Ink-stained Pages

Chapter 17 - Chips & Shipping Wars

I felt like R. Kelly in Trapped in the Closet, minus the cornrows and midgets.

Cassie was staring up at the hovering Pod, I was staring at Cassie - or, I guess, Chen Zhenyi, and Sabah didn’t know where to look. It was a pretty fucking awkward situation all aroun...

Chapter 16

“...Wow. I-...just, wow. How did you do this? The inside looks nothing like-”

“The outside? Yeah, I know - we get that a lot. The neighbors hate it.”

“And the furniture! The paintings, too! This is really high quality decor…”

I had to hold myself back from cackling...

Interlude 2

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Chapter 15

Cape fights were a lot different in real time than anything you could ever read online, either in my previous world or PHO. Time moved infinitely slower in the moment, but in reality - only a minute had gone by since we’d started our lethal dance. Maybe it was because of Megalovania bl...

Chapter 14

Next Evening…

I had been anticipating it, but receiving Parian’s follow-up text saying that she completed the costume was still unexpected. She was a cape with the unique power of controlling the very same materials that she used to design outfits with. Was it any wonde...

Chapter 13

Sanctum was a positively curious ability.

It magically affected the world on a metaphysical level, seamlessly transmuting the entirety of our little bunker into a moderately-sized, expensive looking apartment suite that hinged around a sleek, modern gothic design. How it managed to...

Chapter 12

I’m not ashamed to announce that the haze of hot, almost dizzying arousal was what spurred on my mad dash through the Docks. One moment I was sprinting down the sidewalk and slipping into an alleyway, and the next the citizens of Brockton Bay bore witness to a large, feathery black serpent soar...

Chapter 11

The next couple of days seemed to pass by in a comfortable blur of reconnaissance and ass-kickery.

I kept up my nightly patrols, busting Merchant crack houses and then calling up the BBPD to clean the drugs out after I raided the buildings for cash. I stopped bothering with genial conversa...

Chapter 10

“You know, these aren’t too bad reheated.”

“See? I told you - the Bayside Bistro is un-fucking-challenged, mark my words!”

CHOMP.

I chuckled through a mouthful of food, eyeing the cheerfully chewing Cassie thoughtfully. The smell of melted cheese, sizzling pep...

Interlude 1.5

Midnight had long since fallen across the dark, cloudy Brockton Bay sky, and one Lisa Wilbourn was once again anticipating another long, sleepless night of doing what she did best, outside of getting discounts at pawn shops and pissing off old men - that is, running intel work for the Undersiders...

Chapter 9

So, the good news about my latest magic perk - my ears didn’t grow into sharp tips, and my hair didn’t lengthen to cover my lower back. Explaining that away as yet another Trump thing to Cass would’ve been nigh on impossible.

The decidedly neutral news that ...

Chapter 8

Later That Night…

Caleb Howard wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed, but he didn’t care.

He was a drop-out from Winslow High, a statistical commonality of low-life thugs who became yet another crime committing goon in search of the easy money, the easy highs, an...

Chapter 7

After Cassie was sufficiently mellow’d out off some Sour Diesel, we ended up formulating a very free-form and foundational plan for operation ‘Survive and Thrive’ 2nd Edition.

Basically, it all centered around me - surprise surprise - becoming a Cape. I guess I was technically one alr...

Chapter 6

With consciousness came awareness, and for a scant few moments I was completely confused as to why everything felt so…foreign. I was lying on a lumpy but soft mattress, scratchy blankets were tossed over my half naked body, and there was the distinct smell of blueberries & cream drifting in...

Interlude 1

PRT Director Emily Piggot stapled her pudgy fingers together beneath her flagging chin, eyes as sharp as any sword practically piercing the short distance between her and the small stack of reports that were recently faxed over to her from the Brockton Bay PD. Homicide cases in the Bay wasn’t a...

Chapter 5

Things actually did go pretty smoothly for a while. I’d regretted mentally challenging Lady Karma mere seconds after thinking it, but maybe she was giving me a break today.

“I wish she would’ve done something about this fuckin’ scent too, damn…”

I covered my lower...

Chapter 4

Admittedly, heading to a popular burger joint right after committing four person homicide wasn’t the greatest of ideas.

The adrenaline rush that accompanied mortal combat had faded away completely by the time we busted out the Southside and was heading up the middle lane on Lord Street, s...

Chapter 3

The thing about the Southside residentials was the unfortunate amount of nooks and crannies nestled everywhere. If we hadn’t already been tagged as prey, it would’ve been good for us - I’m sure dipping into one of the dozens of complexes or zipping up a fire escape in order to hide...

Chapter 2

Turns out that Ms. Clara wasn’t kidding when she said that the shelter was ‘quite a walk’.

No street signs I looked over referenced ‘Monroe Ave.’, so I had to just keep walking in hopes that I’d find that one fateful sign. I wasn’t the best when it came to geography, especiall...

Chapter 1

I had to admit; waking up at the ass crack of dawn in a dark, moderately cold park in nothing but baggy sweats and mismatched crocs wasn’t the finest start to my day. I was immediately chilled to the bone, breath coming out in short misty bursts as I wrapped my lean arms around my shirtless tor...