[Superheroes] First Story: Maximilian

[Theta X]

This is my first attempt. I have to say I really liked this and had to tear myself away. I wasn't sure how to get the colors to transfer over from the story interface, so I did it manually.

I played Champions on-line for a wile. Max was one of may favorite characters, so he was a natural choice for this first try.

Let me know what you think!


I am short guy but strong.

Really strong.

Like juggle tanks strong.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was sucked into another dimension and for various unbelievable reasons I gained super powers.

But that was just a short year ago.

Now?

Now I am a superhero. A real, live hero.

My name is Max Shell. But I am known as Maximilian.

I am still solo but I do pretty well. I have a bit of a secret hide out in the city. About a half hour ago I received a call for help and out the door I went. It was a distress call from…

strip mall

…the pizza place where I get my pies; I gave them my number in case anything ever happens.

No one messes with my pizza.

I was out the door and bounding over the city 1000 feet at a stretch.

I told you I was strong. When I arrived at Pizza Hero there was no need to ask what was going on.

Revolting vagrant who is as strong as you and whose motivation is to publicize religion, abuse the law, and understand wrath; who speaks of knowing commands and is focused on your experience.

Vagrant.

He's fast, deadly and certifiable. I had let his shambled appearance fool me more than once. When he moved he became partially insubstantial, so he was slippery as hell. If he touches you, you'd better pray you could withstand his withering touch. It was painful as hell.

"It is you, Maximilian... You have come to me," hissed Vagrant.

"Dude," Brandy the owner of Hero Pizza yelled from the front door, "Can you get this loser out of here. He's bad for business!" Brandy was cute and always gave me a deal on my favorite pies.

I was willing to oblige.

"Sure thing, Brandy. Hey! Homeless dude, get the hell out of here before I kick your butt one more time!"

Vagrant hated it what I called him that. His shambling form went into a fighting stance. I was ready for anything.

"Vagrant's enemy is yours, is mine, is yours, is mine and together we shall punish the statue of blackness and free the flame you your life. The streets have decreed we are to be brothers in arms this moment in time to a moment in time soonish from here and now."

What the fudge?

God, he was confusing. That I understood him didn’t make me feel better. I had obviously been spending too much time getting him off the streets.

Vagrant and I were enemies because he tried to peddle his brand of cosmic justice: the "Will of the Streets". Whatever the “Streets” told him to do, he did. Once he made all of the toilets overflow in a forty block radius and it stunk for weeks. Another time he opened a portal to release an other-dimensional, super-powered, serial killer. It took months for the city to get over that one. You never knew with him. But above all “the Streets” had his addled mind always scheming to destroy the being that made him this way, Duke Obsidian.

What tied Vagrant and I together was Duke Obsidian. The Duke had created Vagrant as a result of a failed experiment, and the Duke stole my ex-girlfriend, Big Red.

That's what he was talking about. ‘Your enemy is my enemy’ and the ‘Statue of Blackness’ meant the Duke. The ‘flame of your life’ meant Red. Not only did she have red hair and a temper, but I still pined for her even though she had gone over to the dark side.

Plus it was embarrassing to have my personal life out in the open like that. I hoped Brandy didn’t hear. For once I was happy that Vagrant could not string together a coherent sentence.


"What the hell are you talking about?" I yelled at Vagrant.

Detonate a bomb at the fortress.

"His vile crib is the future location of a small detonation or the streets will suffer! Your enemy and mine and my enemy and yours will be sorry he provoked the brothers of the street." Great. Now I am his brother. I moved closer to him. If it got ugly, I needed speed as well as strength. "OK," I said, "what the hell are you talking about?"

War.

"War." said Vagrant. "He plans to start a war." I do not know what was more stunning. What is said or how he said it. The thing about Vagrant is he seemed to have the ability to tell the future. He was often right. But how he interpenetrated the future would have made the Joker proud. "We go to his crib." And with that, Vagrant rushed at me. I started my punch. I expected the attack. I did not expect him to teleport us.

Yes.


My punch lands on Vagrant as we materialize. At the same moment I puke.

Being teleported by Vagrant is like being sucked through a sewer pipe.Vagrant flew back into the wall, denting it, the slid to the floor. I am not sure who got the worst of it. Thank god now one see was around to see me lose my cookies. I have a rep to uphold. I looked around. Where were we?

Signal tower.


It was a small room. There were windows. Ignoring Vagrant, I went to the nearest window and looked out. Nepal. It looked like goddamn Nepal. We seemed to be in a tower. It was newly constructed with modern materials; steel, alloy, glass. There was a computer terminal next to one of the supports. I walked to it. That's when I heard Vagrant rise.

Yes.


That's when he attacked.

Yes, and... +Twist: NPC / Appears


Moderate Injury: Hampers action significantly; will require first aid/medical attention.


He crashed into me grabbing my head and banged it against the wall yelling, "we are brothers, we are team, we stop my enemy who is your enemy, your enemy who is my enemy not your enemy who is me!"

I could feel my strength ebbing from my body, the withering effects of his power was draining me of my power and ability. If he did not let go soon I would be unable to do anything but such juice through a straw for a long while.

Then there was the sound of violence and he hands were gone. I fell to the floor trying to gain my wits. My healing factor was amazing but it would still take some while for me to recover.

Someone was behind me. I felt myself being lifted off of the floor. My feet were dangling a foot off of the ground. I was turned around. I forgot to breathe. She was so beautiful. Her face framed in that bright red hair of hers.

"Hi Lover.."

"Big Red," I croaked pitifully.

Then she punched me in the face and I was out.

To be continued... ?

[mark]

I am short guy but strong.

Really strong.

Like juggle tanks strong.

Hehe, cool.

I wasn't sure how to get the colors to transfer over from the story interface...

See here: http://www.rpgsolo.com/forum/Thread-Shar...-adventure

Thanks for sharing!

[Theta X]

Thanks, Mark!

I dig this!

[Theta X]

PART II - Sorry for grammar mistakes! lol!

I woke slowly. I shook my head to try and clear it.

Man, Red packed a punch. That was one of the things I found so adorable about her.

Where was I now?

(restrained?)

No.

(cell?)

Yes, but...

(alone?)

Yes, but...

Wishes.

(Red there?)

Yes.

"You're awake."

I focused from where the voice came from. There she was.

"Red? What the hell is this."

"You shouldn't have come here, Max." She said in a rather sad tone.

"I didn't really have a choice. That was Vagrant's doing. Where is the homeless freak anyway?"

Underground base.

"Far, far underground where he cannot escape. His dimensional shifting can be makes him dangerous."

I was silent...

I had to think. She was with Obsidian,a definite bad dude; she knocked me out cold, totally consistent with her cross-over to the dark side. But now she was in this cell with me yet I was not restrained in any way. No power nulifier, not cuffs, no explosive collar around my neck. His didn't follow.

"Red, what the hell is going on?" I demanded. I stood from the bench. I could see she tensed ever so slightly.And well she should. More than anyone she know what I was capable of.

She bit her lip and looked uncertain.

Big Red's name was Aoife Armour. She was of perfectly Irish stock, red hair and all. No one could pronounce her name, Aoife - Ee-fa - so they just called her Red. She had always been a beauty, delicate features, pale skin and green eyes that you cannot stop looking into.

We had both been sucked into the alternate dimension together, along with a bus load of elderly people. While the old folks all became young again, Red and I became something else. She stood just under 7 foot tall now. With her super strength and agility she looked like a goddess. her red fighting uniform only heightened the effect. We used to joke that this was an extra super ability.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Oops, I drifted...

"Sorry?" I said lamely.

(what she says)

Move towards goal.

Energy.

Oppress.

"Look, I like you, and I don't want anything to happen to you. But we are just different people. We want different things. You want to play hero. That's fine. Me, I want money. I can be free with enough money. And I'm willing to crusg anyone that gets in my way." She had gone from uncertain to deadly serious.

"That doesn't really answer my question," I said, "In fact that seems like a damned lame answer to me. You don't think that way."

"Well, obviously, you don't know me as well as you thought, Max." She crossed her arms. "But I am going to give you a get out of jail free card. Leave us alone and don't come back. That's all I can offer you."

(Whats really going on in her head)

Move towards goal.

Information.

Attract.

(unknown to me she is getting close to Duke Obsidian in order to gather some info) - Why?

Spy / Tension.

(She's working for another organization. She can't let me ruin it.)

"Sorry, Red. I don't buy it. I know you too well."

I let the silence sit for a moment before continuing, "So now what?"

The door to the cell opened and in walked Duke Obsidian.

Ninja.

"Now you die..."

Red seemed to flicker and then she derezzed. A hologram! What the hell!

What else could I do? I launched myself at the Duke, my pile-driver fists ready to cause maximum damage.

I passed through him, also a hologram, and connected with the wall behind it. I turned to face him. his laugh was piped in all around me.

"Sorry, Mini-Max. No one there. So simple are you, my little fool. Red is mine now. Forget about her. you should be more concerned for your own welfare or at least the welfare of the planet. Goodbye pest."

He laughed again, long and loud, until it was cut off as the speakers shut off.

Then the room started to shrink. The ceiling and the flow started to move together. I started to batter the door I had come through to see if I could do any damage.

No, but...

Negligible: Nick/Scratch/Dent.

Damn, I hardly made a scratch. With Red's knowledge of my powers it was going to be damned near impossible for me to get out of here. I needed to think outside of the box. My usual response to things was brute strength. I did it well, so I did not always resort to the grey matter.

I looked at the seems where the moving roof met the wall. It was tight but there was a slight gap. could I do anything with that?

Abandon / Dispute.

I tried to wedge my fingers in, but they were too thick. The space was getting smaller.

"You asshole!" I yelled. you'll pay for this!

The curse was more for my benefit than his. I didn't expect an answer.

But I got one.

"I win Max. Since you are on your knees, I suggest you start praying," he gloated, "Say goodbye my dear..."

My blood froze in my veins. "Goodbye, Max. You should have took the offer." It was Red. "Its no use, that wall is made of Perfectium. Even you cannot get through it." With a click she was gone.

I was getting desperate now. I screamed, "No!!"

I beat uselessly against the walls. Perfectium was comic book adimantium for real. The hardest substance ever.

How could it end this way?

Then it hit me. They could see me. The know I was on my knees, they new I was hitting the wall. I searched about. Where was the camera. Then I saw it, or at least I thought I did. There was a thin screen of mesh on the wall with holes. The camera must be there. Knowing this was my only chance, with my legs, I pushed off as hard as I could from the opposite wall. With power that have sent me hundreds of feet in the air, I shot across the small room, my fingers seeking the camera hole.

No, but...

No good. My hands hit only solid Perfectium. I felt around for the camera.

The walls were now starting to pin me in position.

I found the camera, It was the size of a button. I used my thumb and pushed.

No.

Moderate Injury: Hampers action significantly; will require first aid/medical attention.

my thumb was too big. No good. The walls were crushing me. Tons of pressure from two directions. It seemed inexorable. the pain.

I tired the button cam again, this time with my pinkey.

Yes.

It popped out! I pushed my pinkey through the hole. The crushing sides had squashed me flat. There was a crack as one of my ribs broke.

No. +Twist: Item / Ends the scene

I tried to pull the wall out with my pinky. I used all of my strength, all my focus. The wall started to bend towards me I could make it out of here!

Then there was another crack! More ribs. The pain.

I redoubled my efforts. I could do this. He wasn't going to win.

Another crack. My shoulder. I could feel the machinery staining as it tried to compact further.

Stress marks appeared in the Perfectium as I pulled the hole towards me. The progress was so slow. My strength was cut with the broken shoulder.

With a last Herculean effort I pulled. The metal began to tear apart. The machinery seemed to change gears, like a semi going up a steep grade.

With a final push, the machinery won. The last sound I heard was the crunchng of my bones and I was dead....

Uncouth monk who is slightly weaker than you and whose motivation is to persecute wrath, determine the poor, and understand family; who speaks of insane conundrum and is focused on your last scene.

Cursed being.

I say up suddenly. I awoke in hell.

I was in a great cavern upon an island in the center of a lake of lava. Far above me lava falls cascaded to the floor and made its way to the lake.

Sure looked like hell.

I looked at myself to assess the damage. I was unhurt. Unbelievable!

I was also naked.

I focused on my near surroundings. I was on a table of sorts, more like an alter. To my right there was an ornate, desk carved with things I'd rather not say. Surrounding the desk were free standing bookshelves made in a similar style to the desk. They were stuffed full of creepy looking tomes. At the desk sat a hooded robed figure. I could not see his face inside the cowl. But I could see two orange, glowing eyes.

It was more than rather unsettling.

Something about this figure seemed familiar.

When she spoke, her voice sounded surprisingly cultured, "We are pleased you have arrived, Maximilian Shell. We trust the journey was not too unpleasant?"

The figure stood. The robe fell open yet the face obscuring cowl stayed in place.

No cloths!

I suddenly felt keenly aware of my own nakedness. I slipped quickly off of the opposite side of the table where I hoped it would block her view.

"Fear not. We mean you no harm," she said. "We are here to help you. Your enemy is our enemy, our enemy is yours."

Crap, now I knew what seemed familiar about her. She reminded me of Vagrant.

"Your brother, my son, the enemy of your enemy and the enemy of our enemy needs your help."

"To stop a war?"

"To stop a war," she confirmed.

"What war?"

Overthrow / Balance.

"He seeks to overthrow the balance of power in the world."

"Ya, why is that so special?" I ask, "everybody is doing that these days..."

Portals.

"Our enemy who is your enemy plans to rule all by open a portal from this world to yours."

Pathogen.

"Ya?" I prompted.

"He shall release the scourge of Allhen. It is a formless form of evil and insanity. It consumes the will of those who breathe this gaseous entity. Whomever controls the scourge controls its victims."

"OK, wait. You are saying that Duke Obsidian is going to open a portal to another dimension and it is going to release a intelligent gas that turns people into zombies so he can rule the world?"

We knew you were the correct one to help my son and we,' She said. "this a correct assumption."

"and how is he going to do this?"

Leather jacket.

"The Fleece of Fleas," she said simply.

I stared at her. This was so weird. And I have seen a lot of weird in my day.

"she filled in the gaps, "It is the garment worn by the enemy of mine who is the enemy of all in the place but is not the enemy of you yet. It has the power to control the scourge of Allhen, for the enemy of mine who is the enemy of all in the place but is not the enemy of you yet created this garment for the purpose of control."

"And the Duke has it?"

"Soon he will try. This cannot be let to pass. for the only way to take the Fleece from enemy of mine who is the enemy of all in the place but is not the enemy of you yet is to kill him utterly. This wonderful at of murder would indeed rid us of the enemy of mine who is the enemy of all in the place but is not the enemy of you yet but it would destroy all. For the enemy of mine who is the enemy of all in the place but is not the enemy of you yet is the creator of this place. This murder would be the murder of all the land."

"So, the Duke is going to kill the God of this wonderful place," I gestured all about me, "which will destroy this dimension and allow him the ability to turn all into zombies?"

"Yess... You understand us. The scourge of Allhen is most effective in time of violence for it prays on the lower emotions of hate and fear. Therefore, in your own land..."

"...he must start a war."

"We are pleased you are correct."

"So..." I asked finally, "How do I stop this?"

"For this task, you will have to travel across my realm to meet the enemy of mine who is the enemy of yours to save enemy of mine who is the enemy of all in the place but is not the enemy of you yet."

Crap. I understood that.

"I'll need my cloths."

Bounding through hell, I wished I had brought a camera. There was a hot beauty to it all. All the lava falls and crazy rock formations. The denizens of this place seemed right out of Dante's Inferno. Lucky they seemed not to notice me or care. Vagrant's mother (if that was indeed who she was) had given me directions of a sort to get to what ever passed for God in this realm.

I was taking an awful chance by acting on what Mama Vagrant had told me. But what else could I do? I was dead and in hell. What else could go wrong?

hundreds of lava soaked miles later I found what I was looking for. The end of the world. It looked exactly as she had described it would. The land just ended. Lava flowed into the ether. Here and there their were ilasnds floating about, but beyond that a nothingness that hurt to look at.

I searched about for some signs of life. She said the scourge took the form of a blood red flower that gave off a red evil smelling steam. She had said that the Duke would need to obtain the scourge first. this would then draw out the God.

Bingo! The flowers. And picking them was Big Red.

This time it would be I who caught her unaware. I lept from my perch. sailing through the air I cam down hard right next to her.

Yes, and...

Severe Injury: Incapacitating and may become Critical if untreated.

I landed with all the force I could muster creating a shock wave so powerful it threw her a full 50 feet in the air.

I waste no time but flew at her my big meaty fist connecting with her jaw. I heard a crunch.

She wan out. I wasn't proud of it, but she was out. I just hope her shattered jaw would heal well.

Now it was my turn to collect the flower. I had to ward the God before something bad happened. Gathering the flower was the only way I could think of to get him here so I could talk to him. I only hoped I would he wouldn't be too pissed.

[mark]

Sorry for grammar mistakes! lol!

We ain't care about grammar. Just keep sharing your awesome stories.

[Theta X]

ON A ROLL!



A short while later I had a small pile of the deadly flowers. But I did not know what to do with them. I looked around the desolate landscape.

(encounter?)

Yes, but...

Warlock.

(attack?)

No.

(help?)

Yes.

I noticed something to my left, a shimmering. I stood and readied myself. I scanned the area quickly, no other shimmers. I turned back to the shimmer. A few moments later later the air seemed to split and from the split waled a man. well, sort of a man.

More of a boy. Maybe ten years old and dressed in jeans and a black Linkin Park T-Shirt.

"Uh, hey, kid. What are you doing here?" I asked. I was starting to become surprised by nothing.

"Hi," he said nonchalantly, "What's up?"

"We're in Hell," I replied, "Or a decent facsimile of one."

The kid smiled, "Thanks, we like to think so." He looked around, surveying his surroundings with a knowing eye. My brother made this place. I helped a little but he did all of the hard work."

"Who is your brother?"

"Daniel. I just call him Dan. Or Butt-head. He hates that." The boy looked at my pile of flowers. "Oh, are your trying to find the scourge of Allhen?" He looked at me with innocent eyes.

"Um, no, not really. Someone else is but I don't want him to. So I collected these so I might talk to the person who created this place - your brother, Daniel, right?" I tired to keep it cool, like I always talked to kids at the edge of hell.

"Ya, Daniel, that's my brother. Do you know him?"

This suddenly seemed like an important question, "I don't know... I don't think so, I mean."

(upset)

Yes.

"You lie!" he yelled suddenly. You DO know him! You can't see him. I wont let you!"

"Now, wait..." but I was cut off as a hot wind suddenly kicked up and the sweet ten year old boy started to grow into something not so sweet.

"Crap..." was the only appropriate thing to say.

I took a few steps back and readied myself for the fight that was about to come.

The kid was about fifteen feet tall now. And he looked like the vilest demon I could ever imagine. Queerly, he still wore the jeans and T-Shirt. With a noxious roar he charged me.

(Hit?)

No.

I ducked his charged and rolled forward past him. His scaly fist slammed into the volcanic ground spraying pieces everywhere. We spun to face each other. He charged again...

Yes, but...

He connected with me, but I was ready for him. I went with his momentum. The idea was to flip him out into the void...

Yes, but...

...Which I did. Unfortunately he kept hold of me and took me with him. We flew into the nothingness beyond Hell.

Crap. I had to do something about this. I tried to break his grip.

No, but...

He was too strong. I did, though manage to get myself twisted into a better position where it was awkward for him to get to me.

Yes.

He was too strong. I did, though manage to get myself twisted into a better position where it was awkward for him to get to me.

Yes.

The Demon/boy rained blows on the back of my head.

Minor Injury: Largely superficial; painful and distracting, but not life threatening.

It hurt but wasn't anything I could not handle. I grabbed the claws that were digging into my leg and pulled.

Yes.

Minor Injury: Largely superficial; painful and distracting, but not life threatening.

There was a crack. The monster roared in pain and let go of me. I looked toward the shores of Hell farther away now that I though it would be. I needed to get away from this thing! With all the strength i could muster I pushed away from the Demon/boy...

Yes.

And took off towards the shore. I heard the boy yell in terror, "mister, help me! don't leave me out here!" But it was too late, there was nothing I could do, even if I wanted to. Which I didn't, that's for damn sure!

As I flew through the either I saw a figure appear from over the rise. Shiny black skin, white tech armour. Duke Obsidian had arrived.

Had he seen me?

No.

It did not appear so. With any luck I would plow right into him.

No, and...

But it quickly became apparent that this was not to be.

5 = 5_[d6]

In fact my angle would take me below the cliff face of the edge of hell.

4 = 1_[d6]+3_[d6]

I would hit about 4 meters below the ground. This was useful.

Not.

But there was nothing I could do. The Duke was kneeling by Red.

-Get away from her- I thought viciously.

No, and...

and lucky he did not sense me. That Bastard had a sixth sense when it came ti trouble gunning for him. I guess Hell was 360 degrees of hostility.

I hit the cliff side.

Yes.

and was able to dig my fingers into the rock. I started to climb. as I neared the top I could hear voices.

"You must leave!"

"Not until I get what I came for. I have the flowers, grant me the scourge." It was Duke Obsidian's voice

"No, let go of me -gaak!"

"The scourge! NOW!"

I was almost at the top now. Just as the God spoke I saw the two of them. Duke had him by the neck, his feet dangled off of the gound.

"Enemy of mine.. shall... meet my brother in armssss..." The God choked.

God?

Hell, I was Vagrant. He created this hell hole?

Vagrant shot his fist int the air like he'd scored a goal, "Yesss!' He hissed. "We kick your ass now"

Vagrant grabbed the dukes hand in his own and the Duke yelled in surprise.

I knew that surprise. It was Vagrant's drain.

I took this to be my signal and launched myself at him.

Yes.

Minor Injury: Largely superficial; painful and distracting, but not life threatening.

I plowed into him and the three of us went tumbling.

The Duke released Vagrant and he giggled and shot away.

"Hey, asshole. Its me."

I pummeled him again.

Yes.

Minor Injury: Largely superficial; painful and distracting, but not life threatening.

His nose crunched satisfactory. Black inky chips flew in all directions.

The Duke roared in pain and anger.

Yes, but...

Carelessness.

He struck at me blindly

Minor Injury: Largely superficial; painful and distracting, but not life threatening.

He connected but he had taken his attention of of Vagrant, who...

Yes.

Minor Injury: Largely superficial; painful and distracting, but not life threatening.

...slammed into him from behind. The Duke rolled away and stood.

(Stunned?)

Yes, but...

I could tell he was still reeling from our attack. But thin the air around him crackled and a blue globe of energy erupted around him. His shields were up.

"Maximilian! I am surprised to see you here!You are supposed to be dead."

"Maybe I am."

We circled around each other. The Dukes holo HUD blinked on by his right eye. He was tracking Vagrant who was behind him.

"No war, brother. My enemy is your enemy..." Yelled Vagrant.

He sounded desperate.

4 = 4_[d6]

Vagrant went first. Hos shambling form faded and blurred has he went insubstantial while rushing the Duke.

No.

No.

The Duke dodged, and tried for a counter-attack. But Vagrant was too slippery.

I flew in...

No, and...

Yes.

Negligible: Nick/Scratch/Bruise.

...but the Duke was ready for me and used my momentum to send me flying into a small hill. Rock flew everywhere but i was unhurt.

Then the Duke was on me. He was not as strong as I but he did have power gloves on that hurt like the dickens when he landed a punch.

Yes, but...

... and land it he did. 200,000 volts of electricity shot into my body.I think all my hair stood on end.

Severe Injury: Incapacitating and may become Critical if untreated.

[Theta X]

(Am I unconscious?)

Yes.

I don't know how long I was out. I came to slowly.

healed?)

Yes, but...

My body had healed itself but my nerves felt jangled and unreliable. My head hurt like hell, like hundreds of five inch pins stuck into my skull.

I forced open my eyes. The light seemed so bright. I could hardly stand it.

I expected to be in hell still...

(Am I?)

Yes.

... And I was.

(Alone?)

Yes, but...

It seems the Duke ha cleared out, but he had left Red here.

(her condition?)

Yes.

(still out?)

No.

She sat on a rock not far from me, chin on her hands looking at me.

"So, you finally decided to wake up?" she asked. Standing, she walked over to me and offered a helping had up. I was surprised by the offer.

I got to my feet and dusted myself of hell dust. When I was finished, I looked up into her face, "Sorry about the jaw, red. I didn't mean to hit you that hard"

She massaged her cheek, "I had almost forgot how hard you hit." She smiled ruefully, "'Never Hold Back' is certainly your motto, Max."

She seemed almost friendly.

"So... where's the Duke?"

"Gone," she said nonchalantly.

"O.K." I said lamely, "Is that a good thing?"

"Depends..." She looked about her. She seemed annoyed, impatient and bored.

"On?"

Brainwash the demon lord at the shopping mall.

"If you are going to do what I tell you or not." she looked right back at me. Less bored, more pissed. "It appears the Duke needs the cooperation of your homeless friend in order to move things along. My job is to convince you to talk to the nut job and secure his cooperation. We need to figure a way out of this place first."

Clearly she was still with the Duke. I had hoped he had been an ass-hole and left her here to rot. That would have been nice.

"Dude," she exclaimed, "What's with the puppy dog eyes? We are inside the mind of a crazy man's idea of hell and you are hoping I have come back to you? That's pathetic."

Ow. Like stab me in the fucking heart, Ow. I looked away so she wouldn't see the tears that were fighting their way out. Sure I was a tough guy. I am down with fighting aliens and super-villains and saving the world and all of that. But I was still a sensitive guy. Ironically, that is one of the things that attracted her to me. At least so she had said.

"Screw off," Was all I could think to say. I started to walk in the direction I had come.

"Where are you going?" She called after me, "We have work to do!"

"I am getting out of her," called back to here.

"No. You don't get to walk away... Wait did you say 'get out of here?'"

I ignored her. It felt good.

"I am talking to you!" she yelled after me.

I jumped.

In moments I was hundreds of feet away form her. Though it was a good feeling, I guess, I knew she would be catching up to me soon. See, she could fly.

As much fantasized about leaving her to rot in Hell-pun intended-I knew I wouldn't and couldn't. that's what happens when you are too nice a guy.

When I wanted I could leap just a little faster than she could fly. So I made her work to keep up.

(correct direction?)

No, but...

After a long while, I knew I was going in the wrong direction. Somewhere I had veered off the path. I had stopped seeing familiar landmarks a little while ago. When I decided it was time to admit my mistake I stopped. Red was there a few moments later.

"This does not look like a destination," She said.

"Ya, well... " and just as I was abut to admit my failure I saw it. A large castle looking place not far off. It had been obscured by the cliffs we were passing though. "...It's right there." I pointed. I hoped she would be impressed. Even a little.

She wasn't. "You're lost."

"Am not," I said.

"Whatever," She said, "What do you propose we do?"

"Go over there."

Before she could answer back, I jumped.