A rp memorial thread posting of old SHC stories by Chris Evans/Acidburn/Krystal Fae/Krystal Murphy/Alex Murphy

[The Inkling]

I first met Chris in another game in what seemed like another universe ages ago. He was a very soft spoken person and yet his imagination was among the biggest I can ever hope to compliment.

This thread I am creating will have each new reply by me be one of his Superhero City SHC stories that he wrote so long ago. Many of them I was privileged to be his co writer with along with many other legendary players and characters, some still playing, some who have retired and some who have sadly passed away like Chris has. Please enjoy.

[The Inkling]

The Spirit is Willing by Chris Evans

The gate to Fae-re lies open...Krystal and Alex are urging the mass of fleeing Aliens and mutants to hurry.

"Hurry... the 'wave' is nearly here!", Krys called loudly, none too gently pushing her current charges through the gateway.

"Alex, we'll need to escort them to the holding area... you go now to do that.", she said.

"What about y-", he was replying as they notice a woman an her small child, obvious metas, had stumbled and fallen nearby.

As Krys threw herself in their direction, she called over her shoulder, "Go! I'll be right behind you!", she cried.

Alex muttered under his breath, "I have a bad feeling about this..."

He stepped through the gateway.

Krys, meanwhile, had reached the pair, helped them to their feet and now was hurrying them to the gate.

The wave approached like a wall of silent, white light.

Krys took one last look around for stragglers, then dived towards the gate just as the wave hit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angelica sat up in a cold sweat in her bed, in her mom's house in Humphreydale...

"What a weird dream..."

Meanwhile in the more magic-prone dimension of Balenor, KrystalLynn awakens on the roadside where she had made camp.

"What a weird dream..."

In Fae-re, Krys lies just beyond the gate, apparently asleep, and nothing Alex can do awakens her.
Alex gathers her in his arms, and due to his desperation, takes flight in the direction of the castle of Oberon and Titania...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Alex paced worriedly, Leo and Titania examine Krystal's unconcious form.  

Once their examination could yeild no further details, they questioned Alex closely about the moment of Krystal's appearance and what he had felt/'heard' through their mental link.  

Finally, they left to research her condition, Titania by her divination abilities, Leo in historical references.

Now left alone wth Krys's unconcious form, Alex did the only thing he could to help... he prayed.

Dear Lord, I don't know what to do... Krys needs help... I need help... Please help me...

In another realm, the sleeping form of a saint recognizes a voice she knows, crying out in mental anguish.

Her powers are much diminished, but since she is already asleep, she slips thru the gateway of dreams into the realm of Fae-re, the dream-world.

Alex looks up, and at the foot of Krys's bed, stands a somewhat changed but still recognisable figure...

"'Allo, Alex...", says St Joan.


"Oh my God, Joan, I can't wake her... how do we help her?", Alex whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The saint stood for a moment in contempation, then asked Alex a question.

"'Ow did this 'appen, mon ami?"

Alex sighed and replied, "You know her, Joan... when the EA wave approached, we were guiding metas here into Fae-re... she went back for some stragglers, while I came thru to guide those already through... the wave must have hit while she was still in the gate..."

"I believe she can be 'elped, then... I need to check something first, but - je revien.", said Joan, as she faded from view.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few moments - or an eternity - later...

"Gabriel... you know why I 'ave come..."

"Indeed... her soul has shattered... you will guide him in it's recovery."

"'Ow shall I proceed?"

"The dream seems appropriate... one more thing... Though she will recover, because of her condition, there will be consequences..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joan fades back into view.

"Alex, I 'ave found what must be done..."

"There is a way to help her?   I'll do anything, go anywhere..."

"'Er soul was shattered by the wave... it must be repaired."

"How do we do it?"

"Since we are in Fae-re, the best way is to find those who 'ave the shards of her soul and visit their dreams."

"I don't know how to thank you, Joan..."

"First, let us accomplish something, then we will see if you 'ave anything to thank me for."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[The Inkling]

Prequel to "The Spirit is Willing

It has been many months since the regular faculty of Ice Ray Academy had any problems to deal with. This has caused the students to become more reckless and the teachers in turn less lax in their restrictions on using magic outside of the school grounds. This would soon prove to be a huge error in judgement...

A few certain students, among them Jenna Firemage and Corrine Daniels, took the weekend off from studying for an important quiz on Comprehensive Theology of Magikal Lore in their final year. Both the witches were geniuses in their own fields of magic, but despite this fact they did not realize that certain magical secrets are best to leave uncovered forever rather then brought back up into the light of modern day.

Tamiyo, the current Blue Planeswalker Guardian of Earth, had been working nonstop for quite a few months to restore the moon since the visage of the late robotic hacker HXx0r was carved deep into it after Jace had returned to Ravnica following his quest to help the werewolves escape the magical time curse placed upon them at the time by the evil archvillain Lucifer. She had no desire to face any of the evil magic users there in Superhero City while she worked to fully restore the moon, and thus did this first line of magical defense not see the ancient threat slowly approaching...

Jenna Firemage along with her dorm roommate and sometimes class rival Corrine Daniels slowly were enjoying the cool fall colored foliage and neighborhoods of Superhero City outside of the Academy walls. It was their first trip since the school had been attacked following the evil actions of one of its older enemies, Alexis the Demon. While neither had ever met her before, both had heard legends of her cruelty and thirst for power as were well documented in the Academy archival library.

"Don't you feel excited that soon we will no longer have to have classes anymore?" Corrine asked her smiling. Jenna could see the excitement in her eyes and hear it in her voice as she nodded merrily too. Unlike Corrine, she had more safe experience there in the city itself and she hoped that no magical problems arose during their simple escapade. But she was also aware that no matter how calm the city might appear, trouble was always going on no matter who was causing it or what was involved.

"I hope that the holidays this year are more enjoyable then last year," Jenna replied, remembering that due to certain events she had been involved in, Jenna had found her long lost oldest brother and with his help seemingly killed the dracolich that had been after their family for too long. She frowned slightly, remembering how it had been revealed that both siblings had been under control of his evil magical brainwashing to the point none had recognized that the other was their relative and even worse both had done evil in the city in his bid to create chaos. "If Zerocurew the Dracolich is dead," she thought aloud,"why did I see and have to battle him again one on one when our half Fae-Re-keen friend and ally Acidburn helped us and the Academy Weaponsmaster Jayariel Drillowup who everyone knows is your boyfriend to rescue our school and everyone among the students and faculty there from the dreadful void we had all been banished to following that great battle last year?"

Corrine shuddered a little when her rival and roommate's words also brought up the same memories in her mind as well. "Jenna," she slowly began to say, "I think there is something you need to know that I could be sent into solitary detention for if the faculty knew I was saying this." As though afraid they might hear her thoughts, she looked around to make sure no one else was nearby who might be eavesdropping. "From things I accidentally heard slip during certain meetings my dad had before his sudden disappearance in the weeks before I came to the academy, there might be a small possibility we are related."

In the silence that followed, one could have heard a volcano erupt and not even have noticed.

During the citywide event Tug of War: Eternal Darkness, two sinister villains secretly observed via scrying from another plane of existence the chaos and turmoil that was happening on Earth. When it was over they slowly discussed their plans for this year's upcoming holiday festivals in Superhero City. "You know we will be able to rightly use all the negative energy to bring our Master back to life," one remarked with an evil cackle of cruel laughter to the other. "However we must be more careful not to allow the mistakes of the past to repeat themselves again this time. Too much is riding on the newest plot we have been assigned to machinate."

The other slowly nodded, as though in deep thought. "It is a shame our fellow associate has not fully recovered yet from his last experience fighting against our sworn blood enemies. Apparently we all were taken unawares at the time that they had grown so powerful or had powerful allies too no less. Now however, the time is soon at hand when they face a greater power then us and we will have to prevent them at all costs from succeeding this time or we will suffer a fate worse then our ally did."

Suddenly a huge shadow fell across the area of the mysterious plane they were on and a terrifyingly ancient and evil voice known only so far to them and their master spoke out. "You both would be wise not to allow your scrying to be traceable. He may not be fully awake yet but he has sent me to make absolutely certain you both understand firsthand that his anger has not yet abated towards both of you and your lesser powered associate despite the fact that certain things happened which we unfortunately were unable to foresee at the time. As a result, I have been placed in charge for this part of our side's continuing plot and I will tolerate no rebellion from either of you! Do I make myself clear?" Without another word this figure vanished from physical and magical sight just as suddenly as it had appeared. The two remaining beings knew he would be watching very carefully to make certain they did not become ambitious and try to overstep their duties this time and instantly they put up a barrier from even scrying itself so no one who was a servant of good would ever know they were being overheard before resuming their scrying upon Jenna Firemage and Corrine Daniels.

Looks like there are multiple plots brewing for the upcoming holidays but the masterminds and motives will not be revealed until the time is right. For now, it is only revealed to be known that evil is again stirring on Earth and surrounding planes and this time it is not going to be prevented by those who call themselves Earth's Defenders without heavy losses and sacrifices.

The look on Jenna's face surprised Corrine a little at first. She should have seen it coming, she thought, but maybe she simply had not known her long enough. After all both girls had been in their class for only a few months since Jenna had returned from her evil possessed form and the school itself had returned from its place of temporary exile. Before she could say anything else, suddenly there was a bright flash of light that temporarily left both girls slightly disoriented. When their eyesight returned, certain members of the Kingpin's minions had surrounded them armed with chains and leather saps and wearing oddly shining body armor. "Mrs. Firemage, our boss has been looking for you for a very long time. It seems you cost him some valuables the first time you both met and he wants you to pay up," the leader of them seemed to slightly smirk as he spoke. "As for you...Ms. Daniels was it? You may seem harmless but we are not taking any chances. Grab them!"

Growling, Jenna and Corrine both took out their wands but nothing happened when they cast a simple spell to blind them. "You really think he would send us out without magic nullifying gear?" the goon laughed. "Now then boys let's show these two what it means to really fight!" Before they could attack, Jenna and Corrine were already in motion and using a combination of simple martial arts to defend themselves while Corrine was trying very hard to communicate telepathically with Jayariel and Jaegarjumi for aid.

However it seemed she could only get what seemed like static and it soon became clear these goons were not ordinary ones but apparently high on a new drug of Dr. Fulkhearth's. Within a few minutes the witches were too worn out to further defend themselves and in a matter of moments both were knocked out. "Boss send in the transport," their leader said, speaking into a small communications device. "We have your..guests." Within what seemed a few seconds a camouflaged stealthy and silent small coptor appeared next to the group and the girls, taped up tightly with the duct tape the goons had discovered in Corrine's pocket, were on their way to an unknown fate..

The first part of the evil plot had succeeded and no one at the Academy was even aware that two students had been abducted. For at the same time Jenna and Corrine were being overwhelmed, all methods currently of communications from the grounds to mortals only were suddenly cut off as a mysterious unearthly fog slowly began to condense around it. Though it clearly was magical in nature, alas only 'walkers were powerful enough to communicate mentally through it at the very least and unfortunately none were free at this time who were Academy allies.

"I do not understand why I can not locate my sister and Corrine even via magic," The Inkling said to Headmaster James Starrunner and his wife Headmistress Bobby Starrunner a few hours after they had left without anyone yet knowing of what was to occur. "Scrying as well as telepathy do not seem to work and I have already looked throughout their dorm and usual classrooms too. For all my efforts I only seem to be getting a strange buzzing sensation." "Chad you are far from the first to have picked up on this," James began to say slowly. "Weaponsmaster Jayariel Drillowup first reported it several hours ago when he found that Jaegarjumi had somehow escaped from the statuette and he was unable to call the panther back. He afterwards went after her, but found that some sort of invisible magical barrier had surrounded our Academy trapping us. It appears we are under siege from a dark power for reasons I hesitate to think about."

"Wait a minute, you are telling me that even you two who are the most powerful human magic users here can not determine its cause?" Chad Rockwell also known as The Inkling was astonished. "How can this be? Even our old enemies never used this strong of magic against all of us entirely in the old days when we fought against them to defend the world from their evil darkness. Something is very wrong here." A bright light suddenly appeared in the room the three were speaking in and when it faded away, the legendary Fae Child Goddess Aphrael Aphrael stood there who was the academy's oracle appeared looking very distraught. "We are in mortal peril," she said. "A dark force none of you have ever encountered has arrived here on Earth and it is after you Chad and your siblings first then the entire Academy and then Superhero City and Earth. I wish this day had not come so soon, despite the fact I predicted it James when you were still a student here." Suddenly her eyes and face turned pale and as they tried to help a dark cloud seemed to enter her mind and without a word she suddenly collapsed! Immediately, the school nurse Collette Sackville-Baggs was summoned while the others tried to figure out her mysterious remarks. A few moments later Collette teleported inside "This is bad," she said not long after checking on Aphrael. "Physically she appears fine while asleep. Magically however, this is not any type of demonic or evil fae magic I have ever seen before."

Several hours passed before Aphrael began to slowly awaken. She saw that she was now in the Academy's hospital dormitory and her bed was surrounded by the staff and many of the students there with frightened looks and grim expressions on their faces. "W-what was I saying before I collapsed," she asked her mortal sister Sephrenia Darklighter who was standing nearby. "From what I have been told you were talking about an old magical force you had encountered before but new to everyone else," she slowly replied. Though Aphrael could see how hard it was for her to keep her emotions in check, there was no doubt that possibly one she knew what was happening to her.

"Thank you Sephrenia," the goddess said trying to help her feel relaxed. "I knew this day was going to come eventually in regards to my physical health but alas some things are foreordained eternally. Simply put, my current avatar form (body) is nearing the end of its life expediency and when that time comes for me to create a new one, until it is finished, I will be unable to be contacted via any form of communication. In other words, I am slowly begining to die of old age physically. But before that time comes I need to tell you all the nature of the new evil beseiging your academy as well as make.."arrangements" for a new "vessel" to hold my essence until my new body is completed."

"Long ago when planeswalkers first came to this planet millennium before Supreme Hero City was even a far off distant dream, not all of them were good ones. Truthfully, there were those who desired nothing more then to enslave humanity and use this planet to rule their sinister agendas from. But the good ones in that ancient period of time banded together and put a magical barrier into place that shielded this planet from them for a very long time and in doing so, they enabled humanity to grow into the many ancient to present civilizations known today. However, one of these evil walkers decided that he would devote his life to finding a way to break that magical seal and claim Earth for his own. His name is known as Nicol Bolas and he is one of the most powerfully evil walkers still alive today."

"When I was created to be a Goddess to the Styric people long ago, the Gods and Goddesses of Earth had no idea at the time that Planeswalkers even existed for you see, even back then they had the magical ability to fully shroud themselves from deities of this world and this was done to prevent us from knowing of their existence. But that time of peaceful unawares was soon going to end in an awful way. A minor deity of my race was accidentally discovered by one of these evil walkers and was brutally murdered and then not only were their memories erased from their avatar shell and their soul seemingly scattered forever, but this walker created a new avatar for them based on this innocent victim and used this form to begin corrupting Earth's Gods to become more evil then ever they were before."

"For many centuries this walker went unknown among the councils of the the different Gods of Earth's races until one day the spirit of its murdered victim long ago was found to have reincarnated and in that instant all became aware she had been murdered. You see, that was my very first reincarnation."

"The anniversary of my original death soon approaches in this millennium and as it does my current avatar will become weaker. Beware for Nicol Bolas seeks to destroy me again fully and wreak chaos and destruction on thi planet and all of its inhabitants. He must be stopped but you must be careful for he has long been able to read my every thought since he first killed my original form." With that Aphrael slowly fell into a deeper coma...

A few hours previously to the last post above Corrine Daniels slowly began to groggily awaken. The last thing she could remember was that she and her long lost cousin Jenna Firemage had been ambushed by the Kingpin's thugs and surprisingly being defeated even though the odds had hardly been in the favor of the two teenage witches. As she slowly began opening her eyes, Corrine already knew she and Jenna were in serious trouble. She could easily feel her tape wrapped tightly around her and unfortunately was well aware of its magical properties to not only prevent those restrained thus from using magic to escape but even worse it had the secondary enchantment built into it that made it more tighter the harder said captive struggled to escape as the tape used their physical strength against them.

The room she and Jenna appeared to be in seemed out of a museum of horrors judging by the Gothic looking medieval instruments of torture positioned around. An Iron Maiden, several stocks and a bed of needles and several chains attached at positions along the walls that looked made of ancient mortar. As for the smell, to Corrine the scent was suspiciously like that of a female demon's..one she seemed to almost recognize but why?

She and Jenna were currently seated and taped still back to back in cold steel chairs, because she could feel her cousin's hands taped near hers and looking down she could see her arms were not taped to her front or the chair sides. Her mouth was currently not gagged but having been a captive many times in her old world, she knew better then to try to make any noise for now.

Soon she heard and felt her cousin slowly beginning to awaken. Corrine had no idea if Jenna had ever been a captive before physically, but she did know about the years of magical brainwashing her and her twin brothers had endured which had made them all enemies until the enchantment had finally been broken several months earlier. Jenna silently too quickly came to the same conclusions of Corrine. Even though she was more worried about how the Kingpin was going to treat her younger cousin rather then herself, she still inwardly cursed herself for not making the connection between them being relatives sooner and then and there she silently vowed that after they escaped, she would do more reading up on her family history and the Academy archives.

Suddenly a door that neither had noticed because it blended right into the wall nearest them opened up and in walked The Kingpin. "I was worried my men had been too eager in their want to please me and their desire to test the newest drug craze sweeping the city," he said to both angry looking witches as they stared defiantly at him. "But you both appear to have extremely resilient bodies and bones. Who knew that there were other females like that darned pink haired punk Pink just as deceiving with physical strength and able to use magic? My men will have to recover for many months from the internal bruises you both left on them when they captured you both."

He smiled humorouslyHe. "Mrs. Firemage, do you know how much it cost me to refit my office after my first encounter with you? $345,999,789.00 dollars. Even by my wealthy standards, replacing the artwork was so hard because I had to travel all over the world to steal the originals your magic ruined the copies of. At least in Greece I found it more profitable to trade for then steal for once."

He smiles as though remembering something humorous to him. "Ah yes, your friend Alex Murphy the police officer spotted me there. I'm so sorry he had to be...temporarily removed from the picture but I hear he has recovered very well indeed. Maybe in the future, if I decide to release you two, you can tell him I honestly did not tell my chauffeur to run him down. Apparently someone tampered with my vehicle's brakes and well I'll simply say they have been punished indefinitely."

"As for why you both have been brought to my Winter retreat outside of Superhero City, well someone who hates you both more then even me offered a sum for your captures alive, a sum more then any amount I have ever accumulated in the past. Who they are I do not know as it was an email even my hired computer hackers were unable to trace. But they should be here shortly." Just then a green mist suddenly began appearing mysteriously out of nowhere which knocked the two witches out only. It was an anti magic form of chloroform.

Meanwhile back at the academy things were getting scarier. With Aphrael fully in a coma the teachers were helpless as they tried to communicate their school's plight to their friends outside the barrier. Students were beginning to ask questions and for the most part nothing the teachers could think up was really working as a means to distract them.

Jayariel was beginning to lose his composure which was very difficult for one of elvish and fae blood such as himself. In spite of all his many attempts to telepathically communicate with Corrine or Jaegarjumi he had not been successful in either way. His brow slowly took on a dark evil countenance which was lucky since he was in his room by himself as he realized he had one more way left to communicate but it was extremely dangerous. Locking his door, he set up a Dark Ritual barrier formed from his own physical blood and his own life force to prevent any of good magic from disturbing him until finished.

Now that he knew no one was even able to scry upon him at the least or break inside his magically enchanted room at most, Jayariel took out his scimitars from their scabbards and holding each hilt facing him in his wrists, he began a long complicated prayer to Sehanine Moonbow the Elven goddess of the moon, autumn, and love. If he could not communicate with his love through magic or physically then he would through dreams themselves but to do that he needed the guidance of one of the most mysterious Elvish deities. As well he was very much aware that rituals at night and honed through moonlight and blood were more dangerous but also held higher chances of success and thus did he pray to her for guidance.

All night long from what his senses told him was sunset to sunrise he chanted as he sat in a circle surrounded by bloodied silver candles. Every half hour and every hour he had slowly and methodically bled himself from a vein onto one of the candles until it was bloodied from wick's fiery tip to the very base and all around as well. If his summons was not answered soon he knew he would perish as his life grew fainter with the loss of blood so regularly but he had no choice. He would sacrifice all to find Corrine and if necessary save her.

Right before he could begin cutting deeply into his neck, a silvery light slowly began to appear in his room. Carefully he slowly bowed down and laid his body between the candles in reverence as he knew his summons had finally been answered.

As Sehanine materialized, her lilting, musical voice drifted to his ears. In a form of Elvish last heard physically before the sundering of the races, she intoned, "Dark One, the passion of your heart has called to me... what would you request of me?" "Oh, Lovely One, hear my plea... I have been unable to mentally reach either my companion or my soul-mate because of this wretched barrier which has entrapped my self and my friends... I know not how, but we will likely perish without your assistance."

She looked at him with compassion, and raising her hand, Jayariel was surrounded by a silvery light, healing him of his self- inflicted wounds. She smiled and replied, "Dark one, speak your words to your soul-mate... by my art will she receive them, and be able to return hers, as well..."

From within their captor's mansion, Jenna Firemage and Corrine Daniels were still somewhat in denial at what The Kingpin had told them. Jenna knew he was truly angry at her, as much as any self-respecting of the still living game bosses would at this time. But beginning with the cloud of smoke which had induced her and Corrine directly back to sleep again they had awakened to learn from minions of his evil empire that a Zigonian Armada had recently appeared over the skies of Earth and all the superheroes and villains had banded together to withstand its awesome might. Curiously enough no one from Ice Ray Academy had shown up though and this worried Corrine greatly. In her heart she suspected that the evil from her and Jayariel's past was responsible for this but dared not say it aloud for fear Jenna might revert to her previous persona of evil and wickedness.

Now however reports were coming in of a strange new phenomenon in the city: Magic users both good and evil were suddenly falling into comas as well as being unable to communicate with their respective leagues. Corrine wondered quietly if this same unknown as yet force was why Jayariel was unable to hear her telepathic cries for help as she and Jenna were now in cages made of the same anti magic material in steel form as the tape she wished she had never had.

Suddenly a bright silvery light appeared in the air between her cage and Jenna's and an Elvish woman dressed in grey clothing appeared. "Listen well young heroines for good that ye both are," she whispered silently into their minds. "A sinister force has blocked your family and close friends from Ice Ray Academy from leaving their grounds and has prevented them from contacting anyone they are friends with including planeswalkers who are their ally's. Know that this is the ancient magic of the evil elder dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas at work. He seeks to devour all the magic here on Earth to hasten the demise of Aphrael the Child Goddess and bring to pass not only his own physical manifestation here on Earth but also the death of every god and goddess here either good or evil and the resurrection of the one who him and return of those who are evil fallen Elves that you both have faced in triumph to this world."

A look of anger appeared and disappeared fast from her visage as she continued to speak. "Corrine your betrothed Jayariel Drillowup summoned me in a deadly ritual, that were it not for the bond of love you two have shared these long decades together in your youthful looking human body, he should by all that is holy to the Gold Elves should not have survived. But I have been watching you both clearly unawares to Lloth all these years since you and him first met and know I am pleased that your relationship has long lasted. To this I have granted Jayariel the boon for now that you both may communicate through my power which normally I would not allow as I am usually a neutral deity."

Corrine knew then and there her fiancee had taken a dreadful risk. "Oh Jayariel," she whispered softly as tears fell from her eyes through the cage bars to the stone floor hundreds of feet below. "I can tell you little at this time. The Kingpin's minions have captured Jenna and I and we are his prisoners in his mansion near the New York/ Canadian border as he told us only a few hours ago. However he has put into place anti fae technology to prevent you from breaking in and only later did we learn that other magic users were being stricken by a mysterious malady that I now know is because of Nicol Bolas. Jayariel, if you can hear me listen. You will have to find Jaegarjumi first."

To her amazement Jayariel's face appeared in the air before her cage and Jenna's. "Corrine thank you. I truly was afraid you and Jenna were in comas..or worse. The barrier Sehanine has described to you is very powerful. It has prevented any of us at the Academy from physically or magically leaving the grounds or by reaching anyone by means of communication. However all is not without hope for if I can not escape my barrier if you Sehanine will allow it I must contact our human friends Alex and Krystal Murphy. Despite Krystal being Fae and Alex having Fae blood in him due to the transfusion she gave him before they were married because of the grave injuries he received in Athens they by themselves cvan not help to rescue you both. However their friends and leaguemates in Turbulence can. In return you both must listen carefully. Aphrael is dying and there is a secret entrance buried far beneath Superhero City to the Underworld. To save Aphrael, a party of magic and fae, super and regular humans must undergo the voyage there to retrieve her soul from where minions of the 7 Deadly Sins who are servants of Bolas at this time have it well guarded. For you must know that without her soul, being recovered and brought again to the light of day Aphrael will not be able to reincarnate and the world will fall into a new and deadly Ice Age. this will lower the temperatures and expand glaciers all over so an old ancient evil buried deep within this planet long before the Elves were created might awaken and escape its eternal captivity. In modern times this evil had the ancient name of Zarel and he was an ancient humanoid of unspeakable power and he served that dread being that all we have faced are minions of: The Demonic Planeswalker Kuthuman but here though a cult has long in secret worshipped him under the innocent moniker of EA. Bolas if he succeeds in his task will allow Zarel to break free and Kuthuman to return here from the magical exile he has been within in the far dark side of the universe that the Zigonian and Amazon homeworlds have long bordered."

Having left the Undercity, Krystal contacted Alex and discovered that Jenna and Corrine had been missing for several hours... atempting to call the Starrunners at SHCU, she discovered that all communication was cut off to the dorm building and by questioning those in the area, that some of the Kingpin's thugs had been spotted in the area... shortly thereafter a strange fog had surrounded the dorm and was expanding over the rest of the campus. "First things first, Jenna and Corrine may be in danger... if not, they may know the cause of the fog barrier around the campus..." Moments later, Krystal crouches just inside the fence at the Kingpin's mansion. As she observes the goon's set to patrol, she notices that her magic seems to be 'blocked' somehow... "Now how will I get past those thugs?", she thought. As she watched, a cat screeched behind the patrolling thugs. The three thugs each instantly pulled a taser from their belt, then saw the cat and began to quietly curse and re-holster their tasers. Krystal thought to herself, "Now that gives me an idea..."

A short time later two thugs drop Krystal's apparently unconscious body in the cell with Jenna and Corrine. "That'll teach these capes to try to rescue you.", the thug in charge growled. "Hang her sword on the wall opposite the cell door... I want this smug b--th to know we're better than her." The three thugs kicked the unconscious form a few times, glared menacingly at Jenna and Corrine, and then filed out through the barred door of the cell. Jenna turned to Corrine and said quietly "Do you think she's alright? As Corrine started to answer, Krystal groaned, grimaced at the cuffs on her wrists, and said quietly, "I've had better days..." Krystal worked her way to a sitting position, then grinned weakly at Corrine and Jenna. "We thought that they had tased you unconscious like they did us...", said Corrine. "They certainly tried... guess they forgot, since I've been suppressing it for a while, that electrical generation is one of my powers. I took it for a few seconds to make it look good then shorted out their batteries..." Krystal's muscles bulged and her cuffs burst with a crack of metal snapping. she then freed the girls from their bonds. Pulling a small, but powerful magnet on a thin chain from a small pocket hidden beneath her belt, she reached between the bars and began to swing it towards her sword, hanging on the opposite wall. "They have set up an anti-magic ward somehow, and since you two were their intended targets, they thought that was enough. Against magical powers it would be, and they 'think' they know how to handle 'supers', so they got a little lazy... it never occurred to them that any one with a little knowledge of...", -swing-, "science...", -swing-, ", and the ability to think...", -swing-, "can do things without powers or magic...", -clank-, "... now let's get out of here."

As the fog enchantment grew more dense around Ice Ray Academy and Super Hero City University's campus, inside the situation was more dire. A few hours after Aphrael fell into her coma with no signs of awakening anytime soon, all of the students teenage years through baby age suddenly turned into werewolves. The evil female lycan's curse upon the children of the Headmaster and Headmistress had unknowingly infected every non adult there with the Lycan curse. As a result the nurse was swamped between trying to figure out the cause of this disaster and returning the Child Goddess Aphrael to full usage of her facilities.

Sephrenia Darklighter, Aphrael's mortal long lived sister and high priestess along with Headmistress Bobby Starrunner and assisted by her husband and the Chad twins were currently trying to learn as much info about Despaira as could be accessed with the limited Internet access within.

Headmaster James Starrunner was in a private research spell barrier in his office of his own casting that enabled him to call upon the wisdom of all previous headmasters of the academy. So with everyone so preoccupied it was very easy for Weaponsmaster Jayariel Drillowup to sneak out. He had to find Jaegarjumi before Despaira could turn her into a full lycan and so he used an enchanted mask that turned him fully into a normal human with no abilities that could be detected and thus he managed to walk through the barrier to escape.

Alex thought he heard someone moving in the fog. As he crouched silently, he thought he saw a dark figure moving with incredible stealth. Placing his hand above the figures shoulder, he grabbed and spun the figure, at the same instant phasing his body to prevent the figure from attacking."Who are you?"he demanded. "What have you done to the University?" "Alexander Murphy if you value your physical wellbeing you will unhand me at once," he spoke in the quietest whisper possible. "Death stalks SHC currently but not in any form you ever have encountered before to date in your brief mortal life." "Sorry, Jay... I didn't recognize you... any idea what's going on?", Alex asked. "Terrible things Alex," the drow replied after having removed the mask once free of the fog. "For now we must stay away from the Academy until further notice lest we become victims as those inside have. Where is Acidburn at? What I must tell you she must be told as well. The future of SHC for now depends on us."


"Krys left the Undercity a few hours ago... 'said' she'd gotten a message from Corrine and Jenna... she was headed to the Kingpin's mansion, but nothing for the last hour or so..."
"I would have escaped sooner but any being with any magical abilities currently in this locale and other parts of SHC is in mortal danger." Jayariel took several deep breaths trying to not let his emotions get the best of him. "The fog currently in SHC is supernatural from an evil even more ancient then the Titans or the Lords of Hell or the Seven Deadly Sins and even older then Sin and Lucifer himself. But in this locale around Ice Ray Academy only a magic user who can fully hide all magical traces about them could have escaped the barrier my colleagues are now trapped within. Despaira has been in the Academy and left with my companion Jaegarjumi and her illusions have bewitched her into thinking she killed me."


"Hold on, I'll try to contact Krys." Alex concentrated for several minutes. "I can't reach her.", he said with a confused expression. "I can feel her presence in our bond, but all I hear is ... silence." "C'mon... this worries me... let's head for the Kingpins Mansion..." "Magic will not be useful for the time being Alex," Jayariel said to him. "All those who use magic in fact will soon become prey for an evil darker then a demon or a god and we had better get going lest you being trapped like those I was forced to leave behind." "Let's go.... uh...any idea which direction out of this damn fog?" "No GPS on hand? No surprise there. Follow me," Jayariel said and they began heading a mile away from the foggy areas and then Jayariel used one of his very limited magical abilities to fully cloak him and Alex in blackness. "This is a Globe of Darkness and my race use it in combat to do stealth killings. Tonight though I think I can use it like my mask to disguise us both so you will not be detected."

Once they were clear of the fog, Alex paused only long enough for Jay to activate his ability, then headed at his enhanced top speed for the Kingpin's lair ignoring objects that were in his path as he phased through them.Chanting quietly Jayariel took out some paint and a brush. "In case my magic fails I must disguise you as a drow Alex. Do not panic because I assure you I am not attracted to males at all and I despise doing this even more then you will despise how it affects you." "Oh, very well... but be quick, will ya..." In a few minutes he was done and he also took out some very antique enchanted clothing for him to wear. "Get changed fast."

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Krystal, Corrine and Jenna were searching the cells around their former prison... a youngish woman was seen laying on the floor, wearing only a shear garment that left little to the imagination.  "Young lady, let's get you out of there...", said Krystal. She looked ath the oddly dressed woman as if she was begging for help, scars were placed along her body where her birth symbol of a moon was." Per favore ... dovete aiutarmi ...."

Krys answers her in perfect Italian... "I will open the door and we'll get you out of there..." She quickly pick the lock, and opens the door.  "Come, child of the moon." She tried to stand but a painful brace was on her ankle. A nail drived between Her ankle. She looked at the brace, knowing it could not be broken by herself but with someone else's power." È ... è necessario rompere il tutore che mi delimita." "I understand... hold very still..." Krys concentrates for a moment, then her muscles bulge and the brace began to groan and crack... in a few moments the metal gave way with a loud snap. She screamed in a bit of pain, standing then leaning against the wall to regain what strength she had left to make it out. Before leaving, she grabs a thin short sheet to cover her lady parts.She followed behind the woman slowly but surely.

"Krystal can you find us the fastest way out with the least amount of guards?" Corrine asked. She knew Jenna had been here before but was worried that since then the Kingpin might have rearranged the mansion floors. Krystal thought for a moment... "They patrol, so I can't be certain of thier current position, but this is the way they brought me in." She points to a corridor ending in stair going up. The cousins scowl at each other. "Be careful. He might have those hired muscle of our favorite human mad scientist though why he would hook up The Kingpin is not currently known," Jenna said. They started up the corridor when suddenly doors on both sides sprang open and hundreds of the thugs that had captured her and Corrine came running out.Her eyes widened as she stopped behind them. Unable to fight she took cover to also avoid detection of escape.

Moving as fast as thought itself Krystal began to disable or disarm the men. and seal the doors by breaking their locks. After a few minutes those disabled regained full usage of their temporarily useless limbs. "Dammit this is what happened to us too!" Krys cried out... "Eyes closed!" as she threw a small device she had had conceal in her belt.  Brilliant white light flooded the corridor.Both cousins threw the new girl beneath them as they covered their eyes tightly. Though unused to certain abilities of Krystal's where technology was concerned they knew not to take any unnecessary chances. As the men stood blinking, one could hear the crash of bodies falling on every side.

She held what seemed like her bangles that kept her in line"Io sono un fiore fragile," she spoke shyly as she looked down at herself. Once all the thugs were disabled, Krys removed her armor (useless stuff, for her anyway...) and offered it to the young woman... underneath she was wearing a standard black unitard with long sleeves and legs.She grabbed the armor and looked at it strangely. Before putting it on,she has a hard time putting it on."This way," Krys said as they reached the top of the stairs. As the group of women made their way through the ground floor of the mansion, and found their way outside. The sounds of hand to hand combat could be heard.As the combatants came into view, Krystal smiled broadly. 20 on 2, and Alex and Jay were still giving them the worst of it.


This story was originally written in the roleplaying forum These City Streets for the Facebook and online game Superhero City and the Android app Supreme Heroes before Electronic Arts killed the games in 2014. I originally began writing this story in October 2013 months before any one knew the games were in their twilight and so The Kingpin and Dr. Fulkhearth are villains from the games while all other named characters are either my original ones, my cowriter's or used with permission when able from their creators.

[The Inkling]

A Little Tale Overheard @ Starbucks the first SHC story written by Chris Evans

Pink was sitting at her usual table in Starbuck's, enjoying a doubleshot espresso and a large tray of bearclaws when she noticed that one of the many "new kids" (rookie supers) had wandered in the door with a somewhat dazed expression. The rookie quietly ordered a mocha latte from the barrista 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 rookie's 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 barrista 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,' and my skin took on a strange, silvery sheen. 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.' My skin
would return to a normal tone for as long as I maintained my concentration." She closed her eyes for a moment and the silvery hue was replaced by a normal Caucasian skintone 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 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 'metahuman' 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, regained her silvery sheen 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.

A few weeks passed swiftly, if not exactly pleasantly, what with working for a small parcel delivery service. "If I dared to use my new 'gifts', this would go so much faster...," she thought, "but then I'd risk
that any passing 'supervillian' might attack me and destroy what I'm being paid to deliver.", as she pedaled through mid-day traffic.

"I hope that lawyer gets back to me soon about the settlement from the equipment company that provided that damned microscope, or I'm gonna have to cut back on the Starbuck's trips...or find another
job.", she thought. "Why," she mused, "if I hadn't developed this regeneration ability, my face would have been scarred for the rest of my life."

As she finished up her deliveries for the day, she debated whether she might actually participate in some of the arena battles she had watched, as a way to help build up her new 'talents', or if she might
just spend a few hours on what some of the supers she had overheard called "on patrol."

Just then she heard gunshots and then an alarm coming from a nearby bank.

"Patrol it is, then...", she muttered to herself, as she stashed her bike and pouch in a nearby alley, swiftly changed to her 'uniform', and zipped in the direction of the alarm.

Three thugs were just outside the bank, engaged in a shootout with a couple of bank guards, so Acidburn moved into position quietly behind two of them as they took cover behind a parked car outside the bank, and swiftly shoved their heads into each other, knocking both unconscious. She pulled out a couple of zip-ties, bound their wrists and checked to see if either was badly injured.

As she knelt over the fallen thugs, the third one finally noticed her andbegan firing in her direction. Using her ability to move at supersonic speeds, she moved in a flash to a position just behind and to the gun-hand side of the thug. She swiftly forced his arm straight into the air, twisted his wrist just enough so that he dropped the gun, and then stepping behind him, brought his arms behind him and zip-tied them
together.

As the thug realized his arms were immobile, he turned to face his capture and tried to kick her. Acidburn quickly dodged, though she doubted he had the strength to really hurt her, and then tripped the
man, and rolled him onto his back. "Guess you don't have to have superpowers... or be particularly smart... to be a villain around here," she said as a local police cruiser pulled to a stop nearby.

"Superhero City SuperPolice -- Freeze!", the cop yelled as he bolted from the light-flashing, siren blaring cruiser, and drew his pistol from his belt. "I need backup @ the bank @ 3rd and Oak street", he said
into his shoulder mounted radio transmitter, as he sighted in on Acidburn.

She calmly said, "I hardly think that's necessary I'm not resisting." and assumed a position where the cop could see she was posing no threat. He relaxed slightly but did not lower his weapon. "Standard
procedure, when supers are involved, ma'am." He proceeded to mirandize her, and as a Van bearing the emblem of the SuperPolice rolled up and debouched a squad of armored men, the cop finally lowered his weapon.

"She's not resisting," he told the squadleader, "and from the looks of things," scanning the scene, "she seems to have helped us considerably." "She's been informed of her rights, and she'll have to remain in my custody until we can clarify her role in this, as she may be a witness if not the perpetrator." "Yeah, yeah, rookie... I know procedure as well as you.", said the squadleader, as he slapped the
restraint cuffs on her wrists.

Over the next hour or so, the statements of witnesses both in and outside the bank were taken as the squad of SuperPolice maintained their vigilance in keeping Acidburn under close scrutiny. Finally, it was
determined that she had played no part in the robbery, only in its aftermath, and had showed a decent amount of restraint in use of herabilities against non-super persons.

The surveillance footage from the bank's cameras proved that she had taken only the actions necessary to protect normal citizens and bystanders. The SuperPolice squad leader said as he removed the restraint cuffs from her wrists, "Stand down boys, this seems to be one of the good ones."

"You'll still need to come with me and make a statement, miss uh, missus-um...", the young policeman said. "It is Miss, actually, and I go by Acidburn," she said. "I loved that movie.", he said as they left for
the local precinct.

Over the next few weeks & months, Acidburn began to gain a reputation in her neighborhood. When asked by the local crime reporters of the newspaper, bystanders described a conscientious, dedicated, young woman who always made an effort to minimize any injuries done to 'normal' citizens, while refusing to allow a criminal act to take place within her sight.

During those weeks, she had had many episodes with the local criminal element. She had stopped a street gang from harassing some kids, broken up a drug ring, chased down some rocket bikers street-racing in her area, & in more than one instance, chased off thugs trying to shake down merchants in her neighborhood.

On many of these occasions, a certain rookie cop was one of those that the newspapers chose to interview, since he seemed to turn up on the scene at so many of these occurrences. At first his answer
was the standard "No Comment.", but once he discussed the matter with his superiors and received permission, he began to release whatfew details were known about Acidburn and the facts of each case
that any reporter would have found by reading the public records.

He, in one such interview, mused that "Acidburn must live in my patrol area, since she seems set on making our job so much easier."

Of course, a reputation can cause trouble for a person, whether it be good or bad. On the positive side, street-crime in her neighborhood became rare: on the negative, she began to draw attention of a much
more powerful nature. Several times she had had run-ins with super-powered villains, including some who made threats of a 'Syndicate' that would put an end to her meddling.

The first of these was a real 'hothead' leading a gang of punks which she made short work of, finally defeating their leader who called himself 'Heatwave'. Then a pair of noisy twins showed up & attacked
her, but were dealt with in short order. Following clues from these sources, she finally tracked down the headquarters, defeated a couple of bodyguards, and fought to a end the kingpin of the syndicate himself.

As she made her way to the precinct to give her statement, Acidburn thought to herself, "Man, I could use a vacation." Upon her return to her brownstone, there awaited a letter from her lawyer, containing a
settlement check in the 6-figure range. She called her company and arranged for some Vacation time, packed a bag and as she exited the building, shouted "Las Vegas, here I come!"

"Jarvis...have you heard about this Acidburn?"

Cap had been leafing through the SHC Gazette...as he perused the Crime Blotter he saw the name pop up several times in several different places. It seems as if the hero was taking care of business in
Manhattan.

Cap fondly remembered his own start many years ago...and his run-ins with the Syndicate.

"Only what I see on the news, sir," Jarvis answered. As he tidied up the room, Cap's faithful assistant continued. "And..unlike many of the super-powered who make their debuts in our fair city, this one seems
to be concerned with helping the helpless and fighting for justice....just like someone else I know."

Cap chuckled. He agreed with Jarvis, it certainly appeared that this Acidburn was on the right path. He hoped it was a path she would continue traveling on....

Upon her return to her Brownstone apartment a week later, Acidburn sorted thru the accumulated mail, dropping 2 bills into what she called the 'pay me quick' drawer, and dropped the rest into the shred & recycle bin. As she unpacked, she reminisced over the events of her trip; mostly pleasant memories, but a few unpleasant as well...

"Well, now that I have my settlement money, let's see if we can't shape this apartment up some.", she thought. She bought an entertainment center, new TV/Stereo combo, & a new couch that afternoon, as well as treating herself to a new upgraded smartphone/laptop combo package she had had her eye on for
months, paid in advance for a year.

As she returned by way of the bank to deposit the rest of the settlement check in her savings account, she thought to herself, "I've been away awhile, guess I'd better patrol tonight, so the thugs don't forget I'm here." Sure enough, as she checked on the local merchants, some had been visited by shakedown artists in the last day or two. "We'll soon put a stop to this," she thought, as she got a
description of the two thugs.

As she continued to patrol, she heard the sound of glass shattering inone of the small Italian restaurants down the block. Acidburn slipped in through the kitchen door in the alley, and quietly made her way to
the entrance of the dining area, as the sounds of shouting and breaking glass continued. "Just fork over the money, before we reallyhurt one of these nice people," the taller thug said, as he picked up another of the fine china plates used by this restaurant.

Acidburn stepped behind the shorter of the two thugs and tapped him on the shoulder. As he turned to growl "Whaddaya want?" at the interruption, his eyes widened as he realized that he should leave, in
a hurry. "Hey, boss... we got someplace we need to be... like, now," he said as he edged away from the scowling figure of Acidburn.

Stepping between the two thugs, Acidburn grabbed each by the collar, lifted them, and carried them to the door of the establishment. She quietly asked the manager, "Should I throw out this trash, or turn it in for recycling?" as she glared at the thugs. As the manager wiped the cold sweat from his brow, he heaved a sigh of relief. "By all means, recycle it.", he said.

Just then the door swung open, and a now-familiar rookie cop barged in with his gun drawn. "There are reports of a disturbance in this establishment, and I see now that they were correct... now which of you is gonna explain what's going on here?" Acidburn glanced at the manager, who nodded slightly, turned and said, "Well Officer Murphy, these ruffians were of a notion to relieve this establishment of a sum of its cash, and I don't believe that they have jobs here." "Is that so?...Well, we'll just take them down to the precinct and let them explain that to my sergeant.", the officer said. "You'll need to come as
well, to make a statement."

As Acidburn carried the thugs out to the cruiser and placed them in the back seat, Officer Murphy said, "Noticed you've been away for awhile... nice to see you back on the job."

As Acidburn signed her statement after carefully reading it for errors, she was looking forward to getting to enjoy her new TV, thinking that she would tune in a Pay-per-view movie that she had been hoping to
see.

Just then, Officer Murphy stood, stretched and said to Acidburn, "My shift ends in 15 minutes; hey, you wanna grab a bite; I know this little Bar-B-Que stand a couple of blocks from here -- best hushpuppies in
town..." After considering his remark, Acidburn thought that was little too much like a date for a person she viewed as a colleague, so she countered, "How about Starbucks instead, I could really use a cup of
coffee." "Well, you definitely don't want the low-grade rocket fuel we got in the breakroom around here," he said, "Starbucks it is."

As they walked the 3 blocks to the nearest Starbucks, Acidburn wondered what had prompted her to say that, as getting coffee together could just as well be construed as a 'date'. While she had dated a few boys as an undergrad, since she had gotten her master's degree, she really hadn't taken time for that sort of thing; and then what with the accident and subsequent move to SuperHero City, she really hadn't had the urge to begin a relationship. "Oh, well, it's just coffee with a colleague," she thought to herself.

As they entered the coffehouse and made their way to a table near the back wall, Acidburn noticed Pink sitting at her usual table near thecounter. She told Murphy, " I'll get the coffee, what do you like, Officer
Murphy?" "Regular-two sugars, and when off duty, my friends call me Murph." "Be right back, then.", she said and realized that if not for her silvery sheen she would have been blushing furiously.

She made her way towards the counter, ordered his regular and herself her usual mocha latte, and as she passed Pink's table on the way back, Pink quietly said to her, " Guess it's time to scratch that itch, huh? While I don't normally approve of dating, he is kinda cute." "It's not like that, Pink... at least, I don't think it is...", and knew that, again her silvery skin saved her from turning a brilliant red.

She and 'Murph', as he insisted she call him, spent the next 20 minutes talking about sports (She, being an alum of an ACC school, was of course, a basketball fanatic.), movies they had seen and ones they were hoping to see, a few of their shared cases, and such. She told him some of what had occurred in Vegas, but kept the juicier bits to herself... "After all," she thought, "what happens in Vegas, stays in
Vegas."

As they left, she thought, "That's the best evening I've had in quite a while." Murph offered to walk her home, but she raised an eyebrow at him, and said "I'm a big girl, ya know." She smirked and took flight,
waved goodbye to Murph and swooped off in the direction of midtown.

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon, just simply dreary. As Acidburn finished her 3rd pass along the route she now followed by habit when patrolling, it seemed that even the most desperate of thugs had decided to sit this one out.

Just then, she noticed a now-familiar police cruiser parked outside a Duncan Donuts, and sure enough, spotted Murph thru the rain spattered window. He was sitting with another young officer, apparently eating a late lunch. She landed on the sidewalk, tapped on the window beside him & waved as he glanced in her direction.

Making her way to the door, Acidburn entered the shop and strode towards the two officers. "Man, its totally dead out there today, Murph", she said by way of greeting, "I'm bored out of my tree." As she leaned on the table and spoke to Murph, she noticed the other young officer was sitting with his mouth hanging open. She faced himslightly and with the forefinger of her free hand under his chin, gently
closed it.

"Better be careful, you'll catch flies like that.", she gently chided, as she shifted her attention back to Murph. "Could you recommend a way for a down-and-out hero to spend a rainy afternoon?" she asked. "Well, I'd offer to take you to a matinee movie, but it's 6 more hours tilmy shift ends." "I was hoping to make myself useful today, you bad boy.", she bantered back. "By the way, who's you're buddy?",asked
Acidburn.

"Beg pardon, this is Cadet Officer Phillips: Mike, don't just sit there, speak to the nice lady; this is Acidburn.", said Murph. With a very visible gulp, the cadet rose, took Acidburn's hand and distractedly
shook it.

He murmured "Pleased to meet you," and continued to shake her hand. "Likewise," she said, "I'm gonna need that back soon." The young cadet started slightly as he realized what he was doing and released her hand. She turned to face Murph and said, "Well?" Thinking for a moment, Murph said, "Well, they're always shorthanded at the soup-kitchen over on Maple..." "Perfect," Acidburn said enthusiastically, "just what the Doctor ordered." "Well, see ya 'round, Murph; Mike, was it?" as she turned and strode towards the door.

As she reached for the handle, her superhearing picked up the cadet saying to Murph, "T-that was? --" Murph nodded. "And you know her?--" Murph nodded again. Under his breath, the the cadet then intoned "Man, is she hot; lucky bastard." Acidburn opened the door with a small private smile.

Traveling the short distance to Maple Ave., Acidburn soon found herself standing before a large, modern brick building. The majority ofthe front facade was taken up by a window, looking into a dining area dominated by long rows of tables and benches. On the brick portion of the wall, by the door, hung a bronze plaque. "Shadow Knight Soupkitchen -- this space provided for the public good by Knight Industries Inc. in Honor of Shadow Knight for his many years and continuing efforts in Public Service.", Acidburn read.

"This must be the place.", she thought. She opened the door and stepped into a short hallway which had two doors at the far end. The doorway to her left was just an open frame which opened into the dining hall. Facing the front door, the other had a closed door bearing a sign reading "Manager" .

As Acidburn tapped on the closed door, a small round-faced woman appeared in the open frame. "May I help you, young woman? We're about to start serving, so you may want to get in line now, as the
'thundering herd' should be arriving shortly...", said the woman cheerily. "Actually, a friend suggested that you might be in need of a little assistance.", said Acidburn.

"Well, bless 'em, whoever they are... Yes we can certainly use any help available. I'm Mrs. Jensen, the manager, but just call me Mary.", said the little woman. "Come right this way, miss...," she said
questioningly. "Acidburn will suffice.", she replied as she followed the woman into the kitchen. Handing her a neatly folded full apron and hairnet, Mrs. Jensen called into the storeroom behind the kitchen
area.

"Jenna, dear, come meet our savior for this afternoon...", as the noise of a small crowd began to filter in from the dining room ...

Meanwhile- outside-

The World Serpent relinquishes the Majority of hissss power to walk the ssstreets again looking for a little mischief He has heard great thingssss of a little one named Acidburn Her
ssstory telling is said to rival SSSSSSSscheherazade herssself. It has been a long time sssssince he hassss found the sssssstreets interessssting.
A new persssspective isss what I need perhapsss ssshe will tell me a sssstory.

Now to get her attention. Hmmm what sssshould I do I don't want to frighten the poor child, well maybe I do but that will be for another day. There she is going into a brick building so many times that is a ssstart to some adventure.

As JORMURGANDR starts to follow Acidburn into the building a screech of tires is heard from behind the building. Here comes the huge Humvee Limo ( Is that Pinks ?) of the head of the Syndicate (I wonder what this wannabe was doing in there? Thought the essence of the great Wyrm) Ah that gives me an
Idea.

As Jormurgandr jumps in front of the Humvee he smashes his fist into the bumper and immediately stops the limo’s forward progress.

The Kingpin jumps from the vehicle roaring “I am tired of you supers interfering in my business. I am going to murder ya!!!!!!)

A serpentine like voice is heard “You musssst not remember me you insssinificant piece of trasssh. I have made SSSSt. Patrick ssssoil his robessss and have killed Thor. Look upon my SSSSSSSmile and desssspair”

A flick of his avatar’s finger sends the King Pin fliying through the Brick building and JORMURGANDR catches his unconscious body on the other side."That should get the Bardssss attention" the World SSSSerpent thinks out loud.Hey Acidburn when your businessss in there is finisssshed I would like you to sssspeak with you. As an afterthought he adds Pleasssse?

Hearing a crash followed by shouting, Acidburn sprints quickly to the door. Seeing that there has been a traffic accident but that there seemed to be no-one injured, She pulls out her phone and reports the accident, then returns to her business inside.Moments later, the wall of the dining hall explodes as the figure of a large man in a white suit appears in a burst of brick and mortar. Catching the man, Acidburn notices that he seems familiar as she sets him on his feet. "You!", she exclaims, "What are you doing out of jail?!" As he begins to brush the brick dust from his lapel, the Kingpin growls,"It's called bail, you stupid bitc-". Before he can finish his sentence, Acidburn roundhouse punched him, using her full strength
in her fury. As he sails thru the wall opposite the hole he originally entered through, she coldly says, "Never call me that."

As Mrs. Jensen called her name, Jenna came out of the kitchen cautiously. "What is it?" she asked in a sweet voice while looking around from the doorway. Since arriving back from
seeing Dr. Odd and finding work at the Soup Kitchen she never went anywhere without her mask on for fear that more Syndicate goons would come looking for her. "Jenna this is Acidburn,"
Mrs. Jensen said to her. "She will be working with you to help feed the poor who come in all the time."

"I have heard of you," Jenna started to shyly say to Acidburn when suddenly they both heard the vehicle crashing into the building's exterior. While Acidburn was calling the police, Jenna unobtrusively used her powers to slow down the flames she could see so that the car was no longer in any danger of exploding before she rejoined the other superhero inside. "Sorry about that ma'am, she more confidently said as upon introducing herself to Acidburn. "My name is Jenna Firemage and you are a very welcome addition to this city's fight on poverty like me."

As greetings were exchanged, a look of terror flashed across Jenna'sfeatures and she rushed back into the storeroom.

The dining hall quickly cleared in the aftermath of the short battle. "Oh my, this is a catastrophe!", moaned Mrs Jensen, "Everybody leave through the emergency exits and remain calm!"

After a quick check of the scene through the hole that the Kingpin hadentered through, but seeing no disturbance, Acidburn quickly followed the young woman into the storeroom. She noticed that the young
woman was leaning against a shelf in deep concentration near the exit hole that the Kingpin had left. She appeared to be clutching a small talisman on a silver chain with one hand, but the odd thing was that her other hand, upraised, was glowing with a red-orange-yellow nimbus of energy.

"D-don't you feel it?", whispered Jenna, "there's something -- something powerful, out there..." But she wasn't looking towards the dining area, but rather towards the exit-hole that the flying body had created. A moment later she seemed to snap out of whatever had been bothering her, she let go of the talisman, and the nimbus around her hand died down.

"It's gone now.", she stated calmly. "I'm afraid that one is my fault," Acidburn stated, nodding towards the hole, "but I have no idea what caused the Kingpin to make the other one."
 
Earlier - Across town at a familar Starbuck's store

A blue dude walks up to the counter and orders a couple of cups and some biscotti. “see that girl with the burny hair, make one a double of whatever she is drinking.”

The counter guy looks at me “dude, she doesn't like company some days....”

me “safely put pal, that is ok, she knows my gf, it is cool. Can I have a blueberry muffin?”
counter guy “your nuts, but ok....”

a few minutes later: “hey, can I sit for a min?” and hands the girl with the burny hair a chocolate biscottie and a cuppa.

“sure, whats up?”

me: “I have heard about your friend. If there is ever anything I or my resources can do to help her let me know. I like her attitude towards people.”

Pink: “thanks, where have you been of late? Haven't seen you around much”

me: “took some time off to do the fam thing and visit Wyv. She says “hi” to you and the other women hero folk.”

Pink: “where has she been lately? We haven't seen her around at all in over a year.”

Me: “she teaches special needs kids in her home town. Do you trust me?” and then I take off a glove and lie my hand palm up on the table.

Pink: “I think so” and touches my palm with a finger looking her in the eye I telepathically I “share” Wyv's last few months teaching kids. This is what she wants to do, and I support her in it one thousand percent.

Moving her finger “that is really cool” says Pink

Me: “that is why I love her” I whisper. Draining my coffee. “gotta go, if I can help your friend, let me know”

Well thissss is a ssssssoup kitchen ? She must be having SSSSSSSSSupper. This will be a good time to ssssssssharpen my agility and hand eye coordination.

Easily tossing the unconscious body of Kingpin in the air he walks towards the crime bosses limo. I need one more “ball”.
Ah a sssssso called, human, armored car. Jormurgandr juggles kingpin and his limo with one hand and walks over to the armored vehicle. As he approaches the guards are speechless. Excussssse me I am of need of another object to regain my hand eye coordination may I use your vehicle? The driver jumps out starts to aim his weapon as the World Serpent Smiles. The guard stammers “Sh..sh…..sh…..ure take it Ss ss sssir” The huge avatar replies “ Thank You” and thinks finally one of these humansssss knowsss how to sssssspeak properly.In the middle of his juggling exercise a He hears an annoying claxon like wailing. “Jusssssst assss I wassss getting the hang of my new avatar. Suddenly a Black and white vehicle stops brakes smoking. Out jumps a uniformed officer from the driver side and immediately raises a formidable looking weapon. A younger looking man leaps from the other side dives toward the trunk and starts
punching the code to deploy a turbine cannon which immediately starts to whine as it powers up and rises above the roof of the cruiser.

“ Superhero City Police -- Freeze!", the cop yells. Keeping his weapon trained on Jormurgandr he says under his breath “Mike this guy is juggling an armored car, a limo and Kingpin if he makes a hostile move toward us blast him. Nobody is going to miss King Pin anyway” “This is Murphy I need SP backup @ the front of the Soup Kitchen ", he said into his shoulder mounted radio transmitter. I need a lot of backup”
Murphy turns his entire attention to the Super “ Alright I don’t know who you are but Slowly put what your juggling down and nobody will get hurt”Jormurgandr starts juggling all three objects with one hand and Thinks that issss better finally working the kinkssssss out. Now to sssshut up the little human with the loud mouth. He puts down all three things and turns toward the officers.“What you dare sssssssspeak to me like you are my equal ? Or worssse yet you think you have control over me? Thisss piece
of offal ran into me and ssssaid he wasss going to murder me. Now you order me? My patience is at an end !!!!!!”

A terrible smile erupts over the Midgard Serpents visage and a foot long forked tongue flickers from his mouth. As he walks toward the police all the hell (that a single SHC police cruiser can expend) is loosened at Jormurgandr. The Turbine cannon, capable of easily destroying a small island, hits the grinning super with pinpoint accuracy and power again and again until every charge is depleted from it’s small nuclear power source. Murphy empties his hand held version with a sharpshooters skill directly into Jormugandrs face. That should stop him it would stop a whole division of Abrams M12 Tanks he thinks.As the glow of the weaponry and the energy cloud fades. Jormurgandr remains unscathed. Look s toward the uniformed
men and says “My turn you foolisssssh little Cloacaholessssssss. Prepare to witnessssss a sssssmall
portion of the World SSSSSSSSSSerpentssssss power”A strange calm comes over Murphy as he says into his radio butevery word becomes louder Correct my previous transmission I
am demanding all of SP’S units and send in B.A.D.G.E too I just pissed off a paragon” He unkeys the microphone and thinks I sure wish Acid Burn was here maybe she could calm him down.
“Mike!!!!” Murphy shouts. “Start praying . Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear ………….”


Jenna Firemage had been more then a little shook up by the events of a few days earlier. She had sensed godlike powers nearby and that had given her fractured psyche a flash of hitherto lost memory. She remembered seeing a half spider half elfish woman leering at her as if from a far distance away. "You
are a very lucky human Jenna," she seemed to say. "Very few ever have been chosen to become a temporary vessel for my avatar in the mortal realm. This will be a sign of honor to you among my people and when it is over you will have gained back your regular powers and body with no harm done but be forever in my debt until you can somehow find a way to pay me off."

Since she had been snapped back to the present by Acidburn following that episode, Jenna had tried extremely hard to keep her mental and emotional stability together. If another episode like when she had fought the Kingpin occurred... she tried to wipe the memory away again but it would not stop invading her
thoughts. For some reason she could clearly remember seeing ablack oozelike shadow emanating from her pores that drained her strength fully but not killing her. This shadow then took the form of a skeletal beast and indeed seemed to have granted her a deadlier type of power boost that had sent the former
Manhattan branch head of the Syndicate to the ground broken like a child but very much insane now.

Now however she could feel it happening again even though a few months had passed since then as the World Serpent could be heard from inside the Soup Kitchen itself while still very much outside the building facing off with Acidburn's friend Officer Mike and no other superhero seemed close by enough to stop the inevitable confrontation of Serpent vs mortal. Risking everything to save the poor people inside as well as the buildingitself, Jenna gathered her thoughts calmly and came outside. "Jormurgandr I would pray ask that you come inside and I'll fix you some fresh warm soup. There is no need for violence between anyone right now."

Setting-- Outside SK soup-kitchen
Time-- moments after the kingpin was blasted thru 2 walls
Acidburn, noticing the commotion caused by the arrival of the SHC squadcar, steps outside to provide a statement concerning the accident to whichever officer has shown up. Upon viewing the scene before her, she is horrified to realize that, unless some action on her part can salvage the situation, her friend Murph and his partner are about to die.

As Pink speaks to the "man", she walks over to Murph and proceeds to cold-cock him into unconsciousness, then passes by jabbering about someone dating me and heads on into the dining room asking for soup of the flabbergasted Mary Jensen..

Stepping between the frightened young cadet and the "man", and trying not to show her own apprehension, she says "Let's all just calmdown now...shall we?!" Glancing over her shoulder, she murmurs to Mike "Get Murph to cover, and STAY there..." then turns to face the
being before her.

"Well now, what's all this about, then?", she politely asks of the "man." Just then her new acquaintance Jenna stepped out and began a rambling quizatory monolog as if she had dealt with this being
before...


On her way to Starbucks Pink swings by the Soup Kitchen where she spots the World Serpent's humanish avatar juggling cars and Kingpin.
"Hi Jormy!" She yells waving. A policeman, whitefaced, is calling for backup. Pink does him a favour and knocks him out. "Keep up the good work Jormy." She calls.

She steps into the soup kitchen (well free food is free food) where she sees Acidburn. "Jormugandr is playing with his foood outside again." Pink comments. "I think he fancies you, wants to impress you. Gotta tell you he is a notoriously cheap date. Lentil and potato please
and a kaiser roll".

As Acidburn faced the powerful being, and Jenna was concluding her brief, if revealing, comment, she realized that Pink had seemed to actlike she had a friendly relationship towards the one she had referred
to as 'Jormy.'

She politely asked the powerful being "Could you wait for one moment, please?", and raced towards the door of the building, grabbing Jenna's arm along the way. "Do you mind not antagonizing this guy?...", she said under her breath as she gently pushed Jenna back towards the door. Stepping into the doorway, she noticed that Mike had dragged Murph to the relative safety of the hallway. She called into the dining hall, "Hey, Pink... if you're finished eatin', could ya come introduce me to your friend out here!"

She turned and walked cautiously back towards the powerful being. Moments later, Pink stepped from the doorway, still absently gnawing on her Kaiser roll, and walked nonchalantly to Acidburn's side. "Jormy," Pink said, "meet Acidburn... Acidburn, meet the World Serpent, JORMURGANDR... now if ya don't mind...", Pink walked calmly back into the building to finish her soup...

Quickly mentally reviewing everything she had learned about Norse mythology, Acidburn realized that she had better handle this situation VERY carefully. "I do apologize for the rude manner in which these insignificant beings have treated one as mighty as Yourself.", she said. From what she remembered, flattery and strict attention to remaining truthful in any statements that she voiced were her best
hope of defusing this situation. "Was there a reason for this most unexpected visit to the mortal realm?"

Continuing in this manner, Acidburn calmed the outraged avatar, and by the time the many SuperPolice and B.A.D.G.E. vehicles began arriving on the scene, she and Jormurgandr were beginning to strike up a friendship. As hundreds of heavily armed and armored men
began to leap from the vehicles, Acidburn politely stated to 'Jormy', "Hold on just a sec or these hotheads will start this whole shindig over again."

Stepping into the street, she faced the SuperPolice and B.A.D.G.E operatives and stated, "False alarm boys! I've got this handled. Now, Shoo!" As the many armored men milled around for next few minutes,
discussing the situation among themselves and by radio with their superiors, Acidburn walked back to the side of the avatar, sat down and said to 'him', "Now, where were we..."


Jormurgandr hears the voice of Jenna Firemage. and realizes something is amiss. Issssssss that the power of the Demon Spider God Lolth I SSSSSSSSSSSSSensse. That will have to wait for another day but I do hate SSSSSSSSSpidersss they giveme the willliessss Putting on his best smile ( he thinks he is
being charming but that grin scares the bejesus out of most people) "SSSSSSSome ssoup would be lovely I'm sssso hungry I could eat a horsssse,all of them. Besidessss all I want to do
issss to hear more sssstoriessss about Acidburnsssss adventuressss"

He hears Pink's snarky but humorous remarks and thinks how she makes him laugh. "Pink you know I judge my datessssssssson a ssssliding SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSScale" ( Damn The Serpent thinks I crack me up ssssometimessss) and sssspend what I think their company isssss worth. Here let me get you a free
bowl of sssssoup on me"

"Thisssss iss nice that the SHC's newest bard Issss taking the time to talk to me." Her inssssightfulness and sssssincerity are very calming. Jormurgandr turnsss his head toward the sound of all of SHC's SP and and 4 B.A.D.G.E hellicarriers and sees Acidburn trying to diffuse the situation. If they warm up one weapon If I hear 1 SSSSSSSSSSSSafety clicked off I will defend my new friend and thossssse creaturessss will feel my full wrath. As the powers that be of SHC quit being agressive Acidburn sat beside the Serpents avatar but seemed slightly distracted and kept looking toward an ambulance. "I ssssseee ssssomething is troubling you little one go do what you musssssst do.

Jormurgandr enters the Soup Kitchen and Jenna sets a huge 100 qt stainless steel pot at the place next to Pink. He struggles to think of the right words "Thank you Jenna" He hears Pink making a wretching sound. "Are you ok?" Pink chuckles and says "I should of hit him harder" Jormurgandr is puzzled stands and starts toward the door.
Pink sighs "Jormy where are you going?"
"To hit that guy harder much harder !!!!!) he replies
Come back here and sit down!!! Let the two lovebirds have a moment of peace. you big lug"
Jormurgandr turns around and resumes his seat next to Pink and thinks I will never underssstand the human femalessss.
He then gets an Idea turns to Pink and innocently asks " Issss the moment over?"
Seeing Pink's shocked reaction a familiar thought runs through his mind I crack me up ssssometimesss...


As he sat on the back steps of the EMT wagon, Murph carefully worked his jaw. As Acidburn stepped over to check on her friend , he looked up at her and said ruefully, "What did she hit me with, the limo?""Nope , just her fist,...are you okay?" she asked with real concern in her voice. "I've learned my lesson, no more pissin' off Paragons.", he said as he rubbed his jaw. As he said this, he made his unsteady wayto his feet. As he began to fall to his knees, Acidburn quickly caught him, helped him steady himself, and as he stood there unsteadily, placed her hand on his face, came up on her tiptoes and gently
kissed him.

Seeing the stunned look on Murph's face, she whispered, "You idiot...", and hugged him...


Jormurgandr smiles at Pink amused that she is speechless for once and does not know what to think of the changed World Serpent's attitude "SSSSSSSSSSerioussly Pinkie Poo I never understood that there could be a physssical relationsssship between a ssssuper and a normal I mean won't sssshe kill him? Hell I could have obliterated him eassssily without body fluidsssss being
exchanged !! Well except the cleanup required where the gooey ssssssssspot is"

He decides to have more fun

I wasssss physically involved with a ssssentinent geological feature at one time. But Mariana cheated on me with a creature named Triesssste. I don't even think that beast wassss real . To think I made her a famoussss landmark ungrateful sssssslutty trench. SSSSSSSSShe was a mere 1.5 Mile deep underwater
canyon when I met her"

As the World Serpent lashes out his tongue catches the Barrel of soup and pours it into his maw. He watches Pink out of the corner of his eye waiting for her reaction.

After a brief moment she reverts to the Normal Pink smiles at him and asks, "Hey Jormy what else can you do with that tongue?'giggling the whole time

The serpent lowers the barrel looks directly at Pink " My tongue is a wondroussss thing receptorsss on it pick up minussscule chemical particlessss, which are perceived assss sssscent. When it isss retracted into its sssheath, the tipsss of it fit neatly into a chemical receptor, sssssending the chemical information that hasssss been gathered through on to my brain, where the information issss quickly processsssed and analyzed so that I can act inssstinctively on it" Alssso I have venom in it that I can
releasssse when it touches my victim, I can control the densssity of the tipsss to be asss soft as a 1ssst Kisssss or as hard as adamantium." To emphasize this he flicks his tongue
through the barrel and it starts to bubble as the venom dissolves it." Better put a hazmat sssssssssticker on that Jenna. Thankssss for the delicoussss ssssoup sssssorry for the damage let me do sssssomething about that." He reaches into a Cooper irregularity to his undersea vault and places a 20 ton nugget of gold on the floor. " This ssssshould cover it issss a billion enough?"

He gets up and heads for the door. " SSSSSee ya around Pinkie poo I sssspang for your free SSSSSSSSoup jussst think your moving way up the date cost SSSSSSSSSScale"

Scanning the street he can't sssensse Acid Burn at all. Hope ssshe doesssn't kill him he thinksssss She seems fond of him He shakes his head and mutters " Well that wasss fun all I want isss a friggen ssstory it turnsss into a discussion on mating tehniquesss and makesss me think I am reduced to a
matchmaker ....oy vey"

Pink herself is muttering as the huge avatar strolls out the door."What the hell was that all about? Was he joking? Although his tongue isssss kind of neat"


With Acidburn working diligently the remains of the bricks and mortar were swiftly dealt with. "I'm just mortified, Mrs. Jensen...I shouldn't have lost my temper like that!", Acidburn said, as they carried out the
last bags of debris to the dumpster.

"I'll pay for the damages.", she said, knowing that this would wipe out the majority of the settlement money she had received. "No worries on that account dear, and please call me Mary; here in dear old
Super Hero City, building damage is so common that a special fund was established so that citizens and businesses wouldn't have to bear the cost of frequent repairs; I'll just file a claim with the city, and we'll be back in business by Monday morning .", said Mrs Jensen.

"Well, at least let me...", Acidburn started, but Mary said firmly, "I'll hear no more of it., my dear." As they re-entered the building Jenna had set 3 places at one of the tables with steaming bowls of stew and
settled herself behind one of them. "We might as well eat, I've alreadyput the rest away," Jenna said, digging into her bowl.As the 3 women ate, Acidburn decided "I think I'm gonna like it here."

Time-- the morning after the stand-off

Alex Murphy slowly came to consciousness. He sat up and stretched,then realized he was alone. In the kitchen he could hear the clatter of pans being used and feminine humming, as well as smell the aroma
of bacon frying. He slowly smiled as he remembered the night before.

Looking around the room, he found his pajama bottoms lying beside the bed, but no sign of the matching shirt. He crept down the hall, looked into the small kitchen and grinned broadly at what he saw. Standing before his stove, in nothing but a pair of panties and his missing pajama shirt, stood a silver-skinned vision of loveliness, the headphones from her smartphone snaking down into the pocket of
the shirt. As she hummed along with the unheard music, she was dancing slightly as she expertly flipped an over-easy egg in the frying pan before her.

Sliding up behind her, Murph slipped his arms around her, startling her slightly, but then she leaned back into his embrace and smiled. Asshe popped the earbuds from her ears, she said brightly, "Good Morning, sleepy-head, how are ya feelin' this morning?" "For some reason, I can't for the life of me think why, I feel great.", Murph said. "By the way, babe, that shirt looks much better on you than it ever looked on me." "Flatterer.", she grinned, "well tuck in... yours is on the table."
 
As they set at his table eating the delicious meal, Murph thought to himself, "Now, what did I do to deserve this, Lord, not that I'm complaining..."


Later that day-

"Now that I'm flush, moneywise, I think I can safely drop the bike messenger gig...", thought Acidburn,"... besides, I'm gonna be spending a lot more time here at the soup-kitchen." As she easily lifted the enormous vat of stew to the stove-top to re-heat on that Monday afternoon, she recalled that Mary had told her about a small stipend for regular workers there at the kitchen. "Besides, how much
do I really need?" "Might use the uniform as a disguise if I need an easy in while sussing out info, though."

As she stirred the stew with a makeshift spoon/kayak paddle so that it wouldn't burn, she could hear Jenna and Mary moving among the afternoon crowd of patrons, checking that they had all they needed. "I'll go in tomorrow morning and turn in my notice...",she thought. Having over eight hundred thousand dollars in the bank, and having simple needs as well as a frugal nature**, it really did make sense to
Acidburn that she make such a career decision at this time. "Besides,this will free up a lot of time that could be better spent either patrolling, or hanging out with Murph."

As the stew began to gently bubble, Acidburn called out, "Got anotherbatch ready, Mary..." "That's good, we're gonna need it..." called the short, round-faced woman,"... bring it on up to the counter."

It was a brilliantly sunny Sunday Morning, and the sunshine blazing through her bedroom window slowly brought Acidburn to consciousness. Sitting up in the covers and stretching , Acidburn was happy as she could remember being in a long time. As she moved around her small apartment tidying up and making herself breakfast, she remembered that she was supposed to have today off at the soup-kitchen. She decided that she had been cooped up in the city for too long, "Why I haven't been anywhere since I got back from Vegas.", she mused. "Maybe I'll take a run out to the countryside, findan empty field somewhere and try out some of these new abilities I've been noticing."

A hour or so later, as she flew slowly above a farmstead, she noticed a farmhand working on a tractor beside of a barn below. Making her presence known so as not to startle the young man, Acidburn dropped gently to a landing beside him. "Hi, my name is Acidburn., she said. "A-yeah, reckon you'd be from yonderways.", he said, nodding in the direction of SHC. "Yep," said Acidburn, "is there anywhere around here that nobody would mind if a few trees got knocked down and the ground got scuffed a bit... you know, a field or something."

The young man got a calculating look in his eye. He was supposed to clear and plow the bottom land near the creek for his daddy, but with the tractor busted he had had his doubts about getting done in time. He ducked into the barn, picked up a pile of stakes and said to Acidburn, "Follow me." He staked out an area containing many boulders imbedded in the ground, several large stumps, and seven or eight large trees. "Pulverize that all ya want, honey, just leave me a bare patch o' ground when yer done.", he said

For an hour or two, Acidburn pushed herself to the limit; ripping trees,stumps, and boulders from the ground, blasting the resulting piles to so much mulch and piles of pebbles, and generally having a high old time. The young farmer had watched for a while, then got busy fixing the tractor. Speaking to the young man while dusting herself off and preparing to leave, Acidburn said "How's that?" "Great,I should be able to finish now in no time... How can I thank you, Ma'am?, he said.

"Forget it, I had fun.", she said as she took flight. She waved at the young man and zipped off in the direction of the city.


Pink is once again ensconced at her favorite table at Starbucks. As she works her way through her usual tray of biscotti, she notices Acidburn landing on the sidewalk outside. Spotting Pink as she enters, our heroine makes her way over to the table, signalling the barrista for her usual.

"So," Pink begins,"been a couple of weeks since I seen you in here. You and the cute cop bumpin' uglies, yet?" "Pink!" "So, you are... wellyou just tell him for me that if he breaks your heart, I'll kill 'im." "I'll pass along the warning... it's nice to know you care."

As they chatted and ate, Acidburn was happy that she had decided tocome here to Super Hero City, where her new friends and job fulfilled a need she hadn't realized she had