Fan-Fiction: Continued Tales of a Visionary

Decisions for a Visionary

Snow and bitter cold wasn't a situation that Elijah was experienced in by any stretch of the imagination, and he struggled to maintain his composure as his team descended into the New Meta City outskirts. His shivering arms and chattering teeth seemed a perfect representation of his feelings at the time.

"Let's go!" called out the BADGE officer assigned to marshall the combination of heroes from various leagues to the area where the dimensional rift had formed. With a shout, Elijah leapt forward and ran towards the fray.

It did not take long for Elijah to get the gauge of what these particular enemies were. Goblins and orcs, creatures he had read of as a teenager, swarmed around his group. Despite the missive to disable where possible without harming them, he knew that if they couldn't accomplish it within minutes, they'd have little choice but to use more dangerous methods. A club swing aimed at his head nearly made Elijah's concerns moot, but he was able to dodge the blow and deliver a heavy energy blast, sending the creature tumbling away.

He heard a stern, if not angry voice nearby. Turning his head, he saw in the distance the creature known to many as 'Midgard'... and seeing such a renown force only a few yards away yet larger than he imagined, made him stare in awe for a moment.

Midgard appeared to be in an argument with a satyr-looking person, who for his part seemed to have some ability to conjure vines from the icy ground, and Elijah inched a little closer, inadvertently.

The satyr thrust a bolt of magical energy at Midgard, and Elijah wondered if this skirmish was going to turn into a free-for-all melee.

A pair of tiny-yet-menacing goblins smacked Elijah in his knees, temporarily sending him to the ground. He turned to face his assailants, who quickly dashed off in the direction of other heroes. "They really got all kinds down here," he shrugged as he rose to his feet.

A portal opened and Midgard fell through, only to reappear a short distance away. Elijah looked on as another human-like creature appeared, sealing the portal. He didn't yet know this character, but could sense that he had amazing abilities of his own. Still perplexed by what was transpiring, Elijah nevertheless was forced to re-engage in the skirmish as larger orc-like creatures dashed towards him. Above, he saw a pair of wyverns target the giant Serpent.

These strange new worlds, literally right next door to us,... imagine that, he thought.

Beams of light flew over and around him and everybody else in the vicinity. He flinched, but felt no ill effect from the strange wave. The horde of goblins and orcs, however, stopped in their tracks and stood as if in a bewildered trance.

He turned, and saw the satyr, flanked by the portal-summoning person and a woman that appeared to look like Chase from BADGE. He began to slowly walk towards them, seeing if there was anything he could help with.

He was interrupted by a voice in his comms. It crackled, as if the connection was intermittent.

"Chandra?"

"Hey! You're on your feet, good. How are you handling -"

"I'm actually feeling great! Don't even feel the cold anymore."

"That's good news. I don't have any good news of my own to share though..."

Elijah stopped walking. "What is it?"

Chandra's voice betrayed her mood. "The study... is closed. We have no leads on any of the visions."

Elijah's mouth clenched.

"What this means though, is that you're fully free to pursue any path you want though. You can even apply to join BADGE in an official capacity - a taskforce, even... although the risks associated with it are quite high these days."

"I'm quite happy with my league," Elijah said pointedly. "Sorry, for being abrupt," he added quickly, feeling immediately sheepish.

"If your visions return, maybe they'll guide your next steps. Your barbering career though, might be on permanent hiatus," she joked.

"Not your best effort, Chandra," replied Elijah.

"I know."

"As long as you aren't reassigned to the Orbital Arena permanently or anything like that, I'm okay," he smiled.

"Promise."

"Talk soon," Elijah said as he resumed surveying the landscape. The sky was clear and cloudless. It was bright, although there was practically zero warmth. He looked a little to his left and saw a human flying in the air. He wore a white-and-red outfit and flames trailed from his limbs. The man waved at everybody below.

Elijah stared.

Then, he blinked rapidly.

---

"What the -" said a BADGE agent as he saw one of the heroes start to spasm rapidly. He ran quickly, catching Elijah before he collapsed. He looked at Elijah, and saw a man with his pupils shrink to pinpricks before expanding to a silvery-white. They began to flash rapidly and a spiral-like shape briefly appeared in each pupil before they returned to normal size. The agent slowly lowered Elijah, allowing him to rest in his lap.

As the agent began to initiate a call for assistance, he didn't notice as a small, faint scar appeared just above Elijah's left eyelid. It was in the shape of a four-pointed star.

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The Definitive Guide To Building A Monster Toon On A Budget; Volume 1

The Hanzo Ninja Clan School Of Anything Goes Martial Arts Presents:

The Definitive Guide To Building A Monster Toon On A Budget; Volume 1

25104

Some of you already know the techniques I'm about to explain, either through me, or 2nd hand through those I've told in the past. These techniques are what allowed me to become a top toon in just a few months, and becoming a top 3 toon in under a year. There will be some folks that are going to be upset with me for sharing this info, but I feel like enough folks know already, that it isn't a huge secret anymore. Furthermore, if the average level of play improves across the board for all players, it will force top toons to improve and create more good competition for everyone. The weaker toons will become stronger and have a fighting chance, and the stronger toons will have to fight harder for their wins. While this may seem bad for a few players, myself included, I feel it will be good for the overall game as a whole. Seeing Hard Left Hook's performance thus far in the 1st Draft Wars is what convinced me this knowledge is good for the community and the game, as a whole. Sorry, Frank.

1st and foremost, you want to build a strong base deck for your powers. This chapter of the series delves into that, while future chapters will delve into raiding, gear, and skill point allocation. But those chapters will simply help you make the most of what is learned in this Volume.



The biggest trick in the game currently is Super Charges (from hence forth reffered to as sc). Depending on where you get them, they can cost as much as 80 MP each, with the store being the highest purchase cost. They can also be found at a discount in the Black Market in patrols, or won for free in raids and climb events. I'll go into how to quickly and even cheaply collect sc in a future volume. For now, just understand that sc are THE MOST IMPORTANT part of powering up on a budget.

SC add 1 point to a cards stats relevant to the type of sc used. Each different card you have has a limit of 150 sc per stat. So each card can add 150 att sc, 150 def sc, and 150 move sc. That's 450 sc per card to fill them. The beauty of sc is that the sc bonus to your power card will go to every card you have that is a duplicate. So if you have 4000 of a card and an sc hits it, you just went up 4000 points on that stat BEFORE tiering, sp and gear bonuses. Each sc goes to a random card when used. So there's no telling which card it will go to. But by limiting the number of cards it can land on by limiting your number of different cards and maximizing the total number of cards you want them to land on, you can create a lot of control as to where the sc do land.

Now let's go into that concept some. Your chance of sc landing on a card are 1 in however many cards you have. So if you have 5000 cards your odds of hitting any one specific card are 1 in 5000. But if you have duplicates, those odds are multiplied by the number of copies. If you have 3000 of card A, 1500 of card B, and 500 of card C, you have a 60% chance for card A to get the sc, 30% chance for B, and 10% for card C. If the sc hits A, you gain 3000 pre bonus, pre tier addition to your stats. But if it lands on B, you only get 1500. If it lands on C, you only get 500. If it lands on a card you have one of, you only get 1 measly point. So limiting the amount of different cards the sc can land on can make the difference of spending as much as 80 mp to gain 1 point vs gaining a few thousand.

Now, the trick to making this happen is choosing 3 cards, and 3 cards only, to build your toon with. 1 att card, 1 def card, and 1 move card. You want all other cards to be duplicates of these 3 cards. By doing this, you guarantee to make the most of your sc. You can add other cards later, AFTER you fully sc these 3 cards. This insures you get thousands of points for your sc instead of just a few. Please note, you will still have to keep 3 of each card you want to use for Atlas.



Now the question becomes which cards to choose. That answer will be dependent on you and your resources like time and money. There are a couple basic guidelines to which 3 cards you should pick, though. 1st, it has to be a card that you can EASILY get an unlimited number of. So you don't want cards that are hard or slow to get, or cards that are limited to a finite number. Let's go into the pros and cons of each to determine which is right for you.

Bux cards are the cheapest, fastest way to power up this type of build. It's not my preferred choice for a number of reasons, but it isn't entirely a bad one. It's just that, with this information now out, it's the bottom rung technique. Bux cards just don't start off as strong as their Crystal and MP counterparts. Furthermore, they require a deficit. So you have to find a way to maintain that deficit and that takes earning bux. Depending on which bux cards you use, that deficit can quickly become too much to handle normally, forcing you to play at a much weaker rate than you would want to run during tournament. Luckily, there's an Atlas Perk, War Profiteer, that allows you to erase your deficit during wars. That Perk is MONSTEROUS for Bux toons. So if you go this route, be sure to get 2 stars on that Perk. The biggest pro to this choice is Bux cards are quick and easy to acquire. The biggest con is the deficit. But again, during wars, that deficit can be negated with a Perk. This option is best suited to free and budget players with little time.

Crystal cards are the next option, and my preferred one. Store bought Crystal cards are limited, and cost Crystal to acquire. This is a very bad choice. Crystal cards won in Fight Club (fc) are slow to come by, and not worth the time it takes to acquire. These cards are best sold to tier others. Crystal cards from raids are as abundant as you are able to do raids. They also don't cost any crystals to acquire, which you'll need for tiering. Furthermore, many raids also drop sc, speeding up your sc acquisition for free. This is what my deck is primarily made of. I suggest it for any player with enough time to raid regularly. Once your deck is full, you can slow your raiding down to 1 raid per level.

Mp cards cost a lot. At my level, there's nothing cheap about trying to fill my deck with over 15000 cards. Furthermore, store bought cards and most Shuffle cards are limited in number. Once they sell out, you can no longer take advantage of already placed sc on future growth. Once this happens, it will take another 450 sc to build up a new card. Unless you're super rich, this kind of process is probably outside most of your guys reach. If you do decide to buy MP cards, and realize you will be collecting another 450 sc each time you start the process over, be sure to buy as many as you can at 1 time. For the purpose of pure power, Challenge cards and AMP Den cards are a solid choice. The 1% Shuffle cards that are unlimited are still going to be expensive to acquire in large numbers and then tier. MP cards won through competition and game play come far too slow to make them viable choices. Raid MP cards are a viable option, but do still cost MP to tier. I advise to go after the ones that are more common. This path is best suited for those with a large budget in line with the likes of Avenger, Super Rakly, and Skelanimal.

Another option, 1st brought up by Daryl Danforth /Zombie Ex-Girlfriend, is to use Bux cards for 1 stat, Crystal for another, and MP for the last. This will certainly ease your resource gathering efforts, but leave your toon somewhat unbalanced in their stats. With Move being the most important base stat, it's probably best you used your strongest card (MP) for that.

Once your 3 cards are fully sc'ed, with 450 sc each, you can either stop trying to acquire sc and put those MP towards things like gear and consumables, or you can pick out other cards that you can start scing, which will make a stronger card later, but are harder to get. Use these to supplement the power of your base deck. They could be your Atlas cards, for example. They could be the new patrol cards, Serpents Strike, Eagle Eyes, and/or Wings of Night. They could be the 1% Shuffle cards. They could be the AMP Den cards. Just be sure you buy the max possible if you go this route, since they are only available for 1 month. All of these choices are good to SUPPLEMENT your base deck with. If you plan on going this route once finished with your base deck, and you already have your expansion cards in your deck before selling off all your cards, consider keeping them. It will slow your the rate of your sc growth on your base deck, but be more beneficial in the long run. Do factor in tiering as well. In many cases, a fully tiered, fully sc'ed Crystal or Bux card is stronger than a fully sc'ed MP card that isn't tiered.

Once you are satisfied with your deck, you can now start using those valuable MP you were spending on sc to gather gear. Obviously, the Shuffle is your best bet for great gear. Be sure to sell any cards you get from the Shuffle, that you aren't using in your deck. Then use the MP from selling those to spin the Shuffle some more. Rinse and repeat. Your acquisition of good gear will now come much faster. The cards you sell will cost too much and take too long to be as strong as your base deck cards anyway, and will only hinder your growth progress.

This is THE most valuable information on solid toon building in the game. This is the information that starts free and budget toons on their path to beating the big budget players. Here's the catch 22 though. They all know it too now. Still, it's one helluva game balancer to level the playing field.

In our next volume, we will be going into raiding and how to get the most out of it. Good luck heroes and villains. I hope I've made your path to power that much easier to accomplish and your goals that much closer within your reach.

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Butcher Shop Gazette: Round 2 Draft War News!

Greetings from the “Society of Butchers” This is Cαρƚαιɳ Aɱҽɾιƈα reporting on the latest advanced training program from B.A.D.G.E called “Draft Wars” with Round 2 results and Round 3 predictions!

Division 1: “2 Mike’s no Cup” lit up the “Tree House of Terror” like kindling. (34 to 21) and set the stage for what looks to be a one-sided victory in round 3 against The Fantastic 5. My money is on 2 Mike’s No Cup for the Gold.
Meanwhile, The Fantastic 5 fell to The Pentagon in round 2 (36 to 30) leaving both teams chasing after silver in round 3.

Division 2: “The Team That Shall Not Be Named” pulled off another win, this time against “Shadows Rising” (47 to 30) moving them into a fight for Gold against that squad with No Name who utterly destroyed the “X-Ray Squad” in round 2 (70 to 11). Just by the numbers it looks like “We don’t need a stinking Name” is the favorite for Gold in what is sure to be an epic round 3 match-up.

Division 3: Showcased Matterhorn vs. Break’n Rokz and Summit Squad vs. November Squad. Break’n Rokz moved to 2 - 0 with a (37 to 33) victory & November topped the Summit moving to 2 and 0 with a (54 to 38) Win. This upcoming Round 3 fight will be a very close fight and will probably come down to defensive wins. (Good Luck to both teams!) This one is two closes to call.

Division 4: Was the tail of two sweeps. The Shogun Squad busted the Transmutation Squad in the mouth (42 to 14) and Likewise “The Wild maleficient slayyyeeeeeer APS!” cold-cocked “Collide Squad” in the same manner (44 to 19). My money is on The Shogun Squad for the Gold but a few tactical mistakes could swing the fight.

Division 5: Hosted what looks like an Orgy as yet again the “Freaky Creatures” just roll and give it up to “Villainous Deception” (32 to 17) & “The Brother Hood” go to 2 – 0 Drinking up all the Whiskey Squads liquor! (41 to 11). Round 3 looks like an easy Win for The Brother Hood! Wish I could join in – I like Freaks too!

Division 6: Turns out that “Renegades” are good at decrypting things to, with a (27 to 15) win over “Cryptic” moving to 2-0. While “Stange Things” happened to the “Super Squad” (21 to 18) moving us to a 2-0 vs 2-0 round 3 showdown. – This is another close one but my pick is “Renegades” for the Gold.

Division 7: What a Fight! “Pipers Pepper Patch” proved to much for “NEMESIS” Arrow made a last-second attempt to hit a winning shot but fell short of his target. (That was fun to watch) The Piper’s win (37 to 32) but it was really a lot closer than that. Meanwhile “Brilliance” spanked the Patrol Squad (34 to 19) Giving us another round 3 with a (2-0 vs. 2-0) matchup. This should be “Brilliance’s” to lose. (Prove me wrong Peter)

Division 8 :’s “Glory Hole” once again destroys their competition (36 to 17) & “Abomination” does the same with a (41 to 10) Victory. This Round 3 matchup is too close to call but there is always a Mystery around a Glory Hole!

Division 9: What can I say about D9 except for Contagion, Contagion, Contagion (105 to 65) “Army” has no chance in hell to stop this Contagion! Yes, they won against “Sunshine” (88 to 86) but I have to be honest guys, you might as well stay home for Round 3 and save the xp.

Division 10: “Living Lightning” left “Crown” without a hope for a kingdom (20 to 0) while “Revolution” picked up a win against “Gamma” (30 to 6). Round 3 will be over in a flash! But hey Lighting is naturally Gold anyway.

Division 11: “Darkness” found out just how “Cold” the competition was losing (67 to 17) falling to 0-2 while “Quaking” recovered with a (46 to 37) win moving to 1-1. What does all this mean for “Disorderly”? Well . . . Its going to be a "Cold" day in Hell before they win round 3. There can be only 1!

Division 12: This is another must-watch for round 3. “Vipers” took out “Platinum” (33 to 10) & Quizzical squeezed out a close win vs. “Insurrection.” (74 to 71) My money is on the Vipers to take the Gold in this upcoming 2-0 vs. 2-0 matchup, but its definitely going to be a close fight.

Division 13: “Mystic” summoned a monster and took out “OSO” (44 to 21). “Smoke” literally smoked the “Gladiators” (50 to 6). My round 3 production? That’s an easy one: The cards predict Mystic!

Finally in Division 14: Prowl (Spanked) “Candy” (26 to 10) Candy you know you liked it! Meanwhile the “Supreme Squad” took out those “Cape” pretenders (31 to 15). Round 3 Predictions? “Prowl”

Well that’s it for round 2’s recap and round 3 predictions, we will keep watching and Reporting from the “Butcher Shop Gazette”
this is Cαρƚαιɳ Aɱҽɾιƈα ID: 11122 – “I can do this all day”

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Butcher Shop Gazette: Round 1 Draft War News!

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The Hanzo Ninja Clan Presents: Crystal Acquisition

25104



For those who really follow the HNC teachings, you already know the value of raiding and crystal cards. About 80% to 90% of my cards are crystal cards from raids, and my toon Neo is a top 3 toon. When I have time, I raid like a madman, though, to be honest, lately, life has not provided me that time. I'm still about 550 cards shy of a full deck. But raiding, and following my guidelines, should get you a lot of power.

Before my leaguemate Mike "The World Serpent Jormurgandr" Gibbon passed, he asked me how I was able to collect enough crystals to tier so many cards so fast. Some of the answers were obvious. Do Fight Club. Do patrols and missions. Do your dailies. Etc. But there's 2 factors a lot of folks seem to miss.

For 1 thing, the crystal multiplier cons are invaluable to a free/budget player using my systems. I know they cost MP or bux, but they are well worth it, and combined, multiply crystals by 3x. That can be huge if you plan out a crystal run, where you do as many as 3 full Fight Clubs at 1 time, collect your dailies, and run the right patrols. Even some bosses give crystals.

But here's one everyone seems to ignore. I admit, even I often pass it up due to the tediousness of it compared to other methods. Fortunately, you don't have to choose between methods. You can do them all. And this particular method can net you quite a bit of crystals on top of your other methods.

What is this method so many seem to ignore? Their friends list. If you go to your friends list, you can click on them, collect their crystals, hit the back button, and collect from the next. Now, in order to do this, you will need to enter the game from the main link. If you entered using a raid link or something similar, hitting the back button will take you back to the page where you clicked the link. So be sure to enter from the main login page when you use this method.

Now, you might be asking just how lucrative is it? Well, I only have 430 actual toon friends in my friend list. The rest of my team is made up of hired henchmen. That's the equivalent of only a level 430 toon, despite my toon closing on lvl 1100. So it's not like I have a ton more toon friends in my list than most of you. Many of you actually have more. But after using all my crystals to tier cards, I was down to 3. I went to my friends list, and in about 45 minutes, I collected another 2745. That's a huge chunk of tiering. I get between 5k and 6k for doing 3 Fight Clubs. So this is pretty big, if you want to take the time.

1 way to insure a good haul is to create as many dummy accounts as you can. These are like cash cows, but for crystals. These dummy accounts can ONLY have one friend, no matter their level, and that single friend is YOU. This allows you to accumulate crystals on them that NO ONE ELSE can collect. This maximizes your yield when you do collect from your friend list, as well as gives you quick access to high crystal volume friends for when you only have a little time to collect. Just scroll to where they are at and start collecting.

Good luck, heroes and villains. For those of you who follow me close, you know how valuable those crystals have become. Use every method you can to acquire them until your deck is fully crystal tiered.

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Robert Steele's Div 1 Ranking of Heroes

ROBERT STEELE HERE RANKING THE DIVISION ONE SQUAD ONE PLAYERS 1-20.

THE CAPS ARE A HOMAGE TO OUR FALLEN WARRIOR BIG MIKE GIBBONS , THE BIG SNAKE, AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID.

MIGGY THE WORLD SSSSSERPENT R.I.P. COULD THERE BE ANY DOUBT. HE GETS THE VIKING SEND OFF IN THE NUMBER 1 SSSSSPOT.

SSSSSSLAGATHOR ONLY FITTING THAT THE ARCH ENEMIESSSS GO IN 1 AND 2 FOR THIS EVENT.

THE AVENGER WILL HISSSSS HEAD BE IN THE GAME? SSSSSSUPER RAK HIS OBIT TO MIGGY BROUGHT MANY TO TEARS JUST ASSSS HE DOESSSS WHEN HE DOUBLE TAPSSSS YOU.

NEO THE NINJA ISSSS NOT HIDING HOW UPSSSSET HE IS.

SSSSTINKFIST TRYING TO FILL BIG MIKE SSSSHOE'S IN WMD. MIGHTY BIG SHOESSSS. DID HE WEAR SSSSHOESSSS?

DEATHPUNCH SSSSPIKED THE PUNCH. HE WON'T MAIL THISSSS ONE IN.

HERITIC ALMOST HAD SSSSOMETHING NICE TO SSSSAY. ALMOSSSST.

SSSSKELLY WON 9 DIVISSSSION ONE'SSS LWSSSS IN A ROW WITH HISSS FALLEN COMRADE.

PUNLURK FANGSSSS ALOT FOR ALL YOU DID. NO PUN INTENDED.

DAMON ANOTHER LONG TIME TEAM MATE OF MIGGY'SSS. HISS LOSSSSS LEAVESSS A BIG HOLE IN HIS HEART, RIGHT NEXT TO ALL THE OTHER ONESSSSS.

SSSSHINOBI ANOTHER NINJA NOT HIDING HIS TEARSSS.

WOODY IT WASSSS HARD FOR HIM TO SSSAY GOODBYE TO BIG MIKE.

SSSERIPHIAM ISSS MIGGY UP THERE WITH YOU?

VENDETTA FINALLY LETSSS IT GO.

WINTER KNIGHT GRABSSS IT BY MISSSTAKE.

BARTMAN PAYING HIS RESSSPECTS.

KRYSSSTAL FAE IS HER SSSON MIGGY JR?

HARD LEFT HOOK ISSS THISSS DIVISSSION FIVE? VALVA HYAINA MIGGY WHO?

AVENGER!

ID: 14779

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Fan-Fiction: A Ballad of Balances (continued)

A Ballad of Balances continues, as Macaia’s Daughter looks for a chance to test her new gear… but gets an unexpected situation to contend with. Overlays with the Seething Shadows main storyline.

*****

ROSA

Rosa was delighted to be on the surveillance mission - as soon as she heard the name 'World Corps', her excitement shot through the roof.

"I don't think the odds of finding this arch-nemesis of yours would be particularly high," suggested one of her teammates, Winter's Night.

"Doesn't matter. Finding and knocking down anyone affiliated with World Corps is satisfaction enough," Rosa confidently replied. Her new accessories were tightened around her forearms and she looked forward to trying them out, even if it was unlikely to be against Torfield... initially.

---

An hour later, the thrill had significantly waned. The team had fanned out across several kilometres of terrain only to observe an average amount of civilians performing the typical activities of residents - catching buses and trains, going to schools and shopping malls, huddling around the instant-bet screens to wager on who's winning the local Fight Club event.

With frustration, Rosa thrust her left hand against an oak tree. It splintered immediately, causing Rosa to jump back. "Sorry," she whispered sheepishly. She made a mental note to find out the contact info for the local Parks department to reimburse for the damages.

A buzz in her comm unit startlet her.

"Shadow Krampus in New Amsterdam alert!" beeped a voice. "Heroes requested on scene, immediately!"

"I'm the closest of our team, I'm on the way! Copy, H.L.H.?" cried out Rosa.

"Ten-four, we're right behind you," came the voice of Hard Left Hook.

Rosa activated her Super Sonic Surfer and dashed towards the city.

A few minutes later, she encountered another hero, flying fast on a dragon. "Wizard," she muttered.

"It's 'The' Wizard, technically," replied the man clad in his mystic garb, the dragon not slowing down. "You up for a teamup?"

"I thought WMD wasn't really about allying with norms," replied Rosa, not glancing at the Wizard.

"It's never safe to assume, milady. In any event, it's just the of us for the time being... so let's try and make it work, yes?"

Relaxing slightly, Rosa nodded.

As they neared the bridge leading to the financial district and the more populated part of the city, The Wizard's comm buzz. He pulled his dragon to a stop, and motioned Rosa to join him. "It's Nova," he said as he clicked a button. An image of the Director appeared in front of the pair.

“Sir, we are on our way,” The Wizard said immediately.

“Do not join this battle. That Krampus is still too strong, it’s going toe to toe with an enhanced Midgard.”

The Wizard chuckled, “Don’t tell me the big snake took Viagra.”

Macaia’s Daughter laughed, “Don’t ever say that in front of him, or your pet dragon will be his next meal.”

“What are you doing?” Nova interrupted their joking.

“We are going to help protect the city and keep an eye on this.”

“Good. Just don’t get yourselves killed.” Nova commanded.

The screen vanished. "Well, this took a wild turn," said The Wizard.

"Can the Serpent take him on solo? I mean, if anyone can, it's probably him... but from all reports these Krampus behemoths have always required a team effort," asked Rosa.

The Wizard was already running towards the sounds of the battle. "We'll just have to find out," he gasped. Rosa was already back on her Super Sonic Surfer, trying to get an aerial view. She soon found the combatants and motioned her new ally to follow. She landed on a rooftop of one of the taller apartment buildings, about two blocks away from where Midgard and the Shadow Krampus were exchanging blows, their height dwarfing the surrounding structures. Rosa took a second to gaze across the surrounding area, gauging the situation.

“Midgard is really pulling out all the stops. I’ve never seen him show any respect for property when he is in the middle of a good fight.” The Wizard said.

“He’s doing okay. But, it won’t last long. Look, they’re heading for the Brownstone district near the bridge.” Rosa pointed out. “Ah, rats. There’s a wreck and three buses are stopped.

The Wizard jumped up, “I got em, just make sure those apartments aren’t leveled.”

The two heroes parted at top speed.

Rosa zoomed so close to the battle that she had to duck a backswing and then dodged a flailing tail. Midgard had Krampus by his shadowy neck and was just about to plow him into an old brownstone apartment building.

"Let's do this," she thought, and mental energy flowed into her armlets.

“Not today!” Macaia’s Daughter hit the building with his hands and a shimmering shield of psycho-kinetic energy spread out. Krampus bounced off the barrier, leaving the building intact.

Krampus dislodged the hands around his neck and then kicked Midgard in the gut, throwing him toward a large public parking garage filled with cars.

“WOAH!” Macaia’s Daughter focused all her powers and caught Midgard mid-fall and forced him back up. Midgard used the newfound rebound and slammed Krampus in the face.

Krampus twisted around and just about plowed into three buildings. Macaia’s Daughter thrust both hands up and a wave of energy hit Krampus and threw him over, landing him in the street, which only crushed half a dozen cars.

Spending a moment catching her breath, Rosa said, “This is insane. It’s like refereeing a Godzilla boxing match.”

Just then she saw Midgard go to pummel Krampus with a double fist pound while the shadow enemy was down. Rosa dropped to ground and put her hands on the pavement, sending out her strongest psycho-kinetic barrier. The slam hit, Krampus wheezed under the pressure and Macaia’s Daughter nearly blacked out, keeping the road system from being wrecked beyond repair.

Rosa groaned as she looked at her aching hands. “This is crazy.”

Krampus exploded into a cloud of dark mist and reformed, standing upright. He swung to punch Midgard. Macaia’s Daughter prepared herself for the next object she would protect. However, Midgard strategically dodged the first swing, then the second, and then caught the arm of the third. He twisted his body around. Macaia’s Daughter created a barrier to protect the building across the street. Midgard’s considerable tail crashed into her barrier and didn’t smash the buildings. While she did this, Midgard swung Krampus around like a giant shot-put and released him with an enormous roar. Krampus sailed over New Amsterdam Bay and just before he crashed into the water, a blast of energy from Midgard’s mouth obliterated the villain in a violent explosion of the black smoke. This time, it didn’t congeal, but fell apart, evaporating on the wind as a slight echo of a scream rolled across the city.

Rosa looked on. She couldn't believe what she witnessed.

"He... he did it..."

The Wizard flew by, giving Rosa a thumbs-up sign. Rosa returned the gesture, then looked at her hands. She thought of what she had done in the heat of battle.

"I too,... did it."

ID 10890

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Filling the Boundless Void

by Madam Marvelous ID#26130

"There are enough heroes out there, the world doesn't need you right now. Everything you are doing doesn't mean much if you don't understand what you are fighting for, honey."

Mom's words echoed within my mind as I stood on the roof of the Sagan Academy science building, gazing out over the campus, numb to everything.

Even if the entire building beneath me collapsed into a sinkhole and swallowed whole, taking the rest of the campus... no, the rest of the city down, it wouldn't compare to how devastated I already felt inside. They talk about a person's world being rocked by bad news. My world wasn't just rocked. It was rocked, rolled, ground up, pummelled, and shattered into pieces small enough to pass through the eye of a needle.

He couldn't be gone. Not him. He was as constant as the bite of the north wind in the Arctic, the blazing heat in the Sahara desert. As the rage of a Karen whose coupon for buy-one, get-one free was declined by a cashier. He would never stop. Not ever. NOT EVER!

I'd stopped heroing. Hadn't changed into Madam Marvelous in I don't even know how long, or anything else for that matter. I followed my mother's wishes and tried to live as one single person, her daughter, until I would graduate. He didn't agree, of course, not that he said or told me. His shrug of indifferent disappointment spoke louder than his normal shouting. Our training, our entire relationship, just stopped the day I told him.

I knew he was mad, cause when wasn't he, but always hoped that in a few years when I graduated and had some life under my belt, so to say, he and I would make up and pick up where we left off. He'd teach me more about fighting. We'd spar. I'd lose repeatedly, but he would occasionally compliment me on a tactic I would employ and laugh at how foolish it was to try on him, but against anyone else it would have done the job.

I wanted so badly to tell him thank you. I don't think he ever knew how grateful I was for him and what he did to encourage me. I wanted to feel his great clawed hand on my shoulder, patting me as delicately as a bull in a china shop could dain to be.

Instead, I felt his hand slide into my own and take grip as the roof groaned at his massive weight pressed down upon the entire structure beside me.

"WHY ARE YOU SAD, LITTLE WARRIOR," a voice said beside me. A voice I so wanted to hear but dared not look at for fear of its source disappearing. "YOU LEFT ME FIRST."

"I always planned on coming back." Tears welled in my eyes. "You were supposed to be there when I was ready."

"I TRIED TO TEACH YOU NEVER TO DEPEND ON ANYTHING BUT YOURSELF. THE UNIVERSE IS A HARSH MISTRESS. MY VERY EXISTENCE SHOULD HAVE PROVED THAT TO YOU. YOU DO KNOW I WAS MEANT TO DESTROY THIS PUNY WORLD AFTER ALL."

The mirth in his voice brought out a small smile from my lips. "You kept saying that, but I don't think you wanted to anymore. You were having too much fun."

The sun ahead of us seared the horizon, a flare of white-hot light sizzling where it touched the edge of the earth.

"DESTRUCTION OF ONE'S ENEMIES IS ALWAYS FUN. THAT DID NOT MEAN I EVER FORGOT MY PURPOSE, AS YOU DID. YOU WERE BORN A WARRIOR BUT NOW PRETEND TO BE A SHEEP."

"I'm not pretending to be anything. I need time to figure out who I want to be for myself, not who you, Mrs. Fae, BADGE, or my parents want me to be." I almost pulled my hand free from his, but stopped. I wasn't ready for him to go. "I want to be more than just what I can do. I'm not just a shapeshifter anymore."

"I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT, LITTLE ONE. IT IS GOOD YOU ARE FINALLY UNDERSTANDING THE TRUTH OF YOU."

I suspected he knew more about my abilities than I had realized while we trained, but it was hard to ask questions when his punches came toward your face like scaley freight trains. "I'm going to miss you. Why did you have to--"

"BAH, DON'T SPEAK TO ME OF SUCH NONSENSE. SHOW ME!" His fist tightened on mine. Pain shot up my arm as bones cracked and ground to shards.

I screamed out, part the pain of my injury but more the unconsolable hurt behind the pain. I curled my other hand into a fist as I fell to my knees and punched through the rooftop, sending blocks of debris onto the floor below.

"GOOD, LITTLE WARRIOR. DON'T WASTE WHAT YOU FEEL. USE IT."

My face wet, the cement dust created by my blow settled on my cheeks and clung to me. I brought my head up to look at the sun as the last of it incinerated the skyline and faded from sight.

"I don't want to let you go."

"YOU MUST. YOU MUST NOT KEEP HOLD OF ME, IT LESSENS YOU AND YOU WILL NEED BOTH HANDS FOR THE FUTURE."

"Then come back. Don't leave me here without you. I need you."

His hand released my own and I knew he was gone. I still looked to my side, hoping beyond hope he would be there, but all I found was open air the scrapes of his tail swiping carved into the rooftop.

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Interview with a Realm Defender...

by Rankin Phyle (PID#36312)

This is Rankin Phyle, reporting for HNN 

(Hero News Network, a subsidiary of The Sentinel, LLC)

Today, I have another hero in my hot seat. The hero known throughout HR as Tri-blade (10879)...

Good Afternoon, Sir...

T-B-
Good afternoon, Mr. Phyle... may I call you Rankin?

Certainly, you may...
I understand that, much like my last guest, you came originally from another dimension... what brought you to our realm, and how did you become one of its protectors?

T-B-
Well, Rankin... HR is not the first realm other than my own I have visited... As with many of those who now protect HR, I have spent time in the realm of SHC... while there, I met and befriended another, known as Ability Mage; I had long since returned home to ETD/E?? when I was summoned, along with 2 other colleagues, by AM's disappearance from SHC...

I and my colleagues searched many realms before finally locating AM here in HR. accidentally or serendipitously, who knows...

After securing our friend's freedom, we considered returning home, however, we saw the Realm was under serious threat not just from Legion but other dangerous forces.

Collectively, we chose to remain and help, while allowing Ability Mage to make a complete and full recovery. We've been grateful to reacquaint ourselves with friends both old and new during this time.

That is truly noble... Have you joined one of the leagues?

T-B-
As a matter of fact, yes... I'm currently a member of The Disenchanted Brute Squad... we protect the people, and where possible, the property in our assigned sector.

Well, I'm sure that you contribute greatly to the safety of those in your charge... Any final comments, before we conclude for today?

T-B-
Words of wisdom, hmmm... I'd say be willing to conquer your fears... but also treasure your loved ones and treasure your experiences... people may come, they may go, but memories long endure.

Well said... on that note, I think it's time to allow you to return to your duties... for HNN, this has been Rankin Phyle, signing off...

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DRAFT WAR ♆SOB♆ Teaser

♆SOB♆ bUTCHER SHOP GAZETTE



Signups start this September 11th! Will you lead or follow? Will you rise to the Top or be left in the dust? Whatever happens always remember the words of the Great Ricky Bobby, “If you aren’t First, your Last”!

ID: 11122

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