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battyaboutbooksreviews · 1 year ago
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Books for Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week
🦇 It's Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week (February 18th-24th)! In an effort to #ReadQueerAllYear, here are a few books featuring aromantic characters you can add to your TBR!
💚 Little Thieves by Margaret Owen 🤍 The Bone Season - Samanta Shannon 🤍 Hullmetal Girls - Emily Skrutskie 🖤 Tarnished Are the Stars - Rosiee Thor 💚 Kaikeyi - Vaishnavi Patel 🤍 The Reckless Kind - Carly Heath 🤍 First Test - Tamora Pierce 🖤 No More Heroes - Loren Rhoads 💚 This Golden Flame - Emily Victoria 🤍 Baker Thief - Claudie Arseneault 🤍 Immoral Code - Lillian Clark 🖤 Loveless - Alice Oseman 💚 The Last 8 - Laura Pohl 🤍 The Midnight Bargain - C.L. Polk 🤍 The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy - Mackenzi Lee 🖤 Common Bonds - Claudie Arseneault, C.T. Callahan, B.R. Sanders, and RoAnna Sylver 💚 The Black Veins - Ashia Monet 🤍 Liar’s Guide to the Night Sky by Brianna Shrum 🤍 The Crow Rider - Kalyn Josephson 🖤 Summer Bird Blue - Akemi Dawn Bowman 💚 Hazel's Theory of Evolution - Lisa Jenn Bigelow 🤍 Summer of Salt - Katrina Leno 🤍 The Poppy War - R.F. Kuang 🖤 Not Even Bones - Rebecca Schaeffer 💚 Elatsoe - Darcie Little Badger 🤍 Rick - Alex Gino 🤍 Switchback by Danika Stone 🖤 Sal & Gabi Fix the Universe - Carlos Alberto Hernandez 💚 Gender Queer - Maia Kobabe 🤍 Their Troublesome Crush - Xan West 🤍 Every Bird a Prince - Jenn Reese 🖤 The Butterfly Assassin - Finn Longman 💚 Red Skies Falling - Alex London 🤍 When Villains Rise - Rebecca Schaeffer 🤍 The Bruising of Qilwa - Naseem Jamnia 🖤 Funeral Girl - Emma K. Ohland 💚 The Kindred - Alechia Dow 🤍 The Summer of Bitter and Sweet - Jen Ferguson 🤍 Dear Wendy - Ann Zhao 🖤 Tell Me How It Ends by Quinton Li 💚 This Dark Descent - Kalyn Josephson 🤍 Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault 🤍 Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White 🖤 Other People’s Butterflies by Cora Ruskin
Per @aroaessidhe: Little Thieves, The Kindred, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, Gender Queer, (and I think The Bone Season?) have ace or demisexual MCs, not aromantic. also, a lot of the rest are side characters, not main characters.
Thank you, genuinely, so much, for this correction. I'm very sorry for the mistake. I create these guides between work assignments (I work from home, around the clock, trying to make ends meet in this mess of an economy) and didn't do my due diligence in double-checking every book. I think this started as an aro/ace list I was compiling and I tried to separate it into two guides. I apologize for the discrepancy vehemently and will strive to do better in the future. Thank you for catching my error.
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randomestfandoms-ocs · 5 months ago
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soooo my gossip girl masterlist is mostly updated (I still don't have an fc for Rex so I'll get back to that) so like, any fun new crossover ideas?
Dali
Audrey
Bex
Corrine
Emerson
Katrina
Callahan
Clara
Emerson
Evie
Leighton
Odette
Covey <3
Alessandra
Alia
Audrey
Bex
Clara
Corrine
Eloise
Emerson
Erin
Evie
Nolan 
Odette
Rhys
Thea
Theo
Vienna
[ OG AU Alexei ]
Kimber
Audrey
Corrine
Emerson
Erin
Josie
Leighton
Michelle
Odette
Lia
[ OG AU Alexei ]
Alia
Bex
Katrina
Lorelei
Alia
Emerson
Erin
Nico
Alia
Bex
Clara
Corrine
Emerson
Evie & Theo
James
Michelle
[ OG AU Alexei ]
Finn <3
Evie & Theo (I know we already know this but they are everything they have to be listed)
Alessandra
Alia
Audrey
Bex
Emerson
Erin
James
Michelle
Nolan
Odette
Thea
[ OG AU Alexei ]
Tinsley <3
Evie & Theo (I know we already know this but they are everything they have to be listed)
Alessandra
Audrey
Bex
Emerson
James
Josie
Odette
[ OG AU Alexei ]
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antics-pedantic · 5 months ago
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RALLY CO. #11: THE FALSE THUNDERER LIVES!
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“Stop him! If the Golden Shadow reaches that skull, he’ll become invincible!”
          Everyone had converged on a point in the Mediterranean, as far as they could remember. Solomon Callahan—their mentor, and world-famous occult detective, had told them they were looking for a skull. Everyone had assumed it would be something they could hold in their hand, a replica or perhaps a real human or animal skull given some arcane design. The steel grey haired man with the eyeglasses, silver-headed cane, and green three-piece suit was hurling mystical arcs, like lightning harnessed. But as his nemesis Othulok, the dread necromancer, descended into an open chasm, an odd dome began to lower itself, without wires or a crane. Seemingly on its own.
          The ground shook violently with quakes. Everyone had to evacuate the chamber. Once out of the ruins, they could see the horror that the undead crime lord now commanded: An enlarged skull that crackled with overwhelming voltage, patches of some artificial flesh in a torrid gray. Solomon’s various students stood by his side: The aspiring detective Felix Basra, eminent bio-chemist Esmerelda Broughton, zoologist Tycho Gallagher, and the powerful psychic, Katrina Kafka.
          “What is that?!” exclaimed Felix, raising one of her coat-clad forearms to shield her face.
          “The skull of a giant made to fend off hostilities from planes beyond—the False Thunderers of the ancients!”
          “Big whoop!” bellowed the short, stout, and most importantly steadfast scholar of the wilderness. “I’ll crawl in through the eye socket and give that Othulok bum what for! Katriner, toss me up there, sister!”
          “Tycho—”
          Tycho looked to his umber-toned colleague: Esme normally had some joke in store for him. But this time, her mirth was lost. Just an overwhelming desire to prevent any of her teammates—her friends, from charging Othulok’s flying fortress directly. Solomon’s magic contended with it, and Katrina was trying to assist him with her vast telekinetic power. But try as they might, the skull continued its nightmarish march. Firing a mystical bolt of its own, that no thunder god could take lightly. The resultant explosion sent everyone flying. Felix was in a daze, lasting perhaps the longest in terms of consciousness, before facing a blackout.
X
          Last time, on Rally Co. …
          Our intrepid investigators and ambitious adventurers learned their mentor was once their predecessors’ greatest enemy, responsible for creating their current threat: Othulok, the dread necromancer crime lord. And still, they followed Callahan across the globe to deny the Golden Shadow the secrets of the ancients.
They succeeded in preventing Othulok and the fascists of the nation-state Arkavalia from stealing the secret of manufacturing the miracle metal, orichalcum, which could magnify any energy directed at it many times over. In Arcadia, Blockhouse and The Junker protect Rally Co.’s hometown and various allies against past enemies returned for revenge.
But Othulok has found the last secret. Rally Co. has been defeated.
All hope is lost.
X
          Othulok had never felt so blessed!
          The glorious, decayed brain was intact enough that he could commandeer it, the cranium shielded from attacks both physical and psionic, on top of an electromagnetic field that could intercept and soak up the majority of projectiles before they even connected. Beginning with a quick jaunt through Rhodes, where he terrorized the land minutely. The same was done during detours through fledgling Arkavalia and Sicily. Enough that he could rile the likes of France and England to attempt combat.
          On the land, the skull of the False Thunderer scorched tanks and disintegrated mortal men. At sea, he sank the prized English fleet. The Royal Air Force and the Armée de l'Air put up a better fight, but were hopelessly unprepared for the caliber of enemy they were up against. If they had their own occult experts in the service, or some local inhabitant with the means to even try to oppose Othulok’s powers, it was too late to mobilize them effectively. Soon, the False Thunderer’s skull would carry him across the Atlantic, where he would prepare to ravage North America and Canada, preferably until they might submit.
          At the shores of Maryland, where sat Arcadia, news bulletins from overseas were being relayed immediately over the radio:
          “—What was once a series of scattered sightings and reports have escalated into military conflict—”
          “—The British Navy has been forced into a retreat after heavy casualties—”
          “—Algeria and Egypt are amassing defense forces in case the flying death should return, advising other nations across Africa and West Asia to do similar—”
          “—other nations have issued statements, be it also for self-defense, or surrender and subsequent offering as vassals of the flying death—”
          The Haddock Street Hooligans sat around a home radio set at one of their family apartments, as their elders began packing in a hurry, others arguing. Ribeye Renzo was trying to convince old friends trying to pull off crimes during the commotion to run and hide too. Communications with Honest Li and his sister Nuo were impossible.
          The kindly clay construct Blockhouse had heard the proceedings while shopping in the city. Afterwards he went to see that vigilante, The Junker. The avenging scavenger was dutifully working on his personal fighter plane, trying to cobble together what he could in preparation for what he thought to be inevitable.
          “You’ll not go alone, lad. You’ll catch your finale out there.”
          The Junker continued working. But Blockhouse did not relent either. As far as either of them was concerned, they may very well have been the last line of resistance.
          *CLANG*
          As much as it might have pained them to think that way. Blockhouse wandered over to put a reassuring hand on the mystery man’s shoulder, as Junker attempted to cease the shaking of his own, unsteady hands. He had dropped a wrench, after faltering in silence.
X
          Solomon had chartered for a private plane, the fastest they could receive. Othulok was likely to attack other places first—the capital, the other major cities. Arcadia, that was saving the best for last. Felix was going over maps on the global and national level, marking the places Othulok had attacked so far for reference. Esmerelda was seated across from her, trying to formulate some sort of counter to Othulok’s defenses, and failing that, calculating what she’d need for a potent artillery shell or a bomb to be dropped from a fighter plane. Tycho and Katrina were wrapped in blankets, taking to coffee from a thermos.
          It was when Solomon returned from the wash closet that Felix set down her things. The man’s face still had some moisture to it, after splashing water on a few times. The quest had taken a toll on him, and it would only take a toll further.
          “Sir. Please: Tell us what we’re dealing with.” pleaded Felix. “What the devil are these False Thunderer beings?”
          Solomon wished he had the tome on hand, with illustrations and direct notes. He recalled leaving it with a colleague in Paris—but there was no time to double back. Not when the threat was in the present.
          “Mystics of the ancient world had to formulate a great many defenses. Against physical and metaphysical forces. They needed something… of a scale enough, to give even the gods themselves true pause. Fortunately, the body of the construct is not whole, otherwise this would be completely hopeless.”
          “Yeah? And this is the best we’ve got to work with?” said Esme, scribbling out an incorrect chemical formula in her notebook. “You and Katrina are our heavy hitters, and I’m sorry—I truly fancy you both, but even combined? THAT didn’t do enough.”
          Felix looked over the map while the others conversed. She thought back to her aunt Malika. To her darling Georgia at home. She could only hope they could get away from Othulok’s all-out attack. But where in the world would they go?
          “Wait. Where in the world.”
          Felix got out of her seat just as the plane experienced momentary turbulence, holding up the global map and slapping it with her opposite hand.
          “Don’t you all see? Othulok may be able to terrorize the Earth’s surface, but even he would be hard-pressed to navigate the bowels of Subterranea!”
          “Them beasties could put up a real fight, if there’s enough of ‘em around. Maybe some could even get past the electromagnetic field. Just gotta have a gate big enough to fit that nefarious noggin.” mused Tycho. In that moment, Katrina perked up.
          “And that is not all there is to the Subterranea plan: The lost-gates themselves… I experience a most puzzling feeling when I go through. Perhaps the EM field could be impacted by the journey?”
          “Yes… yes, that’s a good idea, Katrina!” said Solomon, familiar with what she referred to. “We may be able to create a temporary lost-gate of our own. It won’t last beyond a battle with the False Thunderer’s skull like an actual lost-gate, but it doesn’t have to!”
          “And we’ll lure him in ourselves.” said Esme. “My concoctions should crack that giant cranium once the defenses are lowered.”
          Everyone seemed enthusiastic. Solomon knew it had the potential to work, but in each of these young faces, he remembered something different…
X
          In Felix, he remembered a shy little girl hidden behind her aunt Malika, clinging to the smartest, bravest woman she could think of. Eventually becoming brave herself: Enough to ask Solomon how to find the hidden things of the world. To see if Georgia felt the same way she did. And although she had her doubts, the others had come to respect her investigative acumen.
          In Tycho, he recalled his former boisterous opponent in the young man’s father, George Edward Gallagher. Even after Solomon joined the previous iteration of Rally Co. they argued. Only improving after he helped Gallagher reconnect with his wife, and in his research of cryptids and legendary beasts. Research that the young Tycho took to heart, from bringing home farm animals to wrestling more carnivorous denizens. To see the boy grown into a loyal, honorable man who stood by everyone on this team when they were at their lowest.
Esme, he’d met during her admission to Century University’s science department. She had arrived with honors before she was even eighteen, and she had a desire to challenge the magic of old with her dogged attempt to learn more of the Alchemy of old. A project that Solomon warmed up to. Her irreverence did not anger, but instead delighted. A light through thick fog, the joy that follows after hardship.
Maybe that was why Esme and Tycho ‘got along’ the way they did. Tycho was serious at heart, and Esme was one for humor. They counter-balanced one another.
Although he wasn’t here, Solomon also felt something more than just the spectre of regret. A respect he should have afforded more of to that mystery charge of his. The one that Felix had determined to be The Junker, that Archangel of Arcadia for whom Tycho and Esme were eternally loyal. Solomon could only hope that in time, they could have some kind of friendship again.
Katrina. Last, but not least. Solomon had reservations about being a teacher to anyone. A guardian, perhaps-- But a teacher? He hadn’t the patience for that. Not until he met someone who was also unusual, who some went as far as to have called unnatural. What fiend could say that about a child? One who felt afraid, as if the world were ending because she could rend the flesh of others with a thought, never to know the gentle caress of another person ever again?
Wasn’t that where his wrath and his shame came from, as acolyte to Othulok’s path? Some kind of love for the things that lingered in the dark, and guilt that he wasn’t doing more to protect them? Yes, but only now he was starting to feel as though he’d finally achieved something real, with their revival of this old lot and its journeys, righting wrongs. On that, even his old companion Blockhouse would have agreed.
It was time to put a halt to Othulok. Everyone here vowed to do nothing less than that.
X
          The plane landed. When they made it home, too few of their neighbors remained. Even Blockhouse was nowhere to be seen. They would have to look for him later: Right now, Esme had to get to her laboratory to work on her arsenal, Tycho assisting with what he learned from her about her field. When he had done his part there, he went to help Katrina and Solomon in constructing the temporary lost-gate.
Felix had taken the roadster to check on Georgia and Aunt Malika. To her deepest concern, she found neither of them had evacuated!
“Auntie, pack your damned things!” exclaimed Felix, before being shut down. Although in peaceful times Malika had no issue with swearing, she would not tolerate her niece’s speech if it kept her out of action.
          “The hell I will! I’m not leaving you all to deal with this alone.”
          Felix looked to Georgia. But her portly darling only played at having been defeated by Malika. Truth be told, Georgia wanted to stay as well.
          “Your friend, Renzo—” said Georgia. “He helped Malika convince some teen-agers against looting the local storefront, just before the military police started showing up and acting tough. We’re going to help out with things like that. The things you all did before you went globetrotting to try and stop that nasty magician. It’s the least we can do.”
          “… A peach from your namesake state couldn’t be sweeter.”
          Felix looked ever so deeply into Georgia’s eyes. Malika was gathering her things and leaving early, to give Felix and Georgia some time alone before the big finale.
X
          The False Thunderer’s skull had been attacking Washington D.C. when Othulok was suddenly diverted by a distant calling:
          “Yes, I survived! You’re not all-powerful, you cad.”
          Othulok began to grit his teeth.
          “Callahan! I was going to save your precious Arcadia for last, but I see now I must expedite my plans.”
          The Thunderer’s skull raced upwards along the eastern seaboard until it found the concrete jungle that those mortal fools held to. A volley of inconsequential mortars had been fired, to give the tanks time to roll in. Of course, an alternative was on its way. Katrina arrived on one of the rooftops after climbing the stairwell. There was a plan now, not just a full-frontal, last stand attack. That entailed her using her telekinesis not to try and smash the False Thunderer’s cranium, but instead to concentrate on the electromagnetic field.
          What people failed to realize about telekinesis, was that it was more than mere levitation. It could be exerting a force with such precision, it could reach out and direct the very atoms and particles, building blocks of existence. Othulok’s magic resisted, but energy was energy—whether wielded by sorcery or science at the time. And Katrina’s psychic power was tremendous. Not just when she let her emotions take over, but through Solomon’s lessons, she could wield it in ways that would make alchemists gasp, and give pause to the mortal-mocking gods themselves.
          Of course, to ease her burden, Esme was not far off. She and Tycho had commandeered a biplane.
          “Ye made sure this wily bird’s got bomb bay doors, yeah?!” exclaimed Tycho.
          “But of course, my irksome orangutan!” scoffed Esme, unable to keep from her humor with Tycho. “I wouldn’t want you reaching back and trying to throw the thing yourself.”
          Tycho didn’t holler back. He just had the most devilish grin. Esme couldn’t see it, but she knew her colleague was itching to get at the Golden Shadow once more. When they received the telepathic signal from Katrina, they pulled up and delivered their alchemical payload: something to weaken the integrity on top of the skull.
          “Take the stick, will ya?” exclaimed Tycho, pulling a mallet with a long handle. “Unless yer too busy preening—we ain’t won yet!”
          “Only because your flying is second to mine!”
          Tycho jumped from the plane, preparing to bring down the mallet. The chemical had weakened the bone of the great giant’s floating skull. Tycho’s mallet hammered down, beginning to crack through the weakened skull. But as he regained his footing and raised the mallet to strike again, some stray electrical volts began to strike him repeatedly, each time from a different direction.
          And still, he raised the mallet to strike again.
          The mallet fell at last. But not onto the skull: It fell behind Tycho, down to the street below. The only reason he didn’t fall, was because Katrina diverted some of her focus to catching him. From the False Thunderer’s skull, Othulok lashed out with greater fervor against the assembled forces of mankind on the ground, before turning his attention towards Tycho, who was being slowly levitated to the nearest rooftop.
          “You can’t save him, girl-child!” cackled Othulok, through mystic transmission of his voice. “But you can prop him up for me when I post him upon a rebar pike!”
          “Dégage!-- Misérable salaud! Coeur sans amour!”
          But just then, Katrina could sense a power behind her. Enchanted thunder firing from the hand of her mentor, as Solomon Callahan staved off the skull.
          “She shall, fiend.”
          Katrina looked to Solomon. The two nodded to each other, and once Tycho was out of harm’s way, refocused their efforts upon the False Thunderer’s skull. Forcing Othulok to concentrate on them. But without the opening to breach the skull and damage Othulok within, this was merely stalling.
X
          Gilligan Diligent was gathering his things and ushered Wrap towards an outgoing train. He’d managed to secure the both of them tickets out of the city, along with countless others attempting to evacuate. But the older man found his young charge outside, as if drawn to the dismal skies.
          “C’mon, fellah.” said Gilligan. “You’re in need of a vacation, if you ask me! Why the long face?”
          Wrap didn’t often laugh or offer the most obvious signs he favored Gilligan’s company. The man had tried to keep him at arm’s length away from Othulok. As far as Diligent knew, Wrap wasn’t just another assassin. He was two other things: a friend who saved his life, and a revenant created by that damnable sorcerer.
          The man thought back to a time when he was in a log cabin, caressing the hand of one of his various siblings. The eldest, for whom always stood by him in making decisions and looking out for the family. They were gone now, and the others were sent to live with relatives. Scattered at the edge between two countries. He’d gotten into this line of work as a mercenary to support them all. Spread thin, only ever able to send so much out at a time given the criminal status of the work he often did.
          “Maybe this is my last chance to be rid of the Golden Shadow once and for all, sir. Rally Co. are the big guns, and then perhaps I’ll use my magic to combat Othulok’s…”
          Gilligan shook his head.
          “Let those roughnecks sort it out themselves. You can’t be certain this is the end for him.”
          But Wrap didn’t agree. In fact, he started to run. Gilligan was in peak physical condition and could catch up. At least, until Wrap used some of his mystical bandages to swing away from there. Gilligan could barely get his grappling hook out in time to give chase effectively, never having known Wrap to travel in such a manner up until now.
          “Come back, Wrap!—”
X
          Felix was pulling a body from out of an armored truck with a machine gun affixed to the top. Preparing to fire when she spotted something—or rather, someone swinging towards the skull of the False Thunderer. It was none other than The Wrap! Attempting to extend an impossible length of mystical bandages in an attempt to help stifle Othulok’s power over it. As the strips of enchanted cloth did their part, the levitation of the cursed cranium had been halted somewhat.
          Felix stared down the iron sights of her latest weapon. The Wrap was right there: She could pick him off right there, and then resume firing upon Othulok and the giant skull. But she hesitated: she had seen this undead at his most pitiful before. Caught in Shanghai and nearly vaporized by Katrina’s telekinesis. Alongside Gilligan Diligent during the Golden Shadow’s attack on their home. There was something missing in all of this, for Felix was trying to determine why Aunt Malika’s would-be assassin was this weeping welp.
          Just then, something tore through part of the bandages over one of the eye sockets. From within, came the golden, equally skeletal form of Othulok himself! Clad in his maroon robe. Hurling his own necromantic thunderbolts to duel with Solomon and Katrina. But when it appeared he was losing, he turned a hand towards The Wrap, and ushered him towards Rally Co.
          “Attack, child! I did not imbue you with a herald’s power for NOTHING!”
          Some of that occult lightning diverted to put The Wrap in agonizing pain until the boy submitted to the will of the undying warlock. Then, he directed his bandages towards Solomon, catching him by the wrists and putting an end to his magic, leaving Katrina straining to keep up with Othulok on her own. The giant skull shifted around Othulok as Felix opened fire with the turret of the armored truck. Cracking the bone somewhat as Tycho did through the wonders of high caliber rounds, but ultimately their greatest foe was still shielded.
          “It is OVER Callahan!” howled Othulok. “The secrets of the ancients will be mine—the WORLD will be mine! At last, my rightful ascension is at hand!”
          Felix had departed the armored truck. The timing couldn’t have been better: Othulok had begun directing the False Thunderer’s skull so that its pseudo-divine wrath rained down upon the conventional weapons of the mortal world. Once again, Felix Basra found herself in a situation seemingly beyond her ken, much like the grief she felt trying to make sense of Subterranea. She had her revolver in one hand, the other was the impellet gun for which all of Rally Co. carried, and a shaky deathgrip on both that had to serve as a substitute for confidence.
          She knew why she was here. She had led this team more than once into danger. Learning the strengths and weaknesses of each member—each comrade of hers, and applying them where they might have had the most effect. Ask anyone, and they would say those past victories on the part of the group had been her masterpieces of planning and determining the truth.
          Othulok did not spot her right away. Thankfully.
          …Alas, The Wrap was a different story.
          While the sorcerer was doing away with the rest of Rally Co. and the False Thunderer’s skull was repelling any larger military forces, The Wrap was searching for individual stragglers, in the hopes of catching Tycho or Felix. Othulok knew they were still out there on-foot, all by their lonesome. Felix recognized the sound of those mystical bandages, having encountered them enough times by now to mistake them for nothing else.
          And there, Felix struck: having climbed a fire escape ladder of some nearby building, and jumping down to kick Wrap in the head. The blow knocked him to the ground, and Felix could not help but feel a certain satisfaction at her initial success.
          “Hrrrnnn…”
          In retaliation, The Wrap raised his arms and offered lashings of his mystical bandages. A couple of them hitting Felix before she really started to dodge. She used her impellet gun to stun him—lethal rounds from her revolver, he could probably regenerate from if given the chance. Putting him down for good meant whittling down his stamina and defenses first.
          And for a moment she saw the fear in his eyes. Much as they tried to appear vicious and cruel. One part, because of Othulok’s will being exerted upon the lad. In another part, it was his own attempt to welcome finality. Felix wanted to think he had some dignity before the ultimate end and get this over with.        
          “Haven’t you the sense to break free of that sorcerer?” said Felix “Why must you skulk around so pathetically?!”
          Wrap winced.
          “I tried. Many such times, detective aspirant. The Golden Shadow—Othulok, does not release his charges so easily.”
          Felix thought to Solomon, from his time as the self-styled heir to the sorcerer. He had accomplished it, broken free from his own role and done something with his life. But then again, he too was a practitioner of magic. She knew virtually nothing about The Wrap other than the fact his dread master commanded him to attack Aunt Malika.
          “Felix!”
          What terrible timing! There was Malika now, as well as Felix’s girl, Georgia. They had just helped someone escape the city street that had become a battlefield just now. They hurried over beside Felix, and she could feel her resolve slipping. Not that her loved ones made any move to stop her.
          “You’ve done it.” said Malika. “You caught my would-be assassin. I’m proud of you, dear. Where are the others? We should regroup--”
          “…”
          Georgia’s eyes widened, and she held onto Malika’s arm. Felix wasn’t responding to anything just then. The firing pin on her revolver pulled back as she aimed directly at The Wrap, and fired. Just as Gilligan Diligent spotted them from afar. Running forward to stop Felix, as the weapon’s report came before he could rouse his vocal chords into crying out a plea for mercy.
          *BANG!!*
TO BE CONTINUED…
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Callahan Siblings headcanons
Going by how old they would be this year, Amelia, Sophia and Leonidas are 20, Tyrus is 18, and Katrina is 17
Like Ian, Tyrus and Katrina would also be seniors at New Mushroomton High
Tyrus and Katrina’s college of choice would be Willowdale College most likely to uphold their dad’s reputation on the Willowdale College Fencing team
Leonidas highly anticipates the day that he turns 21 so he can join Barley in legal drinking (most likely doing something crazy like Barley challenging him to a drink off) that makes Ian and Amelia hesitant at the idea of the both of them being a silly and dumb drunk duo doing absolutely absurd and dumb antics that could get them in trouble
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My Onward x Parks and Rec AU Pt. 3
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aeternapancake · 8 years ago
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Saw this cute bag with a bunch of little deer on it and other than thinking it was absolutely adorable, I know that is totally what Katrina would have as a backpack
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suneatersupportsquad · 4 years ago
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⇝𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕↬
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[ last updated 02.11.2021 ] [ requests: OPEN ]
Boku No Hero Academia
☇ aizawa, toshinori, ochaco, denki, kirishima, jirou, sero, tokoyami, todoroki, bakugou, deku, mirio, amajiki, shinsou, hawks, dabi, shigaraki, toga, twice
Haikyuu
☇ karasuno, nekoma, aoba johsai, date tech, fukurodani, shiratorizawa, johzenji
MCYT
☇ BadBoyHalo, callahan, ConnorEatsPants, corpse, cscoop, dream, eret, fundy, GeorgeNotFound, karl, minx, nihachu, quackity, ranboo, sapnap, slimecicle, technoblade, ted nivison, TommyInnit, tubbo, wilbur soot
Soul Eater
☇ (aged up! or platonic!) maka, soul, death the kid, liz, patty, dr. stein, spirit, black star, tsubaki
TFIL
☇ elton castee, jay walker, corbin reinhardt
The Trap House
☇ colby brock, brennen taylor, jake webber, corey scherer, sam golbach, katrina stuart, devyn lundy, xephyr wolfe, cassie, tara yummy, kevin langue, aryia, reggie webber, everlyte (griffin)
Miscellaneous Works
☇ spider-man, dean winchester, derek hale, vic criss, henry bowers, belch huggins, patrick hockstetter, stanley uris
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hope-for-olicity · 5 years ago
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Book Review: Serenity Harbor by RaeAnne Thayne
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This book brought all the the FEELS!
The book’s heroine had Katrina Bailey had been introduced in previous books as she is Marshall and Wynona’s sister. And I have to admit I wasn’t a fan, she seemed nice beneath but she only seemed to care about partying and chasing after to boys. In the last book she had left her teaching job to go to follow a guy to South America.
This book has Katrina returned to Haven Point a changed woman. Going to South America, specifically Colombia helped her find herself and her daughter in an orphan. Katrina’s sole purpose is to bring her daughter Gabi home. Gabi, who has Downs Syndrome, lives in an orphanage in Colombia. Katrina returns one last time without her daughter for her sister’s wedding.
Shortly after returning home she meets Haven Point’s newest eligible bachelor Bowie Callahan. Bowie is a computer genius with lots of money, amazing looks and a newly discovered six-year-old brother, Milo who has autism who now lives with him.
The book shows the relationship develop between Katrina and Bowie. But her care of Milo and her love for her soon to be daughter is heartwarming. 
5 out of 5 stars.
@memcjo​ @stephswims​ @julieofrandomfandoms​ @mel-loves-all​ @vaelisamaza​
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fromthedust · 5 years ago
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Teresa Crowder - Reliquary: Human Heart/Apocalyptic Heartbeat - acrylic, cloth, paper, metal on canvas - 48" x 36" - Today we find ourselves in the middle of a climate disaster largely of our own making. But there are answers and there are solutions. And we can find them in the fossils and bones of the past and by listening carefully to the truths of our ancestors. As artists, it is our job to foster the change we seek to inspire through our work and to illuminate the moments of awe that drive us into our studios in the first place.
Marcee Musgrove - Red Sky at Night, Fracking - 12"x 12" acrylic on canvas - Hydraulic Fracturing is a violation of the stability of our lands and the delicate balance of the tectonic plates that provide the structure for human existence. The aggressive nature of Hydraulic Fracturing is personally a big conscious concern.  With current technologies, we have many ways of "searching" for treasure that are less violent to our beloved planet. The treasure under our soil is vast and important, it is something we can work with and is not to be wantonly taken for the profit of a few. Water and air pollution are the biggest risks to human health from hydraulic fracturing.
Dedra Morris - The Futile Attempts to Manufacture a Grave New World - wood, polymer clay, ceramic, found objects - 12" x 12" - Thinking about global warming and humankind's toxic imprint on the planet can be overwhelming. Despite all of the environmental changes that need to be made, the planet still has to support nearly 8 billion people. Earth does not need our species, but our species is completely dependent on Earth for survival. Earth will survive the human race, the question is: will the human race survive?
Susan Lightcap - Winter Mother - mixed media - My work reflects my interest in the divine feminine. I find beauty in cast offs, the bits of paper, metal, wood, textiles, and other materials that reveal everyday life: what people use and throw away. Incorporating  found materials and objects, the pieces demonstrate a reiteration of consumption and waste that have contributed significantly to global warming in the last several decades. My work honors the path, chosen or inadvertent, that we travel, noting events and circumstances that mark the way, bringing a sense of order and comfort to stand against the chaos of the outer world.
Elyse Defoor - Chaos, a self portrait - photographic print - 36"x 29" - Chaos began as a piece created in response to witnessing the misery and destruction after Katrina. It is alarming to think of what has occurred during the past fifteen years since Katrina— the increased number and intensity of storms, uncontrolled wildfires, the destruction of plant and animal life, above and below the ocean— the effects of global warming has brought chaos to our civilization. I pulled it from storage, tore off all the additional layers that hid its core and focused on mark-making as my response to global warming. We cannot stand idly by. The future may not be completely in our hands, but to do nothing to help safeguard our planet and bring about change, is a true crime.
Paula Eubanks - Plum Rocker - digitally manipulated photograph printed on rag paper - 26" x 19" - When you live on the coast it is impossible not to notice sea level rise. I’ve watched these islands for well over half a century now and recently I read about sea level rise and climate change. The literature has changed a lot, from “this is what’s happening” to “this is how we can deal with it.” I blend images of historic architecture with images of water, beaches, clouds and sky using Photoshop. These surreal images are both frightening and serene out of respect for our beautiful Earth or Mama Gaia, as I prefer to call her.
Melinda Crider - Mother Earth - multi- fired terra cotta with underglazes, metal and plastic - 15" x 9" x 8" - Mother Earth is my expression of my outrage concerning Global Warming and what is happening to our planet Earth.  She is wearing her crown with plastic flags and the facial features represent her sadness for man’s destruction and the melting ice caps.
Callahan McDonough - Women Hold up The Sky - 36" x 46" - Arches paper, mixed media   I am the Woman who holds up the sky The rainbow runs through my eyes. The sun makes a path to my womb. My thoughts are in the shape of clouds.                                                ~ Ute Indian
Maureen Burns-Bowie - Indra’s Net: Each Jewel of Life Reflects Every Other Jewel - porcelain, glaze, handmade Kozo paper, gold leaf - 24” x 12” x 7” - Our lack of balance in the world is the result of losing touch with nature and our own core, forgetting our one-ness with other human beings and the world around us. Re-connecting with nature, spirit and humanity – developing a sense of unity with all life, is the only solution to looming climate devastation. Desecration of the environment is forgetting that any crime against nature is a crime against ourselves.
Molly Cusick - What Glacier? - photograph on metal - 16' x 20' - This past summer I hiked through Glacier National Park in hopes of catching a glimpse of the disappearing glaciers before they were completely gone.  When I saw a picture from the 1930s of the glacier I visited in July and what it currently looks like, I was shocked.  Massive walls of ice are replaced with a small pond and some barely covered ground.   Humanity has a responsibility to make widespread changes or this planet will soon be uninhabitable for most life forms.
One Earth / One Chance
for more images: http://www.wcaga.org/page/global-warming
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ao3feed-b99 · 6 years ago
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Female Characters I'll Write Female Reader With
read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2ukVXUJ
by wlw0with0reader
For those of you who I have tagged, feel free to send requests for any of the ships listed or for ships I have already written. I have tagged those who have liked, bookmarked, and/or commented my previous works on here. I'm not sure if I have tagged every single one of you, excluding guests.
Words: 18, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
Fandoms: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Haunting of Braidwood Manor (Visual Novel), Endless Summer (Visual Novel), Red Carpet Diaries (Visual Novel), Blood Bound (Visual Novel), Twilight (Movies), The Hunger Games (Movies), Blue Bloods (TV), The Addams Family (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, DCU (Comics), Wonder Woman (2017), Borderlands (Video Games), Mass Effect - All Media Types, Brave (2012), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV), The Crown & the Flame (Visual Novels), The Royal Romance (Visual Novel), Criminal Minds (US TV), Frozen (2013), Grey's Anatomy, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Jane the Virgin (TV), Wynonna Earp (TV), Madam Secretary, Modern Family (TV), Overwatch (Video Game), Scandal (TV), Sleepy Hollow (TV), Spy Kids (Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: F/F
Relationships: Abigail Baker/Female Reader, Erin Reagan/Female Reader, Nicky Reagan/Female Reader, Petra Solano/Female Reader, Merida/Female Reader, Elsa/Female Reader, Rosalie Hale/Female Reader, Johanna Mason/Female Reader, Carmen Cortez/Female Reader, Wednesday Addams/Female Reader, Quinn Perkins/Female Reader, Commandant Steele/Female Reader, Lilith/Female Reader, Maya/Female Reader, Amy Santiago/Female Reader, Gina Linetti/Female Reader, Rosa Diaz/Female Reader, Kamilah Sayeed/Female Reader, Priya Lacroix/Female Reader, Estela Montoya/Female Reader, Michelle Nguyen/Female Reader, Quinn Kelly/Female Reader, Eleanor Waverley/Female Reader, Victoria Fontaine/Female Reader, Hana Lee/Female Reader, Alex Blake/Female Reader, Ashley Seaver/Female Reader, Emily Prentiss/Female Reader, Jennifer Jareau/Female Reader, Joy Rossi/Female Reader, Tara Lewis/Female Reader, Kate Callahan/Female Reader, Alex Danvers/Female Reader, Amethyst (DC)/Female Reader, Black Canary/Female Reader, Caitlin Snow/Female Reader, Killer Frost/Female Reader, Iris West/Female Reader, Lena Luthor/Female Reader, Catwoman/Female Reader, Hawkgirl/Female Reader, Hippolyta/Female Reader, Diana Prince/female reader, Poison Ivy/Female Reader, Sam Arias/Female Reader, Amelia Shepherd/Female Reader, April Kepner/Female Reader, Meredith Grey/Female Reader, Jo Wilson/Female Reader, Arizona Robbins/Female Reader, Fleur Delacour/Female Reader, Hermione Granger/Female Reader, Luna Lovegood/Female Reader, Ginny Weasley/Female Reader, Narcissa Black/Female Reader, Pansy Parkinson/Female Reader, Astrid Hofferson/Female Reader, Ruffnut Thorston/Female Reader, Rose Solano/Female Reader, Alison McCord/Female Reader, Bobbi Morse/Female Reader, Daisy Johnson/Female Reader, Melinda May/Female Reader, Lady Sif/Female Reader, Natasha Romanoff/Female Reader, Wanda Maximoff/Female Reader, Jemma Simmons/Female Reader, Peggy Carter/Female Reader, Sharon Carter/Female Reader, Female Shepard/Female Reader, Liara T'Soni/Female Reader, Jack (Mass Effect)/Female Reader, Alex Dunphy/Female Reader, Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe/Female Reader, Katya Volskaya/Female Reader, Sombra/Female Reader, Widowmaker/Female Reader, Mercy/Female Reader, Mellie Grant/Female Reader, Abbie Mills/Female Reader, Katrina Crane/Female Reader, Ingrid Cortez/Female Reader, Morticia Addams/Female Reader, Esme Cullen/Female Reader, Corin Volturi/Female Reader, Jane Volturi/Female Reader, Kate Denali/Female Reader, Tanya Denali/Female Reader, Zafrina/Female Reader, Nicole Haught/Female Reader, Waverly Earp/Female Reader, Wynonna Earp/Female Reader
Additional Tags: women love women imagines, wlw imagines
read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2ukVXUJ
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battyaboutbooksreviews · 1 year ago
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Books for Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week
🦇 It's Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week (February 18th-24th)! In an effort to #ReadQueerAllYear, here are a few books featuring aromantic characters you can add to your TBR!
💚 Little Thieves by Margaret Owen 🤍 The Bone Season - Samanta Shannon 🤍 Hullmetal Girls - Emily Skrutskie 🖤 Tarnished Are the Stars - Rosiee Thor 💚 Kaikeyi - Vaishnavi Patel 🤍 The Reckless Kind - Carly Heath 🤍 First Test - Tamora Pierce 🖤 No More Heroes - Loren Rhoads 💚 This Golden Flame - Emily Victoria 🤍 Baker Thief - Claudie Arseneault 🤍 Immoral Code - Lillian Clark 🖤 Loveless - Alice Oseman 💚 The Last 8 - Laura Pohl 🤍 The Midnight Bargain - C.L. Polk 🤍 The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy - Mackenzi Lee 🖤 Common Bonds - Claudie Arseneault, C.T. Callahan, B.R. Sanders, and RoAnna Sylver 💚 The Black Veins - Ashia Monet 🤍 Liar’s Guide to the Night Sky by Brianna Shrum 🤍 The Crow Rider - Kalyn Josephson 🖤 Summer Bird Blue - Akemi Dawn Bowman 💚 Hazel's Theory of Evolution - Lisa Jenn Bigelow 🤍 Summer of Salt - Katrina Leno 🤍 The Poppy War - R.F. Kuang 🖤 Not Even Bones - Rebecca Schaeffer 💚 Elatsoe - Darcie Little Badger 🤍 Rick - Alex Gino 🤍 Switchback by Danika Stone 🖤 Sal & Gabi Fix the Universe - Carlos Alberto Hernandez 💚 Gender Queer - Maia Kobabe 🤍 Their Troublesome Crush - Xan West 🤍 Every Bird a Prince - Jenn Reese 🖤 The Butterfly Assassin - Finn Longman 💚 Red Skies Falling - Alex London 🤍 When Villains Rise - Rebecca Schaeffer 🤍 The Bruising of Qilwa - Naseem Jamnia 🖤 Funeral Girl - Emma K. Ohland 💚 The Kindred - Alechia Dow 🤍 The Summer of Bitter and Sweet - Jen Ferguson 🤍 Dear Wendy - Ann Zhao 🖤 Tell Me How It Ends by Quinton Li 💚 This Dark Descent - Kalyn Josephson 🤍 Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault 🤍 Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White 🖤 Other People’s Butterflies by Cora Ruskin
Per @aroaessidhe: Little Thieves, The Kindred, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, Gender Queer, (and I think The Bone Season?) have ace or demisexual MCs, not aromantic. also, a lot of the rest are side characters, not main characters.
Thank you, genuinely, so much, for this correction. I'm very sorry for the mistake. I create these guides between work assignments (I work from home, around the clock, trying to make ends meet in this mess of an economy) and didn't do my due diligence in double-checking every book. I think this started as an aro/ace list I was compiling and I tried to separate it into two guides. I apologize for the discrepancy vehemently and will strive to do better in the future. Thank you for catching my error.
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ao3feed-mcufemslash · 6 years ago
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Female Characters I'll Write Female Reader With
read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2ukVXUJ
by wlw0with0reader
For those of you who I have tagged, feel free to send requests for any of the ships listed or for ships I have already written. I have tagged those who have liked, bookmarked, and/or commented my previous works on here. I'm not sure if I have tagged every single one of you, excluding guests.
Words: 18, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
Fandoms: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Haunting of Braidwood Manor (Visual Novel), Endless Summer (Visual Novel), Red Carpet Diaries (Visual Novel), Blood Bound (Visual Novel), Twilight (Movies), The Hunger Games (Movies), Blue Bloods (TV), The Addams Family (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, DCU (Comics), Wonder Woman (2017), Borderlands (Video Games), Mass Effect - All Media Types, Brave (2012), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV), The Crown & the Flame (Visual Novels), The Royal Romance (Visual Novel), Criminal Minds (US TV), Frozen (2013), Grey's Anatomy, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Jane the Virgin (TV), Wynonna Earp (TV), Madam Secretary, Modern Family (TV), Overwatch (Video Game), Scandal (TV), Sleepy Hollow (TV), Spy Kids (Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: F/F
Relationships: Abigail Baker/Female Reader, Erin Reagan/Female Reader, Nicky Reagan/Female Reader, Petra Solano/Female Reader, Merida/Female Reader, Elsa/Female Reader, Rosalie Hale/Female Reader, Johanna Mason/Female Reader, Carmen Cortez/Female Reader, Wednesday Addams/Female Reader, Quinn Perkins/Female Reader, Commandant Steele/Female Reader, Lilith/Female Reader, Maya/Female Reader, Amy Santiago/Female Reader, Gina Linetti/Female Reader, Rosa Diaz/Female Reader, Kamilah Sayeed/Female Reader, Priya Lacroix/Female Reader, Estela Montoya/Female Reader, Michelle Nguyen/Female Reader, Quinn Kelly/Female Reader, Eleanor Waverley/Female Reader, Victoria Fontaine/Female Reader, Hana Lee/Female Reader, Alex Blake/Female Reader, Ashley Seaver/Female Reader, Emily Prentiss/Female Reader, Jennifer Jareau/Female Reader, Joy Rossi/Female Reader, Tara Lewis/Female Reader, Kate Callahan/Female Reader, Alex Danvers/Female Reader, Amethyst (DC)/Female Reader, Black Canary/Female Reader, Caitlin Snow/Female Reader, Killer Frost/Female Reader, Iris West/Female Reader, Lena Luthor/Female Reader, Catwoman/Female Reader, Hawkgirl/Female Reader, Hippolyta/Female Reader, Diana Prince/female reader, Poison Ivy/Female Reader, Sam Arias/Female Reader, Amelia Shepherd/Female Reader, April Kepner/Female Reader, Meredith Grey/Female Reader, Jo Wilson/Female Reader, Arizona Robbins/Female Reader, Fleur Delacour/Female Reader, Hermione Granger/Female Reader, Luna Lovegood/Female Reader, Ginny Weasley/Female Reader, Narcissa Black/Female Reader, Pansy Parkinson/Female Reader, Astrid Hofferson/Female Reader, Ruffnut Thorston/Female Reader, Rose Solano/Female Reader, Alison McCord/Female Reader, Bobbi Morse/Female Reader, Daisy Johnson/Female Reader, Melinda May/Female Reader, Lady Sif/Female Reader, Natasha Romanoff/Female Reader, Wanda Maximoff/Female Reader, Jemma Simmons/Female Reader, Peggy Carter/Female Reader, Sharon Carter/Female Reader, Female Shepard/Female Reader, Liara T'Soni/Female Reader, Jack (Mass Effect)/Female Reader, Alex Dunphy/Female Reader, Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe/Female Reader, Katya Volskaya/Female Reader, Sombra/Female Reader, Widowmaker/Female Reader, Mercy/Female Reader, Mellie Grant/Female Reader, Abbie Mills/Female Reader, Katrina Crane/Female Reader, Ingrid Cortez/Female Reader, Morticia Addams/Female Reader, Esme Cullen/Female Reader, Corin Volturi/Female Reader, Jane Volturi/Female Reader, Kate Denali/Female Reader, Tanya Denali/Female Reader, Zafrina/Female Reader, Nicole Haught/Female Reader, Waverly Earp/Female Reader, Wynonna Earp/Female Reader
Additional Tags: women love women imagines, wlw imagines
read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2ukVXUJ
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antics-pedantic · 1 year ago
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Solomon Callahan was famous. An understatement, really: He’d made a name for himself as an occult detective. Received an invitation from a prior iteration of Rally Co., where he honed his investigative cunning alongside others, like Malika Basra-- police detective turned private eye, and George Edward Gallagher—professor of cryptozoology. And it all happened rather quickly. Fresh off the heels of inter-nation war, when the lands of Europe warred with each other and others yet. Off in Poland, there was still an unofficial landmark in the way of a lesser giant’s skeleton, grasping futilely at a rusted tank whose main gun barrel was split apart into a flowering shape, like the plants that grew around and upon.
          This was but one memory the man recollected as he tossed and turned in his sleep. There were others that he could not fully visualize, but felt all too familiar: When he awoke in a fright, he had the false sense there was business that still needed to be dealt with. He ran a hand through his greying, silverish hair. The man was into his late forties, but he looked like he’d been through another ten years’ misery. The cane he carried was mostly for appearances, since it housed a hidden blade. Solomon preferred to coat it with a paralytic poison that once upon a time, he counted upon Professor Gallagher to provide. Today, he had other means.
          After his typical effort of putting on a three-piece suit, Solomon made his way to the ground level of his dwelling, in the area just outside of a city called Arcadia. It was a lonesome place, built with somewhat more space than average to house a library, as well as occasional guests. Except he now had a few regulars on hand.
          “Ah! Mr. Callahan, old son—allow me~.”
          The first of his charges had been Esmerelda Broughton. A rising star at the local Century University for being a bio-chemistry prodigy. The taller, umber-skinned woman was quick to grab a seat for her mentor, who she had conducted studies of ancient alchemical practices with.
          “Kissin’ up real early-like, eh?! I shoulda known.”
          Esme playfully turned up her nose: The next up was Tycho Gallagher, a short Irishman with long arms, and fuzz from his full sideburns on his cheeks to much of the rest of his body. He was following in the footsteps of his father George, studying cryptozoology. And an occult detective like Solomon had encountered many mystical monsters in his time. It was through Tycho and Esme he received new batches of the paralytic poison for his sword-cane.
          “Because I am the most delightful darling dear in the whole of this little operation, you overwrought orangutan!” proclaimed Esme, with a faux-offense hand to her chest and a close of her eyes—only opening one slightly to see how Tycho fumed at her. Behind Tycho hovered another girl just a little taller than he: Sleepless, her hair snow-white and accentuated with a ruby red hairband. Katrina Kafka, who took to the table next to Solomon, and tried to fix a little craft of her own: a necklace with painted beads. The elder offered a smile, and shared a telepathic message to his psychic student:
          “Splendid handiwork, dear.”
          Katrina could only giggle out loud. Solomon was attempting to overlook Esme and Tycho’s usual banter: They were friends beneath it, but their bravado meant it could get loud, even rough. But nowadays, it was reined in by Solomon’s star pupil.
          “Ahem!”
          Felix Basra was the leader of this iteration of Rally Co., and while she preferred to solve mysteries on her own, he insisted she not face them alone any longer. That was where Esme, Tycho, and Katrina had entered the picture. They all studied under him at different times, for different reasons. There was still so much they were only just facing for the first time.
          “Sister, brother—” said Felix, with a serious cadence. “What’s say we compete at preparing breakfast then, hm?”
          Tycho grinned, and Esmerelda did the same.
          “Ye haven’t lived till ye tried my omelets!” exclaimed Tycho. “Protein’s the way t’start the day.”
          “Perhaps, but once I give everyone this new tea blend, they’ll be awake as can be!”
          “We still got coffee?...” said Felix, as she gave them both a black-lipstick smile on her russet-hued face, and nodded to the others. She was still dressed up in her coat and scarf, having arrived after following up on a more ordinary, but still challenging conundrum of crime in the city.
          “Silly me, I brought a fresh batch of bagels and doughnuts. They’ll still be in the car.”
          Everyone had a good laugh at that. Even Solomon, as everyone discussed their daily errands, as well as their work in their various fields.
          “Say… not that he’s big on eating an’ all,” said Tycho. “But has anyone seen Blockhouse?”
          Everyone perked up. A friend was missing from their line-up.
X
          Blockhouse was a clay construct, as old as the early days of the Earth. Although his shape could shift from malleable to dense, he always defaulted to the large round form he always used. It always earned him recognition from children, who read storybooks and comic strips made by people who encountered him in the past, and grew up with fond memories.
          Today, he had gone to check on some neighborhood children who were playing near the forest. Tycho had yet to run a new survey on any new cryptids grazing. Solomon and Katrina had yet to run a mystic sonar of sorts with sorcery and ESP combined. To Blockhouse’s thankfulness, he saw the children playing a round of stickball on some dewy grass, before running home to wash off mud splashes from when they hit the ball and tried to run through a few old doormats they set as a makeshift baseball diamond with plates and all. Each offered a greeting, and a couple latched onto Blockhouse’s arms so he would lift them up like a carnival ride.
          “Hallo-and-morning, little ones. All is well?”
          “Better now, sir! We could have sworn we saw some deer dueling with their antlers. And perhaps a large mantis for Mr. Tycho.”
          “I will make a note of it.” said Blockhouse with a nod. “Be well.”
          “See you later, Blockhouse!”
          But once the kids were out of earshot, it was only then he realized one had forgot something: Slipped from a knapsack was one of those story books. He wiped off the dewdrops on its cover, and decided to see if the first page had a name written on it so he might return the tome.
          “What’s this then…” said Blockhouse aloud as he read the title. “You’re special… just like Blockhouse?”
          He turned the first page. There was a visual of a child, who got along well with their classmates. But always felt something was off. A couple of details that weren’t the same as everyone else, among the family tree or in afterschool hobbies. It was then that a cheery icon of the clay construct arrived to let the child know they were not alone.
          “It’s nice to do some things on your own, that others may not. You might have come from a place far away… But that’s okay, I say.”
          It was not a bad message. Any person would have been comforted. But in the process, Blockhouse felt the pangs of something himself. He was never without love, from Rally Co. or from others. But it occurred to him that he had never known the embrace of another, similarly gentle construct, let alone another paranormal entity of patience and welcoming.
          “Because there’s no one like Blockhouse…”
          Moisture caught within his clay, now released perhaps? Regardless, it seemed that even a construct could cry. Blockhouse’s teardrops touched the page, before he sauntered off. Sobbing, but no one was around to comfort him. One of the children from earlier hurried back and found the storybook, thankful to have reclaimed it, but curious as to the page it was left open on, and looking up to the sky to see if there was rain to cause the droplet marks on the paper page.
          There was none.
X
          One city stood at the dawn.
          Machines before their time, magic unfettered in practice, in study too. A society whose folk welcomed outsiders. But then came the time of arrogance, when they thought they might survive the reshaping of the planet, only to become even more obscured than the other undiscovered eras. Its old name was forgotten, and it was afforded the title of ‘Atlantis,’ after the philosopher Plato’s hypothetical society by those who sought it.
          But none lusted for that power more than the Golden Shadow. An alias afforded to a mysterious crime lord, rumored to be a powerful sorcerer due to the means by which he destroyed his enemies. All save for the contemptible lot of investigators and adventurers known as Rally Co., as organized by his nemesis, Solomon Callahan. The Golden Shadow cursed his name, cursed the psychic brat who fought off the corpse he commandeered. And he also loathed Tycho, who wrestled his beasts, Esme whose chemical concoctions put them to rest—out of his projected dominance over their wills, and that damnable Felix, who had managed to hound his undying assassin, The Wrap!
          Currently hidden away at the outer edges of Arcadia, closer to coastal waters was the immortalized slayer the nefarious Golden Shadow had created through an abuse of necromancy. The mastermind could only scoff at the fact that Giligan Diligent was watching out for Wrap—the more chipper hitman in his flannel shirts and boisterous lumberjack’s attitude. But as he pondered over his scrying orb, he knew that Diligent had kept the entire Rally Co. team on their toes. Perhaps he could count upon the big oaf to fit into his plans after all.
          “Huaarcchhggh-hahahaha-*ack*-haaah!!”
          The laugh was raspy, but it became loud. Just then, the Golden Shadow noticed something else: Rally Co.’s ally Blockhouse was in dire straits, departing from home to be as alone as he felt. And he was beginning to hone in on fragments of Solomon’s dreams from last night: his fears leading back to another time. One he couldn’t wash away, for all his efforts.
This was the perfect time to strike: Although his secret reports stated the group had become more cohesive through trials by fire, he could strike at them while they searched for their friend. Thus, the Golden Shadow began to pull his own insider threads, guaranteed to twist the universe into following a sinister fate—as only the dread seeker of Atlantean secrets could usher in!
X
          “Bloooockhoooouse!!”
          Katrina called out loudly, despite the slight ichor she felt knowing her friend was missing. Before joining Solomon and the others in America, she had known her mentor and the construct’s protection in Paris for a time. The rest of Rally Co. had split up, Tycho trying the wilderness with Solomon. Esme had taken the roadster to try the towns nearest to state lines to ask the vagrants if they had seen or heard anything on the way through the state, before picking up Tycho and Solomon. Felix kept to the city in case Blockhouse had run into some new weird menace there and was in danger.
          But rather than staying put, Katrina sought another lead. She had hailed a taxi cab and arrived at an airfield. She made her way past prying eyes, and bent the bottom of a steel mesh fence, crouching to duck-walk underneath, before telekinetically bending it back into place. From there she started towards some of the hangars where the airplanes were kept. Hoping that one housed the fighter-craft of the individual she sought. But she had to use what she learned from the others: This person did not want to be found, and he could avoid giving off a psychic signal.
          The oil odor, ruckus of engine and turbine, and metal tang pervaded the air here. It was difficult for Katrina to discern very much. Felix had instructed her to observe minute changes as best she could, and Esme had given her some crash courses on recognizing common products and material. She did her best, but ultimately decided to try relying on the absence of such things, as she sent out a telekinetic ‘ping,’ a soft reverberation that would bounce back. She tested it on other hangars, before finding three that seemed empty. Two were the real deal, but she supposed that one had to be what she was looking for. A bobby pin and a screwdriver on the side door, and she was in.
          At first there was nothing. But she waited: Getting the jump on The Junker was no easy task. It was when she heard the snap of an elastic band against a skull and the clicking of a latch that she would see those familiar green lenses on a pilot’s goggles, along with the double-breasted airman’s jacket and white scarf, as he approached rapidly. The vigilante treasure hunter known as The Junker!
          “You shouldn’t be here.”
          Katrina clenched her fists. She had a feeling he’d say something like that, and halted his flitting approach through the dark by tossing a tool box at his feet. She aimed to play tough for a change, imagining Esme’s confidence and Felix’s leadership guiding her.
          “No. I will be here, and I will demand you provide answers: Where is Blockhouse?!”
          She huffed. Camera shutters on Junker’s lenses went off, almost like blinking. But that faint outline of him in the shadows just seemed to shake his head.
          “I haven’t seen him. Is he in some danger?”
          Katrina appreciated that Junker showed concern for the construct, but she had to keep up her intense demeanor.
          “He very well could be. Would that you joined us more frequently… perhaps you would be kept inside the loop, yes?”
          The Junker offered a long frown. A flat line of a lip with the slightest edges at each side.
          “Will you… put me in the loop?”
          His words were awkward, they lacked the firmness he demonstrated before. There is no gangster, no soldier, no monster that could draw such a thing out of him as Katrina had the wit and indignation to do. She watched him for a time, before offering a smile.
          “Telepathically. I promise I will not pry on your memories, your secrets. But you must allow me to reach out.”
          Junker jutted his thumb backwards. As if meaning to gesture back to the house.
          “Solomon. Not gonna snitch?”
          Katrina didn’t like the wording, but she nodded.
          “We have made a…. an agreement, not to tell him right away. He has his own stake in this that he will not tell us.”
          “You may not look at him the same way.” said Junker. “My disagreement with him stems from there.”
          “Would it not be the truth then? Would you not be freed for that?”
          Junker huffed.
          “Me and the old man would both be damned. You all still need his knowledge. Not to think of him as another enemy.”
          Katrina couldn’t imagine not being able to trust Solomon, after all he’d done for her.
          “There is a rift. It will keep growing unless it is halted… post-haste. Whatever the truth is, we will all face what this means for us!”
          Junker let off a low growl.
          “Then so be it!—”
          But both froze in their place. They received the same psychic signal: Like a distress beacon!
X
          Solomon produced the blade from within his cane, and used it to defend himself. But Giligan Diligent’s bowie knife had taken on bigger beasties. He’d even performed a couple of backflips, astounding the Rally Co. members with the acrobatics he commanded, despite his size and musculature.
          “Solomon Callahan, was it? Real honor to meetcha, mister!” laughed Giligan. “Reckon you’re more of a fencer, I’m coming atcha as more befitting a knight—”
          Tycho charged into Giligan, doling out an elbow to the man’s side as the bigger assassin let off an ‘OOF!’, followed by his grabbing Tycho with a free hand, and tossing him up into the air as though he were a football.
          “You BRIGAND!”
          Solomon charged in, jamming his blade into a non-vital part of Giligan’s body, and letting the paralytic poison do its part. But to his shock, he found it wasn’t working right away.
          “Like a… king cobra and some rye whiskey had a baby! Hoo-whee!”
          Giligan coughed, as the occult detective noticed Tycho up on a high tree branch. Not waiting—he had too much adrenaline to wait, as he lunged, catching his arms around Giligan’s neck and forcing him into a forward stumble. The sharpshooter tried to shake him off, as Solomon went in with a front kick, just before he might have slammed his back (and by proxy Tycho) into a tree.
          “Hellfire! Hellfire on your soul, you mortal worm!”
          Solomon raised a hand to the sky, muttering an incantation. And then he brought down a bolt of mystical lightning, same as the variety that he used primarily to fend off the Golden Shadow’s own bolts in duels of magic. Smoke rose from the body, and just in that moment, the roadster pulled up with Esme at the wheel.
          “Solomon?...”
          The occult detective had a glint in his eye. A brief smirk at his handiwork that fell to horror when he saw how scared Esme looked. She produced her impellet gun, and pointed it. Giligan Diligent wouldn’t need it, he was barely breathing.
          “Esmerelda, dear. It’s over. I saved Tycho!”
          “Yeah? Is that right, my hirsute little friend? Did Solomon pull your rump out of the frying pan?”
          But Tycho wasn’t in much of a state to answer in his usual fashion. He had a similar battle-thirst about him that he was still coming down from. And Esme could see he was instinctively wary of the magic Solomon had commanded. He nodded once at her—that Solomon did assist. But was gradually producing his own impellet gun as well.
          “Solomon. Why don’t you take your foot off Mr. Diligent’s back, and take a backseat in the roadster? You’ve been through a great deal, I can tell.”
          “I wouldn’t do that to you, Esmerelda. Not to any of my students. You have to believe me—”
          She prepared the impellet gun to fire.
          “I want to. I think Tycho does too. I’ll bet Theodore would have liked that as well.”
          Solomon’s eyes widened. He reached out, trying to calm Esme and Tycho down despite having a nerve touched. But it never came: Just an intense pulse of feeling that Katrina and Junker had detected. In his heightened, wild state Tycho could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, as if he could detect the ESP wavelength that Solomon operated on, and without hesitation he fired a dozen impellets to knock him out as well. In response, Esmerelda fired her impellet gun at Tycho, halfway to emptying the clip before she stopped. Dropped the weapon, and held her head in her hands. A crying scream taking her as her howl echoed through the wilderness.
          What happened to her second home? To Rally Co.?
X
          The Wrap perked up. He did not have a psychic connection with Giligan Diligent. All he could do was worry that the older man could handle himself. He always handled himself. He assumed that distant cry belonged to a cryptid. Ordinarily, he had no fear of those things, with what his magic could accomplish. But this one gave him a deep sense of dread.
          “Oh… bother!”
          Ahead stood Blockhouse, having run into the younger assassin by accident. He remembered what Wrap did to the others when they met some time ago in Shanghai. The construct loathed violence, but he also feared what an agent of the Golden Shadow might attempt.
          “I have orders to bring you in.” said the Wrap, trying to gather his composure.
          “This would be… your wish?” asked Blockhouse. The Wrap went silent again, and shook his head ‘no’ at the question. 
          “It is what I must do.”
          The cloth bandages extended, wrapping around Blockhouse’s arms like a straitjacket.
          “The Golden Shadow has followers on the way. Do not try anything: We will take you to our master. You will serve him as he sees fit. And perhaps then your friends may not be killed.”
          “A prolonged agony, then. Ohh the indignity!”
          The Wrap just listened to the deep, yet melodic quality of Blockhouse’s voice. He had not sampled the fine arts in quite some time. He could tell the clay construct was inclined towards them, practiced and versed. The two traversed the land along the road, waiting for a truck to pick them up—the rear bed covered with a tarp to hide the followers of the Golden Shadow within. But just as Blockhouse was ushered aboard, Wrap was knocked away by a flying kick: It was Felix! Nearby, her taxi cab had come to a sudden halt. On the way home, she had noticed the driver speaking to no one else—the front seat had no passengers. Her taxi driver was given a little extra money to covertly follow. When the truck began to slow down, she had the cab drop her off behind some bushes. From there she’d run over and attack!
          “Felix! I’m beyond overjoyed.”
          “Stand back Blockhouse, focus on getting free of those bandages.”
          She produced her revolver first, shooting out a couple of tires. Then she switched out to her impellet gun, firing it into the back of the truck. A few of the Golden Shadow’s followers hurried out with weapons. Daggers, which she could defend against using her favorite weapon of all—the jutte, a metal rod with a hook for catching blades, best used by one with martial arts training. She disarmed them of their daggers, but for the maces she had to jump back and let Blockhouse go malleable, then dense again to pry the weapons away.
          “You again.” 
          With the cultists felled, Felix was about to do the same to the Wrap, before Blockhouse caught her.
          “The others may still be in danger, Felix. I believe we should bring this Wrap along with us, in the event we may be able to bargain.”
          Felix stared down at the Wrap. From where she stood, he looked pitiful. Afraid of his own shadow, afraid of failing the Golden Shadow.
          “Wait. He told me—he told me the secret.”
          “What secret?”
          Felix grabbed Wrap by his jacket collar, and stood him up. His footing was still unsteady compared to hers so he couldn’t try to escape. She wasn’t going to let him, not so easily.
          “The Golden Shadow. He knows who Solomon really is. Before Rally Co., before he was the big bad occult detective. And once you get back, it’ll all make sense. You won’t be able to help but put the pieces together. We saw to that, Giligan and I. We had specific orders.”
       Blockhouse’s eyes widened. He stepped over to try and stop Wrap from saying anything more. But Felix was curious now, and that meant she was getting to the bottom of this, one way or another. She would not be stopped.
X
          When Tycho came to, Esme was not far off. Waking up at the sound of him shuffling around. The curtains around Solomon’s house were all closed, and minimal light was allowed for now. Mostly from lanterns and flashlights, things that could be shut off at a moment’s notice. Giligan Diligent was tied upside down and suspended from a fixture on the ceiling. Solomon on the other hand was tied to a chair. Not that he bothered to resist, by body or by mind and magic.
          The front door opened, as Katrina turned the key to the house, all of Rally Co. had one. She was horrified by what she saw, before a restless Esme entered to assure her it was alright. But then the bio-chemist was caught off-guard by the presence of the Junker. Although his reaction was more subdued, he still seemed disturbed to see the current state of the group.
          “What happened?” said Junker, speaking gently for a change to Esme. The sound of his voice after so long practically stung. Tycho wandered in after, gritting his teeth.
          “Hell’s bells!” howled Tycho. “You’ve been off prancing around while the rest of us have been losing our damnable minds—Solomon’s off his rocker, I lost it too, and Blockhouse is missing, you son of a…”
          But Tycho couldn’t find all the words. It was rare to see him really weep, hanging his head low and letting the tears stream down. Katrina was going to comfort him, but at the last moment looked to Junker to do that for her. She knew he wanted to keep his distance, but now was no time for that. He did not argue, instead putting a hand on the cryptozoologist’s shoulder.
          “… Loyal as ever, trusted companion. You’ve… shouldered much for me.”
          Junker looked to Esme, who was covering her mouth. He nodded to her: what he said applied to the both of them. Not far behind, Felix and Blockhouse arrived with the Wrap in tow. Felix’s suspicions about Junker were already there, but when she saw Solomon restrained, she looked to her friends in disbelief.
          “What happened, Esme?”
          Esme let off an awful sound, trying to keep her speech clear.
          “Hhh—Solomon. He almost killed the assassin.”
          “To save me.” said Tycho, trying to make sure that part didn’t go forgotten. But Felix was focusing on Esme.
          “Defending us wouldn’t have you tie him like that.”
          “He summoned a mystical bolt. Damn near killed the man… the incantations he said, it didn’t sound like his usual stuff. And he was going on about hellfire, like he was on top of the world. Called the guy a ‘mere mortal’ more or less.”
          Katrina looked insulted.
          “Esmerelda, you are speaking out of line just now. That is our Monsieur Callahan.”
          “Is he? Is he really?! I get that he was angry, but something about the whole thing doesn’t seem to be on the up-and-up to me, Katrina!”
          “You are fresh from danger.” declared Katrina, moving to loosen Solomon’s bonds. “Paranoia grips us all in the fingers of fear.”
          “Katrina!—”
          Everyone moved to grab Katrina, and with a jolt she forced them off with her telekinesis. Only halting her advance on Solomon’s position when she remembered how she’d lost control in previous instances together, including their first adventure, and in Shanghai. The others knew her dedication to Solomon came from the fact he used his own psychic gift to help teach Katrina control over her own.
          “You, Esmerelda.” said Wrap, before uttering a set of ancient words—in a crude approximation of dialect. “—was that close to what your mentor said?”
          It was spot on. Felix looked between them, from Esme back to Wrap. There was only one source for the sorcery he recited.
          “A spell the Golden Shadow has also used. Is that what you’re getting at? And Junker… he was a student of Callahan’s too. He operated covertly. Something the rest of us could never know about! Solomon Callahan was once a follower of the Golden Shadow!”
          Solomon and Giligan Diligent had regained consciousness by now. Felix’s last words reached his ears, and he looked upon his wards with grief and terrible shame.
   ��      “More than that.” said Wrap. “Go on.”
          The members of Rally Co. sought to refute Wrap’s assertion. But it was no mere assertion: Junker, and even Blockhouse held no surprise. The others however, were already ganging up on their once beloved mentor with hurt boiling the blood in their veins.
          “Most adept among acolytes.” said Solomon “That’s what he called me. The candidate above all others to be a direct apprentice to the ‘is that is not’, the Golden Shadow, Eternal Shame of Atlantis—Othulok. I was head of his followers in the beginning. He’d have never returned to life with necromancy otherwise.”
          “Why?!” exclaimed Tycho. “Why in the blazes would you ever DO that?!”
          Solomon had no real excuse.
          “I thought I could take that power for myself, once. The world was already entering the grips of a new war where men killed men and trampled their fondest myths under tank treads. There seemed nothing else to lose, so I did it: I became a reckless necromancer. I did not realize the danger in trying to take his place, for he returned entirely. Only a previous iteration of Rally Co. could stop me. But it wasn’t enough… I dedicated the remainder of my life to vanquishing him once and for all with those adventurers. When Junker was one of my wards, he tied up loose ends for me.”
          Junker nodded to confirm.
          “He dissuaded me from a quest for vengeance. Or at least… he tried. Thought these secret missions would be the outlet I needed. I got worse. Split off to pursue my own goals after. Swore Tycho and Esme to a secrecy of my own.”
          “Became your own little war, didn’t it?” said Felix, before looking back to Solomon. “We’re all just vicious like that now, aren’t we?”
          “Felix, please! You all have good reason to be upset. But…”
          “But? You hold off on telling us any of this, and you want us not to fly off the handle?!” exclaimed Esme. “Tycho went berserker! Blockhouse was nearly captured. Junker can barely stand to return. And to learn YOU practically summoned the Golden Shadow?! Should we wait until that monster does something to Felix? Katrina? What next?!”
          But before Solomon could respond, He found himself hit in the head by Giligan Diligent, who started shifting his weight so he could pendulum swing right into him.
          “You’ve… got it all wrong about my pal Wrap there, fellows. He doesn’t want to be here. He was practically just a kid, no older than you before he croaked. Your teacher here—frankly, I wish I’d throttled him too for letting that Golden Goose do any of this to him!”
          Wrap looked at everyone. Felix caused him to avert his gaze. Just then, Giligan slipped free of his chains, and springboarded off of a stool into Blockhouse with a tremendous dropkick that sent the construct stumbling backwards, followed by his tossing gathered kitchen cutlery at everyone else with startling force. Junker quickdrew his pistols, and shot a couple of objects out of the air. Felix caught a knife in the nick of time with her jutte, the very tip of the blade drawing a small droplet of blood from Tycho’s forehead. Everyone had been so overwhelmed, they hadn’t thought to keep an eye on Giligan, as he hoisted Wrap over a shoulder and tackled through the front door.
          Rally Co. pursued him outside, only to find the house surrounded by the Golden Shadow’s followers, some of whom were lurching around as if recently resurrected. Those unarmed, or carrying melee weapons ran towards the house, while several of their fellows fired flaming arrows and submachine guns. A window was shattered, and an arrow flew to the floor near Solomon, who was trying to burn the ropes at his wrists. He wasted no time freeing his ankles, and then using his suit jacket to put out the flames before they spread, despite still aching from battling Giligan and being bombarded with the impactful impellets, made groggy by their potent tranquilizers within each capsule.
          Felix had no time to argue. She drew her impellet gun and started firing on the living cultists.
          “Save your live bullets for the dead—otherwise Othulok will resurrect them!”
          “Junker hasn’t got any impellets!” exclaimed Esme. There was no time to get him a spare. The avenging scavenger looked to Blockhouse.
          “I’ll figure something else out, just draw their fire, Blockhouse!”
          The construct was first out the door, swatting his arms at oncoming attackers and increasing his clay body’s density to ward off bullets and arrows. Felix took aim—seeing Diligent and Wrap gladly deserting the Golden Shadow’s forces in favor of survival. For a moment, she and Wrap looked back at one another. And she turned to fire on an oncoming reanimated cultist instead: ‘Bigger fish to fry’, she reasoned. Tycho scrambled for the library, in a section where some of the antiquities were kept, and returned with a battle-axe. Esme was grabbing her chemistry set from the in-house lab she and Tycho had set up, putting together some hasty explosives to take out swathes of cultists.
          “Watch your fire!”
          Felix squinted her eyes. She couldn’t see why that was blurted out, before realizing it was Katrina who said it, between instances of smothering flames and stopping lead bullet hails. She pointed ahead as living cultists were dropped by blunt force trauma, and their undead counterparts were either gunned to shreds or dismembered by martial strikes. A faint glimpse of glowing green lenses and a white scarf indicated that Junker had exited the house without anyone noticing, and was going largely unnoticed thanks to his superior prowess at vanishing. Most of the neighbors had locked their doors, what few were armed were picking off stragglers. It seemed like they could hold their own.
          Until purple lightning came crashing down. The same sort from their first adventure: The Golden Shadow, Othulok himself had arrived. Clad in a crimson robe, his body gleaming like true gold metal, clinging to his skeleton grotesquely.
          “THE END IS AT HAND, CALLHAN! YOU AND YOUR LITTLE UPSTARTS ARE FINISHED!”
          Othulok cackled. Everyone stepped outside to face him—Junker rejoining the group after leaping out of the way of an eldritch lightning streak.
          “No we ain’t!” thundered Tycho, shaking a fist. “Dusty old dope! Iconoclast!”
          “Then what do you call this?” sneered the sorcerer. “Your home in shambles, your teacher a fraud, I’ve won at last! At this rate, you’ll kill Callahan yourselves.”
          Everyone looked at each other. They saw Katrina helping Solomon to stand, as the both of them went up to face Othulok.
          “You thought you could defeat us in one fell swoop,” said Katrina “But that was your mistake: Even split up, we still rallied together to defeat you! It’s in the name, poulet.”
          “We may not be thrilled with Solomon, but until you’ve been banished to the realm of death—permanently, we’re still playing his card.”
          Solomon didn’t waste time with talk. He brought his hands up, and lead the opening volley, countering Othulok’s mystic bolts with his own once again. The fury he felt at the mastermind for all these years was more palpable than ever before. As Othulok fired forward with one hand, and tried to send a curved arc from the side, Katrina manifested her telekinesis as a force-field, shielding Solomon.
          “Impudent whelp!” hissed Othulok. “I still remember him at the highest chair in the room, like a judge for a new era. The greedy bastard wanted my empire for himself.”
          “Save it for someone who gives a hoot!”
          Esme threw down a couple of explosive vials, letting Solomon and Katrina go in to press the attack. The others knocked down any remaining foot soldiers while the spellcasters and esper dueled like cowboy gunfighters with unknowable forces in lieu of bullets. Missing more shots than they’d have liked… or so it seemed. Just as Othulok began to charge up an invocation, it was only then he realized that Solomon and Katrina had combined their powers to whisk him away from here.
          “You’ve no gateway to focus your powers… I will not be far off, Callahan! I will strike again before you know it! This crude warp only delays the inevitable!”
          “Then next time…” said Felix, raising her revolver, and firing. “We shall MAKE it permanent!”
          Othulok’s head bobbed back as the magnum round bored into his forehead, forcing him backwards. Only unlike last time, he clawed at the edges of the portal with bony fingers.
          “The world is *MINE!*”
In the depths of his empty sockets, two small red dots seemed to move until they were looking down on the adventurers. Before letting go at last, willingly so. Laughing all the while.
          Katrina fell to the ground. Or she would have, had everyone not stepped back to catch her including Tycho, who tossed his battle axe backwards into the waiting skull of an undead straggler so his hands would be free). Once she regained her footing, Solomon stepped back.
          “It’s painfully clear we’re not in a position to take on the Golden Shadow—Othulok, not like this.” said Felix. “I say we keep working with Solomon for now.”
          Esme looked frustrated with the decision, but not opposed.
          “Anything else, we’ll sort out later.” said Esme. “Blockhouse, you wanna gimme a hand with the front door and windows? I need something else to focus on here.”
          Even Katrina was having difficulty at the moment. She went inside, and Felix would stick around to check in on everyone.
          “I expect you to continue your lessons with her, Callahan.” said Felix. “And directly after that you keep me informed on anything to do with Othulok’s operations. Beyond that, everyone on this team gets as much time as they want—nay, need off-duty. Am I clear?”
          Solomon tried to argue, but caught himself midway and shut his eyes. Felix said all she felt was necessary at the moment. Only Tycho remained, and he was not quite as distant. He didn’t blame Esme for shooting him with the impellet rounds earlier either while he’d gone berserk. And while he didn’t like what it brought out in him, Solomon did try to defend him against the assassin, Diligent.
          The two men, younger and older, regarded one another. Solomon opted to take a walk. Tycho on the other hand sat on the stoop, lamenting what had become of his precious Rally Co.
X
          There was a campfire. The Wrap was watching over his shoulder every now and then, wondering if the next moment would be the one when Othulok returned with new orders. Disarray had been sown among Rally Co., but not nearly enough. Giligan couldn’t protect him forever, least of all with the injuries he sustained while fighting Solomon Callahan.
          Just then, something rustled. Up on the high tree branches, and then the bushes. Wrap snapped a cloth bandage strip out at the spot, only to find nothing there. Behind him and Giligan, appeared none other than The Junker! Giligan went for his sniper rifle, only for Junker to draw one of his twin .45s. The hand gun lowered after a moment of silence.
          “The others… aren’t with me.” explained Junker. He tossed a wad of cash at Giligan’s feet: That’s what he listened to when it came to his line of work.
          “What’s this supposed to be?” demanded Diligent.
          “Advance pay.”
          Wrap gestured that it belonged completely to Giligan. Wrap just tagged along on his jobs, or waited until Othulok had a mission for him.
          “The next time you take a job from Othulok, there will be a… counter-offer. You switch gears and play bodyguard for Rally Co., keep your associate out of danger too.”
          Giligan scratched his beard.
          “Suppose I’m interested. For now at least, where Wrap’s concerned. But suppose I want to take on Rally Co. again? Besides the old warlock, those kids gave me a great challenge. That’s what I live for.”
          Junker set a gloved hand to his own chin, and offered a response.
          “Do away with their lives, and your own becomes forfeit.”
          Giligan laughed at the mystery man’s ‘tough’ talk. At least, until silence pervaded the campsite. Diligent might have been able to contend with all of Rally Co. at once, but he’d never encountered Junker, much less heard of him. The most he unwittingly knew was that several others in his profession had gone completely missing, with no confirmed status. The Wrap inched back towards the campsite, he and Junker staring at one another, in some strange sense of understanding, before the archangel of Arcadia disappeared in an instant, as he was wont to do.
X
          “Blockhouse, of all of us, you knew these secrets?”
          “But of course. If cautiously so. I make no demand that anyone else does the same.”
          Esme and Katrina sat on the sidelines while Felix held a meeting with Blockhouse. Everyone else had just about headed for bed after determining the danger was gone, and damage was adequately repaired to the best of their ability. The neighbors down the road reported no issues of their own.
          Felix put her hands together, resting them against her lower face, elbows to the table before she spoke again. “You have been his friend for a long time. And Tycho’s loyalty to others inclines him not to abandon Solomon all at once. I can’t say we share that enthusiasm.”
          “Then he will do as he’s vowed those years ago,” said Blockhouse. “To invest his efforts into the destruction of Othulok. Though I fear this may become his focus now. If we only regard him when he has strategic insight… he may go mad further.”
          Esme sighed. She gave Felix a pat on the back, and they nodded to Blockhouse. They were off to bed. It was left to Katrina and the construct once more.
          “They want nothing to do with him.” said Katrina. “But I… I want to give him a piece of my mind! In more than one sense.”
          “Perhaps it is not undeserved.” said Blockhouse. “There comes a time when you must determine things yourselves. That was Solomon’s mistake… perhaps he could atone. But not quietly, not neatly.”
          “Not at all.” said Katrina. As she got up to head for bed, she gave her old friend a hug, and headed for bed. It wasn’t until morning she found herself banging on Solomon’s door to wake him up, and insisting on getting psychic lessons out of the way early. The man had thrown a smoking jacket over his pajamas, and they took to one of the rooms downstairs to practice before anyone else was awake. She was not in the mood for apologies or pleading. Were it still last night, the wounds fresh, Solomon would have begged. But now he knew that would only make things worse.
          “We’ll begin with the telepathic intermix.” said Solomon, sitting across from Katrina and closing his eyes. “Remember to watch your breathing so as not to hyperventilate. Condense the thoughts until you only bring to mind what you want—all other extraneous thoughts will flow around you.”
          “Like a river.”
          “Yes, like a river. With a boat, or a small formation of land at the middle.”
          It was one of their old mnemonics that helped Katrina practice. Nearly every psychic had telepathy to some extent, and she was counted among them. The young woman had considerable practice, but the revelations of yesterday’s caper left her exhausted.
          “We can resume later. You should be with the others.”
          “Non!”
          Katrina corrected her posture after nearly falling off.
          “I wish to be able to fend off that Golden Shadow myself. Lest the others be caught off-guard, or you bring all things to ruin, trying to do that by yourself.”
          “…”
          There was no sound other than Katrina trying to steady her breathing. She clutched at her chest for a moment, angry at herself. She believed she could not afford to be gentle, and it wouldn’t be nearly enough to be on Felix or Esme’s level. She felt the need to reach extremes. It twisted Solomon to see that, like a knife jammed into his guts and digging every which way. There was even a moment where Tycho walked past the doorway, peering past the threshold, giving Solomon a ‘good morning’ nod only after he was certain Katrina was alright. The zoologist’s loyalty stretched thin between the group and their shared mentor.
          Now it was time to try and hold things together.
X
          Although Othulok had been driven away once more, this time he felt triumphant. A thousand cheers from the devils he employed, be they mortals with ichor-hearts, or fiends from other realms ready to serve at his mystic whims. The end of Rally Co. had to be slow, and every pain his to savor.
          “Huaarcchhggh-hahahaha-*ack*-haaah!!”
          Will our next adventure spell the end of Rally Co.?...
SO LONG, FOR NOW
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💘 Katriandore ship dynamic 💘
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In my Times of Old AU
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Barley is a heroic and dashing viking warrior prince who has the ability to spell the entire Troll Alphabet forwards, back, and upside down to confuse enemies and has the paladin magic gift who also weilds an enchanted sword
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Tybeirius is a rogue-like viking warrior prince who's highly skilled in archery and fights along side his brothers Barley and Ian
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Ian is a wizard prince who, with the help of his older twin brothers Barley and Tybeirius, fight off treacherous dragons that theaten the Lightfoot Castle and the entire kingdom of Mushroomton
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Laurel is a butt whoopin' viking warrior queen who scares off enemies just by weilding her ginormous queenly sword
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Guinevere's an actual magical pegasus
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Blazey's a princess dragon doggo because it's my Times of Old AU and I decide for Blazey to be a princess dragon doggo
💘🥺 Wilden's the deceased wizard king who passed away when Barley and Tybeirius were 13 and Ian was 10 🥺💘
Colt Bronco is the captain of the guards who courts with Queen Laurel and became royal by marriage as Tybeirius, Barley, and Ian's adorably cringey kingly stepdad lolz!!! 🤣🤣🤣
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Amelia and Sophia are stunning sorceress princesses who live with their family in the Callahan Castle in the kingdom of Glendovia
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Leonidas and Tyrus are rambunctious prince knights who enjoy annoying the heck out of each other, especially when it comes to their training in sword combat
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and Katrina is the feisty tomboyish princess knight who takes pride in being the only female knight and takes her sword combat training seriously, although once in a while she enjoys annoying the heck out of her older brothers, mostly Tyrus, during their training
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broomclosetbrew · 2 years ago
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It's nice to be home again. Heatwave hitting Southern California but this evening is beautiful, much like the weather I left in Hawaii so I'm sipping a bottle that came homenwith me from there. This is the R Field Wine Company Maker's Mark Private Selection Loretto 2022. This bottle gives me lots of cola flavors to start that merge into tobacco and oranges. Very interesting. Paired with a classic My Father Flor de las Antillas cigar. ..... This week marks the 17th anniversary of the greatest sustained rescue operation in Coast Guard history. After Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast of the U.S. Coast Guard aircrews launched into the rain and wind not knowing what they would face over the coming days. The first recorded rescue during the storm happened at 2:50 pm on August 29, 2005 by a helicopter crew launched from Mobile, AL. In the end more than 33,500 were rescued by air and boat. The 5,600 Coast Guard personnel deployed faced challenges they had never imagined but they exemplified the service's "Bias for Action" and improvised on the fly to solve the problems they saw one at a time. Ay one point crews were rescuing 750 people by boat and 100 people by air per hour. So here's a toast to those who dared, those who supported, and to those who fought through the most challenging rescue conditions our service has ever faced so others may live. .... “Go to New Orleans and do whatever you can to help!” - CAPT Dave Callahan, CO, USCG Aviation Training Center Mobile, AL .... #hurricanekatrina #anniversary #uscg #uscoastguard #flyuscg #cigar #CigarLover #CigarAfficionado #cigarphoto #cigarsnob #cigarlife #cigarsmoke #myfathercigars #sailorandsticks #cigarsandwhiskey #TapThatAsh #whiskey #makersmark #makersmarkambassador #WhiskeyNeat #WhiskeyAfficionado #whiskeygram #whiskeyandhistory #whiskeywednesday #quote #quotestagram (at Coastal San Pedro) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch8xgIzLtes/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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