csyphrett

4 Logan Major rolled into the paper’s parking area the next day. He had to do some preliminary work and research before he turned his attention back to the Razorbacks and Aardvarks. He felt he had a solution in their testimony. Phillips waited by his desk as he made his way through the office. He seemed excited. “What’s going on?,” asked Logan. He put his case on the desk. “A lot,” said Phillips. “Things started popping last night.” “About Teflon Billy?,” asked Logan. “Some, but not just him,” said Phillips. “I talked with my accountant guy. We have things narrowed down to three people stealing from City Hall. I need some way to push things out in the open before I can say it’s one of them.” “I know a guy,” said Logan. He grabbed a pad from the top of his desk. He wrote down a name and phone number. “Take whatever evidence you have, and maybe your accountant if you can get him to go, and talk to this guy. He works in financial crimes for the Feds. He might be able to point you in the right direction.” “There’s a chance that none of this will lead to anything,” said Phillips. “If you can prove embezzlement, we can pull this guy out of his office,” said Logan. “If we can pull this guy out, maybe we can get a more responsible person in.” “I can see that,” said Phillips. “Your tip about Billy Burke has stirred the detectives into looking for him from what I can tell. Even if he isn’t doing the burglaries, they feel he knows who is.” “He’s a pro,” said Logan. “He won’t make it easy on them. He probably has an alias that covers any straight task he has to do between break-ins.” “They said he wasn’t on their radar at all,” said Phillips. “He’s been inactive for a while.” “I guess get with Ken and see how he wants to handle that end of things,” said Logan. “I’ll clear you to chase down the current investigation until we have something solid to hook into.” “This thing that you were asking about, the Garret shooting,” said Phillips. “The gang shooting,” said Logan. “What about it?” “Log Man has taken an interest,” said Phillips. “He’s leaning on both gangs from what I hear.” “Anyone willing to come forward?,” asked Logan. “No way,” said Phillips. “They would rather do their time than turn in their own guys. Snitches get more than stitches from these guys.” “Stay on it,” said Logan. “If we can get a confession, or some solid evidence, we can run one of the gangs out of town.” “Maybe not the whole gang,” said Phillips. “Anything is better than nothing,” said Logan. “And right now, we have nothing.” “I’ll keep trying to dig something up,” said Phillips. “No one wants to talk.” “Do what you can,” said Logan. “But don’t do anything dangerous. We don’t know how dangerous this gang is, and I can’t afford the payout if one of my employees gets killed in the line of duty.” “Thanks,” said Phillips. “Don’t worry,” Logan said. “I think I know how to solve the Garret killing. I just need to talk to an expert about some things. There’s only one real problem with the scheme.” “What’s that?,” asked Phillips. “I’ll need to get the two gangs in the same place while we hash this out,” said Logan. “I don’t think they’ll like that.” “So we are going to invite them to shoot at each other again?,” said Phillips. “I don’t know,” said Logan. “That’s why I need to think about the plan before I try to use it.” “Let me know when you get the bugs worked out,” said Phillips. “I’ll see what I can do,” said Logan. “Let me know if you find out anything else. I have to talk to some of the editors, and some more money people.” “Someone wanting to buy the paper?,” said Phillips. “No, I’m looking at a deal for a paper south of us,” said Logan. “The outlook doesn’t look good from my point of view. The others on the board want to at least see what the demand is.” “What is the demand?,” asked Phillips. “Don’t know, but I’m sure it will be for more than the paper is actually worth,” said Logan. “I’ll let you get to that,” said Phillips. He turned to leave. “If you have any trouble, let me know,” said Logan. “I’ll try to smooth the way for you.” “Thanks, boss,” said the reporter. He waved as he kept walking to the exit of the car lot. Logan made sure he had everything before heading upstairs to his desk. He had a long day of financials ahead, with some research on the side. He would be ready to go back out as Log Man when the sun went down. He wondered if the police could track down Teflon Billy. They had more manpower than he had, but that didn’t mean much. He could do things they couldn’t do. The government could still move in now that a power had been identified as the thief. He knew they had a sanctioned operation to take on powers when the local heroes couldn’t get things done. The location of their head seemed to be in the Department of Defense’s civilian administration but he didn’t know where. And he didn’t expect them to make it easy for reporters to find them so they could be asked how they dealt with things when heroes didn’t show up to do the job. The rumors of secret prisons and an island full of monsters was already out there but no one knew where they were, or how to find them. And he didn’t want to vanish when he had so much to do in his own city. Logan settled in his desk and started reading the comments captured by his reporters about the Garret shooting. Billy could hold on until this case was closed. Catching a killer outranked a thief any day. He went over the pictures of the scene and the testimony for hours. He thought he had a clear picture of what had happened. How did he get it all together to prove it? And he would need the two gangs in the same place. He doubted he could do that without some kind of police help. He could round up everyone himself, but that would take a lot of time. He didn’t want to spend that much on getting them together. On the other hand, he didn’t see any way he could get them to a central meeting place on their own. If he had some way to trap them, that would make things go so much easier. Logan thought about that as he picked up his phone. He needed to make a presentation. He knew some people who could help him do that. Maybe that would help clear up some of the things about the shooting. “Hey, Hillary,” said Logan. “This is Logan Major. I was wondering if you could do an animation for me.” He listened quietly. “I understand, but this is a rush job,” said Logan. “I have some testimony from a shooting and I need to know what it looks like to a computer. Do you mind? I need to get this done as soon as possible.” He listened again. “I’ll be at your office in a few minutes,” said Logan. “I’ll bring the paperwork and pictures so you can look at everything first.” Logan hung up the phone. He gathered the reports and pictures his people had got from the police and put them in his case. He looked around. No one had an eye on him. He stood, grabbing the case by the handle. He headed for the parking lot and his car. If Hillary’s animatic could explain what happened at the shooting, it would give him someone specific to go after instead of pressuring both gangs. Then he could have the police take the shooter and whomever else they could prove was there in for the murder of the Garret boy. Then he could concentrate on Teflon Billy and take him down before he committed any more burglaries. Then the city would be quieter so he could concentrate on improvements that didn’t need his masked face. Every garden needed constant weeding and other work. His garden just happened to be the city. Logan drove over to the Hillary Musgrove Animation and Digital Media School, and parked in front of the low building. He grabbed his case out of the back and walked inside. A counter kept people from walking back into the school. An office for administrative work had been set up behind a glass wall. Hillary Musgrove bent over paperwork on his desk. His computer ran some cartoon that Logan didn’t recognize. Logan knocked on the counter. Hillary looked up. He smiled as he stood. He came out of the office with a hand out. They shook. “You said you were having problems with some testimony,” said Hillary. His hair had a red streak among the gray and silver. “I need an exact showing of where the physical evidence went,” said Logan. “Then I need to match up what I can to that. I’ll pay double the usual rate.” “This won’t hold up in court,” said Hillary. “The animation can be manipulated too much to be allowed as evidence.” “I don’t need it to hold up in court, I just need it make some things clear in my mind so I know who I can target better,” said Logan. “I have a bunch of uncooperative witnesses with no leverage.” “All right,” said Hillary. “Let me see what I can do.” He led the way to the back of the building. They passed several rooms where teams of students were working on various projects. They walked into a room set up with several computers, and scanners. The illustrator sat at the desk and held his hand out for the paperwork and pictures he would need. Logan handed them over and drew up a chair. “This might take a while,” said Hillary. “I’m going to have to build some models and so forth of the scene before I can put in the animatics.” “I’ll call Gloria and let her know I’ll be late,” said Logan. “I need something to give my reporters. I can wait until you’re done.” “This might take some days,” said Hillary. “I could maybe rope in some of my students to help out, but I don’t see it going faster than the day after tomorrow.” “All right,” said Logan. “I hadn’t realized it would take that long.” “Don’t worry,” said Hillary. “It will be as accurate as I can make it if the reports are accurate.” “They’re copies,” said Logan. “I’ll leave them with you, but try not to let them leave the building. The police will frown on this stuff getting out in the wild.” “Don’t worry,” said Hillary. “I’ll call you when I get done.” “I guess I have to go back to leaning on people to see if I can get one of them to crack,” said Logan. “If you can do that before I get done, I will still want to be paid,” said Hillary. “It won’t be doubled then,” said Logan. He smiled as he waved and walked out of the office. Logan walked out to his Datsun. He had hoped that Hillary would get him answers sooner, but he had to live with what he could get. He decided to head back to the paper and check in before thinking about what he could do after work. Dinner with Gloria and Brady would be nice for a change, maybe a movie. He could go back to the grindstone tomorrow. If everything remained quiet, he might be able to let things fester while Hillary put his cartoon together. Once he had that, he could work out how to get the two gangs, or at least their leaders, together. He hoped Teflon Billy would take the next few days off while he tried to deal with the other mess. He had a feeling he was hoping for too much.

Scouting in the woods 1 1992 Stella Marston crossed the concourse of the airport. Everywhere she looked, people told her about themselves. Some of the things weren’t what she considered nice. She spotted her babysitters. Uncle Marty stood in his beat up old tan jacket with an hourglass on the sleeve and waved at her. She could see the holes in it from where she walked. His wife, Finch, stood at his side. She wore a green and gold shirt-dress over green pants. Her face and mind were empty. Stella paused. She had never met someone who kept their thoughts that much in check. The three children with them had flightier minds, scattered thoughts flying around as they focused on one thing, or the other. “Hey, Stella,” said Uncle Marty. He waved at her. “Have you got your bag?” “Yes, sir,” said Stella. Her dad had told her to pack light, so she had packed two changes of clothing in an overnight bag. “All right,” said Marty. “Let’s head to the van and start our trip.” Stella fell in with the kids, carrying her backpack in her hand. Mark and Melinda practiced mock punches behind her. She could read the vectors even if she couldn’t hope to match their speed. Bond followed at a distance. He had a book in hand, scanning it as he walked. She got the impression of him reading it as an echo in her mind. “What are you reading?,” asked Stella. She walked beside Bond, keeping her distance from the siblings. “The Adventure of Three Coffins,” said Bond. He looked up. “My dad wants me to solve the mystery before I reach the end of the book.” “Why?,” asked Stella. “Because he’s a detective and he wants me to follow in his footsteps,” said Bond. “I’m not sure if I am cut out to be a detective.” “My dad is a detective too,” said Stella. “He doesn’t solve crimes anymore. Mostly he makes sure that one person isn’t doing anything wrong.” “There’s nothing wrong with that,” said Bond. “My dad just wants to solve mysteries and catch villains because that was what he was trained to do. My mom likes helping.” Stella thought about it. Bond’s parents weren’t there. She knew them as Ren and Corona Tamagochi. Ren’s mind was full of formulae and explanations for things that she didn’t understand. Corona looked like a star. “I don’t see your parents,” Stella said. She knew that was the wrong thing to say a moment later. “Dad had a case he had to work on at the last minute,” said Bond. “He doesn’t like the outdoors that much anyway.” “Do you want to go?,” asked Stella. “Not really, but Dad doesn’t want me to stay at home while he’s working on this,” said Bond. “He didn’t want you to get hurt, dipstick,” said Mark. “Yeah, dipstick,” said Melinda. “That gets old,” said Bond. Stella looked at the Morgan siblings. They looked more like their mother than dad with straight hair, and oriental features. They already had calluses on their hands from practicing to follow in their mom’s footsteps. Bond was taller than the three of them, blond hair burning the light, dark eyes squinting at everything. He wore a suit jacket and slacks for their camping trip. “There’s the van,” said Uncle Marty. “Let’s load up and get this show on the road.” The family dog sat in the shotgun seat. He barked at the kids as they ran up to the van. The tail wagged. “Back seat, Ruff,” said Uncle Marty. He gestured with a thumb. The wrinkled face vanished from the window and reappeared in the side door window. The dog grinned at them. Uncle Marty opened the side door for the kids to climb in. Ruff danced around to make that harder than necessary. His tongue left slobber everywhere he attacked. “Down, Ruff,” said Mark. “We’re camping.” The dog climbed into the back of the van and lay down. His tail still wagged. They could hear it beating against the seat. Finch placed the boys in the middle seats, and the girls in the back. She gave her children a look. Then she closed the van door. Camping could be traded for work around the Scouts’ home, and helping Barry with his inventions. Something exploding was not all that fun when it set your hair on fire. Stella looked over the seat at Ruff. The dog looked up at her. She didn’t sense anything from it. She turned to face front before she got another face licking. Marty got behind the wheel. Finch took the front passenger seat. She nodded at them. Stella felt a little ping of something from her then. She didn’t have time to examine it before it was gone. Bond turned to the last page of the book. He looked down. Then he shook his head. He pulled out a pen and wrote something down on the last page of the book. He put the pen and book away. “What’s wrong?,” Stella asked. “I am in training to be a detective,” said Bond. “Part of that is figuring out these mysteries. My dad tears out the last few pages and makes me write down who I think did the deed.” “Sounds boring,” said Melinda. “You have to train to be something,” said Bond. “This is Dad’s way of training me. Look at you two. Your mom makes you run in front of a pitching machine to get fast.” “And we’re fast,” said Mark. “Same principle,” said Bond. “Dad wants me to figure out what happened in the story. He calls it evaluating things. Once I get that down, I can move on to other parts of things.” “Why don’t you look up the endings at the library?,” said Stella. “That’s cheating,” said Bond. “And Dad always knows when I do that.” “Really?,” said Stella. “Yep,” said Bond. “He always knows.” “He’s got eyes in the back of his head,” said Mark. “Bond is right. You can’t get away with anything when he’s around.” “He’s constantly evaluating things,” said Bond. “I thought my dad was bad,” said Stella. “Eventually I hope to join a sports team and get out of all this training,” said Bond. “I’m not quite sure if being a detective is something I want to do.” “Sports takes just as much training as detecting,” said Mark. “Only you have to be good at running and catching and a hundred other things.” “And you’re not that good at any of them,” said Melinda. “I could be a great football player,” said Bond. “I have grace according to my mom.” The siblings sniggered at that. Melinda covered her mouth so she couldn’t howl with laughter. “You two are being mean,” said Stella. She frowned at the two. “Fighting is not that great a skill either if it doesn’t get you a job to pay your rent.” “It’s a great skill,” said Mark. “It has a lot of uses.” “Name one other than fighting,” said Stella. “Breaking things,” said Mark. “Physical fitness,” said Melinda. “Taking a punch to the face,” said Bond. “The last is covered by fighting,” said Stella. “All right, kids,” said Marty. “I need to make a call. Try to keep things down to a dull roar.” Ruff barked from the back of the van. “That includes you too,” said Marty. He pulled on a headset and plugged it into the dashboard. He waited for someone to answer before he started talking. He nodded at something said. Then he disconnected the headset, and put it away again. “All right, guys,” said Marty. “We’re getting off at the next exit and then start up toward the forest. There’s a small place to shop for groceries. That will be the place for whatever supplies you think we’ll need. Think about it.” “How much can we get?,” asked Mark. “Five dollars worth,” said Marty. “I think that should be enough for the four of you.” “Five dollars apiece, or together?,” asked Mark. “Together,” said Marty. “That won’t even buy soda pop for the four of us,” said Mark. “It should,” said Marty. He looked at Finch. She held up two fingers. “All right, I will give you two dollars apiece for your personal use.” “Three dollars?,” asked Mark. “Two fifty,” said Marty. “That’s my final offer.” Mark looked at the other three kids. He nodded at the looks he got back. “We’ll take it,” he said. “He gets this haggling thing from your side of the family,” Marty said, smiling at his wife. Finch shook her head. She pointed at him. “Me? I don’t think so. I never haggled a day in my life.” Stella wondered what she could get for two dollars. She planned to keep the fifty cents for later when she got home. “All right, here’s the exit, kids,” said Marty. “We’re looking for signs heading to Redwood. The camping area is north of that.” “We could have camped around the old place,” said Mark. “We didn’t have to drive out this far from home.” “Barry is doing experiments at home,” said Marty. “I figured that camping away from that would prevent him trying to con us into helping him move machinery around while he got things the way he wanted.” “Good call,” said Mark. He settled back in his chair. “I’m so glad you approve of my decision making skills,” said Marty. “Who’s Barry?,” asked Stella. She saw an image of a human looking machine in a Scout coat, waving what looked like a flamethrower in one hand. “He’s one of the Scouts,” said Bond. “He’s big on doing experiments to find out things.” “He’ll work us like dogs,” said Mark. “He says it builds character,” said Melinda. She stuck out her tongue at that idea. “Don’t listen to them,” said Marty. “Barry is my adoptive father, and Mark and Melinda’s adoptive grandfather. He gets a little enthusiastic when he decides to do things. This weekend is all about taking things slow and enjoying the time outside.” “Which we wouldn’t be able to do dodging lightning and some of the stuff he’s testing,” said Mark. “Killer frogs with two foot long tongues,” said Melinda. She shook at the thought. Ruff added his own sentiment to the description from his spot at the back of the van. “You kids are exaggerating,” said Marty. “Those frogs weren’t nearly that big.” Stella saw an image in the Morgan siblings’ minds. The frogs looked big to her. The size of a greyhound sprang to mind. Mark held his hands out to show how big the frogs were. Melinda nodded in agreement. “Humongous,” said Finch. “They were a little outsized, but we handled it,” said Marty. “You guys act like you’ve never seen strange wildlife before.” “Mr. Morgan,” said Bond. “Those frogs were the single most dangerous things I have ever seen in my life. I think that you are just used to that kind of thing and they looked small to you.” “You haven’t really seen anything that dangerous, have you?,” asked Marty. “Not like that, no,” said Bond. He turned to Stella. “They chased us all over the building, trying to eat us. Mr. Nicklaus found an old flamethrower and lit them up. They exploded and covered us with goo. I spent a week showering to get the smell out.” “That was the worst part,” said Mark. “The slimy skin and the tongues weren’t as bad as the smell when they blew up. We had to clean that up too. It was awful.” “It was horrible,” said Melinda. She made a face at the memory of the odor. “Indescribable,” said Finch. “Et tu, Brute,” said Marty. He glanced at his wife. Her placid mask almost smiled back at him. The van pulled into the gravel lot of the small store Marty had told them about. He counted out two fives and handed them to the four kids. They looked down at the two bills. “How are we supposed to split this?,” asked Mark. “I suggest that one of you pick one item and pay for it to get change, then split it like that,” said Marty. “Or one of you can buy their two bucks worth of stuff and give the change to the other.” “Boys together, then girls,” said Finch. “No fighting, no arguing.” “Come on, Bond,” said Mark. “Let’s see what we can do with our five dollars.” The boys went in first, talking about how to maximize their buying power. A giant pool of things to split would be the way to go as far as they could see. And they wouldn’t have to give any to the girls. “Could you help me pick stuff out?,” asked Melinda. “I’m not good with numbers yet.” “Okay,” said Stella. “You hold the money.” “I can do that,” said Melinda. “No one will take our money as long as I have it in my hand.” Stella saw a show of violence rushing through Melinda’s mind at the determination of stopping a thief before he got away with their five dollar bill. “If you girls hurry, maybe you can convince the boys to share their five so you have ten dollars altogether,” said Marty. He smiled as they rushed into the store to talk to the boys.

I have some stuff up at Royal Road. It's going okay. I have mirrored Hodgepodge and loaded part of the stories from this thread there also CES

Sorry, guys. I had three months of bad luck and if I can get my wife another job maybe things will straighten out. I missed the end of my draft and the world creation draft which I love. It's been a hee haw skit for a while. I took two days off my job to shirk my responsibilities and one of the other drivers working for me went off the road to miss a deer. CES

I did a lego man as a villian for the Defenders game I ran. His boss loved to use Pikachus as security. Nothing scares a cartoon fan more than a ten foot tall giant rodent going PIKA!!! CES

Read The Sixteenth Way to Defend a Castle by Parker. The hero, a member of the minority, is a colonel in a division of engineers. He has to hold the capital city from the enemy. He does this by building catapults on the walls, forging coins for money, and making the local underworld part of his army. CES

Ready Player One. A master mind creates an MMO/VR that is so good that it becomes an economy on itself while the outside world gets worse and worse. With a will being broadcasted on open air by the creator, anyone who can solve the puzzles, and get the prize, can take over the company. Things flew by so it was hard to see all the cameos in the fight scene at the end, but the Spartans were my favorite CES

Yes. He was in Wings also. CES

I'm sorry. Some personal things came up. I'll look at it tonight when I get home. Remember Gods + regular mortals = original demigod kids. CES

Arlen Gould is the super powered Jet Stream. His control of the air is absolute and deadly in every way. He spends most of his time on rescue work preventing tornadoes from touching down and moving debris so victims can be saved. CES

Quail Huxley is the villain known as Gundown. He's a superfast draw and a dead shot with any gun or knife. His reputation as a professional mercenary is assured and most people on both sides of the law know that he has never missed. CES

Push All the Buttons 2017- Tanner Lerner paused in front of the television screen in the Fro Yo dining room. He put his tray down on a nearby table, and started rolling up his sleeve. He started toward the door. “Where are you going, squirt?,” asked Darla Huitt. She wore a sweatshirt with their school name on it, and shorts. A headband covered the tattoo over her eyes, and her temples. “There’s an emergency in New York,” said Tanner. “I have to get out there and lend a hand.” Darla looked at the screen. She looked at her cousin. “What do you think you’re going to do that the Mark can’t?,” she asked. “I don’t know,” said Tanner. “Maybe they’ll need someone who can do rescues really good. See you.” “What do I tell your folks?,” asked Darla. “Tell them I had some volunteer work to do,” said Tanner. “I’ll be home as soon as I am done.” “I don’t think so,” said Darla. She followed him out into the parking lot. He ran his finger over his forearm as he walked away. He didn’t turn around as she grabbed his sleeve. He would have shrugged her off except he had stepped to somewhere in Missouri, and dragged her along with him. “What are you doing, Darla?,” asked Tanner. “What are you doing?,” asked Darla. She looked around. “Where are we?” “I’m headed for New York,” said Tanner. “Not without me,” said Darla. “You can’t leave me in the middle of nowhere.” “Take a bus back home,” said Tanner. “I’ve got things to do and not enough time.” “No,” said Darla. “Either we both go home, or neither of us do.” “I’m good with that,” said Tanner. He started walking again. Darla grabbed his arm as he crossed a variety of landscapes and they wound up on a building in the middle of New York. She looked around. A guy in a mask pointed a bow and arrow at her face. “Keep pointing that at me, and I’ll shove it so far up inside you, a proctologist couldn’t find it, buddy,” said Darla. “Don’t mind her,” said Tanner. He glanced at his forearm. “She’s moody.” “I’m not,” said Darla. “I can’t have you civilians up here,” said the bowman. “There’s an invasion going on.” “I know,” said Tanner. “I’m here to lend a hand as soon as my timer runs out.” “I, the Queen of Genn, the Sister of the Destroyer, the Mother of the Myriad, the Sun of a Million Lands, pronounce sentence on this miserable place for the crime of accepting my rebellious daughter as one of your own.” The image of a burning tree held up its prize in its grasp. The image covered the world so everyone could see what was going to happen. “You will all be exterminated just like this hero who tried to stop me.” The net around the Mark caught fire as magic poured down on him. He felt the green spark in his body being ripped out. Then he blew apart in a cloud of ash and smoke. “And you want to take that on?,” asked Darla. “Nobody else can,” said Tanner. “The Lamplighters have a plan,” said the bowman. “I don’t know what the two of you think you can do, but the Scouts and everyone else we can round up are trying to keep the enemy forces from overrunning the city while they do what they do.” “Timer is almost done,” said Tanner. “Give the Scout a hand, Darla, until I get back. If I don’t make it back, tell the folks what happened.” “Don’t be crazy,” Darla said. “You don’t have a chance against that thing.” “Sure I do,” said Tanner. He looked up at a streak of light descending from the sky. “It looks like I’m not the only one joining this party. Try not to get hurt. Your mom will have kittens.” Tanner counted down the last of his circular clock on his forearm. He knew what he had to do, but didn’t know what would happen. His body might explode from the power he was going to summon up. He hoped the Scouts gave Darla a ride home after this was over. He doubted she wanted to explain how she got to New York if he didn’t make it. “What are you going to do?,” asked the bowman. “I’m going to push all the buttons,” said Tanner. He ran his finger on all the buttons on the keyboard tattooed to his forearm. Each one lit up at his touch. He had kept his power output to three keys because that was all that was usually needed in the situations he faced back home. Now as the giant tree and the giant hero in a space suit swung at each other. He needed more than the usual amount of power. He paused before he pushed the activate key. His cousin looked furious, but she almost always did. The bowman looked confused, but that might have been because he wore what looked like a scarecrow outfit with the bag over his head under a jacket with the Hazard Scout hourglass on it. He smiled. Then he pushed the button. Tanner exploded upward, becoming metallic and huge in flight. He slammed into the Queen of the Genn as she knocked the other hero away. He punched her in the face as energy blew against her body. He didn’t have long. The Scout said they had a plan in operation. All they had to do was hold the Queen in position. His timer said he only had three minutes at best. He hoped he lived long enough to see what the side effects were. A hundred wooden hands smashed into his metallic face. That sent him stumbling back. He grimaced as energy struck at him. He raised a shield and let the beam wrap around it without touching him. He noted that Darla had started using her eyebeam. It was perfect for knocking down the mooks while he went toe to toe with the big cheese. Purple splashes of color sent flying machines to the ground with a couple of hits. Tanner retaliated with explosive splinters. He didn’t get to use that power too often. It felt good to give the Queen a face full of spikes. And then the spikes blew up. He would have laughed, but something caught him in the chest and he started worrying where he was going to land. Tanner brought himself up from crashing into a few skyscrapers. He winced at the cracking of some of the windows. He couldn’t help that. Thunder shook the air. A giant bipedal lizard stalked the streets. Fins on its back glowed with fury. It roared, then emitted a beam of fire from its mouth. Then it charged right at the Queen. “What the heck is that?,” Tanner asked himself as the giant lizard and giant burning tree met. The biting and roaring that followed was enough to deafen people. Tanner and the other giant added to the havoc by blazing away at the Queen as the reptile bit and tore. The burning tree blasted them away with a wave of her arms. Her bark regrew as they watched. They didn’t have anything to shut her down, even with the giant lizard helping out. How could they win this? A mental beeping went off in Tanner’s head. He looked down at his arm. His power was about to shut off. He looked around for a building he could land on before his combined abilities went away altogether. He grabbed a roof with one hand. Once his power went away, he would have to wait before he could use it again. He had never used all of the buttons at one time. He didn’t know how long it would take to power up again. He could be dead by the time he could use the keyboard again. The other giant slammed into the Queen, combining his attack with the lizard. He covered his face as the counter attack ripped at his metallic skin. He burned the air as he stood there. The lizard exhaled at point blank range. The dragon fire burned against a hastily erected shield, blowing it apart. It followed that with a headbutt. Someone had taught the monster some wrestling moves before it came out to save the world, thought Tanner. His power burned up. He shrank as his body returned to normal. He pulled himself on his target roof and rolled away from the edge as he looked up at the sky and wondered what else he could do. A jet of blue flame hit the Queen. Tanner looked back at the source of it. He saw something like a cannon in the distance. Blue lights flicked on in a spider’s web as the jet burned through the wooden body and the green energy roiling within. The animated tree stumbled from the almost lethal attack. The remaining giant slammed a fist into the tree, pushing her back into the clouds that formed the door between their realms. Tanner had been too busy to notice, but other flying heroes were on the scene. Had they been there the whole time. He realized that he had been caught up in the struggle and had not noticed other displays of power while trying to hold the Queen back. Light from the street extended into the air in letters, combining into a symbol of light. It capped the cloud cover. Then it shrank, taking the door with it. Tanner sat on the roof for a second. He looked at his arm. The keys were cold. He couldn’t get home until the keyboard became warm again. He shook his head. How was he going to get down? He could already hear Darla complaining now. He wished the best of luck to the bowman Scout. That and some earplugs might be enough to salvage the rest of his night. “It’s transformer boy,” said a familiar voice. He turned as a costume in red and silver dropped out of the sky. “It’s Scarab Girl,” said Tanner. He smiled. “How’s your dad?” “Grounding me when this is all over,” said Scarab Girl. She looked out over the city. The lizard had turned into a thunderstorm heading out over the ocean. She pointed at the lightning arcing to the water. “I have to pick up my cousin,” said Tanner. “And then I have to wait for the keyboard to activate again. I used up a lot of juice doing what I did.” “The Scouts are regrouping on their command point,” said Scarab Girl. “They live out your way. Maybe you can hitch a ride.” “I doubt they want tagalongs like me and Darla,” said Tanner. “Especially since I left Darla with one of their guys, and she is not the friendliest person ever.” “You can see if their guy took her to their command post,” said Scarab Girl. “I’ll give you a lift over there myself.” “Thanks, Scarab Girl,” said Tanner. He looked at his forearm. “That’ll be a great help.” “Does your parents know you’re out saving the world?,” asked Scarab Girl. She fired a line to the next building over. “No,” said Tanner. “Just Darla, and I wouldn’t have told her except she got something too.” “Mutual blackmail of silence?,” said Scarab Girl. “Exactly,” said Tanner. Scarab Girl grabbed Tanner under one arm and swung out from the roof. She descended to the street and dropped him on the sidewalk. “It’s this way,” she said. She pointed at the glow in the air. “Better hurry if you don’t want your cousin messing things up for you.” “As long as she doesn’t splatter anybody, it should be good,” said Tanner. He walked down the street. Others joined him. He looked at the masks and costumes. They were as cut up and torn as his own clothes. He nodded at a man in a suit and hat with a clay mask over his face. The other nodded back. “Do you want to have something to eat after we check in?,” Scarab Girl asked. “I don’t think your dad likes me,” said Tanner. He thought the expression under the full mask could be a smile, but he couldn’t tell for sure. “Hey, kid,” said a man in a dun coat. He puffed on a cigar as he came out of a side street. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Scarab Girl. How’s it going?” “It’s going fine, Mr. Nobody,” said Scarab Girl. “How are things with you?” “No mister,” said the smoker. He smiled, eyebrows in a quizzical lift over his eyes. “I think things will settle down for a while.” “Seen Darla?,” asked Tanner. “She flew over with the Scarrow and Emerald,” said Nobody. “I expect she’s waiting for you to show up.” “I can’t take her home yet,” said Tanner. “I’m sure she’ll understand,” said Nobody. He opened the door for them to head up to the roof. “Have you met my cousin?,” Tanner said. He walked across the lobby, checking the keyboard as he went. “I don’t think understanding is what she does best.” “It’ll be fine,” said the man in the coat. He smiled around his cigar. Tanner and Scarab Girl exchanged a look. They both knew empty assurances when they heard them. The three of them made their way to the roof. The man in the coat opened any doors that stood in their way. Scarab Girl saw her father talking to the Mark’s daughters. He looked up when she arrived. She could tell he wasn’t happy that she was still in working clothes. And then he saw Tanner and the man in the coat. He definitely didn’t look happy despite the mask. “I think your dad is mad,” said Tanner in a low voice. “Really?,” said Scarab Girl. “What was your first clue, Sherlock?” “You,” said Darla. “Where have you been? How could you leave me with someone stupid enough to call themselves Scarrow? What is your problem? Is this your girlfriend? Can we go home?” “Not yet,” said Tanner. “This is my cousin, Darla. Darla, this is the Scarlet Scarab, and Scarab Girl. Scarab Girl was asking if we would like to eat with them, and anybody else who wanted to go now that the emergency is over.” “Are you crazy?,” asked Darla. “No, I don’t want to eat with bug people. I have to get home before my curfew, dipstick.” “That’s not going to happen anytime soon,” said Tanner. “I busted the keyboard.” “What did you say?,” said Darla. Her hands reached for the headband concealing her third eye. “Who did we lose?,” asked Tanner. “Marty Morgan, the Animal, and the Mark,” said the Scarlet Scarab. “We lost a couple of others fighting in the street. We’re hoping they’ll show up some time and let us know they’re still out there.” “So we didn’t save everybody,” said Tanner. “Couldn’t be expected to,” said the man in the dun coat. “You two still did okay considering.” “If you can call running across the country and nearly getting killed fighting someone that killed the Mark okay,” said Darla. “What the frack was that?” “It needed doing,” said Tanner. “Exactly,” said the man in the dun coat. “Some things need doing. Have a safe trip back home. I doubt things will be this bad for a while. This Earth has beaten two menaces from beyond. The others might decide to leave us alone for a bit.” “What if they don’t, Mister Mysterious Mister Who Likes Crappy Smelling Smokes?,” asked Darla. “You’re the heroes who have to fight for the world,” said the man in the dun coat. “I’m just a nobody comedy relief.” He raised his cigar in a goodbye gesture and walked away. “That guy gets up my nose,” said Darla. “Especially those cigars and the mysterious mystery act. What’s next? He’s pulls a rabbit out of his coat and says presto.” “The city is going to be cleaning up for a while,” said the Scarlet Scarab. “None of us seem to have the ability to help with that. And the Scouts are going to want to bury their dead. We can get a meal while we wait on your power to come back.” “If it ever does,” said Tanner. “We may be stuck here for a while.” “What did you say?,” said Darla. “I said let’s grab something to eat while we can,” said Tanner. “Then we can talk about getting home, and covering for leaving like we did.” “This is all your fault,” said Darla. “No one asked you to come along,” said Tanner. “Act like a decent person and let’s have a dinner with two of the best heroes in the city without embarrassing ourselves.” “This isn’t over,” said Darla. She glared at the three of them. “Let’s go.” The four of them walked down the stairs in silence.

I have to do the update later. CES

Human mates. Neither of these are humans. CES

I am going to have to put on my ref hat for a second. You're supposed to be coming up with 1 original kid for your new godlings. CES

Present Tense by Child Mark Reacher is trying to set up the most dangerous game for pay. What he doesn't know is that his cousin, Jack, is in town and digging into family history CES

Nobody picked for Sunday. That means two picks for us in under 12 hours. Let me look back at what we picked and what I think about it. Here we go. Csyphrett: Day One I picked the court of the jade emperor as my home base. It's like Olympus but at the top of Five Element mountain in China. Day Two Hephaestus and Agatha Heterodyne got together to bring their offspring Gilgamesh Hercules Tarvek Heterodyne into the world. Two mechanically inclined people get together to bring their little inventor in the world. Day Three Heimdall the guardian of Bifrost and Rachel Summers, the Phoenix have Nathan Scott Summers. This is a god who can see anything with a telepath and telekinetic to reach anywhere with a son who is named after two heroes. Day Four: Maui is the father. His immortal wife is Ran, goddess of the sea. Their daughter is Moana Ran, goddess of the sea in training Day Five Day Six Death Tribble Day One The Great Pyramid of Cholula Day Two Tezcatlipoca and the Invisible Woman have the Hidden Jaguar. DT stated that this romance took place before the final stages of the war happened and the renewal strategy was agreed on. Day Three Tlazolteotl and Bruce Wayne have Tarinda the Bat Day Four Quetzalcoatl and Shayera Hol have Snake Hawk which I assume combines a feathered dragon with thangarian tech Day Five Day Six DT has rebuilt part of the Incan/Mayan/Aztec Pantheon in his choices. Cancer Day One Rarotonga Day Two Tangaroa, Maori god of the Sea, whose image The Needle includes, and Luornu Durgo, Triplicate Girl have all the Lizard folk at the same time. Day Three Deity: the Minoan Snake Goddess, name not known (because we haven't managed to read Linear A yet) and Peter Quill, Star-Lord. hatch a replacement Rainbow Serpent, from Australian Aborigine collective mythology. Day Four Day Five Day Six Cancer has some sea faring people gods and space heroes going on to produce reptiles. Using the any god not named is dead rule allows the replacement Serpent. If somebody picks the original, RS jr is coming in as his apprentice. The Old Man Day One Eden Day Two Eris, Greek Goddess of Discord, lay with Nightmare, ruler of the Dream Dimension, and begot Bellastrid, the goddess of Conflict and Fear, Hatred and Rage Day Three Gullveig, Norse Goddess of Greed and Wealth, slept with Victor von Doom, ruler of Latveria, and bore Autoregis, the god of Ambition, Money, Greed, and Power Day Four Day Five Day Six The Old Man seems to be putting together a pantheon of evil. I am letting Nightmare slide on this because I don't know where he stands on the god scale. If I had an idea, I would be like get a real man, not some pasty faced clown that be beat by a minotaur. Bazza Day One The Greek Underworld Hades Day Two Hades and Diana Prince have Pluton Prince, the prince of the underworld Day Three Hero #2: Set (Egyptian god) + Power Girl (Karen Starr) = Seth Starr. Day Four Day Five Day Six Bazza also seems to be putting together a darker pantheon for the next time the multiverse nearly ends. Psybolt Day One Location: Scholomance (central Romania (modern Sibiu, Romania, called Nagyszeben in Hungarian) Day Two: Cthulhu and Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) have Victor Maximoff, the Dragunkind Day Three Isis (Egyptian goddess of fertility) and Thanos have Cleo Adom Day Four Day Five Day Six Psybolt comes out and boom elder god. I would have put down Cthulhu for wrecking things as the villain but I guess even madness creating fish gods can be good parents. That's where we stand rolling into day six. This is your moderator saying good picking CES

(I am working on a hazard scout for my project. I might as well put him here so I remember the name.) Josh Tiptree is Power Man. He has the ability to control electricity, but not make it. Essentially he can take the power from a building and turn that into an arc, or to run some piece of equipment that can't be plugged in, or drain batteries. CES

Custard seemed like a joke villain with his weird suit and happy V mask, but then came the explosions, the screaming, the hyena laugh. Then the silence CES

Maui is the father. His immortal wife is Ran, goddess of the sea. Their daughter is Moana Ran, goddess of the sea in training CES

Some of these are pretty good, or at least interesting. I'm letting the lizard folk slide since this could be the same as the norse dwarf situation where the mother has all the kids at the same time. CES

Did they do tests where the block was secured? It looked like some of the rounds hit but they said the bullets didn't go in the wood. And this was cool, PG. Thanks for the video. CES

God: Heimdall the guardian of Bifrost The Mortal: Rachel Summers, the Phoenix. The Child: Nathan Scott Summers. CES

Lets do that. CES

Typically unless the bullet is a magnum or cut down rifle cartridges like are used in the Casull, a pistol round will deform more and break when they hit a hard substance like bone. The NYME cut a guy open and found a 25 had entered a guy's skull through his eye and bounced around inside the brain case before losing its energy. Did no out damage to the skull at all. 38's have also been known to bounce off rib cages. .45's may break the bone and shatter. A 357 or 44 magnum have shot through cars. Rifle bullets have been known to go through concrete walls which would stop a pistol round. Pistols are easier to carry and concealable. They're easier to reload. Sometimes you might have to shoot the target more than one time before they go down. You shoot a guy with a rifle, sometimes the bullet will keep going and hit somebody behind the original target. CES