Juno Steel has had a lot of clients in his time: high-profile and low. But when he's called in to investigate the murder of Croesus Kanagawa, head of the Kanagawa crime-family-slash-enertainment-network, it’s not the client that interests him. It’s what Croesus was wearing when he died – and an ancient curse that hangs over that very strange mask.
Detective Juno Steel is looking for a killer, and he’s in the right place. Locked in the basement of a Triad restaurant, Juno and Special Agent Rex Glass have dozens of killers to choose from – thugs and waiters and middle-managers, all taking turns pummeling them. It should be pretty easy to pick out their culprit… if they can make it out alive.
Louise Serling is a talented young painter with a bright future and promising artistic career in front of her. But Louise’s family history holds a dreadful secret; can she conceal it from the world, or will the truth shake her life to its very foundations?
After an explosive murder case gone wrong, Detective Juno Steel is in the market for some slower work. His next client promises something quiet: a routine find-the-cheating-husband job. Well… it should be routine.
They warned her about the bandits, but Mary Anne didn’t listen. She was engaged, she said; her fiancée was moving to Crossroads, and even if Crossroads was crawling with bandits, she didn’t have much of a choice. Sheriff Beau Richmond asked her to marry him; Mary Anne said yes; and that, as far as Mary Anne knew, was the end of it. It might have been the end to Mary Anne’s entire story, too – decades married to a man whom she liked well enough, she guessed, stop asking, please – if the bandit hadn’t stopped the train. Chance Sequoyah is a very special bandit. Sure, she’ll take the usual things: money, necklaces, watches. But she plans on taking something else, too: Mary Anne Watkins.
They thought they’d gotten away with it. They were just kids when it happened. Juno Steel, Sasha Wire, and Mick Mercury – they were just kids when they did it. It was supposed to be a game, the kind kids play when there are no adults around to talk to… when there’s nobody around to tell them just how deadly their little game could be.
Sir Marc and Sir Talfryn of Second Citadel aren’t technically knights. They do all the knightly things, sure – killing monsters, saving the innocent, bickering about breakfast meats – the only problem is that the other knights don’t agree that they’re… y’know, knights. So what are a pair of free lancers to do? Get some respect, of course! Take down a monster so big that the Knights of the Crown have to let them join! The Janus Beast is gruesome, but Marc and Talfryn have dealt with monsters before. It’s the threats they aren’t prepared for that might tear these brothers apart for good.
Valles Vicky’s Vixen Valley is your one-stop shop if you’re interested in fine dining, good conversation, beautiful people, and contraband from across the galaxy. Juno Steel needs the last on that list: he’s after a killer with an eye for Ancient Martian artifacts, and only Valles Vicky herself can help Juno catch that killer. But a favor from Valles Vicky always comes at a price… and if Juno’s not careful, the bill might end up more than he can afford.
Lily doesn’t want to move. This house is the only home she’s ever known, and she loves it – but in a few days her family is leaving, and her older brother Jake says she’ll never see it again. Dad says not to worry about it, that it’s okay to be sad when you’re leaving home, but sadness isn’t what Lily’s worried about. Lily’s scared. Because for the last few weeks Lily’s been having nightmares, strange dreams about a thing in the dark with cold breath and sharp teeth. Normally Mom and Dad help her with her nightmares, but… tonight, Mom and Dad are out of town. And normally Lily would just turn on a light and try not to think about the monster in the dark… but tonight, the power’s gone out.
He arrived in the night: Peter Nureyev, the burglar who got away, the thief Juno Steel couldn’t catch. Until he returned, things had been so simple: solving crimes, chasing a killer with her eye on Ancient Martian artifacts, and not letting personal business get in the way. With Nureyev, though, things always seem to get personal very quickly. But Juno has no choice. Nureyev’s the only one with a lead on the killer Juno’s after. He knows exactly what she plans to take next, and according to him it’s something very big, and very dangerous. According to Nureyev, anyway. But the question remains: can Juno trust Peter Nureyev?
Who is Peter Nureyev? The question has dogged Juno Steel, Private Eye for six months now, ever since he first met that master of disguises. It doesn’t help that he changes identities like most people change clothes: Rex Glass, Duke Rose, Miasma’s anonymous “the Thief…” How is Juno supposed to know who he is? How is Juno supposed to trust him? He needs to know he can, because the clock is ticking. Miasma’s experiments on Juno won’t last forever, and once his usefulness has passed she’ll kill the both of them. And once they’re gone, who will stop her from using the Egg of Purus, the Martian super-weapon she now has under her control? Juno needs to trust Nureyev, but he hardly knows him. And so, that same old question remains: who is Peter Nureyev?
Who is Peter Nureyev? The question has dogged Juno Steel, Private Eye for six months now, ever since he first met that master of disguises. It doesn’t help that he changes identities like most people change clothes: Rex Glass, Duke Rose, Miasma’s anonymous “the Thief…” And so, that same old question remains: who is Peter Nureyev?
In all likelihood, this is the end. The only question is: the end of how much? The end of Juno Steel… that’s pretty likely. Alone in a Martian tomb, Peter Nureyev gone, and Miasma’s experiments drawing to a close. Juno will outlive his usefulness any minute now, and if Miasma has her way he won’t outlive for long. And if it’s the end of Juno Steel it may well be the end of Mars, too: with Miasma’s hands on the Egg of Purus, a super-weapon strong enough to destroy the entire Ancient Martian civilization, this human civilization doesn’t stand much of a chance. What does Miasma have planned for that Martian wasteland? Where is Peter Nureyev? And just how much will Juno Steel lose? Because surely, this is the end, the final resting place… but how much will end here, today?
Detective Steel is in a slump, and Maia King might have just the case to bring him out of it. One problem: half the case is going to be figuring out what the case even is, because if Ms. King is to be believed, the culprit would have to be… well, something that doesn’t exist. The stakes are life-or-death here… so hopefully Juno can figure out whose life or death before time runs out.
Juno Steel’s first day back on the job has started well: he’s outnumbered, cornered, and almost certainly going to be killed any second now. Just life as usual in the PI business. This case may be typical, but the solution will prove anything but. The mystery, after all, is one of the strangest Juno has ever encountered: who kidnaps a woman’s cat… just to replace it with an exact copy of the one they’ve stolen?
In an overgrown jungle where monsters roam free lies the Second Citadel, one of humanity’s last strongholds in a hostile, hungry world. The people of the Citadel live their lives on the edge of a knife – knowing that any day a beast might storm their homes, knowing that now and forever the monsters are planning the final assault that will end humanity for good. The only defense against a world that wants them dead are the Knights of the Crown, led by the Second Citadel’s Queen; and she has a very important task for her best knights. A strange cave has been claiming the lives of the people who live nearby… and if the Knights can’t find a way to work together, it will claim their lives, too.
Working for a man as connected as Ramses O’Flaherty means access to places nobody else gets to go… or wants to, as it turns out. Because on this case Ramses is sending Juno into the Fortezza, Hyperion City’s prison for criminal genius, to stop a murder before it can be committed. Who's the victim you ask? Well... Ramses, of course.
Mick Mercury is a walking disaster, and appropriately enough, he's picked a disaster of a case to drop in on. In his attempt to prevent a murder, Juno Steel's added two potential victims: Mick Mercury... and himself.
The Festival of the Three is the most important day of the year in the Second Citadel - or the most important three days. as the case may be. Battles and music and drink run free in Citadel's square, and nearly every knight is in attendance... which leaves very few to guard from the monster's constant threat. Luckily Sir Damien is on guard tonight, standing outside the Queen's chambers with his trusty bow in hand. But Sir Damien is injured, and when a monstrous threat crawls in he may find that it's a very different sort of challenge from what he's used to.
On the second night of the Festival of the Three, Sir Damien the knight will be dueling on Lord Arum the monster’s terms: in a forest of tricks and traps and cunning biological inventions. Sir Damien may have bested Lord Arum in a physical duel, but he certainly isn’t prepared for the sorts of challenges a second meeting with the monster will pose… but to be fair, Lord Arum isn’t prepared, either.
Someone is out to kill Ramses O'Flaherty -- and whoever they are, they should be here. A killer called this home, but it isn't any kind of home Juno's ever seen before. This is a place where the impossible happens, where an ancient heroine walks the streets, where dragons live on every mountaintop... and where nothing is ever as it seems. Welcome to Polaris Park.
Illusions run wild in Polaris Park, whether they be holograms or robotics or secrets and lies. But here's something that's not illusory: Juno and Rita are in danger. Security chief Yasmin Swift, who was supposedly leading the investigation on a killing, is apparently the culprit... and until Juno and Rita find out where, how, and why she did it, every thrill in this theme park may be their last.
On the third morning of the Festival of the Three, Sir Marc knew nothing of Sir Damien’s duels with the Lord of the Swamp. Sir Marc’s problems lay closer to his heart – or brain, as the case may be. Because Sir Marc's condition requires medication, and medication is hard to come by out in the wilds. Luckily, Sir Marc has a medical professional on his side: Rilla, the herbalist of the Second Citadel. But unluckily, medicine in this overgrown world is never easy… and Rilla and Marc will have to think and act quickly if they’re going to keep the urge to save a life from killing them.
“Look for a woman with one ear outside the First Museum of Colonized History in Hyperion City.” That’s what the notice said to Yasmin Swift, both culprit and victim of Juno Steel’s last case. And ever since, Juno has been looking for that woman: for a month straight, while the clock ticks down, while the election creeps ever closer. He needs to find her, and quickly, if he hopes to keep Ramses O’Flaherty kicking, if he hopes to give this city a shot at anything better. Today Juno’s going to find that one-eared gangster, and he’s going to learn something very important about leads along the way: sometimes it’s worth leaving a piranha on the line if it means you might catch a whale.
Late at night in the Museum of Colonized History, just a few short days before the election that will decide the fate of Hyperion City, Juno Steel is watching the Mayor participate in a heist gone horribly, horribly wrong. And typically a heist not going well would be great news for Juno Steel, Private Eye… if only his bust of that heist hadn’t also just gone belly-up. The crooks will escape in half an hour. Juno and Captain Omar Khan of the HCPD are running out of time to stop them, and prevent the trail of bodies they’re leaving behind them from getting any longer. And they just might be able to do it, if nothing else goes wrong. Which is, of course, precisely the cue for something to go very, very wrong indeed.
Special threats deserve special measures, and Queen Mira of the Second Citadel is a master of special measures. Enter Sir Caroline: a free radical knight, one of the Queen’s most capable and least trustworthy, and most likely the only hope the Second Citadel has of surviving the scourge of manipulative monsters that has plagued them for months. Sir Caroline, newly-appointed Investigator-General of the Second Citadel, must assemble a team and head north, to the source from which these monsters flow. But they must be careful, because the village through which they’re passing has been struck by a terrible curse… and strange things lurk near the waters through which they must pass.
The story goes that two hundred years ago, when the War was at its most brutal, Erin Marshall D’Arc made the most important discovery in Martian history… and never shared it with anyone. An election always makes itself about the present, and so Juno Steel never expected that this case would bring him two centuries into the past. Yet here he is, on the trail of Mayor Pilot Pereyra, with a Private Eye at his side and hundreds of years of history to dig through. Down here in the Free Domers’ ruins lie traps and treasure, if the tales are true… and if Juno wants to survive he’ll have to solve two mysteries simultaneously: one about the present… and one about a family more than a century dead.
This case was supposed to be simple. Go into the Old Subway system, figure out what Mayor Pereyra is trying to get, stop them from getting it, then go home to a parade and a new world order. But now three days have passed, and the election looms, and still Juno, Alessandra, the Piranha, and Pilot Pereyra are down here, waiting for something in the distance. It seemed like it was going to be simple. But in this line of work, when you’re dealing with mysteries of the present, past, and future… nothing is ever as it seems.
If you had asked Erin Marshall D’Arc, the Free Dome was supposed to be for everyone. Anyone who wanted a home away from the War, she said, could have it. If you had asked Marshall Erin D’Arc, the Free Dome was only for the best of the best. Only those who could create paradise, he said, could have it. If you ask Mayor Pilot Pereyra, the Free Dome belongs to the highest bidder. Whoever finds it, they say, owns it – and they can do with it as they please. And if you ask Juno Steel, Private Eye, drained of blood and confidence? You can keep your lousy Dome. Because something about this place doesn’t sit right with Detective Steel… and he’s rapidly running out of time to figure out what it is before Pilot decides they’re done with him.
I do suggest you reconsider this particular destination, Traveler. Most places on Mars are dangerous, but the desert holds threats no human can survive. Radiation beats down from above, subterranean predators rumble below, and before you lies nothing but sand and heat and time. And behind you… do you see that growing shadow in the distance, Traveler? It is always there. And depending on how you play your cards it may be your only way out… or the most dire threat of all.
People bury a great deal beneath these Martian sands: bodies and secrets and even entire cities. But some things refuse to stay buried long – like the past. Those we thought lost, hoped lost, but never gone for good. Buddy Aurinko is learning that lesson the hard way. Her buried past has a face and a name, and though all Buddy wants is to forget, her past does not seem content to be forgotten.
Deep in the Swamp of Titan's Blooms stands a towering plant with no equal in the Second Citadel. It is in parts tree, fern, beanstalk, and a single gigantic flower -- and it is the Keep from which Lord Arum watches over his Swamp. No human has ever seen the labyrinthine interior of this Keep until today. When Rilla awakens in the Keep she will come face-to-face with things she'd never dreamed she'd see, magical artifacts and creatures and mysteries that tie deep into the workings of the very universe... but unless she can find a way to escape, she may be the only human to ever learn of them.
Subject: the Keep of Titan's Blooms. Symptoms: spreading petrification; irritability; musical inclinations. Suggested treatment: cooperation with its master, Lord Arum, a creature who would scoff at the idea of tracking symptoms in the first place, a lizard whose scaly mind is ever-absorbed in suspicion, self-preservation, and ego. Side effects may include: sleep loss; injury; frustration; entombment; and then... Keep it together, Rilla. This is a medical record, not your diary.
Today we journey within. Within the sands of Mars, to the clinic of Hanataba; within the Theia Spectrum and its labyrinthine connections; within the mind; within the past itself. Try to throw away the past if you like, Juno Steel, but it lies within. And you can't lose your past without losing yourself... can you, little monster?
"You did it in one day. One choice. When you let him in, when you let the hero rob us blind without taking a thing." That's how Sarah Steel justified the murder of Benzaiten Steel, twenty-one years ago. But the day she was referring to was even older: fifteen years before that. A motive a long, long time in the making. But what does that mean? How could one four-year-old child ruin three lives? Juno remembers. But what he remembers... can't be right. It can't be. It can't be.
He tunes the radio, sorts through static for answers. Only questions, clean and clear: can one child really ruin the lives of his entire family? A ghost-sound, like a voice; then, gone. Why did he have to stay with her? Who was that at the door, all those years ago? Did his life, her life, Juno's life... did they all have to end this way? No port in the static storm. But then, distant, a sound. He's found it, he thinks; tunes closer, and closer, feels the rush of answers, the relief of a mystery solved. It comes closer, a banging sound, like footsteps, echoing... and then he's found it. And he wishes he hadn't. Here comes Turbo. The Man of the Future.
What's more knightly than rescuing a Damsel? Doing it better than all the other knights, of course... especially if those other knights are really, really annoying. Sir Marc and Sir Damien do not like each other at all. Each is extremely important to the other's favorite person, and neither understands it in the least. So when a glade of beautiful forest-women offers to watch these men manhandle one another in manly competition, how can they say no? Saving ladies, being swooned over by ladies, flexing your muscles at ladies... isn't that what the knight life is all about? So enjoy the moment, boys, and don't be like Talfryn, sitting on the sidelines and watching those nymphs very closely. Don't question that strange sound you hear, or those markings in the grass, or the way those nymphs are watching, abuzz with anticipation of... what?
Well, the boy-knights have definitely learned one thing about nymphs: nymphs LOVE Sport. And at first, the boys loved Sport too... until it became clear that this was less throw-the-ball-around-with-your-friends-and-rivals and more blood sport. Twists and turns wait behind every rule of this violent game, and one such twist is just in the distance... where the sound of great wooden wheels signals the arrival of the Nymphs' long-awaited Damsel.
Where is everybody? That's the question that dogs Juno Steel now. He has bigger things to handle, he knows. Loose ends to tie up, old betrayals to pay back, and a mysterious mayor to reckon with. But even while city-sized mysteries weigh him down, the one that concerns him most is much closer to home... and while he tries to solve his disappearing act, all he has to keep him company is the tale of another disappearance, thirty years in the past.
Down in the sewers, home seems like a distant memory. It's even more distant for Detective Steel now, because even aboveground home doesn't feel like home anymore. Hyperion City has changed. Even its sewers have changed, and the things that crawl in those sewers. And at the bottom of it all is Ramses Takano, or should we say Jack O'Flaherty, or should we say any number of names that once belonged to this incredible disappearing and reappearing man. Blink and his face has changed. Blink and your city has changed. Blink and your home has changed -- and once a thing like that has left you, can you ever find it again?
Far, far to the north of the Second Citadel lies the Terminus, a sacred or magical ocean (depending on who you ask), a place of power where world-changing things happen... and where monsters bicker for order and entertainment. Sir Caroline and Rilla are deep in monster country, now: deep enough that the human tales of this land are fuzzy and indistinct. They've wandered into the land of beasts... and soon they'll find that the rules are a little different here.
Legends say that far north of the Second Citadel, close to the Northern edge of the world itself, lives the Spiral Sage. They say he is a powerful being, a sacred warrior for human good who controls time and the wilderness itself. They say he is a great hero. And he'd better be, because the number of creatures who need saving keeps on rising. First Lord Arum, then Rilla and Sir Caroline, and then... well, you'll just have to hear for yourself.
Ramses O'Flaherty has been a busy man in recent days. A brand new way of life doesn't build itself, after all -- and before you can ever build it, you'll have to tear down the old life getting in everyone's way. As Juno and Rita come up from the sewers they can see, immediately, that Ramses has succeeded in the latter goal. Oldtown is gone. It's never coming back. And in its place stands Newtown, a shining city on a hill, a paradise of Ramses's own design. The only questions, then, are these: what is paradise? And what must one do before they allow one through its gates?
Give up control. That's what the thing that looks like Mick says to do. And in a year like the one Juno Steel has had, with the past, present, and city of the future all out to get him... why not? In a world where control can be torn from you so easily, so constantly... why not just give in, let that thing plug you in to its monstrous chip, and give everything you have away to it? So why not, Juno? Why not give up control to the Theia Soul?
Two paths wind beneath Judge Helicoid's monstrous courtroom: two paths containing different players in this game, different tricks and traps and treacheries. All they share is this: A destination. Fort Terminus, the prison at the end of the world.
The creatures which thrive at the end of the world are enough to make even the bravest knight's skin crawl. Massive slugs of sentient slime and nightmare-guards to a fortress beneath a sea where nothing survives walk the halls that lead to Fort Terminus, and passing them will be no small feat. Yet our heroes trudge on. On separate paths they draw closer and closer to the heart of this palace of horrors now, and if one thing scares them most, it's this: whatever lies within that terrible place terrifies the beasts outside it, too.
Welcome home, Juno Steel.
ERROR. ERROR. IF TOWER.DAMAGE == CRITICAL THEN THEN THEN ERROR: NO PROTOCOL FOUND. SCANNING USER.JUNOSTEEL.MEMORIES() FOR SUGGESTED PROTOCOL SCANNING... SCANNING...
Two giants bearing broken swords Stood by a river’s bend Whose water fell straight down to Hell: They battled at World’s End.
When, “Clash!” the iron thundered, lo, “Have at thee!” the reply; and ‘neath the leaves, the forest’s eaves, she heard their battle-cry.
Old Silver-Eyes stopped dead and spoke: “But this cannot be true; For I know nothing of my past Save this, our endless duel.”
So to the West, the lifeless West, The troubadour did trot; Through boughs of burning red and gold ‘Twas solitude she sought.
The Cliffside yawned behind them, yet No mercy did they lend. For even where no life would dare, they battled at World’s End.
And so they fell straight down to Hell, And battled ‘til the end.
A family is formed. A journey begins. A new era dawns. And out here, past the boundaries of City or government or law? Nothing stays guaranteed for long. Everything can change -- so you'd better hope you can keep up, or you might just get left behind. It's crime time, baby. Let's go.
Reduce all to what is most essential. A debutante's ball. A Gilded Globe. A ballroom floor, approximately 3000 square feet. An auction gone awry, An ex-detective shouting his cover at the top of his lungs, spitting it on the floor for all to see, an ingrate, an immature... And my debts, mounting. Even now, with every second. File it away. Reduce all to what is most essential. A debutante's ball. A Gilded Globe...
In a quiet breeze amidst red leaves, Fate deals a new hand.
There is no Fate, where the Universe is considered; there is only Intention. Things may have their proper place, of course, but once they get there... what they do is anyone's guess, including the Universe that brought them there in the first place.
Strong hands to work the dust Long days -- in body I trust My tools have turned to rust...
All dressed in evergreen Ah yes, the birth of Spring What will your garden bring?
Untold years ago, a monster woman and a human man witnessed the end of the world. It went like this: one explosion; then two explosions; then a great rumbling; and then, darkness. And that should have been the end of it, and them, and everything. But today, one-and-a-half monsters and two-and-a-half humans will witness that end again -- and if they aren't careful, it might be their end, too.
In thirty minutes, the Bridge at the end of the world will be destroyed. It will go like this: there will be one explosion; then there will be two explosions; then there will be a terrible whistling, a shriek from beyond the stars; and then... silence. And thirty minutes after that the Bridge will fall again. And again. And again. And unless Olala, Damien, and Arum can race up that Bridge and find their way back to a stable present before their thirty minutes are up, this end of the world might claim them, too.
Vespa Ilkay's best days are behind her. It doesn't matter if this statement is actually true; she has convinced herself that it is. Whenever Vespa looks at herself today all she can see is the woman she used to be: a galaxy-class doctor and assassin. A legend. It doesn't matter if Vespa ever was a legend, or if she really has fallen as far as she thinks she has. She has made her decision, and tomorrow, she will act on it. Although that may not matter, either. Because if the visitor in the night has their way, tomorrow will never come.
Sometimes seeing the truth is enough to make you miss the blissful blindness that is ignorance.
Every city has its secrets that it keeps under lock and key--and that's why Quanyii, Witch of the Wastes, has no interest in those. If every city has them, they're not exactly special, are they? The big secrets though--those are a little more hidden. Like...two locks and two keys. And Quanyii has one secret of the Second Citadel just like that that he wants. All he needs is an accomplice.Oh, hello, little girl. Do you have a minute?
A whisper from the darkness: "One good turn deserves another, and so I'll give you two; Allow me this one favor and I'll do its twin for you."
WANTED: Six members of newly-established Aurinko Crime Family. Though we are unclear on their capabilities, suspects should be treated as if they are ARMED and DANGEROUS. Current location unknown. Those with information leading to the capture of the suspects should immediately contact [REDACTED] Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope you enjoy your stay.
WANTED: Six members of newly-established Aurinko Crime Family. Though we are unclear on their capabilities, suspects should be treated as if they are ARMED and DANGEROUS. Current location unknown. Those with information leading to the capture of the suspects should immediately contact [REDACTED]
Milltown. The darkest night, when villains walk freely to spread their evil in the cover of shadow. In this cursed land, at this cursed time, is there no one who will take a stand for Truth, Justice, and the Citadel way? Put on your masks. Tonight, justice hides his face.
Love is, of course, the most heroic emotion -- but only if you're a hero while you're feeling it. If you're evil it's just... icky? Has anyone checked if evil people can feel love? Regardless: love and justice are exactly what's in store for the Vigilant He tonight, as he attempts to save Milltown from its masked captor once and for all!
While the rest of the Aurinko Crime Family is on their big heist to steal the cure mother prime, Buddy recalls their final preparations and possibly the last hours of her life…
A legend can only die when the stories surrounding it stop being told. But a life, even one that generates legends in its time... a life is very, very fragile. Which is worth saving, then? A legend that will go on for ages... or a life, fleeting and delicate and precious?
On the eve of the Kite's assault: a story of two awakenings.
In which boundaries magical and fatal are transgressed.
Juno Steel has been feeling a little out-of-body, lately. Kind of like... well, it's been so busy he hasn't even had time to listen to his own thoughts. But the day of a wedding demands reflection: on where we came from, and where we are going. And at the end of a good thing, is there any question scarier than "where are we going?"
SUSPECT NAME: Juno Steel OCCUPATION: Former police detective and private investigator INCIDENT DETAILS: Found in possession of Class X radical (see form DM10-894-91) SUGGESTED COURSE OF ACTION: ERROR. PLEASE ENTER SUGGESTED COURSE OF ACTION: DIRECTOR. PLEASE ENTER SUGGESTED COURSE OF ACTION.
Sunset. The precise moment the Kite promised his assault on the Second Citadel would come. Two women now return to a land that does not want them to save it from itself... but why? We can't choose our families and we can't choose our homes. But we can choose how much of ourselves we give to them.
The hour of judgment is upon the Second Citadel, and its self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner sharpens his blade in wait. It may not be true that might makes right -- but if the mightiest are wrong, who can stop them from saying otherwise? Some people will do anything to protect their home. The trouble arises when others who live there disagree on what they must be protected from.
In which the world gets a little bigger, a little meaner.
On the recently-frozen moon Io, Juno meets an old friend and reflects on the worst mistake of his life. It's just as a member of his family once said: "We may look backward only to ensure we have not walked this path before."
Seventeen years apart, two hot pursuits get hotter.
In which Juno Steel, detective wunderkind of the HCPD, becomes Juno Steel, disgraced ex-cop... and his story as we know him really begins.
On a quiet jungle road deep in the Northern Wilds, a band of feared outlaws strikes.
Sir Pellinore is prepared for anything... except, perhaps, the shapeshifting teenage rascal he's just imprisoned in his fortress. She might be a little more than he bargained for.
Superstar writer Mick Mercury is missing, and he's not the only missing man Juno Steel is looking for. Low on sleep and lower on patience, Juno will need to solve the mystery of this haunted Dollhouse Manor quickly... or else something a little more solid than ghosts might find him soon enough.
In the basement of superstar writer Mick Mercury's mansion, in which an old friend has risen from the grave.
A strange and musical rain nears; a titan slumbers beneath the deep; three lovers struggle in secret; and yet, with all those threats on the horizon, it is the old falconer on his pilgrimage through the swamp who could destroy Damien, Rilla, and Lord Arum's peace for good.
In which Damien the Pious learns a very important lesson: never meet your heroes.
Juno Steel would really like to take the past, lock it up in a little box, and throw away the key, thank you very much. It's hard to blame him: with his childhood friend hunting him down and his recent love gone without a trace, the past is really feeling like the place where all of today's problems were born. But Juno is a detective, and even if he's decided he's done with Sasha Wire and putting Peter Nureyev on pause, curiosity will always bring him back. Now, between the journal in his pocket and Sasha's strange secret base all around him, Juno will find that the past never stays locked up for long.
In an asteroid fortress, Juno reunites with someone lost; On the planet Saraswati, a tragic deal is struck.
Led by Sir Tristan the Cold, Damien the Pious returns to the Citadel he once called home... and finds that "home" is not where he left it six years ago.
In pursuit of their missing poet, Rilla and Lord Arum take a lesser-known route leading directly through the undersea palace of a very regal - and very hungry - monster.
There is very little that the regions of the Universe can agree upon. The Northern Wilds has their monster-hunting furor, the Western Wastes are known for their scholars and scientists, and in the Southern Frosts survival against the elements dominates daily life. But in all three regions of the Universe, children are taught the same lesson: do not enter the Wayward East, for that way lies madness. But every region has its rebels. So here they stand, at the Eastern gates -- two Northerners, two Westerners, and a Southerner -- prepared to venture into madness themselves. The truth is worth a little madness, after all. Unfortunately, it won't be a little madness meeting them out there in the Mirrored Plains; it will be quite a lot.
Aurinko Permanent Corrections is not like other prisons. At Aurinko Permanent Corrections, they believe in rehabilitation. They believe that all of us have the ability to be better, do better, and it is with this certainty that the warden might look you in the eyes and ask: "So why aren't you doing better? And what do I have to do to you to make you start?"
What is the recipe for a prison break? Take one family, tear them apart, tenderize their minds, marinate them in fear and paranoia... then leave them to sit, confident that they aren't going anywhere. And that confidence is key. Because the moment you think you have the Aurinkos beaten, the moment you're certain they've given up on themselves and each other? That's when they show you you're wrong.
Hidden in the Wayward East lies a city lost to time: Silvershore. With silver sands twinkling in the spring sunlight, cool waves of the Wayward sea lapping at its docks, and violet crystal monoliths jutting from the surrounding desert sands, Silvershore is a place of beauty... and of mystery. Every city has its secrets. A secret city has even more. And though Olala wants to learn the secrets of Silvershore, though she wants to make this strange city her home... she may soon find that what happens in secret shadow is more than she bargained for.
Silvershore's clock tower breaks out from the skyline of beehive apartments and exploding tree-monsters, a constant declaration to the most fundamental truth of Silvershore itself: advertising. Because the clock tower isn't just a historically important building; it is also the headquarters of Wayward East Press, the largest entertainment business in an entertainment city. The offices are near-impossible to break into... unless you happen to know a lot of secret information about how the WEP runs their business. Enter the mysterious Lam, a book thief who seems to know a lot of secret information about a lot of secret things. His bag of tricks opens the door for he and Olala to enter these offices and rob them blind... but does he know enough to get them back out again?
Doctor Palomine Aurinko made a career out of changing people. A behaviorist, in his mind, should be a sculptor of the soul: a set of firm hands to grasp and pinch and mold a person into anyone -- or anything -- he desired. Palomine is long dead now, but his ideas live on without him. The sculptor's hands continue to mold... and Juno Steel is about to find out what happens when those hands start changing someone very close to him.
In which a new era of peace leaves bloody footprints in its wake.
Sir Lamorak of the Piercing Eye, so named for his ability to see through any situation, is not used to house calls. He moved to Silvershore, in part, to get away from house calls -- and yet today his home is full of enemies, new and old, and none of them are willing to leave until they get what they want from him.
Deep in the waters of Silvershore lies the City Beneath, home to the city's water-breathing denizens... and an ancient and mysterious monster named Enoch. Enoch, it is said, was present when Silvershore was first built, and so knows every secret the city holds. Sir Tristan the Cold is in search of one secret in particular -- and neither Enoch nor the city they built will survive if Tristan gets his hands on it.
Here's a question: let's say you get a couple friends together and really piss off Dark Matters, the biggest and most powerful law enforcement operation in human history. Where can you go where they'll never find you?
The Aurinkos are ready for their last stand. Are you?
At the Eastern edge of the world, an invading army prepares to attack.
The end begins.
As a new page in Juno's life turns, he turns the pages of a very special journal... one which has filled itself with new words overnight.
Nureyev reveals the final pages of his past; Juno is forced to ask hard questions about his future.
Hot on the trail of a certain missing thief and low on cash, Juno and Rita wind up on the night-life planet Lono. There they take a job from an old friend to prevent the theft of a valuable treasure... a treasure threatened by a thief with a style that seems just a little familiar.
A very dramatic thief has struck this production of Freedom in Chains with a very peculiar called shot: a calling card claiming that the Prismacrystal Chimes will be stolen at the climax of the play. Can Juno stop the thief before the Chimes vanish... and more importantly, is the dramatic thief in question the man he's been looking for?
A few moments before the end of the world, two brothers engage in an argument that could be the end of something much more personal.
As fire rains from the sky, a group of survivors interrogates a soldier from parts unknown... only to find that far more than their lives are at stake.
Juno Steel has worked some cold cases before... but to find a lead in his search for Nureyev, he's going to have to solve his coldest case yet. Twenty-seven years cold, to be precise.
As Juno Steel tries to solve a murder that occurred twenty-seven years ago, he finds that not everyone is willing to discuss the mistakes of their past.
In the frozen wastes, three travelers seek a prophecy; in the Citadel skies, a terrible machine looms.
On opposite sides of the Universe, two witches offer terrible exchanges. But be wary when you bargain with a witch, Traveler: you may not have as much choice as it first appears.
Juno needs to get in contact with a certain thief, and luckily he has a plan... but what will happen if that thief really, really doesn't want to be found?
When Juno Steel is accused of a crime he didn't commit, it's up to Detective Rita, Private Eye to save the day! Can Rita clear Juno's name?
On the far Eastern edge of the Universe, an army from over the world's edge prepares... and a new era of knighting begins.
A witch completes a dark ritual to learn more than she should know. Meanwhile, Sir Lamorak wrestles with his past and present responsibility... and a terrible secret he must keep from Olala.
Deep in the Outer Rim, Juno has finally caught up with Peter Nureyev... but first he must infiltrate the halls of the mysterious Dokana Group.
“Okay, Steel. You caught him. Now what the hell are you gonna do with him?”
In the Northern Wilds, three traitors to the crown plan their escape, but a terrible price is paid. In the Southern Frosts, two in love are twisted in a fight to the death, and they remember where it all began.
For centuries, the Senate of the Northern Wilds has convened to discuss all the largest issues surrounding the Second Citadel... or the largest monster issues, at any rate. Today's debate: what is to be done with these two nosy humans who have stumbled into their most recent meeting, at a place where great power slumbers nearby.
Many centuries ago, three brothers in the Northern Wilds banded together to prevent a catastrophe... and ended up at the center of one instead. This is their story.
Out in the furthest reaches of the Milky Way float piles of things best left forgotten: trash, refuse, the runoff and leftovers of a society that wants too much and produces too much. What better place, then, to put an impossible dream: that dead bodies, what we leave behind when we eventually exit life, might start to walk and talk and love again? The Dokana group has chosen one of these trashteroids as their place to dream this dream. But be careful: it doesn't take much for a dream to become a nightmare.
They could've brought back people. Instead they brought back Workers.
Sir Galahad the Great is a popular man in what remains of Silvershore. Some people want to kill him; some want to ask him a favor; some want to reward him for his good work in reducing the beautiful city to dust and rubble. But who ever would have guessed that it's the last of these three visitors he has to worry about?
What does Rita do when Juno Steel, Private Eye, is out of the office? Why, everything she’s not supposed to, naturally.
In the Second Citadel’s Hall of Trophies lie remnants of hundreds of monsters… and some of them are livelier than others. The head of the Janus Beast, for example: it’s been here for weeks, and it’s growing bored. Very bored. Can the Janus Beast’s head break out of its case using nothing but its two faces, magic spells, and one tiny, tiny, little, really-just-impossibly-small brain?
In the wake of Season 1, Noah Simes (voice of Peter Nureyev) interviews co-creators Sophie Kaner and Kevin Vibert, using questions submitted via Twitter, Tumblr, and email by YOU, the fans! How do we cast the show? What stories are we inspired by? What is is like to play characters who are in love? And most importantly, will Peter Nureyev ever return?
A thrilling adventure in the life of Rita, Private Eye.
A late-night crime on Christmas Eve gets Mary Anne and Chance Sequoyah a whole lot of trouble... and a visitor that neither of them could have expected.
When Blair Rockridge, Olympus Mons trillionaire, receives a letter from a thief threatening to steal her priceless collection, she immediately calls in the best private detective money can buy. Granted, he is a little eccentric--but he's the best there is, isn't he?
Enough Travelers asked for a full tour of the Penumbra Hotel that not even the Concierge can say no. We hope you're ready for a long haul: it's a very big hotel, and strange things lurk inside it. Be careful what you wish for, Traveler. Some stones, once turned, can never be returned... and some changes can't be undone.
It's December 24th, and you know what that means: it's Mista Steel's birthday, and it's up to Rita to make it the best birthday ever in a star-studded special that includes both of Juno's friends and some people who are lukewarm about him. Can Rita put together the ultimate birthday party in thirty minutes? Maybe! Is Juno's birthday really on the 24th? This episode is not canon and the Martian calendar is famously inconsistent, so I don't know, what do you think!
In the days following the fall of the First Citadel, humanity's last survivors looked to their Saints for guidance through drought, exhaustion, and famine. And many, many years later, four humans and a lizard-bug-man-thing found themselves with a daunting task of their own: to make it through a family dinner without driving each other completely insane. Which had it harder? It's a toss-up, honestly.