Who Knew Prisons Could Be This Useful ... Part 91

Too much time had passed. I knew what I had to do and what the consequences of training to be a horseman of the apocalypse would be, but when your heart is not dedicated to destroying the very world you grew up in. Well that just makes everything very difficult. Isolation has many ways of breaking a man's spirit and body. No matter how hard I trained and kept myself from thinking about Adrienne. The thoughts invaded my dreams and no matter how much I did not like the idea. Even seeing Stewart at this point would raise my spirits yet the same thought made me sick. 


We all left with the intention of training to control the powers we have taken and I have put that off for long enough. Defeating Stewart will be no easy task and I must have all the power I can wield in order to even stand a chance. I know I must train but I cannot bring myself to kill innocent people in a selfish endeavor to increase my own power. The more I thought about it the sicker it made me, I had to have some time for myself and there was only one place that was possible. I had to go back to the North Pole.


Another dream of Adrienne. They are becoming increasingly vivid. Is this my decline into insanity or is isolation having a greater impact on me than I expected. Shortly after waking up Harx, that beast could sleep half the day if you allowed it to, I noticed something unfamiliar on the horizon. It seemed like a black blur at first. As it got closer the shape of a cat began to appear. It was standing in front of me within minutes.


"You look rather familiar." Almost immediately after it stopped right in front of me the shape of the cat began to change. There was something strange about all of this because Harx wasn't reacting to the shape-shifter's presence or maybe his memory was just much better than mine.


"My master sent me to find you." The shape-shifter had taken the form of an old man which strikingly reminded me of my uncle but the appearance of the man was weak and the shifter used a cane. This was rather puzzling since the shifter was clearly rather powerful.


"That tells me absolutely nothing about who you are and who sent you."


"I would be insulted that you didn't remember but we were never formally introduced. My master has given me the name Raven and as for my master, he is a good friend of yours and goes by the name of Alex."


"Wait ... You are the girl he was with in Hell?"


"Yes, We both thought that keeping my identity a secret would be for the best at the time."


"Well now that we know who you are. What are you doing here and how did you find me here?"


"My master asked me to find you and mentioned a couple of places where you would be. This was clearly one of them."


"That answers one of the questions."


"As for the reason why, my master and I have recently uncovered some disturbing news and he is trying to share it as soon as possible."


"I'm listening." Harx had picked up on the conversation and had moved in closer to hear what was going on.


"As you know your recent acquirement of the powers of the Horsemen was rather sudden and came without much information. My master and I came upon some disturbing information recently. As you are aware one of your friends recently killed the lord of vampires, Dracula."


"Not so much a friend now as an acquaintance ."


"That is beside the point. Dracula was hired by the previous Horsemen to keep order on Earth."


This news was very unexpected and in no way prepared me for what would come next. The fact that Dracula was in the Horsemen's pocket was flabbergasting enough.


"I see that was rather a shock but there is more that you definitely want to hear. Being a Horseman is a one time job. The power required to drive an apocalypse is so immense that each Horseman is sucked dry of his life force and therefore dies upon the completion of his job."

The shifter was right. The news was so unexpected I couldn't keep simple thoughts in my head. A twister had formed in my mind. Everything was just a cluster-fuck, nothing yet everything made sense.


"My master has recently come into the possession of the scrolls required to summon Dracula from the void so his, Zac's, and your death can be prevented. He is rather keen on not dying anytime soon so he sent me to inform you of the news. This is where we are currently staying."


The shifter produced something from it's sweater. It looked like a rolled up scroll but I could sense power. This wasn't anything ordinary as directions or an address scribbled on some torn of piece of notebook paper.  


"It is a portal to the apartment in Russia we are staying. Feel free to use it as a base. When I leave here I will be joining my master in a search so it is very unlikely we will see you anytime soon."


"Thank you for everything and tell Alex I would like to join him as soon as I have all these powers under control."


"I will send the sentiment. As for the training my master wishes to know if you given prisons any though? Just an idea. Use the portal whenever you wish. I will find you when we find more information."


The shifter changed back into a panther before my eyes and was gone before I could utter another word. The twister in my head was dying down and concrete thoughts were finally forming. I felt guilty for having been so concentrated on what all this power was going to accomplish while others have tried to stop it from being unleashed. I know I must help him as soon as I am able to. First, I must finally get in control of all this power.


"Harx!" Harx quickly rose to his feet and stared right at me. I could see the desire to fight in his eyes.


"We have a prison to find."


The Knight

This may sound weird....

But I really wanna write a musical. Anybody wanna join me?

MAGIC!

Yeah so about Dr. Orange's post: yes, Magic is an awesome game. I've recently built up two actually good decks and I think it's high time we play some serious game. Yes, this is a challenge.

As a side note, I spilled some sort of carbonated beverage on my keyboard a few days ago and it's really hard to type, now. =[

...

What the hell, man.

Fresh Air, Part 82

I woke up a few days after we all ate our hearts. It was weird--Famine's didn't seem to have changed me very much. I was actually glad of that--I had accepted that I was the powerless man I was now. I didn't exactly like it, but I had accepted it, at least. Grief had helped a lot with that. He'd been training me to use my body as a weapon, and the swords I'd made. He said I was a fast learner, and I believed him--I was already better than him at most of the techniques, but I thought it was because my body still remembered how to fight from when I was strong. 


I left the room, Harx following closely behind me. The past couple days had given me time to think, which I needed. I thought almost entirely about Adrienne, about what Stewart had said. I can bring her back, I thought. But did I want that? What if she was happy where she was? What if she was in heaven? I pushed the thought from my mind. I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. 


I found Grief in the entrance way to the rooms. I reached out my hand to shake his. "Thanks, Grief. For everything."


"It was nothing at all, sir," he said. I asked him to give me a portal to the outside world and he obliged. I seemed to be in the same wooded area as before. I hopped on Harx and we flew away, searching for some town on which to test my new powers. Stewart, I knew, had to be stopped. It wasn't so much about the apocalypse, but rather the fact that he was getting more and more evil with every passing day. He'd already killed millions of innocent people, and the only problem was that I wasn't strong enough to stop him anymore, which meant I'd have to work with Zach, and probably Alex too, to take him down. But that would have to wait, too. There was way too much work to do as it was. 


My whole body was sore. It was strange, feeling this sort of soreness. It came from the muscles which had just started to form on my body because of all my training. These were my muscles, not some magical power, not hand-me-downs from my uncle. It hurt getting them, but it was worth it. 


Harx and I stopped in the first town we got to, which turned out to be a small town in Alabama. Hmm, I guess that means hell really is in Alabama. We stopped and I told him to go hide--Griffins are hard to explain. I didn't like the idea of ruining an entire town's crops--There didn't need to be anymore death, but I had a plan in mind. It had been a long time since I'd had anything tasty to eat, and I thought if God wanted me to be pestilence, I was going to have some fun with it. I walked into the first house I saw. 


Inside there were three people, a father, a mother, and a small girl who was probably no more than ten. They were watching television, which depicted the terrors which were probably caused by Stewart, and also some odd disease which turned people orange making its way across Nevada--Zach. I smiled, despite myself. When I walked in the family turned and screamed, not because I was terribly imposing--I was just a normal guy, wearing a plain white T-shirt and jeans. I assumed it was because I had busted in, and perhaps because I was still wearing my swords on my back. It didn't matter. I could see the terror in their eyes and all I wanted to do was to tell them that I wasn't going to hurt them, that they would be okay, but I knew it wouldn't be true--I knew they would probably die along with the rest of the world when Stewart started his apocalypse. Stewart had mentioned Fall Out 3, and despite that being a freaking awesome video game I couldn't bear seeing the world turned into that. But I couldn't lie to myself--I was excited about creating my own nation in our new world. But these people were so small, so normal. I had no powers, but I could have easily killed them with my bear hands. I wouldn't, obviously, but the idea of the human fragility occurred to me, how easy it would be to just silence them all, and yet how persistent we all are--


But I thought also of how we've destroyed this world, how we've made it almost uninhabitable. Maybe it was for the best. I'm sure that's what God was thinking. Anyway I was here, in this house, staring at this normal, seemingly good family. The walls were painted brown and all the lights were off but in the kitchen. It was there that I knew I'd find what I was looking for. I stared the father in the eye. He had green eyes. The mother had blue, and an idle thought occurred to me that, if she were younger, she would have been very beautiful, and if, had she been older, her daughter would have been very beautiful, but this was the only time I'd ever see these people, and because of Stewart it might be the only time they even exist, and this is who they are, who they forever will be, and in a way, they are all beautiful. 


I looked him in the eye. 


Now was the time to act.


"Give me all your fucking Twinkies," I said.




-The Knight

Thirty Posts!

So this is my thirtieth post, and I feel like that's pretty exciting, except that I'm still way down on post count... 

-The Knight

A Change, but is it for the Better? Part 78

I went to bed early, trying my best to avoid any conversation. I'd been trying to hide it all for a while, but ultimately I couldn't hide it from myself. The fact was--I was damn uncomfortable. I was in hell... Hell. There was no way I could have seen this coming a few months ago. But here I was, incredibly strong, fast, skilled, and for what? My girlfriend was dead, my family was nowhere to be found, and my friends, well, one of them was living with a vampire, one of them was essentially a demon, and the other, well... He's a Russian. I would have given all my powers up to have things back the way they were.

I walked into my room, slammed the door, and slowly removed my armor. It had been a long time since I'd removed it all, and my body was sore and unbelievably tired, and even my new found immense strength could hardly take it. I was ready to go to sleep. I piled my armor in the corner and called Harx over from where he was asleep in the corner. "Alright," I said. "I'll see you in the morning, boy." He curled up at the bottom of my bed, which was just large enough. I thought of Grief, who truly was amazing at his job. 

My last thought, however, was of Adrienne, her beautiful face, her soft, sweet lips. Sleep hit like a brick. 

At first my dreams were once again of Adrienne. They were good dreams, but ultimately sad, and if I had awoken I would have thought, for a moment, that she was still alive. But these dreams were odd and thick, and though they seemed extremely real, I knew they were not. After Adrienne had gone the whole world seemed to shift and I was back at Alex's old house, back in his living room. The memory of this place hurt because it not only reminded me of Adrienne but of times past, back when Alex and Stewart and Zach and I were all together, friends. Stewart wasn't a damn demon. 

A voice came from ahead, "Hello, Ramsey." It was the shape of my uncle, from the dream I had in this very house.

"Uncle," I said. "I've thought about what you said last time. About how you didn't want to do it either. The difference is, you could do it. Me, I'm too damn weak. Even with all these powers I can't stop Rakasha, and you had such strength..."

"What are you trying to say?" He said. 

"I'm saying I really can't do this anymore. It's not about what I want--it's about me being who I am, and I'm no hero. It's like I said--I'm not strong enough."

"I didn't give you these powers, you know," he said. "I didn't force you to fall in love, and I didn't kill Adrienne." Hearing him say that hurt.

"Well I don't want these damn powers anymore. Please. It's... Do you know what's happening on the Earth? I'm not helping, I'm hurting. I'm about to help usher in the Apocalypse!" 

"I can't undo this, you know. If you go through with this you can't go back."

"I won't want to."

He seemed to consider me for a while, like he wasn't sure what to do. Some part of me knew this was just another version of me in my own mind, and that there was nothing this image could do about my powers, about the real world. There was nothing he could change about me. I knew that when I woke up everything would be exactly the same, but still this helped me. 

"Here, sit down," he said. We sat on the couch. I vaguely remembered my sword blowing up here. "When I was given the sword I was younger than you were--only 14, but I took that responsibility because I didn't have a choice. I'm not going to make you do that same thing--I won't make you take this responsibility, but I want you to really think about it, and ask me three times, right now, to make things like they were."

This would be easy, or, at least, that's what my dream logic told me. "Make things the way they were," I said. "Make things the way they were." I went to say it again, but the world was starting to shift--I was waking up. I was having a hard time saying it, too, a hard time getting it out, but I managed to shout, "Make things the way they were!"

I woke up naked, Harx at my feet. I was slightly disappointing--I had half been expecting to wake up in my own bed, ready to go to school. I was still in Hell. Everything seemed the same. When I rose I felt slow, sluggish, and it made me realize how exhausted I had been. I went to the corner to get my armor, but it was gone. 

"What the? Harx, did you see anything?" I said. He didn't budge, lazy bastard. I grabbed a set of folded clothes from the dresser by the wall and put them on. I left the room. "Has anyone seen my armor?" I said, though there was no one awake, apparently. 

"Sir?" a voice said from behind my right shoulder. I turned with a start to see Grief standing just behind me. 

"Jesus Christ!" I said. 

"Please, sir, refrain from using that name here. It stirs up certain, unrest." 

"Gotcha. Wait, aren't you supposed to be on vacation?" I said. He only raised a finger to his lips, shushing me. "You know, you really are good at your job."

"Thank you, sir." 

"No problem. Anyway, did you move my armor? It's not where I left it."

"No, sir," he said. "And no one entered your room all night."

"That's... Weird. Well I'm going to go out, where's the exit to this place?" He pointed behind me to a newly formed portal. Wow. I walked through and looked around. I seemed to be in some sort of wooded area. I tried to fly up into the air, but nothing happened. I thought back to the dream. No, it couldn't have happened. I walked over to a tree and attempted to lift it from the ground, but again nothing happened. "What?" After all this time, all the changes, I had finally got my wish--I was powerless, but instead of making me feel strong it made me feel so much more weak. I had expected some sort of pride to come with it, but there was nothing. Adrienne was still dead, Stewart still a demon, nothing had changed except that I was weak. There was no one around me when I fell to my knees, yelling toward the heavens. "I take it back!" I yelled. "I take it all back!" But I knew it was useless. 

"You can't go back," a voice said behind me. I didn't turn around. 

"But I was wrong! I... I was so wrong. There's nothing I can do now! I can't defend myself from Rakasha's attacks, I can't... I can't do anything!" 

"This was your choice, Ramsey. I'm sorry."

I didn't turn, but I knew he was gone. My arms were weak and pale, and, even though I hadn't realized it before, I was much shorter. I ripped out a piece of my hair, which had changed back to its usual brown. "No," I said softly. "No." I couldn't believe it. I had never really wanted this--I was dreaming! I didn't think it would be real. What bothered me most was that I couldn't avenge Adrienne's death. It was now, more than ever, that I missed her, that I felt her absence. Now there was nothing to do, no one to hunt down. I could only mourn. 

It was several hours later before Harx arrived. I don't know how he knew to come, but he was the only thing that remained of my previous greatness. He seemed much more impressive, now. In his jewel encrusted saddle I saw my swords. I grabbed them, thinking they would return my power, but they felt heavy and slow in my hands, like I'd never used a sword in my life. Whatever skill I had was gone. 

Together we made our way back to hell, and once there I told Grief what had happened. Everyone else seemed to be gone. 

"I'm very sorry, sir," he said. "I can't give you your powers back, but I can train you to use what you do have--those swords, for instance, and your own hands."

"Really?" I said. This appealed to me--I felt so useless now that I feared any simple task would fell me. "I'd like that."

"Good. We can start now, if you're up for it. After all, I'm supposed to be on vacation, right?" He smiled, which was good to see--I'd not yet seen him smile. I sent Harx back to my room, and Grief and I spent the rest of the day in what would turn out to be the first of many hardcore training sessions. I felt a new sort of strength entering me that day, a strength that was entirely my own, rather than that which had been gifted to me. I was not a superhero, and I had no powers, but I was learning how to use my body as a weapon, and this was good. And somewhere deep within me I knew this was the strength I had been searching for, and I knew this was how I would get revenge for Adrienne, and maybe even if I couldn't bring her back, if she was watching maybe she'd... Maybe she'd be proud of me. 

-The Knight

Superheroes

Man, Superheroes are sooooo cool. So I ask you, if you had to draft a team of superheroes to play football, who would you pick? That's eleven people, and if you can name positions, offensive and defensive. So I guess it's actually 22 people, though you can have repeats if you want.


Here's mine.


Offense:
QB-Superman
RB-Juggernaut
HB-Hulk
WR-Flash
WR-Captain Marvel
TE-Thor
C-Beast
RG-Ben Grimm (Thing)
RT-Colossus
LG-Thunderbird
LT-Steel (Man of Steel)


Defense:
RE-Beast
LE-Captain America
DT-Juggernaut
DT-Colossus
LOLB-Captain Marvel
MLB-Ironman
ROLB-Human Torch
CB-Flash
CB-Superman
FS-Martian Manhunter
SS-Nightcrawler


And just so you know, yes, these are the kinds of things that I think about.

A thought

I wish I had the skill set to be a stand up comedian. By that I mean I wish I was funny enough and personable enough, and, I guess, not so shy in front of crowds, which happens sometimes. I guess I'll have to figure something else out though. 

I'm way behind on the post count

So I'm thinking about starting to write and (poorly) draw a comic/graphic novel which will take place in a post apocalyptic society, with dragons. I just figure those are like two of the coolest ideas ever, so... I just imagine a bunch of bandit looking people riding around on dragons shooting at each other. Sounds fun, right?

-The Knight

So I've Got a Problem

I've got a problem. It's not a huge problem, but it is a problem none the less. As everyone knows, football is over for the season, and I've begun frantically looking for something to replace it. I've tried basketball, random TV shows, video games, even the Olympics, but nothing is filling the void in my life left by footballs absence. Okay so that was pretty melodramatic, but you get the point--I find that I'm simply bored, all the time. That being said, I bought Mass Effect 2 and Darksiders this weekend. I figure if anything will get me through what I will not start to call the Dark Months (the months without football) it will be baller video games like these. So far I have to say Mass Effect 2 is better. It, like Assassin's Creed 2, is so much better than the first. It's got all the good RPG elements, but now the combat is actually fun, and more than any other game I've played I'm interested in the plot of this game. Darksiders is a lot of fun, but it feels too much like God of War, which I guess isn't a bad thing since I don't have a PS3 and can't play the new one. Still, though, it's a lot of fun. I've also been playing a lot of Madden 10, but I think that's just to get the football back into my system. I guess I could start reading...

Anyway, I've got a bigger problem than this. My car is deathly ill, meaning I need a lot of money to either fix it or buy a new one. This means I need donations. I'm gonna set up a fund. Anything'll help, though in reality if you wanna give me like a thousand bucks that'll be more helpfull. Thanks.

-The Knight

Top Men, Part 74

"So let me get this straight," I said. "We have to get Alex, and then start the Apocolypse?"

"Yup," Stewart said.

"Ahuh." I looked over toward Zach, where he was sitting in the corner, not looking at either of us. "Hey, Zach," I said. He didn't answer. "Does this sound crazy to you, too?"

"More than crazy."

"Yeah, me too. Hey, Zach?"

"Yeah?"

"You know what's stupid?"

"What?"

"Stewart and his stupid plan."

Zach laughed at this, but he never looked up at me. I wasn't sure what had happened between him and Stewart, but whatever it was had ruined their friendship, and it looked to be beyond my skills to repair. I was worried about him--he seemed sad, though I couldn't help thinking back to the loss I'd suffered, the pain I'd been through. What had happened to Zach to make him think he's the only one in the world to experience pain? I wanted to talk to him, away from Stewart, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon. Stewart was the lord of more than one domain, now, and despite all of our power Zach and I didn't have whole armies to control. Still, I felt like, if it came to it, we could take him. I hoped it didn't come to it, though.

"So I guess we have to go find Alex, now," I said.

"Yup," Stewart said. "And I know this seems crazy to both of you, but believe me--this is the way it has to be. We have to do this, or else, well, we just have to."

"Since when are you the one making the decisions?" Zach said. "Last time I checked you have a friggin demon in you so excuse me if I don't follow your every order, Massa."

The tension was palpable, it seemed to burn up and fill the air with smoke. "Why us?" I asked, trying to break the tension.

"Why?" Stewart repeated, and then smiled. "Because they need top men."

"Top men?" I asked.

"Top men."

"Ohhhh. Cause that makes sense. Anyway I think we shou--"

"Top men."

"Stop interrupt--"

"Top men."

"Goddamnit. You can't d--"

"Top men."

Goddamnit.


-The Knight

Okay

So it's been a long time since I posted anything other than part of the story. First of all I want to apologize for how long my posts have been taking. I've been pretty busy.

Okay so I sort of want to talk about the playoffs. Yeah I mean football. Well the playoffs are over and my team, the Indianapolis Colts, are in the Super Bowl. The other team, the New Orleans Saints, beat out my second favorite, Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. At least this way I'll have a team to root for  outright come Super Bowl Sunday. The reason I say all this is because after that football will be over, at least till next year. This is something I've been trying to cope with for months, now. I'm not ready for it to be over. *tear*

But seriously, after it's done all my time will be devoted to stuff like roaming the internet for random pictures and videos and things like that, and I suppose this blog will get a lot of random updates come that time. Anyway, it's been nice chatting, but I'm out.

-The Knight

White Hot Plasma, Part 70

Harx and I made our way south, back toward Birmingham. I could have flown there myself much faster, but I enjoyed being with Harx and the slowness of our travel. Everything had been happening so fast lately, it was almost impossible to catch my breath, but now things seemed to be slowing down, almost getting back to normal. At last I'd have time to mourn Adrienne's death, to figure things out with my friends, and perhaps try to fix Birmingham back to the way it was. Turns out, though, that I wouldn't be able to do any of these things. Just as I was flying over the coast of South Carolina a dark figure flew right under me. At first I thought it was just a shadow, but I saw it again, flying this time in the opposite direction, directly over my head--it was Stewart.


I pulled down and landed. I dismounted and let Harx hunt. He’d come back if I needed him. Stewart landed next to me in a shroud of shadow, which soon left him.

“Hello, Stewart,” I said. I still wasn’t sure where we stood with one another. I wanted things to be like they were—just the two of us, joking around and talking about girls. Now everything was so damn complicated.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” he said.

“Not much, brah,” I said. Things were starting to feel more normal. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.”

“What for?” I asked.

“It’s a long story, but I need you to come back with me.”

“I don’t know, Stewart. I don’t know how I feel about all your… endeavors.”

“It’s still me, man. Here—I’ve got an idea. I’ve heard how much stronger you’ve become, and I’ve gotten a lot stronger, too. Let’s fight—as friends—and maybe you’ll see you can still trust me.”

“I’m not sure that makes sense, bud, but okay.” I drew my swords.

Stewart was again shrouded in darkness, which became thick black armor. I knew I was more powerful physically, but Ser gave Stewart powers that went far beyond brute strength. For one thing—he could regenerate. That was something I could not do. And besides, his regenerative powers were stronger than ever now, to the point where it was almost instantaneous. I didn’t have my spear, but I wasn’t sure I’d need it. Already I was clad in nine tenths of Hercules’ armor. Huge, black claws formed over Stewart’s hands, and he lunged. He was fast, but I was faster. I sidestepped his initial attack and turned, ready to dodge another. This went on for a while, but soon Stewart stopped.

“You’re not going to fight?” he asked.

“I’ll get there soon enough. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He only laughed. Then he seemed to flex. The armor grew, and even though he seemed bulkier he got faster—a lot faster. Dodging was no longer an option—our speeds were matched and sweat was starting to break over my eyes. I threw an attack from one of his claws and this time I went to it, blocking with a blade of my own. Then something happened that I hadn’t been expecting—Stewart grew four extra arms, all with claws of their own. This new, six armed Stewart attacked at full speed. I was able to block the bulk of the attacks with my swords, but more than a few hit home on my armor—but it held. His claws bounced harmlessly from the armor, but even so I felt their force transferred through, bruising my already hurt frame. The fight with Rakasha had hurt me, weakened me significantly, and Stewart was taking full advantage. I’d have to step up my game. I brought my left hand down hard, pinning everything on his right side. My right sword came down in a flash, severing all three arms from his body. They were starting to grow back, but I kicked out and he flew away, colliding with a cliff, which collapsed on him. When he started to crawl out I pointed my sword at his head.

“No!” he said.

“Oh, yes,” I said. And white hot plasma shot out of my sword and landed on his armored face. It burned through the armor and through his skin, which seemed to regenerate as fast as it burned. It was an odd sight.

“Not cool, man.”

“I know. I just had to do it.” He stood up, his arms back to the normal two, rather than six.


“This isn’t going anywhere,” he said.

“Yeah I’m getting pretty bored—I’m ready to go when you are.”

“Alright—we’re off.”

I called Harx, but then something occurred to me. “Wait, Stewart. Where are we going?”


-The Knight

The Things Dreams are Made of, Part 66

The terror in his eyes was short lived, mostly because I didn't give him much more time to think about it. My power was even larger now, larger than I thought possible, but the acquirement of the spear seemed to grant me much more control, as well. I lunged at him, stabbing out with the trident. He barely had time to dodge, but I'd been expecting that. I brought the blades sideways and sliced along his leg. He fell to the ground and clutched his wound, growling. But he wasn't done yet. He reached out with one terrible hand, but I swatted it away easily. Already he seemed on the ropes, for I was far to fast and too strong, but something happened then that I did not expect--the purple bastard's body fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

"This can't be good," I said.

And then I felt the most pain I'd ever felt. It was like someone had broken open my skull with a tack hammer and was now blending the contents mixer. There was noise and darkness and then there was nothing at all.

After was seemed like a lifetime there came a flash of color to my left. What was it? There was darkness still. I couldn't see my hands in front of my face but perhaps it was because I had no hands. Was there even a floor beneath me? As I thought it it became so, but the ground below was not cold like the ice where I should have been. Instead it was the tile of my kitchen, back at home. I thought about how dark it was and then lights appeared, and sure enough I was back at home.

"Oh!" I cried. "It was all a dream!" But as I said it I knew it to be false. I looked down at my hands, at my whole body. It was just me. No armor. No bulked up muscles. I was exactly how I had been not too long ago. How I was supposed to be.

Then a man walked in who was taller than me but not much more muscular. He had a black jaw line beard and thin hair. I knew immediately that it was Rakasha.

"So here we are," he said. "Your mind is nothing like your uncle's."

"Don't you talk about my uncle, or about me," I said. Seeing him like this reminded me how much I hated him. He'd taken Adrienne from me, and who was I kidding? He'd taken everything from me.

"Oh, my. Quite the temper we have."

I felt so weak here. I wondered where we were. But just then something seemed to whip my legs out from under me and I felt hard on my face, shattering my nose. Then I got thrown into the fridge, which exploded on impact, sending old food everywhere. Everything in me felt broken, but it didn't stop there. I had no power here, and Rakasha had all the power in the world. He tossed me back and forth like a rag doll. I couldn't last much longer, not like this.

But then there was a light from the back of the room. There was the image of my uncle from the dream so long ago. How long? Years? Millennia? He leaned down to talk to my motionless frame.

“We are in your mind, Ramsey,” he said, but it was my voice which issued from his mouth. “You have all the power here.” And I knew it was true, but I wasn’t sure how to conjure it, how to use it. I felt so weak, so broken, and yet if this was true I should be able to just heal myself—and all my bones were fixed, my injuries cured. I stood, not as just me but as my fully powered self, though no armor adorned my flesh. He tried his mind tricks again, but to no avail.

“Learned a new trick, have we?” he said, though he looked nervous.

“Yeah,” I said. And with a small amount of concentration he exploded.

I awoke on the ice, my body sore and my nose bleeding badly. My trident was next to me. My whole body was covered in armor.

“This is not over,” a voice said in my ear. And I knew Rakasha had retreated, beaten, at least for now. But he was right, this wasn’t over, not even close. I took the swords from the tip of the spear and replaced them in the X on my back. I hung the spear head-up in there as well, and it extended up over my head awkwardly. That wouldn’t work. I called for Harx to come over and I stuck it in a slot on his armored saddle. I stroked his head and neck.

“What now?” I asked. He looked at me nervously, like he didn’t want to know. “Yeah, me either.” I said, and together we flew off into the sunset.

A Fight, Part 62

Sorry for the delay guys. It'd take too long to explain it all.

So there I was, standing just feet from where I knew Rakasha was waiting for me. I'd collected nine of the ten pieces of Hercules' armor--the two pauldrons, crown, two gauntlets, chestpiece, cape and two boots. The armor all matched and fit well with the white of my own armor beneath. It all made me look about two feet taller and wider than I actually was, but besides appearance it made me a lot more powerful--in fact I wasn't exactly sure how to handle this much power. It was too much, too fast. Controlling it, though, was something that would have to wait. I'd practiced with it enough to know I'd be able to face the Purple Knight, though I was scared of what the mysterious messenger had told me. He said that if Rakasha had manifested himself in his true form he would have easily killed me. So what if he did that now, and he was too powerful? I couldn't think about that now, though. The last piece of Hercules' mantle was guarded by that purple bastard now and I had to get it if I had any hope of avenging Adrienne, not to mention whatever might happen with Stewart soon.

I stepped forward, my swords drawn and ready. There was no preamble. The Purple Knight sprung from the ice just as he did before, and the battle was started. This time he was no faster than me, in fact I was much faster. I was stronger, too. He charged and I grabbed him by the throat. He struggled but had no chance--I quickly cut off his head. He fell lifeless to the ice, but before I could do anything there was a rumbling and I turned around to see an entire pack of what looked like rabid unicorns charging.

"What the fuck?" I said out loud. The first one was charging at me at lightning speeds. I caught him by the horn as he approached and all his momentum was gone. I broke off his long horn and stabbed him through the throat with it. I dispatched the rest with ease as well, slicing them with my swords or just punching them with my new found strength.

Once they were gone I was relieved, everything seemed calm, but I knew it was too easy, and when I turned around I saw the most horrible thing in the world. There, standing where the Purple Knight's body had been, was a bastardization of what he was. He had been ugly before, now he was hideous, three feet taller, bulbous pustules growing from every orifice. He groaned as he walked forward. I, despite all my power, felt weak. He came at me faster than I could see, slapped my up in the air and then caught me with a tentacle sort of thing. He slammed me back down into the ice, which cracked, and held me below the surface in the freezing water. I struggled against him, tried cutting him with my swords, but nothing worked. Just when the light began to fade he tossed me up in the air again. Air filled my lungs and I could feel nothing but cold. He slapped me with the flat of his greatsword and sent me flying once again. I landed in a pile of dead unicorns. Many of my bones I knew were broken.

I tried getting up, but before I could move he was there again, straddling me. He punched me in the face, and stars erupted in my vision. He punched me again, and darkness took hold for a moment. Once more, and the darkness lingered for a few seconds, and again and again till I didn't know if I could fight it any more.

"No, this is not my full strength," he said. "Not even close."

My whole face was bleeding, and the blood and the darkness clouded my vision and all that there was was an evil that was above me. There was no redemption here, but it made me realize that I was no better, for I ignored what my uncle had tried to teach me. I wasn't supposed to be looking for revenge. Maybe I deserved this. But then I saw Adrienne, as beautiful as she was, her golden locks flowing. For a moment I simply imagined myself holding her, kissing her one last time--

"Go," she said softly. "Go and fight. For me."

I opened my eyes and there was the beast once more.

"Back, are we? You dozed off there." He was still straddling me.

"Get off me, Fuckface." I said.

"Grow a spine while we were asleep, did we?" His voice was odd, deeper than it had been.

I didn't respond, but pushed as hard as I could. He went flying upward and I moved to where I could since the last piece was. I stuck my hand out and it flew to me. It was a spear.

As soon as it hit my hand I felt power flow through me like molten silver. Everything was changing around me as I grew to a level of power I never thought possible. My muscles bulged out and then tightened, compact and hard as diamond. Veins throbbed along my body and for the first time I felt like I could face this threat.

I noticed something at the tip of the spear. It was long, nearly eight feet, and the blade was nearly two of it. It was pointed but also shard on two sides, and at its base were two small slots. I knew immediately what they were for. I pulled out my swords and stuck their hilts into the slots, where they stuck like magic. they became two more blades, so that the spear became a trident sort of thing, and it was all done. I turned toward Rakasha and his Purple Freakshow with a smile on my face, and bloodied though I was, I saw in his eyes terror.

-The Knight

And the Hits Just keep Rollin' in, Part 58

I was resting. I didn't really need rest anymore, it seemed like. I mean traveling was quick as hell now and I hadn't even eaten since Adrienne... well... in a few days. I'd been riding Harx rather than flying, mostly because I wanted to prepare myself for what was to come, but we certainly weren't in any hurry to get to Valhalla. I wasn't exactly sure where it was--it could be in any of the Norse countries, after all, and there was no hint given to me as to where specifically to find it, but still for some reason I wasn't all that anxious to get there.

There were many reasons for this, I think. One was that I wanted to be ready when I fought Rakasha and his Purple Fuck-face friend. Another was that I had lost a lot of the rage I'd had and no longer was I willing to charge in head first, risking my own life. I mean, I just wanted to be smart about all this. Another reason was that in all my time I'd never experienced anything more beautiful than the countryside seen from the back of a Griffin.

I was still in my armor, and didn't plan on changing it any time soon. It had already saved my life once, although my ribs still hurt like hell from that experience, and I wasn't sure when I'd need it again. Besides, it still looked fucking awesome, so....

I was somewhere over Greenland, and the terrain was barren and sparse. Ice stretched as far as the eye could see, but I got the feeling like there was something underneath it all. Harx landed and I dismounted, grabbing my swords and walking slowly over the ice and snow toward what looked like a door several hundred yards away. Harx seemed not to want to venture any closer than this, and so I left him behind, advancing. A feeling of dread washed over me as I walked.

Something happened, and I barely had time to react. The ice before me broke open like a meteor just hit it from the bottom and out of it came the Purple Knight, his giant sword already swinging toward my neck.

It won't be that easy, Jackass, I thought, and rolled to the side. His sword narrowly missed and mine were up and attacking in less than a second. For someone looking on our combat would have been a blur at most, probably invisible. He'd grown much stronger since we'd last face, and I knew why--Rakasha was possessing him, increasing his strength a hundred times, if not more. He was stronger than I was, but I was faster. I wasn't sure that was going to matter, though. Every time he moved big globs of drool flew from his mouth like he was a rabid dog and I couldn't help noticing how wild he seemed, feral. It was terrifying, especially considering that even with all my new, ridiculous power he was actually beating me.

I waited for his sword to come down and I made my move, the only move I could think to make. With my left sword I pinned his blade to the ice, simultaneously bringing about my right toward his neck. He raised his left hand, like I knew he would, and caught the blade. It sliced through his mail gauntlet and I heard him cry out in pain. I kicked out with my right foot, catching him in the chest, and he flew twenty meters back. I didn't wait for him to get up but fled, calling for Harx and taking off faster than the speed of sound. I stopped somewhere in Germany, counting my wounds, which were luckily few. Harx arrived a little behind me, and I made sure he was okay as well. I knew they weren't following me. There was something in Valhalla they didn't want me to have.

Just then the same man appeared from the sky that did when I was talking to Zach. "Hello, Ramsey," he said.

"Hi..."

"I saw that fight of yours," he said. "You'll never be able to defeat Rakasha at your current strength. It seems odd to me that he would possess such a weak creature--had he conjured his true form he would have easily killed you, but it seems to me he enjoys toying with you."

"Weak?" I was astounded. "I... I don't know what to say."

"Yes, I assumed that would be true. But I've come to help you. Let me begin by explaining something to you. You are the heir of Hercules."

That was a bit sudden. It hit me like a brick. I sat down on a nearby stump.

"The mantle is passed down through the generations, and your uncle was the last. But you have yet to inherit the mantle's real strength. You only have that of your uncle, although you have certainly expanded upon his powers--in fact I think you're now stronger than he ever was. But with the Mantle's full strength behind you you shall be unstoppable. Think about it as a power multiplier--Whatever your base power is is what you have now. The mantle, in it's full and completed form, will make you hundreds of thousands of times more powerful."

I gulped. Honestly I couldn't even imagine being any more powerful than this. "How do I get it?" I asked.

"Well, that's the hard part. You have to collect Hercules' armor. It's spread throughout the world in ten pieces. Here's one." He reached into a bag and grabbed a giant pauldron. I put it on my right shoulder and already I felt more power running through me. It was amazing. "Another is held by Rakasha in Valhalla. I know that now."

"And the others?" I asked.

"You'll have to find them yourself," he said, and started to leave, but I stopped him.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Let's just say a friend sent me." He smiled and was off.

I examined the pauldron for a while after he left. it was a red-gold color, and complimented the white of my armor and blue of my cape nicely. I could tell already that this armor was going to combine perfectly with the armor I already had, and that, besides making me stronger, would look hella tight. I looked at Harx, who was staring at me.

"What you lookin at?" I said.

-The Knight

The Show Must Go On, Part 54

Meeting up with Zach definitely helped with my sorrow. It was great to see him again, but seeing him with Val made my heart want to skip a beat and it wasn't something I liked. Still, not only was it good to see him but I wanted to ask him for help. I wasn't really sure how to do it, though, cause I didn't wanna just come out and say it. I mean, I needed him to help against Stewart, but I wasn't even sure I'd need help cause I wasn't sure I'd need to fight him. I didn't want his help with Rakasha, in fact I didn't even tell him about what happened to Adrienne.

I tried being subtle. "Hey, Zach," I said.

"Yeah?" he said.

"I need to ask you something."

"Go ahead, dude."

"Well... Just.... I wanna know... When the time comes, are you on my side?" I looked at him and I knew he knew what I meant.

"Yeah, dude. Of course."

"Good," I said, and smiled.

"So dude I'm not gonna lie now you look pretty scary."

"Yeah..." I didn't know how to tell him how I came by my new powers.

"You look like a fucking super saiyan dude."

"You're more right than you know." We both laughed. Just then, though, a strange man appeared from the sky.

"Ramsey?" he said, looking at me.

"Um.... Yeah?" I said.

"The man you seek hides in Valhalla." And then he was gone. I knew exactly what he meant, but Zach was obviously confused.

"What did he mean?" Zach said.

"Oh, it's nothing. Hey, you wanna meet my griffin?" I said, trying to change the subject as best I could.

"Yeah!" Zach said. While I was showing Zach Harx I was really thinking about Rakasha and his purple fuckhead minion. I wondered what else he had at his disposal. I knew that I could probably take the Purple Knight one-on-one but if Rakasha was helping him, which he probably would be, I wasn't sure if I'd even survive something like that. Still, I had to go and see where it took me. So I was off to the north.

I told Zach I had some stuff to do and that I'd catch up with him in a few days. He didn't understand at first--he wanted me to help him--but I convinced him. It wouldn't be long till I saw him again, I knew, which made heading north a lot easier for me. I was looking forward to going in and fighting my best fight, no matter what happened. It seemed appropriate that I was fighting for pride and for honor in a place like Valhalla.

And so Harx and I left Zach and Val behind, and we flew off into the wind.

A Cause of Our Own, Part 50

The next few days were hard. Really hard. I didn't eat anything or sleep or even move, really. I was still there, staring at the spot where I'd buried Adrienne. Harx was gone--I'd let him go and hunt. I wasn't sure if he'd come back, but it didn't really matter. I didn't have a plan. I didn't have any idea what to do. There was no force guiding me toward Rakasha and his horde of demons so I couldn't find them, and at the same time I didn't know if I could take them.

But you don't have to take them. I reminded myself. You just have to try. 

It was true. Despite how much I wanted to kill every last one of them I didn't really care if I succeeded or not. Death would be easier. I kept walking to the surface of the water and looking down at my changed reflection. I was so much bigger, with white, sorta spikey hair, and I knew it wasn't really me, cause these emotions I was having weren't mine. This pain wasn't mine, or else it didn't feel like it.

 It was weird, really, thinking about how far I'd come. First I was just a kid, 18 and powerless. next I've got this sword, and my power is multiplied by ten thousand, and it grows even more as I grow familiar with the power. Then I make my new swords and that's another ten times. Then this... happens, and I can tell right now I'm at least a hundred times stronger than I was after I made my swords. But what do I do with this power? I can't avenge Adrienne if I don't know where her murderer is. I've got no interest saving the world, not anymore. And despite all this amazing power all I feel is weak.

But I can't just sit here and let this happen. I've got to face Rakasha, if not now eventually. And there were bigger things brewing in the world, too, I could feel it. I knew it had to do with Stewart. He scared me, now. He'd grown more powerful too, and now I felt that he was even more powerful, and I didn't know if I could take him if he went crazy and tried to do something stupid. And what about Zach? He's supposed to be super-powerful now too. I need to find him... maybe ask for his help. I don't know. There's too much to do, but I've got the rest of my life to do it. Why do I feel like that's not that long? No... I know I'll do it, cause if I don't I'll never forgive myself.

That was the moment when I got up off the ground after Adrienne's death. I decided right then I wouldn't give up, and even though it was hard to see what there was good in the world anymore I think I kinda put it up to me to save it. And nothing, not even Stewart, would stand in my way.

I picked up my swords and put them on my back. I whistled for Harx, and he came in an instant. We were off after that, and even though I tried not to I couldn't help looking back at Adrienne's grave, and I made a little promise to her right then, something just between the two of us.

The next few days were spent training and trying to take control of my new powers. They were truly incredible. I could fly now without Harx, I could shoot beams of energy from my hands and eyes and blades. The swords were an extension of my body--they moved without flaw. I could pick up entire mountains and more with just one hand, but still I felt like it couldn't possibly enough. I tried circling the world by flight--Harx and I raced. I beat him by a minute and a half--it took him two minutes.

I was impressed with even myself, but I couldn't make it enough, I couldn't be happy. I didn't know just then if I'd ever be happy again.

-The Knight

An Unexpected Tragedy, Part 46

We'd stopped after a few hours of flight. I dunno why we didn't just travel by portal, but there was something relaxing about flying Harx. Adrienne was tired, though, and she asked to stop and rest a while. We were in a big forest in Alabama, and honestly I had no idea where I was supposed to go. I knew only that I had to consider the dreams I'd had a while before. They were more on my mind than anything else, even in this frantic time in my life. Adrienne was good at taking my mind off of it, but nothing could keep it away forever.

"You okay?" she asked. "You look worried."

"It's nothing," I said. I was still in my armor--the truth was it was more comfortable than any other clothes I had. Besides, I felt pretty damn cool, and I had a pretty bad feeling about where we were, like something was watching us.

I heard something move behind me and turned around like lighting, my swords already in my hands. There was nothing there.

"Adrienne we need to leave," I said.

"What?" she said. "No! I'm so tired, why don't we just... rest?" She came up and rubbed my chest. I pushed her away.

"No, I'm serious."

"What, you don't want me? That's pretty me...." She was cut off by a sword going straight through her stomach. blood splattered me on the face, my jaw dropped, and we both stared at each other blankly. The sword withdrew from her back with the worst noise I'd ever heard. Harx, who was tied to a tree, pulled madly at his ties. Adrienne fell, making a noise like "keh" as she fell.

"No!" I managed. It was the best I could do. Standing behind her was a large man--about eight and a half feet--wearing shining purple armor. His sword was huge--taller than me--and his face was obscured by a heavy purple helmet. Everything except his mouth, which was spread in a huge smile showing sharp, sharp teeth.

I lunged with my swords, moving as fast as I could imagine anything moving. The purple beast moved faster even than me, though. It dodged, but made no attempt to attack. It stood still.

"Now now, dear boy." The voice was familiar, it sent icy chills down my spine. I strengthened my grip on my swords, even though my left hand was still sore.

"Rakasha," I growled. Indeed I could see the waving mist that was the demon lord.

"This is my most trusted man, the purple knight. He's something like an executioner, I guess you'd say."

Adrienne stirred beneath us. "R-r-run! Get out of here!" She coughed up blood. The purple knight took a single step and crushed her head beneath his boot.

It was too much. It wasn't real. Very funny god--I'll wake from this dream now. But there was no waking. Nothing moved but Harx, stirred by the smell of blood. I fell to my knees at Adrienne's side--her body didn't move. I dropped my swords. They didn't matter now--nothing mattered now. There was a pressure rising in me that had more to do with anger than sadness--my whole life was flashing before me like in a dream, but this wasn't my death. It might as well have been, though. Why couldn't it be? What does it matter? But there was that purple beast, his skin crusty beneath his bright armor. Whatever there was within me that was holding my anger, my power back, snapped. I felt my body changing--growing in size. I was all of a sudden taller, stronger, much, much more powerful. The look on the purple bastard's face was that of pure amazement. I moved, and this time he couldn't even attempt to match my speed.

I punched him three times before he could move, and each time I felt bones break beneath my hands. But he countered quickly. His sword came up and met my midsection. The armor saved my life but the impact was enough to break two of my ribs and knock the air from my lungs. It wasn't enough to stop me, though. I rebounded with a punch to the mouth which shattered most of the vile thing's teeth. I wanted to destroy him, to take him and break him like he broke her, but Rakasha had other plans.

"Come, minion. This is a fight for another day." A portal opened and the two of them went through, and I was unable to follow. I was left alone with nothing but the body of the girl I think I'd started to love. Harx was laying down now, and it looked as though he may have been crying, but the tears that were already flowing down my eyes were too much too deal with. There was nothing... nothing... that I could do to make any of it bearable. If you'd been looking on at the scene you'd see a boy who used to be just short of six foot, brown haired and skinny. That boy was now a man nearly 6'5'', with huge muscles and solid white hair. The limit to my power was now broken, and I could feel it coursing through me with every breath. The only thing that kept me alive in that moment was the thought of holding that purple bastard's heart in my hands. The idea of finding a way to kill Rakasha, and avenging the death of Adrienne.




-The Knight