Ink-stained Pages

Chapter 11

The next couple of days seemed to pass by in a comfortable blur of reconnaissance and ass-kickery.

I kept up my nightly patrols, busting Merchant crack houses and then calling up the BBPD to clean the drugs out after I raided the buildings for cash. I stopped bothering with genial conversation after the third time the dispatcher tried to pass me over to the Parahuman Response hotline, instead rattling off the address and situation before hanging up and leaving. Apparently I lucked out ...

Chapter 10

“You know, these aren’t too bad reheated.”

“See? I told you - the Bayside Bistro is un-fucking-challenged, mark my words!”

CHOMP.

I chuckled through a mouthful of food, eyeing the cheerfully chewing Cassie thoughtfully. The smell of melted cheese, sizzling pepperoni, and buttered bread filled the compact bunker - a tantalizing smell that had my stomach rumbling in spite of the fact that we were actively chowing down on the pizza bagels.

Cassie and I ...

Interlude 1.5

Midnight had long since fallen across the dark, cloudy Brockton Bay sky, and one Lisa Wilbourn was once again anticipating another long, sleepless night of doing what she did best, outside of getting discounts at pawn shops and pissing off old men - that is, running intel work for the Undersiders’ next gig. It wasn’t supposed to be a big one; Coil was still ‘testing’ them with relatively low-octane jobs, and the money was decent enough - for now - to excuse kicking in a few doors and ...

Chapter 9

So, the good news about my latest magic perk - my ears didn’t grow into sharp tips, and my hair didn’t lengthen to cover my lower back. Explaining that away as yet another Trump thing to Cass would’ve been nigh on impossible.

The decidedly neutral news that I wasn’t sure would come and bite me in the ass later? Well…

All around me, unseen to my normal human eyes, but apparent to the more esoteric peepers at the back of my head, the Winds of Mag...

Chapter 8

Later That Night…

Caleb Howard wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed, but he didn’t care.

He was a drop-out from Winslow High, a statistical commonality of low-life thugs who became yet another crime committing goon in search of the easy money, the easy highs, and the easy confidence that came with betting your continued survival at the barrel of a switched out 9mm semi-automatic. Caleb had next to no family to worry about other than a disappointed grandma wh...

Chapter 7

After Cassie was sufficiently mellow’d out off some Sour Diesel, we ended up formulating a very free-form and foundational plan for operation ‘Survive and Thrive’ 2nd Edition.

Basically, it all centered around me - surprise surprise - becoming a Cape. I guess I was technically one already, but we didn’t know just what they had on file about me in the PRT. Cassie promised that she’d work on nipping around the edges, grabbing what she could from the Protectorate’s dat...

Chapter 6

With consciousness came awareness, and for a scant few moments I was completely confused as to why everything felt so…foreign. I was lying on a lumpy but soft mattress, scratchy blankets were tossed over my half naked body, and there was the distinct smell of blueberries & cream drifting into my nostrils alongside a very real and warm weight pressing against my side. This definitely wasn’t my apartment - the bed was too uncomfortable, and my on and off again girlfriend used strawberry...

Interlude 1

PRT Director Emily Piggot stapled her pudgy fingers together beneath her flagging chin, eyes as sharp as any sword practically piercing the short distance between her and the small stack of reports that were recently faxed over to her from the Brockton Bay PD. Homicide cases in the Bay wasn’t at all irregular, what with gangs like the Azn Bad Boys and the Empire-88 braying over blood and territory like starving hounds, but most of the cases didn’t find themselves making their way...

Chapter 5

Things actually did go pretty smoothly for a while. I’d regretted mentally challenging Lady Karma mere seconds after thinking it, but maybe she was giving me a break today.

“I wish she would’ve done something about this fuckin’ scent too, damn…”

I covered my lower face with the sleeve of my hoodie, trying not to inhale the fumes permeating the old, decrepit warehouse Cassie had pointed me in the direction of. It had been child’s play to slip in thro...

Chapter 4

Admittedly, heading to a popular burger joint right after committing four person homicide wasn’t the greatest of ideas.

The adrenaline rush that accompanied mortal combat had faded away completely by the time we busted out the Southside and was heading up the middle lane on Lord Street, so I shifted mental gears and opted to follow my crippled passenger’s souped up GPS directly to her hideaway near the Docks. The traffic got significantly busier as we drove through the middle of Dow...

Chapter 3

The thing about the Southside residentials was the unfortunate amount of nooks and crannies nestled everywhere. If we hadn’t already been tagged as prey, it would’ve been good for us - I’m sure dipping into one of the dozens of complexes or zipping up a fire escape in order to hide on the second floor patio of some random asshole would’ve been an amazing plan to stay out of trouble. The problem was, we were already in the shits. I had no idea where those goons went, ...

Chapter 2

Turns out that Ms. Clara wasn’t kidding when she said that the shelter was ‘quite a walk’.

No street signs I looked over referenced ‘Monroe Ave.’, so I had to just keep walking in hopes that I’d find that one fateful sign. I wasn’t the best when it came to geography, especially the geography of fictional cities I vaguely remembered reading fanfiction about, so it was very relieving when I stumbled across a bus stop fifteen minutes after I began my aimless trek. The little ...

Chapter 1

I had to admit; waking up at the ass crack of dawn in a dark, moderately cold park in nothing but baggy sweats and mismatched crocs wasn’t the finest start to my day. I was immediately chilled to the bone, breath coming out in short misty bursts as I wrapped my lean arms around my shirtless torso and looked around wildly. The motion caused the ratty newspaper that had been draped over my body to flutter harmlessly to the ground. I ignored it in favor of more confusion.

“What the fuc...