Heroid

((Here's someone who can school you on giving the evil eye.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bRjnUqzseU

((New art! This one for Deebs! ))

http://heroid.deviantart.com/art/The...ters-158249273

Everything went white…

I was blinded by the sudden release of energy. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t hear anything either. It seemed like the only of my senses that were working were smell, taste, and pain.

I could smell ozone and tasted concrete dust. And pain. I hurt like I hurt the first time I got punched by one of those big Freakshow bruisers – really bad and all over my body. My ribs hurt when I inhaled. My shoulder hurt to move it and my right knee was swollen tight inside the leg of my pants. My first thought was that Mitri and I blew up, and that wasn’t far from the truth.

I started to stand up but felt something lying on my chest; something small that was moving. A cat? I didn’t remember seeing a cat in the building at any time. I felt it – smooth and soft as a baby’s… Then I realized what it was.

“Mitri?” I said. I couldn’t believe it! “Mitri!?”

Still blind and deaf, I wrapped him (and I was sure it was him) in my arms. This was the kind of chaotic thing he told me might happen if we ever touched. I just hoped he was all right.

I closed my eyes, hoping that might help them recover quicker. I needed to assess the situation quickly before the others had a chance to recover. When I opened them again, I could see – but barely! Everything was a blur. No doubt the smoke that the explosion raised wasn’t helping much.

With Mitri cradled snuggly, I sat up. As soon as a did, I went back down again. The whole right side of my head was throbbing. I could feel my heartbeat in it. My left earlobe felt wet and when I touched it, I realized why I couldn’t hear – my eardrum was ruptured. Great.

The good news was that I could feel quantum energy flowing inside me and if enough of it built up soon, I would be able to fix myself and get out of there.

But first, I just had to get out of that cell. My eyesight was much better now and I could see the doorway – or where the doorway used to be. Now it was just a jagged hole in the wall with a bunch of rubble half blocking it.

Beneath the rubble was Albert. He was moving, but barely. (And really, I was glad of that because as bad as things were, things would be worse if I was responsible for killing someone – even a bad someone.) Some of his goons were with him under the rubble, and they were moving too.

I really needed to get out of there fast before they recovered. I looked down at Mitri. He looked so cute. He was just staring up at me as if he knew exactly what was going on and trusted me completely to keep him safe. And maybe he did.

As fast as I could while still being careful, I climbed over the rubble and the goons and Albert and out into the hallway. It looked like most of the damage was limited to the immediate vicinity. I picked a direction and started limping in as near a run as I could manage.

I talked as I ran, though it sounded muffled and strange to me because of my ear. “I wish I had a better memory for stuff like this,” I said. “I’m lousy with directions. I always have to let Jo or Caden or one of the other E-Teens take the lead if we’re hunting bad guys in caves or the sewers.” We ran a bit further and I said, “Don’t worry, Mitri, big sister will find a way out.”

Weird. He was my father, and now he’s my brother. Gyah! At that moment I really hated the whole quantum everything. But I didn’t say that to the baby. What I said instead was, “And if you stay this way, big sister will take care of you.”

I was talking more for my own nerves than anything, and to take my attention away from the agony in my knee and head, but Mitri seemed to like the sound of my voice. Now and then I’d glance down to see if he was all right and every time he would look at me with those trusting baby eyes. I know it’s a stupid thing to do, but pretty soon, I was more focused how cute he was and how good he felt in my arms than I was on where I was going. Blame it on the concussion.

A man’s big fist shot out from a doorway on the right and connected with my face. I tasted blood in my mouth and my head felt like I’d just been through another explosion. I bounced off of the wall, but I didn’t drop Mitri, and when we fell, I made sure I held him tight to my chest so he wouldn’t get hurt. My own head, however bounced twice when it hit the floor.

Michael Sr. stood over me, his fist ripped open by the teeth he loosened in my jaw.

He mouthed some words at me. Probably loudly, and most of them probably words I wouldn’t use on anybody. I still didn’t have the strength to repair myself, but I did have enough power built up for one good quantum blast. I shot him right in the face. It had to hurt.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear him scream because I still couldn’t hear anything. Everything was spinning. I wasn’t sure I could get back up, but then I looked down at Mitri and he was crying.

I had to get back up. I had to get us out of there.

It’s cliché, I know, but with the last ounce of strength I had in me, I stood up. I had to force my legs to move. I had to make the world stop spinning so fast. I took a deep breath and started moving again.

Ahead, I could see sunlight around the corner. That meant a door or a window. That meant a way out. I went that direction and turned. Down at the end of the hallway was a window. The sun was shining in it, and I didn’t know if it was a rising sun or a setting sun. But that didn’t matter. At least we’d see the sun again. I’d had my doubts there for a while. I walked toward the window.

Suddenly it shattered. I just stood there a moment trying to figure out why. I mean why would a window just shatter like that? When a chunk of brick flew out of the wall right beside me, I knew why. I turned and there was Mikey, freed from the armor, wearing just his boxers and standing with a plain old military .45 pointed at me. You don’t need powers and blast rays when a bullet will do the job just as well.

I turned my back to him and crouched down wrapping myself around Mitri as best as I could. Then I waited to die.

And I waited.

Then I slowly turned around to see the most amazing thing. Ryan was there.

((New post today! ))

http://alternautuniverse.blogspot.com/

((If you are a perfectionist, then I advise you not to take up art unless you can conquer that. No creative person is ever satisfied entirely with their work. The idea in your head is somehow never fully realized in your art or writing. Even when things are going well, the creative process is incredibly frustrating. If you're overly-critical of your own work, then you'll wind up giving up and never getting anywhere, left with a crippling feeling of defeat before you're really even begun.

That said, if you feel you can look at something you've drawn and have a "I'm getting better" or "good attempt!" frame of mind, I advise you to practice, practice, practice. Since we're talking superheroes here, find a comic book (american style or manga, whichever you prefer) and look for a character that has a similar physicality to yours. Then copy -- not trace -- that character, putting your own character's details on it. If you don't like your first attempt, then try it again. Also, there's nothing wrong with starting with the eyes. Most art instruction books will tell you to start with the head, and the eyes are the center of the face.

If you want to get serious about drawing, then start looking at people, how they move, how their limbs interact with their torsos in different movements and poses. In my opinion, proportion is more important than showing every little ripple in every muscle, but some people like the ripply, hulked-out lines and veins showing.

Even if you can't draw your "perfect" drawing, focus on what you get right, and what you get wrong, just try to work on doing it better next time.))

((More art! ))

http://heroid.deviantart.com/art/Jos...lica-157320675

((Fixer! Hiya!

Fixer has the greatest superhero ever in his avatar. ))

((Yes! Made my Friday goal!

New post! ))

http://alternautuniverse.blogspot.com/

((This is my Kin/DP defender, Liveshot. ))

((More art today! ))

http://heroid.deviantart.com/art/Dra...oule-156860305

((And more art! http://heroid.deviantart.com/art/Gelica-156741845 ))

((New art! http://heroid.deviantart.com/art/Leviathas-156685221 ))

Normally, I’m not much of a one for foul language. That’s one of the things I love about Ryan – he never curses. I think an intelligent person doesn’t really need to. But when Albert and his security goons found me as I was hanging up the phone, I’m pretty sure I said the “s-word”. Like I said, it wasn’t something I usually say, but then again, I wasn’t feeling particularly intelligent as they put those plastic straps around my wrists.

Albert picked up the phone and hit redial. Oh gosh… they were going to figure out what I’d done and…

He laughed.

“Listen to this,” he said and handed the handset to one of his goons.

The goon laughed.

Albert mimicked a teenage girl’s voice as he said, “Hello, my name is Ginger. If this is Matt Damon, give me a sec and I’ll answer. Anyone else, leave a message.” Then he hung up the phone and said, “Cute. The Matt Damon line – very clever. Too bad she can’t get him to come rescue you, eh?”

One of the goons tossed me over his should like I was a big sack of dog food and carried me back to my cell. He dropped me through the door and my head hit first when I landed on the hard floor. My head spun. I saw stars. It stunk in there. No one had cleaned it up.

“You will learn to behave,” Albert said, “Or I will harvest your cells and destroy you as a failed experiment. Is that understood?”

All I could do was moan.

“Very good,” he said, interpreting that as a yes. “Now, while you were mucking up your little escape attempt, your friend, Ms. Post returned with a gift.”

I looked up and saw Livvy walk up behind him. Only… it wasn’t the Livvy I knew – it was like a younger version of her. Between her and Albert there was Mitri. He had managed to get caught also.

I think I said the “s-word” again.

Mitri was nearly crackling with energy. Even with my powers suppressed (It was in my ear! Can you believe it? I later found out the suppression device was in my ear! She had slipped it in there that first night at Mr. Counsel’s house!) I could feel it. His powers were still working. Why didn’t he do something?

Albert was thinking the same thing, because he said, “Why didn’t you use the neutralizer on him?”

“It didn’t work,” Livvy said, “But don’t worry. I have told him to behave. He’s as docile as a kitten and will be as long as he’s around me.”

Albert smiled, “Very well. It looks like you are going to have a working vacation in Tuscany.” Then he pointed toward my cell and said, “Put him in here with her until we’re ready to transport them to our facility in Italy.”

Livvy shoved Mitri in and he tripped on my foot. I opened my mouth to scream when I realized he was going to land right on top of me. This was going to be bad.

See, what they didn’t know was that since I brought Daddy back to life and turned him into Mitri, we haven’t been able to touch each other at all. Our energy signatures may match on most levels, since it started out as my energy signature, but – and I’m lousy with this stuff so I’m trying to explain it like he explained it to me, but I’m not doing a very good job – they also are “anti-complimentary in a sub-quantum state”. My translation of that – we can’t come into contact without something either weird or chaotic happening. Exactly what he meant, I had no idea.

But everything went white…

((It is! It really is! Sid! Hello! *does the happy, happy, joy, joy dance*

*does best Tom Cruise sincerity acting expression* Sid, you complete us.

))

((This was a fun contest! In fact, this is one of the funnest things I've seen on the Virtue boards in a long time! We should do this kind of stuff more often! (But not too often -- don't want it to become trite.)

Congrats to all the winners! You really unleashed your creativity! Maor plz! ))

(( I have a new art on my Devart page. ))

http://heroid.deviantart.com/art/Han...pe-2-156413824

((A little late in the day -- but here it is!

http://alternautuniverse.blogspot.co...ment-pt-5.html

Thanks for reading! ))

((Wow! That looks like a great show! I was wondering what Fox was coming out with to replace Lost now that it's wrapping up. I didn't recognize that actor playing Vance though...

Very nice vid! ))

((Edit: And great story too! ))