Fictionby Author

This is a brief overview of the primary storyline for Two-Fisted Tales.

The Purists manipulate the Dragons into retrieving 5 powerful, magical artifacts which the Purists plan to use to cast a spell allowing them to attune to all of the Feng Shui Sites in the world at the same time.

Tom Donovan and Tricia Kwok team up to retrieve the Ruby Eye, which is currently in the possession of a prominent New York mobster.

Zheng Yi Quan and the Nemesis travel to China to obtain the legendary Jade Dragon, but many others would stop at nothing to obtain it for themselves.

The enigmatic John Fenris and the equally mysterious Golden Gunman track the Ivory Goddess through the bazaars of Egypt, and from there into the jungles of darkest Africa.

By Stefan Vincent

Flashback

I do not understand what is happening to me. Each day the pain in my head grows more intense. Always the cold slab awaits me in the morning, and always the bright lights, the strange sounds, and the pain. I think I remember a time before the cage and the pain, a time of trees and bright sunshine, but I cannot be sure.

The hairless ones jabber and squawk at me, so much that I almost think they are trying to communicate. They bring me food, but they also bring me to the slab. I do not know what they want.

I long to see my mate again, but fear I will not.

By Dave Eber

"...Daughter..."

Pi Tui floated in a sea of gray mist. She looked around, confused. She wasn't sure where she was, or how she had gotten here.

"...Daughter..."

"Father?" Pi Tui looked around, her long dark hair drifting out gently behind her. She felt as if she were trying to move underwater. Before her, the gray mists became churning, dark cloudsthat formed a giant face.

"Hear me, daughter!" The voice was deep like thunder, and echoed as if it came from the bottom of the deepest chasm.

"I'm here father! Where are you?"

"Help me. Release me."

"How can I help you? Where are you?"

By Dave Eber

“Tell us a story, Master Wu! Tell us a story!”

“Eh?” Old Wu cocked open one eye. Beneath his grizzled eyebrow, he saw a dozen eager round faces, beaming up at him in the afternoon sun.

“Bah. Go away. Can’t you see Master Wu is taking a nap?” Old Wu closed his eyes and pulled the brim of his hat down low over his forehead.

“Please, Master Wu,” the children said, their voices a mismatched chorus of tinkling bells. Old Wu opened his eyes again, then pushed his hat back and sat up.

“You are all naughty little urchins, depriving an old man of his rest. Very well, I see you will not be satisfied until I am in my grave.” Old Wu picked himself up, and the children let out a ragged cheer. “Li, fetch me my stool. Cho, a cup of water. Song, stop hitting your sister!” Old Wu stretched out his lanky frame and brushed off his tattered robes. The children all sat down in a loose semi-circle as he sat down on his stool, took a cool sip of water, and then faced his young audience.

“Master Wu will tell you a story of long ago, a time when ghosts roamed the forests, and sorcerers walked the length of the land, seeking ancient secrets and hidden power. A time when the empire had been corrupted by evil men who threatened the world with their villainous plans. And I will tell you of the masters of old who lived in the mountains, who had kung fu the likes of which have never been seen since. And I will tell you of how heroes rose up to face the evil that darkened our skies, and how they saved us all…”

Song awoke. He was alive, but he ached all over. He couldn't see anything.

"Hello?"

A woman's voice responded, from somewhere nearby. "Good. You're awake. How do you feel?"

"Been a lot worse, but I can't see."

"The generator's out. The Thunder King's feeling kind of cranky - seems somebody nearly wiped out one of his patrols near here. He got in a lucky shot. Somebody'll fix it once the macho posturing's over."

"No, you don't understand. I should still be able to see."

"Oh, the little sensor package you've got instead of an eye? I turned that off when I was fixing you up. I like my privacy. As best I can tell, it's fine, and so's the rest of your hardware, but I can't be sure - I didn't have much time, and it's a lot more sophisticated than the stuff you find on your average monkey."

By Julian Lighton

I was enjoying my early retirement in one of the better nightclubs in Paris when I first saw her. She probably caught the attention of just about every man in the place when she entered; it wasn't just her looks, but the strange, almost inhuman grace with which she moved. She glanced over the crowded room, and her eyes met mine. A small smile crossed her lips.

That was enough for me; abandoning my drink, I vaulted over the bar and made a break for the back door. There would be a sniper covering it, but I liked the odds better than trying to get past her.

There are some people you do not steal from. There are some people you do not betray. I hadn't done either, exactly, but I didn't think they'd be interested in technicalities. I was surprised that nobody was covering the back door, but didn't stop to contemplate my good fortune, I just tried to lose myself in the maze of back alleys and side streets.

By Dave Eber

Jason X screamed. He was held in stasis, unable to move, but still he screamed. He no longer had any idea how long they had held him. His waking hours were nothing but pain, as they operated on him again and again, injecting him with drugs, burning him with lasers, and digging their blades into his skin and muscle. He saw nothing but the inhuman faces of his tormentors as they tore him apart and put him back together again. And then they would put him into the tank for weeks or months at a time, where his sleep was filled with confusing visions and nightmarish images. And always he was there, the demon who had enslaved him, both when he was awake, and when he slept. There was nowhere for him to run, nowhere to hide, and no respite from the fear and the pain. And then finally, Jason could hold on no longer. He fell into a deep dark well inside himself, and the man who was Jason X was no more. Only then did the pain finally stop.

By Julian Lighton

Athena leafed through the pages of her brother's report. There was no question that the Purists were in the middle of a major operation, yet there were no signs of unusual activity in the junctures, nor in the Netherworld itself.

Had they opened a private juncture? Not impossible - there was evidence it had been done accidentally by others in the recent past. But to what era, and how to gain access to the portal?

A sketch caught her eye. He had seen some odd clothing in passing, and she examined what he had drawn. It would be out of place in any of the open junctures, but it suggested a time, and the time suggested a plan.

She called over her youngest brother, and showed him the data. His conclusions matched hers, and he could see no flaws in her plan. One of them might not be enough, but no more could be spared.

As he took one of the growth tanks off-line and began making the necessary modifications, she sought out their father in the depths of the lab. While permission was not required, he was still their father, and he was still the Prophet, so it was best to observe the formalities.

The hunter awoke, and instantly knew that somthing was wrong, that something had changed.

She was alone. Gone were the technicians, the foolish souls who called themselves her 'keepers', all the buzzing insects that normally surrounded her.

She decided that she liked it.

Her surroundings were strange. This was not the world she remembered. She assumed that the Buro and the CDCA were no more, that, as far as this world was concerned, they had never been.

She gazed out of the window, looking down upon the crowds of humans going through the motions of their pointless lives. They seemed to be unafraid. That would change soon enough.

By Julian Lighton

"I am Fo Shen. I was a loyal servant and trusted advisor of Gao Zhang, the glorious Center of the Lotus."

"A number of years ago, we discovered your people travelling to our time to steal our demonic servants, and, following them, we discovered the Netherworld and the war over history."

"Gao Zhang devised a number of plans to ensure our eventual triumph in this war, the details of many of which are known to me."

"To deal with you, he resolved to send infiltrators into your 'CDCA', there to train sorcerers who could undermine your organization from within, and sabotage the creation of your 'abominations' from our servants."