The Stormcrow, A Superhero's Tale Options

[Renee]

How much time overall has passed so far? What month / year did this begin, and where are we now? I get obsessive with dates in a lot my own stories & updates. If it's too much trouble, don't worry, I just get curious hon.

Gilda Gladfly's report sounds just like a cheesy news update, from the "light" section of the news.

and if one of her misadventures made people happy for a little while, so much the better.

Plus, this is one way she'll differentiate herself from the grim, more serious-minded Branwyn.

Sh1t she's dropping out of school. That's what i did. I really wish I hadn't. If I could go back I'd major in Languages. Lopov has inspired me over the years. I get where Jan's coming from, of course. She's got a huge career ahead of her if she wants this, to be her own boss.

and this whole cape thing? I'll have to drop out of gaming night again, like I did last semester."

Aww. I can relate.

"I don't know…" January found herself biting her lip. She stopped. She didn't want to get lipstick on her teeth.

Hey for what it's worth, I think Jan should go ahead and put her books (podcast, blog, whatever) out there. Maybe she's a little apprehensive though because she's worried about what the intimidating Blood Raven, who is also a writer, will think.

[SubRosa]

Acadian: January could definitely use some pet rescue training. Her record so far is being bitten by a dog, and clawed by a cat. Good thing she has armor!

This Spell For Hire is a play on This Gun For Hire. It sounded perfect for a pair of magical detectives. The original movie from the 40s had a for cable tv remake in the 90s with Robert Wagner, which I really liked. I wish I could find it somewhere, because I would like to see it again sometime.

Lawful Good and Stupid Good, and telling the difference, will be a recurring theme for January, as she tries to do the right thing, without going too far in the direction of being Lawful Stupid, or too far in the direction of being Stupid Good on the other. The life of a Paladin is not always as simple as punching a Lich in the face.


Renee: At this point only a month has passed. Roughly a week between each chapter. If you look at the first episode I post of each chapter, I will give the date range of the entire chapter. Chapter 1 started in early May. This one takes place from June 1st - 9th. I do have a timeline written down, so I don't get tripped up on dates. I remember seeing a discussion on whether or not to keep a timeline in some writer's forum (maybe Reddit?), and one person said that after they had created a timeline of events in his novel, it turned out that it would have taken years longer than he had originally thought if he kept it as he had originally wrote it. So he went back and cleaned it up.

Here is the timeline so far, including events that happened before the first story began:

Timeline
March 24 = The Conjurer summons an Abyssal during the Nain Rouge Parade. it is not anchored, and easily banished
May 4 and 5 (Saturday and Sunday) = Stormcrow Rising
May 5 = The Conjurer summons an Abyssal during Cinco De Mayo, using elemental symbols to anchor it, making it immune from banishment
May 14 and 15 (Tuesday and Wednesday) = Stormcrow Recycled
May 25 = The Conjurer summons an Abyssal during Technofest, anchoring it with an animal sacrifice
May 25 and 26 (Saturday and Sunday) = Stormcrow Burning
May 27th = Memorial Day.
May 27 - June 1 (Monday -Saturday) = Stormcrow Pride [Ferndale Pride on Saturday]
June 1 = The Conjurer summons an Abyssal during Ferndale Pride, anchoring it with a human sacrifice
June 1 - 9 = Crystal Death [Motor City Pride]
June 1 = Chad overdoes on Crystal Death at Leland City Club.
June 8 = January called out to the Mills house on a false Crystal Death tip.

Gilda is definitely the lighter side of reporting. She is kind of the gossip columnist for all the cape news. Behind the scenes I know that she was a "serious" reporter, but had to turn to the more click-bait, sensationalist, style because she had a severely autistic child. She simply could not pay for his care on a regular reporter's salary. So she turned herself into a veritable media powerhouse. She has a national TV show, a radio show that also gets picked up by stations across the country, a podcast, a newspaper column, etc... She is a total media blitz.

You are right that January's comedic misadventures is one thing that will differentiate her from the dour Blood Raven. Stay tuned for January's decision about advertising her writing as Stormcrow. She will come up with a solution that goes far beyond what Avery suggested. Likewise, school comes up this episode once more.











Zoomer

The Goat

January's new logo

Nanotwinned Cubic Born Nitride




Book 5.6 - Crystal Death

"Okay," Gadget nodded as he fitted a piece of metal to one forearm of the suit. "But I think you're wrong about school. I think you should stick with it and get your degree. I know it's a lot of money, and a lot of time. But I think it's good for you. You spend too much time alone, especially since you moved into the new house. It's good for you get out."

"I don't see how I can," January frowned. "Without school I can spend more time on my writing. I can quit the dojo, and still save up money for surgery."

"I get it," Avery agreed. "And maybe quitting the dojo is a good idea. Or at least just cutting down on your hours there, and spending more time writing instead. Remember what Joseph Campbell said: 'Follow your bliss'. Let's face it, for you that's writing. I think school will make you a better writer. Not just for what you learn in class, but for the people you meet there, and the experiences you'll have. Don't worry about the money, it will come. One day you are going to be richer than Croesus thanks to your stories."

"It isn't someday I'm worried about, it's today," January groused. "I could get a student loan, but then I'd be in debt for the rest of my life. I'd rather not get a degree at all if that's my only other option."

"Hey, your mom said she would help," Avery said, "and don't you have a rich aunt now too? Have you asked her for help with tuition? I'm sure she'd be willing to part with some of those fat stacks of Wicca book cash she has."

"I haven't," January frowned again. "I kind of want to do this on my own, if I can. I don't want to be some loser Zoomer begging their parents for money."

"All kids beg their parents for money!" Avery laughed. "It's how we get payback for them embarrassing us in front of our friends for our entire childhoods. You think Bill Gates worked his way through college, or Warren Buffett? You don't have to do everything on your own. It's okay to have help you know."

"I know." January was distinctly aware of her face turning red.

"I'll make you a deal," Avery spun around on his chair and looked her in the eyes. "If I go to college, you go to college."

"You?" January fought to keep her eyes in her skull. "But I thought you said it was pointless, since what you did with tech was not really science, but more like art?"

"I know, I know," Avery held his hands up in self-defense. "But I was wrong. Not about the art part. But I don't think it's pointless. I think knowing how the universe works matters. That's why I enrolled at Harvard for the Fall Term."

"You what?" January leaped to her feet and rushed over to wrap her arms around her friend. "You got into Harvard! That's… that's…. the Goat!"

"Well, it's only online courses from the extension school," Avery said. "So don't get too excited. I'm not actually going to Massachusetts. But I can still learn a lot, and get a degree. I'm thinking of either a nuclear or quantum physics specialization. In six, maybe seven years I'll have a PhD."

"But how can you afford a place like Harvard, even the extension school?"

"If I can make a fusion reactor for your bike, I can do it for some billionaire's private island," Avery declared. "I've got one I'm working on right now that is going to need a home. I'm sure it will cover my tuition and still leave plenty left over, in case your mom or aunt can't come through with the lucre."

"My Avery, a real life Doctor," January did blush then, and tried to brush aside his offer to pay her way through school. Avery had never really worried about paying for things. Not with his inventive genius. But she never wanted him to think that she was only his friend for the money he was bound to make in the future. "You'll be Doctor Gadget, or maybe just The Doctor."

"Doctor… Who?" Avery's eyes sparkled with laughter.

"Hey now, watch the trademark infringements!" January did laugh. "You're going to get me sued when I write our life stories and turn them into a book series."

"I'll be the first one to buy them, and go watch the movies," Avery said. Then he turned more serious. "The best part is that with this being online, I can still stay home and watch my Nana. And I can be around to watch your back when you're out doing that hero thing."

"I don't know what I would do without you," January replied honestly. Looking back on her life, she could not imagine living it without him being there.

"So that's settled then," Avery insisted. "You are going back to school for Fall Semester, just like me."

"I guess I am," January smiled. Then she remembered what Branwen had told her about magic.

A magician is absolute in her certainty. Do it, or do not. There are no other options.

"I know I am," she insisted. "Looks like Lane State it is."

"Excellent!" Avery exclaimed, "and to celebrate, let me introduce you to the Stormcrow Armor 2.0!"

He waved his arms in a stage magician's flourish, and nodded to the armor laid out on the table. At first January did not see any difference. Then she noted the solid armor plating over the shoulders, and along the forearms and shins. There was even a plate that covered the front of her chest.

Also, she noted a new logo stenciled in the middle of that chest piece. It was the classic raven banner image, of a raven in flight. The lines of the bird were all in white, contrasting sharply with the black background of the rest of her armor.

"It's beautiful!" January breathed. "But that's the raven banner. I'm the Stormcrow, remember?"

"It is a crow," Gadget insisted. "Look at the tail feathers. They make a fan shape. That is a crow."

"You are right," January stared in near shock. "A raven's tail feathers make a 'V' shape, a crow's look like a 'C' on its side. How did I never notice that?"

"Apparently no one ever has," Gadget remarked. "Or maybe people just think raven banner sounds cooler than crow banner."

"It does kind of," January admitted. She reached out and rapped a knuckle against the hard metal chest plate. "So what gave you the idea for all this steel? Did Isaac just have a bunch of it laying around, and you decided to play with it?"

"After that giant spider bit through your tunic, I thought it might be a good idea to give the hagfish fibers a little help," Avery explained. "But that is not steel. These new plates are made of nanotwinned cubic boron nitride, or c-BN. I traded a guy some gadgets for a bunch of the stuff."

"Cubic... Boring... Twins?" January raised an eyebrow. "What the yotz is that?"

"It's a thermal and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen that..." Avery stopped after January's eyebrow continued to rise in bewilderment. "Ok, the wiki version is that it's slightly harder than diamond. It's also non-conductive, for the next time you play with lightning."

January closed her eyes and called up her mana.

Fire give me passion and energy Transform me in the night sky.

She was in the armor, and her tights and Nightgirl tee shirt were laid out on the table in the armor's place. She took a few moments to feel the extra weight on her shoulders and arms. It was a little more, but not much. Granted, she imagined that someone without her magically-enhanced muscles might have a different opinion on what "a little more" meant.

She flexed her arms, and rotated them. It did not feel like the plates were inhibiting her range of motion at all. They were small enough not to cover her joints, which were still sheathed in the hagfish fibers. But at the same time it would not be difficult for her to use the cubic boron plates to block a hit.

As an experiment she bent over backwards, went into a handstand, and followed through with the motion into a roll, and bounced back up. Then she grasped the bare studs of the floorboard above between her fingers and thumbs, and pulled herself up into the air. She held her body parallel to the floor in a horizontal Iron Cross for long moments. Then she let herself drop enough to pull her feet in, and rotate them through her spread arms. She let go, dropped to her feet, and did another back flip.

All of it came smooth as silk. She looked back up to see a look of amazement in Avery's eyes. As if she had done something special. Really, it was just some simple gymnastics.

"It feels good," January noted. "I can feel the extra weight, but it doesn't hinder movement at all."

"I could barely lift those solid plates..." Avery murmured. Then he spoke more confidently. "Check your wrist."

January turned over both her armor-plated forearms. She found that the inside of the left hand one had a panel that slid aside with a flick of her fingers. That revealed a touch screen beneath that automatically glowed to life. She immediately started pushing buttons, and found a phone, radio, computer, and everything else a girl might need.

"Wow, it's a pip-boy!" she exclaimed.

"Yep," Avery crowed. "Now you don't need me to be your operator. You can make your own phone calls. Or play candy crush. There's a word processor in there too, so you can write. And its voice activated of course."

"Sága," Avery said clearly, "mask."

Thin metal plates slid down from her helmet and covered her upper lip and jaw, except for several vertical slits that were filled with a fine mesh of fibers. That left her entire head encased in her helmet. For that matter, her entire body was now completely sheathed in armor.

"I got that breath mask working," Avery explained. "It will filter out smoke and most toxins. But I haven't tested it out on the more exotic stuff like anthrax or sarin of course. If you really want to be careful: Sága, scuba."

Now even those breathing slits sealed up. January took a deep breath, and smelled a distinct change in the air. It was nothing she could put into words. In fact, it was nothing at all. The scent of Avery's vanilla air freshener was gone. It was just plain, bland, air.

"Now I can fight giant squid!" January laughed. "Or go to the moon."

"Well, just make it a quick trip," Avery chuckled. "The air supply is limited. But it should see you though any more fires, or scuba dives."

January glanced down at the computer readout on her inner arm, and saw it set her air at 100%. She pressed a few buttons, and the mask slid back away from her mouth, returning her helmet to normal.

"Sága is keyed to recognize both our voices," Avery said. "But I don't think her name will come up often in conversation."

"I like that for a digital assistant." January smiled. "Sága, show me the share drive."

The screen on her wrist immediately shifted to reveal a graphical display of the folders of the drive that Avery had created. She tapped a few times experimentally, and looked over the information that Emilia had sent her about the Death Dealer. Sadly, there was nothing new, and nothing substantial.

"Wow," she breathed, "just wow. I don't even know what to say. With this I can do stakeouts and write at the same time."

[Acadian]

Great advice from Avery about the total ‘school’ experience helping Jan become a better writer for exactly the reasons he laid out. As both a Superhero and a writer, I’d imagine Blood Raven could offer some valuable advice. Perhaps, as Avery mentioned, even offer some help.

Wow, the new mithril steel Storm Armor 2.0 beats anything Ironman’s got! Impressive features and wonderfully presented to readers. Gadget’s been working hard!

Thanks for the running glossary of newspeak terms. This old paladin probably needs it as much as Branwen does.

[Renee]

Wow, thanks for that timeline! That's awesome. A lot has happened in a really short time. She's really been quite busy. No wonder she's thinking of putting everything extra aside.

Loser Zoomer. I've never heard that term before... zoomer. I'll have to tell my daughter since she's Z.

Off-topic, but I recently wanted to see how we have defined all these generational classifications through Wikipedia. All this time I assumed it started with Baby Boomers, but actually the terms go back quite a few decades before boomers. My folks are actually from the Silent Generation, for instance (I always assumed they are boomers, but they're born in the early '40s, which makes them part of the McCarthy generation).

In fact when I got to Gen X, I was surprised to learn how accurate a lot of it was. The term that got me was "latchkey kids". That's totally the difference between X and earlier generations: both parents were working, which meant me (as the eldest) was in charge of keeping all the keys for the house, and also eventually driving my sister around when I turned 16. It was like this for a lot of my peers.

Yah, totally, Avery will ace Harvard. He'll maybe get in trouble for maybe wanting to do things his own way (He's too smart for his teachers), but then, maybe that won't happen since he's taking online courses.

Have you ever heard of Marcus Hutchins? I'm thinking you have. If not, here's a good read. Avery is starting to remind me of Marcus. Elon who?

The discussion between Avery and January is touching. I wonder if this means she'll be going back to school in person? Or merely online.

It is a crow," Gadget insisted. "Look at the tail feathers. They make a fan shape. That is a crow."

I love that. Avery's getting a little defensive as he tries to teach his friend the difference.

But that is not steel. These new plates are made of nanotwinned cubic boron nitride,

Oh goodness! In general I can just imagine her brand-new armor + computer suit. Totally unscuffed and smelling of faint metallic fibers and some sort of polishing oil. Twinkling a little. Death Dealer's got it coming!

Stay tuned for Jan's decision about advertising her writing as Stormcrow

You'd have to pry me away at this point!

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 22 2020, 01:36 PM

[SubRosa]

Acadian: Blood Raven will indeed be putting her two pence in on the subject of Jan's writing career. Not this episode, but next week's.

Gadget is getting a lot of experience at building suits of armor, with and without power and onboard computer systems. Plus he has a spare fusion reactor laying around. Almost as if he was working his way toward something...

I have to work on the newspeak myself too. I have a text file filled with it. Listening to podcasts helps immensely.


Renee: Jan has had a busy life since she became a hero. Generally speaking, I have been going with a week between 'adventures'. But that won't always be the case. Thankfully she is not like Batman, and does not go around 'patrolling' to fight common street criminals. Otherwise she would never get anything done.

Your daughter is a Zoomer, so she probably knows the term. Though it's not always a complimentary one. Still, it is better than Ok Boomer (she probably knows that one too).

Your experience as a Gen-X'er is much like mine. In my case my mother took my brother and I to work with her in the evenings when there was no one to watch us.

Avery will definitely ace Harvard. His biggest problem will be that as a meta-inventor, he is used to sidestepping the laws of physics and just making things work with his superpower of building things. But as a student, he's going to have to obey the laws of nature for a change.

I have heard of Marcus Hutchins. I think my company got slagged by Wanna Cry in fact. We kept it out of our corporate data centers because we had spent the money on security to keep things like that out (firewalls, port forward security, etc...). But they went cheap on the factories, and it infected them all. In the end I think they paid the ransom. To this day the company refuses to admit anything ever happened.

Avery pointing out the differences between a raven and crow's feathers is not so much him being defensive, as just him showing his work. It is something I only noticed recently. It has been called the Raven Banner for a thousand years. But in fact, it is a crow. No one seems to have ever recognized that.

I see Jan going to school in person. At least for the rest of 2019. Once 2020 rolls around in fiction it will have to be remotely, given Covid. Assuming I decide to use it in her fiction (I probably will).

Jan is re-armed and ready for major action. She is going to need it, because there are things waiting for her that can slice through diamond as if it were butter.














The Packard Plant


Split S




Book 5.7 - Crystal Death

January soared over the Packard Plant. One abandoned building after another slid by under her nose. She took a moment to close her eyes and just feel the wind hugging her frame, but only a moment. She did not need Lighthammer to remind her that literally flying blind was not a good idea.

The vigilante flew alongside her in his glowing armor. Light spouted from his legs to give him thrust, while smaller puffs of the same energy occasionally jetted from his arms when he needed to make subtle course changes.

Unlike him, January flew more like a bird. She had even taken to thrusting her arms out to either side parallel to her wings at all times now. It helped her visualize her wings as being a literal part of her, rather than just her cape hardened into a different shape. By now, they almost really were a part of her.

She adjusted her legs and tummy under Lighthammer's direction, to create the most aerodynamic form. But she also pulled at that well of mana that bubbled deep within her. She visualized her flight, saw herself as a true creature of the air, and poured her power into that. She willed that reality into action. She did not want to fly, or hope she could fly, she knew she would fly. There was no other option.

"Looking good Crowgirl," Lighthammer noted. "You're actually gaining altitude right now, without using an updraft."

January nodded. She wanted to grin. But was afraid it might take too much of her attention away from her flight. She wanted to be perfect in her training sessions, or at least as near to it as possible. This was the time she was teaching her body to react by reflex. She wanted to make sure that the reflexes she instilled in herself were the right ones. So when the time came when she could not concentrate on her form, it would come as naturally as riding a bike.

They ran out of derelict factory buildings, which obliged January to turn back, lest she overfly the residential areas that surrounded the old industrial complex. It was time to push herself, and see if all these weeks of Lighthammer's tutelage had paid off. She allowed more of her mana to flow into her form. Then she rolled upside down, and dropped into a descending half-loop. Rather than spilling the air from her wings and falling like a stone, she executed the Split S flawlessly. A moment later she was sailing back in the opposite direction, at a slightly lower altitude, but with increased speed.

Even Lighthammer was surprised. January glanced back to see him execute a Wingover, the exact opposite of her Split S. He pulled up into his loop first, and then rolled to reorient his belly to the ground. That put him above her, but trailing far behind. Now January did allow herself a smile. She was becoming more comfortable with her wings.

January glanced to either side. She noted a short line of cars parked in an otherwise empty side street that ran parallel to the factory buildings. Some people stretched out on the car hoods, with their backs propped up against the windshields. Others stood, and a few even lounged in lawn chairs. All were watching her and Lighthammer. Many held phones up in the air to record it all.

She was going to have to find a new place to practice. Word had gotten out, and now her training sessions had turned into a spectator sport. Thankfully Detroit still had plenty of other abandoned industrial parks to choose from.

She tasted copper on her tongue. January knew what that meant. Blood Raven was near. She scanned the horizon, and picked out Detroit's other champion arrowing in over the southern horizon. She was a black and scarlet wound that cut across the blue of the sky. As always, her cape and hair streamed out behind her, like a glorious scarlet halo. January wondered if that was accidental, or an intentional use of her magic? Blood Raven certainly knew how to make an overawing impression after all.

January picked out an expanse of rooftop in the center of the complex, one that was free of trees, and nosed down toward it. Her momentum surged as the faded and cracked tar of the roof filled her vision. She pulled her arms down in a great sweep, and her wings with them, and caught the air upon them like a parachute. That cut her speed, and caused her to nearly stall in mid air. Then she triggered off the wings entirely, and dropped the last few feet to the top of the building.

With a blue-white glow, Lighthammer came to a far more graceful landing beside her. He seemed perfectly at ease in the air. Almost as if he was born there. It was clear to January that while her flight skills were improving, they were still nowhere near a match for his ability.

"Holy sh-" he stammered with less grace. "You really do know her?"

"Yeah, we've worked together a few times," January said. She was still not used to super talk. Or whatever it was when she dealt with other capes one on one. Blood Raven was family, so that made things easier. Lighthammer was not. He was an ally for certain. But she was always aware that could change in the future.

"Damn, she's tight, you know for a woman her age," Lighthammer breathed quietly.

January stifled a laugh. If he only knew that she was two and a half centuries old!

"So are you two… you know?"

It took a moment for January to realize what the vigilante was intimating. "Oh goodness no," she finally coughed. That was her seven times great-grandmother! Not that she could say that of course.

"She's just a friend."

"A'ight," Lighthammer stood up a little straighter. January was sure that if he had not been wearing a helmet, he would have smoothed back his hair, and maybe even straightened his tie. As it was, he seemed to puff up his armored chest, if that was even possible, and planted his legs widely apart. He could have been posing for a statue, or a recruitment poster. January tried not to laugh.

Blood Raven was not amused however. She frowned as she drew near and stared down at January's companion. She hung there in the air for a moment, scarlet hair flowing in the breeze, and cape flapping out behind her. January absentmindedly noted that while she herself needed wings to fly, and essentially did so like a bird; and Lighthammer did the same with jets created by his powers, Blood Raven floated through the sky with no obvious source of the ability. The veteran heroine simply moved through the air as if gravity was not a thing to defy, but something to be ignored with impunity.

Now that January had some practice with using magic, she could sense the energy that Blood Raven used to enable her flight. Just as she had sensed the other heroine's arrival, she could feel the currents of mana in the air around her. It actually reminded her of how she used magic to assist her own flight in a more practical manner, by increasing lower pressure on the upper surface of her wings and higher pressure on the underside. Except that Blood Raven had gone so much further that she did not even need to emulate mundane flight. She remade reality around her to conform to her will.

"I greet you Stormcrow," Blood Raven did not even spare a glance at Lighthammer as her feet gently came down upon the cracked and peeling tar that coated the roof. "Are you aware that you are being live-streamed right now? Apparently your practice sessions have become quite the spectacle."

"Yes, I saw them down in the street," January had to fight the urge to rub the back of her head, as Avery always did when he was nervous. Why did she suddenly feel like she was back in school, and the teacher was asking her for the homework that she had forgotten to do? "We are going to have to find a new place."

Lighthammer loudly cleared his throat.

January closed her eyes for a moment. She had literally forgotten him under Blood Raven's almost scolding words.

"This is Lighthammer," January turned to introduce the blue, white, and silver armored vigilante. "We have been training together for a while now. Lighthammer, this is Blood Raven."

"It's an honor," Lighthammer said. "I grew up hearing stories about you, even down where I'm from."

Lighthammer extended his hand to the scarlet-maned heroine. She did not take it.

"Your reputation precedes you as well sir." Her words were nothing but polished civility, but her tone was ambiguous. "If you will excuse us, Stormcrow and I have a private matter to discuss."

Blood Raven turned and began to walk away, a clear invitation for only one of them to follow.

"Umm, okay," January looked at Lighthammer and shrugged. She caught up to the black and red armored heroine with one short, lightning fast leap.

"Just ignore me, I'm not even here at all. Just go about your business." Lighthammer grumbled from behind her. For a moment January thought he meant her, but then she realized he was referring to Blood Raven's rebuff. Or at least she hoped that he was.

"That wasn't very nice," January breathed quietly. "You could at least shake his hand."

"On camera?" Blood Raven replied. "That would be sending a clear message to the world. One I do not intend to promulgate."

"Like the message I send every time I work with you?" January shot back.

"Yes." January was certainly not expecting that response. "Every time you are recorded with me, it harms your chances of ever gaining official recognition from the attorney general, let alone the cooperation of individuals within the city and county governments here. I know you are desirous of attaining legal empowerment, as the Sentinels possess. You should consider that when you choose your allies, myself included."

"I am more desirous of building relationships with individuals I can trust," January replied.

Was she truly though? Well of course. A piece of paper that said she was a legally-appointed officer of the peace was not nearly as important as her friendship with Avery, or anyone else close to her. Friends who stuck by you were few and far between for a person like herself. While people in authority, well she had learned what use they were…

"I urge caution in trusting that one," Blood Raven declared. "He has been active for only few months longer than you. In that time he has cut a bloody swath through the drug trade in and around Ohio. He is driven by passion, not principle. He has his own agenda. At the moment it might align with yours. Do not expect that to remain the case forever."

"Hey, that one is standing right over h-" Lighthammer grumbled from across the rooftop.

Blood Raven raised one hand, and suddenly the world went silent. Not only was Lighthammer's voice cut off, but everything else around them - the sound of traffic from the highway to the north, of the birds roosting in the empty buildings, of planes flying overhead. It was as if all of it had been walled off. The only sound came from their voices, and the crunching of their boots upon the slowly decaying rooftop.

January stopped, and planted her hands on her hips. She was absolutely not going to look all awestruck by the elder heroine's casual display of power, nope, not at all.

"I am well aware of his history, of all of our histories." January declared. "Maybe you should stop and think about building bridges with people, rather than walls. You know, I admire you. For most of my life, I wanted to do the things you do. But I will never be you. I can't do this lone wolf thing you have going. I am going to reach out to people, and yeah, I know sometimes it will end badly. But I have to try."

"Sometimes you are so like Jack…" Blood Raven murmured. January thought she heard the other woman's voice hitch for a moment on the name of her great-grandfather: Jack Parsons. But even in the silence, she could not be sure. What she could clearly see however, was the warmth shining in the red-haired woman's eyes.

"You remind me of him so much at times." Blood Raven laid a comforting hand upon January's armor-plated shoulder. "You have his willfulness, his creativity, his zest for life. You have truly inherited the best of our bloodline. I only pray you can escape from the worst."

January smiled. She had no idea what to say. Blood Raven - for she could not think of the other woman as Branwen when she was clad in her armor - could be so infuriating. She was cold, standoffish, and even imperious one moment. Then overflowing with compassion and understanding the next.

For not the first time January wondered if the latter was her true nature, and the harsh attitude was an emotional bulwark she had been forced to adopt in order to survive for centuries? She wondered what she would be like herself in fifty years. Dare she even say a hundred?

[Acadian]

Nice flyin’, Crowgirl! I see her first split-S turned out notably better than my first one.

I think Jan is right to cordially accept Lighthammer’s help while never letting her guard down as far as fully trusting him.

’The veteran heroine simply moved through the air as if gravity was not a thing to defy, but something to be ignored with impunity.’
- - This wonderful sentence not only sings with evocative creativity, but so perfectly suits the woman to which it refers.

Stormcrow is delightfully endearing. Blood Raven is magnificent in her mysterious aloofness that only occasionally offers glimpses into her heart. The only thing better than either of them is the two of them together. The conversations you craft between them are a joy to read.


Nit? 'All were watching at her and Lighthammer.'
- - I’m guessing this passage at one point read ‘were looking at her’. Then perhaps you edited it to ‘were watching her’ but somehow left the ‘at’. At least that’s the kind of thing that often happens to me during my edits.

[Renee]

I told her about Zoomer and she's claiming she never heard that term! But I also know how it is with kids. They sometimes keep things to themselves. There isn't as much of a generational gap between her and I as she and her friends think. Not like it was between my Silent Generation parents (who were sort of hippy-ish in the '70s) and whatever their parents were termed.

Aw, I can just imagine going to work with your mom. We did the same thing, sometimes.

Oh I'm getting dizzy! They're flying together over that ruined complex and I'm afraid of heights!

Yes, she is going to need somewhere new to practice without any prying eyes. Or cameraphones.

Uh oh, she smells copper. Will Raven be ... I don't know... jealous? Nonchalant? I imagine a nonchalant response might be even worse, in a way. I can just imagine what that must look like... seeing her protege come flying out of the distance. Like a shark suddenly honing in on a scuba diver from the depths.

Oh my gosh, Lighthammer talks like one of the Lost Boys, or something.

He could have been posing for a statue, or a recruitment poster. January tried not to laugh.

I am laughing! But uh oh... Blood Raven is not amused. Just as I thought. She's cold. In fact, I almost think she might be hypnotizing her great great great great great (x?) niece.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jul 1 2020, 03:44 PM

[SubRosa]

Acadian: I hope you didn't crash on Split-S! Thankfully crows have a tighter turning angle than F4s.

It is always a treat to bring Blood Raven into the mix. Whenever she and January are together, they both test one another's beliefs, without being belligerent. They really are so very different, but fit together so very well.


Renee: She never heard of Zoomer? Maybe your daughter just isn't hip enough? Or maybe she only hears it is a pejorative.

I do have an new area in mind for January and Lighthammer's practice sessions. A place much more remote than the Packard Plant. I am not sure when I will be able to work it into the fiction though.

I am glad you are connecting January's sense of copper with her Blood Raven detection power. She can always sense when her great-grandmother is near now. And yes, Blood Raven is not thrilled with January's relation with Lighthammer. She does not trust him.

Lighthammer was fun to write in this. I was able to inject some humor into him, to show that he isn't just some dour vigilante.








Book 5.8 - Crystal Death

"I saw Crow Tales on Instantgram," Blood Raven murmured as she began to walk once more. "That was a clever account name for recommending books. Mary Shelley's novel was an excellent choice to begin with. Though as you said yourself in your review of the novel, I fear many modern readers will find it difficult, given the preconceptions that the films create about her story. Not to mention that storytelling conventions have changed greatly since Mrs. Shelly penned her magnum opus. I was pleased to see that you pointed out examples of that, so that readers today will better understand why she included the plot elements she did. Such as the bag of books that the monster so conveniently finds when it is time to move the story along with him developing his own philosophy."

"Thank you," January felt her back straighten, and a spring add itself to her step at the other woman's praise. "I plan to recommend a book or short story every week. I have read so many in the last few years that I have material to last me a decade."

"Will you be recommending something more current?" Blood Raven asked slyly, "perhaps one about a young human witch and her elven best friend?"

January knew she was turning red. Her back did not feel quite so straight any more, nor her step so springy.

"I will, this Saturday," was all she could say.

"I thought you might," Blood Raven replied. "I do not have to tell you the risk of associating one identity with another. I am not saying you should not. Many other capes do this sort of thing much more blatantly. That is the nature of living in a capitalist world. Those who possess official recognition receive financial compensation. The rest of us must pay our own way in the world. When I first took up the cape, the Spider over in New York used to take pictures of himself in action and sell them to the newspapers. Just be careful not to leave any breadcrumbs that might be traced back to you."

"I know," January insisted. "That is one reason I am doing Crow Tales. My own book will be buried in with the rest."

"One reason?" Blood Raven inquired.

"I helped my mom with the summer reading program at her library," January said. "It reminded me how important reading is in general. But also how what people read shapes their perceptions of the world. What they read in books or see on TV bleeds into what they believe is real. Then what they believe is real inspires what is created for new books and shows. It is a loop that constantly feeds on itself, often in very bad ways."

"I want to give people something positive to perceive in the world," January declared. "So people don't only see stories that treat women as disposable objects solely meant to prove that the male protagonist is heterosexual, or that kill every gay character, or show all people of color as criminals, and so on. Sometimes it seems that only fascists are on the internet. We need to give people more than just their fear and hate. Virtual spaces are just as real as physical ones these days. It is where people live. We need to have a presence there, even if it just something as simple a few hours of entertainment."

"That is very Awoke of you," Blood Raven nodded. "I must admit, this internet of yours took me by surprise. I still grapple with its implications."

"It's just 'Woke'," January said. "Well it was. Not many people really use that term anymore. We just say things like 'empathetic' or 'kind'. But you are doing better than most people of your generation. I think even Ben Franklin called it 'teh internets'."

"I am rather certain that is what is now called fake news," Blood Raven said dryly. "It was John Adams who said that. I was there."

January did laugh, and even Blood Raven smiled.

"I did enjoy This Spell for Hire very much," Blood Raven said more seriously. "Your characters are very likeable, and even I could relate to their struggles, and enjoy their friendship. Have you considered releasing it in print?"

"I wouldn't even know where to begin," January said. "I mean I read a bit about it. It seems very daunting. I've read that most publishing houses don't even consider unsolicited work. And This Spell for Hire is too short to really be a novel, but too long to be a short story. Ebooks really seem like the ideal format. Maybe after the next one, I can put them both together into a printed book?"

"I can speak to some people in the industry," Blood Raven offered. "I do not write in the same circles as you. But I do meet people, and they know other people. I can talk to some who work in magazines, and see if any of them will accept your story. I should very much like to see your work on my shelf one day."

"Thank you," January said honestly. Money and her career were one of the few things in life that worried her more than giant monsters rampaging through the streets. At least monsters you could punch.

"So what was this you wanted to talk about?" she asked.

"I understand that Motor City Pride shall take place within a few days," Blood Raven said, "even though there was the Pride festival in Ferndale last weekend. Are there many of these LGBTQ+ gatherings? Is that even the right word? Language changes so quickly, it is difficult for a person of my age to remain abreast of current terminology."

"I kind of prefer 'Queer' to the alphabet soup terms," January said. "But not everyone likes a straight person saying that. It was an insult until just a few years ago. You might want to stick with the alphabet soup version."

"Now the whole thing with the parades is complicated. I don't really understand it all. I know it started in Ferndale, decades ago. Then Motor City Pride decided to go Downtown. I guess just because it had gotten so much bigger. But the people in Ferndale apparently still wanted it, so they kept having their own festival there as well. Fashionable Ferndale is the gayest place in Michigan after all. Then on top of that is Hotter Than July. That's a black Pride Fest in Palmer Park that's been going on at least as long as Ferndale's."

"That is very confusing for an old lady like me," Blood Raven sighed. "But it is heartening. So much as changed. When I was a child the idea of an… LGBTQ+… parade taking place on the Common was pure insanity. Walking on the moon was more likely. Now we have done both."

It took January a moment to realize that she had meant Boston Common. Sometimes she forgot that Blood Raven had literally been born before the American Revolution. Then little statements like that brought the full weight of her years back to the fore.

"In any case, it is but a few days until Motor City Pride takes place Downtown," Blood Raven continued. "I fear that the Summoner may strike there either Saturday or Sunday. He has proven to possess a fondness for large gatherings - the Nain Rouge parade, the Electronic Music Festival, Ferndale Pride. I should like to be prepared for him this time, in the event that he does call up another Abyssal. I feel it would be wise to combine our forces for this undertaking, and be on hand together to stave off any threats to the populace."

January had to fight the urge to jump up in the air and shout for joy. Blood Raven wanted to officially team up! Not just a case of being in the same place and time and working with one another. But an honest to goodness partnership! It was the kind of thing dreams were made of.

But of course, she had to say no.

"I wish I could," January's steps faltered. She stared down at her feet. She could not believe what she was about to say. "But I sort of have another thing going. It's kind of stalled right now, since all of our leads have turned up empty. So maybe I can do it. But things might come up on short notice."

"Another… thing?" Blood Raven raised an eyebrow.

"She didn't want me to tell you," January murmured. "But I think you have a right to know. Have you ever heard of Crystal Death?"

Blood Raven shook her head. So apparently the state police's efforts to keep the truth of the new drug's effectiveness a secret had worked. January changed that when she related everything that Emilia had told her.

"Sadly, none of this is truly a surprise," Blood Raven sighed. "Ever since Tunguska both scientists and magicians have striven to discover a means to artificially create meta-humans. Most have not even met this level of success. That the police would attempt to keep it a secret… Well I suppose you shall tell me that it is all my fault for alienating them. You will probably be right."

"I'm not saying that at all," January replied. She was thinking it however.

"You are gracious," Blood Raven said. "And you are correct that this is important, certainly as much as the rogue summoner. You must continue to pursue this. I will remain vigilant against the Summoner. If fortune smiles upon us, we shall both claim victory in our endeavors."

"So you are ok with this?" January ventured.

"Of course," Blood Raven said. Now she laid both hands upon January's shoulders, and looked her in the eyes. "I will not lie. I was very concerned when I learned you were the Stormcrow. I still fear for your safety. But I respect your decision to write your own destiny. You must follow your own stars granddaughter. At times like this, I am glad that you do. For too long this city has had but one champion. I cannot be in two places at the same time. But we can."

"When all this over, I'd like to start working more closely together," January said. "I know you have a computer specialist who supports you. I think you know I have an online partner too. I'd like us all to meet, put our heads together, and be actual partners."

"Build bridges rather than walls," Blood Raven smiled. "Yes, I should like that very much. I shall discuss it with Cray. Though I see no objections he might raise. Speak with your friend Gadget, and we shall form a covenant."

A covenant, it sounded like something that one of the characters she wrote in fiction might say. But the way Blood Raven said it was not at all ludicrous. It was not the way people spoke anymore. But it was the way their hearts wanted to speak. With a grandeur and glory that was all too absent from ordinary life.

"A covenant it shall be then," January said in her best posh British accent. She knew it was awful. But Blood Raven's eyes sparkled nonetheless.

The flame-haired superhero waved a hand, and all the sounds of the city came rushing back in. The steady thrum of traffic on I-94, the singing of birds, the beeping of a garbage truck nearby, and the faint strains of music reaching up from the cars parked in the street beside the abandoned factory.

Then Blood Raven did what she had that night of the fire. One moment she was standing there. Then the next her form shattered into dozens of black, flapping shapes. A conspiracy of ravens took flight. Their raucous voices croaked on the wind, and the wings beat the air wildly. They rose up into the sky for long moments, then faded into the horizon.

January glanced down at the cars that lined the street beside the industrial complex. She hoped they had gotten that on video. She would like to see it again herself.

She turned back to Lighthammer, to find the armored vigilante staring with his mouth open. She did not think any less of him. She had much the same reaction the first time she had seen Blood Raven perform that trick.

"I'm sorry," January said. "She can be a little… standoffish. But she warms up once you get to know her."

Lighthammer composed himself, and was once again his normal cool, collected self by the time that January had walked back to where he stood.

"So you have something going?" he said, nodding in the direction that the ravens had departed.

"I don't ask you about what you do…" January said.

"Because you don't want to know," Lighthammer finished her sentence. "I get it. But I do want to know."

"Why?" January said it plainly.

"Because I want in," Lighthammer said just as plainly. "You know, you don't have a monopoly on wanting to do the right thing. Yeah, my hands are dirty. But that doesn't mean I don't want some grace too. I am not one of the bad guys."

"I never said you were," January stated.

"You're too polite," Lighthammer countered. "You think it, way in the back of your head. You think 'he's no different from the people he fights'. Maybe you're right. Maybe I am just an animal. But maybe I want to be something more too. Maybe I want to be a knight, and not just a thug in shining armor."

"Okay, I believe you" January nodded. Of course she did not believe him. But they had been training together for weeks. She had some trust in him, even if not much. He deserved the chance to earn more. "But I can't bring you into what I'm working on. I can't bring her into it. But she's working on something you might be able to help with, even if she doesn't know about it."

"No, you don't believe me," Lighthammer said. "But that's ok. I'd be cautious too. How can I help?"

"Just be in Detroit this weekend," January said. "Motor City Pride will be going on in Hart Plaza. Stay nearby, but out of sight. And definitely bring your armor. Maybe things will be nice and quiet, and nothing will happen. Or maybe things will get weird. I don't know. But you can be our ace in the hole."

"You mean like giant spider weird?" Lighthammer asked. "I saw that on MeTube. That was whack!"

"That is exactly what I mean," January said. "But remember, this all has to stay on the down low."

[Acadian]

A nice interlude that really showcases Blood Raven.

"You are gracious," Blood Raven said. "And you are correct that this is important, certainly as much as the rogue summoner. You must continue to pursue this. I will remain vigilant against the Conjurer. If fortune smiles upon us, we shall both claim victory in our endeavors."
- - As Jan will note to herself in a few paragraphs, Blood Raven’s old world manner of speech is delightfully refreshing and does indeed lend itself to an epic feel.

"You must follow your own stars granddaughter. At times like this, I am glad that you do. For too long this city has had but one champion. I cannot be in two places at the same time. But we can."
- - It is clear this invitation from the veteran Super Hero comes from more than blood affection. The Stormcrow has truly earned her cape!

"A covenant it shall be then,"
- - I wanted to cheer here. The double meanings of both pact/alliance and group of witches is so perfect for this situation!

I’m admiring Jan’s cautious but optimistic approach to handling Lighthammer. It remains unclear whether he is truly interested in whitening his hat some or if he is a silver tongued scoundrel with his own darker agenda.

Edit: Oh, and Blood Raven's clever response about John Adams vs Ben Franklin was fabulous!

This post has been edited by Acadian: Jul 4 2020, 10:31 PM

[Renee]

My daughter's pretending to be hip, I think. By keeping me out of the loop about Zoomer. All generations of kids want to keep some stuff to themselves, right?

Yeah, Lighthammer is so corny. He is more like the classic type of superhero. Even when his feelings get hurt. It's like he's such a mighty fellow on one hand, but his ego is so easily penetrated.

The Spider in New York ... okay so New York has its own heroes.

I still think January's secret will be discovered at some point. It's like with Marcus Hutchins. After he began to get out of his criminal phase, he began posting anonymously in some hacker forums, and also had Twitter feed with tens of thousands reading his posts every week or whatever. He did not reveal his true identity. Well, there was ONE girl who went to school with him, and she remembered that his Twitter screen name was the same as some random name he used briefly back in school. Bam, cover was blown. The whole world knew who he was. He even had reporters camped outside his parents' house.

It's just that everything Jan does is under a huge microscope. No doubt there are geeks who spend all day just trying to figure out her mundane identity.

I want to give people something positive to perceive in the world," January declared. "So people don't only see stories that treat women as disposable objects solely meant to prove that the male protagonist is heterosexual, or that kill every gay character, or show all people of color as criminals, and so on

Yup. I get it.

Is it fair to say that gay people have owned the word queer? Sort of like blacks taking the N word for their own?

Uh oh, the Conjurer. So this person has a name. How could anybody feel relaxed at any large gathering in Detroit!

Interesting how Raven says "for so long our city has had one champion" Poor Lighthammer. He's not even a passing thought to her.

Speak with your friend Gadget, and we shall form a covenant."

A covenant, it sounded like something that one of the characters she wrote in fiction might say. But the way Blood Raven said it was not at all ludicrous.

Exactly my thoughts. If one of my fellow co-workers (or somebody more modern) said something like "we should form a covenant" I'd have to stifle laughter. It's only somebody old world who can get away with this. Maybe an older priest, for instance. There would be no stifling then.

Oh no. Poor Lighthammer. He's been there the whole time, locked out of the Blood Raven Cone of Silence.

"I saw that on MeTube. That was whack!

This post has been edited by Renee: Jul 5 2020, 04:36 PM

[SubRosa]

Acadian: That scene between January, Blood Raven, and Lighthammer was a joy to write. As you said, January has earned the cape she wears, and the right to stand beside Blood Raven.

This is why a while ago when I was fishing around for team names, The Covenant was one I mentioned. In my case though it makes me think of The Scottish Covenanters, from the English Civil War. So as the Blackbirds expand their numbers, I suspect they will simply be The Alliance instead.

Blood Raven and January, being both writers, tend to bond over words and their meanings. Especially how those meanings change. January is special indeed, in that she can actually bring out Blood Raven's sense of humor, like the Franklin vs. Adams comment. I like writing those moments, because they show that both are people, as well as capes.

January and Lighthammer have a long road to travel together. We will see more of him this chapter, and in upcoming chapters. In many ways, I think he is an example of January's greatest power: her willingness to set aside her differences and create alliances with people who might otherwise be adversaries.


Renee: I am glad I wrote that scene with Jan, Blood Raven, and Lighthammer, because it helped me bring things together with Lighthammer's personality. As you noted, he can be irreverent, especially when someone (like Blood Raven) is dismissive of him, or taking him for granted. He is not the kind of person to just sit there and quietly take it. He has to speak up and be snarky about it. If he was female, he would probably be reminding people that her eyes are up *here*, thank you very much.

It comes from him being a very passionate person. He gets his dander up easily. He gets excited easily. He's reckless. He is the kind of person whose emotions are always right there under the surface. But at the same time, because of that he really lives life to the fullest.

The Spider from New York is a thinly-veiled allusion to Spider-Man, who makes his money taking pictures of himself in action and selling them to the Daily Bugle in his secret identity as Peter Parker. But that was back in the late 60s. So he would have retired by the current time of the story.

People are looking into Stormcrow already, much more next chapter when Jan makes a titanic splash in world news. But the people who most likely to figure out who she is are those nearest to her, such as the Knights of Nerddom or her mother. One of them has already figured it out. That will come up in Chapter 7.

Gay people are kind of taking back the word Queer. Like January said, not everyone likes it, mainly older people, who heard that word being used pejoratively against them their entire life. They naturally have a visceral reaction to it. I get it, because I am from that age group. But I embrace it, because like January, I really do think it is better than the alphabet soup terms which are the alternative.

I really don't think the N-Word can ever be reclaimed however. There are just too many centuries or horror and shame and ugliness tied up in it. Sure, some People of Color might be able to use it among themselves to bond. But as soon as it is used by someone from outside the group, all that hate wrapped up in it comes roaring back, and I think it always will.

Ferndale Pride was the first time one of the Conjurer's conjurings was seen by the public. Blood Raven was been able to keep a lid on all the others before they could be seen. So far, all anyone really knows is that a giant spider showed up in Ferndale. Weird and creepy, but it is a super world after all.

Lighthammer is not a Detroiter, or Michigander, that is why Blood Raven left him out of her statement about the city only having one champion. The hammer normally hangs in Ohio. He only comes up to train with January. From now on, she will be going down there instead.







Dana Essen is based on RL Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel


The Michigan Attorney General may appoint special agents having the powers of a peace officer


As always, you can follow January's flight with the Stormcrow Map





Book 5.9 - Crystal Death

January stared at her computer screen. One click of the mouse would post her second installment of Crow Tales on Instantgram. Her first post of Stormcrow's book review blog had been on Monday. In fact, it had been the same night that Avery had given her the idea of using her Stormcrow identity to advertise her book. Only she was determined to go much further than just personal aggrandizement. As Stormcrow, she could bring attention to many excellent novels and short stories that were progressive and diverse. As she had told Blood Raven, something that was actually positive.

She was not worried about her post as Stormcrow being traced back to her. The layers of VPNs, spoofed IPs, and other forms of internet camouflage that Avery had implemented on her devices insured that she would never be traced, at least not electronically.

But her real name was in that post - January Ward - the author of This Spell for Hire. One click, and that name would be forever linked with that of Stormcrow. Nothing could prevent a truly persistent detective or journalist from following every such link, every single contact Stormcrow ever had with another person. Every selfie Stormcrow ever took with a fan. Every conversation she ever had.

One click, and January Ward would be added to that list of people whose lives intersected with Stormcrow. It was not evidence that she was Stormcrow. But it was a link.

The paranoid part of her brain told her not to do it. That wariness had kept her safe through her childhood, by prompting her to hide the fact that she was trans. Only this time, it was not just her life she had to protect. It was everyone around her. Her mother, Avery, the Knights of Nerddom, Adin, all of them were at risk if she was outed as Stormcrow.

She knew about the unspoken agreement between the press and the caped community. She knew about the laws passed by Congress. Secret identities were never leaked, never. No one wanted a repeat of what had happened to Hailstorm...

Or did they? This world was different from the one in which those compacts had been formed. Thanks to the internet, there were no gatekeepers to hold shut the floodgates on such revelations. Now anyone could call themselves a journalist, and post whatever they pleased on social media. The only rule was that the more sensational it was, the more it would trend, no matter how toxic or potentially murderous it was. In fact, the more toxic and murderous it was, the more popular it would be.

She pulled her finger back from her mouse, and stared out one of the windows of her new bedroom. She had picked the room in the back of the house. She had learned the dangers of trying to sneak in through a window that faced the street back in Warren. Any passing car, or nosy neighbor, might see her. Here, she was safe from detection.

The backyard was a relatively small patch of grass, bordered on all sides by a dense wall of greenery, and the detached garage. Great trees, she did not know if they were elms or maples or oaks, rose up on all sides, easily twice the height of the house. They made flying to and from the roof a tricky proposition. But they also completely shielded her from view while she did so. Only a narrow gap in the trees behind the lot broke the wall of growth. But it led back deeper into the woods, where there was no one to see anything anyhow.

She looked around her new room. It was easily twice the size of her old one. But the furniture was all the same. It was the same plain, white dresser, vanity, and desk. The same tiny twin bed with its soft watermelon-colored quilt jutted from one wall. The same pictures of her role models decorated the room, such as Cecilia Braekhus. Well, she had taken down the ones of Blood Raven and the Veil. They were no longer figures to admire from afar after all. They were her colleagues now, even though she had yet to actually meet the latter.

Tacked to the inside of her door was a plain piece of paper with her Viking Virtues. She took a moment to consider each in turn.

Do Not Live In Fear
"The error is the result of letting fear rule your actions" - The Saga of Harald Hardrade, c.46.

Friendship
"A true friend whom you trust well and wish for his good will: go to him often exchange gifts and keep him company" - Havamal, s.44.

Kindness
"A kind word need not cost much, The price of praise can be cheap: With half a loaf and an empty cup I found myself a friend" - Havamal, s.52.

The Law Is Not Always Right
"When truth and fairness are different from what is law, better it is to follow truth and fairness" - Bandamanna Saga, c.6

Be A Part Of The World
"He is truly wise who has travelled far and knows the ways of the world. He who has traveled can tell what spirit governs the men he meets" - Havamal, s.18.

Never Hide My Truth
"Sorrow eats him who can no longer open his heart to another" - Havamal, s.121.

Prepare for the Worst
"A wayfarer should not walk unarmed, but have his weapons to hand" - Havamal, s.38.

Sacrifice
"Nine whole days and nights, stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin, myself to mine own self given." -Havamal, s.138.

Never Give Up, No Matter What
"Often times it is not numbers that wins the victory, but those who fare forward with the most vigor" - The Saga of Thrond of Gate, c.19

She remembered something that her Intro to Psychology instructor had once said. "The only constant in life was change," which he had quickly followed with: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Here she was, afraid of being Outed. Afraid of what people might do to her if they knew the truth.

She clicked the mouse, and Stormcrow posted her review of January Ward's story.

With a curious sense of relief, she closed out the social media site. For better or worse, it was out there now.

She absentmindedly surfed through the news sites. Headlining them all was the conviction of one of her own senators from Michigan, Wade Harding. Well, former senator now. He had been found guilty on charges of wire fraud, money-laundering, and perjury. All thanks to Michigan's new attorney general. There was even talk of a separate federal investigation into him on charges of tax evasion. For once a corrupt politician was actually going to be held accountable for his actions. It was a heady event, given its rarity.

January also noted several related stories about her home state's new attorney general - Dana Essen. One was a picture of her kissing her wife on the night of her election to office the year before. The others were stories and opinion pieces by Michiganders calling on the AG to officially empower Stormcrow as a law enforcement officer. January was a little surprised by the latter. While she certainly wanted the official recognition, and the cooperation it brought with police, even she thought it was a little early for that.

Her phone chimed, and she nearly leaped through the ceiling. She slid a finger across the Hamsung J1's screen to unlock it, and found a new message glowing on her home screen. She brought up the text with another tap of a finger. It had been forwarded from her official Stormcrow line. She saw it was from one of the burner phones Gadget had given to Emilia, untraceable by anyone.

Emergency Team about to roll on anonymous tip.
Waiting for warrant.
3600 Farmbrook Court, Sterling Heights.

January did not respond to the text. Emilia had probably broken the phone into pieces and thrown it away by now. Standard spycraft, at least from what January saw in movies and TV shows.

She needed her armor. She reached for her mana out of reflex, and relaxed in the cool stream of power that flowed through her body. Her elemental chant rose in her mind, and she effortlessly translated it into runic script. The runes glowed to life in mid-air, and scrolled around her in a circle.

Fire give me passion and energy, transform me in the night sky.

The white top and flowered skirt she had been wearing vanished. In their place she was clad in her Stormcrow armor. She blinked. Not at the speed of the change. She had been enacting the transformation since that first night at the convention. But her armor had been locked away in the fake gas tank bump of her Victory. The motorcycle itself was tucked away in the garage behind the house. She looked out the window to the separate building. The door to it was still shut.

Blood Raven had been right about her magical abilities. Using magic was just like using her muscles, or her brain. The more she exercised, the stronger she became.

She did not have time to waste pondering her growing power. She had to get to that address, but first things first. She picked her phone back up. Her thumbs danced across its screen, and she sent a text to her mother, telling her she was going for a walk in the park. Then she brought up Sága, and punched in the address that Emilia had texted her. Her armor's digital assistant brought up the location on the video screen built into her inner forearm's armor plating. January smiled. It was only a few miles down Van Dyke. She would be there in no time at all.

She slid the bedroom window open and effortlessly popped out the screen. After a glance to insure that her mother was not in the backyard, she turned to reset the plastic mesh behind her. Then she faced skyward, and plotted her path through the leafy branches that reached out from either side above the house. She crouched down, and rocketed upward with a great leap. Once free of the branches, she snapped out her wings and soared away from the house.

She did not fly around to the front of the house, which faced her eventual destination. Instead she glided in the opposite direction, across the backyard. She was instantly skimming above the literal forest that grew behind all the houses that lined Utica Road. A slender break in the trees revealed the sinuous track of the Clinton River. Though calling it a river seem generous. It looked more like a stream to her eyes, especially compared to the Detroit River. She had found that it was hardly even a challenge to jump across, being only twenty to thirty feet wide, depending on where you stood.

"Are you seeing this Stormcrow?" Gadget's voice rang in her ear. "I'm working on getting into the local cameras right now."

"I'm on the way Gadget." January followed the river south east for a few moments. Then she banked right to follow the M-53 freeway where it crossed the water. She soared above that until it joined with Van Dyke, a divided street that ran north to south through the city of Sterling Heights. She adjusted her path a bit to one side, so that she was not directly over the road. Instead she put herself over the sprawl of subdivisions east of it. She hoped that she was less likely to cause a traffic accident where there were fewer drivers. Flying was fun. But car crashes by distracted drivers were not.

As always, the wind caressed her armored frame and filled her wings. She delighted in the feeling of being unchained from the earth, and just hanging there in the air. She marveled at the land below. It all looked so different from up high. She had never noticed how green the city was. How many trees lined its streets, and clustered between houses. It gave her hope, seeing all that life stretched out in every direction.

[Acadian]

A nice interlude as Jan tries to balance her writing aspirations with capehood while keeping the two (hopefully) hard firewalled apart. A daunting proposition. Not surprisingly, she chooses the riskier path, refusing to be intimidated by ‘what ifs’.

The ancient ‘new’ house is a step up in both space and discrete accessibility.

A call up from the bat crow phone! Naturally, Gadget is ‘info’d’ on the message and, sure enough, she hears from him on her comm system shortly after she’s en route.

You do a great job of routinely (as in the last scene of this episode) showing us the magic allure of flight through the eyes and other senses of Stormcrow.

[Renee]

Lighthammer is not a Detroiter, or Michigander, that is why Blood Raven left him out of her statement about the city only having one champion.

Oh okay. That part made me smile, anyway.

Oh no! Don't link yourself to Stormcrow!

The paranoid part of her brain told her not to do it. That wariness had kept her safe through her childhood, by prompting her to hide the fact that she was trans.

No, nothing to do with being trans. Everything to do with just.... you! Don't do it don't do it!

Sorry. Talking to my laptop screen again. This is pretty dramatic.

Is she really living in that big old house all by herself? She does have some animal or animals, right? Sorry, I forget. Pretty sure I remember reading about a cat. But I just worry about her. A cat won't save her while she's sleeping. It might not even alert her if some intruder breaks in. Then again, we are talking about a Blood Raven home. It's probably got some warding magic to keep the unwanted out.

Damn, she did it. Well it'll certainly make the story even more intense somehow.

I wonder what her latest call will lead to? And I agree. I haven't flown on a plane in over a decade, but it always would shock me how much green there actually is, even over parts of Maryland which (from the ground) seem like they've been heavily decimated of forest.

[SubRosa]

Acadian: You hit the nail on the head. January refuses to be intimidated, either by bullies, giant spiders, supervillains, or exposure. That stubbornness is one of the things that defines her character. So even when she grapples with real fears, she always faces them head on.

I figure Gadget is automatically connected to every call that goes to the Stormcrow line. He is the one who set it up after all. So whenever she gets an alert, he does as well. They are a team after all.

January is going to make a gigantic leap on the flying front. Not in today's episode, but next week's. I am currently working on Chapter 6, and she makes some even more startling evolutions. Flying, and her wings, are really becoming a central part of who and what she is as a superhero.


Renee: I can just imagine you yelling at the screen, like how I yell at the TV when I am watching a Horror movie and the people decide to go in the basement, or split up. But, as I have pointed out in earlier scenes, January will not be the first cape to use their super career for financial gain. That is why I mentioned the Spider doing the Spider-Man antics of selling pics to the Daily Bugle, and in previous episodes I mentioned other supers selling their wedding photos to People magazine, and still others making a power plant in Chicago. You are right, it is risky. But unless you took the Rich perk at character creation, you have to make a living somehow.

Jan is living with her mother, at least for now. They don't have any pets. Though I keep wondering if someday Jan might bring home a baby dragon, or unicorn, or something. I am not entirely joking either. I could see it happening.

I feel sorry for anyone who tries to break into Jan's place though. Remember what she did to that giant spider! January is a wrecking machine. I have been watching the new Stargirl TV show. The antagonists are a team of supervillains called the Injustice Society of America. While watching it and seeing each villain in action, I realized very quickly that January would wipe the floor with them. Not singly, but all at once. The only one who might stand a chance against her would be Solomon Grundy. But she would grind him down to dust eventually. Just wait until you see what she does to the Nazis later in this chapter.

Looking at Google Maps with the satellite view turned on really brings home just how green urban spaces are. We don't think of it from the ground, when we are looking at all the concrete. We don't notice the canopies of all the trees overhead. But from above, the trees and grass fills up almost everything but the most solid factory districts.









As always, you can find the Mills house on the Stormcrow Map


Swatting



Book 5.10 - Crystal Death

"Ok, I'm in the house," Gadget crowed. "These Refuge home security systems are so easy for a real hacker to crack. Let's see what we have. Ok, Mom's at the kitchen table doing something on her laptop. Working on a Saturday, oy! Dad is on a ladder fiddling with the garage door. He must be one of those 'Man Stuff' guys. Son is in his bedroom playing a video game. Aww yeah, he's a PC Gamer too, my kind of guy."

"Are you going to get all Elitist PC Gamer Snob on me now?" January laughed.

"It is a terribly difficult burden to be so superior," Gadget responded in a posh British accent, "but we bear it with grace and humility."

"Truly, you are a paragon of unpretentiousness," January breathed. She passed over 16 Mile Road, and began scanning the houses and streets below. She was almost there. So far she saw nothing untoward. It was just an ordinary, boring suburb.

"I've looked all over the house, and I don't see any sort of drug lab," Gadget noted in his normal voice once more. "Not even an elementary school chemistry set. Maybe we got the address wrong?"

"I don't think our contact would make a mistake like that," January frowned. She certainly hoped Emilia did not fat-finger the address. That would be really embarrassing.

"Well, I am digging up some info on the homeowners now," Gadget said. "They are the Mills family. Jefferson - 44 - works on the line at the Ford axle plant up the street. Tanisha - 41 - is a social worker. And Wayne -15 - is enrolled in Stevenson High School, looks like he's holding down a solid B average."

"This does not sound like a gang of mad scientists," January admitted. "What about Wayne. How's he doing in chem class?"

"Never took it," Gadget said. "He's got straight A's in his socio and history classes though."

"And there's nothing in the house? What about a shed?" January asked.

"No shed," Gadget responded, "just an attached garage. I see a bag of fertilizer in there. Some oil cans, and a tool box. The neighbors do have a shed in the backyard next door, and there's no fence between them."

"Sounds pretty thin," January said.

Soaring along east of Van Dyke, January noted the wide parking lot of a movie megaplex ahead of her. Casting her eyes behind the movie theater, she found the house, nestled in a sea of suburbia. It was just an ordinary one-story home with a russet-colored roof, white walls, and red garage door. She saw the shed in the neighbor's yard that Gadget had referred to, and banked toward that.

She picked up speed as she nosed down toward the earth. As always, she let the ground fill her vision before braking with her wings, and pulling her legs forward. She turned off the wings a moment later, and dropped to the grass without even needing to bend her knees to take the impact. She was getting better and better at this. Using her wings was second nature by now. They were just a part of her.

She saw a lock on the shed door, and fished out her electric lockpick to open it. She was inside in a moment, and frowned at what she saw. It was nothing but what you would expect: a lawnmower, gardening tools, a snow-blower, a bucket of rock salt. No nefarious drug lab, or even secret panels in the floor leading to one.

She locked up the shed behind her, and turned back to the house in question. She could see the mom sitting in the kitchen through one of the back windows. Her skin was dark brown, her short hair was styled in a pixie cut, and a pair of glasses hovered over her nose. Said nose was still buried in her laptop. Before she could look up and see the superhero in her backyard, January leaped up and came down upon the rooftop. She crouched down behind the crown of the roof, so as to not be visible from the street out front, and waited.

"I can try to sneak in," January offered, "and get a closer look."

"No," Gadget said. "I can see every room, even the cat in the front window."

"Should try talking to them?" January thought aloud. "Maybe they know something, but don't realize it?"

"Could be," Gadget murmured. "You know what this looks like? Swatting. I think these people are being set up."

"The text said it was an anonymous tip, so that might be," January said. "Or maybe they just have a neighbor with too much time on her hands, and nothing to do with it but invent paranoid theories about the black family in the subdivision."

"I'm going to try to get into the police report on the tip," Gadget said. "With what your friend gave me, I should be able to get in their system with no problem. But if they have the Emergency Response Team on the way, someone must have told them about Crystal Death specifically. Otherwise it would just be the city cops making an ordinary stop, and we wouldn't be here."

"Okay," January said. "I'll see what I can find out from the family. I'm looping you in so you can see."

A spoken command to Sága turned on her video link to the Gadget Cave. Then January scampered across the roof and leaped up into a forward roll. She put a half-twist in the maneuver, and came down on her feet in the front yard, facing the house. It was just like all her years on the uneven bars. This time she resisted sticking the landing however.

She walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Waiting at someone's door always made her uncomfortable. Doing so in full armor and cape did not make things easier. As she had told Emilia, sometimes walking around in the Stormcrow gear seemed silly. This was definitely one of those times. But it was not like she could walk up in her street clothes and ask if they were drug dealers.

Instead she was going to do that in her hero outfit, wonderful.

She was about to knock when the door swung open. The mom just stood there, wearing yoga pants and a tank top. She stared at January for a long moment, then shut the door.

"Wayne!" she heard her yell through the door, "one of your friends is here!"

She thought she heard Gadget laughing in her ear. This whole superhero thing was not nearly as glamorous as it looked in old movies.

After a minute she heard stomping down the hallway, and the door opened to reveal a slender youth, with short curls on top of his fade and a Bob Marley tee. His jaw practically dropped to the floor when he saw January.

"It's... it's... it's…" he stammered, "OMG you're her!"

"Hi!" January wanted to use her serious, superhero voice. It sounded good when she practiced in front of the mirror. But she always seemed to forget how to do it whenever she was around real people. "I'm her, Stormcrow I mean. Could I come in and talk to you and your folks?"

"Oh hell yeah!" Wayne exalted. He reached out tentatively with one hand and gently touched the armor plate on one of her shoulders. "Hey that's new! That's real heavy duty shi- um, stuff. I've got to get my phone! No one at school's going to believe this!"

He tore back though the living room and vanished into the hallway adjoining it to the left. January imagined he was headed to his bedroom. The living room itself was entirely ordinary: couch, recliners, coffee table, and big TV set. Family pictures held court over the fire place, the usual. The far end turned into a kitchen and dining area, with a long counter and hanging cabinets blocking off half the living room. The other half was open, with a step up from the carpet of the living room to the linoleum floor of the dining room.

The mom - Tanisha - stood up from her laptop on the round table in the dining area and turned back to face January again. January could see it was finally sinking in that she was not just some teenage cosplayer. Her eyes darted from her to the hall where her son had disappeared. Then she looked to a door in the opposite wall, where January imagined the garage might be.

"Hi Mrs. Mills," January said. She tried to be as friendly and non-threatening as possible. It was usually not very difficult for her. She had never been good at the whole menacing thing. Not like Blood Raven was. She was even thinking of changing the color of her armor to something less black. Though granted, it did work with the whole crow motif.

"Could you get your husband?" she went on, "we all need to talk."

Mom practically ran to the garage door, all while trying to make it look like she was not running to the door. She called out to her husband, who came into the kitchen a few moments later. His hair was cropped close to his head, and he wore a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with Zero Point's powered armored emblazoned across it. He wiped his hands with a rag, and looked at January with shock. Wayne came charging back from the hallway an instant later, phone held high and camera light on.

"Hi," January said again. "I'm Stormcrow. I know this seems a little surprising. It's kind of a surprise to me too in fact. But we need to talk."

"Could I get you a cup of coffee, or tea?" Mom slipped into the role of hostess. January wondered if that made the extraordinary event of having a superhero drop by seem easier to deal with. She was tempted to ask for a FaeCo, but decided that she had best keep things on track.

"No thank you," January said. "Oh I would love to, but I don't think we'll have time."

"Time?" Dad asked. His eyes darted to the windows. "There's not a giant spider outside!"

"Oh no," January held up her hands in what she hoped was a calming fashion. "No spiders, no monsters. But the police are on their way."

"The police!" Now it was Mom's turn to exclaim. Her eyes immediately turned to her son. "Wayne, what did you do?"

January felt for Wayne. She had heard that same Mom voice enough times in her own life. It was never good.

"I didn't… I swear… I don't know," Wayne stammered.

"I watched him go in the bedroom," Gadget said in her ear. "He wasn't trying to ditch any evidence. He just got his phone and came back."

"I don't think your son did anything," January came to the fifteen year old's rescue. If only a superhero had come to her rescue that time she broke the lamp doing cartwheels in the living room…

"Have any of you ever heard of Crystal Death?"

They all shook their heads, and looked dumbfounded.

"Sounds like a metal band," Dad frowned. "Are you sure you're the real Stormcrow? I've seen cosplay people on Imgrr…"

"I'm the real Stormcrow," January insisted. He still looked doubtful however. So she walked into the living room and picked up the couch with one hand, holding it by just one of its wooden legs.

"She's the real Stormcrow," Mom insisted.

"Is Blood Raven coming too?" Wayne asked. "That would rock! Are you really a lesbian? Is she a lesbian too?"

"Wayne!" Mom admonished her son. "You do not go talking to people like that!"

"Blood Raven is not coming," January fought the urge to smile, and put the couch back down. She stared into the camera lens of his phone, which was clearly still recording. "But yes, I am a lesbian. No, Blood Raven is not, at least not as far as I know."

"You know he's recording that right now?" Gadget said in her ear.

January could not respond without it appearing like she was talking to herself, so she said nothing to Gadget. Instead she motioned for them to join her in the living room. She asked Wayne to stop and turn his phone off. She did not want what she was about to say to go over the internet. So she waited until she saw it actually power down before she continued.

"I know this is a lot to take in," she said. "But please think, do any of you know about a drug called Crystal Death? It's red, and looks like meth crystals. But it's really nothing like it."

"What does it do?" Dad asked. He put his arm around his wife and led her into the living room opposite January. "And what does that have to do with us?"

"Someone gave the police a tip that you were manufacturing it," January said plainly.

"What!" the mother and father both erupted at once.

"That's… that's…" the mother sputtered.

"Wayne, tell me this has nothing to do with you!" Dad recovered enough from her shock to level an accusatory gaze at his son.

"Oh hell no!" the fifteen year-old insisted. "I don't sell no drugs. That's how you end up dead or in prison. Besides, you think I'd be working at Meijer if I was rolling in gangsta money?"

"I'm in the case files," Gadget said in her ear. "The call specifically says that Crystal Death is being manufactured at that address. I'm backtracking the phone number right now. It must be turned off, because I can't get a GPS from it."

"Wayne, if you know something, now is the time to talk," Mom took a more conciliatory tone. "Maybe we can work something out, before the police get here."

"Why does everyone keep looking at me?" Wayne raised his hands in frustration. "I didn't do nothing wrong, I swear! I'm not a criminal!"

"I am not saying you are," January tried to sound as soothing as possible. "Not any of you. Is there someone you know who might want to set you up? Someone who knows how to make drugs, or does sell them? Someone who would want to take revenge on one or all of you?"

"I got in a fight with that cracker Tucker Hannity after he called me a ni- the 'N-word'." Wayne related. "But that was a year ago."

"Young man, you know we do not use words like that," his mother scolded. "When they go low, we go high."

"That's what my mother says to me too," January murmured. She hoped he went high, like for the chin…

"The phone number's a dead end," Gadget said. "It belongs to a burner phone, bought with a prepaid credit card. The anonymous tip was the only call made from it. It's been turned off ever since. My guess is that it's in pieces in a dumpster right now."

Totally untraceable, exactly how they were communicating with Emilia. Whoever this was, they had some idea of how to evade digital scrutiny.

"I did get the cell tower it was connected to when it made the call," Gadget continued. "It's in Madison Heights, about seven miles away from you. Uh oh, you got Five Oh coming up your fundament."

"They are going to be here in just a moment," January said. "Just be calm, we'll work through this. Remember, they think they are cornering a murderous drug lord. Don't give them any excuses to get violent."

"Hey, we're black," Dad said, "we know the drill."

"If you folks partake of the green, you might want to flush it down the toilet," January said.

"It's perfectly legal now," the Mom insisted.

"I know," January agreed. "But like I said, don't give them excuses."

They all looked from one to another, then to Wayne.

"Why does everyone keep looking at me like I'm the OG?" he lamented.

"The OG," January breathed. That was what the Knights of Nerddom called Avery - the Original Gamer - because of his PC gaming skills. "Swatting started in gaming culture…"

"You might be on to something," Gadget said in her earpiece. "Wayne was playing a video game. I am going to clone his computer and do a deep dive."

Before January could ask the teen about his gaming enemies, red and blue lights began to flash through the windows. She was out of time. Her whole investigation was supposed to be on the down low. But she could not just run out the back door and leave the Millses to tender mercies of the SWAT team that was about the break down their door. Besides, even if she caught the Death Dealer - when she caught the Death Dealer - she was going to have to deal with the police to turn him over. One way or another, there was no avoiding it.

"Stay here," January said, "I'll talk to them."

[Acadian]

I loved the banter between Stormcrow and Gadget while she was on the way to the target address. Wow, Gadget and his. . . gadgets are darn handy! Having a preview of who and what’s inside that house before Stromcrow even gets there was invaluable.

I think the StormTeam pretty much has figured out the right of what’s going on. Looks like Jan will have to diffuse things with the police before they can learn more about the why.

[Renee]

Maybe I got it wrong though. So let me ask: did January post the story under her own name, or a screen name? I was thinking maybe she inadvertently left some link between the real her, any pen name she's using, and/or Stormcrow, but maybe I got that wrong. If she's merely using her own name, maybe that'll be okay. I was thinking there'd be some link between her and Stormcrow.

That's so freaky. Avery can look in anyone's house if they've got a so-called 'advanced' security system. That was my thinking too... somebody is using their house maybe like a proxy server. So they are innocent, yet don't know the Crystal Death people are doing something behind the scenes. So technically, if somebody didn't do their homework like Jan and Avery are doing, they could wind up simply accusing the family. Break down their doors, yet find nothing. There was a Grisham book I read a few years ago in which this happened. Sort of like what's in that Swatting link. Goodness.

Ha! Mom opens the door and immediately closes it. Maybe she's not aware of who Stormcrow is.

Wayne says OMG. He actually says O M G. This is funny episode today. And then Jan is in her outfit as the whole fam crowds around. Her thinking is right. Her outfit is certainly going to catch their attention, make them pay attention and take her words more serious.

. If only a superhero had come to her rescue that time she broke the lamp doing cartwheels in the living room…

Hmm, I am starting to think this could be a distraction, not to get this family arrested, but maybe something else is going on right now, as the police arrive at this mundane address. Meanwhile, some other location is having some crime going on.

Gadget is going to clone Wayne's computer. He says it like he's going to get something to eat. Ah geez.

[SubRosa]

Acadian: Jan and Avery playing off one another is always a joy to write. They are the dynamic duo after all. Gadget really gets to show off his gadeteering in these next few episodes, as he sniffs out the electronic trail to the bad guys.

Jan is going to have her hands full diffusing the situation. In fact, I used today's episode as a way of showing that while she may be super, she is still far from perfect. She really could use some of Buffy's grace at a time like this.


Renee: January is posting her Crow Tales blog under her Stormcrow identity. I went back to make that more clear. If she did it as January Ward no one would ever notice it. That was the whole idea, use her identity as Stormcrow to promote positive novels and short stories. Because of that, there is now a link between January Ward and Stormcrow: the fact that Jan's book was featured on Stormcrow's blog. Just as Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein was. And every following author whose work she features. So it is not evidence that Jan is Stormcrow. Just that Stormcrow mentioned her.

Anything with a connection to the internet can be hacked, simple as that. Look at all those celebrities whose phones were hacked years ago, and their private pictures spread all over. Or the Sony executives whose emails were plastered all over the internet.

I thought it was interesting that you brought up the idea that this might be a distraction while a real crime took place elsewhere. That is an idea that Avery will have concerning the Conjurer in next chapter. Though it will turn out to not be the case.

Mom does know who Stormcrow is. Pretty much everyone in Michigan does at this point in the story. But she does not expect the real Stormcrow to show up at her door. More likely a cosplayer that her son is friends with.

Cloning Wayne's computer really is as simple as making a sandwich for Avery. When it comes to technology, he literally makes up his own rules. That is his gift.


All: I did some tweaking to some parts of Chapter 1 over the past few days. Nothing dramatic. I just steamlined the place where Jan is talking about her story idea at the very start. I added in a little more detail about her early flights, namely the landings. Now they went much less smoothly, showing that she has a long way to go with learning to fly. I tweaked Avery's use of the name Gadget, so it is clear that only January knows him by that name. I even went back and changed the news casters to be Gilda Gadfly as well.

Finally I changed Heisenberg's Technocracy from Central Asia to Central Europe (namely Austria). I had not thought about it at first, but lately I have been concerned that it might look like the White Savior trope - a genius European scientist lifting the Asians out of their backward squalor. I could not find any Russian scientists whose names resonated like Heisenberg's. So I decided to scrap the location and just move it to Europe. I am still keeping the time that Heisenberg created the Technocracy as 1953, as that is still ideal with Stalin's death, and the creation of the Warsaw Pact. I even briefly considered changing him to Schrodinger, as he was Austrian and living at that time. But my original idea was to create a character like Doctor Doom - a genius scientist who ruled his own nation. The name Schrodinger just does not carry the same ominous tinge to it that Heisenberg does.







Knock and Announce Rule

Grond

Hecate II



Book 5.11 - Crystal Death

She strode purposely to the door and went outside. She was just in time to see a squad of what looked like commandos in black uniforms and body armor. Their faces were covered in balaclava, and their heads in the Army's newest style of helmets. They carried a mix of assault rifles and shotguns, all tricked out with electronic optics, vertical handgrips, and practically every other manner of tacticool bling imaginable.

They might have leaped from one of Avery's video games. Instead they spilled from a giant armored vehicle that was just one step away from being an actual tank. An MRAP is what January thought they were called. Leading the way was a man carrying a battering ram. Another followed close behind him with a giant crowbar.

They came up short when they found January planted directly in their path. She put her hands on her hips, in her best imitation of a defiant superhero pose.

"This isn't Minas Tirith, and there's no need to roll up with Grond there." January looked pointedly at the battering ram. "Ever hear of the Knock-and-Announce Rule?"

"Knock-and-Announce doesn't apply when it's unreasonable." A trooper with lieutenant's bars on his shoulders insisted. He was tall, and the skin around his eyes showed that he was a white man. That was the only distinguishing feature January could make out, given the military armor he was swathed within. "Given that our suspects pose a high level of threat, that is the case."

Gadget had prepared a dossier on the Emergency Response Team. Thanks to that January remembered that the lieutenant was named Paul Hunter. He had the dubious distinction of being investigated for misconduct more times than any other police officer in the state. He had also been essentially hand-picked for his current position by the previous governor. Hunter was clearly going to be trouble.

The rest of the team fanned out, rifles and shotguns at the ready. January wondered if they had armor-piercing rounds, like those the Whitewater mercenaries had used at the airport. Their weapons were not pointed directly at January. But they were not exactly pointed away either. She saw one of them climb up the back of the MRAP, and go prone on the roof with the largest rifle she had ever seen.

"That's a Hecate II," Gadget appraised her. "That's what Ryo uses in World of Guncraft. Fifty caliber. It's made for killing trucks."

"The only threat here is the one you bring," January insisted. She felt rather proud of herself for that. It sounded like something Gandalf or Yoda might say. "These people have committed no crimes. There's no reason for you to be here."

"We know about you Stormcrow," Lieutenant Hunter said her name like it was something slimy he found underneath his shoe. "This has nothing to do with your spooky monsters or limp-wristed friends, so clear out. Go play with the other rainbow pansies downtown."

January shook her head. She was tempted to show him how limp her wrists were by putting her knuckles through his face. Instead she reached down for her mana. She let it wash through her, cool as a mountain spring. She allowed it to sweep her anger away. Or at least she tried to at any rate. The fact that she didn't take the lieutenant's head off proved that she retained some measure of calm.

The steady drizzle that began to patter down from the sky said otherwise however.

"I am not going anywhere," she contended.

"We have a warrant to search the premises," the lieutenant growled. "If you stand in our way, you will be arrested for interfering with an officer, and other possible aiding and abetting charges."

"Oh I would never dream of obstructing justice," January insisted. "In fact, why don't I help you? I mean, just in case these big, bad suburbanites really are making meta-humans in the bathtub."

That brought sharp glances between the state troopers. January wanted to kick herself for giving too much away. She did her best to keep her face an expressionless mask. Blood Raven seemed to do it effortlessly. Since there was no way of reloading from her last save game and trying again, she decided to dive in with both feet.

"Oh you thought that was a secret? Superpowers aren't just about punching giant spiders you know. I am conducting my own investigation into Crystal Death," she declared. "I know all about it. I also have a pretty good idea that a social worker and a guy who makes axles are not criminal masterminds. But let's just make sure shall we? I'll go first, and protect you from any spooky monsters. You just worry about getting that warrant out."

January stepped back to the still open front door, and glanced back to the state police. "Oh by the way, you are being filmed, so smile for the camera."

She strode into the house like she owned it. She found the three members of the Mills family clustered in the kitchen, along with the cat. January walked slowly but steadily toward them, doing her best to remain unemotional. In reality her heart was beating like a jackhammer in her chest. But at least tapping into her mana helped her keep her cool, so far.

The state police burst in behind her, except for the sniper on the roof of their armored vehicle of course. January imagined that she - for she had noticed the sniper was female - was following everything inside with a thermal scope, or something else appropriately high tech. The other state troopers fanned out with guns drawn. Four of them immediately trained their weapons on January and the Millses. The rest of them split up in different directions. Most of them raced down the hallway deeper into the house, breaking down every door they came across. The remainder broke down the door to the garage, and vanished inside.

"Get out of my house!" Mr. Mills immediately bristled. He pointed an accusatory finger at the troopers. They turned their guns to point at him. The lieutenant came forward with two of his men to either side of him. Clearly they were intending to grab and restrain him.

Somewhere far back in the calculating, rational part of her mind, January knew that getting physically involved would only escalate things. But she could not hear that logical voice in her head. Not over the pounding of the blood in her ears, or the roar of her heart. Instead she fought back, as she learned she had to against the bullies in school.

She knew that she could not stop all three state troopers from reaching Mr. Mills - Jefferson. But she remembered how she had used her wings to block the police from shooting at the djieien in Ferndale. She thought of doing so again, and her mana poured into that image. Her will made it reality.

She had not hit the triggers built into her gauntlets to deploy her wings. They snapped out on their own. But this was not simply her cape changing its shape. No, this was an actual pair of crow's wings, feathers and all. Or at least there was the shape of feathers in the wings. But they were still made of hagfish armor. These wings however, were much larger than her cape had ever been. January did not even try to wrap her mind around that. She was having enough trouble dealing with the fact that her arms had disappeared.

A quick glance showed that was not quite true. The wings were in fact sprouting from her arms, just like a real bird's wing was its arm. Her hands were still in there, perhaps halfway through the wing. But they were much longer now. If she had to guess, she imagined that each arm/wing was at least five feet in length, perhaps longer. They stretched from one side of the kitchen to the other. That left the Mills family tucked safely in the corner behind her, out of reach of the police.

The state troopers seemed even more surprised than January was. That was certainly not in any dossier they might possess on her. They lowered their weapons, and stumbled back in shock. Even the lieutenant seemed taken aback.

"Holy Cromcakes Stormgirl!" Gadget breathed in her ear. "I didn't know you could turn your arms into actual wings!"

January did not know either. But she was not about to say that out loud.

"Tell me Lieutenant Hunter," she struck while the iron was hot. "Do the Sterling Heights Police even know you are here? Or are you going behind their backs with your little raid?"

"That's a good idea Crowgirl," Gadget's voice was in her ear again. "The SHPD are receiving an anonymous phone call right now…"

"While we are at it Lieutenant Hunter, how many people have you shot?" January continued to use his name. She wanted everyone in the world would hear it, and know who he was. "Is it true that the only reason you weren't thrown out of the state police was because you were friends with the last governor? Isn't he the only reason you have this job?"

If he wanted to make snide comments about limp-wrists and rainbow pansies, she could dish out better. That logical, rational part of her brain told her that she was throwing gasoline onto a raging forest fire. She ignored it, and decided it was time to break out the marshmallows instead.

"I have a warrant to search these premises!" Hunter finally gathered his wits and produced the folded up papers in question. He waved them at January like they were a magical talisman to ward off super crows. All the while he still gripped his assault rifle in the other hand, barrel pointed at January. "You will cease and desist this… this… obstruction at once!"

"I'm not obstructing anything," January shot back. "I'm protecting innocent people from your brutality."

"There is no brutality here!" Hunter shouted.

"Really, then why are assault rifles being pointed at the heads of unarmed people. People who pose no threat to anyone? Why are doors being broken down for no reason? Why do I hear things being smashed in the other rooms? Why is a .50 caliber sniper rifle being pointed at a 15 year old boy? Is that how the Michigan State Police behave? I say thee nay!"

January did not know where she got the last part. Maybe it was from listening to Blood Raven talk. Or it could have been from watching the Lord of the Rings movies recently. Inwardly, she groaned. Once this video got out, that was going to be a meme, no doubt about it.

"Whoa, weren't you all the ones telling me to be chill?" January heard Wayne murmur behind her.

He was right. Normally it would have been Gadget giving her that sage advice. But he must have been busy calling the Sterling Heights police. In any case, January knew words of wisdom, at least when someone else spoke them. With an effort of will, she controlled her breathing, slowed her heart, and lowered her wings. The latter shortened to the regular length of her arms. But they remained armored bird's wings rather than human limbs.

"Thank you Wayne," January glanced back at the 15 year old. She ran her elemental mantra through her head, and let her mana wash through the words. She concentrated on her breathing, and listened to the words in her head.

Earth give me strength, keep me grounded, protect me from harm.

Air give me quickness in body and wit. Let the weights of the world fall from me.

Water make me flexible in thought and form. Let me flow, let me crash.

Fire give me passion and energy Transform me in the night sky.

Spirit weave all together in balance. Bring me peace.

"They do have a legal right to search the property," she said as she turned back to the Emergency Response Team. "Since none of us are criminals, we are not going to impede them from carrying out their duties. They will find that there is nothing here, and leave. In the meantime the real police - the ones from Sterling Heights - are on their way."

"Maybe you would like to explain to them what you are doing here, Lieutenant Hunter," January stared at her opposite number.

He glared at January, but did not reply. Instead he slapped down the warrant on the kitchen counter. Then he turned to his men.

"Search the family."

Again, two of the state troopers came forward, while the other pair hung back. January noted that they had moved into positions where their fields of fire would not be blocked by the advancing cops. She also remembered that the sniper was still out there with that giant rifle. January wondered if a .50 caliber round would penetrate her armor? What about an armor-piercing .50 caliber round? How many buildings would it go through if it missed? How many other innocent lives would it snuff out?

"First, lower your weapons," January insisted, "and treat these people with respect."

"You don't tell the Michigan State Police what to do!" Lieutenant Hunter fumed.

"I shouldn't have to," January shot back. She looked away from the lieutenant, and instead locked eyes on each of the other members of the team in turn. "You are pointing guns at a child. Is this why you joined the police? Is this going to be your legacy? Is this the kind of person you are? Who do you serve? Who do you protect?"

Thunder rumbled outside, in a long, low drumbeat.

Without a word, the state troopers lowered the weapons to a forty five degree angle. Except for Lieutenant Hunter of course, he stood back and fumed, rifle still leveled firmly at January's head. Two of the men then slung their weapons entirely, and came forward to search the Millses. But they did so much more gingerly and respectfully, than it appeared they would have a moment before.

January wondered if the other troopers might try to plant drugs at the scene to get back at her, and justify the ordeal. But she remembered that Gadget was watching over the home security cameras. She hoped they would not be so foolish. But the lieutenant was clearly raging, and January knew that she bore much of the blame for that.

In the end they did not take that particular low road. They did not find any drugs of course. But they did carry out a computer that January imagined belonged to Wayne, along with Tanisha's laptop, and all of their phones.

January resisted taunting them as they filed out of the house. The mom - Tanisha - however did not.

"Didn't find anything did you!" she crowed. "But you are still stealing our electronics? I need that laptop for work, and my son needs his computer for school! And who is going to pay for my broken doors! And what about this lamp you all smashed?"

"My warrant gives me the right to seize any and all evidence pertaining to our investigation," Lieutenant Hunter bragged. "Your property will be returned in due course, once it is no longer required for the investigation."

"I will get it all back for you." January turned her back on the state police and faced the Millses directly. "One way or another, I promise."

[Acadian]

During Lt Hunter’s insulting opening statement to January, I had flashbacks to Buffy’s fairly recent encounter with Count Pompous Terentius! Very uncourtly behavior on his part instead of the grace that should accompany authority. Yay for Jan that she maintained a degree of restraint. . . to a point of course.

”I say thee nay!"
- - I can imagine how much fun you had crafting this old world Blood Ravenesque line! Though Jan second guesses herself for it, I loved it!

This was a tense encounter indeed and Jan conducted herself well as she carefully managed being assertively helpful without becoming aggressively counterproductive.

Fabulous job of blending the weather with Jan's emotions. She is the Stormcrow after all.

And real wings! With feathers and everystuff! I look forward to learning more about this new development that surprised Gadget and even January herself!

[Renee]

I have done that too, gone back to previous chapters I have written and changed stuff around. When I was writing Sarah Phimm back in 2016-2017 I couldn't stand reading her earliest journal updates without editing. It's because toward the middle and end of these tales, we learn stuff about how they really are. In earlier chapters we haven't found their true voice yet. At least, that's how it works for me.

Okay, so she's releasing her tales under her Stormcrow name. That is best. She'll retain her own secret self identity (for awhile, anyway) and Stormcrow will guarantee lots of reads and Likes.

I like that. 'Defiant superhero pose'. She's taking lessons from Lighthammer, perhaps.

Yeah, she needs that mana now. Even if she's in the right... that guy up top of the SWAT truck has a Hecate II.

Oh boy. They're tearing up the house. This happened to a house I lived in long ago, sort of. Long story. I lived in a house in which somebody was growing pot, and long story short, the place wound up getting raided. They really do not do nice things to one's house. My room got a little messed up by them. Thankfully, the main guy who was growing fessed up once he arrived (he heard what was going on and had to skip out of work). Police stopped tearing apart our rooms after he admitted to being the main grower.

She turns her arms into wings due to magic, right?

That braggart lieutenant. Oy.

[SubRosa]

Acadian: When I read Buffy's encounter with Count Pretentiousness, I immediately thought of this scene as well (since I wrote it last autumn). Unfortunately, Buffy behaved with much more grace and poise than January managed. This was in part meant to be a scene that showed that January is not perfect. She could have handled that better, and she knows it. This scene also went through a lot of edits by me to get just right. In the original January was much more hostile to the police. But I dialed it back some, because it just did not feel right, in spite of the issues she has with authority figures.

I did love the "I say thee nay!" line. It just sort of rolled off the keyboard without me even having to think about it. Jan was on a roll at that point.

January has been building toward creating real wings for a long time, and being able to really fly, rather than just glide. She still has a lot more to learn about her wings, and what she can do with them.


Renee: I am sorry you had to deal with that swat team. I bet it made you look at the police in a different light. I remember being in a Rite Aid in Detroit once and the police hit a car in the street outside. Everyone was walking around smiling and laughing behind their hands at the cops. None of these people were gang-bangers or professional criminals. They were just ordinary people. It was an eye-opener for me, because I realized that my experience with the police as a white suburbanite was a lot different from a that of a black city-dweller. The police were not there to protect them, or serve them. They were nothing less than an occupying force there to suppress them. When you look at the history of the American police, and how they started from either mercenaries for the rich in the north, or slave-catching patrols in the south, that is not surprising. It is one of the reasons why Blood Raven is so contemptuous of the police.

Besides showing that January is not perfect, this scene was just a slice of life. Swatting has been a fact of life for a long time. It only works because the police have no qualms about breaking into peoples houses and sticking guns in their faces, with absolutely no real evidence that anyone is in danger, or a crime is being committed. I not only wanted to show this because it is reality. But also because it is a reality that January has to face if she wants to work with the police.

January's wings are all magic. Eventually she will be able to form them without the need of her cape. She will just create them whole cloth, as it were. Not to mention being able to use them as shields, weapons, and more that just a means of travel.

Lieutenant Hunter is an example of how I said before that "the government" is not one, monolithic organization where everyone is like-minded and working toward the same goals. It is filled with individuals who all have their own agendas, and all do their own things. Lt Hunter is definitely not a Crow fan. While I never planned to use him beyond this chapter, I am now thinking of bringing him back for what I think of as Phase 2 of the Crowfic (after Nátthrafn is defeated). Things will be a lot less magical then, and focused on more mundane things like an election, and white supremacists. He could make for a good medium level antagonist then. Who knows, he might eventually become a real supervillain?










Book 5.12 - Crystal Death

"Sterling Heights PD is on the scene," Gadget said. January glanced out the window and saw one of the city's white police cars with blue lettering at the curb. Another pulled up behind it a moment later. Lieutenant Hunter filed out with the rest of his men, leaving January alone in the house with the Millses.

"Before the city cops come in, I need to ask you something Wayne," January turned to the young man. "You're a gamer right? What do you play?"

"Well World of Guncraft of course!" he proudly declared. "But I do some Sword Science Online too."

"Did you make any enemies online recently?" she asked, "anyone who is really, really mad at you."

"You mean like mad enough to call the cops?" Wayne rubbed the back of his neck. It was exactly the same tell that Gadget had when he was nervous. "Well…."

"Wayne Anthony Mills," his mother intoned gravely. January knew it was never good when your mother used your middle name. So far as January could tell, it had been invented just to be yelled at kids. "You had better not be responsible for all this!"

"It's not my fault!" he replied, sounding more than a little like a smuggler with a defective hyperdrive.

"Just please tell me about it," January said in as soothing a tone as possible.

"I was in his PC before the cops took it," Gadget said in her ear. "I like this kid already. His name on World of Guncraft is AfroSamurai2004. We'll have to see if he wants to game with us."

"There was this guy, ThunderRhino-something, he was kind of upset," Wayne explained.

"Why was he upset?" January asked gently.

"Well I might have killed him like ten times in a row," Wayne rubbed the back of his neck again. "And I may have allegedly tea-bagged him each time. And I might have put it on MeTube..."

"Tea bagged?" Mom asked, clearly perplexed. "What is that?"

"It's when you-" Dad began to explain, before January interceded.

"It's rude," she said simply.

"Ok, I'm in the game server. I got this guy." Gadget said in her ear. "ThunderRhino666. Wow, what a name. He's clearly got some deep-seated issues."

"Can you work with that?" January said. The Mills family all stared at her in consternation. January imagined that to them, it must have seemed like she was talking to thin air.

"Oh hell yeah!" Gadget crowed. "I've got his IP. From this I can backtrack to his ISP, and from them I can get his address. Probably what this guy did to Lil Wayne here in the first place. We are done, unless you want to stick around for the Sterling PD. Just give me some time to work."

"I'm sorry things got crazy." Now January spoke directly to the family. "I shouldn't have lost my temper. They just got my dander up. I called the city cops. You can file a report with them on what happened. Give them a copy of your home security footage. I don't know if they can do anything for you. But you can also talk to the Michigan Attorney General's office as well. That was part of the state Emergency Response Team, led by Lieutenant Paul Hunter."

"No, thank you, for being on our side," Mr. Mills said. "We don't forget something like that."

"You're always welcome here," Mrs. Mills continued. She glanced at the police outside. "Just don't bring your 'friends' with you next time."

"Yeah, you're badass!" Wayne exclaimed. "Come over and we can play World of Guncraft! And bring Blood Raven too, and Lighthammer!"

"I'm almost afraid to say I've never played it," January replied honestly. "I haven't played a video game since Skyrim. I just never have the time."

She waved goodbye and walked outside into the last drops of rain. The clouds began to part as she gazed up into the sky. Then she glanced down at herself. Her arms were still wings. She was still not exactly sure how she had done that. She had been exercising her mana as the time, and thinking of the need to deploy the wings. That must have done it, her energy, her visualization, and her will. Exactly as all magic worked.

She imagined that she could turn her arms back to normal by doing the same. No, she knew that she could. As Blood Raven had insisted, a magician's will had to be absolute. A conjure woman who doubted, was a conjure woman who failed.

With that certainty in her thoughts, she once more called up her mana. She spent a moment just basking in its cool, cleansing embrace. It was as relaxing as soaking in the tub after a long workout. Then she pictured her arms returning to normal once more, and her cape billowing out behind her. She willed that into reality, and the world literally reshaped itself according to her desire.

When she looked again she found that her arms had returned to normal. She could even hear her cape flapping dramatically in the air behind her, even though there was no breeze.

A pair of uniformed Sterling Heights officers stared at her, but said nothing as they walked past and knocked on fame of the open front door. January noted the distinct lack of body armor and other military gear on their persons. It was a sharp contrast to the commando attire - and attitude - of the Emergency Response Team.

January saw more of the Sterling Heights PD pulling up. One with lieutenant's bars on his shoulders was speaking with Lieutenant Hunter of the state police. Hunter looked frustrated at having to explain himself. That gave January a twinge of satisfaction.

She debated trying to talk to him again, let bygones and be bygones, and try to work with him. She would sooner put a foot through his kneecap. But she was not going to be Blood Raven. She needed to foster relationships, not animosities. That was so much easier said than done however.

So she swallowed her anger - and the adrenaline that still percolated through her blood - and strode over to the taller man. She tried to act as calm and confident as she could. The way Blood Raven projected strength and coolness, at least when she wasn't infuriating people.

"Lieutenant Hunter," she said in as measured a tone as she could muster. "I suggest that we work together on this. I believe that by pooling our resources, we will discover the real culprit all the sooner."

"Oh I think you've done enough," her state police counterpart replied haughtily. "Rest assured, I'll be making a full report on your obstruction in this case."

January ground her teeth, but did not say any of many things that sprang to her mind. Instead she fought to keep her cool, and remembered what she had said to Emilia when she had balked at working with Blood Raven.

"This is not about you or me, or whatever animosities we might share," January insisted. "This is about the innocent people whose lives are in danger from Crystal Death. I am offering you my help to put a stop to it. Will you take it?"

As much as it pained her, January even put her once again normal, human hand out to the state trooper.

He stared at it like it was a cobra. Without even a glance at the Sterling Heights lieutenant who stood beside them, he turned and walked back to his armored vehicle. The rest of his troopers were already filing inside. The sniper on the roof had stood up, and was in the process of slinging her massive rifle across her back.

"Be right back," she murmured to the Sterling Heights officer.

January was on top of the armored truck with a single leap. The sniper kept her cool, and looked her in the eye.

"This is going to sound odd, but I'd like your phone number," January said quietly. She hoped it was quiet enough that the troopers below could not hear.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" the sniper said loudly. That brought chuckles from the men filing into the back of the armored truck.

"No." January wanted to roll her eyes. Was this why Jane Jet had never came out as a lesbian? Because every woman would think she wanted to date them, and every man would try to fix her up with their sister?

She kept her voice low. "I am going to find the real Death Dealer. Give me your number and I will call you when I do. In spite of how it might look, I would rather do this with the police, than without you. Now will you work with me? Or are you as big a yotz as your boss?"

The sniper stared at her for long moments. January steeled herself to remain calm and impassive, at least outwardly so. A tremendous wave of relief washed over her when the other woman whispered her phone number back. January was glad that she was recording, because she knew she never would have remembered it on her own.

"I don't know what you think," the sniper loudly cried out, "but I am not like that!"

January smiled in spite of herself. Then she looked around and saw the people milling around on the sidewalks and staring. That was going to be viral. No doubt about it. But at least she had a contact, of sorts, in the Emergency Team.

She leaped back down from the MRAP as the sniper climbed down a ladder on the back. It pulled away a moment later with all the state cops within. January saw Lieutenant Hunter glare at her through the windows as it went by. She was about to leave as well, but more Sterling Heights police pulled up.

A man with captain's bars on his shoulder got out of one car. He seemed young for the rank, but the flecks of grey in his otherwise short and impeccably combed black hair hinted that he might be older than he first appeared. Like the other SHPD officers, he wore an ordinary uniform, rather than body armor and military gear. He strode directly to January, and offered his hand.

"Well there's a ruggedly handsome fella," Gadget noted in her ear.

"Dale Nowakowski, Chief of Police," he declared. January shook his hand. Her head practically spun at the radical change in behavior from one branch of law enforcement to the other. "I am glad to finally meet. I have followed you since you brought in that diamond smuggler."

"Well that was really a team effort," January now found herself squirming at the unexpected praise. "I just did one small part, and really, almost screwed up the entire thing."

The chief stopped short, and looked her up and down, as if only now seeing her for the first time.

"That kind of humility is not what I expected," he said. "Not after…"

"After fifty years of Blood Raven," January finished his sentence. "I am not her. Even she's not her, not the image you think she is. I've got a lot to learn from her. But I've also got a lot to learn from people like you sir. I hope we will have a better relationship than the one I just had with the Emergency Response Team."

"Well it looks like that might not be too difficult," the chief glanced back at the armored vehicle, which was just turning out of sight. January imagined that he had seen her be rebuffed by the sniper. "I take it you were the source of our anonymous phone call?"

"My partner was," January said. She had already talked to Gadget about it, and by now there was really no disguising the fact that she had an online compatriot. "They watch my virtual back. Just like you guys have your own computer specialists."

January found that Chief Nowakowski was indeed a much easier person to get along with than Lieutenant Hunter. As it turned out, he had no idea that the Emergency Response Team was making the raid. She told him everything that had happened, warts and all. That included the reality that Crystal Death was making temporary meta-humans, and how the attorney general was obfuscating that aspect of the drug. It also included January's own admission of antagonism on her part. The chief did not look pleased at any of it. But he kept a calm, professional face the entire time. January imagined there was something for her to learn from that alone.

"I hope this is not going to color our future relationship," January finished. "We need to be allies, for everyone's sake."

"I agree," the chief declared. He handed her a business card, which January glanced at before she tucked away into her utility belt. "This is my personal number. I don't have authorization from the mayor to make it official. Not yet at least. But you can call me any time, and my department will give you all the support we can."

In return January gave him her Stormcrow number, with the same assurance that she would always be there for him and his city.

She gave him a friendly nod and stepped away to create some space. She called up her mana once more, and concentrated upon her wings. They sprang into reality a moment later, once again an extension of her arms, rather than just her cape flattened out into a wing shape.

She catapulted herself into the sky with a great leap. She swept her wings up and down with force, just as a bird would. All the while she concentrated on flying, and willed herself to remain aloft, never mind what gravity or other laws of physics might decree. She would fly, and that was that.

As simple as that, she soared through the sky as easily as any other crow. She was no longer gliding, as she had always done before. Now she was truly free of the Earth's shackles. She gained altitude when she wished to, not just when the wind cooperated. She just as easily lost that height when she so desired. She was entirely free in the air, to do whatever she willed, for as long as she wished.

She allowed a genuine smile to cross her features. She not only had made a friendly alliance with a police chief, she had also finally learned to truly fly. At least some good things had come out of this.

That lasted for less than a minute before Gadget spoiled her mood.

"Uh oh, we might have problems Downtown," he said.

"The Conjurer?" January's stomach clenched. She had not felt the horrific disturbance of a summoning. But that might simply have been due to her being too far away.

"No," he replied. "You are not going to believe this. Or maybe you will. This is 2019 after all. It's Nazis, real Nazis, at Motor City Pride."