Ipso Facto

Image courtesy of Dr. Steel

    When Jupiter's pretty features paled in terror rather than flush in excitement, Blitzmann felt it best to explain.
    'I'll spare you the details,' he said. 'But here's the gist of it: a drow gets hired to assassinate me. He fails, and I perform a few experiments on him. Said drow's clan swears revenge, sends more assassins my way, yadda yadda yadda, long story short, ipso facto, I am now a sworn blood-nemesis of Clan Undrek'Thoz.'
    He couldn't help but notice that Juniper did not look reassured.
    'I use them as test subjects,' he said. 'Live bodies are hard to come by.'

Nothing Special

    Blitzmann wheeled the drow into the cleared space, the black-skinned creature tied securely to a solid block of wood. It rolled smoothly across the wooden floor of the warehouse. Juniper frowned at the sight.
    'What's this?' she asked from the other side of the room.
    'Nothing special,' Blitzmann said. 'Just another would-be assassin come to exact revenge in the night.'
    'Oh,' she said. 'No, I'm sorry, what? Another assassin?'
    Blitzmann waved dismissively. 'It's nothing to worry about, really.'
    'It is when I'm involved!' she insisted, her usual composure gone.
    'You'll get used to it,' he said, joining her behind the barricade.

Axe

    After the silent battle that Juniper seemed not only indifferent to, but also to win, Blitzmann turned his back to her with a dismissive 'Pah!' She breathes a quiet sigh of relief. Doctor Blitzmann was not an easy man to work with, but there were ways to deal with him: Prove your value. Stand firm in your beliefs. Suggest something utterly insane and overly complicated.
    'An axe, perhaps.'
    'An axe? You want m-'
    'That explodes.'
    Blitzmann pauses. 'It also summons demons,' he says.
    'Small ones,' says Juniper.
    'I think we will get along splendidly, Miss Berries,' he says, extending a hand.

Assistant

    'Strapping spikes onto the squirrels won't actually turn them into...' Juniper glances at her notes. '"Unstoppable, orange killing machines," doctor.' She flicks a strand of black hair away from her pretty face.

    Blitzmann scowls at her, then at the box of chittering squirrels. 'Well,' he says, a little indignantly. 'Perhaps you should have brought me some better squirrels!'

    Juniper raises an eyebrow. 'Better squirrels, doctor?'

    'Yes!' he says. 'Better! Bigger! Angrier! Bring me a batch of pumped up and pissed off squirrels, and I'll bring you the most dangerous group of merciless killers the world has ever seen. But this,' he says, brandishing one of the small, furry, spike-covered creatures. 'I can do nothing with this.' The squirrel nips playfully at his fingers before he throws it back with the others.

    'If I may speak frankly, doctor?'

    Blitzmann waves his hand in an "of course" kind of way.

    'Our employers are deeply concerned about your ideas. They've asked you to bring them a weapon. Something that will win them the war. Quite frankly,' Juniper says, 'The quality of squirrels is the least of your concerns.'

    Blitzmann glares at his new assistant. She holds his gaze, a slightly bored look on her face. 

Phrase and Jax

    "Welp," said Jonathan Phrase, clapping his hands together. "As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I really must get going."
    Jax watched the man get to his feet and place his hands on the door. "I doubt the Metals will just let you walk out the front door, buddy," he said.
    "Jonathan Phrase," he said, still facing the door.
    "Huh?"
    "My name is Jonathan Phrase." His voice was calm as ever, but Jax could hear the steel in it. "Get it right."
    "Sorry," he muttered. He opened his mouth to ask the man a question. Then the door exploded.

Looks 2

    Even after we discovered that looking at someone could kill them, people kept dying. The effects seemed to grow stronger as time passed. The first ones hadn't died before hundreds of people had stared at them for hours at a time. Then it only took a few people. Then it took a long, hard stare. Now, all it took was a glance.

    Thomas adjusted a strap on his suit, making sure his entire body was covered. Thomas was a fast learner. He'd been one of the first to realize what was happening, and he had wasted no time responding accordingly. His very first consideration was whether the phenomenon was physical or supernatural. If it was the former, he stood a chance of surviving. If it was the latter... Well, he might as well lie down and wait for someone to look his way. As it was, he felt pretty safe in his assumption that the "Gaze", as he had named it, was a product of evolution and not, as most people firmly believed, God's divine judgement on man.
    His suit was the product of three days of labor. The innermost layer was a skintight full body suit of grey fabric, stopping at his neck. Over that, he wore a black tactical vest and sturdy pants. Thin plates of metal were sewn into the fabric. Not enough to stop a bullet, perhaps, but enough to stop a knife. He had no illusions about human ferocity. He wore a pair of military-grade boots. What little fuel they had would soon run out, and a solid pair of boots would be invaluable. His head was mostly covered by a black ski mask, which left only his eyes exposed. Strapped to his face was a large set of night vision goggles, four green lenses protruding from the device.

Derp de derp

    Argh, sorry. I'm going to skip two updates in a row. Tomorrow will be different! 303 words! Honest.