#radioactive craze

[small-brain-witch-bitch]

So Alastor lived during that radioactive craze, didn't he?

Do you think he would've been skeptical about this new trend or do you think he'd be like "Radioactive toothpaste?! Neat! That has the word radio in it!"

[stalkerofstuff]

Radioactive isotopes are the ultimate forbidden spice and I craze the spiciest of curries

@batkid-from-another-mother

Why are you considering a chemical element a spice,

And if that last part means eating them I would most likely not recommend it.

[epilson-squad]

Haii y'all

This is a lancer dedicated Sideblog

CURIE- Reactor tech from Raddix, a planet of Radioactive Barbarians

Pheonix- Fiery party girl Captain of Epsilon Sqaud

Jess-09.- Crazed Tech hoarding Mechanic

Nyx - Rouge Prime Nhp

[hypermaddj]

Oc-tober 2023 day 2: new OC "Alright, people let's do this one last time!"

I watched Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse recently and since I missed the Spidersona craze with Into the Spiderverse so what better way than to make one now for OC-tober! Introducing Sonya Collins a university student, part-time barista, and full-time friendly neighborhood spider woman, Arachnea. She was bitten by a radioactive peacock spider. Unfortunately, the mutation went a bit haywire resulting in her developing the trademark four eyes of a peacock spider. While it makes her eyesight exceptional it does mean she walks around with a beanie all the time to hide her extra pair of eyes.

[union-combine]

Greetings citizens of the Union and beings from beyond! Welcome to Union News Central, I'm your host Bluglakkag Flublabbak. Hello! This is the recent news! ::3

In the news today, the new craze spreading across the Union, the little amoeba pets that've been affectionately named Adoroebae! If you don't have one, you probably know someone who does, so here's the scoop!

The cute little critters were discovered on Feforyana, also known as Vesrun Prime. And since their discovery, they've spread throughout the Union. Why? Because they make great pets, of course!

Though amoeba's usually aren't too smart, the nucleus of an Adoreoba is particularly large and complex. That allows them some basic pattern recognition, the ability to bond, and show affection! Best of all? Adoroebae are very low maintenance! They're omnivorous but can't digest chitin so they don't good feeding them mushrooms or some insects, and they only undergo mitosis when they're particularly large and well fed.

So, if you don't want a litter of Adoroebae, don't overfeed your pet!

Fun fact! Though they're naturally green, you can safely and harmlessly pierce the cell membrane with a needle and inject food colouring to make them any colour! This doesn't harm them at all, and they don't even notice the change.

We go now to the citizen who discovered the first Adoroeba, Galdrig den Aramik!

"Uh, we live?"

Yes, Galdrig, welcome! So, how did you discover these cute little amoebae?

"Ah! Thanks, Bluglakkag! Well, I was just gatherin' spores from the ruins, to diversify the shroom crops on my family's farm, y'know? When I saw one them squeezin' through cracks in the concrete! It popped right out and then jumped on a Radrat! I was like nuh way!"

Oh my! What an entrance!

"Ya-huh! I saw it weren't interested in the shrooms so I figured it'd be good to keep back at the farm, stick it in the basement, cut down on usin' pesticides, and what do you know, the farm's been greener since. That could be the radioactive barrels... still gotta clean those up. Anyhoo! Word got out and next thing you know, every farmer's got some. And I guess other people started keepin' them cause they're cute?"

That makes you a trend setter, Galdrig! Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your story!

"That's quite alright, little friend."

And that brings this story to a close. I'll be keeping one of these cuties, and if you want one too, an interlink site called Adopt-An-Adoreoba has been set up to give Adoroebae to loving families!

Oh, one of them got on the camera! ::3 Cheeky little cutie! Come down from there!

Ah... This is Bluglakkag Flublabbak saying thanks for tuning in to our signal here at UNC. Be sure to bookmark our wavelength for future updates.

Solace in the Union.

[3xm-draconic]

The Jester and The Courier: a wild wasteland love.

Chapter 2: Radioactive.

Myrtle got on her ranger gear, say for gear helmet and went down stairs. In the spare room handcuffed to the radiator was the crazy little red head dude, just…giggling to himself… 

“Any idea if the psycho is still in his system?” Gannon turned to Joshua, “no idea, psycho isn’t supposed to last that long…then again he might just be insane like Raul said” Joshua replied.

Myrtle approached the man and knelt down so she was eye-level with him, the man’s crazed grin fell from his face as soon as he saw her’s. It was no doubt due to the horrific scar across her left eye which was now completely cybernetic, that would scare the willies out of anybody.

…but…then he smiled again…

“You are something Cicero has never hallucinated before…a half-metal woman!” he gleefully giggled, “hmm, dilated pupils, erratic speech patterns, hallucinations…he may have severe mental trauma” she turned to the others “I think taking him to doc Usanagi for therapy might do him some good”.

“Where is Cicero? Why is he chained?...WHERE IS HIS JESTER’S CLOTHES!?” he squeaked and began to panic “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO POOR CICERO!?”, “ehey, ehey shhh, it’s ok buddy we didn’t do anything to you, we want to help you ok?” Myrtle hushed him “can you tell me what happened? Do you remember how you ended up naked and falling out of the sky?”

The red head…this Cicero guy…just looked at her weirdly and screamed “WHAT!?”, a water bottle was then flung at them “CAN HE STOP FUCKING SCREECHING!? I’am hungover and I’d like some peace and quiet!” Cass bellowed.

Myrtle turned to Ulysses “can you bring me some food and a bottle of water?”, “what for?”, “our friend here is so skinny he looks like he hasn't eaten a proper meal in weeks and I think the best way to get through to him is with kindness, not an interrogation” Myrtle replied.

Ulysses nodded and went into the kitchen to grab a plate of whatever Lily was making, “guys can I be alone with him?” Myrtle turned to Gannon and Graham, they nodded and left to go eat.

“so…Cicero, where are you from?”, the man hesitated “Cicero was from the Empire but he moved to Skyrim to be closer to his family”, “Empire? Sky-rim?” Myrtle pondered “I don’t know these places…they certainly ain't close to the Mojave or California” she mumbled. “Mo-ha-vee?...Cal-ee-forn-ya?...What are you talking about? What are those places?” Cicero wondered, “It’s where you are now bud, you are in Nevada, Southwestern Commonwealth of America, the Mojave desert, west of the NCR?” Myrtle pause “any of this dinging any bells up there?”

He stared at her blankly “no…but if Cicero is in a desert is it close to Hammerfell…the Alik’r?...or is it in Elsweyr?”, Myrtle blinked “no…you got me even more confused now”.

“What direction is this Sky-rim?”, “oh it is very, very far north” Cicero replied as he carefully observed the strange metal woman, her greenish-blue eye and metallic yellowish green one never wavering from his amber gaze, “north hmm? How far north? Like Uta or…?” she pondered, “U-ta?” Cicero wondered “Cicero has no idea about any of these places you say!” he snapped, he was getting agitated.

Myrtle sighed “look I’am sorry, I don’t mean to anger you I’am trying to help you find your way home” Myrtle said softly, Cicero calmed down a little as her words sounded ginuwine “ok…ok” he sighed.

Ulysses arrived with food: a plate of potato-bread toast, sunny side-up gecko eggs, brahmin sausages and cactus fruit jam.

She took the plate from him and sat it next to Cicero, “ok, I’am going to uncuff you and give you a fork…please…don’t stab me with it” she kindly asked him, Cicero had to hold back a pout…he wanted to stab someone…badly…

She got close enough to where Cicero could have easily jabbed it into her neck…but he needed to know more about just where in the void he was…and killing the only person wanting to help him would be like stabbing himself in the foot.

Cicero eyed the food on the plate…it…was weird…

“What is this?” he pondered as he poked at the strange eggs, “gecko eggs…have you never eaten one before?” Myrtle turned to him, Cicero cocked his head in confusion “nope…” he shrugged, “well their good eaten I say, I’ve had them plenty of times in my life” she shrugged and grinned “nothing is better in the morning like a cup of coffee and a plate of gecko eggs”.

“What's this coff-ee you speak of?” Cicero pondered, “it’s drink, it helps ya wake up in the morning, would you like a cup?”, Cicero thought about it for a moment “well when in the Empire do as the Impirals do” the thought to himself “yes, thank you” he nodded.

Myrtle left to get him some while Ulysses watched him, “so…Cicero…your name” Ulysses’s deep raspy voice rumbled “it sounds very…Legionary…” he mumbled.

Cicero eyed the strange man with a metal mouth “Cicero’s name is a perfectly normal Impiral’s name…what does it have to do with the military?”, “so your military is in league with Caesar?...oh dear…Myrtle was begging to like you…” he sighed.

That got Cicero on edge, what did he mean by that?...

“who…Who is this Ceasar you speak of?” he pondered, Ulysses cocked his head “don’t play dumb, he’s the leader…” he gave a small laugh “former…leader of the Legion”, Cicero looked even more confused.

“So…in this world there is no Tiber Septim?...no Empire?” Cicero’s head started to spin, if his very NATION didn’t exist here…then that would mean…

Myrtle came back with a cup of coffee “I made it with some brahmin milk and sweetened it with a little ant nectar, you look like somebody who wouldn’t like just straight black coffee…” Myrtle opened the door to see an alarming sight…

Ulysses knocked out and Cicero attempting to break out of his remaining handcuff using the fork but doing so badly that he was only hurting himself in the process.

“CHRIST ALMIGHTY!” Myrtle screamed as she set down the coffee on a dresser and ran over to Cicero, she smacked the fork out of his hand and restrained him “STOP, Stop, stop…what’s wrong?” she gazed into his panicked wild eyes, he was like a frightened animal.

Cicero headbutted her…but that only ended in him hurting himself…“don’t do that please…my skull is pure titanium and I doubt your old flesh and bone one can do much damage…now calm down before I make you calm down”.

“You won't take my soul daedra!” Cicero snarled at her and attempted to bite her, he managed to sink his teeth into her shoulder but then he felt a sharp pinch in his neck…then…he started to feel…relaxed.

“Ok, I’am gonna cuff you back to the radiator while you calm down ok buddy?” Myrtle said as she gently laid him back against the wall, thank GOD she had a needle of calm-x on her.

She checked on Ulysses who was waking up, “Hey S.Grant you ok pal?”, Ulysses groaned “little fucker…headbutted me…hard…ow”, Myrtle gave him a small pouch of healing powder “here go take a nap on the couch and heal up”.

“What of Crazy-Ass?” he grumbled, “calm-x, was gonna use it on myself to ease my jitters of hoover dam…but I think in the moment it was needed more on him” she sighed, “Myrt?” Ulysses looked at her with concern, “don’t” she glared at him “don’t worry about me and DON’T bring it up with the others…got it?”

He sighed  and they left the room.

[sassenashsworld]

What if I turn into a crazed killer...

Nora makes a low growl as she clenches her teeth and rubs her temples. She's getting more and more worn out as the days pass. Her patience has run out. Each new settlement she establishes is swiftly pillaged by hostile forces. Every soul she has ever tried to influence has walked off from her. The more she tries to help her son, the more she feels alone, and the more she discovers what monster he is.

Her exhaustion is obvious.

“I believe you've tried this strategy before, and it went poorly... for me.”

She cast a swift glance at her friend. She was sure she hadn’t spoken aloud.

“I am sorry.”

Nick can't tell if she regrets what she said or what he's referring to. Both are equally likely. Keep word count as low as possible. To be interpreted by others.

“You've done a fair bit of good in this world, even if it may not seem like much at the moment. The notion that we're changing the Commonwealth faith, one individual at a time, ain't no small matter 'cause there'll always be folks out there yearning for our help.”

“Too small steps at a time.”

She sighs heavily, her eyes fixed on the dull and lifeless horizon. A supportive hand is placed on her shoulder by her friend.

“Rome was not built in a day.”

“However, she burned in one night.”

He can’t stand it when she behaves in such a way. She is far too sharp and argumentative for her own good.

He tries again, this time more gently.

“You changed my life.”

After what seems like many heartbeats, the radioactive irises fly back to him for another glance. She reciprocated his smile slowly by lifting the corner of her lips, though it didn't seems to reach her eyes.

“You make mine much more bearable.”

He leans back and puffs on his cigarette.

“We’ll settle for it.”

[mizuthe-cat]

i wanna hear your facts silly man /nf

well uh

be warned for gore under the cut

after the hiroshima bombing people who looked directly at the bomb had their eyes melted out if their sockets

the skin of chernobyl liquidators turned black and papery due to radiation exposure

if you get skinned you might not die of blood loss and instead hypothermia

at hiroshima if you tried to grab onto someone their skin had the chance of coming off in a slimy glove-like sheet

radiation poisoning is like going through all the stages of decay while still alive and no painkillers can dull the pain as your organs liquify and shut down

the american government injected terminally ill people with radioactive materials to see the effects without their knowledge

during the radium craze the radium girls ingested radium because of their employers demand for efficiency (they kept using brushes even after the lip dip technique was banned) and most of it deposited in their jaws which caused radium to build up there and put holes in their skulls and radon in their breath

there's probably more but these were on the brain right now

[cherry-soda-art]

The element radium was discovered in 1898 by scientist couple Marie Sklodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. The discovery was groundbreaking in the fields of chemistry and radioactivity.

Radium mainly stayed in the laboratory until a few years later when the world would be swept with a radium craze. Characterized by its bright glow, people viewed this element as the beginning of a new era and companies took full advantage. There were radium cosmetics, radium knickknacks, even radium laden drinking water. Though, many of these products were hoaxes, if you had the money, you could be sipping on radioactive water. They believed that radium had many health benefits. Mainly, that it would reinvigorate your body. One man believed in it so much he not only drank it every day, but her also gave it to his horse. But one of its most famous uses was to paint numbers on watch faces.

In 1917, The Radium Luminous Materials Corporation opened its first watch factory in New Jersey. To paint these dials, they hired young women- whose soft hands were believed the only ones delicate enough to perform such a task. Besides gentle hands, to paint the numbers, you needed a solid tip on the brush. But, paint tends to dull the tip. So, to fight that, they were instructed to reform the tip with their lips and saliva. Into the paint. Onto the watch. Back into the mouth.

At first, everything seemed fine. The workers- mostly in their teens and early 20s- loved being able to work with radium. The glow was pretty and they enjoyed painting their faces with it and going into dark rooms to see their faces glow. It was said you could always tell of someone worked at one of the factories, because their hair would glow at night. One girl even snuck a small amount back home to use it to use with her makeup for a dance. But their fun wouldn’t last.

The girls began to feel ill. Their joints ached, they were fatigued, and they began to get very sick. One girl began to develop sores in her mouth. At first, they weren’t sure what was causing these symptoms. After all, their bosses assured them the radium paint was completely safe. Bosses who, conveniently, were never around.

In 1922, Mollie Maggia began to experience the same symptoms as her coworkers. But one morning, she awoke to a sharp pain in her jaw. Concerned, her family called for their doctor. When he examined her, her jaw broke off from necrosis. Her doctor suggested this could’ve been caused by the radium she had been so often in contact with. A few months later, after agonizing pain, Maggie passed. Her family tried to raise awareness, but the company decided to spread the rumor that Maggie had died of syphilis. Her family insisted that wasn’t true, but, ultimately, what could they as a working class family do?

Maggie was the first victim but she’d be far from the last. Over fifty would die in the following years. In 1927, five workers from the original New Jersey plant would sue the company. They alleged that the radium they were encouraged to ingest was what caused their grievously poor health and the deaths of other workers. In 1928, the courts appealed in the workers’ favor and the lip-pointing technique was discontinued. Workers were also now given protective gear. But, this would be a hollow victory. Radium still wasn’t banned- far from it- and the reputation of women like Maggie Maggia were ruined because of the company’s irresponsibility and unwillingness to admit blame. They were still dying. There was nothing that could be done for them. They could only now take comfort in the fact that hopefully other workers wouldn’t face the same fate. It wasn’t until many years later that radium was banned.

Years later, their bodies were tested and high amounts of radiation were found. The bodies also had a strange quality- they flowed like the watches they painted.

[a-tale-never-told]

Not just messes up the human body, but it also renders the surrounding area unhabitable for humanity for literally thousands of years. If you are wondering why Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still habitable its because the bombs were detonated in the air. This meant no material got contaminated by radiation so after a few months the cities become safe. However should ANYTHING get dosed in radiation it remains radioactive for, and we are not joking, thousands if not millions of years.

......

Let's just go home, after all, Dad is probably going to ask where I am. so let's go *gets in the car* Slam! *Starts the engine*

Wrom! Wrom! Wrooom!

"*Hajime starts to drive on as the moon begins to rise over Kyoto, signing the start of the evening and the end of the first week of the group's efforts"*

....

Future Hajime: So that was the first week of Twilight syndrome. We made a bit of progress. We got two new members in the form of Mikan and Ibuki, I went to the library and got some books that would help in investigating the Kuzuryus and what they are about, and I managed to learn a lot about this "new world" these anons keep talking about. On the other hand, the Stasi agent knows who I am, and I met two strange people in the form of a crazed luck boy and a Yakuza. Who would've known that this wasn't even the worst part of the two weeks?

Future Hajime: Because now, it started to get worse. A lot worse...

TIME OF DAYS UNTILL TWILIGHT SYNDROME: 1 WEEK AND 10 DAYS

DAYS: 8.

[mamoduringdusk]

Since Spider-Verse recently released in digital, Here's a Spider-Sona I made during the films run and all the craze. Meet Spider-Hood, A once common street thief who after being bitten by a radioactive spider now steals from the rich, and then the richer, and then gives all that money back to the lower class of Manhattan.

[siansfashion]

The 1980s

The first year of the decade was memorable for political drama, cable TV, and games people couldn't keep their hands off of. Arcades were jammed with people playing a new video game called Pac-Man.

By 1981, homes and offices were beginning to adapt to new technologies. If you had cable a TV you probably were watching, MTV after it began broadcasting in August. At work, typewriters began making way for something called a personal computer from IBM.

In 1982, Michael Jackson released his best-selling album “Thriller”. The Walt Disney (1901-1966) Company opens EPCOT Center (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), its second theme park in Florida after Walt Disney Wold.

1983 was the year that saw birth of the Internet also saw volcanic eruptions and aircraft tragedies; the first woman in space and that holiday season craze of the Cabbage Patch Kids.

The Olympics in Sarajevo, the murder of the prime minister in India and Michael Jackson moonwalking for the first time at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium are among the events that happened in 1984.

1985, the R&B single “We Are The World” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and recorded by more than 45 American singers, will go on to raise $75 million to feed people in Africa. The Coca-Cola Company introduced “New Coke”, a sweeter replacement of the original 99 year-old soda and it proved a popular failure. The Nintendo Entertainment System debuts in the US.

1986, the deadliest nuclear power plant accident to date occurred outside the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl, scattering radioactive material across Europe. Hands across America attempted to form a human chain from New York to California to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness.

1987, British pop singer George Michael released “Faith,” his debut solo studio album. The first episode of “Star Treck: The Next Generation,” the second sequel to the original series, aired on independent stations throughout the U.S.

1988, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” opens on Broadway, with Michael Crawford in the title role.

1989, the Berlin Wall falls, after an announcement by the East German government that the border checkpoints were open. The impromptu celebration was televised around the world.

Harvard Referencing

THOUGHTCO. (N/A) Go Back In Time With This 1980s History Timeline. [Online]. Available from: https://www.thoughtco.com/1980s-timeline-1779955. [Accessed: 12th December 2022].

[gyroscopicliver]

products that contain radiation, be aware!!!

To start this, we have to learn about Radioactive Quackery. Radioactive quackery is a form of product selling in the alternate medicine industry, in earlier times you would see it with radon, but many modern examples include “anti-5g radiation” products, or “quantum energy” products. Do not let them fool you, as they do contain radiation, particularly Thorium, and Uranium.

“Various consumer products such as jewelry, pendants, wristbands and athletic tape are touted as incorporating "negative ion technology"—also advertised under other names such as "quantum scalar energy", "volcanic lava energy", and "quantum science”

Unlike “Fiestaware” (currently not radioactive, although some vintage items contain radiation), which has a potential dosage of 0.4 mSv, (legal limit is 1 mSv), these products often contain way more of the limit, and if they don’t, they are marketed to consumers where you wear it everyday, making a seemingly harmless product a nightmare to deal with.

Our next component is Electrical Quackery (Energy healing). These often go hand in hand with “negative-ion” products, as they claim to heal or remove unwanted energy from your body, although mainly harmless, they still are often sold along side said radioactive products, which adds to the danger of these products (—Abrams method)

You may be asking, “well are these products real?”

Although they have died down since the end of the “anti-5g” craze, these products are still here, in the US, in Canada, and particularly overseas due to lacker laws.

Is just one of the many companies selling this. They also have a phone number. 1-888-938-2267

Another company, this time selling in the Philippines has the same signs of it being radioactive.

Another product, this time anti-5g claims to have rhodium, which is a very rare non-radioactive metal. But I highly doubt this claim, as they are selling to a conspiracy theory mainly for financial gain. Many products like this contain radioactive material.

But one of the most infamous examples of this is Nume. Nume is a company that sells “wellness” cards, but a couple years back they got serious backlash for containing extreme levels of thorium. Although they have rebranded, I do not doubt the same level of radiation is present in the new cards.

They now sell these products for children and pets. Yay! Let’s give tiny children radiation sickness, hooray!

These products like to say they help with weight loss, and there’s a reason, one of the symptoms for radiation sickness is WEIGHT LOSS.

List of links of these products:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805819405412.html?_randl_currency=USD&src=google&aff_fcid=4bbab4ef8e7f4fd49fab61c38d5888ee-1698510376453-09112-UneMJZVf&aff_fsk=UneMJZVf&aff_platform=aaf&sk=UneMJZVf&aff_trace_key=4bbab4ef8e7f4fd49fab61c38d5888ee-1698510376453-09112-UneMJZVf&terminal_id=45732d9e67c8483f8f5c2031b3a71ae1&afSmartRedirect=y&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

[xalatath]

14 20 29?

14. What are your favorite apps besides tumblr?

Tbh I don't really use any apps besides tumblr and like spotify lmao maybe pinterest but they seem determined to avoid showing me anything I'm interested in

20. What's a totally random and useless fact that you know?

When radium was first discovered there was a craze for putting it in fucking everything for no reason. I'm sure most people have heard about the Radium Girls who painted watch dials with radioactive paint. But a lesser known radium product is Radithor, which was water with radium in it sold as a medication

It was banned after it killed a longtime user, Eben Byers who had to be buried in a lead coffin.

29. Favorite song lyrics right now?

Carver - P0ST4L

[andrevanvuuren]

rise rise up there’s no disgrace if you’re down decide to rip rip it all up till nothing’s left get up look up shut up say nothing no words only do do what you want do what you can life’s no once off write you down cheating exam show up dress up look the best you can fight for those dreams this is who you are this is what I am roll roll up those sleeves don’t roll down move fast don’t move slow see through the bullshit nobody loves fake silicon summer snow ride hard ride strong there’s no truth in being second it’s not where you wanna belong write write what you feel might just be a shit hot hit song buy a ticket for life something will go wrong mostly it should push you beautifully along climb climb that mountain might be high suck it all in altitude is a beautiful bitch don’t fight it catch them & light it fight fight for what is right you can paint in the colours of day & night there’s no wrong it’s a space to belong love love what you feel it will hurt make you pray & kneel crazee things to feel love love it’s so real move fast don’t move slow see through the bullshit nobody loves fake silicon summer snow ride hard ride strong there’s no truth in being second it’s not where you wanna belong (9/12/22 rise-AvV)

[unbrydledfury]

    Wholesale slaughter -- now that was living. Biopics? Overrated. Celebrity? Not when you had infamy. The movie studio thing had been a novelty, sure, but the killing fields was where Bryan shone.

    He'd long lost track of his body count.

    It was incredible, really. From his perspective behind the Gat, deep amidst the torrents of bullets and bodies, the Zaibatsu and G Corp forces were schools of minnows, and he a shark. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. The gun mowed them down like grass, blood spraying, severed limbs flying, their death screams music to his ears.

    He might have been laughing. He could not hear himself over the storm's hellish shrieking in his mind.

    A flash of lightning blue caught the corner of his eye. A pink-haired pixie, darting between volleys of shots.

    Fury grinned, his targeting reticules locked onto her every movement. Could this day get any better? Boots on the ground, tank shells in the air, destruction and agony and he in the thick of it, pushing the world order into a whirling blender of meat hooks and razor winds, and now this, the chance to forever exterminate a challenge to his throne of Doctor Bosconovitch's Greatest Contribution to Mankind. Forget seedy Chinese alleyways, downing fighter jets in flight with just a girder -- fuck, forget Yoshimitsu. This was going to top the charts.

    He swung the Gat around, aimed slightly ahead of her. The barrel spun up with an eager squeal. His finger curled on the trigger.

    --then there, below her, an un-color that did not belong to nature, distracting him. A radioactive bubblegum pink. In the sheath of a sword. That was slashing Dragunov in two.

    No.

    Bryan froze. A beam of light burst through his tempest, rooting him to the ground. He could only watch as the old stranger's blade left a deep, steaming gouge in Sergei's chest armor. Dragunov raised his arms to block the next two cleaves only to catch the handle on the backswing with his face. He collapsed to his knees.

    Bryan dropped the Gat.

    No. No.

    Sergei craned his head up. Wiping his knuckles across his cheek left a comet tail of blood. Resurrection had placed him right back in meat. Fallible meat, as Fury knew too well.

    Dragunov tried to stand. His face twisted in agony as a leg failed to respond, stiff as a board. As rigor mortis.

    He was not fine.

    No. No. NO.

    Bryan grabbed the reins of his mental storm, willed it to his feet to fly him the twenty paces between himself and the injured Russian. Each step echoed like a hammer. A heartbeat. The sea of bodies around him dissolved their details into bruised, sickly smog. Reality was soup, and he fought time's quagmire with every carbon fiber of his being.

    The stranger lifted his sword for the killing blow.

    NO NO NO NO--

    Impact. A millisecond's awareness to brace Sergei's neck as momentum raced them onward and gravity tore them down. A dozen jolts and blows as the ground got its licks in. One last tumble before the world came to a halt.

    He'd ended up on top of Sergei. Grabbing him by the bulletproof vest, Bryan yanked him close, eyes burning with crazed adrenaline.

    "You fucking moron," Fury cried, shaking him, "I can't lose you again!"

    Under him, Dragunov's mouth was slack with shock, then confusion. Bryan gave him a once-over, hunting for wounds. They put him in meat, how cruel was--

    --there was a combat knife in his fist.

    Oh. OH.

    Sergei was a spetsnaz super-agent with enough CQC tactics to massacre an army, and playing possum was well within his repertoire. Just because it was the oldest trick in the book did not make it inviable. Hell, Bryan had seen him do it before. There was that time in Barcelona against father and son Laws. He'd laid on the floor of the -- bar? restaurant? dance club? Fury didn't remember -- feigning unconsciousness, and when Law the Younger went to investigate, he'd surged forward and toppled him, kind of like what'd just happened, and the look on Dragunov's face turned volcanic with rage, and then Bryan had eleven inches of sharpened steel embedded in his thigh.

    Fury howled as white-hot pain lanced up his side. Sergei shoved him off, scrambled to his feet. Bryan winced as he yanked the knife free.

    The emotions bristling on Dragunov's face were fascinating. Anger, volatile, ready to explode at any moment, lined with disbelief. He had the man in the white suit right where he wanted, doing exactly what he wanted. Now he still lived. A Raven, if the anomalous weapon proved anything, one of Sergei's killers, still lived. 

    "Oh, ex-fucking-scuse me," Fury bellowed, tossing the knife away, "If you didn't look like such a bitch--"

    Dragunov ran at the cyborg, throwing his entire body behind his fist.

    To an observer, the fight was initially any other slugfest. But as it progressed, something changed. A cadence emerged -- punches and kicks dealt with surgical finesse, energy conserved or spent with atomic accuracy, bodies moving with dancer's grace. Sergei and Bryan had done this before, helpless to resist the primordial hatred burning in their veins and cables. Neither man wanted to. It felt right. All of spacetime could crunch down to their bubble of violence; they wouldn't care. In their grimaces, their spilled blood, they were singing.

    I hate you, I loathe you, I could do this forever.

    But good things had to come to an end.

    Bryan saw it first -- a purple thorn hanging in the sky. "The hell is tha--"

    Flames rained from above, dousing everything in eldritch plasma.

    Back in the saddle again. Dragunov could do this in his sleep. He could do this dead.

    No. No no no no, don't think about that. Don't think about being alive for just over twelve hours. That doesn't help anyone. That doesn't keep his people safe. Focus.

    It's hard when it's this easy though. The Raptors had hardly been deployed yet. Sergei and his squad watched the battle unfold from their vantage point halfway up a mountainside. This was not their fight. At the first sign of anomalous behavior, it would be.

    He let one or two of his soldiers pick off a target every so often. Someone who looked important. Someone who would make the course of events more entertaining if they died. Dragunov spotted them through binoculars, relayed positions through gesture. These were veteran Raptors. They understood.

    A sniper rifle blasted. In the valley, a head popped. Business as usual.

    It was almost boring.

    A flash of yellow in Sergei's sights caught him off-guard. Frowning, he looked again. It was King, complete with full feathered regalia. King. Really? Was G Corp that strapped for combatants, they had to send in a Mexican wrestler? This wasn't a battlefield, this was a goddamn three-ring circus.

    It would be mildly interesting to see what kind of skull lay under that stupid mask. Dragunov pointed into the valley. It wasn't hard to determine who he wanted killed. Shifting her stance, the Raptor sniper took aim. Crosshairs centered on golden fur and black rosettes. Her finger tightened on the trigger.

    The Doppler effect broke open overhead, crashing waves of sound down upon them. A plane, black as night, Zaibatsu emblem on its sides, crested the mountaintop then dipped downward. A bombing run. Its payload hung one-handed underneath, over seven feet tall with veins of electric red.

    Sergei's pulse quickened. They had no intel on a new Jack model. Despite superior numbers, Zaibatsu forces were losing ground. That they chose to utilize it now made his hair stand on end. If this was their ace in the hole, what made it so?

    The possibility of anomalous enhancement could not be ignored. Dragunov swung his arm ahead. The Raptors moved.

    The terrain was steep and rocky, a combination that required careful planning of every footfall. By the time they had descended, the war had advanced to meet them. Blood, dirt, and gunpowder hung heavy in the air. Dragunov didn't remember combat smelling this way, itchy on his skin.

    The difference a new windpipe makes, he thought, and before that train could start rolling, something slammed hard into his side. He lost balance, fell end-over-end down the slope.

    His brain kept going after his body rolled to a stop. Until now, all he had experience had been discomfort compared to this. This hurt, and his factory settings flesh had no idea how to deal with it. Groaning, he crawled to all fours, looked up.

    Who wore a white suit to a combat zone?