything else?"
Death To Life
Her eyes widen slightly, her grip on her umbrella loosening. "Yes… There used to be… More. An ecosystem." She shivers, and while she may not be as tough as me I don't believe for a moment that it's from the cold. "And now it's all gone."

Persuader abandons her own… Honestly, it looks like she's trying to force out a fart. And puts her left hand on Iname's left shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Iname blinks. "Hm?"

"You kinda spaced out a bit."

"I've never felt a cycle that's been severed like.. this…" She looks to where the umbrella is hanging loose from her hand as the rain flows freely over her. "Huh. You were right, Master."

"It has been known to happen. Nothing left, then?"

She shakes her head, frowning. "But… There is magic here. I can feel that. It… Doesn't feel like Earth."

I nod. "It won't. Earth's special. Still, it doesn't feel as weak as Vega, does it?" She shakes her head. "Could you get a feel for the planet itself?"

"No, Master. It's too slow."

"That's why we call it a geographic timescale. Persuader?"

"Ah… Maybe? I think… Something wasn't destroyed here."

"The planet is mostly in one piece, though it's nice to know it's not on a delayed collapse."

"No, like… Something got hit real hard, but they decided not to hit it hard enough to kill it."

Hm. Alright. "Any idea who? Or what they hit?"

She shrugs, shaking her head. "Uh-uh-uh?"

"Anything at all?" She shakes her head again. "Okay, I'm going to schedule you some more god-power usage lessons. I'm not annoyed at your progress, but it's an area it would be helpful if you improved."

"Fine. What about you?"

"Let's have a look." Be Raised Up In My Sight

It takes a moment for my vision to settle, but just as it did for Equestria I see what this planet could become. Places where rivers will flow when the storm systems stabilise. Places for mining, places for farming, places for industry, ship-building… And more to the point, I feel no resistance to it. Because… There's no one here, presumably. No world-sphere of predetermined ideas providing inertia. That… Could be interesting for future colonisation sites, but for now… It's probably easier to go with what we know.

Wouldn't want to waste a place like this on the Citizenry, not while-.
…

While…

I frown at Persuader and Iname. "Did you feel that?"

Persuader shrugs, while Iname frowns. "I felt you envelop the whole world, Master. Was there something else?"

"I thought there was. Maybe… Something left over from when this planet actually had living things on it. Didn't get a… Bearing…"

"Is it a problem, Master?"

"Probably not, but I need to look into it anyway." Probable impact point is… That way. Mother Box?

Ping.

I look at the space where a boom tube hasn't appeared.

"Mother Box?"

… Ping.

"Ah." Persuader hefts her axe. "We stuck?"

I nod. "Looks like. Don't use that on Mother Box."

Ping.

"Yeah, obviously." She slashes downwards, a green line forming-.

BOOOMPF!

The slash collapses explosively, sending Persuader flying across the mountainside! She manages to dig the axe haft in to arrest her movement, but she's clearly surprised.

As am I.

"Well. This just got interesting."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
10:50 GMT -7

Persuader stares at her axe. "The fuck?" "Work properly!"

I hold out my right hand in a 'stop' sign. "Don't do-."

BOOOMPF!

"That." I amble over to where Persuader is lying on her back. "Persuader, I know that Knockout is very much in favour-" I offer her my right hand. She takes it, and I pull her upright. "-of beating lessons into a person's head, but that isn't the only way that you're allowed to learn."

"Right. Yeah. So what's wrong with my axe?"

"I don't know." Scan the thing… Arm Loyal Vassal

No errors detected.

I shrug. "Seems fine to me. Does it feel strange?"

Persuader looks at it carefully. "My hands kinda hurt."

"Oh!" Iname zips in, purple healing ray in hand. "Do you-?"

"It's fine, really." Persuader waves her off. "It's just bruising. Can I still cut..? Regular stuff?"

I shrug. "It's tied to your bloodline. I can't test it for you." I bend down and pick up a rock. "Ready?"

She nods, and I gently toss it towards her in the easily predictable arc which I've mastered playing French Cricket with my children. While I do have better reactions and coordination than they do, it's basically impossible to protect my legs with a bat that-

Persuader swings, slicing the rock neatly in two.

-small.

I nod. "Okay, good. Regular cutting is fine, spatial cutting is not."

"So, what now?"

"Now?" I turn away and start walking in the direction of the probable impact point. "Now we've got five hours before Jean's alarm goes off and she makes enquiries as to our location. Maybe seven before a ship turns up. So as long as you've brought water and a snack, you should be fine."

Persuader looks up at the clouds again. "I think water's covered."

"Persuader, nutrient packs are a standard survival item included with those E.D.F. belts that we-."

"Yeah, I-." She slumps slightly "It's a perfect size for my phone, so I just take it out and put the phone in."

"By the Source, you're a teenager. Iname-."

"I have many pockets, Master." She points. "My phone goes here-" She points to a pouch on her abdomen. "-and my snack goes here." She points to a pouch on her side.

I nod. "Well prepared. Persuader, if you want a phone pouch then we can just make one for you. It's not complicated, but getting cut off from resupply-." She mutters something. "I beg your pardon?"

"I just-. I bet the Justice League sidekicks don't have a snack pouch. It sounds lame."

"Lame-? Okay, for one, Kid Flash most certainly used to have a snack pouch because otherwise he'd starve to death. And I'm pretty sure that Robin did too. And Robin had his communication system strapped to his arm. Now, if you're quite finished..?"

She nods. I suspect that she rolled her eyes, but her eye guards make it difficult to tell.

"Right. The only interesting feature on this planet is the impact crater, so that's where we're going in the meantime. Start walking, girls."

I stride across the rain-slick ground, Persuader and Iname just behind me.

"Master, I can run there?"

"I know. But if this is the action of a hostile party, I don't want you turning up on your own."

"Then why not use your power rings?"

"They're a bit less resilient than the atomic axe. Also, they glow, and power ring constructs are remotely detectable far more easily than passive usage is. Similarly, I'm not doing bounding leaps because seismic sensors could pick that up easily."

"So what is it, Master?"

"I don't know. A stronger New God could prevent a boom tube opening, if their nature aligned with the action and they had the right equipment. I'm slightly concerned that my brother Orion might have set something up, but that would require him to know in advance that we would be here and I can't think of a reason for Hinon to stab us in the back like that. Plus, he's not patient. If this was an ambush, he'd be here already."

Iname frowns thoughtfully. "Maybe he doesn't like rain?"

"Ah… I doubt that's an issue, but I can't say that I've ever actually asked him. Mother Box, make a note."

"Ping?"

"Are you busy?"

"Ping."

"Right. The possibility that I'm actually worried about is it being my grandfather. It shouldn't be; I checked a couple of weeks ago and he was still on the Source Wall, but he could definitely do that."

Persuader nods. "Is he worse than your dad?"

I nod emphatically. "Oh heck yes. Take away the Omega Force and Anti-Life Equation and my father is just a mildly enhanced guy. Either of you could kill him. My grandfather doesn't need external power sources."

"Knockout hasn't mentioned him."

I flap my right hand. "He overreached and got stuck on the Source Wall long before she was born. Father doesn't talk about him much. But it's almost certainly not him, because you don't come back from the Source Wall. And… It shouldn't be as easy for a New God to stop the atomic axe as it is to stop a boom tube. I honestly have no idea how that thing works. Which… Means that this is probably something else."

"Master… Is it something to do with why this planet has magic?"

"It shouldn't have anything to do with that, because I can't think of anything that would bind a piece of the material universe to the Dream and block exotic transportation methods. But as of right now I suspect that it does."

It is strange. The only thing I can think… Of-.

I look downwards. "I'm a fool. The planet's thaumosphere is blank. If this planet became thaumically active early in its life like Earth did, there would have been an impression made by the existing plants and animals. And it would linger. That means that it only became thaumically active after it was devastated."

Persuader nods. "Okay. So does that tell us what did it? Like… Did something magical just hit the planet really hard and make it magical?"

"Ah… I doubt it but I can't rule it out. The amount of magic that you'd need in order to force a connection like that is… Huge. We're not talking about tearing apart one big elemental or something. This is… Odd."

"But we can kill it, right?"

"Persuader." I frown at her. "Of course we can kill it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2022
06:41 GMT

"Teleporters?" I fire railgun rounds into a small herd of… Pinkies? Causing them to burst. "This happened because of teleporters?"

Corporal Taggart nods. "What I heard. Wasn't exactly invited to the briefing."

"You weren't? Why wouldn't they brief a marine taking part in the operation?"

He huffs contemptuously. "Wasn't supposed to be taking part. I was only on Mars for my court-martial. Guess they figured they might as well get some use out of me."

"They brought you to Mars for a court-martial? Isn't that..? Really expensive, when they could just do it on Earth?"

He shrugs. "They were sending the rocket anyway. One guy's not that much extra fuel. And if I'm already on Mars they can just give me shit duty there."

Mazikeen tosses the imp head that she was studying into the pile. "What were you being tried for?"

"Mutiny and assault on an officer. Maybe attempted murder, I wasn't really listening."

And unlike last time, I actually recognised this setting. Doom. We're probably talking to the main character, and… I wish I'd played more than the shareware version. With the invulnerability cheat turned on all the time.

"Did you do it?"

"Yeah, I did it. Fucker ordered my fire team to murder a bunch a' unarmed monks. He got his. B.F.'s grabbed me, but word got around. Couldn't try me on Earth without the hippies reaming the whole government." He looks around as Sandro sends a group of zombified marines ahead of us. "You do this kind of thing a lot?"

"Specifically this? Fighting demons isn't a daily occurrence, but this isn't my first time. And our teleporters usually don't route themselves through Hell. That seems less than wise."

He snorts. "Tell me about it. But stuff like this? The skeleton's a wizard and you're dressed like a superhero."

"That's because I am a superhero."

He raises his eyebrows. "Fuckin' a'."

"It has its moments. Of course, we also have supervillains."

"Is it like the comic books, or can you just shoot them?"

"You can, but you wouldn't believe the amount of fuss that generates. Ah, sorry, this is probably a bit of a personal question, but do you know much about your family history?"

He hesitates, then his eyes drift down to the rail rifle I created for him. "No. Me and Dad don't see eye to eye and Mom died years ago."

"Do you remember her maiden name?"

"Ah… Something Jewish or Polish? … Blasterwitz?"

"Blazkowicz?"

He frowns curiously. "You knew her?"

"There's a distinct possibility that you're descended from World War Two commando William Joseph Blazkowicz."

He appears to take that in his stride. "He ever fight demons?"

"Yes. And zombies, Nazis-." For a moment I consider correcting myself to 'national socialists', but decide against it. "And he once fought a power armour wearing Adolf Hitler."

He stares at me. "Adolf Hitler had power armour? They don't even give us power armour!"

"There is no justice."

"Did the demons look like these things?"

"No. The biggest one looked like a giant minotaur. I don't remember what the others looked like."

He nods. "Haven't seen any like that yet. Maybe these are just the little ones."

"Probably."

"Orange Lantern." Sandro's hands are glowing. "I believe that I have located the focal point of the ritual which the demons are using to hold the portal open."

"Neat. Where is it?"

"In that direction." He points out across the barren rock of Phobos. "I'm not certain exactly what it is. Demons on Ashan use different methods to escape Sheogh."

Taggart pulls a tablet out of his armour and calls up a map. "Okay, we're in the labs. That takes us past Central Processing, but there shouldn't be anything there. It's just some storage bunkers."

Sandro nods. "The demons may well have built it themselves, or brought it with them from whatever realm they originate."

"What happens when we blow it up?"

"I don't know enough about these demons to say. It may simply prevent more from appearing, or those here may find themselves drawn back into their realm. I certainly can't think of any downside to it."

Taggart frowns. "Won't clean out the rest of the facility, but that's probably gunna be a whole lot easier if they can't get reinforcements."

"Mazikeen?"

"I should be able to shut down whatever sort of portal it is. Unless we don't find Angelica, in which case we may need to go through it."

"Right. So far they haven't had anything that's a real threat to us, but if they're going to change that, this is where they'll do it. Sandro, do you know Summon Phoenix?"

"Of course."

"Right. Taggart, you're squishiest. You're more useful as a spare pair of eyes. You're on overwatch. Call out threats and take shots of opportunity."

Taggart considers that for a moment, then looks pointedly at Endymion. Endymion frowns, draw his sword and swings it in an arc through a nearby wall before returning it to its scabbard.

"Right. You an officer?"

"Actually, yes. I hold the rank of Illustres in the Orange Lantern Corps, roughly the equivalent of a green beret colonel."

"Huh. Alright. Not exactly living up to my demon-slaying great grandpa."

"Getting you better gear would require too much retraining. Sandro, crowd control. Start with the phoenix. I've never seen one before. Mazikeen, countermagic. Some sort of ritual is just about the only way they can hurt me so please make sure that they don't get to use one."

"These demons have shown no sophisticated magic. But I will be ready to act."

"Great. Endymion, bodyguard. Slash anything that gets close."

He nods, and I extend my environmental shield around the whole team and lift everyone into the air. The… Well, not 'north', but in the direction Sandro indicated. I can see the construction… And Taggart was right, it's a lot smaller than the other structures around the crater. There's an area where the rock has just… Been broken through to the surface, and-.

I recognise those pillars. That's the end of the freeware version of Doom. There should be a Baron of Hell inside each one. But the… Walls around them appear to have already been lowered. Why would-?

The teleportation pad shimmers as… Some sort of white demon I don't recognise teleports through, and-.

I'm on fire!

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2022
06:45 GMT

Regenerating my own flesh as fast as I can, I drop the other four onto the roof of the storage bunker beneath us before-.

Endymion tosses a rose to me. Uh-. That-.

That douses the fire the moment it touches me, okay. Useful. I grab the rapidly decaying rose in my right gauntlet while generating a railgun construct. None of the demons we've encountered have had exotic resistances, just tough flesh. As such I feel reasonably confident as I load an iron slug and fire.

The white demon looks mildly confused by the fact that I'm not on fire, but it's clearly intelligent enough to recognise the railgun. It dives to the side, railgun round slamming into the stonework next to it. The second round strikes it in the side as it scrambles back to its feet, knocking it off the teleporter pad and onto the ground behind it.

I… Don't remember if Doom has any flying demons. I think I remember… Red ball things, and burning skulls? I don't remember either of them being particularly fast or agile and I certainly can't see them-

I shift to the side as the pillars containing the Barons of Hell open and one of them takes the opportunity to throw a ball of green plasma at me.

-here.

With the cry of a constipated cockerel, a phoenix explodes into the air to my left. It's… Big. If it were laid out then it would be about ten metres, beak to tail tip. Its wings are leathery and dragon-like, but constantly wreathed in flame which burns without the need for an external fuel source. It has a long neck with a raptorial head at the end. At the other end of the torso are a pair of chicken-like legs while the various parts of its tail droop down like the fronds of a mostly-plucked peacock.

It dives down, smacking one of the Barons with burning wings and tail and causing it to stagger aside.

"Mazikeen, what's the portal doing?"

"Growing in power. Someone is deliberately trying to send something large through."

I move around the combat area and nail the white demon in the head, knocking it down. "Is it two-way?"

"Yes."

I hear Taggart take a shot at one of the Barons as they throw plasma at the phoenix. I'm not sure if plasma counts as 'fire' for the purpose of its flame immunity, but it should have pretty decent defence and hit point stats. Two demons shouldn't be able to kill it quickly. They're only a bad spell in game because a single big creature isn't a threat to a mid-game army, not because their stats are low. If you could summon more than one at a time…

"Then I think we'll take advantage of their generosity. End-."

Endymion has left from the roof and is currently slashing at-. Scan. Nearly invisible pinkies which were lurking around the Baron's pillars. He doesn't seem to have any trouble either in locating them or cutting them down.

"Never mind. Is that plausible?"

"Certainly, but we won't know where we'll end up."

The last of the rose crumbles to ash in my hand, and the white demon raises its arms again… Only for my x-ionised sabot shot to tear its left arm from its shoulder.

"Raagh!"

"Okay." I drop down to just above head height, making eye contact with the white demon. "Hello there."

The demon doesn't bother holding its wound, but instead crouches with its remaining claws extended to tear at me. Its facial structure is essentially human, though it lacks lips and its cranium is significantly taller.

"I know that you can understand me. And I know that you're intelligent. Shooting me required you to understand that I was the one holding the others up. Thinking. Planning. And I will tell you now that I will understand whatever you say. So on the off-chance that this is some sort of cosmic misunderstanding, what's going on? What's this in aid of?"

"Blood and souls for Hell! Torture! Pain!"

"And that's it?"

"It is-" It throws itself at me, golden fire billowing around its remaining claw. "-for y-"

My crumbler ram construct hits it in the chest, smashing it against the side of the teleporter plinth and disintegrating its torso.

"-hrr."

"Okay."

I fly upwards, railgun construct seeking targets. One of the Barons has been burned to death by the phoenix, while the other-. Dies to a railgun shot to the head as I watch. Endymion has finished the invisible pinkies and has moved to engage the herd of regular ones swarming up from the bunker. Mazikeen forms bat-like wings for a moment to fly down from her perch. She lands next to the teleporter and begins studying it.

"This is not human technology."

"Sure?"

"It's a block of stone, wreathed in spells. I suspect that the… Pink minotaur things created it. Their sarcophagi appear to be energy siphons of some sort."

"From them to the teleporter?"

"No. From wherever they came from into them."

"Ah!" Sandro flies in on the back of his phoenix, patting out the fires burning across his clothing as he dismounts. "That sounds more familiar-. Oh, you tore the arm off and disintegrated its chest. I was hoping to raise its corpse."

"It was intelligent and a magic user, using an unfamiliar work of magic. We're going to the place it came from, where it undoubtably has allies. Raising it would have certain-"

A zombified Baron of Hell lumbers over.

"-risks. Can it talk?"

"Certainly it can! There might be a little missing after Corporal Taggart shot it in the head, but it should remain fully capable of speech and recollection."

"Gruuhk!"

Sandro stares at it for a moment, then turns back to me. "Should."

"Demon, what are you?"

"I am a.. warrior of Hell. I.. hold the rank of.. baron."

"Good show. Is the demonic attack on Mars a happy accident, or did someone plan it?"

"The eldest has.. been watching for.. some time. Waiting for a human to.. open a portal again. This was not.. like before, not.. an evocation, but many small.. crossings. It took time.. to learn how to.. interfere. We were sent to secure this.. beachhead. To bring more of.. Hell's energy with us, until it encompasses.. Earth. But then an angel.. fell from the sky, and everything… Changed."

"Where was she taken?"

"To the greatest.. of the new ones. Those who will.. overrun the Earth while the eldest ensures that.. the anchor remains."

"And where are the new ones now?"

"Dis. In Hell."

"And where does this portal go?"

"The stolen moon. The dark presence will make.. the moon its vessel and.. destroy this plane of.. existence."

"And where is Deimos in relation to Hell?"

"Above it."

"Thank you." I look up to where Taggart is trying to work out how to get down from the roof, tether him and transition him to us. Endymion strolls towards us, flicking pinkie blood from his sword.

"Right then. Next stop, Hell."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
11:05 GMT -7

"…who we're going to war with next."

I nod. "Persuader, if you want to join Dox in fighting the Reach, you are free to do so. On company time, even, assuming that I don't have a mission for you. But I imagine that he would much prefer more of a time commitment than you're able to give."

"I'd rather fight for you. But you don't have any enemies on Earth."

"Persuader, I sign your timesheets. You've been fighting and killing every single week since you entered my service."

"Petty criminals. None of them threaten me. They're boring."

I nod. "I know, but it's useful work. Your efforts have reduced the availability of cocaine across the western world, and caused the murder rate to drop to a fraction of what it was in a dozen countries. Side effects include a reduction in corruption in government and an increase in agricultural output-."

She mutters something.

"I beg your pardon?"

She shrugs truculently. "I didn't say anything."

Yes, I'm sure that I didn't hear you mutter 'nerd'.

"There are gladiatorial arenas you could go to. I think Okaara has some. Rashashoon does as well-."

Persuader's avoiding looking at me. They both are.

"You've been going there already, haven't you?" Two awkward nods. "Have you at least been taking Knockout with you?"

Persuader shrugs. "It was a three-person event."

"We did really well, Master!"

"Well, yeah, you're probably both in the top thousand most dangerous people in this galaxy. Regular fighters aren't even going to touch you. Did they at least seed you properly?"

Persuader shrugs. "Took a couple of fights."

"You don't have to do these things behind my back, you know. If you'd told me, I'd have come and cheered you on."

"You were on a date."

"Ah… Date or 'date'?"

"Ew."

"Luna isn't as against pit fights as you might at first-." Huh. Thought I… Saw something in the clouds. "As you might assume."

Iname picks up on it at once. "What is it, Master?"

I point upwards with my right index finger. "Can you see anything up there?"

And Sinesto, scan.

Nothing at present, Lantern Grayven.

"Like what, Master?"

Ah, I was mistaken.

A Citizenry Provider breaches the cloud layer and lunges towards us!

"That."

"Finally!" Persuader swings her axe, opening a portal to just above it. She drops out, axe blade pointing down-. And the Provider twists in the air, causing her to fall past it.

What the Hell is a Provider doing here? There's nothing to eat here, and they're just about the least efficient weapon system against an actual hard target. To say nothing of the fact that we're nowhere near anywhere the Citizenry have ever gone because they knew perfectly well that they'd die to an actual organised military like the Knights of Passage. It doesn't have a faster than light system, so…

And wouldn't Hinon-

And me.

-have detected it?

I take a closer look as it swims closer.

Are those tron lines-? Oh dear.

I leap as it chomps at me, flying across the landscape before hitting the ground and rolling to my-. It's turned in the air and-. Move.

The flight aura around me flickers and dies.

Sinestro?

I don't know. I'm running error checks-.

Run them-

I jump up, the Provider's head turning to follow me, and for one decidedly discomporting moment I can look right down its gullet.

-faster.

I land about halfway down its back, drawing my daiklave and shoving it into its flesh. More for purchase than in any expectation that it'll hurt the thing.

"Master!" Iname is zipping between the Provider's coils as it smashes them against the rocky ground! "What should I do?!"

The bit I'm standing on stops moving-. Here comes the head again. Alright, extract the daiklave and prepare…

"It's focusing on me. Get to the impact site, find out what's going on."

"But-!

"I'm fine. Go." By My Command

She jerks as if she'd received a mild electric shock, then turns and zooms off towards the horizon. Uh, not sure where Persuader ended up, but she should be tough enough to survive most things.

The head comes in and I leap, sword ready. It tilts its head upwards again, but if I've judged the angles right-.

Hah! I swing my daiklave overhead, striking it on the nose with the full force of my superstrength-.

The daiklave breaks.

Fuckingshit!

I rise upwards slightly from the force of the impact, which means that rather than flying straight into its mouth my upper torso strikes its nose and it's just my legs that end up there. Greh! I scrabble for purchase, left hand grabbing a scale as I thrust my right fist into its nostril!

G-AH!

It just chomped down, and I think it's writhing-. My leg armour held and I think I mostly got gummed-. Okay, that's a tooth-. Buh!. It's slamming me into the ground-. Legs around the tooth, okay, reach down with my left hand, draw the Sword of the Fallen and stab-.

The Provider vanishes, and I hang in the air for a moment before falling the short distance to the ground.

I'm on my feet again almost immediately, looking around, Sword at the ready. No Provider, no other threats-.

And no Imane, and no Persuader.

What's going on?

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
11:08 GMT -7

"Sinestro?"

"I can't detect them, Lantern Grayven."

"Why not? Neither of them use stealth equipment."

"I don't know. My first guess would be some manner of device which disrupts power ring scans over a wide area, but few civilisations have ever developed such a technology and none of them would have a reason to leave it on a barren world like this."

"You don't think this is a qwardian testing planet, do you? Apokolips has a few places we leave fallow to train parademons on."

"I can detect qwa matter. It's fairly distinctive. And while I can't promise you that I can detect every form of matter/anti-matter transition technology they could invent, I can't detect any sign of the known ones. Besides, the qwardians are not a subtle people."

I nod. "A giant snake isn't very subtle." But he's right. And copying an alien's work? I'm not sure there's enough money in the universe for even a mercantilist like Varnathon to accept that. "And where did it go?"

"Are we certain that it wasn't a multi-sensory illusion of some kind?"

I hold out my right hand. Come

The remains of my daiklave fly into my hand, grip delivering itself into my palm and what's left of the blade jutting out sadly from the guard.

"Something broke this off. Something tougher than my armour."

"Do you believe that it was a Provider created with New God technology?

"No, because that's nonsense. Tron lines are part of how our machines channel our divine power. There are plenty of engineered monsters on Apokolips, but they don't look like that. Even our independent robots don't have them."

"So we're back to an illusion. Or a projection with a physical component.

"Alright, but I hit something."

"Programmable matter?"

"All programmable matter systems I know about have limits. And not trying to sniff my own farts here, but I'm pretty strong. Tanking the daiklave and vanishing when I used the Sword of the Fallen? No system I know could do that."

"Which leaves magic."

"A known issue with a thaumically active world, not one that should be a problem with one that's uninhabited."

"Why assume that we would be able to detect the magician better than we could the Provider?"

"Because that's not how conjuring works. Summoning something that powerful would require it to already exist in the thaumosphere, and then a ritual to bring it forth. We all recognised it as a Provider, and I can tell that the thaumosphere is blank. A really powerful and skilful magician might have been able to pull something right out of the Dream, but the chance of a Dream manifestation being that powerful and looking exactly like a Provider is… Basically zero. Morpheus himself couldn't do that."

"Are you certain that we're on the planet?"

"Are you asking me if I'm dreaming?"

"Or if we could have physically entered the Dream."

"Theoretically possible, except that I've been resonating with other New Gods, and Luna isn't here. Resonances can occur when one party is asleep, but since they can't consciously respond it feels very different. And Luna can enter my dreams whether she's asleep or awake."

"As I recall it, she still has yet to pay you back for that 'disappearing star' trick."

Um.

He's right, unless you count-.

"No, I'm pretty sure that whole retirement village thing was supposed to be a prank. I think I was a reasonable sport about playing along, but I don't… I don't think she'd use a cannibal snake for something like that."

"What, then?"

"I don't know." I start walking in the direction of the impact crater. "I do know that we're lucky that Iname speaks good English."

"And that I do."

I frown. "Translation is down for you, too?"

"Relk tan chall dan."

"Sorry, I never learned Korugari."

"That's not what the language is called."

"See?"

Okay, Iname should be at the impact site now. She'll do a visual assessment at high speed, find… Probably nothing, and then move in for a closer look. There shouldn't be much there; an impact that size doesn't leave a crater so much as mountains, but if there is then she's got sensor goggles and her own New God abilities. Magic users generally struggle with the combination of speed and exotic resistance.

I'm more worried about Persuader.

She's tough and armoured, but that's it. For a magician who can conjure monsters, she's an easy target.

I look at the broken remains of my most recent daiklave again. And then I toss it away.

Okay, the atomic axe should survive better, but…

"Luna?! If this is a prank, you have outdone yourself! Well done! I am genuinely worried!"

"I don't think that's likely."

"Me neither."

"I can understand not flying if you fear that the flight aura of your rings and your aero-discs might stop working, but why are you walking at a normal pace?"

"So I don't miss anything. And so that Persuader can catch up."

"Given the way she vanished, I suspect that whatever mind directed that magic manifestation is more likely to blame than her getting lost on a flat piece of rock a few metres from your position."

"I agree. Still, even if she was dragged into some sort of pocket universe, she should be able to cut her way out with the atomic axe. But…"

Yeah, if she didn't do that right away, then she's probably not going to.

I shrug, lean forwards and start to r-.

The clouds above me part, stars beyond them seem to wheel, a shape manifesting from the night sky.

It's-.

"Luna?" I stare up at her, dumbstruck. "It actually was you? Damn, I'm-."

The blast from her horn hits me in the chest, smashing me to the ground!

"Die, butcher!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
11:12 GMT -7

Roll to the left, shove myself onto my feet as her follow up hits the rock to my right-

"Lu-"

Construct shield to block her next shot-

"-na-?"

-which is destroyed, but does its job as she circles in the air above me. Except she doesn't. Because it's not Thursday yet, so-.

"Thou who hast burned worlds and fed upon the flesh of the innocent!"

I glance down at my crotch. Not the time!

"Die!"

Her horn glows as meteorites fall from the sky behind her, aimed right at me. Now, Luna doesn't like using this spell because getting them back into the right place in the sky is apparently a pain in the neck, and it's also not very oof!

Okay! More accurate! I grab the rock and smash it into the ground, fracturing it and ending her spell's hold on it. I then take a solid stance, not even trying to dodge the next two and instead punching them as they fly in! Two clouds of rubble and jump!

Luna flies underneath me, spear locked in place.

Except she doesn't. Because my relationship with Luna has us bound together by my god-name. I'd feel it if she was actually here, especially if she was angry enough to actually attack me. And our relationship is such that even if she found some part of my history that made her this angry, she'd be at least a little conflicted about it.

Someone's using Luna's image to distract me. Perhaps even believe that she's trying to kill me. Or to believe in my final moments that I'd been killed by the woman I love.

Alright, no negotiation. Whoever's doing this is going to die. Magistrate's Rightful Sentence

I land and stare at her as she flaps to gain height. "Alright, whoever you are. What's this about?"

"How many hast thou slain, monster!"

"I don't know! Lots, probably!"

Source, who was the first person I killed? I assimilated Crock, so not him. Sinestro?

The first person you killed with me was a Thanagarian military engineer, but I rather assumed that you started before that.

Well, Klarion was earlier that day, but he reincarnated immediately so I don't think that counts. Queen Bee? But that was a total accident.

"Can you narrow it down?!"

"Entire worlds fed into the gullets of serpents-"

"That was the Citizenry!"

"-while they fought under your banner, and at your direction!"

"That was the other Grayven!"

"We see through your lies, vile worm! We follow your path backwards through time, past your duel with your doppelgänger! We see that you are the guilty one, though his sins are hardly the lesser!"

Ah… Had… Sort of wondered about that. I know Artemis did something that resulted in my personality becoming… Me, not… Him. But if I'm just a him who thinks he's a me… And if it was the Elements of Harmony or something… Would that wear off at some point? Or if I got exposed to the Anti-Life again?

Uuh.

I-.

Spear!

Uou-ugh-!

Luna glares at me from an inch away, eyes glowing white. "Thou art not so tough this time, knave. Hast thine magicks abandoned thee?"

"Hth thtt uthh-."

Lung pierced, great. Luna actually does pose like this, and she enjoys it so much that I haven't beaten the habit out of her like I.. probably should. But since who or whatever this really is insists on copying her behaviour as well as her abilities-

The light stops shining from her eyes as she shudders in shock, looking down at her own chest and the Sword of the Fallen embedded in it.

"Hth hagh?"

May I?

Go ahead.

"Fraudulent horse-woman, Lantern Grayven wishes to inform you that even if you are correct, he intends to live as himself for as long as possible. You, however, are dying today."

And… She's gone. One moment there, the next, a mere suggestion of Luna-shaped vapour, and then not even that.

Ow.

Her spear went with her, but apparently the wound is real. As…

I look around.

As are the craters left by the meteors. Though the meteors themselves weren't real.

"Hk-ha-."

My wound hasn't healed yet. It… Should have done. Luna's actual spear has spells to defy magical healing and resiliencies, but that was some sort of copy and in any case it doesn't still exist. My armour didn't appear to do anything, but… That part makes sense. Point is, with the spear gone I should be healing just fine.

Sinestro?

I would advise against using either of your rings for healing. Not if their functionality is impaired.

Uuuuyyyuuuuugh.

I gently press the exterior of my injury at the front. It hurts, but that's hardly crippling. Not bleeding all that much. And around the back-? Yep, there's the exit hole. Alright, reduced lung capacity…

I take my purple healing ray off my harness and fire it at the wound. The light it emits is… Pretty anaemic, but the pain lessens slightly.

I have even less idea what's going on now. It's not just New God abilities, this thing is a generic arcane device. But the Sword of the Fallen still works… For now.

I look up as the clouds roll back in and consider throwing it into orbit, because losing this is a bigger deal than getting one planet to colonise. This is currently my best weapon against Darkseid, and if this place does something to it…

Heck, if what it's done to me is permanent-.

No, I have to assume that this is a purely local thing. That it can be overcome. And since I can die, I need to keep it with me to prevent that from happening.

And I think I need to go faster.

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
11:09 GMT -7

I don't like leaving Master like that. I know he can beat the giant snake, but abandoning him while he's fighting feels wrong. I will just have to find out what is at the impact site-

I stop at the edge of the impact site.

-really quickly!

It's actually so big that it's hard to see. I thought that there might be a big hole or something sticking out, but it's just… Slightly rockier rock? I can't see any buildings, or any people, or any plants or animals-.

Oh. No, there's a building.

I put my goggles on and turn up the magnification. I could run over to it much faster, but Master wants me to be cautious. So I will look carefully-.

That's my house. My house is in Japan. Why is my house-?

I don't move my goggles, I just sprint a mile away in less than a second and turn on the telepath scrambler on my armour. And I could call upon Master's power for help, but he might need it. Swift and Precise

I stop, looking around me to see if anything was trying to take advantage of my ah!

My house is now in front of me.

That is not right.

I know that it is possible to move a house, with teleporters or levitation or just being really strong. I asked Master if he could pick up a house once and he said that the only reason he couldn't was because it would fall apart.

I look at the bottom of the wall in case someone has made something that looks like my house with local rock, but it doesn't look like they have. It looks exactly like I remember it-.

No. It is not quite-. I painted it again, after-. I painted it. And Sunset helped! She was much better at controlling the brushes than Mickey Mouse was. But it hasn't looked like this-.

I turn around and run two miles this time-

-and I'm through the door even though I stop as fast as I can, and the door is shut before I reach it.

It didn't teleport, it was just there. And now I'm inside my house-.

I look down at my naginata. It isn't good for narrow corridors or furnished rooms, when you are not sure where the attack will come from. And whatever is doing this can move things faster than I can run.

I set the naginata aside and draw my kama.

Normally, I could just run out of the door, or vibrate through the walls. But I have seen horror movies, and spoken to Kid Flash about his training exercises. Whoever did this would not trap me in my fake house if I could easily escape. I will not even try and do something that foolish.

I walk slowly towards the stairs, keeping careful watch on my surroundings and activating my communicator. Inevitable Victory

"Iname to Master. And Persuader? Please reply when you can."

Nothing is making creepy noises, which is nice. But it doesn't make sense. Why would someone make a horror movie set on a planet no one is using? If they wanted to fight me it would much easier to make a bomb or a cold zone.

I turn my head to make sure that I take in everything.

Supervillains do stupid and wasteful things all of the time, but I don't have any enemies because I always kill them. I don't think that many other people know about me. Would Master's father do something like this? I think he would, but he would be more likely to have someone else do it for him. But there is no way for him to know that we would be here in advance. Unless they were following us and made a giant snake and my house really quickly? Master never said anything about his people being able to do that… An illusion?

I rap my knuckles against the wall as I make my way up the stairs.

It feels real… And I cannot go around assuming that everything around me is not real.

Check around me. Still nothing is happening.

I am feeling a bit silly about being scared of my own house.

The landing is clear. The door to my room is slightly open, but I think that… I didn't always close it fully. Master said that the English word for that is 'sneck'. He said that his human family used it in Scrabble once. The doors to the bathroom and my p-. To the other rooms, are closed.

I can't hear anything, just normal house sounds-.

No rain. The rain has stopped. But it shouldn't. The clouds haven't gone anywhere.

I carefully walk towards my door, and push the door open.

It's my room. I can see out of the window, and it isn't raining. The… Window isn't even wet, and it looked wet from the outside. In fact…

I carefully cross the room, ready for any trouble. But nothing happens, as-.

That isn't right. The view out of the window is the same as at home in Japan, which is a very long way from here. The teacher John Constantine told me that he knows a spell to replace the view through one window with the view from another-.

I know this-. I remember those cars. I remember-.

"Misa-chan?"

I shudder.

"Are you coming to watch it with us?"

Mama-?

I run towards the door but I'm not moving! I'm slow! And I hear the front door opening before I even reach the landing, and Papa shouting-!

Why can't I move!

My bedroom door closes in front of me, and I grab the handle and yank on it and it's stuck! I pull and pull-!

My left foot kicks against-. My kama, I dropped them-. Pick them up! And slash! No Barrier Impedes

I cut the hinges and the lock and kick, and my door falls onto the landing, and run! I don't use the stairs, I just throw myself towards the ground! Towards the living room-!

They're already dead.

I didn't see them like this. Not when it happened. I just-. They're posed just like in the police photographs, only the blood is more fresh. I sheathe my kama and-. And check Mama's neck. Her wrist. Her life.

Dead.

I do the same for Papa. He's dead too. I know he's dead. That they're both dead. But-.

But I'm already trying to think of a reason why someone would do this. My house, my p-. Parents. To show that they know me? Something preventing me getting down here in a fraction of a second, and that's something that I should have been able to do easily. To make me afraid? To-?

The blood is fresh. He might still be here.

I killed the real murderer, but doing it again might-.

"Ah, Amane."

Master?

I turn around, and he's holding my naginata. And the… Point is covered in blood?

"I suppose it's about time that you knew."

What?

"It was always me. I killed your parents to create you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
11:13 GMT -7

…

I stare at him…

"Hehaahaa!"

And then I laugh, because…

"Have you lost your mind, Amane Misa?"

"No, you're just ridiculous! You want me to believe that Master picked out a family in Japan and killed my parents, and then just… Bumped into me later and gave me power when I begged him for help? And that the man who was accused of murdering them wasn't… Guilty? Master wouldn't do something like that, and if he did then he wouldn't do it in such a stupid and wasteful way!"

"You do not know the depths of my evil."

I shake my head. This is much less scary than a teleporting house! "I am a singer and a model. There are thousands of people Master could remake as a New God who would be better weapons than me. And even more who would just volunteer if he asked them to. He didn't need me. He chose me because I need him."

"You know what I want you to know and believe what I intend for you to believe."

I stare at him, carefully trying to feel his soul. I know how Master feels, and how the other New Gods I've met feel… Nothing.

I nod. "We should have realised that a magical world would have evil demons on it. That is what you are, isn't it?" Ooh, he looks mad. "Were you going to make me run around in circles until Master got here, and then try and fool me into fighting him?"

The stupid demon doesn't answer me. The demon who bore Master's children was at least that cunning. Maybe it is like the First; too powerful to need to be clever? Because that was definitely what it was trying to do-.

"You merit punishment for your own sins."

I point one of my kama at him. "You're committing identity fraud! That's a sin too!"

"I use whatever face is appropriate to mete out earned punishment."

"What do you think that I have done?"

"Five hundred and seventy four instances of murder stain your soul."

"No they don't."

"Do not lie to me, murderer-."

"They don't stain it. I have killed a lot more people than that!"

"I do not count those who are murderers themselves, or who were trying to kill you."

That doesn't sound right. "You were watching whenever I killed anyone? Or did you just make up a number to make it sound like you were?"

"I do not need to watch you in order to know the weight of your misdeeds." He points the blade of my naginata at me. "I will punish you-"

Oh no he did not!

"-myself."

"That's not the line! And you're too big and you're a man and-! You can't say things like that!"

He stares at me for a moment, and I use the time to check my footing.

And then he jabs at me with my own weapon. I side-. I still can't move at my normal speed, but I've learned what angles a naginata can strike at when your hands are like that. Left and back as he swings to the side, strike the haft of the weapon with the heel of my right hand to force it away and then lunge!

He spins the weapon to strike at me with the butt of the haft but using Master's form has made him too tall! It's easy for me to duck under and stab, because just like Master he's left his hands bare!

It… Doesn't cut him?

Step left as he strikes at me with his knee, keep moving around as he brings the naginata back into a guard position, spin and slash at the back of his head as he tries to turn-. Nothing. And these are really sharp! I step back-.

Ough!

Too… Too slow.

I pull myself out of a kitchen cabinet as he turns to face me, blade pointing in my direction once more. He's not as strong as Master-. He's a lot less strong if my New God powers have been turned off, because I'm not very tough, even compared to Persuader. If he hit as hard as Master all of my ribs would be broken at best.

Is he trying to make me scared?

"You are a demon!"

"I am justice-" He comes up to the kitchen doorway. "-delivered through divine vengeance."

I frown. "I'm a New God. I've got a bit of the Source in me! And you're a demon! I'm more divine than you are! So I say that I'm divine vengeance and that every single person I killed deserved it!"

The fake's eyes are glowing white, which Master's eyes don't do.

"Arrogance is not normally something I punish by itself, but something like that-."

"You don't like it because it's true, demon! God sent Master to fix all of civilisation in the universe and I get to help him and you got an empty planet no one wants! Because you're pointless!" Cut To The Quick

He hurls the naginata at me but my speed is working again and I sidestep-.

The naginata smashes through the wall behind me and I don't wait, I just run out, following the naginata. Outside, it's still raining, and my weapon-. It didn't even go that far. That's weird. I sheathe my kama, pick up my naginata, and look around very carefully in case my house has caught up with me again.

It hasn't. Instead, it's gone completely.

Hm.

I run… Back to where I think it was before I escaped. And there's no sign. Nothing on the rock, nothing from the bits of the wall that were smashes out… Nothing.

I don't like this world.

Okay. So whatever it is can make houses, rob me of my powers, know everything about me even if it doesn't understand anything, and get really mad when you insult it. And it's invulnerable to physical attacks.

Maybe I should start carrying a blaster?

Did it make the Provider like it made my house? It could have done, but that wasn't just a copy unless Evil Master showed Master one of them that looked like that. None of the ones which I saw had those lines on them. So it's not just copying, it can make new things too.

And it was trying to scare me. Trying to make me feel bad about the things it thinks I shouldn't have done. But… Why? And why not on Earth? Is it stuck here? That's the only thing that seems to make sense… But… It should be able to go into the Dream, shouldn't it? Or whatever version of Hell exists here, and get to Earth that way? So it is stuck here?

So it's stuck here, and doesn't want to be, and even though the smart thing to do would be to pretend to be nice so that we would take it away, it attacked us. So… Maybe it knows that it can't get away? And it's just taking a shot because that's all it can do?

I… Could check out the whole of the crater, but I… I think I should find Persuader instead.

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2022
07:01 GMT

"None of 'em?"

Corporal Taggart doesn't look surprised or upset, but there is a little… Disappointment, in his expression.

I shake my head. "My scans aren't reliable around this amount of raw magic, but… No. As far as I can tell, there are no survivors. Sandro?"

"I do have a surfeit of dark energy to work with, but other beings are making use of it as well."

"Necromancers?"

"That's difficult to say. Technically speaking, commanding a demon to possess a corpse is not necromancy. Corporal Taggart, were you given any idea of how many people were working here?"

He shrugs. "Couple thousand. Only about two hundred marines."

Endymion frowns. "The entirety of Deimos has only two hundred soldiers?"

"Yeah? Honestly, it always sounded like way too many to me. Two hundred jarheads just to keep a thousand engineers and scientists in line? What were the brass expecting?"

Endymion looks at the corpse of an invisible pinkie which he just finished vivisecting with his sword. "Demons?"

"The two hundred wasn't anything like enough, that's my point. It's too many for policing and not enough to stop an invasion."

Mazikeen nods. "He's right. Was the number increased recently? Perhaps your superiors got an inkling that something wasn't right."

He rolls his eyes at her. "Sure. I'll just call up the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and ask, shall I?"

Endymion frowns. "You mean to say that the government of Earth hasn't been informed?"

"I don't think they missed a moon going-." Corporal Taggart frowns in bewilderment. "What d'yah mean 'the government of Earth'? Like… A single government?"

Endymion sighs, looking down for a moment. "No, I suppose that would have been too much to hope for."

"America's got the only space program worth talkin' about. But, like I said, a moon's gone missing. Anyone with a space telescope's gunna see it, an' everyone knows that the U.S. is the only country with anything on Deimos. We're the first place anyone's gunna go lookin' for an answer." He thinks for a moment, looking up at the ceiling of the refinery we're standing in. "Mars Command got an update from the platoon they sent, but those chumps all died without sending anything back beyond, you know, 'contact' and 'help help it's claws are up my ass'."

I look around. Parts of the refinery have the dull brown or grey colour of standard U.A.C. wall panels, but here's a lot of bare stone walls, as well as areas that appear to have been… 'Demonified', with the stone becoming unnaturally smooth and… 'Growing' leering demonic faces. And that's before we get into the fact that some sort of radioactive green goo has bubbled up from the lower levels. It's not a problem for any of us at the moment, but… It's confusing. There isn't a lot of radioactive material on Deimos -at least, there isn't supposed to be- and magic doesn't tend to make things emit gamma radiation. There can be plenty of other exotic results from exposing things to raw magic, but normal ionising radiation? No.

So either there's a material here that reacts to raw magic by becoming radioactive -which is pretty darn interesting- or the demons just brought a load of highly radioactive liquid here for some reason. Or the humans did, I guess, but that makes even less sense. I could see them bringing radioactive metal for a power plant, but they'd have every reason to make sure that radioactive liquid didn't escape. And humans usually make things fail safe rather than fail deadly, so I doubt that it's simple neglect…

Endymion thinks for a moment. "When will Mars send reinforcements to Phobos?"

"Ah… They probably won't. There aren't all that many marines up here total. When no one reports back, they'll probably call in a patrol ship. The ship will do a flyby, then they'll send in more marines. Maybe some armour. And they'll have ships so they can just lift off before they get overrun."

"That's a reasonable tactic."

"Problem is, we don't keep ships near Mars, 'cause… Why would we? There's some checking out potential mining sites out-system and some around Earth. Government's not gunna wanna move the ones near Earth, which is probably a good call."

I nod. "Earth's about as far from Mars as it gets right now. Any ships would take a long time to get here, ignoring the fuel costs."

Corporal Taggart nods. "Right, an' the outer system ships ain't exactly close neither. Probably gunna need a few months t' get there."

Endymion looks puzzled. "But all of the demons are slain."

Mazikeen shakes her head. "They were researching teleportation. We should not assume that the forces of Hell cannot take advantage of any teleportation stations they captured here, or that we missed. Besides, how would Mars know without sending another of their limited quantity of spacecraft?"

There's a quiet thud as Sandro allows the Baron of Hell we found here to collapse to the ground. "Learn anything?"

"Apparently they were using material extracted from here for some sort of ritual." He strolls closer. "It didn't know what. Oh, and it seems that the 'Eldest' is present on Deimos at the moment, leading the ritual."

"Alright. Did it say where?"

He looks at the wall. "No, but given the clear distinction between the two styles of architecture, I don't imagine it will be hard to locate the site. Corporal Taggart, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Why are there explosive barrels located in just about every structure we have entered? That would seem like a curious choice for a military structure."

"No fuckin' clue. I was just here for a Court Martial, remember? They didn't explain the niceties of their interior design scheme."

"Ah. No, I suppose that's reasonable. I just hope that we have time to-."

The air… Shudders.

My rings gutter and die.

Mazikeen doubles over, clutching her mask.

The lights in Sandro's eye sockets go out, and his bones collapse ligamentlessly to the floor.

Endymion shakes his head as if dazed, but appears otherwise unimpeded.

Corporal Taggart looks at us each in turn. "The fuck?"

"I guess that was the ritual." I trigger my armour's flight system, and… Yes, that's still working. Crumbler gauntlets? Ah, no, those aren't. That seems… Arbitrary, but I suppose that's how weird magic rituals go when you don't understand their operating principles. "Corporal, did you leave that backpack where you found it?"

"Yeah? Why?"

"We're going to need something to put Sandro in, just in case that's something that he can recover from. Mazikeen?"

"Yes. Yes."

"I've got a conventional painkiller if you need it. Otherwise…" I walk over to where one of the demon zombies dropped his shotgun. "I've got mundane conventional weapons. Do you know how to use them?"

She snatches it from me, picks up a box of shotgun shells that someone from U.A.C. dropped on the floor at some point, and then starts sliding shells into the magazine tube.

"Good show. Endymion?"

"In my first life, I used magic and the sword. Few people in Japan carry guns. I'll manage better with my sword."

"Okay. Corporal, you take the lead. It looks like we're doing this the conventional way."

 

[Mr Zoat]

August 20th, 2013
Like five seconds after the big snake hit me

How the fuck did someone hide a whole-ass town from orbital scans? Apart from the big gash in the road where I used my axe to slow down, it looks just like-.

Just like the town where I grew up.

I frown. That doesn't sound right.

But what the fuck ever. I can't see or hear the boss-.

"Persuader to Grayven. You win yet?"

I mean, probably, but I should check.

I wonder if I can hotwire any of these cars? Need to find something old enough that it doesn't have computer controls… And maybe four wheel drive? With the rock and the rain, the surface is probably kinda slippery-.

Why isn't it raining?

I look up and-. Yeah, it's a clear night. Was it night before? I didn't bother checking-.

"Elise!"

No one called Elise here, but I recognize the voice. I take a moment to check that my helmet is still on, and it is. Okay, turn around-.

Around-.

What the fuck is this shit? Mom's a crazy manipulative bitch, but there's no way she can follow me to another planet. The boss's lawyers even got a deal where she doesn't get contact or a forwarding address.

…

I mean, another planet means that there's no witnesses…

No, no, the boss would know, and either I'd be the main suspect or Dad would be and neither of us need that.

"Go fuck yourself, bitch."

That'll do. Boss might be making a whole supervillain alliance to kill his Dad, but Mom's not actually a threat to the whole universe. I turn back around and start looking for a… I dunno, a humvee to jack? Or some other kinda truck? Not gunna be any military vehicles someplace like this. Maybe I could steal a regular car so I can check I know what I'm doing and drive it around to find something actually worth-. Hkk!

"Listen to me, you worthless-"

Mom's picked me up by my neck what the fuck?

"-thug, I know exactly what you did to your teacher-"

Oh fuck. Ghk! Hold her wrist-!

"-and that means that I own you and your limp-dick father."

Oh fu-. Wait, how is Mom strong enough to hold-? I can feel her fingers on my bare neck, what happened to my-?

My armour's… Gone. And I'm… Small. I'm small.

"So here's how this is going to go."

But I've still got my axe, and this is self defence now, right? Close enough. Not like anyone's going to give her a character reference. Kinda awkward one-handed but it's not like I need a solid-

She catches my wrist.

-hit…

"Do you think this toy matters?"

She-. Oof! She just slammed me against a car! And it actually hurt a little! Mom isn't strong enough to-.

She choke-slams me again, and-. I dropped my axe.

"Weak and stupid. Why couldn't I have had a daughter who was actually worth something?"

Can't-. Reach her eyes. Can't kick-.

Agh! Mom hasn't-. Hasn't… Done this for years. Not since she broke my arm after I gave her a black eye hitting her with a shampoo bottle.

Something's… Making me small. Can't do anything about that, but Knockout taught me exactly how easy it is to break someone's fingers. Always Be Hitting

"Ah!"

She actually… Actually let go.

I cough a couple of times, 'cause my neck's all kinds of bruised. But I've got air, which means I can-.

See cops arresting my father, while my mother fake-cries at them. And Mr. Johnson's family-.

Wait, what kinda Silent Hill bullshit is this? Just… Showing me all the worst stuff that could happen-? Well, fuck all of you, Dad's safe at home so dragging him away-.

He makes a break for it, and the police draw their guns and shoot him.

There's a slight... Shudder, but I know it's fake. It's not him.

It's not-.

Where's my axe?

On the ground. I pick it up with both hands… Both tiny child-hands. I hope the boss can fix this, because-.

"Drop your weapon!"

Yeah, fuck you. But-. If I'm a child right now, there's no way I can cross the distance between me and him before he shoots. I back up a little, slashing down-. Alright, short distance slashes still work. I step through, with another slash for the fucker who killed fake-Dad.

"Aaagh-AH-AH!"

More Silent Hill bullshit. There's no way someone with his lungs cut in half could scream like that.

Blood spray's realistic, though. Never liked that part. Just… Messy.

"Open fire!"

I step around the police car -which has to be good to stop small bullets- and slash again, opening a portal to the top of a nearby roof. I wanna slash up all of those fuckers and fake-Mom… But they're not real. And if whatever is making this happen could make them, then it can probably just make more…

Okay, they're all over there, so I slash again and move that way. Still tiny, still awkward holding my axe because I'm so short-.

Shouldn't I be getting tired by now or something? I didn't start getting exercise until I was bigger than this.

Anyway, there's a truck… Toyotas are reliable, right? Slash through the door, climb up-

Bang!

-and someone's shooting at me again, and it's started raining.

I look up. It's not? So where's the water-?

Oh, that's my blood.

My-.

I fall into the footwell.

 

[Mr Zoat]

August 20th, 2013
Like five seconds after I got shot

The pain -ahhahh- is part of it.

The cold is a part of it.

The fact that I actually can't make -ahhahh- my arms rise more than a couple of inches without shaking and blacking out is a part of it.

The fact that I've been turned back into a little girl is a part of it.

But I think the main…

What was I..?

It's about dying to some… Guy with a gun. A regular gun. I got shot before in training so I'd know what it's like. I kinda freaked out after the first time I pulled out a bullet that pierced my skin, but it's… Purple healing rays fix stuff, and being a New God fixes stuff, so if it's all temporary… Why worry about it?

And then I got tougher, and she used bigger guns, and then space guns, and it…

Maybe I should be scared, because I'm obviously bleeding to death. But really? It just feels lame. Like, I got a space axe and space armor and I killed a whole bunch of people and what… Kills me is a fake cop with a fake gun.

Where did my armor even go? I didn't… Take it off-.

Wait, is there a first aid kit in the glove box?

I try reaching out for the passenger seat-. I can't move my arms far enough. They just shake and then fall.

I turn my head a little and look at my axe. I guess I can't drive like this anyway.

Wonder why the police haven't pulled open the door yet.

I-. Grip the haft as hard as I can and… Pull-. Move it along a bit, so the blade's in the right place. Twist the butt so that the blade-.

Ugh.

So that the blade goes through the dashboard, and then turn it, cut some more, pull it around-.

Uh.

Dashboard fell on me, but it's in bits so I can just-. Nudge it off. Can't bleed blood you've already bled.

Heh. First aid kit.

Let my axe fall, open the-.

It's stuck.

Pull my axe close, let it go. Grab the first aid kit, push the side against -ahhahh- the blade like a… Like a can opener, or something. Get it open.

And… Band-aids. Ah. Water sachet. Okay.

Roll onto my -ahhahh- back. Look at the… Entry wound. Must have gone through the truck door. Alright. Tear the sachet and-. Try to wash off the worst of the blood and car floor lint… Blood pressure's too low to bleed much. Ah. Ahhahh. Alcohol. Alcohol wipe. Tear and w-ahhahh-ipe. Okay. Ah. Large band-aid. Tear open. Put it -ahhahh- on-! On the wound.

Okay. Can't feel the bullet inside me, but that whole area is cold.

So. Exit wound. Roll on my -ahhahh- front. Feel around for-.

Oh. Right. Exit wound is… Bigger and messier. And I can't see it.

I… Can't patch that. And it feel like it's still bleeding.

I'm cold.

Ugh.

I try curling to… I don't know, try and conserve heat. And then I realise that the warmth I'm feeling from the footwell carpet is coming from blood that's already leaked out of me.

Tired.

At least I don't have to worry about going to Hell, not if the boss was right about New God souls-.

"Put your hands up!"

Uh?

There's a bright light…

"Put your hands up now!"

Heh. Seriously? Whatever this is, they're not going to let me bleed out, they're actually going to shoot me first? Wasn't there..? Didn't the boss tell his children a story about that? Like, a good person will just kill you, but an evil person will want to see you suffering and weak? Which can't be right because I killed Mr. Johnson quickly and then left, and I'm not a good person.

I barely feel it when whoever's shouting at me decides that they don't care what I'm doing with my hands and drags me out. I barely feel it when I hit the pavement. I barely feel it when I'm pulled upright, dangling by one arm.

"I got her!"

"That's her!" It's Mrs. Johnson, and to be fair, I am.

"I knew she was evil. I knew I should have been harder on her."

And that's Mom, and-. Wait. When I was this age, I hadn't killed Mr. Johnson yet. That… Doesn't make sense.

Or… I guess it doesn't matter. Because if I'm gunna die anyway… Kill, Kill And Kill Again

Then… Divine Executioner

I'm going to kill her if it's the last thing I do. I'm going to kill her if it's the last thing I do.

My axe is in my hands and I cut the cop's arm off, then swing again and cut off his head. Run-. Stagger towards Mom with-

BANG!

-axe-. Agh. With axe at the ready. Fight To Live, Live To Fight

She's backing off, but not fast enough. Swing. My Purpose Is Slaughter

Heh. And she's dead. And she's dead. And I'm big again.

But I'm-. But I'm still bleeding. It even hurts a little more.

That is bullshit.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

At least my armor's blocking the bullets like it's supposed to. But it's… That doesn't matter.

I fall on my ass. It's not the bullets, it's the blood loss. One of the cops is coming closer-.

Huh. He got cut in half. That's weird.

And… That guy did, too.

And those guys.

"Persuader?"

Someone standing… In front of me. Not shooting me or dragging me around, so that's good. They look… Familiar?

Oh.

"Hey, Iname."

And then everything goes black.

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2022
09:03 GMT

Taggart stares at his data pad. "Map says… 'Spawning Vats', whatever the fuck that is."

Mazikeen frowns. "Were they trying to create new demons deliberately?"

Taggart holsters his data pad and looks at the sides of the building. "Doesn't look all that demonified."

There are a couple of embossed skulls on the exterior wall which I very much doubt were there before the facility entered Hell, but otherwise it's standard U.A.C. reinforced concrete slabs.

Endymion shakes his head. "Experimenting with powers they did not understand is one thing; it is the basis of all learning. Deliberately invoking those powers when they are proven malevolent would be a far higher level of folly than a rational person should countenance, and we've seen no evidence so far of such behaviour."

I nod in agreement. "I realise that it's low priority, but just in case they were doing that, we should try and come back to record exactly what happened. Someone was supposed to have oversight of this place."

Taggart scoffs. "And they'll get away with it, too." He goes to stand next to the door. "Ready?"

I nod, shotgun at the ready as I stand facing the entrance. There's a gap of five metres, which experience has shown is far enough to draw a bead on the flying skulls and kill them before they can charge me down. Endymion takes the wall opposite Taggart, ready to stab anything that I miss. Mazikeen stands behind me to the right, plasma gun ready in case there's something big on the other side of the door.

Taggart holds his pistol in his right hand, and raises three fingers on his left. Two. He moves his hand to the door release and opens-.

There's a short corridor with walls lined with metal hexagonal panels, which leads to a room of bare rock. One pinkie-type demon has spotted the door opening and is heading towards me, but they're not all that fast.

"One pinkie."

I aim the shotgun and fire, the sound of the shell firing barely audible through my armour's sound dampeners.

"yAAAGH!"

The demon grunts as the shot pellets tear holes in its flesh, but it powers through the knock back and keeps coming. Pump, adjust aim and fire again.

"yAAAGH!"

Further tearing, more bleeding and it no longer has a right eye. And unfortunately the sound has alerted another pinkie behind it, which is hurrying towards me and using its colleague as cover.

"Second pinkie."

Pump, adjust aim… The other eye's probably best. And fire.

The left eye ruptures and the demon collapses to the ground. Not sure if that's because a pellet penetrated the brain or some other vital organ, or if I disrupted its physical form to the point that the magic sustaining it can't? Doesn't particularly matter.

Second demon. Pump, adjust aim, fire.

"yAAAGH!"

"Closing." Pump, adjust aim, fire. "Endymion."

"yAAAGH!"

Endymion waits until the moment it clears the hallway and then moves, his sword stabbing into its neck and then slicing upwards. The demon collapses face first into the rocky ground, and doesn't rise.

I trigger my armour's integrated scanner, but I know that it's not really reliable with demons, or when the terrain is imbued with magic. It doesn't look like there's anything else immediately through there, but…

"I have point. Taggart, Endymion, Mazikeen." Three nods, and Taggart switches to his chaingun as I advance.

And scans were correct. A small room with two supporting pillars, each with skulls embossed into the four sides of the second segment up. Openings on the left and right. The left appears to lead into the U.A.C. facility, while the right looks newly dug through the rock… Though someone's taken the time to paint the ceiling blue?

Armour sensors show… Faint noise coming from the right. Sounds like a zombie, and I've noticed that unless something happens right next to them they don't get curious. My team mates fan out left and right in practiced order.

"Hold."

I head towards the right passageway… More bare rock, bending around to the right. I take a moment to feed shells into my shotgun until it's fully loaded.

"One probable right. I'll take care of it. Endymion, watch my back."

He nods, and I cautiously lead the way. The flying demons don't make a lot of noise, and I lost a decent amount of my left rerebrace to an attacker I didn't spot in time.

After the rock comes a panel of… Riveted iron? A small room with a blue-painted floor and concrete walls. One of the walls has manifested an embossed pinkie head. Passageway forwards, door locked with this facility's blue key to the left. And in the middle of the floor-

Aim, fire.

-was a zombie with a shotgun. At this range it's no real effort to ensure that the majority of the pellets strike his face, and there isn't much left of it when he hits the ground.

Explore the passageway, or go back and try the left route?

If killing the zombie didn't draw any attention, then I doubt that any demons are going to wander into this room. And since I don't want to get cut off from the exit, it's probably best to take a look at the other route first.

I give it a moment just in case one of the larger types of demon has gotten stuck in the corridor -something that I've seen more than once- and then fall back. Shame the marines didn't carry any kind of tripwire bomb or proximity mine so that we could mine that passageway.

"Room clear. On me."

Left passageway has walls of… I think it's locally mined iron-rich rock. Curious choice. The corridor is lit by glowing pillars set at intervals against the walls. It bends left at ninety degrees, continues for a few metres and then bends left again-.

"Sound."

Taggart grunts. "Imps."

I move to the right side of the passage, turning so that I'll be facing towards the imps when I reach the corner. Endymion moves to the left, sword ready. Imps don't tend to rush us, but there could be pinkies mixed in with them. Taggart copies me while Mazikeen keeps to the centre.

"Moving."

I move around the corner. The corridor continues on for two metres before ending in a doorway. Through the doorway there's a room with another doorway in the opposite wall. No target in sight, I keep moving so that Taggart can aim at the doorway too.

Two imps step out from the left, and we both open fire! Blood spurts from the closest as its right ride more or less evaporates, and what's left collapses to the floor. The furthest one turns, plasma coalescing in front of its mouth. We fire again as it releases, blood spraying from its head and chests as we press ourselves into the side walls, the plasma bolt flying past and hitting the wall behind us. Another Imp emerges from the doorway on the far side. Since it's not charging plasma I assume that it's a little behind events. Taggart and I both return to the middle of the corridor and fire again, both hitting the chest and doing enough damage to put it down.

"Moving up."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
11:37 GMT -7

Author note: don't click on the link if you or anyone in the room with you is epileptic. You/They will die.

I wrinkle my nose a little as my smart plaster pulls awkwardly over my puncture wound. It doesn't.. really hurt meaningfully, but I've gotten used to minor aches and pains dealing with themselves within a few moments. There's a distinct feeling of wrongness associated with being damaged and staying damaged.

Might have gotten just a little spoiled with being this awesome.

Anyway, I saw some light get reflected off the clouds in the direction Persuader got flicked, so I'm guessing that she used an emergency flare just over this-.

Ridge.

That's a town. And while the detail is a bit blurry on the buildings towards the edge-.

I leap, flying over houses and streets as I smash into the road just behind the mob.

"Alright, which of you-?"

Handgun bullets, shotgun pellets and a smattering of thrown household objects smack derisably into my armour.

Okay.

I'm too resistant to the Garrick Formula to move at super speed any longer. Oh, there's probably some sort of workaround I could use… Find out what Jonathan Chambers' speed formula was all about or feed it into Mother Box-

Ping.

-but the fact is that when you're super strong there's not much practical difference between super speed and what you can do as far as the squishy people are concerned.

I lunge forwards, people bursting and pâtéing around my arms as I swing them and my feet as I trample them underfoot. Not a lot of blood, for reasons which entirely elude me. Fake people and whoever's making them is scrimping on the detail? A whole town of people who can't hurt me versus one big monster -sorry Luna- that can?

I need to see if I can find an investigator who's interested in joining me because this sort of nonsense is way outside of my wheelhouse.

Two survivors barely bother to move so run over to-. They… Sort of fade away before I can reach them. Huh. I look around and the bodies are going the same way, the larger objects like cars and people taking a little longer by visibly losing their integrity just before-.

That blood's real.

Ping.

Yes, I guessed. That way!

Rain's back, the lights of the fake town are gone and-. A light! I leap towards it-

"Master!"

-and land next to Iname's discarded flare as she tries to bandage a severely injured Persuader. How the heck did they get past her armour? Sinestro, how bad is it?

I honestly can't tell how she hasn't bled to death.

Great. Ah. Entry wound is patched, exit wound… Odd shape but… Fine. I remove her back armour panel and take my purple healing ray off my harness-.

"Master, I already used mine. It only lasted a few seconds."

I nod, then fire it anyway. "I'm not sure she'll last a few seconds. What happened here?"

"Whoever is doing this, they turned her into a normal child. And then they shot her."

The injury… Yes, that would do it. The purple healing ray dies, but she looks a little less like she's at death's door. Ah, sugar. I open my profane medical kit, pull out a large smart plaster and stick it over the-

"Agh-urgh!"

-wound.

"You got shot, Persuader."

She peers blearily up at me. "Ye-ahhhhh…"

"Try not to do it again."

"'kay."

"Alright, I got attacked by something that was supposed to be Luna. Obviously wasn't. You two?"

"I was attacked by you, Master!"

"So whoever's doing this is an idiot, got it."

Iname nods. "It tried to tell me that you murdered my parents."

I frown. "I didn't even know that your parents existed."

"I know."

"And even if I did-."

"There are many people all across the world who you could have recruited. I know, Master. It didn't fool me."

"Good show." I… Pat her on the head with my left hand. She seems to like it. "So, whatever's doing this sort of knows us, but doesn't understand us."

"When it looked like you, it was too tough for me to hurt it."

I nod. "And the townspeople were-. Wait, you couldn't hurt it? You can hurt me."

She blinks in bewilderment. "I can?"

"Yessssss…" That's a clue, isn't it? "Persuader?"

"Five minutes, Dad."

I remove the smelling salt pack from my first aid kit. "I'm sorry, but I need you to wake up. Either you do it on your own, or I'll be forced to use extreme measures."

She tries, but it isn't working. Bringing the smelling salts down and undoing the lid merely results in her limply trying to crawl away.

Alright. "I command you to rise."

Her eyes snap open, air hissing through her teeth. One hand grabs my arm, the other Iname's shoulder, her feet going underneath her without any apparent involvement from her misfiring brain. "GHaaaaaah-!"

She comes fully erect, and I clamp her back armour back onto her cuirass. "Back with us?"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhyeah…" Her eyes move around, staring at everything. "What was that?"

"Your employment contract. Your axe?"

She focuses a little better, spots it on the floor and then bends down to-

"Fuckfuckfuckahfuck-!"

-pick it up, wincing as she pulls her wound. She comes back up as fast as she can, holding it in a two-handed grip.

"Okay. Where's the town go?"

"It was never here. Someone or something is making things to mess with us." Hm. "And if we want to kill it, we need every advantage. Tell me everything that happened to you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2022
09:08 GMT

I raise my shotgun at the demon with the active camouflage and fire. Taggart hesitates for a moment, then he spots the grey blur too and joins in. The stealthy ones aren't any tougher than the visible ones, they're just harder to see. Three shotgun shells are usually enough to kill them, though since the stealth effect doesn't end when they die it's a little hard to work out exactly what killed them.

Endymion didn't need to use his sword in that room, though he's impaling each corpse through the brain to make certain that they're dead. So far none of the things we're fought have shown the cunning to feign injury, but it doesn't hurt to be certain. Honestly, I'm not sure how intelligent these things are. None of them have attempted to communicate, either with us or each other. Mazikeen didn't even bother to raise her plasma gun for this encounter. It's true that we don't have unlimited power packs, but that's not a sensible approach, even if we didn't need her to contribute this time.

The walls to this room have an odd pattern painted on them. It looks like a stencil of a circuit board, with connections and chips painted in blue while the rest is left in the basic dull brown.

I point to the closest wall. "Taggart, is it supposed to look like that?"

He follows my finger, and then shrugs. "Beats me. Better than skulls and demon faces."

Fair enough. He has been clear that he's a marine, rather than someone with a more technical role.

I think that the grey pillar in the centre of the room is the facility's main server, and that the odd arrangement in the floor is part of the cooling system. That doesn't really explain why there are med-packs and boxes of ammunition here. I'd guess that the garrison could have used it as a fallback position, except that there aren't any zombie soldiers in here.

"Taggart, can your personal organiser plug into that thing?"

He shakes his head. "It's not designed to plug into computers like that. Needs a special connector."

"Why?"

"Guess they didn't want grunts messing with anything too expensive. Or filling up their server with pornos." He checks around the server column. "Ah, great, replacement armour! Watch my back while I change."

"Sure." Only one other exit, so this shouldn't be hard. I hear as he start unbuckling his armour and dumping it onto the floor. "I didn't realise you needed a replacement suit."

"This shit's light armour. Vacuum sealed clothes with a few hardened panels. If we're going into combat we're supposed to get issued with heavier stuff. Which I didn't get, 'cause I was supposed to stay on the shuttle. This shit's got better coverage and better toughness."

"Neat. Guess you're taking point in the next room, then."

He smirks at me as he switches helmets. "Go fuck yourself."

"Endymion, is your armour alright?"

He looks up at me, hesitating for a moment. Then he checks himself over with his left hand. "It endures well enough. Besides, we would be hard-pressed to find a blacksmith on Deimos."

"You could switch over to what Taggart's wearing."

"Ballistic panels? Against demon claws? I'll stick with my plate."

"And…" I tap the side of my helmet with my right hand. "'Tuxedo Mask' not back yet?"

He shakes his head. "It won't be like that. It won't even really be a.. change. I'll just slot back into his life, and after a while I'll realise that his family seems more important to me than mine, his interests seeming more significant than those I used to involve myself with… I'll be him once more."

"Once I get repowered, I could… Make you a cloned body or something. We might be able to preserve you."

"You couldn't disentangle us so easily. And… I died a long time ago. It's a comfort to know that Earth survived Metalia's onslaught, even if civilisation was reset. My only regret is that we lost, and there's nothing more I can do about that now."

"Alright. Well… You're handling it better than I would."

"Thank you-."

"Alright, lovebirds." Taggart walks out from behind the server, his new armour… Basically the same as the last, except blue and slightly bulkier. "It's kick ass and chew bubblegum. You ever get confused, check with me."

"Both of us are in relationships with women. How's your personal life, Corporal?"

"Daisy said she'd wait for me. Back the way we came?"

"My armour's sensors don't show any concealed compartments, so unless your map says otherwise..?"

"Back we go. Door number two! On me, Eddy!"

I wait for Taggart and Endymion to pass, before following them up the stairs with Mazikeen. "Not going to suggest that I wear armour, 'father'?"

"Mazikeen, you're about half our size. I don't think it would fit you without severely impeding your movement. But if you want it..?"

"Corporal! Were there any female marines stationed here?"

He glances back as we head down the corridor. "No, the Corps is one big sausagefest. Might be an armored space suit for one of the female researchers somewhere. No idea where they'd keep it, though."

Come up on… A large room now. A few boxes of ammunition and storage crates scattered around the place. Looks like this was a proper storage depot. No demons immediately in sight. The corridor section leading down to it is too narrow for two people to walk down side by side and still have room to dodge. Single file seems to be the best bet.

Taggart and Endymion reach the same conclusion. Taggart heads down hugging the left wall with Endymion just behind him. I take position on the right, gun pointed down towards the entrance in case anything tries rushing them. Mazikeen faces away in case anything tries sneaking up on us.

But nothing does. Taggart and Endymion reach the storage room without incident, advance a short distance and then hold, Endymion motioning for us to follow them. I turn, taking my left hand off the shotgun and tapping Mazikeen on the right shoulder. She turns and heads down the stairs, while I listen to her footsteps and wait for her to reach the bottom. Once she's down I turn and head down after the team.

Huh. A bit bigger than I was expecting, given the support structures they'd need in an excavation like this, but it-.

A door that I'd thought was jammed in the 'open' position slides closed behind us. And… There's no control on this side. Ah, okay, that's a little-.

"RhRAR!"

A pinkie-.

"RhRAR!" / "RhRAR!" / "RhRAR!" / "RhRAR!" / "RhRAR!"

A… Lot of pinkies charge out from behind… Just about every pile of crates-. That's more discipline and coordination than they've show-.

There's a crackly-twinkly noise, and a Baron of Hell teleports onto the top of one of the larger crate piles, green fires wreathing its hands.

And if its mouth could move that way, I think it would be smiling.

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2022
09:12 GMT

Imps aren't dangerous. They don't move faster than us, their charge time on their fireball is about a second and it doesn't move particularly fast once they throw it. Even an untrained civilian could step around it if they kept their wits about them, and while they will close the distance they don't seem to have a strong desire to do so once they're in range and have a clear shot.

Pinkies aren't dangerous. Their arms aren't long enough to attack with them, meaning that they're limited to biting or goring. And most of their strength is in their neck and back, so while their attacks have a decent amount of force behind them the demons themselves aren't all that fast or agile. Even an untrained civilian could run away from them, for a while at least.

Barons of Hell are dangerous, but in a manageable sort of way. Their plasma balls are faster and more powerful than those the imps throw, but you can easily see them coming. An untrained civilian confronted by a pink-skinned minotaur would probably struggle to keep dodging them, particularly given that Barons of Hell do charge down their targets while throwing plasma at them, but a soldier should be able to manage it. Again, they're not especially agile, so despite the fact that they've got effectively unlimited stamina it's perfectly possible to run away from one, particularly if you've got friends around to draw the aggro when it goes after you.

But the one exception to all that is if you're hemmed in.

"RhRAR!"

Taggart and I don't synchronise our targets, because each pinkie we hit is momentarily stopped in its charge and we need every moment. Endymion darts forwards to slash at one-

"RhRAR!"

-only for it to stop just before he reaches it. He commits and gets flanked on both sides, costing his target a nasty slash across its side while the one on his left grabs his arm in its mouth and the one on his right stabs his chest with its horn.

"Ur-rah!"

Mazikeen tries shooting at the Baron of Hell overseeing things and it does take a couple of hits from her plasma gun, but it's already started throwing. And so have the imps positioned on the other cargo crate piles overseeing the area. And we can't really evade-

My armour takes hits to the cuirass and left pauldron. Imp shots, so the outer plating melts a little and evaporates rather than giving away completely. I'm not going to even try to dodge everything, but I can pick out the green shots from the Baron because it's still throwing.

-because there isn't room and because Mazikeen isn't wearing armour and can't even take an imp shot right now. She's basically hiding behind me which means that she can't keep up the pressure on the Baron, which isn't great for the tactical situation but for the surviving-right-now it's pretty okay because while pinkies aren't that fast it doesn't matter if you can't get away.

Endymion reverse-grips his sword and slides it through the eye and right into the brain of the pinkie biting his arm. It collapses and lets him move away from the one goring him and he's realised that he's out of position. But the one he wounded is charging again, ducking its head to try and toss-.

Taggart switches target, putting a cartridge into the left leg of the one trying to toss Endymion. But the one trying to gore him turns its neck and sends him flying into the side wall anyway and Taggart taking his attention off the front rank means thatoof!

"RhRAR!"

A pinkie slams face-first into me at full charge, and even though I'm braced and wearing full power armour I'm knocked back a couple of steps! Its head swings left and right, horns digging rents in my imp-fire-softened armour. I jam the shotgun up against the right side of its face and fire. Its eye explodes and it's knocked sideways but its horn is still in my armo-. Agh!

It didn't penetrate, but it did poke a hole in the insulation layer and let the residual heat in! Ow!

Psh!

Mazikeen steps to the side and shoots it with the plasma gun, vaporising a chunk of its chest and killing it. And I'm back to-.

My shotgun clicks empty.

"Taggart, launcher!"

"Busy!"

Mazikeen fires another volley into the oncoming pinkies, burning holes into-.

"Invisible-!"

A stealthy pinkie lunges and bites down on the barrel of her plasma gun, cutting it in half! Plasma containment fails, venting most of the plasma into the attacker and obliterating it.

"A-ah!"

But not all. Mazikeen falls back with nasty burns on her hands and forearms, the rest of the plasma gun melted and clearly inoperable. Fuck, don't have time to reload, power armour brawling it is.

Drop the gun because I can reload later. Take a solid stance because I'm not fighting squishy humans here. Flight system active -the ceiling's high enough for me to use it but I'm basically shielding Taggart's side and all of Mazikeen so I can't afford to move much- and charge.

My first punch hits a pinkie right between the horns, feedback from my gauntlet telling me that I just shattered its skull. I shift my weight and uppercut, fist hitting the roof of its open mouth and shattering that as well. It falls, dead or crippled-.

But I'm still taking imp fire. I don't bother noting individual hits, but the exterior of my armour is glowing red and I'm getting more than a little warm inside it.

A bite from the side and I lose a chunk out of my cuirass. A counterpunch and the pinkie loses its jaw and part of its face. But it doesn't die and I'm forced to grab another charging pinkie by the horns to stop it impaling me. I already know that planting my feet won't stop it so I use my flight system instead. I'm pushed back in the air but it slows rapidly and I don't risk getting pushed over, which would get me trampled. Ah, okay, grip, change flight direction to up, drag it off its feet toss and kick-. Actually bowled two others over using it as a projectile. Down to-.

AAARGH!

Green-.

Helmetreleasehelmetrelease!

Get it off just before it completely loses integrity, Baron hit me right in the face! Land right now and ignore the noise and the smell and hope that's not me-.

"Here!"

Mazikeen-. Missile launcher, excellent. Catch it, load-. Loaded, good. Fly over the pinkie mob, dodge the imp fire and the Baron's shot, twist in the air with crates behind me so I don't get shot too badly and aim at the back of the mob-.

Fire. Aim. Fire.

"RhRAR!"

The ones I hit are reduced to shockwaves of meat, while those close to them have their bodies pulverised by the kinetic energy or roasted by the heat. I have no idea why a place like this stocks so many anti-infantry rockets but I'm certainly not complaining.

The line thinned, Taggart-. He's taken out a chainsaw and is laying into the few survivors of the rocket barrage, new armour battered but more or less in one piece. Mazikeen has a medical kit and is injecting herself with something. That-.

"RRRAAWWWWRR!"

Baron-! It moved-!

A fist wreathed in green flame punches through my battered cuirass and ough! I'm knocked onto my back, trying to ignore the pain as the Baron closes and charges its plasma-.

Then collapses as Endymion slices through its Achilles tendon before grabbing its right horn, bringing his sword around and cutting its throat. Green blood spurts-.

Irrelevant. Assess injuries? Nothing immediately likely to be fatal. Get up, get back into the fight.

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
11:48 GMT -7

I nod as I carry Persuader across the barren landscape. "So it can weaken us physically, but our New God powers still work. That's… Strange."

Iname stops skipping for a moment, walking normally as she glances at me. "Why is that, Master?"

"A purely hostile enemy would remove all of our advantages, or at least as many as they could. The fact that they haven't suggests either that they can't, or… Aren't able to perceive it."

"Or they're just dumb."

"Thank you, Persuader. Are you up to walking yet?"

"Ah. No?" Iname glares at her. "I mean, I probably could…"

"This isn't difficult for me, I just know how teenagers are about their independence. Did you learn anything from the experience?"

"Getting shot when you can't take it sucks?"

"I meant, personally."

"I'm glad I didn't get shot when I was a kid. Mom wasn't that kind of psycho."

"Okay, anything else?"

"Is this about Mister Johnson?"

"It might be?"

"Obviously I shouldn't have killed him."

Iname shakes her head. "Who is Mister Johnson?"

Persuader… Hesitates for a moment, then decides that she doesn't care. "First person I killed. My old math teacher."

I frown as Iname blinks in bewilderment. "While we're on the subject, why did you kill him?"

She looks confused. "You didn't have the g-gnomes look at my brain?"

"Actually, no. I assumed your ability to form normal emotional bonds was messed up by your mother's upbringing to the point where you could kill people without feeling emotion, but once I decided on your parole I didn't see any reason to revisit the situation. And I have been pleased with the way you've responded. But if it's going to be relevant…"

"I was planning on running away. Joining a gang. I figured that it would help if I'd killed someone already. So I knew I wouldn't freeze up if I killed someone on the job. And that I could plan stuff without getting caught."

"Was that your first experience of violence?"

"No. I mean, not really. First… In-the-field violence, yeah. I used to work out regularly, do some sparring… But it's not like killing people is hard."

I nod. "All too true. Why him?"

"I needed money and I didn't know anyone else anyone wanted dead. He didn't, like, do anything or anything."

Huh. "Wouldn't the school stoners have had connections to drug distribution networks? Could have had an employment opportunity there."

"Ah, actually? My school was pretty clean. If anyone was on anything, it was the teachers, and that was all prescription stuff."

I nod. "That's where the real money is."

"You..?" Iname looks up at her, wide-eyed. "You murdered your teacher just because you could?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"That's why Knockout oversaw her training."

"But that's horrible, Master!"

Persuader looks down at her. "So… You didn't do anything like that?"

"I liked all of my teachers! Even Teacher Itō who smelled weird all the time!"

"I always figured Grayven picked you up 'cause you killed someone, too."

"I did, but that wasn't why! The man I killed was a murderer!"

"So, did..? You have super speed before Grayven hired you, or did he give that to you?"

"He gave it to me. He gave me the power to avenge the murder of my parents!"

"Oh, see, I had totally the wrong idea."

"I know!"

"So… Did the police drop the ball? I'm kinda-" Iname cringes out of her righteous indignation. Why did she do that? "-used to Grayven dealing with the police and stuff."

"Um." Iname looks away. "That…"

"Or did Grayven think it was better for you to do it yourself. Boss?"

I frown. "I thought you said that your lawyer wasn't sure they'd get a conviction."

"I… Did not entirely understand what he was saying. He meant that… He was not sure that the case would be completed quickly, and that I might find it difficult because I would have to give testimony in court."

"So..?"

"They would probably have convicted him and executed him anyway."

"Oh. Oh well."

She looks up at me. "You aren't angry with me?"

"Angry? No. If I cared about exactly how a thief and murderer died I'd have looked into it myself at the time. As far as I'm concerned I just saved the Japanese people the cost of a rope. Though, Iname? Do remember to listen more carefully in future."

She smiles, clearly cheered up by my statement. "Yes, Master!"

"So…" Persuader still sounds puzzled. "What, you just happened to bump into each other..?"

"No, I was out shopping with Lynne in the shop where she was working. She took the initiative and asked me, and here we are."

"She asked you for super powers?"

Iname stops smiling and starts glancing at me nervously instead.

"No, she asked me to kill him. I thought that giving her the ability would be better, and give me a useful employee who could benefit from having a mentor."

"But she's useful because she's fast. Iname, what exactly was the plan there? Just hope-" Iname's blushing. "-that he'd kill someone 'cause you asked him to?"

I snort with laughter. "Um. No."

Iname looks away for a moment, and then turns back. "That isn't what we're talking about! You murdered your teacher!"

Huh. I suppose I could… "Did he see you?"

Persuader looks at me for a moment. "Why does that matter?"

"Did you read the reports on the supervillian group 'The Light'?"

"I did after I found out Klarion was a member."

"You remember how I turned Ra's al Ghul into a construct?" She nods. "That gives me his memories. I know how to make Lazarus Pits. They're not a hundred percent reliable, but they have a good chance of resurrecting a corpse. And since I know where Mister Johnson's body is, and if it doesn't work we could just stick it back in the grave with no one being any the wiser, we could give it a shot. As long as he didn't see you."

"No, I came up behind him and my face was covered. I burned all the clothes I was wearing and chucked the knife in an incinerator. No evidence. Are you..? Serious about that?"

"May as well. There are only so many sites of geomantic energy in the world that will support a Pit, but I can burn one to make your life a little easier."

"Huh. Uh. Thanks. So… What did Iname do that she doesn't want to talk about?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2022
09:45 GMT

Endymion lowers his sword, the latest mob of imps slain. And not all by us. "I don't understand why they keep fighting one another."

Corporal Taggart shrugs nonchalantly as he crouches to pick up… What looks like a barbute helmet with glowing green eyes. He then presses it against a damaged section of his armour and… The lights go out and a small amount of the armour regrows? "I guess demons suck, even if you're a demon."

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

He frowns at me. "Demons suck?"

"No, with the… Helmet thing."

"What, this?" He hold up the now dull helmet. "Smart metal canister. It's only really designed for armor maintenance, not rebuilding the whole thing, but I figure it's better than nothing. You think it looks like a helmet?"

I look down at my power armour, which has definitely seen better days. "Yes?"

"Huh." He looks at it closely. "Yeah, I guess it kinda does." He rotates it so I can see the bottom. Ah, it's… More of a dispenser nozzle than a hole for your head.

Endymion looks even more confused. "But why are they scattered all around?"

"I dunno." Taggart picks up another and applies it to himself. "Could be they were all crated up and the demons smashed 'em open, could be the garrison put 'em around the place 'cause their armour kept getting beat up?"

"By what?"

Taggart frowns thoughtfully. "Demons, maybe? Some of the garrison coulda survived for a while. Or maybe the radiation or the teleporters did something?" He picks up a blue bottle. "Anyone need this?"

Mazikeen raises an eyebrow. "Drinking on a mission?"

"Yeah, that was my first guess too. Figured I found some guy's still. Turns out there's actually some sort of health… Drink… Thing." He shrugs. "I dunno what's actually in 'em. Probably toxic as Hell in the long term."

Seeing no takers he downs it, one of the burns on his left forearm fading noticeably.

"Can I take one of those home with me?"

Mazikeen give me a puzzled look. "You already have health potions."

"Yes, but that's something that they developed with no access to magic lore at all. It's probably a different approach to what Mister West came up with."

Taggart looks around the room, where dozens are laid out in neat rows. "Sure, I guess."

Endymion walks over to one, picks it up and sniffs it. "The demons don't appear to have been using them. Or the armor."

"I don't think that the demon zombies have a sense of self-preservation."

"The one you interrogated was intelligent. The Barons are intelligent. They must have a sense of their own mortality."

Taggart scoffs. "What makes you think demons are mortal?"

Endymion pointedly kicks an imp corpse. "Youma can die mortal deaths just as surely as any human. Not so easily, I will grant you, but they are no more immortal than you or I."

Behind us, there's a disconcerting squelching noise. Taggart, Endymion and I-. Wait, where's Mazikeen-.

The three of us stare as she takes another bite out of what appears to be the heart of one of the red flying ball demons.

"Um."

"Eating the still-warm heart of your enemies." Taggart grins. "That's kinda hot, actually."

"That's my daughter."

"We're in Hell and if I get back, I'm getting court-martialed. How worried do you think I am?"

Mazikeen swallows, giving me a mild glare. "Don't introduce yourself like that. Your bond with my father doesn't make you the same person, except when you are the same person."

Tarrant frowns at me. "So are you dating her Dad..?"

"Why are you eating that?"

"Whatever these creatures are, they can clearly still use magic, if only in instinctive ways." She tears another chunk off the heart with her teeth, chomps it to a pulp and then swallows again. "While we cannot. I want to see if whatever it is about these things that lets them use magic is something that I can take."

Endymion looks slightly ill. "I think that I will make do."

"How do you know it's the heart? Can you feel it?"

"An educated guess. It's usually the heart."

"Mazikeen, that could be poisonous. Depending on how our abilities are getting nullified, you might not be anything like as resilient as you're used to."

She gives me a confused frown as she gulps down the rest of it.

"What?"

She swallows, but something gets stuck. I pull a water bottle off my armour and offer it to her, but she waves me away and settles for swallowing harder.

"I'm not used to people being that concerned for me. Other than Lucifer, no one ever was."

Corporal Taggart straightens up. "Lucifer? You know the boss of this place?"

"No, this place isn't the same as the Hell I come from. And Lucifer left that place decades ago."

"Why?"

"Would you want to stay in Hell, if you could leave?"

"Hehahah!" Taggart looks around, grinning. "We're fucking here, aren't we? Only reason I was even on the mission is 'cause it was an emergency deployment an' they couldn't unchain me fast enough. I coulda stayed on the ship. And you came here for your friend."

"Actually." Mazikeen shakes her head. "I don't particularly like Angelica."

He looks at me. "Your friend?"

"Colleague, really. Friend of a friend."

He turns to Endymion, who shakes his head. "I hadn't even heard the name until today."

Taggart's grin grows broader. "Guess we're all just fuckin' nuts, then!"

"No. I have decided that the universe should be a certain way, and committed myself to making it so. Angelica was a part of that, so I'm going to help her. These creatures are not part of that, so they have to go."

Endymion nods. "I pledged to serve the people of Earth. These creatures will not be content with one moon."

Mazikeen holds out her right hand, a glowing ball of plasma slowly condensing over her palm. "I just want her opinion on Zor's trap. But I won't deny finding this satisfying. Where next?"

"Some kinda demon-looking tower." Taggart looks at his data pad. "Map says there's nothing there, so fucked if I know what it's for."

"Right then." I trudge towards the exit corridor. "I'm on point."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
12:39 GMT -7

Iname is still blushing as we finally reach the outskirts of the crater. Persuader hasn't quite worked out what Iname offered, and I don't think that she's even got an approximate idea. Probably because it's so contrary to our current relationship.

Huh. Occurs to me that Persuader never met Jade-.

"Persuader, have you worked in the same theatre of operation as Cheshire?"

"Ah. yeah, couple of times. Why?"

"Just occurs to me that you've got a lot in common. Stopped bleeding yet?"

"I dunno. It's sort of achy. I don't really wanna poke it."

I put her down and look at her thoughtfully. "Have you tried using your powers to heal yourself?"

"Can I..? Do that?"

I touch my own injury-. Yes, still hurts, but I'm still augmented by the venom buster I first took… Oh, so long ago now. And probably a little by what I absorbed in the Land of Summer's End. But let's see. Master of My Domain

I wait for a moment and… Ah, there we go. My injury knits itself back together as it should, and I… Feel myself regain my full strength. Good. That-.

Aaaand it's gone.

"Looks like we can heal using our God Names, but trying to maintain full power is a non-starter."

I gently lower Persuader to the ground, where she looks askance at Iname. "So how come she's still fast?"

"When I want to go fast, I constantly use my God Name. I am not using it now because we are going slowly."

"Okay… But mine's not really very heally."

I sigh quietly. "Persuader, Granny Goodness might have conditioned Knockout to be a resilient and ruthless warrior, but she also deliberately made her… Uncreative and disinclined to question."

"Meaning..?"

"Meaning that it literally wouldn't occur to her that you do more damage punching someone with a hand that isn't broken."

Persuader thinks about that for a moment.

"Shouldn't..? You..? Tell her that?"

"Uuuuh, no. Knockout is working for me because Granny Goodness told her to. She's still loyal to my father, she just doesn't bother considering the idea that I might not be. If I teach her how to be even a little creative, she'd probably notice that."

"Yeah…" She shifts awkwardly. "But…"

I raise my eyebrows. "You like her."

"She's.. my teacher."

Iname glances her way for a moment. "Will you stab her, too?"

"Maybe if I want an A. I'd… Like to help her?"

"Huh. Okay. Are we talking 'respected elder'-like, 'Amazon eromena'-like, or 'I'm trying to hook her up with my Dad'-like?"

"What's that middle one mean?"

"Given Apokoliptian attitudes towards carnality, it wouldn't be that unusual for two people in your position to be…"

"Ah, no, no."

"'Relieving tension'. And honestly, I don't think her and your Dad-."

Persuader nods. "She's out of Dad's league."

I nod back. "It would snap right off. Maybe if I augmented him?"

"Alright." Persuader turns away. "So I need a pouch for a water bottle, and a pouch for something to make me forget you said that."

"But getting back to the point, you should be able to heal yourself. Or at least turn your ability to heal back on."

"How?"

"Spiritual self-awareness. What are you? And how is it more appropriate to that thing that you be healthy than you be bleeding?"

"Isn't there something you can do..? 'cause we're your employees?"

"Yes, but that wouldn't have helped while you were miles away being shot dead by phantasmal policemen. I may have a vested interest in you not dying, but you have a bigger one."

"Uh… Okay. Um…"

"Though given that your opponent appears to be trying to kill us and appears to be limited in influence to this planet… And given that we're trying to kill them, it probably wouldn't hurt to invoke a dialectic… Did I ever explain how that worked?"

"Is that the thing where we play up how different we are to boost ourselves?"

"Just so. Well remembered."

"Right-. Ah, I got it." You Missed

"Interesting choice. Did it work?"

She hesitates for a moment, and then bends a little to the left. And then to the right. "I think so."

"Of course, that does risk your wounds reopening if our opponent hits you again."

"I don't think whoever it is is gunna use rifles or handguns again."

"Fair enough. Iname, this was where your house appeared?"

"Yes, Master."

I cup my hands around my mouth. "Alright, arsehole! Last chance to surrender!" Grant Due Process

"Master, is warning them a good idea?"

"It's not like they don't know that we're here, and it's possible that they've misunderstood our intent."

But I'm still wondering. What sort of being can alter reality like this but can't stop us… Using that part of us that is at one with the Source.

No.

But why would they-?

The mountainside around us shimmers-. No, not shimmers. Something is covering the surface-. Perspective. People. People just appeared. Thousands… Perhaps hundreds of thousands. At this distance I can't make out individuals, but… Yes, they're all around us.

About a kilometre away they halt, up the slope and down it.

I take a step forwards. "What?"

One figure steps forwards-. Ah.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Commodore Amalak. Looking well for a dead man."

"I've been given a chance at justice."

"I doubt it. I think that you're just another phantasm, like all the rest." Dismiss the Monkey

A large quadruped trots up next to him. "And do you think that I-?"

"Yes, Chrysalis, you're fake too. What's the point of this?"

"We're all people you killed unjustly."

"Oh?" I clench my fists. "I suppose I'll have to be more thorough this time." Magistrate's Authority

Death to the Dead

I Cut Things