Lone WolvesPhoenix was unused to being the prey. The werewolf was usually the top predator of whatever environment it settled into. But that was back on Earth. Out here in space, other worlds had bred bigger and scarier things. Case in point: the monstrous, pulsing blue mass of hunger and rage that currently had a seven-foot brown werewolf scrambling for his life. It was all Phoenix could do to stay ahead of it in this desert terrain. Werewolves were kings of the night, but as the distant mountains began to illuminate, Phoenix wondered if this would be his final dawn.Every sinew and muscle in his body strained from exertion. His entire being burned from adrenaline and fear. Even with this world’s lighter gravity allowing him to jump higher and move faster than ever before, he was pushing himself like he had never pushed himself before. His claws dug into craggy rocks as he scaled the sheer cliffside sixty feet high. This would be impossible back on Earth, but life and death drove him
First DateHenry “Beast” McCoy knew this arrangement aggravated Agent Brand. But she had recruited him for this “job” because of his different sensibilities, and thus had to defer to his judgment. Her profuse protests over the phone had given him an almost perverse sense of pleasure when he proposed the idea. Why couldn’t they just meet up at her apartment, she’d asked. He wasn’t “that kind of boy,” he’d answered. Eventually, she had no choice but to cave in to his demands.And now they were on their first date. All soldier, she marched through the front door. Henry wondered if she was capable of turning it off. At least she had replaced the S.W.O.R.D. uniform with a gray pants suit... although for all Hank knew, she had it on underneath. Probably had it on underneath.Always a gentleman, Henry stood and pulled her seat out for her. “I must say, Agent Brand,” Henry said, his baritone voice practically purring with smugness, &
The Fifty-Ninth MinuteWith increasing regularity, the Earth was coming under threat by alien menaces other than the Decepticons. It made sense, the Autobot known as Pyro supposed; the planet was both out of the way and ideally located, depending on where you were coming from. Or which way you were going. The universe was funny like that.Pyro, in the guise of a firetruck, regarded the man that climbed inside him. He had a rather strange face, but not the strangest they had on file. (Personally, his favorite was the "teeth and curls" look.) This was a new face, all flat and nose and long hair. And his clothes were strange. He had always had questionable fashion sense, but it had always leaned more towards the old-fashioned and less towards the... hm, "singed raggedy.""Hello, Doctor," the Autobot said once they were rolling. Pyro increased his speed; they hadn't much time.The man looked surprised for a moment. He glanced towards the passenger seat and the seats behind him to see if he had missed anyone, but
FurorEvery year, spring brings new life and new opportunities, but with these also come new threats, new dangers. On a warm spring night, deep within a Montana forest, yet another of these primal dramas has come to fruition. Flora and fauna which had established their own footholds on life are trampled and pushed aside underneath three werewolves without a second thought. At this moment, The Chase is their only concern.This deep within the forest, the green foliage is dense enough to snap back in the face of the immense brown werewolf charging his way through it. But he shrugs off the blows, his drive and focus more effective than any painkillers. His fur catches in the branches, leaving behind coffee-colored knots snared amongst the leaves, and even that barely slows down his pace. He feels like half a tree is tangled up within the braid that hangs off the back of his head. But as great a nuisance as the forest growth can be, it has to be doubly hindering for his quarry ahead. The disrupt
No Fury...The creature hissed, spat, growled, roared, and made every sound possible to express its rage. And no wonder; it was a creature of pure rage, of instinct and primality, an outlet for every animalistic impulse that humanity told itself it had excised, but truly lay under the skin-deep layer of civility they cultivated on themselves.If anything, the beasts classified as Chalkurites were caricatures of humanity. Ironic, then, that they looked like nothing from Earth--semi-translucent blue vortexes of anger and destruction, the general lot of them were, things to be feared not just for their power, but for their contagiousness. For if any human
ExplorationSoft. That was the first sensation he noticed as he awoke. The underneath wasn't hard any more. Or cold. The air around no longer prickled him with chill, but caressed him with gentle warmth. He opened his eyes and his sense of sight was assaulted by the unfamiliar. Instead of the dark, square cell he had been expecting, everything was bright, colorful--alien.He was atop a pile of... softness. He didn't have a word for whatever it was. It was white, and light layers of it covered his body.His body... his body was different. He frowned. He couldn't remember what his body used to be like. He just knew that it was different now. Smaller. How
PaybackThe Doctor screamed amid the Daleks' battlecries."Her fee-ble weapon is nothing against the might of the Daleks!" the commander declared. "Now you will dis-arm the magnetic lock and allow our ships to launch!""Very well. The key's in my ship.""No tricks!"Inside the TARDIS, Ace greeted him."Blow the robot doppelganger!" he instructed.
Childhood's End"What's making so much noise in the dryer?" April asked her sister.May glanced up from her magazine, looking bored. "Goblins."April grit her teeth. "May, come on! Seriously, it's time you grew up. Now that Mom and Dad are gone, it's up to me to take care of you... but I can't do this without your help!""What do you mean?" May asked. She tilted her head with that fantastical innocence that Mom and Dad had always found charming. But to April... it was just an annoyance."I mean getting your head out of the clouds! It's good for you to have an imagination, sure. But you don't use it for anything! At the very least you could write or draw,
To Be SuperhumanDoctor Connors balanced the serum in his deft fingers. Decades of one-handedness had created the necessity for dexterity and strength in his remaining hand. His wife occasionally joked that his hand was superhuman. But it did not always compensate for the baseline abilities of any other human. He would give anything to get his arm back... anything.But that's what came down to it, didn't it? He had a choice now: allow unethical experimentation on unwitting subjects... or choose the one willing subject he had available: himself. And if this batch was a failure... there would be no one to fix him. It all came down to what he could live with. C
BedbugsMy first mistake was checking for bedbugs, because I know I have a tendency to overreact.My second mistake was deciding to solve my problem with fire.My third mistake was not making sure the grass and weeds were cleared from the area before lighting it up.My fourth mistake was relying on the garden hose.
The Ring"So let me get this straight," Captain MacDougal said, wiggling the pen between his fingers as he observed the grieving widow. Years on the force had honed his cop senses to an almost supernatural sharpness, and he could tell when a person was lying or covering something up. Her tears were genuine. "Tonight was the maid's day off.""Yes," she sobbed. Behind her, paramedics carted the massive dead sack of flesh that had once been her husband into the ambulance. No sirens would go off for this poor bastard, it was already too late."And you told your husband he didn't do enough around the house."Instead of answering, she unleashed a wail th
The Stand"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.He whirled around from the suitcase half-filled with clothes. "I told you. I'm leaving."She could not believe it; she had thought he was bluffing. Completely shocked, she suddenly lost all her bluster. "But... why?""Because I can't take your abuse any more.""Abuse? Abuse!?""You're constantly putting me down in front of your friends and family. Calling me good-for-nothing, slacker, you name it.""I'm only kidding!" she denied angrily. "Can't you take a joke?""If it were a joke, it wouldn't be so mean-spirited. Or constant. I love you, but you have no respect for me." He turned his bac
Shot Down"It depends. Was she an android?" Al asked. The two best friends sat side by side at the bar, hunched over on their stools like they had done every Wednesday night since they had both turned 21.Randy blinked. "Depends. Which ones are they again?"Al rolled his eyes. "They're the ones that are designed to look human.""Then no.""Then dude, you just got burn- Wait, then what was she?"Randy shrunk in his stood a bit. "She's a mobile ATM.""What the hell, man? You got some freaky bot fetish I didn't know about?""Come on, man. Don't be that way.""What the hell can you even do with an ATM 'bot?"This time Randy shot him an annoyed loo
The QuestArthur perused the bookstore, finally finding something that caught his eye--"Witch Hunting for Pleasure and Profit," by Professor Terry Bedemir. This looked promising. He sat down and began to browse.Chapter One got straight to business, detailing how to identify a witch. "Not everyone who looks like a witch usually is one," it said. "Sometimes, they are just women with carrots strapped to their noses. These are especially common during Halloween, and one must be extra careful sorting out the real witches from just women on their monthly cycles." Arthur blinked. He had never thought of it that way."The most reliable way of identifying a
The Tourist"There's a town up the road a ways. Won't be there tomorrow," the old man said, before making a horrible snorting sound. A beat later, he spat a tobacco-stained wad into a nearby bucket and then leaned back into his rocking chair. Everything surrounding the codger was old and wooden, an ultimate cliché depiction of a bygone era."Why not?" asked the tourist. Contrasted to the old man, the tourist was dressed in crisp, clean clothes of vivid bright colors, everything in his possession from his camera to his car shiny and new. He smiled in good humor, expecting some charming old-folksy legend."Because of the 'oubreak,'" the old man said
Adventurers: Good Guys for Hire: Chapter 3 Harith gasped for breath by the time he got to Anna and Helens’ door, winded by adrenaline. All sense of upper-class dignity was abandoned as he pounded on their door. The confrontation between two of his guardians had shaken him to the bone. And he had every right to be disturbed. He had known Riza Khomeini for his entire life. The man having served his father since before he was born, serving the Pahlavis with loyalty and distinction back when his father lead The Clean Turban, the resistance against Iramabad’s old, corrupt government. Khomeini was a good man, though prone to hotheaded action… hence why he had never been promoted above the rank of captain. But Riza had never uttered a word of complaint, happy to serve Ismail Pahlavi as a soldier. Stark – that was the English word that seemed to describe him, and for so
Sta.sh
