《Shadows {Book one in the Coriana Johnson series}》A Long Story
Advertisement
"Ok, this is somehow gross, creepy, messed up, and kinda cool all at once,"I said as I stared at the weird, bloody skeleton laying on one of the tables in the lab.
Daisy was bent over, studying it.
"I'm not sure I would say cool," she muttered.
I shrugged.
"You got to be kidding me," Mack said as he walked up behind us. "Ward? What a pain in the butt. What? Leaving him for dead on another planet isn't enough to get rid of that guy?"
"You're looking better," Daisy said.
"Yeah? 'Cause you're not," he replied.
"Hi Mack! How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Better. You?"
"Well, I don't have a pounding headache anymore and my leg doesn't feel like it's on fire, so except for the broken arm, I feel pretty good."
"Well, we don't think he's a guy anymore," Daisy said, getting back to the original subject.
"We think Ward's body was possessed, for lack of a better word, by It, the creature..." Simmons began.
"From the other planet," Fitz finished.
"Ok, so the world is a lot weirder than I thought," I muttered.
"Get used to it," Daisy told me.
"So, he burned them or something?" Mack asked.
"Honestly, right now...." Simmons began.
"We have no idea," Fitz finished for her again. "When I was there, It knew everything that Will did, even after he was...gone."
Another brilliant showing of Fitzsimmons finishing each others sentences. They're perfect for each other.
"Which means whatever this thing is has Ward's memories, so why hasn't It come after us?" Daisy said.
"Maybe It's not interested in us," Fitz replied.
"Can't believe I'm hearing this," Mack sighed.
I raised an eyebrow.
"This is the weirdest conversation I've ever had," I said.
"Well, we know It destroyed an entire civilization over there. Who knows what It has planned here?" Simmons wondered.
"I'm still totally lost, but I'm not even going to ask anymore," I said and sighed.
"Tremors, you saw the future, right? You see anything else? Anything that might help us out?" Mack asked.
She was about to answer, but suddenly an agent walked into the lab.
"Director Coulson would like to see you in his office ... all of you," he said.
~~~~~~~~
"Malick has given new meaning to the term 'hostile takeover.' What he did at Transia Corp was brutal, even for him. They must have something he needs," Coulson said to us after we had all assembled in his office, the picture of that creepy dude whose name was apparently Ward, or whatever he was now.
Advertisement
"If we can figure out what it is..." May began.
"It'll lead us to Ward," Mack said, completing her thought.
"This is not Ward," Coulson said with certainty.
"Sure is creepy like Ward," Daisy muttered.
"Ward's dead. I saw it happen," Fitz said.
"There's a lot of overlap between the two companies, but only Transia has a subsidiary dabbling in the agrochemical field," Coulson said.
"GT Agrochemical. Does what?" Daisy asked.
"GMOs, pesticides, ruining the global food supply," Simmons replied.
"Minutes after the takeover, a paramilitary force took control of that branch, started moving equipment out," Coulson informed us.
"Zephyr is wheels up in 20. The Quinjet will peel off mid-flight," May said.
"We're splitting up?" I asked.
"Lincoln and Daisy have a stop to make in the Badlands," Coulson said.
"There, uh...there was this Inhuman in Afterlife. He might have answers about whatever is possessing Ward. It's a long story," Lincoln said. "I'll explain on the way," he added quickly as Daisy gave him a definitely unhappy look.
"We're in the dark, but right now, Ward and this thing...they're not afraid to take what they want or kill who they want. So what's our advantage?" Coulson asked.
"None," I muttered.
"They're not afraid," Mack said.
I raised an eyebrow.
I turned to Coulson as the team left his office.
"Where do you want me sir?" I asked.
"Go with Daisy and Lincoln. There shouldn't be too much trouble there," he replied.
"Thanks," I said and smiled.
I turned and walked out.
I looked around, wondering where Daisy was. I saw Lincoln walking down the hallway, so I followed him, assuming he knew where to go, because I didn't.
I caught up to him.
"Hey Lincoln! Where are you going?" I asked.
"Looking for Daisy. Have you seen her?" he asked me.
"No. Maybe she's already on the Quinjet," I replied.
He nodded.
"Ok, I'll check there," He said and turned around to head towards the hangar.
"Do you mind if I go with you?" I asked. "I was looking for her too."
He shrugged.
"Sure."
We walked into the hangar and entered the Zypher 1. We went into the Quinjet and spotted Daisy. We walked over to her.
"Hi Daisy!" I said. She looked up.
"Where did you go?" Lincoln asked.
"Trying to understand how we've been searching the globe for months and you never bothered to mention another Afterlife Inhuman," Daisy said, and I detected frustration in her voice.
Advertisement
"Am I invisible?" I muttered. Sometimes I hated being the one who had only been here for a little while. Apparently I wasn't allowed to be included in all conversations, and I usually had no idea WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT. Sorry, I'm venting.
Anyway, the two of them continued to talk, still acting as if I was invisible.
"Potential Inhuman. He was never given powers. And until we saw Ward's corpse walking around, I was pretty sure he was crazy town. I wasn't trying to keep anything from you," Lincoln said.
"So don't. He's in South Dakota?" Daisy said.
"Off the grid. His name's James. He's a demolitions expert. Australian. Former mercenary. Few weeks after I got there, Jiaying caught him breaking into her private archives and banished him."
I flinched at the mention of her.
"What was he doing in there?" Daisy asked.
"Stealing, mostly. He made a big scene, ranting about the second coming of some ancient Inhuman who could raise the dead.
"Huh. Well, something tells me he won't be jumping at the chance to help us," Daisy muttered.
"What, you don't think a crazy, rambling, secluded, thieving, demolitions expert will want to help us? Whatever gave you that idea?" I said sarcastically.
"He was pretty bitter, not getting powers. We'll need to be careful and keep our eyes open," Lincoln said.
"Ok then. Make that a crazy, rambling, secluded, thieving, jealous demolitions expert," I said.
Daisy rolled her eyes.
I shrugged.
"I'm just telling the truth."
Lincoln sighed.
"We're taking off soon," He said and sat down on one of the seats, and I did too.
All of us remained silent for a bit as the Zypher took off.
Eventually, I broke the silence.
"So...I was just wondering...I know we still have a little while before we arrive so...I know that you said, Daisy, that you would explain everything about what in the world is going on. So....would now be a good time?" I asked.
Daisy shrugged.
"Sure," She replied.
"Thanks," I said and sat up.
"Well," She began, "I guess I need to tell you the whole story, from the beginning. Before I joined SHEILD, I was a hacker, and I worked for a group called the Rising Tide. SHEILD found me, brought me in, and eventually they let me join them.
"Grant Ward was one of the members of our team then. Me and him- became close. But then, I discovered he was working for an organization which had been inside SHIELD, Hydra.
"Eventually he was captured, but eventually he escaped when he was being transferred. He rejoined Hydra, but this time it was for his own agenda.
"We had been searching for an alien city, which we had basically a blueprint of since Coulson, well- he had been carving some of it on walls because of a drug which had been given to him- sorry, this is the nutshell version of things.
"We were tracking down the city, when I was captured by Hydra who took me to Cal. But Ward helped me escape, and I shot him. He survived though. I went down into the alien city to try and stop a woman who was trying to activate what we thought was a weapon.
"She did activate it, but it turned out not to be a weapon. I learned later that it was called a diviner, and it awakened my Inhuman genes."
Recognition showed on my face.
"Diviner. That's a word I've only heard about a million times," I muttered.
"Because of Cal," I explained.
Daisy nodded and continued.
"Anyways, you remember all the stuff I told you that happened with Jiaying."
I nodded.
"Well, after all of that, we had this thing, called The Monolith, in our possession. One day, Simmons got sucked into it, but after a while, Fitz was able to discover what it was. It was a portal, to a planet called Maveth.
"Fitz brought Simmons back from the planet, and the Monolith was destroyed. Kind of.
"It turned out, long ago, Hydra had taken rectangular chunks out of it, so they could still go to the planet. They wanted to go to the planet to bring back some ancient Inhuman.
"Well, some Hydra agents, including Ward, went to the planet, as well as Coulson and Fitz. Ward was killed on the planet, by Coulson. We think that the Inhuman is what's "possessing" Ward's body, so to speak," she finished.
I blinked rapidly, processing all of the information.
"Wow. That's a lot of stuff. I've got no idea if I'll remember it all but- wow," I said.
Daisy nodded.
"Yeah. And that was the nutshell version," She said.
"I would hate to see what the long version was like," I commented.
We sat in silence for a little longer, talking every once in a while.
Finally, we landed and I watched as the ramp opened.
"Are you both ready?" Daisy asked.
Lincoln and I nodded.
"Then lets go."
Advertisement
- In Serial135 Chapters
Immovable Mage
What do you call a mage incapable of casting spells? In this story, we usually call him Terry. When the boy is accepted into Arcana Academy, his talent in the pillars of mana foundation awes everyone. All the bigger is the eventual disappointment when Terry turns out to be an utter failure at spellwork. Diagnosis? Major aspect impairment. No cure. Ever. Faced with expulsion, Terry is blessed with the unexpected kindness of others. Terry loses his spot in the Academy but in exchange, he finds a home with a family. Terry starts to train as a pure mana cultivator but never stops looking for his own path as a mage – day after day, season after season, always searching for compatible spellwork… Until finally, Terry’s perseverance earns him a single spell – the only spell he will ever be able to cast. Disclaimers: Chapter Frequency: I aim for one chapter a week. Chapter Length: I try to keep chapters between 3000 and 6000 words. Binge Preference: I plan for 30 chapters per arc. If you want to binge a complete arc, then that is the number to wait for. I will also add a line to chapters indicating the beginning and end of an arc. Advanced Access: I have created a patreon page with early access to four chapters for patrons. What to Expect: Progression fantasy with a western fantasy setting and with eastern fantasy elements. A main character that is forced to explore a very narrow path of magic due to a permanent condition. A main character that is a part of a larger cast. A main character that is growing but won't become the strongest around anytime soon. A story following a single main character but with introduction or theme setting scenes without the main character. What Not to Expect: Edgy grimdark characters – I will never write a sexual violence scene or gory descriptions of torture. I hate reading it and I would hate writing it even more. Romance – romantic relationships will never be the focus of the story and only appear in the background. The main character is preoccupied with other stuff. Other forms of relationships (family, friends, companions) play a bigger role. Cover: The cover art was commisioned from redditor Linh-Nguyen87. The font is alita brush by Inovatype Typefoundry. Overview: 001–030 Arc 1, Cultivating Perseverance: complete. 031–060 Arc 2, Undying Defiance: complete. 061–090 Arc 3, Unyielding Fury: scheduled for publishing. 091–120 Arc 4, Savage Hope: scheduled for publishing. 121–150 Arc 5, Self-Made Fate: first draft in progress. 151–180 Arc 6, Heretic Style: sketching in progress. Further Arcs are still in the sketching and idea collection phase.
8 200 - In Serial7 Chapters
My Dear Alice - A Dark Awakening
He’ll cross a lethal land to bring her back home. But is she willing to be found? Appalachian Wasteland, 2072. Jamie Henderson wants to forget all about his ex-girlfriend Alice. Except this nonviolent fixer has been hired to find her after she went missing in the ongoing AI-controlled war. But his quest through the hostile post-apocalyptic terrain turns deadly when a roadside raider attack sees him captured by a terrifying matriarchal clan. Stranded in dangerous territory, Jamie’s jaw drops when he discovers his ex among their numbers. But with her personality split and scattered, his own survival will depend on reaching through her fragmented mind… Can this pacifist hunter make the truth known before he’s sentenced to death? My Dear Alice is a fast-paced companion story that bridges Seasons 1 and 2 of the gripping Cyber Overture dystopian series. If you like complex character studies, gritty worlds, and shocking twists, then you’ll love D. B. Goodin’s outlander opus. Note: This should be read after Sonorous. This story has been published, but I'm adding it here for Royal Road readers to enjoy.
8 149 - In Serial14 Chapters
Noodle Knight
Excerpt:“Huh? What? Sorry, I was busy enjoying these wonderful noodles over here. Would you like a bowl? No, sorry. What were you saying?”“As I was saying, the heroes here shall be under your care so that they may get accustomed to our world and combat in preparation for The Great Serving time.”Still distracted by my noodles, I reply idly.“Yes your majesty…” Wait, did I just agree to babysit these guys?================================================================A/N: Nothing serious at all as I'm writing for fun. Perhaps you'll like my humor.Update 6/4/16 - Duel in progress with BeeBaBoop.Chapters written: 2 of 3*Disclaimer* Rated Teen for wordplay.
8 230 - In Serial7 Chapters
Tales Of The Rocket Patrol
Defenders of the colonies, lawmen and arbitrators who settle disputes. Their sole function is to serve and protect the people. They are the Rocket Patrol!
8 121 - In Serial7 Chapters
OSHA Approved Apocalypses
Pat is an old man. Pat had kids but they grew up and moved out. They went to college and now live across the country doing their own thing. Pat sees them a few times a year and they talk over the phone on Wednesdays. Pat's wife died 6 years ago and while he's content in life he isn't particularly happy. He is 63 years old and hoping to retire from the safety inspector life in another 5. He had a long, fulfilling, life. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then an apocalyptical event happens and Pat has a sudden career change. Pat now is no longer worried about proper hot work permits and danger tape being placed correctly. Pat is now worried about keeping people safe in cleared dungeons so Artisans can get the raw materials and loot the group needs to live. Retirement looks like a distant dream now but a guy still has to eat. How does Pat do this? By inspecting cleared dungeons for working trap signs and red danger tape. Some things just never change. Join Pat and his Trusty LEL meter while he levels up as a Dungeon Inspector and attempts to make his new world safe, one strip of red danger tape at a time.
8 85 - In Serial36 Chapters
Vastmire and the Planet Longan
Seasons have passed, and the countries around the Tamarind Sea have enjoyed the longest stretch of peace they've ever experienced. If you ask anyone, they'll say this was due to the work of Prince Mint, but they won't know the details. Instead, they'll spread tired rumors, peddling lies as if they were truths, immortalizing Mint as something he's not, someone he knows he never was. The knowledge eats away at him. Unable to take it anymore, he's begun writing a journal with the full intent to discuss everything that happened to him all those seasons ago, dispelling his old feelings of being an imposter in his own body. But will people still think he was a hero after reading it? Or will it be dismissed as the work of a liar, a senile old man lost in his own past?
8 175