Great updates. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the updates, these really make the pieces fit so much better now!

Cheers~!

Thanks. :)

Oh, great chapter to start bringing some storyline together. I can't help but wonder how each group will react to the other... it promises much potential in the coming chapters.

Interestingly enough, it turns out Felicia could engage safely with the Shocker in melee, if she got to three feet without getting hit. Considering she has the stealth, it may have worked... which is proof, I suppose, that they're woefully unprepared for anything big (or even moderate) and have a lot of planning and research to do. I'm sure Gwen will get to the conclusions needed after this debacle. And considering the pathetic class of villain we're talking about here, the spider-clan needs to really get in gear.

Indeed, we know Faith is incredibly skilled at fighting, but still, she totally owned him with just her body and pepper gel. While I doubt any of the Spider-Clan are as skilled at hand-to-hand as she is... it should be theoretically possible to get to a good enough level to take out Shocker, especially with all their tech and powers. Faith's banter was the best part, though.

So, a bit of a conflict here, with Faith's devil-may-care attitude clashing with the Spider-Clan's 'power is responsibility' creed, but I like how it's been handled so far. Felicia didn't make any stupid moves, and Astrid actually had a good chance of succeeding, and justification, under the idea that what Faith held was incredibly dangerous, especially in light of her skills. Hopefully the wiser members of the team will show up and take care of it properly, after they defeat Rhino. Can't wait to see it all.

Well, Jessica and Julia both have energy-based ranged abilities while Peter has organic webbing and Gwen is finishing up chemical webs for at least one Spider-Girl. So it's just Felicia who was at a distinct disadvantage here. Also, keep in mind that the villains are still new to them and that in real life, they probably don't have a 100% success rate or even a 50% success rate. This isn't Peter of E-616, who beats Shocker once a week. These are heroes who've been on the job for anywhere from a few months to a year, learning on the job to deal with something beyond the garden variety unpowered criminal.

As for the other members of the team, just remember what Tara's powers are compared to who the members of the Spider-Clan are. Things could get interesting...

lol, very funny end of the chapter.

Never ask if things can get worse. They can and will.

Well, that was odd. I was in the middle of replying to your mail when I saw this chapter was posted... I suppose that saves me the time, I can just copy/paste my reply here.

So, the first portion was known, but the second was not, and it was very interesting... It's nice to see that even being rich enough to have a private train doesn't mean as much space as you want in it... at least yet.

I liked Tara's explanation about the sources of magic. So, in canon, Willow seems to use all four; so far, we know Tara has two. I wonder how this works in terms of power... obviously, if you have more 'charged' item, you'd have more power (The Scythe), and the same if you have a stronger 'core'... but is the amount of power you can get from the Earth and from deities dependent on your own internal power, or is it just skill? I'd think that at least power from deities would depend on it, since I doubt gods would bother to give power to individuals that couldn't repay them in some way, and that would take either lots of power or skill.

The items they talk about and have are interesting, I hope we see more. In fact, I hope we see more of magic in general, both with Tara and with others (I mean, how awesome would it be if Willow was some sort of magician-berserker with rage casting?), and that hint about them accidentally summoning Thrud for something amusing sounds like a fun idea.

Ishtar is a great choice for Tara, though the war connection was probably weak until she joined with Faith... which makes me wonder if it would be more fitting for Willow, again. The war would definitely be hers, and considering her online show, sexuality isn't that far off either.

Oh, Tara, that was an absolutely brilliant move, I applaud. She may be shy, but she knows how to get what she wants, apparently. Of course, the flexible morality of the Frosts helps, but still, very nice. It may not be the best start to a relationship, but I loved it, and I think Tara did as well. How well it develops... well, I guess it depends on them. We know there are some 'odd' (understatement!) relationships in this series... so I can't wait to see how this ends up, without Faith's bluntness but with a far greater need to alleviate hornyness, and with (apparently) the more sedate of the quintuplets. Also, nice role-reversal with Ivette, and another relationship to wonder about. Great new scene, and I can't wait for more.

The problem with train cars is that you have to fit them around corners and such in a way that jets and boats aren't quite as limited by. They max out at 10'6" in width - most freight is a foot or more slimmer - and at 85' in length, a Viewliner is considered excessively long. That leaves you with just 892 square feet of theoretical floor space and 787 square feet of usable floor space. Which sounds big until you realize that any compartments will need a passage running down the side for access, further shrinking usable room space. And so while Emma's made the best out of what she has, it's not Tony's pimped out jet or anything.

The earth, you can pull from indefinitely but risk losing yourself. It's like watering down juice; at what does it go from apple juice to slightly yellowish apple-tinged water? Deities, anyone can hit up if they have something useful to give back. Hela/Hades would likely be a favorite of the non-powered with ill intentions, for instance, because they could likely be appeased with murders in their name.

Willow will never develop magic. She has her own "thing" and so that collapses the viability of the "I want to be useful" magic origin in canon.

Oh, and Ivette? Ivette is about as straight as the other four girls. She just has a very, very good reason to hide her interest from the others...

Great chapter. Keep up the good work. Sorry for the later review.

Not a problem. Always glad to hear from people. :)

Fun

Wicked Fun

Oh and there is a site on the net with a Tara that is a succubus, not a pron site either.

Thanks for the smiles.

Story or art? Because Lexi's done art of a succubus-like mutant in the form of Tara...

Cute! And fun to see Emma and Jean finally working some things out. Nicely done.

There's more to come. :)

Please keep up the great writing! I'm a little confused, is this just a side story to Blue Belle? In what way does it fit in to that universe?

This is stuff that's taking place about a month down the pipeline from the current story, clear on the opposite coast. So I felt there wasn't any harm in releasing it early because... well, it's not like Cordelia or Michelle is going to wander into the scene and spoil all the story events that'll take place in that month.

Of course I'm interested in a Tara in the Center chapter.

(it can hardly be Taracentric with THREE cuckoos)

As for this chapter,

I love the idea of Jean faking it. I also like the idea of her wanting out but being a little afraid to take that final step. It's that little voice crying wolf that doesn't want to be responsible for the final decision even though it has already been made. Good for Emma. I was a little confused, just for a moment over who was speaking beginning with the "tenth grade" line. Maybe it would do better in a fresh paragraph for clarity's sake, maybe not.

Technically, it'd be Tara-centric. She'd be in the middle of the Cuckoos.

When I go through and clean up the chapters for transfer to Blue Belle, I'm probably going to look at alternative ways of expressing a few things. The bit with Faith at the InterContinental, for one.

Well, I appreciate all the hard work you're putting into this series and would absolutely love to read the scene(s) with Tara and the Frosts...

One Tara scene, coming right up...

Great ending for this part of your universe. Keep up the good work.

Thanks. Don't worry, Emma and Jean will return. :)

Fun chapter, I hope to see some more Tara, Faith and Carol interaction because that sounds like a party!

Cheers~!

Carol's on her way back to Boston but I've got something almost as good coming: Faith, Tara, and the Spider-Clan.

There's never enough Tara fun time, let alone triplet Tara fun time! Fun chapter, I love your writing style.

Cheers~!

So, yeah, I'm guessing people want to see Tara. Got it. LOL.

So how many of us want that Tara centered chapter? I know I do!

Enough so far that I'll write it. :)