JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 18

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 18: SINKING DEEPER

Jake squirmed in his bus seat and struggled to control his breathing. His face felt hot, as if he had a fever, and his clothes stuck to him in uncomfortable places. Marionette’s intense kisses kept replaying in his head.

Other bus passengers glanced his way uneasily or stared at him openly. He probably looked like a freak.

He swallowed hard and ran a hand through his hair. His fingers came away moist with perspiration. He desperately wanted to hit the court and shoot some hoops. Or go back to Marionette’s apartment. Or grab another girl—any other girl.

You’re not choosy, she’d said.

And he remembered Natasha’s words, too: Boys his age need sports to release their excess energy, or they commit sex crimes. He had thought she was joking.

Darn it, maybe they were both right. Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 18”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 17

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 17: FLASH IN THE PAN

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Magical Girl Grease Pencil Marionette remembered.

She lay, as she often did, with her head in the lap of the Moon Princess. She stared at the ceiling, face expressionless, saying nothing, as the Princess ran delicate fingers through her silver hair.

“My pet,” the Princess cooed in a gentle singsong. “My pet, my pet, my darling Marionette.”

They were in the Moon Base, the Princess’s secret lair hidden beneath an antiquities museum in the heart of the city. The Princess sat on a divan between two marble pillars, and Marionette sprawled on the divan like a carelessly dropped toy.

Across the room, Sentinel, the Princess’s supercomputer, quietly thrummed as it communicated with its satellite network, which scanned the Earth, near space, and proximal alternate dimensions for significant threats. Around the room, screens showed satellite images of the world, or shots of stars or the moon. Other screens displayed scrolling text. Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 17”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 16

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 16: REQUIEM

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A stairwell led down into the shelter. From the top of that stairwell, a patch of black soot radiated out into the street. As Chirops neared it, his nose twitched. He recoiled at the stench of burnt petrol and charred flesh.

A chill ran down his spine at the thought of what must lie in the concrete bunker beneath, a place of refuge now turned into a charnel house. Across the universe, these magical girls of Earth were infamous for their ruthlessness, a ruthlessness that, thanks to their influence, now characterized humanity as a whole. Urbanopolis, as its innumerable enemies well knew, would do anything to survive.

Even kill its own.

The universe is a tomb … Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 16”

Updates and Delays

Featured image: “Magical Patisserie Kosaki ~ Haru Chan” by SylphineSnowphire

I was laid off recently, and I’ve been working temp jobs, so my schedule has become screwy. The sixteenth chapter of Jake and the Dynamo has been edited on paper, but I still have to put the edits into the uploadable version, and I need to add a short, additional section.

The chapter won’t go up tonight, but depending on my work schedule tomorrow, I might be able to post by late tomorrow afternoon. If that doesn’t work out, it will go up later in the week.

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 15

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 15: A NEW PRIMA DONNA

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Chirops trembled as he slipped out of the stream. In a flash of dissipating magical energy, he entered Urbanopolis. The jagged rubble gouged his feet, and the cool air made his fur stand on end. It had been many ages since he’d been here.

All things considered, not much had changed.

The demoniac wasn’t hard to find. Near a collapsed building, he stood, perfectly balanced on the tips of his toes, on the top of a broken wall that now leaned at a forty-five degree angle. Blood and dust streaked his cheap suit. He gazed at the full moon, his back to Chirops. But soon after the bat appeared, the demoniac, with the sound of popping vertebrae, twisted his head around backwards. His mouth spread into an impossibly wide grin, revealing sixty or seventy sharp, crooked teeth. He flexed long, bony fingers, which at their tips had six-inch, razor-sharp claws. Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 15”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 14

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 14: THE THIRD TEST

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Magical Girl Lady Paladin Andalusia stared up at the sky. When the stars began to sparkle, she turned to Jake with a wan smile and said, “Much as I would prefer company, I must send you to bed. This night, I stand the long watch alone.”

Jake nodded and rubbed his arms. The air was chilly. “I admit I’m not looking forward to the shelter you described, and I doubt I’ll sleep anyway—”

“It’s a favor to Pretty Dynamo. If I lost you, I’d be sure to hear about it.”

“She’s less attached to me than you think.” Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 14”

Jake and the Dynamo Tonight!

Featured image: “Alpha Ultimate Magical Girl” by Lun-art.

Haven’t been on much as I’ve been busy, but I have finished editing chapter 14 of Jake and the Dynamo, so the story will update tonight as usual.

I intend to spend the rest of the day drafting another chapter, but I have a review in the works that will go up tomorrow or in the near future if I have time. Of course, I also need to finish an essay for another venue, so I might need to do that instead.

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 13

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 13: THE PALADIN

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Jake couldn’t remember the last time he was this tired. They’d been hiking for hours, and the sun was dipping toward the west. His stomach ached, and the inside of his mouth felt rough and gooey. He hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since breakfast. His calves and the arches of his feet burned. His left foot swelled up, and his shoe felt tight. He limped, and every step sent a shock of pain up his leg. No matter how long he smelled it, he couldn’t grow accustomed to the fetid stench of rotting zombie flesh, which clung to the blood and gore covering Pretty Dynamo, and to the severed hand grasping his leg. Every once in a while, he fell into a fit of retching. Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 13”

Addendum

And as an addendum to my last post, I had thought I might get close to Card Collector Kasumi’s intended look if I played around with the Halloween Magical Girl Creator, and I think she didn’t come out half bad if I do say so myself.