stepping out of the shadows

Hi folks. I've been keeping quiet for a while. If you're interested, I'll start talking.

You probably read the Doc's diary of the Fusang adventure. Well, right after I teleported him beck to the boat where that other neko boy servant he had was waiting, I took a trip back to Sumatra. I had some investigating to do.

From there, I turned on the TARDIS Emergency Beacon that Purdie gave me. I hoped if he survived that gunshot and regenerated he'd pick me up. Well, I got a ride from a Time Lord, but not Purdie. A giant stone tiki popped up and a guy named Professor Badass showed up. That guy is One Cool Dude. Look him up. (Gem? He says he met you?)

Anyway, he dropped me off in Belhaven and told me I had to destroy the Marcus's bloodfruit tree before Marcus drank the juice from it and turned into a new Bloodwing. I found the tree in the underground tunnels and torched it. But he must have had a bottle of bloodwyne squirrelled away. It looks like Jeremiah handled things from there.

I talked to Doc Mason when I got back to Steelhead. I explained to him that when he reanimated me, he ripped one of Vortex's nine lives from him. Now he wants it back. Problem is, I'm not interested in ruling a huge crater that used to be an underworld kingdom. Especially if there's a Hydra chained in the bottom of it with the magic equivalent spit and bailing wire trying to break free.

Of all the looney Spark-inspired things he's done, stitching Marcus's wings on his back has to be the looniest. Okay, becoming his own father in a time loop was Epic Looney, but we fixed that. He needs the power to fight Jeremiah, he says. Maybe he does.

But he's already started changing. Not just that red glow in his eyes. He's starting to think like a demon. Brooding. Arrogant. Easily enraged.

Dad! Listen to me! You almost incinerated a JAGER! Do you want the Consulate hunting you down? Do you want to get banished from Steelhead just like You-Know-Who? Keep it up. You'll be perching on top of a tower in Belhaven groaning about how everything went wrong.

There was another Qlippothic Steel Unit spotted in Steeltopia, at the Europan Consulate. It tried to take out Ash, but that big-mouth blob he has for a pet raised the alarm. (Yech! That thing gives me the creeps! Brush its teeth, will ya Bro?)

Ash said he snuck up on it with some Ninja moves and lit into it with some heavy barrel action before it teleported out. Now Emperor Squid's got a tank parked outside the Consulate. This is the same blue bot who put Jobias on his payroll? Guy needs a tune-up!

I asked Ash where he learned ninjitsu. He said from the Emperor's sister. He seemed really sad when he told me she got banned from Steeltopia. He seemed...heartbroken?

Gem isn't taking any chances. She's got a cannon for an arm now. She's hosting for Squid at Steam Sky City on Monday Nights, but she's bummed that nobody shows up. I said "Private Dancer?" and she shook her cannon at me. Yeeeesh!

I bumped into Genie's new farmhand, Jeremy. He was busy rebuilding the shed on her farm and setting up a blacksmith forge. He told me Genie still doesn't have her powers back, but her ankle's getting better. Dad's mithril bracelet didn't do squat.

Jeremy seems like a nice guy. He's brighter than he's letting on, but something smells...odd about him. Like...two or three steps from familiar.

Last but not least, I'm hooking up with Kira again to help her play music at her teahouse in Caledon on Fridays! She said I could use the tips to buy a new outfit. Hmph.