The
exiled
Psyphoon
Lil smoke Dr. Joseph Pastor
Metal core Takeo
Rayonne
Windsor Janet Pinkerton
Wild-Star Jaden Grant
The exiled
The Chantry
territory
They both stood on an outcropping of rocks, on the floating
island they called home now. Seven months, they had survived, them,
and their little community, left to rot in enemy territory, stranded
there until they died. They refer to themselves as the "Exiled", a
name given to them by Windsor, their first leader, who has been dead
for two months now. She had pulled them together, and found them a
home, she had convinced them to live, to not give up.
Lil Smoke and
Wild-Star, both stood there, looking towards the heart of the shard.
"You think it's gonna happen, I mean for real?" Asked Wild-Star to
his small, bulky friend.
"Who knows, Jaden, Windsor said it would,
so it's good enough for me, but you have to admit, it would be pretty
freaky, if it did." Answered Lil Smoke to his now best friend in the
world. The two of them had seen their share of battles, and they were
both wearing Rularuu armour parts, cut out from the flesh of the Brutes
and Observers, their old clothes were long discarded, from battle
wear and tear.
Their eyes remained locked in the distance, searching.
"That it would, but when was she ever wrong about her predictions?"
Ja net "Windsor" Pinkerton had developed the ability to foresee the
future at times, and it was that ability that had them both standing
here today, waiting. "She said he would fall like a star from the
sky on this very island." Which was the reason why she had them establish
their headquarters in a cave nearby, to await the arrival of the one
she called the traveller.
Everywhere the eye could see, broken islands,
floating about, undisturbed. As if caught in a ballet without purpose,
drifting in the orange murky sky. Lil Smoke couldn't help but repress
a sigh, thinking of Windsor, how she had died so he could live, how
she had insisted, with her last breath, that he'd be here this morning.
He did not believe in the story anymore, too much hurt and pain had
gone by since, and hope, which was most needed, didn't find a good
place lately in his heart. They would all die here, and no one would
know or care about it.
"Look!" Said Wild-Star who was pointing at
a tiny spec of light that had appeared in the distance. "The old woman
was right, holy fuck, she was right, he is coming..." There was awe
and wonder in Wild-Star's voice.
"Get ready Jaden, we don't know what's
coming for sure." Answered Lil Smoke. All of his experiences here
had thought him that nothing good came from Windsor's prophecy, so
why would today be any different.
The distant light slowly became
a trail fo fire, like a falling meteor, with dark smoke on its tail,
the angle at which it was coming towards them, was that of a slowing
decaying arc. Closer and closer it came, never wavering one iota from
the intended course. They looked at it, in silence, part amazed, part
scared. Windsor had promised that from this falling star, would come
their freedom, their way back home, but also, that there would be
a great price to pay for leaving this place.
The streak of flame and
smoke, flew over them, and they both saw a man in the middle of the
flames. He crash landed in the grass, tossed about like a rag doll,
unconscious. He slid on the grassy hill all the way up to the edge,
hit the rocks there, and remained still. Smoke and the smouldering
sound of fire were all that accompanied his entrance.
They both came
closer, looking at the new arrival. Dark skin, dark as night, fiery
red eyes could be seen under almost closed eyelids. The man was hurt,
big time, no doubt about it. protruding bruises could be seen on his
body, deep gashes made by brute claws also. He was in bad shape all
right, and was in need of a healer. But Lil Smoke recognized him,
from old news, from about a year ago, he was the first exiled, the
most famous fallen hero he knew of.
"Voyager" Whispered Lil Smoke
"Who?" Asked Wild-Star
"The Arch-Villain, Voyager, is our saviour...."
Whispered Lil Smoke.
The morning after...
"Turbo?" Said squared jaw
Cavalier to his leader, as he stopped in front of his leader's office.
Turbo looked up at his trusted captain.
"Could you replace me today,
I can't seem to find enough time to get my yearly physical out of
the way, and the doctor has made it an official order, I have to report
to the hospital." Said Cavalier, while scratching the back of his
head.
Turbo looked about on his desks, paperwork littered the place,
from requisition forms to publicity submissions. All that had to be
done, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Being the leader
of the most famous supergroup of Paragon City, brought on administrative
duties, which he shun at times. The amount of it, never diminishing,
always being replaced by more requests. Here, the police authorities
invited him to attend the annual charity fundraiser, there, the academy
cooks were requesting more fresh produce, and a better kitchen, and
over here, the mayor's office was asking for his input on who should
be awarded the citizenship medal.
"You got it, nothing holding me
here today" Answered Turbo Starr with a whimsical smile. "Isn't this
the field trip to Orebanga for the recruits?"
"Yeah, you get to play
tour guide and all of that." Replied Cavalier
Orebanga, the Circle
of Thorns, now abandoned, and more of a tourist attraction and scientific
playground than anything else. Since the Riders went in there, and
subdue all Circle activity, countless visitors and researchers have
been gong there. The ancient underground city had been the headquarters
of the infamous magic society, until Turbo Starr along with Cavalier,
Bloodrock, Voyager and Star-Crusader, had put an end to it, early
last year. It was home to an ancient library containing some of the
most strange arcane knowledge, which at the time, was guarded by magic
portals that connected it to another plane of existence, where the
Circle summoned ghosts and demons to their biding. The Riders of Apocalypse
were granted access to the restricted areas, for teaching purposes,
and mainly because Turbo Starr had made it possible, after negotiating
with the mayor. No other supergroup had such a privilege, and only
a few chosen academics could visit those places.
"It'll be a nice
change of pace, I really need to get out of here before I get submerged
by paperwork" Said Turbo Starr, which stood up and headed for the
door. "Are the recruits ready, or do I have a math class to give as
well?"
"They're ready and waiting in the yard. I've arranged for teleportation
as soon as you give the word." Said Cavalier, who started walking
towards the main exit with his friend and leader. "I must say, I'm
not looking forward to the medical exam, that damned doctor plays
basketball, and he's got fingers the length of a wooden spoon."
"Yeah,
that prostate examination is a pain.... Enjoy!" Said Turbo with laughter
on his voice. Cavalier grunted something as he walked towards his
car.
"Attention!" Cried a recruit, as he saw Turbo Starr come their
way.
"At ease guys, no need to be this formal, call me Turbo, and
let's get going." They were all looking at him, all in awe. This was
the "Man of the Year" according to TIMES magazines, standing in front
of them, and nothing he could do or say would make them feel less
amazed. He pulled out his cell phone, flipped it open and requested
TP for himself and the class. The seven of them vanished from the
yard.
O-Lan woke up, to find herself locked in a metal cage. She massaged
her jaw and sat up on her bunk bed. Looking around, she saw that she
was held captive in, what she thought was, the boiler room of the
abandoned factory. No one else was in the room, no guards, only a
single light bulb hanging from a cord. You've done it again girl...
She thought to herself. She stood up, and went to test the strength
of her cage. She wouldn't break out of it without some outside assistance.
O-Lan was starting to get annoyed, which usually took about a minute,
in any given situation. The feisty scrapper shook the metal bars to
no avail, even went ahead and gave it her best kick, to no results.
She roared like a caged lion.
Shadow-Step awoke to the beeping sound
of the IV unit, next to his bed. Looking about himself, he noticed
an old woman, sitting at a desk, scribbling and scratching on some
papers. He tried to sit up, only to be met by dizziness and a sharp
pain in the mid-section. Reaching under the bed sheets with a hand,
two things were noticed straight away. One, he was stark naked, two,
and that was the most important, one of his testicles was missing,
while the remaining one was so bruised, it was three times its normal
size. He then let out a long moaning sigh.
"Good, you're awake" Said
the old lady, as she stood up from her desk, and walked towards the
bed where Shadow was lying. She pulled down the sheeting and looked
at his genitals for a few seconds. "The stitches will hold and are
healing nicely." She continued while examining his IV unit and making
a note on a clip board.
"Nicely... Nicely, you said... Lady, one of
my frigging balls is missing??!!" Screamed Shadow at the doctor, breath
shallow and ragged.
"It's not missing, Mr. Step, I know exactly where
it is." Answered the old doctor. She pulled the bed sheets back up
on him.
"Where's my left ball doctor, where is it?" Asked Shadow-Step
"Right there, on my desk, in that jar..." She pointed towards a jar,
and in it, was a smashed to a pulp testicle, flattened and broken
up. "Most males don't need to have two anyways, what you produce with
one is more than enough to suffice any woman." She said, while still
taking notes on her clip board. "In any case, be glad the right one
didn't have to be removed."
"But, my right one is huge now." Answered
back Shadow-Step, with a small voice, almost crying.
"It will swell
down, in a day or two, until then, stay in bed, and try not to go
to the bathroom too much." Said the old lady, as she walked back to
her desk. She grabbed the jar containing the testicle, looked at it
closely, then shook her head disapprovingly. "You should really be
careful about what you say to the ladies, Mr. Step. You only get two
chances to screw up with a woman, and you used up one already."
Shadow-Step
grabbed his pillow and put it over his face, after which he let out
a long, wailing cry....