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[M&M] Session 4.5 post game

I don't really call it session five mostly because it was short and mostly because I spent half of it trying to fix a mistake I made. See here is the problem. During the previous game session I was supposed to drop a hint somehow, somewhere involving the great threat that is coming for the world of the heros. I didn't do it. I forgot to say one sentence and I ended up bolloxing up a whole bunch of stuff. So this game session I needed to establish the threat then give the players something to do. So I decided to make the focus around Jame's company and work to distinguish the differences between ShangriLa and the companies that inhabit ShangriLa. I did that a little bit and I plan on explanding on that for next game session. So the next game session will have all sorts of crap involving Jame's company too., and it will give them a chance to see what the ShangriLa secret police is all about.

This game session also marks the first time where they have actually beaten down and solidly captured a villian. This is good and I like this. I want a repeat of this for the next game session which will be more or less a direct continuation of this one. I think what I will have happen is have Sparkles show up near the end of things with her puppy and her being her. I might have them dick around for a bit. NO WAIT, she will have figgured out a way to track the Nazi's but she needs some specialized equipment that only the super science community is going to have. Mostly because it is fun and interesting. On their way to gether up parts that is when the Dolphins will show up and that is how the game session will end. Then we can pick it up next week with a knockdown drag out fight that will go across multiple maps, and a bunch of other things. I might alter the villian device rules. THe diffrenrence between just plain old disarming and knocking out a bloke works if you are a hero but if you are a villian there should be a third option. Not that it matters for the Dolphins they are going to be encased in armor. Heh nazis.

This will hopefully give things traction and move things forwards. I think After I introduce the Dolphins and they sucessfully rescue Tesla then we will be at a decent break point and maybe I'll let James take a crack at things. So we got things in motion that will keep them busy for at least 4 more game sessions maybe less. Since James is very reliable I am going to increase his level of protagonization and really start getting some milage out of his charecter. Continuity wise I am in a MUCH better position than the last game I was in which is nice. And the next game session should move fowards much smoother.

I want to do something special with that mall too. I am so having it attacked again. In the future I think I am going to have the Circ Du Strange's secret base in the middle of that mall.

Okay over and out!

M&M session 4 post game

Well that was interesting. I think this is the closest I've ever come to running a traditional dungeon. I don't really do dungeons, I think they are boring to run. This one though went absolutely swimmingly and I think once I run M&M a few more times I will become even more comfortable with it. I am getting close to revealing the big bad of the campain and pretty soon afterwards I want to have my first mega battle that will signifigantly raise the stakes of the whole campain. But before I do that, I need to make sure that I get the rules down pretty solidly.

Les see some knee jerk stuff

-One I need to make sure that when I have a villian dealing with a crowd of people that I bring tokens to represent a crowd of people. This way the players will be able to better see who needs saving what is going to happen when you save them and what targets are needed to prioritize.

-Two I am a little disapointed in myself that Tesla's personality didn't quite come through enough. I did a pretty good job and more than one player commented that the last fight felt like something out of a video game which is exactly what I was going for. The whole session was video game themed and the players picked up on it pretty quickly and they seemed to dig it which makes me unsually happy and the last boss fight went very well and they picked up on what was going on very well.

-Three Best villian escape ever. Let my grandpa go or the puppy gets it.

-Four now that I kidnapped the players I need to take steps to ensure that they won't be able to be caputured in the same way again. This is going to be hard because Tyson won't be there. Man it is a weird day when Tyson becomes unusually pivitol. I guess I'll just have Jason figgure it outm, that IS what he is there for. Essentially the lasers attuned the electrical impulses in their brains to make sure

-Five. I need to explain to them that storing villians in the super hero base is a bad idea. More or less dead=imprisoned=escaped to live another day. These people are going to make it back into the game if I want them to. When they do come back it is a matter of how much destruction is going to happen. For example if I let them capture Tesla all would of been okay for awhile until they come home to find their base turned into a massive death trap. Fun for me but just to make sure we are all on the same page.

-Six. I totally forgot to hint at the Nazi connection. Shit. Which means I HAVE to do it next game session or else it will break the flow of the campain. Damnit. I am not happy about that one.

-Seven. I need to do something with Jame's company Shangri La and everything. I think I will tie all that together along with Sparkles needing the player's help. That will work. I am not sure if I am going to introduce Jesus or not yet. I think I want to save him for later, and I think he is going to be Jason's arch nemisis. That makes the most sense actually. So right now I need to make a sort of villian for James. I do want this game session to involve Jame's company directly though so I guess it is time to switch to session notes.

M&M In Review

I am going to stick this entry here then censor it for the players before sticking it in the main blog. This is something I've been meaning to do before a month after the fact but hey no one is perfect you know? Sure you do! And if you don't I don't care this isn't for you.

Session one- General thoughts:

1) The players did suprisingly well with the fire thing. It took them awhile to find their sea legs and get used to being, well you know super heros but they picked up on it in fine fashion. They came up with some genuinely clever ways of dealing with the fires and for that I am relieved, for the most part.

2) The final battle didn't go as well as I would of liked, it was my first real attempt to deal with the M&M combat system and my first real attempt at sating out a credible threat to the players. As the for credible threat, well oh yeah I gave them that in spades. Oops.

3) I liked the character of Hiesenburg a lot, and I am looking fowards to the time when I get to use him again. I think her is highly evocative and I think the next time he shows up he will be fighting along side the players.

The first game session was awefully short.

Session 2 Part 1

1) The players did an amazing job following up on leads and stuff I had around for them to do. It gave me a belly full of warm fuzzies and I actually let the scene go on for much longer than intended because of it.

2) The actual game session itself though was a bit of a mess. First up they are terrified of splitting up. For the next game session when they beat up Tesla I am going to force situations where they end up seperated from each other just so that I can show them that it is okay. I think when I make it happen I am going to make it so that one set of players will be in a hazard room, and the other set of players will be in a possition to turn off the hazard room. Maybe not.

3) GGetting to know the actual gangs was a bit of a hoot. Mostly though they were knocking around low level members but it enabled me to flesh out what each of the gangs are doing over there in Devil's Den and how it works. I like it quite a bit.

4) Of all the gangs I statted out and tried the only ones that ended up being a credible threat was the Suburban Knights. I like them! Cory didn't though. So what I am going to have to do, is prolly change the way that nullified skills come back. So the next time I nullify cory's sword it isn't so damning.

5) Give Tyson a hero point for his actions against the Baseball furies. He selfishly made himself the arch enemy of that entire gang in order to prevent move voilence from happening. He deserves something for that because it was prolly the most heroic thing any of them have done.

6) Locations that I need to play more atension to in the Devil's Den for when they go back, The Furies Secret Base, The Hospital, The Night Club this isn't a pressing thing at the moment. I'll deal with it when I can.

7) Oh god they need some sort of lession in how to interogate people. What I am thinking of happening is occationally doing fade to black moments. Like in the time traveling episode of the Justice League when Future Batman walked at the camera all menecingly. Awesome. Heh Batman playing good cop. I am amused.

8) I need to do something with the Furies, and the Buttons in terms of how they feel about the players. I think I will have something in the next game session involving one or both of the groups.

9) I love my excuse for Cory's absence from the last game. I wish the game was easier to run then I could have a much larger stable of players and play it like the Justice Leauge.

10) I am glad to see my concern of running a game where the players do nothing but run around punching the villian of the week is more or less unfounded. I am able to get a wide variety of differnent game sessions and they seem to enjoy them for the most part.

11) I like the Circ Du Strange quite a bit and I think I will use them more in the future a capricious foil to the wrath of the Nazis which will be showing up shortly.

12) Okay I think that is it. FOR THE FUTURE!

1) I want to run next weeks game session leave another ominous hint of some sort of encroaching danger that no one really wants to talk about.

2) I want to have the Furies make some sort of appearance at the intital fight just before they are abducted.

3) I want them to do the next game session and then I want to put them on the road the Shangri-la

4) On the road the Nazi Dolphins will show up, as will the Beast from the Middle East.

5) I want the road to take at least two to three game sessions. I want to make it so that getting inside Shangri-la is a very big deal and I want the dangers of them veing sinde there to also be a very big deal. So we are looking at most of August to get them in there, the entire month if we include a sasha visit.

6) Ultimatly I want the Circ Du Strange to help them get into Shangri La I am not sure how I am going to run this, but I can use Jame's company as a back up plan.

7) Over the course of the road to Shangrila I am going to flesh out Jame's company and possible do more with the Buttons and the Furies.



Time Line

21st We do Tesla

28th We start the road to Shangri La introduce Dolphins

4th Contiune the road Introduce Beast of the middle east

11th Either wrap up the road to Shangrila or put them in there.

M&M World building

I meant to put this into the licking the subconsiouse blog but then I realized to late that it is going in my main blog. Since cutting and pasting requires extra effort on my part it is staying here. Alright so without further ado, what is the world like that you are going to be playing around in?

'merica!- The default setting will be in a nice large city that is thematically like New York but not actually New York. For a comic book reference think Metropolis. Not the movie the superman city. It is a nice glittering city full of sky scrapers and high powered buisness types. It has some bad sides of town as well and some dark undercurrents but for the most part it is a good place to be. This is in no small part due to the efforts of the super hero community. America has the second largest population of super beings and they are scattered all over the country doing various things like helping with disaters, keeping crime down, and inventing junk that they keep lying around. There are roughly 150 supers operating in America and they come from a wide variety of backgrounds. There are only about 5 AAA super heroes operating in the world at any given time the rest are in alternate dimensions, deep meditation, or off world paroling the solar system. For the most part the people operating on earth are "street level" heroes or heroes that can travel the nation fairly easily. There are a few groups that have full time heroes that never leave their costumes and live in public bases and there are plenty of masked vigilantes who prefer to keep their identity on the down low. For the most part people with powers have a good relationship with civilians, the government, and each other. Also for the most part, that guy with the gun who runs around capping random crooks is considered a villain in his own right and brought down.

The World at Large!

Europe! Europe just sort of hangs out and not a whole lot happens there. There are a few super scientists who call England, France, and Spain home but for the most part Europe is pretty quiet in terms of super hero activity. Much like World War 1&2 they bore the brunt of the alien invasion that happened ten years ago and so they are in a quiet state of rebuilding.

Middle East: The Middle East is still as tense as ever and with pleantly of super scientists coming up with the latest wizbang death ray there is no shortage of buyers thanks to America's need for oil. For the most part major incidences have been headed off by various super groups but really it is only a matter of time before something major goes down. There are also no small number of groups who use the lack of security in the area to do some pretty unspeakable experiments in an attempt to create a super soldier but we won't talk about that because they are unspeakable.

Japan: While Japan doesn't have the largest super population the floating island over Japan does. In the late 50's a group of super scientists from around the world broke off from their respective countries and resettled in a remote island in Japan. For years people didn't hear much of them until one day the island lifted up into the sky and declared itself an independent nation. Since then the island has become home to many shady corporations who do a wide variety of things that would be considered crimes anywhere else in the world. The island itself is protected by an incredibly powerful force field that not even the Aliens were able to breach. No one gets onto the island without permission. It helps to keep the random dogooders away. The island itself is patrolled by a legion of genetically modified clones who have a wide variety of super powers. In many ways it is the safest place in the world, however it is the most dangerous. The leader of the island is considered by many to be dangerously unstable and he has sent forces out more than once to cause havok over real or imagined threats made against him. While there are many who want the island taken down permanently, 90% of all pharmaceutical and technological advances come from them and taking them out would put do far more harm than good.

Africa: Most of Africa is a mess. This is made worse by the fact that the Southern half of Africa has been taken over by the aliens and there isn't a whole hell of a lot that can be done about it. See while earth's armies and super heros were able to drive off the majority of the invading forces thousands of aliens were left stranded on the planet due to mostly us shooting at the retreating invasion fleet. Many were hunted down and killed but many more managed to escape into the jungle. Soon they began building small settlements and terriforming the area around them. With the actual invasion over, and these aliens so far from home they eventually started asking for land, peace, and a chance to live out their natural lives in defeat. Many of course were skeptical and more than 6 nukes were launched at their settlements when the Island stepped in and decided to ensure their safety. To what ends? Nobody knows, but for the most part the aliens have kept to themselves, they don't really communicate with the outside world, and they have made no attempt to grab more territory for themselves. That and they are in Africa and I mean every decade there is at least one drought there, genocide, and human atrocities that would litterally boggle your fucking mind. The world is pretty good at ignoring what's going on in Africa and a bunch of Aliens hanging out in the southern tip is just another thing.

The Group: No one knows who is in the group, or where its main base of operations is. Not much is actually know about them, including their real name. All that is known is that when a new drug hits the streets that temporarily gives you powers, or some sort of ray gun gets into the hands of a few gang members, or when some piece of valuable equipment gets stolen people get caught. Fingers will be pointed, and some will say they got it from that guy, who got it from some other guy, who got it from a supplier out west. Eventually after a long chain occasionally someone will blame a large shadowy organization that no one really knows very much about. Then that person will quickly disappear. Everyone knows that some large criminal organization is out there, the problem is pinning them down and getting any sort of solid information about them. Every once in a long while operatives will do a display of force but none have ever been captured and successfully questioned.

In this world people more than often get their superpowers from scientific accidents, alien/corporate experimentation, or they built themselves a pair of rocket skates and decided to go at it. It is a time of invention much like the renaissance and a time of adventure.

In mystic circles there is talk of a great evil once scourged from the land coming back, dark portents are flooding out from the middle east. Strange lights have been reported on the moon two expedition teams were sent up there one never returned and the other reported nothing. There have been strange stirrings under the ocean and bizzare pieces of scrap metal have been washing up on the shore oh and some guy with a ray gun and a robot suit is robbing a back because that is the most useful thing he could think to do.


ALRIGHT! When I do this next time there will be more information on the Aliens, what they do, and what they are like, and maybe more information on what is going on in Japan. After that I will fill in more details based on questions you ask.

le novel final part WC 4087

The wolf looking man, standing there in the middle of the parking lot flanked by 4 of his blonde boys arms outstretched in welcome laughs heartily at their approche. It is a deep gutteral laugh that sounds more like someone moving phlegm around rather than an actual sort of intelegable sound. The three of them dismount smoothly as if they’d been ridding horses their entire lives. Link tries to get down but the horse snorts and steps uncertainly throwing off his balanace causing him to land on his back, “God damn mother fucking beast of an animal. Why is it I am the only fucking person who hasn’t ridden one of these god damned things before” As he gets up the horse goes over to him and tries to nuzzle him almost apologetically, but Link already jumpy turns, trips over his feet, and nearly falls to the ground again. The wolf looking man, laughing at the entire spectical waves his hand, and two of the blonde boys go to bring Sara to stand next to him. Once Link regains his composure the cowboy sends the horses away with some other strange cliché sound from somewhere in his mouth, a sound Link couldn’t hope to emulate and they trod off into the woods.
They two groups stare each other down, eventually Link takes center. He can feel it in the air. This is what he is born for. Not lounging around gardens reading books, not saving birds, but moments like these. The times just before the battles, the times when he feels most alive. He can smell it in the air, they are somewhere special. The stakes are high here, and though he has no idea what they may be it almost doesn’t matter, like it doesn’t matter what the Wolf looking guy’s name is or how come he has some many blonde lackies that all look alike. It doesn’t matter what is really in that bar or what the beef between the white lady and the gold lady is. It doesn’t matter what the thing in the woods is, what’s inside the white room, or Cowboy’s real name. What matters is that this is about to happen. There will be blood, some of his, some of theirs. Firsts will crack each other bruises will be earned, new scars will be made and someone will emerge the victor and then they will go away and lick their wounds preparing for the next conflict, no matter who it is from. This is where he belongs, not waxing poetic about the future, planning future jobs, or worrying about things that are impossible to control. Here is where business is taken care of, and as of right now, business is good, “Well Mr. ‘I’m a wolf looking mother fucker’ I assume you brought us out here for some reason?”
He laughs, “No not really. The air is nice, the night is young, and your woman is most beautiful so I figured why not a little kidnapping. If you didn’t come to her aid I could just peddle her out to my friends here and spit her back out into the world. That would get someone’s attension most certainly.”
Link raises an eyebrow, “expecting someone else then? I would hardly call Sara my woman. I’ve met cancerouse turmors more benign”
The wolf man laughs, “See I like that, very droll. You really are everything I’d hope you’d be”
“Come again”?
He spreads his arms out wide, “Sara speaks of you often. In fact she rarely shuts up about you. You wouldn’t belive some of the things she says about you shall I tell you?”
Panic flashes in Sara’s eyes and she lunges forwards against her captors, escaping with an ease of grace which only comes natural having fought with Link for years on end, “You mother fucker you don’t tell him a thing, I will kill you, you understand me? You don’t understand what the fuck it is that you are dealing with”. She makes a dive at him and the remaining two blonde boys grab her, it takes all four of them to fully restrain her, and that is only with great difficulty.
Link shakes his head, “Jesus wolf man I don’t know what is with you and those blonde boys. I took down 7 of them after sprinting over a mile and it’s taking four of them to keep little old Sara from ripping your head off. Really now cowboy over here is a more effective threat.”
The wolf man sighs, “Yes you are right, their blood has gone thin, it needs replenishing. It has been far to long since we have found someone as strong or as vibrant as the two of you. You will make perfect-what, what are you doing?”
Link stops following along all of Wolf’s words with his hand, “Oh good. I’m glad you noticed that, look see I really don’t care about your master plan that probably involves incapacitating me and forcing me to have sex with whatever the fuck spawns these assholes. Really? It isn’t important.”
“Don’t you want to know about what she’s been saying about you?”
“Christ wolfy, I know Sara a hell of a lot better than you ever will. Honestly, I have no idea what she said. I imagine that she made me out to be the perfect warrior. A man who will come charging to the aid of some girl whoes name I don’t know,” He gestures at the hippy, “And who hasn’t spoken to me in months”
Looking shocked the hippy asks, “You don’t know my name?”
Slightly flustered Link scratches the back of his head, “Yeah I dunno I’m terrible with names and all of that. Besides if you think about it? I don’t think its ever come up really. I always assumed it would come up somewhere, but yeah, sorry”
She smiles, “God you are so weird sometimes, well my name is-”
Angry now the wolf looking boy strides over to Sara yanking her hair viciously, “Don’t ignore me! I am still here and I have your friend,”
Link rolling his eyes, “Oh please 4 men holding her down and you pulling her hair? Now you are just making her wet. This is a girl who used to sit on my face and carve me up with a knife on Tuesday afternoons after kicking me in the nuts so hard I blacked out. I don’t think you could of picked a worse damisel in distress. Look at that she is groping one of them, Sara knock that off I’m sure they all have disiseases.” True enough she was, they weren’t so much holding her down anymore as she is making sure that they are all enjoying their close proximity to her, “So wolf man things not working out for you? This whole or else thing really doesn’t fly with me. I’ve been there, done that, and the pale rider is ten times scaryer than you are”
Alex laughs, “Jesus, yeah he is. God that is someone you didn’t even like being around. The other day I heard some kid with cards stuck in his spokes ride past, I nearly shit myself then dive tackled him. I am forever scared by that son of a bitch, even the demon doesn’t like-”
“ENOUGH” The wolf looking boy stomps his feet and produces a gun from behind his back, in a fury he levels it at Link, “Now I want you to tell to your hippy friend what it is you do with your gun every morning!”
The Hippy shrugs, as per her custom, “I already knew. He told me when he decicided he wasn’t going to do it anymore”
From off to the side they hear Sara cry out, “I told you that wouldn’t work you asshole”
Link smiles. He’s glad they caught on to what he is doing. Together they were working like a well oiled matchine rattling him in his little cage, showing him his insignifigance. Truth be told the wolf man scares the bloody hell out of Link and secretly he is relieved to have both Alex and the cowboy on his side, “Is this not quite going as planned?”
Four successive cracks came from the group now groping Sara and then there she is, standing in the midst of four unconscious bodies. Offended she sniffs at the Wolf boy, “I am not the sort of girl you send lackies to hold on to. You should have a little bit of respect. Cowboy excluded, the three of us have been though our share of shit. We know how to handle people like you, hell I am people like you. This whole thing is all wrong, I don’t know what it is you are trying to achieve here. Now put that silly thing away, try to kick Link’s ass, fail, get the shit beat out of you, and vow vengence like you know it is going to happen”
Furiouse The wolf looking man shouts at Link, “She damaged the bullet in your gun!”
They all froze. Alex, knew of course, Alex knew everything. Sara immediately distances herself from the bodies and takes up a defensive stance, the hippy starts to get ready to intercept him, and the cowboy wonders dully what the heck everyone is so worked up about. Link is the first to speak, “See now that is a way to get this thing rolling. Not all of his, or else bullshit. It true Sara?”
Two tears carying along with them mascara flow down from her eyes, “Oh fuck this shit, yes of course it is true you fucking asshole.”
Striding twords her, “What do you fucking mean you tampered with my bullets”
Looking around she sees everyone either backing away from her, or making no move twords her, gritting her teeth she decides that this is between him and her now, “Look fuck ass, what did you think. What do you think I’ve been doing to you all these fucking years”
“Ruining my god damn life that’s what”
Throwing her hands up, “Link for Christ’s sakes you were doing that stupid gun thing for at least a year before you saved my life.”
The wolf looking man goes to interupt their conversation but Alex calls out, “Come on cowboy we need to let those two work this out, this has been something to long in the making to let this asshole interupt things”. They move to grab him and as they do two of the four blonde boys get up and join the frey, creating a backdrop of intense physical violence for Link and Sara. Link looks at them out of the corrner of his eye, “I need to help them I’ll-”
She stamps her foot, “The fuck you do Link. You stay right here and you listen to what I have to say. You saved my life! Don’t you get that, you saved me. Without you I would be dead. And without me you would be dead. I did all of this to save you. I became who I am to save you. As long as you had someone to fight, to take out agression on, to keep your mind off your parents, you would be alive. I could get close enough to fuck with your bullets, and I kept you busy enough so you couldn’t just up and kill yourself proper. Most of the things I’ve done, I came to this shitty fucking school for you, to keep your worthless crybaby ass alive. Lucky for you, you really like getting the fucking shit kicked out of you”
“Well fuck me Sara, no one makes you save my life. Why the hell didn’t you just let me die like I wanted to, then would you have had to follow me up here? Yeah didn’t think so, so fuck off. You did all that shit just to fuck with my head harder and longer. Didn’t want me skipping out on all the fun we were having as you dug up progressively more dangerous psychos for me to deal with”
“Damnit, okay fine, look the pale rider was a mistake as was the white room, and half of those scars, but jesus what do you want? I am a terrible person not a heroin. I used to eat people for breakfast with a smile on my face and pom poms in heand. What the fuck did you expect me to do cuddle you and say there there, I tried that and it didn’t work”
“Yeah well you are doing a bang up job now aren’t you”
“I’d say I am, used your gun recently?”
Link stopped, he didn’t have an answer for that. Seeing his hesitation she rushes him, grabbing his shoulders she puts one knee solidly into his left nut, ensuring that when she wraps her lips around his, there is no resistance. Embracing her, more out of nessisity rather than desire he kisses her back, deep down inside, he knows, that some day somewhere she will kill him either acidently or on purpose. He’s know this long before Alex pulled him aside one day where he explained the dark future. She pulls back from him, three more blonde boys come out of the woods and the last two that she had downed earlier had gotten up. Giggling, Sara kisses Link on the cheek and then whispers in his ear, “You might have to sit this one out big boy, but come join us when you can. I am going to go help out. You know this is where you belong. You felt it as soon as you stepped onto this place. I’ll give it to you for the rest of your life, don’t you worry. Then with a wink and a laugh she skips off slashing one of the blonde boy’s faces with her nails, “There now we will be able to tell at least one of you mother fuckers apart from the others!” Laughing she becomes a whirrling dervish of pure unadulterated violence. He remembers their fights together. They were always much better than these shams the wolf looking mother fucker put on. Speaking of him he lets out a shout and points his gun at her. She laughs, sidesteps past his arm and hits him in the jaw so hard that the gun goes flying, miraculously it lands with out going off and slides directly in front of Link.
Time stops for him. The hippy has her back turned to him, she is standing off to the side of the violence watching mournfully as its unfolding before her, either unable or unwilling to help. The cowboy has gotten his hat knocked off at some point, its dangling down his back by one of those stupid strings. Simple as a cow, he doesn’t know or care what is going on. He is certainly enjoying the scrap though. He’s taken a few licks, but he’s giving them back and from the looks of thing each punch he lands feels like a back of concrete being dropped from 50 feet up. Alex surprisingly is doing well for himself. He is in the process of using his head as a bludgeoning weapon. Link smiles, he never really used the head butt until he met Alex. He always said he liked using it because it made the voices stop yelling combat directions. Everyone is bleeding, knuckles are buised, and teeth are loosened. There they are. Link realizes that he should be with them. Who is he kidding. He sought out this bar, that thing in the woods like a blood hound. He needs trouble, times of scilencre? You gotta be joking. The rest of them, all of them, are here because of him. The wolf boy and Sara they need someone to fight just as much as he needs them. Alex didn’t say why exactly but Link suspects it has to do with the white room. The hippy is here because the hippy is always here, and the cowboy, poor cowboy, he’s just a loyal as moronic dog. Keeping Sara safe from herself, just as she tried to keep Link away from himself.
Enough is enough. This is a cycle. It’s repeated four times now, all the players have changed, the location has changed, everything has changed except the cycle. Joining the fight would mean breaking a promise. Can’t be havng that now. From his left pocket he takes out a candy necklace and bites off one of the yellow ones. They taste like summer. With a smile on his lips, candy in his mouth and freedom in his heart, he picks up the gun and points it at his heart. Never shoot a martyer in the head. He shouts, “This ends now”
The last thing he hears as he pulls the trigger is the sound of both Sara and the hippy screaming no. Funny he never did learn her name.

Epilouge:

Hey updating my note. This might be the last time I ever do this. This is because I will either learn to go on living a happy healthy free life, or something stupid will happen between Sara and either the wolf looking mother fucker, the gold lady, or the thing in the woods. For some reason I think it is going to be the latter of the two. They make me out to be the perfect warrior but I’m not. I’m physically strong because it passes the time I should be otherwise sleeping, I’m brave because tommarow shouldn’t come for me. Not like hippy who has found all these annoyingly complicated conditions through which she lives her life. That is something worth respecting, and it is the only reason why I am still wearing this ring. Not being allowed to punch anyone amazing.
There are some things I’d like to do before I die. I’d like to get to know the cowboy better. He doesn’t seem like such a bad sort. He definatly isn’t the usual sort of fare that Sara picks up on and consumes at will. Maybe I can save him from all of this.
I’d like to give the Lady in White her umbrella. I just finished it, god it took forever to do. Still I am pretty proud, that is something that isn’t going to be loosing its shine any time soon. Should I die, it is hanging by my shirts in the room please be sure she gets it.
I really want to learn the Hippy’s name. I also want her to come home and meet my parents. She is such a gentle soul. Now that I am up here and I am facing life I am not so sure about them. Am I crazy? Or were they really as bad as I think they were? If she met them she could probably tell me, it would help to give me perspective on most of this.
I kinda want to talk to bitchface. Sure sure she carved up my face. But things are rough and I’ve been there. Not to that extent but close. I think at this point she could use a friend, might as well be someone she was about to kill.
I can’t really think of, oh of fucking course. This is one of those things that is so obvious you don’t even realize it’s there. I want to reconcile with Alex, with all the parts of Alex. Of all the people I’ve met I’ve never had a more loyal friend, someone who has almost always been there for me. Also of all my friends I have never met anyone who has been so thoroughly damaged by what goes on in my life. I have no idea how, but I really want to earn his forgiveness.
That should be it. What’s in the dorm room is the sum total of my possesions. Yeah I don’t have much so take whatever you want. I might have books out from the library, please return them. Oh I also have a blank check with this note for burial expenses. Its one of my parents, just use it, forge their signature, it isn’t like it is going to bounce, and if it does fuck them. I’d like to be cremated and have my ashes sprinkled in the garden at dawn. I’d like the creepy christian girl to be there, and if possible, I’d like her to sing.
Don’t invite my parents until after the cremation. They will just meddle. Hippy please plant some daffodils in remeberance of me.
Lastly I’d like the following words read, by Sara, if Sara isn’t available (I might kill her) then Hippy please, if hippy isn’t available then I doubt any of this will be honored anyway so don’t bother:

Dawn. Some of you maybe wondering why I did what I did. Chances are I won’t be able to give you a satisfactory reason here because I am writing this ahead of time. I do not know what the circumstances of my death will be. I do know that it will more than likely be by my hand. I’m not a fighter but I’ve been fighting for almost my entire life. There’s no future in it though. People seek you out, and if they don’t find you, you end up finding them, without even meaning to or really thinking about it. The golden lady, whoever she may be, taught me that. She was a perfectly innocent ant hill that I kicked over, couldn’t leave it alone.
As I struggle to deal with this I see my friends drawn in over and over again, hurt over and over again sometimes by my mistakes, other times by the machinations of others, and sometimes by my hands. Each time this wears on me a little bit more, I am able to deal with it a little bit less. True I never feel more alive than I do before a fight, but now more and more I feel the weight crashing down on me, having to deal with the afterwards is becoming to much. As I give up the gun I am afraid. Am I really choosing life or am I finally admitting that the threat of death is to much for me and that I now need something else. It is a thought to dark even for me so I press on with hope, my face twords the sun, praying that I am wrong and I can join everyone else in their laughter as I rocket twords a completely average middle age. My what stories I’d be able to tell my grand kids should that ever happen. But I don’t think it will. Not for me at least. Life isn’t the right format for me, it never was. Even Sara was able to live a normal life still being all of who she is, Alex managed to get a girlfriend all on his own. Okay well he needed a little help. Then I came along and it all came crashing down for the both of them. Sorry.
Now look out over the dawn. The sun is rising and a new day is upon you. The first day since you met me where the stain that I am is no longer pushing down upon you. You all are free to live your lives however it is you wish. You were always free I suppose but now I am not burdening you. I with that you would all go forth into the future and to treat each day with the care, beauty, and delecacy that it deserves. For every day is truly marvelous thing, I have learned after so many years facing near death that the time we have is never something to under estimate or waste.
All of you, even you Sara, are beautiful people. Go forth with grace and love. I’ll be waiting for you, either storming the gates of heaven, or strangling Satan in the depths of hell. Or doing battle with something where ever it is I am going. Know this. It is time for me to go. I’ve been here far to long already. I’ll see you when the time is right, don’t worry. Eternity is a long time. So live well, and give me many stories to hear once you come and join me. My life is a marvelous nightmare. Thankyou all for your parts,

Now for the love of god go in peace.

le novel part 21 WC 2851

Evening a couple of days later, Link and the Hippy where sitting underneath a large tree eating fruit, occationally talking, but mostly just lounging around. Link was reading a novel by flashlight, which has become a nessisity for him since he and the hippy girl spend so much time outdoors. She appeared to be making something out of leather but Link never really got around to asking her what it is. Time passes between them with relative ease, each of the them doing the things they could easily do alone next to each other for reasons niether of them could fully put into words. As the last light of the day fades the unmistakable clink of spurs, comes closer to them heralding either the apporche of the cowboy, or someone who is a just as much a lost soul as him. Looking around Link can’t see him anywhere and as he begins to suppose that the cowboy must just be passing by and doesn’t mean anyone any harm to day, he realizes that he’s been snuck up upon. Grabbing him roughly from behind and turning him around the Cowboy looks directly into Link’s confused face and just stands there almost if he is unsure of how to continue. Link waiting for a bit finally asks, “Is there anything I can help you with?” He noted with some slight irritation that the hippy hadn’t even looked up from her sewing.
Without answering the cowboy draws his fist back, in a strange, stuttering clockwork like motion, and tries to swing on Link who just manages to slip out of his grip in time. The cowboy spits, then lumbers after him, still without looking up, brow furrowed in concintration, the Hippy calls out, “Don’t hurt him Link”.
Doging another swing Link glares at her, “What the hell he started it, he even snuck up on m-” his complaining being interrupted as a result of being forced to focus fully on the fight at hand. Link has to admit though that there is something strange going on here. Cowboy doesn’t really seem like to be the sort of person who hesitates at anything, and his movements are all off. His next punch Link grabs his wrist, locks the cowboys arm in place, then puts him down. The hippy raises her eyebrows but before she can talk Link cuts her off, “Don’t even start with me, Akido is about not hurting people and he is just bloody fine I just used his force against him”
She nods happily, “Oh I know I was just supprised you know it that’s all, it isn’t very common for whatever reason”
“I just know the bas- You do realize that we are having a perfectly pleasant conversation while I have a restrained cowboy squirming under me who is trying to kick my ass for no known reason right? That’s still strange? Something we- Damnit look cowboy if you keep moving like that you are going to end up hurting yourself. Now just be still while the hippy and I take our sweet ass time doing whatever the hell it is we are doing”.
She smiles, “Alright alright, you know sometimes you really do complain constantly. Here I finished what I was doing let him up”
Link backs away from the cowboy who is immediately on his feet again trying to get all robo aggressive on Link, when the hippy takes some, what look to be seeds, from the pouch she just got done sewing and throws them at the cowboy. Immeadiatly, his eyes don’t change so much as they once again look like they have someone living behind them and all the sudden he lets out a roar and with an exceedingly fast fluid motion punches the unprepared Link in the jaw which knocks him down on his ass. Not giving him time to recover the cowboy springs on him but Link, hands up, manages to fend him off and regain footing, see now that is the cowboy that Link remembers. Not some weird clockwork robo freak version. Now, swinging wildly the cowboy charges at Link who has no choice but to give ground and wait for an opening. Even if he had permission to crack this idiot’s head open none of this made any sense. Sara usually has a long standing master plan, and while she has been certainly laying low for these past couple of days, you would think the fruits of her labor would equate to more than the cowboy’s bezerker rage. All of this just plain smelled wrong, and he has a feeling that the hippy knows a lot more than she has been saying. She is the sort of person who plays her cards close to the ches-, absorbing a body blow is what Link gets for wandering off though wise during a fight. Narrowly escaping the rest of his combo Link start’s to wonder, “No banter, no boasting, this doesn’t feel like a fight with the cowboy”.
Deciding to try diplomacy one more time, Link catches the cowboy’s fist in his palm and starts slowly bending his wrist back, “Come on cowboy snap out of whatever the hell is going on. Kicking my ass will more than likely make you feel better, I know I’ve been there, but something is obviously up, something was in you wasn’t it? I don’t know shit about all of this sort of thing but come on man you won’t get anything solved”
He could see it, the indecision in his eyes, the uncertainty, what the hell has just happened to this kid? Someone somewhere has certainly delt him a short hand from a stacked deck, or other something like that. His whole body quivers with uncertainty and Link lets him go, fully prepared to defend himself again should this ridiculous tom foolery continue. Instead he just sinks uselessly to the ground and starts to shake his head, halfway between crying and returning to outright physical violence. After a moment the Hippy gets up and goes to take the cowboy in her arms. Greatfuly he sinks into her, much to Link’s discomfort he just stares into space.
The hippy looks up with a pained smile on her face, “He isn’t like the rest of us you know. We can handle this sort of weird stuff without it ruining our lives. I deal with it healthly, you try to kill yourself, Sara uses it to her own ends, and the Wolf man? Well he eats people, plain and simple.” Link takes a step back unsure of what to say. The hippy just looks sort of sad and somewhat distant, “What? Link did you honestly think you are the only person with a dark and mysterious past that they are escaping from?”
“So does that mean you and the wolf boy-”
She shakes her head, “Nope first time I saw him was in the garden, though his weird little blonde clone lings were running around the bar. You remember that part though. No but I recognize him for what he is. This place, it is a lodestone for people like you and me and the baggage we come along with. Him, that wolf looking kid? I get the feeling that he collects it, feeds off of it. To what end? Who knows, there might not ever be one. But I know that I’ve been sitting on my laurles for far to long. So its time we go put this wolf looking kid out of the three of our lives right now, after all I have midterms coming up in a couple of weeks and I don’t need the added stress. Now then cowboy, where are they?”
He looks up with a renewed sense of purpose and dignity, “Well I reckon they are still in your pretty lil garden”, his amazingly false drawl has returned. It made Link’s skin crawl. Hippy not wasting any time heads off, with the cowboy in tow. A moment later they are joined by Link, “Hey cowboy what’s care to give us a little intel on what’s going on while we are charinging into battle to help you?”
They aren’t exactly running, its closer to speed walking than anything else. Three completely ordinary people just slightly hurrying across campus trying not to attract atension. It would work if they weren’t a hippy, a cowboy, and a hulking man dressed all in black covered in scars. They get some curiouse looks, but only the sort that you get when someone else needs to alieviate boredom not the sort of malice filled eyes that the three of them know they are going to meet. The cowboy is hemming and hawing, trying to find a way to not answer the question, which puts Link immediately into a foul mood, the hippy then stops and putter her hand on his shoulder says, “Look it would really help us to know what it is we are getting into”. The cowboy nodded, as he starts to talk they continue walking, “Now I don’t rightly know what goes on between Sara and that kid who looks like an ornery coyote, but they’ve been seenin each other more an more in the last coupla weeks. They keep talkin about some bar in the middle a nowhere that no one’s seems to of heard of, its ca-”
Link interupts “We know it don’t worry, it isn’t your type of place man”
“Well at any rate. The coyote boy keeps mentioning something about someone named the pale rider, or somethin to that effect. I dunno what’s it all about. Normally, I try and steer clear of all this mess, but trouble seems to follow that girl wherever she goes. Just can’t seem to keep away from it. I figuring I a owe it to her to help her out. She’s tutoring me in math ya see. Anyway, they go out to the garden and all the sudden he just ups and a changes. Just like that. He’s got this crazy smile and he a tells me that if I don’t go kick the crap outta you she’s gonna die. Then, well then he does something to me. Next thing I know I am singing on you insteada him. I figure since I already found you I might as well do as he says you know, nothin personal partner” he goes to give Link a friendly punch on the arm, but Link’s glare stops him short.
The hippy smiles at them, “He doesn’t like to be touched, don’t worry about him”
The cowboy looks at the two of them, “Must be weird to date someone who don’t like bein touched like that”
The hippy just laughs, at Link’s smoldering glare, “Don’t be so serious Link it will give you a heart attack one of these days”
“One of these days” Link thinks to himself. Funny, that’s now a possibility of how things can happen. There is a future in all of this. Not running through the woods, punching wolf looking mother fuckers in the face so that they won’t do some stupid fucked up thing to your ex-girlfriend and current arch nemisis. No that is a stupid way to spend time. But the rest of it. The school bit. There can be a job at the end of this, one where he wears long sleeve shirts to hide his scars, and stands around a water cooler talking. They make sitcoms about how much that life is a sort of dreary hell. Really though those people don’t really know what hell is like. What Link is doing right now though, it is close.
Link turns to the Hippy, “So what is up with the pouch you were making, you knew this was going to happen?”
She shrugs, which seems at this point to be the most common precursor to everyone’s response to anything recently, “I knew something was coming, not this soon though. There are other things I wish I could of done to it. I had a grandma who showed me how to make it. Look Link, I don’t really understand most of this. But it is something I am built for much better than the two of you. So try to relax and let me do the heavy lifting okay?”
Link nods, “Alright, try to not let the same thing that happened to me last time happen again yeah?”
“I’ll try not to. Sorry, I guess I just lost my tempter or something like that”.
As they approach the woods Alex comes out to meet them. He is wearing a pair of kakies and some name brand shirt from a name brand store. Link has never seen anyone suceed so brilliantly at looking so completely normal. He looks apologetic, “Hey Link. I am tired of this shit. More tired than you can ever understand. But they left. They went to the bar and you can’t find it without me. Sara’s in danger, and I already have what happened to you on my conscious. I should have been there for you, sorry”
Link puts his hand on his shoulder, “You shouldn’t be anywhere near me, you never should have been, but I am glad that you are here”.
The cowboy scanning the horizon nods to himself and makes a clicking sound, the sort heros in westerns make when they are summoning a horse, which is exactly what happens. Two beautiful black horses come running out of the woods up to the four of them. They approach cowboy who nuzzles them both affectionately, then to the hippy, “Can you ride bare back” she nods, “good then take Link, I’ll grab this gangly one and we’ll lead the way, for obvious reasons I know all the horse paths through these woods. He mounts up, grabs the surprisingly complacent Alex and rides off. When Link turns around the hippy is already on its back, beaming like a little girl getting a pony ride she holds her hand out to Link, “Have you ever done this before?”
“I grew up in the suburbs”
She laughs, “Then hold on tight and do your best not to fall off”. With that they race after the cowboy. Catching up Link can hear distantly Alex giving out directions. Sometimes they will branch off into what look to be solid woods but soon enough a path emerges. It almost looks like some of these have been reclaimed by the cowboy personally. Horses aren’t exactly the most effective creatures in the woods, but these paths seem customed made for them. They hammer down through the darkness, the light of the half moon shining down through the leaves providing the only illumination. They ride on, Link knows it isn’t Alex leading the way but the little yellow bird, luckily for all of them the bird knows these paths just as well as the cowboy does. Link looking around tries his very best to catch his bearings. He realizes that they are close to a road, a road they are about to cross. Before he can shout warning the two of them burst forth from the forest, Link unable to watch hears the screeching tires, the collission of metal on metal, as cars on both sides of the road suddenly slam on their breaks to let the riders through. Latter the cops on the scene would have no idea what to do about any of it. After crossing the road they run through the woods a bit more then come out underneath some high tension power lines, which have their own long swath cut through the woods. He wants to ask hippy what it is she did when she went into the bar that night. He tries but the movement of the horse makes it impossible for him to speak. Alex is laughing, the cowboy is whooping and having the time of his life, and the hippy looks like some sort of jungle queen. He realizes that he is the only person who isn’t enjoying himself. He knows that something is wrong, the hippy is to well prepared for this, and he knows to little about everything. Things like, her name, and anything about her past. He feels like a dick for not asking all this time but he always figured she’d just volunteer the information when the time is right. Now they are ridning into battle again, literally. This is beyond insane. Though it is no ones’ dark past catching up to them this time. This time it is an all new threat, a new threat which took his dark past hostage. Nothing is adding up but then again, none of it really matters. Someone’s in danger and it is time to help. It’s how he’s always done things. Just because there is a tomarrow now isn’t going to stop that any time soon.
They slide back into the woods again and it isn’t long before they get there. The bar itself appears to be either closed or not open yet. There they are waiting in the parking lot.