EXTRA! EXTRA! STORY CONTEST RESULTS!

Thank you one and all who participated in the short story contest. We had all kinds of entries, from the funny to the fantastic, the dramatic to the silly. Each person gave their story an individual flare.

I had a hard time judging the contest with all the variations in the styles and themes. I looked for people who followed the theme well, but not just my theme, the game itself. Though it isn't deep yet, Heroes Rising does have a canon to follow. Some of the players used that canon with great skill, keeping faithful to the characters and setting of the game. Some strayed a little further away from the canon, but still produced a completely enjoyable fiction.

As for following my theme, "first encounter with Legion", there were all kinds of approaches. I appreciated each unique view of it. Some strayed a bit far from this theme, but it remained a good fiction.

Length was a factor in judging, mostly making sure people didn't go way too far. (I only have so much time). However, what I would like to say for this contest and all future contests, length does not mean better grades. A short, well written story is just as good as a long story. In fact, some of my absolute favorite entries were hardly three paragraphs long. The long stories were fun as well, giving more detail and providing depth to their world. All did well!

The contest was structured to not have one "winner" but some entires were chosen for the "top tier" to gain one, or a few, Stop The Presses cards. If your story got a Stop The Presses card, congrats! I liked it a lot. If you got more than one, it ranked even higher. Ultimately the biggest difficulty I had was picking the top tier. Everyone did so well and seemed to enjoy telling their story so much that I had a hard time choosing.

Now for the list of top tier stories..........gotcha, I'm not going list them here. But, fear not fellow heroes, you will see them. We will soon begin a series of blog posts that will begin with the top entry in my judging and each day will proceed down the list. And, surprise, soon they will be featured on the game itself as special blog posts directly on the home page for all to see.

Do not feel that if your story isn't first, or is the last posted, that I felt it was the worst story in any way. Each story was great.


Now, if you've read all that...whew....go check your account on Heroes Rising. If you entered a story, you will have prizes waiting for you in your powers today. Remember, each prize card is worth morphons, so if you don't need them, feel free to sell them to spend on other stuff you might need. (But you'll probably want to keep at least one card, as a badge of honor)

About the future: This is the first of many story contests. Some will be longer than others, some will be stories while others may just be naming powers. Just keep in mind that you need to read the rules and follow them, pay attention to the theme of each contest and be respectful of the contest, the judges, and the other players.
Finally, and most important of all, have fun!
Thanks Heroes, this was great fun for me too!

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Art Post: Dawn's Embrace

The dawn breaks, rays of glorious light crest the distant horizon and cut through lazy morning clouds. Birds are singing as the dew glistens upon the crisp vegetation. Your heart is touched by the elegant beauty of this magnificent yet simple time of the day. The power within rises with the sun, powering you, body and soul. This is not just the morphons, this is the ancient legends of your people.

Okay, so perhaps I got a little over verbose with the description there, but I wanted to convey what inspired the art of this card. Dawns Embrace was inspired by Native American and Aridoamerican cultures. I often over-research my subjects, which stems from my professional career as an Author, which requires a lot of research.For the card, I wanted it to reflect power and serenity at the same time, the idea that fire may not always represent power and destruction, perhaps it can represent calmness. This gave us not only a unique card, which features a Native American hero, but also a movement card.

For the art, this one was rather simple once I had the ideas in place from my research. I wanted the person to have the appearance of a Native American, particularly the Aridoamerican genetics. This meant slightly darker skin than more northern Native Americans and high cheek bones. I wanted him in flight, so I lifted his body high and elongated the figure. I used the longer hair as a method of demonstrating air movement. The fire in his hands was actually a little more difficult, I didn't want it to immediately feel threatening, more like something he is merely holding or gathering. His distant gaze was given to allow for that serenity I wished to convey. Finally, putting him in the sky was obvious for flight, but I purposefully let the sky be a contrasting deep blues and whites against his strong oranges, yellows, and reds. Helps him stand out and better conveys the impression of dawn rather than dusk.

Naming the card had a bit of a fun start. I almost went with, Huitzilopochtli's Embrace. (That is the name of an ancient MesoAmerican sun god.) However, I felt that it might prove to be a bit....confusing to use such a tongue twisting word for a basic power card. So, I changed it to just Dawn's Embrace. (You're welcome)

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Art Post: Golden Boy

Your smile charms millions, ladies line up just to get a selfie near you, the sun rises simply to make your glorious locks shine, you are Golden Boy.

Don't recognize the art? Well, you might, its the in-set picture used for the newspaper on the special reward card, Stop the Presses. This art was done before we had decided on the reward power cards for the short story contest. Nick wanted something special that related to the contest, and I had the idea of "stop the presses" since the winners would have their stories featured on the blog and in the game. This art will likely see other uses later, in full color.

About the art: I was going for a generic superhero. Dashing, daring, and a little bit loaded on the ego. Initially I had planned on this being the art for the card, "new uniform", but that was scrapped allow this art for other uses. My intention for the art was to also have him posing like a statue, sort of showing off his new uniform, his physique, and just drinking in all the drooling looks from rabid fans. The name for the art and card was inspired by Nick Shapiro. He told me that he was a little tired of the basic "golden boy" heroes appearing in the art. I had, unintentionally, drawn the exact hero he was sick of seeing. But, he liked this art and we will use it.

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Art Post: 1000 Year Monk

One day you wake up and suddenly it's like Ang Lee is the director of your life. You are jumping off of walls, bounding through the air, dodging bullets like they are lazy moths. What to do with all this skill? Fight crime of course. That and ace every history test.

The Thousand Year Monk was a departure from the standard comicbook hero tropes that we've seen thus far in Heroes Rising. Though the idea of Eastern Mysticism is not alien to the comicbook universe, "coughDr.Strangecough" it hasn't been approached much in this game. This gives me some ideas for future story as well as powers. What I like about the tropes involving this kind of story is that it is a little more cerebral, it brings in more unique cultures, and it allows for a new angle on the images.

For this art, I wanted it to not feel like one of the standard power cards. The idea of the art was the thoughts in the persons head more than the energy protruding from his/her hands, eyes, or other appendages. So I looked for an eastern monk for art reference, something typical yet not specific. To draw the idea back to this being more cerebral, I gave the eyes the glow, pulling the attention to the head. Going further with the spiritual side of the cards idea, I made him translucent with a space background. I superimposed a star filled nebula with him so that his glowing eyes could also blend into the stars around him.

For the card itself; why movement and not attack? It seems logical that if you have 1000 years of martial arts masters in your head you could fight with incredible skill. Yes, I first thought of that. However, Nick asked for a movement card and I rethought this cards final design. One of the primary aspects of martial arts is defense, especially being able to avoid a hit. A Sensei of mine once told me, "The easiest way to win a fight is to not get into it." So, thinking about it that way, it made the choice easy to make this a movement card.

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Fan Fiction: What's a judge to do...

So the Phoenix group had closed it's doors in anticipation of the impending doom to the old city they had protected for eons. Final Judgement had thought to himself

"What now? My entire existence revolves around serving this city. What's a Judge to do..."

Then it hit him like a Zigonian electron bolt - why not turn your favorite undercover gig into an actual business!!!

Before you knew it, FJ's Snack Bar was a thriving fast food chain and was spreading across the nation and ultimately the globe. Dishes like Fried Judgement Balls and FJ Surprise got things going and then in other parts of the world dishes like FJ Kimchi Pancakes and Judgement Stroganoff really took off! The business was great but, FJ was getting bored (although quite rich).

It was around this time that FJ bumped into an old friend from way back. He was an individual that went by many names but, most simply called him The Builder. His origins were unknown but, his power was obvious.

"What's wrong old friend?" he asked FJ. "You look a bit glum."

"Is it that obvious? I miss having something to protect besides my bank account."

"Ah - the state of many of the old heroes and villains of days gone by. Perhaps I can help?"

FJ thought to himself "What is he up to?" but, his interest had been raised.

"As it turns out, a Builder is only as good as his latest creation and I too have found myself a bit bored. Perhaps I can create a new reality where Villains and Heroes can once again lead the life they were mean't to live. Would such a project interest you FJ? I will of course do most of the building but, someone as accomplished as yourself could perhaps take care of some smaller details. I will give you special considerations but, you will still have to make a name for yourself like everyone else."

"A new city to protect??? I'M IN!"

And just like that a new city began. It will be years in the making but, as it evolves Final Judgement will be there helping to fill in the tiny details until The Builder himself decides they merit his attention. If you need Final Judgement's help simply stop by a Snack Bar and order a Super Size Morphon Special and he'll know someone is in need!

Enjoy!

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Art post: Cupids Wrath

Ah, love. Some days it it falls in your path, some days you stumble across it, some days it hits you like a giant ax to the back.

Cupids Wrath was a special piece I started several years ago as a large pencil sketch. I postulated what other gods of myth could become the next Thor and be a superhero. I didn't want to go with the obvious warrior gods or demi-gods, I wanted to step out of normal and into silly. Thus enters Cupid. Today Cupid is viewed as a chubby little baby with wings, a diaper, and arrows that strike people with love. My Cupid steps out of the archaic and into the modern. He is a hunky guy who deals in romance. However, he is a little annoyed that some lightening god is getting all the girls, in fact he is down right furious. He traded in his harmless love arrows for a love ax. Not only can he still bring the romance, he can also bring the smack-down on villains.

For the painting of this I wanted to first remain true to the original idea of cupid, he is supposed to embody the idea of sexy man, so I went with a hunky figure. Shirtless works well with both the hunky and the giant wings on his back, which would prove difficult to get clothing around. I changed his scanty loincloth as depicted by ancient artist with military-ish pants to give him a more militaristic feel. The ax was a fun choice as it leans away from romantic to a stark gruesomeness, swords are often seen as romantic, you don't often see the hunky guys on romance novels holding axes, they hold swords. Finally, I wanted the background to tie together the image of wrath and war, so a storm rolling across the fields works, plus I connected the storm to the figure using the color of the wings, which brings the notion of Cupid creating this storm by his anger.

For the card, the use of this art for a strength card was obvious. If love is anything, it is strong.

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Fiction: Gargoyles Story

Chapter 1: The Last Vexillian

“YAHHHH!” A flash of energy exploded in the space above the Earth as a man tumbled through a portal. His white and purple robes stained in blood and tattered by constant battle.

The old man stopped his rolling by the use of more energy from his hands. He hovered in naked space, breathing heavily. He swished a hand through the air in front of him and a look of relief cross his aged features. “Good, my spell still holds the air around me. Now, I just have to close this before he...” his hand was up to seal the portal he had come through, but a new hand came out of the portal and prevented it’s closing. A second hand joined it and gripped the sides, shoving it open.

“NO!” The old man thrust both hands forward and began a chant, the energy around his hands now the same color as that of the portal, he attempted to grip it and force it closed.

“You haven’t the strength to fight me any longer.” Those two large, metal gloved hands broke his spell and tore the portal wide. A large figure of a man stepped through, clad in dark, metal armor that covered everything including his face.

The old man gathered energy in his hands and shot, “LEAVE THIS SPACE, KRAVIK!”

Kravik was hit and pushed back hard, but he opened his arms up and reflected the energy off of his chest. “No more!” He clapped his hands together and a shockwave crashed into the old man and sent him tumbling head over heels backward in space. Suddenly Kravik reached up and gripped his hand which caught the poor old man with an invisible force and squeezed him. Floating closer, Kravik said, “You are the last Vexillian, your kind was not good enough to face the Legion. It is my pleasure to end you and declare ultimate victory in this combat.”

“Gah!” The old man gagged under the extreme agony, “One day...that ego...will be the Legions...undoing.”

“Gods do not have egos, they are simply correct at all times.” Kravik squeezed his fingers tighter.

The Vexillian gasped and felt his bones giving into the pressures on his body. He wheezed hard and then said, “Perhaps...but the legion...are not gods. SHOTANIRI!” He cast the most powerful, desperate spell a Vexillian had in his arsenal. Out of his mouth and eyes came a blinding light that blasted the metal villain in the face. This wasn’t any simple spell, it was the tearing of his soul to power the magic within, it was suicide.

Kravik’s mask split in two with the impact of the energy. Both halves blasted away and the creature within screamed and gasped as his only life-support in the cold vacuum of space was stripped away.

The Vexillian was released from Kravik’s grip which stopped the magic attack short of completion. The old wizard struggled to maintain his life, but he wasn’t finished with Kravik. With a simple shoving spell, he hit his enemy and sent him flying away. “I knew your ego would be your undoing...gasp...” He crumpled his body in space as he fought to breathe. Watching his enemy growing more distant by the second he sighed, “but, this isn’t over, is it?” He groaned, feeling his life fading quickly. He would soon fall into the atmosphere of this alien world and die on entry. He stabbed a finger into nothingness and opened a small portal.

Falling into the opening, he tumbled across the grassy ground of this strange new world.

It was night on the side of this planet. The cool air smelled so sweet. Above him, strange little insects flew around and blinked light to one another. In the distance he could hear people enjoying some sort of festive time, completely unaware of what just happened above them in the heavens.

Pushing himself to sit upright, he looked around and saw a small village in the distance. A large fire burned near the center of town where colorful decorations were strewn about while children danced and people sang to archaic instruments. For the first time in too many years, he smiled. “Such a beautiful world.” His moment of peace was broken by an intense pain. The soul tearing spell continued it’s terrible march toward his death.

After the surge of pain passed he took in a deep breath of the air. The scent of baked bread caught his nose just then and he wanted so dearly to go taste them. Then it hit him, he sniffed again and wanted to cry in pure joy. “Morphons, I don’t smell morphons.” Most races do not smell those horrid molecules, but the Vexillians could sense their presence in many ways.

He closed his eyes as tears ran down his face, “I can’t...I can’t do this. I cannot let another world fall to their warmongering, their competition of death. I have to help these people. Gah!” He doubled over as a crack formed across his body with light spewing from it. “I cannot fade, I cannot leave. I have to help.”

He called up all his strength and rose from the ground. Stumbling under the pain he walked toward the town. The people were joyously celebrating and hardly noticed the man coming toward them. However, when he entered their square, it did not take long for the villages to become alert, and worried.

“Who is he?” “What is he?” Came from the locals.

The magic of the Vexillian allowed both him and the villagers to understand one another even though they were speaking thirteenth century Dutch.

“Help me, please. I need to...gah...I need to help...” he fell on the ground as a new crack formed, this one across his face, the light flickering brightly out of his skull.

This caused an uproar as people ran screaming from him. Now they yelled a new word, “Demon!”

He lay on the ground, abandoned and worried that he would not find someone to complete his last effort to save them. They were simple, primitive people, he did not blame them for their fear. He only wished to give them aid before the day of the Legion arrived.

“Please, won’t somebody help me?” He begged in a raspy whisper.

A splash of water hit his head and a deep-voiced man said, “Begone, foul creature, begone!”

He looked up to find a robed man flinging water at him and continuing this strange chant. It looked like a religious leader of some nature.

“I want to help.” He begged.

“BE GONE!” More water on the head.

Hopelessness filled him until he saw something that gave birth to a new plan. It would be a strange plan but it just might work. He ignored the shower he received and began to drag himself across the ground, no longer able to stand. He grabbed the feet of a statue that was currently tethered by ropes, no doubt to lift it and affix it to the sides of this stone building, where other odd statues were currently residing. It was the figure of a winged man, its wings sharp and evil-looking, its body muscular and naked.

“Let go of that gargoyle, demon!” The priest called out, still throwing water at him.

In the distance he could hear the sound of the constabulary rushing to deal with him, he did not have much time.

“Gargoyle...so that is your name.” He whispered as he maintained his grasp. He closed his eyes and let the last vestiges of energy surge through his broke body. “I give you my lifeforce, I give you my strength. I give you the ability to fight and not be harmed, to fly and not tire, to live, but not die. GAH!” The cracks across his body grew exponentially, the brilliance of the glow filling this plaza. The priest fled in fear while the guards came to a stop to cover their eyes. He continued his spell, “My strength is insufficient, my power to low, but when the morphons arrive and flood this world, they will give you the last of what you need. You will awaken to them, and you will know your enemy. Protect this world! DO NOT LET IT FALL!” As he said these last words his whole body was nothing but light. The statue of the grotesque gargoyle also beamed with light. It’s hunched, mangled form changed into a more human shape, its wings expanded to twice the size they were, and he stood up straight.

The light faded and the plaza was once again lit by the fire alone. The gargoyle statue had changed but was just as dormant as it had been since it was delivered by the artisans weeks ago. On the ground, all that remained of the last living Vexillian were his tattered, bloody, burnt robes.

The guards came rushing in and joined the priest. All looked at the mess on the ground and then the statue.

“What is this?” The captain asked.

The priest shook his head, “Work of the devil no doubt.”

“That gargoyle...it changed?!” One of the younger guards exclaimed.

The priest nodded, “Yes. It is strangely remade, bewitched by foul curses.”

The captain marched over to the smith's forge and grabbed a hammer. He returned and held it up, “Let us do away with this devilry!” He swung and hit the statue dead center of the chest. The head of the hammer exploded and he was thrown back across the ground, almost into the bonfire.

“Captain!” His officers rushed to him as did the priest.

He sat up and looked at the statue with wide eyes, “It is beyond mortal hands to deal with.”

“I agree.” The priest said. “It cannot stay here, lest it curse this town forever.”

The captain got to his feet and brushed himself off, “We will deliver it to Rome, let the Pope decide what will be done with this cursed object.”

(More to come...)

Read the rest of Gargoyle's Story on the Heroes Rising Forum

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Art Post: Your Origin

It's the fourth of July and you want to celebrate, you don't even need matches, just point and...BOOM...fireworks from your finger tips.

This was a special request piece for the fan fiction contest. Nick (Brainchef) and I (Gar) came up with the idea of doing a fan fiction contest to get the players into writing more stories involving their individual, unique characters. My original idea was for the theme of the contest to be, Your Origin Story. This way players to get into their characters start in the world of Heroes Rising. However, as I began to read the forum posts more and see what players had already done, I realized that they have told their origin stories. So, we scrapped that and moved forward with the idea of telling us about your first battle with Legion.

For this art, I was still thinking about the origin story, and I liked it. I wanted to see the first moment a person discovered his or her morphon induced power. Often the hero origin stories can be grim, angsty, or action filled. I decided to go with a more fun moment. This person has just discovered he can shoot energy from his fingers, and he really likes it. He is no longer just another person running from all the strange enemies coming from Legion, he can blast them away.

When creating the card, we stayed with the idea of this being an origin story moment. It gives us a unique card that truly relates to all people, the moment they realized they had something special to offer.

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Fan Fiction: "Out of Time" a Fuma Hanzo story

Scene 1:

Present Day.

The Blue Oyster Club wasn't the sort of place you'd usually find Rakly in, but he had business to attend to. He sat quietly in a corner booth, trying not to be conspicuous as he sipped his drink. He was waiting for the performer on stage to get done with his performance so they could get to business. Mack Stallion was dancing in nothing but a G-string and his signature Mandalorian helmet he used to disguise his identity. Rakly wasn't too sure, he hadn't seen the metahuman in a long time, but he thought he recognized the patron shoving the most bills into Mack's G-string. "Is that Power Bottom?" he thought to himself as the song came to an end and Mack jumped off stage, grabbing all the bills on the stage floor as he passed them. After finishing his set, Mack made his way over to where Rakly was sitting as Power Bottom yelled at him, "Hey! Where're you going? I got more money!"

As Mack sat down, Rakly asked him, "Did you get what I asked for?"

Mack replied, "Yeah. The Gallifreyan was most obliging. He translated the ancient text like it was his first language. As long as you can secure the technology, it shouldn't be a problem."

Mack Stallion handed the translated text under the table to Rakly and Rakly handed him back a sealed envelope. With the transaction complete, Mack left the booth and headed to the dressing room.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" the manager berated him, "Get back out there and shake your money makers!"

Mack punched him in the gut, crumpling him to the floor, before grabbing his stuff and heading for the door. Waving the envelope Rakly had given him, he casually strolled out the door saying, "I quit biatches!"

Scene 2:

A few days later at Avengers Tower.

Super Rakly and Strange Quark were busy going over the calculations on their project, one that had been in the works for over 4 years, when Phantom Among Phantoms enters the lab.

"You wanted to see me Rakly?" Phantom asked.

Rakly looked up from what he and Quark were working on. "Yes. Thanks for coming. We finally have the texts translated that Captain Coconuts of the Confederation of Pirates gave us. After some careful calculations, we're ready to proceed with the operation."

"Great!" Phantom replied. "What do you need from me?"

"Well," Quark responded, "we need to use my strange quark emissions to power the flux capacitor and open a window to the past. The problem is, we need the quark emissions to exist simultaneously in both the present and 1400 years ago. We can open a small window currently, but not enough to send or pull anything through. Currently, we can only look into the past like watching a television screen. However, if we can harness your phantom phasing powers to push my quark emissions through the threshold, we can achieve the quantum mechanics needed to drive the machine to open a fully functioning time portal."

"Wait.... wait, wait, wait!" exclaimed Phantom. "You don't really expect me to know what you just said, right? Just tell me what you need me to do. I'll leave the science to you guys."

"Look," said Rakly, "Just phase Quark while his quark emissions pass through the gate. We'll take care of the rest."

"How the hell did an ancient ninja clan from the 1500's design a time machine anyway?" asked Phantom. "They didn't even know about the technology or science needed for it back then."

"That's a question we'd all like to know the answer to." said Quark.

Read the Continuing Story at the Heroes Rising Forum

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Art Post: Summon Plants

It's a watermelon monster, run for your lives! Or at least go get some salt and a melon baller.

This is the first of, hopefully, many posts that detail some of the unique art of Heroes Rising. Particularly, the art I (Gar aka Daniel Peyton) have created.

This was a piece I did about a year ago. It is a mixed media painting using both traditional and digital art, both created by me. A friend of mine, Steve Argyle, was teaching a group of us about how he does his art and helped us all grow as artists. For his birthday we were asked to paint/draw something for him. Steve loves watermelon...I mean, it's a condition that might require therapists if it gets any worse. So, I created this creature in honor of his addiction. Is it coming for revenge for all of it's fallen comrades? Is it Steve's love child with that one especially voluptuous melon he found? We may never know. However, it made it's way across the universes into Heroes Rising and found a place among the power cards.

I helped create the powercard as well and I thought it would be interesting if a hero had the ability to summon plants to aid him. Not just grow them or move them, but turn fruits and vegetables into little minions. It would be a silly sight to see all the produce of the supermarket coming to his aid, that is until you are pummeled by a head of lettuce and five cantaloupes. 

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Fan Fiction: The Gentleman - A Gunslinger Misplaced

Mid-World

The Taheen lay crumpled in a heap, stacked like cordwood. Strands of smoke intertwined as they trailed

from glowing hot barrels. His aim was true. He had not forgotten the face of his father. The mantra so

well-ingrained in him from his training, pulses in his mind. Aim with the eye, shoot with the mind, kill

with the heart.

The Gentleman looked from one hand to the other admiring the beauty of the sandalwood grips and the

perfect balance of his blue-gray bringers of peace, and death. The sandalwood guns are the mark of a

true Gunslinger. They were made using the melted down blue-grey steel of the sword Excalibur and

were passed down from Arthur Eld himself.

His eyes linger on the guns a moment longer before sheathing them in a motion to fast for the eye to

follow. The sandalwood guns seemed to let out a barely audible whine at being sheathed as if they

were disappointed they were no longer free and dealing out justice forty-five caliber at a time.

The Gentleman walks over to a man sitting on the ground. The dirt underneath the man’s arm is heavily

stained with blood. Recognition is instant. This man is a brother; a fellow gunslinger. Reaching down, he

clasps the tall gunslinger’s hand and helps him to his feet. Their arms still grasped, the two men give one

another a knowing nod.

The tall gunslinger with the piercing blue eyes breaks the silence with his deep, gravelly voice. “Thankee-sai.”

“Roland”.

“Erik.”

The Gentleman points his finger at the blood flowing down Roland’s arm. “Is it bad?”

Roland looks at the hole in his arm with indifference. “I’ll mend. Ka is not done with me yet.” He turns away and walks towards his horse.

“So, back to it then…the Tower?” The Gentleman asks, already knowing the answer.

Roland wheels his horse around but does not answer. He need not. The depth of sadness and steely

resolve in Roland’s dangerous blue eyes gives the Gentleman all the answer he needs.

“Long days and pleasant nights, Erik.”

“And may you have twice the number, Roland.”

And with that Roland raced towards End-World and the Tower.

Moments later, a loud unpleasant hum fills the air and the Gentleman disappears in a green-gray flash.

Many seasons have passed since Erik abruptly vanished and there has been much speculation as to what

happened to Erik of Gilead, but no one knows for sure. His legend continues to grow, however,

bolstered by Roland’s retelling of Erik’s bravery and skill.

A man from Calla Bryn Sturgis claims to have heard Roland himself say that “he would not want to be on

the wrong end of the Gentleman’s barrels.” Though, no one else can back this claim up. It is worth

noting that the man in question claiming to have heard Roland say this, has more whiskey in his veins

than blood on any given day.

Earth

He does not know how he got to this world, or why. His gut tells him this is the Crimson King’s

doing. He looks around to see a fierce battle being waged between unknown beings. He hears one of the beings, a defender of this realm by the look of it, say a name. Legion.

The ground shakes under his feet and it brings the Gentleman out of his reverie. A hulk of a man in red

comes charging towards him. The huge man lets out a long primal yell as he rips up chunks of ground in his wake.

Sound disappears and everything goes silent, except for a melodious song. The six-shooters call out to him and he relinquishes control. His hands move in a blur as sound rushes back. He hears the sweet music his guns produce, and he…he is at the center of it. He is the orchestrator of this symphony of death. And then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. The smell of gunpowder hung heavy in the air.

A woman garbed in gold and white stands next to Roland with her mouth agape. The look on her face is one of astonishment and fear.

It takes her a moment to find her words. "Did...did...did you just...just...kill him?" She stammers.

The Gentleman studies her face for signs of humor but he sees none, only fear. "My lady, what would you have had me do, make tea and have a palaver with him? Maybe sing a few songs around the campfire, perhaps?"

She gives him an incredulous look but says nothing. Her eyes are moist and a tear escapes down her cheek.

His expression softens only slightly, and when he speaks it is with the tone of an adult speaking to a child. "Listen, the time for spared feelings and civility is over. If I had let him live he would have continued to terrorize and kill people of your world. Is that what you want?"

A look of resignation comes over her face as she looks away from Erik's gaze.

He gently takes her hand. "I know this is hard but this is the way it must be."

A blast near a group of civilians deafens the air. The woman pulls her hand away but Erik grabs it again before she can fly off. "Do what must be done". His tone left no room for interpretation. Disgust flashed across her face as she broke free from his grip and sped towards the group of civilians.

This is worse than he thought. If the other defenders are as soft as the woman in gold, they will be slaughtered. But he will not let that happen. He will protect this realm just as he had protected Mid-World. No matter the cost, he will find a way back to his family, and then he will make the Crimson King pay for every act of evil he has ever inflicted. But first, he will make the Legion regret ever setting foot on this world. He draws his sandalwood guns....and he smiles.

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Fan Fiction: PhantomAmongPhantoms - The Search For Evo

"Dammit I think we broke it!" SnipersWrath put his weapon down.

"It doesn't look good!" I slightly understated. "Can we confirm it wasn't ALL my fault?"

"Of all the things we can, will, should or might blame you for ... no this time you can't be held totally responsible."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm off to see Evo. Plans need to be made."

"Phantom ... don't know if you noticed ... the city's gone"

"But that rubble there looks like it might have been my apartment block."

"And you think Evo will be somewhere in that?"

He had a point, there didn't really look like there was anyone left anywhere in the city.

"Can't you just picture her and blink to where she is?"

"If it was that easy do you think it would have taken me three months to find her dad?"

"Well she's a merc, she'll be where the action is."

And that is?

"I heard that shit was going down in New Amsterdam."

"Good place to start! Beers later? On me"

"Sure ... where?"

"I'll just picture you and blink"

"Sounds good"

And people said I was the idiot in the team.

New Amsterdam was kinda like I imagined it, but with less canals, tulips, clogs and a lot less New.

But within half an hour I'd witnessed enough to know it had the kind of action that would attract Evo.

Some guy calling himself 'The Raptor' tried mugging me, but that ended badly for him. The paramedics were still discussing how to extricate his foot when I walked away.

Something covered in flames jumped off a rooftop in an alley, and I quickly demonstrated unlike the popular saying that I will piss on you if you're on fire.

I bumped into one of the Valkyries, but after our last encounter she just blanked me.

Some wierdo tried to lift my wallet.

"I'm sorry!" He whined. "I can't help myself, I just have to act on my impulses." I just had to act on mine and blinked him to the steps outside the 5th Precinct with an explanatory note stapled to his forehead.

And let's not talk about that Stygian, well let's briefly ... cos that's how long his attack lasted.

What's this place?

"Blue Oyster ... cold beers, hot stuff" the sign above the door stated.

Hmmmm. Beer!

Ok so not my usual choice of bar, I mean I'm comfortable in myself - but the big guy on the stage with kneepads and not a lot else on was looking at me a little too intently. I decided to keep head down, drink my beer, examine my boots ... I don't know why Evo kept saying had small feet, they looked absolutely in proportion.

"I know you!"

"Huh?!?" I looked up. The guy wore a lot of red, and was definitely familiar. "Rakly?!?!"

"Phantom. You still heroing?"

"I guess, I was just looking for ..."

"Still able to manipulate that dimensional energy?" He interrupted.

"The blue stuff ... yeah!"

"Then you might just be the guy I've been looking for."

Prioritise, I told myself, you're here to find Evo, don't get involved in any distractions.

"Why?" Questions couldn't hurt.

"Well we're struggling to send a quantum wave of quark emissions through a temporal portal and have it exist simultaneously in two time lines."

"Yeah that can be a problem ... with the quantum leap and stuff."

Keep cool, act normal, give nothing away.

"I could use your special skills."

No time for distractions, Evo finding number one priority.

"If you could just come over to the Tower for a bit."

Oh boy, it was never a bit when people asked favours of me.

"We have a bar."

A few hours wouldn't hurt.

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Fan Fiction: Alvidan General History

Alvin Daniels was just a normal guy, until a chance encounter with a dimensional rift granted him swiftness, laser eyes, and titanium skin. Armed with these abilities, he fought petty crime as Alvidan while saving to equip himself as a hero.

Returning one day to the site of his empowerment, he found strange crystals growing there. There were some people out there willing to trade the crystals for gear, so he was able to power up to fight crime.

Later, he tried to save a hero called the Options Oracle from being overwhelmed, but failed, however as the Options Oracle died, he passed on a portion of his power to Alvidan, increasing his abilities and his resolve.

Alvidan was approached by BADGE, which recruited him to help fight The extradimensional Invaders. With their guidance, he learned that his powers were mainly psychokinetic. He soon learned to produce powerful shields of kinetic energy and move huge masses of stone, though his powers had a very short range. He also learned to bend space so that he could step long distances in a short time.

BADGE also assisted him with some equipment, and helped him refurbish some gear captured from criminals. With that, his heroic career was certainly getting somewhere.

Unfortunately, where he was getting was pretty much the middle of the pack, as far as super heroes were concerned.

He started a regimen of ninja training to assist in his skill development.

While fighting against an escapee from Purgatory Prison, He suffered a curse that caused his gear to malfunction. This made it behave as if he had a different core and peripherals. Eventually he learned to control this, so that he could switch his gear functions to a limited variety of choices.

He managed to track down an Escapee called "Your Zombie Ex-Girlfriend", only to discover that she had turned over a new leaf and was seeking to use her zombie abilities for good. He allowed her to remain "at large" even though it went against his orders.

Both his powers and his gear continue to improve, the former mostly through practice and the latter through gathering things from his enemies that are repurposed for him.

He finds himself having trouble with the genetically engineered Vixen, even though he manages to catch her by surprise once she promptly escaped him. After several more attempts to capture her, he finally managed to do so and began questioning her about her boss, Dr. Fulcrum.

Alvidan woke up one morning changed into a woman, though uncertain what had happened or how long it would last, they were determined and continued to fight crime. Alvidan realizes eventually that the change in form, like the ability to change gear, relate to the Seed of Potential that he got from the Options Oracle. He is switching abilities and forms with his analogs from other worlds.

His (her?) abilities continue to change and grow. This lates change allows becoming some kind of monstrous shapeshifter which resembles an undead werehyena while in combat. It is very effective in fights, but not particularly comfortable.

Alvidan accidentally discovered that it is possible to release the energies that empower him explosively, and trained himself to control it by use of a key word. While Alvidan was Improving, other heroes were betting better faster, so he remained pretty average.

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Fan Fiction: Only Human... ( or how the Morphons changed things)

Upon this obscure little planet near the edge of a rather average galaxy, there evolved a bi-pedal lifeform of which one must admit the potential for acts of horrendous, unspeakable cruelty... this same species is also capable of unbelievable acts of courage, bravery, and self-sacrifice...

This lifeform is a well of potential... potential for Evil, potential for Good.

The Morphon particles haven't changed that...

They are STILL only human... or nearly all of them are...

A few are refugees from other realms within the Multiverse... for the most part also human, with all that entails.…

The full origin of Acidburn would fill several volumes, which will appear in these forums later, but suffice it to say that she originated in a dimension now lost to the Nexus of the Multiverse...

She was unknowingly the child of an exiled fae of Royal blood on her father's line, a direct descendant of the wizard know to us as Merlin on her mothers' and had her abilities activated by an accident.

Some of those who will appear in this tale are no longer with us, having remained in the dimension which was lost, some moved on to other realms, but there remain a precious few who have made it to this place as well...

She's not the strongest...she's not the fastest... but she might be the smartest, and she is definitely the most determined... She might just be the hero we need.

So settle back and grab some popcorn...

A Little Tale Overheard @ Starbuck's

Pink was sitting at her usual table in Starbuck's, enjoying a double-shot espresso and a large tray of bearclaws when she noticed that one of the many "new kids" (rookie supers) had wandered in through

the door with a somewhat dazed expression.

The rookie quietly ordered a mocha latte from the barista and moved to the last empty table which was nearby. "At least this one has decent taste in coffee." thought Pink to herself, while sipping her own

beverage.

About this time the Angelic Rogue stopped into the same shop after completing her own patrol, ordered a vanilla cappuccino and since all the tables were now taken, asked Pink if she could join her.

"Go ahead." Pink said with her usual expression.

A few moments passed as the Rogue scanned the other patrons and sipped from her cup, then she noticed the rookie at the table nearby.

She said quietly to Pink, "I do believe that one would jump a mile if startled by a loud noise.", gesturing with her chin towards the rookie.

Pink looked in that direction again and murmured, "Yeah, you're probably right."

Rogue said quietly, "Maybe we should speak to her, help her calm down."

Both of the veteran heroes reached a decision at the same moment, stood and moved to the rookies' table. The Rogue gently touched the young woman's shoulder. The rookie startled slightly.

"Is everything alright?", the Rogue gently asked. Pink leaned with her hand on the back of one of the chairs.

"W-with all t-that's happened r-recently I d-don't know w-where to b-begin...", the rookie stuttered.

"At the beginning is usually a good place.", Pink said, as she pulled out the seat and sat down. The Rogue signaled the barista for 3 more coffees and followed suit.

The rookie drew a deep breath, perhaps the first in a few weeks; settled herself, took a moment to arrange her thoughts, and began.

"Well... It all began while I was analyzing a "xeno-biological" sample in my lab at the University, for NASA. The electron microscope I was using developed a "spontaneous, catastrophic" vacuum leak, at least that's what they told me later, and it exploded in my face.", she said.

"As I regained consciousness in the ICU, I realized that I had strange tingling sensations around my hands and arms, and as I recovered, also discovered that the equipment being used to monitor my

condition kept 'mysteriously' overloading.", she continued after a moment.

She took a short sip of her refill and continued.

"Once released, I conducted a few tests of my own and discovered that I had been exposed to whatever the hell that sample actually was; it was infused into my DNA.", she said.

"Over the next few weeks even stranger things began to happen; as I hid in my apartment, I began to develop other 'symptoms,' Then, I woke up one morning actually hovering above the surface of my bed.", she continued.

"I soon found after a little practice & using some meditation techniques, I could control the 'symptoms' of this 'condition.'

She closed her eyes for a moment and the slight electrical nimbus around her hands died down.

She sipped her latte, took a deep breath, and continued.

"As my strength, dexterity and new abilities continued to grow, I knew that it would be a nearly impossible task to fit in & to remain at the university, but where could I go and not feel like the proverbial sore thumb?", she said.

"So when the news began reporting the 'meta-human' wave of crime sprees here in Super Hero City, I decided to help out where I could...and to begin a new life in a place where my 'differences' would help me fit in.", she said.

"Then once I got here... the street fights...the arena battles my new colleagues at work suggested... some sort of war between groups of supers which I was talked into joining...", she mused with a slightly

puzzled expression.

"Whew, I'd never sat down and put it into perspective like that before... I mean what with everything that's happened and all...Well, Thank you, both.", she said looking from one to the other.

Rising from her chair, she handed each a card that read "Acidburn, SHC" and a

beeper number.

"I doubt either of you would ever need my help, but if you should, it's yours for the asking.",she said, turned and strode ever more confidently to the door, turned again and waved at the two veteran heroes, and took flight in the direction of midtown.

"That was strange.", said Pink, as she picked up her coffee and moved back to her favorite table. Rogue nodded and remained at the now otherwise empty one...

..."Well," thought Acidburn, "they both seem nicer than some of the rumors I've heard make them sound. But, of course, with rumors you have to consider the source... at least I think I could get some sleep

tonight, since they helped settle my mind."

A short time later, she landed in the alley behind a small brownstone and wearily made her way up the 6 flights of steps to her small apartment. After a quick shower, a small glass of white wine, and a piece of her 'emergency' chocolate (funny, how there seems to be an emergency every night, she thought), she settled into her cozy quilt and read until she dozed off.

We'll get more of the story in their own thread later, but that's how it started, in a realm which no longer is accessible in the nexxus of the Multiverse...

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Fan Fiction: Defending a Realm: The End Journeys

(This tale is set in a realm known to many of us, in its last days)

The enormous banner promoting Sable, Final Judgement, Lady Goshawke and Zombie Control still fluttered above the entrance to the Hall of Heroes. Despite this, few people - heroes or civilians - were filing through at the time. There seems to be an air of resignation and depression among the city inhabitants, thought Tri-blade as he walked up the steps and into the Hall.

His footsteps echoed off the walls as he strolled by the plaques and memorials to the great heroes and events of recent years. He took a brief moment to put his hands on the Legion plaque, and smiled at knowing that he at least had a minute part to play in their early-day successes at thwarting evil and maintaining some beacon of hope for innocents.

Tri-blade walked on. He had made a point to visit the place regularly ever since his discovery of the Professor's old prison, as it served to keep his mind fresh on the city's needs, as well as keep hope alive.

He walked past portraits of Jormungandr, Superbeast, Vertigo. Some he knew, some he never met. Each of them however, left their marks. Angel Sun, Force, Strange Quark.

The smiling face of Sin brought a mild chuckle to Tri-blade's face. Not really a rival in the true sense of the word (Sin versus Captain Avenger was more famous and more heated), but almost certainly the oldest rival Tri-blade had known in the realm. They had clashed long ago, when Tri-blade wasn't even part of the Legion and Sin was known by the oddball name of Babagadouche. Look at us both now, smiled Tri-blade.

Banderpoop, Lord Vindictus, Karlito's Way. Getting to the people who nearly predated his time in the realm. Tri-blade grinned at the memory of hearing of Karlito's Way's journey to help form Nine Planets Council, and the potential of him trying to join that group. It never happened - Karlito's Way moved on without ever meeting Tri-blade, and his own path soon took him to other adventures. Luckily he did get to meet other 9PCers and befriend them. Heroes always find opportunities to collaborate and work together when the time calls for it.

A lit doorway at the end of the hall, and the sound of sombre whistling, caught Tri-blade's attention. He called out, and received a "Coming!" in return. Soon, the wisened face of Doctor Toshio, curator of the Hall, appeared, and the doctor made his way over to his friend, broom in hand.

"Good to see you again, doctor," said Tri-blade as they shook hands.

"Likewise. Same story that brings you by?" asked Dr. Toshio.

"Same-ish, I suppose. What's that tune you were whistling? Seemed pretty sad."

Toshio sighed. "Just a Japanese melody, of time passing, colours fading, leaves falling. I believe it is reality having the final say on everything, even happy endings."

Tri-blade nodded, "Nothing is forever."

They walked to a bench and sat. "I guess you're not particularly busy of late?" asked Tri-blade.

Toshio shook his head. "The Hall of Heroes had a great flow of traffic a couple of weeks ago, but that time has passed too. This city, well I believe that the talk and the rumours are true."

"That the city is dying?"

"Cities, Tri-blade. Do you know about Victory City?"

"Not a thing, and don't care to. I know some folks, like the Turbulence guys, sometimes roam there, and I even heard that Sin has made that his permanent residence. But me? Once I heard that place reeks even more of Jeffy than here, I have no desire to relocate even if temporarily."

Toshio adjusted his heavy glasses and blinked. "Just as well, anyway. Victory City is falling apart too."

Tri-blade's mouth opened in surprise. "Really now?"

"Hai... they're each interconnected. And with it, the nation is on the verge of collapse. What would happen if these two centres of heroes were to perish? No, there is a cataclysm brewing, I have heard several different sources claim it. I fear for this planet."

Tri-blade rose to his feet. "So this isn't anything evil?"

"Evil? No, unfortunately. If it was, then you could counter it. Get your elite heroes to stop the menace, it's been done against Zigon, Astronikus, the Sin Lords. I fear this is a truly unstoppable threat. Tri-blade my friend, you may need to prepare to leave."

"The city?"

"The planet. This reality, even."

Dr. Toshio rose, bowed graciously to his friend, and turned.

"Where would *you* go?" shouted Tri-blade, already feeling the panic beating on his head.

"To my family, of course. I have a grand-daughter you know. I miss her dearly. Family is best. I must go, I apologize. Farewell, friend." Toshio continued to walk away.

As Tri-blade turned to walk out, Dr. Toshio finally allowed the tears to slide down his face. He wept silently, still holding his broom.

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Fan Fiction: Strange Quark

The story of Strange Quark began 10 years ago in a parallel universe called Superhero City. Well, that's 10 years ago in that universe's timeline (roughly equivalent to 10 millennia in this universe).

No one knows how he came into existence; he just suddenly materialised from a quantum probability field, as though someone had finally decided to open Schrödinger's box, only to find that it was not a cat inside after all.

His role in the defeat of the Zigonian alien invasion has been documented by a historian:

"Strange Quark is far from your average quark. Once captured by the Zigonians who were sent by Warlord Quasar, Strange Quark was able to escape with the aid of molecular rearrangement. The Zigonians soon learned that they shouldn't have messed with Strange Quark as he became one of the first heroes to take out 3000 Zigonians, as well as taking the top spot on the Champion leaderboard after ThinkingStiff hung up his cape. Quark never hesitated to help heroes in need and readily provided vast amounts of service in Superhero City, continuing to do so to this day."

A few years later, the Mayor of Superhero City released a new superpower called Quark Annihilation in honour of Strange Quark, but ironically, it interacted with him to produce anti-strange quark particles, which led to his disappearance from the Superhero City universe.

So, Strange Quark ceased to exist, or well, he sort of existed in a field of quantum uncertainty, which basically meant he might or might not still be around.

Fast forward to the present universe, in the wake of the Legion's invasion. The Morphons they released were ubiquitous. A scientist in a secret laboratory decided to study the interaction of Morphons with the Higgs boson in a particle accelerator and inadvertently collapsed the probability wave function of Strange Quark's uncertain existence. Schrödinger's box was opened once again and out came good ol' Quark, this time even Stranger than ever.

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Minor Bug Fix

Resist over 40% was being _slightly_ mis-calculated in combat. This has been fixed and resist is now applied correctly.

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Minor Mission Updates

1) The Ardeal bosses now pay an appropriate amount of XP (roughly 10x what they were paying)

2) Zombie Ex-Girlfriend now drops her card 100% of the time you beat her (used to be 50%)

More tweaks and updates to come! We're working on this game every single day, but we sometimes need to fix some details and there's still so much more to do!

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Writing Contest - First Encounter - Prizes!

So, you have been infused with morphons and now have unique superpowers. You may be a valuable asset to B.A.D.G.E. in our efforts to fight crime on Earth as well as protect the whole world from the enemies sent by Legion.

You are new to the streets with your magnificent morphon powers. The muggers, shoplifters, and carjackers are no match for what you can do. However, Legion takes an interest in you and sends one of their minions to test you, to fight you, and even kill you to get you out of the way. What happened? Tell us the story of your heroes first encounter with Legion.

Yes, this is a short fiction contest to tell us about your hero.

Go to the Forum here: Heroes Rising Forum

Rules

• The Theme of this writing contest is “First Encounter”
• Fiction must be between 400-1000 words, don’t worry if you are slightly over the word count, just don’t go too far.
•  Content must be PG13. No Erotica and nothing that is explicitly derogatory or inflammatory. Keep it fun for everyone.
• Judges have final authority over content, at their sole discretion.

Entering your story

•  All submissions should be posted as a top level post to the fan fiction forum. Include in the title of your post, “Contest Entry: (title of work)” Only posts with this as the title will be considered for the contest.
• The first line of the post should include “Contest Entry” and your in game player id (from your profile page)
• Post your story any time before the morning of August 26
• Go to the Forum here: Heroes Rising Forum

Prizes

All reasonably good stories will get one, two, or three “Your Origin” entry cards, as evaluated by the judges

The best stories will also get one, two, or three “Stop the Presses” featured cards.

“Your Origin” can be used as a card, or resold for 10 MP each

“Stop the Presses” can be used as a card, or resold for 20 MP each

Featured stories will be featured on the front page of this site, and linked to from the homepage of Heroes Rising.


All prizes will go out near the end of August


As always, all reasonable effort fiction posted in the forum is eligible for limited number of "Reality Writer" cards per week. These entries will ALSO receive the normal Reality Writer card.

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