Pleased to Meet You, Won't You Guess My Name?

Oh my. It is fun to start a new tradition, isn't it? You'll be seeing more of these in the future. Even though the good Doctor would rather you didn't.

By the way, this is Rakshasa typing. Well, not really typing, per se, but writing in this electric medium nonetheless. Don't worry, I haven't harmed Silas Ferrian in any way--this is all part of a deal we made. He wanted knowledge to help him get his errant paramour back into sway. This was my price--a chance to give a message to all you lovely people.

I want to address something I've been asked a lot--don't worry, I'm sure Silas will be so good about updating this with the summary of that whol messy situation with Judy soon after I've posted this. He's so good about keeping this regularly updated, after all.

Where was I? Ah, yes.

When I was freed from my prison of the bust of the Macedonian office that brought me back, unwittingly, from campaign in India, my future host, henchman of Warlock, asked me, "Are you the Devil?"

My response was simple enough. "Does the Devil know he is the Devil?" Angels have no free will, after all. Did Satan have any part in falling, or was it all orchestrated by Fate? On that vein, do I have any choice in being what I am? I don't know, myself, either answer. I Have Been, I Am, and I Will Be. I remember time beginning, and I Was There. I remember the desire to burn all reality to ash. And from that font came I, the will and power to destroy Universe after Universe until nothing remains. Am I Satan, stripped of Knowledge after the Fall of Man-- an ironic punishment to be sure, or am I simply a force of nature? Oblivion's primal form given Shape, Will, and Intent? I am Evil Incarnate, either way, to be sure. So, therefore, have I ever had a choice in betraying Operation Mayhem in such a way that it made me look good and them look truly evil? Did I ever really have a choice in taking advantage of the desperate longing for power that Rake and Shasta had and giving them an offer they couldn't refuse? Did I have any say in betraying Silas in such a way that he nearly killed the woman he loved?

No, of course not. However, and this is the point I wish to make clear, they, the humans who have released, empowered, assisted, and otherwise aided me have always had a choice. I cannot, through some quirk of my nature, make anyone make a decision, evil or otherwise. You all do that for me. I provided Rake the means, but he was the one to say, "You have my soul to make that so." Of course, it was the poor fool's body I wanted. Which I got more than handily after ripping his soul to tiny pieces and tossing them to the hounds.

The Devil did not make Man fall, he just made it seem like a really good idea.

And with that, I leave you with your regularly scheduled host. And remeber, whatever decision he makes (and it is a truly excellent one), it is his.

Yours,

Rakshasa

THIS IS WHY YOU STAY SINGLE PEOPLE

Oh my god.

I am so angry right now.

I loved this plan. It was going so well. The heroes couldn't do jack without blood on their hands. All Judy had to do was say she wanted in on it and I would've shared.

Instead, she kicks me out! Dina too! She kicked her pregnant friend out. Lousy June Bug--Excuse me, Scarab.

Yes, that's Judy under the bulky spiky black armor. Apparently, what she 'brought back' wasn't a demon or an interdimensional parasite or anything like that. It was knowledge. And a major attitude problem. Locking me out of my own base. Commandeering my TrEyeumvirate. Beating the tar out of my nemesis.

You know what? She doesn't wanna be a team player? She wants to take everything from the guy who sat beside her bed for months wating for her to wake up? Well, two can play at this game. Yeah, she has my tech, my gear, better equipment, and a much higher IQ than me. Yeah, that angry Scarab armor can kick my ass even armored up. But I have one thing she doesn't.

Backup.

Time to give P.A.I.N. a trial by fire.

Tri-City Takeover

Oh god I love this plan.

So, as of yesterday, there is an aerial battleship over New Vineyard, and one over Chicago, and one over Detroit. Two are unmanned, and I'm in one of them. If anything happens to any of the ships, the other two start firing. I'm holding three cities for ransom simultaneously! How cool is that?

So far no hero has come forward to challenge me, since millions of lives are at stake here. But Quizzer and Speed Demon sure are fuming impotently at the ships, that much is for certain. I call the battleships my TrEyeumvirate.

I have a couple tons of precious metals at the moment, and more on the way.

Though, to be honest, I'm not enjoying this as much as I should be.

Some time yesterday, Judy came out of the lab (and took a shower, thank god), and said she was going "out" to test out something called "Scarab". I haven't seen her since. However, I have been watching the news. Brannigan's tower, the one in downtown that was built around that portal, has imploded. No sign of explosives or the portal opening, which means it was hit by some kind of gravity bomb--as in, a bomb that released a massive pulse of condensed gravitational flucuations. There's only one person who can do that.

But what is Scarab?