’...and old habits die hard after all.’
- - I'm sure you smiled with a chuckle when you quilled this.

"This is Stormcrow," she said simply. For once she had not used her perky phone voice. She tried not to smile, or otherwise preen over the little victory.'
- - Well, done, January!

Off to the shoppping mall! At the first mention of someone disappearing and moving through things, I thought (like Renee did) of Ryo but what she encounters certainly is not he. Hmm, maybe we’ll get a chance to see how her mutual training with Ryo pays off in terms of stopping an opponent who can fade. Very curious about what this fading man in black is up to.

And I learned something new by looking up ‘sloe eyes’.

The inclusion of Norse mythology is pretty dope. Including multiple mythologies in one world is a cool concept. Hmmmm. Someone should make a fighting game featuring figures from multiple mythologies. I'm not a fighting game kind of person, but I would totally play that.

Just to be clear--don't take this as making fun of your words, because that isn't what I'm doing, but I couldn't help but think about these brilliant song lyrics (NSFW) when I read the elemental mantra.

'Apotropaic.' Cool word to expand my vocabulary with.

"...nor even ill-tempered Canadians brandishing unobtanium claws." I guess I missed the reference from earlier in the story or from some other media, but just reading this line is amusing.

"...in front of both stories of what used to be Sears." Oof, the feels. I have some nostalgia for what Sears used to be, at least what it was when I was a kid.

Sovngarde--oh, wrong series--Valhalla awaits.

Renee: I do think that eventually Ryo and Avery will be rooming with January in the Witch House. But that will not be until at least Season Two.

Blood Raven has learned to trust no one where her father is concerned. The stakes are just too high if she miscalculates.

January is indeed slowly but surely losing her awkward inexperience as she grows more confident and self-assured in her role of being a superhero.

Naturally everyone is standing around gawking, instead of getting out of the way. That seems to be the way people act.


Acadian: I was smiling when I wrote the ode to Haute's classic tale.

Ryo vs Hungry Ghost would be an interesting matchup, because while they are similar, their powers work in very different ways. The Ghost can control his density (as we are about to learn). He can become super dense and thusly heavy and invulnerable. Or he can go the opposite way and become intangible, so he can walk through things. While Ryo's Fading power is a little vague purpose. It is something I invented. I was originally think he might either be able phase through things like the X-men's Shadowcat. Or that he might have Shadow powers, allowing himself to become a living shadow, immerse himself in shadows, teleport through them, etc... In the end I combined the two ideas, and created Fading. He fades from reality, so he is literally not entirely there anymore. He's not entirely physically part of the world.

Describing East Asian characters can be fraught with difficulty especially concerning eyes. Using the term 'sloe eyes' is one of the better ways of doing so without it coming across the wrong way.


RaderOfTheLostArk: The Norse mythology is kind of baked into January, as she is a descendant of an actual Viking. Unfortunately he is the big bad guy of the piece. The positive things she takes out of her heritage are balanced by that atavistic horror that always underlies her blood. Plus, she is a magical character, so that always pushes me toward mythology and the supernatural whenever I am conceiving her. And of course, she is a nerd. For example, she uses the classical elements as a way of visualizing and organizing magic. When I was thinking about her ability to call lightning, I was torn between whether that should fall under Fire, or Air. Fire for the obvious reasons of how electricity starts fires. But when you look at it from a mythological standpoint, fire deities do not call down lighting. That is Sky Gods like Zeus.

It is funny you linked to that, because I have been thinking of doing a book that takes place during the Gathering of the Juggalos. It is just a vague idea for some sort of shenanigans going down there, and January and company must go undercover to get to the bottom of it and save the day so ICP can go on and do their show.

The ill tempered Canadian is simply a thinly-veiled reference to a certain guy who is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is not pretty.

I remember Sears too. I used to shop there all the time back in the day.

I spent a long, long time working before I finally came up with "Valhalla Awaits" as her signature tag line. It is way better than "Come at me bro".






Upper Floor of Mall with Gumball Machines

Hot Topic

For My Entertainment Store

Second Atrium with Fountain and Elevator

Another view of the Second Atrium



Book 8.3 - Blood

She did not have to wait long for his reply. He was fast. He lifted one leg, but not to kick. Instead it was to raise his shin to the same level as his hand. He plucked a shiny metal baton from a holster sewn into his lower pant leg. It immediately telescoped into a full length staff. One of its ends sprang out directly into January's stomach.

But she was stone. She was the mountain. She was adamant. The high-tech metal bounced harmlessly off her stomach and skittered off to the side. Her opponent followed through with the motion however, and swung the other end of the staff around in an overhead blow. She swept it aside with a forearm. This time she moved in close, inside the range of the weapon, and raked her other elbow across his face.

But he ducked his head and shoulders back under the blow, like a master of limbo. He slid forward, and passed right through January's body. It was a strange feeling, one that sent a shiver through her spine. It felt like someone stepping on her grave. Clearly, he meant it when he said he would go through her.

"Got it!" Gadget exclaimed in her ear. "This guy is Hungry Ghost. He's been active on the West Coast and Pacific Rim for the past twenty years or so. He was definitely in the Triads back in the day. But he seems to have gone solo about a decade ago, at least mostly. He's a thief, spy, saboteur, and sometimes bodyguard for shady types. You can kind of see where his strengths lie."

"What's it say about kidnapping?" January spun around to see the Ghost come back upright on the other side of her. He reached out for the willowy woman. But then something happened to reality around his prey. The very fabric of spacetime seemed to fold in around her, and warp before January's eyes. It distorted the appearance of everything around her, as if reality had been twisted about in a swirling vortex of color and texture.

Reality collapsed into her more and more, until there was nothing left of her at all. Then an instant later everything sprang back to normal, with only a gentle waft of air to mark her passing. Of the woman herself, there was no sign.

"Ok, that was unexpected." Gadget murmured in her ear.

Another vortex of light caught January's eye below her. There, down on the ground floor, the reverse of what she had just witnessed took place. Spacetime did not pull itself inward, but rather erupted outward. January even thought she might have glimpsed a reflection of herself in one of the dozens of shards of reality that flowed and stretched out through the air.

Then everything was normal again. But the mystery woman was now standing in the spot where the second disturbance had taken place. The scarf that covered her face slipped, and she was obliged to raise a hand to cover her features. It was too fast for January to really glimpse anything more than perfect cheekbones and a heart-shaped face.

"Now that was F'ing lit!" Gadget marveled in her ear. "I wonder if she's creating an Einstein-Rosen Bridge? Or is she sending quantum information from one place to another? Or dematerializing herself in one place, beaming her constituent atoms to another, and then reassembling them?"

"Slow down science guy," January muttered. "I have to catch up with her first."

So far Hungry Ghost remained ahead of her on that score. He simply slid down through the terrazzo tiled floor, and dropped to the lower level. January had to do things the hard way. She leaped over a kiosk of gumball machines, and then darted around an advertisement for a furniture store. That put her at the waist-high glass safety barrier that ringed the balcony. She put one hand on the wooden rail to vault over, and dropped down to the stone tiles of the lower floor.

She got there just in time to see the Mystery Woman warp herself out of the interior of a Hot Topic store, and back into the main hall where January had landed. She now wore a really well-made Nightgirl mask. Not a cheap Halloween costume, but a collector's item that must have cost a pretty penny.

"Hi," January found herself fumbling for words as she stared the other woman in the face. She knew that her mind should be on other things. But the Mystery Teleporter had the softest brown eyes. The kind you could fall into forever...

"It... it's you!" the other woman gushed. A look of relief washed over what little of her features that January could see. She reached out and grabbed January by the arms as if for safety. "It's really you! I..., I...-"

Then January saw the Hungry Ghost coming through the store's plate glass window. He literally passed right through it of course, without damaging it in the slightest. January gently, but firmly, pushed Not-Nightgirl behind her, and reflexively fell into a fighting stance.

"Get your hands off my..." the Ghost's words trailed away as he brought that metallic staff around for another blow. Now January noted that it was not a featureless rod. Instead it bore several knobby protrusions around the center, like the controls for something. Once more he swung it down in an overhand blow. January knew she could not dodge. He might hit Not-Nightgirl or someone else if she did.

Earth give me strength, keep me grounded, protect me from harm.

January's elemental mantra passed through her head as she focused her will upon defense. She became adamant. She raised her forearms to block the attack, and it came down upon her like a mountain. It literally felt like Mount Everest was hitting her, crushing her underneath it. She gritted her teeth and poured her mana into her Earth mantra. The words sprang up around her in glowing Eldar Futhark runes, and slowly revolved around her.

The mountain continued to press down upon her bones. She heard the terrazzo stone of the floor crumble around her. An entire swath of the composite stone at her feet literally broke off from the rest and sank down farther into the ground. Evidently just like her body, the stone around her feet was made adamant by her power. But eventually the range of that power gave way, and sheared it off from the rest of the unprotected earth around her.

Now January knew how Atlas felt, holding the weight of the world upon his shoulders.

"Stop!" Not-Nightgirl screamed. January was aware of the shifting lightshow of her teleportation behind her. Then straight ahead she saw the reverse, as the woman popped back into reality ahead of her and to the left. That now put her in front of a For My Entertainment store. She stood in the doorway, flanked by life-sized models of Superious and Nightman there were done up in high detail.

Hungry Ghost pulled back his staff, and the astounding weight suddenly fell away. Before she could act, he leaped up into a dropkick. This did nothing to harm January of course. But the feet he planted into her chest allowed him to use her as a springboard, and he leaped horizontally away. He soared through the air as if he weighed less than a feather. Which January imagined he might. Naturally his path led him straight to Not-Nightgirl.

"I think he can control his density," January murmured to Gadget. "He hits like a real mountain."

"That makes sense," her virtual partner replied. "It explains how he can move through solid matter, or become more dense than a diamond."

"Or a dwarf star maybe," January mused. She darted forward, once again chasing Hungry Ghost. Just as he was about to reach Not-Nightgirl the air between the two of them changed. It became opaque, like the frosted glass of a shower door. The Ghost hit it hard, and January was surprised to see him bounce off.

"Curiouser and couriser," Gadget mused. "I think she is manipulating spacetime. Maybe controlling physical dimensions, and warping them to connect distant points to one another, and riding across the gap. Or in this case, maybe she is disconnecting the points on either side of this force field."

Then January was on top of Hungry Ghost. Or she would have been, if he had not been intangible. Instead she passed right through his matter-less body, and skidded into the force field herself. It vanished a moment later, as did Not-Nightgirl.

January was climbing to her feet when Hungry Ghost was upon her. She barely saw him raise his right foot and pivot on the toes of his left. The side kick he unleashed an instant later crashed into her chest. She went sprawling back into the Superious dummy. Thankfully it was built sturdily, and did not disintegrate beneath her. In fact, it was almost as if the fictional golden age superhero had caught her, and he prevented her from flying back into the store proper.

Hungry Ghost did not stick around to continue the brawl. Instead he sped off in the direction of Not-Nightgirl. January saw her standing across the indoor atrium from the two of them. She raced away down a wide hallway toward the next atrium beyond.

January allowed a shopper to lend her a hand to rise to her feet. Naturally he asked for a selfie with her. Other people were already taking pictures and videos.

"Sorry no time," January murmured as she kept her eyes on the action across the mall. Then she paused a turn to the man, and the crowd of onlookers. "But, arigato chummer."

There was enough open space in the atrium for her to leap into the air and deploy her wings. She flew up to the second level and over a wide bridge that connected either side of the upper floor. She was careful not to make even a single beat of her wings to avoid accidentally hitting the shoppers that went to and fro below her. This was pure gliding. Thankfully, she had a lot of experience at doing just that.

She passed over the bridge and came out in another wide atrium. She imagined that put her at roughly the center of the entire mall. A pool of black, reflective stone sat at one side of the space. Three small fountains rose up within, and their waters flowed away on all sides across short waterfalls. The irregular outline of the pool was indented in several places, each lined with comfy, overstuffed leather couches.

Rising up directly behind the fountain was a glass elevator that connected the ground and upper levels. Its smoked black glass was lined with light bulbs that glowed bright orange. Milling around both the elevator and fountain were numerous mall-goers, many of whom lingered around a row of little kiosks off to one side that were lined with movie and band tee shirts. January had to admit, she liked the look of the Iron Maiden one with their monster mascot rising from a grave while bathed in lightning.

Hungry Ghost caught up with Not-Nightgirl in front of the fountain. January could not hear what he said to her. But he once again grabbed for her arm. She pushed her other hand out against him, and an opaque wave rippled through the air. It looked just like the force field she had created a moment before. This time it was far smaller however, just the size of a fist, and propelled itself into the Ghost's body.

The bolt of kinetic energy sent Hungry Ghost flying into an escalator that lay across the atrium from the fountain. People cleared out around him, but he ignored them. Instead he simply shook off the blow and leaped into the air. His jump took him impossibly far, as if he was completely weightless. Naturally, it sent him directly at Not-Nightgirl.

She once again folded reality around her and disappeared. She reappeared an instant later within the elevator. Even with its darkened windows, January could see the crazy light of reality altering when she reformed inside.

The car slowly rose from the ground floor to the upper level. That put it out of line with Hungry Ghost's leap. He must have allowed gravity to once again find purchase upon his body, for he suddenly dropped to the stone tiled floor at the edge of the fountain. But only for an instant, as once he hit the ground he sprang back skyward once more.

January banked steeply with her wings. That angled her flight hard to the left. She spilled altitude, but gained speed. That put her on a collision course with Hungry Ghost, who was even then rising into the air toward the elevator. Now she had him. As she had learned through practicing with Ôkami, her aura strikes still worked against an opponent who was out of phase. She hoped the same applied to someone who was intangible. After all, their aura was still there for her to strike in astral space.

A moment later they all converged at the glass wall of the car. Once more Hungry Ghost passed effortlessly through it, and landed inside the elevator. January was just an instant behind him, too slow for her to reach his aura.

She hit the glass face of the elevator hard. Thankfully it was not hard enough to crack it. But she still felt like a cartoon character running face-first into a tunnel painted on the side of a mountain. She could only imagine how silly she must have looked to everyone inside the elevator.

She did not waste time on self-deprecation however. Gravity, as was its wont, dragged her down with leaden fingers. She did a back flip off the side of the elevator to spite it. Now that she was in the wide open atrium she no longer needed to fear hitting people with her wings. A single beat of their feathers pushed her back up, and sent ripples flowing across the surface of the fountain directly below her.

January nosed up, and with another powerful beat of her wings she arrowed to the upper level balcony. She pulled in her wings and folded them up on her back once her feet hit the wooden top of the safety rail. She somersaulted forward onto the composite stone tiled floor, and put in a half twist at the end. She landed on her feet with her back to a Detroit Vs Everybody clothing store, and faced the elevator doors.

She stepped forward and waved her arms to clear away the people who had gathered to enter the elevator. There were far too many civilians around for this to continue much longer. Innocent people were going to get hurt, or killed, unless she ended things.

So when the elevator doors opened, she was ready. She darted in with a feral grin. But Not-Nightgirl was no longer inside. Out of the corner of her eye, January saw her warp back into reality far off to her left, toward the Macys. But Hungry Ghost was still in front of her. Right now, that was all she was truly focused upon anyhow.

The people in the elevator hugged the walls, which January was thankful for. That gave her a direct line to the former Triad operative. She took a small leap up to send her airborne, and dropped down at him with her elbow. It was time to finish the Ghost once and for all.

Hungry Ghost did not dodge or block. Instead he pulled a grenade from his belt and bounced it off one of the glass walls of the elevator car. January knew that he could become intangible, and be completely immune to the effects of the explosive. But the passengers within the enclosed space would be slaughtered.

She became water, and flowed away from her original trajectory. Her wings sprang from her back, and she caught the grenade as it ricocheted through the air. She pulled it close to her belly, and wrapped her wings around her in a protective cocoon. She knelt on the floor and waited for the blast. But it never came. Instead the grenade lit up with bright light. It was so brilliant that it shone through her wings, even revealing her bones as darker lines through the wider mass of black feathers.

"Malaka!" January could not contain the expletive she had picked up from Gadget's recent foray into one of the Assassin's Creed games. "It's a flash grenade."

She crushed the metal and plastic device under her fingers, and sprinkled the remains upon the elevator's black-tiled floor. She looked up to see the frightened faces of the shoppers around her, and forced a smile.

"Everything is ok," January insisted, as if the force of her will could calm their frazzled nerves. "It was just a strobe light."

Wow, a busy day at the mall!

’January had to admit, she liked the look of the Iron Maiden one with their monster mascot rising from a grave while bathed in lightning.’
- - A girl always has time for window shopping though.

This was a fast and intense fight, but it was neat weaving in a funny moment when the Stormcrow bounced off the elevator door. No bird has ever bounced off a window before.

Urg, Hungry Ghost knows his White Hats. Endanger non-combatants in the elevator to distract the hero and make his escape.

I also miss Sears. Great place to get lawn tools & home accessories.

Here is a song you (or Jan) might like. Hero, by Weezer. Maybe you've already heard it on the radio. Its lyrics have a lot of superhero stuff.

Wow, Gadget is able to discern who the enemy she's fighting is. Hungry Ghost. Ha! They're in Hot Topic. Hot Topic is great, as well as Spencer's.

It definitely seems each new batch of enemies being faced becomes more and more difficult to affect, you know?

All of that is going on, all this activity, and somebody still can't help by try to get a selfie at THAT moment.

Phew.

Acadian: January is having more fun at the mall than I ever did!

January knows what she likes. That definitely includes shirts with lightning and the undead rising from the grave.

And January will always fall for that trick. It is who and what she is.


Renee: I miss Sears too. Amazon and internet shopping has destroyed so many brick and mortar businesses...

That song is definitely very superheroic. But pretty depressing. Thankfully January is not that disillusioned by being an outcast. Instead it just makes her dig in her heels even harder to fight for those who cannot.

I am gradually turning up the danger of January's enemies. She is leveling up, and the Leveled Lists mean that her enemies do so with her. She has definitely gone far beyond fighting wolves and imps. Soon she will be in 1,000 hit point goblin territory. Seriously though, I wanted her to start relatively small and gradually work her way up through the ranks of villains. That way she is always facing a threat that cannot be ignored. Even if it is a threat to others and not herself.

Everyone wants a selfie with a star. The whole point to social media is to pretend that your life is much cooler and more exciting than it really is.






Macy's Atrium

Macy's Atrium again

"Cinnaton" Store

Anime Store



Book 8.4 - Blood

Hungry Ghost was long gone by then of course. It was the classic supervillain gambit: endanger civilians to distract the white hat. This was the third time January had encountered it, and it had worked against her every time. The reason was plain. People like her would always place the lives and safety of others first. It was why their hats were white in the first place.

January raced from the elevator and took a right turn. She leaped up on the wooden rail of the glass safety barrier that girded the edge of the balcony, and ran down its length. That gave her a straight line of travel clear of shoppers. The rail turned at a bridge that bordered the central atrium of the mall, and she leaped into the air. That sent her across the bridge, and brought her feet down on the opposite rail. She bounced from it and back into the air.

Her wings snapped out as she bounded up toward the ceiling. Her back scraped along its featureless white surface as she glided down the length of this spur of the mall. She saw Hungry Ghost race directly across the final bridge in front of her, moving from left to right. She nosed down and banked to cut him off.

This time she landed in front of a Cinnaton shop, which sent involuntary twinges of hunger through her tummy. The scent of freshly-baked bread was paradise on its own. But add in the delicious aroma of cinnamon, and it might as well have been Freyja's hall Sessrúmnir. What more could a girl ask from life?

The pastry shop was one of several businesses that ringed this new indoor atrium. The Macy's which anchored the space stood at her right. While to her left was the line of bridges she had crossed over to get here from the center of the mall. Down below on the floor in the center of the atrium was another large lounge area filled with overstuffed leather couches built into the surrounding stonework. Several palm trees rose up from one side of the lounge. They soared up into the open space in the middle of the atrium and filled the upper level with their long, green leaves.

Opposite from the trees a stainless steel monstrosity of modern art rose up as well. Its single, main beam angled skyward, and supported what looked like a circle with a quarter of its body chopped out of it. That remaining curved piece sprouted from the beam higher above. What it was supposed to be, or represent, was a complete mystery to January.

Not-Nightgirl was there in front of the Cinnaton shop of course. Hungry Ghost seemed to be purely focused on her. Why was anyone's guess. But it sure seemed skeevy. January put herself between the two of them once more and raised her fists.

"Stormcrow!" Not-Nightgirl cried from behind her. January felt the other woman's hand clamp on her shoulder. "You've got to help me! I don't know what's happening. I have to stop it!"

"Don't worry," January cocked her head slightly to once side, but did not take her eyes from the oncoming form of Hungry Ghost. "I'm here to help you."

"Get your hands off my daughter!" the Ghost cried as he ate up the final inches between the two. His staff came around for a horizontal blow. January readied to block it. She could see it play out in her mind, and knew that she afterward she would have one instant in which to push in closer, and drop the elbow. That would end it.

"Stop!" Not-Nightgirl cried out from behind her in a shrill voice.

What felt like a tidal wave struck January from behind. Totally unprepared for an attack from that quarter, the air was knocked from her lungs. The next thing she knew, both she and Hungry Ghost went hurtling through the air. The kinetic wave sent them clear across the indoor atrium. January crashed through the palm leaves, only to see the shining silver of the art piece looming before her.

Once again she splatted against it like a cartoon character. This was really growing tiresome. She saw Hungry Ghost pass right through it of course, and continue on through the window of an anime store on the far side of the atrium. Now that was appropriate at least, this entire affair felt more animated than she was accustomed to.

January gasped for breath, and clung to the stainless steel edifice with her fingers. Once her lungs were under her control, she effortlessly leaped up over top of the art work and somersaulted in mid air. She snapped out her wings, and arrowed back toward Not-Nightgirl.

The other woman stood there in front of the cinnamon treat store. Her hands covered her face in horror, as if she could not bear to witness what she had done. She cautiously pulled two of her fingers away, and peeked out with one eye between them. She looked right at January, and backed up into a rack of boxed pastries.

January came down upon the terrazzo floor tiles and pulled in her wings. She reached out with one hand, and tried to speak as soothingly as possible. Clearly, the woman was at the end of her rope. January was fully aware of how menacing she could sometimes appear with her black armor and wings. Once again, she wished that crows were a little more colorful. That way she could have a more cheerful - or at least less-threatening - look.

"It's ok," January said calmly. "I'm on your side. Let me-"

Reality folded in around the other woman, warping space and twisting it into a tiny knot. Not-Nightgirl vanished within the folds, and then everything snapped back once more. That left January standing there talking to no one.

Her eyes darted around, but she did not see her reform anywhere on the upper or lower levels. She did see Hungry Ghost come out of the anime store across the atrium from her. As ever, he intangibly walked through both the merchandise and the glass walls. He looked up, and January followed his gaze to the bare ceiling overhead. There, through one of the recessed skylights, she saw one of Not-Nightgirl's legs. It was just for an instant however, for she raced out of view a second later.

Hungry Ghost leaped after her. Becoming mass-less really gave him a lot of distance on his leaps. Not to mention the whole part of him being able to move through walls and ceilings. January stared up after the two and considered her options. The skylights were small, but still wide enough for her to fit through, if not for the lights that hung down through them. They also were clearly not the kind you could open or close. She could burst through them - or the ceiling itself - the old-fashioned way. But destroying buildings and endangering people with the flying wreckage was not her thing. She was here to prevent things like that happening after all.

She was going to have to take the long way out and play catch-up. She just hoped that Not-Nightgirl and her pursuer did not do something tragic in the time between.

"Umm, cinnamon roll?"

January looked back to see a young man with a beard and doughy frame standing behind the pastry counter. He held out a cinnamon roll sheathed in a square of wax paper. It was covered in melted frosting, sprinkled with dark brown cinnamon, and looked absolutely irresistible. January knew she should be doing the important hero thing right now. Treats were trivial after all.

So she reached into one of the pockets of her utility and pulled out some crumpled bills. She had no idea how much it was. It could have been a few dollars, or a hundred. Granted, she never had the latter, so it could not be that much. She dropped the money on the counter and snatched up the sweet roll. Then she raced off.

"Hey, you don't have to pay!" the clerk's voice faded away in the distance behind her. "It's on me..."

January would never dream of the latter though. Other supers did take gifts from civilians. It happened all the time in fact. But they were not trans. They did not live in her world. She knew that a horde of bigoted pundits would twist it into her stealing from the shop, or extorting them. Even just for a cinnamon roll. Nothing was beneath them. Not even wearing a tan suit. She had to be absolutely perfect at all times.

There was no direct exit to the exterior of the mall in sight. So January plunged into the Macy's, and threaded her way through the department store. Shoppers were everywhere of course, and by now many had phones out to take pictures and record the ruckus. As ever, January did the best she could to be friendly, and still make good time through the store. She munched on her cinnamon roll as she did. At least it was wonderful. The combination of fresh bread, cinnamon, and cream cheese frosting made for an absolute delight on her tongue. So far it was the only positive takeaway she had from the day.

"Did Hungry Ghost say to get your hands off his daughter?" Gadget mused over their audio link.

"I was paying more attention to that big stick he was swinging at me." January mumbled through a mouth full of sweet roll. The sweetness was getting to her now. As was often the result of her indulging in sugary treats like chocolate or candy, it was too much, too sweet, too strong. She began to feel a headache coming on.

"Ok, I'm doing some more digging into this hombre." Gadget said. "It looks like he got his start in San Francisco, around the year 2000. At least I can't find anything before that. He spent a lot of time in and around California, but eventually branched out around the Pacific Rim. He seems to have stopped working in San Fran and Cali around 2008 or so. After that I only see reports of him in places like Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Korea, Latin America, and Oceania."

January finally escaped from the confines of the department store, and pushed her way through its glass doors to the world outside. She set her half-eaten pastry down on top of a garbage can. At least one of the gulls might enjoy it. Then she turned her face skyward, leapt into its expanse with sheer delight. Her wings popped out, caught the wind, and turned it into the sea upon which she sailed.

"Like I said before, this guy seems mostly be a thief, spy, and saboteur. There are some cases of straight up fights between him and other black hats though. Maybe gang on gang stuff. I don't know." Gadget continued. "He's got some anti-video tech when he wants to use it, but nothing that can make him invisible to the naked eye. And as you noted, he's really good at walking through walls. He seems to be a pretty good fighter with that staff too. What I see here says he is a master of Kung Fu, Shaolin style. Not the movie stuff, the real thing."

"Are you sure you don't want Ôkami in on this?" Gadget asked once more.

"I don't know if he's ready," January squirmed. "I don't want to throw him in the deep end with a real supervillain just yet. This guy doesn't seem to want to harm civilians. But he's got no qualms about what he does to us, and he hits like a literal mountain."

"You do not have to baby me," Ryo's voice came over the comlink. "I am not a child."

January closed her eyes and sighed. Not the best thing to do when flying. But at least there was nothing up here for her to run into.

"Just... please, trust me, ok?" January begged. "If this guy really is our mystery teleporter's father, then maybe this is being blown all out of proportion. Maybe we can settle this without more hostilities, and putting innocent people in danger. The fewer people, the easier it will be to do that. Ok?"

"If he does not want to talk?" Ryo said.

"Then I introduce him to the Stormcrow Downward Jumping Elbow," January said. She was going to have to work on that. A finishing move deserved a better name. Like the Talon Strike. Well, maybe something less melodramatic. She would have to workshop it.

By now she had finished her sweet roll, and she stuffed the wax paper she had held it with into one of the pouches in her utility belt. Thank goodness she could separate her wings from her arms for just such pressing needs.

The ironic thing about Sears’ demise is that they literally invented and perfected shop from home via a paper catalogue, yet could not adjust to shop from home via an electronic catalogue. Oh well.

Jan’s passionate description of Cinnabons was so spot on! Those things are way up there in the chocolatesphere of yummy.

Not-Nightgirl is Hungry Ghost’s daughter?!? Wow, that answers some questions while begging a bunch more. Maybe he’s a grayish black hat – looking back, that elevator grenade was not a lethal one. . . . Perhaps a domestic disturbance between capes? We shall see.

Well, any fight that ends in a sweet roll is a good one.

Maybe January should call it "The People's Elbow." Oh, wait, that's already taken IRL. Ah well, who says you can't take it for your story?

"Let me guess, someone didn't steal her sweet roll?"

All of that's going on, yet Cinnabun still calls. That's somewhat of a relief.



Bolded part made me chuckle.

Ah, 'tis difficult having conversations with a ghost and a phantom.

Omg she takes a cinnamon roll! Hey, I imagine it takes energy to keep doing what she does. Interesting that there's some reasoning why she makes sure to pay (her gender).

Damn. I was hoping she'd get to trash Macy's. Always wanted to do that, myself!

I agree that Ôkami is not ready for this. In fact, it was good his first hero experience was helping at that car wreck, rather than going after some actual, high-powered enemies. In fact, I wonder how Ryo will handle his new career in the long run. I imagine he'll have some problems worse than Jan. Just speculating, though.

Acadian: I had not thought about it that way with Sears. But you are right. They are among those many companies unable to make the transition into the digital age. But I remember the Sears catalog when I was a children, and looking through it to see what I wanted for Christmas.

I do not think I have ever had a Cinnabon (maybe it was long ago, and I forgot). I keep meaning to go find one that is still open to try one. But I also keep forgetting to).

There are definitely lots of questions about what the heck is going on with Not-Nightgirl and Hungry Ghost, and just what the heck is actually going on here. We will get some answers today.


RaderOfTheLostArk: I did look at the People's Elbow when I briefly workshopped names for her elbow drop. I never did come up with anything. So it will still be the Stormcrow downward jumping elbow.

I feel sorry for anyone (looking at you Butch) who tries to steal Jan's sweet roll!


Renee: All the Cinnabon stuff was just my way of keeping things a little light-hearted. For all the fighting and chasing, so far this has not been a particularly high-stakes or dangerous encounter. Not like fighting Nazis or abyssals at least.

I remember when Macy's was Hudsons. Well, at least the ones here in Michigan. They all got bought up a while back by Macy's.

Ryo will definitely have his issues, just as Jan does of her own. But not with the fighting part. That is easy for him. It is the social aspect that will trouble him the most, as it does in his civilian life. Of course Jan has her own desire to protect her friends affecting her judgment as well. Something else she will have to deal with in the future.







As always Selfridge and Metro Beach can be found on the Stormcrow Google Map

Selfridge Air National Guard Base 01

Selfridge Golf Course and Metro Beach

Metro Beach

The Gazebo is real

Not-Nightgirl is played by Hannah Quinlivan



Book 8.5 - Blood

She gained altitude in order to increase her field of view, and cast her eyes this way and that. There was no telling how far Not-Nightgirl may have gone. But her apparent father could not have traveled too far. He seemed to have a way of knowing where she was. So perhaps it was better to follow him, rather than try to find her?

There, she picked out his form to the east, soaring over the Center Campus of Macomb Community College. Unless there was someone else who could leap hundreds of feet into the air, and hundreds more lengthwise. She arrowed down toward him, and traded altitude for speed. She held back from engaging with him however. For the moment she was above and behind him. If he was unaware of her presence, there was no point changing that. Instead she would see where he led her.

"This guy seems to know where he is going," Gadget said in her ear.

"I was thinking that too," January replied. "He might have some way of sensing her, or even have a tracker on her."

"Like her phone?" Ôkami's voice came over the link. "If he has her number, and she has her phone turned on, then he has her GPS."

Basic operational security was to use disposable phones that you threw away after each use. Or you disabled your GPS, or redirected it to display a false location. Anyone trying to trace the Stormcrow number would be directed to the South Pole. Her personal phone would just show nothing. Yet January never ceased to be amazed at the multitudes of people who did not realize that their phone was a literal tracking device on them every moment of the day.

"If he really is her dad, he's probably got her number," Gadget noted.

January settled in to shadowing the former Triad supervillain. It reminded her of her second encounter with Archimedes. She had followed the robot back to Isaac's lair. Hungry Ghost might do the same for her. Like that time, she was obliged to go to ground at times to keep from being seen. But for the most part Hungry Ghost appeared to have a one-track mind. He only seemed to pause occasionally to consult the electronics built into his staff, and sometimes reorient his leaps afterward.

"You guys are nearing Lake St. Clair," Gadget observed. "If she keeps going east much longer, she's going to be swimming."

January beat her wings skyward once more. The clouds overhead were a mix of white and gray. That gave her cause for pride. Often her moods were reflected in the local sky, for good or ill. So far she had a fight, and a chase, and several cartoonish splats, all without a major thunderstorm. She was doing well.

Her eyes scanned the horizon, looking for that telltale warping of reality that revealed Not-Nightgirl's teleportation. She briefly considered closing her eyes and reaching out in astral space. But she was not sure how far she might need to push her senses, or even what the teleporter's powers might feel like in the magical realm. So instead she chose to rely upon her meat eyes, as any other crow would.

There! Past the interchange between the I-94 freeway and the divided road of M-59 she noted the telltale warping in effect. It was in a wide open field just south of M-59. It was less than a mile from the lake beyond. It was also just inside the Selfridge Air National Guard base.

January laid on the speed, and fused her wings with her arms to give her added power. She darted past Hungry Ghost, and left him far behind. She saw Not-Nightgirl standing just inside the fence that bordered the air base, turning this way and that. Then she pulled reality around her into a colorful ball, and disappeared from view once more.

January's eyes scanned this way and that. So far her teleports appeared to have all been line of sight. Following that assumption, she concentrated her attention on the places that would be visible to Not-Nightgirl from the ground. She could go farther down the road, to a traffic circle and one of the entrances of the base. Or there was an empty field about half a mile long to the north. While to the south lay the wide open expanse of the air base, whose long main runway stretched on for two miles.

January put her nuyen on that horse, and banked sharply to her right. She was vindicated a moment later when in the far distance she made out Not-Nightgirl's reversion into reality. The willowy woman stood at the far end of the long airstrip, once again taking her bearings.

January ate the miles between them. She dove for the earth, giving up altitude but increasing her speed in the bargain. She did not level out her flight until she was so low that her wings were just inches from touching the ground on each downward sweep. Hopefully that would keep her off the National Guard's radar, both figurative and literal. If not, well, she could beg forgiveness for trespassing later.

Of the air base itself, there was little for January to actually see. Here near the runway it was just wide open space. Thankfully no planes were trying to take off or land at that moment. Just in case January made sure to fly parallel to the airstrip, rather than directly over it. Buildings clustered in the distance to either side. But there were no people or vehicles anywhere near her route. She did notice a row of A-10s parked under a series of unwalled hangars off to one side. She recognized them because they were the same planes that Lighthammer had flown, and had pictures of in his house.

Not-Nightgirl blinked from existence once more. But again, January spotted her reforming. She had moved even farther to the east. That put her near the lake, at the edge of a golf course. Who put a golf course on an air base anyway? Probably the old men who ran the place, she imagined.

January beat her wings for altitude once more when she reached the golf course. The manicured greens were wide open of course. But the rows of trees that dotted the landscape between them cut down on her vision. Thankfully they would do the same to the Not-Nightgirl, and presumably reduce her to shorter jumps.

January picked up the trail again south of the Clinton River, which bordered the southern edge of the airstrip. Beyond a narrow subdivision and marina there stretched out another wide, empty field. Not-Nightgirl crossed it in a blink, eliminating much of the ground January had gained in a heartbeat.

"She's going toward Metro Beach," January noted. "She's almost out of land."

"It is St. Clair Metropark now," Ôkami pointed out. He always was a stickler for specificity.

January soared across Clinton River and the wide patch of marshland beyond. Then she was sailing over the wide parking lots that lurked in the center of the Metropark. To her left a canal separated the park from a peninsula that was overstuffed with a subdivision of homes. Beyond lay the blue waters of Lake St. Clair. To the right was the beach part of Metro Beach, and more wide open waters. January darted along the narrow spit of land between and hunted for any signs of her prey.

The ground quickly vanished under her wings. January began to worry that the teleporter had given her the slip, and perhaps vanished off to the west behind her. But at the literal edge of the lake she spotted her once more.

She stood within a gazebo. It was a small affair, with a sharply peaked roof of what looked like aluminum painted a dark shade of teal. It was ringed with trees from the landward side, but completely open facing the water. A narrow road skirted the edge of the peninsula just beyond the structure. After that the waters of the lake slapped gently against a rocky shoreline.

No one else was around, which January was thankful for. She nosed down to the ground, and did not slow until it filled her vision. She did not want to lose Not-Nightgirl again. Worse, there was no telling when Hungry Ghost would appear. She did not have a second to spare. So she did not feather back her wings to slow her descent as she normally would. Instead she simply pulled them in and dropped the last few feet, and took all of the impact with her knees.

It turned out the concrete sidewalk that ringed the gazebo was weaker than her flesh, for it gave way first. It literally crumpled under her feet as she planted herself into the earth. January felt bad about that. She did not like destroying things, even if there was no avoiding it. That was what black hats did after all.

"Don't run away!" January spat out when the teleporter spun about to face her. Apparently she did not realize how close January had been, if she had even been aware she had been followed at all. January put her hands out plaintively, palms open in a gesture of peace. "I'm here to help you. Just talk to me."

"Oh thank god!" Not-Nightgirl once again surprised January. Not by fleeing, but instead by running forward and literally throwing herself into her arms. She clung to January like a drowning person would to a life raft. January could feel her body shake under her, and wondered what could frighten her so.

"Hey, it's ok," January said in a soft voice. "Whatever is wrong, we can work it out. Just tell me."

The other woman pulled back enough for them to look into each other's eyes. But not far enough for her to relinquish her hold on January's armored frame. Once more, January noticed how easy it was to drown in the other woman's brown eyes, or the soft, red contours of her lips. There was little more she could see of her face, given the Nightgirl mask. But her body certainly felt good under her hands. Goddess, she even smelled wonderful, a mixture of lavender and hyssop that sent January's nostrils to Freyja's hall.

January had to stop herself from leaning forward to kiss the other woman. She blinked. She was letting her estrogen get way, way out of control. Was this a superpower? Or was Not-Nightgirl another goddess? January certainly seemed to have a knack for running into them lately. First it was that woman on the bus to Poletown, then the sniper Nyah, and now this mystery woman. Where did they all come from?

"I need your help," she breathed. "My powers, they just sort of turned on a few days ago. I mean some of them... I mean... I could teleport for years. I even got good at it. But two days ago I lost my temper, and the window in my bedroom shattered. Then the next day I was trying to explain it to my mother. She was so pissed that I broke the window. Well I freaked out. I sort of blew out the wall."

"I didn't want to!" she insisted. "It just happened. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't stay. Not after that. What if I did that to my mother? Or someone else? I didn't know what to do. Then I thought of you. You've been all over the socials since you came out. I knew that if anyone could help me, it would be you."

"And I will, absolutely." January insisted. Of course she had no idea how to teach a baby super to safely use their powers. But when she looked into the other woman's soft eyes, admitting that was the last thing on her mind.

"Ok, now first things first," January continued. "What do I call you? I've been thinking of you as Not-Nightgirl. But that's not going to work in the long term."

She took a step back, and cast her eyes from side to side. January did the same. It was still just the two of them. Not-Nightgirl reached for her mask, and January immediately told Sága to engage her video camo. The teleporter pulled the mask from her head with a toss of her hair, causing the side bob to flop from one side or her head to the other, before finally settling back into its original place.

"I'm Hannah," the young woman breathed.

"Wow," January realized that she was staring, just when she also realized that she had said "Wow". She tried to recover with something witty, or at least something not creepy. But words failed her completely.

Hannah was beautiful. High cheekbones, soft lips, sloe eyes, and a mane of ebony hair coiffed into a punk masterpiece, she was everything January wished she had been born as. Her skintight leather pants showed off her slender frame, as did the strappy, backless top that clung to her soft skin.

"I'm... uh... I'm..." January stammered. Her heart raced, and her mouth felt dry. She was keenly aware that Hannah still held her gently by the arms. She stared down at the other woman's hands, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," she finally spat out. "I'm normally a lot more professional than this. It must be all the adrenaline from the fight at the mall, and the chase. I am Stormcrow. It is very nice to meet you Hannah."

She tried to disengage herself enough to shake Hannah's hand. But the other woman slid her fingers around her arm instead. Time seemed to slow down. It crawled by with glacial slowness, allowing January to take in every little motion of Hannah's face as she leaned in. As her lips parted slightly, and moved closer. As her head tilted sideways so their noses did not bump.

January leaned forward herself, and took the invitation so clearly offered. She closed her eyes, and felt the silken caress of the other woman's lips against her own. Her arms moved of their own accord, and pulled Hannah tightly against her armored frame. The lavender and hyssop scent of her body filled her. The softness of her bare back made her want to pull off her gloves, to feel Hannah's skin against her own.

All the time, they maintained the kiss. January did not want it to ever end. She had always wondered what kissing a girl felt like. She had read about it of course. But her life had given her few opportunities to actually do so, which was to say, no opportunities. She had thought her first time might be awkward. She had feared it might be unpleasant. But this, this was a blessing from Freyja. Now she understood just why so many people worshipped that particular goddess.

There was no rain, but lightning cracked through the sky above, again and again. January could not see it, but she heard it roaring in her ears, and felt the electricity buzzing around her. It was like the sky itself was celebrating in a riotous display of joy and fervor along with her.

She opened her eyes once more when Hannah finally did break off the kiss. Her brown eyes were fixed upon her own. They were a dream January never wanted to wake up from. She felt the other woman's fingers slide down her winged helmet, to play with the long shock of hair that spilled out the back of the headgear. Every touch of her body was electric, and January would know. She played in the lightning after all.

"I'm January," she heard herself say. Before she could stop herself, she pulled her helmet back, and allowed it to hang down against the nape of her neck. She felt the damp air on her cheeks, and a moment later Hannah's fingertips, as they slowly traced their way across her bared face.

’Often her moods were reflected in the local sky, for good or ill. So far she had a fight, and a chase, and several cartoonish splats, all without a major thunderstorm. She was doing well.’
- - Loved this.

‘She briefly considered closing her eyes and reaching out in astral space. But she was not sure how far she might need to push her senses, or even what the teleporter's powers might feel like in the magical realm.’
- - Also, not recommended while flying. . .

"Wow," January realized that she was staring,’
- - In the last episode, Jan fell under the spell of an elusive sweetroll. Here, she is entranced by the lovely Hannah. I love how that she can be distracted by such tempting treats, as it is so consistent with her nature.

Well, so much for not setting off a thunderstorm! Her first kiss with Hannah certainly did that!

I hope that Hannah is what she sort of seems – a fledgling white-hatted cape but we shall see. Looks like her concern now must shift to the same concern Hannah has – avoiding Hungry Ghost. And hopefully she’ll learn more about what is going on with those two.

Ah yes, that is true about the Sears catalog. My gosh, we'd also browse through that as kids. I'd look at clothes and dolls, my brother would look at models and RC cars. I remember especially when the Atari and Commodore 64 first became popular, Sears had all those games pictured in their catalog.

Now to the story. Yes that is true about phones being tracking devices. How would Gadget direct her phone's signal to the South Pole? I am assuming he hacked into some satellite station down there???

No, don't close your eyes while flying! Phew. What is nuyen? Google says it's Japan's newer currency.



Sweet! This whole part is written with tenderness, Rosa. Very nice.

January has a crush now on Hannah, but still she won't give her real name. She refers to herself as Stormcrow. That suggests a few things about trust, and I get this. But let's see if this barrier gets broken down as they maybe get to know each other better. Oh..

Whoa whoa! That's her first kiss? Well if it's going to be anybody, certainly another meta would be the best choice. It's like with celebrities. Sometimes this is why they only date other celebrities. Because none of us other mortals would be able to handle newfound fame, and deal with the sort of lifestyle and pressures celebrities deal with all the time.

Acadian: Jan managed to keep her cool enough to avoid influencing the elements. At least until Hannah kissed her...

We will finally get some answers in today's episode.



Renee: Spoofing your GPS location is not that difficult. There are even apps you can download to do it for you.

January did not have a lot of opportunities for dating as an out trans girl in school. Nor much afterward. It is not the kind of thing that makes people line up for you. Hannah is a bit of a unicorn, in that she's got no problem with that.

And there goes the real name, as well as her hero name. Jan is going all in now. For better or worse.





Lā shǐ


Book 8.6 - Blood

"You're the writer!" the other woman exclaimed. "I saw you on the Crow Tales Podcast! You are amazing. You're beautiful." Then her lips were once more planted firmly against her own, and January felt herself drowning in the sheer delight of it all.

Gadget's voice yelling in her ear snapped January out of it however. The exact words escaped her attention. But the frantic tone did not. That brought her back to reality. She had just shown her face to a complete stranger. She had just blown her secret identity.

She pulled away with a supreme effort of will. Letting go of Hannah, she put her fingers to use drawing her helmet back up over her head, obscuring her face behind its cowl. She did not rush. In fact, she used the activity to stall for time. Even after the headgear was firmly ensconced upon her skull, she methodically pulled her hair out through the hole left at its bottom just for that purpose. She smoothed the golden strands out across her shoulders, and put them into a semblance of order that her emotions lacked.

"I'm sorry," she eventually spat out. "I don't normally do that. I mean, I have never done that."

Hannah's cheeks flushed red, and she looked down for a moment.

"I don't really either," she admitted. "Well not that often. You are just, not what I expected. You know you are Fire, right. I mean, like you said, just wow."

Now it was January's turn to blush. Before she knew it, Hannah's hands were holding hers. January missed when she had reached out to take them. Not that she was disappointed. She squeezed the other woman's palms gently, and was gratified to feel Hannah return the clasp.

"Are you crazy!" Now Gadget's words had come into focus. "What were you thinking! You are going to blow everything! We need to get ahold of Blood Raven. Maybe she can hypnotize her into forgetting your face."

"I can't talk about this right now Gadget." January said quite honestly, for many reasons. Hannah stared at her quizzically, clearly wondering who she was speaking to. Begrudging every moment of it, January pulled her hands free and tapped at Sága's interface. Her audio link to Gadget cut off a moment later, giving her time to focus on one thing at a time.

"That was my virtual partner," January explained.

"Gadget," Hannah said. "I remember you mention him in your interview on Worldwide Network News."

"He was just telling me what an idiot I am," January again said with absolute honestly. What on earth had gotten ahold of her? She was acting like... well... a teenager. She had always held herself above all that business of raging hormones and stupid decisions. Well here she was after all, right down in the mud with every other stupid teen.

"You aren't an idiot," Hannah insisted. "You are amazing! I saw what you did against those Nazis, and that giant spider. And what you did back there in that mall. But that was nothing compared to when you came out to the world. You are the bravest person I have ever heard of. That's why I came here to find you."

January tried not to blush once more at the compliment. She led the other woman to one of the benches that lined the interior of the gazebo, and sat down beside her. Hannah instantly clasped a hand around one of January's. The superheroine had no desire to ever let go.

"About that," January felt a little more in control of herself as she steered the topic back to business. "Your powers are out of control. It's ok. I can help you with that. We can help you with that. It's all about discipline and self control. I can teach you some meditation techniques that can help you center yourself. So you can focus your will."

"The first step is visualizing what you want to happen," January fell back on her magical training, hoping it would work for a meta-human as well. "Make that clear in your mind. Then focus your will on making that reality. It is not enough to want it to happen, or hope it to happen. You must be absolute in your certainty. It will happen, no matter what."

"Then finally you need to practice." January finished her spiel. "No amount of study or meditating or willing is a substitute for taking real, physical action. We make the world what it is. Not just by wanting it, or thinking it, but by getting our hands dirty and doing all the hard work."

"Right, so where do we start?"

"Perhaps by calling your mother?"

January nearly jumped out of her skin. It was Hungry Ghost. He was standing right there at the edge of the gazebo. She had been so focused on Hannah that she had not even noticed his approach. She leaped to her feet, and immediately put herself between him and her. She did not raise her hands or fall into a fighting crouch just yet. But she was ready for anything.

"Enough white hat. I am not here to fight." The supervillain held up a hand in a gesture of peace, with open palm outward. He pressed a button on his staff with his other hand, and it collapsed into a short baton. He tucked the weapon away into a holster on one leg, and took another step forward, both palms outward now.

"He's got his video camo turned on now," Gadget noted when January turned his audio feed back on. "I can't see a thing on your suit cams."

"Who are you?" Hannah was on her feet, and pushed forward to stand beside January. "What do you want with me?"

Hungry Ghost reached up with one hand and pulled off the balaclava that covered his head. He could have stepped off the cover of any fashion magazine. He wasn't simply handsome, he was beautiful. He looked young, except for the gray that sprinkled the hair of his temples. Otherwise that hair was a jet black masterpiece, swept back from his high forehead and ears. More of that dark hair dusted his upper lip and chin. January instantly recognized the same high cheekbones, brown eyes, and heart-shaped features that defined Hannah's face.

"Don't you recognize your father?" he asked.

"Daddy?" Hannah's voice wavered. "Is that you?"

"It's me princess." He took a step forward. But Hannah took a step back. January tried to keep her eyes on both, not sure of what might happen next. Things had definitely taken a turn. But whether for the better or worse was anyone's guess. She knew better than anyone that bringing blood ties into the mix tended to only make things more volatile.

"Then where have you been all my life!" Hannah did take another step closer now. "You disappeared when I was a kid. That man came to kill me and my mother because of you, and you didn't come! If it wasn't for Thunderbolt and Riven we'd be dead!"

"I know princess," Hungry Ghost did not look so much like a dangerous supervillain right now. Nor even a dangerous domestic abuser. Instead his face fell. "That's why I stayed away. My life was putting you and your mom in danger. I had to cut all my ties, so no one could follow them back to you again."

"So why are you here now?" January did not like stepping into the middle of a family dispute. But it had occurred to her that she might be able to avoid some of the disputing if she got things back on track in the here and now.

"Did she tell you that she knocked down her bedroom wall with her powers?" Hungry Ghost turned to face January. "That's why I am here. I've had someone watching over them all this time, just in case. I have been tracking her for the last two days."

"How, how do you keep doing that?" Hannah questioned.

"I'll bet he has your phone number." January said. "He might have even cloned it, so he receives every call and text you get or send. Or maybe he did that to your mother's phone. From there he could get your number, and from that your GPS. All you have to do is have your phone turned on for him to track you."

"Your operational security is terrible princess," Hungry Ghost said to Hannah. "It was really very simple."

"My operational..." Hannah fumed. "I'm 19 years old, why do I need operational security!"

"You shouldn't have to." Hungry Ghost sighed. He walked to one of the park benches within the gazebo and slumped down. "All of my life I have tried to be a good father, and all I have ever done is make things worse. That is why your mother and I split up when you were five. All we ever did was argue. Then when you were eight and that hitman came for you and your mom, I knew it was all my fault. He was there for me. You and your mom were just in the wrong place, and he decided to use you as bait. I was in Hong Kong. I tried to get back as soon as I could. But it's a long flight. Thankfully the white hats got there in time to save you."

"I came here now to help you." Ghost continued. "That's why I have been chasing you. I have been trying to catch up to you. I can teach you to use your powers, just like I learned to use mine. It only takes practice. I just want you to be safe."

"Safe!" Hannah exclaimed, "You scared the lā shǐ out of me!"

January had no idea what that word meant, other than it sounded very Chinese and very, very bad.

"That was not my intent," Ghost murmured. January felt sorry for him in spite of herself. She could relate to digging yourself into a hole you could not get out of. "I am here because I want to be a part of your life."

"A part of my life!" Hannah looked furious now, "after all that's happened, you want to be a part of my life! You just want me to be a criminal, like you. You want me to break into places and steal for you."

"No!" Ghost sprang to his feet and waved his hands in agitation. "That's your mother talking! I'm not..."

"A criminal?" January finished his sentence. She held Sága out, and revealed a scrolling list of charges he was wanted for. "Interpol has entered the chat."

"Stay out of this white hat!" Ghost slapped January's proffered arm away. "This is none of your business. Why are you even here?"

"She's here because I want her here!" Hannah cried. She stepped closer to January, and folded one of her hands around January's once more. Their fingers just automatically intertwined, as if pulled together by magnets. "I trust her. I came here to find her. Not you."

January almost winced at the last word. She knew that hurt more than any of her aura punches ever could. At the same time, she could understand exactly why Hannah would say it. So maybe all those hours in therapy had helped her after all?

"Hannah, I understand why you feel that way," she began, thinking back to everything she had learned about expressing herself. "I have a father too, and he's... well he's not great either. But the fact is he is still your father, even if he is a tool. He's at least making some effort, which is more than a lot of other dads ever do. I am not saying you should forgive him, or forget anything. It is just something to think about, when you decide what you want your life to be."

"And you," she turned to face Hungry Ghost. "You are going to have to get used to the fact that your daughter is pissed at you. If you really do want her in your life, you are going to have to be patient, and be willing to hear all the ugly things you don't like. If you want her to see you are more than just a thief, you are going to have to show her you are more than that. And that's going to take a long, long time. We aren't going to fix that in the next five minutes."

Sweet Freyja, when did she become a family counselor! She yearned for the simple days of punching spiders.

"Hannah, if you want to stay with her, then I understand." Hungry Ghost's eyes stared at their intertwined hands. "If you change your mind, if you want to see me, or just talk, I will always be here for you. Here is a number you can reach me at."

He reached into a pocket, and withdrew a blank business card, with a phone number scribbled across one face. He handed it to Hannah, and then looked at January.

"Don't even try to trace that," he scowled. "My operational security is lot better than hers."

"I am not here to arrest you. As long as people's lives or livelihoods aren't in danger, I don't care what you do." January replied evenly, then allowed her tone to soften. "This is personal, I get that. I would never get in the way of someone's family. I'm trying to help. That's what I do."

"In fact, if you need help you can call me." January regretted disengaging her hand from Hannah's. But she had to in order to pull out her own business card and hand it to Hungry Ghost. "This is my Stormcrow number. I'm not going to help you rob a bank, or sabotage a rival gangster. But I am here for Hannah's father."

Ghost said nothing. But he did nod, and put the card away in one of his pockets. He turned back to Hannah, and tentatively stepped forward. He opened his arms, as if hoping for a hug. But she closed up, and wrapped her arms firmly across her chest.

"I love you princess," he murmured. "I hope one day you can believe that."

With that he pulled the balaclava mask back down over his features. With a single leap he vanished through the roof of the gazebo and the trees beyond. That left January and Hannah alone once more.

"So what do you want to do Hannah?" January asked. Their hands were once again clasped together. "I will do everything I can to help you train. It shouldn't take long for you to master the basics, at least enough so you won't have to worry about lashing out and destroying things by accident. You could probably safely go home in a few days. He is right. Your mother is probably worried about you."

"I don't know about that." Hannah sighed. Her free hand was now sliding across the small of January's back. "My mother is... well, she's strict. She wants to know everywhere I am, and who I am with, all the time. She drives me crazy sometimes. I think she's afraid I'll turn out like my dad."

"Well you can stay with me," January offered. Hannah did not answer. The kiss that she planted on January's lips said far more than words ever could.

You weren’t kidding when you said this episode would provide some answers.

I’m delighted to see this budding romance between Jan and another woman who not only readily accepts her but is clearly drawn to her.

Gadget almost blew a Gasket over Jan unmasking herself! But sometimes a girl gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

I’m relieved to see Hungry Ghost does not seem to be a threat to either January or Hannah.

A new roommate!


Nits:
'January had no idea what word {that?} meant,'
'I'm not going to help you rob a bank, or sabotage {a?} rival gangster.'

Yeah I agree. I knew at some point her identity would be revealed to somebody, but I was thinking it would be some retired detective, or a fan who spends too much time on the internet comparing Jan and Stormcrow's many hundreds of pics until accidentally coming across some similarities.

Now... where is the Hungry Ghost? Because that's the Nightgirl's dad, right? Seems he was chasing after these two, but couldn't keep up.

Ha ha Gadget is freaking out!

I know what falling in love is like... it's the best. Better than any drug. So I know the feelings Jan is experiencing as she stammers her words and can't quite get her face cowl back on fast enough.

Oh gosh, her father is there. Jan really needs to take time off, and go somewhere with Hannah. I understand this won't happen because there's always some new crisis. But she really does just need to be a teenager for awhile.

I think Hungry Ghost (as her father) chose a bad time to show up. Not that there's any good time, but damn! He interrupted their "moment"!




You know.... stuff...

Happened to see an article in the Wikipedia regarding Fordson Island in Dearborn, and immediately thought of your Stormcrow.

The interesting thing was that, although the island was created in 1922, by the 1980s, the city of Dearborn had forgotten it existed.

Given how much of a role the Detroit (and environs) landscape plays, it seemed like a possible setting for some Jan activity.

Acadian: It has been a long, long time coming as I have been focusing on other aspects of January's life. But it was high time I threw some romance in the mix, with all of its complications. Ones that January has no time for of course.

In this whole series I am trying to portray villains as a spectrum of danger. Some - like Nazis - are just absolute evil and cannot be bargained with in any way. Others are less of a threat, and might sometimes even be dealt with without violence, or with a minimum of it. Like Hungry Ghost. Some might even become allies in the future.

Thank you for the nits, as always.



Renee: The whole revealing your secret identity thing is a tough line I walk in the narrative. Some people who do comics treat it with incredible nonchalance. Take the MCU, where no one has a secret identity, and the writers just completely ignore the impact that would have. The opposite end of that scale is that danger of revealing your ID prevents your character from having any relationships at all. Which is obviously not ideal from a writing standpoint either than just ignoring reality.

I have been emphasizing the dangers of revealing your secret identity with occasional allusions to the olde time hero Hailstorm, who suffered a tragic fate after his ID was printed in the papers. But I am finding completely shutting January out from others is a bit too stifling. So I am going to have her start opening up a bit with certain people in the future, mainly teammates. Because you cannot have a permanent super team without people knowing who everyone else really is. It makes sleeping and bathing in Titans Tower kind of difficult.

Not to say that Jan will be telling her mother or the Knights of Nerddom or the public. Just that she will start reaching out more. Like she did last book with Lighthammer.

January would love to just take some time off and go somewhere with Hannah. In fact, they will, in a manner of speaking. Just not far away. And of course something will come up. Something very, very big.

But first, she got to meet her new girlfriend's dad! That is great on the first date. Said no one. But he is a dad, it is his job to interrupt moments.


treydog: Three Dog in the house! OWWWWW! (well, loud howl noise). Thanks! Fordson Island looks like it could be a great place for a supervillain's lair. I have added it to my list of potential locations. I have a file where I keep a list of spots like that, like a former Nike nuclear missile base that is just a few miles from where I live. That Nailhead site is a treasure trove for lost locations like that.





Book 8.7 - Blood

January knew that it was a worse idea piled on top of a bad one. But Hannah already knew her name and her face. So what was the point in not taking the next step? Her secret identity was already far, far out the window as far as the other woman was concerned. Or at least that was the rationalization that she clung to. When she was not busy clinging to Hannah at least.

The other woman spent a minute talking to her mother on her phone. January tried not to eavesdrop, and made a point to turn away from Hannah to at least convey a tiny illusion of privacy.

"You are not seriously considering letting her stay in your crib are you?" Gadget said in a calm, measured voice. January appreciated the fact that he was trying to be the sane one, instead of yelling at her.

"What do I have to lose at this point?" January said honestly. She walked out of the gazebo to get some distance between her and Hannah. "She knows who I am. I am going to help her. I have to. You know that."

"Yeah, I know that, and it's the right thing to do," Gadget agreed. "But you could take her to the Raven's Nest instead. Or who knows what other safe house that your grandma might have stashed away."

"The Witch House has the sanctum," January reasoned. "I think that's the place she needs to train. It's helped me and Ôkami so much being in there. I think it will help her too, given what she can do."

"You don't know the first thing about this girl," Gadget pointed out. "This whole thing is going to go sideways on you. You know that, don't you?"

"Why can't you just give her a chance?" January said with exasperation. "She likes me. She's someone that really likes me. Why can't you just be happy for me?"

"You know why," Gadget said. "It's not fair. I know it's not. But the fact is you are a white hat. Nazis and wizards both want you dead. And they will use her to get to you if they can."

"It's not always that bad," January contended. "Other capes have loved ones. They have girlfriends. Look at Thunderbolt and Riven. Or Stinger and Zero Point."

"Ok, maybe she is your Riven or Stinger," Gadget allowed. "But you know how many dates I have been on this year? Know how many times the next morning when they weren't trying so hard to impress me, I found out what choads they really were? It's a lot of times. Turns out sex is not a great way to get to know someone."

"Good goddess, can't you just be happy for me!" January instantly regretted raising her voice. There was no way Hannah missed that. That was not going to make a good impression.

"I am trying to," Gadget sighed. "I really am. I want to be. But I worry for you too."

January turned to find Hannah staring back at her from the side of the gazebo. Her heart fell. She had definitely heard that.

"Look, we're going back to the Witch House. I am going to need your help putting some safeguards on her phone first. And then we're going to need your brain when we do some training. Are you going to help me?"

"Of course I am," Gadget insisted. "I am always going to be at your side."

"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to put you in all this with your friends." Hannah frowned. "I should just go. I can figure this out on my own. You don't have to put yourself out for me. You don't have to worry. I'm not going to tell anyone your secret."

"I know you're not," January forced herself to smile. "That's why we are going back to my place. But first, we need to make it less easy for your dad to track you there."

She held out her hand, and Hannah placed her phone in her palm. January absentmindedly noted that it was the latest I-Phone, ensconced in a case that was decorated with glittering stars and rainbows. It was a far cry from January's discount J1 Hamsung, which was half the size, and probably had one tenth the frills.

She quickly pried the phone open and pulled out the sim card. She slotted it into Sága. The mini computer's screen glowed to brilliant life, and lines of code scrolled down it at super speed. Clearly, Gadget was doing something. After a few moments the work stopped, and the card popped back out of her digital assistant.

"Done," Gadget declared. "Anyone tracking her through it will think she is in the middle of the Sahara desert. Any apps listening in through the microphone will get Rick Astley on a continuous loop, and any of them looking through the cameras will just get a black screen."

"Ok, can you teleport us both back to the mall?" January handed the phone back to Hannah. "It's a shorter trip from there."

"Oh that's easy," Hannah smiled. She put a hand on January's shoulder. The next thing January knew, the world was twisting and wrapping itself around her. It was like being surrounded by a dozen funhouse mirrors that stretched and distorted reality all around her. For an instant, all other sensation vanished. She could no longer feel the ground beneath her feet, or the air on her skin, or that lovely lavender and hyssop scent of Hannah's perfume. She could not even feel the other woman's hand upon her shoulder. The ever present pull of gravity itself even vanished, and for that brief instant she had no idea what direction was up.

Then they were standing on the roof of the Lakeside Mall, and everything was back to normal. January blinked, and reached out one hand to touch Hannah to steady herself. She was relieved when she took her hand, and entwined her fingers around her own.

"That was... weird." January admitted.

"Yeah, it can be tough on some people, especially the first time." Hannah admitted. "It makes my mom sick to her stomach. She blew her cookies the first time."

"Eww," January made a face at the thought of someone vomiting. The she realized what else Hannah had said. "So you mother knows, about your powers then?"

"Yeah," Hannah said. "She kind of saw it first hand. One time she grounded me, and I wanted to go out to see my boyfriend. So I teleported to the porch. She ran out to yell at me, and I just teleported again. Thank goodness no one else noticed."

"Boyfriend?" January raised an eyebrow.

"Disaster was more like it," Hannah shook her head. "I was 16, and had a lot to learn."

January glanced down through the skylight at their feet. It was the atrium outside of the pastry shop and the Macy's. That reminded her of recent events. She reached out and pulled the Nightgirl mask back down over Hannah's face. Then she lifted Sága and dialed the number of the Sterling Heights Police Chief.

"Captain Nowakowski," she began when he picked up. "I'm sorry I dropped the call. Things got complicated. But it's all worked out now. Everything is fine."

"We have a positive ID on the perpetrator with the staff," her home city's top cop said. "It was Hungry Ghost, a black hat from the West Coast."

"I know, I talked to him," January said. "It was all a big misunderstanding. It's all cleared up now though."

"Did you capture him?" the police chief asked. "You should take him to the state police, we aren't equipped for holding meta-humans."

"Uh no," January said. "I just talked to him, and found out what he was after. It wasn't anything nefarious after all."

"Don't tell me you just let him go?" There was no mistaking the incredulous tone in Captain Nowakowski's voice.

"He sort of let himself go," January said honestly. "He has a way of doing that. The important thing is that no one was hurt, and that he's not here to rob anyone. In fact he's probably out of the state by now."

"What about this other perpetrator?" the police chief asked, "the girl?"

"The young woman was not a perpetrator," January insisted. Why was every young woman a girl, but every young man still a man? "She was an innocent meta-human, who just got caught up in the middle of things. She's with me now. She came to find me in fact."

"So let me get this straight, the bad guy got away, and the person he was chasing was there looking for you," the chief recounted. "Just what was it this guy was after anyway?"

"That is not something I can say." January said quite honestly. "But I do know that he's no threat to anyone, at least not in Michigan, and at least not for now. It's all wrapped up really."

January heard a long sigh come through the receiver of the phone. January imagined that this was not what the police chief imagined working with a superhero might be like. Cops measured success by making arrests. January did not. So far as she was concerned, the whole thing had been a great success.

Once free of her law enforcement entanglements, January turned back to Hannah.

"Ready for some fun?" she smiled. She walked around behind Hannah and slipped her arms around the other woman's waist. She leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Now hold on tight, and don't be scared, I won't drop you."

January's wings unfurled and stretched out to either side. A single leap sent them rocketing skyward. Then the great sweep of her wings sent them soaring to the west, high above the streets and subdivisions below. Hannah practically squealed in delight, and began pointing out landmarks far below.

They came up on the wide, divided lanes of M-53 all too soon for January's taste. From there they banked hard to the left, and in no time at all they were sailing above the long serpent of trees that made up the Clinton River nature trails. January dove down into the far side of the woods, causing Hannah to grip her tightly. But they did not snag a single branch, and came down to the grass behind the Witch House without incident.

"That was incredible!" Hannah exclaimed. "I can't imagine what it's like to do that every day!"

"You never know, you might be doing it yourself someday," January replied, and furled in her wings. "I wasn't always this good. I'm still learning in fact. But wait until you see..."

January's words trailed off as she felt the presence of Blood Raven. As ever, she was a hot, coppery taste in the back of her mouth, like fresh blood. It was not just her ordinary senses that warned her of the other heroine's nearness. As they always did since she had mastered their control, the magical defenses of the Witch House sang out to warn her of the other woman's presence as well.

"What's wrong?" Hannah asked.

"Blood Raven just got here," January sighed. "I had hoped you wouldn't have to meet her so soon. She can be a little... overwhelming."

"I don't see anyone," Hannah turned her head this way and that to look about the empty back yard.

"I can sense her presence." January raised one hand to point to the tower that jutted skyward from the Queen Anne masterpiece that was her home. "She's waiting for us upstairs, in the sanctum."

"How do you know this stuff?" Hannah wondered.

"It's magic," January replied. "It's what I do. It's what I am."

Wow, see I wouldn't know about superheroes revealing their identity as being a nonchalant thing with some stories, so that's something new. I get it, too. It's not something you just want to give away.



Ha ha. He is getting to perform at least one of the biggest parental awkward moments, this is true. Wanna be a father, eh? Here's your intro.

Gadget is skeptical of Hannah, that part is enjoyable to read. Yeah, the Witch House is a good choice. Just make sure she knows about the Tardis. What it is, what it can do, and therefore tread carefully. Or just don't go in there. Yeah, that's it.

Are Thunderbolt and Riven, Stinger and Zero Point others in this story, or are they other heroes from maybe other stories? Sorry, I don't wanna google and get led in a bunch of directions.

Wow, Avery won't quit. I wonder if he's a little jealous?

Yaaah, discount Samsung flipphone, you go girl!

Lol @ Rick Astley. Hey, at least it's not Richard Marx.

Uh oh, Blood Raven. I mean, maybe things might go well with Hannah, but why do I have the feeling of consternation?

A neat episode as Jan wrestles with what to do with her new pal.

”But the fact is you are a white hat. Nazis and wizards both want you dead. And they will use her to get to you if they can."
- - Nicely captures the risks of superheroes forming emotional attachments.

“Are you going to help me?"
"Of course I am," Gadget insisted. "I am always going to be at your side."
- - We knew what Gadget’s answer would be before he replied. In this regard, he seems as steadfast an anchor for Jan as Acadian is for Buffy.

"Ok, can you teleport us both back to the mall?" January handed the phone back to Hannah. "It's a shorter trip from there."
"Oh that's easy," Hannah smiled.
- - The possibilities here only struck me as I read this exchange. As mALX would say, Awesome!

"How do you know this stuff?" Hannah wondered.
"It's magic," January replied. "It's what I do. It's what I am."
- - Welcome to the world of witchcraft, Hannah!

Can't wait to see Blood Raven's reaction to her ggggggreat grandaughter's latest 'stray cat' rescue. I hope she accept's it as gracefully as she did Ryo. One big difference here though is that Jan has known Ryo for a long time and he came with a foundation of trust. Though optimistic about Hannah, there is still much unknown about who she is - hence, Gadget's reasonable concerns. As I said, it will be interesting to see how Blood Raven reacts.

Renee: The other heroes I name-dropped are other supers in January's world. Zero Point and Stingers are part of the Sentinels superteam in Chicago. Riven and Thunderbolt are a partnership in San Francisco. Both are married. The latter sold their wedding photos (in costume) to People magazine. The same as any celebrity couple.

I could not resist a Rick Roll. It is now a classic troll move.


Acadian: Gadget is always a steadfast friend. Even when he thinks Jan is being a complete idiot. It goes both ways of course.

Teleporting would be a nice power to have. The entire world would be no farther away than your front door.

One thing about writing the previous scene and the coming ones between January and Hannah is that they subtly demonstrate how far January has evolved as a magician. The way she casually tosses off "I sensed her presence" and the like are examples of how she now takes for granted her powers. Hannah being there really throws it all into sharp relief, as it is all new to her, and nothing that she takes for granted.

Blood Raven is full of surprises. As we shall again see.








The Witch House Exterior

Witch House Floor Plans


Book 8.8 - Blood

January walked up the steps to the covered porch that ran the length of the back wall of the house. The wooden space was all but empty, with nothing but a few lawn chairs and a small plastic table to fill the long area. The back doors unlocked with a wave of her hand. Now that the wards were attuned to her, she no longer needed anything as mundane as a key. The house simply responded to her commands.

She swung the twin doors open, and lead the way into the kitchen. The large room was cut in two by a long kitchen island that ran through the center of the space. A trio of chipped and battered stools sat against its long granite-topped counter, which was cluttered with dining accessories such as salt and pepper shakers and napkins. The side of the room which the doors opened up into had been a dining nook. But now it stood bare, as January's mother had taken their table when she had moved out. Beyond the island was the actual cooking area, with oven, fridge, sink, and rows of cupboards wrapped around two walls.

A full size dining room lay beyond the food prep area, in the back corner of the house that flanked the driveway. But January led them straight ahead, to another opening in the opposite corner. This put them in the center of a diamond-shaped intersection. Another doorway led to a large, bare room in the back, left corner of the house. A nook kitty corner to it led to multiple doors, all of which would lead to spaces in the front left corner of the building.

But January led them in the opposite direction, into the very center of the house. An octagonal rotunda took up this space, and rose up two stories overhead. A staircase curled up two walls to the floor above. Directly across from them was the foyer in the front right corner of the home, beside the driveway. She could see the front door of the house at its far end.

January led them up the stairs to the second floor. The steps ended here, and a balcony ringed the center of the building, looking down into the rotunda below. Numerous doors jutted from this mezzanine, like spokes radiating from a wheel. Set into the ceiling overhead was a single attic hatch.

She led them around the balcony to a small loft in the front corner of the building, the one that bordered the driveway. That put them directly above the foyer and front door, and was part of the round turret that rose up in that corner of the house. January once more tapped into the wards of the home, and golden light spilled from her fingers. The light faded, and with it one wall of the room. This revealed a stairway leading up to a perfectly ordinary-looking door overhead.

"Whoa, this is, this is magic?" Hannah could not contain the look of amazement from her features.

"Just wait until you see what's next," January murmured.

She led the way up the hidden stair. Mana dripped from her fingertips as she again opened the door above with a spell of golden light. She did not touch the door or handle. The lock simply clicked over, and the door swung open on its own accord.

January led the way into the Keziah Talmadge's sanctum sanctorum. The ceiling rose high overhead, and the walls spread out at least the width of a football field. As ever, January could not discern the exact shape of the chamber. One moment it was a cube, the next it was an ovoid, then it was hexagonal. It always defied description.

A pebble mosaic stretched across the entire floor, like those from countless Roman and Byzantine temples and manors. But these stone artworks did not depict religious figures or scenes from nature. Instead they traced out numerous lines that twisted and curved about, and crossed and overlapped one another in every direction you followed them. Each line was a different color, at least when you started to follow its course. But a strange thing happened the farther you traced it. Soon enough it was another color entirely, but you could never put your finger on where the shift had taken place.

Similar strips of metal were set into the amorphous walls, drawing out more lines and shapes. Once more these were of different colors, depending on the metals used. Copper burned with a bright reddish hue, gold glowed like the sun, silver shone like the moon, and iron loomed cold and gray as a winter sky.

A sea of beads hung from strings in the ceiling, whose proper surface was lost in the snowstorm of hanging pellets. They came in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Some were of metals such as the aforementioned copper, gold, silver, and iron. Others were of minerals like malachite, carnelian, and bloodstone. Still more were of organic materials such as amber, wood, or resins. She could not truly see the ceiling beneath it. Instead it was an upside down range of hills and valleys that stretched from one end of the room to the other.

As always, the entire chamber swam before January's eyes. It formed, and reformed, as she turned her gaze across it. The more she concentrated upon one set of lines and shapes, the more sharply they sprang into focus. The room conformed to that reality, while others faded away. It was like a sandbox where castles were formed from pure imagination.

Standing in the middle of the sprawling chamber was Blood Raven. She was clad in her red and black armor. As it was wont to do, the scarlet mane of her hair flowed gently in a breeze that did not exist. Her cape snapped out behind her as she whirled to face January. Then she was standing directly before her, even though she had been hundreds of feet away an instant before.

January braced herself for a tirade about how foolish she was behaving. "Et tu, Sanguinus Corvum?" she managed to force out in rough Latin.

"That should be 'Et tu, Vulpes Corvum Videt Sanguinem'," Blood Raven responded with a wry smile.

"So you aren't going to chew me out?" January wondered.

"What words might I broach, which you have not already entertained within your own private discourse?" Blood Raven laid a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "My friend, you are so mature that often times I forget that but nineteen years have passed before your eyes. What right have I to deny you your youth? When I was your age, the burdens I carried upon my shoulders were but trifles compared to those which you take for granted. I cannot cast judgment upon thee. I need only accept you for who you are, which I do gladly."

January was flabbergasted. This was the last thing she had expected. She always thought of her herself as the one filled with surprises. Once again, she was reminded that she was but an apprentice in that regard, when compared to her seven-times great-grandmother.

Blood Raven stepped around January and stood before Hannah. January had been so focused on receiving a hostile reaction from Blood Raven, that she had completely forgotten her new charge. She spun about to find the poor girl gaping openly at the sight of the room that surrounded them. The door had closed behind them, and left no sign of its existence. As usual, it had entirely vanished after it had shut. That left the three of them in the sea of infinitude that was the sanctum.

"It's smaller on the outside," was all Hannah could blurt out. Her eyes darted between the magical room, and the two superheroines before her.

"My old mentor would say that time and space are nothing but thread for the weaver." Blood Raven said. "They are for us to cut, and fold, and shape as we desire. It would seem that you have this power as well. We shall explore that in time, along with the mysteries of this place."

"But first there are more pressing matters that must be attended to." Blood Raven reached out to take both of Hannah's hands gently within her own. She stared deeply into the young woman's eyes. "Dear child, would that this meeting had taken place under better circumstances. However, the world does not arrange itself according to our desires, no matter our best laid plans."

"You have been initiated into a world that is wider, and far more perilous, than most can conceive. I pray that you apprehend the danger. You are in possession of knowledge that others will not only kill for, but kill with. For the rest of your life, you must always be on guard that you do not let this slip from your tongue. No matter how much you might trust another, or how angry you might become, or how spiteful. You can never divulge January's name. Do you understand that?"

"Of course I know!" Hannah pulled back, eyes ablaze with affront. "I would never put Stormcrow... January, at risk. I know what's at stake."

"Do you?" Blood Raven shook her head. "It is not January whom this knowledge endangers. It is you. She is the one placing you in danger. Not the other way around. We have many enemies, and their ranks will only swell as time marches past. Those who fail against our arms will look for easier targets to vent their spleen upon. As others have noted, bullies punch down, not up."

"They will come for you my dear," Blood Raven explained. "Should January's identity ever be promulgated, you will be among the first her enemies will come for. The same with anyone else near you. I am told you have a mother and father. If either happens to be in your proximity, they will suffer the same fate. You have placed yourself in harm's way. I pray you consider this with care."

Hannah was silent, and looked down at her feet. January did not know what to do. She wanted to step forward, and take the other woman in her arms, and tell her everything was going to be alright. But while that lie was a warm and soft comforter to wrap around oneself on a cold winter's day, it was also still a lie.

"Other heroes have girlfriends and boyfriends." Hannah finally blurted out. "Do you give this same spiel to them? Or am I special?"

"They do, and I would if given the opportunity, and you are very, very special." Blood Raven circled around behind Hannah, speaking as she walked. "Pay heed my young apprentice. No relationship built upon a lie ever lasts, just as no house built upon a foundation of sand ever stands. I wish nothing but the best for you and January. I want her, and you, to find as much joy and fulfillment as you might wrest from life. But you will never find that with your eyes closed."

She stood beside Hannah, and gestured to January. "Look at January, see her for who she truly is. Not the mask she wears. But who she is underneath this role we all play for the public. It is not at all glamorous, or awe-inspiring. She is just a woman, with her burdens and flaws, like any other. Look at what your life with her will be and be honest. Not with me, but with yourself."

January felt distinctly uncomfortable with both women staring at her. She never did like being the center of attention. Her life never got better when people noticed her after all, only worse. Wearing the suit and helmet helped of course. It put up a wall between who she really was and the rest of the world. Which January realized Blood Raven had just been saying.

She reached up and pulled the winged helmet from her head, and let it hang back against her shoulder blades. With one hand she absentmindedly pulled her long hair from the hole in the base of the protective headgear, and let it spill free. She knew that her skin was sweaty, and she prayed that her makeup was not smeared or running.

"You mean like, right now?" Hannah squeaked.

Blood Raven actually laughed at that. An occurrence as rare as it was welcome. Even January managed to crack a smile, in spite of everyone staring at her.

"No, no one expects that." January stepped forward, and finally did take one of Hannah's hands in her own. "My great-grandma has a lot of experience at living. She knows that you cannot sell a wine before its time. I like you Hannah, I really do. I want to get to know you better. We'll just have to see what happens."

’It was like a sandbox where castles were formed from pure imagination.’
- - A wonderfully evocative description.

You did a nice job of building up suspense during Jan and Hannah’s trek to the inner sanctum. We knew Hannah would be properly awed by both the sanctum and the expected appearance of Blood Raven. And, after being chastised by Gadget about bringing Hannah into her coven, I knew Jan would be anxious about Blood Raven’s reaction.

Blood Raven does indeed continue to surprise us. In this case she shows she is still ever so much Blood Raven but that her relationship with Jan has changed both of them.

I wonder where this will go – both from a Jan + Hannah perspective as well as the future of Hannah’s own magic. Will she become part of the Blood Raven’s growing brood of superheroes?

Oh [censored], she's taking Hannah into the magic room. This is a big step in their relationship (if they are to have one). Oh [censored]. There's Blood Raven. Will Branwen disapprove? I'm taking a pause here to guess.

I don't think she will disapprove, actually. She's mentioned several times by now she supports her grand X7 niece's lifestyle. Why wouldn't she want to see it flourish? And why not with someone else who also has superhuman powers? It's just that <<<automatic reflex>>> I have as a reader. Raven shows up? There's gonna be trouble.

Gosh I love the way she speaks. And I was right. with my second guess.

Raven scrutinizes Hannah. This is as close to Meet The Parents as Jan's going to experience. Mom missed her chance since Jan was sadly celibant during her earlier teenage years. And dad's going to be a permanent no-show from now on. Was pretty much a no-show when they lived together, too.

Whoa. Easy there, great aunt! These two gals just met, and you're already talking about worst-case scenarios! (Sorry.) Easy.... Eeeasy.

I wonder how the rest of their first date is going to go! They should get some pizza.

Acadian: I finally found a set of floor plans that I could use for the Witch House. Naturally I had to tweak them to fit the picture of the exterior I already had. But it worked out really nice. So now I can give some detailed descriptions about the inside.

Blood Raven is one of those examples of people being a multitude. We often only see one side to a person, especially a public one. From that we build up an image of them which is not necessarily accurate. We never see what they are like when they are out of the spotlight. Or when they are not fighting. Or when they are not being confident for the cameras. Blood Raven has a great depth of compassion and empathy. But you never see that when she is smiting Lovecraftian monsters and nazis. We only see it in personal moments like these with January.

Hannah is not actually a magician. That will be made clear this episode in fact. But as we will learn, there are a lot of similarities between training one and the other.


Renee: That sanctum is a big step. It is the heart of the Witch House. But there is no place better to train. Not only are not not going to accidentally blow anyone up there, but it will also show the trainees the universe writ large.

You are right, in that this meeting with Blood Raven is as close to a meet the parents episode that Hannah and January are likely to get. Blood Raven is in many ways a parental figure for January, in that she is a mentor who has already made all the mistakes waiting ahead of January. I suppose it is only fair, since January had to meet Hannah's father already.

The rest of their first date is going to be pretty unusual.







Is Spacetime Really a Fabric?



Book 8.8 - Blood

"In the meanwhile, we shall train." Blood Raven stepped away from Hannah. "I can see that you are not a magician, but rather a meta-human. But the training of both is similar in many regards. Visualize the effect you wish to create, expend your energy, and will it into reality. Most of all practice, again and again, until doing using your abilities becomes as natural as walking, and just as importantly, not-doing it is as natural as sitting still."

"Your talents are a part of who and what you are." Blood Raven waved an arm to indicate the chamber around them. "This room will show them to you, writ large. All things are possible here. All times, all places."

"You said you have been teleporting for a long time," January said. "But the rest started recently. Just what has been happening?"

"I was teleporting since I was 14," Hannah explained. "It took years before I could go more than a few feet. And it took a lot of work. But in time I got better. Now it's easy. I just picture where I want to go and make an effort, then I am just there."

"But now things have changed," Hannah went on. "The world, it looks different to me. I see things I never did before. It is like there is this... landscape to the universe. I see it in front of my eyes now, when I never could before. Right now, I can see it more clearly than ever."

"Try and explain what you see," Gadget's voice came out of Sága's speakerphone. "Is it like this?"

January turned her arm around, so that Hannah could see Sága's screen. Classic images of spacetime drawn out as a grid upon a flat surface filled the screen. Some of them showed objects like planets and stars, and how they dimpled spacetime around them.

"No," Hannah shook her head. "That is like a flat sheet, with a dip in it. I can see in many more directions than that. Especially now, when I concentrate, I can see maybe a dozen."

"And each dimension is at a right angle to the next?" Gadget asked.

"Yes," Hannah answered. "But I have to look really hard to see most of them. It's a lot easier here. Normally they are really small."

"Okay, how about this?" A new image sprang up on Sága's screen. This one showed a planet suspended with a three-dimensional grid. The far edges of the grid were all straight lines. But as they neared the planet, they all curved inward toward it. It was like the lines were all dimpled by the presence of the world.

"This is more like it!" Hannah cried. "It is like the world has these contours, like hills and valleys, and I can sense them. But I don't really see it directly. It's more like water. I can see when ripples go through it. I can see the bends and curves that shape it. Sometimes when I concentrate I can create those bends and curves. And that's when my force fields shoot out. Like when I hit you and my dad in front of the cinnamon store."

"I'm so sorry about that," Hannah murmured. "I didn't mean to."

"I know," January said just as quietly, and squeezed Hannah's hand in affirmation.

"So I think what you are seeing is spacetime, the literal fabric of the universe," Gadget explained. "But it's not really a fabric. That is just a way of visualizing it. It's just a mathematical structure that we can describe with equations. Like a series of lines that describe the probability of things like physical matter or radiation behaving in a certain way, such as falling into a planet or jetting out into space."

"That's not all," Hannah explained. "I can see lines and angles between things. Well I notice them now at least. I never really understood that until I stepped in here. I can see them right now plain as day."

"Look there," she raised one hand toward the ceiling. "I can see something there that has more than just three dimensions. Every time I look around here, I can see more than just the normal universe. It is like there is a whole new world in this room."

"It is the same world we all live in," Blood Raven said. "Only here it is so much easier to bear witness to. Just as we can draw a cube on a piece of paper, and visualize a three-dimensional object rendered down to only two dimensions, this place can do the same, only with all reality. It is always here, most of us are simply unable to ever perceive it. Apparently you are."

"This is such a relief! I thought I was going crazy," Hannah breathed. She turned her head, and January had to fight the urge to kiss her. Thankfully Blood Raven was right there. That made it easier to not display affection, since it would have been in public.

"Now we have a grounding in the reality of your situation," Blood Raven declared. "Usually when a meta-human's powers first awaken, it is only at a very low intensity. One must practice and exercise it in order for it to mature. You have experienced this with your teleportation. But that clearly is not your only power. Rather it is evidently but one facet of your true ability, the control of space and perhaps even time. Your raw power grew as you honed your teleportation. Now you must learn to use the rest of your abilities. Unfortunately not with the baby steps of a starting meta-human, rather you must do it with all of this power you have heretofore marshaled."

"So let us do something practical with all of that might," Blood Raven wrapped up. "Create a force field."

January stepped away to give Hannah some space. The other woman closed her eyes, and put her hands out before her. Her brows knotted up in concentration, and she grunted with effort. It looked like she was trying to push a stone block. Yet it did not budge.

"I don't know, I can't," she finally broke off the effort with a sigh.

"It usually worked when someone was coming at you," January pointed out. "Maybe if we just-"

"Defend yourself!" Blood Raven roared. With a great flourish, she leapt forward, directly at Hannah. January's fighter's eyes could see that she was telegraphing her movements from a mile away. She clearly was not trying to actually surprise Hannah.

The young woman raised her arms defensively, apparently on reflex. An opaque barrier sprang up in the air in front of her. Again, January was reminded of a shower door. She could almost see through it, but only general silhouettes. The barrier was even the same size as such a door might be, except that the top and bottom were rounded into an elliptical shape.

Blood Raven struck it and stopped cold, like a doll thrown against a brick wall. She dropped down to her feet with ease, and clapped her hands with approval. She stepped around from the force field, so that Hannah could see her.

"Excellent!" Blood Raven cried. "Remember how that felt. Remember what you just did. Now again!"

This time she simply pantomimed sending a punch at Hannah. The old force field melted away, and another sprang to life in front of Blood Raven's new position. The older heroine struck it with her fist, only for the blow to ineffectually bounce off. January could tell that Blood Raven was holding back of course. Now was not the time to build strength, but simply to learn the movements. With that in mind she jumped into the act as well.

"You are unwise to lower your defenses!" January shouted. She charged at Hannah from another direction. But she was careful to not move too quickly. A new force field popped into the air in front of her. January allowed herself to run into it, and bounce away a moment later.

January was glad to see a grin flash across Hannah's face, as she dropped the force field between her and January, in order to create a new one to block Blood Raven a third time. Clearly, this was not only good practice, but a boost to the young woman's confidence. That was something everyone could sorely use more of these days.

January was careful to wait her turn before going at her again. This was not training for a real fight. It was far too early for that. Right now she wanted Hannah to simply build her skills and her trust in herself. They could turn up the difficulty later, when she was ready to take off the training wheels. After all, Rome was not sacked in a day.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Hannah squirmed. January held her hand and gently squeezed.

"Of course I am," January insisted. "It's the right thing to do. It will be fine."

They stood atop the roof of the Lakeside Mall. The strange rooftop world of the mall stretched out around them. The most noticeable things were all they skylights. Pyramidal shapes of glass, they rose up like pimples on the face of the building. Another level of the roof below revealed the usual forest of heating and cooling units, and other mundane machinery.

January was clad in her Stormcrow armor, winged helmet pulled down firmly over her features. Hannah wore a similar outfit. It was a backup suit that Avery had lying around in case of emergencies. It lacked many of the amenities of the full suit. For example, the helmet did not have the decorative wings, or any of the electronics within. A copy of Sága did not grace Hannah's forearm, and there was no cape to drape from her shoulders. It also lacked all the solid plates that her current armor possessed. It was just the basic hagfish suit.

But it did serve its purpose as a means of protecting Hannah's identity, which is all that mattered.

Space and time warped, and January found them standing within the mall below. They were in front of the cinnamon store. She resisted the urge to buy another sweet roll. She still had a headache from the one she had eaten earlier. There must have been more sugar in those things than a cake factory.

Everyone stopped to stare of course. It was not like people just teleported into a building every day. As ever, January did her best to smile and look friendly. All the while she kept them moving down the nearby stairway to the ground floor, and across the mall. A few people asked for selfies, or simply took them without asking. January took out the time to oblige them. This was part of how she hoped that reaching out people might create a positive influence after all.

Many people asked who her friend was, and if she was a new member of the Blackbirds. January smiled and deflected them as best she could. She was not about to put words in Hannah's mouth. For her own part, Hannah looked stunned by the attention, at least at first. She gradually warmed up to it however, and smiled for the cameras along with January.

"Should I have a super name?" Hannah whispered into January's ear as they made their way past the fountain in the center of the mall.

"If you want one," January shrugged. "Gilda will probably come up with one if you don't. Just remember, you never have to do anything in public again. Just because you have powers, does not mean you have to be superhero. Plenty of people with them aren't."

"But if I was, what would I call myself?" Hannah wondered.

"I dunno," January pondered. "Warp? Blink? Vortex? Curvature of Space and Time?"

"It's no wonder Gilda gave you your name, that last one was terrible." Hannah laughed.

Finally they reached Hot Topic. January led the way through the racks of gothpunk fashion and accessories. They came to a square glass counter in the center of the shop, filled with bric-a-brac, from jewelry to buttons. Standing within was a middle-aged woman in a Sisters of Mercy tee. Her pixie haircut was bright green, and her nose was pierced with a diamond stud.

"Hi!" January blurted out in her perky phone voice. She instantly regretted it, as usual. It did not create the image of a calm and cool professional. "We are here to return this. Well, give it back."

"Whoa, you're Stormcrow!" The Sister of Mercy's eyes lit up. Her eyes turned from January to Hannah. "That means you're... you're... that girl who was here earlier, when things went all cray cray."

"Um, yeah," Hannah said. She raised the Nightgirl mask she had taken, and laid it on the counter. "That's me. I'm here to give this back. I didn't want to take it. But my scarf was falling off."

"Wait a minute," Sister of Mercy's eyes took on a hard cast. "You stole that!"

"She borrowed it," January insisted, "because of a pressing need. Now she is here to give it back, because she is not a thief, just like I am not."

"Ok...ok..., I'm sorry. Thank you for bringing it back." Sister of Mercy raised her hands in surrender. "It's just that we get so much shoplifting it makes me paranoid."

January's eyes scanned the countertop. They fell upon a sharpie sitting beside the cash register. She scooped it up with one hand, and picked up the mask with the other. She scribbled her name across one cheek of the mask, then set it back on the counter.

"There you go, one mask autographed by Stormcrow," January declared. "It must be worth... oh at least ten cents more than what it was before."

"You should get her to sign it too." Another woman, this one with blue hair and a lip piercing, came over. She wore a top with an atom emblazoned across it, whose protons were all colored bright red. Written across it was a message to stay positive. A sucker floated around between her ruby red lips. "She's a superhero too. Or at least she will be."

"You sign it, and I'll give you anything you want in the store," Sister of Mercy smiled. She picked up the sharpie and handed it to Hannah.

She stood there gripping the writing instrument in one finger. She stared at the mask.

"What do I write?" she wondered. "I mean, who do I sign it as?"

"You don't have a super name yet?" Miss Proton asked.

"We were just talking about that." January said. "There's nothing that really sticks just yet."

"Well there's Sextant," Sister of Mercy offered. "It's how sailors figured out where they were. Or maybe Warp, since you warp through space."

"What about Vector?" Miss Proton declared. "It's an object that has both direction and magnitude, basically a line. Put three of them together and you can create a three dimensional coordinate system, like a Cartesian system."

"Or maybe Vortex," Miss Proton added a moment later when everyone stared back at her blankly. "It's a region in a fluid in which a flow revolves around an axis line. Like what you see in a whirlpool, or the wake of a ship, or the accretion disc around a black hole."

"Well that's two for Vortex then." Hannah stared from the women around her to the sharpie in her fingers. "I like that. Vortex it is!"

Vortex set the pen to the mask, and scrawled out her new name. Afterward they took selfies with everyone.

A fascinating foray into time-space phisics that, with Gadget’s helpful narration, was somewhat broken down from magic into almost-understandable science. You did a good job of trying to explain some challenging concepts. Then some ward training. I picture Hannah’s ward much like the spells of the same name in Skyrim.

Blackbirds! Great name for Blood Raven’s coven / Stormcrow’s posse.

Finally some fun mall crawlin’ – and a supername for superHannah! I think Vortex is a fabulous choice.

That's cool. So she started teleporting in her room, perhaps. Probably was not even sure what the heck just happened. Now look at her.

Sounds like Gadget just showed them a classic black hole pic. With a grid of multiple squares, and all that. Whoa, that's wicked. She can see these angles or whatever wherever she looks. And they're all around us.

See, that's something I think could actually exist. If you had said to somebody from the earlier 1800s there are invisible waves all over the place, and that pretty soon we'll be using some of these invisible waves to send voices around into something called a "radio", and folks can listen to this voice which is miles away, you would have been scoffed at. Everyone would have laughed. But see, that's the thing. I think radio waves and what we know now are just the beginning. There are a lot of things we can't see.

Yeah, don't show affection in front of auntie, very good. Jan's learning quick.

Rosa, have you ever seen Stranger Things? If not, Hannah reminds me of one of the characters in that series, named Seven. Seven got her name because she was child number 7, raised in some secret organization from very young to become a meta. She could move stuff around, create forcefields and so on. Just like Hannah seems to be trying.



She sounds just like Branwen!

Back at Cinnabon. Hey, even meta-humans cannot heed the call of the sweetroll. Nice. Sisters of Mercy. These gals have taste.

There we go. Vortex work, mos' def.

Acadian: I had to do a lot of digging into physics to write that section explaining how Hannah's Spacetime Control power works. It was actually one of the ideas I had to be January's powers. But the force fields were just a little too similar to Aela's wards. So I went passed over it for the magical elemental martial artist birdwoman idea instead.

I like the Blackbirds a lot. However, it does not really fit anymore, now that the team has grown beyond the two corvids. Though a Blackhawk will be appearing soon. They will soon be getting a new name for the larger coven, at the end of this book in fact.

I decided to change Hannah's super name from Warp to Vortex at nearly the last minute. Vortex has a cooler sound to it, and fits well with black holes, which we shall see are something Hannah has an interest in, being spacetime anomalies and all.


Renee: The fabric of the universe is a funky thing. At one time many people thought there was a literal physical fabric called the aether. But that has been disproven. As Gadget said, now physicists see the "fabric" as simply being a metaphor that we can use to build equations upon that explain the likelihood of matter or energy behaving in certain ways. Mostly it is because of how gravity "dimples" or warps spacetime. The most extreme example being black holes, which are so extreme that they are literal holes in our universe to somewhere and somewhen else. Hannah has the power to not only sense all of this, but alter it according to her will. She has the potential to be one of the most powerful supers to ever exist.

I did watch Stranger Things. Hannah will eventually figure out telekinesis as well. But she does not have quite the same set of abilities as Eleven. For example, Hannah cannot do the remote sensing. It was the military's experiments with remote sensing that inspired Stranger Things, among other things like MK Ultra.

You are unwise to lower your defenses!

I tried Cinnabon last week for the first time in years, if not forever. OMG was it sweet! It gave me a headache. I went back and edited that into the story. It was too much sugar for January, and she could not finish it. She cannot do really spicy or sweet or otherwise extreme tasting food.









Witch House Floor Plans

Iron Maiden Killers Tee

Pre-Raphaelites


Book 8.9 - Blood

"Whew, that was a relief," Hannah pulled back the spare Stormcrow helmet from her features. Her other hand was firmly ensconced within January's own hand. January had to admit, she liked the feeling. It was soft, and warm, and oh so comforting a feeling.

They strode across the hard tiled floor of the rotunda in the center of the Witch House. She led them up the curling staircase to the second floor. This time instead of continuing along the mezzanine that ringed the space, she took an immediate right turn, toward the back of the house. That put them in a small vestibule, bordered by three doors. January took the door on the right, and strode into her bedroom.

It faced the back yard, and was set in the middle of the rear wall of the building. That put her directly over the kitchen below. It was a wide space, easily twice the size of her old room. A fireplace sat in one wall, opposite the long windows that revealed the yard outside. Farther along the inner wall was the door to a walk-in closet, which spread out behind the fireplace. Set in a third wall were a pair of double doors, now open, that revealed a spacious private bathroom that sat in the corner of the house that bordered the driveway.

The master bedroom looked even larger than normal thanks to the lack of furniture January possessed. There was her narrow twin bed with its soft watermelon-colored quit. It jutted out from the back wall, between two of the main windows. In one corner was her plain white desk, in the other her equally plain vanity. Along a third wall was her plain white dresser.

She had taken down her old pictures of fighters. Now the walls were mostly empty. But a few prints of Pre-Raphaelites such as John William Waterhouse and Dante Gabriel Rossetti hung prominently upon the walls. These glorious fantasy portraits brought a bright splash of color that invigorated the space.

Scattered around the floor and her bed were the summoning diagrams that she had been studying before all the excitement. January had forgotten all about them! She rushed to gather them all up into a messy stack. Then she tucked them away into a drawer in her desk, along with her tablet.

When she was finished she turned back to find Hannah studying her list of Viking Virtues. Set in an unremarkable wood frame, they were printed on plain white paper, and hung from the wall near the door. January stepped over to stand beside the other woman, and ran her eyes across the words written there.

Do Not Live In Fear
"The error is the result of letting fear rule your actions" - The Saga of Harald Hardrade, c.46.

Friendship
"A true friend whom you trust well and wish for his good will: go to him often exchange gifts and keep him company." - Havamal, s.44.

Kindness
"A kind word need not cost much, The price of praise can be cheap: With half a loaf and an empty cup I found myself a friend." - Havamal, s.52.

The Law Is Not Always Right
"When truth and fairness are different from what is law, better it is to follow truth and fairness." - Bandamanna Saga, c.6

Be A Part Of The World
"He is truly wise who has travelled far and knows the ways of the world. He who has traveled can tell what spirit governs the men he meets." - Havamal, s.18.

Never Hide My Truth
"Sorrow eats him who can no longer open his heart to another." - Havamal, s.121.

Prepare for the Worst
"A wayfarer should not walk unarmed, but have his weapons to hand." - Havamal, s.38.

Sacrifice
"Nine whole days and nights, stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin, myself to mine own self given." -Havamal, s.138.

Never Give Up, No Matter What
"Often times it is not numbers that wins the victory, but those who fare forward with the most vigor." - The Saga of Thrond of Gate, c.19.

"What is this?" Hannah asked, "pages from some ancient Viking text?"

"Sort of, this is mine," January said proudly. "I took these lines from the Havamal, and some of the sagas. They inspire me, help remind me of who I want to be, and who I need to be. I used to have the Nine Noble Virtues. Until I found out they were written by a literal fascist. Then I burned them."

"Ugh, gross" Hannah made a face.

"But it turned out to be a good thing," January nodded to the framed set of ideals. "It pushed me to make my own code instead of looking to someone else's. One in which kindness and friendship are just as important as being ready to fight and sacrifice."

She pulled her hand free of Hannah's, and stepped away from the other woman for a moment. She closed her eyes, and called up her mana.

Fire give me passion and energy. Transform me in the night sky.

With that her armor was gone. She had returned to the same clothing she had been wearing before all of the day's excitement had begun: a plain white cami and a pair of cutoff shorts. Free of the tight armor, she closed her eyes and relaxed for just a moment.

"How do you do that?" Hannah wondered.

"It's magic," January turned and smiled. "Now let's get you out of that, and into something a little more comfortable."

Now it was Hannah's turn to smile. She began to do a striptease, gyrating in the middle of the bedroom floor. She had January's full attention. The erotic dance did not last long however, as the helmet did not want to come off. As with the helmet of January's primary suit, it was attached to her tunic by several snaps at the nape of the neck. That allowed her to take it off and let it hang over her back. January had to step up and help her with it, along with the rest of the suit. It turned out that armor was not really intended for anything more than protection.

Eventually they ended up sitting together on the bed, with the pieces of the backup Stormcrow suit scattered around the floor. Wearing nothing but her underwear, Hannah plopped herself down on January's lap. She wrapped her arms around her neck, and kissed her gently on the lips. The next thing January knew she was laying back on the bed, with Hannah straddling her.

Then her stomach growled.

Hannah laughed, and rolled off of her. January could not resist laughing either, and covered her face with her hands. "Now that really puts a person into the mood," January giggled.

"Yes," Hannah agreed, "to eat."

"I should go downstairs and make dinner," January moaned and sat up. "And you should get dressed. Check the closet and the dresser. I'm sure I've got something that will fit."

With a supreme effort of will January pulled herself off the bed and walked to the door. She could not stop herself from turning at the door, and gazing back at Hannah. The other woman was draped across her bed in a most inviting fashion. It took even more willpower to turn away from that, and force her feet to take her out the door.

She stepped to the rotunda, and leaped off the balcony surrounding it. She dropped lightly to the tiled floor below, and strode to the kitchen in the back of the house. It was Wednesday, that meant spaghetti. So she started boiling water, then moved on to the other steps of making the meal. She lost track of time in the simple tasks, and the next thing she knew Hannah breezed into the room.

She wore a pair of January's multicolored tights, and her old Iron Maiden tee, depicting the classic version of the band's monster mascot from the Killer's album cover. January instantly smiled at the sight. That shirt always brought back good memories.

"I know we already had your regular birthday, but I want you to have this too." January's mother walked into her cramped bedroom. She held out a dark top and handed it to the younger woman.

January took it by the shoulders, and let the cloth fall open, to reveal a classic Iron Maiden tee. The band's iconic monster mascot grinned under a lamppost and brandished a hatchet in one bony hand.

"I bought this at their Toronto show when I was nineteen," her mother said. "A bunch of us from MSU made a road trip out there for it. Since you just turned nineteen, I wanted you to have it."

"That shirt looks good on you," January breathed as Hannah walked over to the stove, where January had been warming up sauce in a pot.

"Where did you get this?" Hannah wondered. One of her fingers played with the collar. "It looks vintage."

"It is," January said. "It's my mom's. She gave it to me last summer on my birthday. She bought it at one of their concerts when she was my age."

"You have a weird mother!" Hannah laughed. "You know other mothers pass on things like wedding rings, or strings of pearls."

"Well, she has a weird daughter, so I love it!" January smiled. "Besides, all my father ever passed down to me was a curse."

"A what?" Hannah's face looked quizzical. "I thought I had daddy issues."

"We all have daddy issues." Now January wished she had kept her mouth shut. She turned back to the stove, and mixed the spaghetti sauce.

"Did I say something?" Hannah's arm wrapped around her waist, and her flowery scent filled January's nostrils as she sidled up beside her.

"No," January insisted. She turned to look at Hannah, whose lips were invitingly near her own. "I like seeing you in the shirt. It reminds me of my mother."

"Well then," Hannah pulled away, and peeled off the shirt with a flourish. That left her completely topless. "That's the last person I want you thinking of when you look at me!"

"I... um...you..." January struggled for words. Then Hannah's lips were dancing across her own, and she no longer had to pretend to know how to form words. January did not know how long they stood there in front of the stove. It was long enough for a bubble of sauce to pop up, and spatter them both.

Hannah leaped away as the hot spaghetti sauce splashed across her bare skin. January did not mind the searing heat. But the bright red spots that now blossomed across her white top were another story. She should have known better than to wear white while making spaghetti! She followed Hannah's example, and pulled the cami over her head. Unlike her, she headed for the utility room to douse it with bleach while it was still white.

The January Doctrine! Well done and suits her well.

Armor + striptease = not a good combo.

A fun, domestic scene as the two women get to know each other better and confirm their strong mutual attraction via teasing/flirting despite being interrupted by distractions.

I chuckled that Jan’s practicality won out over her passion at the end with that white cami top.

Nice, look at all that space. That's a lot of room in the Witch House! January could have one heck of a DnD campaign in any of those rooms with all her friends & acquaintances mentioned earlier, but I understand having a gigantic nerd party would not make for as exciting a chapter for us.



Hey, you're doing research for the story, like a method writer! I don't know if you have Peet's Coffee in Michigan. If so, that stuff is like crack + meth in a to-go cup. Last time I drank too much of that I seriously got paranoid. Not that Jan or any of the others on her side would ever go that far, but I can see one of the villains being a Peet's addict. Don't do "research" on Peet's (or whatever equivalent you've got up there) without caution.

Star Wars!

I like where it says she's got a lack of furniture. Indeed, I can imagine how much space there is. When it says "she took down her pictures of fighters" which fighters are we talking about? Martial artists and such?

The Viking Virtues part breaks my heart. That's my favorite part of getting to know someone you care about. Little moments like this (talking of Hanna's point of view, now).

I am glad you added the striptease part in. It's a definite new step for this story, and for any of your other stories I've read so far. It also makes me feel a little more at ease with some of the content I'm about to post in the next Vicious.

Gawd I hope these two don't get interrupted with a distress call.... WHOA mom's got some metal in her! I wonder how she wound up with dad, then.

That T-shirt is Vintage. Gah, we're all getting old.

Yikes. The end's got me all hot & bothered. How am I gonna post Vicious now? Maybe it's time for a shower...


Edit: better yet, time to rock out to some Iron Maiden. Yah!!!! Go go go Eddie!!!!

Acadian: I was disappointed to learn that the Nine Noble Virtues were indeed written by a member of the British Union of Fascists. But as January said, it gave me an opportunity to dig in and create a new set of values for January to define herself by. In the end, it turned out much better this way.

I enjoyed writing the flirting scenes with the interruptions by everyday distractions. That kind that come up all the time in non-super life. It was a nice opportunity to show super characters living the same as everyone else. Spaghetti stains and all...


Renee: Maybe some day I will be able to work in a giant nerd party at Casa de Jan. But probably not until Season Two at the soonest.

If you look back at the very start of the story, you will see mentions of various MMA fighters she had pictures of. I forget their names at the moment. She does not need to look up to people like them anymore. Now Jan is the inspiration for people like them.

The (failed) striptease was an amusing anecdote, which might be a story that gets told in the future. Just one of those examples of how when you want something to be romantic and steamy, it can often just completely fall apart.

Mom is definitely metal. She's a cool chick. Dad was cool back in the college days too. Until his career went nowhere because college teachers almost never get made professor these days, or get real full-times jobs with benefits from universities anymore. Instead 75% of instructors are basically part time gig workers, which is just wrong in so many ways.










Three Wil Wheaton Moon Shirt

Angry Pakistani Cricket Fan

Witch House Floor Plan

Felix the Black Lab


Book 8.10 - Blood

So began January's first romantic dinner at home with her new girlfriend. She was not sure if that was what Hannah really was. But with both of them clad in new attire, they settled down to an Italian dinner in the kitchen. She set their plates out on the granite-topped island in the middle of the room, and they perched there upon two of the stools. It was not like January had a dining room table after all. Her mother had taken that with her when she moved out.

"I know you got spaghetti sauce on the other top, but you can do better than that," Hannah looked up from her plate to nod at January's new shirt.

January looked down, and raised an eyebrow in Spockian incredulity. "This is my Three Wil Wheaton Moon shirt," she said, as if that explained everything.

"That guy looks like some kind of nerd," Hannah murmured. "And what is that in the corner. It looks like a hyper dimensional object?"

"He is a nerd, and that is a twenty-sided die." January declared. "Don't they have Star Trek where you come from, or The Guild, or TableTop? Or role-playing games?"

"OMG, I've fallen in love with a nerd..." Hannah murmured through a mouthful of spaghetti. January could not help but notice the "L" word in there. She was not sure if Hannah had even noticed that she had said it. January, on the other hand, was speechless. It was a condition Hannah had a habit of inspiring within her. January found that all she could do was blush in response.

"So are you and you know, Blood Raven a thing then?" Hannah broke the long silence that was forming at the kitchen island.

January nearly spat a mouthful of spaghetti across the kitchen. As it was she had to fight to keep from choking on the noodles and ground hamburger. The very thought horrified and sickened her at once.

"No, no, no, no, no, just no!" she finally spat out. "She's my great-grandmother!"

"Your great grandma?" Hannah looked incredulous. "She can't be that old. She looks younger than my mother."

"She a lot older than you think," January said. "Actually, she's my seven-times great-grandmother, on my father's side."

Hannah put her hands on her hips, and stared at her like the meme of the angry Pakistani cricket fan.

"It's true," January insisted. "She was born before the American Revolution. She's about two and half centuries old."

"Not even supers live that long," Hannah argued. "Well maybe Janos Heisen, I hear he's just a brain in a robotic body. But supers weren't even around back then."

"You are right, meta-humans were not around back then." January replied. "But magic was. It sort of runs in our family, sometimes. There is no escaping our blood."

Hannah shook her head. "Sometimes I don't know what to believe with you," she declared. "You say the most outrageous things. Then you do the most outrageous things."

"I will never lie to you Hannah," January reached out and took one of her hands for a moment. "Magic is real. It's a part of me, and my family. It has been for at least a thousand years, back to Blood Raven's father."

"Don't tell me he's still around too," Hannah laughed. Her face turned serious when she saw that January was not laughing.

"Blood Raven killed him seventy years ago." January frowned. "But he has a habit of not staying dead. That's what those diagrams up in my bedroom are about. They're summoning rituals to bring him back. Someone out there is trying to do just that, and we have to stop them before it's too late."

"And he returns to rule the Earth from beyond the grave!" Hannah mocked and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, that sounds like a movie."

"It's reality," January stood up and took her plate to the sink. "If you want to live, you had better take it seriously, because a djieien, or a buggane, or a nibinabe is no joke. They are nightmares from beyond this world, and they are all Nátthrafn's to command.

"That's what that spider was in Ferndale, wasn't it?" Hannah did look sincere now. "No one ever explained where it came from, or where it went to, just that you defeated it."

"The Summoner brought it up from the Abyss," January explained. "They are growing stronger, calling more and more powerful creatures, until they are finally strong enough to call Blood Raven's father."

"And then what?"

"Then... I don't know. Once upon a time he was just an evil man, and his cruelties were bounded by the limits of magic at the time." January said quite seriously. "But ever since Tunguska, there are no limits. You have seen what Blood Raven can do, and she is only two and a half centuries old. He has had a thousand years to refine his power. I don't think he's human anymore. If he comes back, it might just really be the end of the world. That's why we cannot let that happen."

"Ok, so count me in." Hannah stood up from the kitchen counter. "We'll do it together. When do we start?"

January felt a swell of pride within her chest at the other woman's declaration. Clearly, Hannah had a lot of nerve. She just hoped it was real courage, and not bravado. There was really no way to tell until things got real. But did she have the right to push Hannah into that kind of situation in the first place?

"First things first," January said. "You need to train, and prepare, and be in full command of yourself."

"I will," Hannah insisted. "I am. When do I get my own super suit? I've got a name already - Vortex - thanks to you."

"I... dunno," January said honestly, "in time, when you're ready."

"Who says when I am ready?" Hannah challenged.

"You do, when you show it," January replied.

"Now that's circular logic," Hannah argued.

"It is," January agreed. "It is also true. You will be ready, when you are ready."

"Now you sound like some old kung fu master," Hannah shook her head.

"Must be my grandmother rubbing off on me," January observed.

* * *

January took Hannah on a tour through the Witch House. It was laid out like a wheel. The axis was the tall rotunda in the center of the house that stretched up through both floors. The other rooms circled around the rim of the house.

She started at the main entrance and foyer. It sat in the front, right corner of the building, beside the long driveway. A covered porch sat outside, and ran the length of the front wall. Once inside, a wide opening led from the foyer to the rotunda in the center of the house. But January did not take this route.

Instead she briefly opened a door set in the left wall of the foyer. A study was revealed beyond, that sat in the front of the building. The walls were lined with bookshelves that now sat empty. A great wooden desk lurked at the far end of the room, and a massive globe stood from the floor, depicting the world as it was known centuries ago. But other than these few things, the room lay quiet and alone.

From there January led them back to the foyer, and this time through a door on its right wall. This led into a living room that bordered the driveway. A large window allowed light to stream within, and a massive fireplace took up one corner of the room. Other than that however, it too, was empty.

January continued to lead the way counter-clockwise around the rim of the house. Next they found themselves in the dining room. It was also empty of course, as January had neither a table nor chairs to put in there. That put them in the back, right corner of the house. Continuing in their circuit of the house, January led them through the kitchen, and into the small diamond-shaped intersection beyond.

From here a family room in the back, left corner of the house was visible, and the central rotunda in the opposite direction. January led them past each, and into small room with more doors. One led to a utility room crammed with appliances. Another led to a small bathroom. The final one led them into a sun room in the front corner of the house, which she had converted to a gym.

Much of the hardwood floor was covered in thick mats. A full length mirror was mounted upon one wall, and free weights were stacked up in a cradle against one of the floor to ceiling windows. January's dragon silk punching bag hung from its Armex steel mount in the center of the wide space. In one corner was a bench press and in another an elliptical machine. Finally, an inversion bar was bolted to the ceiling, with a pair of gravity boots clipped to it.

That completed their exploration of the ground floor of the house. After ascending the grand staircase that curled up around the rotunda, January led them around the second floor. A balcony ringed the open space in the center of the building. Right off the stair was a little intersection where several doors met. One led to the master bedroom in the center of the rear wall, and beyond that the private bath attached to it. Another door led to a large room in the left, rear corner of the house. It was lined with windows, but January could not guess what its original function had been. Now it just sat empty, like most of the house.

Two more doors in the tiny vestibule led to a small bedroom and a bathroom set against the left side of the building. She continued to follow the balcony counter-clockwise past them. The rest of the floor was lined with bedrooms. Most had small, private baths within them. That is except for the loft in the front, right corner of the house of course. This was the room that hid the secret stairway that lead to the sanctum above.

When they returned to the landing at the top of the stairs and the small intersection there, January reached up to an access hatch in the ceiling above. She pulled down a string from it, and swung down a folding ladder and straightened it out. Once it was firmly planted on the floor, she led the way up into the attic. The space was cramped, and the roof sloped sharply overhead. Several dormer windows allowed some light to trickle within. This revealed a treasure trove of wooden crates, barrels, boxes, and containers of all sizes and shapes. There were even ceramic jugs like the amphorae used by the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

"What is all this stuff?" Hannah wondered.

"I don't really know," January shrugged. "I think it belonged to the original owner, Blood Raven's teacher. I haven't really looked that much. I didn't want to disturb her stuff."

"In case she comes back?" Hannah asked.

"I don't think she is coming back," January said. "From what Blood Raven has said, she's moved on from this world."

"Oh, I didn't know she was dead," Hannah murmured quietly.

"Oh, she not dead!" January laughed. "She's moved on, literally. She's exploring the multiverse. I think she taught herself how by creating the sanctum."

"Well that's... cool!" Hannah breathed. "Now that place makes more sense. It's like, it makes you really see reality, and what's behind reality, how it all works."

"Yeah, she sounds like she was a really cool lady," January nodded. "She's why it's called the Witch House. She made it. I looked it up. It's built in the Queen Anne Revival style. But she built it at least a century before the style existed."

January led the way back down out of the attic. Once they were down she folded up the ladder and pushed the hatch up to stow it in the ceiling once more. From there they went to the bedroom. Aside from the exercise room, it was the only completely furnished area in the house.

"I can't believe you don't have a TV," Hannah said with amazement when they sat on her bed. "I've never seen a house without a TV."

"If I want to watch something, I just use my tablet," January shrugged. She leaned over and picked up her old Fire 7 device. "Not that I usually do, between working out, training, reading, and writing, there isn't much time for anything else."

"You're my warrior poet," Hannah smiled, and wrapped an arm around January's waist.

January turned the tablet on, and was pleased to see a notification from Imgrr. She tapped several times on the screen to open up the picture-sharing app. It went to a series of photos of a dog with disfigured head. It appeared like one side of his face had melted and collapsed, from his nose all the way back to his eye.

"Yay, it's Felix!" January crowed. In the brand new video that she clicked on, the dog raced about someone's kitchen floor. The black Labrador retriever's tail wagged furiously, and he was clearly excited about the meatballs the videographer was feeding to him by hand.

"Ewww, that's horrible!" Hannah literally recoiled at the sight of the dog. "How can you look at that?"

"What?" January felt puzzled. "Felix is adorable!"

"What is like, wrong with him?" Hannah made a sour face.

"He was born with a cleft lip," January explained. "He's been getting regular surgeries for it. But I don't think he'll ever be completely normal."

"That's terrible!"

"Terrible? He's wonderful," January said. "Look at him. Look at how happy he is. He couldn't help how he was born. But that doesn't stop him from loving his life to the fullest. He's an inspiration for me."

"An inspiration for plastic surgery..." Hannah mumbled.

"Oh, that's mean!" January gasped. She turned back to stare at the dog's face, and her voice reflexively dropped into baby talk. "He's such a good little boy."

"So are you and you know, Blood Raven a thing then?" Hannah broke the long silence that was forming at the kitchen island.’
- - I can perfectly imagine Hannah asking this while trying to do so nonchalantly – perhaps even while chewing a mouthful of spaghetti. And I can just as clearly imagine Jan’s reaction!

A wonderful review of what’s at stake and the background for Jan’s ‘Main Quest’. And a great tour of the Witch House as well.

Is that a small red flag I detect? You can tell a lot about someone based upon how animals react to them. And, I figure you can tell almost as much from how someone reacts to an animal. I am really hoping Hannah works out well for Jan. I already know that Hannah would be lucky to have Jan as a gf.


Nit? ’The final one led them into a sun room in the front corner of the house, which she had converted to gym.’ - - converted to a gym or into a gym perhaps?

A "fail", no I found it to be quite believable and real. It made me dream of things long gone. I could you tell a few really dumb things said when clothes flew off faster than expected. Then there is the truly smoky-eyed romantic evening that led only to a long hug and a teary eyed parting.

I think a nerd party would be a great idea. Just for one chapter. I imagine Jan would feel at home with her friends, and so it would be fun to read.

Ha ha 20 sided die. I still have all my weird dice, too. They are great for making decisions with sometimes. Oh cool, she did say the L word. Goodness. This whole set of chapters are like something which could be from a show on the CW channel.

Oh wow. Hannah says "count me in!" Yes, it is the lady's decision for sure.



Jan doesn't need a TV. Every day of her real life is like something from a TV show.

Take care.

Acadian: Poor January, people assuming that you are doing the happy dance with your 7x great grandma must be a real disturbing thing!

That was a little reminder for us that even though this romantic interlude is taking place, there is a main quest out there whose conclusion we are rapidly hurtling toward.

That was indeed a red flag. Not the only one if you look carefully.

Thanks for catching that nit. Another one of those little things spellcheckers do not catch.


macole: Sometimes it is our failures to pull off the "cool" things that turn out to be the most memorable and touching moments in our lives.


Renee: A lot of these episodes in this part of the book do have a very CW feeling. We will be getting to some of the more meaty things in time however. In fact, the biggest battle I have ever written so far will be later in this book.

"Read the TV Guide, and you don't need to watch TV." You are right. January's life is more exciting than a TV show. Well, at times it is. These little scenes with her and Hannah are a wonderful way for me to show the readers what January's ordinary life is like, and just how different she is from most people. In many ways she does live a monk's existence. While in others she is a total nerd.





Book 8.11 - Blood

January could not contain a yawn. She leaned back, raised up both her arms, and stretched. It had been a long, eventful day. She had both fought and made peace with a supervillain, gained a protégé (and perhaps girlfriend?), and trained with said apprentice. That was just what had happened after lunch. If that was not enough to wear her out, two hours of watching Reckless Homemakers on her tablet with Hannah was more than enough to put her to sleep all on its own. She had no idea what the other woman found so fascinating about the show. It was just so... trite and vapid. It was as interesting as watching paint dry.

"It's bedtime," January murmured. She had to admit, the thought did cause her heart to beat faster. What exactly did that mean? Sleeping near Hannah? Or sleeping with Hannah? As much as she longed for the latter, she knew it felt wrong. She also knew that it was going to be a problem, no matter what. It was a bridge best not crossed.

"So what is your plan January? I didn't see any other beds, or even a couch." Hannah smiled coyly.

"I know." January leaped up from the bed and strode to her walk in closet. The long, narrow room sat behind the fireplace. Even all of her clothing hanging within, it still looked empty. She reached down to a plastic-wrapped lump on the floor, and dragged it back to the bedroom proper.

"I'll take the sleeping bag," January said, "and you can sleep on the bed."

She unzipped the thick plastic case, and pulled out her pink, blue, and white striped sleeping bag. She had never gone camping with it. But she had spent plenty of nights sleeping in it at Avery's house.

"You know, we could both just, sleep in the bed," Hannah offered.

"There is barely enough room for just me in that bed," January pointed out.

"I think you are making my point for me," Hannah breathed.

January felt her cheeks blush. This was literally the stuff of dreams. An exciting, mysterious, and undeniably attractive woman was interested in her, really, really interested. In high school she would have scoffed at such a thing ever happening. Not to her. The lead in her pencil was more likely to spontaneously turn into gold. Yet here Hannah was.

"We hardly know each other," January forced her lips to work, in spite of how much her brain just wanted to turn itself off. "I think we should take it slow. I mean, you aren't just a Scissr hookup for me. Well, not that I would really know, I never actually had one of those. I mean..."

"I think I know what you mean," Hannah smiled quietly. "You really are the nice, shy, awkward girl you come across as sometimes on the videos."

"You mean as Stormcrow?" January wondered. "Well, yeah. I am just me. I mean, I try to act more professional when I am in the suit, so people take me seriously. But the reality is I'm not some regal princess, or glamorous supermodel, or even a grizzled space marine. I'm just me."

January thought back to what Blood Raven had said to Hannah earlier, about looking at January, and seeing her for who she truly was. Not the suit, or the wings, but who she was underneath it all.

She felt herself blush once more.

"Ok, we'll do it your way." Hannah's words came as a great relief to January. The other woman walked over to the doorway and shut off the light. That plunged the room into darkness, though not nearly black enough that January could not see Hannah walk back to the bed and climb under the covers.

"Sleep tight," the other woman said.

"Don't let the xenomorphs bite..." January replied out of reflex.

She woke later that night. Not to alien monsters with horrific double sets of jaws, but to something much more pleasant. She smelled the lavender and hyssop body spray that Hannah used, and felt the other woman's soft skin sliding against her own. Their lips met, and January was overwhelmed by the sensation. She was only vaguely aware of the sound of her sleeping bag being zipped open. But she was very conscious of the young woman climbing atop her.

"I'm sorry," Hannah breathed after one particularly long kiss. She laid her head on January's shoulder, face buried under the crook of her jaw. January took a deep breath, and delighted in the competing scents wafting from Hannah's hair. "I know what you said. But I..."

Now it was January kissing Hannah. Her hands raced across the other woman's naked body. She was soft and warm, everything a girl could ever want. Hannah's own hands likewise explored January's lithe frame. They slid under her bedclothes, and drifted across the muscles that banded her tummy. Then one dropped lower, and lower, until her fingers probed between January's legs.

January leaped out of the sleeping bag with a sharp intake of breath. She shook, and reached down with one hand to make sure her pink and white pajamas covered her waist. Hannah squealed. It was not a sound of delight, but one of shock. She looked around wildly, before settling her eyes upon January.

"What's wrong?" She pulled the abandoned sleeping bag up to cover her frame. "What did I do?"

"I'm sorry," January murmured. "I can't do, that."

"What, you mean your... hand crank?" Hannah scrunched her eyebrows up in consternation. "I don't mind it. Like I said, I had a boyfriend once. It just makes it more interesting when a girl has one too."

"Hannah, you are a literal unicorn," January said honestly. The number of women she had known to ever say such a thing now tallied up to one. "But I've got... issues. By Niflheim, I have a whole subscription. The psychologists like to call it gender dysphoria. There are a lot of things about my body that gross me out. That is the worst."

"January, your body is a lot things, but gross is not one of them." Hannah rose from the floor. She wore nothing but the light of the moon that shone through the window. But January could not find anything to marvel about at the sight. Not at the moment. Instead she turned her head down, and wrapped her arms around her torso tightly.

Hannah's own arms clasped around her a moment later, as the other woman settled down beside her. She felt a hand cup the side of her face, and allowed Hannah to pull her head down to her shoulder. She breathed in her flowery scent. But it did not bring her comfort. Instead she just felt her skin crawl.

"I can't do this." January pulled away, and rose to her feet. She stepped to the door. "I'm sorry, I just can't do this. I want to. I wish I could. But I can't be who you want me to be."

"I just want you to be yourself," Hannah insisted softly.

"But I'm not myself," January spat through a lump that had formed in her throat. She sniffled, and felt her eyes water. She waved down at her waist for emphasis. "This isn't me. It's not who I'm supposed to be."

"Okay, so tell me about it," Hannah asked. Her moonlit face looked serious enough. January walked back, and sat down across from her.

"Close your eyes," she said. "Now picture yourself in your mind's eye. Think of your hair, your eyes, your body. What it all looks like. Now imagine opening your eyes, and seeing Steve Bucemi every time you look in the mirror. Imagine hearing his voice whenever you talk."

"Ewww," Hannah instantly reacted to the name of one of Hollywood's least attractive - but undeniably prolific - character actors.

"That is the start of it," January explained. "It feels like my real body was stolen by some monster, and it left me its own in recompense. The literary character I most identify with is Frankenstein's creature. Like him, I didn't ask to be brought into this world, certainly not the way I am. I'd have rather have never been born."

January stared down at the old scars that crossed her wrists.

She heard her mother shriek. It was a ragged sound, but soft, as if from far, far away. January was dimly aware of the covers of her bed being thrown back, revealing the red sea in which she floated. Her father's Roman dagger clattered to the floor, again, sounding distant and muted as it struck the hardwood.

"It's ok Mom," January heard her twelve-year old self say. "It's better this way."

"So that's what you meant about attempting suicide when you were younger. I'm sorry January, I had no idea life felt that way for you. But you can fix things. I mean, you've got girl parts too." Hannah stared at January's small but firm chest. "I know, I've felt them. They're nice."

January did manage a weak smile at that. "I started taking puberty blockers when I was twelve. Then after I convinced my shrink that I was serious about being trans, they let me start hormone replacement therapy. I'm lucky. I managed to escape most of the damage testosterone does to a girl. But not the things I was born with."

"But you can get surgery right?" Hannah said.

"Yes, once I can get enough money for it," January agreed. "That's what keeps me going. Of course I'll have to go back to therapy again, to prove I'm worthy of the honor."

"Do I detect a note of sarcasm?" Hannah smiled.

"More than a note," January sighed. "If you are born with a cleft lip, you don't have to prove that you should have surgery to correct it. It's taken for granted. But everything about helping trans people is blocked off by gatekeepers and money. I don't have the right to declare what my identity is. Only someone else can do that for me. I don't have the right to get the medical care I need, unless someone else allows me to first. This world does everything in its power to prevent us from just living our own lives. That's how much our simple existence scares the shit out of them."

"So that's why you came out," Hannah nodded. "Now I get it. It's not just about you. It's about everyone else like you."

"Yeah," January agreed. "I had to do it. I can't convince someone's therapist that they have the right to surgery. I can't give them the money they need to get it, or to live on after they get fired from their job because they transitioned. I can't keep them safe from the people who will murder them. All I can do is use that damn cape to shine a light on these things, so one day no one can deny our right to exist. If that's the only thing I ever accomplish in my life, I guess it will be worth all the pain."

"I'm sorry Hannah," January said. "If this was a book or a movie, this would be some wonderfully romantic evening, filled with candles and rose petals and true love's first kiss. If I was anyone else it probably would be. A lot of trans people don't have the issues I do with sex. They can do it just fine, even with the gender dysphoria. I even know one girl online who described her junk as just an overly large clitoris. I try telling myself that, but it just does not work. I can't get used to it, and really don't want to get used to it."

I was wondering how the romance would play out as the two began to explore their physical attraction for each other. Hannah sounds like she is more of less aware of what she is getting into at least as far as the physical side of things. It is January’s internal confusion that holds them back. I was pleased to see Hannah’s acceptance, even support of January. And Jan did a superb job of explaining her inner turmoil in a manner that was easy to understand and empathize with. January pretty bravely bares her soul in this episode and, for that reason, I imagine it was both intense and challenging to write. Beautifully done though!

Wow, lots going on here and these two certainly face some daunting challenges. Surgery for Jan? Will Hannah continue to stand by her with the passage of time? Will Blood Raven’s warning be prophetic?

Reckless Homemakers! Sounds like a combination of Real Housewives and Love It or List It.

This part of their relationship is tricky, because technically they're still on their first date, right? So that can also get tricky. Because they've literally jumped from the "getting to know" phase to a full-blown relationship very quickly. Jan is already getting bored by Hannah's show. That's something which normally wouldn't happen for months, maybe years.

But nothing is really normal about these two. I'd imagine they have to skip a bunch of steps, because their lives are sort of in a fast-forward mode. Jan being constantly, unofficially on-call, for instance, or willing to put herself in that situation. Maybe they have to capture whatever experiences they can. Because Hannah could be maimed or killed tomorrow if she chooses an opponent she's not ready for.

Scissr! Whoa! I'm too young for that part. It's well-written though, Rosa. All of this is very believable, CW or not. Not easy to pull off, in my opinion. I'd screw it up for sure.

Steve Bucemi is awesome actor. I agree I wouldn't want to be thinking of him then though.

Hannah really is a doll. Very open-minded and compassionate. She's a keeper. Jan really needs to get that surgery somehow so she can be herself. But at least Hannah doesn't seem to mind. At least there's that.

Acadian: Hannah is what the kids today call "Down to Fuck". Granted, whether that is because she sees January for who she really is - or if she still only sees the media image of Stormcrow - is another matter entirely. That whole scene was challenging, in a lot of ways. Not the least because even though we are not at the old Beth forums anymore, I still want to keep my writing basically at a YA level. So no gratuitous porn. But I do want to keep it real. And I want January's very real issues to be plain. She's not perfect. She's got enough issues for an entire subscription.


Renee: Reckless Homemakers is a total ripoff of Desperate Housewives. Or is it Real Housewives? Are there more than one of those shows? Some shallow evening melodrama that is just a soap opera of sexual misadventures.

You are right. Nothing is normal about these two. Even thought this is technically their first date, Hannah is already living with January, because of their weird meta-human situation. The abnormality of it all was very keenly imprinted on me as I was writing all these CW segments. As much as I have tried to keep it all as mundane as possible: making dinner, watching TV, worrying about sleeping arrangements, etc... there will always be an unreality to everything because of their shared super life.

I thought Scissr was a made up thing. But it is not! It really exists. It is the lesbian counterpart to Grindr. Sometimes life is more ironic than irony.







Uniroyal Giant Tire

The Girl Who Gets Gifts From Birds

Crows Know What They Know



Book 8.12 - Blood

January sat in front of her computer. Sunlight streamed in through her bedroom windows, and filled the room with warm gold. Hannah lay tummy down on the bed, head in her hands, and legs sticking up behind her with ankles crossed. She was idly flipping through her phone, and taking breaks to just stare at January and smile.

January had to admit, it was a little unnerving. She hoped that smile was a good one. But after last night's romantic fiasco, she was taking nothing for granted. Now she wondered if this was how Ryo felt all the time? He had told her that being around people made him steadily more and more uncomfortable, because he could not understand what their body language meant. He could not tell if people smiled because they were happy to be around him, or if they were making fun of him. Was this what his entire life was like?

She tried to ignore that, and instead concentrated on the computer screen. She had Lane State University's registration interface up, and was picking classes for the Fall Term. Thankfully she had already done all the preliminary work of enrolling and transferring her credits from Macomb Community College. Aside from her core literature and creative courses, she also chose to take another psychology class, and one on Queer studies. The former ought to be useful in both her writing and everyday life. The latter just seemed like a no-brainer.

Finally of course, she paid for it all. Well, her mother did. More importantly, Branwen Renner did. January did not know how she ever could have paid for it on her own. With her fiction selling now and the Artemis Argent Jumpstarter campaign being a success, she could pay her own day to day bills. But that was a far cry from paying for gender confirmation surgery and college. Lane State was a modest school, far from the most expensive in Michigan. But even it alone would have been completely beyond her. She would have been forced to get a student loan, and spend the rest of her life paying off the interest on it.

Her mother used to talk about how once upon a time you could work part time and put yourself through school. But those days were long gone, if such wild fairytales were ever true to begin with. Just like the days of going to the college to sign up for classes in person. Her mom had told her that she had to wait in line to sign up, and hope that the classes she wanted were not filled up before she had her turn.

That made January wonder if Julius Caesar had ever been disappointed to be left out of Intro to Conquering Warlord 1010, and been forced to take a class in Basic Demagoguery 1020 instead. What a crazy place the world used to be.

With it all finished, January leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief. That was it then. She was going back to school after all! Her first class started at the end of August. That gave her two months of playtime over the summer, before she had to hit the books again.

Playtime of course meant working out, writing for her career, learning magic, and of course supering. Maybe she could work in a trip to the zoo somewhere in there? She had not been there since she was a child. It might be nice to use the summer to do something fun. She had heard that the zoo had wolves now, and new polar bear cubs.

"All done?" She felt Hannah's hands slide across her shoulders, and gently massage her muscles. A groan of pure delight escaped from January's lips, and she leaned her head back to relax. That nestled her right into the other woman's chest, which she decided was a much nicer place to visit than even the zoo.

"All done," January declared. "I am once again an academic. What about you? Are you going to school in the fall?"

"I don't know," Hannah said. "I haven't really thought about it. My mother wants me to go to the University of Sydney. That's where she went. But it's all the way in Australia!"

"Your mother's from Australia?" January asked.

"Yeah, she moved here after she graduated," Hannah explained. "She's a software developer for a company that makes phone apps. You know that phone game that Kenndra Kadassia put out? She's made that."

"The one that paid off her husband Kayne's debts?" January rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I remember hearing about that."

"That's the one. It's made a ton of money. I guess that's why my mom can afford to live in San Francisco." Hannah explained.

"San Fran must be nice," January thought. "You've got the ocean right there, Starfleet headquarters, Adrian Monk solving crimes, Dirty Harry torturing suspects, and Raven Baxter having psychic visions with wacky outcomes. It sounds great!"

"Plus Towering Infernos, Bullitts, and Escapes from Alcatraz," Hannah smiled. "Yeah, my hometown's got it all. But Detroit has... stuff too."

"We have a big tire," January said totally deadpan. When she saw Hannah was staring back her in confusion, she went on. "Seriously, we have a big tire. It's on the West Side, by the airport. You drive past it on I-94."

Hannah did not look impressed.

"It's like, the biggest tire in the world," January insisted. "It's got its own Wiki page.

She looked even less impressed than before.

"Here, let me bring it up on the computer," January insisted, "I'll show you."

But Hannah stopped her from straightening up. Instead she leaned down, and kissed her, upside down. It was like something from a movie. When Hannah was done, January had forgotten all about tires.

"So you're still okay then, after last night?" January asked pensively. "I didn't mean to be so dramatic. I should have stopped things before they got that far."

"No, I get it January," Hannah said. "We've all got issues and boundaries. I should have thought about that before I got in bed with you. It's just that you seem so, I dunno, confident, and self-assured, like nothing ever fazes you. I forget that you are just a regular person too."

"Well, as a regular person, I need to feed the birds," January declared. "Then maybe we can make breakfast before Blood Raven gets here for training."

"Feed the birds?" Hannah raised an eyebrow. "What are you like, a grandma in the park?"

"Come on," January tossed her head in invitation. "You'll see."

She led the other woman down the stairs to the kitchen. She pulled a container of nuts from one cabinet, and a wide plastic bowl from another. She carried them out the back door, down the porch, and onto the grass of the yard. She shook the nuts around in the container with a loud sloshing noise. Then she set the bowl down to the ground at her feet and poured some of the nuts out into it.

The raucous cawing of a crow lit out from a tree in the back of yard. The cry was taken up by another harsh, corvid tongue nearby. Then another and another joined the throaty chorus. In no time at all a bird with glistening black feathers and a long, thick beak came flapping down. It did not land at the bowl however. Instead it flew down to January's outstretched hand. It dropped something shiny there from its talons. Then it finally dropped to the earth and began to peck at the peanuts in the wide bowl.

January looked at her prize, and discovered that it was the shiny foil wrapper from a stick of gum. She smiled softly as more crows flew down. Some dropped more presents at her feet. Others simply went straight to the bowl. Soon it was crowded with blackbirds gobbling up the nuts.

"They really like peanuts. So far that's their favorite." January murmured as she bent down to pick up her other gifts. One was a penny, so new that it still shone with a coppery luster. Another was yellow plastic toy block, with a blue paperclip stuck into one of its locking tubes.

"Are they giving you presents?" Hannah stared. Once more January noted the look of awe in her face. It was like she thought this sort of thing was unique, rather than an everyday experience. It reminded January that what she thought was ordinary, and what others did, often seemed to be very different things.

"They've always liked me," January smiled. "Ever since I was little, they would come and say 'hi', and sometimes give me things. Crows are smart. They know what they know, and they remember. They never forget their friends, or their enemies."

"Now that sounds ominous."

"Crows?" January raised an eyebrow. The rough croaking sound of one of the birds lent emphasis to the motion. "Nothing ominous about crows, they've always been some of my best friends."

So, it’ll be back to school at the end of the summer. I hope Jan’ll be able to balance things. Like getting a Crow Alert call from Gadget on her way to an important class. I hope she can get through school and settle in to her writing – that sounds like a much more flexible career for a superhero.

I’m not surprised that Branwen is helping with the expen$e of Jan’s tuition

The comparing cities (SF vs Detroit) was a hoot when Jan brought up the giant tire – and Hannah was not impressed.

A bit of closure from the awkwardness of the night before:
"No, I get it Jan," Hannah said. "We've all got issues and boundaries. I should have thought about that before I got in bed with you. It's just that you seem so, I dunno, confident, and self-assured, like nothing ever fazes you. I forget that you are just a regular person too."
- - I’m beginning to rather like Hannah.

How interesting about the crows bringing presents. That is one aspect of ESO that I think you would like. Numerous times you encounter talking crows. They have a whole courtly social/flock structure organization (Dukes and such) and generally have quite a thing about ‘shinies’.

I didn't know Scissr is real either! I thought you were referring to Tumblr. Forgot all about Grindr. Scissr makes sense as a lesbo site though, because of .. uh.. scissoring.

Yes, Desperate Housewives, not Real. There might have been a Real version at some point.



True. And also, if we look at the history of dating and include all walks of life, there are surely others out there who don't progress their dating in any sort of normal fashion. Drug users for instance, and other co-dependent types can wind up practically living together very quickly. I'd imagine homeless couples as well. Damn. Didn't mean to compare Jan with those living on the fringes. The same might apply to power couples as well, sometimes they're so busy, they haven't got time to take things slow. Although for them there are a lot of other options since they have money.

I had another thought about their relationship, which is guidance. They are both on their own, it seems. I know it's still their first date, but assuming they stay together as a couple, I wonder who Jan will call when she needs to know what Hannah meant when she did X. What does it mean when Hannah says X? Because sometimes when we day things, we really mean something else. That sort of thing.

Well, I suppose she could always call her mom, but I was thinking friends, as well. It always helps to talk to others about dating/relationship stuff. And I imagine Jan would have a lot of questions since Hannah is her first. All this stuff is *bam* suddenly new, along with all the other stuff going on in her life.

Ah, just ignore me, Rosa, if I'm getting too deep.

wow, she's picking classes for fall semester. That's going to be one heck of a dual life situation. I wonder how much her life will change during those "two months of playtime".

Yep, a lot of stuff used to be done in person. Renting movies is a huge one. Heck, going to movies seems like it's going to phase out at some point, especially with stupid Covid messing everything up.

Nice, she's feeding crows. And they're somehow making gifts out of foil. Crows are awesome. At my old job we used to feed a bunch of them, especially during winter. They'd come from nowhere, sometimes. Never could get any of them to make any gifts though.

Acadian: One of the reasons I picked Jan's career as being a writer was that it is something flexible. She can just dart off and do super stuff at any time of the day. Someone working a 9-5 job at a factory cannot do that, at least not without getting fired.

I have never figured out just how much money Blood Raven has. Just that it is enough for lifetimes. I suspect it is a combination of being a silent partner/shareholder is several businesses that she expected might become successful, such as Microsoft or IBM, as well as those that have come and gone, like Kodak and Toys R Us. Plus I know at one point she had a run in with pirates in Lake Michigan and/or the Mississippi. I suspect there was some buried gold involved there.

The San Fran vs. Detroit conversation was fun to write. Especially since we do have a tire. It's a big tire.

Hannah has her rough spots. But she has her good ones too. She might be a diamond in the rough. Or she might just be rough. Only time will tell.

I love the idea of talking crows. They really are smart animals. They remember people, and know who their friends are, and their enemies. And they definitely love their bling!


Renee: Jan does have some sources for guidance. Blood Raven for starters. She might be old and out of touch with pop culture. But some things never change. The Raven has already been trying to provide wise council as it is. Not that teens ever listen to such things...

Some very, very huge things are going to happen in those two months. In just the next two weeks. That is when Season One will wrap up. I see only two Books after the current one: Ashes and Abyss, and both look rather short in comparison to what came before. By the time Jan is in school, we will be in Season Two, and Jan will have a whole slew of new challenges to deal with.

Movie theaters have been a dying thing for a long time now. Covid has just made it more obvious. I pretty much gave up on going to movies about a decade ago. It is just too much hassle. I would rather sit and home and watch a movie, and be able to pause it whenever I want to use the bathroom, or make something to eat, or to look up the actors in the IMDB. Not to mention that at home, you can watch any time you want.





Cosmos - The Lives of the Stars

Graphophone


Book 8.13 - Blood

January, Blood Raven, and Hannah all stood within the sanctum once more. All were suited up in their armor, with Hannah once again wearing January's incomplete backup suit. This time they threw tennis balls at Hannah, obliging her to block them with her force fields.

In time Blood Raven mixed things up by adding in target dummies. She and January would throw the balls at them, and Hannah's goal was to block them with her force fields. That compelled her to create her energy shields somewhere other than in front of herself. She had difficulty with this at first, and more often than not the balls careened off dummy heads and chests. But soon enough, she was creating the opaque barriers within a short distance from her body.

After some time spent on this, they moved on to offense. During the chase through the mall Hannah had demonstrated the ability to create waves of force to strike both January and her father. Now Blood Raven bid her to do the same, this time using another dummy as the target.

This did not go as well. Hannah scrunched up her face with effort, and flung out her hands for effect. But nothing sprang forth. Blood Raven was patient however, and counseled the young woman.

"I suspect that creating these waves of force is much like generating a solid wall. Perhaps you should start by producing one of your normal force fields, and visualizing it moving away from you. Apply your will to that, make it reality."

Hannah closed her eyes, and created a stationary force field in front of her. January could only see the general outline of her form through the opaque surface of the energy screen. She could make out the other woman's arms push forward. But again, the force field did not budge.

"Think back to the mall, when you used your kinetic bolt to send your dad and me flying." January said. "Think back to what you were feeling. Try to conjure that emotion up, and channel it into your force field."

Then with no warning January leaped forward toward the force field. "Valhalla Awaits!" she shouted as she came crashing down upon it with her elbow. Her flesh met the pattern of energy and force and shattered it. January landed, and continued forward. This time she deliberately slowed herself, to give Hannah plenty of time to react.

The other woman did just that. This time when Hannah made as if to push January away, she did it with real passion. January felt a wave of force crash into her. It lifted her up like a tidal wave, and sent her careening backward across the sanctum. She was able to tuck herself into a roll, and bounded along with the hurricane of force. Finally she came to her feet, at least fifty feet away.

"OMG!" Hannah's mouth dropped open in horror. "Are you ok? I didn't mean to do that!"

"She is fine," Blood Raven answered as January took a moment to knock imaginary dust from her shoulders. "You were supposed to do that. Stop holding back for fear of harming another. Embrace it. You will damage neither the sanctum nor us."

"But what if I go home and destroy my mother's house?" Hannah bit her lip. "I already ruined my bedroom wall."

"I see now," Blood Raven nodded. "Your concern is admirable. If only more meta-humans shared your feelings, construction workers should be not be obliged to work so many hours of overtime. However, the irony is that we must first learn to use our power to its fullest extent, before we can also learn to not use it to that extent. Give it your all. Learn what that feels like."

"These abilities are a part of you, just as your ability to walk, or speak, or think," Blood Raven continued. "With practice, using them will be just as natural as doing those things. Just as importantly, not using them will become just as natural as choosing to not take a step. They will respond to your will, and your will alone, rather than to your fears. You must never fear your power. For then you will repress it, and it will only manifest when you cannot control it."

"In time we shall practice at scaling back, so that you might use this power with precision." Blood Raven went on. "Eventually you should be able to flick a feather off January's head, without disturbing a single strand of her hair."

"Now again, strike January!" Blood Raven insisted.

This time January was fully prepared. She focused upon Earth. She planted herself, and became one with the planet. She was stone, she was the mountain, she was adamant. When the tidal wave of Hannah's force bolt struck her, it simply flowed around her. January's feet did not budge an inch from the pebbles set into the floor's endless mosaic. Her frame did not bend. She was a literal immovable object.

"Excellent!" Blood Raven crowed.

So they went on for hours. Blood Raven clearly placed more importance on this than on the purely defensive force fields that Hannah could create. January did not have to ask why. These bolts of pure kinetic energy were dangerous. More than anything, these were what she needed to learn to control the most.

January found it helpful herself. She had spent years enchanting her body to resist harm. The bullies in Junior High School had provided plenty of impetus for that. But her recent battles had taught her that by focusing purely upon the element of Earth, she could increase her invulnerability to even greater heights. When she deliberately planted herself no one had ever moved her from that spot. Not the Nazi Werebear, or even Hungry Ghost when striking at his highest density. Now she immersed herself in not only employing that ultimate defense, but refining it.

She was almost tempted to ask Blood Raven to hit her for real, to see if she could withstand it. She did not however. This was not her time after all. This was Hannah's.

Finally Blood Raven allowed them to take a break. Hannah pulled the helmet from her features. She was bathed in sweat from the effort. January did likewise, and took a moment to pull her hair free from the hole set where the base of her helmet met her tunic for just that purpose. She clapped Hannah upon the shoulders and grinned.

"Good workout!" January exclaimed quite honestly. "You hit pretty good."

"I really didn't hurt you at all?" Hannah asked. January was not sure if she was concerned, or disappointed.

"I am fine," January smiled. "I know how to take a hit."

"So why do you wear armor?" Hannah asked.

"You know, I've been asking myself that same question a lot lately," January answered. "I think because at first it gave me the confidence to act, especially in that battle against Lighthammer in the hotel."

"Ever since then..." January shrugged. "I dunno. I just got used to it. It does have my 'colors' after all. I guess we all need some kind of suit, as a statement of intent, just like a knight had a surcoat."

"Perhaps we should speak with Mr. Blackwood about weaving new garb for you?" Blood Raven interjected.

By then all three had tramped down the stairs and into the kitchen. There January poured out a tall glass of almond milk, and took a deep swallow. Hannah took a can of FaeCo from the fridge, and guzzled down mouthful after mouthful. When she put it down, she looked around to see the other women staring at her.

"What?" she said defensively. "We don't have Fae Cola on the West Coast. It's all Sepsi and Koch-A-Cola."

They clustered around the marble kitchen island. January reflexively sat beside Hannah. She could not resist just gently touching the other woman's knee with her own. Hannah said nothing at this, but did smile in her direction. As a long silence developed, January picked her tablet up from the counter top. A few taps led her to her MeTube favorites. In no time at all the old documentary series Cosmos was playing. Carl Sagan sat in an elegant dining hall, dressed in a brown blazer and red turtleneck. He explained that to make an apple pie from scratch, one must first create the Universe.

Blood Raven took note, and after a moment she reached into her wrist-mounted computer. She detached a small wafer from it. She plugged this into January's tablet, and an instant later the cheap device went dark. But then a brilliant display leaped up into the air above Blood Raven's wafer. Carl Sagan stood within this holographic interface, and continued on speaking as if nothing had happened.

"Wow, that is lit!" Hannah breathed.

January had to admit, it certainly was. But she could not retain a twinge of jealousy. Not even Gadget could do something like that, yet... She knew that Blood Raven's holographic displays were courtesy of the Laughing Man. They were another meta-inventor, one who had been on the scene for a lot longer than her best friend.

January moved the time counter toward the end of the episode. She remembered this one. She remembered all of Cosmos. She had watched it nearly a dozen times with Avery after all. He owned the entire series on disc. As she had hoped, Hannah became enraptured when the talk turned to black holes.

Sagan explained how once its gravity was great enough, a black hole winked from our universe, and left only its gravity behind. It slipped through a self-generated crack in the spacetime continuum. All the while the screen moved through a series of three dimensional grids, each nested within the next. It was like traveling through one layer of reality after another.

Then the show moved on to a segment with Sagan standing on the edge of the standard flat representation of spacetime. It was a black plane with a grid drawn over it in white. The plane was revealed to be some sort of fabric, when the eminent science communicator tossed a large ball down its length. As it rolled along the surface it sank down and puckered the fabric around the ball. Sagan explained that this was similar to how gravity curved space.

"This is what I do," Hannah gasped, her eyes aglow with rapture. "It's like those pictures you showed me. I am warping space."

The show moved on to explain that black holes were a sort of bottomless pit created by gravity's inexorable distortion of spacetime. Then Sagan dropped the bomb January had been waiting for. He declared that by plunging into a black hole, you might emerge somewhere else in space, and possibly some when else in time. Assuming you survived the experience of course.

"This is me!" Hannah exclaimed out loud as the discussion turned to wormholes. "I've been doing this since I was fourteen!"

Hannah put an arm around January, and squeezed her gently. January could not restrain a smile of satisfaction. Not just from the physical contact, but from the joy she saw radiating from Hannah's features. Not even a black hole could have sucked that down. Blood Raven gave her an appreciative look, and even nodded ever so slightly. Clearly, she could see that January had not chosen to show this particular portion of this specific show by accident.

"I still don't understand why all this works," Hannah stared at the screen intently. "I mean I get how, sort of. But how does matter create gravity? Why does it do the things it does? Why does it affect spacetime? Why does spacetime even exist?"

"Perhaps you should go to school to study these things?" Blood Raven offered. "Then someday, you might explain it to us."

"Maybe I will," Hannah nodded. "Maybe someday I'll go out there, to space. Janos Heisen went to Jupiter. If the Technocrat can do it, why not me? Why not go farther, to another solar system? Or another galaxy?"

"You remind me of Keziah," Blood Raven mused. "Follow those dreams, as she did. Perhaps one day you will meet her on some distant star, in some distant time."

"She's the one who made this place," Hannah said, more a statement than a question. "She made the sanctum. What was she like?"

"She was a genius." Blood Raven leaned back, and stared at the ceiling. "She was passionate. She was stubborn. She was kind. She was opinionated. She was patient. She was the best teacher a person could ever hope for, and she was a good friend."

"Sounds familiar," January stared across at Blood Raven. She could not imagine coming as far as she had, as fast as she had, without Blood Raven's help. As much as they might argue at times, the elder heroine was always a literal rock for her to stand upon. Perhaps Blood Raven recognized this, for they shared a smile for a moment. At least until Hannah broke the momentary spell.

"So when do I get a super suit of my own?" the young woman asked. "A real one. I've got a name. And I know a design. I want a black hole, right on the chest."

January and Blood Raven both looked at her, then at each other.

"Why is it that I continue to have this conversation with your friends January?" Blood Raven almost smiled. "I should be tempted to inscribe it upon one of Mr. Bell's wax cylinders, so that I might replay it on a graphophone in the future."

"A what?" Hannah started at the elder heroine blankly.

"You don't have to do any of that," January said carefully. "Learning to use your powers is one thing. Every meta-human should, needs to really. But the rest... it's not necessary."

"I want to," Hannah declared. "I want to be like you! Like both of you. I could save people's lives too. I could make a difference in the world too."

"Consider the Technocrat then," Blood Raven insisted. "He has done a great deal wearing powered armor, and within his current robotic frame. I am not really sure if there is anything human left in him anymore. But he has done so much more as a scientist and a world leader than he ever did as a warrior. A good thing too, elsewise the Nazis might have won the war."

"He learned from the evil that he wrought. After the war he helped create a nation based on not only technological advancement, but the humanist principles which technology must always serve. He did none of those greater things with a laser beam or automatic cannon. He did it with a vision to make the world a better place for everyone within it, rather than just for a chosen few."

"You can do a great deal of good in this world Hannah," Blood Raven finished. "None of it requires you to follow a warrior's path. Indeed, there are far nobler, and far more important pursuits."

"And you could get killed," January frowned. "I mean, really killed. Some of the people and things we fight won't go that far. They will hold back so they don't take lives. But many dream of it. After we fought the neo-Nazis downtown there were people burning effigies of me on nooses. Social media is filled with people literally foaming at the mouth and screaming for my death."

"But that doesn't stop you," Hannah shot back.

"No, it does not," January said. "I learned a long time ago not to let homicidal bigots intimidate me. But it does give me pause. It does make me think about how my death will affect those around me. I already saw that, or near enough, when I tried to kill myself. I often still wonder if I am nothing but selfish for doing this."

"But you still do it," Hannah insisted. "You're an inspiration. Not just for me, but for all of us, for our whole generation. You're the reason I came here. I knew you would help me. Why can't I do the same?"

"You can," Blood Raven said. "You may. Or your life might spill out in a muddy ditch. I have seen hundreds of thousands of young people who were just as passionate as you. I have buried them. Some of them, I killed. To bear this covenant, it is the most serious oath one may ever take. It is made with your life. Be sure of that before you make it."

"I am sure!" Hannah cried. "I'm ready! January, tell her I'm ready!"

"I was never ready for it," January said honestly. "I still don't really know if I am. That's why it scares the drek out of me when the people I care about want to do this."

"Do you always try to talk everyone out of it?" Hannah railed. "Or is it just me."

"Yes we do," Blood Raven intoned gravely. "As I intimated, we have had this conversation before."

"So what happened with them?" Hannah asked.

"Well, I am right here." January waved a hand to indicate herself. "You might have seen the MeTube videos of us on the Ambassador Bridge recently. Ôkami was there too."

"So he's one of your friends then?" Hannah asked, "and now he's a cape?"

"You're bound to meet him soon." January nodded.

A good training session.

"Excellent!" Blood Raven crowed.’
- - How else would Blood Raven exclaim something if not to crow it? Methinks your word choice here was neither random nor accidental – well done!

"What?" she said defensively. "We don't have Fae Cola on the West Coast. It's all Sepsi and Koch-A-Cola."
- - I imagine one could just forget about trying to locate a Nuka Cola. . . oh, wait.

It was touching when Jan quietly acknowledged what a mentor Blood Raven was to her. That was perfectly followed by Blood Raven’s anachronistic reference to a graphophone and Hannah’s ‘A what?’. Nice job of so concisely saying much about the nature of each of the three women.

A thoughtful conversation at the end highlighting the difference between the ability to become a cape and the choice to actually do so. I confess to fully endorsing Jan’s lingering reluctance/uncertainty – for that keeps her cautious and, hopefully, alive. The overeagerness of Hannah is something I hope she’ll mature out of before getting killed. Perhaps she may need to survive a close call to realize she’s not invincible.

Acadian: Blood Raven is not the only one who crows. I have been strategically placing that word here and there lately. It was practically made for this story.

There was a time when you could buy Nuka Cola from Target. I went looking for it, but sadly they were sold out already.

When it came time for Blood Raven to describe Keziah, I decided to instead write it as how January would describe Blood Raven herself. Then I put those words in Blood Raven's mouth. I like the idea of them both being part of a continual chain of teacher to student.

January still grapples with her invincibility. Well that is not exactly it. She knows she can be vinced. But she is so ready to sacrifice that it does sometimes verge upon recklessness herself. She never hesitates to suffer any injury for the sake of others.






Leeroy Jenkins

Ogun


Book 8.14 - Blood

Their second night together passed without any new romantic drama, which was to say that January spent the entire time alone in her sleeping bag. This was both cause for relief and disappointment. Therapy had taught her that there was a difference between things one wanted in life, and things one needed. You could live without the first, but that did not make wanting them frivolous. It just meant one needed perspective to understand the importance of one over the other.

She sighed and tried to forget about her love life as she wove her way through traffic the next morning. The sun loomed low on the eastern horizon, but the roads were already filled with people on their way to work. It was a relief to finally get out of the pre-rush hour traffic, and ride her motorcycle up Avery's driveway. She threaded past his mother's Buick Envision, and then Avery's own yellow Geo Storm. She pulled up her bike beyond even that, and parked it in front of the detached garage that sat in the back yard.

As usual, she locked the motorcycle down with Gadget's molecular adhesion emitter. Then she stepped off the Victory and drew the full face helmet from her head. She took a moment to straighten out her hair. Then with the flowery pink helmet clutched in one hand, she walked to the back door and knocked.

"Oh hi Jan," his mom answered a moment later. She still wore her scrubs from the hospital. Or perhaps she was preparing to go there? January could never tell which was which, given how many hours she worked.

"Avery's down in his cave." His mother nodded down the steps to the basement, and then disappeared into the living room a moment later.

January trundled down the stairs, and made sure to make plenty of noise so Avery could hear her coming. She found him at his workbench. A pair of safety glasses sat atop his handsome features, and a pair of thick gloves protected his hands. He was hunched over a long array of electronics. Electricity hissed and popped, and a curl of smoke rose up from the tech spaghetti before him.

"Spleck!" Avery cursed, as he reflexively jumped away.

"Maybe you should leave the lightning to me?" January remarked as she walked up behind him.

"Oh hey Jan," Avery waved a hand in the air to disperse the smoke, "just tinkering with something."

Now that she had a closer look, January could see that it was some kind of flexible joint, that linked two metallic sheathes. It looked like an elbow or knee from a knight's suit of armor. Except this knight's panoply was powered by a miniature fusion reactor. The familiar donut shape of the latter sat nearby, and was connected to the armor via a forest of wiring and conduits.

"So how are things with Hannah?" Avery said as innocuously as possible. He gave off the impression of a man cautiously traversing a minefield. January could relate, for she felt much the same way with her reply.

"Ok," she answered. "She's picking things up really quickly. I think it helps that she's been teleporting for years. So this is not all brand new for her."

"And the rest?" Avery carefully probed.

"The rest is... complicated," January sighed. "Look can we not argue about this? I know what you are going to say. You know what I am going to say. Can we just leave it at that?"

"Hey, I'm not going aggro on you." Avery held up his hands in surrender. "We're friends. I'm just asking as a friend. I actually do want you to be happy you know."

January stepped back and leaned against the back of the worn and battered couch that took up the center of the basement. She sighed again.

"I don't know," January said. "She makes me feel... so alive. When she touches me, it's electric. And believe me, I know what electricity feels like. When she kisses me... No one has ever wanted me like that before."

"But does she want you, or does she want Stormcrow?" Avery leaned back on the couch beside her.

"I don't know," January said honestly. "Listen, I know that I'm being dumb. I know this a mistake. I know it. But I want this. I want her."

"Yeah, I get it." Avery reached out put a comforting arm around her shoulder. By reflex, January leaned in and laid her head on his shoulder in return. "Maybe your Leeroy Jenkins tactic of just going straight in will work out for the best. Maybe her knowing everything right from the start is the right way to go. You won't be hiding a huge part of your life from her."

"Every time I start to get close to a guy, and start to think that maybe he's the one, I run up against this brick wall." Avery waved a hand out in front of him to indicate the workbench and nearby computer station. "How much can I tell him about me being a meta, and this thing we do? How much do I have to lie to him so he can't hurt me, or himself, with what he knows? In a weird way it is like being in the closet again. It's really starting to slag me off."

"Here we are moaning about our love lives," January snortled, "we're starting to sound like Reckless Homemakers!"

"Ogun forbid!" Avery laughed.

A light sprang up from the workbench, and a rich male voice with a distinctly African accent issued from a pile of electronics.

"Please restate command," the disembodied voice intoned.

January said nothing. She did cast a glance at Avery, and raised one eyebrow in Spockian incredulity.

"Ogun, shut down." Avery spoke in a loud, clear tone. A brief whir trailed away through the air, and the light went out.

"Making new friends?" January finally asked.

"Just something I am tinkering on." Avery rubbed the back of his head.

"Like that new fusion reactor?" January probed. "Or that elbow joint? And did I see a pair of boots up there too? Is that more cubic born nitride they're made of?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Avery rubbed the back of his head. "I'm just tinkering, like I always do."

"You know, Lighthammer taught me a lot about flying," January began with a sly smile. "He could teach you too, if you were ever interested. I have it on good authority that he's not that hard to look at either. He's got all the parts in the places you like..."

"Oh you are not setting me up with Lighthammer!" Avery laughed, and sprang to his feet. "I'd sooner kiss a wookie!"

"I might be able to arrange that too!" January laughed in return.

She held out her pinky finger. Avery wrapped his own little finger around hers.

"Friends until we die," Avery sagely intoned.

"Then our ghosts go on to scare the frak out of the living!" January smiled in reply.

"Ok, so what really brings you here to my cave?" Avery leaned up against the Blob. The battered old punching back hung from the bared studs of the ceiling overhead by iron chains. The heavy bag's worn brown leather skin was crisscrossed with duct tape, giving it the appearance of a mummy. "And don't tell me it's my love life."

"It's the armor," January rose to her feet and stepped toward the workbench. Did she see a gauntlet in there, with some form of energy emitter built into the palm? Was that a helmet farther back in the pile of gear?

"My armor," she continued. "I've been thinking about it for a long time. The truth is I don't really need it. I am tougher than it ever was. Don't get me wrong. This isn't about you. I never would have taken on Lighthammer that first night without it, or without you backing me up. But now that I know who I really am, I know I need to stand without it. Eventually it's going to become a crutch."

"Yeah, I've seen this coming," Avery nodded, "ever since you started talking about relying on gadgets too much, when you should be using your own natural abilities."

"So I need a new suit," January said. "But one that's not armor. Just something so people still know I'm Stormcrow."

Avery walked over to his computer desk, and fought open one of its battered drawers with a rattle of wood. He withdrew a palm-sized sphere of shiny chrome. January could see that it was bumpy. Each of these protrusions from its surface appeared to be cameras, or emitters, or some such devices.

"I still have this left over from when Mr. Blackwood made Ôkami's suit." Avery explained. He tossed it out in the air between them. But rather than fall to the floor, it glowed to life and hovered in the air. It slowly turned in place, and a gender neutral voice issued from its depths.

"Ready to open new project," it intoned.

"Blackwood sent it to me," Avery explained. "We used this to take Ôkami's measurements. It makes a full 3D model of you using lidar. Then it transmits it to him. He can use it to make a perfect, form-fitting suit for anyone."

"Take it home with you," Avery said. "Maybe you and Hannah both could put it to good use. I'll set up a meeting with him, and text you the deets."

"You're a lifesaver Avery," January took the remote in one hand. She stepped forward, and hugged him lightly. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Probably get in a lot more trouble..." he murmured, "and look a lot less fabulous when you were doing it."

I like how Hannah wears an incomplete suit. That's a nice touch if this were on CW. Whoa, they're practicing with tennis balls. Spaldings and Wilsons and Penns. Wow, this part's really neat.



I love this part. It's sort of like when somebody was trying to train Seven to expand her Telekinesis in ST. Whoa. She sends January back with her power! The Force is strong in this one.

Blood Raven Goshdarn, I love the way she talks.



...allowed them to take a break.

Wait, what is FaeCo? I see Pepsi and Coca Cola. Is it Fanta?

Cosmos is great; like a combination of philosophy and science. Yes, Hannah is right about warping time and space. I can't wait to see how she'll use this against baddies!


I am a week behind, I'll catch up with the new chapter later...

Wow, I had no idea that Target once carried Nuka Cola!


Wonderful to spend some time with Gadget again. You really write the two of them well together. From the awkward exchanges about their love lives to the wonderfully well-established and intimate comfort they share as shown by the scene when they entwine pinkies.

’Avery walked over to his computer desk, and fought open one of its battered drawers with a rattle of wood.’
- - Just a simple action but really brought vividly to life by this superbly crafted and creative sentence. I’m envious.

So, a new set of threads coming for the Stormcrow! The idea flows naturally from the progression of her magicks. Can’t wait to 'see' it! Something crow-colored that covers her face no doubt.


Nits:
- - "You know, Lighthammer taught me a lot about flying," January began with as {a vs as} sly smile.’
- - ’The battered old punching back hung {from?} the bared studs of the ceiling overhead by iron chains.’

Renee: This will be the last CW episode. After this, we will be cranking up January's fight music.

Blood Raven is an intense taskmaster. She pushes you to be your best. So no breaks until she says so. OTOH, the people who graduate her "school" of supertraining are the best there are.

Sepsi and Koch-a-Cola are plays on Pepsi and Coca Cola of course. FaeCo, or Fae Cola, is a play on Faygo. It is a local pop company here in Detroit, really big with ICP and the Juggalos.

I own Cosmos on dvd and I have the companion book, and pull it out to rewatch now and again. I did it last year, so it is still kind of in my mind.


Acadian: Target sells some other Fallout-related nerd toys as well. I bought a little Nuka Girl plaque from them that I have on one wall.

It is always a good scene when I can put Jan and Avery in the same room. They are like two halves of the same person sometimes.

New threads for Stormcrow, and for other people too. Some of which we will explore this episode.

As ever, thanks for pointing out those nits so I can fix them.






January in her sun dress

Mr Blackwood's estate (Villa Katsura) deck pic 1

Mr Blackwood's estate (Villa Katsura) deck pic 2

Mr. Blackwood (RL Michael Caine) pic

Jean-Paul (RL Hugo Philip) pic

Billy Joel - She's Always A Woman

Modern interpretation of a Black Hole



Book 8.15 - Blood

January returned to the Witch House. She immediately sensed Blood Raven's presence, even without the aid of the home's protective witch bottles. Once she stepped across the boundary of the magical defenses, they also alerted her to the presence of Hannah. Both were in the sanctum. January could feel a prodigious amount of energy being expended up there, and imagined that they were training once again.

She did not go straight to the sanctum however. Instead she detoured off the second floor mezzanine to go to her bedroom. There she stripped out of her clothes, except for the gaff that tucked up her genitals. She produced the remote which Avery had just given her, and put it to use. It whirred to life once January tossed it into the air. She bade it to create a new file under the name "Stormcrow", and it set out to fully scan her. January closed her eyes as laser light emitted from the ball and swept across her frame. She could hear it bob and spin around her body, rising to the crown of her head, and falling down to her toes. After a few minutes it was finished, and announced that the file was saved.

January got dressed once more. This time she left off the skinny jeans she had gone riding in. Instead she slipped into the flowery sun dress she had just bought at the resale shop down the street. It was now officially as girly as she ever got, even more than her Cthulhu skater dress. The multi-colored outfit was definitely eye-catching, with an open back and slit skirt that showed off plenty of her alabaster skin. She absolutely wanted Hannah to see her in it. She wanted Hannah to see her, not whatever idealized image she might have formed of who Stormcrow was. She even stopped by her mirror to primp with her makeup. She was going to be at her best for the other woman.

Then she finally climbed the secret stairway to the third floor of the tower. There within the sanctum she found Blood Raven and Hannah. As she had surmised, they were training. This time Blood Raven was pushing the young woman. She prompted her to alternate between teleporting, creating force fields, and firing her kinetic bolts. The elder heroine did this by flying about, and sending out the golden tendrils of her energy whips, or tentacles. January was not entirely sure what they were, except that they allowed her to both strike and grasp objects from afar.

Hannah turned to look at January. Her eyes glowed like fire in the wide open space as they cast over January's athletic frame, so clearly on display in the floral dress. January felt herself begin to blush, but she was not at all disappointed. She wished more women would look at her that way.

Then one of Blood Raven's golden tendrils of force smacked Hannah in the back of the head. Thankfully she was once more wearing the backup Stormcrow suit. Its armored helmet shielded her from physical harm, if not from embarrassment. January smiled. She had never had that effect on a woman.

It was nice.

"Take heed my young apprentice." Blood Raven floated across the room to hover in the air before the two young women. "Allow yourself to be distracted by beautiful women at your peril."

January looked down at her bared toes, before raising her eyes back to Hannah's. Sweet Freyja, she really wanted to kiss her. The next thing she knew, she was doing exactly that. It was pure bliss when the other woman's arms wrapped around her. She lifted her own arms around Hannah's neck, and clung to her frame. The form-fitting armor that the other woman wore left nothing to the imagination, and January eagerly pressed her body against Hannah's.

"Ahem," Blood Raven cleared her throat.

January pulled away, and felt another blush rise to warm her cheeks. This was not how she imagined things going. But somehow when she was around Hannah, nothing quite worked out how she expected.

"Oh go on and be young..." the other woman waved a hand and shook her head.

"Actually I'm here to be a grown-up," January insisted. Her fingers were still pleasantly entwined with Hannah's. She lifted her free hand to show off Mr. Blackwood's remote. "I'm going to get a new suit, and I thought that while I was at it..."

"I get my own suit too!" Hannah squealed with delight.

January looked at Blood Raven expectantly. She could not pay for these things. But she knew who could. The elder heroine seemed to consider it for long moments, and cast her gaze from one young woman to the next.

"Very well, I assume you have arranged a meeting?" she finally relented.

"In a few minutes," January said. "We need to set up a video link. I've got the IP address in my phone."

"No need," Blood Raven declared. "I have enjoyed a long relationship with the master of materials. Come then, let us adjourn to more appropriate quarters."

Those quarters turned out to be January's bedroom. There January gave the remote to Hannah, and explained how it worked. The other woman took it into the adjoining bathroom to undress and put it to use. In the meantime Blood Raven looked January up and down.

"You look lovely my dear," she observed. "Was that meant to impress Hannah, or Mr. Blackwood?"

"Ope!" January looked down at the sundress that she wore. That would not be the most professional way of appearing in a meeting with the world's preeminent superhero clothier. She closed her eyes, and called upon the element of Fire. She transformed, and was clad in her armor a moment later.

"Better?" she now looked back to Blood Raven.

"Under the circumstances, yes," the other woman nodded.

Blood Raven tapped the screen of the computer built into her own armored forearm. Then she withdrew the same holographic emitter she had used to display Cosmos the previous day, and placed it on the fireplace mantel. She stepped back, and tapped a few more virtual buttons. Then it sprang to light within the air in the center of the room.

After a smatter of static, the image from the other side of the link resolved itself into view. It was of a wooden deck that bordered a natural pool of azure blue water. Small ornamental trees and strategically placed rocks gave the place the appearance of an aquatic garden, rather than a place one would go swimming. A tiny waterfall even gurgled from one cluster of stones, falling into the crystal waters below.

A wooden bridge gently arced across the pond, to its far side. There a ring of carefully placed stones stood atop the wooden berm that held back the waves. Beyond stretched out a breathtaking view of the ocean, whose gentle waves mirrored the clear sky above. Dark shadows of islands rose miles in the distance, and the bright yellow and white sails of a pleasure boat skidded past between them.

Sitting in a wooden deck chair before this ornamental Japanese garden/infinity pool was a man in his middle years. He was pale skinned, and a nest of short, tightly curled brown hairs sprouted from his scalp. A strong, straight nose was the centerpiece of a face that appeared to have been carved from stone by a master sculptor. A pair of wire-framed glasses was the only thing that betrayed the illusion of his immortality, that and the graying hair around his temples, and the laugh lines that cut his chiseled features.

He was dressed in a blue suit that could only be described as immaculate. A flower was pinned to the lapel, and a bright yellow tie decorated with blue dots graced his chest. The links on his snow white cuffs shone like pure gold. January noted a diamond ring on one of his fingers as he lifted a colorful tropical drink to his lips, and took a short sip from a bamboo straw.

"Mr. Blackwood," Blood Raven began. "It is a pleasure, as always. I am delighted to introduce you to my compatriot, Stormcrow."

"The honor of meeting the Motor City's second Blackbird is all mine." He set down his drink and looked directly at January. His voice was smooth and polished and as English as one could get without tea and crumpets in the background. "You have made quite a splash since your arrival upon the scene my young friend. I only wish you had contacted me first. I could have conjured a suit for you of masterful proportions. Though I must admit that helmet is a work of art. You are like an ebon-winged Valkyrie descended to Midgard."

"About that," January looked down a moment. Then she raised her eyes to meet the older man's gaze. "I'd like you to make a new suit for me."

He clapped his hands to together in obvious glee, and leaped to his feet. "I knew it!" he crowed. "Sooner or later, they all come to Mr. Blackwood!"

"Jean-Paul, bring the computer." He turned to address someone outside of the picture. A moment later he waved his hands away.

"No, no, no, not that little thing," he admonished, "the big one!"

Finally a very fit man with tanned skin and midnight hair walked into view. He was bare-chested, and the tropical sun did all kinds of good things for his lithe frame. He pushed a gigantic touch screen computer that floated in mid air, and began to tap furiously upon its screen."

"Do you have one of my remotes?" Blackwood asked, face glued to the computer. "Your friend Gadget should still have one within his possession. The masterpiece I created for your mutual comrade Ôkami was a pure joy to construct. I cannot wait to see what I can do for you."

"It's coming," January said. "My other friend Vortex has it. We would like you to create a suit for her as well."

"Exquisite!" Mr. Blackwood exclaimed. "Is she the one from the mall? Oh she is in desperate need of proper attire for this sort of thing. That Nightgirl mask will just not do, not at all. A woman's attire makes a statement. That says shlock. What she needs is something that will proudly declare who she is and what she is made of to all! It shall be my delight to drape her in the finest of meta-materials. When I am done, she will be teleporting from one end of the globe to the next, and doing it with style."

"He gets excited, doesn't he," January said out of the corner of her mouth to Blood Raven.

"He can hear you, you know!" the Englishman declared. "Young people these days... But yes, you are correct. I do get excited about clothing. It is my passion. The clothes make the man after all, and I make men the world over. Women too, and non-gender conforming individuals as well. My true love is making everyone look the best they possibly can be."

"I admire your passion," January replied honestly. "It really is a joy to do what you love most in life."

"Now let's crack on shall we? How shall I attire thee, my Norse goddess?" Mr. Blackwood turned his camera so that January and Blood Raven could see his floating computer better. The blank outline of a female shape filled the current window. With a few taps to the screen the image of a golden-clad Valkyrie filled the space. A winged helmet similar to January's current model graced her head. Feathers of what looked to be pure sunlight draped her frame. Even a sword hung from her hip.

"Umm, that's a bit much," January said. "I was thinking-"

"I know!" Mr. Blackwood plunged ahead before January could finish her sentence. He tapped more buttons, and the image washed away. A picture of a woman in a form-fitting bodysuit replaced it. It appeared to be made of a series of hexagons, bending and flexing with every curve of her body. A golden crow was emblazoned across the chest. Her hair was a golden halo surrounding her head, while a cowl obscured her features.

"That really is a bit much," January felt herself start to blush just looking at the artistic interpretation of extremely overt female sexuality. "The truth is I like how my armor looks now. All I really want to do is change the material. I don't really need the hagfish fibers, or the cubic born nitride in the plates. Can you make me something with your meta-materials? But the same colors and look. Even the same plates on the chest and arms?"

"You want it to look the same?" Mr. Blackwood's face practically fell. "You mean, exactly the same?"

"That is correct," Blood Raven finally spoke up. January had not really discussed it with her. But the older heroine seemed to know her mind well enough. "Stormcrow is not truly one seeking to impress others with her appearance. Utility is more important to her, as is the appearance of utility, if you take my meaning. She does not want to look like she is trying to be a model on a runway."

"So you wish to look good, without it appearing that you are trying to look good," Mr. Blackwood seemed to appraise her all over again. He nodded. "I see. This will have to be subdued, subtle... Very well, I can do it, though it will lack panache. I know! What if I added a spike to top of the helmet? That would really make it pop!"

"I think it's plenty lively already," January said. "I prefer it just as it is now. Now tell me about this meta-material you have."

"Why I don't have it," Mr. Blackwood preened. "I make it."

He lifted one cufflink to the camera. He passed his other hand across it. Light danced from his fingertips, and curled down into the snowy white fabric of the long-sleeved shirt that he wore under his blazer. The stiff material of the shirt transformed under January's eyes, and became a shimmering sea of sequins.

"I do require certain base materials to begin with however. Alas, I cannot turn lead into gold. But I can weave anything, into any shape or form." Mr. Blackwood explained. "My base package meta-material is self-repairing, waterproof, stain resistant, moisture wicking, thermal insulating, and radiation resistant. Best of all, it is machine washable. After all, one cannot wait for a dry cleaning service while you are busy saving the world."

"That sounds... impressive," January nodded in approval. It was much more than she could have hoped for in fact, especially the self-repairing part. She had gotten so many holes in her chest plate that sometimes it felt more like a spaghetti strainer...

"Impressive? No, that is the very lowest tier of my creations," Mr. Blackwood waved a hand in dismissal. "My optional packages include creation of a full body seal for extra-planetary activity. I can also include a mask to filter out toxins, or a self-contained air supply, or a voice changer with a full range of frequency and tonal modulations. Of course I can also add armor to the material, proof against both kinetic and any other forms of energy, though of course you won't be requiring that."

"No, I won't really need any of that," January said. "In fact, I think I'll keep my current helmet, and my left arm guard. That has my digital assistant built into it. So I'll be needing it."

The Englishman shook his head and clucked in disappointment. "Will you give a man nothing to work with? I could make you a goddess!"

"I don't want to be a goddess," January replied honestly. "All I have ever wanted is to be a woman."

"As Mr. William Joel once said, you will always be that," Mr. Blackwood smiled. "But worry not about your onboard computer. I can reproduce the arm guard it is set into as well. It should be easy enough to transfer the technology over from the old to the new. I've done it many times before." The Englishman waved a hand to dismiss the difficulty of such an undertaking. "The helmet itself will be child's play to reproduce with all of its current abilities. Plus a few more, such as night vision, telescopic sights, heads up display, etcetera, etcetera..."

"Oh hello, who is this vision?"

The creator's gaze moved to Hannah, who walked back into the room with the remote in hand. She was again clad in January's incomplete backup Stormcrow suit. She handed the spherical remote to January, who tossed it in the air between them and Mr. Blackwood. It shone to life, and its owner glanced down at the screen of his tabletop computer. "Yes, I am receiving the data now, perfect. Since you would like to replicate your current armor, perhaps you should make another pass with it while you are so clad. In the meantime I can become more acquainted with your friend."

January reached out and took the remote in her hands again. She walked to the bathroom, while Hannah began to gush with the ideas she had for her new suit. January smiled. She liked it when Hannah was happy. It made her happy. She set to work with the remote, and half-listened to the conversation. Standing very still, she once more closed her eyes, and allowed its lasers to scour and map every inch of her armored frame.

Finished, January returned to find Hannah holding up her phone to show the meta-clothier a picture on its screen. Her face was lit with expectation and pure joy, which instantly brought a smile to January's own features. Sweet Freyja, Hannah was something to behold.

"See how the light from the accretion disc is bent by gravity? It warps spacetime so much that you can see the light behind the hole in a wide band of color on top of it. And there is a smaller band bent around under the hole. It is a rainbow of fire, that is constantly flowing as it is annihilated within the event horizon."

"Oh yes, I saw that film a few years ago," Mr. Blackwood nodded. "I seem to recall it being said that it was the most accurate depiction of a black hole in any movie to date."

"So can you do it?" Hannah asked pensively.

"I honestly don't know." The Englishman lifted a hand to his mouth and chewed a fingernail with concentration. But January could see the gears whirling behind his eyes as he faced this challenge to his abilities. Finally a light sparked there, and his face glowed in inspiration.

"Eureka!" he exclaimed. "Jean-Paul, clear my schedule! We are going into experimental mode."

He glanced back up the screen, and saw that January had returned. "Stormcrow, take note of your friend. She is a truly formidable woman. I haven't stretched like this since that time Stinger called upon me to create adaptive atoms. That was a collaboration of genius! Now I shall bend reality to my will."

"Oh, and be a good girl and transmit the data from the remote." he added offhandedly. "I will be in touch!"

With that the screen went blank.

"That man is something else," January stared back in amazement.

"He is a true artist," Blood Raven declared. "You will never find his match."

"There is nothing hotter than a hot gay man," Hannah mused. Then she looked around to see January and Blood Raven staring at her. "What, did you see him? He's gayer than a convention of Elton John impersonators. Besides, no straight man knows that much about clothes. He knows more about fashion than me, and that is saying a lot."

Blood Raven’s golden tendril energy whips conjure images of Wonder Woman.

Love how the appearance of Jan in her sundress notably distracted Hannah at an awkward moment of her training.

I can see it now: Stormcrow and Vortex engaged against baddies. “Time out for a kiss!”

Mr Blackwood has some breathtaking digs indeed!

Motor City’s second Blackbird! Great nickname.

"My base package meta-material is self-repairing, waterproof, stain resistant, moisture wicking, thermal insulating, and radiation resistant.‘
- - That is some handy stuff. Sounds like a blend of silks from dragon, spider daedra and ancestor moth!

In just a short space, you brought Mr Blackwood very much to life with plenty of rich detail.

And your ongoing character development of Jan and Hannah continues wonderfully. Here we confirm, once again, that subtle and not seeking the limelight perfectly suit the noble character of Jan. Hannah, on the other hand, embraces flash and quite bubbles with enthusiasm.

The sleeping bag is okay. In 'normal' circumstances there would be some cool-down after all, as both of them go their separate ways for a while. I would say that at this point, Jan needs some love though. It's not just a want.

Avery has a man cave. Cool, I am glad she's talking with Avery now. See, this is what I was saying the other day when I was getting "too deep". We all need perspective, though.

Hee, so it looks like she no longer is going to be boosting Light Armor, instead she's going for Unarmored and maybe some Alteration (Shield spells).

Michael Caine...whatever happened to that guy? I can remember the era when it seemed like he was in EVERY movie ever made. So it is kind of funny he appears in this fan fic as well. Hey, I think he totally fits this role of Mister Blackwood.

Her sun dress. Work it, hon. Ha ha Raven seems perturbed! All of this makes me wonder if Branwen has ever had any sort of love interest(s). She seems asexual in her post-human form.

Ha this scene with Michael Caine is craking me up. Well, looking forward to her new supersuit.

Acadian: Well Blood Raven can be quite Wondrous...

Hold on to the that thought about the time out for a kiss...

I found Mr. Blackwood's home the way I have been finding many "normal" locations lately: I do a search of an area for houses for sale or rent. It turns up all sorts of prospects, that usually include pictures inside and out. It is really handy.

Blood Raven does own the company which IRL makes dragon silk body armor. So at least one of those is often in there!

Mr. Blackwood is a fun character to write. He will reappear in the next book, when Jan visits him to pick up her new armor.

January is a little weird, in that on one hand her natural inclination is to avoid attention. But on the other hand, as a superhero she is constantly in the limelight. And she even consciously seeks it out because she knows that she can use the media to do good in the world. It creates an interesting dichtomy within her character.


Renee: January's relationship with Hannah is anything but normal. Unfortunately, that will probably never change.

Avery has the Gadget Cave!

Michael Caine just got old. He is like 80 or so now. He does still appear in films. He was in Tenent. He just is in the grandfather/wise old mentor role these days. The guy has had an incredible career. He was making movies in the 60s. That's is sixty some years of movie making.

I don't really get into Blood Raven's love life. One reason is that like Jan, I want people to see her for who she is as a person, rather than who she is having sex with. I really get tired of the need so many writers have to forcefully interject romance into a story. It is like ticking a box. Rather than fueling the plot or characterization. Hannah is going to do both of those for January's tale, mostly the characterization. She is one example of January growing up into adulthood. Her first real girlfriend.

Blood Raven herself was married, and had children. Back in the 1780s. Otherwise January would not exist! But as the centuries have rolled past, I see her romantic desires dimming. Strictly speaking, she is not human anymore. She does not look at the world, or relationships, the way she once would have.












Thetis

The Summoner's Theme Music

As always Gull Island can be found on the Stormcrow Google Map

Jobbie Nooner

Gull Island Aerial View

Gull Island Beach

Gull Island Close Up

Persian Horned Viper (partial inspiration for the oniare's appearance)

níðingr = Old Norse insult meaning "villain" or "vile person"




Book 8.16 - Blood

More training followed. By now Hannah had become quite adept with her force fields and kinetic bolts. January likewise gained plenty of experience at using Earth to make herself immovable and invulnerable. It was not until lunch time that Blood Raven finally allowed them to take the rest of the day off. Well, the rest of the afternoon off. She warned that she would be back for more training in the evening.

January made them a quinoa salad for lunch. Afterward January led them back to her room for a movie. She soon became keenly aware of Hannah fidgeting beside her. They both lay on her bed, face down, feet in the air above them. January's tablet was propped between them with a pillow to keep it from falling over. The Wizard of Oz played in brilliant color on its small screen. As ever, the film filled January with hope and joy. She had prayed that it would arouse the same feelings within Hannah.

Apparently that was not the case.

"You didn't like it," January finally said when the credits began to roll.

"It was... kind of silly," Hannah frowned. "I mean, Gilda and the Wicked Witch are such stereotypes. And why couldn't Gilda just fly her to Oz right to begin with? And then we find out that she had the power do it all by herself from the start. And her whole crew all had the things they were looking for to begin with."

"That's the whole point," January insisted. "It is about us finding our own power. You are right about the stereotyping though. Dorothy was the only real Witch in the whole movie, because it is all about her journey to find her power. A power she always had, but never realized, and never exercised. It's the same with the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion. They all found what they were looking for, not outside themselves, but within their hearts and actions. They became the people they needed to be."

"Something else I really appreciate is that none of them did it alone," January added. "Because as much as finding our personal power is important, no amount of simply believing in ourselves can solve systemic issues. I found that out when my Junior High School kicked me out for fighting back against the bullies that had been beating me up. That kind of change requires collective action. So they formed a super team, and they all held each other up to make their world a better place."

"I guess so," Hannah shrugged. "It just isn't for me. Maybe we could-"

But January did not hear the rest of the sentence. Instead she smelled blood, thick and coppery. It was not Blood Raven. The elder heroine's magical scent was entirely different from this, even though it too was founded upon blood. Her aura held an odor of vitality. It was blood that sustained life. This was the opposite. It was blood creating death and horror. A sense of corruption and toxicity ran through the smell. It was like the universe was being pulled inside out, and perverted in some terrifying fashion.

The feeling was not coming from the area nearby. No, it was being transmitted via the link from one of the poppets that she and Blood Raven had created. The link tingled like electricity, and channeled the sensation directly into January's aura. She traced back along that connection and found the source, the poppet named Thetis, which lay at the bottom of Lake St. Clair.

January was already out of the bed. Her suit immediately transformed around her body, and she lifted Sága to her face. She punched the general distress call. It would connect her with everyone of their small but growing team. While she waited, she turned back to Hannah.

"Gear up," January said. "We have to fight, now."

"What, what is going-" Hannah blurted out in shock. But she was cut off by a voice that came over the comm link.

"This is Cray," came the deep and bourbon-smooth voice of the elder hacker.

"Gadget here," his younger counterpart chimed in a moment later.

"An Abyssal is being summoned," Blood Raven's voice came over next. "I sense it through Thetis. The event is perhaps five miles north of the poppet."

"I feel the same," January chimed in. "Vortex and I are going to teleport to Metro Beach. I'll fly us from there."

"That is the Lake St. Clair Metropark," Ôkami noted. "I am on the way."

"Come to the Witch House," January said. "Vortex can meet you here, and port you the rest of the way. You too Blood Raven."

"I don't know where that is," Lighthammer's voice came over the link. Unlike the others, his connection was filled with background noise, like the sound of someone driving in a car with the windows down.

"Just head to the north end of Lake St. Clair," January said. "I'm sure you'll see the summoning when you get there."

"Roger that," the former A-10 pilot replied. "Hoooahh! I just broke Mach 2! See you in a few."

January glanced from Hannah - who was even now fighting to climb into the spare Stormcrow suit - to the bedroom windows. She so desperately wanted to fly out a window and begin pouring on the speed. But she knew that if she waited, Hannah could get her there much faster.

January moved to help her with the suit. At least there were no armor plates to strap on this version of the armor. It was just the base layer of hagfish fiber. She fitted the helmet over the other woman's head, even as Hannah pulled one glove and then the other over her hands. January leaned in and briefly kissed the other woman.

Well, it was supposed to be brief. Her heart raced, as it always did before a fight. That familiar tightness again lived within her chest along with it, along with that dryness in the back of her throat. All of these things vanished when her lips met Hannah's, except for the pounding of her heart of course. If anything that only increased.

The world fell away, and January felt weightless. Then reality came back, and she was standing in the gazebo at the eastern tip of Metro Beach. It was the same one where she had first kissed Hannah a few days before, after the long pursuit from the Lakeside Mall. A crowd of people leaped away in shock. January noticed a white wedding dress, women in satin, and men in tuxedos. There was also a photographer who deftly switched from taking pictures of the wedding party, to January and Hannah's kiss instead.

"Well, this is awkward," January breathed. But Hannah looked around at the onlookers and just giggled in amusement. She leaned in, and this time more deliberately kissed January. It was a lovely experience. One January desperately craved, especially because there was no telling what she was about to face. But for those same reasons, it was one she just had no time to indulge in.

"Get back and ferry the others here," January commanded once she mustered the will to disengage herself. "I'm going ahead. Maybe I can stop it if I get there fast enough."

Hannah nodded, and reality twisted and warped around her. Then she was gone, and the world snapped back to normal in her wake. January took a moment to conjure her wings. She would need all the speed she could muster to reach the site of the summoning in time. So she willed them to grow directly from her arms, rather than her back. That always gave her the most power.

They did make navigating her way through the wedding party awkward. She did not want to knock anyone over with an errant swipe of her wings. Or worse, cut them in half. So she held her winged arms in and pointed to the ground, and scampered her way out of the gazebo to where the open sky beckoned overhead.

"Hey Stormcrow, who's your girlfriend?" the bride shouted from the gazebo.

"Her name is Vortex!" January turned back and smiled. "Get used to seeing her."

A single bound sent her rocketing skyward. Then her wings snapped out, and added to her velocity. She focused her energy on her speed, and poured more and more mana into her wings as they propelled her over the deep blue waters of the lake. January could see the far shore in the distance. It rose up from the water like a hazy wall, a darker shade of blue and gray than the waves below. She focused on the horizon, and pushed herself farther and faster.

"Do we have a fix on the position?" Cray said over the comm link. "I didn't think there were any big events this weekend."

"I didn't see anything on the calendar." Gadget mused. "And it's only Friday afternoon. A fair or festival probably wouldn't really get going until the evening."

"It's straight ahead of me, just a few miles away." January said. "I think it's near the far shore. Maybe it's in Canada? Wait, I can see boats, a ton of boats, around a little island in a river mouth."

"Spleck!" Gadget exclaimed. "It's Jobbie Nooner! Why didn't I think of that?"

"What the heck is Jobbie Nooner," Lighthammer's voice came over the communications link.

"It's a big boat party off Gull Island," Cray's mellow tones came back in reply. "Some auto workers started it decades ago. It happens every June. A bunch of people tie up their boats, get drunk, go swimming, that sort of thing."

"It is a veritable Bacchanal of aquatic hedonism," Blood Raven added. January could practically hear the puritanical sneer in her voice.

"Sounds like fun," the younger man said. "How come no one invited me?"

"They probably don't appreciate your history of destroying massive drug shipments." Gadget noted. "You sir, are what is officially known as a party-pooper."

January could feel Blood Raven behind her now, so Vortex must have teleported her from the Witch House to the park. Her mentor was coming in fast, and closing the distance between them. January did not turn to look back however. Instead her eyes remained focused dead ahead upon her target.

She could see Gull Island clearly now. It was small, perhaps three football fields long from east to west, and much narrower across at the waist going from north to south. Some trees clustered in a small forest on the western side of the island, facing her. The rest of it was mostly open grass, or possibly marshland. January could not tell how solid the ground there might be. However, a sandy beach did stretch for a short distance along the center of the southern shore.

A shiny metal tower rose up in the middle of the isle, inland from the beach. It stretched perhaps eighty feet into the air, making it taller than the trees around it. It seemed to host an assortment of cameras, with a full field of view around the island, the river mouth, and the shorelines nearby. A tall fence surrounded it, topped by razor wire.

"Looks like that tower's owned by the Border Patrol," Gadget said in her ear. "It's basically border surveillance, so smile for the cameras. That's Canada just a little past the river."

That was the St. Clair River, and it emptied out north-east of the island. The land on the eastern side of its mouth continued south, and stretched past the island for a short distance into the lake. Its shoreline was straight as a razor's edge, and January imagined that it had been purposely dredged out. That had to be the shipping channel for the freighters that came down from higher up in the Great Lakes.

To January's left, the western bank twisted and curled back and forth, like a winding serpent. It came to an end far sooner than the eastern side, in a slender peninsula that jutted toward Gull Island like an accusatory finger. Its nearest point was all empty bogs. But farther north on the narrow strip of turning land were homes and a very small marina.

Gull Island itself sat downstream of the river mouth, with a wide channel between both that peninsula to the north, and the marshes to the east. It was a hive of activity. Boats of all sizes dotted the water. There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands, far too many for January to even guess their number. They ranged from sleek little speedboats and simple, utilitarian fishing vessels, all the way up to luxurious cabin cruisers and yachts. Some floated alone. But most were tied side by side in long chains. These formed several rings around the island, and created artificial channels between each row of vessels. These ersatz canals were filled with people floating on blow up rafts or standing on paddle boards.

There were people everywhere, tens of thousands of them. Some waded in the water near the beach, or even swam in the channels between the boats farther out. Most lounged on the watercraft, or stumbled from one to the other. Even from January's altitude, she could see that most hands were filled with cups or cans. She also noted that this seemed to be a young person's affair, but not too young. There were no children. But there were plenty of women her age, clad in bikinis or little more. The men ranged from the same age to older, and many went bare-chested in the late June sun.

January even noted a large Coast Guard cutter that lurked farther from shore. Its black hull sat low down in the water. The white superstructure that rose up from the icebreaker appeared outsized in comparison, and far too tall. January did not know how it did not tip over with all that weight so high up. Its crew moved around the deck, eyes glued to the party-goers that frolicked in the waters off the island.

"I am going to try to contact those Coast Guard guys, and let them know there's going to be a fight." Cray noted over the comm link.

"They are going to see it soon enough," January noted as she buzzed past the cutter. She could feel the summoning spell ebbing. Its energy faded, and winked out as she crossed the shoreline. Just as at Ferndale Pride, she was too late.

Her eyes scanned the land below. There was little she could see in the heavy trees directly beneath her. She had just broken past them and out into the open ground, when she caught a flash of something out of the corner of her eye. She banked hard, and bled off speed as she circled to the right. That took her out over the beach, and then the water beyond.

A man strode from the trees and onto the sand. He was tall, far taller than any of the people who partied nearby, and he appeared be wearing a long cloak. He did not walk, so much as slither. Come to think of it, January could not even tell if he had legs, let alone feet. That is when she realized that it was no man at all, but rather a thing from beyond this world.

The scales of its body - yes, those were scales - were colored in bands and patches ranging from light brown to a green so dark it was nearly blue. Its head was long and serpentine, and two bony crests jutted from either side of its temples. There were no eyes within that face however, nor any sign of nostrils at the end of its rounded snout. Its wide mouth was on full display however, and bristled with long, dagger-like fangs. These dripped with green saliva that hissed angrily when it fell to the sand below.

Then she noticed the red blood that splashed its body, and left a long, serpentine trail behind it in the sand.

"That's it!" January nosed down, and dove directly for the newcomer. She could feel it now that she grew near. There was a wrongness about it. This creature did not belong here, in this universe. It set her teeth on edge, and made her skin crawl. She was glad that she had refrained from astral sensing, for she could tell that she would not like what she would have perceived in that realm.

Now the celebrants noticed the wrongness about the cloaked figure as well. Someone screamed, and sprinted away. Others dropped their beers, and simply stared in horror, apparently frozen to the spot. The monster loomed up above two of these people and raised its arms to strike.

That is when January realized that it was not wearing a cloak. Those were wings that wrapped around its frame. Now that she was closer, she also noted that its tall body stretched out into a bony tail, which was tipped by a wicked-looking stinger. It was like a giant stingray, pretending to be a man. Those wings came rushing down, clearly intent upon cutting the two men in half.

But January got there first. She crashed headfirst into the monster. Now she sort of did wish for that spike that Mr. Blackwood had wanted to affix to the top her winged helmet. She could have speared the creature with it. Not that the kinetic energy of her strike was anything to sneeze at. She took the creature fully off its feet - or whatever it ambulated upon - and they both careened back to the edge of the woods.

They struck a cottonwood tree with a tremendous crack, and its trunk shattered beneath them. Wood fragments flew everywhere like shrapnel, and skittered off the bare flesh of January's lower face. She could see the length of the broken trunk above her, falling back in the direction they had come from. That was also back toward the beach, which was still filled with people.

January did a back flip through the air, which put her back above the sand. Her wings separated from her arms, and now sprang independently from her back. That left her hands free to catch the falling tree trunk. She sagged under the weight of the cottonwood. Her wings beat furiously to keep her aloft, above the people that scurried to and fro beneath her.

It felt like it weighed a ton. She remembered the car that had gone off the Ambassador Bridge. She had failed to keep that aloft. She could not afford to fail this time however. Lives were at stake. She concentrated upon Air. She became the Sky. She poured her power into that ideal, and she raised the tree higher into the firmament.

She saw the monster coming back from the woods. It turned its blank face toward her, and spread out its wings, as if to meet her in the sky. She did not give it the time to do that. Instead January charged forward, tree still in hand. She used the trunk as a lance, and speared it directly in the chest.

The creature was smashed down to the ground under the blow. Wood shattered upon impact. But January continued forward, straight into the monster. More wood disintegrated, raining chips of it everywhere. In moments the entire trunk of hardwood had literally been annihilated by the impact, and January was left standing over the monster bare-handed.

One of its wings slashed out. January's own wing reflexively moved to block it. That intercepted the strike just in time to save her neck from the appendage. But the force of the impact sent her tumbling backward to the beach. She tucked herself into a ball and performed a back flip once more. She stabilized her flight and beat her wings to hold herself in place in the air.

The monster rose to its feet just as January turned her eyes skyward. Dark gray clouds swirled overhead, casting all below into shadow. Rain now pelted the beach, and thunder rumbled a low warning.

"Valhalla awaits you níðingr!" January snarled.

Then she ripped open the heavens and brought down a hissing bolt of lightning. Its impact was deafening. January could feel the sound waves from its impact hammer through her frame. But the creature leaped out of the way, and sand fused into glass where it had stood a moment before. January was about to hurl a second bolt, when she saw that it was nearing people again. She held back, fearing to loose electricity so near to innocents.

Wow! *counts on fingers – and it takes all of them on one hand* . . . A flock of five fighters.

And its off to an Abyssal summoning – well after a long kiss of good luck. Oh ho, Hannah has a wicked sense of humor as she ports them into the middle of a wedding. Prophetic perhaps?

And feeling the need for speed, Stormcrow wastes no more time zooming to Gull Island.

And all that speed pays off as she does arrive in time to engage her foe pretty quickly after its summoning. By Kynareth’s wings, the Stormcrow has come a long way – spearing her foes with trees now! Followed by a bolt of real lightning from the sky.

Although an impressive combatant, Stormcrow probably needs help to herd the beast away from partiers into a safer killing zone. On the edge of my seat waiting for the rest of the Crow Coven to show up.

I don't really get into Blood Raven's love life

Sure that's fine. It would make her come across as too human.

I really get tired of the need so many writers have to forcefully interject romance into a story

YES I know what you mean. It's something which makes me roll my eyes sometimes, romance scenes which feel added in. Granted, if it's done well, great. But for instance, over the past year I've been reading Janet Evanovich, and she writes about a bumbling bounty hunter named Stephanie Plum. Her stories are a mixture of adventure and humor, all of which keeps me coming back. But then there are these romantic parts which just get annoying. They piss me off sometimes actually, because I feel like Janet wrote them up to appease some of her female readers. Stephanie falling for the same dude over and over, they hook up, it never goes anywhere. She wants to get married, but then she doesn't. Same for the guy she keeps hooking up with. He's all confused. All of this is supposed to be humorous I guess, but I just find it annoying, maybe a little insulting, too. Because it makes the protagonist come across as stupid and weak. Just move on, already! Or hook up for good!

And that's not the only example but... that's enough of a Renee tangent. I could be here all day.

Again, I notice that one sentence. "It was not until noon that Branwen allowed them to take the day off..." Allowed them... Not that she's a threat to her two younger students, but still. There's some depth there. Like, what would happen if...

Quinoa salad... hey, she's eating something healthy! No corn dogs today.

Interesting that the two ladies had such different opinions over Dorothy & company. Wizard of Oz scares the [censored] out of me to this day. I saw it when I was five. Wicked Witch of the West is the one who inspired my Luci Pheria character in Oblivion. What's your take from it, Rosa?



Wow, I never thought of it this way. Yes, with the Tin Man and Lion and all the others it's sort of obvious what they lack. Never thought of Dorothy's need for empowerment, though. Only Toto has nothing to discover, I suppose.

Sounds like Hannah wants to watch more of her reality shows! ... Uh oh. The poppet at the bottom of that lake. Now who could that be causing this? Is it MuckMan (whatever the Slime guy was called)? ... Nope, doesn't sound like it. Whoa, Lighthammer's back. Cool. I like this sudden change from complacency to Action!

"Hooah!"

Too bad Jan did not cut the cake with her wings. The whole conversation about this festival is cracking me up. Cray and Avery are so casual.

Whoa, what the hell? Awesome. This scene is awesome. Wow, people are running away. So they can see the creature as well. Jan smashes into it. Knocks the [censored]ing thing over. C'mon Hammer & Hannah, help the Crow out! Maybe there's more than this one creature too! Maybe this will be the last Jobbie Nooner ever if this doesn't get resolved! Arrrgh!!

Phew.

Acadian: You are going to need to start using another hand before this fight is over. More are on the way! This will be the biggest fight I have written, so far.

Hannah's port was simply to the place she knew: the same gazebo that she, January, and her father had talked in earlier. I should probably go back and make that more clear.

To think that a little while ago she was simply jumping in the air and gliding a little distance before falling back to the ground. She has leveled up a lot since these stories began.

Put a pin in that thought about the non-combatants. And about that of reinforcements on the way.


Renee: I did want to get in that Quinoa salad to show that January does indeed normally eat quite healthy. She will be having some vanilla almond cereal next book as well.

You got my take on the Wizard of Oz from January. It is a story about people finding their inner power, like a real witch.

The CW episodes are over. Well, mostly. The rest of this book is either action or drama. Well, except the very ending, which gets CW again. But you will see.

Don't worry, help is on the way. Jan just took point instead of waiting for everyone else. She's got a whole crew to back her up this time, including Blood Raven herself.








Two Steps From Hell - Never Back Down (Extended) - January's Fight Music

Oniare

Craquehhe



Book 8.17 - Blood

"That is an oniare," Blood Raven's voice came over the comlink. "The Iroquois peoples encountered them on the Great Lakes in the past."

Even without astrally sensing, January felt Blood Raven hovering in space near her. She also felt magic stretch from the other heroine to the Abyssal. Magic that smelled hot, wet, and coppery. The energy spiked into the monster like a harpoon. But it was effortlessly deflected by a field of power that sprang up around the creature's frame. The Abyssal did halt however, and turned its full attention skyward to January and Blood Raven.

"It is proofed against blood magic," Blood Raven noted. She was near enough for January to hear her without the com link. "Deal with it Stormcrow. I shall face this new devilry."

January felt sudden heat at her back. She turned her head, only to see a wave of fire rolling down from the sky at her. There was no time to move out of the way, or even raise a wing in defense. A golden field of energy sprang up an instant later, between her and the flames. The fire washed across its face without singing even a single one of her feathers, and dissipated into the air.

She gaped when she saw the source of the inferno. It looked like a dragon, made of gray ash and gleaming obsidian. Wings of living fire stretched out from its body, somehow holding it aloft. Gleaming spikes radiated from its tail, and more fire sprang from its body, and dripped from its fanged maw. Its eyes glowed white hot. They shifted and flowed, as if they were made of magma.

"Is that a dragon?" Gadget's voice was filled with the same awe that January felt.

"Nay, tis a pyrkaïá ptéryx: a firewing," Blood Raven replied. "It is a being of combined elemental flame, earth, and sky. But most would call it a variation of the salamander, for above all it is a creature of fire."

"So elementals have subraces too, like moon elves, sun elves, hill dwarves, and all that, makes sense." Gadget murmured over the comm.

The vampire flew past her, and hovered in the air between it and January. She raised a hand, and January felt power rise there. A golden circle filled with Celtic knotwork designs spun about her fingers, and she heard the woman sing in Gaelic. Then the light show vanished, and in its place rose a real dragon.

Its roar was palpable, not to January's meat ears, but to her magical ones. She was not even sensing astral space, and she felt its presence there. It was a hurricane, reverberating through the magical realms like a series of waves crashing down to the earth below.

But it was not a dragon that January saw there in Blood Raven's hand. It was a longsword forged of gleaming black steel, and etched with glowing golden runes. At least it looked like a sword. But January did not believe that was what it truly was. She had seen it before. She had been in its presence at Ferndale Pride.

It was Y Ddraig Aur, the Golden Dragon. It was the sword that Blood Raven had insisted never taste human lives, lest it grow too fond of them.

"Ok, the Bestiary says the oniare is a horned water serpent of Iroquois legend," Gadget related. "It can also only be harmed by magic. It seems to have a particular aversion to the thunder god Hinon. So your lightning might be just the ticket Stormcrow. Oh, and its breath is said to be poisonous, so watch out for that."

January dropped down to the sand of the beach, and strode in the direction of the oniare. It locked its eye-less head upon her, and moved to intercept. People scattered all around in between. They yelled and screamed, dropped bottles and cans, or paper plates of hot dogs and hamburgers, and just generally became a wave of chaos. January wished they would stop running back and forth between her and the oniare. Couldn't they just run away, like a sane person? But if she had learned anything since she had taken up the cape, it was that people did not always act logically when they were scared to death.

January smelled something just then. It was the sickly-sweet stench of rotted meat. She stopped, and looked about herself. It was everywhere. It was strong. Not physical, but magical. Now she did pause to stretch out with her astral senses. She was rewarded with a feeling of revulsion that curdled in the pit of her stomach.

Buried in the sandy beach all around her were human forms. Well, formerly human at least. Their auras bore none of the warm energy of life and vigor. Instead they were cold and dark. But there was mana there, a great store of it within each. That power thrummed with corrupt joy, as it animated the creatures into motion.

They burst up through the sand to stand under the now darkened sky. Their skin was bloodless and white as wax. Their sunken eyes glowed red, and their greasy hair crawled with maggots. Their torn clothing revealed more vermin and other insects that crawled through their rent, mummified flesh beneath. The nails on their fingers were long and jagged, and their teeth were blackened and broken.

"Craquehhe," January spat. "I remember reading about these. They're basically revenants."

"Okay, they are creatures from French folklore," Gadget murmured. "They eat flesh and drink blood. It says only fire or decapitation can stop them, and they have to be burned to ash to prevent them from rising again."

One of them came right at January, hands outstretched for her head. She neatly slipped to one side, and lashed out with a wing. That took both of its arms clean off at the elbows. Then her back foot lashed out with all of her power. The creature's head literally disintegrated under the force of the roundhouse kick.

"Looks like just destroying their heads works too," Gadget noted as what remained of the revenant collapsed to the sand and lay still.

"They've got no blood," Cray noted. "None of them do. The only one that does is that oniare, and it's been warded against blood magic. This is a trap, specifically for you Blood Raven."

January instantly understood what Cray had left unspoken. As a master of blood magic, Blood Raven could superheat the blood in any creature's body, and cause it to explode from the inside out, like a mouse in a microwave. January had seen her do it to the djieien at Ferndale Pride. This most deadly of her attacks was now off the table.

But even beyond that Blood Raven was a vampire, and therefore vulnerable to fire. That firewing's name certainly revealed its preference of attacks. The Abyssal that had been summoned was clearly bait, meant to draw Blood Raven into this ambush of creatures specifically chosen to counter her abilities.

"I have spied the Summoner!" Blood Raven cried over the comm link. "He is mine."

"Right," Cray continued over the link. "The oniare is now headed for the water, cut him off if you please Stormcrow. Ôkami, deal with the craquehhe on the beach. Vortex, your job is crowd control. Get people out of danger. Drop them on that Coast Guard cutter, or over to one of the riverbanks."

"I can fight!" Hannah's voice cried out over the communications link. "And who are you anyway?"

"He's the eyes and ears we lack," January said. "Do what he says. Saving lives is the most important thing here. It always is. Start by getting people off this beach."

January leaped skyward to bypass the beach full of craquehhe. Or at least she tried to. One of them grabbed her ankle. That completely threw off her aerodynamics. Her wings snapped out to keep her airborne, but the weight of the creature dragged her sideways along the beach.

Out of the corner of her eye January saw Ôkami ride up to the beach on his hoverbike. Apparently it did work just fine over water. He leapt off the wheel-less motorcycle, and performed a forward somersault in mid air. He came down with his sword in hand. January could swear she heard it howl like a wolf as it cut through the craquehhe that held her, and sliced its hand off at the wrist.

The high-tech samurai landed on his feet, and decapitated the revenant with his next stroke. From there on he became a blur of gray, black and white, as he danced among the revenants. His sword Chujitsu fit in his hand like he had been born with it, as did the dragon silk and cubic boron nitride samurai armor that he was clad in.

January hoped he would be ok. These were only undead, not an Abyssal. But it was still a very deep end to be thrown into for one's first real time out as a super. She did not count the car accident on the bridge. No one had been deliberately trying to kill him there, certainly not magical creatures of darkness.

She shook off the disembodied hand that still clutched at her ankle. Once free from undead entanglements, January turned her full attention back to the oniare. She tilted her body down, and beat her wings to gain speed. But she was too slow to stop the Abyssal from reaching the lake.

"Sága scuba." she barked a moment before she hit the blue-green waves herself. Armor plates snapped down over her mouth and nose, and immediately began pumping in air.

Then she was in the water, and under it. The Abyssal was right in front of her, but agonizingly out of reach. It moved through the water like greased lightning. Now January saw that her previous supposition had been correct. The creature was more like a stingray that played at being human than anything else. It certainly flew through the water like a ray.

Well if it could do it, then so could she. January tried to emulate its movements. It did not fly through the water in quite the same way as a bird did in the sky. Its wings sort of undulated from tip to torso. She focused her will upon doing the same, and was pleased when she found herself gaining upon the creature. She was Water. She could flow, and she could crash.

They darted under the fiberglass body of a boat. This put them within one of those artificial canals created between two long lines of boats, all tied up side by side in a row. A handful of people swam in the water between them. One bobbed on a float shaped like a sea dragon. All January could see of them was the inflatable, and their legs slashing the water to either side of it.

The oniare saw those legs as well, for it changed course to torpedo directly for it. January poured mana into her wings, and pushed herself harder through the water. She reached out, and was able to just catch its stinger in her hand.

She clamped down with all of her might. Now she became Earth, solid, inviolable, immovable. Unfortunately she was not able to plant herself upon the lake bottom. But she was able to pull back, and rear her head and torso up out of the water. Her wings hit the waves at a right angle now, and beat against them with all her might. This sent huge splashes of water up into the air, and acted like a sea anchor behind the Abyssal.

It pulled up short in front of the bather and spun around. Its tail snapped from January's fingers. But that was ok, since now it gave its full attention to her. It rocketed upon her, and drove both of them back down under the water. They rolled together beneath the waves, each seeking purchase upon the others flesh. The monster bit at her with its fangs. January replied with a series of muay thai elbows to its head and neck. The rest of the world beyond the roiling waves vanished, as January fought for her life.