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The Rat King Archives
The Darknesses Love Can Transform, Part III
Character(s):
Warp, Jack Paris
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Orion's Belt
Title
of Post: Killing Tessa, Part One
"What did you do to her?" Warp
demanded of the Center.
"I didn't do anything to her,"
the voice from the intercom said. "She came to me asking to do research in
the Nexus. I refused her, of course, but somehow she snuck in. At that point,
she somehow psychically connected to the Nexus, and has been using its power to
slowly destroy the underpinnings of
the
universe. She is quite mad."
"I'm still not killing her,"
Warp said, and opened a large portal, sending it to envelop Tessa.
***
The Starcrusher docked to the Center's
citadel with a loud clang. Jack saw his chance. He leapt out of Orion's
computers and into the strange mathematical miasma flowing through and about
the citadel. There wasn't any magic as he knew it here, but there was something
strange about the environment that allowed him to float slowly through the
citadel, unhampered by an anchor.
Whatever it was, it also made him feel
sick.
***
The warp engulfed Tessa, and Warp
attempted to cut her off from the Nexus. Unfortunately, the Nexus connected all
space and time, and next to that, Warp's powers were coals to Newcastle.
"Shit," he muttered. "There's got to be some way to reverse
this."
"There isn't. None of us even stand a
chance that close to the Nexus. You're the only one. Kill her, Warp, and save
the universe."
***
Orion strode through the citadel. The plan
was falling apart. He had a full psychological profile of Warp now. He knew
that the Enigman was nowhere near able to kill the telepath. Still, he hadn't
conquered a thousand star systems by being unable to properly motivate people.
He just needed to get
a
chance to talk to the hero. The door to the Center's quarters opened
automatically.
"Orion," the Center said.
"Welcome."
"Bother me with that later,"
Orion growled. "What is he doing now?"
"He's in the Nexus, but he's been
unable to affect her in the slightest."
"Give me communication," the
Conqueror demanded.
***
Jack Paris traced the nausea to a point in
the center of the citadel where temporal metaphysics seemed to be in flux.
That was where he headed.
Character(s):
The Rat
Author:
Jeff Hersh
Storyline:
What the Rat Saw/ Rat Kings: Pre-Finale
Title
of Post: Into my flaming clutches
The rat scampered down the pipes. He was
sure was heading in the right direction; at least, he hoped so. Left. Right.
Down. Right again. Yep, that seemed correct. At least, it felt right. Still, he
had the feeling he was getting deeper underground.
The rat paused and sniffed the air. Yes,
he was definitely going deeper underground. This was not the right way. He
decided to turn around, just as the pipe fell open below him. The rat fell into
a huge underground expanse. It was dark, but there were flickers of light and
energy far below. The rat panicked.
Odn was looking more and more haggard. The
spells were taking all his energy. He hoped he would be done with this soon.
The Collector, who stood perfectly still
behind Odn, had an air an anticipation around him. This were going exactly as
his true master had said they would.
Odn stopped his spell casting and sniffed
the air. There was something bestial about him now.
"The first of our quarry comes,
Laran! Make him welcome."
Odn pointed skyward, and the Collector
looked up. He saw the approaching rat falling straight for the vortex.
The rat hit the vortex and was buffeted by
the winds. However, they did slow him down. The rat, however, was not in a
position to appreciate this.
The Collector shot up his hand and invoked
the rat's sigil. The rat flew, against the winds, right into the Collector's
hand. The rat was unconscious from fear.
"Place the escapee in his proper
place. The King of Kings is about ready to be charged," said Odn.
The Collector did as Odn said. He placed
the rat in the space in the very center of the King of Kings. A rush of energy
flew through the necromantic structure. All the rats were cased in flesh again,
and they were screaming.
Character(s):
Hyix
Author:
Jeff Hersh
Storyline:
Playing Mind Games with Rat Kings
Title
of Post: Pawn to 8th rank
Hyix oozed into the Tharrfest grounds. The
scent was strong. He was close. Soon his purpose would be fulfilled.
Character(s):
Jack and the Rat Pack
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: Back in the Sewers Again...
Jack trudged through the storm drain,
following Uncle Asinus.
"I don't trust this," he
whispered to Val.
"Neither do I, but--" Val
started.
Then suddenly eight spheres of glowing
rose-colored light whizzed into the tunnel and began to circle the Rat Pack.
"About flarking time," Asinus
grumbled.
Character(s):
The Rat Pack
Author:
Laura Redish
Storyline:
Flashback: How Stupid Are These Guys Anyway?
Title
of Post: We followed Uncle Asinus?
"Should we really be following
him?" Ariath wanted to know. "He's probably leading us into a
trap."
"How could you say such a thing,
minions?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
said Fred. "Obviously we don't know where this bastard is."
"Like, it's not a trap if you know
it's there," said Janice.
"You know he's possessed by a villain
and you still want to follow him?" Ariath couldn't believe all these
people were still alive, frankly. "What do you think, Tor?"
"Hmmm?"
"Oh, will you pay attention!"
Like Ebreth wanted to think about rat
kings and liches. He was still thinking about Khyrisse on the couch, shedding
protective spells like veils. "Whatever the rat wants," he said.
"Let's find the rat."
Character(s):
Janus
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: Return of the Blob
Janus, Master of the Five Elements stepped
out of his booth at the Tharrfest funnel cake bistro.
"You must be the scary blob from
space I was told about," Janus said.
"I must be the scary blob from space
I was told about," Hyix replied.
"Just what I wanted to hear."
Janus' voice resonated in a deep and eerie tone that even Hyix wondered about.
Janus's face had no features, but his
posture indicated a grin. "Hasta la vista, baby."
Solar plasma shot from his hands at the
alien blob.
Character(s):
Hyix, Janus
Author:
Jeff Hersh
Storyline:
Playing Mind Games with rat Kings
Title
of Post: Crunchings and munchings
The blots of plasma hit Hyix squarely and
disappeared into the blob's mass. Hyix quivered for a second, then doubled in
size. Hundreds of baleful red eyes stared at Janus. Hyix then moved on. He had
more important things to do.
Janus watched at Hyix flowed down one of
the open sewer pipes and vanished from view.
"Now I have seen everything,"
Janus said matter-of-factly.
Character(s):
Jack and the Rat Pack
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: Raindrops Keep Falling On Our Heads
Jack watched as the water started to rush
into the sewer.
"Hey, guys, can we hurry up before I
end up needing another bath?"
No one answered Jack.
"Guys? Hello?"
"The final marking time has come,
honey," Val said in an eerie calm.
A blob raced past the circle of Rat
Packers who had come to surround Jack.
"Oh, man, this is going to hurt,
isn't it?" Jack asked no one in particular.
Character(s):
Janus, Hyix
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: Janus Hates Blobs
Janus stepped out of the void within his
cloak and into the sewers. He should be a little bit ahead of the blob.
He heard some sort of chaos going on farther
down in the sewer. That ought to be the Rat Pack ganging up on poor Jack.
Then Hyix came shuffling along.
"I promised that I'd try to keep you
from getting to wherever it is you're headed. You look like trouble with a
capital T, and that rhymes with P and that stands for... uh..."
Hyix shuffled past, ignoring the Master of
the Five Elements.
"Man, I hate rude blobs that ignore
me," Janus echoed.
The faceless man looked around to see if
anyone was listening. Just in case, he intoned, "Void power...
activation!"
A black void opened up under Hyix, sucking
him and the sewer water down into the blackness.
"I've
got a friend who's always looking for new allies," Janus said. "He'll
loooove you."
Character(s):
Hyix
Author:
Jeff Hersh
Storyline:
Playing Mind Games with Rat Kings
Title
of Post: I have got a hole in my pocket dimension
Hyix fell into the void, and into a room
filled with strange life forms and walls that shone with an inner light. Now
Hyix was angry. The faceless one was interfering with the purpose. The thing,
which was from outside the spheres themselves, folded in on itself. With an
audible outward rush of air, it reappeared exactly from where it disappeared.
Right next to Janus.
Character(s):
Warp, Jack Paris, Orion
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Orion's Belt
Title
of Post: Killing Tessa, Part Two
"Warp, this is Orion."
"What a surprise," Warp
snickered to cover his nervousness.
"It's too late for your weak human
mercy. She's destroying the universe, Warp. Like your own universe was
destroyed."
"Nice try, but the anti-Enigma
already tried to control me by pushing those buttons, pal."
"Then I'm afraid that I have no choice."
Orion turned from the intercom to his personal comlink. "Sharpedge, set
course for Earth. Treaty or no, we're going to destroy that ball of rock."
"No!" Warp shouted. Without him
on Earth to warn them that his warpfield around the solar system was being
breached, they'd have no time to prepare.
"You have five minutes to make your
choice."
***
Jack entered the containment field, and
saw Warp there. He entered the field.
If he still had a body he would have
vomited. The Nexus was tearing him
apart, and he didn't have the strength to get through the containment field
from this side.
Jack leaped blindly.
Character(s):
Khyrisse, fallen divinity
Author:
Kristin L.K. Andersen, ghostwriting for herself
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: An Eerily Familiar Sensation
Khyrisse hissed in pain, scrubbing the
palm of her left hand (ungloved, for once) on her thigh, trying to dull the
sensation. She was annoyed by the distraction and glanced irritably down at it.
A flake of white drifted downward from the
point of contact, followed shortly by several more.
Khyrisse blinked and lifted her hand to stare at it. The skin on
the palm of her hand was... peeling. Underneath the flaking tissue was the
sigil of the Collector, hard and white, only partially visible until now. She
lifted her right hand and touched the palm of the left with trembling fingers.
Her eyes widened and the blood drained out of her face. She swayed backwards
into Ebreth, looking like she was going to faint.
Blue light suddenly played over the Rat
Pack as the sigils came to life.
Character(s):
Rat Pack
Author:
Jeff Hersh
Storyline:
Rat Kings etc.
Title
of Post: Betrayal, Part 1
Jack calculated the odds, and figured he
was better off not resisting. The entire Rat Pack, sigils glowing with blue
fire, pushed him down the passages of the sewers. As they walked down the
sewers, Jack noticed that the architecture of the pipes were changing. It was
as if they were approaching some sort of large central structure.
"Get moving!" ordered Vas.
Jack walked on, looking over his shoulder
every once in a while. Soon they entered Odn's chambers. Jack marveled at the
architecture. It was a mixture of almost every Atanielite culture, including a
few he had never seen before. The Pack pushed Jack down the stairs and into the
cyclopean chamber that continued the true King of Kings. That is when
Khyrisse's sigil fragmented into lances of light.
Character(s):
Ebreth Tor
Author:
Laura Redish
Storyline:
Rat Kings: A Prophecy Fulfilled
Title
of Post: When You Mess With Proscribed Items, Your Plans Get Hosed
"Mark the last one," said Odn,
rising, "my Collector."
The undead Laran put his hand into Jack's
chest. Time seemed to bend around the two of them. Jack almost thought he could
see the lichling becoming more solid, more human, younger.
"Massssssssssssssster," he slurred, his speech very slow. His flesh
was pulling together.
"Do not turn back," said Odn.
"Laran, do not falter."
Necrotic energies sprayed from the
creature like blood. "Jack," cried Val. She found that she could
speak, but not act against the King of the Kings. "You're dispelling him!
He's losing his undead cohesion!"
"I'm not doing anything," Jack
tried to say, but the words were lost somehow.
"Yes!" roared Odn, triumphantly.
Laran Raimonde fell to the ground, a man's body. Jack stared at the strange
sigil burned into his chest. He felt queasy.
"I'mnotsureaddingaconstanthereisthebestide--"
"And now," intoned Odn,
"the Rat Kings have opened the--"
"Vas, look out!" shouted Val.
Vas barely ducked out of the way of the
black Beast. "Help me!" he cried.
"Shit!" shouted Ebreth.
"It's the thing that killed Pieret!"
"Jack!" cried Val. "You're
our only--"
As Jack lurched at the King of Kings there
was an explosion of blue light. Their two outlines were flung apart and into
it. "Dalen?" said a confused voice, and then the space-time continuum
reconnected. Jack and Odn were gone.
***
"Excuse me?" said Jack.
"Where... am I?"
"You're on Transit Station D36."
***
"Excuse me," said Odn, "but
where is... this?"
"Hey, fuckhead," said one of the
youths. "Either learn English or go back to fuckin' Mexico."
Character(s):
Warp, Jack Paris, Orion, and... ?
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Orion's Belt
Title
of Post: Killing Tessa, Part Three
"Warp?" came a voice from the
comlink in the superhero's ear.
"Jack?" Warp whispered?
"Where are you?"
"I'm, uh, in your comlink," Jack
sighed. "Not much help, I know."
"Can you go through it to get to the
Starcrusher? I need that ship stopped so I can figure out what's wrong with
Tessa and save the universe without killing her."
"Uh, no," Jack admitted.
"I'm kind of stuck. I'm kind of magical, you see, and I've lost my body
and I can't exist in this containment field without an anchor."
"At least I'm guaranteed decent
conversation," Warp said.
"What?" Orion demanded over the
comlink. "Who are you talking to? You'll never be able to get in contact
with your allies. That containment field can even keep you trapped
within."
"Bite me," Warp said.
"You have two minutes, Warp. Kill
her, and you'll be free, Earth will be safe, and the universe won't die. Let
her live, and we're all dead... and I'm taking everything you care about with
me."
"What I really need now is some deus
ex machina," Warp sighed. There
was sudden static from the comlink as Warp picked up another transmission from
the Starcrusher.
"Lord Orion," Pyre shouted,
"we've got an intruder! Some sort of amorphous being with eyes and mouths!
It's destroyed the astrogation relay!"
"What?" Orion bellowed.
"Destroy it!"
"Now its gone again," Pyre
cried. "It just disappeared!"
"Thank you, God," Warp said.
"You know, is this an infinite
space-time nexus?" Jack asked.
"Yes," Warp sighed.
"And she's destroying it by looping
its power through herself?"
"Um..." Warp said. "What
was that middle part again?"
"If she's connected to an infinite
source, you just need to introduce a finite element to disconnect her." Jack
paused. "I'm just guessing here, but you're trying to do that,
right?"
"Get that ship going!" Orion was
screaming in the background.
"Yes. That's exactly what I want to
do. Without killing her."
"Can you use your powers to introduce
a finite element to her field."
"I can do it in five words,"
Warp said.
"Wow," Jack said, kind of awed.
"Hey Tess!" Warp yelled.
"Do you still love me?"
There was momentary consciousness in
Tessa's eyes, as she focused on her first love. And how it ended.
Then there was a flash of light, and Tessa
was gone.
"Did it work?" Warp asked no one
in particular.
"Nexus is stable," the Center
interrupted.
Warp sighed. "Tell Orion he's got
five minutes until I come kick his fucking alien ass."
Character(s):
Janus, Hyix
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: Hyix is a Pain in my Butt
"All right, you alien mofo,"
Janus grumbled, wrestling the thing to the ground, "I can do this. Things
can't be completely immutable..."
Then Janus felt the blob slither out of
his arms and race down the hall. "Shit," Janus said, looking at his
robe, now in tatters from the thing's teeth. He looked around, but all he could
see was an old "Sewer Treatment Plant Ball - August 9, 802" banner.
He grabbed it and wrapped it around
himself. It would have to do.
The blob slithered under a door at the end
of the hallway. Janus followed.
Author:
Jeff Hersh
Storyline:
Rat Kings
Title
of Post: Rat Kings
Across the planet, all the Rat Kings
started to glow and hum. The energies they collected focused on the King of
Kings and the essence of the Collector.
Character(s):
Jack and the Pack
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: The Truth About Janus
The blue chair was flashing.
Jack had disappeared.
The Beast roared with rage. After all this
time, he was free. He lashed out.
Janus ran into the door, wrapped in a
muddy banner. "All right, King of Kings, prepare to face the wrath of
Janus, Master of the--"
The Beast suckerpunched Janus, who fell to
the ground.
Janus' head shattered like glass, and a
human face was visible underneath. A
familiar, albeit staticky voice was barely audible from within. "Warp? Are
you okay? What's going on out there? Talk to me, Warp!"
Character(s):
The Integral Ebreth
Author:
Laura Redish
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: Cut Off His Tail With A Carving Knife
"Jack!" shouted Ebreth. He found
he could move again. The floor of the chamber was moving with bones, tiles, and
the bodies of rats. Some kind of pungent, salty smell was swirling in the air.
The body of Laran Raimonde was crumbling into sand. Suddenly Ebreth saw one of
the rats' heads lifting from the huge mandala of rats. "Hey! It's our rat!"
"Ebreth, no!" shouted Khyrisse.
"This place is collapsing! We've got to get out of here!"
"We need our rat!" Ebreth
skittered across the tilting floor. Some stupid deathtrap triggered as the
ground shifted and he stumbled, but he jumped up and over the blade that shot
out at his knees. "Come here, rat! Come here!"
"He's stuck!" cried Skitch.
Necromantic energies swirled violently in
the air, deprived of a center.
"This is going to hurt," Ebreth
told the rat, and sliced through its tail with his sailor's knife, breaking the
True King of Kings.
Character(s):
The Collector, Hyix, Vision
Author:
Jeff Hersh
Storyline:
Rat Kings
Title
of Post: The Nature of Collections
Hyix entered Odn's chambers and flew into
the chamber of the King of Kings. Ahead it could see what it came for. Its
kindred child of Vision. It was non-corporeal, but it was still there. Hyix
folded in on himself and engulfed the body of Laran and the spirit of the
Collector, just as the collected energy in the King of Kings and the Rat Kings
hit the chamber.
The rosy spheres and the vortex flew
apart. The sigils that were burned into the Rat Pack's flesh dissolved away
like ice. The combined Hyix and Collector sprit reared up.
Deep in space, within the Juggernaut ship
Vision, the thing that called itself Vision felt the call. It turned in on
itself and reappeared in the chamber of the King of Kings.
"I do not like this!" screamed
Vas.
Hyix grew to gigantic proportions. The
entire place shook. Then Vision appeared.
Wordlessly it merged with the
Hyix/Collector hybrid then shattered. A black column of greasy smoke flew up,
through the roof and across the planet.
Character(s):
Ebreth Tor
Author:
Laura Redish
Storyline:
Dead Diarians From Outer Space: They Want Our Women!
Title
of Post: The Line That Absolutely Needed To Be Said
Ebreth's eyes grew wide as the Vision
suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. "Run!" he shouted. He stuffed
the bleeding rat, squealing with pain, into his shirt front and grabbed
Khyrisse by the arm.
"The Beast is in front of the
door!" cried Vas. "We'll be killed!"
"We'll last longer than we will
against that--" Ebreth shook his head violently. "Move!"
Character(s):
Vision... or what he has become
Author:
Jeff Hersh
Storyline:
Rat Kings and Mind Games... Fin.
Title
of Post: Epilogue?
A fine ash drifted across the face of
Ataniel. Over time, the ash settled and, as if under its own control, began to
merge into little black balls of black, gooey ash. Black, gooey ash with
hundreds of malevolent and hungry red eyes.
Character(s):
Everyone
Author:
Douglass Barre
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Showdown
Title
of Post: The King of Kings
From out of the column of smoke stepped...
the Beast. Its fur was turned pure
white. "I... am... the King of
Kings..." it said. "The energies of a million deaths are within me...
I will live forever..."
"Oh fuck this," Ebreth said, and
tossed the small mithril dagger at the creature as he ran away.
The mithril stuck into its fur and
lightning arced from it.
On the other side of the arc, the blue
stone throne flashed once again. Odn appeared once more upon it.
Dead.
The body of the archmage dissolved into
biomass.
The Beast fell to the floor.
The energies were gone, to where, none
could tell.
The King of Kings was no more.
Character(s):
The Rat Pack
Author:
Laura Redish
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Endgame
Title
of Post: The Broken Chain
The broken King of Kings shook and began
to go off like firecrackers, the dead and animated corpses of the other rats
exploding one by one.
Character(s):
Odn
Author:
Laura Redish
Storyline:
Rat Kings: Denouement
Title
of Post: Somewhere In L.A.
There was a blue flash.
"I... am... the King of Kings..."
intoned some incomprehensible language.
"The energies of a million deaths are within me... I will live
forever..."
The flash ripped open and disappeared. The
strange guy was gone.
"Did--you see that?" said one of
the youths.
"I--didn't see nothin'."
"Well, that's good, cause I--didn't
see nothin' either."
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