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[imperialmask]

Homeworld Bound Vol 1 (London Calling) Chapter 7: Patriarch

It's the next day and Dan was on his way to the Mayor's office for an important meeting with the Mayor, his father, Jones Peterson. The Mayor's office is a magnificent building, a Gregorian monument to grandeur, authority and power. A marble white portico flanks the entrance like a cavalry unit coming in for a sneak attack, white granite steps lead up to a large wooden door with a crest carved into it carefully. The crest is an Athenian owl standing in front with a symbol of the sun on it's chest and a lambda as the background. The owl had a caduceus in hand. Dan looked up at this symbol, contemplating the rich history of Salem and his own families history behind it.

Dan entered the Mayoral Offices, walls painted a formal light on the eyes red with white columns evenly spaced out like men in formation. Trinkets and Artefacts dot the halls, many coat of arms also hang but a notable one is one of a blue shield with a triple headed eagle with 3 crowns. There's more, one of a red shield and a singular headed black eagle, one of a green shield and a frog with a gem on its back and finally one of a yellow shield with a blue lightning bolt. When Dan walks past these, he feels the weight of legacy crushing him like a boulder.

When he arrived outside his office, he found something he didn't expect, a bored Mick Smith balancing a pen on the tip of his finger. Dan looks at him, confused.

"What are you doing here?" Dan asks.

"Here to see Jones, i bet you're here to do the same." Mick says.

"Yeah. 4pm time slot?" Dan follows up with.

"Yep." Mick answers.

"Same meeting" Both of them sigh. They stand outside, waiting awkwardly. Dan taps his foot against the floor, Mick starts humming, a tumbleweed metaphorically flies through the room. Dan turns to Mick and asks a question.

"How do you know my dad?"

"I met him when i came to Earth." Mick answers.

"Why did you come to Earth?" Dan asks.

"Am i still under interrogation?" Mick asks back.

"Not really, just curious." Dan says back. Mick stands there thinking.

"Ya know...i actually don't know. My Dad never told me." Mick responds.

"You came with your dad?" Dan asks.

"Yep, met your dad. They talked in his office for a bit while i stood outside. I remember sneaking away to find some food at this one really good pizza shop in the city, god i hope that place is still open." Mick responds.

"Remember what it was called?" Dan asks.

"Shit...something with a T?" Mick answers.

"Tubby's?!?" Dan shockingly tells him, he smiles.

"Yes! That was it, Tubby's!" Mick responds, smiling too.

"Tubby's is amazing, i'm friends with the guy who owns it." Dan tells Mick.

"So it's still there?" Mick asks, excited.

"Yep, i'll take you after this meeting if you want." Dan responds, Mick nods.

"Dude, their pepperoni, mwah, chef's kiss." Dan tells Mick.

"I got BBQ." Mick tells Dan, Dan laughs.

"Well thank god your first Pizza wasn't Hawaiian." Dan jokes, Mick laughs too but is also a bit confused. They sigh.

They both stand there smiling, male bonding activities.

A loud buzz plays and both the men turn towards the door. It starts to open and they both see Jones Peterson sitting at his desk with 2 chairs ready opposite him.

"Come in, boys." Jones jovially tells them. Dan approaches with caution but Mick casually walks in. They both sit down in the chairs.

"I need to talk to you two about The Salem Watch." Jones explains.

"The what?" Mick asks.

"The team you joined, the one you're now co-leading." Dan tells him. Mick mouths "oh".

"What is it, father?" Dan asks. Mick inconspicuously looks at Dan when he finishes speaking .

"Hudson and I had a meeting last night about the future of the Watch, we've reached a compromise. An experimental unit of 10 agents split into 2 squads. The overall unit, the Watch itself, will be led by Daniel with Daniel leading one of the squads and Michael leading the other. To get COG to fit the bill for dedicated support teams, i had to agree to a few stipulations, one of them being that you, Michael, will have to prove yourself to COG by beating another agent chosen by Hudson in a legally binding duel." Jones calmly explains in his gruff and stern voice. Mick looks taken aback ever since Jones called him Michael but he calms himself, Dan looks concerned at Mick.

"Father, can i speak my mind?" Dan asks.

"You may, Daniel." Jones responds.

"You need to lay off Hudson and COG. Hudson's a good guy, he's worked for you since i was born, hell you put him in the position he's in now. You don't need to micromanage him." Dan explains. Jones stares at him and sighs.

"Hudson is a pragmatist with a militia of the strongest people in the Mystic world under his command. If he sees fit, there's no reason why he couldn't just overthrow the democratic system that our family has been fighting to keep for over 400 years. Daniel, if you have any concern at all for the future of Salem, I'd follow my commands and know your place. Do you understand, son?" Jones says.

"Yes father." Dan responds, cowed.

"And you, Michael?" Jones asks.

"Yeah...I copy." Mick says. Jones glares at him and Mick glares back, a perceived slight won't stand though Jones will let it go for now.

"Good. The Duel is scheduled 2 weeks from now for when your new compound is finished. I'd recommend training for it and investigating the arena and Gas Mask for any tricks Hudson may use to cheat." Jones tells them, they nod.

"You're free to go." He says as Dan gets up and bows before leaving, Mick gets up and just walks out after him. As they leave through the giant door, Mick turns to Dan's solemn face.

"Wanna grab that Pizza?" Mick asks, Dan turns to him and shrugs.

"Yeah sure, why not." Dan responds.

Mick and Dan sit at a table at Tubby's, it's mid-day with the sun high in the sky. Both of them are waiting for their pizza. There's a silence until Mick turns to Dan to speak.

"You know, my Dad once took me to the Citadel." Mick says. Dan looks at him, confused.

"The Citadel is this big city in a giant structure right? It was a flying city where the Royal Family lived along with the richest people in the Capital." He continues.

"Why are you telling me this?" Dan asks.

"Well, he took me to the peak of the Citadel, the Perch we called it, it was the highest peak on all of Gen, even surpassed any mountain we had. When he did this, my Dad looked me dead in the eye and told me that i was a disappointment and a failure right now. He told me i was reckless, disobedient, rude and didn't deserve to be called his son. That's when he picked me up and threw me off the perch, i had to use my powers to grab onto a drain." Mick elaborated, getting more and more subtly angry as he went on.

"My Dad was a total dick, he constantly did shit like that to try and get me killed. If i died then, oh well, he's got a 2nd son to work on, if i survived then it was proof i was getting stronger. My Dad made weapons for the war and he saw me as the ultimate weapon, he always talked about how he would 'mould me like hot iron in a forge'." Mick told Dan.

"A proper piece of work." Dan responded.

"Tell me about it." Mick told him.

"My Dad's not that bad, just a control freak. The Peterson's have been in Salem since it founded, he just doesn't want me to be the one who screwed up everything. He wants me to prove my heritage, prove i'm a Peterson. I mean i'm trying, but it takes time, you know?" Dan tells Mick.

"I think you'll get there, you're a good dude." Mick tells him, Dan seems a little caught off guard by the comment.

"Didn't think you were the type to give compliments." Dan responds, Mick smiles.

"I don't say things that aren't true." He responds, he takes a bite of his pizza before continuing.

"My Dad has the same ideas about legacy. We weren't nobles or anything but we had ancient lines to before the Union." Mick says through the chewing, he swallows.

"But we'll bury them both in history." Mick finishes with, lifting his glass of Coke for a toast, Dan obliges with his glass of Water. A clink, a chug and a slam.

"You're fully on board now?" Dan asks.

"Yep, lookin' forward to it!" Mick responds.

"Big change of heart today, you're a different guy than the dude threatening my life to find his brother." Dan tells him, Mick smiles.

"That's cause i found him." Mick smiles.

"Congrats." Dan retorts.

"I found something else too, it's a suprise to be sure but a welcome one."

"And what is it?"

"I've got 2 brothers."

[imperialmask]

Homeworld Bound Vol 1 (London Calling) Chapter 6: Greenies

Athena walked through the automatic glass doors to see a sparring arena beneath her over a balcony. She sees 2 people in protective gear fighting with magic, she smiles and looks behind her, seeing a massive sign saying "Welcome to the Rookie Centre: Sparring Arena #1". She looked down into the sparring arena, the 2 duellers were really going at it now.

Student #1 swings his wooden sword towards Student #2 who blocks it with his armoured arm. They then grab the sword and push it into the armour, breaking it in half. They then opened their palm facing the other student and blasted them with concentrated water. It knocks Student #1 into the wall, they get up and shrug it off before reaching into their pocket and throwing out grains of sand. The sand suddenly forms a sand storm which Student #2 attempts to break by firing a stream of concentrated water into it. The storm absorbs and uses the water to bind the sand together into one cohesive mass and it's thrown at Student #2.

Student #2 blasts away from the sand with a water jet, the sand crashes into the Arena and flies everywhere. The sand suddenly flies through the air towards Student #1 who continues to dodge, the sand acts as tendrils flying through the air attempting to stab them. Student #1 then smirks and begins to chant something.

"Παλίρροιες του Ποσειδώνα"

Suddenly, a large blast of energy comes from the student, destroying all the sand constructs. In a suit of armour, black metal with blue glowing highlights in the folds and a helmet with a golden trident shape on the head, the student stares towards their opponent. Suddenly, Student #1 is grabbed in the arm with the 2nd student appearing in front of them, they're launched into the wall. They bounce off it and Student #2 appears in the air to catch them and knock them into the ground. They slam into the ground, hitting with such force they bounce slightly at which point their shirt is grabbed by the 2nd student.

"STOP!" The instructor yells. The 2nd student lightly puts down the first one whose gasping for air.

"You fight too rough Tidal." The 1st Student tell him.

"Sorry Flint." Tidal (the 2nd Student) responds, apologetically. Tidal's armour poofs away and he's back in his normal protective student gear.

Athena stares at them in awe and yells out.

"HEY YOU! KID WHO CAN TRANSFORM! C'MERE!"

Tidal immediately turns to her.

"And who is she?" He asks.

Flint, taking off his helmet, looks at her and opens his mouth.

"Dude that's Athena Peterson."

"Really?" Tidal asks, excited.

"Ask her for her number, bro." Flint jokingly asks.

"I'll try." Tidal responds, taking off his helmet before winking and smiling at Flint.

With Athena leaning against a pillar and Tidal on a bench resting, they begin to chat. He had black, messy and medium length hair with ocean blue eyes that seemed to have a small glow. He was wearing a short sleeve black polo shirt and blue jeans with sneakers on.

"What's your name kid?" Athena asks him.

"Diego, Diego Ashbluff. Lot of people call me Tidal though." He responds.

"How old are you?" She follows up.

"17, birthday's in 2 months." He answers.

"How many of those years you've spent at the academy?" She asks.

"3." Tidal responds.

"I see. What's the deal with the water and transformation? Is your ability magical or physical?" She asks.

"It's magical, kinda. It's a blessing, sort of? As a kid, i wanted to be a doctor so i used to pretend to do surgery on my stuffed toys. I always wanted to help people, save them from things they couldn't save themselves from. Yet one day i found this fish and it had this plastic ring around it's neck so i cut it off and let it go. When i came back to the river again, i saw more fish with similar issues so i started to come to the river daily to save them. One day, this great big catfish came to me with a massive wound. I was 13 but i took it home and stitched it up, that's when i first saw him." Tidal explained.

"Who?" Athena asked. Tidal held out his palm, open facing the sky. A small man in the same armour Tidal was in a minute ago appeared in his hand and he was slightly transparent.

"Lord of the Sea!" It spoke in a booming voice. Athena smiled in wonder.

"Little guy!" She responded.

"Aquarius, Deity of The Ocean. I became his avatar, i can transform into him at will and use a part of his power." Tidal explained.

"I see. Water based " Athena responded. Aquarius disappeared and Tidal put his hand away.

"Well, how would you like a job?" Athena asked him. Tidal's face lit up.

"You're gonna get me out of the academy?" Tidal asked.

"Yep. You'll work in an elite team of heroes along side me, my brother and 2 other agents at a high level like yours." Athena told him, he smiled wider before seemingly beginning to frown.

"What's that for?" She asked.

"You need to hire Winters." Tidal demanded.

"Who?"

"Winters, Chloe Winters. She's my best friend, i promised her i'd work with her when we got out of here." Tidal explained.

"Well i gotta meet her first." Athena told him, he suddenly grabbed her hand and ran off, dragging Athena along. They ran all the way to the dorms where Tidal banged on a door. It was covered in stickers and photos, the stickers were of cutsie things like marshmallows with faces and cute cartoon animals, some where random objects in pink, white and blue. The photos all had a blonde girl with short curly hair, sometimes with Tidal, Flint and others. Some had images of a brown haired boy in yet there was only one or 2 out of the around 30 images on the door.

A blonde haired girl with messy bedhead opened the door in a black shirt and shorts.

"What...Tidal? Random Woman?" She yanwed.

"Winters! Winters! A Job! A Job!" Tidal excitedly explained, pointing at Athena.

"It's too early in the morning for your energy, T." Winters tiredly groaned.

"Winters, is it?" Athena asked.

"Yeah..." Winters told her.

"Names Athena, Athena Peterson." She explained.

"Oh shit....OH SHIT." Winters said, waking up from shock. She slammed the door in their faces and you can hear her freak out behind it. There's loud clanking noises as if something fell off a shelf. Athena looks at Tidal confused and Tidal sighs and smiles, shrugging visibly.

Winters opened the door in a yellow hoodie with black highlights and interior, some silver mixed in from the zipper and metal parts. It was zipped down but it was small enough so that at times you could see her plain white shirt beneath. She had a sports skirt on that went all the down her legs, she had black leather shoes on with a yellow buckle.

"Hi Mrs Peterson! So what do you want from little old me?" She asked, nervous.

"Come with me, kid." Athena tells them, leading them out of the room. She leads them to Sparring Arena #4.

"Get in, both of you." She tells them with a smirk. "I wanna see what you can do. I've only got 1 slot. Winner joins the team and gets out of the academy." Both Tidal's and Winter's face light up.

2 best friends now put to the test by their senior. They look each other in the eyes before Tidal makes the first move by blasting a pillar of water at Winters. Winters jumps out the way and skates her way towards Tidal, Tidal sprouts water from the ground to try and stop her but she keeps weaving out of the way. She gets an upper cut off on him and knocks him into the air before grabbing her 2 batons on her back, sticking them together into a staff and using it to lunge herself upwards and wack Tidal back to Earth.

Tidal cushions his fall with water and Winters lands on top of him, holding the staff to his neck.

"Did that one hurt?" Winters asks snarkily.

"Not really, what about this?" Tidal snaps back with before putting his hands to her stomach and blasting her off with water. She flies up and Tidal blasts water at her from his hands, she drops her staff and uses magic to make it start spinning to deflect the water. She slowly starts to push throw the water into Tidal's hand but the large stream of water suddenly compresses into a small beam, the pressure allows it to cut straight through the staff. Tidal adjusts the angle slightly to avoid majorly hurting Winters but it still makes a nasty gash in her shoulder. She lands and holds her shoulder.

"Shit...Winters im sorry, are you alright?" Tidal says as he runs over to her. Her hand glows green and as Tidal approaches, she uses it to slam Tidal away.

"NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, KID!" Winters yells out, revealing her shoulder to be healed but with a mark. Tidal goes to blast a water beam at her yet she makes a fist towards him, Tidal starts to visibly get extremely angry. The beam is not nearly as concentrated, in fact its more like the usual stream, yet it produces so much water it almost starts to flood the arena despite the fact it's made to withstand water damage. Winters throws her staff and the water begins to fly all over the place as it spins around like a boomerang, obscuring Tidal's view.

Tidal realises what Winters is doing and begins to chant the same chant from before. Winters comes up behind him, ready to strike but it's too late.

""Παλίρροιες του Ποσειδώνα"

The energy blasts her and the water back, Tidal returns to his Aquarius form. Tidal grabs Winters leg and slams her into the ground behind him. The staff suddenly wacks Tidal in the back of the head from the right, not doing much damage but enough to make Tidal let go. The staff flies off his head and flies off to the left before returning to fly in from the right, Tidal attempts to block it but Winters gut punches him. Tidal grabs the staff but stumbles back a bit, he uses it to wack Winters who jumps over the swing and grabs onto the staff, breaking off a half of it. She swings in from the opposite direction Tidal swung the staff and hits him in the head. Tidal gets knocked the same direction as the swing, Winters goes to follow up but Tidal blasts a beam of water at her, throwing her straight into the arena wall. Winters gets up, wounded, and she puts a thumbs up in the air. Tidal fires another beam, moving a lot slower than usual allowing Winters to dodge, it hits directly where she was.

Winters throws the stick at Tidal and moves in from the left, skating towards Tidal. Tidal begins throwing water balls at her feet to stop her but she weaves throw the wet patches, jumping over on to be able to kick him in the gut. The stick, moving abnormally slowly, hits Tidal in the face and Winters grabs it, calling the other half off the floor to hit Tidal in the back of the helmet. Tidal, unaffected, grabs Winters and throws her towards the wall, throwing a water beam and suddenly disappearing. When the water beam hits Winters, Tidal suddenly appears where the water was and kicks her in the stomach. She impacts the wall and Tidal lands infront of her. A bell goes off.

"That's enough kids, both of you c'mere." Athena says over an intercom. Athena smiles in a proud way.

Tidal and Winters are in the lobby room of the sparring arena, Tidal has an icebag on the back of his head and a black eye while Winters is covered in cuts and has a bandage wrapped around her head, both are sitting on a bench looking tired, Tidal is back in his normal form.

"So, good news bad news. I'll start with the bad news." Athena tells them.

"I lied. We've got 2 slots!" She tells them with a smile, there's a silence.

"You're both in...that's the good news." Athena says with less enthusiasm, they both weakly cheer.

"Thought you 2 wanted this?"

"We do...but that fight hurt like hell." Tidal explains.

"When you pulled out the concentrated water beam, i freaked the fuck out." Winters comments.

"No kidding, i tried to stop it from hitting. Sorry for that." Tidal apologises.

"It's fine, i got a good lick in myself because of it." Winters remarks, chilling out.

"Right, let me go talk to my brother real quick." Athena says, pulling out her phone.

/// <- (Scene Transition, different from --- which is a cutaway)

Dan slams open 2 doors with his hands, it's Hudson's office and a slightly scared Moesby stands behind Dan in the lobby. Hudson looks up from his paperwork and looks at Dan.

"Are you free?" Dan asks.

"No." Hudson tells him. Dan sits down in the chair opposite him anyway.

"What do you want?" Hudson asks bluntly, going back to doing paperwork.

"Why is Mick a squad lead now? He's a part of MY team." Dan demands to know, incredibly pissed off.

"It's a Mayoral Decree, not mine. If you have a problem, ask your father." Hudson responds, calmly. Compared to Dan you'd think he was a bodhisattva.

"It was DAD'S CALL?" Dan screams out.

"Please stop yelling, they can hear you upstairs and downstairs." Hudson asks, it falls on deaf ears, just like the ones of the people upstairs and downstairs.

"So Dad's willing to bat for Mick but not for me? Some random guy that he's only known about for about for 4 days is more worthy of this promotion than his own son?" Dan complains.

"They've known each other longer than 4 days. I did some digging, an agent of mine in the Mayor's office was able to drag these files out of Jones' database." Hudson says as he reaches into his desk and plops a physical file on the desk. On it says "TOP SECRET" in a big bold red stamp, above it is a small label saying "Kronos". Dan picks it up and opens it, finding a document labelled "KING.MEETING - 17TH APRIL 2009".

"What is this?" Dan asks.

"Your father, since his administration began in 2006, has always taken an interest in affairs outside of Salem, particularly space. It seems the alien's been in Salem before, and others. I've been meaning to ask, what did Mick talk about in his interrogation, particularly about his own planet and people?" Hudson asks. "That they're all gone. A big war wiped them out about 2 years ago. Him and his brother are the last ones left." Dan answers, Hudson frowns.

"I see." Hudson responds with, going back to paperwork.

"What's your plan then?" Dan asks Hudson.

"Obviously I can't stop Jones influencing Mick but i can stop Mick from doing what Jones wants. I've persuaded Gas Mask and Kitsune to sign up with his squad to pressure Mick into a duel for the lead position in exchange for pay rises if one of them win." Hudson tells him, Dan looks uneasy at the suggestion.

"Gas Mask? Really?" Dan asks, confused at the choice.

"There aren't many agents i don't trust to fuck up the job. If this was 5 years ago i'd just be able to pick anyone but you have to admit, we're running short on competent agents these days. The DOMA's been on our asses for awhile now, took a lot of good men down lately." Hudson answers. Dan fidgets in his chair before speaking.

"The decree says i'm still ultimately in command, it's just that there's 2 squads instead of one. If Gas Mask took over, he'd be my partner. We both know he doesn't deal well with authority and command. I think i could get better results out of Mick than out of Gas Mask, i'll keep him in check and an eye on him." Dan tells Hudson. Hudson looks up and him and puts his pen down again.

"You think you can control Mick?" He asks.

"Not control, work with." Dan responds. Hudson looks him dead in the eyes, neither flinch before Hudson sighs.

"Fine, i'll leave you to it. Now get out, i'm busy." Hudson tells Dan with a sigh and a "shoo" motion. Dan gets up and walks out.

Hudson presses a button and a sharp buzz comes out.

"What is it sir?" Moesby says over a speaker.

"Schedule a meeting with Jones, some point today please." Hudson says.

"Right away sir." Moesby responds. Hudson lets go of the button and leans back in his chair with a sigh.

"I'll play your games Peterson." Hudson says to himself, looking out the window towards a glistening tower in the distance.

[imperialmask]

Homeworld Bound Vol 1 (London Calling) Chapter 5: Inner-Machinations

COG defines Sorcerers, Monsters and Magical Objects under one of 6 categorisations, these Categorisations can range from Tier 5 to 1, 5 being weakest and 1 being the strongest except for 3 of them. At the weak end of the spectrum is the Barren Tier, these are things that lack any magical ability at all and due to this, there is no need to rank them from tiers 5 to 1. This mainly includes Humans and Human Objects yet very rarely will a Mystic be born with no mana at all. Then there's Civilian Tier, these are your average Mystic who have mana but no innate ability or spells.

The next tier is Basic Tier, these are your weak sorcerers. Most people without Innate Abilities to Physical Abilities (ones that change the body like Steel) end up here, using basic spells to fight opponents. These sorcerers are a threat to Barren and other Sorcerers in their tier yet lack the mana output to be a serious threat to anyone above them. They tend to stick together when against stronger threats since the population of this tier is the highest through out the Sorcerer population. These people are about as strong as a mob of regular humans 100 strong.

After that it's Intermediate Tier. Intermediate Tiers more often than not carry their own ability yet there are few spellcasters who can hold this tier. Not much to say about them, they are strong fighters with good potential but aren't much of a threat to those above them. They are probably as strong as a full division of a professional modern army.

Then it's Advanced Tier, it's where Dan, Athena and Mick are now. Advanced Grades have great enough control and output to reach their maximum potential, this is the limit for most sorcerers yet there are exceptions. They have complete understanding of their abilities or their abilities are just that strong. Many of those who belong in Special Grade but don't live long enough to realise their potential end up here. While there's probably about 20,000 Basic Grades and about 5,000 Intermediate Grades, there's only about 100 Advanced Grades alive.

Then there's Special Tier, instead of being ranked 5 to 1, they're ranked against each other as their strength is unmeasurable compared to people below them. Special Tiers are extremely uncommon, only 3 Special Tiers have been recorded in existence by COG with one of them being Dan's Azure ancestor, Adonis. One of the special grades is Salem's supposed Founder, Jane Hopkins and the other is Anji Sengoku, the best friend and rival of Adonis. The top of this chain is Jane, with Adonis below her and Anji below him.

Mana Output has recently been on the rise, while the higher on the spectrum you go, the much more thin the population gets, the population of Basic Tiers has been in decline while Intermediate and Advanced are on the rise. Jones noticed this, it's why he hired Mick to form a squad under his thumb. Hudson's also noticed this, it's why he was so eager to get Dan his own squad. They're playing angles, the pawns on the board are being moved for a game started long ago.

Dan's on his way to visit 2 people. Advanced Tier 3 Asa Hayakawa, also known as Kitsune and Advanced Tier 1 Gas Mask, his real name is classified.

"Hey." Dan calls over to them. Kitsune was in a small leather cropped jacket and white shirt to match, with jeans and converse and a small fox mask covering her eyes. Gas Mask was draped in a long dark trench coat with an old gas mask covering his face, a small cloth head warmer covering the rest of his head and an old helmet on top. Dan was in a work shirt with a red tie and work trousers, sleeves rolled up to be casual.

"Hi." Gas Mask said, Kitsune nodded to greet him.

"So. How are you guys?" Dan asked.

"What the fuck do you want, Peterson?" Gas Mask bluntly asks. Dan is a little taken a back by this by reaffirms his resolve.

"i got promoted. I'm COG's 2nd squad lead and i want you 2 for my team." Dan announces to them. As soon as he finishes talking, Kitsune walks away, Dan just watches her in disbelief.

"It's a no from me too." Gas Mask adds as he begins to walk away aswell. Dan chases after him.

"What? Why?" Dan demands to know.

"Neither of us work in teams, we do our missions solo." GM answers.

"Well this is a good chance to learn!" Dan responds.

"Haha, nope." GM tells him, speeding up.

"GM, i need you 2. I've already got 3, you 2 are the strongest i know." Dan adds, catching up to him. GM stops and Dan bumps into him.

"If you catch up to me again, I'll snap your neck." GM tells him before walking away again. After a few step, he stops and turns around before walking back to Dan.

"Look, i don't wanna join but i know 2 people who'd take you seriously. Their names are Leech and Lore, high Intermediate Grades with Advanced Grade potential. Go ask them to join your little team." GM tells him, Dan nods in thanks as GM walks away.

Dan sits on an underground train next to 2 people. One is a a lady with orange hair, a cream knitted jumper, tight blue jeans and fluffy brown boots and the other is a person with the classic black emo hair cut that fades into a neon light blue at the end and covers one eye, leather clothes from the jacket to the trousers to the boots. He didn't know either of these people but they were the 2 to become his teammates, the train car was tense with an atmosphere that filled the room like smoke. It was like being the metal stuck between a hammer and an anvil.

"So.....who are you?" The woman asked Dan.

"Oh, I'm Dan, Daniel Peterson?" Dan responded, holding his hand out to be shaken.

"Jane, Jane Doe but everyone calls me Leech." She answers, shaking his hand with a friendly smile. Dan smiled back.

"What about you?" Dan asked the other person in the cabin. They stared him down with a scowl.

"That's Lore, they aren't talkative." Jane explained. Lore turned to her and stared her down, Jane noticed this and shrunk back into her chair. Dan turned to her.

"Ash. My name's Ash." Lore answered before falling back in her seat. Dan turned to her as she spoke, then looked forward again. He sighed.

After enough bout of silence, the train pulled into the station. An underground station, purple rock roofed them and a small bearded man awaited them in a small suit to match. Small might give you the wrong idea, you might assume this was someone around the lower end of 5 foot but you might want to think closer to 3 foot. This man was a dwarf and they had just arrived in the Dwarven Kingdom of Stonehill.

"Greetings Sorcerers!" The Dwarf exclaimed as the three of them left the train car in a deep, Scottish accent. "Welcome to Stonehill!"

"Hello, I'm Dan. These 2 are Lore and Leech. COG told us you had a need of a monster extermination." Dan told the man, shaking his hand at first before pointing to the sorcerer he was talking about.

"The names Yoggog Trollstone, call me Yog for short. Walk with me Salemites, i shall show ye the beast." Yog told them, motioning for them to follow. The three of them hopped into a train car without a roof, shaped like a cart. It sped off.

"Unlike ye Salemites, Stonehill ain't got the luxury of thee sun. We be living underground under thee mountains ye deem Grampian, these be the main form of protection from our savage cousins. Yet we seem to have some problems keepin' thee beasties out, they come for our magic ye see? Like a wolves smellin' blood. Lost a good few men to this one i have, a Basilisk has taken up refuge the southern mine. Thee King demands its removal without thee loss of anymore Dwarves, so in he called ye Salemites. Y'ur job is to take out thee beastie and seal up what'eva hole he climbed through. Aye?" Yog went onto explain.

As the train cart moved forward, the 3 agents could see a whole city to their left. Skyscrapers made of stone, carved out of the Earth itself with gems powered with electricity to create a natural dim lighting. Cart rails dot the city and train carts zoom across at incredible speeds. A modern city lacking cars, movements and transport done by train carts, an underground metropolis full of dwarves and hidden beneath the mountains of Scotland. You could see the people beneath in their homes, illuminated by gem and crystal light, stone chairs and tables. Dwarves were all naturally born with immense strength, meaning they could push the immense weight of their stone furniture. Lights twinkled beneath them of yellow and orange, bouncing of the purple walls of jagged stone, this city was a monument to civilisation and survival, proof of the indomitable will to survive that every conscious creature possessed.

The 3 of them arrived at an entrance, a giant carved out chunk about 10 stories tall with pillars guarding it's entrance, as they walked inside they were flanked of statues with monologues of description at their bottom, detailing their heroic deeds and the numerous ways they improved or saved Stonehill. The sheer scale was immeasurable, just like everything else they were carved out of the stone itself, they were as tall as towers.

"Ight then, thee beasties' in there, i trust ye too it. Enjoy ye'selves!" Yog said as he walked away, handing Dan a document detailing the monster. It was an adult Basilisk, large in size with dangerous fire breath. It had already killed a dozen miners and the entire mine was evacuated due to it, working theory is that it's nesting here in the iron mines which could cause a huge problem if it lays it's eggs an more are released unto Stonehill.

The 3 Agents entered the cave, Leech's human form began to fade away as her true form was revealed. She was covered in metal, mainly yellow with black highlights and 2 embedded blue lights for eyes. She ripped a chunk of stone out of the wall with ease and stabbed her left index finger into it as if to suture it. Suddenly, she drops the stone and disguises herself as the same texture. Leech's ability is "Chameleon", it allows her to coat her body in the disguise of any person or object it comes into contact with and her library is full of these. Lore motioned their hand upwards, palm facing the sky, and coated themselves in shadow. Lore's ability was "What Hides in the Shadows", they are able to move between the physical realm and the shadow realm which works as an easy transport and hammer space (storage). They can also control shadows, turning them into monsters at their control with 3 familiars they can summon from their own.

Dan moved forward, with the other 2 keeping their distance from him. As they advanced, Leech opened her mouth.

"Not gonna disguise yourself?" Leech asks Dan.

"I don't really have anything for sneaking, i'm a brute force guy." Dan responds.

"Then you're the bait, we'll take it out when it goes for you, ok?" Lore tells them. Dan nods and Leech's thumb undisguises to show her thumbs up, Lore groans at seeing this.

Suddenly, they hear a large growl. Lore and Leech immediately go to hide in the shadows and against the walls while Dan squares up for a fight.

"Here Bassy Bassy...right here." Dan says to himself, as he looks up he sees a large snake like creature turn the corner, about 4 stories tall. It roared loudly with such a power that it actually moved Dan's stance backwards.

Dan immediately lunged at it, aura blossoming and he punched it in the face. The Basilisk reels back as it goes to slam Dan with it's head, it slams into him and Dan slams into the wall. Dan crashes straight into it, he grabs it before he falls and then jumps back at the wall. He points his finger at the Basilisk and a lightning bolt fires at it. The Basilisk tanks it and swipes at him, Dan grabs it's hand and uses it to propel himself out the way. Just then, Leech dives out of the shadows and undisguises herself, she punches straight into the Basilisk and pierces its skin, ripping out a chunk of flesh. It screams in pain.

Leech falls off the monster but is caught by Dan who puts her down standing on the floor. The monster roars again, louder and with mana infusion. All the torches in the room are snuffed out in an instant, the darkness covers the room with only the dim light from outside shining through. Just then, the roof glows purple as the rocks explode and fall on top of the Basilisk. Lore's eyes can be seen glowing purple in the darkness. The Basilisk is crushed by the rocks, it's head peeking out. Leech breathes a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Lore." Leech says as Lore walks over, she puts her hand up for a high five. Dan casts a light spell and sees the Lore is staring daggers at Leech, he wonders why Lore seems to hate Leech.

The 3 of them begin to walk away.

"So, i got an offer for you 2." Dan tells them.

"What is it?" Leech asks, curious.

"Well-" Dan says before turning around, noticing that the Basilisk has opened it's mouth. Lore quickly turns around too and creates a barrier of solid shadow while Dan quickly casts a barrier in between him and Leech and the monster. Flames quickly engulf the room, Dan notices that Lore's barrier is slowly collapsing and decides to take a gamble. Dan sighs and motions to Leech to move towards Lore, as they walk the barrier protects them from the flames. Dan stands infront of the shadow barrier to protect it with his own as the other 2 take cover behind him. Dan proceeds to anchor his barrier in the ground where the shadow barrier is collapsing behind him, exposing himself to the flames.

Dan slowly treads forwards through the flame, using mana to defend himself but still slowly burning away. His treading turns into a walk, a walk into a jog, a jog into a run and a run into a sprint. He grabs a rock and jumps towards the beast, imbuing the rock with extremely condensed mana. He throws it into the beasts mouth before using his Rock Control to slam the rocks on the Basilisk's head to shut it's mouth. Suddenly, a large explosion can be heard inside the monster and a muffled scream.

Dan stands there, hurt and burnt, clothes covered in burn marks. Dan collapses to the ground with a smile as the other 2 run towards him.

"Jesus christ, are you alright?" Lore asks.

"Pick him up, we'll get him to a doctor." Leech says.

Dan starts to laugh, the other 2 look at him confused.

"I survived! Holy shit, i thought that was gonna kill me for a second." Dan laughs. He gets up, his wounds healing slowly.

"What...the?" Lore says.

"How are you alive? How are you healing?" Leech asks.

"I can heal myself, i don't know why i was just born with it. Turning a rock into a bomb, what am i crazy?" Dan asks with a smile, way too proud of himself. The three of them walk out of the cave, Dan smiling and the other 2 a mix of shock and confused.

On the train back, Dan sighs, fully healed but clothes still burnt.

"My offer." Dan tells them, still smiling but trying to be serious.

"Oh right, what is it?" Leech asks.

"I've been promoted to squad lead, someone suggested i recruit you 2. I like your recon potential Leech, plus you'd be a good morale booster. Lore, your powers have potential and i wanna see you in action. So, what'dya think?" Dan asks.

"Yes! 1000% Yes!" Leech excitedly answers, stars in her eyes. They both look at Lore for their answer. Lore sighs.

"Well, you did just risk your life to save us...i guess I'll join." Lore sighs, Leech hugs her and squeals.

Dan's recruits are in place.

[imperialmask]

Imp's Future Plans

Hello! Imp here, back with a small notice to share. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad, the next chapter of Homeworld Bound is probably gonna be out on time and if not then I’ll hit you with a double chapter for half term.

This post is just some small notices about the writing series and other projects I’ll be running at some point this year.

Homeworld Bound

HWB is still my top priority when it comes to this blog and my content creation. Next chapter is about 30-40% done but I’ve hit a slight roadblock with a certain character, my perfectionism told me to rewrite them and so I am but that’s almost done so I’m hoping for the normal release on the 22nd but there’s a chance I have to stop again and if I do then don’t expect it until the 29th.

If things are confusing and expository so far, I’m sorry. The story requires a lot of explanation, especially the world building, so I have to yap for a second to try and make sure people understand what’s going on. Other than that, I’m proud of how it’s turning out and I hope you lot enjoy it.

My plan is to get to the end of Volume 1 by Halloween 2024 and then take a break until the New Year or sooner. I want to take that time to focus on other projects to go on this blog, my personal life and to build up a back log of chapters. That last one is the main determining factor of when Volume 2 releases.

Lyrics to a Song You’ll Never Hear

Ah Lyrics, my neglected older child. I’ll be completely honest, I wrote lyrics on a whim one night because I had an idea for a romance story and the name came to me one day. I have big plans and an idea for how the story should be but i lack the same interest in it that i have in Homeworld Bound and other projects. I want to write for Lyrics but I’ll probably pick it up when Homeworld Bound goes on break or I might put it on a fortnightly schedule so I don’t stress out about it.

Future Series

Speaking of Homeworld Bound taking a break, the main other project I want to focus on along side Homeworld Bound is officially in production. I’ve had the idea for it kicking around in my head for ages but I’ve always failed to truly develop it further purely out of my own lack of interest, yet I had an idea one day that practically fixed everything.

The series is called Arkadia and it’s a sister show to Homeworld Bound. While Lyrics and these 2 are what I call sibling shows (wrote around the same time by the same author and are linked in their production), Arkadia and Homeworld Bound have some more similarities than Lyrics do (similar genre, similar world building, similar style).

It's a fantasy show to contrast the dark fantasy to science fantasy Homeworld Bound. It'll use the same magic system and share similar themes, i'll leave out any plot details for now but if you love Homeworld Bound, you're gonna want to read this.

Aiming for a Summer release but if not, i'll wait for HWB's break.

I have plans for 1 final show after this and this one's a Homeworld Bound spinoff called Scapegoat. It's about one James Gar, a man blamed for the Cataclysm event that destroyed Gen and branded a terrorist, becoming the galaxy's most wanted. The show follows Gar exploring the galaxy, hiding from the Cosmic Federation and attempting to prove his innocence by tracking down the real culprit.

Other Projects

If you like my content, check out my Youtube! I'm planning to start uploading in the summer. i originally wanted to start doing Youtube back in March and April but exams, coursework and family stuff got in the way. The main form of content will be Video Essays but really anything can go up on there. My schedule is clearing up soon so expect more content there soon. I plan for my first video to either be Horimiya or Jason Takes Manhattan.

So yeah, here's the links!

Well, see ya next Wednesday.

[imperialmask]

[imperialmask]

Good job!

[imperialmask]

Homeworld Bound Vol 1 (London Calling) Chapter 4: Trailblazer

As Mick wandered through the jungle, he held his revolver tightly in his hands. A quagmire of life kept entangling his feet, the green kept grabbing at him like hands reaching out of the ground, a corpse reaching out of a grave, a baby reaching towards the sky in its crib. He looked ahead and saw a concrete bunker with a metal door, his eye started to glow purple and with a space infused kick, broke open the door, sending it flying across the room.

He walked in, gun at the ready and looking around. A dark sullen abandoned reception, dusty desks and cobwebbed chairs around the room. Mick slowly creeped forward, cheeking around the room for what's there and what could happen, illuminating the room with his yellow eye and the flashlight on the end of his gun.

--- <- (I'm gonna be using this as a flashback or cutaway indicator)

"It's an abandoned facility in the Amazon, built by the Brazilian government during the Cold War. In the 60s, there was a real fear over war with France which was a nuclear power, this was the bunker the President was going to use." A man explains to Mick, he's a blonde man with slicked back hair and a blue shirt on. He seems around 40 with a well defined face. They're in an office with the man behind a desk with the tablet Jones gave Mick.

"I see." Mick says.

"DOMA bought it out to use as a secret base in a deal with the Brazilian government. About a year ago, we we're able to connect a group of missing people cases to this facility and DOMA, following the pattern we're guessing they took your brother here too." The man explained.

"All their targets are teens, around 15 to 16 at time of abduction." Mick notices, looking at the tablet.

"Correct. We don't know why yet but looking over the 12 kids they've kidnapped it seems to be something to do with their mana, all of them had extreme mana potential." The man comments.

"So, a simple rescue mission?" Mick asks as he smirks.

"Information Extraction is your second priority. Make sure the 12 kids get home safely but we can't guarantee their safety once their home unless we know how the DOMA got into Salem and what they want them. Your third priority is elimination of DOMA agents if any are present and if you see fit, destruction of the facility." The man explains.

---

Mick wanders around a corridor and seems a light in a room up ahead, he sneaks over to it and peaks around the corner to see it's empty. He walks into the doorway and stands still in shock. 4 of the missing teens in tubes, giant glass tubes with liquid in them and wires attached to their bodies, all clothed in the same tracksuit uniform, all unconscious. Mick walks into the room and looks at the teens before noticing something in particular: his brother. His eye widens in shock.

"Oh Kip buddy, what have they done to you?" Mick murmurs to himself as he looks around the tube to see a control pad at the bottom.

Suddenly, a voice booms across the room.

"Not much, just pumped him full of sedatives."

Mick instantly turns and shoots at person who had entered the same way he had, he sees it's a tall man in a tank top and jeans with brown hair and a cigarette in his mouth. A small woman stood behind him with dark blue long hair and a light blue fancy summer dress, covered in silver sparkles. The bullet hits the man in the head yet the man's head turns metal and the bullet bounces off.

"Straight for the head, man you don't fuck around do ya!" The man exclaims.

"Who are you?" Mick asks.

"Agent Steel with the Department of Mystic Affairs. Behind me Agent Ice, what about you one eye?" Steel asked the man cockily. Mick keeps silent.

"C'mon, that's rude. I told you, you gotta tell me!" Steel exclaims again. Mick fires his gun at him 3 times but a small wall of solid ice appears in front of him, catching the bullets before shattering. The woman's arm drops as the ice shatters.

Mick goes to reload and as he does, Steel jumps at him and kicks him in the gut with his knee, his knee turning metal as he hits him. Mick falls backwards and hits against the wall, Ice throws 3 spikes made of ice at Mick, Mick ducks to dodge them but the middle one is grabbed out of the air by Steel and as he jumps toward Mick, points it at his neck.

"So let me as you again, who are ya?" Steel says, ice shard up against Mick's neck.

---

"So who are the DOMA, Lloyd?" Mick asks the blonde man, walking out of Peterson Tower. "The Federal Department of Mystic Affairs, or just Department of Mystic Affairs, hence DOMA. It's the Mystic Security service of the United States. While every country has a Mystic Security service, the DOMA is the only one that ever gets enough funding to truly stand up to COG. They hire rogues to work for them against Salem and it's interests, foiling us at every turn in an attempt to weaken us for an eventual take over to harness our supplies of Mana and Orichalcum." Lloyd explains to Mick, following him.

"If they want to destroy Salem, why not reveal its existence to everyone and just use the military?" Mick asks.

"Well first off, war these days simply has a bad reputation on Earth, especially ones without much justification against powerful nations, especially considering Salem is completely within Russian territory. Any full blown war would be costly diplomatically, economically and politically, yet it'd be nothing in comparison to the social damage. Religion and Culture are what hold nations together these days, ideas of nationalism and patriotism keep people feeling apart of a wider group and community yet the existence of Mystics would tear that apart. To see full blown "monsters" would completely contradict everything, fear of the unknown and foreign would destabilise the world during already turbulent times. Salem and the nations of the globe have a deal, a "gentleman's agreement" to keep it all under wraps." Lloyd tells him.

"Humanity knows of super powered people already existing yet these come about with 'government sanctions' or 'crazy experiments'. The results of foreign meddling, terrorism or freak accidents that need to be stopped. Humanity knows about COG and its agents but not Salem and not Mystics, it's portrayed as a terrorist organisation that's harnessed superpowers. They call us mutants out there." Lloyd continues.

"I think i get it." Mick tells himself.

---

Mick looks the man dead in the eyes and smiles.

"The hell you so happy bo-" Steel asks before being interrupted by Mick's kick to the back of the head. Mick used Time Manipulation to appear behind him, where he was when he was pushed backwards by the knee.

Mick grabs the ice spike and throws it back at Ice. Steel turns around and attempts to punch Mick who jumps over it, Ice puts up a small ice barrier to block the spike before pushing it forward to hit Mick. As Mick jumped, the barrier moves under him and hits Steel who reinforces his entire body to stay safe.

Steel's ability is "Reinforcement", it allows him to turn any part of his body into metal at will which increases his durability and weight (meaning more force and damage when attacking). Despite his name, the metal isn't actually steel, it's actually a 1.5 inches of tungsten around his skin. Ice's ability is "Arktisk Kulde (Arctic Cold)" which allows her to expand the freeze the water particles in the air, turning them into ice that she has control over. She doesn't have control over ice in general, just the ones she created. It's around now Mick pieced this together and gathered an idea in his head. She can also create frost beams to make things cold to a ridiculous degree.

The ice breaks on Steel's metallic body. Mick lands back on the ground in-between the 2 of them, Steel goes in for a punch but Mick weaves it and grabs his arm with his left hand, throwing him at Ice who moves out the way. As Steel hits the wall, Mick dashes at Ice and grabs her face to slam her into the ground with a sadistic grin on his face.

Steel hits Mick with a kick to arm, Mick blocks it but still moves backwards. Steel helps Ice up, the 3 of them are in the hallway now.

"If it wasn't obvious enough, you're very much under arrest now." Steel tells him.

"Give him the speech Clark." Ice tells him, monotone. Steel sighs.

"Sir, you are under arrest, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney but if you can't afford one then one will be provided, have i made myself clear, punk?" Steel explains to him. Mick looks him dead in the eye.

"Give me the kids." Mick demands.

"Or what?" Steel asks, smugly.

"Or I'll be watching your soul leave your body in less than 5 minutes." Mick responds. Ice reels back in slight fear. Steel smiles with a dash towards Mick and a punch, Mick blocks it and is pushed backwards where an ice spike appears. Mick breaks it with a chop behind him, stopping the spike from growing and blunting it, he grabs it to stop himself. Steel punches him again, going for a left jab and then a right hook, Mick tanks the first but blocks the second before going for a kick to the gut himself. Steel reinforces his chest to stop Mick from doing too much damage, Steel goes for a reinforced punch of Mick's head but he ducks out the way and sweeps Steel's leg, grabbing his chest and using space to force him into the ground. Steel reinforces just in time to stop major damage.

Mick looks towards Ice and throws the previously cut spike at her to distract her, she blocks it with a barrier only for Mick to be in front of her, hitting her with a space infused punch. It knocks her through the wall behind her causing major damage. Steel gets up and runs behind Mick who is attempting to follow up on the move he made on Ice. Ice gets up, bleeding heavily and limply lifts her arm to fire an frost beam at Mick, Mick grabs a chair to block it but that turns to pure ice immediately, Mick dives out the way of the beam instead but is caught by Steel in his attempt and thrown into a wall. Mick catches himself and uses Space to propel himself, at the last second infusing his punch with Space and speeding himself up with Time to land the Continuum Punch on Steel. Despite Steel's reinforcement, it damages him and knocks him into a few desks, leaving him bleeding and creating a hole in the metal layering. Steel looks at Mick concerned and angry.

"Just who the fuck is this guy? Is he COG?" Steel thinks.

Steel runs at Mick, going in for a swing but Mick dodges. Steel continues to try and hit Mick but he keeps dodging and blocking, Ice attempts to summon an ice shard next to Mick but Mick grab it and attempts to stab Steel with it, Steel reinforces the impact point and it bounces off but Mick bashes Steel in the head with it. Steel reels back but jumps towards Mick, the ice freezes around Mick's hand and he attempts to break the ice but is hit with a reinforced punch by Steel, knocking him back. Steel proceeds to dash again towards Mick and reinforce kick him in the face. Mick reels back but is able to regain his stance. He remembers something.

Mick runs at Steel but pump fakes him, making Steel dash left as he dashes right but instead of attempting for an attack, Mick grabs the frozen chair and breaks it, picking up a shard. He drops it into his pocket and runs back to Steel to go in for a punch, Steel grabs it and throws him but Mick lands. Mick proceeds to go in for another one but reaches into his pocket to scatter frozen jellybeans across the ground, Steel attempts to react to Mick's punch but starts sliding and tripping around the place. Mick knocks him to the ground.

Mick looks towards the weak Ice, trying to limp away. Steel sees this and runs towards Mick to stop him. Ice fires a frost beam at Mick to freeze him, just as the beam is about to hit and Steel attempts to punch Mick from behind, Mick uses Time to rewind to behind Steel, roughly where he was with the Continuum Punch. The frost freezes Steel fully, not allowing him to move anything and keeping his body trapped in Reinforcement, Mick dashes beside him and uses his left hand to punch off the metal arm that was attempting to punch him before using his right to knock Steel backwards with a Space infused punch. Steel is thrown out of the hole Ice made in the wall and into the wall all the way at the back of the hallway, making a giant crater in it. It unfreezes him but his arm has been cut off. Mick uses Space to throw the frozen metal arm towards Ice at high speeds, it ends up punching straight through her stomach, she drops to the ground, already weak.

"Your frost is pretty powerful, i could tell with the chair. Reinforcing myself with mana was the only way i could stop my body from freezing completely. I could tell big guy over there doesn't actually use mana to turn metallic which makes me think it's just a quirk of his body. I knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself like i could so i took advantage of it, i knew he had to be delayed by a bit if i was going to get him hit by the frost beam but i also knew throwing him down would only invigorate him more, so i used the distraction jellybeans frosted up by a shard of your ice to freeze the floor, while i could repel the frost since it was magically created, i knew he couldn't. Try harder next time, maybe you'll give me a challenge." Mick tells them.

Mick walks back into the room with the 4 kids and dusts himself off. He walks towards his brother's chamber and messes around with the control pad, eventually draining the liquid and opening it up. As the small blonde fur covered boy slides out, Mick catches him and lays him down the ground, the boy starts coughing and squints.

"M-...Mick?!?" Kip exclaims.

"Hey bud." Mick responds, genuinely smiling. Kip hugs him and Mick hugs back.

"God you're slimy." Mick says, Kip starts laughing.

"I missed you, brother." Kip tells him.

"I missed you too." Mick replies.

Kip lets go and gets up, Mick stands up with him. Kip looks around at the other 3 chambers.

"We need to let them out." Kip says.

"That's what I'm here for." Mick responds, walking over to another chamber with a brown haired boy about Kip's age in. As Mick fiddles around with it, Kip notices Ice standing there with her hand stretched out and palm facing him, a hole in her stomach. She fires a frost beam at him but Kip reacts quickly with a beam of fire, Kip's eyes turn a burnt orange and grow flames as flames fight frost, Mick turns to watch. They go back and forth but Kip's flames win out, knocking Frost back and burning her slightly. She attempts to cauterise her wounds but Mick, gun in hand walks over to her.

"Lot of resolve in you, isn't there?" Mick asks her.

"Shut the fuck up, asshole." Ice says, wincing in pain.

"What did you want with the kids?" Mick asks.

"As if I'll give you want you want, dick." Ice tells him, she spits in his face and it turns to ice. Mick wipes it off, sighs and shoves his revolver barrel in her mouth.

"Shame, this coulda been better." Mick says before pulling the trigger, blasting the top of her head off. He wipes the saliva and blood off his face and barrel with the sleeve of his jacket. Kip winces back in both empathetical pain and slight fear of his older brother. Mick walks towards Steel, who's wound has been cauterised with frost, and kneels down in front of him.

"Same question." Mick says.

"Same answer." Steel responds.

"You sure you wanna do that?" Mick asks. Steel laughs.

"Go to hell." Steel tells him. Mick shoots him in the head at point blank, Steel barely reinforces in time and his head bashes into the wall behind, leaving him bleeding.

Mick walks back to Kip, who's now attempting to open the other chambers himself.

"Are you okay?" Mick asks.

"My friends are trapped in here." Kip responds. Mick frowns.

"Move out the way, I'll get it." Mick says budging Kip, Kip moves and Mick opens the chamber of the brown haired boy and Kip catches him, the boy doesn't wake up but is alive. Kip gently puts him down.

"What happened here?" Mick asks Kip.

"They took us from Salem, most of us at night walking home from school. We found out us 4 are the newest batch, apparently there were 2 more before us of 4 kids. They experimented on us, tested our 'mana' or something, put us under. They'd put us in these at the end of the day, normally I'd be asleep in there but this one time the drugs didn't work and all i could feel was this excruciating pain." Kip says.

Mick's frown turns to one of anger and he turns to the other chambers.

"Let's get out of here." Mick tells Kip.

It's the next day, Mick and Kip walk down Salem Streets without a care in the world, they're chatting and smiling.

"Salem's treating you well then?" Mick says.

"Yeah, I've been living with my bro!" Kip tells Mick.

"Jones told me you were living with the Fressbars?" Mick adds.

"Mega, Mega Fressbar! He's like another big bro!" Kip responds.

"Where is he?" Mick says, smiling but a little off put by the comparison.

"Just around the corner, it's where I'm taking you." Kip answers. They walk into a door, Kip lifts a fake plant out of a pot and grabs the key from it, Kip unlocks the door and opens it, yelling "I'm home, bro!".

The house is clearly abandoned, dust scattered all around the place and darkness engulfing the dark cervices of the rooms. Mick leans in to see nothing as Kip stands in shock.

"Bro?" Kip asks into the void.

Silence, a dead silence speaks back.

[imperialmask]

HWB: Afterthoughts Sharing is Caring

Hello! This might be the last afterthoughts for awhile as there isn't much to say tbh. I'm not particularly too proud of this chapter but i'm happy with how it turned out. You may have noticed the opening changed from the teaser and thats because i scrapped the original run of this chapter about half way through making it and decided to just make a new version. The way i write is odd, i tend to write just where my head leads me but that tends to be at a dead end or onto something different that what it was building up. While i wanted to spend more time being descriptive on Salem, i ended up explaining Mystic history instead; while i wanted Mick to rock into Jones' office and set up some big mystery to be answer later down the road, i just kinda didn't.

The mystery element to Mick's character is there but its not nearly as present as it would've been, i'll try and add the clue i wanted to put in this chapter somewhere in the future.

Speaking of, i'm excited to introduce our third and final MC, Mick! Personally, Mick is my favourite so there may or may not be a slight bias towards him. Not like plot wise but i mean i might be a bit more descriptive when talking about him than i would with the others. All 3 will get a good amount of screentime in the next 5 or 6 chapters as we rush through meeting the rest of the cast and setting up for the first proper arc. Also next chapter may end up delayed, i have a busy week ahead of me (funeral stuff, exams, coursework, etc) so i might have to double up on a 2 chapter release not next week but the week after (like how Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 released a day apart). It all depends on the free time i get, the length of the chapters and how i feel across the next 2 weeks. Other than that, yeah, hope you enjoy! Edit: I forgot the teaser, my bad. I was writing this afterthoughts literally 2 hours before release. Here it is.

Chapter 4: Trailblazer

As Mick wandered through the jungle, he held his revolver tightly in his hands. A quagmire of life kept entangling his feet, the green kept grabbing at him like hands reaching out of the ground, a corpse reaching out of a grave, a baby reaching towards the sky in its crib. He looked ahead and saw a concrete bunker with a metal door, his eye started to glow purple and with a space infused kick, broke open the door, sending it flying across the room.

He walked in, gun at the ready and looking around. A dark sullen abandoned reception, dusty desks and cobwebbed chairs around the room. Mick slowly creeped forward, cheeking around the room for what's there and what could happen, illuminating the room with his yellow eye and the flashlight on the end of his gun.

[imperialmask]

Homeworld Bound Vol 1 (London Calling) Chapter 3: Sharing is Caring

Waking up, the man sees 2 people sitting in front of him. A weight drags his hands down in front of him, trapping him to the chair he's sitting on. A small light illuminates the room just enough so that they can see each others faces but that doesn't stop it from almost blinding him, when he looks up he winces in pain. That's when notices his eye, once covered with old bandages is now covered by a slick black eyepatch. He also notices that his wounds were healed while he was out, he looks up at the 2 people and notices it's the siblings he fought, also fully healed with a packet of jellybeans on their side.

"Mornin'." The man quips.

"Greetings." Dan sternly says, starring daggers at the weirdly calm man. The man stares at the 2 of them and smiles.

"You fixed me up, you 2 want something, don't you?" The man comments. Dan nods and Athena smirks.

"Smart cookie." Dan replies.

"What'd'ya want?" He asks, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, we'll get to that but we've some questions that need answering first. Who are you and where are you from?" Athena asks, keeping up the interrogative tone.

"The Name's Mick, Mick Smith. Not Michael, Mick, almost everybody gets that part wrong, even the papers like that one time on CFNS." The man says, silence.

"Most people know me as The One-Eyed Bandit." The man answers, leaving a bit of silence as if he was waiting for applause.

"The Destroyer of Despots, The Menace of the Orion Arm, Space Robin Hood, The Space Pirate." Mick continues.

Dan writes it all down on a piece of paper. There's a silence as they all watch Dan write.

"You finished?" Mick sarcastically asks Dan.

"Im waiting for you to answer the 2nd question." Dan snaps back.

"Do- Do you seriously not know who i am?" Mick asks in shock.

"Not really." The Siblings respond in unison.

"Oh Jesus. Is Earth neutral territory?" Mick asks. The siblings look at him in confusion,

"Have you guys even been to space?" Mick finally asks in complete disbelief.

"Nope. Farthest anyone got was the moon about 49 years ago." Dan answers.

Mick stares at them in awe as if they told him they can't count past 7.

"So Earth is neutral territory..." He mutters to himself.

"Can you answer the dam question?" Athena angrily demands.

"Ehhhh, lets make a deal first." Mick smirks as he asks it, confident. Dan smiles at Athena.

"What do you want?" Dan smugly asks.

"I want 2 things: I want you 2 to help me find someone and a house here in Salem. In exchange i'll answer your questions and not kill you both when i inevitably break out." Mick lays out.

"You aren't breaking out if Steve McQueen rode in here on a motorbike." Dan responds. "Didn't he crash in that scene?" Athena adds, Dan stares at her before turning back to Mick.

"I want to change that deal. I can get your charges dropped and i can get you a nice life here in Salem, we'll see about finding your guy but i want something more than just answers and a promise of non-violence. I want you to join my team." Dan enthusiastically states. Mick looks put off by his energy.

"Your 'team'?"

"Yeah, my COG Team. My Squad." "The fuck's a COG?" Mick asks.

"COG stands for Coalition of Guards. We work for them, we're agents known as Guards. We go on missions around the world to deal with Mystic threats, mainly stopping people from exposing the Mystic world to the Human one. Most of them work as independent or solo agents but recently Hudson's been experimenting with setting up teams of Agents as missions become more and more extreme." Athena told him.

"Huh. Why do you want me? I just threatened your lives." Mick asks, concerned.

"My ability allows me to see your mana and abilities, it's called The Azure. From what i've seen, you're pretty strong and we could really use someone like you. Joining COG will give you the resources and free time to find whoever you're looking for." Dan tells him. Mick looks off into the distance for a second before looking back at him.

"Alright, fine. I wanna go talk to someone first. Any of you know a Mr Peterson?" Mick asks them, a shock appears on their face.

"We're Petersons." Athena answers.

"Shit really? Guess fate's on my side today." Mick smirks, standing up. All of a sudden, the ropes glow blue and drag him back down to the table, the sudden change causes Mick to fall onto the floor and bash his head on the table on the way down. The siblings smirk.

"Yeah sorry, you still got to hold up that first part of the deal. We have questions." Dan tells him smugly. Mick gets up, annoyed and grumpily sits back down.

"Where'd you come from?" Dan asks.

"Gen. I'm a part of a species called the Kronals, since time began Gen was split between one species called the Kronals and another called the Astrals." Mick answers.

"Was? What happened?" Athena pipes in.

"For about 800 years, the 2 species were united under a common monarch until the last king died and it split between his 2 sons. For a few decades there was peace until 6 years ago when the Kronal King declared war on the Astral King. The war was devastating, cities flattened and it's spill over threatened to upend the Cosmic Harmony that kept all the nations at peace. So somebody blew up Gen after 4 years of constant fighting." Mick answers. Half way through, Athena and Dan start eating the jellybeans

"How'd you survive?" Dan asks.

"Well during the war i was apart of the Kronal Royal Commandos. Most of our squad was wiped out in the Raids of Millenia so our remaining crew was kept off planet to resupply, regroup and train. Technically that's illegal but whatever, you know? It's where i lost the eye actually." Mick responds.

"Why do you care about a house in Salem? Something to do with the fact Earth is a 'neutral planet', whatever that means." Dan asks.

"Neutral planets are outside of the jurisdiction of any nation, no one can get me as long as I'm here." Mick answers as Dan chews on a jellybean. Mick reaches for one and Athena slaps his hand away.

"And you're wanted why?" Dan asks.

"I said i was a space pirate, didn't i?" Mick asks back, sarcastically. Dan nods in agreement.

"Who're you looking for?" Athena asks.

"A few weeks ago, i found out my younger brother survived the Cataclysm Event that destroyed Gen but before i could finish making a plan to go find him, my crew got ambushed by a group known as the Aquatics and wiped out. I escaped to Earth in a desperate gambit." Mick responds.

"I see." Dan says. Suddenly, a man in a suit bursts open the door.

"Hudson wants you 2 upstairs now." He tells the siblings, they turn around to look at him.

"We're in the middle of an interrogation, can't he give us 5 minutes?" Dan annoyingly tells the man.

"That's why he wants you upstairs, it's to do with your promotion." The man responds. They get up and Dan sighs, he walks off but Athena looks back at Mick.

"Touch them and you're dead." She says, pointing to the jellybeans. She leaves as Mick smiles at her. He reaches for them, turns the bag around and eats one after they all leave.

"Sharing is caring after all." Mick sarcastically tells himself. As he does, the door opens and an older man speaks.

"Your father certainly shared a lot with us, Mikael." The older man says in a scruffy low intensity but still booming voice. Mick looks daggers at him and smiles.

"It's Mick now. And don't you dare mention my father around me, Jones. You know what kind of man he was." He tells the man as he sits down.

"It's still a tragedy what happened to him." Jones responds.

"Look, Mick. My son may be able to offer you the world but only i can deliver on what he says so you'll be playing by my rules, not his. Got it?" He continues, Mick smirks as if to agree.

"What are said rules?"

"You'll follow every part of Daniel's deal: Work for him as a COG agent and getting a house in Salem, ironically its not too far from where you landed. The twist is that you aren't joining Daniel's squad, you're making your own. I want you to create a team under Daniel." Jones answers.

"Why?" Mick asks confused.

"Daniel's a good kid but he plays hero too much. The world's getting worse, the DOMA is closing in on Salem lately, more rogue sorcerers are getting out there and threatening the secrecy of our world and we don't know why. I need someone who's willing to get into this mess and sort it out without questioning." Jones tells him. Mick looks a little shifty.

"I mean i am asking questions so." Mick sarcastically comments.

"May i add that i know where your brother is?" Jones says back. Mick immediately straightens up.

"That got your attention." Jones quips.

"Where." Mick demands.

"DOMA Facility in the Amazon, it would've been your first mission anyway. Your brother had been living with the Fressbar family since he arrived but disappeared a few months ago, it matched other kidnappings that have been happening across the last year or so and they all lead to this facility." Jones explains as he slides a tablet over to Mick.

"Got it." Mick says as he looks at the tablet.

"We have a deal?" Jones asks. Mick nods.

"Good. You're free to go, mayoral pardon."

Jones snaps his fingers and the ropes fall of Mick's hands

"Just a small note to add. The second you turn on me, i'll turn you into the Cosmic Federation. Don't think i don't know who you are and why they want you dead, Hound of Millenia." He threatens as he leaves the room. Mick sighs as he stares at the tablet. The holographic screen collapse in to show just the 2 sides, Mick shoves it in his pocket along with the bag of Jellybeans.

As Mick walks out of the lobby of COG HQ, Dan and Athena spot him and walk over.

"Hudson filled us in. Turns out you're getting hired...to my promoted position...along with me." Dan says, trying to hide his annoyance.

"Uh, yeah. Hold on, i'm busy." Mick tells them.

"You hold on, if we're working together we gotta try and see if we all work together." Athena tells him, grabbing Mick's arm as he tries to walk away. Mick groans.

"Fine, whatever, what do you want?" Mick asks in frustration.

"Let us show you around Salem!" Athena excitedly tells him, Dan smiling. Mick sighs, groans in frustration.

"Make it quick." He tells them. Athena begins dragging him along.

They stand in a train station, all kinds of fantastical things hang around them: Demons, Werewolves, Vampires, Arachnoids, Cyclops and tons more. Salem is the city of gentle creatures, it's the hub of every kind of Mystic and Monster out there. A shining city on a hill, a paradise for the outcast and grotesque, those deemed "monsters" by humanity and shunned because of it. Those whose stories keep children up at night, those whose names conjure fear in the hearts of men, those whose faces people imagine in the darkness creeping up behind them, reaching out to grab them and drag them into their domain.

Long, long ago when man first took its steps and started to establish itself as king, the genus Homo split into many different species but only 2 survived the test of time. The Homo Sapiens, who'd later become modern Humans, and the Homo Mysticus, who'd later become modern Mystics. Mystics are like humans, similar biology and psychology yet Mystics have 1 thing that Humans don't: Magic. It's not understood what exactly separated the 2 species but hundreds of thousands of years ago, Mystics unlocked the ability to use the boundless and formless energy within their own souls to cast spells and use abilities while Humans lacked the capacity to do either.

Like most groups, Humans and Mystics failed to get along and a war eventually broke out. Not much is actually known about it, all people really know is that the Mystics lost, badly. Eventually, Mystics hid from Humanity and faded out of history to found their own secret nations around the world. Salem was founded by Witches in the 1600s fleeing the Witch Trials, they set up just south of the Kolyma Mountains near a lake. Unlike other Mystic cities, they had 2 advantages: First, they were above ground and didn't use any space distorting magic to access it meaning it could grow its own food, Second, it had a policy of tolerance for all types of Mystics and even some trusted humans who found the city.

Salem became the most prominent Mystic city on Earth, being fed by the mysterious Core built beneath Salem. A giant reactor full of boundless energy, nobody but the Mayors of Salem are allowed to enter it's chamber. Nobody knows who built it, whether it's from Human or Mystic sources or how it even works, all people know is that it provides infinite clean energy to power Salem which allows the country to be almost completely self sustaining.

As the trio get onto the train, they see the 4 main sections of Salem. Wolten, the land of the poor. A run down and crime ridden part of town ruled entirely by the Salem Mafia. Altai, the richer part of town where the upper class party in their chateaus in the mountains. Rhin, the industrial sector full of factories and warehouses, defined by smog and pollution. Finally, Salem Proper where the skyline is defined by the monuments to capital; The Academia, The Hospital, COG HQ and the super store is all here. This city centre is home to the big 3 companies and their towers, 3 big families that run 3 big companies that determine parts of the economy. Peterson Inc runs defence the barrier that keeps Salem warm, Adler Corp runs production of things from clothes to food to natural goods and Drak Industries create high tech machines like robots and cars. These 3 control most of Salem, they control the 3 big parties that Salemonic Citizens vote for and they've ran Salem like this for generations.

Mick leans on a balcony, chilled out but still a little grumpy. The sun hangs low in the sky, readying to call it a day and head off to another night. The siblings stand next to him, on one each side with Athena sitting on the balcony to his left and Dan standing politely on his right. They all watch the sun go down ever so slowly, catching that last glimpse of a day now forever lost to time. Watching the sun fall like a feather towards the future, never rising back up to see the past. Time slowly passing but never rewinding, days slip into the darkness to never be touched again. What seems as mouldable as clay in the present stiffens into hard brick in the future.

"I've seen a thousand cities across a thousand planets but every time i see something like this it takes my breath away." Mick tells them, mesmerised by the sight of the skyline.

"I've seen it a thousand times. It's still as beautiful as the first." Dan adds, smiling.

"What are other planets like?" Athena asks.

"I thought the interrogation was over." Mick jokes. Athena smiles.

"It's hard to describe other planets, they're all so different but its nice to be able to go out and see so much variety." Mick answers.

"What about your homeworld?" Dan asks nonchalantly, Mick laughs emptily and smiles before devolving into a frown.

"The sky was a burnt orange. The sun would rise in the south to descend in the north, passing straight overhead where i lived as a kid. It was always a nice warm temperature, we never had blizzard nor heatwave, a paradise. The people weren't the nicest but everybody kept to themselves so it wasn't something you'd notice if you visited. Buildings of yellow brick dotted the outer rim of the Citadel only for this large grand behemoth of a palace to be smack dab in the middle." Mick explains, sentimentally reminiscing about his home.

"Sounds like a shame it had to go then, huh?" Athena solemnly says.

"Not really. Most of the beauty disappeared during the war, most towns and cities burnt or blown off the map. Gen was already gone, destroying it was just finishing a job they had started." Mick explains casually. Dan and Athena exchange a look before looking back towards the sun.

There's a moment of silence before Dan finally opens his mouth.

"Thank you." He tells them both, Athena and Mick look at him in shock.

"Ever since i was a kid, i wanted to be apart of COG, running my own team so it's nice to have you 2 by my side and see it become a reality." Dan adds.

"I distinctly remember you wanting to be a cowboy." Athena jokes.

"Closest thing to a Cowboy you can get in the 2010s." Dan says back.

"I always wanted to be a scientist as a kid." Mick jumps in with.

"What kinda scientist?" Athena asks.

"Physicist would'a been nice but i'd'a been happy with anything." He answers back.

"Hell going into something like engineering would'a been cool." Mick adds. He looks solemnly at the ground 40 floors below them. "I wanted to be an artist, still kind of do but the COG scene has better pay. Plus i gotta keep this goober out of trouble." Athena says.

"I'm older than you. By 3 years." Dan claims.

"Yeah but i'm maturer, and stronger!" Athena says back.

"Really?" Dan asks sarcastically.

"Uh huh." Athena tells him.

"Jesus, please stop the bickering." Mick exclaims.

"Wait...how do you know who Jesus is?" Dan asks.

"I've been on Earth before, not for long but a long enough time to pick up some of the culture. Watched some movies and such, took 'em back to Gen and that's how i know English." Mick answers.

"I see." Dan replies.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Athena asks the duo.

"I'm going off on a mission, as part of my deal with COG i need to go rescue some kidnapped kids. My brothers being held there too apparently." Mick answers.

"Oh. Originally i was planning to find his brother with him but with that sorted, i guess we can go recruit 2 more members to try and form a team." Dan answers in response to Mick's answer.

"Lets hit up the rookie centre!" Athena excitedly suggests.

"Already got 2 agents in mind, sorry Athena. Maybe you can go help Mick with his rescue mission." Dan tells her. Athena stares at him before smiling.

"No, i know how i can help out tomorrow." She says vaguely. There's a silence.

"What's life like here then?" Mick asks with a sigh.

"It's alright. Used to be peaceful but for the last few years rogue attacks have been getting worse, some even made their way into Salem." Dan explains.

"And a rogue is a rogue mystic, right?" Mick asks Dan in response.

"Yep. Some people let the magic abilities go to their head, they start using them to harm and destroy which threatens exposing Mystics to the Human world so we take them out." Dan tells him.

"I mean we also save people in process but i think me and Athena are the only long-lasting agents who genuinely care about keeping people alive." He follows up with.

"The good people die and the bad people live, story of life right there." Mick quips.

"The hero types always come in and die pretty fast, if you wanna save who you can they you have to value your life over yours and in a job where every time you go out there, your life is on the line then you see how they can drop like flies." Dan solemnly tells him.

"Can't save everyone." Athena adds.

"But we can try our best."

[imperialmask]

HWB: Afterthoughts Pride of Salem

Hello again, Imperial here. Sorry for the early upload of Chapter 2, i finished it way quicker than i originally thought i would. Chapter 1 took me a whole week to get to 2.4k words while Chapter 2 took me about 2 separate sessions of 50 minutes roughly to get done.

Im also sorry about the large amount of exposition about the magic system, i need to cover most of it within the actual story itself which is what a good chunk of the next few chapters are for so dont expect it to end soon either. Once we're past Chapter 10 and the actual London Calling arc begins, it'll be a lot less prevalent but don't expect me to reveal everything about magic yet!

I'll probably take a break around Chapter 6 or 7, depending on how much everything goes according to plan but i'm having lots of fun making this series right now so i don't know if it'll stop anytime soon. This first arc is just about introducing characters, creating the team and establishing the world of Salem and Mystics, it's planned to end around chapter 6,7 or 8 (the specific chapters things happen in has been thrown off slightly so im not sure when) but whenever this arc is finished, i'll take a small break and release 2 filler chapters about the magic system to fully establish the rules. But if you want a small explanation for now: it's basically JJK's techniques mixed with traditional DND magic and some other fantasy shows like The Owl House and such.

After this potential and hypothetical break, i'll come back to do another 10-12 chapters to round out Volume 1, these are the London Calling arc and they'll be super full of action scenes for the characters to shine in.

Chapter 3: Sharing is Caring drops May 8th, or sooner if you're lucky! Here's the traditional teaser for that. The man awoke tied to a chair with enchanted ropes, despite how hard he tried to break them they just would get tighter around his wrists. He looked up to see the Peterson siblings sitting in chairs infront of him with a metal table in between. The man noticed his bandages were taken off and the wound cleaned, now it was replaced with an eyepatch. The wounds sustained in the fight were also healed, so were the ones on the siblings. A small dim orange light illuminated the grey brick walls around them.

"Who the hell are you?" Dan demanded out of the man.

"The name's Mick, Mick Smith."

[imperialmask]

Homeworld Bound Vol 1 (London Calling) Chapter 2: Pride of Salem

Wolten was the run down part of Salem. Being the Mystics' own "shiny city on a hill", a lot of types of Mystics move there in hope of a better life only to find squat. Many of them end up working tedious jobs or falling in with the Mafia who have a strangle hold over Wolten. It's a dangerous place because of that, crime is rampant, a lawless hellhole that keeps the poor poor by trapping them in an endless cycle of crime. You meet all kinds of dangerous crooks in Wolten. Yet, he was not one of them.

A man with dark brown hair, bandages around his left eye, a patchy, broken trenchcoat with big black boots wanders around the village. His black jumper and blue jeans are covered with fresh blood, he stumbles around street to street, stopping passerby to ask questions. Later, Dan and Athena will find out he was asking about a kid with blonde hair but nobody could make out what he was saying at the time. This man had a habit of screaming in people's faces, incoherent nonsense about some small monster with yellow fur.

When they arrived, Dan and Athena quickly found out above the man harassing locals and connected the dots him being the escaped alien from the pod. Last sighting of him was heading into an abandoned house on Adonis Road and so, they headed there. When they arrived at the house, they could see a blood stain on the wall, small but still frightening. They marched on, they'd seen worse before and this won't stop them.

The siblings had a simple plan, Athena would sneak in from the roof while Dan enters through the door. Dan would talk to the alien and distract him while Athena sneaks in to knock him out or kill him if things turned too violent. Fool proof, seems simple, they didn't account on one thing: the alien's not gonna fall for a simple bait and switch.

When Dan walked in, he talked a big game about justice.

"Sir, by the power granted in me by The Coalition Charter of 1832, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say ca-"

As Dan was wrapping up the usual spiel, the alien jumped at him and tackled him to the ground. Dan kicked him off him and jumped back up. Dan pulled his shield off his back and got into a combat stance, the man stood up right with his eye and hands beginning to glow purple. Dan's Ability is known as "The Azure", while permanently scarring his skin it gives him an immense amount of mana potential. It also allows him to detect an opponent's ability and usage, seeing what abilities do and when they're about to be used. However, there's one key thing that it allows him to do and it's regenerating his body using his own mana. This isn't his innate ability, this is the condition he was born with. Every few generations a new Azure is born, the last one was the great hero Adonis who inspired countless heroes to come around which laid the foundation for COG. Dan's innate ability is "Earthen Control", control of anything natural from the ground to dirt, raw metals, rocks, sand and more. Raw materials were game yet processed ones were not, for example he can't use brick or concrete but can use gravel.

By looking at him and using Azure, Dan was aware of the man's ability which he would soon find out is called "Manipulation", control of mana within the fabric of space-time. He recognised it's usage as being connected to the colour of his hands and eyes; yellow was for time and purple was for space. When time was activated, the man could choose a timeline from the many out there and then move 3 seconds into that specific future or force someone else into that future as long as they were touching. When space was activated, the man could move any object from where ever he was standing as long as it was in sight. This could be seen with a purple hue, it also made his punches stronger by removing air resistance by moving wind particles and by using it to make the punch itself move quicker to increase the force.

The final player on the board was Athena who had the ability known as "Olympian Trifecta". Athena was born with the blessings of 3 powerful deities mistakenly identified as Gods by the Greeks; The power of Artemis gives her the 2nd best aim in COG behind Minos along with 2 magical hunting dogs that attacked in conjunction with her, The blessing of Athena gives her a threat detection system and the ability to conjure weapons of pure mana that can change on command, The blessing of Demeter gives incredible physical movement, strength, mana output control and the ability to control and communicate with both plants and animals. While she can only have 1 blessing active at a time, she can swap between the three of them on the fly yet swapping too much can easily lead to exhaustion.

With all the players in place, the fight begins.

The man jumps at Dan, hitting him with a space infused punch that Dan blocks with his shield yet it still manages to knock him back quite a bit. Dan signals with his hand and a rock goes to poke the man in the foot as he goes for another attack, it knocks the man off and Dan goes in for a strike across the face with his shield. The man's eye glows yellow and he appears behind Dan to strike him instead. Dan's knocked to the ground but the rock piercing out the ground before goes to strike the man by extending towards him, he punches it but as he does, Athena strikes from above with an arrow, striking him in the foot with vines coming out the ground to tie him there. As the man struggles to get out, Athena jumps down with the hunting dogs and wacks him with the back of her bow. The man rips out of the vines and dashes backwards as Dan gets up.

"2 on 1, that doesn't seem fair." The man says.

"You can speak English?" Dan asks.

"...no." The man replies, semi-confused.

"What do you want with our planet?" Dan asks him. The man looks at him annoyed but tired.

"Nothing, i'm here on a rescue mission. Looking for a kid, 'bout yay high, blonde, named Kilpst." The man explained, motioning to show a height around 5'6. As he's talking, Dan looks at Athena and nods to her, she nods back.

Athena makes a handsign and disappears, the man looks around confused. "Playing dirty?" The man says with a smile.

3 large rocks dive at the man from behind, he turns around and punches one up before diving towards it in the sky, leaving the other 2 to crash into where he stood. Dan charges at him to wack him with his shield and it hits. As the man falls, he grabs Dan's shield and spins it around, throwing him towards the rock now crashing down towards them. As Dan prepares to smash straight through it with his shield, it begins to glow purple and it starts to head up again, Dan lets down his guard for a second in confusion only for it to instantaneously reverse to crash straight into his shield. It throws him back down to the ground and without leaving a second to breathe, the man charges at Dan with a metal bar to wack him with.

Dan parries it and punches him in the gut with his other arm, the man reels back but goes in for a swing which Dan ducks under. Dan goes in for an upper cut but the man kicks him away before his fist connects. Suddenly, Athena appears from behind the man and wraps her bow around his neck with her 2 dogs bitting onto his arms. The man bashes one of the dogs into Athena which knocks her to the ground, he then rips the other one off his arm and throws it at Dan. Dan catches it and puts it back down before he and the dog charge at the man again, Dan going from above the dog below. Athena gets up with the 2nd dog and also charge at the man, his eye glows purple and he readies himself in a stance.

Out of nowhere, the ground erupts in a purple explosion, destroying the building they're in and throwing all 5 of them onto the street. The man lands on his feet and makes a dash towards Athena, still on the ground. She rolls out the way of his punch before Dan comes in from behind with a punch of his own to the man's head. The man's eye becomes purple again as a few bricks are thrown at Dan from the rubble. Before he can react, Dan is grabbed by the neck and chokeslammed into the ground by the man with his eye and fists now yellow, the bricks fly above them. As the man uses purple to bring over a sharp piece of rebar, Dan attempts to use a chant.

"LORDS OF THUNDER! SMITE!" He yells.

Spells can be cast in a variety of ways though most modern sorcerers rely on handsigns which rely on physically signing to cast and innate abilities which can be activated mentally. Yet there are more: chants which rely on verbal casting, sigils/glyphs which are drawings imbued with magical properties which release said properties when burnt, destroyed or activated by the sorcerer and then there's arcane focuses which are magical items that allow spells to be cast through their own mana. The power of any spell is determined by the output and potency of the mana put into the spell which is determined by the caster the second they use it. Some forms are stronger than others, e.g an Arcane focus is only as strong as the mana inside of the item and glyphs really depend on how they're activated, yet chants and handsigns draw upon the inherent mana of the caster meaning Dan's thunder chant is extremely potent.

The man is struck by a large thunder strike from Dan's own hands, straight into his stomach. It throws the man off and Dan kicks him up into the air, at which point Athena uses Demeter's vines to grapple him straight back into the ground. Dan gets up and his wounds start to fade away as he focuses on regenerating, Athena goes to inspect the crater to find the man unconscious. They both breathe a sigh of relief.

"Jesus that was tough." Athena says, exhausted from the fight.

"He was strong, time and space magic is always going to be hard to deal with." Dan tells her, also exhausted.

"What's the plan then?" She asks him. Dan looks at her with the frightening look of a bad idea.

"What's that face for?" She asks, semi-worried.

"He was strong, 100% advanced grade. Hell with some training he could be special grade." He answers.

"You wanna hire him?" She exclaims in shock.

"We'll be running circles around Red with him on our side!" Dan excitedly shouted.

"He just tried to kill us, how could we possibly get him to work for us?" Athena argued.

"He wanted to find someone right? I bet we can use that." Dan counters back.

"Just keep him tied up, take him to one of the dark rooms in the Tower and we'll propose the deal when he wakes up." He adds.

Athena sighs as the vines raise the man's unconscious body out of the ground, the vines drop him into her arms with vines still tying him up. She pulls out a sticker of a little smiling star and slaps it on his head which makes him float beside her. Dan and Athena walk off with the man floating beside them, Athena looks at Dan and can't get one thought out of her head. "This is a terrible idea."

[imperialmask]

HWB: Afterthoughts Azure

Hello! Welcome to the first HWB Afterthoughts, the director's commentary of HWB chapters. I don't intend to do one for every chapter, just ones i think would benefit from extra clarification.

So for starters, i'm sorry for the late upload. Family troubles plus perfectionism meant i lacked time or energy to write something i was truly proud, i'm not totally happy with the final product but it works for what it's trying to do. I promise future chapters will be better, the introduction is always hard to write and kind of boring. From now on, i'll stick to a once a week schedule on Wednesdays, starting from 8/05/24. This chapter actually went through 3 rewrites as i couldn't decide where to begin the story, eventually i went with Dan and his introduction.

Second off, i'd love feedback! I really want to make this series something special for people to read, it means so much to me and there's so much i'm yet to show you all. My main problem is the bits inbetween the more interesting scenes, i'm worried i make them boring with too much description so i'd like to know where people would like the line between description and story to be.

Thirdly, this chapter doesn't really explain much about the world or characters but i have plans for that. Expect big exposition dumps in chapters to come about the world of Salem, Mystics and their culture, the noble families of Salem, Dan and the Azure, Athena, COG and many more characters to show up soon.

For now, have a teaser for Chapter 2: Pride of Salem which releases on the 1st of May!

Wolten was the run down part of Salem. Being the Mystics' own "shiny city on a hill", a lot of types of Mystics move there in hope of a better life only to find squat. Many of them end up working tedious jobs or falling in with the Mafia who have a strangle hold over Wolten. It's a dangerous place because of that, crime is rampant, a lawless hellhole that keeps the poor poor by trapping them in an endless cycle of crime. You meet all kinds of dangerous crooks in Wolten. Yet, he was not one of them.

A man with dark brown hair, bandages around his left eye, a patchy, broken trenchcoat with big black boots wanders around the village. His black jumper and blue jeans are covered with fresh blood, he stumbles around street to street, stopping passerby to ask questions. Later, Dan and Athena will find out he was asking about a kid with blonde hair but nobody could make out what he was saying at the time. This man had a habit of screaming in people's faces, incoherent nonsense about some small monster with yellow fur.

Edit: While i was originally intending to release the 2nd chapter on the 8th, since i finished it early, i decided i'd start the schedule now with a release today (01/05/24), expect chapter 3 on the 8th! Or sooner if you're lucky!

[imperialmask]

Homeworld Bound Vol 1 (London Calling) Chapter 1: Azure

As he woke up, Dan Peterson heard a faint whirring noise coming from somewhere in the mansion. His blue face reflecting the sunlight, he sat up and looked around, the sun has just rose. Exhausted, Dan got out of bed and towards his en-suite to get ready for the day; He put on his morning clothes and headed out of his room to find whatever thing was making that hideous noise. The culprit was in the kitchen, he found it to be his sister Athena making a smoothie to a degree of success. He walks towards her to ask her a question but fails to get any words out past the loud WHRRRRRRR of the blender. When she finally notices him, she stops blending and looks at him.

"Oh, morning." She says, weirdly cheery for 6 in the morning.

"Yeah Hi, what are you making?" He asks.

"Just a berry smoothie like Mom used to make"

"Mom's berry smoothies were red, why's your's green?"

They both look at the concoction in the blender for a second before looking at each other. Athena has the oh so classic face of realising you have failed on something not serious.

"Whatever, want breakfast?" Dan asks her.

"Depends on what it is" She answers.

"Pancakes"

"I prefer waffles but sure"

Dan sighs as he goes to make pancakes. He grabs the flower, the eggs, the sugar, the butter, the milk, the pan and sighs. He stares into the pan contemplating, thinking about his life. He's in his 20s yet he feels 50, a mid life crisis is on the way. Oh god, is he gonna be dead by 40? Wouldn't surprise him, it'd probably be a stress heart attack or stroke. Isn't that how Grandpa died?

"You ok bud?" Athena asks, noticing his lack of making anything.

Dan snaps out of it to look at Athena.

"Yeah, yeah. Fine."

Athena hops off the counter and walks over to him.

"Go sit down, i'll make breakfast" She tells him. Dan looks at her skeptically before Athena looks up at him and notices his glare.

"I wont burn the house down!" She snaps, slightly offended.

"Ok, it trust you" Dan says before walking away to the next room over which is a dining room with a small sofa to lay on when relaxing. He falls onto it back first and stares at the celling. What's up with him today? Such a weird funk.

His phone bursts to life with a jarring ring. He reaches for his pocket and looks at it, slightly reeling from the sudden exposure of light. There's a call for him from someone named "Bubby", he notices the name and his face lights up with an immediate answer.

"Hey L." Dan talks into the phone.

"Hey-yo Daniel! How we feeling today bubba?" A woman answers on the other side.

"Like shit if i'm being honest Bubby."

"Bubby?" Athena shouts from the other room.

"Keep your mouth shut!" Dan shouts back, Athena laughs in the other room.

"Athena annoying ya'?" The woman on the phone asks.

"No, i'm just tired. I've spent months trying to get this promotion and Hudson keeps passing me up on it." Dan answers.

"Bubs, how many times have i got to tell you? March into his office, slap him in the face and tell him 'I am Daniel Peterson, Son of Jones Peterson, and i demand you promote me to squad lead and let me make my own squad'."

"It's not that easy. If i even dare mention my father then it'll just be a nepotism thing all over again, Dad doesn't need that right now with the election beginning soon."

"The Peterson name has weight to it outside of your Dad, they've been protecting Salem since before anyone can remember"

"I don't wanna go through my whole life relying on my family name"

"You still should march in there and tell him what you want, you gotta stop being passive about this Dan. Take the things you want in life!"

"Ok, ok. I'll do it." Dan sighs, defeated.

"Good to hear, i'm heading into work so i'll see you later. Don't come home with a no!" She tells him.

They tell each other bye and hang up. Dan walks back into the kitchen where a plate of waffles waits. He stares at them in confusion before seeing Athena turn around with a plate of blueberry pancakes, she smiles at him and puts them infront of him.

Dan starts to eat them, as he puts a chunk with blueberry in his mouth, Athena speaks.

"Cannibal" She jokes. Dan stares at her in annoyance.

Both of them hop in Dan's car to head to work. They drive out of the clean stone drive way and onto a clean fresh asphalt road on the side of Zeqko Mountain in the Altai Heights. The road barrier is a see through material, a blue field of sorts with white and yellow metal floating above it projecting it onto the side of the road. The duo calmly descended the mountain road, passing villas and mansions for the wealthiest men in town, the gold and marble sparkling in their eyes. Altai Heights was a monument to the decadence and hubris of society but god dam if it wasn't pretty. 3 mountains dedicated purely to the ultra rich, houses and parties to rival even Gatsby in scale, wealth insultingly displayed and flaunted on their pretentious Olympus.

Then they saw it, the shining city of Salem. A metropolis of the highest order, a modern Eden with towers unmatched in scale and beauty anywhere else on Earth. Vehicles whizz and whrrr out of its many roads, ports and hangers; blocks of buildings clustered together in batches blotted the horizon, stretching out for as far as anyone could see. A city of monsters, magic and wonders, founded eons ago by Witches fleeing the old Salem Witch Trials. Hanging above was the glistening Salemonic Barrier, a fierce wall that kept the outside world away from the city. Founded by their ancestors, the mark of the Peterson family was felt by every single person within the city. A whole world for 15 miles on either side all sealed off from prying eyes.

Dan and Athena travelled into the city proper, seeing all kinds of creatures but it didn't phase them, this was just life in Salem after all. They pulled into an underground garage and parked, getting out of the car and heading towards an elevator. Dan was in his sleekest suit, grey with white linings and a burgundy shirt to compliment his blue face. Athena was in a purple jacket with a white shirt and a green skirt.

Athena spoke first, "going straight to Hudson's office then?"

"Maybe we could hold off and get settled first-"

"Boop!" Athena presses a button labelled 79 and the elevator doors close. Dan glares at her, a little angry and Athena cheekily smiles at him. The elevator shoots up, out of the underground basement and up towards the 79th floor and towards destiny.

"so, what do you want again?" Athena asks.

"I want to be a squad lead. I got passed over 3 years ago for Radcliffe and now i'm the only one of the noble kids without his own squad. I'm an advanced grade, i'm a Peterson, i'm the Azure, i need my own room to move and my own people to lead or else what's the point of any of that, you know?" Dan monologues.

"Yeah, yeah. I mean i'm Advanced Grade, i'm a Peterson, why don't i get a squad too?" Athena sarcastically asks.

"Who'd you think i wanted to be my second in command?" Dan replies back. Athena's face lights up as Dan gets out on the 79th floor.

The floor was a grand office, a modern art deco kind of thing with green walls complimenting golden yellow bars streaking across them in a pattern that seemed to go nowhere and everywhere all at once. 2 large and grand wooden doors stood proud and shut like statues guarding the entrance way to a palace, engraved on them was an intricate pattern of a coat of arms. Next to it was a grand wooden desk as large as a canoe with somebody sitting at it, somehow the inherent wealth of the room didn't seem to affect the computer which was an outdated blocky thing that looked like you couldn't even run solitaire on it.

He walks towards the receptionist at the front desk, a small lady covered in wrinkles.

"Name." She croaned.

"Daniel Peterson." Dan spouted back.

"Not got a meeting. Get out." She spouts back after a brief lookover her notebook.

"Tell him its vital."

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"He's busy. Go back to work."

"Lady, my name is on the line here!"

"He's busy."

Suddenly, a scrawny man with glasses walks through. Dan recognises and calls out his name.

"Moesby!"

"Daniel!" The man ecstatically calls back. "Boy, oh boy am i glad to see you pal, how've ya been bud?"

"I'm good, how's Hudson?"

"He's smoking right now, let me get you in he'd love to see ya." Moesby almost quite literally drags Dan into the office, as he walks away he smugly smiles at the grouchy receptionist.

Walking in, he sees an old man with greying hair smoking a cigar. A large scar goes down the left side of his face, across his nose and onto the right cheek. An aura of authority wafts around him like the smoke from his cigar, he turns to Dan and looks him dead in the eyes.

"Jones' Boy, How'ra ya?" He exclaims with a jovial yet relaxed tone; it was old and familiar yet still serious.

"Doing fine, not here for a social catch up though." Dan responds, casually anxious.

"What'd'ya want." The man asked in a more annoyed tone. "Hudson, I want you to make me a squad lead, new squad new everything. You passed me up 3 years ago when i'm just as capable as Red, i've proven myself time and time again. Remember Rio with those bandits? or Glasgow and the Avgnis? Volvograd, Cairo, Melbourne, Boston. Last week alone, i fought off Draco in Toronto, when Red did that he got a parade but when i put my neck out for it, i get a pat on the back. How many times do i have to put my life on the line for you to realise i'm ready for a promotion?"

Hudson stares at him, unimpressed.

"Pass me your work card." He simply asks. Dan gives it to him.

He holds it infront of Dan and points at his last name.

"If i promoted the golden boy of the Petersons, there'd be outrage. I'd promote you if it was up to me, but it ain't. Red's a treasure to Salem, he got the promotion because he saved the city from the Basilisk invasion 3 years ago. Your missions are top secret out of city affairs, they're important sure but they aren't as flashy as Red's. I can't give Salem a hero they don't want." Hudson tells him.

"So what should i do?" Dan asks adamantly, unshaken by this.

"Prove your nobilitas to the people, show them why you're a Peterson."

Dan looks out the window, contemplating how best to do this. He sees Moesby waddle over to Hudson and show him something on a tablet, they both look up and out the window at the blue sky before looking down again. Dan spots something, something yellow in the sky but it's tiny. He squints to look at it, Hudson and Moesby walk over to him with Hudson putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Been tracking it for a week when we found out it was gonna hit Earth." Moesby tells him. Hudson hands him the tablet which shows a grey cylinder of some kind and some data pointing to something about to crash into Earth from space.

"Wait, is this a meteor or aliens?" Dan asks, confused and slightly worried.

"Most likely of alien origin, be prepared for a fight." Moesby explains.

"It'll land just outside the city, we've been holding this one in our back pocket for ya." Hudson tells Dan with a smile. A wide smile stretches across Dan's face.

"When will it land?" Dan asks with too much joy for being about to get into a fight.

"In an hour. Get out of here, go get ready, you got a fight to prepare for!" Hudson tells him.

Dan hands the tablet back and runs out of the room. Moesby and Hudson look out the window again.

"Are you confident in this plan, sir?" Moesby asks.

"Adonis was the greatest hero of his time, if that man could reach even a 10th of his strength then it'll all go smoothly." He responds.

As he stares at the yellow orb hurling towards them, he smiles as he realises something.

"It's moving too fast." Hudson tells Moesby.

As Dan runs down to the armoury to grab his weapons, he notices Athena getting ready for training. Practically jumping up and down with energy, she looks at him confused.

"You alright?" She asks.

"There's an alien whose gonna hit the city in an hour, gotta stop it if i want that promotion." He answers.

"Oh shit, want some help?"

"Of course."

Athena grabs her bow and Dan grabs his shield. As the 2 get ready to leave, they hear a loud fwshing noise coming from outside, almost as if a plane was flying overhead despite the fact they're in a basement level. They look up in confusion before heading a loud bang and the ground rumbling, the 2 of them head up to the ground floor immediately and see everyone in a panic. They run outside to see a hole was made around the 40th floor of the tower, following it they look into the sky to see a similarly shaped hole bleeding a dark grey into the otherwise sunny blue sky, pellets of snow trickle from the hole like blood gushing out of a wound.

Dan's earpiece starts ringing in his hand, he puts it in and answers it.

"The UFO may have been moving a bit faster than originally thought. It crashed straight through the barrier and into Peterson Tower before landing just outside of town in Wolten." Moesby tells him.

"Me and Athena are going there now, we'll handle it." Dan replies back.

"Good luck to ya!" Moesby cheers before hanging up.

The 2 of them run off towards the crash site, no idea about the change this will bring to their lives.

[imperialmask]

Lyrics To A Song You'll Never Hear Chapter 1- Bright

As I stood at the front door, people shuffling around my static body, I looked up at the house. Modern, sleek, brick walls with freshly cleaned window frames, a sleek PVC door fooling the world with a wooden detailed disguise, these things enchanted me as a fresh, modern start.

My names Alan, I'm 14 and I'm in Year 10, beginning my GSCEs at a new school about 160 miles away from home. We moved during the summer from the midlands down to Havbridge by the coast to get away from all the trouble back home. This is a nice city, it's bright and sunny with that coastal breeze that keeps it cool on a warm day which is nice as i overheat a lot. I wear a lot of layers to keep warm, I'm like a caterpillar with a constant coat cocoon around me. It feels like a warm hug from a loved one telling you everything will be alright after a bad day.

I didn't have many friends back home which makes me doubt I'll make many here, i had one friend named Bea and she was sweet. She kept me company in those cold days in the hills of the midlands with talks of the stupid things you'd only hear kids talking, inside jokes between the 2 of us and referencing things only the odd outcast, the last kid to be picked, the kid at the back of the room would truly understand. We we're on the same wavelength, we understood what i was like to feel the way we did and that's precious. When you find someone who understands you, you want to hold on, grab on before it disappears forever. Friends like that are a life necessity; they are needed much as warmth, water or food. She was wild fire in a blizzard, a volcano in a tsunami, a cute town you find hiking in the Himalayas with the friendliest people and widest smiles on the planet. These are the people you'd fight for, the people you'd cry for, the people you'd laugh for, the people you'd do everything you hated for because they're everything you love. Yet time is a ceaseless beast, gnawing at our heels to keep on our toes; you may think it seems so far away yet it'll sneak on you like a commando and strike when you least expect it to. It tears things away like candy ripped out of a child's hands.

I was tore away from Bea when i moved, i doubted I'd ever make a friend like her again.

When the leaves turned that orangish brown and the sun grew ever dimmer each day, i felt the relief of a colder day and the dread of the first day growing ever more potent. They both crawled up and down my spine, making my blood boil, cool, boil, cool, reaching a simmer before freezing in my veins. Fear and Calm washed over my body and fought over it like rabid dogs over a fresh kill, they sunk their teeth into my flesh and tore me apart; my body torn to shreds, chartered and dissected into pieces.

Then the day arrived. I promised myself to stop with the drama and just to get it done with. Leaving the house with my freshly cut house key in hand, i thought about the next 2 years. I'd be studying Music, Media, History and Drama alongside the usual studies of English, Maths and Science but i wasn't sure what I'd be doing afterwards but i knew it'd be somewhere i could just be happy with. The best part about the next 2 years is the fact i got to choose what happens during them and i get to choose what happens after, where i go and what i study. The doors to the chambers of liberty were open, maturity forced open the gates of choice and allowed me to charge head first into my own independence. I thought of the worlds to conquer and the people to meet, the people I'd know and the lack of people who'd know me. Keeping afar from people, a quarantined bubble of space between the world and me like a self imposed solitary confinement, a glass cage for me and me alone. I probably would've been happy with that and lived that way if i was actually paying attention that day. She was a 5'7 bastion of boundless and unbridled passion. An affront to the melancholic and apathetic. This woman stood proud as a lady of the arts with an conductive energy that made her all the more charming; she was a renaissance painting in 3D, an Acropolis statue come to life like Galatea, the cheesiest yet moving love song you'd ever hear, the kind that would never leave you for as long as you'd live, in the flesh. She was otherworldly, Aphrodite in a mortal form with the the Styx's lavender water flowing from her head and down her back. She made the world feel as big as infinity yet as small as 0. Yet like the idiot i was, i bumped into her and knocked her over.

I stood there as she laid on the floor, we looked at each other in awe and confusion. I extended my arm in a desperate rush only exerted by the lonely.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed a bit too loudly for the situation.

She looked up at me and smiled, grabbing my hand and smiling at me before calmly responding as i pulled her up.

"It's fine."

We we're at the bus stop and i stood next to her as i waited, alone and isolated together i sat in my glass chamber wishing i could paint the walls and block out the light, yet she only shone brighter in darkness. The light at the end of the tunnel, she felt like peace, like home, if she was the last thing i ever saw i'd probably crave death as there'd be nothing better for me on Earth.

She blindsided me once more with a question.

"I've never seen you in Havbridge before. Are you new?"

My face shined a dark crimson. I looked over to see the sun itself irradiating on me, a smile as illuminous as the stars and as comforting as a cosy campfire in a winter cabin looked back at me.

"Y- Yeah." I forced out, i doubt i could've uttered more than a few words before saying something that would've ruined the moment.

"Oh, well I'm Claire, Claire Partridge!" She claimed with the same radiance she had in everything, extending her arm for a handshake. I looked at her in awe for a second, i dont think i'd ever been shown generosity past a "hi" or a "yo" in a hallway in years. Socialising wasn't my forte, especially not alone with a pretty girl. I wanted to hide in the glass chamber, shelter myself like a paranoid lunatic in a bunker and cut out the rest of the world like an ascetic hermit. I reached for her arm.

"Alan Baker." I told her, holding her hand. We stared at each other for a second, just holding hands without anyone shaking. She smirked and laughed slightly before shaking.

"How'd you end up in Havbridge, Baker?" She asked with the charm of a doctor yet the firmness of an inquisitor.

"My family moved here recently." I responded.

"Where from?" She continued.

"Um. A small village near Lincoln called Opbury." I responded quietly.

"I have family up there! A cousin named James Sugar!" She stated with a cheer in her voice,

"Oh i met him. Orange hair, right?" I asked with a calmer voice.

"Yeah, how cool is that?" She said with a small smirk.

"Pretty cool. Pret-ty Cool." I responded, nerves firing like a gatling gun.

After a short silence, she continued with the interrogation.

"Why'd you leave?"

"My dad found a better job here" I lied.

"Neat. You going to HavSec too?"

"Havsec?"

"Havbridge Secondary School. It takes all day to say the full thing so everyone calls it Havsec." She answered.

"Makes sense. Yeah, i'm starting today."

"Awesome, what'd ya take?"

"Drama, Media, Music and History" I nervously rattled off.

"I took Music too, what'd ya play?" She asked with a glow in her eyes.

"Oh i'm a vocalist. Self taught." I answered. I was afraid of the next words to come out of her mouth, every time someone found out i sang they'd immediately ask me to regardless of where we were or what i was doing. It was at the point i'd just lie and say "oh i'm just completely talentless, don't worry" yet something about Claire dragged me in and made me want to tell her the truth.

"That's cool. I'm a drummer for a band called 'Aurora', we're terrible but you should check us out sometime" She told me with a brutal honesty and reaching into her bag for a flier.

She passed it onto me and i gently took it as if it were on the verge of tearing. I looked at it and folded it, slipping it into the interior pocket of my coat as not to forget.

I looked back at her and she smiled at me as the bus pulled up. As she got onto the bus, i almost forgot what i was doing at the stop. I watched as she gracefully slipped out of view and into this mechanical behemoth that would carry her into no man's land also known as the education system. I quickly came to my senses and rushed on, my seat was across from her's and i sat there pondering.

She felt like a necessity, as necessary as warmth, water or food. A light at the end of a tunnel, the fire that warms a family at night or ignites a cigarette, the steam that rises from a warm cup of tea in the morning, the candle that fills the room with that warm sense of home; Claire was everything i wanted in life yet nothing i deserved.

[imperialmask]

Introducing a New Series

Hi, i'm still alive. I'm gonna begin a new series to hopefully keep this tumblr alive, i call it "Lyrics to a Song you'll Never Hear". It's a rom-com/slice of life about kids growing up from yr 10 forwards, it's a pretty cool story.

Set in a fictional coastal English city based off a mix of Brighton and my native Cambridge, It stars Alan Baker, a kid who moves to the city of Havborough after a mysterious incident where he was chased out of his hometown, and Claire Partridge, the eldest of 2 looking after her sibling during her parents divorce. It's told from their point of view in the first person except for certain chapters which focus on multiple characters which are told in third person, the story wont just focus on these 2 but will explore an entire cast of kids in Havborough! Hope you enjoy, Chapter 1 is going up later today and i plan to upload once a week or at minimum once every 2 weeks. Have a good Easter break everybody!

Edit: Also, i wanted to delete the HWB Prologue i posted about a year ago. I revamped the story since then so it no longer fits current canon. i plan to upload the first volume along side Lyrics. Either uploading once a week aswell or alternating between the 2 (so Lyrics on week, HWB on the other). Also i want to change HWBs name so as you get more familiar with the story, i'd love suggestions.

[imperialmask]

Guess Who's Back to Writing on Tumblr

Been a minute. I know i only have 1 follower and I'm pretty sure it's just a bot but imp gonna put this out there. So it's been about 2 and a half years since the last HWB post went up and i think a year since i deleted it so I'm just gonna explain myself real quick. Everything's fine for me, i just hated the story. I loved HWB and the ideas but how i specifically wrote this was kind of meh, I'm sorry for the cliff hanger.

However, i will be rebooting the universe and remaking the story in a more digestible way. Although i don't expect to get anywhere near to the end with this, i do hope to have some fun with it for awhile. So, I'm gonna go work on that first post and I'll see you then.

Also, i never made a Mick Bit, i intend to do Mick Bits and Mick Posts. Mick Bits are just small stories that are tangential of HWB or not at all related and Mick Posts are just me talking about something. Ok Bye.