philtucker

Chapter 157

“Jelly?”

The Anima Sola hovered before them, his golden-Gloria infused frame dripping starlight, bobbing up and down slowly as he gazed at the trio with his blank eyes.

“James! Wh...

Chapter 156

James fought for calm. The sudden silence, the horrific stillness, only made it seem as if the world were spinning out from under him all the more.

He wanted movement. Noise. Life.

This...

Chapter 155

James hadn’t known what to expect. The very term ‘facility’ had evoked vague notions of a factory, perhaps a metal futuristic building with gleaming windows, an alien building with security d...

Chapter 154

Everyone settled down to wait.

The whole situation was so surreal - the empty and endless expanse of the demiplane, the fact that they were accelerating into a black hole, and that they’d b...

Chapter 153

James paced as the Zorathian guided his crew through their paces. Their voices were a background murmur as he watched the entrance tunnel. The remaining six aliens in their alcoves worked diligentl...

Chapter 152

“Before we begin,” said Mavthua, “I must caveat: all our redesign choices/strategies made for our clutch leaders/heroes hitherto for had demons/the Pit in mind. I believe that the same princi...

Chapter 151

James reclined in the armchair and settled in. He summoned his statistics. His familiar overlay appeared in the air before him, listing his every ability, power, and summons. In the beginning this ...

Chapter 150

Everybody stilled.

“Wait,” said Denzel, pushing to the fore. “What do you mean, ‘hack’? As in, hack hack?”

Yadriel rolled his eyes. “We got ourselves a genius her...

Chapter 149

James followed their guide out of the audience chamber. The Zorathians in the stands had stood and begun to file out in their customary silence. Crimson Hydra was silent as well. Gvathua’s words ...

Chapter 148

There were no doors or windows in the Iron Wave fortress. The six Zorathians simply strode toward one of the massive panes of opaque glass that met with the ground and passed through it as if it we...

Chapter 147

James emerged into a discordant and overwhelming world. His mouth and sinuses immediately began to burn, and he squinted against the sulfurous light that suffused the air. At first he didn’t know...

Chapter 146

Serenity took hold of James’s arm and pulled him aside, leaving Olaf and Star Boy to catch up Kimmie on all she had missed.

“So, what are you doing up here?” She elbowed him in the side...

Chapter 145

James left Jessica to the Bifrost and made his way upstairs. The Marriott was wrecked. Too many attacks, too many deaths, no power, shattered glass underfoot, overturned potted plants, the air free...

Chapter 144

James stepped out before the dead elevator banks that let out into the underground parking structure. They now merely opened to a railing-enclosed balcony that looked out over the tech wonderland t...

Chapter 143

James rose cautiously to his feet, gaze darting about the large cavern in search of potential danger.

Other than Crimson Hydra, however, all was still.

The cavern was a series of subtly...

Chapter 142

The demon youth’s body had swelled up to five times his normal size, so that he looked like a seal that had swallowed a half dozen deck chairs. When his skin ruptured Infernum energy blasted out ...

Chapter 141

They emerged into the bailey.

Jelly immediately flew down, sword-arms whirling. And? We got a plan? What’s next?

You’re going to like it, Jelly,said James, but ref...

Chapter 140

James didn’t hesitate. He braided ten Heavenly Assaults together and dropped them on the child-like demon.

But in the flicker-flash second before the hugely twined lightning bolt fell, he s...

Chapter 139

James was rivetted.

Even Yadriel had ceased to crack puns.

Only Olaf still let out the occasional cry of excitement or groan of dismay, pointed out smart tactical moves or where the ene...

Chapter 138

They sped out over the desert, Jason flying alongside and easily keeping pace with his ongoing Flight. Jelly and the Castrum had remained behind to guard the castle in case of a rear attack; if so,...

Chapter 137

Time ticked down and no more demonic waves appeared. The Castrum Mortis moved back outside the gatehouse and there continued scanning the horizon. It seemed restless. A few gears within its hips ma...

Chapter 136

A klaxon began to sound.

Strident, penetrating, it rang through the entire castle, over and over, jumping James’s adrenaline up to 11.

“You fucking kidding me?” asked Yadriel, ris...

Chapter 135

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Denzel, closing his eyes as he raised his hand. “Hold up. They were doing what?”

James sat heavily on the bar stool and pointed at a whiskey bottle. Yadriel f...

Chapter 134

With a grunt James slipped through the seam and out into… he couldn’t make sense of what he was looking at.

The golden seam hung behind him, fading away for good now, Jelly’s last cries...

Chapter 133

They entered the ninth layer of the Pit by means of a swirling portal hidden beyond the Sinister Blockade.

You have entered Layer 9, The Hopeless Tower

Together they pa...

Chapter 132

Becca was faster, stronger, could transform into a more powerful demon, and possessed Miracles that allowed her to overwhelm and destroy Olaf, who was a Lord of the Increate.

James tore himse...

Chapter 131

They flew the Wing back to the Marriott in silence. The warmth of the whiskey faded quickly; the alcohol simply couldn’t get a grip on James’s enhanced system. The afternoon was darkening. Stor...

Chapter 130

James activated the Miracle with a single Aeviternum.

Serenity, the Brooklyn street, all of it fell away as his vision shifted and became blank. No; he could still see - but now he gazed out ...

Chapter 129

They rode the elevator to the penthouse in silence. Jelly hovered in the upper corner. James studied the Anima.

“Hey Jelly.”

Que pasa USA?

James paused. For a second ...

Chapter 128

The XO’s black-burning bullet hit the Aureate Buckler which flickered into existence as soon as the man raised his gun. The buckler flared bright gold but James had no time to appreciate the save...