Showing results by author "William D. Arand" in All Categories

An existence spent being forced to kill others to satiate a monster. Where the only thing to look forward to was the blessed, if brief, period of time between paying that bribe. Except that very same monster is and isn’t Rene. It just happened to live inside his own mind and force him to do what it wanted.

Utilizing the Hall, the voice in his head that calls itself Locke, those who have aligned with his faction, and all the powers available to him, Ash has begun his own journey of Cultivation. Except that as a Fated One, his journey is a narrow and winding path between two cosmic forces. Each one vying for dominance. That doesn’t even take into account the royal family or the Realm Lord. This is his third step in his life as a Cultivator.

Have you ever woken up, rolled over, and thought to yourself, “I’m pretty sure I’m working for a Super Villain.” If you haven’t, then maybe you’re not the type of person to work for a global corporation. Edmund, however, is just such an individual. He works for Legion: a corporation of unimaginable reach that he barely understands, a corporation that seems determined to put itself smack dab in the middle of a brewing civil war between Super Heroes and Super Villains.

Ryker only had one goal in his life right now: turn a certain adventuring guild into a flaming wreck while dancing merrily through the smoldering ruins. All for the chance to get back at a handful of people. It didn’t work out that way though. At all. He’d died, been forced into the body of an avatar, absconded with the queen as her castle fell to betrayal, kidnapped a little kid who is obviously more than he seems, and to top all that off, he killed his undead father. The smoldering ruins of the queendom have cooled, and Ryker has a task that is more than likely too much for him.

Warner spent his days like almost anyone else. He got up, went to work, answered phone calls in a call center, went home, spent time with his daughter, and went to sleep. Only to repeat the pattern over and over and over. Life was as mundane as anyone could ever fear it to be. Today was the day that all that would change. On this day, his daughter Maya would be nearly fatally injured, plunging Warner into a world of paranormal creatures, monsters, and magic he’d never known existed. The only consolation is that he discovers he’s not quite human, either.

In a world full of superpowers, Felix had a pretty crappy one. He has the ability to modify any item he owns and to upgrade anything. Sounds great on paper; almost like a video game. Except that the amount of power it takes to actually change, modify, or upgrade anything worthwhile is beyond his abilities. At least, that was until Felix leveraged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give himself a great deal of points. Investing in, owning, and using Super Heroes and Super Villains, Felix built up an empire: an organization by the name of Legion.

Reports to write, forms to fill, coffee to drink, leads to run down, organized crime syndicates to break. Gus’ life had been a tedium. That was before Melody, a contractor, more or less blew his life up as if it were a building packed full of C-4. Then helped him make a new life, which he himself ended blowing up. A cushy new job with the FED, thrown out the window with a single gunshot. All based on an assumption of who was working for who, and that he’d been on the wrong side of the equation.

Reports to write, forms to fill, coffee to drink, leads to run down. Gus’s life was a tedium and boredom he’d grown comfortable with. One that he sought out after he’d come back from his tour of duty. A detective in the paranormal investigations department. A job he could work day in and day out in relative peace. One cold and forgotten cup of coffee at a time. It was an environment that made some sense to him. At least in comparison to civilian life where almost nothing did. On top of that, it gave him a chance to hide what he was from the rest of the world.

Runner has a problem. He and 499,000 men and women are trapped in a game. He also just happens to be the only person from IT who could log everyone out safely. And he doesn't remember his password. He, like everyone else in this nightmare, had his memory scrambled or lost in the process of being loaded into the game. A single garbled message is his only clue to how to save everyone. The problem is that whoever loaded them into the game loaded their minds completely.

An existence spent being forced to kill others to satiate a monster. Where the only thing to look forward to was the blessed, if brief, period of time between paying that bribe. Except that very same monster is and isn’t Rene. It just happened to live inside his own mind and force him to do what it wanted - rather than him being an actual monster. That was Rene’s entire life until a fateful day changed that. A day that his career as a hitman for hire built on the monster’s needs will end. Where Rene will be forced to atone for his actions. To be held accountable and judged.

Sameerixis, or Sam for those who actually know him, isn’t what you’d call normal. He had been a door-to-door salesman, of sorts. One that peddled wares, wishes, and whims to anyone willing to pay his prices. Except that life is gone now. His old business model had been modernized. Sam was a man trapped in place by his own success. And loving it. Additionally, he was also the owner of a private military company that specialized in dealing with criminals or those wanted by a government. His goals were simple. Now, he’s gotten exactly what he wanted in the worst possible way.

Warner spent his days like no one else. He got up, went to work, forced people to balance their scales - either through taking lives or forced penance - went home, spent time with his daughter, slept with one of his girlfriends, and went to sleep. Only to repeat the pattern over and over and over. Life was the furthest thing from mundane that it could ever be.

Warner’s life had changed when his daughter had been nearly fatally injured, plunging Warner into a world of paranormal creatures, monsters, and magic that he’d never known existed. Then he came out the other side as the arbiter of Retribution. He now personally hands out justice to any and all he comes across.

Reports to write, forms to fill, coffee to drink, leads to run down. Gus’s life had been a tedium and boredom he’d grown comfortable with. One that he sought out after he’d come back from his tour of duty. That was before Melody, a contractor, more or less blew his life up as if it were a building packed full of C4. Then she pranced around the ashes of it like it was the end of the world and was conjuring up the end times herself.

Runner and company have safely left the city ahead of the siege. Completing their class promotions with barely any time to spare. Unfortunately Runner hasn't discovered the password he needs to begin the logoff process to save the 400,000 or so crewmates left alive in this game where dying truly means death.