The Speech

Just in case you didn't get a chance to see it before the world started to end, here's Jonathan Rake's Innaugural Address. And, oh, when he was sworn in, he didn't use a copy of the bible.

Rake started the speech by laughing maniacally.

"I apologize. For a long time, I have dreamed of this moment. Frankly, I am a bit overwhelmed.

I want to thank you, the people of the United States of America, and the people of the world itself, for making the office of President what it is today. In its first incarnation it was meant as a balanced figure, not a leader but, rather, a manager, the face behind the law the other branches create and enforce.

But you, you the people have made it so much more. The President is a symbol of freedom. "The Leader of the Free World", people have called the possessor of this office. You, and the traditions of the nation, and how other nations view this land, have made the office of President so much more than it was intended, perhaps not the leader in the letter of the law, but very much so in the spirit.

And, it turns out, the spirit is all I need."

Then he turned into his weird tiger-headed form and the screaming started.

"It was so easy to manipulate you all. Give you something too good to be true and like sheep you never questioned if it was.

Much like Rake, really. I gave him a chance to be in power. He realized he was too much of a nice guy. Nice guys never really make it in American politics. They end up building houses for the poor, all but forgotten and abandoned for the cutthroat, the ruthless. And if it makes you all feel better he regrets what he promised me for this chance.

Oh, I should get on to business before someone tries to stop me."

His tentacles formed and lashed out and killed all the guards who had been rushing to him.

"As I was saying, I am now leader of this country. I own all of the government-owned land, all of the borders, everything. In your perspective, anyway. I now am the symbol of this nation as much as the flag. I am the face the United States presents to the world.

And, as my first act as President, I declare that all portals to the Demon World, all those government owned and protected areas of land, be opened. Now."

He "smiled" then much wider than he should have been able to.

"Now, if the band could start playing 'Hail to the Chief', that would be lovely."

He didn't keep his word, I'm not going to keep mine.

He's going down.

It's Begun

It's been about two hours since Rakshasa put his plan into motion.

Demons are rampaging across the country. Heroes and villains alike have answered the call to stopping them.

And there's already been a casualty.

The doctors are swamped, but they told me she'll probably wake up some day. They don't know exactly when, but they're sure she'll wake up.

It's all my fault. It's my fault. She flew in front of me and I didn't have time to stop my bracer. I didn't.

The wave just hit her and the demon. If only I could have acted faster. I should have been able to act faster.

Quizzer's telling me a bunch of heroes and villains and stuff are meeting somewhere out east to figure out how we're going to deal with this and we should probably get moving fast. But I don't want to leave her here. Not undefended. I mean, Dina's offering to stay behind and watch her but I'm the one who put her in a coma it's my responsibilit

Hey, this is Quizzer. Dina just knocked Doc C out. He'll write again when he wakes up and we're on our way.

Post-Election Report

We live in a multiverse. I know this first hand, because I have fought alongside and against versions of myself from alternate realities. Cowboy Cataclysm from the Cowboy Universe was just confusing.

In one universe, maybe the US just got its first black president.

In another, maybe the first woman or hispanic or middle eastern president. And great for those universes, I say.

In this universe, as of last night, we got our first eldritch demon lord president. And, yet, he's still a middle aged white guy. No, Voodoo Zombie Nixon doesn't count.

He won't get power for another two and a half months. Maybe someone will figure out Rakshasa's plan before then.

The worst part is, I'm getting so frustrated about this. It makes me want to do something. Something drastic.

Time to hold the city for ransom again.

Making A Choice

Seriously, you guys. You need to have someone to rub aloe on you. Everyone needs someone who'll do that in their life.

Judy treating my wounds was about the first good thing to happen to me for a while.

Right after my post yesterday, seconds after I hit "publish", Rakshasa showed up. Behind me.

Which caused me to jump out of my chair and yell "Gah!" It was not one of my finest moments.

In my defense, though, Rakshasa is freaking terrifying. Yeah, from his description, doesn't sound so bad, right? Has the head of a tiger, his hands are monkey paws that are on backwards, tends to wear expensive looking clothes. Has funky blue eyes. Weird, yeah. Creepy, definitely. But not terrifying.

Yeah, right. Y'see, there are things moving under his skin. None of his limbs bend right, and whenever he moves it looks really creepy and exaggerated--or you don't really see him move at all. And, every once in a while, somewhere on his body, an eye just opens, sometimes in the middle of his clothes, before closing and disappearing completely.

That, and there's a palpable aura that something is wrong in the universe whenever he's nearby. That kinda sucks.

"Hello, Mister Ferrian, I do hope I'm not...interrupting anything." He said in a calculating, 'I can kill you right now and not really break a sweat' kinda way. That cat head fits him, because I felt the whole time like a mouse between a tabby's paws.

And, master orator I am, I yelled, "Rakshasa!" At him. I'm such a brilliant criminal mastermind.

"Yes, yes, we've established who I am. Now, on to why I'm here. I know you found out about my plan--well, part of it, at least. Though I may not be giving you enough credit. I'm horrible about underestimating you mortals." He was talking to me now like I was a particularly bright pet. Like he wanted to give me a dog treat. "Now, I've come here not to threaten you...oh, well, that's a lie. I have come here to threaten you, but not explicitly. You see, this plan means a great deal to me. And, while no one who reads your silly little blog can or will do anything about my plan, you can. So, I would like to make a deal." The king of all demons smiled at me. That smile was about ten times worse than Death's Head's. "You do nothing to harm my affairs in becoming leader of this country, and when my legions consume this world in hellfire, you and your loved ones will be spared. However, if you try to get in my way," Rakshasa is a shapeshifter. Did you all know that? Because I was a bit surprised when he started to turn into a large mass of tentacles made of shadows and eyes. "Then I will take that which you love most away from you. Your friends. Your family. And your lover." Then he turned back to his 'normal' self. "Though your sister has proven difficult to kill in the past. I guess I will just have to try harder in the future." He mused to himself. "Oh, and before I go," He started to say.

And then I was on fire.

My body can absorb energy, yes, that's true. But only really energy from this world. Hellfire? Not so much.

He disappeared some time while I was rolling madly on the ground. I can remember every word he told me, because it was, essentially, and implied agreement with the king of demons. And he always keeps his deals.

So, I have to choose. On the one hand, I was alive the last time Rakshasa took over the world and unleashed his hordes upon it. It was a nightmare I never want to see again. On the other hand...Judy...and Eliza...and hell, C.J. and Captain Visigoth and Jack Knife and Mechanor and, damnit, I'd even hate to lose Quizzer, because a villain's gotta have a nemesis.

I'm a villain. We aren't supposed to have the hard, world-shattering decisions.

...maybe I'll be lucky and the Scarlet Sorceress will beat him before this becomes an issue.

Where the Hell Have I Been?

I've been watching security tapes. Interviewing Pakistani. Ignoring phone calls. Taking Judy out for a nice dinner.

In short, I've mostly been trying to find out the truth about Rake.

And I've been getting nothing. Nada. No security tapes indicate when wither Rake or Shasta disappeared. No one who is in the area when either of them were missing saw anything unusual. For a brief period of time, Rake and Shasta were just gone.

Wait.

Rake, Shasta.

Oh god. Say it out loud.

He's just old school enough to do it.

Rake Shasta. Now take out the e and the t.

I can't believe it was this easy, but everything makes sense now. Well, it doesn't, but it doesn't make sense in a way that makes sense.

The most popular candidate in presidential history is or is a puppet of the greatest villain the world has ever known.

Rakshasa.

Wow

That was...unexpected. Was anyone else blinsided by today's news? Seriously, Carmichael's dead in the water. Hell, his whole party's gonna go under. There's no way a viable, non third-party candidate's gonna show up now to oppose Jonathan Rake. Not that he could really be opposed beforehand.

And, of course, I'm suspicious. Evidence just pops up a couple months before the election that ties pretty much everyone within three degrees of separation of Carmichael and his Cabinet in with recent, not old hat, ties to Op. Mayhem. After that speech he gave a couple years ago, you know, the "Second Chance" speech, there's no way he can salvage himself. Hell, he'll be lucky not to have been impeached and sent to jail by election day.

I think, scratch that, I'm nearly positive he was framed. Whoever framed me and is trying like hell to get Rake elected, framed his opponent. The only real question I have is why. Rake's gonna win. I, hell, America has known this for over a year. Why go to all these lengths to make him not only the Good Guy but the Only Guy? It's overkill. It's political genocide.

Without a doubt, Rake is going to win the election. Whoever's watching over him is making sure of it. Does he even know?

It has to have something to do with the time Rake and Shasta went missing. I've stopped believing in coincidences.

Nothing New

I haven't been up to much lately. Mostly lazing around the base with Judy playing Hypno Bubble and editing CapeWiki. The Siluriformes attacked again. This time, Judy helped Quizzer repell them, not so much as to have the city, but more to get revenge for beiong kidnapped that first time they attacked.

Nothing much to report about Rake or Shasta. I don't know where I might find any security tape depicting either of them, and that's pretty much the only way short of eye-witness I'll be able to tell what happened then. Hm, that's a thought. Maybe I should check out some archives. Hopefully they've been uploaded to computer by now.

I Might Be On To Something

Today was mostly uneventful. I finally got around to making that sandwich. No finer lunch has been forged by God or Man.

I was just about to head to bed when I though, "Hey, there's nothing on Rake, but there's tons of dirty laundry in his running mate, Brian Shasta's, hamper." So I started looking.

At first, me and my totally sweet computer found little more than the political scandal we all know and love Shasta for. Nothing serious enough to keep him from being continuall re-elected to the House, but bad enough that, under normal circumstances, he'd be shooed away from even looking at the White House.

But then I dug a little deeper. Illegally deep.

Brian Shasta disappeared in '75 for eight days and one hour. At the exact time that Rake disappeared and for the same duration. When asked about the disappearance, Shasta replied he had been on a retreat in the country, but no one saw him leave or return to his house. Not even his wife and young children.

What happened on those days? Again, maybe it's nothing but, hey, maybe I could, at the very least, find out something I could blackmail the both of them with. It'd get me my revenge and financial security.

Rake Research

Mostly disappointing.

As far as I can tell, Jonathan Rake is a real person, not an alien with an invented past. Unless some sort of reality bending device inserted him whole cloth into our reality, it's fairly safe to say he's from our world. And, also, he seems to be exactly who he says he is. No sign of any scandal or complication or even major tribulation in his past. He's never even broken a bone, and I can count the number of times he's been sick on one hand, without using my thumb. The only time he's ever been in life-threatening danger was when he was stabbed.

And there's still no indication why he'd want to frame anyone, since his place in the polls has always been nearly record-breaking. Though it might not be him. Maybe he has some unknown benefactor. It could even be a hero, or at least an anti-hero, like Agent Spider. Honestly, this sort of thing seems right up his alley.

I did, however, discover one possible, vague clue. I'm not even sure what it signifies.

Back in the early 70's, when he was fresh out of college, Rake toured the globe. And, while he was in Pakistan, for one week, one day, and one hour, there is no record of his activities. The even wierder part is he turned up in Japan at the end of that period. Even wierder is that no one seemed to think this was wierd or question where he was. But there's no record of plane travel, hotel visits, smuggling across the border in a drug plane. Nothing.

Now, this could be nothing. But it's the only lead I have. I'm not even sure why I'm investigating this. Maybe I just want to know why I was framed and who framed me.

More Hypno Bubble

So, I did some research and, apparently, Hypno Bubble was, at first, exactly what I theorized it was. A couple years ago, some small-time Japanese hacker teamed up with O.G.R.E. to make a video game that would turn the populace into his willing slaves. The only problem was, as I've said, Hypno Bubble doesn't make people want to follow orders. It just makes them want to play more Hypno Bubble.

I've done some other research, this being on Jonathan Rake, but that'll have to wait for when I'm less busy.

Playing, um, Hypno Bubble.

Still Alive

It's wierd sitting to a fancy dinner at "Le Bien Viva" (Side note--I'm positive that's not real French, or Italian or Spanish or whatever it pretends to be) with a guy who has killed nearly a million people in his career. He looks just as creepy as I'd heard, too. Death's Head was all in this black suit, with a rust-red tie and vest. And while he was there, the restaurant was full of moths. Fluttering around the lights, landing on his shoulders and tie. And the air...it just kind of felt menacing, electric, and malicious. And anyone who says I have creepy eyes has not looked into the black depths of Death's Head's eyes. I don't even remember what the rest of his face looked like, though pictures are on CapeWiki. There's just something about him in person that's unsettling and confusing.

"Welcome, Mr. Ferrian, Miss Baracs." His voice was both smooth and somehow dissonant. And yes, Silas Ferrian. If you didn't know who my dad was before you do now. "I am glad you could make it. Please, enjoy dinner. It is Operation Mayhem's treat."

"I think before I accept a meal from the world's premier psychic assassin, I'd like to know why you asked us here? Or, more importantly, why did you frame me for trying to kill Rake?" I asked, full of false bravado. The presence of my lady friend helped to bolster my bluster.

"As you suspect, those two things are intricately related, Mr. Ferrian. And, as you have also suspected, we are responsible for neither this nor the previous attempt on Rake's life. Until recently, we have barely registered him as a threat." He drank a sip of wine that cost about as much as it cost my mom to put me through nursery school. "That is, ironically..." He trailed off. I imagine he knew I would finish the statement.

"..until he started framing you. So why hasn't Op Mayhem tried to assassinate him now?"

"You have, haven't you?" Judy chimed in. "You tried to teach him a lesson for this and it didn't take."

Death's Head smiled. That smile will give me nightmares. "You are quite astute, the both of you. We have never recovered the assassins we have sent after Jonathan Rake. No bodies, no taunt, nothing. As if something has gobbled them up whole."

A waiter arrived and took our orders. Predictably, Death's Head ordered nothing.

"Why are you telling us this?" Judy asked. It was me who answered.

"He's making amends."

The assassin stood and put on a hat that I still can't remember and nodded. "Yes. You are two very talented young "villains". The Operation always has an eye to the future, and we would hate for two with such promise to be poisoned against us. If you will excuse me, I must take my leave."

I'm pretty sure he was gone right after he said that, but I didn't notice him leaving. Just the moths petering out.

Operation Mayhem did indeed pay for our very expensive meal. Judy was very excited by the whole thing, especially learning Op. Mayhem has its eye on us.

I'm less enthusiastic, to tell the truth. I'm not a very big fan of killing--I avoid it when I can. In Operation Mayhem, killing is a necessity, it's part of the atmosphere, part of the job, and an all-engrossing hobby. Any organization of nihilistic sociopaths with members as prolific as them would see my lack of bloody violence not as a personal preference, but as a dangerous aberration.

Maybe I'm just paranoid. But I have my reasons for not trusting Op. Mayhem, even though I think Death's Head was truthful to us.

Oh well, I'm gonna mod my armor and take it out for a test run. More later.