MaximiLand: Kyle's MO

Finally, the Blue Man, our boy Kyle, reveals his motives. He hopes that human involvement will turn the tide of the war to come, but is he right to trust normal people? For that matter, could it be too late to make a difference? Find out next time, right here on this blog!

Maxmiland: The Detectives And The Blonde

This week's update sees the local police beginning to investigate the conflict, with no idea of what they're actually getting into, of course. A pretty blonde is involved, because there always has to be a pretty blonde in a detective story, but everything about her is not as it seems. 

Maximiland: An Ode To Anthony Ultmann

Some food for thought in this chapter. What is the cost of this confict, and what's going on behind the scenes? 

Side note: Did I do a good job writing this fight scene from the losing side? It's my first time doing something like that in quite a while. 

MaximiLand Chapter 4, Part 2 of 4

Here's some fresh MaximiLand. It's not much, but there's some character-building, and we get a new in-universe concept to play around with. I hope it keeps your imaginations going until the next installment!

Maximiland Chapter 4 Part 1

Here's some new writing, finally! Sorry about the long break! Anywho, I've got chapter 4 of Maximiland about a quarter finished. Here's a teaser for what's going to happen next; we're going to find out something about Eric, and it's not good. Stay tuned for some fresh A Girl and Her Uzi! That's all for now! Enjoy the read! 

Maximiland Chapter 4 Preview

I'm not dead! I'm still working hard and taking care of my family. I'm ashamed to say i haven't gotten much writing done, so bear with me. Here's the capoff of chapter 3, and what I have of chapter 4 of Maximiland so far, and after I finish it, you readers will be in for some brand new A Girl and Her Uzi.

Maximiland: Rosh, continued

Sorry it's been so long without an update! I won't bore you all with excuses; here are the goods for this week!

MaximiLand Chapter 3 - Rosh

Sorry for the long absence! For those who wanted to know a bit more about what Rosh is really like, well, here you go. Let's give Lena and Elijah a break for a chapter, huh? More surprises coming later this weekend! 
DISCLAIMER: This was written very, very drunk, and not proofread by anybody sober. Why? Because I believe this is the best way to break a painful two week writing fast. Don't question the madness, dearies, just read it. <3

CHAPTER 3 - ROSH

Rosh took to the skies alongside the strange woman and her beheaded boyfriend, then split off to go his own way. He wasn’t planning on going home, however. He was headed off to see his own lover. “Nothing makes you grateful for the dearest people in your life than mortal terror…”, he sighed. A purple streak lit up the sky as he flew ever faster toward the love he had left behind to take the fight to the enemy.

Another tear fell into Eric’s beer. He didn’t know what Rosh had been talking about when he left, but the news of two apparent supernatural entities tearing apart the MaximiLand mega-park in D.C. made him fairly certain of what had happened. He had no way of knowing if his love was safe - Rosh was never one for a cell phone, and Eric did not have the same psychic gifts that Rosh had. He took a heavy swig of the beer and let it wash at his emotions like a wave at a rocky shore. A sudden noise overhead, loud enough to rock the floor under Eric’s feet, compelled him to set his beer down and have a look outside.

Eric’s heart fluttered and sank at the same time. Rosh was locked in combat in the sky above Eric’s house. He watched as some sort of bird-lizard hybrid tore into his lover’s armor with its claws. A sword made its way to the target faster than Eric could see, but the bird fell back and avoided the sliver of sunlight. Bullets tore through the air, and the bird flipped away and upward to avoid those, too. A jet of flame whooshed from Rosh’s wrist, following the bird as it whipped through the air. All the while, Rosh pursued the bird with his sword at point. The two made a figure 8, then a loop, then a chaotic tailspin to the ground together. The bird’s wings transformed into muscular arms, covered in green scales. Hideous fangs grew from the folds of its beak. “Give up!”, it hissed at Rosh in a grating voice. Rosh flew forward and swiped four times, waiting for the bird’s fourth dodge to try peppering it with bullets by predicting where it would go.

The creature made the mistake of trying to sidestep the spray of bullets, meeting instead with Rosh’s powerful bare fist. An uppercut sent the creature into the air, where Rosh lined up his iron sights, then littered the creature with holes. It shrieked in pain, and whipped about in the air as if it couldn’t decide which way it needed to go. It practically ran into Rosh’s sword as it swung in a lazy arc. The creature’s head hit the ground with a light thud, then the entire corpse dissolved into smoke before the rest of it could fall from the air.

Eric watched the terrifying spectacle from the front yard, waiting for his airborne lover to alight at his side. Rosh tried his best to come down gracefully, but the best he could manage in his tired state was slamming to the ground a few feet from Eric. He pulled himself from the ground and grabbed Eric in a tight embrace, shutting down the words of stern worry that were forming. Eric wrapped his arms tightly around Rosh, wishing he would never have to let go. Rosh pushed his lips into Eric’s neck, then opened his mouth and bit down hard. A bit of blood rolled onto his tongue, and Eric shuddered violently as a moan escaped his lips. “Rosh, I-” Eric’s protest was cut off by a hard kiss. Rosh’s tongue pushed forth insatiably. Eric always told Rosh to kiss him a bit more gently, but secretly enjoyed having his mouth forcefully invaded. When the kiss finally broke off, the two breathless lovers locked eyes. “Fearing for my life made me really… grateful for you.”, Rosh stammered. Eric couldn’t find the words he wanted, so he simply buried his face in Rosh’s neck. The two walked inside Eric’s modest home arm in arm.

MaximiLand Is Back!

What's the deal with this Rosh guy? And is Lena a whiz or is her creation a fizz? Stay tuned in to find out! 

A few minutes earlier, not too far away, Rosh took up his greatsword. Its damask blade caught the sunlight and glittered like gold, a sliver of the sun itself. His kevlar armor creaked under heavy metal plates. A bulletproof, flame retardant suit underneath moved only slightly. He donned a kabuto-style helmet, complete with a crest, visor and mask and still felt just a bit naked. He strapped the sword to his waist and a heavy, solid steel shield to his back. It felt weightless to him. His automatic rifle, black as midnight, fell around his waist at the mercy of a short strap. Seven hundred and twenty bullets rested in banana clips around his torso. A survival knife with a fearsome, jagged blade perched on his collarbone as if it belonged nowhere else. He studied his intimidating figure in the nearby mirror, only a little nervous. Electricity crackled as he gestured. For the volt gun, he had chosen the shocker, of course. The gesture changed to rock on and a tank of liquid nitrogen on his back emptied a baby's breath of its contents. He raised his fist and pulled it backward. A jet of aerosol flame licked upward for a fraction of a second. Two cans beneath each shoulder pad reassured him that his purifying fire would burn long enough to purge all the unholiness they could throw at him. To complete the ensemble, he donned a steel chain with a golden cross hanging from it, bearing a tiny Jesus, frozen in his merciful agony. Today would be the day of reckoning that he had been planning for months. His powers thanks to the exposure were limited, but they were enough, paired with the armor and weapons, to give him a fighting chance. He rose slowly, a translucent bubble of red energy engulfing him. Today, the world would be saved before it even knew it was in danger.

Lena followed the trail of the monster’s presence, pulling her raging energy in as close to her body as she could muster as she flew. She fought back tears, knowing they would do her no good. All she could think about was cold, bloody revenge. She was determined to kill all the freaks she could find until blood ran thick in the walkways and flew on the air in a fine mist. Her thoughts raced wildly, manifesting as razor sharp licks of energy flashing outward from her small bubble. She didn’t notice the purple tint coming over her vision as her bloodlust grew, her energies coating her eyes and blinding her to any notion of reason or sanity. Sweat trickled down her forehead from a tiny part of her that was nervous, but she fought it down viciously. She was going to avenge Elijah and kill every monster she could find or die trying. As she neared the MaximiLand theme park, the trail began to go downward. It occurred to her in that moment, following the trail into the theme park as terrified people saw her and scattered for the exits, that the man with the blue hair had been telling the truth. That made things easier for her. She would ensure all the normal humans and animals had left, then raze the entire place and kill everybody in it. She wasn’t entirely certain if she was capable of such a feat, or even powerful enough to take on the monsters in the park, but she no longer cared. Some small part of her, desperate to have Elijah back, clung to the notion that if she could just recover his body, maybe there was something she could do. She dismissed the thought as delusional, but some small part of her couldn’t help but cling to it. In her frenzy of thoughts, she didn’t feel the other power similar to hers creeping closer, headed to the same destination she was.

Rosh observed the woman in the purple bubble from a careful distance. He did his best to reach out to her mind, but all he could pick up was a frenzied rush of emotion. He couldn’t get a good feel for how strong she might be, but he knew that her power was from the same source as his and much greater. Likely, if provoked, she could kill him in seconds. This put the day’s operation in serious jeopardy. He debated flying away and waiting to launch his offensive another day, but something deep within him kept him flying toward the park - a force of inevitability, not unlike being on the highway, unsure of your destination, only knowing that you couldn’t stop. For all his weapons and strange new powers, he still felt overwhelmingly scared, like a small child facing down the boogeyman in his closet. Something in him told him this was the right thing to do, so he kept flying toward his destination. As a precaution, he tried to send a message to the woman in the bubble. “I am Rosh. Do not fear me. I am a friend, not a foe.” His message fell on a deafened and vicious mind. He figured if it came down to it, he could explain himself face to face or, if she was as crazy as her thoughts made her seem, book it out of there. He reached down to his hip and grasped the hilt of his sword tight, like a security blanket. He watched the woman in the purple bubble increase her speed as she banked downward. He did the same, aiming to land opposite from her on the other end of the park. With any luck, by the time they met, the place would be clear or she will have gotten herself killed.

Elijah felt an intense pain in his head and not much else. Horrified, he realized he had no limbs or torso. “How am I alive right now?!”, he screamed to nobody. His cries echoed down a long hallway, devoid of anybody to respond. He tried to move his neck muscles, only to find he was strapped down to a small table. All around him, there were mysterious instruments of science and jars containing what he could only surmise were human and monster body parts. He felt something.  Many somethings.  Powerful and furious, ambling around in his general vicinity. He felt an ethereal knot in his nonexistent gut. The feeling told him he was likely in more trouble than he thought, which was saying something, considering his current status as a disembodied head. Monstrous shrieks in the distance confirmed his fears and all he could do was pray.

On ground level, lesser employees and park patrons fled for dear life, scattering this way and that as monsters took flight in all directions around them to meet the two flying energy bubbles above and clash. Blood of various colors flew on the air and spattered the terrified populace as they collectively lost their minds and bolted for wherever looked safe. Some revealed that they were armed and took stands against the monsters, some successful and some not. Bullets flew, blades danced and gore was scattered to the four winds. This kind of chaos was going to take a lot of money to keep quiet.

About a half-mile in the sky, Lena’s eyes burned brighter than lighthouses as swaths of purple energy burned paths to the ground. Monsters caught in the searing blasts could only scream as they faded to dust, then to nothing. As she drew nearer to the ground and saw that the evacuation of the park was nearing completion, her blasts grew larger and stronger. A laugh escaped her lips. Through the bottom of her bubble, her bathrobe hit the ground. Strange lines danced over her naked body, acting as a sort of armor. Monsters rushed toward her and met their doom. Monsters ran for dear life, some regressing to their human forms, and met their doom. Lena was determined to spare no soul until she found Elijah, or whatever was left of him.

Rosh descended from the heavens as a whirling dervish, bullets flying this way and that as his golden blade left monsters close to him bisected cleanly. He let go of his gun and gave a fist pump. White-hot flames erupted from his wrist, powered by the rather large pack he carried. He directed the flames, letting them purify the evil approaching him and burn its house to the ground until no more monsters approached. They had all gone into hiding, run away or gone to guard important secrets. With his fledgling power, Rosh sensed another vaguely human mind, in horrible pain and undergoing horrible changes from it. He couldn’t pinpoint a location, only knowing that the mind was trapped somewhere underground. Knowing the park’s exterior like the back of his hand from studying maps, he began making his way to the nearest employees-only door, at the center of the park.

Lena’s purple flames devoured everything around her. In a subtle way, she could feel her humanity slipping away and, though concerned on some level, she couldn’t bring herself to care enough to stop her rampage. Powerful monsters, probably sensing her immense power, came to face her. They shrugged off her hellish flames, coming at her like packs of wild dogs, and were cut down in short order by slashes of energy coming and going on the air like will o’ wisps. A minotaur’s brains painted a roller coaster. A man-serpent’s head became a hood ornament for a pirate ship. A monstrous mouse covered in thorns exploded, its sharp protrusions embedding themselves in everything around except Lena. Seeing the monster waves were slowing down, she devoted a bit less energy to her assault and began mentally groping about for any remaining signs of life. If she found none, she would put all of her energy into an attack that would raze the place as effectively as any bulldozer. After a few seconds of scanning, however, she was shocked to find two life energies. One was like her own life force, but weaker. It gave off a feeling of unease, like a scared kitten fighting for its life in the mean streets, along with a sort of divine light. If there was a God, Lena concluded that said God was clearly helping the scared kitten. The other human life energy she found, she couldn’t quite believe. It was like Elijah, but distinctly different somehow. She thought that perhaps they had removed his brain and were doing something with it. If that was the case, she would either find a way to save him or end his suffering, but she was determined to punish them in any case. A single thought put a crater into the ground, revealing a maintenance tunnel packed with monsters. They surged this way and that like cockroaches in the light as they ran for their lives. Lena’s flames spared none of them, only stopping short at the entrance to a larger chamber.

Rosh walked into the underground room as quietly and cautiously as he could, having his gun at point. Screams and terrible, inhuman cries died away in the distance, replaced by a set of light, quiet feet slapping softly against the dusty metal walkway. The woman was likely down here with Rosh. Until he knew what she wanted, it seemed safer to avoid her, if possible. He walked on through the chamber, looking for a way out to deeper parts of the park. He found a ventilation shaft that seemed to point downward and squeezed himself into it. The crawl down was a moment of tame reprieve. He knew he would be greeted at the other end of the shaft and kept his body tense and ready. When his journey downward came to a close, looking down upon a room with a few people in it who gave no signs of human life, he looked around the room below him. He saw what he had sensed earlier on a table. Strapped down by its neck and forehead, a severed head with sharp features and short-cropped blond hair was barely moving its facial muscles, deep in thought and likely dealing with incredible pain. It was kept alive by magic, to be sure; why they were pumping life into this random tortured soul, Rosh couldn’t fathom, but he decided that this man had to be saved. He didn’t know how to do that. He didn’t want to kill the monsters below for fear that one of them was providing the man on the table with his life force. He concentrated hard on the woman, searching her out and sending an image of what he was seeing. Elsewhere in the facility, he felt her power flare up. She sent him a message to wait for her and that he was owed her eternal gratitude.

Lena burst the magically held metal doors with ease, sending them off their hinges. “You slimy bastards have something that belongs to me.”, she muttered, then spat. Her bubble had turned to deep purple armor upon her body, close-fitting and bearing a fair resemblance to the black leather armor worn by assassins in days gone by. Upon her head was an understated helm, bearing two spikes from each ear and a large opening for her face, but otherwise unremarkable. She didn’t want to be flashy, she just wanted these monsters to see her eyes before they died at her hands. Elijah saw her, but didn’t call to her. He knew in his heart that something was horribly wrong and wanted her to be able to concentrate on the upcoming battle.

“You’ve come at last, girl. We were starting to wonder if we’d have to actually snuff the boy out to get you here.” A woman in an open Chinese dress stepped forward, her bobbed hair and heaving bosoms bouncing lightly as she did so. A small, effeminate man with long black hair, dressed in a white button-down shirt and jeans, followed her. Third and last to step forward was a tank of a woman with stern features, wearing glasses and with her hair pulled back in an intense bun. A very large and nondescript sundress hung off of her hulking frame. All three bore beady, black eyes with hellfire behind them. Before anybody else could speak, Lena was among them, throwing vicious punches and kicks as her body and her mental energy synced up perfectly. Her blows met flesh and seemed to do little damage. Swipes of energy buzzed on the air like falling cherry blossoms, only shredding their victims’ clothing. The four moved almost as one in battle, moving toward and away from each other quickly for glancing blows that met one another and exploded with power that shook the air. “I fucked up.”, Lena muttered as she flew backward and called down a pillar of purple flame. It enveloped the three figures and burned their clothing away, revealing obsidian bodies laced with glowing red energies. “Yes, honey,” the large woman spoke up in a deep voice, “You did fuck up.” In a flash, the three of them were upon Lena. It took every ounce of energy she had to soak up the blows and throw barely-telling counters when she could.

Rosh watched the fight from above, conflicted. He knew he could at least distract one of them and make things easier for the woman, but his fear was getting the best of him. He also knew that if he didn’t, she would die or end up like the man strapped to the table. Shaking his head lightly at his own insanity, he punched the vent cover he was crouching on and it clattered to the ground. Caught by surprise, since Rosh had hidden his energy, two of the three monsters turned to Rosh. Before anybody could process what was going on, he was among them. His damask sword caught the sickly light from the lamps above and gave a green glow, appearing as a sword of light striking through the people in front of him. Left to assault Lena on her own, the large woman was quickly overwhelmed. Her body exploded, becoming a fine bloody mist on the air and walls. The slender man assumed the empty stance of a practiced Tai Chi Chuan student as he circled Rosh. The woman in the Chinese dress faced Lena, standing at ease.

Faster than any eye could follow, the battles began. The effeminate man parried Rosh’s lightning-fast swipes with his bare hands. The woman in the dress traded blows with Lena, each lashing out quickly to look for holes in the other’s defenses. The two pairs circled and intermingled, with the two antagonists occasionally trading enemies. Rosh and Lena began concocting a plan telepathically as the battle went on.

Lena allowed the woman in the dress to sideswipe her with a glancing hip kick, steeling her defenses. The kick bounced harmlessly off of her mental armor and the woman in the dress bounced back with it. In that second, a flash of golden green took her head clean off and a swipe of purple energy bisected the effeminate man, who had just misstepped due to a missed punch. The corpses lay on the ground, smoking as Lena and Rosh caught their breath. Before either party could say a word, the two monsters were back together and on their feet again, but giving off significantly less energy and carrying themselves limply. “This isn’t over, bastards.”, the woman said as the pair was enveloped in red light and vanished just in time to be missed by a swipe of Rosh’s sword. “Damn…”, he spat. Blood flew on the air with his word, spewing from a few missing teeth and a cut lip. The effeminate man had clearly been a match for him.

Lena had already taken over life support duties for Elijah’s head, though she didn’t know quite how she was doing it. She strode over to the table, picked Elijah’s head up and kissed him. “Let’s get you out of here and… somehow back to being able to move.” Elijah tried to nod, then remembered he had no body and simply grunted his exhausted agreement. Lena turned toward Rosh. “You… Thank you.” Rosh tipped his helm. “All in a day’s work, right?” A cough that spattered blood from the mouthpiece of his helmet betrayed his suave words. ‘He’ll probably be fine…’, Lena thought to herself. The two flew up through the roof of the chamber, leaving broken stone in their wake. As they flew away in different directions, smoke curled up from the ruins of the world’s largest theme park.

Elijah couldn’t do much but watch as Lena worked furiously, long into the night. “Babe, you don’t have to rush…”, he said gingerly. She stopped working for the first time since arriving home and turned toward him. “I don’t think you understand, babe. We’re both in a hell of a lot of danger. The sooner you’re autonomous again, the better.” She walked over, smiled into his eyes and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll be fine, loverboy. You can stand guard over my sleeping form once your body’s complete, just like in the fairytale, kay?” Elijah couldn’t help but chuckle. “I don’t recall the handsome prince being a cyborg, but whatever you say. I’ll be here.” “Good boy.”, Lena barked as she turned to go back to her work, diving into a mess of metal parts flung about by a whirlwind of purple energy. Elijah could already see an arm starting to form. “I didn’t know you were into robotics, to be honest.”, Elijah called to her. “I’m not,” Lena said without looking up, “but thankfully people on the internet are, and they’re very good at making tutorials. Elijah suddenly thought it may be a good idea to test his new body thoroughly and slowly upon receiving it.

Bolts, wires and fasteners flew this way and that. Hulking batteries and networks of smaller ones went wherever space could be found for them. Elijah had long since begun snoring loudly from the shelf he was perched upon, but Lena kept working tirelessly. She had never made such extensive use of her powers before and it made her a bit nervous, but she felt alive - more alive than ever before, save for when she and Elijah made love. Thinking about that moment, she paid special attention to the various servos and sensors below the waist of the robot before her. She remembered each and every detail of Elijah’s body from head to toe and knew every sensation he had ever felt from scanning his memories. With that knowledge in hand and a speedy laptop at her side, she took to her pile of metal parts with renewed vigor. A pressure sensor here. A gyrometer there. Touchpads in layers over everything for sensation With her powers, what would take an ordinary person months would take her days, a week at most. A roll of synthetic flesh that she had prepared, packed with electrodes and sensors, stood by. Whenever a section was completed, she would cut a strip of the artificial skin and wrap the metal skeleton. The completed parts felt human enough, but laying hands over them to test the sensors felt eerie, like what Lena imagined touching a dead body would be like. She wondered if touching the synthetic body standing before her would still feel that way once Elijah’s will made it move, the friction from his movements making it hot, the pumping and heating of a blood substitute via an artificial heart controlled by Elijah’s back brain.

When Elijah awoke, what looked to be his own body stood before him, fully formed. Lena stood next to it, hugging it for support and looking barely awake. He wasn’t sure how long he had slept, but he knew it must have been a while, if she had managed to complete the construct during that period. He smiled at her, then looked over the body from head to toe. He was shocked at how accurate it was. The musculature, body hair, wrinkles and bone structure were all perfect.

All that remained was to attach the real thing. Elijah considered asking Lena how she planned to do this, but thought better of it. “All right, love.” He gulped nervously, empty air whooshing from his severed throat as a result, “Whenever you’re ready.” With a silent nod, Lena waved her hand at Elijah and he found himself encased in a purple bubble, feeling somewhat numb. A slight burning in his neck was all that he felt as the lines were hooked up and his various systems began to jump to life. The numb sensation and the burning pain both faded. He could feel the cool air in the room on his bare skin, the thumping of a heartlike apparatus in his chest, the soft carpet beneath what looked like his perfectly normal bare feet. Impressed and grateful beyond words, Elijah picked Lena up and cradled her. A single finger, the nail worn down, pointed to a doorway at the back of the house. Elijah carried her through the threshold like a bride, kissed her, then set her upon a cluttered bed and pulled the covers around her. He turned around and began scanning the room around him. Before he could even begin to walk out of the room to inspect his new surrounding, he heard Lena’s gentle, rhythmic breaths telling him that his lover was out cold. The all-too-realistic stomach that she had made for him growled. Relieved that she had put in the extra work to allow him to be fueled by food instead of electricity, Elijah made his way to the kitchen, an understated island off one side of the living room, and began foraging for food.

MaximiLand continues!

MaximiLand continues! This time around, things I don't know how to write and cliffhangers that shouldn't be cliffhangers. 

CHAPTER 3 - Lipstick Stains

To prepare for her night out, Lena threw on a simple baby blue t-shirt, a black skirt and flip flops. Her hair was a mess, her lack of a bra was apparent and her nails were flesh-toned. She was fairly certain Elijah wouldn’t care. As a final touch, she donned a pair of cute, tacky leg warmers in neon-striped tones. If he could look at her like this and still want to talk to her, let alone get to know her better, than a real connection must have happened when they met. She studied herself in the mirror, looking up and down and chuckling just a bit at how tacky and offbeat she looked - like a reject from the pit of a post-grunge concert. She gave herself a sexy look, lifted her shirt just a little and grinned. “Come on, Elijah…”, she cooed to nobody, then threw her head back and laughed ridiculously at herself. “Yeah, first date, real slut.” She decided there would be no charades. He would see her for who, and what, she was, the first night they spent out together. Traditional dating made her sick with all its fakery and lies. The bar was a short bus ride from her house, so she decided against driving. If the night went well, she was going to end it in no state to drive.

Elijah didn’t feel the need to dress in his Sunday best tonight. He decided that this girl who had read his mind was worth showing the real face that she brought back out after years of hiding in sorrow. He changed into a punk-rock t-shirt, jeans with chains and a black wristband. This was how he dressed after work each day before the accident. As a finishing touch, he reached into his underwear drawer and pulled out a necklace bearing the first guitar pick he had ever used in a performance. Seeing his old self in the mirror, Elijah couldn’t help but smile and shed a single tear. Since the bar was close to where he lived, Elijah decided to walk and not risk having to leave his car in town or drive home on a buzz.

Lena bounced in her seat the entire bus ride to the iconic hotspot, eager to see the man whose mind she had unwittingly probed and gained a strange and sudden attraction to. Her thoughts raced. Was he aggressive? Was he too much of a joker? Was he her dream? She shook her head and the thoughts flew away with the breeze from the windows. However this night may turn out, Lena was fairly certain overthinking wouldn't help much of anything.  Lost in thought, she barely noticed a greasy hand creeping over her shoulder and down the front of her shirt. By the time she came back to Earth,  the hand was inside her shirt, on her bare bosom. The roughed-up leather glove the man wore felt strange on her bare flesh. Dirty fingers began to probe her nipple. She turned around slowly, not bothering to remove the hand just yet. "Sir," she stated in her kindest possible voice, "My being unaccompanied by a man does not mean..." The drunken hooligan cut her off. "Aw, come on, baby!" His words slurred into near unintelligible noises. After a second of silence, he began to sing in an off-key mock baritone. "The night is young and..." He, too was cut off. Rather than by words, his charming song’s abrupt ending came through being picked up rather painfully by the offending arm and being sent sailing through the center aisle. The intoxicated greaser landed with a thud, unconscious at the bus driver's feet. Lena sat back down slowly. "Don't worry. He's not dead. Now, if he insults my favorite movie again, no promises." She flashed a smile and the bus erupted in laughter and applause. Within seconds, she was lost in thought again. As Lena got up to leave the bus, she noticed the two young men across from her were snickering and staring at her. She looked down and noticed, as she assumed, her breast hung freely from her shirt. She fixed it without a word and gave the hooligans a look that made them both freeze. Hiding her smug grin, she got off the bus with a sexy swagger. She couldn’t decide if she liked the attention she got, but she figured she might as well break out of her shell before she got to the biggest bar in the state and most likely made a drunken, lovestruck fool of herself. The ego boost was helpful, too.

Elijah’s walk was interrupted in short order. At the end of his street, two men were screaming obscenities at each other. One had a gun pointed at the other’s face, but that didn’t stop the shouting match. Elijah decided he had to stop this before somebody got hurt. He stooped to pick up a nearby fallen tree branch and hid it down the leg of his pants, hoping he wouldn’t have to use it. “Gentlemen!”, he shouted as he walked closer, “The night is beautiful! Certainly a terrible time and place for this kind of behavior, yes?” The man with the gun turned his head, but didn’t move his weapon. “Butt out, stranger. This guy here deserves what I’m gonna give him.” Elijah’s eyes turned cold. “Why’s that, hm? Because he slept with your wife? Because he owes you money? Get over yourself, punk.” The man pointed his gun at Elijah. “Big talk for somebody who’s not packing any heat, staring down my barrel.” In a flash, Elijah’s pocket knife was open and flying. The man licked off a clumsy shot that took down a tree branch a few yards away and lifted his arm to the perfect position for the knife to slice him wide across the shoulder. The gun clattered to the ground. “Now kiss and make up.” The man who had faced down the gun before finished watching in stunned silence and fled. Three more men made their way out of the shadows to stand by their fallen comrade. Their postures said their blood was boiling, but their eyes showed fear. Somewhere deep down, something in Elijah snapped. His lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile. He pulled the tree branch that he had retrieved earlier. One of the men started to plead hysterically as Elijah’s madly grinning visage approached him. The three attacked as a unit and only a single haymaker met its target. Elijah’s nose bled, but he felt no pain. A single upward swipe sent the sobbing man flying and broke the branch. Elijah discarded it and seized upon the collar of one man with inhuman speed and grace. Before the man knew he had left the ground, he was unconscious, face-down on the asphalt. The third man tried to run, but Elijah made a joke of his attempt and lifted him by the neck. Peering into the man’s eyes, Elijah hissed, “Who are you running from?” The man pleaded and struggled. “Please, man, I have kids!” The plea echoed in Elijah’s ears. “Please man, I have kids…” He remembered a time when his family was new, his son and daughter mere infants. He had faced down a barrel and said the same to his assailant. The man on the other end of the gun pulled the cash from Elijah’s wallet, returned the leather with an apology and said something that haunted Elijah for years. “I’m sorry, bro. When you gotta do what you gotta do to survive, you lose sight of other people’s right to survive.” Leaving those words behind, he had disappeared into the night and left Elijah to think of his old ways, all those years ago. In the present, Elijah set the man he was holding down gently. “I’m so sorry…” Tears burned behind his eyes and slowly made their way out. The man who had been spared a beating walked away slowly, not sure what he had just seen. Elijah took a second to compose himself and put his mind back in the present, then left for the bar, stooping to pick up his bloody knife as he passed. He cleaned it with a handkerchief and looked at it disgustedly, reluctantly pocketing it. “You’re supposed to be for slicing apples…”, he muttered to the blade. As he walked away, he finally began to feel his aching nose and cleaned the blood off his face.

He arrived at the bar surprisingly well put together, cleaned off and smoothed over. Lena’s stretched shirt didn’t draw his eye. WIth a smile and very little hesitation, he acted on instinct, grabbing Lena and planting a kiss on her. She tensed for half a second, then kissed him back. “I’m glad that’s out of the way…”, she sighed, breathless. “Now we can actually get comfortable with each other.” Elijah smiled, took her by the hand and led her to the bar. The place was suspiciously empty for a Saturday night. A pervasive air of unease wafted over the couple as they ordered stiff drinks from a haggard and taciturn youth. As soon as the glasses hit the bar, Elijah and Lena’s reached down in unison to retrieve their drinks. Lena was unaccustomed to hard liquor, pulling a face as her whiskey slid down her throat. Elijah chuckled and downed his shot with no trouble.  As they neared the exit, the air became thicker and more menacing. Elijah drew his knife. Lena’s eyes burned with malevolent energy that leaked out and crackled on the tense air. “Come out already!” Elijah’s knife flipped up and he fell into his instinctive fighting stance.

“I told you to stay away from her, didn’t I?” The woman with the spear appeared, surrounded by four scared-looking young men. “Naughty boy. Now you have to die.” WIthout another word, Elijah was among them, his knife and fists meeting flesh and bone in a mad flurry. Blood flew on the air, a good amount of it his. Lena’s mind lashed out at the woman in black, knocking her against the glass doors and shattering them. The four men dead in short order, Elijah set his sights on the woman. “Pathetic.” She threw her head back and laughed. The sound turned gruff and grating as her body began to twist. The rough laughter turned to a cry of anguish as her head began to expand and her hands and feet formed into rough paws. Her spine lengthened with a series of sickening pops and a snake’s head formed on the end. Her ears cracked and twisted as they became pointed and arched backward. Over her entire body, fur sprouted up, leaving blood in the wake of its far-too-fast growth. A ten-foot lion with a snake for a tail stood before the couple. In the snake’s mouth, the woman’s long spear had transformed into a wicked blade.

The snake whipped at Elijah and steel met steel, his arm barely moving fast enough to counter the vicious blow. The force pushed him back, but he dug his heel into the hardwood as the creature slowly advanced back into the bar. The lion focused on Lena, advancing on her with a furious combo, cracking her purple psionic shield ever so slightly and pushing her back. Elijah locked blades with the snake, then used his free hand to wrench the blade from its mouth. The jerking motion threw the blade aside and dazed the snake, giving him time to launch a dropkick at the lion. Right when the assault on Lena let up, a fluorescent purple crescent of energy flew through the air and separated the lion from the snake. The snake fell dead, fading away in a puff of smoke, and the unfazed lion took up the snake’s sword as it got up on its hind legs. Elijah didn’t have to ask for a sword. A streak of purple light beamed from the handle of his knife. The lion lunged faster than Elijah could move. The heavy attack bounced harmlessly against a shimmering purple bubble. Elijah took the opportunity to issue a glancing blow to its legs. When the lion toppled, he spun and beheaded it with a single powerful upward slash. The lion fell limp to the floor and vanished in a cloud of smoke in the middle of transforming back into the woman. Its sword became a spear again, which Elijah picked up and examined.

“Who or what was that?” Lena shook her head. “Bad stuff, to be sure. We’re obviously being hunted. We need to talk, Elijah.” He handed her the spear. “Maybe dispose of this first? We’d look awfully weird stalking the streets with medieval weaponry.” Lena closed her eyes briefly and the spear burned to ash. Smoke and the scent of blood in the air, the pair made their way out into the night, panting from exertion. Elijah reached out a hand to steady Lena and pull her close. "My place is a short walk from here. Better than risking being attacked on the bus, right?" Lena nodded weakly.

After a surprisingly peaceful walk, Elijah and Lena walked into the house side by side, Elijah shutting the door warily. As soon as she sensed the coast was clear, Lena began throwing her clothes on the floor. “Ew, ew ,ew… monster blood... “ Elijah decided to be a gentleman and make his way to the guest bathroom. “I’m sure you already know where the master bath is.” To his surprise, he was scooped up with alarming force and turned to face Lena in all her naked glory. “No way, buster. Neither of us needs to be alone right now. “ “But…” Lena cut off his protest. “Yes, my butt is nice and you’ll be seeing a lot of it, because I’m not leaving your side until we figure out who the fuck wants us dead and how to stop the attacks!” Blushing, he smiled and silently disrobed. “Not like I don’t already know what you look like naked anyway, you know. I’ve seen all your memories.” Elijah rolled his eyes. “I think I love you already, you crazy bitch, you.” Lena took his hand and smirked into his eyes. “I’m pretty sure I love you, too, you hardheaded lug.”

Lena was enamored by the huge bathroom, its centerpiece being a beautiful jacuzzi-style bathtub. The pure luxury of it all, compared to her life up until that moment, slapped her in the face. Elijah turned on the water and watched the tub fill at an astronomical pace. Lena was in hog heaven, touring the room and gushing over the side-by-side open showers, stonework tiles and pristine handrails. Elijah got in the tub without a word, letting his sore muscles relax. After a few more excited minutes, Lena cannonballed into the tub, then swam over and sat in Elijah’s lap. Elijah popped open a bottle of champagne from the mini-fridge in the side of the tub and before long, Lena was sipping far more of it than he was. Lena was plenty comfortable, babbling on about her childhood and school days. Elijah was uncomfortable at first, with a naked woman on his lap that he had just met, but he grew more relaxed a few glasses in. “So, after elementary school…” Lena hiccuped. “Hey!” She turned to face Elijah, straddling him. Naturally, given their position, she rubbed against his throbbing bulge, but his stoic nature wouldn’t let him take it further at the moment. After a few seconds, she gave up and settled in a lower position in his lap. “What about your childhood?” He rolled his eyes. “Oh boy, here we go.” Lena giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “C’mon, tell me!” With a heavy sigh, he launched into his tale. “Nothing noteworthy, really. Always into martial arts and computers… Dad walked out when I was seven… Let’s see, what else…?” He pondered for a moment, then blathered on about his overwhelmingly boring school years, tales of teachers and grades far outnumbering stories of childlike bravery and mistakes to learn from. Content, Lena sank into his chest and absorbed every detail as if she didn’t already know it. The retelling should have bored her, since she had already read every corner of his mind, but she adored how Elijah was so willing to open up to her. The pair stayed in the bath for hours, simply talking, with little moments of teasing here and there when Lena couldn’t restrain herself any longer.  

When the sun began to peek over the picturesque hillside in the window, Elijah kissed Lena briskly, then began to rise. “No!”, she squeaked and pushed him down forcefully. “You’re mine!” He grinned up at her. “Do I at least get a condom?” Lena sank slowly, meeting his eyes as her lips hit the water. “I’ll take a pill tomorrow.” Her devilish smirk sank into the bubbling depths. Elijah’s body tensed, suddenly enveloped by a shivery, slippery and warm sensation. His spine hadn’t tingled that way in quite some time. His back arched dramatically, throwing Lena off balance, but she held firm. Roughly two minutes later, when her shocking lung capacity began to give, she wrapped her toes around the drain and gave a tug. Still latched on, she shuddered a heavy breath in through her nose, then resumed her work. Her tongue moved quickly, darting like a snake across a complex microcosm of a landscape. With each strike, Elijah’s breath caught in his chest. Lena froze when she felt firm hands grasp her hips and heave her in a circle as the pair sank into the shallow pool. Before she could make a move on her own, Elijah’s tongue was mirroring hers. Sweat mingled with water circling the drain as the pair shifted positions blindly, caught up in mindless passion. The smell of freshly watered flesh, akin to a steamy shower, rose into the air only to be quickly replaced by a more distinct aroma. The two didn’t notice at all. After a few minutes of this impromptu lovefest, Elijah got up, lifting Lena upside down, and walked over to the master bed, his tongue still doing its work until the second he tossed Lena onto the bed like a doll, then dove on top of her with unrestrained force. Lena let out a single gasp as she was penetrated, then clung to his neck and fell silent for the rest of the night aside from an occasional soft whimper.

Lena popped awake with little delay or fanfare and shook Elijah gently. The pair got out of bed together, threw on robes and shuffled dreamily to the kitchen. After starting the coffee maker and pulling down two cups, Elijah sputtered over to the fridge, threw it open and looked around. Lena appeared over his shoulder and snatched up a plate of leftover steak. Elijah decided on a simple breakfast-in-a-bun, eaten cold. “Hey,” Lena hummed between voracious bites, “Need to talk to you about something.” They stood in silence for a few minutes, drinking their coffee slowly as they ate. Finally, Elijah spoke up. “OK, about what? Do you know something about the attacks?” Lena nodded slowly, reclining lithely on a nearby circular chair. “I’m supposed to go to a job interview for MaximiLand soon. After I bought the interview clothes from you, I had a pretty weird experience.“ Elijah settled into a padded chair at the kitchen table, propping his head up in one hand. “What kind of weird?”, he puffed between bites of his icy meal.  

“This kind of weird.” The blue-haired man materialized in the dining room. “What the fuck?!” Elijah leapt to his feet, spraying bits of food as he fell into his instinctive fighting stance. The man smirked at him, tensed for a second, then dropped into a relaxed pose. “Chill, dude. I’m not the enemy here.” Elijah’s body grew more tense as he began to feel his blood work into a boil. “Give me one good fucking reason I should believe you, asshole.” Lena stood up and walked over to the man. “He’s telling the truth, oaf. I was just about to tell you about what he told me and showed me yesterday.” Elijah sunk back into his chair and resumed his meal, trusting Lena’s word. “Tho, then…” Elijah’s words were muffled by hunks of beef and frozen cheese. “Whaf duh deal?”

The blue-haired man’s mouth was obscured by a strip of black matter floating in midair. It expanded quickly into a tentacle, then into the blocky form of a large, musclebound man with multiple tentacles on his back. “Don’t say shit, creep.” The large man’s gravelly voice echoed through the dining hall. Elijah’s fist shot through the glass table like a bullet, coming back up without a single shard stuck in it. “God damn it!”, he screamed, “Can’t I get a fucking minute of peace?” His eyes darkened visibly as he walked slowly and purposefully toward the octo-man. “Are you insane, pleb?!” The monster let go of the blue-haired man, who sank backward slowly. “Don’t you realize you’re facing down a genuine monster?” The tentacles solidified, turning into eight long and tapered blades. Elijah dodged a blow from one, then seized it without a word. Ignoring the pain of it slicing into his hands, he tore savagely at it. The monster man cried out in shock and pain as his tentacle detached from his back. The seven remaining tentacles whipped at Elijah with incredible speed, but only two glancing blows met their target, leaving small cuts. “What are you?!” The octo-man backed away, continuing his attack with each blow being parried almost effortlessly. “I’m pissed off, that’s what I am!” Elijah fell back to avoid a series of blows, turned quickly on his heel and issued three quick slashes. Five tentacles fell to the floor. The octo-man’s pants got darker and a heavy scent rose in the air. “Please!” He fell to his knees, “I’ve only been part of the company for one year! They don’t pay me enough to die!”

Elijah dropped the tentacle-sword he was holding and launched himself into a vicious haymaker. A sickening popping sound seemed to filled the air as Elijah’s body rose, impaled on the two remaining tentacles in a movement faster than anybody had been able to follow. Before any protests met the air, Elijah’s body split in half at the waist, then each half was struck through. The monster disappeared with the corpse. All the neighbors could tell the police was that a purple bubble containing a woman in a bathrobe had burst through the roof of the home and zoomed off in the direction of the main highway. Naturally, the cops could only believe that the entire neighborhood was either crazy or in cahoots on some kind of harebrained scheme. Lena felt another presence, an energy similar to hers, headed toward D.C. ,but she couldn’t pay it much mind right now. All that mattered to her right now was finding Elijah, if he was still alive somehow, and killing every monster she could find.

As a bonus... Random stuff I wrote while tipsy!

Wrote this at 3:46 A.M. a few nights ago with a bit of drink in me. If anybody knows anywhere I could go with it or wants to steal it and do something with it, that's cool. 

Dave’s chunky fingers gripped the controller eagerly. The whiskey was doing its job quite well, leaving Dave’s gaming session a drunken delight. Without warning, his small studio apartment was filled with the clatter of glass and wood breaking into pieces. Tall figures in form-fitting black garments approached through the rubble, holding strange weapons that bore some resemblance to whips, but with a buzzing energy about them. “You are the key.”, one of the figures said as the others stopped walking. “You will come with us.” Dave’s heavy easy chair flew across the room, causing three of the figures to dive for cover. “Like hell I will!”, he cried as he ran to the back of the apartment. On the wall above the bed, a generic katana and a movie replica longsword were on display, as was a cheap pistol. He snatched up the pistol in his left hand and the longsword in his right. The seven black-clad figures approached all too quickly. Dave licked off two shots, felling two of them, but the remaining five carried on. Something was subtly inhuman about them; their rancid breath made Dave’s lungs halt all operations. A cold hand touched his left arm, gripping it tight enough to make him drop the pistol. Dave severed the hand with his longsword, then impaled its stunned former owner through the middle of the head. Leaving his blade in his victim, he reached up to retrieve the katana and felt a jolt through his body. He gave a mighty swing as his vision blurred and faded, feeling the blade contact something and drop from his hand. He felt abnormally hot, acidic blood splash on his face just before he lost consciousness.

MaximiLand Begins

Sup, guys. I've decided I'm going to post bits and pieces of my writings from now on to keep you all coming back. Evil, right? Anyway, as always, critique is welcomed. This is the beginning of MaximiLand, a tale of fortune, betrayal, rather sudden love and monsters. Lots and lots of monsters.I I've done very, very little to clean it up, so please ignore any typos or punctuation errors.

Trips to MaximiLand were all Elijah really had left. He went through the motions, but his life never had much meaning anymore. He thought it was a selfish thing to do, to develop such a mindset. To think of giving up and clinging to the last temporary high he had. Money was never an issue with a fairly high salary keeping him in a paid-off house with nobody else to spend it on. Most men in his situation would cling to more acute vices like alcohol or drugs. Elijah trekked alone every week to the place where the family he no longer had forged so many memories together. And, as far as he knew, he had fun. He wasn’t entirely certain if he was happy, but it was the only time he smiled anymore. It would have to do. He dreaded going back home. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything but keep breathing and take care of all the necessary prerequisites like working and eating. His house was full of dust. Dust on the game system his son once treasured. Dust on the wine bottles and bookshelf his wife once loved. Dust on the populated dollhouse his daughter once played out her strange takes on society in, half of its dust-coated inhabitants nudists. Dust on the piano and broadsword Elijah used to channel his soul through. Dust, even, on the laptop Elijah used to tunnel himself into and glory in code, exploring everything that could be done. Monday through Friday, Elijah’s co-workers ignored the dark cloud around him and did their best to help clients believe his fake smile and the boisterous, jovial voice he hid so much pain behind.  Today, his mouth agape with what he hoped was joy, he flew through the air. His close-cut blonde hair was blowing in the wind as much as it could muster, like it was trying to laugh with him and failing. There was no light in his green eyes, but he thought it was the best he could get. Today was the same as every Saturday, but it was the only thing in his life that never got old nowadays, even after three years. When the ride stopped, he slipped his thin body out of the seat and skipped about with a childlike grace and glee. Later, there would be cotton candy. He would say hello and talk briefly to the park employees who knew him as their only regular. He may even hit the karaoke booth, if he felt adventurous and managed to find a partner in crime or two. He knew his smile would fade completely before he even caught the eleven-o-clock train.

Lena’s hours of study were for naught. Her student loans, a crushing weight on her personal finances, had bought her nothing. Without experience, without a focus, nobody wanted to hire a liberal arts graduate looking to explore the working world and herself. Each day, she berated herself for her choice of major, hopefully the last poor choice she would ever make. She romanticized the concept of being a jack of all trades, of viewing everything around her under a mental microscope. She felt like she would graduate with the world at her feet. Instead, with each Dear John letter, she sank deeper and deeper into depression as her savings grew emptier each day. One day, she managed to get an interview in a job she thought may be worth a damn, or at least give her the cash she needed to stop stressing and use her free time to find a new focus. She would be a “client relations liaison” for the ever-expanding MaxiWaters enterprise, selling her soul for about $60,000.00 a year. Her interview was to be at the D.C. Superpark next week. For now, she stood naked in front of her full-length mirror, her dark hair falling in tresses down to her somewhat understated breasts. She tried levitating and viewing a full rotation of her body. Once her toes were a few inches from the floor, she spun once. There was nothing noteworthy in the plain-Jane curves of her backside and hips. Turning back to the front, she focused a pittance of her energies on her breasts. She pushed them together and upward, playing with positions for them and accompanying faces. The slight glow from the mental energy surrounding her stretching bosoms may have made them slightly more appealing, but if that was the case, she certainly didn’t notice it. “I’m gonna need new clothes, I guess…”, she muttered to herself. She tried various looks for her face, using her power to change the light near her round face. Smoky makeup around her piercing green eyes. Rouge on her low cheeks. A gentle slope to her straight jaw line. She eventually gave up trying to figure out how she may use her sex appeal, if any, and went to her bed to drown her sorrows in more research and more writing, some of it creative. For that, of course, she would need the glasses that she felt killed any small bit of sexual energy she may have otherwise radiated. With a scoff, she sank into her bed, pushed aside a pile of metal parts and gathered up her custom laptop using the psionic power she knew nobody could ever appreciate and she could never benefit from.

CHAPTER 1 - LENA

Lena arrived at the boutique and was greeted by a man wearing the fakest smile she had ever seen. The pain in his emerald eyes wasn’t her concern, but she couldn’t help but feel his sadness as they talked through getting her measurements and fitting her for a few suits. After picking out five that she liked. enough to tolerate, they went to the register together. As he rang up her purchase, Lena couldn’t help herself. “What are you hiding that has you in such incredible emotional pain?”, she blurted, then immediately covered her mouth. “I’m sorry…” The clerk waved dismissively. “No, it’s OK. I’m actually impressed. Not many people can see through my facade.” He folded the suits nicely and his smile broke for a second. “My wife, son and daughter… are dead. Three years ago. Three years ago today, actually.” Lena’s mind reached out to his involuntarily and a single tear made its way down her cheek. Without thinking, she threw her arms around him. “It’ll be OK, Elijah. One day, you’ll be able to feel again. To love again.” For a few seconds that seemed to stretch into eternity, she held him tight and he slowly put his hands on her back in return. Finally, she broke away from him and smiled. To both their surprise, he smiled back. Lena took her bag of clothes and left. Elijah knew she had looked into his mind somehow and, rather than feeling scared, violated or freaked out, he was relieved to have somebody to share the pain with. He didn’t say anything as she left, but an ache to see her again began to swirl within him. His earpiece clicked on, giving him a slight start. “Elijah, we have a corporate account here needing your blessing.” His thoughts racing, he began the slow trek into the back of the store to take another soulless call about more meaningless money, the strange, but real smile that the psychic girl gave him still hanging on his face.

Lena smiled as she walked out to the parking lot. She felt like she had forged a real connection with somebody for the first time in a very long time. It was scrawled on a napkin and secured with scotch tape. “You don’t want that job, call me.” A number was on the back.  She hastily pulled out her cell phone and dialed it. “Hello there, Lena.” The voice on the other end was deep, slightly menacing. Lena didn’t let it faze her. “Hi, who the hell are you and how do you know about my job interview? Was that note a threat?” The man on the other end changed his tone, trying to sound soothing. “No, dear, not a threat at all. I’m a former MaximiLand employee. I got access to the list of new hires getting interviewed today and looked through their files. Yours… You seem special. Like they would… love to have you.” “Isn’t that a good thing?” “No. Certainly not. Things happen behind those doors. I can’t discuss them on the phone. Come talk to me in front of the main mall entrance if you want to know more.”  When she walked over, a tall figure in a black cloak and a colorful mask awaited her. “I can see behind that mask, you know.” She said tritely as her mental energy seized upon it and ripped it away. A scruffy chin, glasses, sharp features, blue eyes and dyed blue hair were behind the mask. “Is this some kind of joke?”, Lena demanded. “No.” The man spoke in a hushed voice, as though somebody may be listening in. “I’m incognito.” Lena was shocked that he wasn’t scared to death after having his mask removed while she stood ten feet away. “You’re thinking your mental abilities scare me.” He scoffed at her. “I see more dangerous things before I get out of bed in the morning, lady. I told you I’m here to warn you, for your own good. And mine, of course..”  

Thoroughly creeped out, Lena put up a barrier. The shimmering purple sphere shattered into pieces with an audible crack, leaving her frozen in terror. “Can’t you see I could have killed you ten times over if I really wanted to?” The man with blue hair approached her slowly and touched her face. “I’m here for me, mainly, to be honest.” Lena finally snapped out of her fear-induced daze. “How will helping me help you?” He stepped away from her and drew a short metal stick from his pocket. A long shaft of white-hot energy erupted from it. “Allow me to demonstrate.” Sensing it had been discovered, a monster that looked like an unholy pairing of a bear and an octopus suddenly materialized. Its attack was inhumanly fast and vicious, but the blue-haired man sidestepped it with laughable ease. “Less MaximiLand employees…”, he muttered as the monster turned and came at Lena. “Less monsters to kill.” With a single sweep of his energy stick, almost faster than Lena’s eyes could track, the monster was wholly bisected. Before the halves even hit the ground, it transformed into a middle-aged man in a black leotard. Lena’s eyes widened in disbelief. “N...no way.” Simple stammering was all she could really manage. The two watched as the dead man’s body evaporated like a puddle in the sun, leaving nothing behind. After a few seconds of silence, the man spoke up. “That is what happens to all of them, eventually.”  Lena backed away slowly, horrified. “You’re lying! You’re insane! Whatever that was... “ She couldn’t deny it had once been human, but the thought of such a huge corporation turning employees into monsters seemed ridiculous, even compared to the current circumstances. The man sheathed his energy blade. “Believe what you want, sweet cheeks.” Without another word from either of them, the man walked away as if nothing had happened. Lena decided it would be best to dismiss what she had seen and go home. Perhaps it was a hallucination, or a clever trick by somebody with powers remarkably similar to her own. Lena’s curiosity began to burn. Who was this man? What was his power? Was it like her own? Her head full of questions, she did the only thing she could really think to do. She got in her car and drove home, trying her best to forget what she had seen. The possibilities running through her mind were enough to cause a panic attack and she certainly did not need that on the eve of a job interview. As she lay in bed that night, her thoughts flashed briefly to Elijah. Why did she have such an insatiable desire to connect with him? Who was he? Would he be OK the next time she saw him?

CHAPTER 2 - ELIJAH

Something had changed in Elijah after meeting that psychic girl. He could feel it, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It was almost as if his spark had started to return. He got home and looked around his dusty house. Rather than seeing the usual scene of lives abandoned, he saw stories to be preserved, some even continued. He saw a game system he could sink some spare time into. He saw a sword, a keyboard and a laptop that he could pour his soul out to like they were old friends. He saw delicious wine begging to be imbibed, books begging to be read and a dollhouse fit for a queen that simply had to be cleaned and set in a prestigious and conspicuous place. Elijah briefly considered the possibility that he may have fallen in love, then berated himself for even entertaining the thought. Unfazed, he set to work cleaning and dusting things that had seen no use in years.

Less than an hour later, surprisingly, the deed was done. The home had shine and life to it for the first time in years. He couldn’t stop the tears from coming as he looked around and imagined his wife, son and daughter being there with him again. His wife sat at the dining room table with a glass of wine, smiling at him over the edge of her book. His son sat immersed in front of the TV, a spare controller next to him calling Elijah’s name. His daughter called to him from where her dollhouse sat. “Daddy, come play house with me!” A wave of emotion crashed over Elijah. He didn’t know if he should be happy, sad, confused or just overwhelmed. He found that his body was being rocked by heaving sobs.

Without any warning, a woman with long, jet-black hair and a dress like midnight appeared before him wielding a spear. “Hello, Elijah.” Her deep voice had an eerie ring to it. “Who the hell are you?” Elijah’s hand fell to the newly polished sword on the table beside him and he held it like a lover. The mental images of his family snapped off like lights. Adrenaline coursed through his bones and he couldn’t wait any longer. “Answer me, damn you!”, he screamed as he threw himself at the mystery woman, turning on his heel to swipe upward and then diagonally with uncanny grace. The woman sidestepped, then leapt over the second swipe of the sword. Elijah backed away just in time to avoid being kicked in the face, then was surprised to find that his reflexive upward stroke had been parried by the woman’s unwieldy-looking spear. The two froze, eyes and weapons locked. “Perhaps now you’ll talk to me like a human being?”, the woman whispered, then slowly lowered her weapon. Elijah placed the tip of his sword on the carpet and rested his hand on the pommel. “Maybe. Who are you and why are you here?” The woman licked her blood red lips. “I’m here to seduce you, quite frankly.” Elijah pursed his lips in confusion. “First off, why? Second, how did-” He was cut off by an unwelcome kiss. It felt like the acidic bite of a rattlesnake. He picked up his sword and threw a vicious roundhouse kick. Instead of throwing its target to the ground, the kick had met only air. The woman was gone, but her voice rang through the living room. “Too bad, dear. You had such potential. Now we’ll simply have to do away with you if you become problematic.” “What the hell are you talking about?!”, Elijah shouted hysterically. “Stay away from that girl, the one who read your soul…” The woman’s voice and the feeling of her presence faded, leaving Elijah alone.

 Unable to think of what he should do, he sank to his knees and wept. He stayed in that spot and let the anger, confusion and grief he had felt for years flow down his cheeks. After years, he finally felt strong enough to confront it. In the accident, he had lost focus and reached back to help his daughter adjust her booster seat. That was when the drunk driver had edged up to pass them and Elijah couldn't get out of the way fast enough. By the time he had any idea what was happening, the van was flipping toward the guardrail and the other car was smashed against a light post. He had sat with his family's corpses for two hours, conscious and in incredible pain, screaming his various anguishes. The drunkard's body across the street had a sorrowful look on its face, as if he realized his mistake and bore the burden of regret at the last minute. Hot tears made their way to Elijah's chin, each one charged with emotion. His guilt and sorrow slowly released their hold and a wave of relief swept over him. Eventually, Elijah collapsed, the overwhelming release draining him.

The next morning, the mysterious girl showed up at the suit shop again. Elijah's heart nearly fluttered out of his chest. She walked up to the counter and smiled into Elijah's eyes. "Hi." Elijah broke the silence. His coworkers watched with bated breath in the otherwise empty shop. "I'm Lena." She spoke in a breathy, almost sultry tone. After a second, they both broke into laughter and took on the posture of old friends. "Hey," Lena reached down and took Elijah's hand, "Meet me at Penn Social on Saturday?” Elijah nodded. “Store closes at seven, I’ll be off a little after that. Call me and we’ll arrange the details.” He slid her a business card with his cell number scrawled on the back. She walked out with a smirk on her face and a bounce in her step, leaving Elijah’s coworkers beaming. Andrew edged up slowly. “Elijah!” He grabbed his supervisor by the neck and gave him a noogie. “You sly dog! Nobody knew about this chick!” “Neither did I!” Elijah grinned and slipped out of Andrew’s grasp. They laughed and chatted together between customers for the rest of the day. Andrew didn’t say anything, but he was almost in tears to see his boss and old friend seeming truly happy again. The store was the brightest, happiest place it had been in quite some time.