the saga of the Dryad comes to an end and the repercussions reach the ears of Vincent Liedecker.. What will the master of the Mayfield Underground do with this knowledge? And who was it that took the genetic samples from the Dryad’s flower? Continue reading
Jada and the others recruit Tammy and Kura to help with the Dryad, but will they arrive in time to save Steampunk from the botanical brute’s clutches? Continue reading
“This is not a plan.” Arkose complained as the four of them walked through the gates. “In fact, you aren’t even sure there’s even reason to need a plan. All you’ve got to go on is the fact that a girl that’s already weird is acting weird.”
“We’re all weird.” Jada snapped at the stone girl. It wasn’t lost on her that between them, Steampunk was the only one that looked normal, but she didn’t want to be cruel by pointing that out. “And anyway, if you need more proof, did you notice how the guys at the gate just let us through? No asking where we were going, no making sure we had our locators—nothing. They just opened the gates for us like they didn’t care.”
“And you think it’s because of the flowers.” Arkose walked a step or two behind the others.
“What else? As far as we know, we don’t have any telepaths at the school strong enough to do that.”
“Plus,” Phineas chimed in, “This isn’t ‘Steampunk weird’. She’s got this robot girl thing going, but it’s kind of clear that even she’s bothered by this and whatever it is, it’s trying to get her to … Continue reading
Something evil has its sights set on the Liedecker Institute and it already has summit and Rapunzel. Can Jada “Dryad” Devos figure out what’s going on before it’s too late? If she wants to have any hope of that, she’s going to need some help. Continue reading
Following the events of the last issue, Jacob’s gone missing and every female student and teacher just got a gift from a secret admirer. Seems perfectly innocent. But why then, are people starting to act so strange? Jada’s on the case along with some unexpected help. Continue reading
The game continues with plenty of powered hijinks. But maybe this innocent outing by everyone isn’t all ‘Fun and Games’. Could this portent something dangerous in store for the kids of the Liedecker Institute? Continue reading
The main lobby had been transformed over the course of the day into an impressive stand in for a ball room or concert hall.
There were rows of tables along the walls, illuminated by strings of red, green and white lights as well as hanging lanterns that threw out snowflake patterns. In one corner, a small stage had been set up where a local cover band, Miracle Six, was taking requests, and off to the side, an impressive spread was being catered the owner of a nearby cafe that had become a popular hangout for the LI students and staff.
Everyone’s miniature trees served as living decorations, placed as centerpieces on the tables, or on makeshift pedestals along the edges of the room. Voting slips had appeared under everyone’s doors that morning so they could vote for the best one.
Central to everything was the ‘official’ tree, the enormous white pine donated by none other than Vincent Liedecker himself. It stood in the middle of the room with plastic bins altered by Kura to look like gift boxes beneath it. Those contained dozens of ornaments and garlands, plus multiple types of tinsel, all provided so the party-goers could all have … Continue reading
Martin Han cycled lazily through preview panels for various TV shows on his computer screen. There didn’t seem to be anything new that was interesting, or anything interesting he hadn’t seen before. Even the sports channel was failing him; covering basketball, football and hockey when he was a baseball and soccer fan.
He had homework to do, but it was before dinner, so seeking entertainment took priority. He also had friends; two out of only five other male members of the Junior class. But he’d see them soon at dinner, so it felt like a waste to try and find them now.
As he passed an old episode of Live Metal, he could swear he heard sleigh bells. Sleigh bells and giggling. Momentarily, he flipped back to see if he’d skipped over a Christmas special or something. He was wondering if it was off of some commercial when someone knocked on his door.
There was no one else in the room, so he answered it himself. He’d been partly expecting his friends, dropping by to collect him for a trek out into town for dinner. Instead, he found Kura Akagi wearing an antler hat and a red nose, Tammy Kaine … Continue reading
“Rita!” Betty’s voice carried across the common area that separated the boys’ wing from the girls’ wing. She was sitting on a sofa with Hightower. “Ready to go?”
Mindful of the discussion she’d just had with Joy, Rita stood there, waffling for a moment. “Er…” She managed. “Is it just going to be the three of us?”
“Might be.” Hightower shrugged. “I’ve seen a few other kids around here that might be able to hang with us. But you can never tell.”
Betty’s laugh started somewhere genuine and ended just south of vindictive. “I know, like that guy from this morning?” She turned to Rita to explain, her hair lightening as she remembered the altercation. “This guy came up to us at breakfast and tried to trick us into thinking he had a really shiny power, but it turns out it’s nothing but a psychic carry-all.”
When Rita didn’t laugh right away at such an obviously unfortunate power, she decided to continue. “So he’s not prelate material at all, he’s just a packrat.” This time, her laugh didn’t stop at vindictive, it went right on across the border to cruelty and set up camp.
With extreme effort that was completely … Continue reading
Eddie’s proclamation caused Arkose to falter in her swing. It wasn’t as if she entertained the slightest consideration that it really was the extremely bad pick-up line it sounded like; she not only didn’t, but actively hoped it wasn’t. But it was just so awkward in its delivery that it seemed to ricochet around in her head until her concentration broke.
She fixed him with a glare. “I know you aren’t hitting on me—“
“What? No! You’re definitely not my—“ Eddie stopped himself from finishing that one. Nothing good could come from saying those words to any girl, much less one made of solid rock and wielding a wooden sword. He backpedaled with a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head. “I mean to say; that wasn’t hitting on you; that was failing really badly at asking you to be friends.”
“People stop randomly asking each other to be friends somewhere around kindergarten.” Arkose informed him coolly.
“Hence the thing I said.” He persisted. “An icebreaker. You know, telling you something about my power…”
“That you’re lucky.”
“Yeah. That I’m lucky.” Eddie slipped back into his easygoing smile. “I know it doesn’t sound as cool as being make … Continue reading
