#radigan the man you are WHAT DID YOU DO.

[jevilowo]

I'm looking over the Engineer Update again to double check my timeline notes and...

...whether the 4chan leaks about some kind of Abraham Lincoln Eldritch God are true or not, it is pretty likely they were trying to foreshadow something Lincoln related back in 2010

(I'm putting my "Radigan helped Abe Lincoln fake his death via teleporter" theory on the timeline btw. It's the only way I can explain him "dying twice", being a mercenary AND that contraption in the top right.)

[rayclubs]

Since you guys promised to be normal, here's everything I hated about Comic 7, in no particular order and not particularly seriously:

Engie is completely mischaracterized. I hate that he becomes a "voice of reason" for Pauling to destroy the australium. I hate that he never goes into that room because "his grandfather and father never went there" even though he was eager to use and improve on Radigan's tech before without any issue.

Speaking of, who built that room? Radigan literally invented australium-based resurrection for the Mann brothers. Who made that machine if no Conagher ever went there?

"Well, some other engineer could have done it" ah get fucked. Way to strip the Conagher family of every semblance of authority and unique skill they were implied to have before. Comic 7 ruined Engie for me and I hate that.

RED team accomplishes nothing of value over the course of the story. The australium they "found" is destroyed, Mann Co. is returned to Saxton mostly without their help and later given away, nobody does anything of value and then they have the gall to say "we couldn't have done it without you". Couldn't have done what? Finished the goddamn comic? You STARTED it! That's on YOU!

Scout gets over his feelings for Pauling in a completely anti-climactic way without any prior internal conflict or realization. Yes, his experience in Heaven could have influenced his decision. No, they weren't shown to have done that. I don't buy his character growth. It wasn't earned.

Spy and Scout's complicated nuanced relationship is stabilized off screen via unknown means, once again being unearned.

Admin's bullshit motivation ruins the previous six comics by de-valuing the stakes. The australium doesn't matter. Mann Co. doesn't matter. None of what anyone did was necessary. Zhanna lost a hand for mothing.

"Quick, the TF2 fan base has aged 10 years since last comic, what do we think they're all up to now?" - "Settling down in suburban houses and popping out kids like march rabbits?" - "Yeah that'll do"

Pyro is not a character, Demo is not a character, Sniper is not a character, Medic is not a character

Heavy's beard looks bad and doesn't suit him. He's literally got brown hair in flashack do you think he fucking dyes it??? Goth Heavy??? Dumbbb

Why is Sniper. Like. Fine? My man lost his FEAR OF DEATH last time I saw him.

It's not funny? I know it's weird and gratuitous to say about a series monumental for its shit piss poopoo kaka humor, but Comic 7 is the least funny comic. From "What do you see? - Not a damn thing, let's switch places." to "Make love to me. - Okay." to "So your dad's dead, huh?" to "Zhanna! Quickly, be racist!" and many more, the original comics are infinitely hilarious, while Comic 7... Well, it has little chuckle moments, but it's not a comedy. Okay, I'll explain.

Comics 1-6 are fast-paced dramedy (10% drama 90% comedy) in both intent and execution. Comic 7 is comedy in execution but a sentimental send-off in intent. It feels like waving a handkerchief at a train station, with poop jokes slapped onto the finished product. It's very jarring in tone.

Basically I think comic 7 shouldn't have happened. What should've happened was either 6 more comics to write the authors out of the corner they wrote themselves into, or like. A shrug and a "cancelled" stamp. Cheers.

[friendlyengie]

What do you think about the Conagher family legacy? Do you imagine Engi was kind of pressured into engineering, or would his family be more like an inspiration? Granddaddy Conagher seems like such an out-there guy, I'd love to hear your takes on his effect on Dell.

I havent put too much thought into it before, I’ll be honest! So what Im gonna say might sound out of line with other ideas I have about Engie, but i think thats the fun in different interpretations and allat. So. Cracks my knuckles

I think the conagher family legacy- radigan conagher’s legacy- is a special hell that Engineer invented in his own mind. There’s a feeling of responsibility to carry on Radigan’s work (especially now that he has notes straight from his grave) that wasn’t really pressed onto him by anyone but himself, and also maybe a feeling of insecurity that his great old man seemed to crack so many codes that Engineer never got to. Sure, Engie rebuilt his own gunslinger, but ol Radigan Conagher built it and designed it, so what’s it say about Engineer’s skills if all he’s doing is following instructions on paper. It’s not an explicit, gnawing insecurity. Its an insecurity that just cant be helped when youre a person who creates, in a sense, one that can either be brushed off on a good day or leave you scrambling through your own blueprints tracking all the ways you couldnt stand on your own two feet on a bad one.

Basically i think Engie suffers from “I set my standards impossibly high and ill be a failure if i dont meet them,” with Radigan as a figurehead at the top of those standards, because he does dumb shit for the sake of science. But if its dumb shit for a family legacy, theres some sort of an admirable trait there. if hes not working to prove himself, then whose he doing all this for? Himself? You can only justify working for yourself so much before it becomes clear that you know exactly how stupid cutting your own arm off with a table saw is, and you went and did it anyways didnt you.

[themannfamily]

Gray! I'm very interested to know more about what your time working with Radigan was like, how did the two of you meet? was there much tension over the fact that he worked for your brothers too?

Radigan Conagher is. . . a special story.

Mr. Conagher and I met in person only when we were both old men, but I was looking after him long before that.

I can say that it was his work on the life extension machines of my brothers that aroused my greatest interest.

He and I were talented inventors. He had experience, and I had ambitions, a life coming to an end with an unsatisfactory outcome, and knowledge about Australium accumulated over the years of my research.

The offer was exciting, and I was very convincing, so he could not refuse such an experiment.

Of course, not everything was simple. Radigan was a reasonable and calm man, but an obnoxious stubborn. Which, however, was me too. We were similar in many ways. Unsociable, immersed in thoughts, experiencing difficulties with emotions and their demonstration, falling into an obsession with ideas. . .

We argued about a lot of things, but it always made sense. This expressed a concern for the common cause. There has always been respect between us.

Even if there was enough wariness at first, we got used to each other and got along well, accepting the peculiarities of the other. We could even say that we complemented each other. In a sense, he was a substitute for my conscience.

Apart from the fear of not being able to finish the machine before my death, the most peaceful time of my life was associated with Conagher. Maybe even the happiest.

I was encouraged by the success. Thoughts of saying goodbye after the completed task disappeared somewhere. There was no end for me anymore and I was sure that everything was still ahead of me. Life should have become more normal, not as hard and humiliating as it was before, but filled with discoveries and achievements. And in these feelings, in the company of another brilliant genius, I wanted to live and create without end.

That's what we were doing. And we have achieved a lot in the scientific field, sharing ideas and developing them one after another. Even if all this was far from the scale I wanted it to be.

After all, I didn't have the sophistication and wealth of my family that I aspired to. We couldn't realize every idea we had. It was. . . pretty simple. But I can't call this simplicity exceptionally bad.

I finally got another person's recognition. Not any, but truly the best person I've ever known.

An amazing combination of intelligence, strength, decency and, well, appearance, too, what's there to hide. All this was even before the constant interaction with Australium began to influence him in the most manly way.

The thought of family no longer bothered me so much, because I felt involved in something. I've never felt like a part of anything before. This feeling came back to me again only when I had a daughter.

In addition to contentment, with Radigan I discovered the sacred. I don't know if he felt the same about me, his shell was much stronger than mine and it was not easy to understand him. But I believe he also thought it was something special.

Alas, Radigan remained an ordinary man and did not want to add more time to himself than he was allotted. In the end, he began to look more like himself again at the time when we first met. With the difference that our relationship has changed significantly. He was silent for a lot, but in him I saw satisfaction from what he had lived.

And then he died. I turned out to be a stranger to his family, and I had to disappear again. In an effort to achieve more, I began to build my own empire, continuing to do science alone. In addition, the search for Australium became a necessity, and therefore I could not relax.

He's gone. But I still cherish this memory. After a while, it only became clearer that he had done more for me than anyone in my entire life.

I've never had such a person before him.

And after him, too.

[rengineer]

How many iterations of the sentry did you have to make to perfect them?

" Well, perfectin' the sentry wasn't somethin' that happened overnight, " Engineer began, his tone taking on a thoughtful drawl. " There were plenty o' iterations to get it where it is now — every level, every function, built on the last through a good deal of trial and error. "

" Y'see, these sentries go way back to my granddaddy, Radigan Conagher. He laid the groundwork for the design — brilliant man. But what I'm workin' with now? That's been rebuilt, improved, and tuned to fit the fightin' we do today. My pa, though, decided not to stick to those designs. Don't ask me why; fella was always been eccentric. He'd painted a face on his sentries — for fun, I s'pose. "

" The Level 1 model was all about simplicity — semi-automatic firin', single-barrel system. Had to fine-tune the motion tracker so it wouldn't waste ammo on tumbleweeds or shadows. That took some work. Early prototypes? They'd lock onto anything that moved, includin' teammates. Let's just say I went through a few repairs on account o' friendly fire. Level 1 sentry, it's designed to deploy fast — give dem enemies something to chew on and hold the line. Simple, sturdy, and gets the job done. "

" Them retractable rear legs? Key to keepin' it stable. Gunpowder explosions from each round generate recoil — a force that'd send it tumblin' like a drunk Demo if it weren't for those legs absorbin' the momentum. That's what we engineers call inelastic collision mitigation. But when you upgrade to Level 2 or 3, that recoil ramps up, so the legs extend further, givin' it a wider base to keep it steady under heavier firepower. "

" Now, compared to my pa's sentries, there's a heap o' differences. Them old models, well, they were somethin' special for their time, but they didn't have the modular design or upgrade paths we've got now. Back then, the sentry had a more basic motion-tracking system — heck, I even took one apart once, just to see what made it tick. Lemme tell ya, it could shoot on its own if somethin' wandered into its line of sight — thanks to them sensors or tracking systems. But the rotation? That had to be done manually. Ain't like what I've got here. This thing? It covers a lot more ground, shoots anything that steps into its perimeter — automatic, no need for no manual control. Took me a few months to get it right, but that there was one o' the biggest upgrades from them old designs. "

" Level 2 was where things got real tricky, " he continued. " Dual rotational minigun barrels and a cyclical ammo feed system — that required a whole new way of connectin' the main power supply to the ammo housing. The first few models didn't last long under pressure. Overheatin' was one of the main issue — those dual barrels'd warp or jam without proper ventilation, so I added a coolant system to circulate fluid through the barrels and keep 'em from burnin' out. "

" Level 3? That's when rockets came into the picture — target-guided, too. Addin' that rocket arm meant reworkin' the rear housin’ to handle the extra weight and firepower. But the hardest part? Power balance. Had to make sure them rockets could fire while keepin' the barrels operatin' without a hitch. Blew up more than one o' these tryin' to get it right. "

" These sentries were top-heavy, so I had to make a few adjustments during the iteration process — see why my pa didn't stick with them designs. I had to use heavier steel for them legs, get that center of gravity as low as I could — while makin' sure it don't add too much weight to the buildin'. Ain't easy carryin' this whole contraption across the battlefield, y'know? "

" But every iteration brought me closer to what you see now. Ain’t perfect — still gotta keep a close eye on it to fend off sappers and keep it in good repair — but I reckon it's the most reliable thing on the battlefield. "

With a grin, he added, " So, if I had to put a number to it? I'd say at least a couple iterations. But perfection’s an ongoing process, y'know? Always somethin' to improve. "

[tf2shipswag]

Listen. I don’t care about most of the ship names. I don’t really know what they mean. But Napoleon Complex? I’m guessing Napoleon is supposed to be Spy, and Complex is supposed to be Engineer.

But the thing is. He was more ITALIAN THAN FRENCH. The island where he was born wasn’t even French until 15 months before he was born.

I don’t know if this part is true, but I saw something saying he didn’t even LIKE THE FRENCH growing up, and preferred where he was born, which he considered different from France.

okay i'm gonna go into why i like the ship name napoleon complex, this isn't meant to come off as aggressive or anything. i just now have an excuse to go into how much i like the silly tf2 ship name FDAHJFSAJFKSA

okay so from what i've gathered, it comes from napoleon because like he was an angry little man or smth i don't know shit about napoleon in all honesty. i just know what the phrase 'napoleon complex' means FSAKLLFKSA

okay. the whole 'domineering or aggressive attitude as a form of compensation.'

spy doesn't have a whole lot of health, nor does he portray much physical strength. his whole thing is that he shows his strength in more strategical areas [backstabbing, disguising, etc.]. and by GOD is he arrogant. he's overcompensating his physical weaknesses with his whole arrogant and suave manner shit. he's incredibly gay about it too but that's besides the point

and then engineer's part of the whole compensation thing, you COULD just very well put it as 'he's short'. and it'd get the point across but since i'm making a whole post about it i'll go into my interpretation of it [which could be considered a bit more in depth than it's meant to be but whatever i'm having fun].

engineer's the grandson of radigan conagher. the man who MADE the immortality machines that kept redmond mann and blutarch mann alive. the conagher name goes a LONG way back with mann co.'s history. both his grandfather and father worked as mercenaries.

[based on how i interpret engineer] there's no way that he doesn't feel the need to live up to the conagher name in some way or form. he's got the 11 degrees, he's got the whole 'polite southern charm,' and he's by no means physically weak.

you can't sit here and tell me he just 'had it all' from the start. he's had to put in work to some degree, and i'm sure that's a whole mental burden. anyways i'm getting a bit off track, my point is, he feels the need to overcompensate for any small bit of weakness he finds, because he wants to live up to the title of 'dell conagher.'

and people tend to call engie 'the sane one' [there's no sane one, there's other posts that go into this but that's not what i'm here to talk about], but he still get's arrogant about his kills, i mean they all do. but combined with the previous point, you can't tell me his voice lines don't add to the whole thing. he's also incredibly homosexual about it

if anyone wants to send in more asks abt general tf2 things tbh i had a lot of fun writing this so. thank u FJSAKLFSA

and once AGAIN this isn't supposed to be an attack or anything i'm just using this ask as an excuse to talk about things i like. anon i'm sorry if this came off as passive aggressive i did not mean for it to FSAJKFJKLSA

[xxiamtiebrousxx]

Appointments (Blue Birds| BLU! Engineer x reader)

I sat down in my chair. My grandmother sat at her desk, answering calls for Mr. Mann and writing down appointments. She was his secretary and I was her granddaughter. Outside in the waiting room sat Dell Conagher, grandson of Radigan Conagher and the engineer of the BLU team. Mr. Mann called him here to fix his life extender.

“Honey,” my grandmother said. I looked up. “Why don’t you go and call Mr. Conagher inside?” she asked. “Mr. Mann wants to see him now.”

“Ok,” I answered, standing up. I patted my blue skirt and straightened my collar. I headed for the door and opened it. There sat Dell with his hard hat and goggles off in the waiting room. A crimson red blush crawled over my cheeks.

“Mr. Conagher?” I said. “Mr. Mann will see you now.”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied with a smile. “Say uh-, that ain’t an original Kicasso, is it?” he asked, referring to the painting. I looked at it. The painting was of a man looking scared of a jungle he was in with a pair of white eyes staring at him from the leaves.

“What an excellent eye you have, Mr. Conagher,” I said. Dell was right. This was an original Kicasso. “It’s from his “Haunted in the Jungle” period, I believe.” Dell stood up next to me, holding his hard hat with his goggles resting in the hat.

“Oh and please,” Dell said as we walked to Mr. Mann’s office, “call me Dell. Mr. Conagher was my grandfather’s name.” I smiled.

“How much do you know about his relationship with us?” I asked as we walked.

“First I’ve heard he had one, ma’am,” he said. “Radigan Conagher. My grandma told me everything there was to know. I kept it secret for ages.

“Sixty years ago, your grandfather solved a rather…. sensitive problem for us,” I explained. “Maybe solve is too strong a word, but I’m sure Mr. Mann will want to tell you about it himself.” I said.

“Sounds good to me,” Dell said, smiling. He took a quick glance at me as we stood at the door.

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “One last thing. Even if he offers, Mr. Mann, don’t shake his hand. He forgets sometimes.”

“Ok,” Dell said. I pushed open the big doors. Mr. Mann sat in his chair with his life extender connected to him. My grandma stood next to him.

“Dell, Y/n, come in,” Grandma said. I closed the doors behind us. “Mr. Mann, I’m sure you already know who Y/n is,” she said. Mr. Mann grunted. I held my wrist and looked down at the floor.

“Are you the one who can fix the blasted thing?” he asked. Dell nodded as he took a seat. I stood to him the entire time.

“But first, I need to know what that thing is,” he said. Mr. Mann glared at the life extender before beginning the story about how he hired Radigan to make him a “monster. Radigan built a machine that gave Mr. Mann extended life so he could finally beat his brother, Redmond Mann. Unfortunately, his brother had someone else do the same.

“And then what do you think my rat-stink twin brother did? He built one too, that’s what!” Mr. Mann exclaimed. “I am no closer to beating him than I was a hundred years ago and what’s worse, your lummox of a grandfather didn’t even build this thing right! This infernal thing is a lemon!”

I gulped. I had never seen Mr. Mann so furious.

“I’ve barely cheated death out of this half- century with this pile of junk and it's already breaking down! The way I see it, he was your grandfather and you’re on my payroll! Fix it!” Mr. Mann exclaimed.

“Sir I’m uh, flattered and all y’all’d think about me,” Dell said, getting up to examine the machine, “but I have no idea how to fix this. Heck, if I touch it, it’d probably kill ya.”

“What if I had access to your grandfather’s blueprints?” Mr. Mann asked.

“Well that’s a different story,” Dell answered. Mr. Mann snapped his fingers. I went over to his desk and opened the drawer. I pulled out a pile of files. “Heh, not much hope’a that, though the old man had ‘em,-.” I cut Dell off by dropping all of Radigan’s blueprints on the table. “-Buried with them.” Dell finished. With a worried look, he saw the prints.

“Yes, yes, I dug up your grandfather and looted his corpse,” Mr. Mann said, turning around in his chair. I mouthed “I’m sorry” and gave Dell an apologetic look. “If it makes you feel any better, those scribblings have been the bane of my existence for sixty years. I’ve spent a small fortune trying to decipher them. Gibberish, every last page. You may borrow it. All I ask,” Mr. Mann stopped talking. Dell looked at the old man, confused.

“Uh, sir?” he asked. “Is he alright?” Mr. Mann began to drool.

“Give him a moment dear,” Grandma said.

“He’s just dead,” I answered. There was a small ticking noise, then a zap! Mr. Mann was electrocuted back to life.

“Everyday,” Mr. Mann said, grabbing Dell’s collar, his finger glowing with electricity., “I’m dead a little longer, Mister Conagher. I have seen the other side. There is nothing there. Fix this machine!” he demanded.

“I appreciate that you’re my employer, and an old man,” Dell said. “But if you don’t take your hands off me, I will break you in half.” I struggled to keep a straight face. Mr. Mann let go of Dell.

“Feh,” he said. “Take your grandfather’s notes, decipher them, and learn how to fix my machine. If you find anything else of interest, remember, it’s mine. Bring it directly to me. Do not build it.” Dell blinked a couple times. I scratched the back of my neck.

“Now that this is done, why don’t you escort Dell to the parking lot?” Grandma suggested. I nodded. Dell grabbed his blueprints and followed me out of the door.

[lemmylemons]

Here's a little fun one for ya'll cause why not

What kind of parents are the tf2 Mercs?

Sniper: Well, he's laid back for the most part, but he is a little bit over protective of Alice. He's not too keen on the idea of her and boys... He's just worried she'll get into the same teen angst phase he did when he was still with her mother. Laid back, but a bit over protective and worrysome.

Spy: Oh boy... Dad? More like guy who just watched you for 14 and a half years... Enguarde can't remember a time where the guy kissed a boo boo or read him a story. The two have never really seen eye to eye and rarely have conversations that don't end in insults and screaming. It sounds sad, but Spy does care about his son, he just isn't great on showing his appreciation or love for Enguarde.

Medic: Everyone thinks he's the strictest dad out there, but he's not! Sure, he does have rules... A lot of rules, but with 2 sons as chaotic and rambunctious as Cayden and Redgie, there are bound to be rules. He loves his sons very much and he would kill anyone that messed with them.

Pyro: Not a lot is known about her. All we know is that she is Cayden and Redgie's mother and she will protect them at all costs. She's very VERY overprotective and will resort to violence whenever possible. You accidently bumped into Redgie? Be prepared to burn.

Engineer: Perfect dad. Supportive and kindly, he's been taught all he needs to know from his father. He loves Radigan to the moon and back and would never let anything bad happen to his boy. He'd die just to know his son would be given the best life possible. Probably one of the best dads out there!

Soldier: Loud, energetic, FUN. Sure he's a bit strict and he pushes Jane to be the best man he can be but he's real fun and exciting! He and Jane are almost inseparable as father and son, they do almost everything together! As long as it isn't too dangerous. He knows what's too much of a challenge for his son and steers away from anything that could possibly kill him... But it's Soldier! Jane's gotten multiple injuries from preventable things!

Demoman: Eh, he's alright. He's raised a perfect angelic killing machine and he's quite proud! He and Millie have fought over the years, but who hasn't with their kid? They always sort it out in the end and genuinely care for each other. He feels bad that she has to deal with him and his antics, but she doesn't care, he's her dad and she knows he means well and that he truely doesn't mean anything he's said.

[violetkatgrove]

Is TF2 your main interest right now? What's it about?

okay so to summarize the catch up comic- actually you know what i will share snippets of the catch up comic as i explain when i can just say what mr saxton hale says verbatim-

so starting off in 1850 new mexico, empty ass desert, we got these boys right here

so here we got two shitty brothers and their shitty dad living in the desert bc the boys thought it would be funny

short time later the dad dies, and leaves his company(mann co) to his trusted aid(mr. saxton hales grandfather), and as punishment for everything, leaves the desert land for the two boys to fight over until they died

and they did just that! hiring mercs all around, and, as mr. hale says-

so thats what the base games abt! tho the characters in the game are not the mercs hired in the 1850s, they're from 1960s-70s, iirc

in those years of course the brothers got old as balls and knew they were gonna kick the bucket soon, so one of them devises a plan to get mr. radigan conagher(engineers grandfather) to build them funny immortal machines, except heres the kicker, this lady right here convinced mr. conagher to make a machine for both brothers using the fictional resource australium, which the australians used to basically skyrocket technologically and its now a continent of himbos and herbos wrestling animals and scoring big ol mustaches in only 1890!

the war goes on up to 1972, where as it turns out the brothers had a third brother who was ditched by the family bc he was physically weak also could fucking talk at birth which freaked everyone out, so he was instead raised by eagles! its fucked up

Mann Co. is now run by good ol saxton hale, who i should mention is one of them superpowered himbo aussies, and looks like this

(the current crop of mercs being the ones from the hit video game)

but back to the third brother Gray Mann, in the comics he basically sneaks in and kills both his brothers, ending the gravel war, and is attempting to take over mann co. which in issue 1 he succeeds in doing, making the main story comics abt these two ladies getting the team back together to stop this man bc hes trying to take over the world using that funny australium stuff, him killing his brothers also leads to the funny game mode where instead of fighting another team you get to fight an army of robots!

and thats everything to explain, i think! its pretty fun and wacky while still having a bit of serious story to it, despite also having things like himbo country and a man that throws jars of piss at people(only in the games, he has not done it in the main comics, yet)

[allstarsstorymode867]

All-Stars -Story Mode- CHAPTER 16 Part 3 (FINAL PART)

As promised, I will give you a third and yet, a final part of this chapter, I am serious about it in the previous post today and the reason why I was inactive is because I had gotten the Resident Evil 2 Remake game and I am on the second run right now.

But other than adto, give credit to my friend’s artwork and like before, they are mentioned within the part that you are going to read right now so give them credit for their artwork and enjoy the story!

The Doctor had opened his eyes with a silent gasp, he looked around as he realized that he couldn’t hear or see the infant queen anymore and then he looked down and saw that he was in his old clothes again.

Richtofen looked around the familiar place, he looked that he’s in the hardware shop again and saw that Ultimis Dempsey was pressing his back on the wall when he looked at the Primis Richtofen and then asked: “Slept well?”

The Doctor said nothing but looked around to the rest of the store: Diego was boarding up the windows of the office (which it also leads into the storage unit that connects to the rest of the mall) with Ultimis Takeo who is handed Diego another wood panel board with a vine, he is hesitant but he took and then he then nails it with the other wooden boards with nails and a hummer, forming a barricade.

Scarlett and Shaw are talking with the Medic and Miss Pauling with the plans on how to get out of this dimension as soon as possible and maybe try to figure out what is going on.

Primis Nikolai and David Tapp are talking to each other about the situation they are currently in as the Detective had hardy believed that he and his teammates had come here by muitinterdimental creatures and before that, they had fought a group of humanoid soldiers from another planet and before THAT; they had combated corrupted creatures and zombies that had been turned by the 115th element in the periodic table.

Pyro is sitting on the floor with her legs crossed as they watched people do their part to making the store into a fortress, a one that can withstand an invasion of zombies so they are in the background with their hands supporting their head.

Amanda Young, lastly, was looking at the bear traps almost too directly and thinking what to do with them that Scarlett had looked back to see her with a little bit of suspicion before continuing to talk with Pauling, Shaw, and Medic.

Richtofen was quiet when he recalled fallen asleep before this, he sat there with his arms by his sides before turning to Dempsey and then questioned “How long vas I asleep?” as he looked at him.

“About three hours since it happened, all of sh!t had happened while you’re asleep.” Ultimis Dempsey answered as he crossed his arms while he looked at him as the Doctor yawned.

“Und zhe survivors?”

“I am pretty sure they had got away,” Dempsey said to the Primis Richtofen as hearing another nail being hammered with the wooden plank. “Vho? Zombies?” the German asked.

“No, survivors from the Entrance Plaza,” he concluded as he looked at the Engineer with Pyro, appearing that he was modifying his shotgun rifle, the gun he was modifying was a large pump-action coach gun-style shotgun with a wooden stock and ornate engravings on the metal receiver and he was attaching a strange device on the metal receiver then it clicked, he was attaching his team-colored cylindrical capacitor with an antenna is attached with Pyro and Spy by his side just watching him build a weapon of his own. The weapons he is building are personally from his grandfather, Radigan Conagher, the Engineer's grandfather.

The weapons his Grandfather had made consisted of Wrangler, Southern Hospitality, Gunslinger, and the Golden Wrench. He wished that he would’ve known the Golden Wrenches wouldn’t last for much longer after his little Update but he is surprised that he can still use it after the end of life of the Golden Wrench.

Spy lets out a puff of smoke before saying quietly so no one will hear them, “You have a good memory of building this gun.”

“The file had contained the blueprints that mah Grandfather had drew and he had it buried with him but somehow I had contained it from Redmon to fix the machine under one simple condition: If ah find anything else of interest, it is to be brought directly to him and to not build it but-”

“You went ahead and built them anyway?” Spy concluded as he held the cigarette in between his fingers. “And never told any of us, even our employer about this?”

“More or less went ahead with mah idea of getting or creating new weapons for mahself and ah knew ah was mettling the payroll ah am on but when the Devil is going to be beating on his wife, ah am sure that he will beat onto me with her tears as well.”

“But if they do?” Pyro softly mumbled.

“Ah had to leave the country or kill to protect the family tradition for it,” Engineer answered as he put in the final touches on the gun with a screwdriver to secure it safely onto the rifle. “And like how Stanton had said twice while we barricade the whole darn hardware store, “Timing is everything.””

He places the screwdriver down as he has finished the new primary weapon that his grandfather had built.

*The Engineer had crafted: The Frontier Justice!

“Now since we are in an outbreak in a little town like this, ah think it’s time we do this, Texas-style,” he smirked as he cocked it back a little. Spy wrenches in disgust as Pyro opens and lit a lighter, igniting a small flame as they chuckled.

“Are you just about done now, Señor Conagher?” Diego asked as he took a little break from barricading the window winch. By now it’s halfway finished, the Texan looked over his shoulder as he walked over to the Mexican Spy and then placed his hard gloved hand on his shoulder with his other hand as the rifle rested on his shoulder.

“Finished it right on schedule.” Engineer said then looked at the entrance that is barricaded with one wooden board across it with the support of metal brackets that he and Scarlett had bolted to the wall to ensure that they are safe from the outside world.

“We are armed to the teeth, but I am sure that we will find a way outta here and back on the ranch in no time.” Engineer said as he cocked it back as Nikolai and David walked up to him.

Nikolai looked at the gun and then commented “You had made quite a shotgun rifle.” as he crossed his arms, “Ah called it “The Frontier Justice” as its name.”

David was little intrigued to see the gun in the Engineer’s hands, something that police could but he is saddened to think if Jigsaw could have his hands on the talent the Engineer had for future crimes he would commit yet, he is going to go far to stop him… If he finds a way back to his home that is.

“So, what is the plan now?” Nikolai asked out of his own curiosity as the Engineer was then alerted to hear him say that, “We need to figure this out together, find out the root to all of our problems, undo it all and that’s it. But not until we figure out how to get back with the others first.” Engineer answered absentmindedly.

“How are we gonna do that?”

“Ah had no clue on how except we had known that zombies had taken over the mall by now.”

“And that is the best plan you can come up with?” David asked as he crossed his arms and eyebrow raised, Engineer sheepishly scratched the back of his neck as he held the rifle in his other hand.

“Uh…” he was beginning to say when there’s was banging at the door when Engineer had come to the door and removed the wooden board from the metal brackets and then before he knew what was going to happen next, someone had apparently burst in as the Engineer hadn’t had time to react at the moment that this stranger had closed the door.

Engineer raised his rifle up to scare someone off when he sees a man in his 50’s or so, with a light blue long-sleeved jean work shirt and dark brown pants with black hair with brown eyes, is a six-foot and one inch taller than Engineer.

The Texan had cleared his throat as he aimed the rifle at the stranger, he then saw his hands… Well, his hand and a mechanical one, it looked like it had been made from old video game console accessories and Erector Set parts, and he had wielded a chainsaw to that mechanical hand while in his normal organic one was a short-barreled shotgun.

For something that could be a reason, the Engineer still trained the Fountiar Justice at the aged man before him, Primis Nikolai, David Tapp, and everyone else in the store. If you like to care to know more, let the pictures do all the talking.

[Four pictures are drawn @sampoststuff​ on Tumblr]

*New All-Star: Ash Williams!

The Engineer was surprised to see this man had killed a zombie with a short double-barrel shotgun in one hand as the zombie’s blood was pooling around where it laid after being shot through the mouth, a man of his age was incredible to boot as well. He may be an old man but he still got it.

“Now can you at least one of you know what was going on??” the old man suggested as he rested the weapon, one on his good hand, onto his shoulder once again as he looked at the group.

“But first off, who th’ hell are you, stranger?” Engineer answered with a stern and seriousness in his voice toning the sudden urge to fight this middle-aged man before him.

“The name Ashley Williams but you just call me Ash and I can tell the deadites had already caused panic around and no one trusting one of the others.” Ash introduced himself as he got the shotgun off of his shoulder and then just let it hang on his side.

“Deadites?” Amanda said in confusion, even Spy nodded as well while he looked over his shoulder, “You do mean Zombies, right?” Spy said as a cigarette dangles from his mouth as he turned around to face the newcomer.

Ash’s eyebrows raised a little bit at this as he thought “I guess they are just called zombies in this one, not Deadites.” and then said, “Yeah, that’s what I mean.”

“How did you get here?” Ultimis Dempsey said as he pointed at Ash and what he is looking at the most is a chainsaw, red chainsaw that was attached to his left arm, right where his other hand was and it was being held by something mechanical.

“I had no idea,” Ash simply answered, “I had just woken up in one section of the mall with a Vietnam soldier nicknamed “Bill,” he may be an old man but boy he can fight! I had to find a weapon in this plaza but it is worth it.” with a smirk and then twirls that weapon back onto his shoulder, trying to look impressive with three women in their group but Miss Pauling had seen one small hole in his story, however.

The woman dressed in purple and glasses had asked “That’s nice and all Ash but did Bill know where you were when you’re gone?”

The confidence Ash had was gone within an instinct with the realization of what he had settled in as he cursed loudly “Oh sh!t!! I had left him in Wonderland Plaza! One of those deadites could be there!!”

“Zombies” Japanese man reminded him as he looked at Ash.

“Whatever!”

“Easy there Amigo, this “Bill” character is a soldier if I am correct?”

“Yeah. So?”

“I am sure that he will be fine as old as you claimed he is. He’ll be alright, you’ll see,” he said with a smile but Ash didn’t smile with the same thought.

“You had no idea what this deadite was,” Ash stated as looked at everyone, “This one was like a shapeshifter but a one that can consume and assume someone’s identity after he killed them. He was another normie but his skin was very pale and looked like he had been sick for a while along with-”

“Stop right there, Ashley,” Takeo halts him with his hand raised a little bit to his neck and head level as he asked “Does he wore plain gray hoodie, a black leather jacket with a red interior, two horizontal white lines on each sleeve, and a red tribal design on the back?”

He was a bit taken from what this man said but did answer “Oh yeah.”

“You had encountered that Alex Mercer.” U!Takeo concluded as he placed the wood boards down on the floor and then picked up his samurai sword from its place laying on the wall as Ash protested “Wait a minute, you are going out there? To fight a shapeshifter? Buddy, you had no idea what he’s like.”

“I don’t and it is true but I knew from the feeling I sensed he is no good when we met him,” he explained as he straps the sheathed sword to his belt and turning heel and then going towards the door where Ash came in but Diego Shaw was right on his heels at the moment he is going to go through it.

“Uh, Takeo, are you sure that you want to fight a broke like Alex? If it’s true to what Ash said about him being a shapeshifter and able to consume-”

“I may die but a warrior spirit doesn’t, Shaw.” He turned to look at him, already annoyed at this point and would not hide if there’s a demon that is worse than zombies, this “deadite” that this man is calling him may actually be a threat after all.

Ash then got in front of Takeo and  spoke up “Hold on there pal, at least let me handle this guy so you can stay-” but Takeo walked past Ash and then continued on his way to where he said this last sentence “Here?!”

“Takeo!” Spy was the first one to go after the imperial captain as Ash gets out of the shotgun again and then goes after them. “Lock the door! Don’t open it until we come back!” Spy yelled as the door slowly closed on its own.

P!Richtofen got back on his feet as this had transpired, Dempsey, the Ultimis version if you, my dear reader had forgotten about that, had then asked “What the hell just happened?”

“I do not know but if Takeo is true about Mercer being a shapeshifter zhat consumes…” Richtofen began as he trailed off as he looked up at the ceiling with Dempsey looking at him as he said “Hey, my Tak’s had plant powers so he should be fine.

“I hope you’re right Dempzey.” Richtofen muttered as he looked down at the floor away from the ceiling, he was going to lose it by this point. But for now, they need to remain here until the solution to their problem is found eventually.

6:39

Ultimis Takeo has basically ignored the pleas of Spy and Ash as he made his way to Wonderland Plaza with the two of them behind him following the trail of blood he had made from the zombies he had slain as he walked towards the designated area of the mall, mostly acknowledge one fellow survivor’s saying thank you when he killed one of the undead when it was going for him with the intention of eating him too.

“Slow down there, uh.. Takeo?” Ash guessed as he got out the shotgun from its hoister and then blew up one zombie’s head off with it as it happened to be nearby. “His name is Takeo? Right?” he asked the RED Spy as he was walking right beside him while the Frenchman was reloading his revolver.

“Correct, he is right now ignoring us and we are following him to where Bill was last seen thanks to your negligence.” Spy answered as he finished loading a new round of bullets into the gun he is clenching on tightly, this is strangely new to him somehow as he had never been this intense before, not in the Gravel Wars or anywhere more than here before like in the past or future.

“Hey, I wanted a boomstick, I didn’t know that I-” Ash was then cut off by Takeo as he said “Silence, are we close to this Wonderland Plaza?” as he was heading out of the North Plaza now and entering a new one with Spy and Ash behind him.

“We are entering that Plaza right now, Tak-” Ash had answered but Takeo had stopped with his fist raised that made both the Frenchman and the Chainsaw-wielding man stopped in their tracks. Ultimis Takeo was silent for a moment as he looked around the plaza for any signs of anyone or zombies around the Wonderland Plaza.

Spy raised his gun a little, preparing for what was going to come as Ash unhooked his “boomstick” and then unloaded the shotgun shells and then loaded in new ones that are in a strange reloading type device into it and then hooked the gun back on.

“What is that?” Spy muttered as he watched this man put it away before he responded “Just something that will help me reload my boomstick so you can shut up.” as he aims to where Takeo is looking at.

He then moved slowly as he slowly moved forward with Spy and Ash behind him while they looked around and then within 5 seconds into the patrol, the Samurai whispered “Stay sharp for the demons but mostly, look out for Mercer if he is here.”

“Hai, roger that Takeo.” Spy nodded as Ash took note of the order but hardly paid attention to what Takeo had said to them as they slowly go forward until they heard a woman screaming at her lungs as she stumbled out of the nearby corner and running into several things before collapsing into U!Takeo’s arms as several zombies slowly came out of the corner as they stumbled into view of the three men.

They moaned at they marched forward from where they came from as they took a stand back as they are ready to fight the undead but-

WRA-BANG! WRA-BOW! WRA-BLANG!!

The undead had been hit by a bat so very hard it killed them, an old man was behind the horde and he seemed like a soldier but it was different from what Takeo believed to be an American uniform.

“Don’t stand around here, you three, they are everywhere in this mall.” the Old man had said to remind the group when he spoke, Ash then recognized the old man right away as he said “Bill!”

“Stay sharp, Ash!” Bill said as a zombie came in from behind but Ash already knew what he meant so he quickly turned around and pulled a trigger of his Boomstick.

Blood flew when the head had exploded into pieces, wet red and pinkish-white pieces of what was once its head and onto Ash’s face, printing it in crimson red. Ash wipes his face off of it as Bill was walking into view of the others.

What this old fighter is wearing is somewhat similar to his Dempsey, Takeo had taken note of the William “Bill” Overbeck character as Ash he told them about.

This aged man must’ve been caucasian and had blue eyes and white hair, the uniform he was confusing; it was different from the one clothing that Ultimis Dempsey had worn.

The warrior was trying to connect the dots as Bill had walked up to Ash and then said “I thought I told you to stay by each other, Ash.” as he glared at him as he put a bloody bat down onto the floor.

“I needed an upgrade, Bill.” Ash sheepishly excused under his breath as he placed his boomstick back to its hoister on his back as the veteran had stopped in his tracks, Bill didn’t seem to take the excuse seriously as he adjusts his slightly worn beret little. “Well, that word “Upgrade” is what made you left me here to fight off these slow mother humpers. When I say stay, you’ll-” “Are you with the special forces, Bill?” Spy calmly interrupted the veteran as Overbeck stopped and then turned to look at the Frenchman, an annoyed look on his face as he hadn't slept in a good number of days that had gone by.

“How did you know son?” Bill questioned as he walked over to the group, “From what I can tell, you are wearing the 1st special forces uniform from the 1950’s and from your age…” The Red Spy paused as he put away his weapon and then pulled his cigarette case to pull one out when the old man asked “May I have one?”

The mask hesitated before handing one to the soldier before giving one to Bill as then he got out a lighter and then lit his and then Bill’s, sharing a smoke.

The woman was crying in the U!Takeo’s arms, he had forgotten that he had the woman in his arms until now, he gently lets her go as she was a sobbing mess on the floor but her eyes weren’t matching the feeling she had, they are cold but familiar as he looked at her and he knew right away.

“Thank you…” the woman sobbed in hysterics as Takeo muttered, “You are welcome.”

“Are you-” Bill was going to ask the woman but it happened so fast, sword flying through the air and then blood flying and the woman’s corpse laying on the ground as Spy shouted “Takeo!”

“Takeo!? What in the hell is wrong with you!?” Ash yelled at the Samurai as he took two steps back from the corpse and he said “Rait and you rill see.” as he clenched onto his sword tightly and stared at the corpse for a moment.

Spy and Bill were confused but then they saw it; red, black, gray, and white mass had surrounded her and a familiar shape began to form around the body.

She turned out to be a ‘he’ as Alex Mercer had transformed back into his original form as the mass on his body had faded away after Takeo had attacked.

“That clever…” Bill muttered as he gritted his teeth and glaring at him, Ash looked at the man laying on the floor and asked “Is he dead?” but U!Takeo used his sword to block Ash when he was coming to check the body but still had his eyes trained on Mercer's body.

The wound the warrior had made had begun and finished healing on Alex’s chest. He didn’t move at first but then his eyes opened with a gasp. He then got up and then glared right at Takeo as he as found out by the attempt

“Good call…” Alex couched as he slowly got up from his feet, U!Takeo didn’t move but did reply “I didn’t make a call but I knew it was you, deep down…”

Alex Mercer had got back on his feet and then chuckled as he wiped the blood off of his lip from what Takeo had done to him, he wasn’t used to that attack, Alex had been fired at and bullets riddling through him before in his dimension and they all flooded out of his holes from where they had made their mark.

But this time, this is strangely different to him suddenly when he had felt that pain that had forgotten how that felt but this Japanese man had made him remember that pain.

“You do realize that you are going to pay for that, do you?” Alex grunted as the ‘biomass formed over his arms, both of them as he clenched his fist as he looked at the samurai with intention. “I do, Demon.” Takeo growled as he clenched on this sword tighter than ever as others had gotten ready as well.

“Neenie…” Broken had sensed this was going to happen but she didn’t expect a fight to happen sooner, she had to pick something out and fast. “Meenie,” she is scrolling through one after another screen for a perfect battle map for the confrontation between Masaki and Mercer, it was starting to get good but how can she be so careless to neglect the choice of a map for this fight. “Mimi…” until she found it, looks it’s time for a virus-like Mercer to learn that it’s time to play fair when he is face to face with a superhuman that controls and feels plants like Ultimis Takeo Masaki as what she found is a jungle, best for a map suited for a battle as she announced “Mo!”

She pressed onto the screen and a light flashed when she pressed it with a wicked grin.

Alex, U!Takeo and others didn’t realize that the mall had suddenly turned into a jungle but strangely only two of them are there, just Ultimis Takeo and Alec Mercer but Spy, Ash, and Bill are not there as they are standing in the large branches of the big jungle trees.

“Ash? William? Spy?!” Takeo shouted into the trees but he didn’t have the time to react when Alex ran up to him and then he and Takeo were sent flying and then falling from the above.

Alex threw five good punches but Takeo had fought back as he kicked him and then punched him a few times, hitting him as hard as he could muster but it wasn’t enough as Alex was getting the upper hand as he uses both his legs to push the Captain into the moist ground of the jungle so hard no man could survive the fall like that.

Mercer, on the other hand, landed gracefully on the ground with a thud, he then got up and then walked over to the supposed body of the warrior, his eyes were closed and the sword was planted into the ground beside him, signs of the impact was tremendous but the body was still intact in all honesty.

Mercer was looking at him for a little moment longer but he didn’t get up back on his feet, the virus, Alex Mercer, smirked at this and then spoke with ignorance “Hate to break to you but I hate losing too.” before turning to walk away from the body until he felt something… going through his back and out of his chest.

It’s a thorn-riddled vine, covered in his blood and he’s impaled by it, he was then lifted into the air with a vine before it begins to threw around wildly, smashing him in the trees, the ground and then coiling around him and then squeezed him so tightly he was exploded but he was spared when he was thrown too hard into the ground with a yell.

Alex couched as he was on the ground but then noticed the vines slithered over to Takeo and then one of them carefully coiled around his wrist and then lifted him upward with one vine, glowing green flower attached to it as U!Takeo was positioned upright but his head was down as the vines holding didn’t mind much as the green flower blossomed with a needle-like thorn within, revealing to Mercer in full view and then the flower quickly injected the thorn into the side of his neck.

Whatever green liquid that vine is putting into him has begun to heal him, the substance is glowing as it is visible through his bloodstream and the veins in his neck and face.

Ultimis Takeo wasn’t moving at first but then, with a gasp, he was relieved from the danger of dying. The vine that was holding Takeo had lowered him down to the ground and then had him on the ground on his fist, foot, and knee (I am trying to make this epic, believe me, I do.)

He was panting until he had his hand to feel a vine still in his neck and then he forced it to let go as it was painful when he did that; hurting both the plant physically and him mentally as he felt the vine in pain.

It was too painful but instead, he then focused on removing the vine from him and it did; the flower removed itself from his neck for U!Takeo to see. Seeing the needle-like thorn within the blossom of the flower and then he felt for the mark from what the thorn had made.

The warrior looked down with the thoughts he had never once thought; Mercer had tried to kill him!

He had never felt this mad before he looked at the Blacklight virus with eyes that Alex had realized that isn’t human; his eyes were normally golden brown but they are golden yellow and orange colored as he stands up back his feet while he had ordered the vines to get his sword, vine wiggled the samurai sword out of the ground and then returns it into his opened hand and he had clenched it tighter than ever.

Alex Mercer had fought mutilated corpses in New York when he had released the virus but this does take the cake! This man can control plants!

“Aw hell, this is going to be a pain…” Alex thought as vines rose from behind Takeo, ready to take any command.

Begin! Ultimis Takeo Masaki vs. Alex Mercer

Voice had announced out of nowhere as Alex looked around but the vine shoots out of nowhere and he was able to avoid it this time, he jumped onto the branch on the high point but Ultimis Takeo soon followed with the help of vine that threw him to the virus, with the force of the speeding bullet, U!Takeo had then sliced his arm off and then he landed wonderfully on his feet.

“You rill pay!” the samurai barked out as the vines hidden in his sleeves slithered from under them to reveal them that he had the smilax rotundifolia on both his arms, “Sh!t…” Alex muttered as the biomass started to cover his right arm and then created a sword made from meat and bone.

They both stood there on the branch that supported both of them under their feet, waiting for one of them to make the move, minutes felt like hours to them until…

U!Takeo dashed at him as Alex Mercer did the same with his feet beating the wooden ground with the arm-like blade shedding it a little while the thorns on his vines had grown sharper and ready to kill anything with just a touch.

With the sparks flying, blades of both steel and bone met at the force with both of them struggling to gain strength to overpower the other as U!Takeo had used the vines to support his body from being pushed over while Alex uses his own but inhumane version of it to shove the plantsman to the ground, 6-feet under even.

Eventually, Takeo uses his free arm with the thorned vine to smack the shapeshifter away from him, it was a brutal force from the vine and that sends Alex flying to the other tree that made a little crater in it, U!Takeo growls in pain as he feels it in his chest. “I need to be careful…” he muttered under his breath. “It hurts…”

Broken is enjoying the show from where she is as the Samurai and the Virus continued to battle it out.

[Collab between Icefir (Me) and TikTak ( @this-person-is-slowly-dying​ on Tumblr, give her thanks guys! ;) )]

Mercer was running on a large vine after jumping from the previous one, running as fast as he could to avoid the incoming vines coming from each direction, from each tree and from each plant that Takeo had control over.

He had used his body and the virus itself as the weapon; he is simply known as the Blacklight virus, able to absorb the organic matter of all living creatures and converting it into newer biomass that he can manipulate at will, being able to sustain and regenerate the injuries of a great number, able to create weapons with his physical form to attack his enemies and even generate armor for himself to endure the most extreme of most brutal blunt traumas but now here he is.

He is battling a person that is almost like him but he is like the Japanese version of Poison Ivy from Batman except that he is more unlike her. He was bitter and silent and more likely to kill anyone who did him wrong.

“Is that all you got!? I had fought a girl better than you!” he mocked him in the bark but that only angers the captain more; with a roar, vines are shooting from everywhere as Alex took noticed and tried to run to get out of the way but they were too many of them to avoid them and he was soon found himself being trapped inside the vines and soon felt the life being squeezed out of him with the force of a mutated bona constructor by the vines as U!Takeo’s morals were suddenly absent at this point.

All his heart had felt was rage, the red-hot rage within all he could do now is to kill this virus, squeeze and crush the life out of him for what he wronged him for as he-

“Takeo, this is not you. Please remember the code you learned.”

Ultimis Takeo had heard this unrememberable voice echoed throughout his head, it was frightening and strange that it reasoned to him and that made him think about what he was doing to Alexander Mercer.

He had his fist clenching tightly to control the vines to strangle the crap out of the virus but now he is reconsidering it; what if his family found out? Was he a demon or a man, was there any honor in this?

The more he thought about it, the more his tightness on Mercer had losen, and the more the vines began to untwine, the more freedom he felt. Eventually, Alex was released from the cruel crushing of the snake-like vines and allowed him to greedily breathe in air as much as his lungs as he could.

Pause!

Takeo Masaki was lost in his thoughts as he subconsciously remembered Alex at this moment as he got up and had turned his both arms into claws, sharp claws to chop a man apart but ten noticed that U!Takeo wasn’t ready to fight and felt like something was off. Alex knew why it felt; has reason and mercy gotten to him?

“What has gotten to you, flytrap?” Mercer mocked him again, Takeo looked at him but didn’t say anything except he did say a few words that made the Blacklight virus confused.

“Can’t you hear her?”

“What?” Alex muttered in the confusion of this man and what he said about “her?”, “Who are you talking about?” he continued as he let his guard down a little bit. “I heard her voice but it was unfamiliar, how could you not hear her?”

Alex looked around the wild for anyone, nothing, he turned to look back at the man before him and said: “There’s no one here but us!”

“Maybe it is a spirit…” Takeo muttered that made Mercer even more confused, meanwhile, Broken who had been watching the fight is now visibly upset that someone had stopped U!Takeo before he could kill Alex.

“It was getting good!” she cried out of a fit of anger, “It was just getting so good but Knight had to come and ruin it! She had ruined the best part!” she continued to shriek out loud at the top of her lungs before she covered her face in rage while one of the Hallow had crawled up to her and then rubbed its head on her shoulder.

Broken had remained idly like that for a moment until an idea popped into her, a wonderful idea, oh she has a beautiful deadly idea…

“I think we better spice things up a bit.” Broken announced with an insidious tone in her voice, as she got up on her feet and then turned to the rest of the Hallows who were looking at her for a moment.

“You!” she barked and pointed at one of the Hallows in the area, this Hallow she had called over seemed a bit scared at first but then one of its fellow Hallows just simply slapped it on the back of its head, making it go forward a little.

“Yeah you!” she confirmed as that Hallow walked forward to her and she said “Since I know that you are different than the Alpha Hallows as you are able to take the form of any All-Star after you ate the 100th soul so I am giving you this!~” as she opened her gloved hand and a heart-shaped ball of light, a soul, and then handed it to the strange Hallow with a hole in its chest and if you can see it closely; the one thing missing in it was the heart, only organs and two or three heart valves in the hole.

The Hallow, a False Clone, greedily grabs it and holds for a moment as Broken ordered “And as for the two in the jungle; you know what to do.” while had the Jack-O-lantern grin as she looked at the screen and grinned wider than just a grin.

The False Clone nodded as it ran towards and then jumped into a screen that overwatches the postponed battle between the samurai and the virus.

Back to them, a roar had echoed out in the jungle while they were arguing to each other, which made them look around the area around them, staying quiet and unmoving, hoping to see anything with legs as they now knew that they were not alone in this map.

“What the hell is that…?” Alex muttered as he balled up his claw into a rock-like fist and looked around the area. “I sensed evil here... “ U!Takeo answered as he raised his sword up in his one hand as he looked around before he finished with “Other than you, virus”

Alex let out an annoyed chuckle as he shook his head a little as he scoffed “Yeah, other than you.” as turned back to look at him with the fist raised but then heard a twig snapped just on the left of them. They turned to look at what it was and there it was, a False Clone, a vex type of a Hallow.

By looking at that, he growled “You!” as he stands ready to fight the False Clone with Alex Mercer now standing by his side as he asks “Friend of yours?”

“One of them is the reason why we are here.” Ultimis Takeo answered hurriedly, he was ready for any more tricks from this Hallow as Mercer got himself ready to fight this Hallow as well.

“That’s a creeper-looking ****er, isn’t it?”

“That’s a creeper-looking ****er, isn’t it?” the Hallow repeated what Alex said in… his own voice?! Both of them are in shock at this creature, did it mimic his voice?!

“The demon had mimicked your voice, Mercer?” U!Takeo had questioned the confused man- creature beside him when the False Clone had repeated after him but with his voice this time, “The demon had mimicked your voice, Mercer?” before it giggled and then reached over to it’s back and then pulled out a soul as it held it in its greasy paws.

“What’s that…?” Alex muttered but Ultimis Takeo in a hashed whisper “A soul…?” as it raised over its head with its tongue licking its jack-o-lantern lips before opening its mouth and then letting go of the soul and letting it fall into its mouth as it’s mouth snapped shut.

It slid down its throat and soon the soul appeared in the hole of its chest, they watched for a moment until it was lit on fire and soon it screeched in a howl as its first annettas was lit on fire, soon arms and then legs and then it was fully on fire.

Takeo and Alex had to shield their eyes from the sight of the fire, glowing and ember flying everywhere as the False Clone changes shape and form into something that is merely human; It was turned into a form of a human as this clone was wearing a traditional palette swap ninja attire with bone-like structures lacing his uniform, two swords bore on his and his kunai and katana sword attached to a rope tied to his belt. He wore a mask different from anything that the warrior had seen before.

The False Clone of Scorpion was on his knees as he clenched on the chains that appeared to be red hot as he slowly got up with his head down as they noticed that another kunai was attached to the metal chain wrapped around his hand.

His eyes were glowing yellow as he gripped tightly on the iron chains as his hand were lit on fire, he and Alex had known it the moment his fist was in flames as they both took a few steps back a bit as the False Scorpion advanced towards them.

“Do not panic.” U!Takeo whispered but not afraid as he held the sword in front of him, “I am not panicking Takeo…” Alex harshly forced to whisper a reply as he looked back at him.

“We may be able to take him together…” but then noticed that the creature wasn’t beside him, Alex Mercer had fled and left him there to fight this hellspawn! Ultimis Takeo cursed under his breath at this excuse for a human had run from the battle for him to face this Hallow!

The False Scorpion then got out and sent his kunai towards U!Takeo but he quickly jumped out of the way but he had accidentally jumped off the branch as he shouted “Damn it!” but he was saved by a moving vine that coiled around this waist.

The vine gently uncoils around Takeo and lets him stand on it as he looks at the False Clone with interest, “A Ninja…?” He said this to himself, “This demon took the form of this ninja?” as the False Scorpion took out his blade.

U!Takeo grips tightly on his sword as vines that were hidden in his sleeves revealed themselves as they slithered out of them as he shouted “Face me, Hellspawn!” as the vine lowered downward, ready to throw him into action as False Scorpion is doing the same and getting ready to pounce. “I will send you back to hell, one piece at a time!” he yelled as he was launched onto the tree branch and then the False Clone took charge at him.

They both ran towards each other and then both blades met in a headlock and they both were glaring at each other as U!Takeo gritted his teeth and used the vine to smack the False Clone away and crashed into the tree that made the samurai groan through his teeth in pain. The False Scorpion growled and said “You will pay for that, with your life!” before he got back up but he didn't want to or had no time to wait and see what he did next so he whipped his vine into a branch and then he jumped to get out of the way. As he swung onto the new branch and landed onto it, he turned to the previous tree branch he was standing on with the sword ready but there’s no False Clone on it.

Confused, he looked at the tree to see if he’s still right there but he’s not there either and he had suddenly felt something warm coming from behind him and he had to turn around to look too late.

“You-!!!?” he gasped as a kunai was pressed against his throat, as it turns out that False Scorpion had teleported behind him before getting a kunai out to use the moment of vulnerability against him as he had U!Takeo pinned to the tree where the branch they are stand on was.

U!Takeo had looked around for an escape route but noticed a vine under this man and was thinking of a plan but False Scorpion somehow knew that so he pressed the blade harder on Takeo’s neck, maybe enough to draw blood as he hissed “Do not think it.”

Alex Mercer in the meanwhile had been hiding in secret as he watched the fight progress through and he was silently interested that the False Clone was doing the work for him as the warrior was on the verge of defeat.

“Heh, the creepy bastard is doing me a favor.” He thought as he watched the tension rising from this, “I can’t blame him for that though…” as he began to remember one regret about something in his past.

He had remembered that a mutant, a Leader Hunter had kidnapped his sister, Diana, as he was trying to rescue her but he was stopped by the other hunters and had lost sight of them. He was helpless to save her at this point as he was shouting her name.

Alex had pressed his hand to his forehead as he said “And… then I would feel guilty for not saving him. I had to-” but a kunai was thrown towards him as Mercer had realized but he was able to dodge the attack from the False Scorpion as he shouted “sh!t!” and he used his claw to latched onto a tree that caused to both it and to U!Takeo as he coiled in pain.

False Scorpion had still had his blade against U!Takeo’s throat while he looks at where the virus was, “You really shouldn't talk so loudly.” as he slowly got his sword out from its sheath.

“Better than killing a plant pulling it by the roots,” Alex growled as he looked at the False Clone while he was holding onto the bark of the jungle tree. “But you, you are nothing but ashes!” he shouted to finish that sentence that only angered the Clone even more, and with one swift move, he stabbed the sword under him that caused further pain to Takeo with the length of it.

With one choke of breath through the suffering, he had half-remembered that he had tricks of his own and the vines he felt were writhing under his undershirt sleeve so in a swift choice he made and he used the vine swiped the False Scorpion with full force away from him.

The relief of the blade away from his neck was good enough to allow the Captain to breathe easily for now as he kneeled down to the vine that was under the False Clone and he wasn’t sure that he was doing but he quickly began to treated the stabbed vine right away as Alex jumped downward in front of the man before him as his arms were gone back to normal.

Mercer watched as the vine was restored to a healthy version, a scar of the sword blade stabbing through it was there as U!Takeo’s hands slowly drew back with vines and retreated back into his sleeves. The visible black vines on the right side of his face had slowly faded and disappeared as they returned to normal.

Ultimis Takeo Masaki had been looking at the healed vine before he looked up to Alex and asked one question from his mouth: “Why did you come back?”

Alex Mercer seemed to be unresponsive for a moment but he realized that this man had said something to him, he shrugged and replied “I didn’t, I was just standing by.”

Then, a fireball just came out of nowhere and it was launched towards U!Takeo, he looked at what was heading towards him; survival instincts had kicked in and he ducked at the last minute before that ball of fire could hit him.

He turned to find what it was and with no surprise, it’s False Scorpion whose hand was covered in smoke. U!Takeo’s eyes had changed again as he weakly stood back up from his stupor with his family sword still gripping tighter in his hand that he believed he was ripping through the skin and drawing blood from his palm.

He is not going to lose today, he is not going to as Alex Mercer had stood ready to fight the Hallow while vines are slithering towards the warrior, like snakes before rising upward behind him. False Scorpion said nothing but he jumped high as they both watched him go up and then descending back down and then performed a roundhouse kick to the virus that successfully knocked Alex out of here with a burst of fire coming from this as U!Takeo stood ready to continue fighting this demon.

[Traditionally drawn by Icefir]

U!Takeo growled as he launched vines towards this False Clone but the clone was cutting through the vines to get to him but the samurai gritted his teeth as he kept on throwing the vines at the Clone until one of them got him by the arm soon the torso and soon the False Scorpion was trapped in the twisting vines.

“Stop…” he growled as his eyes were once again orange and yellow but the False Scorpion said nothing as he continued to struggle to break free from the snake-like vines. U!Takeo watches on at this failed attempt, he almost feels ignorant at this substance of the False Clone as he said “I do not think you can get out-'' he felt it before he could finish the sentence. He felt the vines were on fire and the scorching hot aura coming from the very place where he had trapped the False Scorpion.

He turns to look at the False Scorpion in shock and see that he is clenching his fist to raise the greater flames, he hisses in pain as he tries to resist through the suffering to what the fire is doing but it was no use, False Scorpion had burned through the vines as he yelled: “Now die!”

The fire had made it worse; U!Takeo was grown weaker from the burned vines, both physical form using the vines that resulted in them going through the torment and mental for feeling them being burned alive from what the False Clone had done to them.

He was panting on the wooden ground where he was kneeling on with his hand to his chest, trying to soften the pain as False Scorpion walked over to the defeated man with his sword in his hand before stopping in front of him.

U!Takeo looked up at him as he still had his hand close to his chest and watched him raised his blade up high for the sun to shine on it, ready for the kill and U!Takeo had shut his eyes as he was ready to feel the blade but when it was being put down on him at full force, something had stopped him from doing the deed.

A woman with a blindfold had come out of nowhere and blocked the blade with her staff with U!Takeo looked at her in shock and was astonished at what he saw as he was losing consciousness.

"Do you also wish to die!?" False Scorpion said with bitterness toning his rage.

The blindfolded woman said nothing but did say this:

Finish Him.

The False clone was confused about what she meant until he felt something going through his back and out of his chest.

He looked down to see a blade sticking through his chest as Alex Mercer had come back on his feet and had gotten his blade power since he was biomass and had come from behind the False Scorpion. He looked at the blade in shock as Alex declared “Go back to hell and tell the Devil he’s next when I get there!” before twisting it to greater the pain that he caused as cracks are forming around him before he screams in agony and then explodes into pieces as souls that the False Clone had eaten were freed and flying away.

Alex Mercer watched as he stood where he was a while the souls were from 5 to ten to 50 and then a hundred of them flew everywhere and disappeared into the trees while most of them flew into the sky. His thoughts were derailed when he heard a thud from in front of him, he turned to see U!Takeo had passed out from the mental suffering of the pants he had used against the clone but the woman who had defended the warrior had disappeared, like suddenly as she appeared only to never be seen again within instinct.

“Where the **** did she go?” he thought as he walked over to his unconscious body but stopped when he noticed the same vine that healed him before as he was going to reach him to grab his shirt. He backed up when the vine approached Takeo’s neck again and then opened up to reveal the thorn in its blossom again and then stick it into his neck again and once more, his vines glowed green.

Ultimis Takeo’s HP restored. Alex looked at the text above him for a few moments until he noticed the surroundings around him and the man was changing before them as the vine repeated itself from his collar bone and disappeared from existence.

The light dimmed a little as his eyes adjusted to the settled and then looked around the area and slowly began recognizing where they were before, they were back in the Wonderland Plaza and much to his surprise; a very few zombies were coming in. Mercer stood there for a moment before his eyes trained onto U!Takeo again, doing what he was going to do earlier; he grabbed him by the collar and then held him while he prepared to assimilate his cells or… for a better word of this: consume him.

“Alright then,” he muttered, “where were we?” as he balled up his fist and raised it in the air but hesitated when he heard someone yelling from the distance, “Follow me!” a man yelled and heard footsteps heading their way. Alex growled on his breath, “Not like this when I was…” he looked at where they are before slamming U!Takeo back down onto the floor.

“I’ll be back for you later.” the last words he said to Ultimis Takeo before he ran off quickie as Frank West was bringing more survivors that had managed to protect themselves from the horde of zombies. He was getting the hang of killing the undead but he knew the story is more important than just killing zombies all day long and since he had gotten Brad’s and Jesse’s permission to cover this story incident to which he will call it a zombie outbreak in Willamette- no, maybe an undead incident- no… Guessing with just the Willamette incident as he already pictured himself on the news about it.

But it was interrupted by one of the people he saved who had said “Look, there’s another guy and he’s passed out!” as he looked at who they pointed at the unconscious Takeo Masaki on the ground. Frank had taken off running to his side as he got out a walkie talkie and hurriedly talked to Jessie right away “Jessie, I found another one but he’s knocked out.” he said as he placed his two fingers on his neck, checking his pulse as Jessie answered with concern in her voice “He is knocked out? Is he alright Frank?”

[This is drawn by SamPostStuff on Tumblr]

“He’s unconscious but he’s all right.” he answered when he felt a pulse from his neck, he’s breathing softly but not life-threatening much to anyone’s relief. He then talks to Jessie again, “Get him back here now! We have to help him!” as he or everyone had been aware that a vine is slowly slithered back into his sleeve.

[orbemnews]

Man pleads guilty to 2019 murder of 6-year-old Lyric Lawson CLEVELAND — At a hearing Tuesday afternoon, Raysean Howard pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for the 2019 murder of Lyric Lawson, a 6-year-old girl who was shot and killed at her home on Cleveland’s East Side during a drive-by shooting. Howard pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder and firearms charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. He also pleaded guilty to unrelated drug charges. As part of the plea agreement, Howard will be eligible for parole after serving 23 years. Howard was arrested one month after the October 2019 shooting in which prosecutors say he used a high-powered rifle to fire two dozen shots into the home. Lyric and five of her siblings and cousins were asleep in the home at the time. Lyric’s mother, Ometrice Selmon, addressed Howard directly in her powerful and emotional victim’s impact statement. “Not only did you take my child, you took my life. There is no comfort in my own home. When my child hears a [gun shot], there’s no more ducking down and there’s no ignoring it. They are terrified. My child slept in the closet. You can’t understand to hear a child scream in the night because they can’t go to sleep and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Prosecuting attorney Brian Radigan told Judge Nancy Fuerst that the evidence in the case is incomprehensibly tragic, specifically the body camera videos from first responders that arrived on scene to find Lyric with a gunshot wound to the head. “These officers coming in and seeing Lyric is something I will never get out of my head. I can’t comprehend what those officers saw when they walked in,” Radigan said. “We are lucky, we are lucky that Lyric is the only one that is dead. These are the types of crimes that ruin communities. They ruin families. And Mr. Howard has to pay for that.” Selmon described the interior of the home following the shooting as the inside of a pencil sharpener with debris and splintered wood blanketing the living room where the children slept. A total of 28 shots were fired between Howard and another shooter that has not been publicly identified. “You have ripped my family apart. You cannot understand the extent of what you have done. My child will never grow to graduate. I’ll never see my daughter go to prom,” Selmon said. “My daughter wanted to become famous so she could buy a house for her family. She will never be able to accomplish this goal. Never. My kids slept together every day. Every day my kids slept together. They have never been apart. You do not understand what this is doing to me.” When given the opportunity to address Lyric’s family and loved ones, Howard repeatedly apologized as tears streamed down his face. At the hearing, the judge asked Howard to identify others involved in the shooting. He initially remained quiet, but then said one of them is dead. After a private discussion inside the judge’s chambers, the hearing resumed and Howard was sentenced. window.fbAsyncInit = function() FB.init( appId : '117981068372285', xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' ); ; (function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; js.async = true; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Source link Orbem News #6YearOld #Court #guilty #Lawson #Lyric #lyriclawson #Man #Murder #plea #Pleads #rayseanhoward

[tf2community]

@a-virtuous-pyromaniac submitted:

The Administrator, the Debt and the End: A Theory From Reddit

Hello! I saw this on r/TF2 and I don’t think it’s made its rounds on Tumblr. It’s well written and well-thought-out, so I thought I’d share. 

THIS IS NOT MY ORIGINAL WORK. IT BELONGS TO REDDITOR AVTHEMARSUPIAL. 

Original post can be found HERE.

*******

HUGE SPOILERS FOR ISSUE #6. SERIOUSLY, GET OUT IF YOU AIN’T READ THE COMIC YET.

Issue #6 of the post-MVM comics has come out, and boy, what a doozy.

Over the last five years since Blood Brothers and the Mann vs. Machine update, we’ve had lore trickle out at us in small pieces at a time. I’ve got some theories on what’s gonna happen next, but to get a handle on things, let’s recap.

I AIN’T KIDDING, MAN. SPOILERS AFTER THIS. THE COMIC’S LONG. IT’S WORTH IT. GO READ IT. YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID.

Our story starts on September 2nd, 1822, with the birth of the Mann Triplets to wealthy landowner Zepheniah Mann and Bette Mann (née Darling) during the Great Eagle Scourge of London.

One of the triplets, Grey, is a genius. The other two, well, are not. Grey is abducted by an eagle, and Redmond and Blutarch are raised to believe they are the only sons of Zepheniah Mann.

Over the next twenty-eight years, Zepheniah remains wealthy and successful, presumably by selling munitions across the British Empire.

In 1849, Grey resurfaces, and threatens to blackmail Zepheniah for all his Australium.

Around 1850, Zepheniah, Redmond, and Blutarch traveled to the United States, where they had purchased large areas of land in New Mexico hoping to expand the munitions business. Zeph contracts an incredible amount of sicknesses, and dies shortly after.

After his death, his Last Will and Testament is read.

Elizabeth, Zeph’s maidservant, was left the entirety of the Mann Estate, including what was left of his fortune.

Barnabus Hale, grandfather of Saxton Hale, was left complete control over Mann Co.

Redmond and Blutarch were left the lands of New Mexico to split evenly between themselves.

Finally, Elizabeth was left the entirety of Zeph’s “miracle gravel”, or as it was really known, Australium.

The Brothers Mann immediately begin fighting over the land, each hiring a team of 9 mercenaries to seize the land from the other, beginning a century long stalemate.

Barnabus Hale took over Mann Co. and even got into the coal mining business thanks to the Mann Brothers selling him a coal mine for 5 cents.

As for Elizabeth, that’s where things get tricky.

In 1890, Blutarch Mann hires Radigan Conagher to build him a machine to prolong his life indefinitely.

Radigan goes back to his workshop, where a mysterious woman is waiting for him. We’re never told who the woman is, but an obvious conclusion is that she has some connection to the present day Administrator Helen, and Zepheniah’s maidservant Elizabeth. The TF2 Wiki, going off of an old “printing” of Loose Canon names this woman as Emily, differentiating her from both Elizabeth and Helen. The Catch-Up comic, however, names this woman as Elizabeth, although with a different appearance than the previous Elizabeth. For purposes of simplicity, I’ll continue to call this woman Emily.

Emily gives a halfhearted attempt at convincing Radigan to not build the machine, and when that fails, attempts a counter-offer. Since 1880, Emily has been hunting down 100 pounds of Australium, which she offers to Radigan if he’ll build a second machine for Redmond Mann as well. Radigan accepts, naturally.

The 1st Life Extending Machine (LEM) is finished on July 17th, 1894 for Blutarch.

The 2nd LEM is finished on August 3rd, 1894 for Redmond.

But as we know from Loose Canon, Radigan built a 3rd LEM, which he finished April 14th of an unknown year.

Blutarch tells Dell that he’s had possession of Radigan’s notes for 60 years, so its assumed that some time around 1900, Radigan dies and is buried with his notes, only to be exhumed by Blutarch.

Time marches on, and the brothers hire a new team of mercenaries to fight, the Classic Mercs, presumably one of many teams hired. After a time, the modern day mercs are hired and organized under the team name of FORTRESS, to continue the same fight that has been going on since the 1850s.

Then everything changes when Grey Mann shows up, killing both Brothers, forcing Saxton Hale to give up his company, and forcing Helen to run away.

Grey, having discovered that the Mann Co. vault containing 200,000 pounds of Australium is empty, hires the Classic Mercs to hunt down the Fortress Mercs and lead him to Helen.

Miss Pauling goes on a mission to reassemble Team Fortress, burning Helen’s geneology records along the way, while Saxton Hale goes to see about getting his company back with the help of his old friend Maggie, and Charles Darling.

Darling, upon meeting Hale, requests Australium in exchange for getting Mann Co. back, and tells Hale that the Administrator has been “playing two old gravel magnates against each other, establishing thousands of shell companies, filling entire coal mines with bodies, and over the course of a hundred and fifty years, stockpiling the largest supply of Australium in the world.”

The Administrator later meets with Pauling, telling her that there are 89,000 tonnes of Australium in existence, and she has been collecting all of it in the six months since Grey took over Mann Co.

Engineer has been revealed to be in hiding with the Administrator, keeping her alive with the use of a LEM, one much more modern than even Grey’s.

The model on her arm is nearly depleted, and Engineer replaces it with a newer one, which he believes can run on a quarter of the Australium that the previous Mark 4 did.

Dell then confesses that they’re just kicking the problem down the road, and that when the Australium in the Mark 5 runs out, the Administrator will likely die for good.

She dismisses it, claiming

Your family has already given me more time than any of us deserves, Mister Conagher. I don't need much more. Just enough to settle an old debt.

The Classic Heavy then betrays Grey Mann, who confesses to Miss Pauling;

Whatever despicable things you think I would have done with that power…you’re right.

And I promise you, what she’s planning is worse. Stop her.

Grey’s deathbed confession makes little difference to Miss Pauling, and she continues on with the mission regardless.

After Heavy and the Cheavy fight, Grey Mann’s LEM is destroyed, and Cheavy becomes a weak, frail looking old man before he dies, presumably due to Australium withdrawal.

The Administrator, recovering from being dead, is informed by Engineer that only a small vial of Australium remains on Earth. The Administrator dismisses this, simply vowing to find more.

Engineer explains that due to the Mark 5, even the small vial of Australium can give the Administrator six months of life, but that her life, and her plans to settle her debt, are at an end.

Administrator makes peace with this, and uses the entirety of the remaining Australium to reverse her aging, giving her only an hour left to live, which is where Issue #6 ends.

Now that we’re done with the backstory, let’s get on with the theory.

The TF2 lore really begins with Loose Canon, and it’s incredibly weird that Blutarch just has possession of Radigan’s notes for the greater part of the 20th century before he decides to call up Dell and ask him to fix his LEM. We know that the Mann Brothers were born on September 2nd, 1822, that Blutarch recieved his LEM on July 17th, 1894, and then dug up Radigan and his notes sometime around 1900, in his late 70s.

Blutarch goes onto say that he’s “barely cheated death out of a half-century” which would put his first Death at around 1910, which makes sense, since Blutarch is nearly 150 years old by 1968.

But we know that Emily and Helen have been working to keep the War going, so why allow Blutarch to get the original notes at all?

We know that RED and BLU are subsidiaries of TF Industries, founded by Redmond and Blutarch.

At some point, the properties of the Mann Estate not given to Barnabus Hale or Redmond and Blutarch were turned into TF Industries. It seems incredibly likely that RED and BLU were initially founded off of Elizabeth's generosity and Emily continued that practice by keeping Redmond and Blutarch alive, with Helen continuing the work of her mother and grandmother to keep their perpetual stalemate going. This type of grand strategy isn’t uncommon historically, with the best example being the Carolingians, who slowly take control over Western Europe over four generations, and fictionally, the Lannisters and the Tyrells of A Song of Ice and Fire, who plot for their grandchildren to eventually become Kings in their own right.

The Administrator family has a vested interest in keeping the Mann Brothers alive, if only to be subservient to them. Blutarch obtaining the notes in secret has to be something that would tip the balance in his favor, and allow him to end the War.

I think the Administrator knew but didn’t care, and that’s where the story kicked off.

Like we’ve said, the Mann Brothers are idiots. Blutarch tells Dell outright that Radigan’s notes have been the bane of his existence for sixty years, and Dell seems to be the only one who can do anything with them.

Had Dell fixed Blutarch’s LEM without fixing Redmond’s, it’s likely that Redmond would have died before Blutarch, ending the war. The solution then was simple. Much like her mother did, Helen would hire Radigan’s grandson to fix Blutarch’s LEM, but to also fix Redmond’s.

What about the Australium, though?

From Loose Canon, we know that Dell looked over Radigan’s papers and found a list of Australium caches.

Dell seems really interested in the Australium, and even though he could try and get to the caches without alerting anyone, given the reach and the influence that Helen has, I doubt he could get far without her killing him. Instead, it makes much more sense to hire Dell to work for her in secret, allowing him access to the Australium in exchange for keeping her alive by upgrading the third LEM, built by Radigan for the Administrator family before his death.

In Blood Brothers, we see that Dell must have succeeded in his task, and upgraded the Brothers’ LEMs.

These Mark 2 LEMs are sleeker, portable machines, unlike the large bulky Mark 1 that Radigan built.

Now, in Blood in the Water, we learn that the Mark 5 only uses up about a quarter of the Australium that the Mark 4 did.

In The Naked and the Dead, Dell says that the small vial of Australium left on earth is enough to get Helen anywhere between five to six months of life.

Helen however, decides to use the Australium to reverse her aging, presumably to her 20s or 30s, cutting her down to only an hour of life.

So if we extrapolate on this, we can guess that each later iteration of the Life Extending Machines used less Australium than the model before it. If we take the Mark 4-5 transition as a benchmark, the Mark 5 would only need 1 pound of Australium to do what the Mark 1 needs 256 pound to do.

That is, in my professional opinion, a metric shitton of Australium being lost for no real benefit.

Helen says there’s only 89,000 tonnes of Australium in existence, and that she owns all of it by 1972.

Grey and the Australians have some in their bodies, but besides them, there’s no more Australium left on the planet, presumably because most of it was all used up to keep two idiots alive.

So if Australium is so necessary to stockpile, as well as incredibly limited, why the hell would you waste it keeping two idiots alive to babysit, when you could kill both of them and spend your time elsewhere?

The Brothers really don’t contribute anything to the intellectual fields of society, and the gravel fields they’ve been fighting over are useless. The only thing of value the Brothers did inherit, the coal mine, was sold to Barnabus Hale for five cents. The graveline that powers the world’s steam engines is coming from the Hales, not the Manns.

Speaking of Barnabus, he and Elizabeth aren’t shown to have any real interactions, but given how the only thing Mann Co. does is sell guns and mine coal, if Elizabeth and her descendants are the true antagonist, there’s no real benefit to killing Barnabus and the Hales.

The only things the Mann Brothers have managed to achieve are founding RED and BLU, and as I’ve assumed, Elizabeth helped them start their companies anyway. The Mann Brothers really don’t need to be kept alive, but there’s no real point to getting rid of them either.

What’s the Administrator’s Deal?

Helen clearly has the same reason most humans would in wanting to live forever, but there’s also a second component. She tells Dell that extending her life isn’t just for her, referring to the “old debt” she’s been settling.

When Dell tells her that her life is at an end, Helen says

I’ve tried to keep this going as long as I could. I…

I even thought I was done once.

I still crave it…as much as I did when I was a little girl.

I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting it. It’s become…everything.

But you’re right. It’s over. And if I’m going to call an end to all of it…well…

Well.

Why not look my best?

This is incredibly cryptic. The obvious guess is that she’s referring to immortality, but I think it means something more than that.

Zepheniah Mann, a man of a prominent English family, was married to the daughter of William Darling, esquire, another man of a prominent English family.

We don’t really know anything about Bette Darling, but given that a man who fights with cougars for fun like Barnabuscries over her death, she must have been quite the charming lady.

On the other hand, Zepheniah seems like kind of a dick to his wife, ignoring his wife’s death in favor of hearing about his children. It doesn’t sound like a very warm marriage, and Bette would probably get tired of Zeph fairly often.

In England, a lady-in-waiting, or maidservant, was typically a noblewoman or a relative who would be part of a royal consort or noblewoman’s court.

Bette Darling, being from a prominent family and married to Zepheniah Mann, would most likely have her own lady-in-waiting to provide her with some much needed companionship. Given how Zepheniah seems to not care about Bette, who better to serve as a companion than her sister, Elizabeth?

Elizabeth as Bette’s sister makes a lot of sense. We know that Zepheniah ends up partitioning his assets off to her, and it sounds like Elizabeth ends up getting the biggest inheritance out of the recipients. Redmond and Blutarch are idiots, sure, but at the very least Zeph could have left his inheritance to Barnabus if he was that worried about things. After all, Barnabus did manage to run Mann Co. fairly successfully after buying the Brothers’ coal mine. Giving the bulk of his Legacy to a random maidservant makes a lot more sense if that maidservant is actually his dead wife’s sister.

So after Bette’s death, Elizabeth stays on in Zeph’s service, probably as a favor to her sister and her nephews. Then Zeph dies, and Elizabeth is left with a fairly substantial fortune, as well as a cache of Australium that her brother-in-law entrusted to her to keep away from his son.

Elizabeth could have walked away from the Mann Family Drama at any point, but out of loyalty to her sister, she ends up overseeing the conflict between Redmond and Blutarch in order to keep her idiot nephews alive.

And then Elizabeth dies.

So wait, what’s all this shit about genealogy?

Helen’s statement that she’s been stockpiling Australium for 150 years as of the late 1960s suggests that Helen has been alive since around the 1820s, coincidentally close to when the Mann Triplets were born, but the timeline here doesn’t really make sense.

Elizabeth looks to be in her 40s to 60s around 1850, and we know that smoking and age contribute heavily to infertility. Emily looks to be roughly the same age range in 1890, and Helen (who cheated) looks to be roughly the same age in 1970.

Here’s where I’m going to take a guess and say that Elizabeth is 100% dead, and that the old woman we see in the Naked and the Dead is actually her granddaughter Helen.

But in true fashion, I’m gonna go on a tangent to do it.

When Cheavy gets Grey’s LEM ripped out of him at the end of The Naked and the Dead, he looks old. Like, unreasonably old.

According to the Catch-Up comic, the TFC mercs were hired in 1930, and they look to be around their 20s to 40s by this time.

So if we guess on that, and say that Cheavy was born in 1890, he looks great for being 82 in 1972, which is to be expected for a man of his physique. Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in 1947, and he also looks great for being 69 years old.

So why does Cheavy go from looking like the picture of health to Ebenezer Scrooge not five minutes later? Australium withdrawal.

Australium is pretty special. Regular exposure to the stuff can extend your life and increase your vitality, and enough of it can reverse your aging entirely.

We know from Blood in the Water that Australium withdrawal is an actual thing, and that Australians who aren’t exposed to it become pretty normal. The reason the Australian soldiers don’t look like they belong in the grave is because they actually are in the peak of their lives, and aren’t keeping anything at bay by being exposed to Australium.

Cheavy, on the other hand, is basically coming back from the dead to fight Heavy. The Australium is the only thing keeping him alive after Heavy did quite a number on him.

Helen is the second person we’ve seen using Australium to sustain her youth and vitality, and the Australium is definitely taking a toll on her. When it isn’t being used to keep her looking young, she looks every bit the old crone she should be.

So coming out of that tangent with all this information, there’s just no way Elizabeth and Helen can be the same person, and that Elizabeth is 100% dead.

Elizabeth looks to be in her 50s by 1850, and would be at least 94 by the time the third LEM is built. Factoring in all of the smoking, Elizabeth’s body would probably about as healthy as a 150 year old’s by 1895. Even if Radigan could build the LEM in time to deliver to Elizabeth, Australium isn’t meant to prolong life. Helen, a woman who looks to be either 100 years old, or on the wrong side of 80, is able to punch a solid glass window and then shrug it off.

Speaking of the timeframe, Dell keeps making improvements to the LEMs, making 4 different models in total between 1968 and 1972, each more efficient than the last. When we get to the Mark 4, Dell replaces it with a more efficient model, ostensibly because the supply of Australium is slowly running out.

But I don’t think that’s the only reason. After all, there isn't that much improvement between the two, so why bother?

I think that the more you try and prolong your life, the harder it gets to rejuvenate your body, and the more Australium you need to do so. Australium exposure clearly screws with your biology in a massive way, and a 94 year old Elizabeth would be lucky to even survive the surgery necessary to install a LEM, let alone use it for 150 years.

So if Elizabeth is definitely dead before Radigan even builds the LEMs, we need to figure out the time-frame for the three generations of Administrators.

Guesstimating, we can assume that Elizabeth was born around the same time as Zepheniah Mann, probably around 1800. Even if Elizabeth became pregnant with Emily as late as 1850, that would make Emily around 40 years old in 1890, and anywhere from 45-50 when the third LEM is commissioned.

If Elizabeth is definitely dead sometime before or around 1880, that would give Emily the decade she needs to “acquire” her Australium without having to dip into her inheritance.

The third LEM then, is built for Emily.

So if Elizabeth is born around 1800, and Emily is born around 1850, the next logical leap is that Helen is then born around 1900. That’d make sense, as Helen would be in her 60s-70s as of 1972, but she definitely doesn’t look that way.

The answer lies in Australium withdrawal. If we assume that Emily and Helen are different people, and that Elizabeth lived until her 80s, Emily most likely voluntarily died around 1940 after a half-century of watching over the Mann Brothers and not wanting to deal with their shit anymore after a century of life. We’ll give her an extra decade for good luck, giving Helen possession of the LEM and her inheritance around 1950.

Even if Helen didn’t start using the LEM until 1968, that’s still 4 years for her to be constantly exposed to Australium, and if she uses it to reverse her aging just a small amount, she’d probably end up feeling the effects of 6-8 years of exposure.

Going back to the timeline, Elizabeth is dead by 1880, and Emily steps in to fill her mothers shoes, when Blutarch decides he wants to live forever.

Emily then contracts Radigan Conagher to build three Life Extender Machines for her and the Brothers. Radigan dies, and Blutarch takes possession of Radigan’s notes, but can’t do anything with them.

Emily lives through the Second World War, and then decides to pass the torch to her daughter, Helen.

Helen takes over TF Industries, and hires Dell Conagher in 1965. To keep the stalemate going, she hires 8 other Mercs plus Dell and assigns them to fight in the Brothers endless war, probably against other merc teams.

Then Grey Mann resurfaces after nearly 125 years, claiming Mann Co. and killing his brothers for being idiots.

At this point, Helen’s failed her grandmother and grandaunt. Bette Darling’s sons are dead, ironically killed by their own brother. The only duty Helen has left is to continue her grandmother’s job of protecting Zepheniah’s Australium from Grey, and she does a damn good job of it.

Enter the Darlings.

In Unhappy Returns, Saxton’s clearly at a low point, willing to deal with his old rival in order to get his company back, and Charles only wants one thing in return, Australium.

But how does Charles FUCKING Darling know about Australium?

Charles and Helen apparently have history, since Darling clearly knows more about what the Administrator actuallydoes than seemingly anyone else connected to the Mann Brothers and the Gravel Wars.

We know from Bidwell’s Big Plan that Charles Darling and Helen not only have history, but that the two don’t like each other.

If Bette Darling was really friendly, and the Administrators are at the very least, capable of expressing emotions, Charles Darling is at the opposite end of the spectrum.

Charles Darling, by all accounts, is fairly sadistic. We see in Unhappy Returns that Darling plans to gather every animal on Earth and put them in a zoo. Oh yeah, and he makes nearly extinct animals stand on boxes in a wall all day. For fun.

The man is also arrogant, too. The next time we see him after his introduction, he’s standing in his rather large manor, reading a book he published with his face prominently displayed on the back, standing underneath an incredibly large portrait of himself, which he helpfully labelled with a golden plaque bearing his name. Did I mention this is his own house?

Charles explains that he wants Australium to keep his animals alive forever, and Saxton seems rather fine with this. After all, he’s got 200,000 pounds of the stuff back at Mann Co., what’s a few thousand pounds here or there? Darling tells Saxton that all of the Australium is gone, and that the Administrator was the one who took it, questioning what the purpose of doing so is.

Except, there’s no reason Charles should know what the Administrator’s been up to, let alone the existence of Australium at all.

Darling isn’t Australian, he isn’t part of the Mann Family, and he’s wealthy enough in his own right that he presumably doesn't need Australium, so what’s the point of gathering it?

Grey Mann tells us that whatever Miss Pauling thinks he was going to do once he had beaten the Administrator, she’s right. He then goes on to say that what the Administrator’s planning on doing is worse. That still leaves Darling, though. If Helen can hire Miss Pauling and Dell Conagher to work for her and have them apparently be fine with what Helen’s doing, can it really be that bad?

Back to the point, in Pyromania we get a hint of who Helen is, and what she’s capable of.

Not only is Helen clearly capable of blatantly stealing the entire United States Australium supply, she goes before the United States Senate and basically ignores them, until we get to the really juicy bit, after which she simply excuses herself.

Speaking of the juicy bit, we don’t learn much from it. Piecing all of the lore together, we learn the opening sentence, and that’s about it.

Very well. For one hundred-fifty years I have been stockpiling Australium to… Helen reveals that she’s trying to prevent something, in order to do something, and her plan involves eighteen perfect idiots.

We know that she’s carrying out her plan in order to fulfill her old debt, and that at the very least her plan involves the nine mercs, but that’s the best guess we can make. Given how in the comics, there are only nine Fortress mercenaries, we still need nine more perfect idiots.

In this scenario, there’s still no indication of what the plan is, but Charles Darling seems like he’s being set up as the main antagonist to our favorite chain-smoking protagonist, by virtue of being the only contender left.

Redmond, Blutarch, and Grey are all dead, meaning that Helen has no obligation to keep the Brothers alive, or defend the Australium from Grey, and the only thing Saxton seems to care about is being able to fight things, leaving only Charles Darling. Oh, and Olivia.

Olivia, in her first appearance, looks remarkably similar to Helen as a child. Olivia is presented to us as Grey’s daughter, but I don’t think that’s true, given how Grey is nearly a hundred and fifty years old by then. What makes a lot more sense is that Olivia is Charles’ daughter.

Grey and Charles could easily set up an alliance of convenience, at least until their mutual enemy Helen is out of the way. Charles could allow Grey to use his daughter to win control of Mann Co., and Grey could allow Charles to take control of some Australium.

Of course, this would break down when the two would have to split the world between themselves, but given that Grey is dead, the point is moot. Grey’s death also leaves Olivia and Charles in a really great position. Olivia, as the supposed daughter of Grey Mann, would inherit Mann Co. with Grey’s death. If Charles really is Olivia’s father, the main Darling branch is well on their way to inheriting all of the Mann Legacy.

Helen, as the granddaughter of Elizabeth Darling, who is the sister of Bette Darling, is a relative of Bette.

By 1971, Helen controls both the original third of Zepheniah’s Legacy that was partitioned to Elizabeth, as well the third shared between Redmond and Blutarch under TF Industries, since Grey seemingly has no interest in the worthless gravel pits, leaving only the Hale’s third independent under Saxton.

If Elizabeth really is Bette’s sister, and Helen is Elizabeth’s granddaughter, this means that two-thirds of the Mann Family Legacy is under the control of the Administrator’s branch of the Darling Family.

If Helen is a Darling, she’s the only one standing in the way of Charles inheriting the entire Mann Estate, and apparently control of the entire planet’s governments under RED and BLU, respectively. To keep the Mann Family Legacy (and the world) out of the hands of the Darlings, I believe that Helen is going off to confront Charles Darling, and presumably kill him and Olivia.

With Charles and Olivia dead, the Mann Legacy would be entirely reunited under Helen, at least until she gives Saxton his company back. Mann Co. can continue on as just a regular company, and Helen’s death will finally bring an end to the Gravel Wars.

TL;DR / RECAP;

Zepheniah Mann married Bette Darling, died, and gave his Estate and Australium to his wife’s sister, Elizabeth Darling.

Elizabeth, her daughter Emily, and her granddaughter Helen have spent the last century repaying Bette and Zepheniah by financially supporting Redmond and Blutarch, keeping them alive, and keeping Zepheniah’s Australium out of the hands of Grey Mann.

Grey killed Redmond and Blutarch, and allied with Charles Darling and his daughter Olivia to take control of Mann Co.

Originally, Helen planned to simply outlive Charles, outwit Grey, and keep the Brothers alive indefinitely, but Blutarch hiring Dell to fix his life-extending machine caused her to include Dell in her plans. The arrival of Grey and murder of Redmond and Blutarch, disrupted these plans, and forced Helen to have to devote all of her resources to keeping the Australium out of Grey’s hands.

With Grey and the Darlings working together to bring her down, Helen is overwhelmed, and has to flee to a remote location, bringing Engineer along to keep her alive until she can defeat Grey and the Darlings.

Grey ends up ironically being killed by his own employees, so control of Mann Co. passes to his “daughter” Olivia, giving the Darlings control over one-third of the Mann Legacy.

Helen, having failed to keep the Mann Brothers alive, succeeds through a pyrrhic victory in keeping Zepheniah’s Australium out of Grey’s hands.

On her deathbed due to the worldwide exhaustion of Australium, only Helen stands in the way of Charles Darling inheriting the entire three parts of the Mann Legacy, as well as control over the entire world with the resources of TF Industries.

In order to finally bring the conflict started in 1850 to a close, Helen has to use her considerable resources to kill Charles and Olivia before she herself dies at the end of Issue #7.

*************

[ultrageekydesigner]

Harry Potter Vs. Percy Jackson, What is in a Hero?

Harry Potter Vs. Percy Jackson What is in a Hero?

​Heroes are all around us, whether it be a celebrity like Daniel Radcliffe, or Emma Watson, or a fire fighter, or policeman, or just everyday heroes, they are everywhere people look, but most prominently in Young Adult Literature. Everyone has heard about the great literary heroics of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but have you ever stopped to think about what makes them a hero? Why do children and young adults consider them heroes even though they are just words on the page of a popular novel?  Both characters exhibit certain character traits that you need in order to be a hero but Harry Potter’s lack of patience is a detracting factor and seems to be less of a hero than Percy Jackson.

Webster’s dictionary defines a Hero as: “a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities.” (Merriam-Webster) According to Inc.com truly heroic individuals must possess some if not all of the following Qualities: Courage, Selflessness, Humility, Patience and Caring. (Murphy Jr.) This paper will examine each trait’s definition and qualities and apply it to sections of text in each Hero Character’s book to prove their worthiness to be a hero, it will prove that both characters have these qualities but only Percy Jackson has all of the qualities needed to be a truly heroic leader.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Wizarding World universe is loved by one and all, young and old. It spans generations. Several children grew up reading the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione at a time where some of them were scared young children, not sure about what was going to happen because their parents had just gotten divorced. Parents might realize how much their children loved reading the books and might start reading them for themselves and in turn would fall in love with the world and the story.  In Winifred Radigan’s article,Connecting the Generations:  Memory, Magic, and Harry Potter, she talks about how she used to make up stories about her reading the Harry Potter books just for an article so she could explain away her reading the books because she truly enjoyed them. (Radigan 694) This alone shows that the Harry Potter books are influencing and being enjoyed by more than just the children they were intended for and it is this reason that J.K. Rowling’s has been chosen the as the first hero this paper will examine.

Harry Potter comes from humble beginnings. In the beginning of the series his parents are viciously murdered by the Dark Wizard, Voldemort. He is taken by a half Giant named Hagrid to his Aunt and Uncle’s house. While living with the Dursleys, Harry is treated as little better than a slave and is constantly tortured by his cousin, Dudley. When Harry finally get his letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry he is always grateful for what he is given and always gives to his friends what they do not have.

Rick Riordan has a way of telling a story that sucks you into that world and makes you feel like you are a part of it. In the Percy Jackson series he uses common pop culture references in order to make the characters relate to his young adult audience. In his Percy Jackson spin-off series, Heroes of Olympus, he breaks the story down into the different heroes’ perspective. Alice James says in her review of The Son of Neptune, the second book in the series, that: “no character has a particularly strong or distinctive voice and consequently it makes little difference to the overall plot or construction of character.” (James) While that may be true it feels as if the readers got to know more about the characters’ personality because in his writings Riordan puts the character’s inner most thoughts. Young adults pick up the Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson Series when they are still clinging to their child hood and the adventures of Percy Jackson and the other heroes in Camp Half-Blood can help those young adults through the first years of adulthood by teaching them that no matter what trials you come across in your life you can always preserver through them. That is the reason why Percy Jackson was chosen to compare against Harry Potter.

Percy Jackson grew up as a child with a single parent. He never knew his father and was tormented by his stepfather, Gabe. He loved his mother very much and tried to protect her whenever Gabe treated her wrongly. Percy has Dyslexia and ADHD and has struggled in school because of it. He had been kicked out of six schools before he found a teacher that was willing to work with him.  When he was sixteen years old he was attacked at school by a Fury and his best friend/protector helped him escape to Camp Half-blood but not until after he lost his mother to the hands of a Minotaur.  Percy discovers at the camp that he is a Demi-god, particularly the son of Poseidon. He then sneaks out of the camp with his friends Grover and Annabeth to journey to Hades to find his mom.

The first trait that will be examined is Courage.  Webster’s dictionary defines Courage as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” (Merriam-Webster) “It's difficult to achieve anything truly heroic unless you're up against daunting odds.” (Murphy Jr.) says Inc.com. When you think of heroes you think about them doing truly monumental things like saving their friends or maybe people they do not even know.  Heroes have to stand up against insurmountable odds even if they are petrified with fear of the situation they are in. If an individual does not have Courage than they cannot be a hero.

Harry Potter shows multiple times in his series of books that he has Courage in the face of danger. There are really too many to accounts of him exhibiting Courage and “Brave(ry) at Heart,” (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, 118) as the sorting hat says of Gryffindor students. The one act of Courage that was the most memorable is the encounter with the mountain troll in Sorcerer’s Stone.  The text reads: “Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running leap and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind.” (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 176) Harry showed bravery and Courage in that passage by attacking the troll head on without any though of self preservation. It says that Harry was both “very brave and very stupid” and sometimes stupidity is needed in order to have the Courage to protect your friends.

Percy Jackson’s first act of Courage came when his mother was taken by the minotaur and disolved in a flash of light. Percy said: “Anger Replaced my Fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs- the same rush of energy I’d gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.” (Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief 46) In seeing his mother taken away Percy got a rush of adrinaline which fueled him to attack the Minotaur: “I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear  in a flash of light, and rage filled my like high octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backwards with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then – snap!” (Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief 47)Percy’s demi-god instincts kicked in, brought on by the grief of losing his mother, the only parent he had left and he was able to defeat the Minotaur: “Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.” (Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief 47). Percy showed true Courage by facing the miontaur when he thought his mother was killed. He allowed the pain and grief to turn into the Courage he needed to defeat the Minotaur and get himself safely to Camp Hald-Blood.

The second trait to examine in this paper is “Selflessness.” Inc.com has this to say about Selflessness: “True (Heroes) always puts others first. Ironically, that kind of Selflessness can often be strategic, because focusing on others' needs often winds up helping you achieve your own goals.” (Murphy Jr.) Whether or not our two heroes are being Stratiegic about their Selflessness is not the point here. The point is that they do selfless things for the ones they care about or even people they do not even know. Webster’s Dictionary defines Selfless as: “having no concern for self “ (Merriam-Webster) Heroes are charged with safeguarding the lives of others, they can not afford to think of their needs and wants when there is people who need their attention more.

One instance that Harry Potter’s Selflessness really stuck out was in the last book where he saved his mortal enemies from death even at the risk of his own life. The passage in the Deathly Hallows says this: “Malfoy saw him coming, and raised one arm, but even as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no good: Goyle was too heavy and Malfoy’s hand covered in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry’s- ‘IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I’LL KILL YOU, HARRY!’ roared Ron’s voice . . . he and Hermione dragged Goyle on to their broom and rose, . . . “ (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 633). Harry risked his life for people who didn’t even like him. His own best friend, Ronald Weasley didn’t even want to save Malfoy and Goyle. Harry made a selfless decision to save another person’s life, no matter who they were.

Percy Jackson showed Selflessness in deciding to leave the safety of the camp in order to save his mother from the hands of Hades even though he did not have Zeus’ lightning bolt like Hades thought he did. Even though it meant certain death to go to the Underworld without the bolt Percy knew he had to do what ever it took to save his mom. Despite many difficulties and trials, Percy works determinedly to rescue his mother--at great personal cost and risk to himself. The whole book of the Lightning Thief is all about how Percy has countless times faces danger all for the sake of saving his mother.

The next trait to be examined is Humility. Webster’s dictionary defines Humility as: “the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people.” (Merriam-Webster) Inc.com says that “True heroism can amaze us, but it also often contains a component of modesty.” (Murphy Jr.) in reference to Humility. Nothing makes a hero seem like less of a hero than wanting credit for his or her deeds. True heroes do not ask for recognition and oftentimes do not want it. No one asks to be a hero, it just sort of happens.

Harry Potter grew up with practically nothing to his name. For the first eleven years of his life he lived in a cupboard under the stairs and waited on the Dursleys hand and foot. His glassed were broken and his hair unkempt. His cousin, Dudley, bullied him all the time and got treated much better than he was and the Dursleys lied about how his parents died and bad mouthed them until the day he went to Hogwarts. All of this keeps Harry Potter humble, when he finds out he has a fortune in wizard money the first thing he does on the Hogwarts express is buy him and his newfound friend Ron, who was less fortunate, a bunch of sweets to share:  “Go on, have a pasty.” said Harry, who had never had anyone to share with before, or indeed share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through Harry’s cakes and candies.” (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 102) Harry showed Humility by sharing his sweets with someone he barely knew anything about except for the fact that he didn’t have any money.

Percy Jackson is so humble in many ways, he always talks down about himself, thinking that others are better than him when really he is talented at many things as the books go on. The first instance was when he had first arrived at camp and couldn’t find many activities he was good at and he was hard on himself because of it. “The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.” (Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief 108) In this sentence he seems to feel as if other people are looking at him as if he was supposed to do great things by just breathing. He shows Humility by not letting the defeat of the minotaur his first day into this new and exciting world go to his head. He sees himself as a failure and that is the most humble attitude of all.

The fourth character to look at is Patience. Mr. Murphy from Inc.com says that: “While heroism often requires quick thinking and decisiveness, truly heroic leaders often also display an impressive amount of Patience.” (Murphy Jr.) Heroes must be patient especially when faced with impossible odds. “The ability to remain calm and not become annoyed when dealing with problems or with difficult people” (Merriam-Webster) is how Webster’s dictionary describes Patience and I believe that Patience is an important part of becoming a hero.

As Harry Potter was grew into a teenage boy he had a big problem with Patience. In his fifth year of school he often lost his temper and acted like the whole world was against him, even his mentor and friend, Albus Dumbledore. Here is just one example of when Harry lost his Patience in that year.  “I DON'T CARE!" Harry yelled at them, snatching up a lunascope and throwing it into the fireplace. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!” "You do care," said Dumbledore. He had not flinched or made a single move to stop Harry demolishing his office. His expression was calm, almost detached. "You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.” (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 824) If you look at things from Harry’s prospective you could understand why he lost his Patience in this scene. He had just lost his godfather, the only family he really had, in the department of mysteries and had spent the year under a hellish woman who had tormented him all year, but he should not have shouted at the Headmaster of Hogwarts and he should not try to “destroy his office” as Rowling put it. That does not seem like how a hero should act. As he grows older and more mature however, the Patience comes to him.

Percy Jackson, however, displays a large amount of Patience through out the books even through the hellish ordeals he has to deal with throughout the books, especially when it comes to the “non-existent” relationship between him and his father. At the end of the Lightning Thief, Percy comes face to face with his father for the first time. His father told him that his mother was safe at home and Percy got his first taste of how seperated he is from Poseidon. “I wanted to ask if Poseidon would come with me to see her to see her, but then I realized that was ridiculous. I imagined loading the God of the Sea into a taxi and taking him to the Upper East Side. If he wanted to see my mom all these years, he would have.” (Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief 345) It is later explained that it is Zeus’ law that keeps his father away, not because he doesn’t love him and his mother. He shows real Patience and understanding in realizing that he can’t have a normal relationship with his godly father.

The fifth and final trait to examine is the trait of Caring for someone or a group of people. Webster’s dictionary defines carrying as: “feeling or showing concern for other people.” (Merriam-Webster) This one for last because it is the most important trait for a hero to have. If you cannot care for the people closest to you how can you hope to care for people you don’t even know and be the hero they need.  Murphy says in his article on Inc.com that Caring “can often manifest itself in strong but gentle actions intended to improve the lives of others.” (Murphy Jr.) Sometimes that can be doing little things for the community or someone you are close to and sometimes it can be big grandious things that can change a person’s life.

Harry Potter shows many acts of Caring throughout the books but it is what the other characters say of him that makes all the difference. In the same passage of the last trait Dumbledore says something about Harry that is very profound and is so true to Harry’s character: "You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.” (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 824). That small little quote that counteracted Harry’s grief and impatienceat losing his godfather speaks volumes about what Dumbledore thinks of Harry. It says that even though Harry says he does not care he truly does in his heart.

Percy Jackson shows his Caring by the way he takes care of his friend/girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, even though he knows she doesn’t need it. One example comes in the Last Olympian when Annabeth gets stabbed with a poison knife and is sick and Percy worries about her: “Once she was gone, I knelt next to Annabeth and felt her forehead. She was still burning up. "You're cute when you're worried," she muttered. "Your eyebrows get all scrunched together." "You are not going to die while I owe you a favor," I said. "Why did you take that knife?" "You would've done the same for me." It was true. I guess we both knew it. Still, I felt like somebody was poking my heart with a cold metal rod.” (Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian 199-200) Percy was scared that he was going to lose Annabeth because at that point he was secretly in love with her. He cared about her so deeply that it hurt his heart to see her sick.

Both Harry Potter and Percy Jackson possess enough of the Heroic traits laid out by Murphy in his article on Inc.com. Harry has proven himself to be Courageous, Selfless, and humble. The people around him see him as a very Caring person who wears his heart on his sleeve. It took him a while to get the Patience part down and some of his impatiencecan be chalked up to just being a teenager, however his impatiencein the face of real challenges shows that he is not the ideal hero. Percy proved himself to be worthy of all the traits laid out by Murphy. In conclusion, people that children and young adults consider heroes may not possess all of the traits that people traditionally see in modern day heroes but they can still do great things, however, heroes who have the patience in adversity are the true heroes that children and young adults should look up to, like Percy Jackson.

Works Cited

James, Alice. "The Son of Neptune." Literacy Learning in the Middle Years (2014): 70. Review.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. n.d. Definition.

Murphy Jr., Bill. 5 Qualities of Incredibly Heroic Leaders. 30 April 2014. Article. 27 November 2016.

Radigan, Winifred. "Connecting the Generations: Memory, Magic, and Harry Potter." Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (2001): 694.

Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian. New York: Disney Hyperion, 2009.

—. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. New York: Disney Hyperion, 2005.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic Press., 2007.

—. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic Press, 2003.

—. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Scholastic Press, 1997. Novel.