Discord Celebrates First Accurate GOP Prediction of 21st Century

He would never be sure who grabbed who. Phillip had moved quickly, but then turned as if he wanted to attack Vile Darken. With a hundred Xemmoni at their backs, Jack didn’t favor their chances going up against the most powerful villain of the age.

Together they toppled back into the room covered with Felix’s viscera as a similar shower of body parts rained down as Cleo’s body continued to explode in the hallway behind them. 

Eyes of Vile

Over all this Vile’s voice boomed. “What? You think to escape? This world has never seen a gathering of Xemmoni such as I have summoned! Capture them alive. Their blood will aid with the spell. Ha, we might be able to wrap this up tonight and with the Multi-Verse heroes gone, the worlds will all quickly fall to me.”

Bedroom of Blood

“He’s always been a gabby one,” Jack said, as the pair scrambled through the gore onto their feet.

Phillip’s eyes were wide open and he yelled straight into Jack’s face. “Become a small serpent. Do it now!”

Trusting Phillip had a plan, Jack began to transform into a Mojave Rattlesnake while Phillip tossed a heavy chair through the bedroom window. At once, the growls and threats of more Xemmoni reached his ears from below, but soon those ears disappeared as his reptilian form took hold.

Vile might had shouted something, but his words would be forever lost. Phillip snatched him up and leapt onto the graded roof outside of the bedroom. But at once, Jack noticed that his friend’s body was transforming into… His pointed tongue snapped out long enough to realize that Phillip’s body was disappearing and becoming wine. 

Wave of Wine

Caught up in the small tidal wave Phillip’s body had become, Jack’s serpentine form twisted and fought to keep his head about the rolling violet wine. He might have gasped, if his body possessed such an ability, when he went spiraling over the edge of the roof. 

He hit the ground hard as wine rained down on him. The Xemmoni appeared stunned, but a big Caradon went to grab him. Jack rewarded the attack with a mouthful of venom and the Xemmoni withdrew his hand with a scream.

Then the waves of wine moved him again and he tumbled over the lawn. He could just determine they headed for the street when he felt himself falling again. It looked like it was into the sewer this time. Looking back, he saw they had passed through a storm grate. 

Phillip’s body carried him a sways further but then disappeared. Jack took this as a cue to become human again and found his drenched body standing in two feet of stagnant water. 

Phillip appeared out of the water a minute later. It relieved him to see that, like him, Phillip transformed with all his clothes and weapons still present.

“Neat trick.”

 

“I’ve learned a few things along the way, but yeah, it’s a newer one.” But then the reality of what had just occurred set in and his head dropped.

Placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, Jack said, “I’m sorry man.”

“She… she deserved better.” But then his eyes raised and met Jack’s. “But what are we going to do? Besides Vile being here, did you see how many Xemmoni are out there? There must have been hundreds. And we just lost two of the last of our own.”

Jack adjusted the grip on his sledge hammer. “Not like you and I can run away. We don’t have a choice. If Vile eliminated the effects of that damn scroll had on the heroes present when it was casted, we both just might cease existing even if we’re a thousand miles from here.”

“So we just attempt the impossible because we are doomed anyway?”

“No, we do everything we can, when we can do it. One thing, with all those Xemmoni here, I doubt Bruin and Lanna had to fight much. Let’s at least reach them and make sure they are safe.”

“Fine,” Phillip said, while drawing his cutlass. “If I have to go down, it might as well be with a sword in my hands and I don’t care who he is, I’m going to kill that bastard Vile.”

Jack led the way through the sewers, but called over his shoulder, “No worries, I’m sure one of your incarnations has already killed the bastard here or there.”

“Well there is this one world, where I helped an Apollo man named Narrows. I think I killed Vile there for sure. And on this other plane, I dreamt that I was a reporter…

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

\

Worst Case Scenario

Despite his reluctance, Jack decided to go with Bruin’s plan of letting Jack and the Dionysus worshippers try to rescue the healer Felix, while Bruin and Lanna attempted to destroy a Darcarre nest. They made it deep into Boston unopposed, but this also made sense for the Xemmoni no doubt wanted them as far into the city as possible before they set their trap. For the team would be kidding themselves if they didn’t admit there was a trap being set for them. The only questions would be if Felix still lived or if they would be able to live through it themselves. 

Urban Issues

The tension, in the new van Jack had purchased, lay thick and no one had spoken for so long that Phillip’s voice caused him to jerk the wheel. “It’ll be great to have a healer with us, if nothing else. All we need to do is be able to fight our way toward him and he’ll get us ready to fight our way out.”

“I just hope he still lives,” Cleo said, with less optimism in her voice. 

Jack glanced at her in the rear view for a moment before saying, “Phillip’s right though. We have just one goal. Grab Felix and go.”

“What if he still refuses to leave with us?” Phillip asked.

“We just have to assume, by this point, he’s knows better. Even if he’s too scared to hit our enemies with us, we can still hide him in some hotel and use him as a healer after our conflicts.” They rode in silence for a while, but then Jack added, “And one more thing. I could care less about coordinating some attack with Bruin. If the Darcarre come at us and lighten his burden, so be it. But I’m not risking our safety to do anything other than rescue Felix.”

Soon they arrived at Felix’s home. It was lit up like the man expected company, and Phillip mumbled, “I hope all those lights are a good sign.”

“Or maybe he’s just trying to keep the Darcarre at bay,” Cleo said.

“Brace yourselves,” Jack said, through clenched teeth, seconds before he hopped the van over the curb, drove across the lawn, and pulled up next to the front steps.

Phillip jumped out of the van first. “So far so good. No sign of anything.”

As one, the trio raced up the steps. Cleo gazed in every direction. “Is it possible that there isn’t a trap set for us here?”

Before he answered, Jack reached for the doorknob. It proved to be unlocked. Looking back over his shoulder, “This is getting strange.”

Phillip’s voice dropped to a whisper as they shut the front door behind them. “His room is upstairs. He’s either there or in the library on this level.”

They checked the library, but found no signs on him. Phillip and Jack lead the way up the stairs while Cleo watched their backs. Approaching Felix’s bedroom, the Stalwarts drew weapons. Again the door was unlocked, Jack opened it, and the men rushed inside.

The sight before them caused even those veteran Stalwarts to draw back and gasp in horror. Felix floated in mid air like he had been crucified on an invisible cross. He moaned slightly, but gave no indication that he was aware of their presence. His naked body showed signs of horrible abuse. Bruises and angry red lacerations covered more parts of his body than not. Only the whites of his eyes were visible, but they only had just enough time to take this in before the healer exploded.

Death of Felix

His very body became weapons and Phillip and Jack cried out as sharpened bones impaled them and viscera blinded their eyes. The men stumbled back into the hallway and struggled to wipe what was once Felix from their faces. Before this could happen, an insane laughter filled Jack’s veins with ice.

He’d heard that laugh before.

“VILE!”

Vile Darken

Jack looked on in horror as Vile Darken himself, both the Earth’s and Jack’s ultimate enemy, stood before him opposite of the stairs. His nemesis’ black sorcerer’s hat did little to contain Darken’s wild mane of unkempt hair. His goatee had become a raged beard since the last time Jack had confronted him, but insanity still burned behind his evil eyes. Tall ebony jack boots met a midnight blue uniform that made the foul villain look like some sort of space pirate. One hand clamped onto a smoking, black cutlass, while the other had Cleo’s body suspended by the neck so that her feet dangled a full foot of the floor.

“Ho, Jack Primus we meet once more, but then again, I’ve meet you so many times over across the Everywhere War, that such encounters tend to lose their uniqueness.”

He has your love in his hands

“Let her go, you horrid freak,” Jack hissed. “Your battle is with me. Let’s finish this!”

“Jack,” Phillip said in a low voice. “Behind us.”

Jack took a second to discover that dozens of Xemmoni rushed into the house behind them. In seconds they would be heading up the stairs at their backs.

Vile’s voice drew Jack back to the dark villain. “I’m been enjoying causing people to explode latterly. You could say it’s my newest trick or perhaps hobby.”

Evil thy name is Vile

Then, before Jack could do anything, Cleo exploded into a thousand gruesome pieces.

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

Vile Darken

YIG Entropy Guide

The Path of Life has Eight Hundred Directions at Once

Each day we are Faced with more Choices then we Realize

Servants of Yig

Are one with the Chaos

Like a Snake they can move in any direction at any Time

But move Forward once the Direction is Chosen

I seek to be like the Snake

Let the Chaos Embrace Me

I Wish to be like the Leaf in the Wind

Which Lands on the Pot of Gold

Let the Chaos Infuse Me

Entropy shall be my Guide

Take me down the right Road

The path of Greatness Awaits

The Journey continues Forever

I am the traveler, who Seeks, Finds, and becomes Complete

Yig

 

Find out more about Followers of Yig Here!!!

Between a Dark and a Darker Place

Lanna rolled onto her back. Her lean body glistened with a layer of perspiration. “I think that was our eighth bout since we checked into this place,” she purred.

Jack’s back was toward her as he slipped on his jeans. “Sounds about right and it works for me.” He smiled over his shoulder, “Eight is Yig’s lucky number.” 

“I hope you’re all happy. You showing up at The Joint pretty much insures that I’ll never work in Boston again. Hell, never go back to Boston again.”

 

Jack stood and watched the waves crash against the shore below them. Rain hammered the coast and showed no signs of slowing. “How long do you think it would have been before they dragged you out of that place whether or not we were around?”

“I’m not sure,” she purred. “I can usually find some what to convince most people that I can be a very useful girl.”

Lanna

He smiled, despite himself. “I’m sure you can. Still allowing some Caradon’s mutated hands to touch you… I’m not sure much is worth such a price.”

“Don’t underestimate mutates, hun. Sometimes they have things that—hey where you going?”

“I need to find Bruin and see where he stands.”

“Wait, you don’t even know where I stand.”

He flashed her another smile. “Nah, I think I do.”

*         *         *

Jack found Bruin and Phillip drinking in the hotel’s small dark bar. Shadows played over both men’s faces and Jack wondered if they had asked the bartender to dim the lights. As he drew in closer, Jack felt pleased that the Stalwart of the dark one had at least removed his hockey mask.

 

“What can I get you?” Phillip asked while hurrying behind the bar.

Jack had learned better than to ask where the bartender might have been and just requested an ale before joining Bruin at the center table. 

The man’s black locks covered his face almost as well as the hockey mask had. The rest of his wardrobe would have made a Darcarre jealous. Black jeans, met a black shirt and high boots. Even his drink looked like ink.

Bruin

“So what have you two been discussing?” He asked.

“Mostly how amazing it is that you all still draw breath,” Bruin said.

Jack leaned in. “So you’re saying we shouldn’t be trying to keep the Xemmoni from claiming the whole city and perhaps initiating a ritual what could damage the war on multiple worlds?”

“I’m not saying that at all,” Bruin whispered. “I’m just saying that I’m surprised your luck hadn’t run out and it probably would have if Lanna and I hadn’t come to your rescue.”

“We’ve been through worse.”

“Again, I’m not surprised. Your blundering methods must lead you into all sorts of trouble.”

“Hey,” Phillip said, before Jack could reply. “We were luring them back into the woods. That worked well for a while.”

“Yes,” the Tezcatlipoca follower said, “but when we’re dealing with a mixture of Magick backed up by technology, secrets don’t keep long.”

Trying to keep his voice even, Jack asked, “So what big innovate plan would you suggest?”

Bruin steepled his fingers. “There are many things I might suggest, but first we have to determine if Felix and Blaze are ready, willing, or able to join in this battle.”

Jack tiffed and took a sip of ale. “That’s your big idea? We would have been doing that anyway.”

Stalwart

“Perhaps, but I have another idea. I know where a Darcarre nest is located. I’d like to hit them where it hurts.”

“You want us all to attack it?”

“Noooooooo, just me and maybe Lanna for back up. I’m immune to their darkness Bestows. I go in, assassinate as many as possible. If any try to flee, Lanna can be waiting for them outside.”

“What if there are too many?” Phillip asked.

“That’s where your team comes in. You will go for Felix. This will perhaps empty out more of the nest when the Darcarre call for back up. Then, hopefully before they reach your battle, the Darcarre will be summoned back their own nest to keep me from slaying them all.” He favored them with a dark grin. “This way, we have a chance to free Felix, keep a huge group of Darcarre out of both our battles, and wipe out a nest all at once.”

Phillip looked over at Jack. “The plan has some merits.”

“True, if it looks like we’re heading toward Felix, they might allow us to continue into the city so we can spring the trap they have undoubtedly set for us there. The downside… they have set a trap for us there.”

“But your predictability will work in our favor instead of against us.”

“Easy for you to say,” Jack grumbled. “You’re not in the trap springing group.”

“Yes, I’m in the wipe out a whole nest from the inside by myself group.”

Phillip shrugged. “I’m not sure what else we can try, Jack. We keep thinning their ranks, but more pour into my city every day. At least this way, maybe Bruin can take down a few leaders.”

“Perhaps,” Jack leaned back in his chair. “It’s time for Felix to either join us or leave town. At least with this plan, he’ll have that chance. I do agree with Bruin on one thing. We’ve been mostly spinning our wheels killing the rabble while their leaders probably grow closer to their real agenda.”

“Yes,” Bruin said through clenched teeth. “If we don’t get our act together your end game will be fighting pudwacks and then wondering what’s happening while you and Phillip fade into nothingness.”

Jack stood up. “Alright, we’ll review this with the ladies, but Bruin, I want you to do me a favor.”

“Which is?”

“If you do run into some high ranking Darcarre. Try to take one of them alive.”

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

Darkness and Speed

“Apparently we aren’t the only people that can set traps,” Phillip yelled over at him as he sprayed a group of advancing Caradon with jets of what might have been Merlot. 

Boston

“Yeah, how many damn Xemmoni are here?” Cleo barked. “I feel like if this keeps up we’ll be killing them all tonight.”

Xemmoni

But despite their bravo, Jack knew they were in serious trouble. They had attempted to find Lanna, the Stalwart of Inanna, and figured if Xemmoni guarded her they would have the villains chase their group out into the forest again. However, this time the Xemmoni had prepared themselves and dozens of the dark hearted fiends waited for them. The ebony Darcarre mixed with the wispy rag covered Glooms. The foul twisted bodies of the Caradon had shown up in droves and Jack thought he spied some brown robed Nexus in their midst.

Horde Attack

The first thing the Xemmoni had done was destroy the van the Stalwarts had been using. The second was to surround them outside of the strip joint and do everything in their power to cut the team to pieces. Like usual, the only thing that had kept them breathing was the protection from damage that luckily both Yig and Dionysus afforded their followers.

Lancing Magickal attacks mixed with hurled weapons, for none of the horde wanted to be the first to meet Jack’s axe or Phillip’s enchanted saber. Again the only thing 

keeping their bodies from dissipating into the wind or becoming a chemical soup was the fact that most of the Xemmoni’s Bestows proved too weak to pierce the Stalwart’s protection. Still even the small wounds began to take their toll and as the Xemmoni sensed weakness, they started to close in.

Jack Attack

The group retreated until their backs were against the rear wall of the strip club. “Okay, just because they still outnumber us ten to one, doesn’t mean this is over,” Jack began. “Let’s show these scumbags who really owns Boston.”

The Xemmoni answered with a roar that left their ears ringing. They were about to rush the Stalwarts when those in the rear of their horde began to cry out. 

Jack assumed, correctly, that Lanna might had come to their aid, and this proved true for he could just detect a whirlwind of powder blue tearing into the rear of their enemy, but something else was there a s well. A dark shadow. It moved with a speed the like of which he had rarely witnessed. 

Lanna

The Xemmoni forces wavered and not to be undone, Jack shouted, “Charge!” and he had his Dionysus allies stormed into the front of the Xemmoni ranks. 

Confused and uncertain, their leadership tried to rally their minions until Jack took the Gloom captain’s head off. The rest scattered and Jack and his allies quickly found themselves panting for breath in an alley emptied of all the Xemmoni save for their death and whimpering wounded.

Lanna walked toward them wearing a grin and little else. She appeared to have not bothered to put on as much as a long sleeve shirt before joining in the fray. Yet, despite her exposed female perfection, it proved to be the other figure that drew his attention.

This second figure garbed himself completely in black save a goalie mask that Jason wouldn’t have minded barrowing. For a weapon he held a long hockey stick, which had both side of its end covered in a thick assortment of gleaming blades. He looked a bit like a Grim Reaper that had taken up the sport of hockey.

Bruin

To his side he felt Cleo tense and Phillip leaned in close enough to say, “You’ve met us all now.” Then louder, “allow me to introduce the last surviving Stalwart of Boston that you have yet to speak to. The man of Tezcatlipoca, Bruin.”

“This should prove interesting.”

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

The Serpent and the Grape

After Cleo slit the Darcarre’s throat from ear to ear, the small female Gloom became much more talkative.

Jack leaned in over her, while Phillip stayed busy sharpening his knife. The gentle stoke of the blade over the oiled whetstone, punctuated the room with a gritty rhythm.

Forest Jack

The Stalwart of Yig continued to lean in until his unshaved chin loomed only inches before her wizened face. “So you’re known as Wisp?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you that much, but why should I tell you anything else? You’ll just kill me anyway.”

Wisp

“There’s also that whole torture thing, that’s best to avoid,” Cleo said from behind her.

“Stalwarts don’t torture…”

Phillip looked up, his blazing brown eyes just visible under the rim of his hat. “Jack might not, but I’d have no problem with it. The only thing worse than being kicked out of my city by Xemmoni, would be kicked out of my city from Xemmoni that aren’t even from Boston and by the sound of your accent, you weren’t born in bean town. So you must have been imported to help take over my city. Is this true?”

When she didn’t say anything, Jack prompted her. “Is this really where you want to draw the line in the sand? I suggest you answer him.”

When Cleo rested a hand on the Gloom’s shoulder, she said, “Okay, yeah, I’m not from Boston. Darken has ordered all of us to meet in Boston.”

“What do you mean all of you?” Phillip asked and Jack noticed the deep lines of concern playing over his friend’s face.

She leaned forward, which hid her glowing red eyes. “Listen, I don’t know everything, but I’d like to know what will happen to me if I tell you what I do know?”

Jack lifted her chin so his green eyes met her red. “Let’s just say the more you tell us the more body parts you might get to keep.”

She sighed and then let her gaze drop to the floor. “Lord Darken instructed all of the members of the Dark Alliance within America to head to Boston.”

Phillip spoke slowly. “What do you mean all the members?”

Wisp showed some Xemmoni fueled aggression for the first time. “Just what I said, Stalwart. We’re all supposed to meet in Boston.”

Life and Death

Jack moved back a pace and chuckled. “What all of you. Every Gloom, Darcarre, and Caradon is supposed to head to Boston?”

“That’s what I said.”

“But that’s impossible,” Phillip said.

“And insane,” Cleo added.

Cleo

Jack spoke next. “It would seem to be that if that many Xemmoni showed up here the city would implode to the point where reveling the existence of Xemmoni to the general public would be a real possibly.”

Wisp had gone from being terrified to perhaps enjoying herself in as many seconds as it would take so say it. “You’re forgetting two things. The first is, certainly not all Dark Alliance Xemmoni are aware of Vile’s order and many that are, either can’t or have chosen not to travel to Boston. The second is,” and she looked up and let her blazing eyes burn into his as she spoke, “Soon Vile Darken will be reveling himself to this planet and nothing you can do will stop that.”  

Vile Darken

“Interesting,” Jack said. “Wrong, but interesting. Just one other question for now.” He paused, but then moved in closer again. “Why are all the Xemmoni being brought here? What is Vile attempting to accomplish?”

Wisp appeared lost in thought perhaps weighing her options. “Since you can’t do anything to stop it and telling you might allow myself to live long enough to see the glory of the eternal night… I’ll tell you.” She paused for affect, but then spit it out when she saw their patience waning. “Vile intends to use the power of every Xemmoni he can find to reenact the Everywhere Spell, but this time use it to kill all of the Stalwart archetypes throughout the Multiverse.”

“So I was right,” Jack said in a low voice. “But you were wrong about something.”

“Oh yes,” she hissed. “What would that be?”

“That we can’t do anything to stop it.”

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

Three Glooms

Night Hunt

Pit looked over at his dark mate, Midnight. Although much of her tight ebony dress had splashes of blood covering it, it pleased him to know she had fully healed herself, which appeared to be more than he could say for the rest of the whining rabble that filled the black van with him. 

Darcarre Vilain

Riding in the back were what remained of the dozen Xemmoni who had positioned themselves around the Stalwart Doctor’s home. A full half of them had been slain when the Serpent and the Grape had come calling, which had become the tag the Xemmoni of Boston had given Jack Primus and Phillip Brownhurst. The only satisfaction he got was when the Doctor refused to join the three Stalwarts when they fled, with their tails between their legs, back to the suburbs. It hadn’t been a difficult decision to give chase.

One of the Caradon’s annoying voices, a man named Sender, sounded over his shoulder. “Hey, a few of us could use some more healing back here, including me.”

“I already told you that you have all the healing you’re going to get from us tonight. 

We aren’t going into this final battle with nothing.” He passed to add a lie. “Besides if one of you goes down hard, don’t you want us to have a chance to save you?”

Nasty

This seemed good enough for the Caradon and he sat back down on one of the benches that lined the side of the van. 

Pit opened up telepathic communications with his mate. “They act like there’s some reason I would want any of them alive. Boston has always belonged to the Darcarre, despite who our elders had been foolish enough to align themselves with. As far as I’m concerned, let them all get killed off. It will make for a more pleasant Boston when the last of the Stalwarts are cleaned out.”

She placed her pale, delicate finders on his leg. “Yes, my dark prince, but we may need them before this night has closed. Primus and Brownhurst have a way of surviving.”

“Bah. it’s only the protection afforded by their Pagan gods that allows it to be so. With enough concentrated Bestows, they’ll go down.” He could just make out glaring red tail lights of the truck the Stalwarts drove fleeing before them. It mattered not if he lost sight of them, for he could detect their presence far past what his eyes allowed. He needed no headlights to see in the night and the van sped after the retreating truck like a giant black bullet. “They know their minutes are numbered. They must have been wounded before the battle even started. Why else seek out their best healer. We will crush them before sun up.”

Glooms

The only other female in the van, a Gloom, interrupted their silent communications. “I worry that the surroundings become more rural,” she said. “Perhaps they have no hide out and are just retreating into some random farm.”

“Wisp, are all Glooms as paranoid as you?” Pit’s voice kept its cruel edge. “You should be thankful that you’ll be honored by being with us when we eliminate the last Stalwart threat.”

“Their vehicle slows my mate,” Midnight said.

Wisp, who still had her wizen grey head between their chairs, “I think it’s stopped.”

“I know that,” Midnight affirmed quickly.

“Ready your weapons. Get ready to be the monster you’ve always wanted to be. We’re hunting Stalwart!” A ragged grunting cheer answered him and he wondered once again how he got stuck with such obtuse ‘allies.’

He knew an ambush would be impossible since their presence glared at him like to colorful splinters in the night. “They had already fled their vehicle. Get out, they’re fleeing, there’s no worry of attack.”

The other Xemmoni did as they were told and they eight of them entered the harsh cold of the Massachusetts winter. There was a trail wide enough to drive a car down on the other side of the Stalwart’s truck. The couple chuckled when Sender instructed the Caradon to help him flip the pickup over. 

Wisp appeared less pleased. “The sign here says, Easterbrook Forest. I was told never to fight Stalwarts in the wilderness.”

“Idiot! You would come all this way just to let them go? We could even just freeze them out if we had to.” But looking over at his mate he realized he wouldn’t be popular with her if he made her wait outside in the middle of the winter in just a mini skirt. 

“Sender, your kind can track by smell correct?”

“It’s actually done by following the trace particles-”

“Enough, do it find the trail.”

The Caradon began to grow and stretch.  They let out a howl and both their arms and legs elongated to twice their normal lengths. They looped into the woods, building speed as they went. Pit nodded and the Glooms drew their sickles and a fog began to grow within the forest as they joined the case. Wisp however remained close to the Darcarre. She kept her hooded back to them as though they might forget her foul presence.

He was just about to command her forward when the yelling started. Shouts of alarm became screams and the screaming was over far too quickly

“Pit,” his mate looked his way. “Perhaps we should…”

He saw that Wisp already fed toward the van and gave a shrill scream when the trees came alive and appeared to be attempting to draw and quarter her.

Within seconds both he and Midnight were also ensnared by the mighty bows of the trees.

Primus came walking out of the forest. A bloody axe filled his hands. “You know what the great thing about this spell is?” When his answer was only him witnessing their struggle to escape, the Stalwart continued.  “It doesn’t matter how resistant to Magick you might be, they are still only trees and trees hate Xemmoni… a lot.”

“I’ll show you Magick, fool!” Pit yelled as he sent his Black Veins Bestow crashing into the Stalwart.

Jack took a step back and grunted as the Bestow hit him. When he raised his face, a grin could be seen there. “That hurt. Congratulations. You get to die first.”

Pit’s awareness toppled through unconceivable pain long enough for him to figure out he had been decapitated two seconds before he died.

To be continued next Monday

Get in on the beginning of Jack’s Adventures Here!

Xemmoni

A Shameless Plug or Jack Primus faces the Eternal Aftermath, and with the help of Skinjumpers, fights Dalsala Den

Collapsing Shack Arizona: This week, in a hope to increase book sales, I have taken it upon myself to interview America’s newest hero as he takes on his most difficult challenge yet.

When I caught up to him, Jack Primus put down his brain splattered sledge hammer just long enough to say, “I hope you’re all getting a kick out of this. I have to face the villains from not just my world, but three others as well; just to help Michael D. Griffiths make some books sales. It might sound good for the author, but being forced to fight cyberpunk undead Xemmoni that come from an evil filled planet of high magic really sucks when you are on this side of the pages.”

Jack With an Axe

When I pointed out that selling more copies might mean he would get to be in more books, Jack said, “Hell, I’m already in a few books, loads of artwork, and a weekly blog, but what good does it do me? Oooo I get to get beat up more often.”

When the swarms of zombies that surrounded him grew closer, he thrust an axe into my hands and said, “I’m not even from a world of zombies. I hate zombies, they remind me of my first girlfriend. But now I’m stuck fighting them just to help promote my author’s Zombie Apocalypse series, Eternal Aftermath. Does he care that I’m not even in that series…? No!”

Zombie March

After we cut down enough zombies to give ourselves some breathing room for a moment, I asked him about the allies that he fought side by side with. “These Skinjumpers are the only silver lining to this whole mess, but these high tech cloned heroes brought their own cyber powered villains with them. Do you know how much it blows hitting some guy with a sledge hammer who you think is just a normal dude, but then find out he’s made of solid metal. My fingers are still numb from the last impact. And if you’ve never been hit by a laser, let me tell you something, IT REALLY SUCKS! I almost rather be bit by a zombie. Yeah, if it wasn’t for that whole plague thing. By the way, looks like you were bit. Sorry fella, but I guess I’ll be your last interview.”

I was starting to fell a little light headed, but managed to spit out a question about Dalsala Den. “Yeah, that high level magic using a-hole is the worst of the lot. I thought I had things bad on my world. Shit, I’d rather fight Vile Darken than that guy. I had a group of cops here helping me, but he turned half on them into solid ice and the other half became… crawdads. He says he wants to take over this planet. Well line up scum bag. I wish there was some way I could just let them fight against each other… and… kill… themselves… off. Hey, let’s light that trash on fire and use the smokescreen to go grab ourselves a few ales.”

Even though I was starting to bleed from my eye sockets, I agreed as long as the first round and the cheese steaks were on him.

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Lakeside Plots

The days had stretched long while Jack, Phillip, and Cleo, not only healed their wounds, but also refueled their spend Ki. Their second day hadn’t been so bad for the group had healed their wounds and the McBannons brothers had dropped by for a large poker game. Pizza and shots, mixed with craft ales and Jack got some much needed R and R. It did his soul good to be able to relax as a normal person, even if his guilt still ate at the back of his mind. It didn’t surprise him much when Cleo and Phillip won most of everyone’s money.

White’s Pond

On the third morning, the trio of Stalwarts gathered to meet before they headed back into the dark city. They had all agreed that a gear-up run should occur before they reached the city, but other issues proved more complex.

 

Phillip and Cleo sat around the remains of the poker game sipping coffee while Jack paced around the room downing can after can of Mountain Dew. 

Jack broke the building silence. “I would think the first thing we need to do is contact the other Stalwarts that hopefully are still with us.”

“I contacted Blaze, through Email,” Phillip said. “He’s still kicking. He has a secure site base that’s spread over the web so he can’t be tracked.” Phillip looked up from his steaming cup and met Jack’s eyes. “But he did a little net-running for us and told me that our cells, and such, are tapped. He said that if we need to contact anyone a face to face would be safer. At least that way they won’t know we’re coming as quickly, but he also said that he thinks Lanna and Felix are being watched.”

“Well at least that means they are still alive.”

Cleo spoke up. “They have probably been left alive so they can be used as bait to catch us. We killed a bucket load of Xemmoni. I’m sure we hit number one on their shit list, real quick.”

Dead Wood

“Let’s table them for now,” Jack said. “Whether we get more help or not, we need to think about our chief goals.”

“Which are?” Cleo asked.

“My gut reaction is to do what they’re trying to do to us, to them.”

Phillip made a face. “You want the three of us to try to make Boston Xemmoni free?”

Jack stared back at him. “Yes. I’m not as worried as much about some random Selector living in a sewer as much as the real members of Vile’s crew.”

Phillip massaged his forehead. “Now I know we kicked some serious ass out there, but those were low level thugs that couldn’t pierce our Damage Protection well. But if we go up against that same amount of powerful Xemmoni they can disperse our flesh to the winds before we get within thirty feet of them.”

“I am aware of this. That’s why I don’t intend to fight fair. What if we head in, ambush a few of the bastards, and then escape the city before sunrise.”

Cleo spoke up. “I see a few problems with that plan. Firstly, we won’t be able to come back here or everyone here will end up dead.”

“Agreed.”

“Secondly, the Darcarre are huge in Boston and then can sense Stalwarts better than any other race of Xemmoni and for that matter there’s some evidence that Glooms are the runners up for this skill. Surprising these guys is just this side of impossible.”

“And, if I might add,” Phillip said. “If we’re fleeing we have to get past their range or then can just follow us wherever we go.”

“They might think differently when they see where I take them.”

The Dionysus worshippers eyed each other.

Jack smiled. “When I said I wouldn’t fight fair, I meant it. We have all the cards stacked against us, so screw these pricks. I’m not saying we will wipe out the whole city before they get wise, but the first few times I want these Darcarre and they allies to follow us out of the city. It will be the last thing they ever do.”

What Waits in the Wood

“Whittling down their numbers wouldn’t be the worst idea,” Phillip said.

Cleo looked at Phillip and then Jack. “This idea only seems appropriate if this is what we’re really trying to do. Are we really going to try to take back Boston?”

Jack answered her. “I know no city can ever be completely Xemmoni free, but we can make this city too costly for Darken. Besides if he’s trying something big in Boston, we can at least make sure he won’t be able to do it on our world. We owe it to… well our other selves.”

Phillip downed his coffee. “Okay, I’m in. What the hell. It’s my city and no one kicks me out of my home.”

Cleo drew a deep breath. “You know you’re both nuts right?” She paused. “Okay, count me in too. Everyone has to die sometime.”

To be continued next Monday

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Nith the Darcarre Bitch