《Snake in the Garden: A Monster Evolution LitRPG Fanfic》 Chapter 1: When the World Ended When the old world ended, I was more or less like I''d always expected I''d be. Nervous, but mostly calm, as I quietly read a book in the most secure place I could be in at the moment. In this particular instance it was laying in my dry bathtub wrapped in blankets, fully dressed, and two guns within easy reach in case the oncoming disaster happened to make people a bit more ''mistake prone'' than they usually were. I doubted that they would be, but then again, considering the amount of honking and other traffic noise that occasionally filtered in from outside, who could say for certainty. Now why exactly people thought getting out of the city would somehow help them avoid a ''Major Celestial Event'' I couldn''t begin to understand. I was certain however that emergency personnel would be absolutely thrilled to deal with the imbeciles who were taking the Shelter in Place order as instructions to run for the hills. It made me glad I''d been washed out of the officer training program for filling out paperwork incorrectly or else I''d be out there dealing with the idiots instead of in my apartment with three floors of 1960s construction between me and the ''Major Celestial Event''. I doubted that it would help me much, the types of celestial events that would give us time to react at all were not the kind to be deterred by a few dozen feet of concrete. Chances are it was a new meteorite coming to smite who knows how many human''s off the planet for this or that reason, depending on who you listened to. Most anything else would have been moving near light speed and offered us, at best, a minute of lead time before it hit us. So with the immediate future looking to be ''Dinosaurs 2.0'', I''d taken the time to call my various family members to let them all know I loved them, shared my hopes with my various friends around the world that I hoped to hear from them after the event passed, made my peace with god and now quietly waited while reading that old army manual on sniping using a gun the military had phased out around the time of ''Nam. Some would argue not the best way to potentially meet your maker, but I could think of many far worse ways to go. Still, either way I likely wouldn''t have to go to work tomorrow, so big plus there. It was roughly around the time I was reading an overly detailed passage on how to load a specific configuration of the rifle in question that I found my eyes struggling to focus. I began to see double of everything as my eyes began to completely unfocus in a way my glasses did naught to aid. Hmm that is rather unexpected. I calmly mused, putting the bookmark into the manual and setting it on the nearby toilet seat as the light of the yellow bulb seemed to brighten and darken at random, likely a further failure of my eyes. How curious, I couldn''t think of any celestial phenomenon that affected the human body in such a way. A particularly strong electro-magnetic field maybe? No, such a field would have likely killed the transformers and left me in utter darkness. Perhaps something more abstract, something more spiritual maybe? I pondered as the increasing distortion of my vision reached the point of making the tiny room seem to breathe, threatening to fully enclose around me while simultaneously falling away. I wonder if this is the Rapture? I could hear several of my neighbors loudly panicking through the paper thin walls of the complex, going by the sound of it, the fat bastard above me was stumbling drunkenly towards the door. Again, a bit silly in my opinion. This was hardly the type of thing you could flee from or to be scared off by shouting. I did however fold my hands and request what respite the Lord was willing to offer. It was as my short informal prayer ended that I found myself no longer in control of my own body, unable to compel it to move or even open my own eyes. An edge of alarm entered me as I quickly collaborated the information I had to hand. This lacked the numbness of electrocution, didn''t have the heavy leaded sensation of sleep paralysis, nor did it share the sense of spiritual decoupling one got from certain hallucinogens. My body was relaxed, but instead of the spreading pins and needles of being put under there was a growing heat in my chest slowly spreading out through my body in waves fully independent of my own heartbeat. This was followed up by a rather new sensation, an impossible level of looseness, as if I had suddenly been turned to wax and was now melting and running together in the heat of my own body. I focused all of my willpower against the melting relaxation to try and force open a single eye, to allow myself to at least witness my end. Control still eluded me, my eyes seeing nothing more than the dim black of my eyelids shifting slowly over to blue as the melting sensation was joined with a new far more unpleasant if less alien sensation. The far too familiar sensation of falling. The fall was intermittent, with what seemed like a dozen random stops along the way for no reason before my plummet resumed. The duration of each fall seemed indeterminable to my perception, now far too deep in existential panic to do something as banal as count the seconds between the drops. My mind reached for explanations for these sensations, demanding a reason even as it howled and gibbered in animal terror. Surely this must be a dream! No, I know the feel of dreams, finding myself frequently lucid enough to alter them when I find the scenario on offer less than compelling. Then this must be a hallucination! A gas leak or something! Possible, but we have hallucinated before o'' animal instincts of mine, this is far different from even that time we made the mistake of visiting the spirit world. Well there must be a reason right!? Then give me one! As if in answer to a near non-verbal demand of my hindbrain an almost comically soothing and artificial voice, lacking in an noticeable gendered tone rippled through me.
**SYSTEM ADMIN COMMUNIQUE** Greetings, Earth Inhabitants! Congratulations on achieving a remarkable milestone in the cosmos! Earth has officially survived more mass extinctions than any other reality we monitor¡ªwhat an extraordinary testament to resilience! As a reward for your world''s remarkable endurance, during the upcoming System Integration, you will be granted direct control over the evolutionary forces that have shaped your planet. This is a unique privilege, allowing you to guide your world''s future development directly. Prepare to embrace this new power responsibly, and stay tuned for further instructions as we move forward with this Integration.
Warm regards, **System Overseer ¦¸** This announcement brought the infighting between my higher and lower brain functions to an end as the announcement as both found themselves rather shell shocked by the unexpected intrusion into my mental sanctum. And then the sensation returned with a vengeance. A swirl of color and madness engulfed me as it had only once before as I found myself briefly exposed once again to an impossible and truly alien landscape that I had only seen the like of once before. I had no chance to try and place myself before being dragged out of a world of impossible colors into one of muted grays, tumbling lost in the endless swirling mist moving at what felt like super sonic speeds in deafening silence until I noticed and was rudely deposited in front of something new. Something, blue. And etching into it slowly into this new broad blue plain these words appeared. ¨CSystem Integration Underway¨C ¨CWelcome User: Joe Palmar¨C ¨CYou have 1 Mandatory Evolution remaining¨C ¨CBeginning Evolution¨C ¨CSetUserLevel_0¨C ¨CError_NoTraits¨C ¨CAccessing_Psychological Profile¨C ¨CCollating...¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_Traits_4¨C You have been assigned the following traits: Grappling Strike F Tremorsense F Medium (Long) E Constrict F ¨CPlease wait while we finalize your stats before Ability Selection¨C I found myself stunned as I read the words, feeling a bubbling tingle that sank far deeper into flesh and bone. I hurriedly read the message again as I turned it over in my mind, absorbing the full implication of the message as the too deep sensations grew. My mind went red as one simple conclusion was reached. I was being VIOLATED. It was only my current helplessness that kept me from lashing blindly out at my surroundings, but this deep, soul deep, apoplectic animosity remained. It could not burn itself out, so it simply hardened into a cold cruel choler blade waiting for a proper target to sink into. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I swear upon my life and soul, to see vengeance done for this. In the name of the one true God, I swear to do all in my power to find and end the demons who have done this to us. With the Lord¡¯s guidance I declare now before him and his angels that I will see humanity avenged. I ask that the Lord give me strength in this task and that Gabriel guide my blade, in whatever form it might take, unerringly into their hearts. As I ended my oath, I could feel eyes upon me. Powerful eyes of a magnitude difficult to describe beyond overly poetic allegories. The most accurate of which that sprang my mind, despite feeling not quite right would likely be, I looked up into the starry sky and the stars looked back. I desired to quail before such a gaze, but despite it all I forced myself to remain firm and resolved. I had sworn an oath in the Lord¡¯s name and I was not about to crumble and abandon it at the first hurdle. I know not whether it was the eyes of the Lord or those of the self named Overseer that looked down at me, but I could feel the smile that accompanied the gaze before it passed. If I possessed a body I likely would have collapsed in a minor nervous breakdown with the passing of the gaze. But I remained a formless presence before a blue screen with a wall of text. Text that, I now realized, was fading away. My non-existent eyes locked onto the vanishing text as it found itself replaced with a new block of information.
User: Joe Palmer Species: Gigaboa Rank: F Health 210/210 (++) Stam 40/40 Level: 0 Exp: 0/25 Special: Tremorsense F
Traits 4/4 Grappling Strike: Your strikes now inflict the Grab condition. Next Upgrade: E Tremorsense: Feel low frequency wave through object you''re touching to see with more than just your eyes. Next Unlock: E Constrict: Allows you to inflict additional ongoing Impact Damage to targets afflicted with your Grab. Moderate Stamina drain. (Health+) Next Upgrade: E Medium: Your form is medium sized and very long, weighing no more than 400lbs. (Health+) Next Upgrade: D
Abilities: 0/4 Empty: Empty: Empty: Empty:
Mutagens: 0/5 Empty: Empty: Empty: Empty: Empty:
¨CProceeding to Ability Selection¨C ¨CYou have 2 Points Remaining¨C That cold choler regained some of its heat as I took in this new information. These, aliens? Demons? Monsters. These monsters had the gall to not only alter my form without my consent but to turn me into a snake of all things!? The casual cruelty on display would have been enough to have put me on the edge of violence were I not already to the level of nigh on feral with furor. Had I the ability to lash out at the moment I didn''t doubt I would have driven my fist into the nearest wall hard enough to shatter it or my hand. Alas, I found myself caught with no body to pilot and no meaningful way to express my resentment. I simply continued to fume as I found my consciousness dragged away from the blue screen and through the omnipresent fog and sent tumbling towards a glittering grid of lights that I didn''t ever recall noticing before. I did not attempt to scream or fight it, I refused to give these beasts playing with me the satisfaction as they dropped me down in front of the grid of lights and waited. My senses drifted over the sparking and swirling stars, only to realize they were all locked inside a massive gray translucent cube of titanic proportions. It was almost mesmerizing in a way. It reminded me somewhat of observing a city at night from on high. Countless lights in the darkness zipping about at seemingly random, yet with a pattern that was more felt than seen. I let myself watch the darting lights in the cube for a moment, to center myself again. My gaze lingered on one of the icons which seemed to take notice of me at the same time, promptly darting towards me and expanding into a small icon with a message emerging from the mist below it. |Venom F(2pts): You secrete a deadly venom to be injected into your target. Upgradeable| I gave the icon the best sneer I could manage while lacking a face. If I was to be reduced to a simple serpent, I would not be one that operated in such a manner. Poison and venom were the tools of cowards, effective and useful, but far too easy to misuse and I absolutely did not trust myself with them. The icon, as if sensing my distaste for it, darted away backing into the swirling collection of lights with all due haste. I turned my gaze inward to avoid calling forth any more now revealed to be bodily mutations from the depths of the cube as I silently fumed at the way these Overseers seemed to be making a game out of this new hell they sought to inflict upon myself and the rest of the world. Not only had they completely reshaped us into animalistic form. They had offered us no option in the form we would take, despite promising ¡®direct control over evolutionary forces¡¯. More than just that, it seemed in my case that they were deliberately making choices to be as offensive and aggravating to me as possible. I did not care to be toyed with, that had led me into trouble in my youth, and I had no doubt it would do the same now were I not careful. Omega and anyone else responsible for this would die. But I needed to be smart about how I went about this. Turning my gaze back to the box of mutations I found myself immediately confronted by a ¡®Noxious Scent¡¯ option. A low growl rumbled through my soul as I used the insults to sharpen the cold blade of rage I was slowly nursing. Brushing past several other equally insulting offers such as ¡®Adhesive Slime¡¯, ¡®Shaggy Fur¡¯, and ¡®Projectile Vomit¡¯, I finally became fed up and snarled internally, Do you not have Hands? Despite not speaking aloud, the lights in the box responded, sending forwards a particularly radiant option which announced itself as ''Manus Musculature''. Before I could do more than acknowledge its existence the icon flashed red, highlighting its outrageous cost of thirty five points before flitting away back into the gray cube. I was mostly certain that the impish giggling coming from the icon as it left was entirely in my head, but it did nothing for my current mood. Prehensile Tail then! I demanded, If I am to be forced to be a snake I refuse to be without some way to manipulate the world around me! |Prehensile Tail F(2pts): Your tail is flexible enough to carry or manipulate simple objects. Upgradeable| An acceptable ''compromise''. ¨CPurchased Ability: Prehensile Tail F¨C ¨CUpdating User¨C ¨CError¨C ¨CSystem Integration Incomplete¨C ¨CEntering Standby¨C May yooouu ssssuuuff An intense vertigo rocked me as a sensation not dissimilar to the moments just prior to passing out began to engulf me as my grip on my thoughts seemed to spill like water and spiral down into a singular point once again. Passing briefly into the thoughtless numbness of pre-dream sleep before slamming once again into wakefulness. Only to find myself crammed into a too small space seemingly wrapped around myself in a way I''d not felt since I used to force myself into the narrow cabinets in the kitchen during games of hide and seek. Wherever I was, it felt slightly slimy and carried an oddly familiar smell of... No. They wouldn''t be so cruel as to- A happy chime interrupted my thoughts as words danced across my eyes in this cramped darkness. ¨CSystem Integration Complete¨C ¨CLeaving Standby¨C ¨CUpdating User: Joe Palmer¨C ¨CYou have 1 Message¨C **System Communique** Congratulations, Joe! Due to your high cooperation metrics detected by our core systems, you have been chosen to participate in the First Wave! You and other users across the newly reformed planet Earth have been selected to forge the way into this new world and now hold the power to shape the path of your planet as we move forward! Local species have been subject to sweeping improvements, please remain aware of your surroundings and your new place in the local ecosystem. As a special gift for participating in the most difficult phase of the Integration, you will be provided with additional Quest rewards until the commencement of the Second Wave! Please remember that every choice leads to evolution, and every evolution is a step closer to supremacy. **END OF MESSAGE** ¨CQuest Available: Hatch!¨C ¨CReward: 25xp¨C ¨CBonus Reward: Random Mutagen¨C I hope a rooster eats your cock you fucker! I mentally roared from within the confines of my new egg. Chapter 2: I Was Ready I glared spitefully at the message floating in the corner of my vision, fuming over the humiliation of not only being no longer a human, but stuffed into an egg as well. If I had ''parents'' waiting just outside this egg, well, I would not be needlessly cruel to them. They would have nothing to do with this farce, but I would be in no way a happy child. All of that would depend on what was outside of my current container. I shifted my face to the inner edge of the eggshell pressing my face against it hoping for an egg tooth or horn like some reptile and avians had. No such luck there, time to hope that like with most snakes my shell was thin and soft. Trying to uncoil and press against the egg was an odd sensation, not unlike trying to sit up while wrapped in a sheet, but with a spine ten times longer than it should be. It took a minute of pressing against the yielding shell before it finally failed with a wet sucking pop, not unlike the popping of a soda can, and allowed me my first breath of fresh air. Then my new forked tongue danced out and corrected me on that assumption by slamming me in the face with the smell of eggs, mold, and rotted stagnant air. Slipping my head out the darkness into the dimness of a place both familiar yet foreign, I was promptly interrupted by yet another bloody popup! ¨CQuest Complete: Hatch!¨C ¨CReward: 25 Exp!¨C ¨CYou have reached Level 1¨C ¨CYou have been rewarded 2pts!¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived Ferrous Mutagen C- I mentally seized and hurled the pop ups away as I fought to pull myself free of the massive egg that had been holding me. I paused as a terrible needling bubbling sensation began at my nose and began rolling down my long, long body tearing a vicious hiss from my throat as my body locked up, clenching like a single massive cramp for the several long seconds it took for the sensation to pass. A deep angry rumble echoed in my serpentine chest. My fury was stoked again, I had literally just been born and already my tormentors were making uninvited changes to me again. I sucked in a deep breath, feeling my whole body inflate with it, and unleashed a growling sound that sounded oddly similar to a yowling cat before rising into a loud breathy hiss. Letting my rage guide me I tilted my head back and slammed it forwards as hard as I physically could into the drywall before me. I felt the still solid material collapse inwards even as I saw stars and felt the shock of the impact roll down my elongated spine doing little to deal with the directionless venom filling my mind, but it gave me clarity as my body was tricked into thinking it was under attack. It let me ''stand'' there glaring daggers at the wedge of concave drywall as my new lungs worked like bellows and my face suffered an almost pleasantly painful tingle as I worked to bring the apocalyptical wrath into line. The hate and anger could come later, I had more important things to do first. "Focus Joe." My voice rumbled, sounding a full octave lower and like it was coming from the end of a tunnel. I tensed as I found yet another bit of ''me'' that these monsters, this Overseer Omega and their cronies, stole from me. Another oddly feline yowling growl echoed through me as I grated out, "Focus. Do any of those silly plans I made fit?" I had several jobs in my life which were so slow and tedious I was left with literally nothing to do but think. Being the completely, absolutely, certifiably normal individual that I am, I had spent a lot of that time making zombie plans, and when that got boring plans for increasingly unlikely scenarios like waking up as a bug or as a woman, "Let''s see, apocalypse, complete societal collapse, supernatural/alien influence, body altered, non-humanoid form..." I paused in my near mantra mumblings to slither out of my tiny bathroom and into my small bedroom to nudge aside my makeshift curtains out onto what had once been the parking lot. I eyed the cracked and pitted pavement with patches of four foot long grass and small saplings poking out of it and the other dirty apartments across the street with a couple small vines of ivy growing over them, "Looks kinda like Propyat out there. So, estimated ten to thirty years temporal dissociation, no immediately obvious threats." my gaze darted to the corner of my eye where several other popups had been patiently sitting. -You have taken 1 point of impact damage- ¨CQuest Available!¨C ¨CFind Food¨C ¨CReward 35xp¨C ¨CBonus Reward: Random Skill Token: F¨C I''m not sure how expressive my new reptilian face was but I gave the popups my best disdainful scowl as a brief sharp hiss escaped me, "And game inspired mechanics like in those books dad so enjoys." Huh, I actually did have a couple plans fairly close to that. Mind those plans had me waking up as a dragon or robot, but I could improvise the difference. First step of the plan was to take stock of my new body and what remained of my own supplies. Turning back towards the bathroom I saw that my mirror was still intact and despite the poor lighting conditions, it would allow me my first full look at myself. Slithering closer, taking notice of just how bizarre the act felt, like walking by tightening your shoulder, then hip, then buttocks in a loop, I took in my new form. While obviously I was a snake, I appeared to be a bit of a mishmash of snakes in a way that made no sense to my amateur biology sensibilities. My head seemed to be modeled off a King Cobras, minus the dapper hood, giving me something of a permanent scowl instead of the almost puppy like face of most snakes. My body was that of either a large python or a small anaconda, possessing the patterns of a copperhead cast across it in dull grays. Correction, I now simply saw the world in black and white, how thoughtful of those abominations. If I ever met them, regardless of how out of my league they were, I would love to tear out an eye or two of theirs. Was there anything else they''d like to take from me? My manhood maybe? A quick check led to inconclusive results, I didn''t know how to tell the difference between male and female snakes after all. This did nothing to reassure me however. An attempt to inhale slowly through my nose resulted in the flicking of my tongue, giving me another amazing ''taste'' of the mold that had grown under the carpet where the vents dripped when it rained, a lot of rot coming from the fridge and freezer, and just the faintest hint of the incense I had bought two days before the Event. Oh, my face was still fairly articulate, or at least I was able to express disgust very well for a snake at any rate. That would go a fair ways to explain my ability to still speak English with no more difficulty than normal, assuming that I wasn''t simply speaking another language and having my perception altered to hear it as English. Certainly possible, but it was equally possible that I was nothing more than a minor character in an actual videogame inside of a movie inside a book, and it was about as meaningfully distinct to me. Well, so long as everyone else wasn''t speaking their own private languages a la the Tower of Babel. Something that would remain purely theory unless I went outside and gathered more information, which based on the distant sounds of shouting I should probably do. However, I cast my eyes down my roughly twenty-some-odd feet of danger noodle that was the new me. I should probably do something to make it clear I''m a human just in case there is a language barrier. But how should I-. My mind instantly leapt to a short video I saw on social media a few months back, giving me a workable idea. Looking into my already open closet, I checked and got a big ol'' snake smile to see that despite the odds, my twenty year old Stetson had somehow managed to survive without me for a few more decades. Slipping the tip of my tail under the old hat I was able to fairly easily maneuver it into position where, much to my delight, I found it sat easily on my new head. Now very clearly marked as a human, after all, who had ever heard of a monster wearing a hat? I headed for my front door and was faced with a new obstacle. Two deadbolts and a perfectly round knob. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "I find myself very glad that I decided to maintain some level of manipulation or else I''d probably have to headbutt my way through my bedroom window and slither over broken glass." I announced to the world and began fiddling with the locks. The task that usually took me all of two seconds with hands ended up taking closer to forty with my new tail. A lot of it was the fact that my tail felt less like poking at it with a finger than it was poking at it with a leg growing out of my tailbone with but a single toe that had five times the joints I was used to of an unknown strength. Added on top of that bit of confusion was the rust and corrosion that had built up on the locking mechanisms themselves, though the rust on the handle actually made it a fair bit easier to grip. The sound of grating metal was rather annoying though, likely going to have to get used to it, considering I got slapped with ''Ferrous Mutagen''. As was the regular ''ding''s of whatever the new alerts were, I cast a glare over to the annoying blue pixel in the corner of my eye. ¨CPrehensile Tail: Level upx4!¨C ¨CGained 16xp¨C Are you seriously going to-? Ignore the Skinner box mechanics Joe, focus on what sounds like a child having a panic attack outside, plotting the downfall of a planet wide ''system'' and the monsters behind it comes after immediate survival. Opening my front door I slithered past the massive pile of old leaves and dirt that always seemed to build up in front of MY door and only MY door, that had built up to almost a foot deep. I poked my head out past the staircase and out over the courtyard to see the old oak was looking a bit worse for wear, but had a small army of young saplings growing up around it. The courtyard was completely untended with stalks of four foot grass and the occasional shrub everywhere with only the snaking pathways of sidewalk breaking its total dominion. The volleyball court was completely overgrown with grass, no surprise there, it had been about a quarter of the way there already thanks to all the stuff the oak dropped on it. Oh, that seems like the source of the screaming. Across the courtyard stumbling around the sidewalk yelling its little head off was something that looked like a deinonychus sporting two big orbs of probably compound eyes with a pair of madly twitching lynx ears plonked on top of its head. "Is anyone out there!?" the little thing shrieked, sounding like a six year old, "I think there''s something wrong with the weed I smoked! I''m having a real bad trip and can''t find my phone! Everything''s too loud! I''m seeing everything, but everything''s falling apart and smells like shit and the blue letters won''t stop hounding me!" Well, he''s hopefully older than he sounds at least. Though with some of the families here I wouldn''t be shocked to find out they hotboxed with their kids. I slithered a bit further out from behind the stairs to the upper floors, and was politely informed by the sidewalk that I now sounded like a janitor with a full ring of keys, dragging chains, and plans to go to the arcade after work with a spring to his step thanks to my ''Ferrous Mutagen''. Needless to say, this noise drew the immediate attention of the panicking pot head velociraptor as its lynx ear swiveled towards me, jumped three feet straight up with a squawk, before turning to face me with its little claws clutching its heart. I likely had seconds before whoever this was bolted for either the woods or their apartment, I had a decent idea of how to do so. I raised my voice to call out to the stranger, "Why are you naked?" "Buhuh?" the little insect, mammal, lizard replied intelligently to a metal snake in a cowboy hat speaking to it. "Why are you running around naked outside?" I asked again, "I''d ask if you were raised in a barn, but farmers raise their kids better than that. You had anything to eat yet?" "Uh, erm," the tiny dinosaur made a rather funny attempt to cover itself with its little arms positively radiating embarrassment, "N-not since last night no." "Come on then," I gestured with my head back towards my apartment, "I''ve got a fair few bits of emergency food and bottled water for situations like this. I''m sure some of it''s still good, gonna be cold though with the power being out. I can also let you borrow a shirt or something until you get your own. That sound alright with you?" "Y-yeah man, that sounds great," the little raptor bug started to wobble over my way, "Can you call an ambulance or something? I think there was something real bad with that- uh, what I had last night." "We can try and reach someone while we''re eating," I assured him, turning around to slither back inside, heading for the emergency cabinet in the tiny kitchen nook, "You got a name on ya buddy?" "Whu-?" the little lizard cat paused at my open door, dancing on his little clawed feet with obvious nervousness, "Oh, right. Uh, sorry, I''m Damian. Uh, should I just uh-?" "Make yourself comfortable, clothes are back in the bedroom if you want to dress before you eat." I nosed open the cabinet to check its contents. Hmm, none of the bags look like they''d been opened from here. Looks like the crack boxes themselves rotted away, but the stuff inside the bags still looks decent. "Bottled water is under the table in the corner there." A lot of the canned stuff is bulging and obviously bad, looks like not all of it though, might be able to make a thin soup or a can of Mutt chili, though I''m not sure I''d trust it uncooked after this long. The jar of honey was fine to no one''s surprise, but that''s more an ingredient than a meal. Don''t want to just soak some rice either, if we can get a fire going we have the basis for a proper meal. "Or you can take a seat anywhere and try and catch your breath. Seems like you were having a hell of a panic attack out there. Oh, and I''m Joe by the way." "Yeah, thanks man." he finally crossed the threshold and grabbed one of the bottles of water, stared at it in confusion for a minute before twisting it open with his sharp pointy teeth and awkwardly taking a drink from it and half gagging. "Sorry they''ve been down there a while," I grabbed the bag of Cheez''ems, in my mouth and maneuvered it to my tail. Snack for now, proper meal later, "Probably taste of plastic. You like Cheez''ems? These are the extra toasty kind, though they might be a tad stale." "Shit man I love Cheez''ems!" Damian chirped as he set the bottle of water to the side and reached for the bag. I passed it to him, his little claws easily tore open the bag, unleashing a slightly artificial cheese smell into the room as he reached in and scooped a paw full of the cheese flavored squares into his mouth. "Hoo, you weren''t kidding about them being a bit stale." I reached for the bag with my tail, remaining in the kitchen so the shelves stayed between me and him. Even still Damian seemed to shrink back from my tail a bit before seeming to chide himself and hand over the bag. I took it and dumped a good shake or two of the cracker snacks into my mouth, tried to chew them and found that yes, even my oddly articulate snake mouth did not chew well before swallowing. "Yeah definitely a year or two past its sell by date, would do better in a soup." ¨CQuest Complete: Find Food¨C ¨CReward: 35xp¨C ¨CLevel up!¨C ¨CYou have been rewarded 1 pt!¨C ¨CBonus Reward: Random Skill Token: F¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Stalk F¨C Oh piss off you stupid pop ups! "Look man, thanks for this but can you call the hospital please?" Damian pleaded rubbing his tiny clawed hands over his oversized compound eyes, "This, whatever I got, is really messing with me." "Sure thing," I nodded, reaching over to pick my phone up off the charger where I''d left it last night all those decades ago. Yep, dead as a doornail, still went through the motions of unlocking and dialing on it. -Prehensile Tail: Le- PISS OFF! "So what symptoms you having Damian?" I asked conversationally while pretending to wait for the phone to connect. "Man, it''s fucking weird." The little dino said, looking up at my now extra old sofa and hopping on to sit down only to glance back at his long fluffy tail before rapidly turning his head forwards, "Like, I''ve been on some bad trips before, but never like this or for this long. Like last night around midnight I swore there was a bunch of text in front of my eyes and-." "Current symptoms Damian," I interrupted, projecting more annoyance than I felt, I had a bit of a role to play here. "You can tell the doctors everything, but I just need the current stuff to pass on to the police after the next, sixteen calls, in front of me are done." "Right, sorry. Well I''m still getting hallucinations of text in my vision on occasion, or if I look in certain directions. But I''m also like, super sensitive to sound, and my vision is fucking weird. Like I''m convinced I can see behind me while looking forwards now, but only like, at waist height. An-and everything I see looks like it''s aged decades except for people who look like-." "A tiny fluffy bug eyed velociraptor or a giant metal snake wearing a cowboy hat." I set the phone down as Damian''s head whipped over to face me. Likely a force of habit as it seemed he didn''t have to look at anyone to be able to see them anymore. I set the phone down on the counter. "Sorry Damian but I''m afraid you are perfectly lucid and what you¡¯re currently experiencing is reality." He didn¡¯t seem to take that revelation well. Chapter 3: Sadly Everyone Else Wasnt "FUCK YOU!" Damian''s shrill shriek filled my tiny apartment, "Where the fuck do you get off luring me into your home and then start trying to make me think this shit is real! I ought to go get my fucking gun and blow your fucking face off!" "There''s a gun right there on the bookshelf if you want to do so," I gestured to the gun I kept next to the kitchen, "But it''s been two or three decades going by how delipidated everything is so the powder''s probably bad." Damian seemed to jump as he spotted the barrel of the large bore revolver poking over the side of the bookshelf, without turning his head. He seemed to hesitate before rushing over and grabbing the revolver, damn near toppling over from the weight of the two and a half pounds of pistol and ammo before shakily pointing it in my direction. I remained fairly calm, I was pretty sure that the powder in those shells were bad at this point, add in the fact it was loaded with .410 shot I was fairly certain the pellets would bounce off my ferrous body. "You think I won''t do it asshole!? I''ll fucking do it! Now call the hospital and take that shit back or I''ll do it." "You can try calling yourself," I pushed my phone to the floor, "You can try and shoot me too if it will make you feel better. It won''t change what''s been done to us though." With an angry hiss Damian slammed the trigger back so roughly that even if the shell had fired off he''d likely have missed. His hisses became much wetter and wheezier as his arms seemed to lose their strength pulling the trigger a couple more times before and collapsing onto his knees with hiccupping hissy sobs, his little cat ears folding back flat. "This can''t be real, man. It''s gotta be a some kind of trick or hallucination or something. I-I c-can''t be this! I was so close to going straight! How can I work a good job, clear my debt, and show my family I''m a changed man a-as THIS!?" The tiny fluffy raptor man began to wheeze loudly as he went completely limp to the point of letting his head impact snout first on the floor. I fully empathized with the man, I wanted to join him in freaking out, letting out the rage, pain, and helplessness I felt at this absolute violation of all that we were and had been. To howl in helpless fury at the realization that all of our plans and hopes for the future had been completely and utterly rewritten by the whims of a group of callous monsters that saw us as nothing more than their amusement. However, I still had steps to follow, objectives to focus on, things that needed doing. The breakdown could come later, we were men and we had a job to do. I just needed to remind him of this. "Damian!" I snapped, wrapping a tail carefully around him to force him to stand, "Cut the pity party! Stand up and go put a shirt on!" "What''s the point?" Damian warbled, but he was at least standing up and seemed to be focusing on me again, "Everything and everyone''s gone, what''s the point any more?" "We''re still here you twit!" I snapped at him, "That means there are others still around as well. People as lost and confused as you are, quite possibly children!" His warbling sobs froze at that, "Have you ever paid attention to how many families there are in this apartment complex alone Damian? And there''s seven complexes and two hotels within a couple blocks of here, each of them likely loaded with men, women, and children who like us are now scared and lost! You want to prove yourself? Then man the hell up! They are going to need direction and comfort to keep them from doing something stupid like hiding in their rooms until they starve and I can''t do that by myself." Damian was stock still for several seconds, his little raptor face seeming to radiate shock and horror until he finally said, "Fuck, you''re right. There could be kids out there alone and scared! We gotta go help them!" He began to wiggle and fight against my tail, no longer needing it to keep him upright. "Shirt first," I insisted, pushing him toward the bedroom, his mouth opened to argue and I quickly cut him off, "No one looks like people anymore Damian. Wearing a shirt or some kind of clothing clearly marks you as more than just some animal and is a little piece of our old selves to hold onto." I paused to eye the tiny man up and down, "Besides, a shirt would look cute on you and help offset how discomforting your eyes are." The little man seemed to sulk at that, "I can''t even blink the damn things and that''s really bothering me." he grumbled something under his breath that sounded like, ''fucking random mutathingy'' before he sighed, "Should I go grab one of mine or?" "I don''t mind you taking one of mine, I can''t exactly wear them any more." I waggled my long serpentine body for emphasis, making it all jingle like chainmail, "Depends if you''re fine going out again with your manhood hanging out." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Again Damian''s little raptor arms shot to his groin before he tilted his head, "FUCK! Where''s mah dick!? Am I a chick now!?" "Join the unsure club," I commiserate with a grumble. "I don''t think reptiles have external genitals but I''ve no clue how to tell a male from a female." "If I ever find the cunts who did this to us..." Damian rumbled as he stomped into my bedroom to find a shirt. "Get in line, I called first dibs." I called after him, pulling out my camping bag. "I won''t say no to someone to work the gut while I choke them out though." I spent a moment fumbling with the zipper before opening the bag. Nylon tent should be fine, the striker and cooking kit should also be fine thanks to stainless steel, actually no, crud the stove was a kerosene stove so that might not burn, well the stand should still be good for cooking things over a fire. Oh good looks like Damian finally found the shirt drawer... Wait, how did I know that? He''s around a corner and my head is in a suitcase. Focusing on the sensation, I became aware of a new awareness. I seemed to passively know where the little raptor was every time he took a step and a rough idea of how much he weighed, Jesus, the man must barely weigh sixty pounds soaking wet now. Certainly useful, going to need to test and experiment with that later to discover the limits, but for now back to, ah there you are. How''d you survive the decades old boy? Hmm, a little bit of corrosion despite the parkerizing and silica packets in the bag, still, none along the edge so you''re still as sharp as ever. I bet a good polishing session will have you as good as new again. I smiled as my tail held my favorite foot long bowie knife, Dale might have a point that kukris did better work for camping, but the foot long fighting knife just called to me. Add in the fact that its cross guard made it infinitely easier for my tail to hold and control as I walked it through a few simple gutting motions and it was clearly the better option than trying to wield it in my mouth. "Uh, what do you need that for?" I cast my gaze over to Damian, now wearing a navy blue t-shirt of mine, it went down to his knees and elbows bunching up in the back near his tail. Poor guy, it must suck being that small. I was right he did look rather cute in the shirt, even though he was currently nervously recoiling from me at the moment. "Aren''t we looking for other survivors?" "You are," I corrected, "I am going to be heading down to the woods and river to see if I can''t get something a bit fresher for everyone to eat. I''m sure I''m not the only one still hungry after that snack of Cheez''ems and I don''t doubt everyone else is gonna be just as hungry as we are. Say can you strap on the sheath around right here on my, neck? Chest?" "Oh, yeah, sure thing man." Damian skittered over to me and started using his dexterous little claws to wrap the deerskin sheath''s Velcro into place. "You sure I should be going it alone, though?" "Damian, look at me, what would most people do if they saw a giant metal snake slithering around?" I asked looking down at him, "I''m pretty sure you nearly shat yourself when you saw me." "I''m tiny and you''re big so sue me," the little raptor grumbled, "So are we going to be meeting up here or what''s your plan?" "I figured you send people to the volleyball court and have them start gathering dead wood around the tree and clearing the grass off the sand, turn it into a nice place for a fish fry to actually start meeting everyone and making less immediate plans. Sound good to you?" I slid my knife back into the sheath and gave it a few test draws, good enough for now. "I guess, better than anything I had planned," Damian shrugged. Lucky little bastard, showing off his shoulders and arms before perking up, "Oh, I got a bunch of beer and whiskey in my place, should I bring that?" "I, wouldn''t." I stated after a moment''s thought, "If memory serves most beers and alcohols go bad after a year or two. Add in the fact that we don''t know how much our biology''s been changed, even a good beer might be super poison to someone." "Damn, I thought some booze would help settle folks," Damian sighed. "Oh I don''t doubt it will once people start brewing again, gonna be a hot ticket commodity for whoever figures out a couple good brews first." I chuckled slithering towards the door with Damian following behind me. "Oh, and you can skip this door, I know no one was living there when the Event happened. And keep an eye out for any outdoor grills that look to be in decent condition while you''re going door to door, oh and charcoal, the match light stuff will have gone bad, but natural charcoal doesn''t." "Right, right, got it boss." Damian snarked. "Oh God and heavens above, don''t call me boss!" I gasped dramatically, "I might have been nutty enough to make an emergency plan for situations similar to this, or even weirder but that hardly makes me qualified to actually lead!" As we got back outside I glanced over to my ''patio''. Aw my jalape?o plants died! No peppers for the fry then I suppose. "If you say so boss," I swiped my tail at his head which he easily ducked and skipped away with a ''wark wark wark'' cackle before sobering, "I guess we''re going our separate ways for a bit now huh." "Oh don''t be so dramatic about it," I rolled my head since I''m not sure I could roll my eyes anymore. "I''m just slithering through like six hundred feet of woodlands to snatch a few fish out of the river and you are literally walking around the complexes we both live at. Neither of us will be doing anything dangerous and will be meeting up again within a couple hours tops." "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I was working myself up over nothing." Damian laughed bashfully, "See you in a bit Joe." "See ya soon Damian." I gave the man a wave of my tail as I started slithering towards the woods to the south of the complex. Honestly, I was nowhere near as sure of our safety as I let on. Sure I''d walked those woods several times as a man and found nothing more dangerous than a homeless man, but thirty years of no people could change the nature of both woods and beast, especially since I wouldn''t be surprised to find that the local wildlife had changed as much as we had. As I thought of that, and began structuring the possible monsters that I might face in the woods or in the river I felt my pace quicken and an eager smile working its way onto my face. That primal violent part of myself that I''d kept locked up while in civilized society was stirring and I found myself all but hoping for a fight. As I passed the rusted remains of the overgrown gate the marked the edge of the complex I felt an eager chuckle bubble free of my throat as I cooed, "Let them come." Chapter 4: Just a Little Fishing The woods behind the apartment complex turned out to be as tame as it had ever been, even with my new tremorsense to help me notice anything, the worst thing I encountered was something that I would describe as a ''dire squirrel'' that took one look at me and fled. I called after it, but I think that this one might have actually been an animal and not a person. And if that didn''t just get my blood up. I literally had to guess if anything I encountered now was a person or an animal, and not in the behavioral sense either! I was still fuming and running a rut in my mind going through all the horrible and bloody ways to dismember, humiliate, and torment the Overseer if I ever got my hands... Those fucking shitters! on them by the time I reach the river. The waters were flowing fairly fast, maybe a recent rain, but thankfully the murky waters were still fairly clear near the edges letting me spot shadows of four to eight foot long fish in the river. Now I''m fairly certain none of the fish in the river grew that big before the Event, so it looks like those ''sweeping improvements'' meant an ability to sustain far larger sizes. Hmm, I wonder what that meant for diseases and viruses, where they now supercharged or worse yet, some sort of hive intelligence that infected and overtook their host now? Regardless, focus on fishing first Joe, navel gazing can take place when you''re not busy gathering food for an unknown number of hungry people. I largely ignored most of the fish swimming around in the shaded spots hanging out over the water and looked for flooded burrows. The larger size of the fish themselves made it far easier to spot the places the local catfish had selected for their spawning nest. If those nests were active it would really help narrow down what time of the year it currently was, which was going to be damnedably important going forwards. Selecting a site not far from the shore, I wrapped my head tightly around a tree and sent my tail down into the potential hole poking around and wiggling to encourage any fish inside to bite. -You have taken 2 points of piercing damage- Huh, that alert was actually halfway useful. I barely felt that through my scales and the cold water, would have probably mistaken it for poking a branch or a piece of glass. Still, seizing upon the moment, I thrust my tail deeper and crooked it like a hook as I pulled and... Yes! managed to get the bastard by the gills! Pulling my tail back in I smiled seeing the six foot long catfish with sharp pointy teeth struggling against me, trying to swim off and spit out my tail. But I had the bastard well and truly hooked as I pulled him out of the water. "Well what do you know! A danger noodle is good at noodling!" I announced gaily with a cackle. Pulling the fish fully out of the water I unwrapped myself from the tree, wrapping the fish more fully in my tail. To hold it still was tough, the damn fish''s slime made it like trying to grip a bar of soap. Still either through air drowning or my own efforts I managed to eventually hold it steady enough to line up my heavy metal snout with the back of the fish''s head and slam it home as hard as I could, feeling the fish immediately still in my coils. A pained groan filled my chest as I massaged my nose with my tail, definitely needed to find a better spot for delivering heavy blunt impacts. Still looks like it killed the fish so mission accomplished, now for part two. Uncoiling from around the massive fish I grabbed the knife with my tail, pulling it free of the sheath and sliding a thin slice down the belly of the fish. Really I should clean the slime off first, but I was not going to drag this thing all the way back up the hill through the woods, just to come back down carrying its offal guts, likely in my mouth. Blehch! No, I''m doing that here so I can put that shit to work attracting more fish. I slowly worked the knife about an inch or two deep before checking to see if I''d made it into the chest cavity and then carefully slicing open the belly being very careful not to go too deep and hit an organ before setting the knife aside and using my tail to start scoping out organs. Oh hey! Egg sacks, and they look to be recently emptied. That must mean it''s early to mid summer assuming this lady wasn''t late to the party, good to know. Also heard that you can eat those, but I don''t know any recipes for that so I''m going to need some experimentation there. Leave the liver inside because I know how to cook that, the rest is now just fish bait. Scoping up the big awful mess of organs up and around my tail, I spilled all of it into the water and wrapped my upper body around a tree again, ready to reel in whatever bit. I even splashed it around a bit to make it seem more like a dying animal to try and make it appeal more to whatever was out there. Hmm, interesting. It seems my new tremorsense worked somewhat in water. It was even murkier than usual but I was still getting the occasional fuzzy sensation of the general locations and size of the fish. At least a couple seemed to be showing some interest in my bait, That''s it little fishes you know you want it. Hey! Where are you goin- OH HOLY SHIT THAT''S BIG! Almost as soon as I detected something massive in the water it rocketed towards me and my bait, its massive toothy jaws taking in my bait and a full five feet of me in one massive bite. -You have taken 48 points of piercing damage- ¨CEncounter Quest: King- I ignored the pop ups, focusing my all on holding my grip on the tree, literally focusing everything I had on constricting to keep this monster from dragging me into the water even as it thrashed, tugged and bit again. I felt the tree splintering under my grip, but I did not feel any fear. Oh no, this was something I had longed for, lusted after, since I first went through puberty. Just me, alone, facing off with a monster that wanted me dead, and nothing but my own will to survive and maybe a knife to deny it with. I felt the pain of my injury, and oh how it made my blood sing, made that suffocating cloud of civility that kept the primal instincts of man suffocated boil away. For the first time since my first hunting trip, I felt alive in a way that was nigh impossible to describe as I felt my face split into a wide wild smile. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "You want me!?" I crowed at my foe, "Come up here and get me!" Using all of those powerful constrictor muscles I pulled at the beast pulling at me and managed to pull it halfway out of the water revealing itself to be an absolute monster of an alligator gar, probably pushing twenty feet long and maybe four foot across. God damn! I didn''t even know those things lived in the Trinity! And the Event has made them even nastier! What a wonderful meal you will be! Another mutual tugging contest pulled the beast almost completely free of the water, leaving just its tail thrashing in the shallows. Not to be defeated the monster chomped on my tail again and I felt its teeth impact each side of my spine. A snarling hiss ripped its way free as I realized that the biggest threat was no longer getting dragged in, but getting bisected by the beast''s jaws. Good thing I had a rope to tie its bloody mouth shut! Releasing the tree, I pulled myself over to the beast, wrapping myself around its jaws and constricting hard to keep them closed. Then I wrapped myself further around its head and down its body as the thing began trying to roll, either to try and unravel me or roll us both back into the water. I couldn''t let that happen as I could already feel the fatigue starting to cut through the battle high. I needed to end this now or I''d collapse and this damned fish would drag my back into the water. Good thing I knew how to deal with a gar. To remove the head you just need a good hard snap up! I twisted all those cords of muscles I had wrapped around the thing''s face to pull its entire head sharply skywards so hard that I heard and felt a crack like a shattering tree branch. And down! This time pulling in the other direction I snapped the fish''s head down a full one hundred eighty degrees drawing out another crack like a sundered oak as it was internally decapitated. The thing still managed a grinding chewing motion around my coils before it finally died. Going limp and gasping for breath I finally let myself relax and pulled up my status to see how I was doing. I was greeted by a rather large backlog of updates as I did so. -You are inflicted with the Grab condition!- -You suffered 13 tearing damage!- -You are inflicted with the Bleed condition!- -You suffered 28 piercing damage!- -You suffered 15 tearing damage!- -You suffered 18 tearing damage!- -You suffered 24 piercing damage!- -You suffered 2 crushing damage!- -You are no longer suffering Grab- -Prehensile Tail has leveled up! x4- -Gain 12xp- -Prehensile Tail has reach rank E- -Tremorsense has leveled up! x3- -Gain 9xp- -Ferrous Mutagen has leveled up! x4- -Gain 12xp- -Grappling Strike has leveled up! x3- -Gain 9xp- -Constrict has leveled up! x5- -Gain 15xp- ¨CEncounter Quest: King of the River!¨C ¨C1 Mini-boss Defeated¨C ¨CCalculatingParticipation¡­¨C ¨C100% Damage dealt¨C ¨CPerformance: Unbelievable!¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_EQReward¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Selective Skill Token: C¨C -Random Mutagen F: Lithic Mutagen ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived 5pt!¨C ¨CGained 200xp!¨C ¨CLevel up! x2¨C ¨CGained 3pts!¨C ¨CHealth: 84/256¨C ¨CStamina: 2/55¨C As the notifications ran through my vision and that horrid bubbling needling sensation began to flow down my entire body once again, I found myself laughing. I laughed long and loud, nearly passing out in the middle of it as I struggled to breathe. That was a secondary concern now. After all, I had survived! I had fought an honest to god monster on my own and I had snapped its fucking spine even as it was chewing on me! I don''t think I could have been happier unless God and Jesus both came down from heaven with the Overseer tucked under their arms in a headlock to give me a high five! I''m not sure how long I lay there as the exuberance and euphoria of both survival and victory slowly wore off leaving me with the dull ache of the after party and weeping wounds. I could handle that back at the complex, I still had a couple first aid kits. I just had to grab my fish and... Ah hell. I forgot I don''t have any hands again. How on God''s Green Earth am I going to drag both of these fish back up through the woods? Chapter 5: Oh Boy, New People By the time the bleed condition stopped I had roughly fifty hp left, I felt like utter shit and wanted to pass out for a nap. It was almost like that time I got punted across the parking lot by a pickup immediately after donating blood, but with a lot less amusement at the raw absurdness of the injury. Still, staying in the woods with an unknown number of foes and a river that had monsters like this one in it just felt like asking for trouble. So with a pained groan of reluctance I rolled back over onto my belly and began looking around for both my hat and my knife, taking a moment to wipe the latter off on the former, before returning both to their proper places. Now, how to get two giant ass fish back up to the complex. The gar was so big that short of bringing a trailer down here I was going to have to drag it, which hopefully wouldn''t be an issue considering how thick and tough a standard alligator gar''s scales are, it could probably handle it. But how in blue blazes was I going to get the catfish up there as well? There was absolutely *no* chance I was leaving one behind after what I went through to get them. I was absolutely not going to risk something coming along and snatching them, or worse, the Overseer deciding to simply ''de-spawn'' one for being left behind. If only there was some way to carry both with only one effective hand... I paused, taking a good long look at both the gar and the catfish, specifically eyeballing the dimensions of both of the fish. I moved my tail forwards to adjust the gar''s jaws and got a bit of a startle seeing my tail as the new alien appendage had gone and changed drastically on me. No longer was it a nice smooth line of scales, but now there were a ton of spiked protrusions poking out from under my scales that made me look more like a spiny brush viper. Where the hell had this come from? Maybe my stat spread would have some answers?
User: Joe Palmer Species: Gigaboa Rank: F Health: 52/256 (++) Stamina: 11/55 Level: 4 Exp: 76/125 Special: Tremorsense F
Traits: 4/4 Grappling Strike: Your Strikes now inflict the Grab Condition Next Upgrade: E Tremorsense: Feel out low frequency waves through objects you''re touching to see with more than just your eyes. Next Upgrade: E Constrict: Allows you to inflict additional ongoing Impact Damage to targets afflicted by your Grab. Moderate Stamina drain. (Health+) Next Upgrade: E Medium: Your form is medium sized and very long, weighing no more than 400lbs. (Health+) Next Upgrade: D
Abilities: 2/4 Prehensile Tail E (4pts): Your tail is flexible enough to carry or manipulate simple objects. Next Upgrade: D Stalk F (Passive)(2pts): Staying still and watching your prey increases the damage of your next successful strike. Next Upgrade: E Empty: Empty:
Mutagens: 2/5 Ferrous Mutagen C: Your outer body is coated in a protective layer of ferrous material. Lithic Mutagen F: Horn-like deposits harden across the skin creating living armor plates. Empty: Empty: Empty:
Inventory: Selective Skill Token (C)
Hmm, looks like it''s the lithic mutation that resulted in the new look. I wonder, would that actually be lowering my defenses since that''s bone and not iron or whatever my scales are made out of? Oh, that''s right I did get Stalk for eating decades-old stale crackers. Was a bit busy dealing with Damian at the time to pay attention to it. That sounds like it could be useful, I also notice it doesn''t say anything about having to be unobserved or out of combat for it to work, paired with my defenses that could potentially result in me landing infrequent but devastating hits. I shook my head. Oi, stop getting distracted, two giant fish to move and then spend probably the next several hours preparing and cooking. Turning my attention back to the alligator gar of legendary proportions, I opened its mouth with my tail, lowering my head to look down its throat. Casting a judging eye at the gutted catfish I did some mental math and decided that, yes it probably would fit nicely in the bigger fish''s mouth. Grasping it lightly with my mouth I jammed the catfish into the dead gar''s maw before giving it a once over. It looked a little comical, but yes it did seem to fit rather snuggly in the other fish. That just left carrying the, what? Half a ton of fish through the woods and up hill? Well, I''d been able to drag it out of the water, so surely I could drag it along, right? Well only one way to find out isn''t there? I lowered my head and clamped my mouth around its gills. Dear God, please don''t let this thing have some sort of parasites in its gills that can thrive in my biology. The good news was that not only was I able to drag the thing, albeit slowly, it seems that I at least had some form of super regeneration that was making the rather terrible tail wound I was suffering heal at almost visible speeds. The bad news was not only just how slow the going was, but that since I''d snapped the thing''s neck the thing''s head started threatening to tear completely off forcing me to try dragging it by a fin, which was promptly torn off and accidentally swallowed, and finally by the tail. This in turn threatened to have the catfish spill out of its mouth, at least until I remembered the gar''s sharp pointy teeth which, after a brief application of concussive force, did a great job of holding the fatty fish in place. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it It still took me nearly an hour of exhausting labor to drag the damnable fishes through the woods and back to the complex. I wonder if Damian-. "Holy shit! Joe? Is that you? What the hell happened!?" Setting the fish down I turned to look back at my favorite bug eyed velociraptor in a t-shirt who seemed to be radiating concern. My tremorsense alerted me to something behind him hiding around the corner of the building, hopefully another person. "Hey Damian," I waggled my head in a wave, "I went fishing and got a couple of good bites. Who''s your friend over there?" "Went fishing? It looks like your tail got caught in a bear trap!" the little dino shrieked, "And why are you suddenly covered in spikes!?" "A ''reward'' for catching this bad boy!" I gave the gar another full body tug with a grunt pulling it over the lip of the shallow hill and into sight, "Not a bad catch right, wish I had a working camera for it." "Joe, that thing looks like it could swallow a damn car! How the absolute fuck did you-!? Nevermind, are you alright? That bite wound looks bad." The little guy''s screaming seemed to finally lure out whoever was waiting around the corner. Ah correction, two people, assuming both were people. One appeared to be a glyptodont with an absolutely massive white moth perched on its back wearing a scarf. "Goodness me!" the moth exclaimed with a voice that sounded almost exactly like a piccolo, "That''s the biggest fish I''ve ever seen!" "You should have seen the size of the one that got away," I joked, giving the moth a tilt of my hat in greeting, "Can''t say I''ve met you two yet. Name''s Joe, what''s your name? Also," I jabbed an accusing tail at the ice age armadillo, "Why are you naked?" "Are you serious right now!?" the glyptodont grunted with a voice like a constipated pig as the moth tittered on his back. "I told you he''d make an issue of it Jerry," Damian said, obviously fighting back a smile of his own, "The armadillo thing is Jerry and the moth is Matilda. They''re the only ones I found in the entire complex. I tried knocking on doors and looking inside but I didn''t see anyone else, though it looked like a couple people bolted." "I wouldn''t worry about it much," I gestured back into the woods, "Long as they stay out of the water I didn''t see anything worse than a two foot tall squirrel and they''ll either run into someone else or make their way back. Was there no one at any of the other apartment complexes?" "He didn''t want us wandering off before you got back," Jerry grunted, "We got the sand pit cleared and gathered wood like he said you wanted. You actually know how to cook that thing?" "Yep, cleaned and cooked my own fish a dozen times before, mind they usually weren''t so big, but that just means we''re going to have some leftovers. I would like some help with these two however," I turned back to the fish before whirling to Jerry, "Also is it Jerry with a ''J'' or ''G''?" "A ''J''. Why?" "No reason Gerry," you ever seen a glyptodont squint suspiciously? It is quite amusing. Jerry and Damian moved over to help lift the massive fish across the parking lot as Matilda hopped off her ride and began nervously fluttering around, "I''m sorry but I don''t think I''ll be much help here." Her big fluffy antenna drooped sadly. "Do you have anything like rice or other safe storage food at your place?" I asked her, "Or if not that, a few large pots or bottles of water?" "Oh, I do! Shall I grab the cozies and ladles as well?" Her antennas perked right up and danced excitedly "Yes please, mam." I offered the clearly enthusiastic woman a smile, "Along with a few bowls and any silverware you can safely transport, don''t be afraid to make multiple trips. It''s going to take up a bit of time to prepare these fish and get everything going." With the three of us working together it only took another five minutes to get to the restored volleyball pit. Setting the fish on the sand I cast my eyes on the pile of dead wood, that wasn''t going to be enough, that would last maybe two hours and with the amount of fish we had to cook and the prep work we were likely going to need at least five. "Damian, can you do me a favor and go grab more deadwood from the woods? This isn''t enough." "What? That''s a ton of wood though!" "That''s a literal ton of fish so we need more wood." The little dino man heaved a sigh, "Yeah, I''ll get on it." "Jerry, can you help him with that once you get dressed?" "Why is it so important to you that I get dressed?" the ice age mammal sneered, "We''ve been turned into animals so why keep pretending." I whirled on the smaller man, drawing myself up large to gaze almost straight down at him and was completely silent for a moment. I could see the sudden instinctive fear in his eyes as I held his gaze, and noticed Damian shift nervously. I raised my tail and with a very steady voice said, "One, because despite being caged in an animal body, our soul and mind remains human. We should conduct ourselves as such." I ticked my tail tip over in the best mimicry of counting I could manage now. "Two, as I''d hope Damian already relayed to you, it is a clear signal to others that you are a person and not an animal. Which means they are less likely to jump you in the trees. Three, it gets you used to wearing clothing again. Which will be vital come winter, assuming you don''t want to weather it naked." I paused and leaned forwards, "Do I need to continue or are those enough reasons for you?" "W-What would I even wear though?" Jerry whimpered, "It''s not like anything fits me anymore!" "Get creative," I answered steadily, continuing to stare the man down with my unblinking serpent gaze. "Put a sock on your thagomizer, drape a blanket over your shell, wear a hat, I''m not picky." With a mumbled affirmation Jerry hurriedly waddled away, disappearing among the grass and old buildings. "That seemed a bit intense Joe," Damian lightly chastised, "Is wearing something really that important to you?" "Somewhat," I sighed, "Every point I listed off is true, but a lot of that was me getting frustrated that I don''t think he gets it yet." "Gets it?" Damian cocked his head to give his featureless green bug eyes a fuller view of me. "The world and order of yesterday is gone." I stated, "The easy life we''re used to has ended and we are back in the land where the strong make the rules. The way he was acting puts me in the mind of a middle manager expecting those around him to cater to him as he is used to getting his way. I needed to remind him that whatever authority he''s used to is gone and there are no guarantees anymore, especially any guarantees of safety. Heck man, I just went down to the river and nearly got bitten in half, anyone else we''ve seen so far would have died doing what I did." Damian plopped down on his ass and was quiet for a long moment, "Fuck man, I kind of half realized that already but, I think I was kind of waiting for rescue services to come by and, I don''t know, restore power, hand out MREs, spray us with some sort of monster to human spray. I don''t know, just sort of waiting to be rescued, but there''s no fixing this is there?" "Not in the short term anyways," I shifted over next to him to let him lean on my coils. As far as I could tell our minds were still human, just with some pre-installed control schemes, and humans were a species that needed physical contact, especially when distressed, "But give it a few years, we know what we''re capable of and what''s possible, I bet you that inside of two to three years we''ll be back up to early nineteen hundreds tech and see the beginnings of proper countries rising again. But that''s going to depend on folks like us keeping people in the right mind and putting down any would-be warlords." "Fuck, we''re going to end up having to kill people down the line aren''t we?" Damian''s voice was quiet as he pressed himself against my coils. "We had to kill thousands a day to keep things as civilized as we did pre-Event," I confirmed morosely, "I doubt that will change now that public order is completely gone." It was quiet in the courtyard for a moment before a loud rattling of pots and other materials broke the silence as a familiar white moth fluttered unsteadily into view and set down a metal pot as big as she was. "Can one of you boys be a dear and help me move this?" "Certainly Matilda," I gave her a sunny smile as I rose to slither over to her, "we were just catching our breath anyways. Still a lot of work to do before lunch is ready after all." I cast a glance back at Damian, Let them keep their innocence for now. We still had other things to do first after all. Chapter 6: My Cooking Brings All the Boys to the Yard. Getting a fire started was easy thanks to the striker in my camping bag, though I did lament not being able to show off how to make and use a fire stick, waiting for the first pot of water to boil was a bit of a harder ask. I did get to spend the time talking and learning about Matilda though, turns out she was the same old lady I''d helped carry in several packages of water about a month before the Event. She also proved to have a far greener thumb than I did, harvesting several onions from her now wild garden as well as several pounds of dandelion greens. During this time Jerry nervously returned wearing a leg warmer on his tail and sweat bands around his forelegs, I simply smiled and directed him to help Damian recover wood. When the water was finally boiling I poured it over the catfish, using the padded gloves Matilda had provided in my mouth to avoid burning, watching the color change before using the edge of my knife to start scraping off the slime until the skin turned completely white, making sure to pay special attention to the tail. While I did that I let Matilda get started on a second pot of water to start cooking the rice that would eventually get mixed with the beans and bits of fish. I had to stop to go get one of the old towels out of my place to clean both myself and the knife off after a while. I had forgotten just how slimy these bastards got, it was extra unpleasant while you were holding it with your mouth! With that finally done I got to cutting off the head which sounded almost exactly like trying to cut down a tree when it came to chopping through the thing''s spine. I finally removed the liver and put it in a bowl of vinegar to soak for about an hour or so as Matilda finally began to cook the rice. I quickly lopped off the fish''s collar and ran my knife down the spine to begin cutting off fillets, the size and lack of hands made it a bit trickier. About the time Matilda began adding the beans to her rice both Jerry and a very tired Damian carried in their tenth load of wood. "Please tell me that''s enough," the little dino panted violently. "It should be fine for right now guys," I said, we''d likely need a bit more but Damian looked ready to pass out. "Though I might need you two to go gather a bit more later." "Could you take over for me Damian?" Matilda asked sweetly, "It''s ever so hard to properly stir the pot with these bug legs and being so close to the fire is rather unpleasant." "Yeah, yeah sure," Damian sighed, moving to take over the pot while Matilda flooded the little lizard with thanks and instructions. "Any more orders for me or am I allowed to finally take a smoke break?" Jerry grunted. "If you could go check to see whatever is pacing around the parking lot is a person or not that would be great." I stated, as I started a third fire under the cooking tray. Adding oil that was still mostly good by the thanks of being unopened and in the back of a pantry before laying the cuts of catfish fillet on it to cook. "I''m pretty sure it''s a person though, I doubt a monster that big would be acting so shy." It did turn out to be another person, a gecko the size of a flatbed who nonetheless seemed like she''d pass out from making eye contact. Nevertheless, I required her to get dressed before joining the cookout, though I did offer her the robe from an old Halloween costume since it looked like she might cry. After her the sounds and smells of food prep ended up attracting six more people and a group of snake headed jackal things that kept their distance but watched hungrily. I was right on the money of it taking around two hours to properly prepare both fish and all the other fixings, the gar in particular was a hassle as the damned things hide could work as decent Cat 1 bullet proof armor. I was unironically considering trying to tan the thing''s hide and turn it into armor for about half the gathered group. I tossed the offal organs to the jackal things that jumped on it without hesitation before finally moving on after eating their fill. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. When everything was done we had a massive feast of rice, mixed with beans, onions, catfish, and liver drizzled with fillet drippings, tomato, fish bone, and onion soup, topped off of course with salted fish fillets with a large salad of dandelion greens and onions. I heard a lot of happy animal noises as our little zoo of people dug in and began to talk to each other. Most of them were from the cluster of apartment complexes, and had been sticking close to their homes either hoping for help to show up or hoping that their roommates/family would appear. A couple of those gathered, like Rumi, a woman who now looked like a shire horse that had been raised on a diet of steroids and whey proteins with teeth like a wolf, had basically been running blind in a panic until they collapsed and followed their nose here. By the time everyone had eaten their fill, and a couple of unexpected surprises such as our shy gecko girl''s throat lighting up like a magnesium searchlight, only about a hundred pounds of salted gar was left. Even bones had been crunched up and eaten, or in my case swallowed whole, by our eleven hungry beasties. It had at least done wonders for spirits as everyone was now behaving much more human with each other, chatting about jobs, family members, ''yesterday''s'' news, and even the rather nice weather. Even Jerry was having a completely cordial conversation with the gecko girl about books that seemed to be getting her to open up. Sadly there was more to do now that everyone had had a bite to eat and we were burning daylight. Slithering over to the still shining stainless steel poles of the volleyball court I whacked my tail against it several times producing a loud metallic ''tong'' each time. Conversation quickly died as everyone turned to look at me, a bit of the old stage fright hit, but I had more important things to worry about than a group of near strangers I wouldn''t even be knowing for all that long. "Thank you all for coming to our little cook out, I hope you all enjoyed the food." a small murmur of mirth and smiles, "However, we still have a lot to get done before the day is over, first and foremost is deciding if we are even going to stay here." A murmur of confusion, "I know a lot of us have been living here for years and these complexes actually have a lot going for them. They are either mostly gated off or fully gated, they are close to both the river, the train tracks and the freeway. They have large courtyards we can easily convert into farms or grazing fields, and they are near large amounts of wood, water, and clay. However, they are all small apartments that some of us might have trouble fitting into, especially if we end up getting bigger down the line. Also being close to the freeway and tracks has the downside that other people, who might not be well intentioned, can find us easily." "So you''re suggesting we just give up on them because of a few maybes!?" Jerry shouted angrily, clearly trying to play office politics and undercut me. "What I am suggesting," I corrected him with a glare, "Is that we consider other options. About fifteen minutes down the road is those newer rich houses behind proper brick walls that are all easily four times the size of these apartments, they have their own lakes, creeks, and ponds behind those walls, though some of them might have dried up, they are near both River Legends Park and the dump, as well as having plenty of woodlands immediately nearby. However they are likely to have several people who are already living there and might not be pleased to have new neighbors moving in." I could see several excited murmurs as the people who''d been living in small cheap apartments considered living in upper middle class housing." "Also to consider is Cattle Rustler''s stadium." I continued, "It''s got space in spades so even the largest of us could easily move about there. It also has a large protected field and nearby water sources, not to mention literally hundreds of shops and malls to plunder for supplies and luxuries. It also has massive underground storage and is fairly defensible, and no one has a home immediately next to it so no one will be living there. However, it is a massive, visible, well known location and may be targeted by others with the same idea so we may end up having to fight people for it." Again some thoughtful murmurs, I specifically heard a couple people mention ''box seats'' likely thinking of the luxuries they could have." "The last possibility is one I personally think has the least potential, but it''s a trope in these sorts of situations for a reason, the mall." several chuckled at one even miming being a zombie. "It also has a ton of space for us, a ton of very useful stores for materials nearby, clear sight lines for almost a kilometer in each direction, and lots of luxuries. However it has no water sources, no nearby fields, though we could turn the parking lot into one with some effort, and there are a lot of nearby houses and other apartments as well as the freeway, so we will be getting visitors if we go there." "Now before we decide, keep in mind all of you are free to go." several blinked as if never even having considered the option, "I''m not going to force you to stay because you ate some fish and rice, if one of those places sounds better to you than whatever the group decides, more power to you, go on and head there, it was nice meeting you. For those who want to stick together I''d hear where you''d like us to set up our home base." And so the debates began. Chapter 7: What? You Didnt Think That Wed Just Magically Teleport There Did You? I did my best to keep from frowning as the debate raged on, nearly everyone seemed interested in leaving the complex, and a couple of people even seemed to be seriously considering the joke of living out of the mall. Personally, I was solidly of the opinion that staying here was better; both saving time, better access to resources, and unlike the other options, it wasn''t somewhere that most people would investigate unless they had family here.This gathering of apartments wasn''t a well known location after all. However, I was only planning to be with the group a couple days at most so if they wanted to make mistakes, I was willing to let them. They could always move back here later after all. The debate turned rather one-sided when the guy who looked like the lovechild of a Japanese murder hornet and a bumble bee, I think his name was Nolan?, revealed that he''d actually had a job as security at the stadium so he had keys to a bunch of the doors to get them in. After that a clear majority formed around living in the stadium and I called for the final vote to seal the decision amongst the small gathering. There were some grumblings from those wanting to invade the rich neighborhoods or mall rats, but no one left, so it seemed that democracy had triumphed again. "Alright, with that settled we best start packing and gathering what we''ll need to try and turn the stadium into something livable." This statement seemed to be met with some blank looks from the gathered. "You folks do realize that the stadium was not designed with folks like us or long term inhibition in mind right? We''re likely going to have to remove bleachers, doors, and other equipment. Especially if you''re going to want individual rooms, I somehow doubt you¡¯re ready to sleep in a big pile midfield or something. Thankfully, there is a mattress store nearby, so that''s not an issue, but for tools, materials for building walls or reinforcing equipment, digging latrines, and building other stuff to make it properly livable we''re going to need a hardware store which I know there aren''t any near it. Not to mention I don''t doubt that some of you have things you''d rather not leave behind." That got a round of nods though Jerry took it upon himself to second guess me again, "And are we just suppose to carry all of that on our backs!? How are we supposed to carry all of that, what, twelve miles to the stadium?" "I planned to use the trailers from one of those big rigs that always stop on the road outside to carry everything." I stated pointing to the road in question where there were almost always two to four trucks parked as the drivers slept on their cross country drives. "You want us to drive?" the nervous gecko girl squeaked. "Oh no, the gas has doubtlessly gone off anyways. I figure myself, you, and... It''s Rumi right?" a nod from our equine body builder, "I figure the three of us are more than strong enough to haul one of those things, if not a couple more people can help push the thing, it shouldn''t be too hard once we get it on the freeway. It''s mostly downhill to the stadium from here." The group took a little more convincing, but after popping open the door of the truck, disconnecting the trailer, and using the trick my locksmith friend had shown me. I wonder how Kenny is doing? They were willing to at least try, especially if it would mean not having to leave behind their things. It had been August! Why is it full of Christmas Decorations!? I left most of them to unloading the mostly useless materials in the back of the truck. I asked Matilda, Rumi, and the gecko girl, who turned out to be named Kyli, to come with me to the hardware store. It turns out what had been a ten to fifteen minute drive by car turned into roughly a five mile hike, which meant we had a fair amount of time to talk about each other, even with Matilda fluttering overhead to keep an eye out for trouble. This let me learn that Kyli was a librarian and hobbyist painter and that Rumi had been an architectural student who had planned to graduate at the end of summer. Which led into various wandering conversations about stories, the merits of various architectural designs, and fashion. Though, all extended conversations with me or any other family members involved, it did eventually end up going to some odd places. "It can''t be that easy to make napalm!" Rumi insisted aghast. "I know, I hardly believed it myself until I did it." I smiled remembering that particular camping trip and following bad decisions of filling a Supreme Soaker with said napalm. The hospital trip had been worth it, the following discussion with the FBI less so. "But yeah that''s literally all it takes. I''d probably make some, but I''m not sure about how rotted gas would affect it, also no way I''m using an open flame instead of an electric stove." "He''s right dear," Matilda called down, "My dear Henry, God rest his soul, told me about his time in the war as a flamethrower specialist and making his own fuel when supply lines got bad. It really does sound just that easy." "No you two have got to be pulling my leg!" the horse woman snorted, "Kylie, you''d know if they were leading me on right?" "It''s Kyli," our big gecko murmured, "And, um, I don''t think you''d like my honest answer." "That-!" Rumi started looking rather frustrated but was interrupted by Matilda. "Everyone," she called with a sharp whistling tone that cut right through the argument. "I see a group of maybe eight of those wolf snakes from earlier that are heading this way!" "Everyone! Backs against the freeway!" I snapped, "It will keep them from surrounding us!" If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Everyone did so, Kyli actually scurrying halfway up the fifteen foot tall tiled wall of the freeway barrier as Rumi pawed the ground nervously, and Matilda remained overhead. I tried to project an aura of calm, even if I was a little nervous, I know for a fact that snakes specialize as one v one fighters and the best way to beat a noodle is to group up and harass them. I doubted that these things could seriously hurt me, but there was always the chance they''d overwhelm me. Then the old primal mentality reached up and smacked me upside the head. There is a threat approaching, there are women here in danger, my duty is clear. Just like that my nervousness disappeared as duty and resolution filled me and a bit of that old violent eagerness began to bubble up as well. This was the kind of thing men dream about. The snake headed coyote things burst from the small treeline along the side of the road and stopped, eyeing up our group with a sort of wary animal cunning about them. They made continuous ''yap'' sounds, perhaps trying to intimidate us or communicate with each other. They outnumbered us at least two to one. However, most of our number were at least twice their size, leaving them visibly hesitant to attack us. Seeking to give them that final nudge of conviction that we weren¡¯t worth their time, I inflated myself and gave a long low yowl that turned into a sharp hiss. They eyed us in a wary stalemate for several seconds, seemingly not quite willing to leave us be, but not certain they could take us. The stalemate was broken by Kyli shifting on the wall behind us, moving slightly further away from the pack of animals, signaling weakness. ¨CEncounter Quest Available: Break the Pack¨C ¨CReward: Performance Based¨C ¨CFailure Penalty: Death¨C Oh God damn it all! "Kyli! Do your neck light thing!" I immediately shouted as soon as the popup appeared. "Everyone else look away or avert your eyes!" I had experienced just how bright the gecko¡¯s neck light was when she''d gotten it after her meal, the split second accidental discharge of the ability had left me seeing spots for nearly five minutes. What she managed now put that flash to shame. Even without looking directly at her the light was so bright that just the reflection from the road and trees left me dazed and disoriented as the world flashed white. The effect on the snake-jackals seemed far more pronounced, as even while I was still rubbing the spots out of my eyes I felt two heavy thumps as the animals toppled over mid stride. One of the pair seemed to be convulsing on the ground, suffering what looked like a seizure, as its legs locked up and it floppled over, twitching. Even the remaining beast stopped dead in their advance, their yowls and whines filling my ears. I took my chance to lash my head out in the direction my tremorsense was telling me one of the things was standing, biting down on one of the creature''s legs. The thing bit at me in return, but couldn''t seem to pierce my twin defensive enhancements as I yanked it into my iron coils and smothered it with a fatal hug. With a vicious snarl I ripped my knife free with my tail and drove it deep into the creature''s throat, letting the long blade nearly beheading the thing. A wave of blood from the massive wound spilled over my coils in a wave, some of it spraying my face and getting in my mouth, flooding my senses with the metallic scent of blood. Oh, how sweetly it reeked. I was distantly aware of Rumi, her hooves producing rich clear images to my expanded awareness as she took advantage of the monsters¡¯ blindness. She slid to a stop with an odd sort of skip as she shifted her body to perform a lovely half turn spin kick that slammed one of the creatures directly in the face so hard its head was driven into its chest, producing a rather unique sound I hoped to never hear again. The impact was so powerful I could hear flesh tear under her hooves as bones and organs were pulped under her strike, and the fluids rocketed back out of the hole the woman had made. Rumi gave an equine shriek as she kicked off the body impacted around her leg and retreated back to the wall. My vision finally beginning to clear, I was surprised to see one of the fallen jackal-snakes seemingly glued to the ground by a splatter of white webbing that was further entangling it even as it struggled. I glanced up hearing an odd rumbling gurgle just in time to see Matilda vomit a fresh wad of the stuff directly into the face of a still blind snake-jackal. The wad flowed over the poor thing, sealing its mouth, nostrils, and eyes completely shut, leaving the animal visibly struggling to breath. It desperately pawed at its face only for its paws to get stuck, leading the terrified animal to rear back, topple over and become glued to the ground where its struggles rapidly weakened. This completely one sided first strike completely demoralized the still half blind animals, most of whom yowled in fright, turning around and fleeing as if all the hounds of hell were after them. Only one of the pack remained behind, a bigger beast, possibly approaching the size of a wolf, that hissed angrily in defiance as it stood between us and the shattered remains of its pack. I decided to use the oldest secret weapon of humanity, chuck something at it. Taking the now very dead body in my coils, I grabbed it with my mouth and with the whip of my neck chucked the body at him. I honestly was not expecting to hit the bastard, merely attempting to chase it off, yet I damn near speared the bastard, the corpse impacted the lone jackal-snake like a cannonball. I watched as the last of our challengers was knocked off his feet and tossed nearly six feet by the impact, rolling across the ground with the uncomfortably dry sound of snapping bones. It lay limply on the ground pinned under the body of its comrade and gave a single soft whine before going still. Fucking heck! I keep forgetting how bloody powerful we are now! We absolutely massacred them! ¨CEncounter Quest: Break the Pack complete!¨C ¨C8/8 Beasts Defeated!¨C ¨CCalculatingParticipation¡­¨C ¨C2 Killing Blows.¨C ¨CPerformance: Satisfactory¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_EQReward¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Random Skill E¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Skill Lunge E¨C ¨CReceived 2pt!¨C ¨CGained 40xp!¨C Letting out a long slow breath that turned into a throaty chuckle as the adrenaline infused combat high worked its way through my system, I took a moment once more to enjoy the heady sensation. Pride mixed with the raw joy of standing victorious over the beast that had attacked us. The chuckle turned into a cackle that worked its way up into a full bodied laugh as it mixed with the relief of everyone having made it out unharmed and just the pure raw joy of being able to actually fight again. I let out one last satisfied sigh before wiping off my knife on one of the animal¡¯s matted fur before returning it home to its leather sheath.It was definitely going to need to give it a proper cleaning soon with all the work I¡¯d been giving it lately. I turned back to look at the three women I¡¯d been traveling with who were all watching me with nervous apprehension as I smiled at them. There was a beat of near silence, aside from the whines of the still living jackal-snake Matilda had glued to the ground. Rumi seemed to be trying to subtly smear the various fluids coating her leg and belly off on the overpass wall without drawing attention as Kyli trembled in place. Even Matilda seemed a slight bit worried from her new perch atop the wall. ¡°Well,¡± I said with a voice full of good cheer, completely ignoring the atmosphere, ¡°I think that went absolutely swimmingly!¡± Chapter 8: The Trials of Tokens The last mile to the hardware store passed in near silence. The easy conversations that we''d been having before seemed to have completely dried up in favor of avoiding eye contact and awkward shuffling. Well, not entirely, Matilda still seemed more than happy to talk with me, but she''d keep trying to rope the other women in and they''d either ignore her, give one or two word answers, or rude dismissals. If I was reading the wild twitching of her antennas correctly, she was becoming rather frustrated with their antics. Thankfully before she could explode or one of the other women could have the mental breakdown they seemed to be on the edge of, we reached the store. Good ol'' Lowes Depot, best home improvement store I''ve ever worked at. Now even better thanks to the easily opened side gate into the gardening section with the doors into the store they never bothered to lock. Well, I considered it easy to open, it had proved much trickier as a human to get the gate open. Now all it took was Matilda fluttering over the twenty foot tall gate, pulling the floor pin free, me reaching my tail through the resulting crack between the two gates, and ripping the cheap padlock free of the chain holding the two gates closed. Easy Peasy! The outdoor gardening section had certainly seen better days, nearly everything in the pots looked to be long dead, with the exception of a lone sapling here or there that had managed to hang on, usually by bursting its pot and finding a crack down into the soil. I guided my three followers through the section to the sliding glass doors and pushed them open only to discover something awful. The smooth polished floors were still smooth and glossy! I couldn''t slither about on such smooth stone, I''d have next to no traction and be a sitting duck! Somehow, I know this to be your fault Omega and this is simply one more entry in my ever growing book of grudges I hold against you. "Well, looks like I''m not going to be able to follow you inside ladies, think you''ll be able to gather everything yourself?" "Sure." Rumi grunted as she walked inside, her hooves skittering on the smooth floor for a second before she managed to get herself under control and carefully trotted deeper into the store. "Kyli?" I turned to look at the gecko girl, her head drooping and eyes slightly unfocused. She jerked as if slapped, seeming to just now realize where she was and stammered out a quick, "Oh, sorry sorry sorry!" she scampered into the store quickly seeming to have no issue with the floor. A soft fluttering and a weight on the back of my head announced the last of the party, I tilted my head to try and meet her gaze the best I could. "You not going in Matilda?" "I will in just a minute young man," she said in a very motherly tone, "But first I just want to remind you that you are in no way a monster for what you did today. You did a good thing killing those beasts and your reaction at the end is hardly uncommon, take it from a soldier''s wife." I gave the little moth woman a warm smile, "Thanks for the vote of confidence Matilda, but no need to worry about me. I''ve known what I am for the last two decades and long ago made peace with it. It''s the others I''m worried about." She tutted, shaking her head, "City girls, probably never had to put down a vicious or sick animal before. I''ll talk to them." With that she hopped off my head and fluttered into the store after the other girls. Now alone and with nothing to do for the first time since the Event began I began to feel a nervous energy building in me. There were more things that I needed to be doing! I shouldn''t be just lingering like this! If I stopped, I''d start to think! If I started to really think about everything I begin to worry, to let the ever hungry darkness spread, and more than likely start to convince myself that there was no hope! I just needed something to distract myself with or keep busy while the girls gathered the laundry list of supplies I''d discussed with them on the way over. Oh! Right! I had that skill token thing sitting in my ''inventory'', I bet figuring that out would keep me occupied for a couple minutes. Now, how to go about using my skill token? I nearly jumped out of my skin as the second I thought the words an earworm of a tune played in my head heralding a new popup ¨CYou have received a Selective Skill Token: C¨C ¨CWould you like to redeem your Token?¨C If I''d had eyelids I''d have blinked in surprise. Really? Just think ''use skill token'' and -!? A bubbling sensation overtook me, not the pins and needles of a new skill or mutation getting added but the horrid bubbling runniness sensation that had had presaged me losing my human form for that of an overblown serpent. I released a panicked hiss of a yelp, coiling up on myself in an instinctive need for defense as my eyes wildly danced about for any potential aid or means of stopping the sensation! I''m not about to be unmade again! I can still move! It''s different this time! I assured myself even as I puffed myself up to try to look bigger and unleashed a directionless hiss of warning.
You have used Selective Skill Token: C At level 4 there are 8? Abilities in the |Hatchling| subspecies pool. View the Full List. View |Gigaboa| Appropriate Abilities. View Active Abilities. View Passive Abilities. |Search|
I flinched as the newest popup appeared, gazing at it uncomprehendingly for a second. Then I got mad. FUCK YOUR NOSE WITH YOUR SHIT STAINED LEG OMEGA YOU ABSOLUTE CUNT! I lashed out at the box, biting at it and letting off another particularly angry hiss as I fumed internally. Who in the absolute God loving FUCK went and made a loading bar for opening a menu mirror the sensation of the ruination of your life!? Seriously!? What was the fucking point of doing that to people you''d just traumatized!? What kind of sick mother fucker was Omega to pull shit like this!? This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Getting to the level of furious where I was literally struggling to see I yowled angrily and whipped my head around like a sling with the all consuming need to hit something. Slamming my head, at speed, into one of the channel steel supports of the outdoor shelving, rang my head like a bell, leaving a hefty dent in it. Quite literally I''m fairly sure. I discovered that a coiled snake was still fully capable of staggering drunkenly while waiting for the world to come back into focus. I had the start of a throbbing bump already developing on my noggin as I painfully took solace in the fact I was at least calm enough to think mostly rationally again. "Joe? Are you alright?" Matilda poked her head out of the door, "I heard hissing and what sounded like a car hitting a street light." "Yeah," I groaned, gently poking my dented scales and feeling the bruising underneath, "Just got to thinking about things and worked myself into a tizzy before doing something stupid. Thanks for checking Matilda." "Are you sure you''re okay?" She insisted, "I''m more than willing to listen if you need an ear." "Maybe later Matilda, you just help the others for now, we''ve still got a lot to take care of today." I shooed her off and she reluctantly left. I turned my attention to the waiting menu before me, doing some quick head math. Eight cubed is five hundred twelve, so that times eight is... four thousand plus ninety six, multiply that by eight and we''re already in the twenty mid four thousands with two more exponentials to go. So I didn''t have the weeks I''d need to scroll through the available options and ensure I selected the absolute best choice meaning I''d have to make the best of what I could find in the next hour, though next few minutes would likely be best as I''d like to play with what I picked seeing as I had the time.
¨CSearch: Arms¨C -Processing Search...-
I got a long list of results with that. Powerful Blows (Arms), Stretchy Arms, Massive Arms, and things of the sort, all of them crossed out due to the fact I didn''t have any arms! A quick check of ''Legs'' revealed more of the same, an absolutely towering list of abilities that all required legs. Figures, the one time I actually got some level of choice in what was about to happen to me and I can''t even get what I really want! Well, let''s at least see what the ''appropriate'' options are for me then. I doubt I''ll take any of the options listed, but it might give me a good idea of what other snakes are going to be packing.
¨CAll abilities are displayed at Grade F¨C Gigaboa Appropriate Abilities: Vampiric Fangs (Passive): Drain a minor amount of health from the enemy with every bite. Upgradeable. Toxic (Passive): You body is suffused with poison, causing all who attack you to be coated in it. Stacks up to 5 times. Upgradable. Paralytic Bite: You inject a paralytic either through saliva or venom, causing the enemy to suffer difficulty moving. Stacks up to 5 times. Upgradeable Venomous Spit: You can spit your poison at great distance and accuracy. Stacks up to 5 times. Upgradeable. Anti-agalgestic Bite: You inject an anti-agalegestic through saliva or venom, causing the enemy to suffer an inflated pain response. Stacks up to 5 times. Upgradable. Latch: You pounce upon the enemy, clinging to them tightly. While Latched your physical defense is increased, and the enemy suffers damage over time. Variable Stamina Drain. Next Page ¡ú
I made another effort to snatch the screen, this time to try and fling into the trash can aisle where it belonged. I am not using poison you cur! What was with this system and trying to turn me into things I''m not? Alright, so, not going to be selecting from THAT list, so general skills it is then. So what do I need most right now? Well, beyond limbs of course but we already know that''s not an option. Between my two mutagens my defense is already high enough that anything short of a powerhouse type, like Rumi, is just not going to affect me. Passive skills could certainly be useful, but they don''t really fit my style. I always tended to gravitate more towards a rushdown style when fighting or gaming, though as a snake I suppose I''m more of a grappling build. What tends to be the weakness of those types of characters and builds? Range and speed. Picking up a ranged ability would be generally useful for sure, but if I''m faster and more mobile then range is less needed. I''ll definitely need to look into a ranged option later, as there is no way there''s not some way to expand that list considering how quickly it fills up, but being better able to maneuver and catch targets is far more important. Modern military doctrines show that, speed is king.
¨CAll abilities are displayed at F Grade¨C Active Abilities: Offense: Ranged Abilities. Melee Abilities. Area of Effect Abilities. Summoning Abilities. Control Abilities. Defensive Abilities. Utility Abilities. |Search|
There wasn''t a tab for mobility skills? They must be in a subsect of utility abilities I suppose. Do I really want to dig through a list of potentially tempting skills to try and find the handful of mobility based skills? Not really no, maybe I''ll just search for them individually. Hmm, so what sort of ''mobility'' skill can I think of? Flight, duh, but that likely requires wings. Super speed, possible but if I already suffer traction issues on a smooth floor that''s just asking for trouble. Jumping, that would need l- Suddenly memories of my childhood going over to a friend''s house to play Konkey Donk with him jumped into my mind. Specifically memories of one of the funnier animal companions, Spring the Snake, who moved by bouncing around like a pogo stick. No, it would never let me get away with that, would it?
|Search Results: Jump| Leap: Jump great distances and use your resulting momentum as a weapon. Upgradeable. |Search|
A big goofy snakey smile stretched across my face as I looked at the skill. Oh it was undoubtedly a bad choice, bordering on retarded, but damn if it didn''t sound like fun. It would absolutely serve as a surprise if I used it on people, if it worked anywhere near as well as I hoped it would. Who would expect a snake to just jump at them after all? |Leap *C*: Jump great distances and use your resulting momentum as a powerful weapon. Moderate Stamina Drain.| Time to see how big a mistake I just made. I used the skill and promptly fired myself like a spring twenty feet straight up in the air where I impacted the sheet metal roof over the section I was in and nearly got tangled in the rafters. I swore like a sailor as I left a massive dent in the structure above before plummeting back down to the ground with a sound like someone rolling a full metal trash can down a flight of stairs. I hit the ground hard, hard enough to where I think I heard the concrete beneath me break. Fun fact, apparently hitting the ground like a sack of bricks gives you a really good view of things with tremorsense. -You suffered 8 impact damage!- -You suffered 12 impact damage!- -Tremorsense has Leveled up!- -Gained 3xp!- -Ferrous Mutagen has leveled up!- -Gained 3xp!- "Ow," I groaned with an annoyed tone of voice as I rolled off my back and back onto my belly. I looked about for my hat and found it perched on a shelf, a bit rumpled from being squished into the ceiling but otherwise okay. Said ceiling now had a massive dent in it, to the point I could see sunny skies in places where the sheets of metal no longer quite lined up. Well that was embarrassing. At least it had led to a few good discoveries, including a great way to power up my tremorsense. Speaking of which, that impact had done a lot more than tell me exactly where everyone in the store was, it had also revealed a collection of three eclectic creatures standing just outside the gate we''d used to enter the store. Welp, better deal with this before they come to us. Chapter 9: Whos There in Hardware? "Hey, Matilda!" I called into the store, "Get Rumi and Kyli. There''s something out here. It''s probably people, but that doesn''t mean they''re good folk. I''m going to try and talk to them, you three be ready to intervene in case things turn violent." I heard her shrill agreement and the fluttering of her wings as she dove deeper into the store. As for myself, I slithered out from behind the shelf and pretended to just notice the three creatures standing before the opened gate into the store warily. They appeared to be a rather well balanced team of monsters at first glance, a harpy eagle the size of a man, a pitch black wolf with two heads that seemed to make me innately uncomfortable, and the one I was most wary of an eight foot tall sasquatch carrying a blacksmith hammer and machete. By the looks of it, all of them had been in a fight recently judging by the darker fluid splotches on their weapons and bodies. They appeared to be mirroring my own wariness as they took in the blood that still coated me and the knife strapped to my side. Time to test the waters. Drawing on all my years working at this place I plastered on a polite smile that didn''t reach my eyes and greeted them in a polite and peppy tone, "Hello! Thank you for coming to Lowes Depot. I''m sorry but I''m afraid the store has a strict dress code requiring you to wear pants and I have to ask you to leave." "What the fuck?" the sasquatch said with a hint of a Hispanic accent, Salvadorian if I didn''t miss my guess. I was rather familiar with that one. "Nah nah nah chief, you ain''t about to just kick us out after all that walking we just did. Hell! I was here first! Actually broke out of a damn egg inside that very store so we got first dibs on staying here." "Yeah!" the eagle squawked with very obvious false bravado, his eyes very firmly locked onto my knife, "We also out number you so if anything it''s you who should be leaving!" "Omar, you said there was no one here?" the two head wolf whined as his other head said, "Rafael, I''d really not have to fight this guy if we don''t have to. He looks tough." at the same time. Omar? "You claim you hatched here?" I dropped the ''polite employee'' bit, "That would mean you were here at the time of the Event, but I happen to know that this store closes around ten and the Event happened around Midnight." "That''s because I work here after hours restocking the store dumbass," the salvadorian sasquatch was squinting at my hat intently. "Fell off the damn ladder when that shit started, so I''ve earned my stay here. Who the fuck are you to try and stop me?" I had a pretty good idea I knew who this man had been, there was a pretty easy way of testing. I gave a loud dramatic gasp, placed my tail over where I was fairly sure my heart was, and with a weepy voice dramatically exclaimed, "My favorite little bean doesn''t recognize me!? After all the years we spent together! All the memories! Was it all for nothing!? Boo hoo hoo hoo!" The eagle and wolf looked utterly bewildered by the sudden change in my behavior, the sasquatch? He had the biggest, toothiest grin I''d ever seen an ape give. "Joe!? You son of a bitch, I knew I recognized that hat! The fuck you doing over here cracker?" I switched to my best nasally Karen voice and placed my tail on my ''hip'', "Ach! Oh em gee Omar! I can''t believe you just said that! I''m not a cracker! Cracker''s are rich! I''m a poor, so I''m a peckerwood, gosh! You''re so insensitive! I should report you to HR!" "This Dude~!" my old work friend laughed, setting his weapons aside and spreading his arms wide as he approached, "Get your beanpole of an ass over here!" We both laughed happily as we met in as fierce and tight a hug as we could both manage without hurting each other, Omar actually making a good attempt to try and pick me up before my pointed scales convinced him it was a bad idea. "You have no idea how good it is to see you again my guy! What are you doing here though? Don''t you live, on like, the other side of town?" "I came over here to help get supplies," I answered truthfully, "I''ve kinda sorta maybe ended up half in charge of the people from my apartment complex because I was actually nutty enough to have a plan for something half way resembling this whole mess." "I fucking knew you would," Omar laughed jamming his finger repeatedly into my chest, "Your crazy ass was always going on about your zombie plans. I actually tried to call you first thing because I knew you''d know what to do!" This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "Uh Omar?" Both heads on the wolf nervously broached, "You mind explaining what''s going on?" "Right, right, yeah. Will, Rafael, this crazy ass cracker is Joe." He wrapped a big hairy arm around me and pulled me to his side, "He''s easily one of my favorite people who I''ve ever worked with. Joe, this is Will and Rafael. A couple of my neighbors I hooked up with when I went to check on my home." "None of your family there I take it?" I ask, already knowing the answer. "Nah," his smile turned a bit brittle, "How about you?" "Nearest one is about two hundred miles away so no way to know so far," I tilted my head in the closest thing I could do to a shrug now, "Heck I don''t even know if I''m still a guy." "What? Of course you''re still a dude dude!" he said, giving me a quizzical look. I shifted my voice up as high as I could and pretended to be flicking hair out of my eyes, "As if you know anything about snakes! For all you know I¡¯m a serpentine super model now." "This fucking dude~!" Omar''s smile returned and we both shared a laugh. I waved the girls from their hiding spot and began a round of introductions. Matilda was more than happy to meet everyone, though Rumi kept her distance, and Kyli had to be dragged out for introductions. Despite a bit of lingering awkwardness, the atmosphere was still fairly cordial, even though Will seemed to be struggling a bit ¨C apparently both of his heads had a fully independent brain who were both him so he''d keep tripping himselves up when he tried to talk, and worse, heard himself in stereo. "So you guys staying then? I''m more than willing to let any friends of Joe''s stay." "Sorry dear," Matilda said from her perch atop a pile of dirt bags, "But we''re just passing through." "Yeah, we''ve already got somewhere else picked out," I stated, "This would be a terrible place to live anyways." I suddenly had the full attention of Omar and his friends, "What? Why? I thought you said this place wouldn''t be too bad before?" "Yes, for a zombie apocalypse this place would be great." I clarified, "Solid walls, easily fortified, tons of melee weapons, access to several food stores, lots of fresh dirt and seed packets. But for this situation? Most of the food is rotten, the bagged seeds have spoiled, no access to fresh water, it makes it a far less appealing option." "So where are you going then?" Rafael asked, his avian body tense. "The football stadium," I stated without missing a beat, "It''s not the optimum spot in my personal opinion, but still plenty good." I could already feel the beginnings of the building tension and decided to cut it right off, "You guys are more than welcome to join us if you''d like. We still got like a hundred pounds of salted fish, not to mention whatever we can find at the Bullseye across the freeway and dead jackal-snakes we can grab on the way home. The extra manpower would be appreciated." I gave a beat to see people relaxing before finishing with, "You will have to get dressed first. We aren''t animals and I refuse to deal with nudists!" "Oh my god Joe~!" Omar groaned, shaking his head. With Omar''s team joining us, the pillaging of my former place of work went much faster, letting us load up a hitch trailer full of construction material, paint, tools, and fencing inside half an hour and move onto raiding the Bullseye Super-center across the road. Upon arrival I discovered I''d be forced to wait outside again due to the slick tiled floors inside. Omar, now wearing a high vis vest and hard hat, stayed outside to ''watch the cart'' and catch up with me. It felt great to just chat with him and get up to date on work gossip while our ''minions'' combed through the shopping center for anything worth salvaging. Of course, eventually we had to get onto a more serious topic. "Man Joe," Omar sighed happily leaning against the store, "You have no idea how big a relief it is to have run across you." "Same here little bean," I smiled from my position wrapped around a bollard and resting my head atop it, "It''s good to finally see someone I know and can fully trust, I''d much rather have you there to keep them in line rather than someone I''ve only known for a day or two." "The hell you talkin'' about Joe?" Omar asked pausing to take a puff on the cigarette he''d looted from the store, "I thought you said you were in charge of your group? Why would I be in charge of it? Especially when you know way more about camping and survival shit. Fuck man, I was going to school for marketing and that''s hardly useful these days." "Hey, being good with numbers and market projections is still very useful for quartermaster work and trading," I corrected, my face scrunching up a bit as my tongue flicked out and got a whiff of his smoke, "And the reason I''d want you or someone else in charge is because I''m not going to be sticking around. The only reason I''m still here is because these folks needed help and I''ve always had trouble turning away people in actual need. Figure either tomorrow or the day after they''ll be in a good enough place for me to head out." "Yeah but why though?" he pressed, flicking away the stub of his smoke to more fully face me, "Is staying in the city that bad an idea or something?" "If it was at full population, absolutely. But with maybe one in every ten thousand people being here it should be fine enough for now. Nah, I''m leaving because of family." a small frown flitted across my face as my mind danced to my blind dad and my mom who had been slowing down last I saw them, "I don''t know if anyone else made it into Wave One or not, but we all agreed that if something bad happened we''d meet at the family farm. Even if they didn''t make it, I doubt the middle of the countryside a dozen miles from the nearest city will be nearly as safe as the middle of the metroplex. I want to be there to make sure they''re as safe as can be when they do hatch." "Fuck man, I get that, but, fuck." Omar reached over, picking my head up and tucking it under his arm to give me a noogie. I playfully fought back despite barely feeling it through my scales, "I''m going to miss you cracker." "Bah! You''re acting like I''m just going to be abandoning you all to your fates," I shifted to a faux British tone and took the haughtiest pose I could, "As a proper God fearing man, of largely Anglo descent, it is my god given duty to educate the local savages so they are at least somewhat civilized before moving on." Omar laughed and punched my side, I smiled and dropped the accent, "But yeah I plan to spend most of tomorrow teaching people useful survival skills after we''ve settled into the stadium. I hope you''re ready to learn how to tan a hide, because it''s a very unpleasant process." "Didn''t you say the process requires a large amount of piss?" he asked curiously, I gave him a coy smile and nodded. "Fuck~" Chapter 10: The First Goodbyes The Bullseye didn''t have as much as we might have hoped, I wasn''t sure if someone had hit the store first or if people had just panic bought all the non-perishables ahead of the Event. Either way even with five people searching the store it was a struggle to find anything that hadn''t rotted to high hell. In fact, what they were describing was so bad in there that I suggested that we just give up on the store before some sort of mutant super mold took root in their lungs. Will had acquired himself a nice leather jacket from the store and Rafael had somehow managed to find a tank top so large it sat loose on the man sized harpy eagle. Kyli also brought out something I didn''t even think about, a bicycle. You ever seen a sasquatch riding a bike? Something about it had me laughing so hard I was struggling to breathe. I did admit it was a good idea and would let Omar move much faster if needed, letting him function as a scout if needed. After that we had another hour of walking back to the apartment complex. Nothing bothered us this time and we only briefly stopped to load up the jackal-snake things we''d killed. "Man I am sick of these things," Will''s left head grumbled as we loaded the corpses into the trailer currently being pulled by Rumi. His right head chipped in, "We had to fight like three groups of those things on the way to the store." "And I had to fight off a pack of those fuckers almost as soon as I left the damned store," Omar grunted, easily pitching one of the dead animals onto the cart with one hand, "If not for the wack ass regeneration shit we all got I doubt we''d have made it." "And it''s a good thing it doesn''t seem to be very calorie intensive," I mused, "Otherwise I doubt there''d be any leftovers back at our base." I really should have been almost driven mad with hunger from that regeneration, I''d healed a lot of damage and didn''t feel like I had the fat reserves to support that. Even if we were all some specially crafted war beasts with highly efficient regenerative properties, we should have been famished afterwards. Even standard humans tended to get hungrier from our natural healing process. So that energy had to be coming from somewhere... "What? You get attacked by these things at your place?" Rafael asked. "Nah, we had a large enough group they didn''t bother," Rumi stated, grabbing the last of the ones glued to the ground by Matilda''s webs and pulling it, and a modest amount of asphalt, free with a short grunt, "I think Joe got injured while fishing." "It was a big fish," I said with a defensive tone, "It was almost this big!" I held my tail about four feet away from my nose. That got a couple snickers from everyone and a bit of light ribbing about a worm being hurt fishing. The teasing stopped when Matilda politely scolded me for being modest and revealed the real size of the fish. "God damn, we got real ass monsters in the water as well as on land." Omar shook his head, "Glad I didn''t try to go fishing." "At least we haven''t been attacked by anything in the air yet," Rafael mused. Omar, Kyli, and I all immediately turned our gazes skyward and began scanning for threats. Rafael rolled his eyes, "Oh cut it out, we aren''t in an anime or anything stupid like that so we aren''t about to get jumped just because I said something." "You don''t know that Rafael-san." I quipped. It was hilariously disturbing watching a bird try to contort its wing in such a way as to flip you the bird. Somehow, despite Rafael running up multiple death flags for us, the rest of the trip back to the apartment complex was completely uneventful beyond some general chicanery. We got back roughly around the time everyone was finishing up loading up everything they didn''t want to leave behind, and were ready to help load up what we''d grabbed and start loading it onto the truck trailer. While they did that, Rumi, Kyli, Matilda, and I scattered to go collect our own things to take with us. Slithering back into my tiny apartment again I felt a bit shocked to realize it hadn''t even been a full day since I''d left it. Good lord, it couldn''t be later than four, and more had happened today than I was used to seeing in most weeks! And the day still wasn''t over yet! I slithered over to my bed and began to pray. Dear Lord in Heaven, please don''t let every day be like this or my lazy ass will be dead inside of a week. I vented a bit before getting serious. Forgive me for that weakness Lord God. Your humble servant is thankful for the strength and mercy you have already given him this day. I pray that you will continue to protect both me and those you have put in my care in these coming days. That we may face these trials put before us by the pretender and stay firmly upon the true path you have laid out before us. I also ask that you watch over my family and the families of my friends until we are all together once again. May all of my friends make it through their trials and humanity return to its rightful place by your side. In your name I pray. Amen. It was a little thing, but it helped remove some of the weight of the day as I raised my head and began looking around my apartment. What would I be taking with me? Most of the important stuff was in my bug out bag, but even most of that was fairly worthless to me now. The gun''s ammo was now worthless, the stove''s fuel rendered near worthless, did I even need the sleeping bag and bedroll anymore? I supposed that some of the smaller people in the group would appreciate them so I packed them up. But the spare clothes? I supposed I could replace them with towels as the ability to get dry was still useful. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I cast my eyes around my apartment, my computer? Worthless. My guns? Worthless. Art supplies for drawing and making costumes? Rotten and worthless. A lion''s share of my book collection, while enjoyable reads were now little more than worthless dead weight, though I did load up the copy of the family cookbook with recipes going back to before the depression. The various costumes I''d made? Not worth taking along. The boxes of documents for tax purposes, thankfully worthless, and I''d happily set the lot alight in celebration had I the time. That was one silver lining at least. Was it really worth taking any of my pillows and blankets? I suppose I could take one of each, though they''d be fairly small for me now. All of those toys and statues I''d held onto so that I might someday pass them down to my own children in turn? Well, that hardly seemed likely anymore, so why bother with them? No. My eyes locked onto one of the stuffed animals among the crowd at the top of the bookshelf, that one would be coming with. With gentle care I gently picked up the now fifty to sixty year old stuffed dog and lovingly stroked its white hair back to reveal one still shining blue eye peeking out of its fluff. A sad smile wobbled onto my face as I looked down at one of my oldest toys and the first Christmas gift I could remember getting. "I miss you so much Granny," I whispered, softly embracing the old toy. I couldn''t help but wonder, if she could have held on but a few more months, would she be like Matilda? Made young and vibrant again? Free of her aches, her withering, and failing body? Would she be able to remember me again? I found myself lamenting this new body''s inability to cry. Such thoughts should be accompanied by tears. I knew such thoughts were selfish. Wishing my Granny had suffered that horrible pain and confusion for months more just for the possibility of seeing her face light up again upon seeing me again. She was happy in heaven with all of her brothers, her family, and all the many friends she''d lost along the way. It was better this way, she''d hated snakes after all. I still missed her terribly. Placing the old toy in a place of safety, carefully wrapped in the blanket and away from all the metal objects in a corner I zipped up the tightly packed bag and began loading up all the water bottles and my largest cooking pots into another bag. Looking along the wall I decided to take down and pack both my old dreamcatcher and the old painted crucifix that had been following me around for as long as I could remember. And with that, I was done. All of my worldly possessions, reduced down to two carry on bags. It left me with an oddly morose feeling as I grabbed the handles in my mouth and slithering out the door. I considered stopping to lock the door behind me, but why bother? There was nothing of value to me here anymore. With everything loaded into the back of the disconnected trailer, we spent five minutes hooking up the lengths of chain to it and gave it a few test pulls. Thankfully, between Rumi, Will, and I pulling the trailer was hardly any harder than backpacking through the woods leaving Kyli to tag in whenever someone started getting tired. Omar and Rafael volunteered to be scouts using the speed and maneuverability the bike and their wings gave them to find the easiest paths around pileups and wrecks from people who had been ignoring the shelter in place order. Matilda and Nolan both volunteered to go with them, but I managed to talk the pair into keeping overwatch on the group. The trip proved fairly uneventful, with nothing more than a couple groups of jackal-snakes that approached, and quickly backed off upon seeing a large group of waiting people. The closest thing to trouble we encountered was a rather large pothole that we failed to maneuver around, but with a dozen people and a little leverage we were able to get free after a couple minutes. Morale was high and people were getting excited as we began to see the dome of the stadium beginning to poke up over the treeline. So of course something had to go wrong. Omar and Rafael returned from their scouting sweeps with a rather grim look about them and waved me over. I swapped out for Kyli and slithered over. "Okay, we got a major problem." Omar informed me, "There''s something already living in the stadium and I don''t think we''re going to be able to deal with it." "You going to tell me what it is or just keep trying to raise dramatic tension?" I asked, using a bit of levity to cover my growing worry.. "An absolutely massive scorpion," Rafael said, his wings ruffling nervously, "Like the main body was the size of the trailer and its claws as big as minivans, thing also had two tails and came with its own warning announcement, title, and ominous sounding quest." "Area boss and Death''s Cauldron respectively." Omar nodded, "The thing seemed to know we were there almost as soon as we got the warning pop up. About a minute after the warning, the thing burst out of the stadium and started coming after us, thankfully it wasn''t fast enough to keep up with the bike and wandered back home." "Any sort of range capabilities?" I inquired, my tone clipped as I began to strategize how to deal with our latest obstacle. "It spat a big ol'' glob of something at me while I was flying over it trying to distract it while Omar ran." Rafael stated grimly, "It left a lingering line of mist when it passed and seemed to burst into a massive cloud when it hit the ground, didn''t seem to be doing anything to the plants or buildings around it, but I was hardly going to investigate it personally." "So any ideas on how we''re going to beat it?" Omar asked expectantly. "We can''t fight that thing!" Rafael squawked indignantly, "We''re just going to have to try somewhere else." I let the two bicker as my eyes roamed over the area. Taking in what I knew of our group and its abilities, while running them against what little I knew of scorpion biology, and what the two were describing I began running through potential scenarios. My gaze lingered on the construction site and its crane where a new hotel or some other building had been mid construction come the Event. Gears turned and plans began to form. "Rafael''s right about one thing," I said slowly, "We can''t fight this thing, if we fight it, I''m certain we''re going to lose some people. However, I think we have a fairly good chance of simply murdering it." Chapter 11: Battle of Rustler Stadium The rest of the group was, understandably, far less keen to try their luck against a giant area boss. However, after explaining the plan I''d formulated on how to murder it, they were willing to try it. The fact that I''d pointed out that we didn''t have enough sunlight left to make it back to the apartments before dark and we had no idea what was waiting to come out at night might also have played into it a little bit. Parking the trailer and the prep work took the better part of a half hour as I made sure everyone remembered their parts and the various fall backs in case of either partial or complete failure of the plan. Everyone was nervous, I didn''t blame them, I was nervous! This was not the smartest of ideas, but I also doubted the thing was content to stay parked in the stadium forever. Something that big would need a lot of food to sustain itself and there was now people within its potential hunting range, and not just us either. The metroplex had held millions of people pre-event, and we''d already seen signs of those who had bolted as soon as they hatched, just based on what I''d seen so far that still left potentially thousands of people in the city, likely still completely unaware of this hidden titan. So despite it not being a smart choice, I knew it was the right choice. I still took a moment to pray that God watch over us in the coming battle. With maybe a half hour of sun left to the day we approached the invisible line where Omar said the warning prompted. I took a deep breath and as calmly as I could said, "Alright everyone, this will be tough, but if we stick to the script we should make it through without even suffering a point of damage. Everyone ready?" Everyone gave me a nod, fear and worry writ large on their faces. I felt the gnaw of worry too, but I also felt an eager thrill at the thought of not only getting to fight again, but an absolute monster. "Then begin!" Our fastest and strongest members charged across the line, each moving to try and reach the smashed open loading door Rafael and Omar said the beast emerged from. Kyli, Matilda, and myself sprinted up the middle. ¨CWARNING¨C ¨CEntering Area Boss Territory¨C ¨CQuest Available: Death''s Cauldron¨C ¨CReward: Fusion Token, Unlocks Territory Challenge System¨C ¨CBonus Objective: Claim Boss Trophy¨C ¨CReward: Special Evolution Bloodline¨C And there''s the start to our timer, we just had to cross the entirety of the parking lot in less than a minute to complete the first part of the plan. I had no idea if the thing was coming, the sound of metal skidding across asphalt filling the evening air as I did absolutely nothing to try and hide the noise my metallic form made. If anything I was trying to play it up. My group skidded into position about a hundred fifty feet in front of the hole in the destroyed loading bay and I proceeded to begin dancing in place, shaking my scale and rubbing them against each other as Matilda landed amongst my coils. My job was to be the big, noisy, distracting tank for the boss to lock onto as soon as it emerged from its hole. Hopefully it wouldn''t notice the two groups hiding in wait for it. Then the boss emerged. I do believe that both Omar and Rafael were wrong about the size of this thing, it was way bigger than they said it was. Emerging claws first, each massive boat sized claw having to appear independently to fit through even the stadium''s massive loading bay, the thing began to squeeze itself out of a hole that seemed far too small for it, spreading its claws wide as it peered out of the hole. I could feel its six front facing eyes the size of basketballs lock onto me as its mandibles seemed to crack together hungrily, further back on the creature''s car sized head, still half hidden in the darkness of the loading bay, shined a larger pair of eyes resting atop its head that seemed to gleam with a simple yet cruel intellect. From behind the giant head that seemed to fill the hole emerged the tips of several spindly armored legs, bracing against the outside of the stadium as it braced to push itself out. I shook myself free of my stunned stupor and shouted, "Eyes down!" Taking my own advice, I buried my head and Matilda under my own coils. I still felt the silent flash from Kyli and the boss shuddered from the effects. "Lassos!" I ordered as I raised my head to see the giant scorpion seemingly frozen as if its brain was resetting after the blast of light Kyli had fired off. Rafael and Nolan both flew forwards carrying a steel rope we''d made from weaving two strands of two-inch steel cabling from the construction site with Matilda''s own silk. The ropes had been tied into nooses and our two largest fliers tossed them over the boss'' claws and let them fall to the monster''s ''wrist'' before everyone else pulled them tight and spread the thing''s arms wide. "Matilda! Keep its mouth shut!" I needn''t have bothered, the little moth was already spitting globs of her silk as fast as she could, arching them with fantastic accuracy across the scorpion''s chelicerae and face. This seemed to shake off the dazzling effects of Kyli''s flash, its immobile face still seeming to contort itself into a visage of indignant insult as it shoved itself forwards. This single action seemed to effortlessly succeed in dragging the entirety of the rope teams helplessly across the pitted pavement along with its own fifty some odd foot length entirely free of the stadium with a heavy *Whumph*. Its twin tails rose high into the air ending in long saber-esque barbs oozing a cloudy liquid as it raised its claws skywards as if announcing itself to the world and demanding that we all bask in its terrible majesty. Of course we couldn''t keep it pinned in the tunnel where it couldn''t bring its stingers to bare, I grumbled. That would be too easy! "Kyli! Rafael! Help the rope teams keep it in place! Nolan! Bees!" I watched fearfully as nearly a dozen people struggled to keep their grips on their ropes as the monster of a scorpion thrashed between, trying to fully turn itself to face either of the groups pulling painfully on its arms. Nolan landed next to me barely landing before staggering drunkenly as a sound like an electric chainsaw came from within him and an entire hive''s worth of thumb sized bees seemed to burst from his bee-like fluff. They all seemed to recognize the area boss as a threat and immediately shot forwards like bullets. Gathering around or on the creature''s eight eyes they apparently began to do horrible things to the organs based on how the monster stopped fighting against the ropes and instead began to thrash its head about. A wet splatter of fluid poured around Matilda''s webs and onto the ground where it began to bubble up into a thick vile fog. The bees in the fog quickly began to slow and soon dropped off. "Nolan! More bees! Matilda! Try and seal that thing''s mouth shut!" Dang it, I was really hoping we''d not have to get this many deviations from the main plan, but no helping it now. Using my Leap ability, I launched myself clumsily off to the side of the beast and carefully eyed its two tails as they periodically flashed forwards in a blur of movement to rise again with dozens of bees impaled on their end. Doing my best to time it right, I launched myself at them with a second leap aiming for a joint near the top of the tail, just behind the long bladed stinger. The lashing limbs twisted out of my flight path, the pair of eyes resting atop the scorpion''s head seeming to follow my flight path with derisive contempt as I started to fly past the tails and in front of their poisoned blades. Making a desperate use of my lunge ability, feeling a terrible sensation of whiplash as I forcibly altered my trajectory just enough for my jaws to clamp down on the tail. Momentum kept my heavy body going and nearly ripped me free of my anchor point before it wrapped my body fully around the twin stingers of the beast and smacked me in the face. I could feel the scorpion''s armored exoskeleton pressing against me as it tried to bring its stingers to bare, bending as far as they could to try and reach me despite being seated right behind the thing''s telsons. I constricted around the two tails, forcing them together with a loud crack and severely limiting their range of motion. The scorpion did not care for this one bit as its tail began to lash and thrash about with such ferocity that it was all I could do to hold on and not puke. If I hadn''t lost my hat while jumping around I''m pretty sure it was gone now. Thankfully I didn''t need to shout any more orders for the moment, Damian knew what it meant if I was wrapping myself around the boss'' tails. Darting forwards with a surprising amount of speed for such a little guy, he drew my loaned bowie knife and drove it into the joints of one of the scorpion''s legs. As far as I was aware, scorpions and other arachnids powered their muscles with hydraulic systems, so hopefully all the cuts Damian would put in those systems would weaken the monster as the fluids leaked out. The little guy seemed to dance through the scorpion''s forest of legs, any attempt to kick him away was avoided, stomps side stepped, and even the occasional spasm avoided thanks to the little raptor''s omni-directional vision. There was one close call where the boss elected simply to try crushing Damian with its multi-ton body, but even then the little guy managed to dive out of the way and lash at where the legs met the body. He was far more cautious after that though and the many oozing wounds he was leaving seemed to be having minimal effect on the titan. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Turning my attention more fully back to my own job I began to push against the tail gripped in my mouth, forcing my coiled body backwards around its bound tails. I immediately began feeling the bony spines and metallic scales of my body grind against the thick exoskeleton of the area boss in an immensely uncomfortable sensation unlike anything I''d ever felt. The closest I can come to describing it is like rubbing yourself against concrete until just before your skin starts peeling off. The process produced a horrid noise like dragging a sheet of metal across gravel, but I could already see the deep gouges being carved into the monster''s armor. The scorpion was really starting to fight me now as I was slammed into the walls of the stadium, shaken like a can of paint in a mixer, and brought frighteningly close to the thing''s massive crushing claws that only the continued group effort of people I''d met today spared me from. Despite it all I focused fully on what I was doing and managed three more such pushes and I began to feel myself drawing blood. By the fifth I could feel flesh against my scales, even as my vision was beginning to run together from all the high G maneuvers I was being run through. Two more pushes and I was startled to feel the limb in my mouth suddenly tear free. Strangely enough, everything seemed to go still as I sat there dumbly with the severed limb in my mouth. Blinking in utter shock as my vision began to steadily improve, I felt my budding victory die as I heard Damian shout, "Nolan''s down!" Casting a drunken look about, I spotted the giant bee/wasp man completely collapsed on the ground as the cloud of bees that had been attacking the boss'' eyes continued to rapidly thin from the clinging clouds of toxic fog sweeping through their numbers. Matilda seemed to be trying to cover for him with her silk, but it seemed to be coming out in tiny red stained globs as she sought to cover both the scorpion''s eyes and the mist leaking out of the seal around its mouth. This weakness must have caught the boss'' attention as it began to steadily drag itself towards the pair despite all of our efforts to hold it in place. Matilda was trying to drag Nolan away, even as she kept spitting her blood-stained silk, but she made little progress with the larger bee. It seemed we''d have to make a desperation play I''d hoped not to need. "Rumi!" I called, "Do you think you can handle the claw by yourself for a few seconds?" She looked up my way from where the rope had been tied into a harness around her chest and nodded. "Then rope team two! Cripple that claw!" Everyone assisting Rumi released the rope and I saw the roided up horse skid several feet as the titanic scorpion picked up speed, its eyes shining with malevolent hunger as it closed in on our two weakened bugs. Rumi snarled like a furious wolf slamming her hooves ankle deep into the asphalt forcing the boss to such a sudden stop it seemed to almost topple over. Her massive muscles rippled, her veins bulging from her flesh, an odd shimmer like a heat haze seeming to boil off her body as she emitted a roar that would cow a lion and actually managed to take a step back, dragging the bewildered boss with her. The rest of those who''d been aiding her got to work on the trapped claw. Surprisingly enough Jerry led the charge, running at the arm joints of the monster where he began to spin himself around once, twice, thrice, and finally slam his thagomizer into the armored limb with a sound comparable to a tnt explosion. The boss reeled in silent agony, struggling to bring its other claw to bear on the mite that had left dozens of deep weeping cracks on its limb. Rafael immediately swooped in, his hooked beak and long claws easily getting into the cracks and ripping man-sized chunks of the thick skeleton away. The scorpion seemed to stagger, half collapsing for a moment in clear silent agony at the wound, its black eyes seeming to stare uncomprehendingly at its own raw exposed flesh. Springing immediately among the exposed flesh were a hornet and hyena whose names I''d not yet had the time to learn as the pair''s jaws tore chunks out of the yard thick limb. Actual panic seemed to enter the monster''s eyes as it began to try to stab them with its remaining stinger, yet my weight seemed to throw off its aim, causing the lightning quick attack to miss even as my companions continue to tear at it. It tried to shake them off, bring its other claw to bear, vomit poison at them, only to be stopped by the bindings and effort already put in by the rest of our mob. Then the pair hit an artery or something as fluid burst from the limb like a ruptured pipe as the claw finally fell limp. The area boss seemed to recoil as its arm was sundered, its empty black eyes seeming to radiate terror as it continued trying to drag itself backwards towards its hole. Rumi, Omar, Will, Kyli, an emu wearing rainbow leg warmers, and a chair sized rabbit with six legs held it in place as its legs skidded across the parking lot unable to muster the same strength or leverage it had used to force itself outside. Then Damian managed to saw off one of the creature''s legs and make it once more stagger. Omar took full advantage of the opportunity to rush forwards with a manly roar as he drew the fourteen-pound sledgehammer we''d taken from Lowes Depot and drove it into the boss'' elbow with a resounding crack of shattering carapace as it left a small nearly circular hole in the natural armor. Will joined him, lunging forwards and plunging both of his heads, one plunging into the hole Omar had made and ripping out pounds of tendons from the limb, as the second worked to widen the hole. Again, the boss lashed out with its tail at the pair, doing so noticeably slower this time. Omar dropped the hammer and managed to catch the dripping stinger under his arm. With a twist and a howl, he finished ripping the damaged weapon free in a massive deluge of fluids that soaked him head to toe. He looked down at the five feet of severed oozing tail in his hands uncomprehendingly even as both of Will''s heads bit at something inside the monster''s claw, tearing it free in a massive burst of fluid. The second claw collapsed. Seeing an opportunity I shouted, "It''s been disarmed! Everyone! Avoid the mist and tear this thing limb from limb!" Our pack of monsters roared in victory and bloodlust, even as the area boss tried to turn and flee. Rumi and Kyli each latched onto the creature''s leg and began to drag it away from the stadium with vicious snarls. Omar and Jerry flanked the beast, driving shattering blows into the creature''s sides and crippling limbs with their blunted weapons. Rafael swooped down to the scorpion''s head and ripped out one of its upper eyes as the hornet hovered in the air before firing its stinger like a harpoon into the other, leaving the thing completely blind. The emu and rabbit teamed up, each launching kicks that left ever widening cracks in the legs of the scorpion, while the hyena and Will seemed to be happily ripping the damaged plates off. Damian himself seemed to be tearing into the monster''s raw flesh with tooth, claw, and knife in a seeming attempt to carve himself a tunnel. As for me, I still had the thing''s severed stingers in my mouth, why not use it? Sliding down its tails, now lashing out as blind bludgeons that rarely even came close to hitting anyone, and onto its torso, I slowly approached the head. Taking the blade of the stinger and shoving it under the carapace of its head plate, I levered it up as much as I could, squeezing my tail and nose under it to make sure I''d be able to deliver as much impact as possible. Using Lunge to propel myself forwards, I slammed into the underside of the plate with a painful crack allowing me to wedge myself almost fully under the thick bone armor. Using a Leap I felt my vision swim as there was another resounding crack and the inches thick bone was split in half and tumbled away revealing a mass of exposed flesh. A great toothy smile dominated my face as I raised the severed stinger high and cackled, "I know your brain is in there somewhere! Let''s see if we can find it!" I slammed the beast''s own three-foot stinger to the hilt into the things flesh, digging it around before pulling it out and driving it home again. And again. And again. ¨CArea Boss Slain!¨C ¨CQuest: Death''s Cauldron complete!¨C ¨CReceived: Fusion Token¨C ¨CBonus Objective Complete¨C ¨CReceived: Sabertail Bloodline¨C ¨CSysAutogen_BossLoot¨C ¨CReceived: Fossorial Mutagen C¨C ¨CGained 900xp¨C ¨CLevel up! x5¨C ¨CYou gained 7pts! ¨CYou have reached level 5¨C ¨CRewarded 10pts!¨C ¨CEv...¨C I ignored the dozen other notifications that had all pinged during the fight, I barely even noticed the pins and needles of my new mutagens taking hold, because I was simply too tired to bother with them right now. I was absolutely dead tired, I''d not suffered a single direct hit, but I felt like I''d been put through the wringer after sprinting a mile. I''d also be willing to wager a fortune that I''d once again run my stamina down into the low single digits on top of what was doubtlessly suffering some concussions and early onset G-sickness. A glance at everyone else who''d all fallen silent and collapsed at the announcement of the scorpion''s death seemed to say that they all felt the same way. Then a chuckle echoed across the battlefield, I''m not sure who it was, it might have even been me. Then there was another, followed by a laugh, then a cheer and within seconds we were all whooping and hollering as loud as we could manage. Those with arms threw them in the air while those without stomped the ground as we all celebrated the fact that one not only won, but had all survived and claimed ourselves a home. As the sun fully set and began to give way to the starry indigo of night we all gathered around and embraced each other, rapturously happy to have survived our first day. Chapter 12: Second Battle of Rustler Stadium Nearly as hard as simply making it through the fight was everything that still needed to be done afterwards. We had quite a few people with some rather nasty road burns from when they''d been dragged across the ground or caught by a kick just before the damned scorpion had finally died. No broken bones, and our regeneration would likely take care of most of it, but it was still probably best to clean the wounds as best we could to prevent any diseases spreading through our little group. Unfortunately, our limited medical supplies were all the way back in the trailer and half buried among various supplies and comfort items. Which of course people weren''t willing to leave tucked in a corner about a mile down the road for the night in case something wandered by and stole it. Bringing in the trailer also proved to be an issue as all of our strongest people were also the most worn out from holding that absolute unit of a boss still. Rumi in particular had collapsed on her side either incapable or absolutely unwilling to move after her heroic feat of strength. I tried to pitch in myself, but found myself completely incapable of moving in anything approaching a straight line without my head throbbing and vision starting to swim and being forcibly told to stay put, which I eventually did. Under protest. So while Omar, Kyli, and Will walked off to finish dragging the trailer up to the stadium, everyone else began either collapsing or starting to scout out the stadium. I took a minute to catch up on the sea of popups that had sprung up during and after the fight. ¨CHealth 136/368¨C ¨CStamina: 14/100¨C ¨CDazed¨C ¨CLeap has Leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C ¨CLunge has Leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C ¨CStalk has Leveled up! x3¨C ¨CGained 9xp¨C ¨CConstrict has Leveled up! x6¨C ¨CGained 18xp¨C ¨CConstrict has reached rank E!¨C ¨CGrappling Strike has Leveled up! ¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C ¨CFerrous Mutagen has Leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C ¨CBloodline Available. Absorb Bloodline: Sabertail?¨C ¨CBloodlines will occupy 1 Mutagen slot¨C ¨C(Y/N)¨C ¨CEvo...¨C Something landed on my head, startling me out of my reading. Recoiling and coiling, I quickly began focusing on my new senses. Tongue flicked, eyes darted about, and tail struck ground to send out a ripple of kinetic waves that returned to give me a foggy view of the world around me. The results, Damian had come up and put my hat back on my head. I could clearly see the curl of his lips on his little dinosaur face as he said, "Feeling a bit jumpy are we?" "I was reading and your tiny ass is as quiet as a mouse." I grumbled scooping up my hat from where it had fallen in my moment of panicked flailing and returning it to my head. "So yes, having something suddenly land on your head is a bit startling." "Don''t know what you''re worried about, we absolutely fucked that bug! It never stood a chance against all of us!" He struck a classic hero pose before frowning down at his utterly gore covered body and shirt, "Do wish it wasn''t so messy though. Think that there''s still running water inside? We could all probably use a bath." "There might be some water in the pipes, but," I raised a tail, "I want you to keep in mind that the fight could have gone terribly wrong in dozens of ways and that we''re actually very vulnerable right no-." "Hey guys!" Nolan wheezed, his head poking out from the stadium loading bay, "There''s a whole lot of eggs in here! A lot of them are wiggling too, we might want to-." The emu wearing leg warmers, I really needed to get around to learning everyone''s names, came sprinting out of the bay with a look of utter terror on her face screaming, "THEY''RE HATCHING! They''re all hatching!" ¨CQuest Requirement: Area Boss Defeated¨C ¨CRequirement met!¨C ¨CEvent Quest Available: Cauldron Boiling Over¨C ¨CReward: Performance Based¨C ¨C0:20¨C ¨C0:19¨C Are you shitting me! "Fuck!" I sprang up whirling to face the loading bay, "Everyone who can still fight, get your ass over here! We''re going to try and keep them bottled up as much as possible!" I pointed to our less fuzzy wasp, "You, other wasp, what''s your name?" "Jack," the hornet rose from where he''d been picking the shards of carapace out of the six legged rabbit''s paws. Jack the yellow jacket, easy enough to remember, "Jack, go get Omar and the others! I think we''re going to need every tooth, hand, and talon we can get for this!" The bug man nodded and flew off into the darkening night towards the trailer, "Everyone else! If you don''t think you''re ready for the front line again, get behind us and either get anything that gets past us, or sit in reserve in case someone needs to-!" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¨C0:00¨C The instant the timer finished counting down, there was a sound like a thousand bags of marbles being thrown down a stone staircase mixed with the approach of a heavy rain. Through my tremorsense I could suddenly detect an absolute flood of sixty to a hundred pound somethings rushing towards the loading bay. "They''re coming! Everyone brace!" Myself, the rabbit, hyena, emu, and Jerry formed a bit of a wall in front of the damaged loading bay doors. Behind us Rumi stood drunkenly with Matilda on her head, flanked by Nolan and Rafael who both looked on the verge of panic. Damian stood off to the side of the front line, visibly worried as he clutched my bowie knife like it was a cross. This didn''t feel like anywhere near enough to try and challenge what I felt coming, but twenty seconds was not enough time to get away, especially some of our number barely able to stand. Maybe if we''d all gone back to the trailer as a group we could have dodged this, but hindsight is twenty twenty. God, let this be enough and do not let my arrogance have led these people to their deaths. From behind us, the night briefly became day let us all catch a one frame glimpse of an absolute sea of wolf sized scorpions racing towards us. That had to have been Kyli, but there''s no way that Jack could have made it to them already and she wouldn''t have tried to flash them from there. Are they under attack as well? Damn it! And we''re in no position to go help them! "Nolan, do you have any more bees for us?" I asked as the shine of a million beady eyes raced towards us. "Maybe one or two more waves," the bee/wasp wheezed, "I''m still absolutely gassed from the last fight." "Well we could use one of them right now!" I roared as the tide of claws became visible in the fading light. A wave of the giant bees burst from the man''s fluff again, once more seeming to instantly zero in on the approaching tide. They began tearing at the front runners, tearing at eyes and the soft carapace of the still glistening newborns, who began to thrash and lash at the cloud of bees. The rest of the tide continued forwards, flowing over and around the injured like water, a few pausing to snatch and snap at the bees, nigh on instantly reducing our first strike to nothing. Their advance uninterrupted as they coated the floor of the building and charged towards our shaky defensive line. There was no way that our line could survive the impact of that charge, they''d force holes, scatter and surround us and then we''d all be fighting in one v one hundred battles. My mind danced back to old medieval and renaissance military history books, specifically how the best way to break a charge was with a counter charge. An instant gut analysis told me that none of the others had the speed and mass to properly counter charge this tide. So with maybe fifteen feet between our two groups I charged the tide. A burst from my Lunge skill sent me barreling headfirst into the tide, feeling several insect bodies splatter against my skull and saw a dozen more sent flying. The momentum of the enemy charge was broken, but I was now literally six feet deep in scorpions and was politely reminded that I was still suffering status conditions as a spike of agony tore through my head, fuzzing my vision to uselessness, as a wave of exhaustion rolled through me. All I got from my tremorsense was a simple cloud of nearby entities, but I could feel claws grabbing me and tails tapping at my iron scales searching for flesh. With a furious yowl I used those powerful constrictor muscles to swing my body in a wide battering arc, battering away several of those clinging to me. A cry went up behind me, but I was too stuck in now to take the time to differentiate the sounds from and simple noise. I did notice several other larger masses leaping into the edge of the mass of scorpions. Blindly reaching for something to use as a weapon I felt my tail wrap around something chitinous and I began to use it as a simple cudgel, slamming it repeatedly against the tide until my improvised weapon shattered. Good thing there was plenty more to use. Something swept past me and slammed into the living tide giving me just a breath of clarity as my vision cleared. Another wave of bees had swept over the scorpions again, this time managing to drive them back even as their siblings tried to push past them. I was once again flanked by what had been our front line, who were all attacking the mass of newborn chitin with desperate vigor. Jerry''s thagomizer was doing work, every swing pulping a limb or removing a face, but the weapon was slow and showing none of the explosive power it had shown against the boss. The emu was next to him, its clawed feet snapping out with whip cracks, splattering any arthropod that tried to take advantage of the gaps in Jerry''s swings, but she was already gasping for breath. To my left the six limbed rabbit was the exact opposite, its limbs an absolute blur seeming to launch dozens if not hundreds of attacks a second, but it was taking a half dozen blows to defeat each scorpion and that had to be exhausting her quickly. The hyena seemed to be having more success, their bite going through the newborns'' armor like it wasn''t there and those that weren''t killed outright seemed to visibly rot where they were bit, but that bite was their only weapon and it involved getting their heads in among snipping claws and stabbing tails. Damian danced along the line like a hyper little kangaroo, his knife, teeth, and claws all coated with fresh gore as he tore apart any scorpion that got too far forwards with feral aggression. This wasn''t sustainable. I still couldn''t see the end of this flood of scorpions in my tremorsense, despite the pile of shattered bodies that was vanishing under the fresh wave of newborn monsters. They had too many angles of attack on us and it was already wearing us down, and we didn''t have much wear left on us after the boss. "Fighting retreat back to the door!" I shouted to be heard of the clatter of advancing chitin and the animal sounds of my fellow former humans, "We''ve blunted their charge, now use the choke point to slaughter them all!" I could see several of the fighters wanted to simply sprint back towards the door, but that would just open us to getting hit in the back and just give the damned bugs the room they needed to build up a charge again. So it was a retreat by steps and- FUCK! Snakes don''t have a reverse setting! "Someone! Drag me back! I can''t slither backwards!" I continued to beat off the little vermin with their own members as I watched everyone else start to retreat at a steady pace and was damned proud of their discipline. I hissed in shocked surprise as I felt something go right through my scales and was startled again to see that Rumi had bitten me in my middle near my spine and was apparently dragging me back without visible effort. It looked like we might make it back to the door without incident, until we all heard a deep moaning sound coming from our hyena. A couple of the scorpions had finally managed to get a hold of them, one claw latched firmly around a foreleg and a second had managed to latch a claw around their head. They were fighting, trying to pull free, but despite their youth, the scorpions'' grip strength was unyielding. Damian leaped over to begin cutting them free, but not before two stingers lashed out and buried themselves in the hyena''s neck and shoulder. Even as I watched, four more scorpions were surging forwards to latch onto and sting the desperate canine. "Fucking!" I snapped my head forwards, grabbing our pinned and possibly dying ally by the haunch, with a powerful full body contraction I slid them back across the rough concrete ground and out the door, dragging two scorpions with them. "Help them! Everyone, double time it towards the door!" I didn''t like it, but I''ve already got one down, possibly dead and I''m not going to risk another. I let myself be pulled outside and over the lip of the loading bay and readied ourselves for the coming tide, and they did come like a tide. The first dozen or so out of the door were immediately crushed by the flow of those following behind them until their mangled forms became a ramp out of the service doors. But we were holding them. Now instead of being surrounded on three sides by a literal ocean of bodies, it was us who had them surrounded on three sides as Rumi stepped up to fill the space left by the hyena that Matilda was clearly doing her best to try and tend to next to a passed out Nolan. We even had help from above as Rafael occasionally swooped down to snatch up a scorpion, crush it in his claws and hurl the body back among the flood ad infinitum. Yet it still felt like a losing battle, we had no reserves and at least half of our number seemed on the verge of collapse, and I could include myself among that number. My head was spinning so badly that without my tremorsense I''d be having to fight this battle by feel. I was actually feeling the heavy iron of my scales as I continued to grab and bludgeon the tide, and every breath seemed to be full of razor blades. Yet the river of chitin seemed to continue without end. In fact, it seemed to only be building as the sea of scorpions continued to try and climb over each other to get out of the stadium and to us. At this point, backing down or stopping would mean the death of all of us. So we held the line. Those of us who could still sweat were drenched in it. Those of us who couldn''t worked our lungs like bellows even as the absolute deluge of gore covering us worked as a poor substitute. There was no thought or strategy left at this point, simply attack and crush the horde that was now stacked feet deep before us like machines and hope their numbers failed before our bodies did. I wasn''t even cognizant of the others now, my entire universe was purely focused on the ten foot gap in the wall and the area immediately outside of it. It had to end eventually, until then I just needed to grab, smash four times, and fling the remains before starting the process over again. When I found myself grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground I simply lay there confused, blinking up at the first stars of the night completely uncomprehending. I still wasn''t entirely sure on the flow of the time so I''m not sure how long I lay there like a discarded rope before lifting my head and seeing a large monkey covered in cuts swinging two hammers. Casting my eyes along the battle-line, I saw several others had been pulled out of the line replaced by a twin headed wolf, giant gecko, and angry hornet. Even then it took me a moment to recognize Omar and the rest of the trailer crew. ¨CWARNING! YOU ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF STAMINA!¨C ¨CCONTINUING WILL COST YOU HP!¨C Huh, how long has that been there I wonder? I rolled myself upright and took a quick glance at my stats ¨CHealth 76/368¨C ¨CStamina: 0/100¨C ¨CDazed, Fatigue¨C I''ve still got a far chunk of hit points left, let''s give it thirty seconds and get back in there. I tried to catch my breath as much as possible before lifting my head off the ground. Has it always been this heavy? and slithering my way back towards the line. Weigh no more than four hundred pounds my ass! I feel like I weigh two tons. Brushing aside Jerry, I took his place in the line, grabbing a new scorpion hatchling and beginning to bludgeon its fellows with it once more. I caught a glance from Omar, who looked at me with concern. I gave him a wide snakey smile before turning my attention back to the writhing mass before me. My smile widening as I felt the heavy weight falling upon my soul and the sensation of something far larger than myself watching me from afar. Despite every breath being precious, a delirious laugh worked its way free of my throat as I purred, "Come." And come the horde did. The sun had fully set by the time they stopped. Chapter 13: The Magic of CPR ¨CEvent Quest: Cauldron Boiling Over complete!¨C ¨C602/666 Beasts Defeated!¨C ¨CCalculatingParticipation¡­¨C ¨C106/666 Enemies Disabled - 53 Killing Blow.¨C ¨CPerformance: Valiant!¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_EQReward¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Minor Fusion Token¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Random Mutagen Token E¨C ¨CGained 212xp!¨C ¨CGained 2pts!¨C I glared ruefully at the latest of the ever intrusive pop ups from where I currently lay sprawled like a limp rag, lungs still working like bellows. Even after minutes of not moving beyond filling my lungs with air I still felt like I was on the verge of drowning and every, single, bloody muscle in my whole body felt like it was actively on fire and melting all at once. Considering I''d literally been fighting until hacking up blood and being forced to stop it was hardly surprising I still felt like a wrung out rag. I still had fifteen more hit points left in me. I grumbled, The only one that matters is the last one. I was hardly the only one at the end of their rope. The second the quest was complete, everyone still standing had collapsed, every last one of us covered head to toe in bug gore, and most were sporting some level of injury. Though thankfully there hadn''t been any more successful stings. The only one even somewhat upright at this point was Omar, and even he was leaning against the wall of the stadium, absolutely drenched in sweat and viscera as he glared into the loading bay where dozens of scorpions still loitered. "Really, oughta, finish, the rest." He wheezed, clutching the shattered hafts of his hammers. "Gimme, an hour, or eight." Rumi huffed from where she lay atop a literal carpet of dead bodies. "Everyone! I need help over here!" Matilda called to us, her shrill voice absolutely soaked in stress and helplessness. "I can''t save Jeremy! He''s barely even breathing anymore!" Dragging myself over to the limp form of the injured hyena who looked to be on death''s door, his injuries all bandaged in silk and not showing any visible signs of refusing to heal like excessive swelling or discoloration. Yet he seemed to be struggling to take the shallowest of breaths and his eyes were full of a grim sort of sleepy terror as Matilda continued to ramble. "I tried everything I could to get the poison out! I pressed raw meat to the wound, sucked on the wounds, and would have tied a tourniquet, but they''re on his neck! He was saying that he was having difficulty moving and it just seemed to get worse no matter what I did!" "Maybe we should use those mutation tokens to see if anyone gets something that helps?" Damian offered doing a worried little dance as he looked on helplessly, "Like anti-poison, or healing breath, or, or something! " "Should probably just put him out of his misery," Jerry sighed sadly, "We can''t help him so might as well make sure he doesn''t suffer. Make it qu-ackpth!" Matilda launched herself at Jerry with an angry buzz, latching onto the man''s face and biting at his ears for even suggesting such an action. "Surely one of us must be a doctor or something right?" the emu woman asked, looking about helplessly, "Or at least know something of dealing with poisons like this right? Right?" I was silent, my mind racing as I tried to think about what we could possibly do to help this man who had risked his life to help us despite knowing each other for less than a day. There had to be something we could do as I refused to believe that this man''s destiny was to simply die here while his brothers in arms looked on helplessly. There must be something! "If we had a respirator we might be able to keep him breathing," Kyli offered weakly, "But, I''m not sure if it would be enough. I''ve read that some paralytics will stop the heart." Duh! CPR! That could keep him breathing, might even keep his heart beating if it stopped. I knew how, but a snake''s body was a piss poor tool to perform the act. Omar''s body might be human enough to do it, but I knew for a fact that the Salvadorian sasquatch knew nothing of first aid beyond slapping on a bandage and CPR was useless to dangerous if done wrong. I might be able to manage it with some help for the chest compressions, but it''d be unpleasant for everyone involved, and with how short of breath I was, I''m not sure I could breath for two long enough for the venom to run its course. If only there was some way to boost his body''s immune system. An image suddenly leapt into my mind, of me constricting tight enough to cause a hardwood tree to begin splintering under my grip, a feat I had yet to come close to repeating. A second memory, Rumi''s body shimmering in a heat haze as she suddenly stopped a monster that had been dragging both herself and her team along behind it. Impossible burst of power, brought about in times of need when someone was fully focused on a singular task. Was it just adrenalin? Or possibly an expression of that power that allowed us to regenerate so rapidly without having to devour ten times our body mass? Could it be turned toward fighting the poison? Would it hurt to try? "Jeremy, listen to me." I ordered putting my head before the hyena man''s sleepy gaze, "If you can still hear and understand me, I need you to focus, really focus! Focus everything you have on actively getting better. Scream at your body to get better with your very soul, there''s a real chance it will help now. I''m going to be giving you assistance breathing, it will be unpleasant for us both, but focus on forcing your body to heal." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The hardest part of assisting someone else in breathing is making sure you don''t push too much air into the lungs and making them pop. The biggest problem for me was making a tight seal around the mouth and plugging the nose to make sure the breath can''t escape. Now, as a snake, I have a way to form a fairly tight seal over both nose and mouth. It just involves shoving most of his head in my mouth. I could feel the way everyone tensed as I closed my mouth around Jeremy''s head, doing my best to keep the sharp needle teeth that filled it from bothering him overly much. Blowing gently I watched his chest rise and softly depressed it with my tail, feeling the air being blown out through my throat. Taking a breath through my nose, I repeated the process, forcing air in before pressing it back out. Fighting my body''s new instincts to try and swallow the creature in its mouth whole. Pulling away, you were only supposed to give two breaths every thirty seconds for adults and I assumed that included hyenas, I turned to Damian. "Damian, keep your big fluffy cat ears to his chest and listen to his heart. Tell me if it stops. If it does, I want you to start giving him chest compressions, hard. If you feel his ribs break, you''re doing it hard enough." I turned back to Jeremy, "Oh and before I forget, no homo." Forming a fresh seal, I shared a couple more breaths while Damian kept one of his ears pressed to our patient. Pulling back, so Jeremy wouldn''t have to spend the whole time looking down someone''s throat with sharp needle teeth pressing into his face, I looked into the man''s eyes. His gaze seemed to be turned inwards, fully focused and with a kind of furious fire burning behind them. I took that as a good sign and gave him a couple more breaths. So it went for a solid ten repetitions before, finally, as I went to give the man a couple more breaths he managed to murmur a weak, "Nermere, ''m gud." My entire body sagged in relief at that, "Gelobt sei Gott. You are a terrible kisser. I''m not sure how much longer I could have kept it up." A heavy blow to the back rattled my entire body. "I dunno Joe," Omar said from next to me, a big ol'' smile on his face. When had he gotten here? "That sounds kinda gay." "No no," I said, doing my best prim and proper voice while waggling my tail tip like a finger, "I said ''no homo'' first, so everything is kosher." Omar laughed and pulled me into a tight hug, slapping my back again, "You did good you damned peckerwood!" I gasped loudly as I looked him in the eye, "Omar! You used the proper racial slur! We might be able to make a proper racist out of you yet!" "Oh shut up you dumb ass cracker!" he shoved me away from him with a laugh. Before I could audibly bemoan his backslide I was silenced by a giant moth wrapping herself around my face. "Thank you so much young man!" Matilda cooed, her entire body shaking with emotion as old hurts dripped from her words. "I, I was so terribly afraid that I''d have to stand by, helpless to save someone I knew how to save but lacked the tools again. Thank you! Thank you!" I startled again as something else was plopped atop my head. Oh! My hat! I hadn''t even noticed I''d lost it again, must have been pretty early in the fight seeing as it was still pretty clean. Turning my head I saw the rather abashed looking avian form of Rafael sort of roughly shrug his wings, "Noticed it blowing across the edge of the parking lot. Figured I''d return it. And, thanks for saving that boy. Seen enough death recently. Good to see some reason to hope again." A couple more people came over to congratulate me for my part in saving Jeremy the last two fights while most everyone else seemed to be either trying to help the recovering hyena sit up or keeping an eye on the remaining scorpions feasting on their dead siblings. I took the moment to settle down and try to recover as I watched the moon begin to peek over the horizon. Even in monochrome, the works of the lord were still unspeakably beautiful, especially with all light pollution gone, resulting in a sky rarely seen even deep in the countryside. Only once before had I ever seen the sky approach this, with the milky way not a simple faint smear across the sky, but a jewel encrusted belt stretching across the sky full of sparkling gems. A shame as just as I began to take it in I felt a series of soft tapping on my side. Glancing over at Damian''s nervous little form he motioned me closer. As I brought my head down to his level he whispered, "Have you peeked at those update pings recently?" "I was in the middle of that when the ''Event Quest'' began." I turned my head to look at him more fully, "Why?" "Maybe you should finish reading everything." Pulling up the annoying little boxes I was once again flooded by updates. ¨CTremorsense has leveled up! x4¨C ¨CGained 12xp!¨C ¨CGrappling Strike has leveled up! x5¨C ¨CGained 15xp!¨C ¨CPrehensile Tail has leveled up! x6¨C ¨CGained 18xp!¨C ¨CStalk has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp!¨C ¨CLunge has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp!¨C ¨CFerrous Mutagen has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp!¨C ¨CBloodline Available. Absorb Bloodline: Sabertail?¨C ¨CBloodlines will occupy 1 Mutagen slot¨C ¨C(Y/N)¨C ¨CEvolution Available¨C Ah, that would explain it wouldn''t it? Chapter 14: Memories in Blood Evolution. Directed, controlled evolution. The thing humanity had been aiming at and made limited progress in achieving using tools like eugenics and CRISPR. The Holy Grail wrapped inside a Pandora''s box, and the very thing that we had been promised as a ''reward'' for our achievements in survival. And now it was sitting on our stat screen like an unexploded bomb. I''m honestly not sure I''ve ever been so terrified. "Alright," I took a deep breath doing my best not to publicly panic, "We need to get ahead of this, tell everyone to spend those tokens we got and warn them to absolutely not try evolving just yet. Make sure you get clear verbal confirmation from them about it. I''ll go start doing the same so we can hopefully get this taken care of in as controlled a way as possible." "Joe? You feeling alright," Damian said. looking at me oddly. Which is saying something for a bug eyed miniature velociraptor with cat ears, "I get that this is big, but you''re acting like we just found a lost nuke or something." I looked at Damian as levelly as I could while making sure no one was close enough to overhear. "Damian, I have been trying to keep it together all day after waking up with no limbs, getting damn near bitten in half, among another half dozen near death experiences, just figured out that we all might have some sort of control over a mysterious force that might or might not be magic, and just found out that we have a massive absolute unknown that is currently sitting on a status window in our eyes because on top of everything else we might very well have been shifted into a computer simulation assuming we haven''t been in one all along, on top of having no idea on the current status of any of my family. I am trying *very* hard not to just collapse into a catatonic state or spend the next hour as a gibbering wreck." Damian seemed to be blankly absorbing that for several seconds before giving a small nod, "Alright, that''s fair. Any reason for why evolution in particular has you worried? In case people ask ya know?" "Because it is a complete and utter unknown," I reiterated before elaborating, "Is this evolution like in Porta''mon where it''s a natural progression from the current form? Is it more akin to Cybermon where house cats turn into twelve foot tall women or draconic construction equipment? Is it actually what was promised to us, fully directed evolution where we basically mix and match parts towards whatever we want like in the game Mitosis? Is it painful? Does it leave us nigh on feral with hunger from the sudden mutations? Or does it lock us in eggs or a chrysalis for weeks to years to let the changes happen slowly or any other one of a dozen possibilities flickering through my head right now?" I fought to force the rising panic and near hysteria out of my voice, "I don''t know and *that*" I pointed at the literal carpet of corpses next to the mauled mass of the area boss, "Has kindly reminded me that unknowns are potentially deadly." Worried concern seemed to flicker across Damian''s expression before quickly returning to neutral, "Alright, I''ll pass that along. You sure you''re going to be okay?" Damian asked, I somehow felt that nearly all of his multifaceted eyes were focused on me now. "You want me to go get Omar so you two can talk or something?" "No," I said levelly, slamming down on my panic with a mental hammer and trying to compartmentalize my various worries and dreads away. The words of my gran-pappy echoing through my mind, Boy, yer ah boy, but sum day youw''ll be ah man. An'' as ah man folk we''ll be looken ta you fer guidence iffen thangs get rough. Iffin'' you break down cryin'' an'' screamin'' an what not you''lln jus'' make ''em start frettin'' cauz they''ll see ya ain''t got ah ''andle on things. Now man up an'' quit yer whinin''. We''z got a fair few miles ta go still. "No, I''ll be fine. Just give me a minute to get my head in order and send folks over to me so we can explain this all at once." "If you''re sure man." Damian said, still looking at me worriedly, but still moved off to start passing word to everyone else. I took several slow calming breaths to make sure I was back in a functional state after coming far too close to losing control and having a public meltdown. I can make it through this, I made it through college and that time on the mountain, I can get through this as well. Just need a distraction to keep from dwelling on it and worrying myself into a wreck. The mutagen and fusion tokens seemed like good distractions while I waited for everyone to gather. ¨CYou have received a Random Mutagen Token: E¨C ¨CWould you like to redeem your Token?¨C In all honesty no, but I see literally no advantage to turning it down while I still have open slots. If it''s bad, hopefully I can-. Oh who am I kidding, with my luck it''s guaranteed to be bad. I honestly kind of low key hated the mutagen tokens, as non vital body modifications were always something that left me queasy and repulsed in nearly any setting that had them. The fact that this was a random one just made it feel like I was playing a game of russian roulette where all but one of the chambers was filled. Oh I hope this doesn''t give me an udder or something equally cursed. ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Respiring Mutagen E¨C Respiring? I''ve received a mutation that lets me breathe? Admittedly, I did have that horrid pins and needles sensation now filling my lungs at the moment which felt absolutely terrible and was doing absolutely nothing for my state of mind! Frankly, if there was someone out there who didn''t panic at least a little by feeling their lungs going numb and knowing it meant an unknown force was actively altering them, I hoped to never meet them. Still best to see if I could get a better description of whatever was being done to me. |Respiring Mutagen E: When not moving your stamina recovery increases drastically. Upgradeable| Oh! Stamina recovery, that will probably be useful considering how often I seem to bottom out that resource. Also, dang, when did my mutagens get so full? Once I apply that bloodline I''ll be completely maxed out on skills and mutagens. Here''s hoping the theorized expansion to the number of slots happens soon. Level ten seems like a reasonable time for that. I suppose I can use these tokens to fuse some of my similar abilities together to make room. Ferrous and Lithic are the obvious first choice, seeing as they''re basically both doing the same thing, so let''s see what happens when they fuse. ¨CConfirm Fusion of: Ferrous C & Lithic F?¨C ¨CFusion will result in: D Mutagen¨C Yes, inflict whatever torments your sadistic designs have in store for me. ¨CFusing¨C ¨CReceived: Wolfram Mutagen: Your entire body is coated in a dense metallic substance that is highly resistant to various forms of damage.¨C Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. And yep, there it goes. The bubbling pins and needles sensation that suddenly manifested across my entire body would forever be unpleasant and I knew for a fact no amount of experiencing it would ever make it anything but. This was certainly not helped by watching your scale covered flesh literally bubble like boiling water, dragging scales down into itself only to spit out oddly crystalline looking scales. You know, it¡¯d be really nice to actually be able to see in color again just so I could at least guess at what I''m made of. I know ferrous is iron, but I''ve not heard of wolfram before. "The heck just happened to you," William asked as his left head sniffed at me before asking, "It looked rather unpleasant." "I just fused a couple of defensively inclined mutations together," I grunted giving myself a shake and hearing a far duller sound from my new scales, "Feel like I put on a ton of weight from it. You know what Wolfram is?" "Wolfram?" Both of Will''s answered in stereo, "Oh yeah, that''s-," the both stopped and looked at each other making odd head gestures at each other before the right head continued, "I''m pretty sure that''s what they called tungsten back when they first discovered it." The left head jumped in where the right stopped, "If your scales are tungsten, it looks like it''s the metal''s crystal form. Lots of interesting chemical history around the metal. Also fairly expensive, I think it goes for like three hundred bucks a kilo." His left head jumped back in, giving me a critical look, "With how dense the stuff is and how thick those scales I wouldn''t be surprised if you literally did weigh a ton or two now." Tungsten? As in the material I''d watch bounce a black tipped fifty cal with nothing more than a quarter inch deep dent and that had famously pierced entire sand dunes and killed the tank hiding on the other side tungsten? Did I even need to worry about getting hit anymore? Probably like a knight in full plate, bashing attacks likely still carry through. Still a massive relief. "Well, bully for me I guess." tilting my head curiously at the two headed wolf, "Wait, how''d you know that? Are you secretly a chemist and didn''t tell me?" "Chemistry minor," both heads stated before looking bashfully at each other and the left continued, "Actually have a scholarship for football at UT, but have been considering switching my major." the right perked up, "Why, have ideas?" If I still had hands I''d be rubbing them together evilly, "Oh, I have many plans. Reading into history teaches you about all sorts of useful chemicals they used in war." I bet a few of those too effective chemicals could literally melt bosses. "Oh, what I wouldn''t give for a blacksmith or gunsmith." "I''m both actually," Jack said landing nearby, "Before you ask, no I can''t start building you anything. I''d need a lathe, forge, and a half dozen other tools to even get started on simple things much less whatever over ambitious silliness you''re thinking of. That''s assuming these twiggy wasp legs can even properly grip and wield half of those tools." My sudden idea of a horde of monsters clad in an unholy mix of crusader plate and Great War kit marching across a battlefield armed with cannons and chemical weapons under the banner of god withered on the vine. It would make an absolutely bitchin metal album cover though. "I actually know how to make a basic forge," I admitted, "No shortage of clay in this part of the state with the clay layer a couple feet down, could probably make a decent set of bellows as well, charcoal''s not too hard to make either." "Where''d you learn to make all that stuff?" Will asked curiously as the emu girl wandered over. "Believe it or not, Utube." I laughed as the conversation drifted into more normal grounds as people continued to drift over at Damian''s direction until finally everyone was gathered around and chatting about various aspects of their old life, what they should fuse, and what their latest mutation had afflicted them with. I felt sorry for poor Will who had picked up another tail to go with his extra head and Jeremy who now had so many teeth crammed into his mouth that he could barely talk. "Alright," I slapped my tail on the ground, startling even myself with a sound like a dumpster being thrown through a wall and damaging the asphalt. It did succeed at calling everyone''s attention to me at least. "I know it''s late and most of us would probably like to go curl up in the end zone or the decayed ruins of a plush chair, so I''ll try to be quick. Most of us have probably noticed that we have an ''evolution'' available. This will doubtlessly be useful, but seeing as we know nothing about how this will work or if it has any crippling side effects, such as locking us in place for a week or temporarily driving us feral with hunger I want the first couple to be done one at a time and by one of our smaller people. But before dealing with that, I want us to be as equipped to deal with any potential rampages as possible, which means another unknown. Anyone else get a Bloodline when we killed the area boss?" A small sea of shaking heads and denials drifted back confirming only I¡¯d received one. "Then I''ll go ahead and try equipping mine, everyone be ready." ¨CBloodline: Sabertail integration beginning¨C ¨CEstimated time until total absorption: 2:59¨C It took very little time for me to realize this was a mistake, my vision seemed to somehow become even more monotone as a powerful need to vomit began to build in my guts. I tried to turn away so the building sickness hopefully wouldn''t splatter over anyone, only to realize that I was once more trapped in a full bodied paralysis. This one at least felt more like traditional sleep paralysis rather than the horrid hot melting looseness that had presaged the Event, but finding yourself unable to control your body is never pleasant. Especially as I realized that breathing was outside my control, yet still happening. Has someone else taken control of my body!? My vision seemed to blur and shift as the parking lot I had been in was replaced by a vast desert of rolling dunes. In the middle distance I spotted a bizarre cross between a camel and an ankylosaurus standing there as it munched on a thorny bush with the sun high overhead. The size of the beast became clear as the familiar silhouette of a twin tailed monster burst from the sand, its two bladed tails slashing seemingly effortlessly through its prey''s armored exterior in a way that made me glad none of us had been hit by the attack. The blades of the tail and edge of the scorpion''s claws seemed to glow a horrid vibrant red just before they tore away the dino-camel''s defenses as the world slowed as if to emphasize these weapons. As the camel toppled, the scene shifted like a slide projector turning to a mountainside field where groups of sparking armored goats were gathered facing outwards. The entire herd was clearly nervous as they watched something in the sky above with rapt attention. Then the thing in the sky dove. As it drew close, it launched its tail forwards like a harpoon, impaling one of the sparking rams and dragging it into the sky followed by the wails of the rest of the herd. The impaled goat bleated wildly as vorpal sharp claws tore away its armor with contemptuous ease. So it went with dozens of scenes of dozens of heavily armored creatures being mercilessly dispatched by various cutting instruments of unnatural sharpness that made a mockery of their protection. Every time the attack was never clear, nothing more than a faint ghostly silhouette darting through the scene of death only to vanish with every new scene. Then finally a new scene where the creature was far more pronounced from its perch coiled atop a toppled titan. Coated in metallic scales, a body like a thick corded rope coated in blades that ended in a single long curved saber, a mouth full of needle sharp teeth as it glared contemptuously down at me with serpentine eyes. I looked up at a transformed version of myself as it gazed expectantly down at myself with a silent demand that I too be like these visions. My reflection, bestowing without words the task that I too live up to this tradition it had shown me. This bloodline soaked in blood of those that thought themselves untouchable. I smiled up at my reflection and cackled. As if that had ever been in question. Then with a burst of every color known to man plus a couple extra, that was extra shocking after a day without seeing any colors, the vision shattered like glass. The shattered vision swirled about me for a moment before seeming to slam back together once again. The shattered plain of reality rippled like a pond, washing away the cracks to reveal me once again standing in the stadium parking lot. I cast a slow glance over everyone who was looking at me with open worry and hints of fear. A couple of them sported burns and injuries that hadn''t been there before the vision and Omar clutched a shattered rake. "And that is precisely why I want to be cautious around Evolution," I stated levelly as I urged my heartbeat to slow, "If that''s what a Bloodline does, what will an evolution do to us?" Chapter 15: It Looks Way Worse From the Outside "So, what happened while I was under?" I asked, looking around at the damage, "I didn''t attack anyone did I?" "Nah, a lot of this is on us really," Omar admitted, gesturing with the blasted, burnt stub of a metal rake in his hands, "Not long after you started equipping your bloodline thing this thick rainbow goo spurted from your mouth and started to cover you. We all kind of panicked a bit at that." "Reasonably so I''d say," Matilda huffed, cleaning one of her blackened antennae and perched on Jerry''s back, a burnt hole in one of her wings, "The stuff looked to be completely unnatural and I was afraid it was trying to drown you." "Did it attack you when you tried to stop it?" I asked worriedly, my eyes dancing between the many patches of embers and soot clearly visible in the bright moonlight. Did this ooze spit fire at them? "Not, directly, no." Matilda grumbled. "She tried coating it in her silk. The living rainbow stuff set it on fire and blasted it away on contact," Omar laughed, gesturing to the soot marks I''d been eyeing. "We thought maybe it was some defensive field or something since it didn''t seem to be hurting you, well, until it reached your hat." "What did it do to my hat?" I asked, unable to keep the worry from entering my voice. I nearly ended up cutting my own eye out as I forgot I had roughly forty inches of curved metal growing out of the end of my tail when I went to feel for my hat atop my head only to find it bare. "I''m afraid it wasn''t any kinder to it than Matilda''s silk." Damian squeaked sadly holding up the ruined remains of my hat. It looked like someone had set an M-80 off under it. The old hat had been nearly torn in half from contact with the ooze. A massive rent was torn through it, going from the rim clear through the crown, and the front brim heavily blackened. It barely held its shape anymore with the leather sweatband on the inside of the hat half torn free and the outer band was just simply gone. Even most of the inner lining had been blasted almost completely off and what remained still seemed to be lightly smoldering. "Oh." I stated weakly. I held out my tail to take it back, which Damian hastily returned. But what was I supposed to do with it now? It was absolutely destroyed and we had no way to fix it. I should probably just throw it away, but that felt so terribly wrong to do to the old thing. Burning it like a retired flag? It was such a stupid small thing but it left me feeling suddenly so very very lost. For the first time since the Event I was glad I was a snake as it meant I couldn''t cry. "You gonna be okay man?" Omar asked, stepping up and giving me a rough slap to the side. "I thought it was just the hat you used for that cowboy costume of yours." "Nah," I managed to just keep from choking, "The old thing was a souvenir from when I was ten and we went to some old west style ranch with my family. Can''t for the life of me remember the ranch or much of what happened there, but I remember the whole family loving it. I always found it funny the thing still fit like a glove after I was all grown up. Even still fit me now somehow." I gave a soft laugh, "It''s a shame, it was a nice hat." "I could try and fix it." Matilda offered, "I''ve knitted up plenty of clothes for my nieces and nephews." "If you feel like it when you have some time," I passed the ruin over to her before giving myself a good shake, "Moving on, what happened after that, I assume the rake was involved." "Yeah," Omar muttered, looking unusually awkward. "I thought the rake would be able to scrape the stuff off you and it being metal it might hold up better." "Ended up throwing him something like ten feet away," Jerry snorted, "And then he got back up and tried again. Third time he tried it the damn rake exploded and we only narrowly avoided getting people impaled by the shrapnel." "Thanks for trying my bean," I nodded at my old work friend, "I appreciate the attempts." "It''s fine cracker," he seemed to visibly relax and smile back, "I know you''d have done the same for me." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "Nah, I''d have tried way dumber shit than what you tried," I waved off, "Anything else interesting happen before, what? The ooze soaked into me? Evaporated?" "Soaked into you.¡± Jerry stated and I shuddered a bit, ¡°Both myself and Michelle here tried to attack the ooze and knock you out of it since we both have fairly strong attacks." Jerry gestured to the yet unnamed emu, who I now noticed was missing one of her leg warmers. "It didn''t end any better than Omar''s attempts." "I''m still thankful for the attempts," I gave them both a smile, "Thankfully it wasn''t necessary. We do now know it''s probably best to be naked when evolving and not to mess with any rainbow goo. Hopefully full evolution doesn''t come with any new surprises, but we should probably be ready for such eventualities just in case. Damian?" "Yeah boss?" I gave him a scathing look at that before continuing, "Would you be willing to be the first to attempt an evolution among us?" "I- Yeah, yeah. Okay." He nodded and took a deep breath as he started removing his crusty blood soaked shirt, "Makes sense it would be me. Small, expendable, harmless-." "Trustworthy, level headed, and brave." I finished for him. "I experienced a bunch of hallucinations with the bloodline, so be ready for that. Whatever happens, try to take it slow and be smart about whatever you encounter. And thank you for being willing to do this for us." "Anytime boss." He smiled up at me before seeming to zone out, his stance widening slightly as his body seemed to sag. After that he just stood there, seemingly completely braindead to the world as his mouth dangled open and he drooled all over himself. I hated having to send him through this first, acting as both a scout and a sacrificial lamb all because I was too damn afraid about possibilities and maybes that lingered behind that single word floating in our status bars. All those excuses that I''d given were nothing more than my craven ass trying to put someone else between myself and potential danger. It was for the best that I move on in the next day or two so that I''d stop throwing these poor fools, that had the misfortune of trusting me, into the fire for my sake. The fact that nothing worse had happened to any of them thus far was clearly nothing more than an act of divine providence as God did his usual thing of watching out for fools and children. I was snapped from my self recriminations by the sudden appearance of a bright rainbow glow that began to pour out of Damian''s slack jaws. The glow looked to be pure light, but its behavior was more akin to mud or living molasses as Damian vomited it forth like a fire hose. Even then it seemed like his tiny jaws strained against the flow and I felt myself concerned it was going to break his jaws. As it pooled to knee deep around our little raptor catbug the shimmering churning rainbow of light seemed to spring to life, unfurling long tendrils of fluid light that latched around the man with predatory ferocity. In the blink of an eye Damian was fully enveloped in the stuff with not an inch of skin showing. "Yeah it was like that for you as well," Omar said. I flinched in surprise his hand resting on my side, "Took a little longer since you''re such a fat fuck now, but you can understand why we all freaked the fuck out a bit, yeah?" "Yeah," I echoed. Everything about this was off putting to me. The way the light moved, the way his silhouette was still visible inside the living rainbow slime, and the way it was beginning to bubble and roil like a stormy sea. I was having to fight from lashing out and trying to tear him free of this abomination. It was only by reminding myself that it wasn''t hurting him that I was able to-. *SNAP* Damian''s leg visibly broke as the light slime began to swirl like a whirlpool at the break, visibly forcing itself into him. *CRACK SNAP CRUNCH* More limbs shattering, his body began to visibly distort and smear under the rainbow slime and I acted without a thought. Everyone''s attempts to save me from this stuff had failed, but the memory of cleaving through armor was still fresh and I had to hope I was able to free Damian before he was completely torn apart by this amalgamation of light, fluid, and monster. The tip of the blade at the end of my tail slammed into the stuff and I felt like I''d just kicked a brick wall as hard as I could with a single toe. Pain rocketed into my brain as I felt said wall kick back into my already stubbed toe with ten times the force I had attacked it with. However heavy I was now, it didn''t matter as I was sent spinning across the parking lot and collapsed with a weak hiss, briefly overwhelmed by the pain and dizziness. I forced my head to stop spinning and ignored the several people rushing over to me as my eyes focused fully on Damian as I could see his now slightly larger form emerge as the last of the rainbow vomit sank into his flesh leaving impossibly dark scales and fur in its place. This four foot tall vantablack dinosaur shaped hole in reality seemed to be examining itself as it moved in absolute silence in the night. The two tall triangular ears atop its ears flicked about without any apparent conscious direction at the slightest of sounds, including some I couldn''t hear. This new form seemed far more cohesive than Damian''s old body, his ears and eyes now seamlessly meshed into his physiology in a seemingly natural way instead of being body parts that had been randomly slapped on. A chuckle bubbled up from his throat as he asked, "You tried attacking the goo didn''t you Joe?" He still wasn''t looking my way, apparently he''d finally broken his habit of looking around. "It was breaking your bones," I huffed defensively, "I feel my reaction was justified." "That, admittedly didn''t happen with your bloodline," he admitted, slinking forwards as silently as a shadow. "Glad I didn''t feel that at least. A half hour of breaking bones would have been rather unpleasant." "A half hour?" Nolan gruffed, "You were barely in there for a minute." "So a highly accelerated perspective while you''re in there. Noted, anything else?" I inquired. Damian went on to explain how you were given three evolutionary ''lines'' to pick from that were supposedly based on our actions thus far and then given options to buff the stats of your pick using those points we''d been earning from quests. Each of the lines apparently came with a couple free slotless abilities, in his case detection radius decrease and bonus damage to attacks while undetected, as well as a symbol that was likely tied to something. After that you were whisked away to the Cube to spend your remaining points on skills and mutations before being given a final confirmation. "Well despite how disturbing it seems to be from the outside it doesn''t seem like there''s any serious long term consequences." I silently tried to assure myself that I was right despite it being far to short a time to determine ''long term'' consequences. "Shall we go ahead and take care of this evolution stuff before we call it a night?" Chapter 16: Its really more a Metamorphosis I did my level best to ignore the sounds of bones cracking behind me, I did my best to keep watch for any late night dangers. Three more people were undergoing their evolutions as Jeremy had pointed out, with some serious difficulty considering his tooth overstuffed mouth, that since people undergoing evolution were vulnerable for a minute or two before the rainbow appeared it would be best to evolve in shifts. I''d be kicking myself for missing something so obvious if I still had legs. I might try and blame stress or the late hour for the oversight, but I knew it would just be another excuse deep down. Besides, it gave a bit more time to put off having to undergo the change myself. Sure there was always the chance of acquiring arms or legs from the process, but I was still actively choosing to willingly mutilate my already transformed body further. It was theoretically an option to simply not evolve, but practically it wasn''t an option. We''d only just been managing to hold our own so far using either numbers or coordination to overcome our obstacles, not only was that less likely to be the case as time moved on, I was planning to strike out alone and would not have such advantages to fall back on. I was basically a soviet soldier with the commissar''s gun to the back of my head, the option of certain death or less certain death with a high chance of mutilation. "Alright, that''s us done!" Michelle chirped happily, having nearly doubled in size and developed both a beak full of teeth and long impaling claws growing out of her flightless wings, "Everyone in group two ready?" I gave a silent nod and slithered into the middle of the defensive circle we''d formed to protect our insensate members from attack. I''d elected to put myself in the second group in an attempt to both keep from appearing too eager, and to prevent time enough for my spiraling dread at the process to become too visible. I''d probably already shown too much weakness to these people and I needed to at least continue projecting confidence so they wouldn''t likewise lose confidence in their survival and do something dumb and get themselves killed. I gave a last look around at those in the circle and in my evolution group before taking one last fortifying breath and taking the plunge. ¨CEvolution Available¨C Just get it over with you bastards. Before the thought could even finish the entire world drew to a complete and utter stop. The scorpions, wind, friends, sound, and even my own body were all abruptly as mobile and fluid as stone. That same horrid bubbling numbness returned, this time beginning inside my head throwing me into a wild panic as my hells damned brain was being fucked with. The color blue creeping slowly in at the edge of my vision did nothing to help things as I flailed uselessly inside my own mind. A spreading numbness left me feeling like my body was crumbling away to ash as the blue slowly overtook the entirety of my vision and began to mix with a wild menagerie of colors until it all mixed together in a faint misty grey. I found myself once more in a place devoid of physicality and time that I had not seen since the Event itself. The realm of endless fog, broken up only by a lone blue screen floating before my perception.
Beginning Evolution. You have 32 points available.
I read over the box with casual interest before realizing something rather odd, I felt more human here than I had all day. Not only that, but the nearly all consuming terror I''d been in just seconds ago was now gone outside of my usual baseline of mistrustful caution. That cold icy hatred that had manifested upon my last trip here also remained, hissing softly in the background even as the blue screen flickered with a new message.
Evolution System Initializing Collecting LifeStage Data¡­ Analysing LifeStage Data¡­ SysAutoGen_GigaboaEvo¡­ ERROR: SPECIAL_EXCEPTION Retrying ¦¡SysAutoGen_GigaboaSpecialEv¦¸ |Adamant Adder| ¦¡ |Sawscale Serpent| ¦¸ |Commissariat Cobra| ? Continue ¡ú
Then something else burned its way into my perception. A second message that briefly obscured the screen and set the cold hatred ablaze as it was given fresh fuel for the fire. **Communique** Salutations, Joe! As a participant in Wave_1 of this Integration, your Life Stage has been closely scrutinized to aid your world further moving forward! As fewer than 5% of Wave_1 participants have now secured a level-based evolution, and fewer than 2% have currently completed (4) or more quests, we have begun to move forward with dataset adjustment. Due to your continued high cooperation and interaction metrics, we have intervened to offer a Special Evolution. We sincerely hope that you continue to provide a wealth of data moving forward as we continue with the Integration of Earth. ¦¸ **END Communique** Fuzakeru na you vittusaatana fotze! You can cooperate with my shit! Himmiherrgotzaggramentzefixallelujamil-extamarschscheissglumpfaregtz! Strewth! Why don''t you come out from behind these fucking screens and square up you derro dicked dullard! Que te folle un pez! I waited for several imagined breaths, my non-existent arms thrown wide and waiting for any and all responses from the blue box or the surrounding mist. Nothing happened and no response came, leaving me feeling both a bit foolish for basically swearing in five and a half languages at what amounted to an automated text message and good for knowing that I at least had enough spine to call these demons out on their bullshit. If I could I''d be pacing to try and work out the remaining frustration at that spasti message. Finally actually looking at the blue box, I eyed the symbols sitting next to the three options. The symbols for Alpha and Omega were instantly recognizable, I had no clue what the third one was, I supposed it would be odd if all of these demons stuck to the roman alphabet. Still it gave me more targets for my eventual vengeance against these cockless cuckolds. I was sorely tempted to try backing out and seeing if there was a way to evolve without accepting these pity prizes for the dicking they had inflicted upon my species, my world, and me in particular. However, in order to survive until the point that I might actually have a chance at them I''d probably need to take one of these options, that didn''t mean I had to even consider his option. No matter what was offered I''d never accept anything from the apparent ringleader of this travesty. So what did his backup dancers have to offer me?
|Adamant Adder| A Few gigaboas can claim to hail from peaceful climates, yet some few are born to a particularly hostile climate that forces them to weather the harshest of conditions and most aggressive of prey. Those that survive their earliest days tend to evolve into an Adamant Adder. The Adamant Adder is large, aggressive, and slow species armored to weather the most hostile of environments and prey. These bullish reptiles tend to simply advance through any attack and drag their exhausted foes down their throat. Bloodline Bonus: Physical status resistance +33%, Tempered Defenses Offense: **** Defense: ***** Speed: * Regeneration: ****
So a blunt simple beast that simply ignores attacks by being too dumb to die. I can''t say the strategy doesn''t have its appeal. The main problem is how slow the stupid thing is. Yes I''ve got both Lunge and Leap to help boost my effective speed and mobility, but they might be hindered by that stat for all I know. However, there is the fact Damian mentioned we can spend points to boost stats so I can probably get that speed to a respectable place, assuming I don''t want to render myself invulnerable by just maxing defense to a silly degree. Should probably see what the second valid option offers before deciding though.
|Commissariat Cobra| ? On rare occasions the usually solitary gigaboa will form knots with its siblings or, on even rarer occasions, other species. Taking advantage of their size and durability the gigaboa tends to become the leader of the knot and evolve into a Commissariat Cobra. The Commissariat Cobra specialize in command, strategy, and terror, commanding their thralls using a mix of fear and leadership to tackle otherwise insurmountable threats. These rare and powerful creatures tend to lead from the back, driving forwards their thralls in powerful charges to either kill or weaken foes before advancing themselves to finish off any stragglers. Bloodline Bonus: Forced Rally, Summon Cost -33% Offense: *** Defense: *** Speed: *** Regeneration: ****
Ah, an evolution based entirely around leading from the rear. Neat. I couldn''t deny a certain appeal to the idea. Especially in my current situation as temporary de facto leader of my little group of lost souls. Applying buffs and calling out orders before darting in to deliver a decisive strike just sounded like fun to me. I wonder if this evolution came with a dapper storm cloak and hat? Were this a video game I might very well take it. However, this was real life and I''d be leading actual people who wouldn''t just respawn in thirty seconds. Moreover, to get the full benefit of this evolution, I''d have to stick around. Was I really willing to write off my parents and anyone else who made it to the farm, leaving them to wonder if I was even still alive, in order to play pretend warlord? No. I was not as selfish as my brother. Well, that only really leaves one option, don''t it? Gimme dat Adder. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
|Gigaboa| ¡ú |Adamant Adder| A Confirmed You have 32 Points. Users may spend Points to purchase Teratogenic Enhancements before finalizing Evolutionary Path selection. A 1 * increase may be purchased for 3 Points at Juvenile. Limit: 2 *, Maximum 5* Rating at Juvenile. Do you wish to purchase Teratogenic Enhancement?
Damn only two more pips and system to prevent pure min maxing. Still leaves me 26 points to play with which should be enough for me to snag a max level skill or mutation along with a mid tier and maybe a couple bottom of the barrel things for later fusing. Certainly not bad. Alright, let''s slap a real engine in this heavy tank of an evolution and start browsing a few thousand abilities for two or three I wouldn''t mind.
You have selected: |Adamant Adder| A Bloodline Bonus: Physical status resistance +33%, Tempered Defenses Offense: **** Defense: ***** Speed: *** Regeneration: **** You have 26 Points remaining. Accept and proceed to Mutagen/Ability Purchase?
Yes, send me to... The Cube! Without delay the screen vanished and I was assaulted by the queer sensation of simultaneously barely moving and moving at horrific speeds. It was likely an effect of rocketing forwards through a nigh on endless expanse of grey fog with nothing to use as a reference point, no matter how fast you were moving, if everything looked the same it doesn''t feel like you''re moving with much alacrity. Still, the fog seemed to be whipping past me at hurricane force speeds so yes I probably was moving rather quickly. Unless everything else is moving? Is it easier to bring me to The Cube or The Cube to me? Philosophical navel gazing was interrupted by the appearance of and rapid approach of, The Cube. The massive rotating box of lights came forth so suddenly I half expected to hear a sonic boom and a rush of wind like one saw in some superhero flicks. The damned thing could move when it wanted to. I took a minute to simply admire the great shifting obelisk for a moment. Observing it as it floated, alone in an endless expanse of mist, filled to the brim with hundreds of thousands if not millions of glittering lights that were all fragments of some vast unnamed power. Again there was almost a sensation of artificial life to the thing as the movements of the internal lights almost seemed to move in vein-esque patterns or carry some illusion of conscious thought. Again I was reminded of a major city when viewed from above at night or an animalistic robot, something that wasn''t truly alive but could convince you it was for a moment. Shaking off the feeling I gazed deeper into The Cube. The lights I knew represented skills and mutations seemed to slow slightly, as if taking notice of my observations and ready to rush forwards for selection at a moment''s notice. Any of you give me any arms or legs? I thought at the lights. Several of those brilliant sparks rushed forwards to try and be the first to present themselves and their offerings. |Crura Mutation D(5pts): Your form gains twice its current number of legs, increasing speed and stability.| |Brachium Mutagen D(5pts): Your form gains twice its current number of arms, strengthening your body.| |Manus Mutagen (35pts): Your manipulators become astonishingly precise and dexterous, allowing for unparalleled manipulation of the world around you.| |Hominid Mutagen B(14pts): Your form becomes akin to a creature of legends, opens the way for limitless potential.| I looked at the collection of mutagens in utter silence. It is amazing how you can feel like wanting to tear your hair out by the roots despite not having hands or hair. Scheisse! Verdammt! Verfickter Bl?dsinn! Why do all the mutations that give you more limbs require you to have limbs already!? Fuck! Grah~! A good solid five minutes of screaming into the void helped me calm down, and also vent a little bit of the stress of the day. No one around to be disheartened by me having a meltdown here. I had all the time in the world to get it out without having to worry about anyone I gave the slightest of whit''s about seeing me. After letting it all out I turned back to The Cube and brushed away the still waiting mutagens. Alright, show me everything you have of at least A rank. I''m looking for something good today. I began to slowly browse through the entirety of the list, having to stop myself dozens of times in my window shopping as I stumbled across something or another that made me start cackling at the thought of using it or drooling over it like a particularly beautiful gun. Every time I tore myself away from it, after pulling it out of the line up for later review of course, and continuing to browse. Mind this wasn''t overly helpful as by the end I still had hundreds if not thousands of options to pick from, the ''A'' ranks just had too much good stuff! Yet after almost a day here I had narrowed it down to three real options. |Hyper-Regenerative Mutation A(16 Pts): Your body is able to rapidly recover from traumatic injuries, allowing one to quickly regrow even lost limbs. High Stamina cost.| |Myoelectric Mutagen A(16 Pts): Your muscle fibers gain the ability to generate and store small electrical charges, enhancing strength and potentially stunning enemies on contact.| |Shed Clone A(18 Pts): By quickly shedding skin, you leave behind a living husk that can fight in your stead. High health and stamina cost.| Alright you three, I''ve been at this for way too long and among all your siblings, I dub thee the current best of the best for me. You''re all bloody fantastic in your own ways. HRM, you are an amazing catch all ability that mixed with my sky high defense would render me effectively unkillable. Sadly, that''s all you are, I don''t see much other utility to you beyond the morbid ability of being able to literally feed people with chunks of myself and then healing the damage, which is mediocre at best. Not to mention your high stamina cost is a major weakness for my small pool. Myo, you are stupidly cool. More than that you are a utility juggernaut. Enhancing strength, potentially inflicting stun on contact, becoming a living generator, not to mention you no doubt grant some level of resistance to electrocution as well. Adding to my protective arsenal while also increasing my offense and bestowing limited control debuffs, that is a LOT of bang for my buck. If you can be further enhanced by that focusing trick or moderated to recharge batteries you are an absolute game changer. However, if you can''t be modulated, it basically means I can''t safely touch people and will need to pay more attention to natural hazards I could otherwise ignore. Shed, as cool as Myo is, you are somehow even cooler! I slip out of my skin and it starts fighting in my stead? That''s just peak! Add in just how tough my scales are, plus my new tail blade, and the clones you produce are basically unbreakable berserkers. And if I can pop off multiple of you in quick succession then I''ll be able to basically solo bosses like that benighted scorpion. I''d be basically a fucked up hydra, but constantly growing disposable bodies instead of new heads... Huh, I wonder how you''d stack with that Mutilative Regeneration skill that got washed out a few rounds back. Still that health cost makes me think that using you would be a bit of a bloody process that might leave me a bit defenseless as you literally rip the skin off my muscles. As quickly as we heal now, you might not be viable without pairing you with something like HRM. So I want you all to know that while I consider you all winners, Myoelectric Mutagen, you grant the most options with the fewest drawbacks so get your butt in here! I swear I saw the icon''s spark do a happy little twirl before entering a slow orbit around the general area my non-existent form inhabited. That leaves me with ten whole points to play with, which was still a solid C ranked buy. Which was probably nothing to sneeze at considering my stupid busted titanium scales were somehow only a D. I''d also need to keep in mind that if I wanted to use any of these I''d have to either fuse it with something or fuse something else to make room for it. I''d already been eyeing the possibility of fusing Stalk and Respiring mutagen together so it was certainly an option of getting a stand alone, still maybe something that would do well if mixed into one of my other skills or mutations sounded prudent at this point. As I started flicking through all the C grade mutations I found myself pausing at one in particular, Aquatic Mutagen. While simply becoming an adept swimmer didn''t sound overly useful since I''m pretty sure I was dense enough to pull a hippo and simply slither across the bottom of rivers and water rather than swim, it still tickled my pickle. Specifically it tickled the foggy fact I''d picked up Fossorial mutagen recently. Now what would happen if one were to fuse those two together? Would it just let me both dig and swim with one mutagen? Or something more exotic? Mayhaps, were I to fuse the pair, I might gain the ability to swim through the earth like it was water, or perhaps dig through water, effectively being able to treat fluids like solid ground. Oh the mere possibility made me sorely tempted to buy the mutagen there and then. Yet I managed, with great difficulty, to move on down the list. Tempting, yes, but that was pure conjecture, best to leave it on the back burner for when I had more resources to burn and settle for something more certain. I eventually found and settled for a more bland, but more ideal skill for fusing. |Hunker Down C (10 Pts): Stop moving and take a defensive stance to ride out all but the most powerful blows.| That would fuse very nicely with Stalk I think. So with that I''d be able to raise my attack, defense, and stamina recovery rate, all by simply not moving. Yes, that would go very nicely with both leap and lunge allowing me bursts of overwhelming speed and offense before falling back to recover my stamina. As an added bonus, thanks to Myoelectric, attacking me in my ''defensive phase'' was more likely to cost my attacker more than it cost me. Yes, this seemed like a solid early game build for a game where you still didn''t know all of the rules. Here''s hoping it didn''t bite me in my new scaly ass.
User: Joe Palmer Species: Adamant Adder Rank: E Health 458/458 (+++) Stam 100/100 Level: 9 Exp: 325/350 Special: Tremorsense F
Traits: 4/4 Grappling Strike: Your strikes now inflict the Grab condition. Next Upgrade: E Tremorsense: Feel out low frequency waves through solid objects you''re touching to see with more than just your eyes. Next unlock: E Constrict: Allows you to inflict additional ongoing Impact Damage to targets afflicted by your Grab. Moderate Stamina drain. (Health+) Next Upgrade: D Large (long): Your form is large sized and very long, weighing no more than 20000 lbs. (Health++) Next Upgrade: D
Abilities: 4/4 Prehensile Tail E : Your tail is flexible enough to carry or manipulate simple objects. Next Upgrade: D Stalk F (Passive) : Staying still and watching your prey increases the damage of your next strike. Next Upgrade: E Lunge E: Hurl yourself at your enemies and deal extra damage. Modest Stamina Cost. Next Upgrade: D Leap C: Jump great distances and use your resulting momentum as a weapon. Moderate Stamina Drain. Next Upgrade: B
Mutagens: 5/5 Wolfram Mutagen D: Your entire body is coated in a dense metallic substance that is highly resistant to various forms of damage. Upgradeable. Next Upgrade: C Respiring Mutagen E: When holding still your stamina recovery increases drastically. Upgradeable Next Upgrade: D Fossorial Mutagen C: Burrow quickly through earth and stone. Upgradeable Next Upgrade: B Sabertail Bloodline A: Ancestral memory of blade bearing brutes capable of cleaving through the hardest of defenses. Cutting and piercing attacks natively bypass 75% of physical defenses. Provides greater control over cutting surfaces. Tailsaber A long sharp blade naturally grows from your tail. Will regrow if damaged or removed. Myoelectric Mutagen A: Your muscle fibers gain the ability to generate and store small electrical charges, enhancing strength and potentially stunning enemies on contact.
Inventory: 1 fusion tokens, Hunker Down C (Skill)
Accept and proceed with Evolution?
Not seeing many better improvements I can make with what I got to hand. Wait does that say-? I recoiled as the gentle grey fog I had grown used to these last dozens of hours was suddenly and brutally intruded on by a bright menagerie of unnatural colors from that hauntingly familiar realm many spent their lives convincing themselves didn''t exist. They swirled and flowed with an irresistible current that swiftly carried me out of The Cube''s realm and back to one far more familiar. Chapter 17: Post-Evolution Announcements The very first thing I heard upon my return to the good old material world was Omar barking, "Yo, Joe! What the fuck man!?" Turning my head to look at him I was startled to discover that I had to look down at the Salvadorian sasquatch, in fact I seemed to be towering over everyone around me, including Kyli who had become noticeably larger with her evolution into a horny toad the size of a tow truck. Playing it by eye, and using the rusted hulks of cars still in the parking lot, made me guesstimate that I''d gone from twenty feet long to nearly fifty as well as now being nearly four feet across. Most of that width seemed to come from the massive layered carapace running down my back and slightly over my flanks, though honestly I was tempted to redub those layers of carapace as guillotines seeing as the edge of the thick armored plates were visibly sharp. Even my tail blade had gotten in on the action, going from a thin three foot curved blade into a towering eight foot straight slab. The thing was so massive, thick, heavy, and rough that I''m not sure it could still be called a sword so much as a hunk of metal, its edge still looked to be viciously keen though. "Huh," I blinked, startled at my own voice. Then I blinked again because I blinked. By the Good Lord''s name! I had eyelids again! "I will admit I wasn''t expecting it to be this big. Bleh, my new voice is messing with me something fierce." Christ on a bike my voice must have shifted nearly three full octaves lower and now had a metallic echo to it like I was speaking through eight feet of metal piping. Which I suppose I technically was now. "Man," Omar moaned, "if you''d just gone and done that before we fought the scorpion you could have probably soloed the thing. At least we got plenty of bug meat to keep you fed." I lowered my head to be more level with everyone else, having to almost rest my head on the ground to be at eye level with most of them now. "Nah, I''d''ve still needed your help. That thing was a tank buster based on the bloodline I got from it, though if we''d have known evolution was a thing and just around the corner it would have been a much easier fight." I grunted as I tried to shift and found the process took longer than I expected as just about every movement seemed to have some serious startup and end lag to it as the sheer mass of my form resisted every move I tried to make. "This is going to take some getting used to." "Well it looks like finding clothes to fit you will be a trick," Jerry stated, a smugly satisfied smirk on his square armadillo face. "Assuming you don''t want to just drop the-." He was interrupted by a loud happy whinny that silenced the local night life as it echoed off the buildings. "Guys! Guys!" Rumi skipped excitedly in place on her hooves, powdering the ground beneath her as her already muscular frame had swollen to the point that she could be mistaken for a large hippo, though much like a hippo it was clearly all muscle. "I''m a unicorn now! Well Bicorn, but still! Isn''t that just the best!?" My eyes ran over the woman''s hyper muscled frame, taking note of the two antelope looking horns growing out of her head, her equine maw full of now impossible to miss flesh tearing teeth bared in gleeful exuberance, to the long spotted tail ending with a long tuft of hair. Doing my absolute best to keep a straight face I turned to meet Kyli''s gaze and I immediately knew she recognized the creature as well. I did my best to keep my voice level but a bit of a chuckle still leaked into my voice as I asked, "Do you want me to explain to her what a bicorn is or do you want to tell her?" "What''s so funny Joe?" Rumi demanded, her new longer tail lashing like an agitated feline, "Is it because I''m still weirdly muscular? You hardly have room to talk, Mr. Literal Tank." I met Kyli''s eyes again and the lizard woman sighed, "Uhm, Rumi. I''m afraid that, erm, unicorns and bicorns are, ah, opposites." "What?" Rumi''s head perked up, her tail falling limp. "What do you mean?" "Well," Kyli hesitated, "Unicorns are symbols of purity and goodness. While, erm, bicorns are evil and, ahm, infidelity." "Known for growing fat by eating kind hearted and devoted men," I teased. I was kind enough not to mention them being a cross between a hippo and a cougar as well. I couldn''t keep the snaky smile from my face or from adding, "I had no idea you were such a man eater Rumi." "Go eat a dick Joe!" she huffed, baring her teeth. "Isn''t that your thing now?" Omar teased from safely behind my armored bulk. I really shouldn''t have snorted at that, but it was too solid a comeback not to. Rumi stormed a short distance away before collapsing in a huff with her back to us and tail lashing. Kyli shot us both a reproachful look before saying, "I''ll go talk to her." Michelle delivered a kick hard enough to be felt through my armor and gave Omar a murderous look before the bird woman hurried over to the gathering of women. "I was just trying to have some fun," Omar said, looking a bit abashed. "Yeah, me too." I commiserate. "Definitely took it a tad too far. She''s not as thick skinned as the women we worked with. Probably ruined the one good thing she''d had all day." "Probably why we didn''t ever get promoted at work," Omar ran his hands across his head. "Well, that and Halloween." If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Omar visibly struggled to remain composed as he remembered the two very different extremes we''d both gone to when the store had allowed costumes for Halloween, specifically how company rules had to be changed to be more restrictive the following Halloween. "Maybe that as well." he glanced over as the last of the second round finished evolving, "Whelp that''s my queue to get in there, see you in a bit." "Be careful in there man," I waved him off as he started to strip, "Tell, the Cube hi for me." As the third round of evolutions began I glanced over the people who''d already gone through the process. Rumi, Damian, Kyli, Michelle, Jeremy, Nolan, Rafael, and... "What''s wrong with Rumi?" A now slightly larger and far fluffier moth asked as she landed on my head and peered into one of my eyes. "She thought she''d turned herself into a unicorn and got upset when we teased her for turning into the opposite." I answered honestly. Matilda produced something approaching a bee''s buzzing as her wings rapidly fluttered before smacking me on my pointed, shovel shaped, nose. "Men," she tutted, "The poor dear will need something to distract her or she''ll be nursing that all week." My gaze wandered over to the pile of dead scorpions and the surviving arachnids picking over it near the stadium entrance. "Would finishing off the last of the bugs do?" I asked, "I figure with this being the last group and just how big I am now that I can watch over them while you all go have fun taking your new bodies for a spin." Matilda, despite having one of the least expressive faces in the group, still managed to give me a very effective stern disapproving look before simply tutting, "Men," and fluttering over to the gathering of women. Despite her seeming disapproving of my suggestion, less than a minute later the ladies had rounded up Damian and Rafael, who were listening to Jeremy talk about his new cackle of hyena summons, to head into the stadium where the sounds of insecticide began shortly thereafter. If she liked my suggestion, what was that last comment for? Well either way, I had a moment to myself, so might as well use that last fusion token I¡¯d been saving, and I had a currently dead skill just sitting there in my inventory waiting to be fused. Fusion token! Fuse Stalk with Hunker down for me would you? ¨CConfirm Fusion of: Stalk F & Hunker Down C?¨C ¨CFusion will result in: D Skill¨C I gave a faux haughty huff. Must you always confirm everything, yes. Fuse them. You just can¡¯t find good help these days. ¨CFusing¨C ¨CReceived: Bunker Down D: Become an immobile barrier capable of withstand all but the harshest attacks. Build attack bonus against those that strike you in this state. ¨C With the announcement came the usual accompanying pins and needles sensation that continued to remain incredibly unpleasant despite having experienced it, what, five times today? At least this time it only seemed to be skin deep. Or was it scale deep? Huh, I¡¯ve not really tested how well I can feel my scales. Am I feeling with them or feeling them move through the skin holding them in place? By the time that bit of pondering finished so too had the post fusion sensation. Well that seems simple enough, wonder what it¡¯s like using it? Bunker Down! Almost instinctively upon activating the skill I curled into a loose coil and rotated my body so that my thick back carapace was facing outwards and lowered my head so it was barely peeking over the wall my body made. I felt more than saw a transparent barrier cover my body as the edge of my carapace dug slightly into the ground. I held position popping up my stamina bar to see the minimal stamina cost of activating the skill quickly recovered. So either holding the skill required no stamina maintenance or my mutation¡¯s stamina recovery completely outpaced it, nice! It was only in trying to turn my head that I found a flaw with the skill. When it said immobile, it meant immobile. I couldn¡¯t move at all until I toggled the skill off where the transparent barrier seemed to quickly collapse away into nothing. Definitely going to need to play with that tomorrow. Barely three minutes later the final evolutions were done and people started filtering out of the stadium carrying or pushing a fresh load of dead scorpions. I angled my tail at them, flashing reflected moonlight at them to catch their attention before motioning them over. "That''s the last of them?" I asked as they approached, taking note that Rumi was pointedly refusing to look at me. "Seems like it," Damian answered, making me jump as he just seemed to appear on Gerry''s back where he was cleaning my- well, I suppose it was effectively his knife now. Not like I could use it anymore... "Matilda and Nolan still want to give the place a good solid sweep before we go to sleep. They''ve got their pets backing up Jerry''s new pack right now so hopefully they''ll get everything." "Oh they''ll get everything alright," Nolan chuckled darkly, his now massively engorged abdomen shifting slightly as he seemed to puff himself up. "I worked here long enough to find all the little hidey holes where those things might hide, this place will be free of anything larger than a cockroach by the time we''re done with this." "That''s good to hear," I smiled at the bug man, who seemed rightfully proud. "I was hoping we wouldn''t have to sleep outside. I was planning to wind down around a campfire after trekking over here, but I don''t think most of us are awake enough to wait for a fire to get going." a small ripple of tired chuckles answered the weak joke, "I wanted to start laying down plans for everyone the next few days, but I guess we can just go over the basic outline for now and talk details first thing in the morning." "Basically the first part of tomorrow is going to be divided between preparing and saving as much of this meat as possible, along with the other unprocessed bodies still in the trailer, and gathering supplies from the nearby stores. I think that we can all agree that while tonight we might be fine sleeping in the end field or in chairs, we''d all prefer some proper mattresses and pillows soon. Not to mention all the stuff we need to do to try and get this place to a livable standard, like getting the water running again. Figure if none of that brings down anything dramatic on our head we can do some light sparring to get used to all our new new bodies and maybe level up our skills, and maybe try to hammer down that weird power we seem to get when we really focus now. Any disagreements with anything so far? Questions?" Kyli reluctantly and awkwardly raised a leg, "Uhm, are we going to help anyone else we find? I, erm, know I didn''t look around much after I hatched, so there might be more people still around." "If they''re willing and not actively malicious, yes." I nodded, "You''re all in a fairly decent place right now with this evolution and a massive surplus of food and shelter. Hopefully the next couple of nights can capitalize on this. In fact, if you''re willing Kyli, if you can get somewhere high and use your flash in different directions, it should hopefully pull in any lost folks nearby. Basically be a living lighthouse." "I, suppose I wouldn''t mind doing that. But, maybe starting tomorrow?" I gave her an amused smile. It''d be cruel to force her after a day like today even if I did worry it might lead to people dying that might otherwise be saved. "Sounds like a plan. If all goes well, you''ll be in a good place when I leave in the next day or two." Suddenly there was a heavy tension in the air broken only by a soft, disbelieving, "What?" from someone. I gave them all a sad smile, "Yeah, I''m planning to head out in a day or two. Figured I let y''all know now rather than just heading out. My family might still be out there and it''s a hell of a walk. Figure by the time I leave you''ll all be good enough not to need me any more." The silence from the pack of people before me continued for nearly thirty seconds, all of them seeming to look at each other in silent exchanges or gazing up at me with scrutinizing or disbelieving gazes before finally someone said... Chapter 18: To Much Love! Does not Compute! "We''re coming with ya man," Omar smiled at me, "What should we bring with us for the trip?" I blinked in surprise and opened my mouth to correct him, only to be cut off by Damian. "Yeah boss, we ain''t gonna abandon ya after all you''ve done for us." I turned to try and refute his assertion. I haven''t done anything! But was cut off by Jeremy, "I was actually planning to do something similar in a couple days. Will be nice to have the rest of you along for the ride." "Don''t worry!" Michelle chirped happily, giving me her best attempt at a thumbs up using her clawed wings, "With all of us together we''ll reach your family in no time!" "You might be an ass," Rumi groused, "but we''d be even bigger asses to just abandon you." "Don''t worry dearie," Matilda cooed, landing atop my head, "I''m sure your family is fine, they raised you to be a capable young man after all." "We do kind of owe you man," William pointed out. The affirmations and support continued to roll in with everyone but Gerry openly supporting me and falling into discussions on what they should bring for the trip. I tried to say something, but even my new massive throat seemed to be suddenly narrow enough to make speaking difficult. I just don''t understand it, I was nothing special, just a nutty paranoid prepper who had helped out a couple people as part of a plan made out of boredom. Why would anyone want to follow a violent monster that was effectively making it up as he went along? I just, don''t understand. "I," I coughed to try and clear the tightness of my throat. Thankfully my super low echoing voice cut easily through the conversation. "I appreciate the offers, but I''m afraid I''m going to have to turn down your offers." That was met with upset and uproar. Was this what it took to make them turn on me? "No, no, none of that! Omar," I leveled my tail blade at him as the closest thing to a finger I had left, "I know for a fact that your siblings and parents are in the city, so if you go following after me and the next round of spawns happen, who''s going to be there to help them?" "Fuck man," Omar muttered with a kind of angry resignation, "That''s not fair." "And I''m sure that he''s not the only one," I continued, "I''m willing to bet several of you have missing family in the metroplex who will need your help come the second spawning." Shaniqua, who I now noticed had eight legs ending in thick curved claws and an almost centaur suggestion to her rabbit body now quietly whispered, "None of my babies were there when I hatched." "Nor my girl," Nolan said, his wings buzzing in agitation. "I didn''t see any other egg in my home when I hatched," Rumi shifted morosely, "I had kind of hoped they''d just left without me or something, but thinking on it..." "Not to mention some of us aren''t exactly built for long distance travel," Gerry called from beneath his massively thickened and spiked armored shell. "Right, we need people to stay here and build a bit of proper civilization and safety for the people yet to hatch and all of those no doubt thousands of people still in and around the metroplex." I pointed to each of them in turn, "A vitally important task that I''m willing to leave in your various appendages." A quick look around seemed to suggest that at least half of the group was readying arguments to refute my own argument, best try to head those off. "Jeremy, you said you were going to head out to look for your family? Where do they live?" "About a day or two''s walk north of the metroplex." he stated, "They owned one of the more modest cattle ranches up north. Figured I''d check in on them and the herd." Damn the boy was from one of those cattle barons? What was he doing in our little slum houses? "Well my family is about two hundred miles south. So looks like we won''t be heading the same way, and no offense, but I don''t think you''re quite as protected as I am. So if anyone wants to insist on helping someone I''d ask that you head with him. Those cattle would be way more useful to everyone than my family''s hay farm." "Oh! Do you have any horses on your ranch?" Michelle asked Jeremy excitedly, "What about nearby?" Several more people turned to start talking to Jeremy, clearly deciding to join him on the shorter trip, but at least a few people were obviously still intending to come with me. I let my gaze settle on Jack, who had clearly taken the hominid mutagen with his evolution turning him from a big wasp into what looked like a wasp wrapped over a humanoid form that came with natural chitin boots and four two fingered arms. His angular, still very vespid head held my gaze as his wings buzzed briefly and the six abdomen growing out of his back twitched and flexed their stingers. Christ on a bike! He looks so cool! He looks like a top tier Masked Rider Villain "I take it you''re planning to come with me as well Jack?" I asked politely. "Absolutely." he buzzed, folding all four of his arms across his chest and raising his head in defiance. "You''re a good man and there wasn''t enough of those before the world ended. I''m not about to let you die out on the road somewhere." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I had to take a breath to let the tightness in my chest pass before I continued. What had I done that had convinced so many people that I was a good person? "I appreciate that. But, I would appreciate it more if you could stay here." Jack didn''t say anything, but his abdomens flexed and a couple of his stingers oozed a cloudy yellow liquid, "You have a lot of downright essential skills. As a blacksmith you are one of, possibly THE, only person in our group, if not the metroplex, capable of building anything new, be it tools, nails, or even horseshoes. Those skills don''t translate well to travel, even if we did create some sort of mobile wagon for you to work from, it''d be a massive step down from what you can do here with a properly set up shop." Jack didn''t respond, his antenna flicking wildly as he drummed his clawed fingers along his forearms. The twitching of his many abdomens became far more aggressive as the buzzing of his wings picked up. He began to pace back and forth as the thrum of his wings reached a growling drone, murky venom dripping from his stingers falling freely onto the ground. Finally he whirled on me and leveled a single accusatory finger at me. "Fzzine!" Jack snarled, his buggy mouth parts distorting his speech as he roared, "Vut youzz vetter zzuckin come vack youzz zzuck!" With his bit said, Jack stormed off towards the stadium still buzzing up a storm. Right, that just left Matilda and Damian. I turned to look down at Damian who already had his arms crossed, his beyond black coloration making him nearly disappear into the shadows and asphalt. I''d barely opened my mouth when Damian simply said, "No." I found myself rather wrong footed by the single word, "Excuse me?" "No." he repeated, "I''m not letting you go and try and talk me into staying behind or helping Jerry, or whatever your plan was. I''m coming with you and that''s the end of it." Lord have mercy, I knew that tone, I used it myself when I was done bowing to the whims of others or were on a subject I refused to be swayed from. Still I owed it to him to at least try and talk him out of what was likely a borderline suicide mission I''d set for myself. "Didn''t you have family you were wanting to prove yourself to?" "Yeah, in Mississippi." he returned unflinchingly, "And if helping you achieve whatever you''re trying to build doesn''t prove to my wife and kids that I''m a man worth being called a husband and father, nothing will. And don''t try your tactic with Jack either, I was a warehouse worker, I ain''t got no special skill to hold me here. Jeremy and the others have plenty of capable guardians, so I''m going to be your backup. Deal with it." I''d likely have to. His posture seemed to scream that even if I tried to run or leave in the night he''d come chasing after me. I turned to Matilda and she just tittered, "Dear, I''m an obstinate old woman. If you couldn''t get this fine young man to budge, what hope do you have against me?" She seemed to be daring me to try anyways with her smug stance. I just sighed tiredly. They were too dead set tonight, maybe giving them a few days to dwell on it would convince the pair not to follow me. And maybe Jesus was waiting inside with a keg, it seemed about as likely. "Fine," I sighed, "You two can come if you like. It''s still going to be a couple days before I head out anyways. And I don''t know about you, but I''m dead tired and ready to call this day done." "I''m actually feeling like I''m finally waking up," Matilda said, "Must be the nocturnal trait. Feels kind of like pulling an all-nighter and the sun is finally up." "I''m getting a bit of that myself," Damian admitted, "But I''m more than willing to sleep through the night and possibly half of tomorrow." That got more than a few tired yawns and plenty of nods of agreement. We all filtered inside the loading bay, following Nolan''s directions through the maze-like halls, as he rambled on about what was down each fork we passed until we finally reached the wide tunnel onto the field. Standing there at the end of the hall was something, it looked sort of like a canine, if you squinted at it. But its legs were too long and narrow, its torso seemingly devoid of organs as spotted mangey hide clung tightly to ribs inside which something glowed with an eerie light. Its head turned to face us, revealing an utter lack of eyes, just deep pits in its head where that same unnatural glow oozed out. Its mouth seemed forever set in a wide rictus grin full of long needle teeth backlit by the faint glow coming from its throat. I swore as I took in its twisted form, that the thing wasn''t breathing, possibly not even thinking, naught but a body puppeteered by something vile within. As I froze Jeremy walked out ahead of the group approaching the thing with a dopey smile, "Good boy, watching the field for us. Who''s a good rotwalker? You are! Yes you are!" The twisted abomination''s already too wide smile widened further, literally splitting its face from ear to ear and revealing exposed jaw bones as it walked toward Jeremy and headbutted him softly with a flicking brightening of its glow. As the lad continued to treat the twisted thing like a dog I looked desperately to the rest of the group for explanation. Nolan chuckled a bit uncomfortably, "Yeah, the kid''s picked up a summoning skill that calls up those things. Says he¡¯s got anotha something else that basically lets him make knock offs of those horrors by infecting a dead body with something. He doesn''t seem to realize just how freaky it all is." I just sighed. I was way too tired to deal with this. "I''ll deal with our new necromancer in the morning. This is not something to be dealt with without a clear head. Lord knows I''m going to be praying for him tonight though." So putting ''stop a necromantic uprising'' onto my already full schedule for tomorrow I immediately coiled in a corner near the tunnel exit. The entire field was a mess, having clearly been dug up by the boss and decades of neglect, the roof being closed likely hadn''t helped much either. Still, the soil was fairly soft. It was indoors, and it had only a couple of entrances with lots of room to maneuver so it was likely the best we were going to find tonight. As everyone started picking out their own spots or forming small piles, Jeremy himself cuddling up with three of those ''rotwalkers'' as another stood guard, I took a moment to do my nightly prayers. Before ending them off I did make sure to add, "My Lord God, I ask that you watch over me and these... lost souls following me. And, while I know he''s not technically part of my religion, if Barachiel is real, or if there is an appropriate stand in, I would like to humbly request his assistance seeing as we are likely to need as many Guardian Angels as you can spare in the near future if every day is like today. In your name I pray. Amen." I settled back to finally get some rest and hoped tomorrow would prove to be a better day. I quickly came to miss my dreamcatcher as my sleep was rife with nightmares forcing me to wake myself up four times before the sun next rose. Chapter 19: Dawn of the Second Day After the fourth nightmare, this one involving me trying to save a dumb ass cat that insisted on climbing into an oven because it was warm, I decided I had had enough sleep for the moment. Retracing my path back through the maze of tunnels and work areas that filled the stadium back out to the loading dock. Witnessing the predawn sky, where shadowy figures flitted, the slowly brightening sky churned in all its monochrome glory. From my frequent experiences with being up far too early I''d estimate it was still in that ugly blue part of the morning before the sun actually started peeking over the horizon. A shadow hopped off one of the dark streetlights and landed atop my head with a soft flutter. "Good morning Matilda, did you get much sleep?" "I might have nodded off for an hour or so," she confirmed, "Thankfully I managed to sneak a few naps yesterday so I''m not too knackered. Though I''ll probably be sneaking a lot more today. What are you doing up this early?" "Partially nightmares," I admitted, "Mostly needed to get a head start on what''s promising to be another busy day." "Yes, shelling and cooking is probably going to chew up a lot of time today." Matilda hummed, "I had my little dears get started shelling the smaller vermin, I considered trying to start a fire to do some experimental cooking. But I''m just too sensitive to heat and flames now." "Little dears?" Had she become a summoner as well? "Indeed!" her antennas wiggled and four, foot long, fuzzy moths that were Matilda''s spitting image settled on the end of my snout. "They are wonderfully useful little things. Unintrusive, industrious, and obedient. I''ve been having them scout out the general area and wildlife. I''m able to see through all of their eyes quite easily, so I''ve managed to sketch out a fairly detailed little map while you were sleeping. I did lose a couple to some giant bat things, but that stopped after the things figured out my little mini-mes are toxic. I''ve still got about forty of the little dears and would have more if I wasn''t getting so peckish, they''re rather deep stamina sinks even with the discount sadly." "Mini-mes?" I chuckled, "I wouldn''t have taken you for a fan of that movie." "Oh hardly," she flicked her fluffy forelegs dismissively, "Not my style of humor at all, no it''s the skill name. I figured if I was going to be a more proactive member, taking the summoning skill that produced smaller versions of myself sounded better than a lot of the other ''standard'' summons." "Are they intelligent?" I asked worriedly. "Not as far as I can tell." She dismissed, "If I''m not directing them they seem about as smart as your average moth. Very literal as well, will fly right into something if you don''t instruct them to go around. I have managed to set up some simple tripwires around the area using their own limited silk spitting skill though." "You know that could be really useful for making everyone a proper set of clothes," I stated, "I bet given a bit of time you could probably build something that could outfit everyone in clothes if you sta-ack! Fine! Fine! I''ll stop!" Moving away from my eye and ruffling her wings she huffed, "I am very aware of how useful that can be, young man, and I''ve already started building a supply of less sticky silk for others to work with. I''ve already penciled in plans to inquire with the other ladies in the group to see if any of them have any skill with weaving or knitting. I''m sure I can get them through the basics before we leave." "Just make sure you aren''t biting off more than you can chew." I cautioned, "You do need to sleep too after all." "You are hardly the correct person to be telling me that young man," she chided. "So what are you doing to overwork yourself this time?" "Dig some latrines." I stated not even bothering to refute the woman''s statement, "Figure it will be a good test of the fossorial mutagen I got from the boss. Plus, you know, even if the bathrooms here were working they''re hardly designed for things as big as some of us." "Oh you got that one?" she asked curiously. "I think we all did, or at least everyone I asked mentioned they did," she fluttered her wings in a shrug, "I thought you got your bloodline instead." "Nope, I guess I got lucky, there must be only one bloodline drop per boss." I looked down at the rather solid looking asphalt with a sigh. "Here''s hoping digging with my face is more pleasant than it sounds." This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As it turns out, it was far more pleasant than expected. My shovel shaped nose, coated in metal and apparently heavily reinforced, cut through the asphalt easily and I was soon scooping out piles of dirt like a backhoe. Doing a bit of experimentation and focusing heavily on the mutation I suddenly found myself carving through the ground like a drill. Pulling back, I felt my scales catching and dragging out yet more earth and clay from the hole until I was free and showering the area in loose dry dirt. Looking down at the hole I was astonished I''d managed to dig a ten foot hole, in clay no less, inside of a couple minutes. "Well, that went quicker than expected." "It seems fairly large," Matilda noted of the nearly five foot wide hole, "What if people fall in?" "Well this was intended to be for the larger of our group," I admitted, "Though when some of the more dexterous of us wake up I was going to ask them to build a cover out of the boards and carve a smaller hole in that." I eyed the hole critically, "Not sure how I''m going to make a smaller hole for the second pit though." "Oh if you can tear away the asphalt I can easily deal with that." Matilda happily chirped. "Ah right, you got the same mutation." Moving several feet away, to allow for a sizable stall to be built later, I tore free another chunk of asphalt, "Have at it." Matilda seemed entirely too smug as she remained over by the first hole and clapped her forelegs together with a soft *click click*. Suddenly all the nearby moths surged towards the hole with several others flying in as they began to tear at the dry soil under the pavement and carry away tiny little legfuls of it. "About how deep and wide did you want this one?" she inquired innocently. "About eight deep and three wide," I rattled off the standard size, half hypnotized by the frenzied digging of dozens of foot long moths. "You heard him ladies," she clicked her legs together again as the hole got steadily deeper and the moths started going down in shifts. One would come out pushing a small load of dirt and another would jump down the hole even as another started climbing out. I continued watching in fascination at this living clockwork for a good thirty seconds before looking at Matilda who was still completely clean and absolutely radiating smugness. "Your summons can dig as well?" I finally asked. "They''re mini mes," she stated while oozing satisfaction, "They come with greatly reduced versions of my own skills and mutations. So yes, they dig." Making a mental note that one of our smaller members was now apparently an entire construction team, and most of our people probably counted as heavy earth moving vehicles as well, I began to slither off. Shaking free some of the clinging clay and dirt I said, "Alright, with that taken care of then I''m going to go bring in the trailer. Think you can spare a couple to give me a bit of overwatch?" Matilda waved me off as three dusty and dirty moths fluttered over towards me taking the time to start cleaning themselves off as I slithered down the street. It took very little time to reach the trailer, which was thankfully still where we''d left it in order to face the boss, but something seemed off. My tongue flicked out as I sniffed the air, there was definitely an animal smell lingering about, as well as a scent of old blood which could be pinned on the dead jackal-snakes in the back waiting to be dressed. But that wouldn''t explain the faint scent of powdery artificial perfume I smelled. Slithering to the back of the truck, I looked at the truck''s lock. The door was scratched up, likely where night time scavengers had tried to get at the meat inside, but the lock itself still seemed to be in place. Though it had obviously been fiddled with by something with claws. Raising my massive tail blade high, I slammed it flat into the ground creating a massive racket, and sending a large shockwave through the ground. ¨CTremorsense has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C ¨CTremorsense rank up!¨C ¨CSpecial: F ¡ú E¨C The returns were far clearer than ever before, giving me not only a hazy idea of how dense something was, but also a vague idea on its shape. More over the den of jackal-snakes a couple buildings over and the odd bat thing peering over a nearby roof continued to hum in my sense for a second or two after the fact. Interesting, it would most certainly be worth trying to grind up my skills and abilities if they came with that level of upgrade. "Matilda," I whispered to the moths, "I don''t know if you hear through these things, but a few more moths to help if that turns out hostile would be appreciated." Two of the moths fluttered off and the remaining moth gave a small nod. I spent a minute slithering around the trailer doing pointless busy work like checking the near flat tires and that the chain we''d tied to the thing was still tight. I made a point of not looking around, especially not towards the bat thing on the roof, despite now being able to feel its gaze burning into my back as I worked. Then just as I was about to see if I was strong enough to move the entire trailer myself the remaining moth gave my nose two soft taps. "So," I turned to look directly at the small ratty face poking over the edge of the roof, "Are you going to come down and introduce yourself or just sit up there all day?" The tiny thing gave a shrill shriek I felt even through my armor and shrunk back from the lip. I debated simply waiting for the little head to reappear, but the shrill screams weren''t stopping, but picking up and being interjected with many colorful oaths. Slithering over to the building I raised my head to peer onto the roof. I blinked in surprise when I saw a twisted reflection of possibly the most famous scene of Gulliver''s Travels playing out before me. A dozen of Matilda''s moths had surrounded and tied down the much larger bat using thin lines of silk. The poor bat''s eyes were darting about in wild panic even as more lines of silk secured her wings to the roof and another wrapped a line around her mouth, muting the continued screaming somewhat. And yes the bat was very obviously a woman, mammals make it very clear what gender they are to casual observation, especially when in the middle of pissing themselves. "Matilda?" I glared at the various moths around the poor thing, "Was that really necessary?" all I got in return was a brief spreading of wings in a kind of lazy shrug. "Can you at least move her to the top of the truck?" A nod, "We might as well get her cleaned up and get a meal in her as an apology." I shifted my gaze over to the bat woman who suddenly went very still, "I do apologize about this, but I think everyone is still a bit jumpy about the last couple days. We''ll try to make this up to you, the end of the world is no reason to forgo hospitality." I lowered myself back down to the road and grabbed the thick chains of the trailer in my mouth. I waited as the fluttering mess of giant moths worked in tandem to move the struggling bat between them down to the top of the truck bed and re-securing their prisoner there. I shook my head with a deep sigh as I started hauling the trailer with only a mild bit of effort, "This is looking to be another hectic day." Chapter 20: Necromancy, Bats, and Breakfast By the time I set the trailer down next to the loading docks the sun was beginning to properly rise over the tree line casting the world into stark contrast of white and black. Matilda was nowhere to be seen, despite her moths still surrounding and watching the clearly terrified bat glued to the roof of the trailer. Jeremy and his pack of abominations against all things good and holy were also up and about, which likely wouldn''t help us look less threatening to our panicky bat. Seeing Jeremy sniffing oddly at one of the unshelled baby scorpions I called out, "Hey! Don''t eat it raw! It''s probably still full of poison or something." "Huh?" Jeremy blinked dumbly looking up from the corpse he was examining, "Oh, morning Joe! Nah, I was just debating trying the other new thing I picked up last night. I''m looking for a still fairly intact corpse to try it on." "Oh?" I tried to keep the trepidation out of my voice. "And what ability is that?" "Parasitic infestation," he yipped happily, "Check it!" Jeremy''s mouth opened wide and just kept right on going, literally splitting clear down to his shoulder and revealing his mouth/throat was full of teeth the whole way down. That was bad enough, but then something like a tape worm as thick around as an arm, wrapped in wriggling hair worms and glowing fungus burst up from that maw. The writing mass of parasites slammed into the corpse of the baby scorpion and seemed to flow into it, forcing out fluids as the shattered body convulsed and thrashed. More and more of the thin wriggling worms forced their way inside as the body acquired an unhealthy black coloration. Then with a soft pop, the larger tapeworm separated from Jeremy and wriggled inside the black mummified looking scorpion, taking its fungus and writhing hair worms with it. Slapping his mouth close into a normal looking doggy smile, Jeremy excitedly watched as the discolored corpse convulsed a few more times before standing unsteadily. "It works!" "Jeremy," I said as evenly as I could, "Please never do that where other people can see it ever again. I''d like to also politely request you not use that ability again at all as I''d rather not add a zombie apocalypse to the list of things we''re already dealing with." Jeremy seemed confused as he looked between me and the clumsily shambling corpse before him, "It''s not a zombie though." "Jeremy," I switched to a tone I used for children and particularly dense customers, "Your rot walkers look like undead monsters so much I almost attacked them on sight because I was convinced they were more monsters. That thing you created is, as far as most people are concerned, a zombie. If they saw how you made it they''d probably be concerned you were one as well." He blinked again and squinted at both the zombie before him and the glowing mummified form of his rotwalkers standing guard behind him. He tilted his head left and right a couple times before sagging slightly and saying, "I can maybe see where you''re coming from, if you squint and use less than charitable lighting, but what am I supposed to do? Just not use these skills?" "I''m not saying that," because for all I know we might need an army of zombies at some point, "but focus more on your rotwalkers. They don''t waste food making and are a lot less, unnerving, than that!" I pointed my sword at the wobbling corpse between us, fighting the urge to stab and crush the thing. "We don''t need other people turning against us because we''re being accused of witchcraft and necromancy. Speaking of witchcraft, you seen Matilda?" "She said she was heading inside for a nap," Jeremy moped, "Why?" "Because she decided to glue a stranger to the roof of the trailer and I''d like to get some of the silk off without having to try shaving her with this thing," I gave my massive tail blade a shake and sighed, "Can you go get her and either Jack, Damian, or Omar? Whichever seems the most awake. I''m going to get some firewood prepared for breakfast. I need one of them to start the fire." "Sure thing," Jeremy sighed, "And sorry Joe." "Ain''t your fault you became a stereotype," I tilted my head in a shrug, "Just reminding you to keep apprised of how it looks and the cost of things. World''s changed and we gotta keep that in mind." Jeremy nodded as he headed back inside followed by his twisted wolf ghouls and bug zombie. I shuddered while slithering off to grab one of the dead trees scattered around the parking lot that had died without proper gardening staff to tend to them. A hard tug proved them to still be fairly solid, and that I was apparently strong enough to completely uproot them with only a couple full body yanks. How damn strong was I now? I was going to have to be damned careful not to accidentally cripple or kill someone in training later. Carrying the fifteen foot tall tree back near the pile of prepared meat I began to lop off branches with ease using my tail blade. It wasn''t enough to go clear through the still solid trunk though. Actually... I Focused on my Bloodline, feeling a soft hum running through my body as I did so and the big cleaving blade seemed to visibly sharpen. It felt like it was vibrating with a living eagerness to cut. Which it did so, frighteningly well. My experimental cut didn''t just go clear through the meter thick tree like it was made of molten butter, it bit into and through the ground with a sensation akin to running a finger through sand. Yes, I was going to have to be very careful when it came to sparing later. By the time I finished carefully breaking down the tree into firewood Jeremy returned with a surly looking Jack and Matilda. "So what''s so important that you had to give me a heart attack first thing in the morning?" Jack grumped. "Sorry, just need a hand starting breakfast." I apologized, "I seem to have lost mine." Despite trying to still look surly, Jack emitted a buzzing cough, "I''d normally charge an arm and a leg for cooking services, but it looks like someone''s already overcharged you." We both laughed at that with Jeremy joining in with his hyena cackle as Matilda rolled her antennas as the bad joke. "Yeah, I can help with that." Jack made a wet gurgling noise and spat a glob of something that burst into flame as it splattered over the logs. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Well that simplifies some things," I blinked at the clinging flames as I moved most of the wood away to keep it all from going up, "Mutagen?" "Skill," he shrugged looking at the pile of uncooked meat, "Pyroclastic projectile. Bought it before I found the Hominid Mutagen, thought it would be useful to be able to start fires since most animals are scared of it." "Smart." I said, unlocking the trailer and digging out a couple of metal grills and a large metal tub that was meant to hold a flower bed but I figured it would be good for massive cooking orders. "So how do you cook scorpion?" Jeremy asked, watching with curiosity. "Not the slightest of clues," I stated happily, "I do have a few shellfish recipes in here though, figured I''d try them. Nothing like a bit of experimentation first thing in the morning," I set a pile of buckets down, "Can you and your pups fill those with water from the creek over there?" "Sure thing Joe!" Jeremy said happily grabbing a bucket in his teeth and his rotwalkers clumsily imitated him. "Jack, would you mind trying some of the shellfish recipes out on these things?" I poked the still massive pile of dead scorpions, "I packed a few recipe books in my suitcase, but I''m a bit too big to work the zipper now or add any ingredients smaller than a boss." "Yeah, yeah, just wish I had some coffee." the wasp man sighed. I turned to the moth who was idly playing with her scarf, "Matilda?" "She had it coming," she huffed, "I''m pretty sure she''s the one who tried to eat my minis." "Regardless, would you mind bringing our guest down here and removing her gag?" I requested. She made a dismissive gesture and a small crowd of moths gathered atop the trailer to carry down the bundled and gagged bat. A couple chewed away at the silk around her mouth and the bound woman immediately started squeaking, "I''m sorry! I''m sorry! I didn''t know that truck was yours! It just smelled nice and I was hungry! Please don''t kill me! I''ll leave and never bother you again!" I glanced down at Matilda who glared back up at me. Jack paused in his paging through the cook books to cast a glance over at us. "The hell you two do to her?" "Matilda beat her up, took her lunch money, and shoved her into a locker." I teased. "She killed my mini mes!" Matilda protested incensed, "I was looking through their eyes at the time too so it was a decidedly unpleasant experience! I was well within my rights to restrain the ragamuffin!" "I''m sorry! I didn''t know!" the bat girl wailed, thrashing against the silk still holding her, "I just thought they were bugs and I was hoping they were edible! I''ll make it up to you! Just please! Don''t hurt me!" "Calm down girl," I hushed as softly as my mountain of a voice could, "Why are you so freaked out, we ain''t gonna hurt you." "I''m sorry, I-I''m just so tired and hungry," she sobbed, "I was at home with my husband and then suddenly I was in an egg, and then a bat, and then before I could even try to figure out what was going on these giant dog snakes came running out of my kitchen and tried to eat me! I barely got away by trying to fly and it worked, but I was afraid to land so I tried crashing in the water and a giant fish and an even bigger bird tried to eat me! I barely got away with my life by crawling through thorny underbrush where I must of passed out until I was nearly stepped on by a dinosaur that then tried to eat me as another bat thing harassed me! I had to fly through the woods to shake them off only to fly into a pack of wasps as big as me and-and and I just want to go back to normal." She broke down sobbing into the ground at this point and I glanced at Matilda, who looked rather sad at the woman''s story. "Damn," Jack said as he tended the fire, "Sounds like you had as rough a first day as us." Well, assuming that she was being honest about her story. It sounded a bit too unbelievable to me that such a frail looking thing like her had escaped all of that, but I was willing to chalk it up to just paranoia, for now. After all far more unbelievable things had happened these last couple of days. Slithering around her and reaching into the truck I found the left over salted gar sitting where we''d left it next to the unprocessed jackal-snakes. Tearing off as small a piece as I could manage I returned to the woman and dropped it in front of her, it was still a chunk of meat the size of her head. "We''ve not had any shortage of food so far, so we can afford a bit of generosity, help yourself." She didn''t need much invitation, lunging forwards to grab the chunk of salted fish in her teeth and greedily tearing into it despite still being bound. I motioned for Matilda to cut the woman''s wings loose, and she had her minions comply. The little bat gripped the meat fiercely and turned to the little moths and hissed. That hiss hit like a shockwave. My mind rocking as I felt a massive spike of dread, falling almost instinctively into the defensive coil of Bunker Down. I was distantly aware of Matilda and her army of moths all leaping back, wings spread wide as they all focused on the little bat before us. Even Jack was instantly on his feet, his six abdomens showing uncommon flexibility as they all flexed around his torso to aim at the bat half his size. Yet said bat just turned back to her chunk of fish and continued to gobble it down, happy to ignore us. A second later it was like a veil had been lifted and the sudden dread evaporated leaving only a healthy caution. Though I didn''t care for the fact she was seemingly able to make me feel fear on command, best keep that in mind. "That, is a neat trick." Jack buzzed slowly, settling back down next to the now merrily burning fire. "Is everything okay?" Jeremy demanded sprinting onto the scene, "What was that noise just now?" Jeremy seemed to have lost his bucket, his rotwalkers hadn''t as they followed behind their master. The little bat glared up from her meal just to catch sight of said rotwalkers. All the animal fury she''d been displaying fled her as she took one look at the glowing emaciated beast and she shrieked in fright. She attempted to beat her wings and flee, yet due to her earlier hiss, Matilda''s clones hadn''t managed to finish clearing her of silk. Which meant that as she turned to flee, a cord of silk went taunt, yanking her back the other way. She spun in a clumsy spiral, flipped upside down, and landed skull first on the asphalt where she remained balanced for a long half second before going limp. "Ow~." she moaned. "Oh, this who Matilda caught?" Jeremy asked happily, his short bushy tail giving a couple wags, "Nice to meet ya, I''m Jeremy!" "Charmed," the bat growled, "Absolutely charmed." "You got a name yourself?" I inquired politely but made a mental note that she had yet to offer her name. "Huh?" the woman rolled back to her feet, "Oh right, uh, you can call me Daphne." "Well Daphne," I gave the woman a wide snakey smile. "We''re more than willing to give you a place to rest for a day or two if you need it. Sounds like you could use it after your previous day." "Blastin''."she grumbled with a yawn. "Matilda, would you mind showing her in?" I left the ''as an apology'' unsaid. "Sure, I can get back to napping myself." she grumbled. As she led Daphne into the twisting halls of the stadium, I moved over towards a few of Matilda''s moths making themselves at home in the darkness of the trailer. Giving a modest wait to be absolutely sure the woman was out of earshot I nudged the smaller moth awake and told it, "Keep an eye on her. Something feels off to me." "You sure you aren''t just getting paranoid over nothing?" Jack asked as he poured the buckets of mostly clear water into the massive metal pot to start boiling. "I really hope I am," I sighed, "But a bit of caution is called for these days." Chapter 21: When Snakes Can Fly Sadly heating up that much water to a boil was going to take time, so I was going to have to wait a bit longer for breakfast despite my vast stomach''s complaining. This did mean I had a bit of time to actually explore some of those skills and mutagens that had rained down on me last night. Moving away from the parking lot to the open field near the creek and its copse of trees just east of the stadium I considered what to try playing with first. Looking at my stat sheet, my eyes landed on my first and oldest. Prehensile Tail. Looking at my tail that now ended in a massive eight foot flat slab of metal, it hardly looked capable of manipulating objects anymore. Running it through some simple flourishes I remembered from my brief stint as a knight at the ren-fair I found the thing was still fairly swift and easy to control despite its obvious mass. The thing was still a solid mass of metal so no matter how well it handled I''d still basically be interacting with the world using an oversized pizza peel, so fine manipulation was probably out. Unless using Focusing on the skill did something funky. "Oh, okay." I laughed nervously as I Focused and suddenly it was like the slab of metal was like a gray sock over a hand. The giant blade flexed, bending in half before straightening out, flexed into a conical spear, spread into a wide fan, wobbled like it was made of sheet metal, all at a small flex of will. Shaping it like a spoon and scooping a rock out of the creek before bouncing it around on my bladed tail like it was a marble in my hand. Flexing, I popped the stone into the air, caught it on the opposite face, rolled it to the edge and flicked it over to the other again. My attempt to spin it on the point of the blade failed miserably, launching the rock away into the trees as I laughed. Still not quite a hand, but it looked like if I was willing to Focus a bit I could still emulate the manual dexterity of a mitten fairly well. Speaking of which, I was starting to feel fairly winded. Scratch that, I was feeling ten minute mile levels of winded. Breaking off my Focus my tail blade quickly returned to its original shape as I almost collapsed into my own coils wheezing for breath. Keeping Focus running constantly apparently eats up stamina at a worse rate than a turbo-boosted Hummer, even with a stamina recovery mutation fighting it, good to know. Actually, could I Focus on my mutagen to recover quicker? A very brief Focus on it didn''t seem to amount to much, so I tried Focusing a bit more and suddenly there was a sensation almost akin to feeling cold water pour down a dry throat in reverse as power flowed into the mutagen at a slow trickle. I almost melted in relief as it felt like I''d just come from running the field in high summer and walked into a deep freezer to breathe crisp refreshing air. It only lasted for about ten seconds, as I''d lost focus on Focusing to luxuriate in the sensation, but I still felt hugely refreshed and ready for more experimentation. So it seems Focus works similarly to feeding raw fuel into a jet engine, it provides a lot of thrust, but also empties your fuel tank quickly if you just keep it going. Except that for some skills you probably only need that initial burst of power while with more continuous skills like Respiration and Prehensile you need to feed a continuous stream. Let''s see, which skill would be best for testing this... hrm, probably Lunge or Leap. Let''s go with Lunge, it seems like it would be less disruptive to experiment with. Alright, let''s do some baseline testing first. Using the Lunge skill in my last form had been enough to redirect me mid leap, going maybe ten or so feet from midair. So I wasn¡¯t expecting too much difference from using it now. For whatever reason, maybe now that I was larger or on the ground and the skill wasn''t fighting the momentum of my Leap, my Lunge yanked me forwards roughly fifty feet! I say roughly because while it stopped pulling me forwards I certainly didn¡¯t stop moving as my mass kept me in motion for at least a good hundred feet. It just so happens the tree line was a little less than a hundred feet away, meaning I''d just thrown myself head first into a tree. Thankfully the tree broke before my face did as my shovel nose from my Fossorial Mutagen bit into it like an axe head, cleaving the tree in twain! Where it promptly fell on me. ¨CYou have taken 14 Impact Damage¨C "Ow," I groaned in pained annoyance slithering out from under the tree. "And that is why we do the baseline test first." Now aiming at the nice long clearing of about eight hundred feet between me and where the field ran into the nearby restaurants I tried using Lunge again, this time trying to use my tail blade as the origin point. Good news! It worked! Bad News, it felt like a treadmill on max setting sweeping my feet out from under me and launching me seventy-ish feet or so before I spent the next seventy some odd skidding through the grass and mud. Thankfully no injuries this time, just a whole bunch of dirt and grass sod caught under my guillotine carapace places along with a massive gouge carved in the field. I was going to have to ask someone to clean that out later wasn''t I? Huh, I wonder if I can use Lunge from both my tail and mouth at the same time? Now, the idea in and of itself was not a terrible idea. What I didn''t realize until it was too late was the fact that my head and tail were currently facing opposite directions and I didn''t correct this minor oversight before trying the thought experiment. Sadly, it turns out I could. *KRA-SNAP* ¨CYou have taken 146 Tearing Damage¨C ¨CYou are afflicted by Crippled¨C ¨CLunge has leveled up!¨C "Dios de Madre!" I moaned as I clenched my teeth through the absolute worst back pain I''d ever experienced in either of my lives thus far. "Oh, I am God''s biggest retard! Lord have mercy on this poor fool." Even using Focus for healing it still took me nearly ten minutes before I felt safe moving again, despite the cripple condition fading after a couple minutes. Both Jeremy and Jack came over to check on me in that time, but I waved them off claiming it was just a pulled muscle. "Okay, that was a bad idea," I moaned, finally lifting myself off the ground and giving myself a full body shake to make sure there was no lingering pain, "Let''s see if I can come up with a worse one." Slithering over to near the decades-old abandoned restaurant, that I had eaten at three days ago, ironically enough, I looked at the full length of the field, being almost a full kilometer long. I hoped it was long enough as I Focused on Lunge, felt the click of the skill charging and fired. *KRA-KROOM* My vision blurred as I absolutely rocketed forward like a serpentine missile barely able to comprehend how fast I was going. I felt myself touch grass after a second and skip off it, getting a very brief ping from my tremorsense that helped me realize that those buildings at the other end of that field were getting close fast. Fearing the worst I used Bunker Down and poured Focus into it to try and ride out the impact. Just to find myself stopping mid air about ten feet from a building. The raw shock made me drop my Focus which in turn made me drop to the ground. I sat there dumbly for a second before laughing madly, "Boy they weren''t kidding about the ''Immobile'' part of immobile barrier on that skill!" Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I was still giggling happily as I started making my way back into the middle of the field which was already looking far worse for wear from my experimentation. As I slithered along the grass Jeremy ran out to pass along a message from Jack that I was insane to which I happily agreed as I prepared to try my last skill, Leap. I coiled myself tightly and tried just a basic Leap going straight up. Have I mentioned I don''t care for heights? Because suddenly finding yourself thirty feet in the air is a bit of a bother when you enjoy having your feet, or closest equivalent, firmly planted on the ground. As such I found my startled hiss and uncoordinated flailing to be perfectly justified. I hit the ground with a sound like a big rig crashing into an earthen berm, head flicking around rapidly as the fear adrenaline flooded my system. I patted my chest where I could feel my heart racing, so that''s where that organ had gotten to, as I slowly realized that I was fine and even a fall which should have left me seriously injured hadn''t dealt even a point of damage to me. In fact it looked like I''d done a fair bit of damage to the ground based on the small crater I was coiled in. D-did the Leap skill disable fall damage or something? I tried using Leap again, this time with less panic and flailing, finding again I left a sizable crater but was otherwise completely unharmed. I giggled, then began to laugh happily with the realization that one of my oldest and worst fears had been rendered moot via a side effect of my skill. Charging the skill with Focus I rocketed hundreds of feet straight up. I felt the grip of utter terror seeing the ground so far away but reminded myself that I was fine. Falls had no power over me now! I told myself loudly and absolutely calmly. Using Lunge I flung myself even higher up. Then I tried to Lunge to the side, and it, sorta worked. I did change my direction somewhat, but it took two or three Lunges to really get me moving in any direction other than down. Staying up was also proving possible but costly, as gravity and my own mass was really trying to pull me back downwards. Still, I was managing to make a very poor impression of a fat drunken pelican stumbling around the sky! I might not be able to truly fly, but I could sure bumble drunkenly through the sky well enough to fake it as long as my stamina could last. Speaking of, I probably had only a couple more lunges in me before I''d be forced to land. I really shouldn''t do this. But I''m gonna do it. Using one lunge to fling myself back over the practice field and a second to once more go straight up. Marshaling the last dregs of my stamina for one last lunge I let myself hang in a moment of weightless equilibrium before roaring out, "This battle-field will be your grave!" Firing off a lunge from my tail I felt my vision go fuzzy as I rocketed straight down like a rod thrown by God. Seeing the ground rushing up at me I felt my fear of falling come rushing back as I shrieked down at the field below. *BRA-KOOM!!!* I must have passed out for a minute or two because the next thing I was aware of was being at the bottom of a dusty crater surrounded by everyone. I also felt like I¡¯d been hit by a car again. "Joe!? JOE!?!" Omar roared down into the hole my impact had made. "Are you alive man!?" I tried to raise myself up to give him a wave and soothe his worries, only to come to the realization that everything below my head was fully embedded in the ground. I tried to turn my head to look at the situation, but there wasn''t much to see when buried chin deep in the ground. Looking up at the gathered crowd I called, "What wisdom do you seek from the Snake of the Crater." "Okay, one, fuck you!" Omar shouted. "The Snake of the Crater is flattered bu-" I started. "And two." Omar shouted over me, "The actual fuck were you thinking you Pendejo!? I get woken up by the god damn ground shaking explosion and run out to see a fucking mushroom cloud and think we''ve been fucking nuked on top of everything else only to find out it''s you being a fucking fucked dumbass you pinche pendejo puta! Baboso!" he took several shaky breaths before finally asking in a surprisingly level voice, "Are you okay?" ¨CHealth: 158/458¨C ¨CStamina 40/100¨C "Nothing that won¡¯t heal in an hour or two," I nodded, "I might be a little stuck but I think I can maybe just," I looked skyward and used some of my recovered stamina to use Lunge again. It proved enough to pop me most of the way out of the ground, though I was now absolutely filthy. "Yep that did it, and sorry for the rude awakening, I was not expecting the results to be this extreme." I looked around the nearly thirty foot diameter and ten foot deep crater I''d made, not to mention the forty foot deep hole I''d made in the heart of it. Holy shit! Had I pierced the bloody bedrock? "Are you done or do we need to worry about more explosions?" Gerry grumbled as several people started to wander back towards the stadium now they''d confirmed we weren''t under attack and I was fine. "Nah, the only other thing I was going to test was this electrical mutation I picked up." I smiled up at the grumpy armadillo, "So there might be a couple thunder claps at worst, but I doubt anything else will explode." "That''s hardly comforting Joe," Will''s left head snapped as his right happily yipped, "Let us know how it goes!" The left glared at the right who swiftly defended itself, "What? You literally know as well as I do how useful electricity is in chemistry." I gave everyone time to make some distance before I tried to activate the mutation, to very little fanfare actually. I could feel a bit of current running through me, but I wasn''t getting the expected snaps of electricity or visible bolts bursting off myself. Attempting to slither with it running resulted in me nearly skipping along the ground as my already silly strength spiked, if I actually had legs I bet I''d be bouncing around like I was on the moon. There wasn''t exactly anything really big and heavy around that I was willing to test my strength on, but at a rough guess I''d estimate that my strength was doubled if not tripled while using the mutation. It sure ate through stamina like it was in an eating contest though. Pausing to Focus on Respiration for a few seconds I readied myself to test what myoelectric was like with a bit of Focus. Ah, there''s that electrical crackling I was expecting. From the edges of my carapace electricity was dancing and arching down to the ground, in, small. bolts... Oh I''m an idiot! Of course I wasn''t sparking with standard myoelectric running. I was made of metal and most of my body was touching the ground! It was probably hard to get more grounded than I naturally am so the electricity didn''t need to spark out of me to reach the ground unless I massively pumped up the current. So what happens if I''m airborne while using it? Activating standard Myoelectrical again I used a basic leap, flying a full six stories upwards where I immediately began to crackle and hum like an overloading transformer. Woo! That appears to provide a heft boost to my physical skills as well nice! Now how can I shoot lightning bolts while I''m up here? I tried to Focus Myoelectric purely into my mouth and, Oh that was a mistake! My teeth are going numb! That feel super weir-! *Kra-kow!* Oh shit! A legit ass lightning bolt had just burst from my mouth! It didn''t go anywhere near where I was aiming, shooting dozens of yards off target to strike a tree, but still! I can shoot lightning while airborne! Even landing on my head did nothing to dampen my excitement at the discovery as I squirmed happily around the now slightly deeper crater in a snakey jig. This didn''t really make up for everything else, but it was a hilariously fun ability to have and it was enough to make me genuinely happy for the first time in months! I felt like I could jump over the moon! ... Actually, I eyed the massive domed stadium standing roughly five hundred feet away. I bet if I Focus both Myoelectric Mutagen and Leap at the same time I could jump clear over the stadium from here without even having to use Lunge! Not pausing to give the idea even the least bit of thought I let electricity flow wildly through me as I aimed myself in the general direction of the distant structure. Focusing on both the mutation and skill at the same time was a trick, only slightly easier than writing with both hands at once, but I just managed and let the results fly. I did indeed clear the stadium. By far more than I intended. "Ya~ho-ho-whee!" Chapter 22: Rough Landings and Rougher Hoods So it turns out that mixing Focused abilities results in a far larger boost than I had calculated, by a relatively minor margin. I''d so far cleared about three blocks and was finally starting to lose altitude, playing it by eye I''d likely clear another block or two before my final landing. Which looked like it would put my landing position near the Wall2Wall-Mart. Well, I had been planning to come here later in the day, so I''d at least save the trip. Actually no, scratch that, it looked like my trajectory would have me landing in the store! Remembering the crater my earlier Leap had made this Leap might just erase the store in its entirety. That was already a rather big problem, but add in the fact there was a fair sized T-Rex lounging outside implying that there were people potentially inside it turned into a massive problem! Time to decelerate hard! Firing off several Lunges tailward was certainly slowing me down and deepening the angle of impact, reducing the chance of me bouncing into something. Unfortunately it seems I was still going to hit the side street near the store that was stuffed full of big rigs who''s riders had likely been sitting there catching some sleep on their journey when the Event happened. Dang it! Uh, that one seems the least important, if I''ve got to hit something might as well hit that one! I managed two more Lunges before I slammed into the truck''s cab hard enough to not only reduce it to shredded scrap but completely flip its load. Sadly this was woefully inadequate to stop my momentum, leading to me hitting the road and blasting a minor crater in it, before spiraling over the drainage ditch separating the road from the parking lot. Screaming over the parking lot I smashed through one cart return without slowing and skipping off the ground again. Both the T-Rex and I seemed to simultaneously realize I was barreling right towards them. They began to awkwardly try to stand themselves up with their tiny arms scratching at the wall in an attempt to pull themselves up faster. I tried to wrap myself around one of the lot''s light poles only to rip through the thing and achieve little beyond putting myself into a wild spin. I need this to stop! How do I stop!? Stop! Wait didn''t I just figure out how to-? YES! Focused Bunker Down! My body curled itself into a defensive coil and everything slammed to a jarring halt as I found myself looking into the wide reptilian eyes of the T-Rex a meager two feet from my own head. As I hung in the air staring at each other for a moment just looking disbelievingly at each other in a frozen moment my tongue flicked out. Huh, I can literally smell fear? Neat. Dropping my Focus, my body plopped to the ground with a heavy thud. Pulling my head away from the smaller dinosaur I gave him a cheery smile, "Top of the morning neighbor! How''s your day been going so far?" "What in the God damn...?" I''m not sure the guy(?) even meant to say it. My appearance seemed to have really freaked him out. "Bones," a voice like a grinder gargling gravel called from inside, "You okay? What was all that noise?" A hunched desiccated cross between a man and squirrel poked its head out of the door into the store and looked up at me in shocked confusion. Is that a Chupacabra? I wondered before pushing on, "Howdy neighbor, y¡¯all doing some early morning shopping too?" "Bones," the little chupacabra man didn''t take his eyes off me, "Where in the Goddamn did this pendejo come from." "This hombre literally just dropped out of the sky and bounced his way over here Spider," the Bones stated, seeming to finally recover himself. "Fuck damn near made me shit myself." Hrm, that sounded like gang names, that certainly didn''t bode well for this interaction ending peaceably. No reason not to at least try for it though, "Sorry ''bout that partner. Still a bit new to flyin'', still workin'' on the landin''. No hard feelin''s right?" "Nah, nah, nah, ain''t happening snake boy." Bones said, stepping forwards and poking me in the chest with his snout, "We''re using this place and we ain''t in no sharin'' mood comprende?" I looked down my nose at the far smaller man who was trying to intimidate me. It felt like getting threatened by a toddler with a knife, potentially a minor threat, but more an annoyance. I let the affable friendly drawl drop away and the full deep rumbling voice of my new body take its place. "Strike one chupamedias. Continue at your own peril." Bones seemed to recoil a bit at the sudden change in attitude, but Spider seemed to step forward to take his place, "Oh? What ya gonna do gringo? You feel tough jus'' cause you''re a little big?" He looked directly into my eyes and I felt fear spike through me. My blood was already starting to get up from these two so the sudden spike of fear nearly made me swing at the little brat. I quickly realized this for an effect like Daphne''s hiss which burned away the false fear with a fresh rage. That inner monster in my soul that was always eager and willing for violence, that longed for battle and bloodshed, was chomping at the bit. It wanted me to tear these vermin apart and laugh over their bodies, and oh how tempted I was to give into its whispers. They hadn''t quite crossed that line though. I would hold to my vows until then. "What I will do iss usse hiss asss to beat your asss," I hissed, my anger making talking a tad difficult, "If you''re sstill dumb enough to sstart sshit again I will ssimply kill you. Sstrike two by the way. Want to keep tessting me tiny?" "Spider," Bones rumbled in a sad attempt of a whisper, "I think this maldito is the real deal." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "I don''t care who he is!" Spider snapped, "Tango Blast don''t back away from some rando who thinks he''s hot shit!" Spider whirled to shout into the store, "Yo! Newbies! Get your asses out here and-" That was clear enough intent of violence for me to declare strike three. Leaning down and engulfing half the tiny man''s body in my mouth I leaned back and, using my entire body as a poor substitute for an arm, whipped the little turd through the air. He flew like a screaming frisbee, but due to the poor throw he didn''t even make it to the end of the block. ¨CGrappling Strike has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C Glaring down at Bones I simply told him, "Fetch. And don''t come back." Bones seemed to hesitate as he looked up at me, then his eyes widened as he looked at something behind me and thundered over to his friend. Looking behind me I saw the outline of Matilda, Raphael, and Daphne in the sky closing quickly. I guess even a dinosaur with a brain the size of a walnut can figure out four is a bigger number than one. "This isn''t over gringo!" Bones shouted from a safe distance, "The Foritos don''t bend over for no one! Will be back and fuck up you and your gili friends!" I seriously considered using a Lunge to zip over into his face or maybe even a Focused one to simply impale him. However the bonehead carefully scoped up his weakly twitching friend in his mouth, running off before I made up my mind. If those two decided to make good on their threats I''d make good on my promise. Raphael landed nearby while Daphne hung back and seemed to be investigating the truck I''d flipped upon landing. Matilda fluttered down to land on my head, several of her miniature clones fluttering off her to flit around the area. She cocked her head at me, speaking in a slow scolding tone of someone dealing with a troublesome child, "Joe. Would you like to tell me why in the five minutes it took us to catch up with you, you somehow got someone to declare war on you?" I coiled a bit reflexively at her tone, "They were a couple thugs trying to claim the entire store for their own and not being willing to share. They decided to push me and I pushed back. Turns out I can push a lot harder than they can and apparently they took exception to that." "You know I wasn''t really looking to be part of a gang war," Raphael said with a shudder that produced a sound like leaves in the wind. "They''d have been an issue eventually." I reasoned, "By at least making a strong showing we can hope they will consider us too strong to tangle with right now." "I somehow doubt it," Raphael sighed. "So what do you want to do about the four that are still inside cowering by the door?" Matilda asked. "They haven''t done anything to me so I''m willing to let them leave peaceably." Turning to the door I called out, "Come on out you four. I swear to God and on my honor that we aren''t going to hurt you unless you do something unimaginably stupid." I slapped my tail on the ground for both emphasis and to get a nice strong reading with tremorsense. ¨CTremorsense has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C As they huddled inside the store, I examined the aardvark, cockatrice, deer with wind chime looking antlers, and ram. Huh, the ram guy kind of looks like the critters from my bloodline vision. All of them were holding themselves with far less confidence than the thugs I''d run off and seemed to be conversing amongst themselves. They didn''t seem to be willing to come out. Matilda suddenly jerked as if struck, "Joe, please go deal with Daphne over at that truck. Me and Raphael will deal with coaxing these four out. "What''s she doing?" I asked curiously. "Go!¡± Matilda fluttered down to the ground and had several of her smaller moths start harassing my face, "Before that girl gets herself killed!" "I''m going! I''m going!" I said slithering away and throwing back a weepy wail of, "Why are you always abusing me!?" Matilda waved me off, or perhaps she was jokingly threatening me with her fist, hard to say with bug legs. Turning my attention to the flipped and half shattered trailer across I''d impacted. I could just make out several scattered metal, plastic, and wooden crates bleeding onto the road. The plastic crates tickled my memory as looking familiar, the metal boxes I recognized instantly from the times my friends in the service had managed to get me some time with some particularly fun guns. Those were military ammo boxes. Picking up the pace of my slithering, a slow and ponderous process, I began trying to spot our new bat girl among the clutter. There were a lot of places someone as small as her could be hiding, but spotting one of Matilda''s mini moths fluttering its wings and pointing I finally spotted the bat. She was perched behind one of the wooden crates that was cracked open and was trying to drag out its contents. All I could tell from here was it involved a tube large enough to fit a soup can down. Using a Lunge to skip over the drainage ditch, even if it caused me to skid across the road and crash into another eighteen wheeler. Now getting a VERY good look at the 20mm autocannon the woman was trying to pull free of its packaging, I felt my heart skip a beat. Looking over the many remaining wooden crates spilling out of and still inside the trailer, many of which were bigger than the one Daphne was playing with, it might be a good idea to find out what was in those. Focusing on my tremorsense I gave the road a hard slap. Then my heart stopped as my breath caught in my throat. Those are rockets!!! Why is this random eighteen wheeler full of rockets, bombs, and cannons!?! Oh Jesus! I crashed into a trailer full of bombs and rockets! Why is a random trailer full of military grade explosives!? Good Lord thank you for your mercy today. A squeaky yelp broke me out of my building panic attack to see that the four foot tall woman had managed to tug the ten foot cannon free of its crate enough for it to fall on her and pin her to the ground. Bending down to tenderly grip the weapon in my teeth, I lifted it off the bat and returned it to its home. Daphne turned to glare at me only to pause and ask, "What''s got you so spooked?" "That cannon you were just playing with is one of the smaller things in that truck," I said as steadily as I could manage, "We are all very lucky that no one else found this before us, because that could have been very very bad. I know last I checked you weren''t officially part of our group yet, but can you let everyone at the stadium know we need the trailer emptied and brought over as soon as physically possible and that we won''t be back until we''ve loaded this up?" "Can I keep the cannon if I do?" Chapter 23: Accusations and Suspicions Gazing dumbly at the boxes of bombs, rockets, and heavy weapons that had likely been fated for the Navy reserve air base across town I found myself thinking back to an old comic from my childhood, specifically a line spoken by one Hand Grenade Man. ''You''d be amazed what people will let you get away with when they know you have a hand grenade.'' Well, I''ve now got a lot more than a hand grenade. I might not know how to use most of this stuff, but just letting people know that we have heavy weapons and high explosives would make us simultaneously a tempting target and someone people would not be looking to mess with. Sure there were people out there who were now the size of a small building, but these were weapons that made feet of the most durable armor man could make at scale just go away. Heck, for all the confidence I now had in my metal scales, I''m pretty sure even the autocannons could blow holes in me, everything else would reduce me to chunky salsa. Of course, not knowing how they worked made using the weapons as a deterrent a double edged sword. Sure they would scare the absolute piss out of anyone who knew we had them, but if they called our bluff we could easily end up killing ourselves with these things. Heck, I didn''t even know if this stuff was still functional after however many decades they had been sitting in their boxes. The fact that nothing had gone off either meant that God had been watching out for me or that the explosives had been rendered inert. Do bombs and rockets have a safety that needs to be flipped off? I know nukes do and are stupidly easy to disarm, but I don''t know about conventional explosives. I wonder if I''m heavy enough to have one of those autocannons mounted to my tail or head and soak the recoil? A vision of me as a mecha-snake firing missiles and autocannons from my head while laying waste to a pack of dinosaurs wearing red and shooting pistols at me made me cackle happily for a moment. "Dare I even inquire what that was about?" Matilda asked behind me. Turning I found her being escorted by Raphael and the four people from the store pulling shopping carts. "Oh just being entertained by plotting new acts of utter stupidity." I answered happily. She bounced one of her moths off my face for that comment. ¨CWolfram Mutagen has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C Really? "Well stop that, we''ve had enough of that until at least lunch," she chided. I used my most sad, put upon, and nasally voice I could still manage as I sagged, muttering a mournful, "Okay." in response. She bounced another moth off my face in return. Laughing and dropping the act I eyed the others behind Matilda, frowning inwardly as they each shrank from my gaze. "So what''s the deal with you four then?" The aardvark nudged the deer forwards, who turned to give the smaller man a betrayed look before taking a couple steps forward and taking a moment to center himself. Admittedly, I was taking the moment to listen to the tinkling, shimmering sound his loose hanging antlers were making. It was a rather curious sound, it had a bit of a wooden quality to it, but also more than a touch of what you''d get from glass chimes. It wasn''t bone, ivory, or keratin chimes either, nor was it crystal, what were his horns made out of? Realizing the man was actually talking I quickly focused on his mouth and not his still tinkling horns, "-Dustin Lerburg. I wish to assure you that we are in no way associated with those brutish bores. We, along with several others found ourselves accosted shortly after our hatching by several of their associates and rudely informed that we were now in their employ. Those that spoke out against such crude impressment found themselves brutally beaten, though eventually all of us were beaten as part of our ''initiation''. I can honestly say that, should you be amenable to it, that we would like to beseech you for Sanctuary from their reprisals." I gave the man a doofy smile as I said, "I like your funny words, fancy man." Internally howling in laughter at the look of horrified befuddlement on Dustin''s face I smiled properly and said, "I am indeed amenable to taking in you and your fellow unfortunates. Yet I must warn you, this is very much a conditional sanctuary. While we might have a large surplus of food for now, and a solid base of power, we are not so flush with resources that we can allow for layabouts and those who are unwilling to defend themselves. You join us and we will teach you what we know about fighting, give you a bed, and feed you best we''re able. In exchange we expect you to earn your meals through blood, sweat, and tears just like the rest of us. Is that acceptable to you?" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. All four of them seemed a bit leery of the idea, but the deer himself actually gave a sputtering protest, "Sir, I am a Professor of English! I am not some common laborer to be pressed into service as a levy for combat! I am a man of words, of history and literature! You can''t expect me to bloody myself simply on your say so!" "Then go back to your gang, I''m sure they''ll appreciate your knowledge of literature." I stated bluntly, "Or simply run off across town in hopes of finding someone na?ve or generous enough to let you leech off them. In case you haven''t noticed, professor, we''ve been reset to zero here. We don''t need to remember our literary history at the moment! We need people to work the land, build shelters, and drive back the savages who would see the light of civilization extinguished! This is the frontier, and those who don''t fight the encroaching wilderness will be consumed by it!" Realizing that during my rant my voice had been steadily climbing to a near shout I gave myself a quick shake and lowered my voice, "Perhaps in a few years we will have the luxury of letting you return to your old work as a professor, but that will require us not to have our immediate border threatened by a gang who would happily enslave you. Consider that over breakfast, because we can at least spare you that much." The four backed off to confer amongst themselves as Raphael awkwardly hopped closer and Matilda fluttered to her usual place atop my head. They both looked at me oddly before Raphael asked me, "You honestly believe what you were saying don''t you?" "Yeah," I sighed, spotting Rumi dragging the trailer and being escorted by Shaniqua and Daphne in the distance, "I was hoping that most of the people we run across will be reasonable and we might get the occasional military or police officer willing to work with us on rebuilding society. We simply had too much criminality and literal retards to be able to count on that always being the case. I was hoping for it to take longer before we started running into slavers, psychopaths, cannibals, and worthless dregs but I suppose no such luck there. With luck, those unwilling to accept the world''s changed," I gestured with my head at the four who were watching Rumi''s with muted awe. "Will be convinced before they get themselves or someone else killed. But, lead a horse to water and all that." Rumi set down the chains she was pulling with and opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by the aardvark pointing up at Daphne. "Hey isn''t she with those Forties guys?" "She does bear a striking resemblance to the bat that was with those ruffians when we were rounded up." Dustin hummed, eyeing her closely. "W-what? N-no," Daphne stuttered nervously, her eyes flicking briefly to me, "I''m n-not with t-a gang! I was just a housewife w-who found herself alone when she woke up! I got attacked by a bat myself, s-so maybe people of the same species just look similar!" "That is indeed a plausible hypothesis, yes," Dustin hummed, sounding far from convinced. "One that can be settled later," I interrupted, "For right now we have several tons of military hardware to move before we can head back and have some breakfast. Daphne, would you go get a couple more people with hands?" "I don- Sure, I''ll get right on it." she sagged flying off back towards the stadium. We watched the bat woman fly off in silence. When she was about two blocks away the aardvark man said, "You know, she probably is with those thugs right?" "I must agree with Saul," Dustin stated, "It does seem highly plausible that she is lying to you and likely a scout for the very gang you just chased off." "I agree," I admitted, "But it''s also equally likely that her story is true and that you are more loyal to the gang than you are letting on and accusing her to sow division." That seemed to bring the four up short and the aardvark''s face contorted with affront as he opened his mouth and I pressed on. "Which is why she''s being watched, just like you will be watched if you decide to stay with us longer than breakfast." Rafael sighed, "I miss simply being able to trust the people around me." "I miss being able to ignore the people around me," I replied. "I miss being people," Shaniqua grunted, wrapping four of her paws around one of the crates and moving it with short hops over to the trailer Rumi brought. "Anyone else here going to help me move this junk? What even is this?" I made sure to wait until Rumi finished shifting a far larger box with ease using her horns before saying "Anti-air missiles and tactical bombs with a smattering of lighter weapons like autocannons." I smiled as Rumi tripped over herself and Shaniqua nearly face planted from an involuntary hop. Both women looked at me disbelievingly as I continued. "I just wish this was the first time I accidentally stumbled upon military grade weaponry." "I''m glad that you''re going to be leaving soon," Rumi snorted, "Maybe things will get less exciting with you gone." "Oh don''t worry dear," Matilda said, her antennae giving a happy little wiggle, "Before long you''ll start seeing it as routine. You''d be amazed what the human brain can adapt to." Chapter 24: Maple Scorpion Breakfast Plans After our extra hands arrived we managed to fully load the trailer in a downright spectacular time of a singular hour. It did make the trailer heavy enough that even Rumi needed a little help pulling it down the road, but we had plenty of people. While we were loading I sent those too small and weak to really help with loading weapons to pick over the store for blankets, spices, and other ingredients that don''t expire along with disinfectants. By the time we were done loading there were a half dozen shopping carts loaded down with salt, maple syrup, honey, and other goods. I felt a little bad for raiding the place considering I''d chased someone off from it, but reminded myself that they had been literal slavers. I tried to convince myself that there was still likely plenty more left in the store that a smart or experienced survivalist could make use of so it would still be a useful resource for other survivors out there. I further justified it to myself that there were dozens of other stores within ten miles of this one so even if we had somehow completely cleaned it out there was still plenty of starter supplies for any other groups out there. Shaking the thoughts off we began the trek back to the stadium from where I was already getting the occasional whiffs of an almost shellfish-esque smell on the wind. The scent of honey soaked meat was making me realize I was getting pretty hungry after spending the whole morning basically exercising. I could see a few others in our group visibly salivating at the smell as we ambled along the pitted and cracked road, especially among our four new people. We''d gotten to chatting a bit while working and learned a few things about them. The aardvark man was named Saul and was an utter hippie through and through. He''d been a solar panel salesman, and outside of doing some basic gardening seemed to possess no real skills. Not only that, he seemed to put no thought into any of the stances he supported, such as claiming to fully support clean eco-friendly energy, which led to us getting into a very heated debate about how clean certain energy types really were. When a new topic soon saw the two of us butting heads again Matilda swapped out for him, sending the irritating anteater to help pick over the store for supplies. Matilda had apparently managed to strike up a conversation with the cockatrice man while they''d been looting the store. Seems he had been a doctor in training named Anthony at a hospital she''d worked for but had moved onto being a vet after finding working on people too stressful. She figured he''d be a great help to our little group should he decide to join due to the fact we were all technically animals in form now. I just hoped that he wouldn''t lose his nerve again when it counted. The goat was an utter disaster of an enigma. No one was entirely certain of his name, as the man seemingly spoke maybe ten words of English, at best guess it was Warsame. Worse yet, his native tongue wasn''t Spanish, German, Vietnamese, or Welsh either. Whenever he spoke, it seemed to bounce between something that sounded like vaguely Italian gibberish to my ear or what I''m modestly certain was Islamic. Worse yet, the man seemed to be at best retarded, if not imbecilic or an outright idiot. I will admit some of this could simply be from the language barrier, but the man seemed to struggle to figure out what was being asked of him even if someone took the time to draw a picture of it. Sometimes even when literally pushed into position next to someone else doing what we were trying to get him to do it would take the man upwards of a minute to catch on. All in all I found myself quietly hoping that most if not all of these ''men'' would elect to simply move on instead of joining up with us after breakfast despite some useful skills and a desperate need for manpower on our part. Arriving back at the stadium I saw that most of the people here were already helping themselves to the boiled scorpion stew and grilled scorpion, including several people I didn''t recognize, likely locals from the north and west of the stadium who had come to investigate all the noise we''d made last night and this morning. A warm feeling fluttered briefly in my chest as I watched the strangers trying the food, we''d likely saved these people from getting eaten by the damn boss. Their reactions to the food seemed to be decidedly mixed, as I saw some people making heavy use of salt, pepper, and honey while others were eating it straight. Considering how selective my own pallet had been, I found myself grateful for all the spices we''d grabbed considering how much of a staple of our diet jerked scorpion was likely to be for the foreseeable future. I gave a wave to Jack as we approached and truthfully told him, "Smells great, thanks for doing this Jack." "Don''t thank me until you try it," he chuffed, nibbling on his own piece of grilled meat, "Reactions seem to be pretty divided." "Say, have you seen Daphne?" I casually cast my gaze about, "I''m not seeing her." "Yeah she beat you back by like ten minutes, neglected to have anything since she had that fish earlier and went to rest. Why?" "Because," I said, lowering my head and speaking as quietly as I could, "There is a very real chance she might be affiliated with a local gang that seems to be turning into warlords." I motioned back to the four nervous looking hatchlings who were examining breakfast with either utter revulsion or naked hunger. "They claim to have seen someone similar in the gang when they got forcibly conscripted. They could be lying though and they are the actual gang members, but I doubt that for most of them. Still pass the word around to the others to keep an eye on her and them would you?" This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "You got it boss." Both Jack and I violently jumped in fright as we both simultaneously took note of Damian sitting contently in my shadow. The little bastard looked up at the both of us absolutely radiating smugness. "Ztop. Zoing. Zat!" Jack buzzed angrily at the fluffy little dinosaur. "I know you''re doing it on purpose at this point!" "Sorry, can''t hear you!" Damian cackled scurrying away, "Gotta go spread the word like the boss asked me to!" "Stop calling me boss, dang it!" I called after him before turning my attention back to Jack, "He been like this all day?" "A lot of folks started experimenting after they got woken up by your own experiments." Jack confirmed, "His has just been the most annoying. Though I did notice everyone else seems to be an order of magnitude less powerful than the stuff you were pulling." I lifted and shifted my tail to the side, setting it down heavily and making a note of where the four unknowns were in the resulting ping from my tremorsense before continuing in a whisper, "I''m pretty sure a lot of that was from using Focus to power up abilities. It''s fairly easy once you''re aware of it, but fairly tiring. I planned to go over what I''ve figured out before sparring tonight." Jack nodded, his jaws clenched and antennas twitching. "So keep it under wraps." "We''ve already got at least one hostile group in the area," I stated at conversational volume, "Seems silly to go spreading it all about and nullifying our key advantage." "So what''s the plan then?" Jack asked, his antennas and body posture shifting in such a way to easily portray grim determination. He looks so gosh dern cool! I swear I''m getting jealous. "Eat breakfast." I answered grimly. My gaze drifted over to the diminishing pile of lightly grilled baby scorpions, my tongue flicking out and catching a scent that smelled just divine. "Then offer up some suggestions on things for folks to do today while warning everyone about the gang in the area." Seeing the clear confusion in Jack''s stance I reminded him, "I''m not in charge or anything Jack, don''t know why people keep acting like I am." Slithering around the wasp man and looking at the remaining food, I gripped one of the roast scorpions by the tail and swallowed it down whole. The taste was somehow both somewhat similar to grilled shrimp and radically different in an utterly bizarre way that was very difficult to describe. Sadly I also found it roughly as filling as a singular jumbo shrimp, meaning even if I ate all three of the remaining three foot long scorpions I''d only be halfway through the appetizer. So I held myself back, making sure everyone who was willing to eat had their fill of breakfast before I ate the leftovers and drained the few gallons of remaining scorpion/fish/dandelion stew. I still didn''t really feel full. "Alright everyone," I called, letting my mountain of a voice ring out over the gathering of chattering people like a tinny megaphone, "Gather round, gather round. Now that we''ve all had a moment to wake up and feed ourselves we should probably start figuring out what we''re going to do with the rest of our day. Now we''ve already had a fairly busy start with both the discovery of a local gang from Fort Value apparently turning warlord and slaver, according to our new guests, as well as the discovery of a small but powerful heavy weapons cache." That got people murmuring again and those that hadn''t already introduced themselves to our newcomers casting them a worried look. "While normally I''d call that a pretty full day and be done with it," I continued, speaking over the chatter, "We don''t have that luxury. So I''m going to list off several things that we need to get done with before sun-down today and you''re all free to handle it in whatever order you like, I''m not your dad, but I will heavily suggest you move in groups of at least three. First off, we need that trailer unloaded and all the stuff in it properly stored and inventoried so we know what we actually have. "Second, I really need someone with hands, and preferably thumbs, to finish building those latrines myself and Matilda started on this morning. They shouldn''t need too much work really, a fire in them for maybe an hour to dry out the clay walls, a simple floor of wooden boards, and the frame of a wall we can put tarps or something over so everyone can''t see us doing our business. I''d also like whoever does that one to also start cooking as big of a meal as possible for supper and get to jerking all our meat since they''ll likely have some free time. If you don''t know how I can show you, it''s not a hard process, but it is time consuming. "Third, I''m pretty sure all of us would like some better beds and clothes. In fact, many of us, including myself, are shamefully nude at the moment! Well, as luck would have it, I know for a fact there is a mattress store next to the Hobby Plaza and Salvation Navy down on Abrams. I figure between those three stores we should have everything we need to both have some proper beds and start actually making some clothes properly fitted for us, not to mention some really useful tools going forwards. "Fourth is I''d love for someone to go to the local libraries and start salvaging all the books they can. Preserving knowledge is going to be key to our future and with the internet dead, books are our best reservoir of the stuff. Even fictional stories can sometimes hold useful nuggets of knowledge so if you do grab some books grab them as well. Plus, you know. Eventually we''ll hopefully be established enough for some down time and books are something you can use to pass the time even in the heart of winter. "And lastly, seeing as we have wild monsters and bandits roaming about, I''d like for us to get started on some form of wall, even if it''s just an earthen berm behind a ditch. I know at least a few of us are skilled diggers thanks to things like fossorial mutagen and other abilities so hopefully that will keep things from taking too long. Though This is a massive area I''m wanting us to block off. While I think we should start with just the roads around the stadium itself to start with, we should absolutely expand out to wall off Green and Cluck parks as a form of Mott and Bailey defense eventually." "And just what will you be doing while all of us are doing this?" Jerry demanded angrily from where he''d been talking with several people I didn''t know. I really wanted to say taking a nap, because honestly I was already feeling exhausted despite it probably not even being ten yet, probably from my less than restful sleep. Instead I told everyone, "I''m going to be heading up towards the Veranda and River Legends Park, there''s a plant shop over there I want to see if there are any viable plants or seeds to start a bit of agriculture here with. Moreover, there''s almost certainly going to be more people up that way who I want to at least warn about our local would be warlords and see if any of them want to join us. You''re free to come with me if you want, do keep in mind that with it being so close to the woods, lakes, and golf courses there will likely be a lot of monsters in the area including potentially several big boys such as that guy." I pointed to the towering corpse of the scorpion boss slowly rotting in the morning sunlight where it lay on display for all to see. "So who wants to come with me?" Chapter 25: A Boar of a Chore As it turned out I actually had to turn away several people who wanted to come with me. While I was willing to try and get to know some of the new faces, I also wanted to keep several of my fellow evolved folks relatively nearby just in case something happened while I was gone. That and I wanted to avoid looking like we were an invading army. As such, I chased off everyone but Shaniqua for her many dexterous paws and Rumi since she had apparently lived in the area and wanted to check in. Saul also invited himself along, insisting that he knew more about gardening and plants than we did, despite him not being able to describe seed selection or proper ways of treating various illnesses in plants. So making a few improvised saddlebags out of trash bags, loading them with a few bottles of water, for the trip we began trekking North. A half hour passed peacefully enough, mostly with me inquiring about what choices the trio had made in their evolutions or what abilities they had. Turns out that Saul had some fairly poor luck for his hatching mutagen and food skill, getting both Chemoreceptor Mutagen which pushed his innate Scent special to what he was fairly sure was miles and Powerful Spit. He admitted that, yes, being able to smell everything within a couple miles of you sounds useful, but it also meant he was innately made aware of every fart and fresh turd in that radius. His Powerful Spit skill seemed like a joke, yes it was impressive to launch a loogie over a hundred feet, and he could shoot heavier objects like acorns even further, but it hardly seemed to compare to Shaniqua''s Rain of Blows or Rumi''s Kick. Personally, I considered swinging by a store to see what he could do with a box of nails or a battery. Rumi tried to inquire about Shaniqua''s past, though the rabbit woman always redirected the conversation away from her profession. I got the distinct impression that it was something less than legal that she was far from proud of, I suspected it was likely some form of sex work, especially with the way she mentioned her three kids but made no mention of any husband or boyfriend. The bunny-centaur was able to get Rumi happily chatting about her own life with only minimal effort. Rumi seemed to have had a fairly large family who she seemed to be on good terms with, happily talking about how her grandparents met in the Vietnam War. She had four siblings, mostly brothers but one sister, and part of how she''d ended up by our apartment complex had been her bolting out of her home and frantically searching for them along the major roads. She was in the middle talking about what her various siblings did as we passed the local laundromat and were coming up on the first of the various green areas. Shaniqua stopped, her long ears shooting upright. "I hear something coming from those woods over there!" she hissed, her little nose twitching, "It sounds like several fairly big things and they''re getting closer." "It''s fine," Saul shrugged, "It''s just some pigs, there''s more of them over at the golf course further on." The other three began to relax until I boomed, "And you didn''t tell us!? Do you have any idea how dangerous wild boars are!?" "But they''re just pigs," Saul blinked in confusion as I whirled towards the direction Shaniqua had indicated. "Pigs that average around three hundred pounds and can get to be the size of small vehicles!" I snapped, "They also tend to move in large packs and are too clever by half! They are a serious threat to even armed and experienced hunters that will happily eat a human! And this is all before the Event which has likely made them far nastier!" As if to emphasize my statement, the first of the beast cleared the woodlands. It had obviously once been a boar, but now it had clearly been mixed with a healthy amount of gorilla standing nearly six foot high at the shoulder moving with a knuckle-walking gait. Its piggish face glared at us with tusks long enough to be considered daggers forcing its lips into a permanent snarl that showed not a hint of fear or wariness. The thing that frightened me the most about this creature was how flexible and dexterous the trotters on its forelegs were, flexible enough to be gripping a large sharpened stone. These things were tool users. Nearly as frightening was the fact that nearly a dozen more of the creatures burst out of the treeline behind it as it rose to its hind legs and squealed a hunting cry. The pack surged forwards as a tide. ¨CEncounter Quest Available: Boarish Bullies¨C ¨CReward: Performance Based¨C ¨CFailure Penalty: Death¨C Saul emitted an odd trilling coo as he cowered behind me. Shaniqua was quick to join him, though she wrapped one set of forelegs around him protectively as she cried out, "Joe! What do we do!?" Rumi charged forwards with an equine cry of her own, rushing forwards to meet the boarillas. "Stay close and back us up!" I shouted, beginning my own slow charge, "Don''t let them grab you or Saul, but don''t be afraid to rip their faces off!" Well short of the charging sounder of boarillas Rumi reared up, her forehooves positively radiating a thick red energy as she slammed them into the ground with a sound like a bomb going off. The effect wasn''t too different from one as a literal wave of Earth shot forwards throwing the boars flailing as high as ten feet into the air. It also did an absolute number on the street and a nearby gym, but she had absolutely blunted the charge of the monsters. The boarillas all landed heavily, some briefly seeming turned around and others slow to get up if they landed particularly poorly. "Hoo!" Rumi staggered, blinking dizzily, "That used up more stamina than I expected." I charged past her, my slow charge rapidly picking up speed as I carved furrows into the dirt and slammed into the disoriented line like a train. Three of the boarillas were sent flying into trees as I rammed through them, four more sent tumbling across the ground. I bit down on one of them as I slashed out at another with my tail. Seeing plenty more around me I threw the boarilla in my mouth into my side and coiled tightly around it to let constriction finish it. The thing squealed wildly as it thrashed against my crushing grip. Its cries seemed to galvanize the sounder of monsters, all of those I''d knocked away and injured quickly rising back to their hooves. The largest of them gestured at me while squealing and then gestured behind me towards Rumi and the others. I hissed furiously at the crowd of boarillas, "Try it and see what happens!" Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. As the dozen giant gorilla boars rushed towards me I lashed out at them with my massive tail blade. One of them literally threw themselves into the blade nearly being bisected by it, only for another behind it to use its fellow''s dying body as a shield to slow the swing to a crawl. Two more rushed forwards to seize my tail just behind the blade and hold it in place, effectively pinning my biggest weapon. I tried to swing my head around to bite at them, only to be halted as eight powerful arms grabbed my neck and pulled. I struggled against the pull, but the group was overpowering me and slowly forcing me to uncoil around the still screaming pig. "Joe!" I heard Shaniqua shriek. Rolling my eye her way I saw three of the boarillas rushing towards her, Rumi, and Saul. I loosed a furious hiss that dropped into a rumbling yowl as I spotted the largest of the monsters rushing towards me with sharpened rock held high. It let loose a victorious squeal as it slammed the stone into my brow. The blow seemed to set my blood alight with electrical fire and despite it all a vicious smile forced its way onto my face as I howled, "Honorless Vermin!" and focused on my Myoelectric Mutation. ¨CSuidarian is Stunned! x9¨C As lightning danced along my scales, running through those holding me and trapped in my coils, I laughed as they shrieked in pain unable to release me due to the very same electricity attacking them. Their leader''s face seemed to twist into a rictus of hate as it gripped its stone in a two handed grip and raised it high. I didn''t let him finish, channeling a focused Lunge through my tail. The attack was absolutely devastating to boarillas holding me, the great guillotine blades of my carapace and smaller barbs of my scales caught and tore at their flesh as I rocketed backwards. I could literally feel chunks of flesh being sliced free, including more than a couple limbs that simply ceased to be as every bit of meat was ripped from them. The one in my coils was crushed in half as the pull of the skill forced my body straight heedless of the beast caught in my grip. I tore a trench through the ground until I slammed into the already damaged gym hard enough to completely destroy one of its walls. I gave only a passing glance at the badly mauled group of beasts that had been restraining me, quickly moving to look at the girls and the three they were fighting to hold off. I could see Shaniqua absolutely hammering on one of the monkey pigs with her front six limbs slamming into its flesh like pistons. The poor brute''s every attempt to grab her or swing back was punished with dozens of blows that either stole all of the attack''s power or knocked it wildly off course. When the thing tried to back away from her she seized it by the tusk and began to viciously tear at its face with her front legs while her middle four limbs proceeded to hammer its torso into a bruised and broken mess. Rumi herself had her horns being gripped by a porky ape who seemed to be trying to twist her head off. Rumi snarled, raising her head high, completely lifting the pig off the ground as it held on for dear life before slamming down. The stunned boarilla still clung desperately to her horns with one hand and punched Rumi square in the face with its fist-like trotter. The woman snarled, glaring through the blood and brought her own hoof down on the thing''s groin hard enough to make its legs pop off and organs start spilling out. Saul himself was simply running as fast as his little legs would carry him as one of the monsters pursued him. The ape was catching up with him quickly as I snarled and used Leap to launch myself at the pair. I misjudged my angle and ended up flying past them and shattering the road in front of them with enough force to make both lose their footing and get pelted by debris. I lifted my front high and came down on the smaller pig ape with the closest impression of an elbow drop a snake could manage, pinning the beast under my flank and cutting deep into it with my sharp scales. Using my tail I blocked off the fleeing aardvark and glared down at him with the absolute mountain of contempt I currently felt for him. "Where do you think you''re going?" I hissed with a dangerous softness. "I-I-I c-can''t do a-anything against th-these things!" Saul stammered, his entire body trembling. "I-I was j-just getting aw-out of th-the way!" "You were getting yourself killed and risking the lives of the girls!" I snapped, looming over the man who was smaller than my head, "You should have stayed near the girls! Used your spit to give them openings or used those digging claws of yours to attack the legs of these monsters! Instead you forced one of us to come rescue you from your own craven stupidity!" I cast a glance back to see that the two women were facing down the largest of the beast, who was half carrying one of the badly mauled boarillas with one arm. "You''re damned lucky that I managed to do enough damage to the pack before I came over here. If one of them had died due to you leaving them to their fate I would be executing you for murder!" "M-murder!?" Saul squeaked, "I-isn''t that a b-b-bit harsh?" "No." I leaned forwards enough that the sharpened point of my face pressed against the little aardvark, "You would have been directly responsible for their death. I think the crime fits. Luckily for you it is simply criminal negligence in this incident and I''m willing to overlook it this once. If something like this happens again on my watch I will see you banished, at best." I pulled my head back and shifted to show the boarilla pinned under my body. "Now kill this thing." "Wha-!?" the former hippy recoiled, "Why me? Can''t you finish it off!?" "Yes," I replied bluntly, "but you said there''s more just up ahead and we aren''t always going to be willing to mollycoddle your stupid ass. You get better rewards for killing blows, so get killing so you can get the rewards you need to stand on your own for once." Looking back at the girls I could see that they had forced the leader to abandon its kin and flee and they were now putting down the beasts that were still strong enough to put up a fight. Despite his tears and protest I managed to get Saul to perform three killing blows before the quest ended. ¨CGrappling Strike has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C ¨CGrappling Strike rank up!¨C ¨CGrappling Strike: F ¡ú E¨C ¨CConstrict has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C ¨CLunge has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C ¨CMyoelectric Mutagen has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C ¨CTremorsense has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C ¨CEncounter Quest: Boarish Bullies!¨C ¨C12/13 Beasts Defeated!¨C ¨CCalculatingParticipation¡­¨C ¨C5/13 Enemies Disabled - 6 Killing Blows.¨C ¨CPerformance: Exceptional¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_EQReward¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Trait Improvement Token¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived 1pt!¨C ¨CGained 130xp!¨C ¨CLevel up! ¨C ¨CGained 1pt!¨C Chapter 26: Among the Weeds I felt absolutely terrible once everything had calmed down. Not for threatening Saul and forcing the coward to kill. No, I fully stood by that. The man was absolutely craven and if I had to be the metaphorical gun to his head to force him to do his manly duties I absolutely would. In the long run it would undoubtedly be good for him and help him figure out how to do what far too many hippies had never learned, to take responsibility. No, I felt terrible because I had something of a nascent migraine building in my head atop the general fatigue that had been building all morning. I got migraines like this on occasion, usually it was a sign of me going into caffeine withdrawal or the start of my third day without sleep. This time I felt fairly certain it had more to do with how much I''d been using Focused abilities, well kinda certain. It was a bit hard to think when it felt like someone had slipped most of a butter knife behind your left eye. The migraine was filling my head with wool, making thinking all the harder and making me long for a shady spot to simply curl up and pass out for a few hours. If only we were somewhere safe and not on an abandoned road near where more wandering monsters doubtlessly lurked. Thankfully the boarillas, or suidarian as the system called them, had not remained at the golf course. It seems the one that got away had warned them of our approach and they had all fled. We could see the distant remains of camp on one of the greens, no proper shelter or fire pits, but clear signs of stone napping and bones shattered for their marrow. Hopefully they would stay gone and wouldn''t turn into a persistent problem in the area. Nah, with my luck they''ll be back with an army in the hundreds if not thousands inside a month. I grumbled. I gave the water hazards a longing look as we continued north. While yesterday had been surprisingly mild for a summer''s day, today was feeling much closer to a standard for a Texas summer. Bright, sunny, and hot; and I was currently made out of metal. Tungsten might have a laughably high melting point, but it still soaked up heat nearly as well as steel from what I was feeling. Which left me feeling very much like I was slithering through an oven set to slow roast. The plant store was right there! Once I got there I could probably nap in the shade and let the others sift through the plants for stuff to take with us. Maybe we could get something to cook up those boarillas Rumi had slung over her wide back, I was still fairly hungry on top of everything else. ¨CLandmark Quest Available: Garden of Hunger¨C ¨CReward: 120 Exp, Seeds of Plenty¨C ¨CFailure Penalty: Death¨C I let out a long tired sigh, of course it couldn''t be so easy. "I don''t suppose that you three think you can clear this place on your own do you?" "You okay Joe?" Rumi asked a bit worriedly, letting the dead monkeys off her back as Shaniqua removed her improvised saddle bags. "The poor night''s sleep and heat aren''t playing well with me." I yawned. They didn''t need to know the full extent of my exhaustion. It would just worry them. "Really feeling the need for a nap, but I can power through if you need it." Shaniqua poked her head around the corner of the store and yelped as several pointed fist sized, bullet shaped, chunks of wood slammed dents into the chain link fence. She clutched a paw to her chest before looking confused and feeling around where her two torsos met, mouthing something I''m pretty sure was a confused oath before shaking her head. "This does seem like something better suited to your scales." "Fine," I grumbled, "but you do realize you can''t always count on me simply tanking things for you right?" "All the more reason for us to take advantage of it now." she replied happily giving me four thumbs ups. Poking my head up over the top of the store I tilted my head to let several more of those wooden bullets impact me, fairly close to my eyes. There seemed to be about a dozen man sized venus flytraps with thick barky hides firing their weaponized seeds about once every two second from a sphincter at the back of their maws. Mixed in among them appeared to be about six towering rag weed looking plants throwing off a thick yellow powder in a wide field. Right the flytraps probably only had limited ammo and would run out eventually. I was willing to bet the ragweed was throwing off something that generated status effects. If I chopped those down and let the flytraps deplete their ammo the others could probably handle the rest, yeah, seemed good enough for me. Closing the eye facing the shop I slithered around the building and through the gap in the fence into the now completely wild and overgrown yard. It was such a shame, I thought, opening my eyes just enough to see the ragweed towers, I used to love coming here with my mom as a kid. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The place had been like a living maze of plants, statues, and benches mixed with windchimes and green houses in its heyday that could all be bought as you walked its manicured arrangements. Now it was like walking, well slithering, through a clearing in the woods. Still pretty, but lacking the love of the garden maze. Even the various metallic windchimes which would fill the place with a soothing musical murmur with every puff of wind had fallen silent, rusting in heaps under tangling ivies and thin trees. Six swings of my tail and each of the ragweed towers fell, their field of pollen lingering before settling to the ground even as the flytraps continued to spit at me, one lunging to bite as I slithered past. It was barely more noticeable than raindrops against my armored hide so I was content to let them continue as I lowered my head to the open back of the store and began to slowly extend myself into the shop. I found myself feeling nearly crippled with nostalgia as I looked at various aged nick nacks, pots, bags of soil and fertilizer scattered about the now leaf covered tile floor. I absently took note of a few thermostats and barometers that still seemed to be working to note that it was almost ninety already as I curled up mostly inside the painfully familiar place. It probably took me a couple minutes to even notice the plants had stopped firing at me, a quick wave of my tail provoked a couple shots and I brushed away the notice that my armored hide had leveled up. Guess the stupid plants had finally run dry or near enough. Carefully unlocking the door, which was polite enough to have large protruding turn locks and handles for me to easily manipulate, I opened the front door to the others. "Looks like the plants are about spent, you should be able to handle the rest of them. I''ll be in here cooling off, give me a shout if you need anything." They might have said something else as I let the old spring pull the door close, but I was already closing my eyes, taking long slow breaths. Yet despite the wool filling my head, and weariness of my soul, my mind failed to still and continued to whirl even as I tried to catch a rare mid-day nap. How would my mother be doing right now? If she was a herbivore or a grazer, she''d doubtlessly be fine. Her little farm had plenty of grass along with her gardens and her ¡®maybe someday¡¯ orchard. I''d actually been looking forward to someday inheriting the farm, doing all I could to keep it in the family and making it something mom would be proud of. Yet worry intruded, as it always did anytime I had a moment. If things were this bad in a cluster of cities including two of the largest in the nation, how bad would it be out there? She was a town and a half off the freeway, there had been wildlife issues before the Event. She''d probably be all alone, almost all of her neighbors only being weekenders. Would she have Dad at least? I could see him being excited for such an event with how many of those isekai stories he listened to, especially if he got his sight and hearing back. The two of them wouldn''t be enough. I had dozens and still felt like I was barely keeping our heads above water. They''d have to travel a whole day just to reach the nearest town, likely being attacked and harassed the whole way. The soft spoken once unbreakable woman made brittle by age wheezing in pain as a man past his prime did his best to hold back the swirling shadows and snapping fangs as the martial arts he''d spent so long training failed him in a body that was no longer his. Miles from hope and help. With me up here, wasting time nannying a bunch of random people I barely knew or cared about, most of whom didn''t even want my help. By the time I finally left these ruins behind and traveled the long road south, I¡¯d only find their bones on the road. Cracked open for marrow and crushed under uncaring feet. I don''t even recognize them, simply brushing past their final resting place in total ignorance towards an empty house. No longer a home as the only things of importance there were gone forever. Just two empty eggshells and me waiting there forever, alone. Living out the rest of my short life alone in the vain hope that they''d return. That another member of the family would arrive. But they''d all died too. Just me left. Alone. Forgotten. Unmourned. As I''d always known I would be. I woke with a start as something hit my jaw hard enough to actually hurt. "Joe," it was Rumi, looking a bit jittery, "We killed those plants but the quest won''t end! They''re already starting to regrow themselves!" "Uproot them." I grunted flexing my jaw and feeling the fresh bruise, "If that doesn''t work eat them. If that still doesn''t work I¡¯ll cut down the entire damn garden to see if that does it." "Oh." Rumi blinked, "Duh, why didn''t I think of that. Shaniqua! Saul! Try digging out their roots!" I grunted, giving my body a shake and taking my measure. I felt slightly better, but as always the nightmare lingered like an oily heavy presence around my chest. I hated the damn things, they always seemed to sneak up on me. Made me forget they weren''t real and I could easily escape them. They were so damn convincing! As always in the wake of a nightmare, I went through what I remembered with impromptu logic and circumspect rational, lied to myself in order to ward off the lies and worries of the night. Sometimes I could almost make myself believe the lies. This time was harder and I settled for the many reasons my parents likely hadn''t made it into the first wave. Because everything else felt far too likely this time. I wanted to abandon these strangers to start sprinting south to the family farm, just to prove to myself that this was not one of my near singularly rare dreams that actually came true after a fashion. It had only happened the once, but it had made my nightmares all the more viscerally terrifying since. I couldn''t though. I''d already sworn myself to them for three days so they would have me for those three days unless they did something to seriously breach my trust. I''d always tried to be a man of my word, so there''d be at least something decent about me, and in a time like now that was a very valuable trait to have. So I was stuck, watching three people pull up roots and trying to help people I''d literally never met until yesterday get something halfway resembling a functioning society. The bubbling resentment I felt was likely just a result of my poor mood from the migraine and nightmare. Chapter 27: Haunting Signs The quest finally ended when we uprooted the last of the overly aggressive plants and the ''Seeds of Plenty'' seemed to be a small pile of seeds before each of us. Saul got something that looked like a mix between acorns and black olives which he confidently declared to be water lily seeds. Rumi got what I recognized as rice seeds while Shaniqua got some round yellow seeds that I believe might belong to some form of cactus. I got potatoes, if potatoes were stark white with red veins that made them look disturbingly like eyeballs. We all gave those things the side eye and started second guessing our other seeds, perhaps they might not be what they seemed either. Sadly, thanks to our current food situation we could hardly turn our nose up at them and loaded them all into one of the bags. Saul wanted to bring along some of the roots and maybe seeds of the giant flytrap plants we had just finished defeating. He claimed that they tasted great and with how rapidly they regenerated they''d be a good food source now while all our seeds were growing. Shaniqua tried one of the fallen plants and compared the roots to beets and the plant itself to rhubarb, Rumi said that they just tasted of grass to her. I reminded the former hippie that said plants were highly aggressive and carnivorous, he brushed off the concern. Being far to worn out to keep fighting the aardvark on the issue I allowed it as long as he was willing to take responsibility for any injuries that occurred. Sadly almost everything else in the place was too big to really take with us without a trailer to carry it all in. Pots, fertilizer, tarp, and greenhouse struts were just too bulky, even with Rumi''s wide back and might we just couldn''t carry enough stuff to reasonably be worth taking it. We needed more trailers to bring stuff back to the stadium, but there sadly wasn''t any conveniently nearby on the rich side of town. "Maybe someone will have a boat trailer they can loan us?" Rumi offered as we walked away from the shop. "Perhaps, but I doubt they''d be any more willing to spare it than we would our own trailer." I grimaced, longing for a hand to massage my temple. Do snakes even have temples? Uhg, I just want this day to be over so I can sleep this headache off! "Should we check those apartments there for anyone?" Shaniqua asked, pointing to a large block of middling apartments just before the bridge that separated the Veranda from the rest of the city. "You could if you like." I snorted, "Doubt anyone''s there. With the Veranda right there I bet they invited themselves over to have a walled community, the lake, and big houses." Shaniqua seemed to mentally flip flop for a moment before giving a small sigh and following. Rumi gave me a bit of a glare, but I was finding myself a bit too involved with my migraine to care much at the moment. The bridge across the river that fed the artificial lake the Veranda was named after was still an absolutely impressive beast despite the supposed decades that had passed since the Event. Six lanes of good solid concrete separated by a dirt filled median that even after decades still supported a fair amount of healthy looking Texas scrub plants, mostly yuccas at this point. The streetlights styled off gas lamps still stood, though I doubted they still worked. Only the sparse patches of clover and trees showed the old giant likely wasn''t as solid as it had once been. "I''m not risking it," I grunted, "I know my luck. You can go ahead and cross, I''ll just jump the river." "Is that really for the best?" Saul asked. "I''m not having a bridge collapse on me again," I growled slithering to the steep tree covered hill heading to the maybe thirty foot wide river. "We don''t exactly have the facilities to put me back together again this side of the Event yet." "Again?" I heard Rumi question. I was already skidding down the hill towards the lip of earth. A lot of illegal fishing had taken here place back in the day. I''d planned to stop there to aim my jump, but my mass and the loose rocky dirt worked against me as I kept right on going down to the next slope and towards the river without stopping. No. I groaned tiredly in my head. I''d had enough of river issues yesterday, thank you very much. So I simply fired off a Leap, shooting clear over the muddy waters, past the bridge and accidentally crushed one of the Veranda''s welcome signs and ruined the tasteful rock garden around it as I landed on it. Oops. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I looked down twisted metal letters tangled around my body but couldn''t manage much more than a tired sigh as I waved the others across the bridge. Hopefully the locals wouldn''t be too upset. Assuming there were any locals left, in the quiet of an abandoned world I cocked my head and listened to the near utter silence that deafened the world. The cries of cicadas, the rustle of trees in the rare puff of warm air masquerading itself as a breeze, and the faint splash of water from the artificial lake. No rumble of distant vehicles, no roar of passing planes, no tromp of thousands of legs or hammer of construction, even that quiet buzzing hum of electricity in the air was near absent. It would be so easy to simply assume that we were the last people on Earth despite the evidence we''d already seen. The world was oddly quiet without the song of civilization filling the air. My scaly body rattled like a truck of steel slinkies tumbling down a gravel pit as Rumi''s heavy hoofsteps pinged on my tremorsense and reminded me that I wasn''t alone here. "You okay?" She inquired quietly. "Just got lost in the quiet," I answered honestly, "Wondering if there''s actually anyone up here with how quiet it is. You''d think we''d hear something from here. People talking, modifying their homes, planting food, something." I shook my head, "They''re probably just deeper in, the Veranda does cover several miles." The other three were all silent as we continued our march past the entrance gate for River Legend Park, the city park''s gate sat open and inviting. Vast swaths of dead wood mixed thickly with living trees seeming to form a nigh solid wall of nature that looked thick enough to stop even one of my charges dead. Where the road had once been there was now a thick dirt trail with a solid arch of branches over it forming a tunnel that seemed to have a near fey like quality. Even the air seemed to beckon us in as well, cool air, heavy with the scent of loamy soil drifting out in a continuous relaxing sigh. Unbidden my mind whispered how delightful it would be to curl up in the shade of those trees and read a good book. I turned away, simply making a mental note that the park looked to be an excellent place for firewood and lumber. I could maybe relax in there come autumn when I''d hopefully have confirmed my family to be safe and healthy and some semblance of civilization had been restored to the world. Instead, I headed to the break in the brick wall that separated the gated community from us plebeians. I immediately noticed that the barred iron gate was missing. Not fallen over or knocked down. No, the several hundred pounds of iron looked to have been deliberately removed, fairly recently based on the pits in the earth where they had once been rooted. Which drew my attention to another anomaly, there wasn''t a single car parked anywhere in view on the street. In fact, I couldn''t spot any large pieces of metal on the street, even the streetlights were gone. "Whelp," some of my country drawl leaking out as felt my nerves building, "sumthin''s fucky. If y''all wanna sit this one out, I won''t blame ya. Sadly this be close enough to the stadium I reckon ah best investigate." "I''m coming with you," Rumi snorted with a glare. The woman seemed to be looking at the damage with offense. "I, suppose I''ll come too?" Shaniqua said with far less conviction. Saul just whimpered and pressed close to the much larger bunny. We''d barely moved more than twenty feet past the gate before Shaniqua''s ears shot up. "I hear something!" "What is it?" I asked, feeling my entire body tensing. "I don''t know!" she whined quietly, "I''m hearing a lot of metal and other stranger noises I can''t place. I think I might be hearing voices, but it''s hard to say with all the other noise." "You smell anything, Saul?" I demanded. The aardvark huffed at the air a bit, "Metal, wood, bugs, fish, lizards, water, oil, a few things I''m not sure of and, uhm, I''m pretty sure I''m smelling a lot of blood." "Right," I nodded, "Figure if we can get to the end of the street there''ll be able to raise myself over the houses enough to see the entire lake area. Hopefully that''ll let me see what''s goin'' on here." We moved forwards as quietly as we could, which sadly was not near as quietly as we''d like. Even with both myself and Rumi moving to advance along the lawns, everytime we hit driveways her hooves clopped loudly and my scales rattled and jingled. Even Shaniqua''s hops and Saul''s steps produced noise that seemed nigh deafening in the tense silence. While we advanced I flicked my tongue out to sniff the air and grimaced. I was definitely catching the distant scent of blood in the air. Finally we reached the corner of the pretentiously named ''Monarch Street'' and all gathered near the corner. Raising my head slowly, letting my eyes creep past the fence line, and eventually the top of the two story homes I cast my gaze about. From here I could clearly see the entire lake, the modest sized island in the middle of the lake, the three parks scattered through the Veranda, and the many small boat docks that dotted the shore. This let me easily spot... Chapter 28: Strike Three The bridge across to the island had been heavily fortified with hundreds of old cars stacked atop each other and bound together by street lights. Despite being stacked into formidable looking piles twenty feet high and ten thick, a massive wooly rhino was slamming a crater in the wall with help of a full sized tyrannosaurus with teeth like serrated sabers. One that looked rather familiar, as if someone had taken a certain thug I''d encountered earlier this very same day and let an edgy teen redesign him. They weren''t alone as a half dozen smaller animals behind the pair cheered them on. On the crumbling walls were a pair of smaller simians trying to fight the pair off using what looked like improvised pikes that were woefully ineffective against the two meaty giants. Behind them a cross between a pill bug, a centipede the size of a train car, and a gorilla with ten foot long arms seemed to be trying to force the wall back into shape. Despite their valiant attempts I could see they were quickly losing ground to their attackers, and they seemed to lack any form of a fall back position, if that wall fell those four would be slaughtered unless they had some real surprises. Lowering my head, I turned to the others, "The island on the lake is being attacked by what I''m pretty sure is those Tango gangsters I fought earlier. Looks like at least a couple of them have evolved. I intend to intervene, can I count on you three to back me up?" "Absolutely," Rumi snorted, her hooves tearing a hole in the road as she pawed at it. "I," Shaniqua looked nervous and uncertain before conviction and anger seemed to suddenly overtake her. She flexed her paws, extending wickedly curved three inch long claws from each of her paws and nodding, "Yes you can." "No," Saul whimpered, "I''m sorry! I just, I can''t face them! I''m not a fighter and these aren''t animals or plants, they''re people!" "I''d argue that fact," I gave the cowering aardvark pressing himself into the ground a dismissive glance, "Sadly things over there seem dire so such philosophical debates will have to wait until later." I turned to Rumi and Shaniqua, "I''m going to be launching myself over there in about thirty seconds, you two get over there as quickly as you can while still being fairly fresh. I''ll try to buy time for you to arrive." They both nodded and began to sprint down the road at the shocking speeds of a massively powerful horse and a titanic rabbit. Turning to eye the distance across the lake from my current location, it looked to be comparable to the distance I''d accidentally launched myself earlier today, maybe a little shorter. So unless I wanted to waste stamina on correctional lunges, I should probably aim at a steeper launch angle, and probably aim a bit west of them as well considering the kinds of impacts the skill made when super charged to this level. I was looking to save people, not accidentally take out the bridge as collateral. Who knew not taking that trigonometry class would come to bite me in the ass? I thought as I picked a launch trajectory via a bit of Kentucky Windage hoping it would land me close to my mental target. I reached for the system and the token sitting in there. I had been hoping to save it until my head was feeling a bit clearer to have a good think on which trait to use it on, but going into this without every advantage I could get was a mistake. No hoarding items and tokens until I ''needed'' it, I wouldn''t get to reload this if I blew it. Running an eye down my traits, I considered, which would be the best for me here? Grappling Strike, Constrict, Tremorsense, and Large would all be invaluable in the fight, but which would be the most valuable? Well, if I used it on my size I''d likely get even more massive which certainly had its use in combat, but it would likely make me even slower and more cumbersome than I already was. Not to mention the increase of food requirements which was already proving to be a bit of an issue even at my current size. Grappling Strike and constrict both had the same boon and issue, it would make me better at focusing down single targets, but I was looking at large numbers. Tremorsense was then looking to be the best choice, both for battlefield utility and long term usage. ¨CWould you like to redeem your Token?¨C ¨CUse Trait Improvement Token on Tremorsense E?¨C ¨CTremorsense: E ¡ú D¨C As soon as the various chimes, drums, and other various noises the system seemed to love making with every forced pop up and menu faded I noticed a marked difference with my tremorsense. Where before I only seemed to pick up on larger vibrations, now I was able to notice the nervous trembling of Saul, I could almost swear I was feeling the hammering of his heart from twenty feet away. Even Rumi''s distant hoofsteps were noticeable like bells ringing in the middle distance. This would be very useful in the upcoming fight. And that''s thirty. Electricity crackled as I focused on my myoelectric mutagen, feeling the heady strength filling me even as I shifted my Focus to Leap, launching myself high into the air like a cruise missile from a ship. A nervous yet excited laugh burst free from my throat as I rocketed hundreds of feet up into the sky over the lake. I could remind myself as often as I liked that I would withstand this landing without issue, but decades of absolute terror of heights was a hard habit to break. The mix of excitement, anger, and fear swirled around my migraine addled mind mixing into an absolutely bizarre emotional state that could perhaps be described as terrified bloodlust. I''m pretty sure my wild eyed smile as I fell back towards Earth like a meteor was horrifying to behold. My Kentucky windage put me shockingly close to the target, a bit closer than I wanted actually. I slammed into a hopefully empty house a street away from the bridge with enough force to not only completely reduce it to splinters and gravel but topple its neighboring buildings. My impact dug a deep crater into the ground that shattered streets and home foundations as debris was thrown skywards with a roar akin to a low flying jet. Despite being completely surrounded in blinding dust and drifting drywall, I had a near perfect image of not only the current battlefield, but also everything within a mile of me. I could clearly ''see'' all forty eight of the people hiding on their fortified island, Bones and his five friends confusion as they were pelted by shrapnel, Rumi and Shaniqua stumbling as the shock of my impact reach them, and an odd stork wearing a bandana that took off as I landed. More than that, I could see how their bodies fit together and even spot some potential weak points to exploit if needed. The sudden stop, the big boom, the information overload, and emotional cocktail all mixed together to make me the most punch drunk I''d ever been before. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "WOO!" I guffawed in the shocked silence, "Hi diddly ho neighborinos! Who''s down to dance!" Slithering out of the billowing dust I gave my shocked audience a toothy grin, "Bones! That you? Looks like someone started eating their veggies!" I cackled wildly as my blood thrummed with what felt like pounds of adrenaline, "You looking to get to strike three!?" The giant dinosaur seemed frozen, I couldn''t exactly figure out what the expression was supposed to be with how unfocused my eyes were and my inability to keep my mind on track. None of the smaller combatants on either side looked like they had any intention of drawing my attention, but it would have been funny if they tried. The hairy rhino with a horn that looked to be about eight feet long seemed like he was willing to try me though, how fun! "This ain''t involve you chico," The rhino said, turning to fully face me, his horn lowered and pointed my way, "You might find yourself turned into boots if you keep being such a tonto del culo! Joder!" His words provoked a low chuckle that quickly spilled into an evil laugh as my head rolled drunkenly about before refocusing on the man, "Vete a la mierda ya little prick! I''m allowed ta poke my nose in on disputes between neighbors as an honorable third party." I rotated my body to let my thick carapace face the rhino and tapped my chin against it. "Why don''t you back up that talk if you''re so confident? You''re only on strike one at the moment, you can take a swing for free before I find out if I can skip a rhino." I cackled again at the mental image that popped into my head. The rhino grit his teeth and kicked dirt as his dinosaur friend hurried over to him, hissing, "Half-Breed, tranquilo, hombre. Este es el tipo y parece mucho m¨¢s loco que la ¨²ltima vez. D¨¦mosle un respiro y probemos m¨¢s tarde. No querr¨¢s terminar como Spider, ?no?" "?Este chico blanco se est¨¢ meando sobre nosotros, Bones!" the rhino man snarled "?Est¨¢ tratando a Tango Blast como si fuera una mierda! ?No voy a dejar que se salga con la suya!" The rhino tore free of his friend and charged me horn down. I just smiled at him and kicked off a Focused Bunker Down. ¨CYou have taken 78 Impact Damage¨C I found myself genuinely surprised as the horn slammed into me so hard that for the first time since discovering the anchoring ability of the skill I was forced to move while using it. The blow felt like a kick from a horse, making my breath catch and smile take on a feral glee as a fresh wave of adrenaline hit me like a bolt from the blue. The energy of the impact didn''t leave me either, swimming up and down my body like a frightened fish looking for a way out. It was oddly almost pleasant in a way. As for the rhino himself, his massive horn splintered as it carved a sizeable chip in my tungsten armor in a spray of ivory and blood. He cried out in pain as his own momentum carried him forward into my side and sent him flipping up and over. He landed in my coils on his back like a baby sleeping in my lap, blind to the world, with agony carved onto his every feature. I threw my head back, laughing at the absurdity of our position. I opened my mouth to taunt the self crippled gangster only to catch the heavy vibrations of a charging T-rex. "?Quieres hacerme sombra, blanquito? ?Te mostrar¨¦ lo que pasa cuando te pones al frente en Tango Blast!" Bones shouted as he charged. He then let loose a belly deep roar that made my smile all the more wild as I let him make his charge and blunted it with a fully focused Bunker Down. ¨CYou have taken 49 Crushing Damage¨C Massive boney jaws slammed shut on my throat with a hollow crack and thud of impacted metal. I grunted as I felt the force of the attack merge with the energy swimming through my body, making the resulting mass all the more lively and eager to escape. Bones didn''t halt his attack, planting a foot on my coils and yanking, clearly trying to tear me in half even as he continued to worry at my hide like a dog with a rope. Even his dazed friend tried to help him, kicking ineffectually at my throat and slamming his shattered and bleeding horn into the thinner scales of my belly. ¨CYou have taken 8 Impact Damage¨C ¨CYou have taken 3 Impact Damage¨C ¨CYou have taken 12 Tearing Damage¨C I cackled happily under the assault, trying to pull my head free and hearing Bones grunt as my razor edged scales tore at his mouth but refused to let go. Even when I kicked on my myoelectric mutagen and started tugging the man around like he was simply a troublesome dog fighting his leash, he refused to let go of my throat. He simply lifted his other foot off the ground and started raking his claws along my belly, producing a horrific noise as he struggled to leave surface damage on the dense metal. ¨CYou have taken 6 Tearing Damage¨C ¨CYou have taken 9 Tearing Damage¨C ¨CHugo Nguy?n is Stunned¨C "Hey Bones," I smiled, my eye rolling to meet his own gaze as I smiled up at him, "Strike Three!" I Focused on my Prehensile Tail, curling the massive tungsten blade into an oversized mallet and swinging it up towards the man''s jaw. As with so many of my non-ability based movements these days, it had a lot of wind up, and moved with deceptive quickness. Not to mention an absolutely horrific amount of power once it got moving. I could clearly see that Bones saw the attack coming and was trying to move out of the way to dodge it. Perhaps he was struggling with the same sluggish movement I was struggling with, forcing multiple tons of body to fight against its own inertia. Perhaps he was struggling to move thanks to the electricity I was pumping through him, making his own muscles slow to respond and fight him every step of the way. Either way the blow caught him right on what would have been the condyle if he was human. I''d aimed there for two reasons. The most obvious one was that if anything was to make him let go of me, breaking his jaw right there would probably do it. Second was the fact that, even as punch drunk and lost in battle frenzy as I was, I really didn''t want to kill him. My tremorsense was showing me clearly that area was probably the strongest part of his skull, further armored by massive spring trap muscles, I felt confident that at worst he''d get a couple broken bones and a concussion. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the second part of Bunker Down and the massive pool of energy in me looking for a way out. When my tail hit that pile of built up energy found an escape and exploded like a bomb. With how hopped up on adrenaline I was, the blow seemed to take seconds to play out. I got to watch as the entirety of the man''s skull collapsed like it was made of paper-mach¨¦ or cloth. Fangs flew free, spinning through the air and splashing through the various fluids that were rapidly fleeing the man''s head. One eye disappeared under the mess of crumpling flesh and bone, the other flew off into the middle distance with most of Bone''s jaw. The rest of his head twisted around and popped free in such a way to go flying off behind the man''s body, spraying various fluids as it spun like a demented frisbee. Then arterial blood jetted into my face and thankfully blocked off my vision of the rest of the grisly scene. It did nothing to block off the image tremorsense was feeding me of the man''s heavy body flopping onto the ground where it tried to carry out the half completed movements of Bone''s final moment. ¨CYou have slain George Cruz¨C ¨CGained 800xp!¨C "Huh?" Chapter 29: Grave Negotiatons All I could see was blood. The fluid was literally coating my eyes despite attempts to blink it away. It filled my nose, was dripping into my mouth, and felt like it had coated every single inch of my oversized body. I didn''t even have hands so I just knew that it was going to get caught in all my crevices and seams to leave me haunted by the smell for months! At least I wasn''t wearing anything at the moment to get stained, I''d have been pissed trying to wash that out of my hat. Finally I blinked the blood out of my eyes and looked over myself, only to see nothing but gray. No signs of the sticky clinging red anywhere, not even on my tail or face. Had my electricity boiled it all away? Then I remembered that my vision was monochromatic now. I could barely tell the blood coating me from my own natural coloration! I laughed long and loudly at that realization, and only laughed louder as I realized I''d already been coated in blood even before this! Those boars, the plants, hundreds of scorpions, the boss, the jackal-snakes, that oversized gar, they''d all splattered me with their life blood and I hadn''t even noticed! No wonder Saul smelled blood! I had been absolutely coated in it the past two days and hadn''t noticed because it was no longer that bright recognizable color! By God, I must have been an absolute fright to see emerging from the dust, still coated with fresh blood and stained with older dried blood. I''m shocked anyone with a lick of sense would have approached me the way I doubtlessly looked. I would have fled in fear at the sight of me. ¨CYou have taken 3 Impact Damage¨C Ah, that''s right. I still had a badly injured ganger sitting in my lap looking up at me with an expression of pants wetting terror as he kicked desperately at my metal hide. He was completely and utterly at my mercy, a single swift stab and he''d be dead too. It''s not like he was particularly deserving of mercy, it would be one less evil staining the world, one less threat to me and mine. Not to mention it would leave me eight hundred experience points richer. With a jerk I shoved my head forwards. Gripping the flailing rhino firmly in my mouth, I lifted him free and casually tossed him like a dirty rag at his cowering compatriots with contemptuous ease. I watched as the heavy animal bounced and rolled once before stopping with a pained moan. "How, disappointing." I sneered, all the wild joy now gone from my voice. "Do y''all plan to keep fighting, or will you do the smart thing for once." I watched as the rhino, Hugo the system had named him, slowly and painfully rise. "A reminder to anyone who hasn''t been told, but if you build up too many strikes I''ll just kill you. You''re currently sitting at three strikes Hugo," the man flinched, trembling hard enough for me to feel, "You''ve seen what happens when you go past that." Rumi and Shaniqua finally arrived. The pair slid to a stop showing off their own natural weapons to the gathered gangers. A loud rumbling scrape heralded the damaged wall of cars being pushed aside by the giant bug who advanced behind his two armed monkeys with his own arms crossed. The gathered gangers seemed to realize that were now surrounded, outnumbered, and out qualitied. I flashed an amused smile, "I''d recommend running wouldn''t you?" "You haven''t seen the last of us you maldito puta madre," Hugo snarled with bravado he clearly wasn''t feeling based on his thundering heart, "Tango Blast will remember this, no one fucks with Tango!" With his bit said the great hairy lump began to limp away, keeping a wary eye on both me and Rumi as the smaller gang members huddled around him like frightened ducklings. We all watched them go in silence until he vanished among the houses and then slowly passed beyond the range of my tremorsense. Which just left the gigantic bug looking at us like a judgmental bouncer and his two trembling guards. The silence between us continued to build for a couple of minutes, with Rumi and Shaniqua beginning to shuffle their feet in an uncomfortable little dance. Finally the pillbug grunted with a sort of amused annoyance, "You really should have killed the rest of those kids while you had the chance." "Yes," I agreed with a slight shudder, "From a purely logical perspective I should have. There''s even some fairly solid moral arguments for just killing them all and being done with it. However, if I just killed everyone for a first offense or for cheering on a crime, I''ll quickly become far more caked in blood than anyone I''m putting down. Well, in the metaphorical sense. I''m already pretty well caked." I gave myself a big rattling shake trying to shake off some of the blood without much success. Oh, I''m literally standing in a massive pool of blood from the body. "I don''t suppose you''d mind if I try and wash this off do you?" The big centipede man gestured with his massive monkey arms towards the water under the bridge as he continued, "Mercy like that is commendable, but it''s also a fact that we can''t afford many luxuries these days. In case you haven''t noticed, we are a bit cut off and surrounded." "All the more reason to offer people a chance to redeem themselves so long as they haven''t yet committed an unforgivable act." I refuted as I slithered into the shallower waters and started rubbing myself against the sand and muck to try and get the blood off, "We need friends and allies in times like this as much as we need fewer enemies. That''s the main thrust of the reason I came up here in the first place." "Perhaps we don''t want to be friends with those what let the people who attacked us walk free with a slap on wrist," the bug man rumbled. "I''d hardly call killing one man and crippling another a slap on the wrist," I paused to plunge my face into the water and rub it against the mud, "Besides, can you afford not to? Refusing allies because of a minor disagreement over criminal justice sounds like a hell of a luxury to me." That seemed to briefly bring a smile to the man''s face, though he was quick to smother it. "Especially seeing as you seem to be the only person in your group both willing and capable to put up an effective resistance." One of the two pike monkeys looked ready to protest before Rumi cut in with a bright cheery shout, "Come on Gruncle Donald, you don''t have to try and debate everyone who darkens your door." The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "It is the god given right of everyone who reaches my age to argue with whoever I please about whatever we like!" the giant bug groused in a way that sounded almost ritualistic, joy suffusing his stance. "You wouldn''t happen to be my little Rumrum now would you? Get over here and give this old bug a hug!" Rumi happily canter over to the man to give the giant bug an awkward equine hug that he returned happily, actually managing to lift the massive horse briefly as the two nuzzled each other. They both broke into a flurry of happy comments about ''how big you''re getting'' and ''probably half as strong as you always claimed you were back in the day'' and other heartwarming sillinesses. It brought a smile to my face and made it a bit easier to ignore the dead body sprawled in the roundabout or the fact the water around me was opaque with mud and blood. "Shaniqua," I called as softly as I could to hopefully not interrupt the reunion, "would you kindly go see if you can find wherever Saul is cowering and bring him over here?" "Fred, Phineas," ''Gruncle Donald'' said, snapping his fingers at the two pike apes. That lucky old fart! "Go get a broom and a mop to help our guests clean up. They seem like decent enough sorts, for modern brats anyways." The pair murmured reluctant sounding ''yes sir''s before loping deeper into the compound. The old bug turned towards me and extended a hand my way saying, "Drill Sergeant Donald Mayweather, US Marines, Retired." I brought myself into the best ''attention'' stance I could manage as a snake in a lake and saluted the man, "Joe Parker, civilian, unemployed. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance sir." "Pretty good salute for a civvie," Donald chuckled returning the salute, "At ease kiddo." I relaxed the stance with a smile, "Military family on both ends with lots of military friends and a bit of ROTC in school, I can fake discipline well enough for a couple minutes." "I''ll say," he shifted Rumi to his side, still happily stroking the woman''s head. She tolerated it and stayed quiet despite clearly wanting to talk with the older man. "You were pretty sloppy in that fight, but given a couple months of drilling I could probably turn you into a proper soldier." "If either of us had time for that I might take you up on that," I laughed, "I don''t suppose you have any friends at the Sheppard Air Force base do you?" "Nah, never mingled much with the fly boys. They had me in charge of making sure the ground pounders and wetbacks could shoot straight and follow orders. Why?" "I found what I''m pretty sure is several tons of weapons that were meant for that base," I admitted, "I was hoping to trade some of those weapons to whoever is left at that base in exchange for some trainers and engineers to help turn the stadiums into a proper fort. I''d be willing to offer you a couple of the autocannons and ammo if you could set up an introduction for my folks and help mediate the exchange." Donald was quiet, I could literally see him visually inspecting his defenses and calculating how massively they''d be improved by a couple heavy weapon hardpoints. He nodded, "Yeah, that seems like a fair exchange. I''ll see if I can''t get some boys to recon a path up that way before the week''s done. You got anything else you''re looking to do up this way?" "Depends on what you''re willing to do," I shrugged as the monkeys returned with a mop and broom, "I was just looking to let Rumi check in here and see if anyone wanted to come back with us after warning them about those thugs we just saw off. Looks like you''ve got a really good set up here so I doubt we''ll have many takers, but any other trade or agreements we come to will be icing on the cake. We currently have more food than we know what to do with, some mystery seeds, and a few tons of silk on top of anything else we can dig up from the city." "We''re pretty good on the food front as far as plants go," Donald nodded as he gestured for the monkeys to begin scrubbing me down. Good lord that felt divine! "We''ve got these trees that grow these odd mixes between tangerines and apples the size of cantaloupes that seem to regrow their fruit in a little under a day. We were actually about to try replanting them closer to the wall when we were attacked. We are pretty short on food for our more carnivorous people though." "We''ve actually got the opposite issue," I smiled, struggling to stay awake as I luxuriated in the feeling of the broom''s bristles digging under my carapace plates, "A ton of meat, not many fruits or veggies. We''ve got the bodies of some giant pigs and can point you to where we left the rest of their bodies. We can trade for some of that fruit and its seeds or saplings and maybe do an occasional trade of our mutual surpluses of each type of food." We continued back and forth as both Shaniqua and Saul eventually returned and we all haggled over weapons, supplies, and even people with useful skills both system based and traditional. In the end we agreed to a mutual defense treaty and an exchange of food. We''d also be bringing back a plumber and electrician to see what they could manage with the stadium with us in exchange for a trailer and a couple hundred pounds of silk and some of our first run of leather. Rumi would be staying for a couple days to catch up with friends and neighbors, effectively acting as an ambassador for us, but promised to return before too long. I was a bit surprised when the professionals turned out to be a newt built like a bulldog and a shockingly humanoid looking robot rolling out on treads. By which I mean that I loudly demanded, "Is that a fucking robot?" I swear the damned machine preened even as Donald started laughing. "That''s just Melvin. He''s one of our three ''tech bugs''. They do great work and have been godsends. I just wish they weren''t wasting so much time working on their various ''mechs''." The six foot tall robot stopped in front of me and a hatch opened revealing a tarantula sized fluffy spider sitting in a web of sparking wires and webbing. He waved one of his little legs up at me and pulled a microphone over to his face. A shrill little voice absolutely oozing with joy echoed from some speakers in the machine''s chest, "Hey there big guy! Thanks for helping us out with those bullies earlier! This thing isn''t quite ready for live combat trials yet, we''re still working on designing weapons for it!" I have never been so jealous of anyone in my entire life. I end up as a giant metal snake and this little puke gets to fight kaijus using his own homemade giant robot? There was no justice in this world. "Oh my goodness you''re such a cute little thing!" Shaniqua cooed, leaning close to look at the tiny man, "Can I pet you?" "Uh, probably best not to," the little spider bastard mumbled bashfully, "There''s a lot of current running through me and these wires. I''d hate to accidentally hurt a cute little bunny like you." As everyone was busy being fascinated by the little spider and his robot, much to the visible annoyance of the newt, Donald took the opportunity to pull me to the side. "Do you have anyone you''re going to be able to confide in over the next couple days?" "A good friend made it through the Event and I''m getting fairly close with a couple more," I admitted before realizing what he was getting at, "This is about him, isn''t it." I gestured to the large, now cool corpse that everyone was pointedly ignoring. Donald nodded grimly, "It might take a day or two to fully hit, but the first man you kill leaves a mark on you that is hard to handle. I know it will be hard, but confide in those you''re close to and don''t be afraid to cry if you need to. It helps a bit, makes it a little easier to come to terms with. I''d also confide in God, even if you aren''t religious. You aren''t any less of a man for struggling with this, some of the hardest men I ever knew broke down bawling dealing with their first kill. The only people who weren''t bothered by it were the real psychos." I nodded grimly at that. Just what I needed. Chapter 30: Weight of Blood and Crowns The trip back was thankfully uneventful. There were a couple scavengers at the bodies of boarillas, but they flew off when we approached and Donald''s people took most of the corpses with a look of relief. Melvin kept asking me questions about the stadium and its systems that I simply didn''t know the answer to, he eventually quit pestering me. I guess my pain was becoming obvious even to him. My migraine was returning with a vengeance, quickly approaching where, were I still human, I''d be constantly crying from the raw pain. If before it had felt like a butter knife jammed behind my right eye, it now felt more akin to a steak knife that was slowly spinning. I''m honestly not sure if I''d have noticed if I was attacked with just how all consuming the migraine was becoming. What I did notice was the heat. It had been bad before, but we were properly into the heat of the day now without a single cloud in the wide blue sky to offer relief. Again my dark gray metal scales were eagerly drinking in the heat, now without even a protective cover of blood and grime, and making me feel terribly feverish as I panted like bellows in an attempt to cool off. I desperately wished for a lake or a creek to cool off in, but I knew for a fact there wasn''t so much as a backyard swimming pool along our route back to the stadium. We did have the water bottles we brought with us, but that would be like splashing myself with a thimble full of lukewarm water. Not enough to even bother with when the others needed the water just as much as I did, I''d just need to make do with the rare and sparse bit of shade I could find along the road. By the time we finally got back to the stadium, I felt like I had been on a death march. I might have been just lucid enough to murmur something as I broke away from the group to slither with all haste towards the creek. I all but threw myself into the slow flowing water and moaning with relief as I began to greedily slurp down the murky water without a care for the potential risk. I might have even passed out in the little creek as the next thing I was consciously aware of was Omar smacking me awake with a look of concern. "Joe? Joe! You okay man?" My old work buddy asked as he smacked my oversized cheek with his leathery almost human hands. "Yeah," I groaned, "Just got a bit of migraine that was combining with the heat in unpleasant ways." I flinched as thinking of the migraine made it spike with pain. Then a still image of one of those far too long moments of my tail collapsing Bones'' face with my tail flashed in my mind, but Bones was replaced with Omar. I grimaced saying, "If you''re free, I need to talk to you about some things." "Yeah man, I got plenty of time for you. What''s up?" His voice was still tinged with concern, even as he tried to sound relaxed. Had someone already told him what happened? "Not here," I grunted, pulling myself free of the clinging mud of the creek with a wet *schlup*, "In the stadium, this is the kind of information for the future boss of our group of misfits." Omar grimaced at my reminder that I wanted him to take over when I left tomorrow but followed me into the stadium until we reached the field. I paused and slammed the flat of my tail against the wall, feeling out the vibrations and not noticing anyone nearby. The nearest was Melvin, but he was crawling through the walls and tracing wires so I doubted he''d overhear our conversation. "Alright, we look to be in the clear and can speak freely." "Is it okay then if I say I really don''t want to be in charge of everyone when you leave then?" Omar asked flatly. "Entirely," I nodded with a coy smile, "Honestly, that''s a third of the reason I want you in charge in the first place." "Tha fuk?" Omar asked, going a bit cross-eyed at the logic. "I''m solidly of the opinion that the only leaders of any real merit are those who don''t want to lead but do so out of necessity." I explained, "Such leaders won''t try to amass power around themselves, aren''t prone to corruption, and tend to actually care for those they rule over. They just want to get things stable enough to where they feel they can safely turn power over to someone else, and we tend to remember such men favorably. George Washington, Juan Carlos, and Cincinnatus are all examples of great men who, when given absolute power, chose to relinquish it when their job was done. "Now I hardly expect you to be the next Washington," I chuckled at Omar''s horrified look, "But I know you Omar. You won''t become a tyrant or a despot, you have the moral character to be good and still do the necessary evils of rulership when needed. Add in your training in marketing and management and you already have more practical knowledge of leadership than I do with my gut instincts and time playing city builders or survival games." "Can''t it be someone else though?" he all but begged. "Sure," I gave him a shrug, "Make your first action to declare a successor followed by your retirement. Declare a ruling council and refuse to be part of it. That''s on you, I have full confidence that you''ll do what''s best for these people when I leave." I thought that Omar was going to cry as he choked out emotion ladened, "Thanks man." "You''re a good man Omar," I said using my tail to carefully pull my old friend into my best attempt at a one armed hug, "Well, for a bean." "Oh fuck you cracker!" Omar laughed, pushing out of my hug, "Quit being gay." The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Adopting my most ''flamboyant'' voice I could, I scoffed, "You know I don''t roll that way darling." Sobering I continued, "I do still have important stuff to tell you." "Right, right." Omar took a deep breath before looking me in the eyes, "So what happened?" "Most of it is just some basic trade deals and verbal agreements we made with the folks up at the Veranda," I waved dismissively, "The really important part is that they were being attacked by those Tango gangsters and in the process of running them off I accidentally killed one of them and-." "Fuck man," Omar whispered, "You okay?" "I never dropped below half health," I waved off his concern, "and this will hardly be the first time going through serious mental trauma, I can handle the ghost and images. The important thing is how the system reacted to me killing him." "Do you have some sort of curse or lingering debuff on you?" "No," I intoned gravely, "It rewarded me with eight hundred experience points." "Eight hundred?" Omar whispered with shock, "Holy shit. That''s nearly as much as the boss gave us!" "Yes." I said my tone as cold as the grave and as sharp as a falling guillotine, "As much as four quests, equaling two hundred and sixty seven skill ups, and comparable to bringing down an area boss. All for the simple and easy act of killing a fellow man. Really think about that for a second." "Fuck," Omar breathed, hand going to his head, eyes widening in horror, as he braced himself against the wall. "If this gets out people will start killing each other for easy levels." "I don''t think we need to worry about most of our own people turning on each other," I comforted him, "But what about with other groups. It would make them all too happy to kill Tango and any other raider group to the last man, but what about after that? It doesn''t take a lot of justification to villainize another group, especially not with a juicy prize like that hanging over their heads." "It''s like it''s designed to make us attack each other," the wall proved insufficient stabilization as Omar collapsed to his ass. "Especially when you consider that we haven''t seen any system for forming groups or societies," I added, a deep cold hatred forcing its way out of me, "No skills for crafting, very few for healing, very few instances of differentiating between friend and foe. This system seems to be designed to coax people into being independent murder machines that slaughter all they come across and discard any idea of civilization." "?Esos malditos cabrones!" Omar spat angrily slamming his fist against the concrete of the stadium hard enough to crack it and knock a few chips free, "How the hell is this shit supposed to be a reward!?" "Really does seem more like a targeted attack to make us wipe each other out," I agreed, "What I don''t get is why they''d bother if they have systems that can cover the entire planet and remake everyone on it. Why not simply let us dissolve to dust instead of slowly killing each other?" "Maybe it''s a test?" Omar offered, "Like, see if we can remain good with such temptations hanging over us and no one looking like people anymore?" "Could be," I agreed, "Could also be some sort of cultural or religious ritual for them. Let us prove ourselves beast before they wipe us out, reassured in the fact they simply removed an evil species from the galaxy. Impossible to know without more information." "So what do we do with this information?" Omar asked wearily, his anger burned out leaving him simply tired. "Keep it locked up tight and shared only with people of outstanding moral character, obviously. Be very careful of who you pick to be your noose man." "My what?" Omar jumped. "Your noose man," I looked at Omar, "Your executioner. The guy who kills the worst of the criminals." Seeing Omar''s wide eyed horror I elaborated, "Wild West, Omar. We have few lawmen and our nearest support is several hours away. People who step out of line to the point of commiting murder, rape, and treason can''t be tolerated. We don''t have the resources to simply live out their life in captivity, so we have to remove them permanently, in a way that serves as a warning to everyone else." Looking my friend dead in the eyes I finished with, "I''d recommend either crucifixion or hanging personally, with public flogging or whipping for lesser crimes." "I hate this," Omar sighed defeatedly. "I''m not exactly enthused by this myself," I grunted, massaging my forehead to try and ease the pain, "But this is the stuff historically proven to work in dozens of cultures across time. Hopefully in a few years we can start getting back to more ''civilized'' times, but I find myself fearing that each future wave will be designed to sweep our feet out from under us." Omar groaned loudly, "Shit I haven''t even begun to think about those yet. That''s going to be a mess and a half ain''t it." "It could be way worse," I said cheerily, "Despite all attempts to change it in recent years, we are still a high trust society. Makes reforming society way easier when everyone doesn''t actively distrust each other and aren''t actively looking to fuck their neighbor over for a buck. Be happy we aren''t in Russia, Africa, or China." "Man I didn''t even think about that," Omar hummed, "This shit is global. Fuck, some places must be in open anarchy already. I can''t see those tribal peoples in the Amazon or on isolated islands dealing with this well." "Hell, I''m curious how certain religious societies are handling this." I took a minute to try and think past the migraine, "I can see Buddhist and Hindus handling this decently, the whole rebirth thing is already a part of their doctrine so they should be fine. As long as they don''t try killing themselves to hopefully get to be a human again next life, but I think that''s discouraged by knocking you down rungs of the rebirth tier list. Doubt Islam is handling it well though." "How about you?" Omar asked. He elaborated when I raised a brow, "About no longer being made in God''s image and what not?" "My body might not be in His image anymore, but my soul is still the same one he crafted and I have shaped. So long as I hold to His teachings I believe that Heaven''s gates will still be open to me." I answered with a serenely serpentine smile. "The works of the Overseers are impressive, but still parlor tricks compared to His works. I have no doubt these demons will face His judgment." My smile turned vicious as I purred, "I simply hope to have a part to play in delivering it." "So uh, what was that about trade agreements?" "Oh right," I sighed, suddenly feeling tired. "Do you mind letting me take a rain check on that? I''ve been fighting a killer migraine the last few hours and could use a nap now that the really important stuff has been covered." "Yeah, I don''t mind," Omar said standing up. He paused and walked over to stroke my snoot, "If you need someone to talk to about anything, I can always make time for you Joe." "Thanks Omar," I hummed, eyes already drifting close, "You''re a great friend." Chapter 31: Catching up When I woke up I was delighted to find my migraine had faded to a mere headache and the fatigue that had been needling me for the past few hours was mostly gone, my stomach still felt like it was burning a hole in my core though. Stretching in a way that was probably more akin to a cat than a snake I lifted up my head to check the lighting conditions outside. I absolutely did not trip and yelp like a frightened child when a giant moth fluttered towards my face. As a giant snake it is impossible for me to do so. Clearly I hissed in surprise and assumed a defensive coil, no tripping over nonexistent legs occurred. "Feeling better after you nap?" Matilda asked from her regular perch atop my head. "Can you give me a bit of warning Matilda? I just woke up!" I huffed placing my tail over my thudding heart, "And yes. I''m feeling much better. A bit peckish though, how''s food prep going?" "That''s part of the reason I''m here. Catching you up on everything you missed while out and about as well as napping." she turned to look me square in the eye, "If you make a single comment about me being your secretary I will stuff your nose full of moths." "Well fine little Ms. No Fun Allowed," I feigned a childish sulk before smirking up at her, "So how are things going." "At current count we have one hundred and twelve people gathered at or near the stadiums," Matilda began, "All of them adults of ages ranging between twenty and ninety two. Seven of them are wounded from injuries sustained before we found them, but are recovering nicely after basic medical attention from Anthony. Well, one of them was a near thing, but using that trick you used with Jeremy we were able to stabilize them. Currently, only sixteen people have evolved, two of them only evolved in the last three hours." Meaning that me and the original group made up the majority of our evolved forces, "Have you been told about how we don''t want that trick getting spread around?" I asked worriedly. "Yes, but Damian felt it was better to swear them in on the secret than let the poor man die after he was injured protecting people from more of those jackal snake things." "Bloody things are everywhere," I grumbled, "They must breed like rabbits. I wonder if we could domesticate them as a food source." "Jeremy is already looking into it." Matilda ruffled her wings, "He had some of his rotwalkers challenge some of the pack Alphas for leadership and a few accepted the challenge and lost. He''s already got a few people working to fence off the fields and lot by the apartments to the south of the stadium as a sort of breeding and taming area. He believes we can keep them suitably fed with offal meats and anything that goes sour seeing as the creatures are willing to eat infected or rotting meat." "How''d he figure that out?" I inquired, "Have the scorpions already gone that bad?" "They are starting to spoil quickly in the heat," Matilda confirmed, "But Jesus, a former fry cook who''s taken over our cooking industry, thinks that we should be able to get most of the stuff prepped before it''s too far gone for cooking to save. No, he figured that out when they tore apart and ate that scorpion thing he made, which then infected them with whatever evil was in that abomination." Well at least food wasn¡¯t going to be an issue, which was certainly a relief to be sure. Still, why does your skills have to be such a collection of nightmares Jeremy? I motioned for her to continue. "We''ve gotten most of those seeds you brought back planted, excluding those we''re going to need to dig flooded pools for. Most of the stuff is growing so quickly as to be nearly visible to the naked eye, that spitter plant has already fully regrown and is making a nuisance of itself up by Muskoge stadium. Thanks to the additional seeds we will have about a dozen more of the weeds thanks to Saul. If they are as flavorful as both he and Shaniqua claim, they will be a solid food source if we can find a way to safely harvest them." "On that front we should be fine for the short term," I commented, "I managed to get a trade deal struck with the current leader of the Veranda community, "They''ve got a surplus of fruit and veggies they''re willing to trade for some of our meat surplus. Could you talk to Jesus to find out how much he thinks would go to spoilage?" "I''ll get someone on it, a trailer should be loaded and ready to go by first light tomorrow." "Did we manage to find any more trailers today? I figured we would, but I did also offer one as part of the trade so..." I trailed off. "We did that and more." Matilda stated with a happy little wiggle of her antennas, "We found a distribution center full big rigs, looks like they had been pre-packed with emergency relief supplies so as well as dozens of trailers we''ve now got a massive surplus of blankets, MREs, non-perishable medicine, and bottled water. In fact, with the Generic Motors plant, used car dealership, and autobody shops nearby a couple of our more mechanically inclined people think we might actually be able to get several of them actually running again." I blinked in surprise at that, "That is a rather surprising windfall. Is there any bad news today?" "Nothing really bad per say, but there are a couple of things that could be considered unfortunate," I motioned for her to continue, "Despite raiding the Soft Bedding and Salvation Navy, we are well short on the number of mattresses needed for everyone to sleep on, even discounting people like you who would need more than one." This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "Don''t worry about me, with this metal coating everything feels equally soft." I effortlessly lied. "Noted," she nodded, "Currently we plan to raid some nearby hotels for some ''good enough'' bedding for the night and heading to some further out stores in the morning to make up the difference. The second issue is that Kyli found a large number of the books in the library to be badly damaged by either weather or pests. She still managed to recover enough that she''s talking about sealing off hallways to make a library, but she''s also near frantic in her desire to explore other nearby libraries to try and save what she can." "As long as she doesn''t go too overboard I don''t see an issue in it." I empathize with the shy woman, each of those books lost was an irreplaceable treasure gone. "Anything else?" "Yes, the last issue is the biggest one." Somehow Matilda managed to look grim despite her immobile face, "A small team went over to the Texas Vitality Hospital at Arlin," I knew the place it was just a few blocks west of the stadium, "It was already being looted when they got there, they think it might have been some of those gangsters you encountered. I happened to have some of my moths with them so I managed to get eyes on them. None of them looked to be evolved, but it seemed like a single member was leading a team of captured civilians in the task. A few of them seemed to be nursing ideas of either escape or rebellion, but some of them were openly aiding the group leader." "So we likely only have a day before they reach the stadium and find us," I grumbled, "I don''t suppose you have the range to follow them home did you?" "I do actually," Matilda said smugly, "I''m actually keeping an eye on them as we speak. They''re working out of the Centrist Bible Church just off I-30, not far from the water treatment plant. I''ve counted two evolved and another two who seem to be full members leading about three dozen people, though by the sounds of it they still have a couple groups out and about in the city." "That''s, what, six miles from here?" I scowled thinking of that post modernist idea of a church that felt more like an office build or mall. I''d considered making the place my main church when I was working at the plant for a couple months but after a single service I had come to despise the place. A church without a soul is not a church! "That would certainly explain why we''ve been running into them so much. Might need to organize a posse to go and have some words with them either tonight or tomorrow. See if we can''t get them to be reasonable, I''d rather not have to kill a half dozen men and risk more in the scrum." My scowl fell into a full grimace as I considered what needed to be done. "Can you gather up everyone in the know about our secret ability to come and meet here if they aren''t in the middle of something vital." "I''m already on it," she nodded, "Most people are just pitching in with various projects and should be here shortly. I''m having a bit of trouble finding Damian, but he''s been making a game of trying to ambush my moths all day." he wings fluttered in agitation, "For a man so unnaturally black he is frighteningly good at disappearing even in the middle of a sunny field." It took about fifteen minutes for Matilda to find everyone and convey via her mini-moths to gather on the stadium field. "We really need to work on some sort of signaling system with those moths of yours," Damian grunted, now casually rocking a set of biker leathers that seemed almost made for him. Mind it might be a woman¡¯s set based on the cut, but having clothing that fit must feel simply divine. "The way you had the thing flailing I thought we were under attack or Joe dying or something." "I think we have some books on semaphore and Morse code," Kyli hummed. I noticed the red robes I let her borrow were looking almost comically small on her now that she¡¯d evolved. Might need to try and figure out something for her to wear. "If you can learn those, we could start teaching those to others to relay messages." "It''s certainly not a walkie, but it''s a lot better than nothing," Nolan grunted. He sighed with relief as he settled down. It seems having an abdomen four times the size of the rest of his body made getting around difficult. "So why are we here?" Anthony asked, the small cockatrice looked about nervously next to a chunky toad. I guess that was the man he''d been trying to save at the time. "Something to do about that healing technique you want to keep a secret?" Oh! He was wearing fingerless gloves on his little chicken feet. Looks like the tradition of wearing clothes was sticking around even without my prompting. Nice! "It could certainly be doing a lot to make people safer to spread it about." Jerry huffed as he glared pointedly up at me. Was he wearing a tablecloth on his back? I mean it certainly worked, but for some reason I found myself surprised the grumpy man would go beyond the bare minimum. "I''ve asked you all here to explain what all I''ve uncovered about it and for us to all practice with it." I said ignoring the jabs. "Specifically because the technique, which I have currently been referring to using a placeholder name of ''Focus'', does more than enhance healing. When using it to focus on one of your skills, mutagens, or abilities the effects are magnified, but cost far more stamina than normal. This isn''t always in an obvious way either, when I use it on one of my defensive skills it makes it nearly impossible for me to be moved, up to stopping me midair. So I''m wanting everyone to practice to find out what Focus does to your stuff and get used to using it. Any questions?" "Why call it Focus?" William asked, "Why not call it ki?" "Or chakra?" "Or magic?" "Oh! Oh, or a Contract!" "First off," I said firmly, cutting off both of his heads¡¯ suggestions, "Weeb." "Fair." Both heads answered with unrepentant smiles. "Second," I continued with a smile, "I''m calling it that because you use it by focusing on some aspect of you. That and if you use the term around someone not in the know they wouldn''t really know you''re talking about some secret technique to let you hit way above your weight class. They''d probably just think you were telling someone to keep focused on a task. Any more questions." When no one else spoke up I nodded, "Alright, Anthony, you''re first. Get over here and hit me." "Excuse me!?" the chicken snake squawked, "I have several questions now!" "Yeah Joe, you aren''t turning into a BDSM freak on us now are you?" Omar heckled. "Not without a hefty pay raise I ain''t." I shot back, "But yeah, I noticed in my own training that the skills don''t really improve unless you''re hitting a target. So seeing as I have a massive health pool, multiple defensive options that could use some grinding, and an increased resistance to most statuses I figure I''m the perfect target for training. Don''t worry, I''ll let you know if I start getting low on health or stamina. Not come on chicken boy, give me your best shot! I can take it!" I slammed the flat of my tail against my chest and flashed a cocksure smile to the tiny chicken man. He inhaled deeply and let loose the most shrill and unmanly battle cry I''d ever heard as he charged me. Chapter 32: Combat Drilled "Alright," I said at a shout to try and be heard over the ringing in my ears, "I think I speak for everyone when I say that supercharging your flash is completely forbidden while in the same area code as allies Kyli." ",'', ,,,,,!" something that might have been a voice whispered under the all consuming ringing. "I think someone just said something," I shouted conversationally. "If so, I''m afraid I didn''t catch that. That flash was so bright that it''s somehow deafened me as well. Heck, I think even my sense of touch and smell have been knocked out as well! Give it a few more minutes to hopefully fade. I really hope I don''t have to try and regrow my eyes." ",'', ,, ,,,,,! , ,,,,'', ,,,,, ,, ,,,,, be this bad!" ¨CYou are no longer afflicted by Blind¨C ¨CYou are no longer afflicted by Deaf¨C ¨CYou are no longer afflicted by Anosmia¨C ¨CYou are no longer afflicted by Anhedonia¨C ¨CYou are no longer afflicted by Ageusia¨C ¨CYou are no longer afflicted by Vertigo¨C "It''s okay!" I lowered my voice, despite a bit of lingering ringing and spots, "It seems to be wearing off. Hells bells! Disabling Flash is an on point name for that skill! How long was that? Five minutes?" "Your guess is as good as mine," Damian spat, still rubbing his eyes, "I''m pretty sure I got the full effect just from what reflected off your shiny metal ass!" "It even affected my moths outside the building!" Matilda complained as she rubbed her compound eyes with her scarf, "Despite being miles away they still got knocked out!" "I had my face buried in the dirt!" Will''s right head complained, "It did nothing to stop it!" "I''m sorry!" Kyli wailed dark tears stinking of copper staining her cheeks, "I didn''t mean for it to be that bad!" "This is why we are testing these out in a controlled environment." I did my best to sooth the woman by lightly running my tail down her back, not sure how successful I was considering I kept getting caught on her boney thorns. "So catastrophic successes like this don''t happen somewhere someone might die." Michelle poked her avian head around the corner, blinking owlishly at us, she began to nervously finger her new afghan poncho as she stammered out, "Uh, I''m back. D-did something happen while I was in the bathroom?" "Kyli blinded us!" Will''s right head moaned. "With science!" the left chuckled. His right head bit his left''s ear causing both to yip in pain. "I''m so sorry," Kyli sniffled, collapsing to her belly and covering her eyes with her claws. I mentally sighed as I continued to try and coax our librarian out of her cycle of self recriminations. This exercise had been running into a lot more potholes than I was expecting. Sure Anthony had made it through his rounds with me without incident beyond briefly locking me up with his Focused Paralytic Bites, but it had passed quickly and barely scratched me. Then the toad, Elijah, had stepped up for his round and discovered that his Poison Coat when Focused exploded off him spreading a cloud of noxious toxins through the air. Thankfully his poison wasn''t particularly potent, yet, and most people didn''t suffer much worse than a spat of vomiting and a few cases of diarrhea. It still took a lot of wind out the sails of the activity. Then Jeremy took his turn. Now, to be fair to Jeremy, what happened was hardly his fault. In fact he''d been very smart about things, such as testing his corrosive bite on one of the stadium seats before biting me with it. Something I was grateful for as the chair rusted away to dust and even the concrete it was bolted to seemed to erode into soil at frankly horrific speeds. I was even the one who suggested he try using Focus on his rotwalkers. I didn''t expect it to knock him out or summon the absolute horror that we were calling the Rot-brute. I cast a worried glance at the six foot at the shoulder thing that looked like it rivaled Rumi for the title of ''Most Roided''. It currently lay near Jeremy, its long black stilt legs folded under its oozing fleshless body, the black mossy vines that seemed to be holding its flesh in place wriggling like worms. Its wide perpetually grinning mouth sat near Jeremy''s face, using a long twisted tongue that looked disturbingly like an arm to groom its summoner. Its glowing lamp-like eyes seemed to be gazing nowhere, yet gazing deeply into my soul at the same time as I absently massaged the spot the thing had hit me hard enough to leave a dent. I swear its ear wide grin grew even larger in response, revealing all three rows of teeth growing haphazardly out of its pitch black gums as if to remind me that it had come worryingly close to drawing blood. I would happily deal with Nolan''s exploding bees and armor piercing mosquitos or Damian''s ability to become undetectable to even my tremorsense again before I willingly faced off with that monster again. At least Matilda had been nice and normal with her swarm of web spitting moths. Then Jerry had to try and knock me through a damn wall with his fully charged Wind-Up Blow, his smug smirk had made me sorely tempted to punt him into a wall of his own. I swear if I wasn''t leveling up my defenses like mad I''d have already called an end to this little session of show and tell. ¨CBunker Down has leveled up! x7¨C ¨CGained 21xp¨C ¨CBunker Down: D¡ú C¨C ¨CWolfram Mutagen has leveled up! x6¨C ¨CGained 18xp¨C ¨CWolfram Mutagen: D¡ú C¨C I''ve done worse work for less. "Alright," I said with what little pep I still had left after helping Shaniqua and Michelle walk Kyli off to the side of the field and help get our librarian together, "Who''s next then? Jack, Omar, Rafael, Will?" "Yeah I got somethings I''m wanting to try," Jack said, stepping forwards. I noticed he was wearing a tool belt loaded down with hatchets, hammers, and machetes over tight black leather pants now. "You might want to really harden your defenses for this, it might sting a bit." Activating Bunker down and reading myself to Focus both it and my scales playfully boasted, "Fool! Your puns can''t harm me!" I swear Jack''s face smirked as all six of his abdomens showed far more flexibility than I''d expected them to have as they bent around his torso to point at me, two resting on his shoulders and four under each armpit. I readied myself for a volley of stingers, only to be caught off guard as he vomited a bright glob of fire into his hands and quickly smeared it on his six stingers. With a flick of his wrist he tossed away the leftover burning ooze and braced himself as all six of his now flaming stingers fired. "That''s so fu-" I started before all six stingers slammed into my armored hide and exploded. BRUMTHUMTHUMTHUMTHUMTHUMOOM ¨CYou have taken 217 Piercing Damage¨C Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.¨CYou have taken 185 Fire Damage¨C ¨CBunker Down has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C ¨CWolfram Mutagen has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C I blinked in surprise to find myself laying on my back with several oozing wounds in the thickest parts of my armor. There was deafening silence as I lay there in that foggy period of passing out where your body is still rebooting and my brain wasn''t entirely certain how to react. Well there was one response I felt was probably safe to give. "Ow." "Shit! Joe!" Omar bellowed as if my announcement had frozen a spell of frozen time. "Sorrysorrysorrysorry!" Jack chittered on repeat as he hurried forwards as well. "Everyone! Don''t crowd him!" Anthony tried to shout over the sudden uproar. "Bandages!" Matilda shrieked, "Someone help me bandage him!" "I''ve got a skill that might help!" Jeremy screamed trying to force his way closer. NO! Nononononononono! Keep that evil away from me! "Shove off!" Rafael shrieked, landing on my huge belly and nipping at several of the people crowding me, "I''ve actually got a mutation specifically for this kind of shit." I could only half see the leafy bird from the way I was splayed out, but it looked like he was ripping out several of his leafy feathers, or was it feathery leaves? Whichever it was, he ripped several of them off himself and smeared them across one of my wounds. What had been a distant burning ache briefly sharpened before the pain faded away leaving an almost cool feeling in the burnt crater. Wonder what was going on? ¨CHealth: 68/470¨C ¨CStamina: 110/110¨C ¨CWillow Wing Restorative¨C Willow Wing Restorative? I wonder what that does?
Willow Wing Restorative: A powerful medicine made from the feathers of a Weeping Woodhoopoh bird. Regeneration++ Fire Resistance+ Pain Resistance+
Huh, and can just ask things of the system and it will answer? Well that''s good to know. I grunted as I rolled myself right-side up again despite the protest of those around me. "''M fine. Looks worse than it is." I made sure to find Jack and look him dead in his compound eyes. "Sorry about that Jack, got caught up in how stylish you were making your attack look and didn''t have any Focus going. My bad. Though I suppose this is a wonderful example of what happens when a Focus boosted technique meets an unfocused defense." "Sorry about nearly killing you," he murmured, his wings buzzing sadly as his, "Though I did discover something about the system from it." "Told you, looks worse than it is," I lied as Matilda and Rafael both worked at medicating and bandaging my injuries under Anthony''s guidance, "What did you figure out? Share with the rest of the class." "Well technically two things I guess." Jack said, seeming a bit shy now that I''d put the spotlight on him. "I noticed that the system does differentiate between normal attacks and ones with Focus, it called them Empowered. The big thing though was that when I combined my Venom, Pyroclastic Projectile, and Projectile Stinger the system popped up with a message when they hit. It called them a combo and gave me twenty five extra experiences." "Interesting," I flinched as another load of feathers were stuffed into my wound, "I wonder if it works for things beyond attacks. I might need to look into seeing if I stack another defensive ability if it works for me." "Or maybe if I have a third type of summon," Nolan buzzed excitedly. "I wonder if it works for stealth abilities," Damian mused. "It does seem like it''s encouraging us to specialize," I hummed. I tended to prefer a more generalist build for a system I wasn''t familiar with and had been trying to make myself as well rounded as I could but maybe shifting a bit more towards defense wouldn''t be the worst idea. Especially considering how many people on my own team were able to punch through my defenses now. "Certainly something to keep in mind. You ready to keep going?" I could feel Matilda, Anthony, and Rafael''s glares boring into my back as they paused in their tending of my wounds while everyone else looked at me like I was crazy. Omar was the first to put voice to the question, "Are you sure that''s a good idea Joe? You''ve been getting pretty banged up." "And getting all the stronger for it," I pointed out, "Both my skill and mutation have both ranked up already and we''re learning a lot from it. Don''t you have anything you''d like to test out?" "Sorta?" he shrugged, reaching for the hammers on his belt. "I''ve kinda been wondering if we can use this Focus thing on things other than ourselves. So I''ve been trying it with my hammers and it''s, kinda, been working. Sorta?" he fidgeted nervously as all eyes became fully focused on him, "It''s, weird, it''s almost like I''m trying to strain pasta through a strainer that''s flipped the wrong way around so a lot of it is spilling everywhere, but some of it''s working." Jack immediately snatched up four of the tools on his belt and started looking at them intensely in turn. "Yeah. I see what you''re getting at. It''s almost like trying to pour water into a cup spinning on your finger tip while riding a unicycle. Difficult and awkward, but some of it is going into the glass." He hefted his hatchet and looked at it closely, "It seems to be a bit easier with this axe though." "I''m betting it has something to do with the wooden haft," Omar said excitedly pointing at the tool''s haft. "I noticed it myself that wooden tools seemed to be easier than plastic or composite hafts. I thought it might just be me, but if you''re noticing it too there might be something to it!" "Have you tried using it on bone or monster hides?" I asked, "It might have something to do with once living things." I caught Omar''s gaze and we both grimaced. Making it so tools and gear made out of people and monsters could be enhanced to outperform even modern tools it would just be par for the course with this monstrous system. "I swear that it it turns out we''re dealing with a Dragon Hunter situation I swear I''m going to," Will''s left head started only to be interrupted by his right saying, "start grinding out armor sets?" the two heads began to start playfully nipping at each other and calling each other names. "That''s something for the future," I said, changing the subject. "For tonight, I think we should focus on getting everyone outside up to a basic level of competence in combat." "Are you sure that''s a good idea Joe?" Nolan asked, struggling a bit to turn his heavy body to face me. "You''ve gotten your ass chewed up pretty bad from this session, if you have everyone out there start doing the same we''re going to suffer casualties, if not fatalities." "The world is literally full of monsters now," I declared bluntly and flatly, "We''ve managed to shelter these people so far, but how long until a worm monster burst from the ground, a giant fish drags them into a river, a field of grass attacks them, or a roc drops on them from a blue sky? Not only that but in just two days we''ve already gotten so powerful that if we wanted we could topple skyscrapers, they are all going to reach that point eventually. We need them trained enough that they can fend for themselves long enough for someone else to save them and disciplined enough not to use that power recklessly or in anger. Some of them are going to get hurt, sure, but in the long run it will probably save more lives to have them at least trained enough to call a militia. We aren''t going to be teaching them how to Focus, unless you feel the person is loyal and responsible enough to handle such a powerful secret, but making sure they won''t accidentally kill each other in a panic seems worth the risk of injury. "Besides, we heal quickly now," I jerked my head back towards my own injuries, "So a few gashes, bumps, breaks, and bruises will help them learn control as well as power. An hour or two after supper every day sounds reasonable to me. What do you say Omar?" My overgrown sasquatch jerked as I asked him for his thoughts and sagged as he realized why, "Yeah, that seems fairly reasonable. I''ll let everyone know while we''re eating." "Great!" I smiled encouragingly to my friend, "I''m looking forward to teaching a bunch of animals how to get hit." "You," Matilda hissed, her voice oozing venom, "Will not be participating in the training tonight." "Agreed," the tiny chicken-snake next to her stated with a surprisingly authoritative voice, "We might heal quickly but you have taken numerous severe injuries today from what I''ve heard. Moreover, I watched you at breakfast and know you didn''t eat nearly enough for an animal of your size this morning so you will have an extra large helping tonight to aid with your healing. We''ll be making sure you get plenty of bed rest, even if we have to tie you up and constantly hit you with my status effects." I glared at the three acting medical professionals standing on my back as they glared back at me. "Fine. Can you at least bring me that book on semaphore so I''ll at least still be doing something useful here?" They at least agreed to let me keep doing that much as the group began to break up to go about their various business throughout the stadium. I absolutely did not spend the rest of the night sulking in the stadium trying to feel the faint vibrations of the training the others were running in the evening light. At least the scorpion gumbo was both tasty and filling even if it was missing a couple of ingredients from the recipe. Chapter 33: Betrayal As much as I might hate not being active and working. Reading a book on semaphore alone in the quiet of the stadium had been a wonderfully relaxing bit of normalcy for me after two days of non-stop running around and trying to basically build a city overnight. I''d even had enough time to, very very carefully, open my suitcase to retrieve my crucifix and old dream catcher and hang both of them from the corner of the stadium I''d used as a sleeping spot last night. I felt certain that having those two items hanging near me and relaxing with a book was why when I eventually ended up drifting off to sleep that my dreams were pleasant and not haunted by the worst events of the day. A shame then my sleep was interrupted by something jamming itself in my nose. Waking with a flailing start I quickly blocked my free nostril and to blow the obstruction out. On the bright side, it wasn''t a cockroach this time. I was still very confused to see one of Matilda''s moths covered in mucus sitting before me, then the itching started. "Joe, be quiet," Matilda hissed at the spot on my head my ears had been and still worked somewhat as functional ears. "I''ve got something important to discuss with you." "Why did you do that?" I demanded with a whispered yell, "Fuck! My nose is super itchy! It feels like I''ve got a rash or something in there!" I tried to use a Focused prehensile tail to reshape my tail blade into something thin enough to get inside my nostril and scratch the itch but everything was still way too thick! I still found myself considering trying anyways just to scratch if not outright remove the burning, itching flesh. "Joe! Focus!" Matilda batted at my head with her wings, "This is serious!" I glared at the woman. I was serious too, it felt like the time I''d wiped my nose and snorted after handling habanero slices, and I didn''t have a tall glass of cold milk to snort this time! It felt like it was spreading to my damn eyes and was making my seldom seen animal instincts scream about unsafe prey! How was I supposed to focus like this!? "I''m trying but this is seriously unpleasant!" I shoved my nose into the dirt. A quick snort and a hard blow seemed to help somewhat but it left me feeling a strong need to sneeze, but I couldn''t. It wasn''t even a hung sneeze, I couldn''t even fake a sneeze to try and trigger a real one! I was missing some vital part of me to allow the action. Yet I still needed to sneeze! How was I supposed to deal with this without being able to sneeze!? Oddly having a glob of stick silk impact my eye actually helped me break out of the panic I was working myself into. Swinging my head around to glare at Matilda with my free eye and grumpily motioned for her to say her bit while trying to ignore the itchy, burning, gritty sensation working its way from my nose to my eye and throat. "Joe, I was watching Daphne like you asked and I briefly lost her in the dark." "Unfortunate," I grunted, trying to blow through the nostril that now felt like it was swelling shut. "I take it you managed to find her again though. Is she in trouble?" "She''s at the church where the gang is staying," my attention now fully locked on her she hurriedly continued, "She''s being welcomed like a friend by the people who seem to be in charge and is talking excitedly with them. Don''t ask me what about since they''re mostly speaking some sort of Spanish sounding nonsense and I''m worried to get closer in case she recognizes my moths." "So it''s a near certainty that she''s a member of the gang then?" I asked morosely. I hated when my paranoia was proven right. "You sure it''s her and not just a look alike?" Matilda nodded, "My eyes might not be so good, but my sense of smell seems to be as good as, if not better, than Saul''s. Trust me, it''s her." Matilda froze and seemed to be focusing on something in the middle distance. "They''re planning to attack us come morning." "Morning?" I felt myself tensing, "Any clue what time?" "The apparent leader said at first light." Matilda shifted and fluttered her wings in agitation, "He looks like he''s going to be a problem, a major problem." "Why is that?" I asked, head beginning to spin up with potential plans of defense and how best to deal with a raid in the early hours of the morning. If he was going to simply run in and try and smash things up then things would be fairly easy, the stadium itself was solidly built with few entryways that were large enough for people now. All of those entrances were surprisingly defensible with metal gates and twisting halls that would allow for brutal hit and fade ambushes from all directions on any assaulting party. But if he was someone clever, baiting out counter attacks to defeat my largely untrained forces in detail this could get bad quickly unless I countered with a decapitating strike. "He''s big," Matilda stated, "Really big. He might be able to look down through the roof of the stadium big." I looked up at the massive domed ceiling above us, still supporting the massive defunct video scoreboard despite having clearly seen better days. The domed ceiling that looked to be between two hundred to two hundred fifty feet away from us and could be seen from tens of miles away. And the boss of the gang was big enough to look down on that? Yes, I could see how that would be a major problem even if he was so blunt simple as to simply walk forwards and smash all before him. "Alright, yeah I can see that being a problem." I admitted, "A manageable problem with a bit of work and planning, anything else he''s saying? Anything you can gather about what he''s planning will be beyond useful." She was quiet for a minute, "Sounds like he plans to march over here, demand our surrender, squash people until we do and publicly execute you." I nodded to her description, a simple yet solid plan. Reveal to us an absolute titan of a war asset to shock and demoralize us, have it be supported by his men to help avoid it being swarmed and defeated, and work to shatter our moral to claim as many of our assets and people as possible while expending as few of his own as he could. "He''s also sending Daphne back to us, though he¡¯s calling her Cami. He''s saying he wants her to reveal her treachery as he gets into position to demand our surrender." Ah, a nice one two punch of moral shock, would probably work against a lot of people too, especially if they hadn''t suspected anything. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Well then," I said, smiling darkly and slowly rotating my tail blade, "I suppose we should be ready to welcome her back. Would you be a dear and wake up Damian for me?" "Already up boss," Damian announced from just below my line of sight, causing both me and Matilda to jump in fright, "Heard the whole thing, what you want me to do to this traitorous bitch?" ~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~ I sat just outside the busted loading bay entrance that had become an unofficial ''main entrance'' to the stadium looking up at the thousands of stars hanging in the void. It was one of the few benefits to this utter disaster. Being able to truly see the night sky again, not the rare scattered star of the city or even the patchy star scape of the farm, but the true spectacle of a night filled to absolute bursting with spilled jewelry. Even with the waxing moon close to full, the Milky Way remained clearly visible along with the infrequent eye catching flicker of movement that was a small meteor burning up in the atmosphere. If only I was able to see it in color. A small shadow blotting out the stars caught my attention as I clearly saw a dark gray blob moving across a gray sky in a way that was painfully obvious to me. It looks like she was back then. I shifted slightly, leaning my head back against the ledge behind me and muttering a curse as my head ''accidentally'' impacted the still working loading door. Despite not being able to sense either of them, I knew both Matilda and Damian would receive the signal to be ready. I watched the bat''s approach with forced casual interest and as she drew over the fields around the stadium, watched her wave to me midair and swoop low and catch herself on one of the streetlights. She nearly slipped off as some of the cracked paint on the pole came off in her grip, making her squeak cutely as she scrambled for a better grip. She cast a quick worried glance my way and I shot her an amused smile to let her know I''d seen the slip. Then I shifted my position enough to scrape my head across the metal behind me as I casually said, "Evenin'' Daphne." "Hey big guy," she left her wings open and hanging limply like a child hanging from monkey bars. I couldn''t help but notice it also would mean she would be able to quickly catch the air and flee should she need to. "What are you doing out here so late? Didn''t think you were nocturnal." "I''m not, I just took too many naps earlier and now I''m wide awake in the middle of the night with nothing to do." I sighed absently listening for any sound of Matilda or Damian moving but not noticing a whisper over the night noises of frogs at the creek. "How about you, anything interesting going on tonight?" "Yeah," she smiled at me from her inverted position, "I just finished convincing my old crew that they could walk in and take this place." Well now, this was unexpectedly off script. "Interesting, I didn''t think you were supposed to reveal you were a turncoat until your giant showed up." Her face looked confused just long enough for two blobs of silk to pin her feet to the lamp post as we both suddenly became aware of Matilda and Damian perched on the lamp above her. Damian himself was literally sitting close enough to her that his long fluffy raptor tail was dangling next to her ear. He casually drew out his bowie knife and gave her a toothy smile. ''Daphne'', or perhaps Cami, laughed nervously at this, "Damn, you guys managed to follow me back then? I thought I''d slipped your little flying spies before I headed back." Matilda didn''t respond so she simply continued, "Well that kind of ruins the fun of the surprise. Yeah, I''m technically a member of Tango Blast." "Technically?" I raised an eyebrow as I continued to watch the stars, "Seemed like you were pretty close to them for a technical member." "Nah, wife of a member." she smiled sadly, "Tango is a boy''s club, no chicas allowed. But when this happened and my bo didn''t show, along with most of the gang, Jorge said I was close enough to count and wouldn''t even need to take my beating to get in. Jorge made a lot of changes to what was left of the local Foritos, like putting himself in charge. Said all his pinche boludo cojones were needed to survive this post Rapture shit." Her expression turned thunderous before she looked at me and flashed a vicious smile. "Then I stumbled into you bunch of bobos." "Here you were with a massive pile of food, coated in blood and obviously way stronger than most of our group of wannabes. Within a day of me finding you, you were already building farms, working on irrigation, getting real ass beds, repairing circuits, training an army, having delicious cooked meals, and had already simply beat half of our hardest chicos like they were disobedient children." Her expression turns cloudy again, "What do I find when I head back to the church? Barely any food, none of it cooked, a bunch of tontos del culos getting high off expired opiates, people sleeping in dirt, and Jorge wandering around trying to set up protection rackets with everyone he can find. ?A la mierda con eso! The only guy there that''s not a total co?o is Half-Breed and he''s too much of a cachorro perdido to do anything about it." Slowly a wicked smile spread over her face, "So why not join the winning side and throw that bunch of maldito tu puta madres onto the tender mercies of your horde of killing machines." "That is such a woman thing to do." Damian moaned, covering his eyes with his hands as he massaged his scalp. I couldn''t help but notice the action made his cat ears wiggle adorably. "I had been hoping to come to a peaceful resolution," I grumbled, "There''s few enough people left at this point considering the number of unknowns out there. We still haven''t seen what''s outside the metroplex or even made contact with a quarter of the cities that are part of it." Cami barked out a laugh, "Good luck with that Jorge is one of those loco malnicdios who would charge a police line and keep fighting back even when they were stomping on his head. He''s a leg breaker through and through without a single thought in his head beyond fighting and fucking." "Well I guess we''d best start brainstorming ways to murder this big bastard," I sighed, "Because after sending a spy among my people, his men attacked me twice, and now having this fotze think he can just wander in and attack me and mine. I am done offering him forgiveness, I have naught but the sword remaining for this simple beast." Just the thought was enough to set my blood boiling as I fought down a furious hiss. "Matilda, Damian. Go wake everyone up, yes everyone we''ve got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to prepare." "Does this mean you''re going to let me down?" Cami asked, wiggling her pinned feet. I gave the woman a long cold look. "I''m going to need a few conditions before I even consider doing that. First one, start talking. Tell me everything you know about Jorge and the remaining Tangos." Chapter 34: Confrontation I had interrogated Cami, full name Camilla Hernandez, relentlessly on the leader of her gang, this Jorge. I''d interrogated her on all the other gang members she knew of who were still around. I''d interrogated her on every aspect she knew of the philosophy behind the Foritios branch of Tango Blast that she was aware of. I''d have kept drilling for even more information if I hadn''t been on such a time crunch at the time, so I handed her over to Nolan to help make something to ensure she didn''t decide to try and pull a triple cross on us. Everything I''d learned seemed to paint Jorge as a blunt simple, lazy, short sided, thug with a love for violence and Tango Blast as a largely defensive anarchic gang with Hispanic Christian leanings that dealt with problems by using shows of force and numbers. That meant that I likely shouldn''t be seeing anything much more complex than some initial posturing and a bum rush of stupid boys who had failed to become men. I even had some hopes that if I could remove Jorge and one or two other problem members I might be able to pivot the remains of Tango Blast into something constructive and beneficial. That would still require killing Jorge first though. Seeing as he had been described to me as an evolved twin headed brontosaurus hundreds of feet tall, that was still a tall order, even with the benefit of surprise. Still, in a lot of ways size on that scale left plenty of opportunities to take advantage of with a bit of planning. It''s not like humans had a history of taking down creatures dozens of times their size or anything. I did wish we had more time to prepare a welcome for them, but after six hours of frenzied work our lookouts reported sighting the shadow of something massive moving towards us. Everyone not committed to the defenses had already been evacuated under escort to the Generic Motors assembly plant about a mile away. About forty people had remained behind to help repel the attack, though most of them I had sitting in reserve to hopefully do nothing more than chase down anyone who tried to run. Including the dozen people still around who helped me fight the boss, I trusted maybe a score of them to keep their heads in a fight. Hopefully if things went even close to how we were hoping it would go it should be more than enough. "Looks like he''s coming down Randal Mill," Matilda announced to everyone hiding in the massive underground tunnel we''d spent the past several hours digging. Relief flooded the bodies of the muck covered people waiting in the dark. "Looks like you were right Joe." "I was pretty sure all those bridges over Thirty would be too much of a hassle for him to come from the north." I chuckled with nervous relief. Then I began to feel the tremors through the ground, still distant, but powerful. Every footstep rang through my tremorsense like a ripple on a glassy pond, slowly painting a misty picture that grew steadily clearer as the source closed in. Even with Jorge still a mile out I was beginning to get a very clear impression of his form. Matilda had overstated how big he was, but not by nearly as much as I might have hoped. Jorge was an absolute titan of a monster, standing approximately one hundred and twenty feet tall at the shoulder with necks that added another hundred or so feet to his height. When I''d been told that the man had two heads, I had been expecting something like Will, two heads emerging from the same set of shoulders. Instead, the man had a second head growing from the end of his tail giving him a full three hundred sixty degrees of vision as both heads slithered lazily through the air like seaweed caught in a current. His four bulky legs, that reminded me more of redwoods than animal biology, were nearly as big around as a limousine was long and I had to double check if our trap was big enough to even work on such massive anatomy. Yes, just barely. Jorge''s next quake of a step revealed yet more of his familiar yet alien biology to my tremorsense. Muscles larger than most of the hatchlings, bones thicker than I am, two hearts the size of slug bugs calmly beating out a warsong. All major concerns, but it was the heads that gave me the most pause. Each building-sized head was built like a battle ax, with towering vertical bone pillars running from above the giant''s nose to below his chin that felt even denser than my own scales. Behind this formidable weapon was a wide crescent smile that seemed to split the head completely in two, the lips peeled back to reveal a mouth full of flat cube shaped teeth. The eyes were uncomfortably small on the massive head, perhaps only the size of a human skull, set deep into sunken pits making them appear like pin pricks of malice at the bottom of dark craters. Even through my tremorsense I could feel the malicious glee dancing in those eyes. Those two grinning faces alone would likely be enough to route the more unorganized or ill prepared groups. Somehow having an almost human appearance from the front that made those faces tumble down into the deepest depths of the uncanny valley. The heads were poor targets, the brain wasn''t in there, it was located in a thick bone bunker along the spine in the monster''s armored chest cavity, with a second brain tucked in near the hips. Getting at the vital organs would be a trick, as the monster''s ribs were like overlapping iron plates that slid past each other with each breath and movement. The entire chest cavity was shockingly well defended beneath the thick leathery flesh, seemingly built to withstand anti-structure attacks, likely out of a need to simply withstand the force of Jorge''s own movements. If I''d used that Trait Improvement token on size would I be big enough to fight him alone? I wondered as I examined the echoes of the fiend''s biology for anything that looked like a weakness. The echoes of the brute''s next step reminded me that he was not coming to fight me alone. They were so small compared to the leviathan that was walking behind them I hadn''t noticed the thirty smaller monsters sloppily marching in front of him. They tromped along in five lines of six being led by confident looking monsters, two of which looked to be evolved. The twenty five people wedged between their leaders and Jorge all looked to be nervous, casting glances back at Jorge or at their commanders. I vaguely recognized a few of them from the raid against the Veranda I''d interrupted. At a guess I suspected I was looking at civilian conscripts being herded along by the actual members of Tango Blast. "I SEE YOU." a voice like an avalanche so low that it was more felt than heard rumbled across the sky. "COME FACE ME LITTLE SNAKE." A quick doublecheck through my tremorsense assured me that he had not somehow spotted us, but was looking hungrily towards the stadium where Kyli, Cami, and Nolan were waiting atop a hastily constructed earthen berm. Through the massive echoes of Jorge''s footsteps I could see the various reserve forces I had nearby looking ready to run. Even Nolan and my fellow boss killers looked to be wavering in their moral. I watched as the first of Jorge''s forces marched across our trap. Nothing happened. The last of the civilian conscripts passed, still the trap didn''t activate. Tension in the tunnel built steadily as Jorge continued his leisurely approach. "YOU TALKED SO BIG LITTLE SNAKE," Jorge rumbled his voice slathered with amusement, "ARE YOU FRIGHTENED OF M-FUCK!!" There was a heavy crack as Jorge stepped on the section of street we''d spent hours undermining. His massive foot sank thirty feet through the ground to get trapped in a narrow pit. I could see him trying to stop himself, to bring his slow walk to a stop. Yet he was suffering the same problem I''d been dealing with these last two days, big heavy bodies like ours did not like stopping. I could see his free feet skidding along the pitted asphalt of the road as momentum carried them forwards. Through tremorsense I could literally watch as stress pressures built in the pillar of a leg caught in the tunnel until with a deafening crack the pillar of a bone split in half and plunged through ten feet of flesh. Jorge unleashed a howl that made my vision darken and head pound. I might have briefly passed out as I tried to focus on the sudden panic spreading through Jorge''s forces as the towering dino staggered and put his weight on his uninjured side. Before anyone could even begin to try to restore order I heard a distant shout of, "Smile for the camera!" Even underground I could see the stark white flash of Kyli''s Disabling Flash through the cracks Jorge''s foot had bust in the roof. A fresh wave of cries rippled through the crowd above us as their sight was stolen from them, including a fresh howl from Jorge that caused my armor to rattle and jangle from the force of the sound. I watched through tremorsense as the formations above us began to rapidly break down. Then someone else landed in the middle of the blinded crowd of monsters, a large toad with a coy smile as he said, "Hey, pull my finger." I couldn''t see the resulting burst of poison through my tremorsense, but I could certainly see the way everyone on the street began hacking and vomiting. When a heart stopping hiss sounded from in their midst, delivered by Cami kept in line by the three explosive bees clinging to her back, everyone on the street broke and ran every direction seeking escape from the noxious gas and pants shitting terror. Which was absolutely vital for the next step of the ambush. I didn''t get to see it, but I certainly heard it. *WHUM-KRAK* Jerry''s Wind Up attack with his thagomizer had been capable of taking my multi-ton butt and flinging me dozens of yards through the air when backed by Focus. It was hoped that it would be enough to shatter another knee, I could see through my tremorsense that it was not. It did however pop Jorge''s knee out of its socket, which caused one of the legs holding up the entirety of Jorge''s bulk to fold itself in half as who knows how many hundreds if not thousands of tons of brontosaurus to slam into the ground hard enough to likely register on the Richter scale. I could see the heavy overlapping bones of the man''s chest compress and crack under the force, watch as the shockwave rippled through his body like a wrecking ball. One of his hearts acquired an irregular heartbeat, his breath was forced from his body as his massive diaphragm refused to draw in air, one of his heads wobbled drunkenly, clearly concussed. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. His chest was now positioned directly above me where it had broken into the tunnel we were hiding in. "Open fire!" I shouted. Michelle leapt through the air, her various claws taking on a wicked unearthly gleam as she rolled through the air flensing through feet of leathery flesh and dense muscle with an amused giggle, revealing the wall of damaged but still strong bone. The heartbeat she was clear Jack fired off a full salvo of his flame dipped stingers, smashing and cracking ribs feet of ribs in the resulting flaming explosion. Before the flames had even cleared Jeffery and his rot-brute lunged forwards. The brute seizing chunks of shattered bone with its mouth, tongue, and claws and fling them aside while Jeffery simply bit wildly at the wound, causing flesh to putrefy and slough away as it rotted weeks in seconds. All of this provided me a nice clear hole as I Focused on Lunge, Fossorial Mutagen, and Sabertail Bloodline all at once. I felt the beginnings of a migraine and fatigue as I spread my Focus so thinly, but also felt the edges of my body hide hum, the shovel-like blade of my nose seeming to extend forwards into a long spearing blade as tension built in my body. Finally I took a deep breath as I poured what little Focus I had left into Leap and let it all fly. I know I blacked out for this next part, the simple raw acceleration and over draw of stamina proving to be far too much for me to withstand as I rocketed into the wound before me like an angel tossed spear. The next thing I was consciously aware of, my entire body was surrounded by warm bleeding meat crushing in on me from all sides. I tried to draw breath, but got nothing but a mouthful of meat and blood for my efforts. Pain rippled through me as the attempt aggravated what felt like dozens of broken bones all across my face. It all mixed together to nearly drive me into a mindless panic. I fought down the urge to lose control, to thrash about in a wild attempt break free from my fleshy prison, to instead listen to the vibrations around me. A heartbeat, no three of them. My own, hammering with fear and need for air. A second, off to my left, struggling and frantic in its rhythm. The third, on my right, weak and slow, struggling valiantly to keep beating despite the massive me sized hole punched through it. From this hole blood flowed like a ruptured pipe through a ragged twisting tunnel forced through my flesh prison. Examining the trail of destruction let me deduce what had happened in those few seconds I''d blacked out. I''d been right on target with my attack, ripping into Jorge like a ballistic harpoon into a whale. It wasn''t just his heart I''d blown apart, but a lung, his diaphragm, liver, and spleen were all missing massive chunks with other nearby organs showing heavy damage as well. Then I''d impacted his spine. The massive column of bone had suffered from our meeting, one of the massive vertebrae was blatantly shattered and shoved out of alignment, but I''d failed to penetrate it. I''d bounced off the spine, running down it until I''d impacted the boney bunker that housed one of Jorge''s brains, cracking it, but again not penetrating. This second deflection seemed to have sent me tumbling around his insides like a bullet, destroying several other organs and getting tangled in a couple more. This left me tangled around the man''s large intestine, drowning in his blood and in a bit of a pickle. I could try to lunge backwards the way I came, but that was a solid wall of bone in that direction. Worse still with the way my scales and carapace was shaped, I was effectively a barbed javelin. Trying to go backwards would have me catching on the flesh surrounding me, reducing progress, exacerbating bleeding, and burning up a lot of unnecessary stamina. I could always lunge forwards deeper into Jorge''s insides, I even had the providence of being roughly pointed in the general direction of a gap in the thick bones protecting Jorge''s torso. It just so happened that said gap was the man''s anus. Worse yet was the raw agony of the broken bones in my face made me worry that attempting to go forwards would make me pass out from the pain. That was assuming that my entire head didn''t simply get shattered trying to pierce the dozens of feet of dense flesh and organs. Going back was denied by a simple quirk of nature, while the way forwards heralded only more pain and unpleasantness with a distant promise of relief, while remaining stagnant promised naught but an ignoble death. There was a message about life in there somewhere. Dear St. Michael, archangel, I ask for your protection and intercession in this battle. I prayed as I gathered my scattered Focus for another Fossorial assisted Lunge, May your mighty sword defend me against the forces of evil and may your presence drive away all fear and doubt. In the name of Jesus Christ, I claim your protection and victory. Amen. Feeling an odd calm settle over me I lunged towards my exit. My mind grayed out as I felt the bones in my face shifting and grinding against each other horrifically as thick cords of muscle and rubber hoses of organs slammed against me. I swear I could feel my brain rattling around in my head like my head was somehow suddenly a size too large for it. I wheezed and moaned in pain, longing for hands to try and massage my face together. I wondered if my eyes might fall out of my skull if I opened my eyelids. I hacked and coughed at both the painfully cool air that was flooding my lungs and making my injuries feel like they were on fire. Feeling the thick rivers of blood oozing down my neck and off my chin nearly consumed my entire attention. I felt an overwhelming desire to drift off to sleep, and very much might have. But someone kept shouting my name. "Joe!" I blinked my eyes, finding it difficult to see past the thick clinging fluids that were trying to hold them closed. My eyes weren''t focusing, and all I could smell was a drowning scent of blood and shit. My body was hanging limply in the air, everything above my chest dangling while the rest was crushed in tight suffocating heat. It was oddly comfortable, it''d be so easy to drift off, just for a moment. "Joe!" Images kept forcing their way into my head, a disorienting ghost of a ravaged body, impressions of animals being leapt upon by other animals, a snapshot of a giant monkey smashing a gangly reptilian thing into the ground with a hammer. The stench of everything hit me again and I vomited up a mass of something thick and dark, hacking at the taste and fresh wave of cold air that hit my lungs. It was so much easier to breathe now, maybe now I could finally relax and sleep. "JOOOOOOO-OOO-OOE!" A sudden jolt of energy slammed into me. Snapping me awake like I''d dunked my head in ice water and leaving me with a heady sensation like I''d just shotgunned a two liter bottle of Mountain Rain. ¨CYou are no longer affected by |Daze|¨C My eyes suddenly focused and I heard the insistent pinging of my status menu. ¨CHealth: 335/470¨C ¨CStamina: 11/110¨C ¨CWarlords Cry, Cripple, Slowed¨C ¨CWarning: Stamina Low¨C No wonder I felt like shit, and it had nothing to do with a quarter of my body dangling out of Jorge''s ass like a particularly large dingleberry. Taking a quick sweep of the battlefield I could now clearly see my people beating and capturing Jorge''s people with almost laughable ease considering the number of status we had stacked on them. Jorge himself seemed half dead, literally. The front half of Jorge''s body was laying limp and unmoving where it was still stuck in the ground, tongue lolling out as the giant head made weak gasping motions that weren''t drawing any air. His back half however had a frantic air about it, its legs grinding deep divots into the street as it tried to pull free of the pit, head whipping around like a drunk who''d just been punched in the face. Then the rear head seemed to focus on something Before beginning to rear back. My eyes darted to where he was looking and I spotted Omar, a massive fleshy sac inflated on his throat as he stood over a very dead looking monster. He was looking at me with a wide toothy smile now that he saw I was awake and alert again, and paying absolutely no attention to Jorge. Time slowed to a crawl as I could literally feel Jorge''s muscles tensing around me to attack. I had no time to call a warning, I had to simply hope and pray I was fast enough to protect him. A quick and dirty Lunge tore me free of Jorge''s body and sent me skidding across the ground. The second I felt myself make contact with the ground I fired off a Leap, feeling the overwhelming urge to pass out again. I pushed through it with raw desperation. ¨CWARNING! YOU ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF STAMINA!¨C ¨CCONTINUING WILL COST YOU HP!¨C I don''t care! I roared back at the system alert, Take it all for all I care! I''m not letting you kill my friend! I slammed into Omar with the flat of my head, feeling bones break as he was knocked flying, a look of betrayed confusion on his face. Above me, I could already see Jorge''s ax shaped head rushing down towards me. Even with my perception accelerated by my brain overclocking the hell out of itself in stress, the attack still looked fast. Tensing myself I poured as much Focus as I could into Bunker Down and Wolfram Mutation as I could in the instant before an ax blade the size of my childhood home slammed into me. ¨CYou have taken 316 Crushing Damage¨C ¨CYou have been afflicted by |Paralyze||Stun|¨C All breath left me. I could feel myself being driven feet into the ground and then ripped free from the sheer force of the attack. All thought fled my mind as I simply lay there limply. I was absently aware of several creatures moving my way as my vision rapidly darkened from the edges in. The last thing I saw was an odd pattern among the rocky wall of a nearby law firm that stuck out like a magic eye puzzle as the darkness took me. IMPRESSIVE. Chapter 35: Dying is Easy Someone was calling me. No, several people were calling me, from a dozen directions. It was all so confusing and murky. I wanted to answer the calls, but I was so dreadfully tired. My back ached terribly, my heart felt like it was on fire, and I just wanted a few moments of peace to rest. There was something important I was wanting to do. No, I needed to do. Something big and important that had already been put off too long. I could finally rest when that was dealt with. I tried to open my eyes, but it was ever so hard. Everything felt cast in iron and seemed to take an inordinate amount of effort for the smallest twitch. This felt familiar somehow, but everything was so foggy and murky it was hard to properly place it. Everything felt wrong even through the fog and weight. Why couldn''t I feel my arms? My legs felt so terribly numb too, was there something wrong with me? Maybe if I could get an eye open I could tell. Just a single eye. It seemed to take full body effort comparable to lifting a recliner more than opening an eyelid, but I finally managed it. I wanted to immediately snap it shut again as blinding light ravaged my eye, pulling a pained moan from me. When had the sun come up? "He''s moving again!" someone shouted nearby, "Joe? Joe! Are you awake?" Breathing hurt, it hurt a lot. There was something running down my throat that made me want to hack and cough, or maybe swallow, but that seemed to be too much effort for me to manage at the moment. Instead I tried to make sense of the fuzzy shapes shifting like ghosts around me. There were a lot of them, none seemed like the other, but my vision was too fuzzy from the light to make out what I was looking at. I felt oddly cold. No, not entirely, there was a wonderfully comforting warmth nearby, but only on one side of me leaving the rest feeling chilled. I tried to push with my arms to rotate myself into the recovery position and put my back to that wonderful warmth, but my arms felt so painfully numb and I couldn''t get them to respond no matter how hard I tried. Same with my legs, they refused to move no matter how hard I tried. "Joe," a familiar sound buzzed as something small flicked at my nose, "Come on man, say something. You''ve got to be alright man." I grunted and tried to shake away the annoyance, my arms still didn''t want to move. I tried to turn my head to shake the fly or whatever it was off my nose. That caused a massive spike of pain to shoot up my spine and tore free a strangled, "''Uck!" The pain did do an amazing job of forcing clarity and banishing the fog suffusing my mind. I was a snake, a giant metal snake coiled around a roaring bonfire in an empty parking lot. "You''re fucking alive!" something wrapped painfully around my snout. A sasquatch? Oh, right Omar. What happened? Why is his chest so heavily bandaged? Is he crying? "You stupid fucking cracker! Do you have any idea how fucking scared I was you asshole? I thought you''d died! I can''t believe you did that! I thought you were smarter than that!" "Is he conscious?" a ratty and ragged chicken with a snake tail asked, running over to start looking into my eye. What was that? Oh right, the vet. What was his name again? "Joe, don''t try to talk. If you can understand me blink twice, can you manage that much?" But I''d worked so hard to get this eye open. I still managed two slow blinks for the little chicken. "Good, that''s real good Joe. Now please do me a favor and don''t move, you''re still really badly hurt. Just let your body heal on its own a bit, okay?" Blink. "I''ll take that as a yes. Melvin! I think we''re out of the danger zone, you''re clear to leave." "Finally," a squeaky voice called from the top of my head. "I was here to be an electrician and test wiring, not to play defibrillator." A small fluffy spider head peaked down from the top of my vision, "You sir have some fucked up biology and I desperately hope I never have to experience it again. All you clowns owe me BIG for that by the way. I''m going to go bathe and pray I''m not going to have nightmares of this experience for the next several years." "Whatever you want man," Omar wiped his face, "We literally can''t thank you enough for this. You''re a damned hero." "Yeah, yeah, let me know if you guys reinvent beer or something would you?" The little spider man hopped off my head and started reeling in two long, thick cords of silk. I felt the thing in my throat moving and finally leave, letting me breathe a little easier, but still miles from effortlessly. "Blech! I can''t believe I just did that! I hate today! Worst Thursday of my life hands down!" "Hua?" I wheezed in confusion. Omar just rubbed my metallic snout, drawing attention to the thick silk bandages on it, saying, "It''s alright man, everything''s going to be okay now." "It most certainly is not ''alright''!" someone screeched nearby. A giant bird that seemed to be missing a massive chunk of its feather stalked into view from behind my bulk. Oh, I remember this one''s name. It was the one with the same name as the guy who painted the School of Athens, Rafael! "Did you think for a single instant before doing what you did!? Do you have any idea what happened because of that stupid reckless stunt of yours!?" The next two words were interspersed with sharp pecks to my eyebrows, "YOU. DIED!" This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Omar was on his feet, lips pulled back in an instant, "Hey! Fuck off man! Give Joe a moment to get better!" "No!" Rafael shouted back, spreading his wings wide in an avian intimidation display, "This shit has been running around acting like he''s untouchable just because he''s got a metal hide and heals quickly despite the fact he keeps getting holes torn out of him!" He whirled to glare at me, "How many times have you been seriously injured these last two days?" I''m pretty sure at least four times, it''s a bit hard to remember at the moment, "Too many! Any sane person would take that as a sign to slow down and back off yet you keep throwing yourself in the middle of everything like you''ve got a damned death wish! "Well congratulations! You got what you wanted this time! You died! No heartbeat for nearly twenty seconds!" Suddenly the bonfire didn''t feel nearly so warm, "If not for the sheer luck that we had Melvin you wouldn''t have made it! The poor bastard had to literally climb down your throat and attach one of his electrified webs inside you because your stupid armor was insulating you too well! Even then it still took everything we could think of to keep you alive! CPR! Every buff and healing adjacent skill we could find! Even trying to force Focus into you to make you heal faster! We still weren''t sure it would be enough because of what a mess you were!" "''orry," I murmured weakly. Rafael just huffed and turned away, "I''m glad you''re leaving. I''ve seen enough death. Go find that end you''re looking for out there away from us." He spread his wings and flew off. "Man, he is such an asshole sometimes." Omar grumbled sitting back down. He was quiet a moment before giving me a curious look. "He did raise some solid points though. You okay man? You never acted this reckless at work." "No good sacrifice there." I grunted, my face and jaw feeling oddly fragile, "''m expendable, better me than you." "Like fucking he''ll you''re expendable!" Omar shouted angrily, "What the ever loving fuck made you think that for even a second!?" "Imma average Joe," I chuckled weakly before stopping quickly. Laughing hurt. "Not special. Little smart, a couple minor tricks. Nothing valuable enough to exempt me from manly duty to fight and die for the community in hard times." I moaned softly, "Words hurt." "How long have you believed that?" The little chicken, Anthony! That was the vet''s name! asked with a concerned tilt to his head. "Two decades." Or around about that. "Look at me Joe," Omar said, standing up and glaring deep into my eyes, "You want me to lead this community? Fine. My first order is this. You are not allowed to die, Joe. No matter what happens from here on out, you must survive." "As your doctor I will second that." Anthony stated, scowling up at me, "No more suicidal heroics. They are terrible for your health and the health of everyone around you." It was suddenly much harder to breathe. I found myself unable to speak, barely managing a painful nod. It was so painfully rare to be reminded that anyone beyond God and my parents actually cared. After taking several minutes to get myself together again I weakly asked, "Other casualties?" "Not for our side, no." Anthony stated happily. "Aside from you and Omar, almost no one on our side was even scratched." His little body sagged a bit as he continued. "The same can''t be said for the Foritos sadly. A fair number of them got pretty roughed up by our volunteers'' over exuberance. I''d probably listed most of them as seriously injured if not for everyone''s casual regeneration speeds. I''d be willing to bet most of them are already fully healed." He took a deep breath, "They also suffered three fatalities." "One of them was my fault." Omar sighed looking forlornly at his perfectly clean hands, "When you attacked Jorge and didn''t come out for over a minute, I tried to fight my way over to him. I thought I''d, I don''t know man, pull you out? I just needed to get over there. Some fuckhead cono wouldn''t get out of the way and I just got so ass-mad at the fuck I started swinging. Was even using Focus to make it quick. He went down after the first hit, but I just, felt compelled to give him a couple more hits to be sure... Got the pop-up after the second swing. His name was Gomez." I''d know Omar for long enough to see how much this was tearing him up inside. He''ll, I was still at the stage of trying to pretend nothing had happened with the man I''d murdered and I probably had a second name on my consciousness now. I could check and be sure, it was doubtlessly in that pile up of unread updates blinking in the corner of my vision... but I could check on that later. Omar needed cheering up first, and I knew just how to do it. With blatant racism. Doing my level best to click my tongue disapprovingly I wheezed. "Y''all beans just can''t help yourselves. It''s not even been a week and you''re trying to get those crime statistics up." Anthony looked horrified, Omar looked confused for a moment then started laughing into his hand. "Dude, fuck you." He giggled through a wide smile, "My ribs are still sore from you breaking them!" "I''ve got to try to balance the scales man." I smiled while playing up my moan, "I got to try and keep the whites on the top of the scoreboard but you beans are just so good at the crime and I am but one man!" Omar took the opportunity to start playfully punching at my side, thankfully one of the few places that didn''t hurt. I bemoaned the building crime lead of his people while he declared the end of mine''s dominance. We enjoyed a few good minutes ribbing each other like this until our mutual injuries forced us to stop. "Are you two done?" Anthony asked, a kind of annoyed resignation filling his voice. I paused as if seriously considering before weakly affirming. Omar just gave a thumbs up before smirking at my jealous look and flipping me the bird. I flicked out my tongue catching him full in the face, much to our mutual amusement and sorrow. Anthony had the look of someone who desperately wanted a smoke as he watched us. "Sorry, other fatalities?" I asked, "Jorge dead?" "Yes, that monster is well and truly dead," Anthony confirmed, "You''d already done a serious number to him by the time he managed to nearly kill you and we got the notification of his death while we were still hauling your comatose form away from the battlefield for treatment. He ended up falling on a few of his people which killed one and seriously injured a couple more." "And the captives?" "We''ve got them held in the Globe Life Stadium," Omar said leaning against my side. "A couple of people we actually had to tie up with chains, but most were pretty docile after Jorge fell and we captured them. Nolan, Matilda, and Jeremy were watching over them with the threat of their summons last I checked. We''ve got Daphne, erm Cami, mixed in with them. "We haven''t really decided what to do with them yet." Omar rolled to look up into my eye, "Honestly it felt like it would be heavily dependent on if you lived or died from the attack, and if you lived I wanted your thoughts on what to do." He shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his hands again, "You put way more thought into this kind of stuff than I ever did before everything went to shit. You paranoid ass cabbage eater nutter." "Oh good, you remember that one!" I proclaimed happily before coughing. "I''ve got a fairly good idea of what to do with them all. Though an example will likely still need to be made, I''d have to see them myself to be sure. Was a man calling himself ''Spider'' or ''Half-Breed'' among them?" "Spider is indeed among the prisoners, yes." Anthony confirmed. "Ugly ass fucker." Omar shuddered. I nodded, wincing at the movement, as I settled in to think. "Give me an hour to get better and we can head over there. Go ahead and start bringing the civies back over, let them watch the proceedings if you wish. Oh and serve some breakfast if we have any, I for one am famished." Chapter 36: Judgement The healing process revealed to me just how badly mauled I''d been after that singular attack from Jorge. It went far beyond feeling my bones pop back into place or all but feeling new blood filling my veins as Focus and buff assisted healing made the process almost tactile, it was the damaged pieces literally falling off me. I knew that my tungsten scales and carapace had been damaged by the attack, but actually seeing it as new scales and carapace rapidly grew in that fully registered the damage to me. The massive carapace plates of my back, that got as thick as three inches in places, had been bent into sharp ''V''s where they hadn''t simply failed and shattered. This was a metal that I''d watched shrug off rounds designed to kill airplanes and that would go THROUGH hills and feet of armor smashed up and crumpled like it had been simple aluminum can stomped on by a heavy boot. The fact that I''d endured such a blow well enough to be brought back and not simply bisected spoke of both how durable I now was and just how horrifyingly powerful some of the forces we were facing these days were. These heavy chunks of twisted metal instilled more fear in me than any of Jeremy''s accidental horrors. I was more than happy to let Jack take them away for experimentation so I wouldn''t have to think about how terribly close to death I''d come. I circled a bit closer to the bonfire as a soul deep chill rippled through me. I''d died, more than that I''d died without having gone to confession after killing two people. H-had I nearly gone to hell? No, I couldn''t have. The bible not only had allowances for its followers to defend themselves and others, it even encouraged its followers to strike down the wicked with both words and deeds. It didn''t allow for murder, and I hadn''t murdered those men. Hadn''t I? Sure, it seemed like ''Bones'' hadn''t been capable of actually harming me and he''d died so horribly easily, but that didn''t make it murder. I was still heaven bound, even if it would take a few centuries of purgatory, wasn''t I? I couldn''t shake the thought of both Jorge and ''Bones'' hanging off me like heavy anchors with rictus smiles as they dragged me down into the darkness of hell. Would I still be able to reach Heaven if I added another damned soul to the mix? It wasn''t like I had been a bastion of righteousness before the Event. I had been drenched deeply in several of the deadly sins despite my attempts to try and put them behind me and rise above my simple animal desires. If I had really died then, what would be waiting for me? We were already coming up upon the stadium where the combatants were being held and yet it felt to me more like I was the one being guided to the gallows as I was flanked by Omar and Jack. I felt myself caught in a roiling conflict as a dozen different concepts and guidelines rolled through me like a turbulent sea. Bible verses calling to forgive those who wronged us waged war with cold facts such as ''Mercy for the criminal is cruelty for the victim'' and ''Mercy is a luxury of the strong''. I intellectually knew that a great many of these people were more victims of Jorge than true criminals, yet some of them were actual criminals. I''d dealt with enough bullies and thugs growing up to know that they would see compassion and mercy as a weakness to exploit, they needed to see consequences for their actions or nothing would change. Yet I still found my mind whirling like a fan to try and find some sort of out that would exempt me from having to do what I knew needed to be done for fear of my own immortal soul. As we entered the stadium I closed my eyes and bowed my head as I turned to my rock in this emotional storm. Lord God. Lift up I who is tasked to carry out the sentence of death, I ask that You guide me with compassion and justice. As You forgave those who crucified Your Son, Jesus Christ, may I too be forgiven and find mercy in Your eyes. May my actions be motivated not by hatred or revenge, but by a desire to uphold the law and protect society. Grant me the wisdom and discernment to distinguish between justice and vengeance, and may I always seek to serve You and up hold Your commandments. As Jesus prayed for those who crucified Him, may I too pray for those I execute, asking for their souls to be spared and for them to find redemption in Your loving presence. May Your grace and mercy be upon me, and may I be the instrument of Your peace and justice in this world. In Jesus¡¯ name, I pray. Amen. As the prayer finished I sighed out a slow breath as the turmoil in my mind calmed. The old prayer had reminded me that upholding law and protecting others was a necessary act that God and Jesus both understood and allowed so long as I did not let my anger guide me. I would take no pleasure in what had to be done. The old baseball, soccer, and football stadium easily held the twenty nine people being held prisoner and their wardens of buzzing bees, fluttering moths, and prowling hounds. What caught me off guard was the sight of a deer with wind chime like antlers standing before the crowd. I quickly realized it was Dustin and began to ask what the old professor was doing here. Then the sound of his gently rattling horns as he slowly swayed back and forth reached me. It was such a wonderfully unique sound that was almost painfully familiar as I listened to it. I found myself lost in trying to place the musical rattling pings of his dangling antlers. Was it a crystal xylophone it was reminding me of? Perhaps the sound of someone playing glasses or spoons? "Ah you''ve arrived." Despite not having legs I felt like I tripped as his antlers stilled and fell silent. "Then I shall take my leave. I hold no desire to bear witness to whatever depraved barbarity you have planned for these people, irregardless of how necessary you believe your actions to be. Good day sirs, madam." I watched the deer man leave, still feeling terribly disoriented from his music, a feeling that seemed to be shared by everyone in the stadium. When I gathered myself enough to slither onto the field with my escorts I could see a new ripple of emotions move through the crowd. Fear, dread, shock, confusion, were by far the majority of the emotions I saw. My people saw me looking whole and unharmed and called out a joyous welcome. Cami looked up at me with a fragile hope as I coiled at home plate and raised my head high to ''stand'' far above the gathered people. "You have attacked us," I began simply, keeping my voice as devoid of emotion as possible. With the metallic reverb my voice had, it came out sounding almost mechanical. "I have warned you, repeatedly, of the consequences of such acts." The stench of fear flooded the stadium as I paused, "Your crimes are only mitigated by the fact many of you were forced here against your will and the fact God frowns on needless violence. This does not mean you will be getting off without consequences." I spotted the Chupacabra knock off trying to hide himself in the middle of the crowd. I pointed at him with my tail. "Spider." As we''d discussed beforehand Jack and Omar cut through the crowd and grabbed the man up, dragging him forwards even as he struggled against them with a wild fury. They brought him before me and forced him to kneel. "Matilda, if you''d please." She seemed startled but recovered quickly, several of her moths quickly descending and wrapping his arms and legs in silk. Omar and Jack backed away into the stands to watch the proceedings grimly. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Fuck fuck fuck, no! Please no. Fuck!" Spider whimpered as he struggled against his bindings, "Come on man, have some mercy! God said to have mercy and forgive people, si? I promise it won''t happen again." "I already showed you mercy Spider." I stated flatly, "I give you several chances to turn away from this path and warn your friends from the path as well. Now three people are dead because you refused to change. This is not the towering empire that can afford to show you the careless and infinite mercy you have grown used to. We are a shattered nation trying to pick up the pieces and you have been seeking to smash those pieces still further." I lifted my tail letting the heavy blade point skywards in a ready position as I continued, "I am sorry we do not have a priest to deliver unto you your last rights. I will allow you to have a moment to make your peace with God." "No! Please! Come on man! This is too much!" Spider wailed as he thrashed about. He looked deep into my eyes and I felt a flash of fear spike in my mind. It soon was burned away as hesitance left me and was replaced with grim resolve. "Fuck! Come on bro, it was just us having some fun! We weren''t doing anything too bad! Just let me go and I promise I''ll go straight! Just don''t k-!" "May God take mercy on your soul." I activated Myoelectric mutagen, letting the extra strength pour into my muscles as I swung the eight foot slab of metal in the rough shape of a sword down on Spider with a clap of thunder. Considering the size of the tool being used and the strength it had been swung with, the result was less a cut and more an explosion as Spider''s body burst apart like a watermelon with an m-80 inside it. Gore splattered the two nearest rows of people, myself, and the stadium walls. a lot of people screamed, others looked very green under the gills, a few openly vomited. More than a few people looked at the bloody splatter on the ground and the few pieces of bone and flesh buried and cooking under my electrified tail with open horror. ¨CYou have slain F¨¦lix Perez¨C ¨CGained 400xp!¨C "Vergib mir Gott," I sighed quietly as I turned to the crowd, pointed, and said, "Camila." Omar and Jack both climbed down from the stands and approached the ashen looking woman and carried her over while trying to avoid stepping on the blood and offal as much as possible. They placed her tiny trembling form before me and after a long pause Matilda tied the woman down and let the other two men return to their seats. "Camila," I said, voice cold as I looked down at her. "You have admitted to being a spy. While you did betray your companions to side with us, you did so for the worst reasons. You turned against people you knew, who were friends and brothers to your husband, for slightly more comfortable living conditions. This shows you to be a shallow and fickle ally at best, one likely to turn on us the second you think you could get a slightly better deal elsewhere. Were it up to me I would literally brand the word traitor into your flesh and cast you out." I watched coldly as the woman wilted visibly. Tears building in her eyes. "You are very lucky then, that your fate is not left to my judgment." I turned to look at Omar who outright glared at me as he quickly realized what I was doing. "Omar, you will be leading our people so I leave this woman''s fate up to you. What is to be her fate?" Cami turned to look up at my friend with pleading eyes while I did my best to keep emotions out of my gaze and simply wait for him to decide. Omar''s frown deepened as he looked down at the bat. Consternation, anger, annoyance, worry, all flickered across his face as the silence lengthened. He shifted into a pose not dissimilar from a famous barbarian king as he grunted and leaned back in his seat, drumming fingers along his leg. He looked at me for a good minute, before looking at his hands, and finally letting his tumultuous gaze linger at the silently pleading woman stuck to the floor before him. He let out a long slow sigh as his posture sagged before pushing himself to his feet. "I agree with a lot of Joe''s sentiments on this case," Omar stated firmly, "However, I was once not too different from you Cami. I was an uncaring asshole who did the least he could do to afford my many vices. Then someone gave me a chance and encouraged me to improve myself, constantly pushing me to be better, and ever improve myself. So as I was given that chance, I shall now offer you this chance to do and become better. You will be allowed to stay among us should you desire it, or leave. Should you betray this opportunity, there will be no third chance. At best you will be banished, at worst." He gestured to the bloody crack in the ground where Spider had once stood. "Do you understand?" "Yes, thank you! Thank you! I won''t let you down sir!" Camila all but wept as she seemed to go nearly boneless with relief. I simply nodded at his judgment, doing my best to try and make it clear to everyone that Omar was the one in charge and not me. Hopefully it would make his transition into official leadership easier and make these conscripts and thugs afraid of just what he could do that would keep someone like me in line. I waited for Matilda''s moths to free the woman from her silk before turning back to the crowd and pointing to the three men I''d identified as official members of Tango who were still alive. One by one, they were dragged up and placed before me. A tarantula, an alligator, and a big horn ram none of them seemed to have evolved. All of them were radiating fear and desperate hope as they were secured before me. I was silent for a moment as I cast a judgmental eye over each of them. None of them seemed like the type to be hardened jailbait or part of one of Texas'' larger gangs, they just seemed like scared young men who were realizing too late they''d taken things too far. "I will be honest," I rumbled, "I do not know any of you. All I know is that when Jorge called you to war you not only answered but were willing to lead others in his plans. While that does not speak well of your character, it is hardly enough to call down any harsh punishments." Some tension left the three, but I noticed that the gator in particular seemed to be waiting for the other shoe to drop. I obliged him. "So I will let those you led here speak in your defense or condemn you." I looked out over the crowd of conscripts, "If you have seen these men commit great evils or anything you believe makes them worthy of life, speak now. Their lives hang in the balance." There was a beat of silence before a gorilla woman raised her voice, telling how the ram had come across Spider attempting to violate her and run him off. Several spoke of the gator doing what he could to secret them more food and doing what he could to make things more comfortable for them. Not a single person had a bad thing to say of the ram, who many declared to be ''rude but fair''. The tarantula had far more people condemn him, speaking of his frequent brutality, and the way he''d silently watched people while they slept. Then the accusation of cannibalism came up. "They''re lying!" The tarantula instantly denied all eight eyes wide with terror. "I never did such a thing." "He did," the ram stated with a cold fury. "I was there while Jorge was ripping you a new one for that shit and threatening to step on you if he caught you pulling that mierda again." He spat a thick wad of snot at the tarantula, "Would have ripped your fucking gili legs off myself if he hadn''t stopped me." "That''s a load of bullshit Tomb-!" I brought my tail blade down full force on the tarantula man, resulting in a new explosion of gore coating everyone. There were very few things that could mitigate cannibalism in my eyes, none of them were in play here. Someone willing to commit such an unforgivable crime was less than a human in my eyes. Simply a rabid animal to be put down. ¨CYou have killed Carlos Mendez¨C ¨CGained 400xp¨C "Well then," I said pleasantly as one could while coated in the exploded gore of two men, "Now that we''ve got that unpleasantness out of the way, I think it is about time we escort you back to your church to help make clear to everyone there about the recent change in management." I turned and smiled up at Omar, "Hey boss," my smile got all the wider as he scowled at me for that, "Should we send a runner up to the Veranda? I bet Sargent Donald would like to be part of this." Chapter 37: Reflection We waited on one of several overpasses over I-30 waiting for the Veranda''s contingent to arrive. The sun was quickly rising to its peak and I found myself tempted to simply slide under the bridge to seek the shelter of its shade. It would hardly be fair to the other thirty some odd people on the bridge to leave them in the baking sun while I lounged in the shade. I could easily call for everyone to move down into the shade while we waited, but I also didn''t want to leave our cargo unattended up there. It was hardly going to get up and walk off on its own, but it had already started attracting jackal-snakes and some sort of super fluffy white birds with serrated beaks had tried to get at it. That wasn''t even including the twelve to twenty foot long centipede lions lurking in the shadows of buildings, all but invisible to everything but my tremorsense. Plus the damn thing was heavy enough that just moving the blasted thing this far had left me and the others responsible for hauling the load fairly gassed, we''d need the extra muscle just to get it to its destination. So that left me sitting in the shadow of the great stinking thing with my eyes on the sky in case more birds came down to try and eat it. A rather mindless task that gave me far too much time to think, though my mind was largely occupied by four things. George Curz, F¨¦lix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge. I''d always known that in situations like this that it would be inevitable that conflict would spring up and that it would be the job of strong good men to strike down the wicked. Hell I''d had fantasies about being badly injured and wading into a screaming horde of men that behaved more like animals in order to buy others time to escape. I''d been one of those people who had unironically been hoping someone would try and break into his home so I''d have an excuse to fight and kill them. In all those fantasies and plans the people I''d been fighting or putting down had been faceless, nameless things. George Curz, F¨¦lix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge. It is amazing how much of a difference simply having a name to assign to their faces changed things. Turned a cackling villain into something that might have had loved ones, had a history, something that if I''d tried harder might have been lifted from the dirt to be guided on the hard path to heaven. I couldn''t see any way that I could have reasonably guided them back onto God''s path without potentially sacrificing dozens of innocent people to their cruel mercies. That should mean that what I did was the right thing, yet my heart hissed at me that such cold arithmetic was the kind of thinking that had guided the world to the verge of biblical anarchy before the Event. George Curz, F¨¦lix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge. One of these names was not like the others. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. For the others, their names were known, thrown into my face by the system upon their death, no doubt the same was true for Jorge, but it was likely buried in the dozens of notifications waiting for me. I really should look at them. No doubt some useful information was waiting for me in there, but so was the name. Another proper name to hiss through my head like a knife through flesh, a name to give a vengeful whispering ghost on my back greater purchase. Surely it wouldn''t be too bad to let it sit for another day or two would it? The wicked flee when no man pursueth, hissed in my non-existent ear causing me to flinch. I had always had a habit of simply trying to avoid problems and hoping they''d go away or someone else would handle them. I guess Damian wasn''t the only one waiting to be rescued on some level. Might as well use this time to check the updates. I could handle one more name without breaking. Just because I was a snake didn''t mean I couldn''t be as brave as a lion right? ¨CFossorial Mutagen has leveled up! x4¨C ¨CGained 12xp¨C That would probably be from the frantic digging of the collapsing tunnel trap, we had been beyond lucky that he had stepped on it, if he''d stepped over it or stopped short we might have a major issue. We were probably lucky that his group didn''t seem to have anyone with detection abilities like that, probably something to invest into. ¨CTremorsense has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C That would be the approach. I''m a little surprised that it didn''t level up more than that considering just how much information Jorge''s footsteps were feeding me. If I met anyone else on that scale I might need to hang around them for a few hours to grind the skill. ¨CLunge has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C ¨CLunge rank up!¨C ¨CAbility: E ¡ú D¨C ¨CFossorial Mutagen has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C ¨CLeap has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C Ah, that would be the initial attack. Hells, that was a terrible idea. I had been way too confident on the idea of being able to completely bore through the man with that combination where I wasn''t even sure Fossorial helped me dig through flesh or just dirt. I really should have gone in tail first, used the giant blade to soak the impact. I''d been so concerned that my scales would rob too much penetration from the attack I hadn''t even considered the possibility of knocking myself out by effectively launching myself face first into a bunker. ¨CYou have taken 78 impact damage¨C ¨CYou have taken 92 impact damage¨C ¨CYou are inflicted with |Stun|¨C ¨CYou are inflicted with |Cripple||Slow||Daze|¨C ¨CYou have taken 18 impact damage¨C ¨CWarning: Stamina Low¨C Just the memory of that pain made me cringe, I might technically be able to tank nearly three times that damage but forcing my way forwards through dark and clinging flesh while feeling my skull deform and bones grinding against each other was likely going to feature in a few nightmares in the coming weeks. ¨CWARNING! YOU ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF STAMINA!¨C ¨CCONTINUING WILL COST YOU HP!¨C ¨CYou have taken 316 Crushing Damage¨C ¨CYou have been afflicted by |Paralyze||Stun|¨C ¨CYou are inflicted with |Bleed|¨C ¨CBunker Down has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CGained 6xp¨C ¨CWolfram Mutagen has leveled up! x3¨C ¨CGained 9xp¨C ¨CYour system services have been suspended¨C ¨CYour system services have been restored¨C A deep shudder ran the length of my body, two simple lines that sounded no worse than the internet going down for a moment that signified the exact moment I''d died. I wonder if Jorge had seen my own name appear before him before he''d died. ¨CYou have slain Jorge Gonz¨¢lez¨C A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.¨CGained 620xp!¨C ¨CLevel up!¨C ¨CGained 2pts!¨C Huh, for some reason I hadn''t expected him to actually be named Jorge. It sounded like such a fake name, like if I started calling myself Drake or something. Wait, was that even allowed in gangs? Were you allowed to make your gang name your actual name? That seemed wrong somehow, though I suppose expecting every gang member to have a unique name was probably a bit much. I should probably be glad that half the gang wasn''t calling themselves ''Tex''... Could I get away with calling myself that? Nah, maybe if I somehow became a major player I might do that... Then again being some seven headed hydra, dragon or whatever I ended up getting turned into, and being amongst a bunch of ''Killfuck Soulshitter''s and introducing myself as ''Average Joe'' had a strong appeal. Refocusing my wandering mind I focused on Jorge''s full name and found myself, just feeling a bit tired. I just wanted things to be in a decent place before I went to check on my folks and now I had four names hanging around my neck like the cornerstones to a monument of death. Hell, there was very much a possibility that doing this would result in more names added to the list, would it get so long that I''d start forgetting names? I opened my full character screen and started feeling around, there had to be some sort of notepad or something in this stupid thing. It took me several minutes to stumble across it and then staple it onto the bottom of my character sheet. I still hated the fact I basically had my own sheet like a Trailblazers Character, it made everything feel cheaper, like this was just another game of Trailblazers or SLRUPs where I had the misfortune of being a PC or NPC for a change. God Almighty don''t let this be one of the games I run! I''m a terribly unfair System Master!
User: Joe Palmer Species: Broadblade Adder Rank: E Health: 492/492 (+++) Stam: 110/110 Level: 11 Exp: 993/1750 Special: Tremorsense D
Traits: 4/4 Grappling Strike E: Your strikes now inflict the Grab condition. [2/10] Tremorsense D: Feel out low frequency waves through solid objects you''re touching to see with more than just your eyes. May reveal weaknesses in structures and foes. [4/10] Constrict E: Allows you to inflict additional ongoing Impact Damage to targets afflicted by your Grab. Moderate Stamina drain. (Health+) [2/10] Large (long): Your form is large sized and very long, weighing no more than 20000 lbs. (Health++) n/a
Abilities: 4/4 Prehensile Tail E: Your tail is flexible enough to carry or manipulate simple objects. [8/10] Bunker Down C: Become an immobile barrier capable of withstand all but the harshest attacks. Your next attack upon ending this ability is much more powerful. [5/10] Lunge D: Hurl yourself at your enemies and deal extra damage. Modest Stamina Cost. [0/10] Leap C: Jump great distances and use your resulting momentum as a weapon. Moderate Stamina Drain. [4/10]
Mutagens: 5/5 Wolfram Mutagen C: Your entire body is coated in a dense metallic substance that is highly resistant to various forms of damage. Respiring Mutagen E: When holding still your stamina recovery increases drastically. Fossorial Mutagen C: Burrow quickly through earth and stone. Sabertail Bloodline: Ancestral memory of blade bearing brutes capable of cleaving through the hardest of defenses. Cutting and piercing attacks natively bypass 75% of physical defenses. Provides greater control over cutting surfaces. Tailsaber A long sharp blade natural grows from your tail. Will regrow if damaged or removed. Myoelectric Mutagen A: Your muscle fibers gain the ability to generate and store small electrical charges, enhancing strength and potentially stunning enemies on contact.
Sins: George Curz, F¨¦lix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge Gonz¨¢lez
There we go, perhaps ''memorial would have been better, but these were failings. I''d need to do better, work to redeem the spilled blood that stained my soul, even if it had been for a good cause. I couldn''t let myself get comfortable with killing, to accept excuses like necessity or justified. I knew what I was like with slippery slopes and addiction, maybe this new form had solved my hyper addictive behavior, or maybe it hadn''t. The only way I knew for sure to make sure that something didn''t become a habit was to not start it. I looked at those four names one last time before closing the screen, I hoped it would be enough. Looking up from the menu fiddling and popup scrolling I saw the familiar equine form of Rumi and the giant gorilla armed centipede form of Donald. I had not the slightest clue who the two walking next to them were, one looked like someone had tried to make a man out of various pieces of wood but built them ten feet tall with massively oversized arms. The second was a nightmare come to life. It looked like George''s T-rex body, but someone had taken the upper body of one of the boarillas and glued it into George''s bleeding neck stump and run all of George''s scattered teeth through the arms as a form of improvised jaws. Where George had had tiny t-rex arms, instead there was a terrible amalgamation of what had to have been a dozen jackle-snakes glued together in the rough shape of arms ending with ''hands'' made of several of the animals'' severed heads. Each and every eye gazed out with the hazy grayness of death, yet they all still twitched about as if still taking in the world. "Morning Joe," Donald called waving as if he wasn''t being followed by a twisted abomination that put all of Jeremy''s works to shame, "How you doing?" "What," I jabbed my tailblade at the amalgamation, "In the Cinnamon Toast FUCK is that?" Donald sighed and face palmed. "That," he said tiredly, "Is another of the tech bugs, they both wanted to come along for this, and sadly they aren''t quite as easy on the eyes as Melvin is. The one driving the wickerman is Noah." The wooden man/puppet raised an oversized log of a forearm to point at me with a finger made of multiple twigs held together by what looked like spider silk, "Before you ask, no I won''t build you a boat." "You never get tired of that joke do you?" Donald sighed as the wooden humanoid shrugged, "And the horrible meat amalgamation is being controlled by, ironically enough, Angel." The thing waved it''s arms before settling down on the ground, an absolutely tiny bug, maybe an inch or two long poked out of carrion pile and held up what looked like a megaphone made out of a piece of bone, "Sorry if it looks bad, kind of got stuck with a bum deal. Nice to meet ya." I glared down at the tiny bug, "Was it really necessary to defile a dead man''s corpse for this? Would not the boarillas be enough for your," I gestured to the corpse puppet with visible disgust, "project?" "His was the biggest body we currently have and no one else was going to use it." the little bug shouted into his tiny megaphone. I turned away from the corpse defiler to a familiar muscle horse, "Good to see you again Rumi." "Is everyone okay?" she asked worriedly, "Kyli said the stadium was attacked when she brought in the trailer." "I was the worst casualty," I assured her, "And as you can see I''m fine. We didn''t lose anyone." Donald''s long armored antennas twitched at that, I suspect he caught what I wasn''t saying even as Rumi sighed with visible relief. "So you wanted us to come here," Donald stated moving past it for now, "What exactly were you wanting us for?" "Well seeing as Jorge has been defeated along with his entire attacking force. I was wanting to march in on Tango''s base and politely inform them that as of now, we are taking over and effectively vassalizing them. I figure showing a united front and showing up with as many scary looking fucks would be a good push towards them accepting our terms." I gestured to the cargo behind me, "Some help moving that would be appreciated as well." Donald looked up at the massive form of Jorge''s severed head sitting atop the modular house moving dolly and made an odd rattling cough sound, "Damn he''s a giant bastard, glad my boys didn''t have to try and fight that." He turned to look at me again, "You really think they''ll just give up and be good little dogs from now on after this?" "I''m really hoping so," I answered honestly, "I''d rather not have to kill any more of them." Chapter 38: Infiltrate I scowled at the ugly square brick building with splashes of peeling painted metal slats and random windows scattered around the building''s walls over a set of bay windows. Jesus, I''d forgotten how hideous Centrist Bible Church was even before someone had taken the rusting cars from the used car dealership next door and used it to make a shoddy wall across the road, but not extending into the woods to either side of said road. Even from where I was watching about three hundred feet away my flicking tongue was inundated with the stench of rust, rotted oil, and excrement. The defenses appeared to be non-existent beyond the crumbling noise walls from the old days and the rough wall of rusted cars. Even the two people sitting atop said wall of cars seemed to be more focused inwards and spending more time talking rather than actually watching for anything. Hell, I got the feeling that if I wanted to, I could probably conquer this place all on my own. Then again, Jorge had probably felt the same way about the Stadium. Giving the property a second look wasn''t doing much to change that opinion. The only water source seemed to be a small creek under the highway that barely touched the property line that people were quickly wearing a path too to get a drink or awkwardly fill up buckets with water. Everyone I saw seemed to have a heavy air of forlorn exhaustion about them that I recognized from some of my worst line jobs. I wasn''t even hearing the noises of people talking, building, or cooking that had become the constant music of the stadium here. Hell, I didn''t even see any smoke rising from the place, surely they must at least have someone who knew how to make a fire in there right? Shaking my head I pulled back and slithered back to the freeway exit where the line of ''captives'' and my own ''army'' was waiting in the shade of the overpass. Donald looked my way as I returned and waved using his antennas as I approached, "How''s it looking kid?" "Everything I saw and felt seems to align with what Camila was telling us." I reported crisply, "A wall of junked cars across the road with a couple inattentive sentries on it. Not seeing any real activity in the woods around the church, no watchers on the highway I saw, but there is a worn trail there from people going there for water. From what she was saying there shouldn''t be more than three or four members of the gang watching over a score of civilians inside, assuming they haven''t convinced anyone to join on yet. Matilda did report a few brown nosers that seemed to be leaning that way yesterday." "Noted," Donald nodded, "You want me in charge of this op of yours right kid?" "Yes sir," I straightened my back a bit as I stated, "I would prefer a minimal amount of bloodshed though, I feel near certain we can convert most of these people to our way of doing things with a bit of pressure now that Jorge''s gone. If we show them he''s dead we-." "Yeah, can that kid." Donald snapped, "You keep that damned head out of sight until this op is over, I don''t need one of these clowns going nuts because they think they don''t have help coming. Cut the whining about maybe having to kill more people while you''re at it. Like it or not, you might have to put someone down in a fight, hesitating could result in you or others getting killed. Now are you going to be able to follow orders or are you going to sit your ass down and help babysit this crowd you decided to drag along with us instead of leaving them locked up at your place until the op was over?" I tensed, feeling the near instinctive need to snap back at the man questioning me in front of others, but managed to keep my mouth firmly shut. Swallowing my words I hissed out a soft, "You''re in charge sir, you lead and I''ll follow." "Damn straight," he stated before turning and pointing, "Rumi, Matilda, you''re on baby sitting duty. Keep these people here and in line." "What!?" Rumi whinnied angrily, "The hell Gruncle Donald!?" "Oh I''m sorry, is keeping nearly three dozen men and women in check not glorious enough for you?" Donald barked, "Or are you upset that I think you''re tough enough to be able to take all of these people by yourself and fast enough to catch any of them if they pull a runner? Well woman? Speak up?" Rumi just sort of stood there, her mouth hanging open mid retort seemingly unable to decide if she should be upset or flattered. Donald took the moment to whirl on Matilda, "Matilda, no complaints about your posting?" "I''m sure you''ll tell me how it''s necessary for me to sit back here instead of helping secure those kids being held at the church." She stated with that tone that women seem to effortlessly manage that says ''I''m very mad at you and if I don''t hear a good reason in the next minute I''ll be making it your problem and even if you do I will still be upset for the rest of the day.'' "You''re damned right it''s necessary woman," Donald barked at her, "You are the closest thing we''ve got to a radio operator at the moment and I am not risking you needlessly. Moreover, your abilities are perfect for helping Rumi lock down any troublemakers. So you are going to stay back here and relay signals for us. Clear?" "Crystal," Matilda said with a huff, her fluffy antennas dancing angrily atop her head. Donald muttered something under his breath that sounded like a complaint about women in the military, but he could just as easily been saying how much he loved women in uniform. Either way I couldn''t find it in me to be too judgmental on the guy. "Angel! You ready to put that thing through its paces?" The corpse amalgamation waggled its ''hand'' back and forth unsurely. "What do you mean so-so?" The body pile made gesturing motions to its ''arms'', pointing at the string holding them together and the rough bindings of the neck and boarilla body. "You aren''t sure it will hold together in combat?" The giant centipede/gorilla/pillbug asked with none of the surety he''d had moments ago. He received a nod. "Noah, can you use some wood and your threads to reinforce him a bit?" "Not quickly sir," the wooden man squeaked, "I''d need more wood first and properly forming the joints to keep it-" "No sir is good enough Noah!" Donald snapped. "Looks like you''re going to have to make do, Angel. Your ''battle body'' is the only thing that will be believable as a wandering monster and durable enough to take a beating as a distraction. Though if shit goes FUBAR I want you running even if you have to leave the thing behind." Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The insult to all things decent snapped a floppy salute that had Donald looking like he wanted to launch into a tirade on how to do a proper salute. "Everyone else! We''re going to be forming up in teams of two to approach through the woods as quietly as possible." Donald began to march back and forth in front of us, which was impressive considering how many legs he had. "You will not engage until we are in position and you receive the signal! You will immediately move to secure the captured civilians as quickly as possible. You will not let yourself be drawn into a prolonged fight before we have moved the civilians out of the compound. "Teams one and two will be flanking the front of the civilian column during exfiltration. Team three, you will be acting as a rear guard both making sure no one falls behind and no one reaches the civies. Team four will be running interference for the other teams and trying to keep them pinned in place long enough for the other teams to escort the civies to safety and return to help finish off this gang of thugs." He stopped his back and forth patrol to turn to face the group. "Any questions?" "Uh, what''s the signal?" Michelle asked, raising one of her clawed wing/arm things. "And what if they attack us before we''re in position?" "Or if the people we''re trying to rescue panic and attack us," Jeremy asked. Donald just sighed, rubbing his monkey hands along his carapace, "Oh I hate working with fresh boots." The next thirty minutes was Donald hammering what he called ''common fucking sense'' into our heads and ensuring that it stuck while bemoaning lacking the time to run us through the most basic of basics. After that he assigned us each into teams and where to approach. Guess who got assigned to team four with Donald? At least our approach was the easiest one, coming up south from the creek through the cover of the woods. Donald had claimed that it was because we were both big and obvious, he didn''t want to risk us getting spotted in maneuvers. Personally, I suspected he didn''t trust me to follow his plan and wanted me in arms reach in case I tried to pull something. I was just glad it left us close to the wall in case shit hit the fan. We got into position fairly quickly, laying low in the trees, deep enough to be hard to see but to still easily observe. We could clearly see the group of animals I had to remind myself were people digging at the ground. Were they trying to plow a field? Quarrying for clay? Whatever it was they seemed to be doing a bad job of it, not in the least bit helped by the baboon holding an AR that had obviously seen better days. I eyed the gun curiously, it could be hard to say with ARs due to people having a tendency to Frankenstein the modular guns, but if it was a base AR then at least a quarter of the people working the field had almost nothing to fear from the weapon. Then again, they probably just saw the gun that the news told them to be afraid of for half a decade and didn''t know enough to know that the thing was probably non-functional and that its small caliber rounds would likely be painful but not lethal to their meatier members. For me and Donald at least the weapon wasn''t a threat at all unless it caught us in the eye. Movement in the corner of my vision caught my attention, it was one of Matilda''s little moths spreading its wings wide. The signal that Angel was about to begin his distraction and everyone was in place. There was no roar to herald the start of the operation, Angel apparently didn''t have enough control to make the body breathe or speak, there was a heavy metallic crunch of a car husk being hurled into the outer wall. Shouting started, as did the sound of someone slamming a stick into a metal plate, I could see a small group of three, including a familiar fluffy rhino, rushing towards the gate as the screaming continued. The baboon with a gun started shouting at the crowd and gesturing towards the church parking lot. The crowd was slow to move, seeming confused and trying to see what was happening even as the baboon kicked them and made threatening motions with his gun. I waited, watching Matilda''s moth, for the signal that Tango had committed to attacking Angel''s creation. The seconds seemed to rapidly tick by as the moth remained motionless. The crowd was getting further from us as the monkey did his work. Finally the moth took off, signaling the attack. I immediately fired off a Lunge, rocketing me out of the woods and halfway towards the crowd, I slithered for half a second to correct my aim before lunging again, aimed directly at the little monkey, my mouth spread wide. My approach was quickly noticed, with a large chunk of the crowd crying out in alarm as they noticed me and actively trying to flee me. The baboon whirled at me with his gun raised and froze in wide eyed terror as he saw a snake bigger around than he was tall alarmingly close and closing fast, jaws opened wide and full of needle sharp teeth. My jaws slammed close on him before he had a chance to recover. His tiny three foot body disappeared completely within my jaws. Don''t swallow! Don''t swallow! Don''t swallow! I mentally screamed fighting down a nearly overwhelming reflex built into this body akin to a gag reflex. I could hear the muffled screaming from the man in my mouth along with the horribly uncomfortable feeling of him moving in there, or trying anyway. It felt like he was firmly held in place by the many backwards facing needle teeth in there. Then there was a muffled *crack crack crack* with a feeling like I''d just crack a tooth that made me bite down harder from the pain. ¨CYou have taken 18 piercing damage¨C ¨CYou have taken 5 overpressure damage¨C ¨CGrappling Strike has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C What the hell I thought I''d disabled those pop ups? Did I screw something up while fiddling around with the notepad? Damn it, I''m not entirely sure how I turned off the pop ups to begin with! I turned to the now panicking crowd of civilians only to realize I could hardly try and reassure them while my mouth was full of gun monkey. Thankfully the other teams were catching up and quickly starting to direct the crowd back towards the highway and away what was starting to sound like a real fight back towards the gate. I reached out to hold Noah in place for a moment to spit out the wet, bloody, and moaning baboon into his awkwardly heavy wooden hands. I was trying very hard not to focus on the taste of blood, piss, and cordite filling my mouth as I spat a few more times on the ground. Donald cast a baleful glare my way before turning to watch the gate. I turned away from the still very nervous crowd of people being hurried away from us to watch the gate as well. Angel was certainly proving to be a distraction, he had one of his attackers firmly locked down in the mass of jackal-snake heads that made up his hands while another flew about the ''arm'' trying to free the captive. The big rhino, what had his name been? Half-Breed? was repeatedly charging Angel''s legs forcing him to dance around the big rhino while also desperately avoiding a giant slug. Some sort of six legged tiger had somehow gotten up to his neck and was clawing apart the boarilla head even as the thing slammed blows into the tigers ribs. It was difficult to say who was winning at the moment, but it certainly looked to me like Angel couldn''t keep up such a stalemate for long. "Should we help him?" I asked worriedly. Donald gave me a reproachful look as he growled, "I''m not going to stop you if you decide to charge in half cocked as you seem want to do." If he was hoping to shame me into inaction, he was going to be sorely disappointed. I aimed a Leap at the walls and flew through the air. Chapter 39: Easy Victory Flying through the air was quickly becoming an enjoyable means of travel. Dynamic entry my favorite means of arrival. Tragically, my aim still needs work. Thankfully I wasn''t too far off target, in as far as I hit the wall I was aiming for. Mind I had been hoping to land on top of it, not slam into it with a sound like an eighteen wheeler trying to eat a stopped four door on the highway. The wall exploded like it was made of Styrofoam blocks instead of cars as I plowed into it. Most everyone froze in shock as rusty, and now badly damaged, cars slid, bounced, and tumbled away from the hole I''d accidentally made in the eight foot pile. A couple of the flying vehicles flew far enough to threaten the combatants. Half-Breed spotted them coming and whirled about with his mostly regrown horn to smash the pick up sliding towards him to the side with a grunt. Angel wasn''t quick enough to dodge the car that slammed into his ankle, causing him to tumble and try to arrest his fall with his hands. He seemed to forget about the man in his hands as he hit the ground with a painfully dry cracking sound. Considering the front third of his arm tendrils had been mashed into a mess of meat and shattered bones, the prognosis on the man he was holding didn''t look good. The slug had a minivan land on top of it with a sound like the world''s largest squeaky toy being stepped on. They were cussing up a storm, so I guess they weren''t too badly injured by having several tons of steel and plastic sitting on them. "Whoops! Sorry Angel." I cringed at all the accidental damage, "You okay?" He held up the long tendril arms letting everyone clearly see where the lashings holding the arms together had broken, letting the limp, decapitated jackal-snake corpses spill to the ground. "Sorry, I''m still working on aiming." "Ah shit," Half-Breed breathed, his eyes wide and horrified, "It''s him." "What? This is the guy Jorge went to ki-ack!" The tiger began until Angel managed to wrap his boarilla hands around the tiger''s throat and hurl him off his back. "Will one of you get this thing off me?" The snail squealed with a voice like a wet fart, "This isn''t exactly comfortable!" "Dios mio!" The flier, now clearly a large falcon of some type, landed next to the pile of meat that used to be Angel''s arms "Hammer!? You alive in there chompa?" Half-Breed cast his eyes wildly about at those around him, his mind clearly running the numbers and not liking the results he was getting. When Donald sauntered up next to me looking mightily displeased, the wooly rhino seemed to reach a decision. He promptly flopped over on his side and sighed out a defeated, "I surrender." "What!?" The six limbed tiger sputtered, looking affronted, "The actual fuck HB? The fuck we giving up without a fight!?" "Because we were barely winning out against that!" He gestured with his head towards Angel who had finally gotten back to his feet. "And this loco co?o killed Bones with one hit, took my best, and has probably killed Jorge and the others if he''s here now. I''m tired of feeding my hermanos into that meat grinder. I give up." "H-he can''t be that tough." The tiger said, puffing himself up. "I-I can take him. N-no way Tango is gonna be someone else''s bitch!" Donald''s arm snapped out far further than I thought was possible to grab the tiger by the scruff of the neck and yanked him towards his face. Before anyone could react beyond a flinch Donald''s massive centipede mandible slammed shut close enough to the cat''s face to slice off whiskers with a sound like garden shears slamming shut. Everything was silent for a beat before Donald growled with a rumble like distant thunder, "Listen to your friend, he''s trying to save your fool life." He casually released the kid and gave him a condescending pat on the head and pushed him gently towards the others. The tiger kid opened his mouth but closed it and sulked over towards the falcon to help him pull a horribly broken and moaning meerkat out of the carnage pile of Angel''s broken puppet. I simply watched the proceedings in a bit of silent shock. I''d hopped over here expecting another fight, certainly not a difficult one, but at least having to throw a few people around and maybe sit on them until they agreed to surrender. This sudden anti-climax to our war with Tango Blast had me feeling very wrong footed despite no longer having feet. "Well," I paused to try and straighten out the thoughts in my head, "I will admit that I didn''t see you just surrendering, though I suppose it does make this a bit easier." "Whatever it is, I take full responsibility." Half-Breed stated, a bit of iron coming into his voice as he stood up, "I had seniority and shouldn''t have let Jorge seize control like that. Whatever punishment you have in mind can fall on me." "Well that won''t exactly work considering that we are colonizing your ass," I chuckled before getting serious, "You have all proven yourselves incapable of being allowed to govern yourselves. So we are taking your sovereignty, but seeing as you have offered to take responsibility, I will see about putting your name forward as the local governor. You will still be taking orders and accepting rulership from Wrangler Stadium as we try to turn this mud pit into something that can actually sustain people and give back to the community." I turned to Donald, "Will Veranda be sending a representative to help govern our mutual colony?"Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "You''re damn right we will," Donald rumbled, I swore his compound eyes were focused on me, "We will need to make sure this isn''t mismanaged." Was he saying he didn''t trust our way of doing things? I understand that we were hardly hardened military vets, but not everyone could or should be so militant. That way was as bad if not worse than the corrupted anarchy the Tangos had been flaunting thus far. Pushing past the implications that may or may not have been there I continued, "This will mean that we will be releasing our prisoners back into your custody," they all looked up at that and I cut in before they could interrupt, "Yes a fair number of your people survived our counter attack, we did execute several for unforgivable crimes and running out of chances, but the rest will be returned. "Do note however, that some ironclad laws are going to be handed down." I said letting my myoelectric mutagen build enough to let electricity dance between my scales for a moment. Hopefully it would look both cool and fully carry over the threat that breaking these rules carried, "First and foremost, your habits of taking slaves ends now. With the notable exclusion of all active members of the Foritos, everyone living here has their freedom of movement restored and may come or leave any time they wish. Furthermore, this is extended to members of both Wrangler Stadium and the Veranda. We will be sending several skilled professionals or talented amateurs to get this place up to a basic standard of living and any attempts to block or hold them will not be viewed kindly. Lastly, we have heard rumors of cannibalisms, torture, and intentional depravation of your people, allowances will be made for famines or droughts, but your most important objective is to keep your people safe and cared for. "Be warned." I growled, letting the electricity build enough to start snapping at the air, "Any serious attempts to curtail such freedoms will incur immediate retribution. You are all on your last chance and if you spit on this offer of mercy you will not receive it again." I cut off the flow letting the silence linger for a beat as I hissed, "Am I understood?" I saw the tiger bristle as I rattled off my, honestly beyond reasonable, offer. A quick glare from both myself and Half-Breed seemed to cow the cat, for the moment. The big wooly rhino sighed, "Yeah, that''s probably a better deal than we deserve." "It is," Donald agree, his voice taking on an odd cicada sounding hiss, "I''ll go inform the civies and prisoners and start sorting who''s going where in this fuck fuck circus." Donald began marching down the road past the gangers with a sound not unlike rain falling on asphalt. "Great, you mind getting this car off of me now?" the slug squeaked angrily. I acquiesced, sliding the blade of my tail under the car and flipping it off him with a flick. The slug man immediately ''charged'' my tail and draped himself over the appendage, "I got him guys! Dogpile his ass!" The six legged tiger immediately joined him, lunging forwards with claws out and fangs bared. I honestly even felt the tiger impact me, though his claws did make a noticeable sound as they failed to find any purchase and he slid down my side. I casually lifted the slug off the ground to give him a curious look, his two eye stalks looked at me with the horror of some figuring out he''d seriously fucked up. Casting a curious look at the other members of Tango Blast I saw the falcon focused on nothing more than keeping his friend awake while promising him that he''d be okay. It was hard to read the half dead body language of Angel''s puppet, but I''d be willing to wager the man was looking rather incredulous. Half-Breed just looked terribly resigned. "Was that supposed to do something?" I asked the snail in amused befuddlement. "Uh, no." He stated innocently. ¨CYou have taken 1 acid damage¨C Ah, acid mucus. That would explain it. I scraped the slug off on the ground and used a bit of Focused Prehensile Tail to make the blade curl up like a crooked finger. As I leveled the curled blade at the slug man I saw his eyes shrink into his head and he started ''running''. I released the skill and let the blade snap forwards, the flat impacting heavily against the slug in an improvised flick that sent him flying into and then over the car he''d previously been trapped under. The man moaned weakly before going limp. For the tiger, I simply lowered my head a bit, trapping the cat under the massive mass of my body. I heard a muffled yowl come from down there as I turned to look at Half-Breed, "They''re both on strike three now, we have any more trouble from them and they''re getting killed." He simply nodded as I waited for the tiger''s struggles to lose some of their spunk, "Do you happen to have a priest here? I''ve been looking for someone to hear my confessions." He did actually, it was sadly just the priest for the Centrist Bible Church, but I suppose that would have to do. ~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~ That was easily the worst confession I''d ever experienced. Obviously I was too big to fit into a confessional so the tube rat, I honestly couldn''t tell his exact species, had us do it in the middle of the church. That was fine, but his constant moralizing at me and outright lying hadn''t been. It had started out simple enough, him accepting my more ''common'' sins of not going to church on the sabbath and rampant sins of lust and sloth with a kind smile. The second I brought up killing Jorge he''d looked beyond horrified and interrupted the ritual to ask how it happened. Him seemed aghast that we had violently defended ourselves and not simply let ourselves be conquered. When I reached the executions he all began to loudly condemn me, all but stating I was a hell bound devil worse than Jorge. He''d even started quoting scriptures at me, and gotten far madder as I began refuting him with scriptures as well. In the end he demanded I leave stating, "No amount of prayer would convince God to forgive a demon such as you." I managed to avoid putting him through a wall for such blasphemy in a, supposed, house of God. Instead I simply hoped someday that he might become an actual priest instead of simply pretending. That got a collection basket thrown at my face. Needless to say, I was in a poor mood as I exited the church. Which might have made my tone hold more venom than was appropriate when I found a familiar wooly rhino waiting for me outside. "What do you want?" I all but snarled at the waiting ungulate. I was also more than a bit taken aback as he very calmly told me... Chapter 40: Denouement "He''s not a very good priest is he?" Half-Breed asked me almost conversationally. The comment was so far from any response I''d been expecting that it took a second for me to get my mental train back on its tracks. "If I were to be honest, I would say it''s more believable that he''s actually an atheist just pretending." I hissed in agitation, "I''ve received better service from youth group leaders than that... Ferret? Stoat? Whatever he is!" "Yeah, not to try and shift the blame or nothing," the fluffy rhino flopped down onto his side in an almost cat like manner that seemed at odds with his bulky body, "but a lot of us were feeling lost and in need of guidance when we all woke up stuck in an egg and like this. After searching six churches and him being the first person even claiming to be a priest we turned to him. He basically told us that God was a metaphor and that in troubled times we must depend on each other to make it through. So when Jorge had his dumb idea to basically force everyone to work together under our rule, because of course no one was stronger than Tango Blast, everyone took that as a sign and followed him." "Sure sounds like you''re trying to shift blame to me," I made a low sound somewhere between a yowling cat and a truck downshifting as I thought about it for a moment, "Though I can see how that would lead you boys down this path. It does little to nothing to exonerate you, but it lets me understand your actions some." I raised my body higher to better look down at the de facto leader of what remained of Tango Blast''s Fort Worth chapter, "Why tell me this? You must know this won''t give you any more slack in your leash or make us forgive your actions." He looked up at me with an almost mournful look, "Because Tango Blast also had major chapters in Dallas, El Paso, and Houston. I''ve been told the gang numbered nearly twenty thousand strong. There is more of us out there. There will be more of us in later waves. What happens if we don''t have any kind of guidance better than him? Will we become caught in a cycle of lashing out at those around us and getting culled in a far more brutal world than what we knew? How long until Tango members are killed on sight and wiped out? I don''t want that for my brothers." He shifted, rolling onto his belly and awkwardly trying to position his body in a way that, I''m not sure what he was aiming for. Bowing? Begging? Yoga? Eventually he seemed to settle on a ''good enough'' pose with his butt held high and his head pointing out forwards on its side, kind of like a dog trying to scratch its cheek on the floor. "I heard you are planning to head south for some reason. While you''re on your journey, I beg of you. Please, if you find another priest, one of a respectable caliber who is willing, send him this way so he can help guide my brothers and shepherd them from this bloody path we have walked. I don''t want Tango to just be another forgotten clan of raiders and thugs." I blinked and all but gaped at the man in open mouth shock. This was a man who had attacked me, watched me murder kill a friend of his, heard me admit to executing several more, and whom I was forcing to sit under a Sword of Damocles. He should absolutely abhor me with every fiber of his soul. Yet here he is, face down in the dirt, beseeching to try and help him save the souls of his people and give them hope for the future. I could barely comprehend being so desperate as to ask such of a friend. How fearful must he be to be asking me, his conqueror and foe to do this for him. Could I in good conscience deny a man so willing to debase himself for those he called his brothers? "I can give you my word that I will keep an eye out for you and everyone else in town," I stated cautiously, "Do keep in mind that any priest of merit that I find will likely already be busy tending to their own flocks and won''t be willing to make such a trip for strangers." Huh, I''m surprised that I didn''t receive a quest pop up there. Are we mere mortals not good enough to bestow quest? "I''m not stupid co?o-erm sir?" He seemed to flinch a bit as if expecting to be struck before returning to the respectful tone that seemed so alien coming from him, "I understand that, but at least then I can say I tried." "I get it Half-Breed," I then found myself rudely interrupted. "Sir, only my friends call me that," the rhino started getting back to his feet. "Please, call me Hugo" This cheeky bitch. I couldn''t suppress an amused smile as I said, "Fair enough, Hugo. Do remember that God sends calamity and trials, but never evil. So even if I can''t find you a priest you might want to do what you can to help guide any of your brothers onto the right path yourself. After all, if you can find the spine to call me a cunt to my face," I gave him a cheeky smile to show I knew exactly what he''d called me as he paled noticeably enough for it to be visible through his thick coat, "I''m sure you can whip at least a few of your boys into being productive members of society given a little time." "I''ll keep that in mind sir," Hugo swallowed nervously, "And thank you for not killing me over that slip of the tongue." I threw my head back, jiggling loudly, as I had a good belly laugh at that. "Hells man, I''m not going to kill someone over some light bants. If you aren''t actively threatening me or anyone else I don''t care what you say or call me. Well, okay, if you blaspheme in a non-hilarious way I''ll disapprove, along with a few other niche cases, but I''m not going to kill you over words."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Then I think you should know that you''re a maldito pinche pendejo chupamedias co?o gilipollas and hope you vete a la mierda hijo de puta." he spat at me. It took me a minute to pick that apart and translate it but it made me laugh, "Fick dich ins Knie, du bl?de kuh!" I shot back with a smile, "K¨¹ss meinen arsch und halt die spasti klappe!" "I didn''t understand half of that tu hijo de puta!" Hugo snapped, trying to maintain a glare but a bit of smile fighting its way onto his face. "Oh a whore is my mother?" I grumped pressing my tail into my ''hips'', "Well your mama so fat she fills the night sky and the nightmares of Elder Gods!" Hugo broke into sputtering laughter at that. "Damn it, pendejo! I''m trying to be mad at you, quit being so chill tu cabr¨®n!" "Sorry my dude," I said with an insufferably smug snaky smile, "but when I''m not being actively threatened I tend to be a clown more than an asshole." "Joder," he sighed, "Why couldn''t you be an insufferable asshole like Jorge or Carlos?" "Sorry but life isn''t always so kind as to make your enemies dicks everytime," I tilted my head in a shrug, "At least you won''t have to deal with me for a while." "Yeah," Hugo shook himself and started tromping off, "Be safe out there, I need you to be alive when you come back so I can tear you a new one." I elected not to count that one against him as I slithered away from the ''church'' building and towards the large gathering of people at the hole in the wall I''d accidentally made. Jorge''s severed head sat there with a lot of people looking on in disbelief or grief. I could spy my people and Donald''s mixed in the crowd seemingly trying to organize the massive mess of conscripts, gang members, and former slaves all milling about talking to each other. I saw a few fights trying to break out as liberated civilians tried to pick fights with Tango members only to be stopped by Donald or one of mine putting themselves between the pair and separating them. Spotting Matilda and Rumi near the edge of the crowd I slithered up to them, noticing how everyone made sure to give me plenty of room as I approached. "Hey ladies," I greeted, lowering my head down to their level, "How''s everything going down over here?" "It''s an utter mess," Rumi snorted, "We''re trying to get people organized by who''s going to be staying, going with Donald, or going with you to the Stadium, but everyone keeps changing their minds!" "There does seem to be a fair bit of indecisiveness going on among the groups," Matilda huffed as she shook herself and another six moths fluttered out from under her fluff to dance over the crowd, "At any one point as many as five in six people are planning on leaving to as little as every other, and that''s not even considering the number of people who keep flip flopping on if they are going to be coming to the Stadium or going to the Veranda. Currently about two of every three talking about leaving seem to be leaning towards joining us at the stadium, but that number keeps changing as Donald and Michelle keep talking to people about what ''town'' has what amenities." I nodded absently as I noticed one detail in the spiel, "Going with me? Rumi, are you not coming back to the Stadium? I thought you were only going to spend a day or two at the Veranda catching up with friends?" The massively muscled bicorn shifted awkwardly like a shy girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "I am still planning to head back to the Stadium eventually, it''s just... There''s a lot of stuff that needs doing at the Veranda. That crater you made needs to be filled, damaged houses cleared, trees moved, farms planted, all kinds of things. Then considering that I''m easily the strongest person there with only gruncle Donald coming close, it seems wrong not to spend a few days helping them get their feet under them. It''s not like you really need me at the Stadium right now anyways, there''s a ton of really strong people there with more useful skills than what I have. So I just kind of figured that I''d-" I gently tapped the woman''s nose with my tail making her snort in confusion, "Breathe woman. It''s fine Rumi. I''m not going to be mad at you for helping people in need. I''m certain Omar and everyone else will understand as well, just don''t be a stranger and put in a good word for us up there alright?" "Yeah, sorry Joe." Rumi mumbled. "For what?" I blinked in confusion, "Being a good samaritan? Yes, how dare you help people in need by minorly inconveniencing us, grr, you monster." I slowly flicked my long forked tongue at her in a weak impression of a raspberry. "Dick," she chuckled, lowering her head and shoving my head away using her horns, "Thanks for being so understanding Joe." "It''s fine gurl, it cost me nothing to be kind." I sobered slightly as I asked, "So do you think things will remain civil if I head back to the Stadium?" "There have been a few flare ups," Matilda hummed, brushing her antennas idly, "But they have been small, mostly verbal incidents and they seem to be dropping off as people realize that we aren''t going to let them lynch the Tango boys. That and they are coming to understand the power difference between those who have evolved and those that haven''t. Yes, even if it does suddenly devolve into a massive brawl we should be able to keep things mostly under control." "You headed back already?" Rumi asked, "I''d have thought you''d want to stick around to help escort everyone back to the Stadium." "I wouldn''t mind using the chance to get to know some of the people better," I admitted, "But I''m going to be leaving either tonight or tomorrow morning so I need to get some gear built and gathered to be ready to head out." "Oh yeah," Rumi whispered, "I somehow forgot that you were planning to leave." "I had been wondering if maybe you had decided to postpone your journey in light of recent events." Matilda stated almost as a question, turning from her perch on Rumi''s wide shoulders to fully face me. "It is tempting to put it off for another day or so," I admitted, "Though knowing myself I''d probably just keep finding reasons to delay the trip. Honestly, I feel I''ve put it off for too long already. Things are settled enough, there''s no big immediate threat to us beyond the general threats of keeping everyone safe, fed, ready for winter. Seems to me it''s the perfect time to head out before I get tangled up in something else serious." "Just be sure you give me a heads up before you leave." Rumi stated, "I want to be there to see you off. You better not sneak off before I''ve had a chance to say goodbye." I laughed and nodded, "Of course, I''d never dream of being so crass." Chapter 41: Goodbye My return was met with little fanfare. Mostly people were just happy to hear that the threat of Tango Blast was effectively behind us and we could all get on with trying to rebuild a functioning society. The news that no one was seriously hurt in the attack received some smiles, though most people were less than enthused to hear about the need for someone to administer our new vassal. Jeffery was very enthused to hear about it and immediately volunteered. I suspected the man was up to something but I suspected that, unless Omar came up with something, he''d get the position by the simple merit that no one else wanted the job. A problem for Omar to deal with, I needed to actually get ready to hike roughly two hundred and fifty miles of largely unexplored wilderness with no guarantees of safe refuge along the way. First thing first, was a way to carry needed supplies like food and water. This might be a wetter part of Texas, but rivers still weren''t that common and I didn''t know where all the artificial lakes were or if they had remained without human maintenance. A waterskin wasn''t too hard to make, I''d done it a couple times using animal skins or leather while in the Scouts or out camping. Mind I didn''t have hands anymore and good leather was in short supply, so I used the favorite material of the modern survivalist, duct tape. Roughly four and a half rolls, that were still in great condition thanks to the odd habit of bundles of tape being wrapped in thick plastic wrap, and the tops of two two liter soda bottles were slowly turned into two fifty gallon water proof bags. It was a miserable hassle to handle using only my tail and mouth, something that gave me a fresh distaste for handling the material, but I still managed to do it without too much wastage after about four hours of struggle. The leftover tape was woven into rope for the two waterskins which then left me with a minor issue, I was a snake, I had very little to hang the two skins off of. Now, while I did have my carapace armor that had bits long enough for them to hang off, said bits were very sharp. I''d likely have to look into using chain straps, good thing this wasn''t a stealth mission as those metal chains clattering off my metal scales was likely going to make an unholy racket. Maybe that would convince Damian and Matilda to stay behind. Actually, I hadn''t seen Damian in a while, was he hiding somewhere? "Damn Joe, that''s pretty impressive!" Damian exclaimed, examining my waterskins. I''m not going to lie, I jumped high enough to probably count as the use of my skill. "Will the tape be able to hold up against the weight?" "We need to put a fucking bell on you! Fuck!" I hissed with my tail to my thudding heart. The little bastard actually had the gall to laugh at me as I waited for my heart to stop trying to flee my chest, "Yeah, used to make hammocks out of the stuff on some of our longer hikes, was able to hold me and a friend without issue so that''s about four hundred pounds, so this should work. Hell, I''ve seen people build functioning boats out of the stuff so they shouldn''t leak either." "I hope you aren''t expecting me to carry these boss," The little black velociraptor said holding up to waterskin that looked like he could happily sleep in, his cat ears did an odd little dance as he looked up at me with his bug eyes, "They might be a bit big for me and Matilda." "Don''t worry, I plan to carry them," I assured him, "Though I could use your help building a backpack. This is probably going to need some nails or screws and I do not want to try and do that alone." Even with Damian''s help, turning boards, fabric, chains, a bit of sheet metal, and duct tape into a backpack the size of a recliner took another two hours out of the day. It was especially annoying getting the screws into the boards without power tools. We eventually settled upon the method of hammering in nails, removing them, and putting large screws in the holes. I''m certain there was a better way, but neither of us were carpenters. The end result was something that looked like a deck chair with a garbage bag sitting in it with two water bags hanging off it. It also had the issue that I needed Damian''s help getting the thing on or off without risking the thing breaking. There was also the issue that eventually the duct tape covering the metal bits would get scraped away and we''d have to deal with the sound of metal scraping on metal again if we didn''t claim yet more rolls of the stuff for repairs. Despite that the thing was waterproof, stayed in place fairly well while I moved and seemed to handle the weight of two full waterskins and a dinosaur in biker gear without complaint. Heck Damian even joked that with a bit of padding it would be a nice place to sleep, which was a useful idea I hadn''t even considered. I considered adding a sling to dangle under the pack for such utility but decided to put it off until the next town and use some of their duct tape for that. Slithering away from my now completed projects I braced my chin against the ground and twisted my whole body producing a sound somewhere between a string of firecrackers going off and a car running over a sheet of bubble wrap. More than a few people nearby cried out in alarm at the sound. I gasped at the almost pain of virgin joints experiencing their first popping, and cooed as all that tension left my body. "Good lord, where has the day gone?" I sighed contentedly looking up at the sun already starting to get low in the sky. My tongue flickered out as I sniffed the air and frowned. "Shouldn''t they be cooking supper by now?" "Uh, they moved it inside the stadium today because they were afraid it might rain." Damian stated. I looked up at the sky in confusion. Yes there were actually some clouds there, a rare thing this time of year, but none looked to be trying to build up to thunderheads. Then again, it would hardly be the first time the weather went from blue skies to torrential downpour and back again inside the same hour so it wasn''t impossible that one of the more sensitive types managed to pick up a fast moving storm front. It would certainly explain why almost no one was outside. "Alright, guess we better get this moved inside and grab us a bite." I said picking up the nearly half ton of water, wood, and metal with little effort. "Mind giving me a lift?" Damian asked, tilting his head and wiggling his ears cutely, "A bit of practice for tomorrow wouldn''t hurt?" I sat the pack down, "Fine, just never try to look cute again. Your bug eyes absolutely ruin the effect." "Sure thing," little bastard made sure to look directly at me as he said, "Boss." I was real tempted to roll over on him as he started climbing up my side, but that seemed a bit harsh for a bit of banter. Instead I chose to do my best to ''sprint'' towards the stadium, hearing the little smart ass squawk and squeal as the rapid slithering tossed him about my smooth hide. It only lasted about a minute, but that proved more than enough to leave the beyond black raptor looking green. I smiled innocently down at him as he slid off and weakly muttered, "That''s a bad spot." and stumbled into the Stadium loading dock. Setting down the bag and waterskins I took a moment to admire how well the area had been cleaned up. A couple days ago this whole area had been coated in smashed scorpions and blood, now it looked like someone had recently mopped the rough concrete and there was not a single speck of shattered chitin. Even the massive pile of corpses outside was gone, I wonder how long it must have taken to clear and process the literally hundreds of corpses and what they would do with the leftover bits. I bet all that chitin would make decent armor, the boss scorpion''s armor was certainly thick enough to block some serious damage. As I moved I noticed something odd with my tremorsense and glanced curiously at the walls of the building, "Huh, that''s odd. It looks like almost everyone is squeezed into the main stadium itself." "Must be waiting for supper to be done cooking," Damian shrugged, "I heard they were experimenting with making sausages today." "Oh I hope they smoke them," my tongue flicked slowly against the scaly ridge I had now instead of proper lips, "I love me some smoked sausages, shame we don''t have any mustard or barbaque sauce." "Best hurry and get in there before they''re all gone." Damian chuckled. Slithering through the dark tunnels of the stadium as quickly as I could, I realized just how dark the tunnels were. There was literally no light back here and yet me and Damian were traversing them as if they were brightly lit. It made me wonder both what sort of sensory skills he had packed into those buggy eyes of his and how the dozens if not hundreds of people on the field had navigated these tunnels. There certainly were a lot of people up ahead, waiting patiently. "SURPRISE!" The cry as I emerged onto the field was so loud that it nearly made me turn and flee instinctively as everyone shouted at me. Confetti, actual real confetti, was dumped down on me from people waiting in the stands over the entrance as people stomped, clapped, and cheered. They''d even somehow managed to hang a banner from the big screens that read ''Safe Travels Joe!'' How much time and resources had they wasted on this!? It was too much! I didn''t deserve this, just a nice quiet send off would have been fine!If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Omar came forwards and wrapped one of his big heavy monkey arms around me, preventing me from escaping and guiding me into the sea of smiling faces. "Come on Joe, no running from your own party!" "Why is there so many people here?" I whispered worriedly, "Why would most of these people even care about me?" "My dude you literally died to save them from a giant slaving monster asshole and probably saved half their lives when you helped us kill that Boss." Omar laughed as he guided me towards the midfield where there were a lot of fires burning and the smell of sizzling meat, "You''re literally a big damn hero and they want to say thank you before you leave." "It wasn''t anything special," I protested quietly as people I''d never met waved and called out my name, "Literally anyone could have done the same." "But they didn''t and you did cracker," Omar laughed as he scooped up a fat two foot long sausage and held it in front of my face, "Sausage? I know they''re only your second favorite food, but it''s the best we could do on short notice." I looked at the slightly blackened thing. It was hardly the prettiest sausage I''d ever seen, and having made them myself before I knew exactly what it was made out of. However the thing also smelled delicious and I was not willing to turn my nose up at bowls stuffed with blood, grease, and meat if it was even half as good as it smelled. "You make a dick joke and I''m kicking your ass." I bit into the sausage and tried to chew it out of habit, the second my needle teeth split open the sausage and its contents spilled into my mouth I froze. I could feel my eyes dilating, my heart thundering, and the gates of heaven opening before me. The thing was made from the meat of at least three different creatures that all had their own flavors that mixed wonderfully with the smoky flavor and char of the slightly overcooked skin. And there was more than just meat in there! I felt the familiar spicy burn of peppers mixed in there, and not just jalape?os but that almost fruity burn had to be a habanero pepper! The burn wasn''t even that overwhelming thanks to the sizable helping of, that was butter I was tasting! Where had they gotten butter!? I didn''t even think we had milk yet! Omar came close to losing a hand as I snatched up the rest of the sausage and savored it thoroughly before finally swallowing it down, "That''s pretty good, what else have you got?" Omar and several people laughed at that as they walked me through what all they had prepared. Despite how little we likely had, they had broken out all the stops for this party to see me off. They had hundreds of those wondrous sausages, though sadly not all of them were the buttery pepper-stuffed wonders of that first one, but all delicious. They''d actually managed to get enough oil, grease, and potato adjacent plants together to make an eclectic mix of salted fries, they weren''t bad but they disagreed with my new biology so I didn''t have many of those sadly. I actually gasped happily when they revealed that the creek was absolutely infested with crayfish so large as to rival lobsters, they tasted just as good as ever when shishkebabed and rubbed in various spices before roasting over an open fire and garnished with the juices of those fruits growing up near the Veranda. There was a salad made of various plants we''d found to be edible and the squeezed fruit, I sampled it, but sadly it seemed that while my biology could handle some veggies, it liked things meaty. The only thing missing was bread to sop up the grease and drippings and beer, sadly those were both sadly beyond our means at the moment. "This is a lot of food, this isn''t going to cause problems is it?" I asked around my sixteenth sausage. The one good thing about being big with a bottomless stomach was that when you found something tasty you had a good excuse to eat a lot of it. "Maybe in the short term," Omar shrugged while munching on a bucket of fries, "But I''m told the plants grow back stupid fast and produce absurd amounts of food so that''s not an issue. Jeremy has been saying that the jackal-snakes must have been coyotes before the system because they do the same thing of breeding like mad when their numbers get low. So as long as we husband their numbers carefully we shouldn''t have a big issue with meat either, especially with how easy it is to catch cloud vultures. Enjoy yourself man, and stop being a miserly hoarder for one day!" "I can''t!" I moaned in mock despair, "I''m white! We''ve got an instinct to hoard and accumulate wealth. It''s one of the many reasons we''re better than you." "Looks like you''re more metal than white now rusty," Omar smirked at me. "Which sucks since my voice is better suited for country music," I sighed sadly, "But at least I''m not a monkey. Just look at you flinging shit." That got a bark of laughter from Omar, "Oh fuck you bitch! I''m gonna miss ya man. Won''t be the same without you here to shoot the shit or have the weirdest conversations with. How else am I going to learn about how to use piss to preserve food?" "You joke but did you know that in Scandinavia they-" "Nope, not while I''m eating my dude." Omar pointed a green fry at me threateningly, "Just for that I''m tempted to start with the presents." "Presents?" I asked horrified, "Omar no, this is already way too much!" "Yep, which is why my present to you was not getting you anything," he flashed a toothy smile at me, "Shame that some of the others weren''t quiet as thoughtful." He inhaled and that fleshy sack on his throat ballooned out as he roared, "Yo! Those of you who brought gifts, now''s the time to bring them out!" I tried to slink away like the snake I was, but Omar grabbed me and put me in a headlock as several people started moving forwards carrying cardboard boxes. A fair few of the presenters were strangers to me and their presents seemed to be half advertisements of what they could do. Still the metal polish and giant wool stuffed pillow were appreciated, the Tupperware of potato salad less so, but I''m sure Matilda wouldn''t mind it and the tupperware would likely prove useful for something. Then it started getting to people I actually knew the names of. Rafael simply gave me a massive bundle of his feathers grunting that, "I''d probably end up needing them." Kyli had found an old atlas of the United States and its roads; it was a bit out of date, but having such a highly detailed map of towns, roads, and rivers would doubtlessly prove useful. Jack provided me with a .44 magnum revolver, holster, and a couple hundred rounds of ammo he said had been properly stored and so should still be good. I gushed over that one and regretted not being able to use it myself. Shaniqua gave me a massive burlap and silk cloak that also doubled as a blanket, she apologized for it being so rough as she was still new to working as a seamstress, I gave her a heartfelt thanks. "Don''t forget about me," Damian called, causing me to jump as he seemed to simply appear beside me. How was he sneaking past my tremorsense so easily!? I swear he read my mind the way he smiled as he held up a box for me to open. Opening it, I was a bit confused to see my hanging crucifix inside. A quick check showed that it was no longer in my ''sleeping corner'', nor was any of my other stuff, which was possibly for the best considering how packed the field was. Still, why had he stolen my crucifix only to regift it back to me? Lifting it out of the box I figured it out. He''d turned my old hanging crucifix into a rosary big enough to fit around my neck. I quickly counted the number of beads, though really each ''bead'' was a wooden ball an inch or two in diameter, on the string and was startled to realize that he''d actually had the right number of beads with the larger beads correctly spaced. It was a good thing I couldn''t cry because good lord I was feeling choked up seeing a piece of my old life reworked into something I could still utilize in my new one. "T-thank you Damian." I managed to whisper, "This is a wonderful gift." "Don''t forget about me dear," Matilda called, setting down a box. Flipping off the lid, I simply blinked in disbelief. It was my hat. She''d actually managed to repair the thing. New felt attached to old via a thin line of sticky silk, a fresh band and new layer of leather on the underside. All signs of char and damage had been wiped away leaving it looking to be in better shape than it''d been in decades. I carefully scooped it onto my tail blade and looked at the now tiny hat knowing that if I could, tears would be freely flowing as I felt a tightness in my chest. "You fixed it." I almost couldn''t believe the worn old thing was the same blasted ruin I''d last seen after activating my bloodline. "I, I-" a ragged wheeze tore its way out of my throat as I fought to get my emotions under control, "Thank you. I don''t have the words to express how grateful I am for this Matilda." "I did promise to fix it for you," she said with that tone of voice that only a smiling old woman could ever manage, "Now are you ready for your gift?" "What?" I jerked in surprise as something big and white landed softly atop my head. Carefully setting my old hat down I reached up with my tail to carefully lift the object off the top of my head. It was a hat, shining pure white in my monochromatic vision. It wasn''t an exact replica of my old hat, seeming more like a short stovepipe hat that had half collapsed under its own weight with a much wider brim than a proper stetson. Yet it fit my head wonderfully, obviously having been made for it by someone who spent a fair amount of time sitting atop my noggin. I laughed happily as the gift, sliding it back atop my head, "It''s wonderful Matilda! Are you trying to spoil me rotten?" "Simply making sure you have what you need for the trip dear." She tittered. I smiled back at her, looking at my old far too small hat. I was hardly going to abandon it, especially after all the care that had gone into repairing it, but what was I to do with-? A slight ripple of movement on my tremorsense gave me an idea. Scooping up my old hat I turned to Omar and plopped the hat down atop his head and said, "Take care of this until I get back okay?" "Are you sure man?" Omar asked gently, taking the hat off to hold it in his hands like it was made of glass, "You really seemed to love this hat." "Exactly why I''m not bringing it with me on a dangerous journey," I nodded before using my ''gay'' voice, "Besides everyone knows that leaders need a fancy hat and darling that worksite helmet just isn''t doing it for you." He laughed softly at the joke before returning my hat to his head, "Alright man, I promise to keep it safe, but you better be back, got it?" "You have my word that I will do everything to make it back safely," I said with the seriousness such a promise required, "You better have turned this place into a proper town by then though. If I come back and you''ve gone mad with power I will be very cross, understand?" That got another short bark of laughter, "That sounds like a fine deal. Be safe out there bud!" He held out one of his hands. I stuck the end of my tail just before the blade in his hand and pulled him in for a shoulder bump that he turned into a brief embrace, slapping me hard on the back twice, "And you stay safe up here little bean. It was great to work with you again." "Always a pleasure Joe." The party slowly wound down after that. Matilda and Damian were both waiting for me by the pack I''d built just before the party and loaded it up with what must have been a hundred pounds of jerky and most of my presents. The sun was starting to really set as the earlier clouds scattered leaving what must have been a truly wonderful sun set to those who could see the colors on all the dilapidated buildings. "You ready to go boss?" Damian asked. "Just one last thing before we leave properly," I said, loading the suitcase I''d packed into my new larger backpack, "It''s kind of a personal thing, but you''re both free to join me if you want." "We''d love to, dear." Chapter 42: ...and Farwell It took us traveling through the night to reach my destination. About twelve miles traveling over pitted, cracked, but still largely intact highways, freeways, and a backroad or two. A few wild animals challenged us, but most of the local nocturnal wildlife was more than happy to steer clear of something as big and loud as my heavy metal coils moving over concrete. A few of the bridges complained or seemed shaky, but the vast infrastructure Texas invested so much of its GDP into seemed to still be holding up in the heart of major cities where nature''s grip remained mild even after a couple decades of rebellion. Along the way Matilda and Damian both spotted about a half dozen potential proto-towns as they spotted large gatherings of people in parks, golf courses, large warehouses, and potentially even inside a lake. A few of the residents were even brave enough to poke their heads up to investigate us. It was nice enough time to take a break and tell them about the small burgeoning civilization forming around Wrangler Stadium and The Veranda, but I wasn''t really looking to get bogged down playing ambassador or advertiser so we tended to move on after a few minutes of talking with Matilda leaving a few moths behind to act as a crude relay system. Apparently she still wasn''t finding an edge to her range, so long as she made preparations, and still had a solid connection with her moths back in the Stadium. Finally, just as the sun was starting to peak over the horizon we arrived. The Metroplex National Cemetery. The Cemetery was a massive sprawling graveyard, covering roughly four square miles if memory served, sitting next to Valley Creek Lake just across from a national guard base. Unsurprisingly, this was a graveyard for military servicemen and their families. The last time I had been here it had been an immaculately tended field of plaques and headstones that had stretched as far into the rainy mist as I could see through my tears. Now it was heavily overgrown with ivy, young trees, and shrubs for miles as the surrounding woodlands that had once cut the site off from the surrounding cities had now invaded. The iron gate was rusty and looked to have been bashed down not too long ago. The place hadn''t fully gone to rot, a small corner near the gate still had short manicured grass free of ivy and growth thanks to the ravenous efforts of a score of goats with star shaped pupils and horns that seemed to be made of razor wire. Even as we watched the goats were actively reclaiming the site and scraping buried plaques free of the dirt A particularly large goat, nearly as dark as Damian, and the size of a Hummer had just finished uprooting a tree nearly as thick around as I was, turned to glare at us. A deep shudder rippled through me as the shaggy goat looked us over with a quiet confidence that seemed to bore past my armored exterior and into my soul. He turned away from the toppled tree and approached us with calm confident steps, each one seeming to plant a flag, declaring this entire area as its realm. Several of the alpha goat''s herd paused in their grazing to watch the interaction with a sort of vicious eagerness. "Welcome to the Metroplex National Cemetery, how can I direct you today sirs, madam?" The man asked with an oddly soft and respectful voice. "I''m here to see my granny''s grave," I admitted shyly, "You don''t mind if I try and find it do you?" "Not at all." The goat nodded with a small smile, stepping aside, "Do try to be careful though, while the ''boss'' in the area is dead, other beasts have been trying to sneak inside the graveyard. If you can remove them if you happen upon them I will be grateful for the assistance." he nodded to me as he looked up to where Matilda rested atop my hat, "And you?" "I suppose I''m far past due to visit Leon," she fluttered down to the ground and idly nibbled on her scarf a bit, "I do hope he isn''t too upset about my appearance." "I''m sure he''ll understand mam," the goat said with a gentle smile before turning to look at what I thought was empty air, "And you sir?" Damian jumped in surprise and seemed to fret a bit before quietly mumbling, "I''ll, just uhm, wait here for them to finish." "If you insist," the goat man shrugged, "I would not mind a bit of help cleaning up." "No no, I''ll just, wait, over there." Damian shuffled off to stand just outside the gate looking seriously spooked. "Thank you for trying to restore this place," I nodded to the goat, "It means a lot to see someone working to see that they aren''t forgotten." "My last assignment was to maintain the area and watch over the dead sir," the goat said with an amused chuckle, "Until I receive orders to the contrary I will do my best to see them through. Might take a while seeing as my commanding officer is a few states away." I nodded and started slithering along the still half visible roadways leading deeper into the massive overgrown field that I knew to be full of buried grave stones. I knew roughly where her grave was, but a lot of that was based on landmarks that were no longer present. So once I reached the right turn in the road ways I tried heading to the area I remembered her grave being, scraping away the top layer of dirt to try to find the markers beneath. My first several tries ended up with me uncovering the wrong graves, which I whispered a soft apology to before trying the next stone over in an outwards spiral. After roughly ten minutes of such careful searching did I finally find her.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Reverently cleaning off the buried marker with the only thing I knew was soft enough not to damage the embossed granite, my tongue. Thankfully the rich dark soil didn''t taste or smell terribly, though the slight gritty sensation in my mouth was annoying. Before talking to the remarkably well preserved stone I did the same to the grave next to her. She had loved Pepaw deeply, I knew, even if he had died when I was too young to remember much about the man aside from a few lessons and how loud he was. When both stones were as clean as I could get them I settled myself as best I could while not laying on any of the other headstones, a difficult task seeing as the rows were laid out to accommodate humans and not giant snake monsters. I sat there looking at the two embossed granite plaques fidgeting nervously as I tried to find the words to say. What did I even want to say? This was stupid. I knew their spirits weren''t here. Or so I hoped. They were too good to be reduced to ghosts lingering confusedly in the world. They both deserved to be in heaven with their families before us. Yet maybe they''d still hear even if they weren''t here. I admittedly wasn''t the most well informed on the metaphysics of the spiritual world despite my brief encounters with it. Still it couldn''t hurt to say something? "H-hey Granny." I choked out softly. It felt like someone was throttling me as I tried to speak. I took a deep fortifying breath as I forced myself to continue even. It felt like a dozen fish hooks were dragging at my flesh, forcing me to struggle to get the words out. "I-it''s me, Joe. Your grandson. I, I don''t know if you recognize me, y-you didn''t last time we spoke, an-and I know I look more than a little different now." I paused to choke down a sob and steel myself as a deep agony tore at me making it all the harder to continue. "I know you don''t like snakes, I hope y-. I hope you won''t hold that against me. I didn''t get a choice in the matter." "I''ve been trying to live a life you''d have been proud of. I... I haven''t been doing a good job of it. I''ve been doing a down right terrible job of it until recently. It''s been so hard I''ve been d-... I''ve been making a lot of excuses." I chuckled weakly, "Maybe that''s why I got turned into a snake. Lying to myself, living in sin. Being something you''d hate. I don''t know. . . I''ve been doing better since. Actually helping people. Actually bothering to remember all the things you taught me. Those old prayers have been helping me, but, it''s still so hard. I, I keep trying to live by His teachings, but I feel like I''m doing it wrong. "I''m so scared granny. I''m so terrified that I''m doing everything wrong and making things worse. I. I nearly died yesterday and was so scared that everything I''ve done would end up sending me to hell. T-that I''d never get to see you again. T-to give you a big ol'' hug and tell you how much I love you again. I already missed that opportunity before you d-, passed because I had work! As if that mattered in case you woke up again, and then you did and I-" I stopped as a massive sob rocked my body. I bit down on my own tail to make up for not having fist to clench or tears to cry with this stupid awful cursed snake body that I had no doubt earned! "So," I took a few more breaths to try and let myself calm down a bit, "So I wanted to make sure I actually came to say goodbye to you this time. I''m going to be making a bit of a trip. It''s probably going to be dangerous and I might not make it back. But. I, I need to check up on Mom and Dad. Jessica and Daniel if they made it. E-." I scowled and took a deep breath, "Even Edward if he can pull his head out of his own a-erm, butt. I''m not going to abandon family again just because it''s inconvenient, or I-I''m too busy again. I''d check on Ray, Nancey, Meredith and all the others too, but I don''t know where they live. I... I guess I wasn''t the best cousin or nephew. "I guess... if I don''t make it. I''d like it if you can try to convince St. Peter that I''m worth letting in. I, I hope it won''t come to that. If, if I do die. I hope I make it up to heaven on my own merits and that, that you''ll be able to honestly tell me how proud you are of me." I bent down to softly tap the headstone with my nose in as close to a kiss as I could come. "Goodbye Granny, please watch over me." I turned to the headstone next to hers. "Goodbye Pepaw. I''ll keep doing my best to be a proper man in these hard times. I, I hope you''re proud of me too, and sorry for never getting to know you." Turning away from the stones and slithering back to the road, I headed for the entrance. I could clearly see Damian helping the goat''s work as he helped de-limb the toppled tree to make it easier to move. Matilda watched the pair work from the gate and nodded to me, making no comment about how rough I no doubt looked as she fluttered across the field to resume her perch atop my hat, "Did you take care of what you needed?" ¡°I think I did.¡± I softly sighed. "Heading out already?" the goat asked, dropping the branch as big around as a human leg he''d just casually ripped off the tree, "You three are more than welcome to rest here if you need it. I''d be happy for any help you''re willing to offer, and I don''t doubt the Guardsmen across the pond would be happy to meet you." "Nope, nope! We got to get going right Joe?" Damian insisted with a deep pleasing in his black buggy eyes. "Indeed we do," I chuckled, lowering myself to let Damian settle into his preferred perch atop my backpack, "We''ve got a long road ahead of us and should really get to walking it." I looked out over the lake just outside the graveyard, at the rising sun now peaking over the tree line causing the lake to shimmer and sparkle beautifully even to my monochrome vision as both people and animals begin to stir in the various buildings. An almost stork sounding call echoed across the gentle quiet of the lake, free of the constant noise of traffic that usually filled the city even in the dead of night before the Event. It looked to be the start of a wonderful day. End Book 1 Snake in the Garden: Three Days Grace Chapter 2.1: Bees for Bathes As I lay curled up on a broken highway, covering my head from the swarm of angry bees the size of plums with saw blades for stingers, one thought echoed loudly through my head. Man the Apocalypse sucks. The fact that being literally covered by giant bees doing they''re damnedest to cut me to ribbons was one of the least bad things to happen to me in the four days since the old world had been forcibly killed did a lot to reinforce this idle thought. Mind, the fact said Apocalypse had left me coated in thick metal scales did a lot to keep said situation fairly low on the list. I would have rather kept my humanity though, being a giant snake was not worth the hassle that came with it. "Are you two done yet!?" I shouted hoping to be heard through my own hide and the buzzing of hundreds of angry bees. "Working on it," a humming almost buzzy voice I identified as Matilda answered, "A few more and I think it will be enough." I felt several somethings brush by my armored hide. That would either be her spitting out globs of sticky silk or her tiny moth minions trying to catch entire swaths of the bees using woven silk nets. Could be either or, Matilda has been getting pretty into weaving lately. "Any sign of Damian?" I shouted, shifting around hoping to keep the bees'' attention fully on me. Though, seeing as I''d literally thrown myself through their massive hive under the bridge and was still covered in honey I felt fairly sure I still had their attention. Doesn''t hurt to be safe though. Taste pretty good too. I thought to myself as I flicked some of the dark gray, to my monochrome vision anyway, fluid. Oddly smoky and woody in flavor, similar to Applewood, would probably taste great on meat. "I got the bitch!" Damian screamed, the deinonychus with compound eyes and cat ears suddenly appeared on my tremorsense with a shoe box under one arm running for his life. "Fry ''em Joe! Matilda! Get these things off of me!" With all our actual objectives complete, it was time to wrap up this System cursed quest. Activating my Myoelectric mutagen, electricity rippled along my body. It made me way stronger, but the important part was that it discharged enough power to potentially stun anyone touching me. If it was enough to take a rhino, then I suspected it would cook the bees. ¨CLumberjack Bee inflicted with Stun! x163¨C Not good enough. A low yowling sound escaped my throat as I Focused my attention on the mutagen and focused my power into it. The sounds of electricity suddenly jumped from snaps and pops to the angry electric buzz of a tesla coil. The smell of smoke assured me that the bees were more than stunned. Finally free of the burden of several hundred pounds of bees, I pulled my head out of my coils and gazed over the ''battlefield''. Most of the oversized bugs were still clustered around me, surging forwards only to attract a branch of electricity that would fry dozens of the little boogers at once. A decent number were breaking off to try and attack the almost human sized moth who was surrounded by a cloud of smaller moths, ranging from the size of a banana to a large cat. Considering how quick the cloud was being picked apart by spat webs and swinging nets, I was fairly certain Matilda had things under control. Considering the size of the cloud chasing Damian, he might actually need the help. Crouching low and aiming myself just behind the sprinting lizard man, I activated one of my favorite skills, Lunge. As always, there was a heavy tugging sensation as my massive body fought the skill to try and stay at rest. Despite this, the skill won out over inertia and jerked me violently one body length forwards, which for a massive snake like me was fifty feet. Then good ol'' inertia decided that if I was going to be in motion, I could just stay in motion, sending me skipping and skidding along the ground. Seeing as I was still lit up like a faulty Christmas tree, that led to a mildly devastating impact on the cloud of bees I went skidding through. ¨CLunge has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C The cloud that had been chasing Damian seemed to scatter and reform as it wobbled indecisively before it was joined by the still mildly peeved swarm chasing me. The two joined into one massive blob and surged forwards in a tide. I smiled gleefully as I Focused on one of my oldest skills, prehensile tail. Using the super charged skill I widened the massively oversized blade at the end of my tail into something resembling a giant fan or comedic sized frying pan. As I swung the oversized electrified appendage down like a hammer the swarm seemed to freeze just before it was squashed, zapped, and blown about. ¨CPrehensile Tail has leveled up! x2¨C ¨CSkill: E ¡ú D¨C ¨CGained 6xp!¨C Despite having just lost roughly two thirds of their numbers the bees seemed to be trying to drunkenly reform their swarm. Damian appearing amongst them swinging his knife, slashing his claws, and biting madly seemed to finally ''break'' the bees as they scattered and fled. ¨CQuest: Break the Hive complete!¨C ¨C386/450 Beasts Defeated!¨C ¨CCalculatingParticipation¡­¨C ¨C126/386 Enemies Disabled - 241 Killing Blows.¨C ¨CPerformance: Exceptional¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_EQReward¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Flexibility Mutagen E¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived 3pt!¨C ¨CGained 150xp!¨C Flexibility Mutagen? I''m actually a bit curious what that would do to me. How does a snake get more flexible? Shame I''m all out of slots to find out.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Well that was certainly an invigorating way to start the day," I happily declared, cutting off the flow of energy my skills and mutagens before taking a quick glance at my health and stamina levels. ¨CHealth: 482/482¨C ¨CStamina: 31/110¨C Looks like stamina consumption is still an issue, going to need to keep an eye out for something to fix that. "Says the guy who didn''t have to crawl around in that hive looking for that hoe," Damian grumbled giving himself a full body shake, tossing thick viscous fluids everywhere, and spitting. "For reference, bees taste terrible and honey in your weird fur feathers feels awful. I don''t even want to think about what this will do to my clothes." "I did warn you this quest was likely to be messy," I reminded him, gesturing to my own body coated in burnt honey and bee corpses so charred as to probably count as charcoal. Did actually smell rather nice though, kind of like a scented candle. "Reason I left everything back at those high end apartments." "I didn''t want to risk anyone stealing my stuff!" Damian protested, "We literally met them hours ago and this is all I got! How do you know they haven''t stolen your stuff?" "Damian dearie," Matilda sighed as she fluttered over handing Damian the shoebox. The box was lightly shaking as the cat sized bee inside resumed her struggle. The rest of her flutter of smaller moths carried hundreds of irate bees struggling against the webbing bind them as unsuccessfully as their queen. "Do you really think that a bunch of people living out of apartments without a single evolved among them would willingly seek to provoke three evolved monsters over some clothing, sentimental items, and jerky?" "You would be shocked how stupid people can be," Damian growled as he tried licking some of the, what I guessed was honey, off his clothes with little success. Having worked in the service industry before I had to yield that point to him. "I see you didn''t leave your stuff behind either." "Because I didn''t see a need to undress," she huffed, clutching the frayed scarf she wore protectively. "Unlike you two, I don''t get into the ''splash zone'' in a scrap." Seeking to nip the budding argument before it could properly bloom, I excitedly asked, "Think the locals have those bathes heated up yet? They did promise us all hot baths if we did this, they might even have some soap!" Damian tried to keep looking cross as he folded his arms and grumbled, "I doubt it." But his wagging tail and perked ears betrayed his hopeful excitement. Matilda looked somewhat doubtful as she nibbled on one of her super fluffy moth legs. "While a bath sounds wonderful, I don''t think they''re very good for moths." "You could still splash yourself and let others wash you, you know," I offered the much older woman. "Did you forget she''s toxic again?" Damian asked, looking at me with a surprisingly flat expression. Those ears of his were shockingly good at conveying emotion to offset his immobile eyes. "Maybe," I admitted. In my defense I didn''t notice, seeing as I was mostly metal. Apparently even just touching her was enough for most to break out in an irritating, almost painful rash. I might never have known if she hadn''t shoved one of her mini-moths up my nose the one time. "I''m sure we''ll find something for you. You absolutely need some down time as well after the last few days of madness. When was the last time you slept?" "I sleep frequently," she fluffed herself up in a huff, "Just not all at once." The heck does that even mean??? "Look, we can argue about it more after we give those people the bees they wanted." Damian said, throwing up his hands, "Preferably before the little bastards have managed to cut their way free." Sure enough, some of the bees were using their saw shaped stingers to try and cut the silk holding them. I doubted they''d get very far seeing as silks were shockingly stab and cut retardant. Yet most snakes also didn''t discharge enough electricity to run a housing block so who could say. Better safe than sorry. Thankfully the apartments in question were only about five hundred feet away, so it only took us all of a minute to drag our captives over there. It looked like a modest crowd had gathered to watch the fight, a real menagier of different creatures ranging from gerbils the size of cars, to what looked like a knock off axolotl clinging to the head of an alligator with long legs. The gator walked forwards and lifted its head high to raise the little two legged horned salamander up to our eye level. "Thank you so much!" it gave a little gurgling squeak, its little fleshy neck horns wiggling happily. Lord have mercy! That is weapons grade adorable! "Once Suzi finishes building her bee boxes we will hopefully be able to start producing wax and honey!" "Not to mention not having to go a mile out of our way to avoid that hive when heading down to anything on the other side of the bridge will be nice," the gator rumbled, "You folks have done us a good turn. We''d be more than willing to shelter you if you need it." "Thanks for the offer but we''ve already got a place to stay." I waved them off, "This is just us being neighborly. We''ll be heading off down 287 once the heat of the day has passed. Got family to check on down south. Though if you have any extra priests we could use a couple back in the main city." "Sadly no," the two legged eel lizard said, horns dropping sadly, "We actually don''t have any preachers, Ms. Miller has been filling in for us. The woman''s a blessing, but she''s just not as good as her husband was." "That''s a shame," I sighed, figured that quest wouldn''t be so easy to complete, "Still thanks for giving us a place to sleep last night. I know we hardly look like the most trustworthy group." "Hardly an imposition," the gator harrumphed, "You three have been a blessing for this community. News from the north, removing that bloody hive, and best yet, your little show just now is actually convincing these lazy bums that it''s actually worth doing quests and not just hoarding supplies. We might actually get some of these people to evolve properly instead of just waiting for the week to pass." "The week to pass?" I blinked in confusion, "What happens after a week?" Everyone looked at me with confusion before Matilda asked, "Joe, have you not been properly exploring the system menus?" "No!" I hissed, "I hate that stuff! I swear every time I try I end up breaking something or accidentally changing a setting! I''m now got my health and stamina bar forever sitting in the bottom left of my vision, and guess what! Everytime I try to look at it I can''t because it is always in the bottom left of my vision so I can''t look directly at it! I accidentally re-enables popups and can''t turn them off now!" The discount axolotl tittered, a sound like squeaking a rubber ducky under water, "I''ve got the same issues, I''m terrible at navigating all those menus. Thankfully Nick here can explain things to me. Apparently you can get your first evolution for free after your first week, you just get a better one from leveling." "Huh, wish I''d known that before I''d fought a scorpion the size of a building." I grumbled. Dang it, that was actually useful information, I might actually have to try exploring the system menus again. I hope I don''t accidentally end up triggering an ''invert controls'' setting or something. "By the way, those baths we promised you should be done heating up by now," the gator, Nick? smiled, "Looks like a couple of you could really use it." I take it back, sometimes the apocalypse was okay. It certainly made us appreciate the little things. Chapter 2.2: Slithering Down the Road One nice dip in a swimming pool recently filled with hot water left me a happy snake. Getting cleaned with brooms, mops, and even the metal polish I''d been gifted had me making cute squeaky chirps that I had no idea I could make. I was half tempted to extend my stay in hopes of further treatment. This must be what it''s like to go to a spa, no wonder women and a gaming buddy were always going on about them. Sadly, there was only so much time I could allot to luxuriate in what was the closest thing to heaven I''d ever experienced, I wanted to make it to the next town before sundown. So once my fifty foot long back was fully polished and the water had cooled I donned my specially made white Stetson, poncho, and backpack. Feeling like an utter bad ass, I gathered up my friends, refilled our water, and said our goodbyes to the people of the small proto-town as we started heading south east along highway 287 towards I-45. Matilda and her flutter of moths quickly crawled under my hat and settled there, the woman complaining softly about how bright the day was. Damian settled atop my backpack and curled up there like a kitten to lightly doze. I didn''t mind, it let me enjoy the trip. It was rather interesting to both see areas I''d zipped through hundreds of times at eighty miles an hour at a more sedate pace and experience how time had changed it. Like that little graveyard, or that tiny building I''d always thought was a construction yard. Turns out it was actually a medical center, neat! The treeline had definitely pushed its way forwards, no longer being politely kept about a hundred feet back from the road, but had yet to start really intruding on it. The grass had made some headway in places, mostly in potholes and the rare large cracks. As it stood it looked like the road would be able to hold out against nature for another decade or two before being buried. I was certain that we''d be more than capable of saving the road, fresh asphalt was hardly the hardest thing to make and roads like this would be vital for the second coming of Texas, if not the US. I did cast a worried look at the grass I was slithering through though. It was very yellow and dry this far into summer without any recent rains. I found myself worrying that I''d slither over a rock and accidentally start a fire, which would be a MASSIVE issue without fire trucks to put it out. Honestly, we were probably pretty lucky a massive fire hadn''t burned the metroplex down while we were all getting turned into monsters. I could technically travel on the road to avoid the flammable foliage, but that would probably make more sparks. Not to mention it would probably tear up the road to have my heavy arse slithering along it. And the noise it would make! I was sick of the sound of metal being dragged over stone! I''d silently endured it in the city, but now that we were in the country I was sticking to grass as much as possible unless we had to cross a bridge. How would we even deal with fires now? Bucket brigades? I hadn''t spotted any big water attacks while browsing through the A ranked skills upon my evolution. Maybe have diggers make fire breaks or throw dirt at the fire? There had been several fire skills on the list so there must be something to fight the spread of fires right? It would support my theory of the system being an anti-civilization force if it made spreading fires easy and putting them out hard, that would be another solid discouragement towards building cities and large groups. I was distracted from my worried musings by the sound of a revolver spinning. Glancing back to my pack I saw Damian was up and playing with the gun Jack had gifted to me. He wasn''t doing anything too dumb or dangerous with it so I was willing to let him be. "Say Joe," Damian called up to me, "I don''t suppose you''d be willing to let me borrow this gun would you?" "You aren''t going to try to shoot me with this one too are you?" I teased. He flinched at the joke, "Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. Sorry." I frowned at the reaction, "It''s fine man, it was just a joke. You were in a bad place at the time and nothing came of it. Water under the bridge. You can borrow the gun if you want, I''m half convinced that''s why Jack gave it to us. Not like I can use the thing with that big stupid sword on my tail. One condition though." I turned my head around to look into the man''s eyes as he perched on my upper back. "You need to find a cowboy hat and poncho of your own." Damian blinked in confusion before bursting into laughter, "Pfft. Seriously Boss? You want me to dress up like I''m in a western?" "You could totally pull it off." I smiled imagining Damian in such a get up, twirling the revolver around a finger before holstering it. "A dinosaur version of The Nameless Man." "You are crazy, you know that." "That''s beside the point," I scoffed. "It''s got plenty of practical utility too. Keeps the sun and heat off you astonishingly well, helps protect you from dust and fluid attacks, and you can quickly shed it to escape grabs. It looking cool is just a bonus." Damian continued to give me the stink eye, "Fine I''ll settle for a duster and fedora so long as you stand in shadows and smoke." "I''m not picking up smoking again," the little beyond black raptor chuckled, "I do not need those cravings again." He hooked the holster to his belt and slid the heavy revolver home. "Thanks Joe." "You keep stealing all my toys," I sniffled playfully before sobering, "What do you want the gun for anyways? It''s not like even a .44 is going to do much against some of the bigger folks and monsters we''ve seen thus far." "It''s still better than my little claws or your knife," he shrugged, "I''m also hoping my undetected damage bonus and sound muffling abilities will extend to it as well." Ooh! That would be neat! "You might also might to try working some Focus into the bullets or gun, though I''m not sure how well that will work seeing as a gun and bullet are multiple pieces and not just a simple chunk of metal like Omar''s hammers." "And it''s supposedly really difficult from what he was saying," Damian sighed and started looking intently at the weapon, "Uhg, they weren''t kidding and I think the complexity is making it even worse. At least it will give me something to do, got an ETA until we hit the next city?" I glanced at the small lake glistening prettily off the road, raising an eyebrow as something the size of a dolphin leapt from it, snapping at either a small bird or large bug. "Assuming the bridge hasn''t collapsed, I''d guess maybe an hour, unless you want me to kick up the speed a bit. I don''t think I''ll need to stop for a break, but my stamina has not been what it used to be and dragging around all this metal weighs on you after a bit." "Did you just make a pun?" Damian asked, his tone laced with disgust. "I don''t know what you mean," I answered innocently with a big ol'' smile on my face. I flinched as a fluffy bug leg poked out from under my hat to slap the side of my face near my eye. "You know, for being so concerned about my sleep, you sure are making it hard to catch a nap."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "Sorry Matilda, I can be quiet if you want me to." "No need, I''ve slept more than enough here for now." I felt light movement happening from beneath my hat as a dozen little moths spilled out, leaving the big one behind. "Do you want me to keep any eyes out for quests, or just animals?" "I think we''ve done enough questing for the moment," I smiled, the three of us were all at least level ten at this point and most people we met still hadn''t hit five. I''d be more than happy to knuckle down and grind after we reached the farm to confirm the condition of my family. "Unless you see one offering fusion tokens or something special I think just getting yo Waxahachie will be enough to call it a day." There was a short pause before she answered, "I''m not seeing anything like that in the immediate area, there''s a lot of groups of those boarillas out in the woods though. Looks like they''re having some sort of big gathering, almost looks like a debate or a senate meeting. Could be important." "Keep an eye on it, but unless they start heading our way I think we''re good to leave them alone." I tilted my head in a faux shrug, "We still got plenty of food without breaking up a breeding ritual, local election, or whatever the pigs are up to." "Are you sure that''s wise Joe?" Matilda asked, poking her head out from under my hat to look me in the eye, "These things seem fairly well organized." "Oh they are," I admitted with a nod, "They''re actually smart enough to be using very crude tools, weapons, and tactics. Bastards came at me with sharpened rocks and ganged up on me to try and immobilize me when I ran across some. That''s part of the reason I want to leave them alone if they don''t start shit. Despite that, they don''t seem to be that dangerous, as long as they don''t badly outnumber you they aren''t that hard to deal with. They also seem to back off when they start suffering casualties so they aren''t an overt threat to settlements, as long as people are smart enough to move in groups." "Still seems like we should thin their numbers just in case." Damian grumbled as he glared intently at a bullet. "And give the piggies a reason to start attacking towns?" I asked, "Nah, as long as the new neighbors aren''t being a problem I say let them be. They start shit, they get hit." "You do realize you''re going to end up moping for a week if they end up killing someone don''t you dearie?" Matilda teased. "Only a week?" Damian asked in mock confusion. "I''d mope for way longer if I just marched in there and killed them all, not just the men, but the women and children too while singing the best Yensid war song before they''d done anything." I pointed out, humming a few bars of the song. Man they don''t make them like they used to. "Besides, I just got cleaned up and don''t wanna scuff my shine. I angled my tail to catch the sun and rotated the glare across both their eyes. Both started cursing me out, with Matilda using a particularly colorful one that I committed to memory, even as I began giggling like a gremlin. As we started up a long curved bridge over a shallow valley Matilda suddenly went alert, "There''s someone up ahead." "You sure it''s not an animal?" I asked cautiously. "Most animals don''t sing country songs to themselves while looking over the valley." Matilda retorted, ruffling her wings as she crawled fully out from under my hat. "What kind of creature are they?" I asked, racking my brain for what the roads were like at the end of this bridge. "Do they have anyone with them? Any equipment that you can see?" "Giant snake, looks similar to what you looked like when we met but not metal. Looks to be alone, but Damian''s proof that doesn''t mean they are. They have a large bag full of something next to them, no clue what''s inside." "Want me to sneak ahead and be ready to ambush them if they try something?" Damian asked, reloading the revolver and closing it with a snap. "Tempting," I admitted. From what I remember of this road, they were likely sitting at the overpass. This road went under that bridged two steep hills, a natural place for an ambush. They could also just be admiring the view. "But we did see with that goat in the graveyard that some people can still spot you so I say stay with me until they prove to be hostile. Matilda, you keep hidden too, I can take hits better than you can." She didn''t say anything, simply shook two of her larger moths free of her fluff before crawling back under my hat. The two freshly spawned minions shook out four smaller moths before all taking off. Damian simply pressed himself against my back and seemed to almost slip under my scales as he vanished from view. "Don''t worry Joe." He hissed, " They try anything and I''ll Blast them." "How good of a shot are you?" "No clue," I could feel him shrug despite not seeing him, "never actually fired a gun before." Well that''s going to need to be corrected. I thought to myself as I continued forwards. Will have to make time to teach the man to shoot later. Not that I needed much of an excuse to shoot guns with someone. As I reached the end of the bridge I finally spotted her. She was certainly another titanoboa, my permanent scowl deepening as I instantly identified her as a rival for territory. She was smaller and clearly weaker than me, I should easily be able to chase her off if she dared challenge me. Realizing what was happening my monkey brain reached over and gave my snakey instincts a slap across the head, demanding it go back to being quiet in the corner. My new instincts complained loudly, but I was no longer on the verge of hissing loudly and charging the woman. She had clearly spotted me as well and seemed to be in a similar position, her body language radiating fear and aggression. Fear was clearly winning out but she slowly raised herself up a bit and nervously waved down to me with a nervous, "H-hey." My snakey instincts suddenly found themselves forcibly booted out of the way as both my monkey brain and higher functions both began to chimp out at what they were seeing. "W- HOW DID YOU GET THOSE!?!" I demanded causing the woman to flinch back at my full volume and intense unblinking stare. "G-get what?" She whimpered, sinking low until her eyes were barely poking over the side of the bridge. "Those arms! I specifically searched for arms and everything I found specifically required you to already have them!" I declared not daring to look away from the two scrawny little arms with their tiny three finger hands clutching the side of the bridge, "Please! Tell me!" "Vestigial Limbs," the woman shrieked, "I picked them before I hatched because I didn''t want to go through life without some way to manipulate things!" Limbs!?! FUCK! I forgot to search for limbs! I fell into a spiral of internal recriminations for being so stupid as to forget to search the word ''limbs''. I might have kept beating myself up for being such an incredibly, monumentally, unforgivably absolute mouth breathing idiot if I hadn''t felt a shadow peel itself off of me and slide down my back. "Well, if she was hostile and had friends hiding I''m pretty sure they''d''ve come out by now." Damian laughed, taking a few steps away from me. "Nice to meet ya girl, name''s Damian. The big guy who''s brain you just broke is Joe." "And I''m Matilda," the old moth stated, crawling out from under my hat. "Do forgive the man, he''s usually much more eloquent and friendly." "Well sorry if I''m a bit testy after having to make do with a prehensile tail only to get a massive sword shoved on the end of it!" I snapped, "I used to paint, shoot competitively, and play the piano so excuse me if I''m ever so slightly peeved about losing those skills because I picked the wrong skill at hatching!" I let out a deep, almost sub-audible, thrum of frustration before forcing myself to calm down, bottling my frustrations for later use. "Sorry, sorry. Just, really frustrating," I let off a slow rattling breath and gave myself a hard shake. "Let me try that again. Howdy, I''m Joe. Nice ta meet ya Ms...?" "Anna," the woman on the bridge called nervously. I swear if she says her last name is ''Conda'' I''m not sure if I''m going to laugh or scream, "It''s nice to meet you?" She squirmed a bit before asking, "If you don''t mind me asking, why are you here?" "Oh, I''m just passing through on the way down to check on my folks," I nodded south, "I''m also currently looking for a place to turn in for the night, and don''t mind doing some work to ''pay'' for it. I know I''m a bit bigger and stronger than most these days. We''re also experienced monster slayers among my other qualifications." She eyed the three of us nervously for a moment before hesitantly saying... Seasonal Hiatus I really hate to say it guys and was hoping to avoid it, but the seasonal depression is hitting me hard this year, especially with a job that keeps me from seeing the sun. Sadly, especially after not being with the family for Thanksgiving for the first time ever, I''m just not able to keep the schedule while juggling Christmas prep. So sadly I''ll be joining a lot of others here and declaring a hiatus for the holidays. I really hate to drop this right after a vote chapter, but I''m barely able to bring myself to write three hundred words a day and can literally feel the burn out creeping up on me. Hopefully this will let me build up a backlog of chapters that I can start spamming after Christmas. Sorry. Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Words and filler and trash, oh my! Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Chapter 2.3 Manitoba pt1 "Well, there''s that thing in the steel mill you could try to get rid of, but there''s something more important if you''d be willing. We¡¯ve been having trouble getting in contact with people on the East side of town lately," Anna admitted a bit reluctantly, "can you check on them for us?" "You''ve lost contact with them?" I asked a bit worried. There were very few reasons for contact to be lost and few of them good. Especially these days. "Have you sent anyone to investigate?" "A couple of people yeah," Anna admitted sadly, "They didn''t come back, so I doubt it''s anything minor. They were some of our best hunters so the council just sort of wrote the whole secrion of town off. I was considering just leaving and hoping the next city over is better off than here." A quick glance at Matilda and Damian ended with a quick nod from Matilda and a slower one from Damian. "We''d be willing to at least look into it, maybe report back what we see." The snake woman seemed delighted before suddenly fearful then nervous before weakly asking. "W-would y-you, uhm, be w-willing to let me come along?" I started to rear back and only just managed to swallow the hiss trying to tear free from my throat as my snake side started insisting this upstart was trying to steal ''my'' hunt. Breathing deeply through my nose as I fought the autistically hissing snake instincts down I eventually managed to growl out, "May I ask why?" Anna looked to be fighting not to flee the area as she trembled behind the concrete of the bridge. She still managed to stammer out, "W-w-well uh-I, *cough*, I had family among those sent to i-investigate a-and I." she paused fighting to get herself under control, "I want to find out what happened to him." My sympathy for her situation easily drowned out the furious ranting of my inner snake, "Of course. Do keep in mind this will potentially be very dangerous and you might not like what you find. No matter what happens, I will need you to do what we say. We''ve all got several ways of detecting things at long range so even if things seem calm and we tell you to do it immediately, understand?" "Yes sir," she said, trying to snap a salute with her tiny little arms. I glared at the little limbs in jealousy for a moment before sighing, "Good enough, now where were the missing people staying? When did you lose contact with them?" "They had mostly gathered around the Stonewall Church just off of 286 and the X-on station." she gestured with a thumb over her shoulder, "It''s about five miles down the road." "Oh, I think I know the place," I announced happily, "Any other problems with getting in contact with other gatherings?" "Not really, contact with the Bulkathon up north and campgrounds down south have been sparse due to travel times, but not real issues besides getting everything running again and finding out what exactly we all have and can do. There''s a bunch of aggressive animals, but our hunters and police have managed to mostly handle those. We haven''t heard anything from Waxahachie, but that''s like fifteen miles from where I''ve been staying and we''ve been busy working through things nearby and keeping everyone properly fed." "Uhg, another five miles?" I moaned, "That''s a whole ''nother hour of walking! Do you mind letting me know where you''ve been staying? I could use a break from dragging all this dead weight." "You act like I weigh more than a feather to you," Damian scoffed, "I''m not that fat anymore!" I gave the man the most deadpan stare I could manage, "And yet it feels like I am carrying several tons of metal with your fat dino tail on my back." I managed to hold the look for a couple more seconds before we both broke down into a fit of laughter. Turning back to Anna with a real smile I asked her, "Do you mind taking us to the town you''ve been staying at? I''d like to set some stuff down and rest a bit before heading over." Again Anna squirmed a bit nervously, her little gecko-esque hands wringing, "It''s down south near the baseball fields, but I''d rather not go with you if that''s alright." I raised an eyebrow at her, remaining silent. Her squirming increased as she said, "I was planning to leave, so I might have helped myself to a few things, without asking." "Child," Matilda stated in a calm level tone that brooked no argument and promised pain, "You are going to come with us back to the Fields and return everything you took right this instance or, God as my witness, I will drag you back there." "But I-" Anna didn''t get any further before Matilda shook free two of her larger moths and all three flew up to the snake woman. All three spat a thick line of silk that clung to the woman''s snout and started pulling. Anna yelped and tried to resist only for the six other moths Matilda had summoned earlier to begin dive bombing her and batting at Anna''s face with their wings. Anna hissed frightfully, batting her arms at the cloud of giant moths ineffectually and getting one of her hands tied to her face for her trouble. "Alright! I give up! Stop! Stop!" Matilda ceased her attack, all eight of her flutter of moths settling on the bridge to glare reproachfully at the giant snake woman who dejectedly picked up her garbage bag of stolen goods and began to sulkingly begin leading us south. I took the moment to happily bask in the amusement of not being the giant snake subject to the old woman''s badgering for once. The walk to the community park took another half hour, the both of us slithering through the streets with a rider on our heads. Damian was thankfully a far happier passenger than Matilda, who still seemed to be actively scolding the woman. The worst I got from Damian was a complaint that our rations of jerky were starting to taste a bit on the stale side. When we came up upon the baseball field the reactions of the locals seemed far less than pleased going by the glares and tension that came over everyone. I largely ignored the tension as I looked over the area. It looked like it had once been a solid mile of fields and park with two lakes, a splash pad, multiple sport courts, a playground, and covered picnic and bathroom facilities. In its heyday it must have been beautiful, sadly time had not been kind. The vast manicured fields completely overgrown with grass and briars, trees from nearby woods and pathways had become unruly and begun to spread like a cancer, and several of the gazebos had collapsed.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. People were making their best of it. Even as I watched people were fighting back the grass with blade and claw as others gathered the thorny briars, perhaps for lashings or ready made rope. Others were stashing supplies and materials they were pulling out of nearby houses in the covered areas and some very early construction using felled trees looked to be aimed towards trying to expand the limited buildings into storehouses and barracks. They clearly had a lot less to work with than we''d had back in the heart of the metroplex but were persevering regardless of the challenges. I focused on the people again as I saw an ankylosaurus with an ax bladed thagomizer storming towards us with fire in its eyes as it glared at Anna, "Well it seems the little thieving snake has decided to call it quits already. I''d say you got cold feet to go with that cold blood, but you don''t even have that. And who are these people supposed to be? Did you form a gang and come to steal more from us or did you try to rob these people too and get arrested? Hmm? Well? Spit it out! You''ve never had any trouble spitting your venom everywhere before." I bristled at the cruel barbs the woman was throwing, they were undoubtedly deserved to a point as Anna had been rather stupid in her actions. There was still a limit and adding us to her calumny tirade was hardly making me well disposed towards her. Going by the unhappy rumble in Damian''s chest I had the suspicion he felt the same way. Yet before I could say anything Matilda cut in, "It seems the years haven''t dulled your tongue a bit when something gets your goat Agatha." the moth chortled, "You can ease off, I''ve already given her an earful for playing the fool. Too much more and you''ll render the poor girl a sobbing wreck." The grumpy dinosaur squinted up at Matilda, "Do I know you dear?" "And here I was hoping that your Alzheimer''s had cleared up with the change, Aggie," Matilda moaned with mock sadness, "What''s a poor little Mattie supposed to do without her Aggie?" The flat-backed dinosaur''s mood instantly shifted to radiant joy as she all but started dancing in place with a cry that seemed to contain all the joy the world had ever known compacted down into a singular exclamation, "Matilda!?! You get your buggy butt down here right this instant!" Matilda threw herself and all of her moths onto the woman as the two elderly women began to happily nuzzle each other and babble excitedly at such a rate I felt certain that neither could understand the other. It didn''t seem to matter, they were simply too happy to see each other. A glance over at Anna showed the smaller snake looking on with a confused and dazed expression of someone who had been too close to a very large explosion. I suspected she''d likely never seen the razor tongued woman this happy and cuddly before. "Oh! Where are my manners," Matilda exclaimed as the two women put pause to their nuzzling. "Aggie, this is Joe and Damian. A couple of fine young men I''m helping at the moment. Boys, this here is Aggie. She''s been my best friend since I was six and I am very glad she is herself again." "Myself? Bah," the woman scoffed as she playfully scowled at the moth on her back. "I might have been old and cold blooded, but I was hardly a dinosaur Mattie." She chortled good naturedly and nodded to each of us, "It is good to meet you boys. Any friend of Mattie is a friend of mine." Her expression turned a bit guarded, "If memory serves, which it thankfully does again, Mattie was living up by the airport. Which means you boys are likely from the same area. That''s a fair commute these days and I somehow doubt you''re just here to check up on little ol'' me. So what brings you boys down here?" She turned to scowl at Anna, "And how does it involve our oversized thief?" "I''m heading south to check on my folks," I admitted happily, "These two just insisted on coming with me for the trip. Saw Anna sitting on a bridge and asked if there was anything you folks needed help with. Told me you''ve lost contact with some people a few miles east of here. Thought I''d drop some stuff off here and catch a breather after spending a few hours traveling." "Ah, yes." Agatha stated sadly, her tail drooping, "We have been having trouble with that, and people who go to investigate not coming back." She looked pleadingly up at Matilda, "Please don''t go Mattie. I only just got my best friend back, I don''t want to risk losing you to whatever''s haunting the church." "Don''t fret yourself overmuch on my account Aggie," Matilda crooned patting the top of the larger woman''s head, "I''m not exactly going in blind, and unlike my friends, I''m not one to dive into the middle of a tussle." She spread her wings and her collection of smaller moths took off in a cloud, fluttering north east. "There we go, now we have until they reach the church to catch up and the boys can rest." "And the snake can return what she stole," Aggie sniped with a glare pointed enough to pierce my defenses aimed at Anna. "I, I''ll go do that." Anna said with a sigh. She slithered towards the covered bathrooms with her bag as glares followed her. Damian watched the girl go with a complicated expression I couldn''t parse. Well, I was pretty sure he was watching her, his bug eyes did make it hard to be sure. "Say Joe," he started slowly, "Would you be okay with-." "You sneaking off to make sure no one jumps her? Go ahead." I said with a nod. "I was going to say, ''having a look around.'' But yeah, that works too." He hopped off my back with less than a whisper. I managed to keep sight of him for a full thirty feet before blinking and losing him. Sighing, I settled down into a comfortable position, which these days consisted of coiling tightly around myself and resting my head on my back. After shifting my poncho to serve as a blanket and making a minor adjustment to my hat I was feeling nice and cozy. Sadly before I could properly sink into a nap someone weakly called, "Ah, excuse me. Sir? Might I have a moment?" Tilting back my hat I spotted a nervous looking sabertooth squirrel squirming nervously next to me. Sighing softly, I put on my best customer service voice and asked, "What can I do for you today, sir?" "Oh, um, it''s just that, ah, well." He coughed into his little, articulate, nimble hands, "I couldn''t help but overhear that you''re from out of town and was wondering if you have any news. Maybe heard from the government?" "The closest thing to the government I''ve seen has been a few people in military bases. They hadn''t done much before I left, likely still trying to reestablish the chain of command or something. As for news, well, I''ve had a busy five days so far so all of you over there pretending not to be listening get your butts over here and settle in. I''ve got a hell of a story to tell and I don''t need it getting filtered through Chinese Whispers." I spent the better part of half an hour telling the small group of listeners of the various wild animals I''d seen, the giant but valuable boss monsters, of the other towns that I''d found or helped along the way. I even told them about the brief and bloody fight against Tango Blast, down playing my own contributions of course. When I ran out of news, people started asking me about how other towns were setting up or dealing with this or that problem. After that was people asking me questions about skills, bloodlines, special evolutions, and the system. A lot of it was stuff I didn''t know, but it was clear I still knew more than they did. A few asked if I knew anything about certain people, sadly, by and large I had no closure to grant them. It wasn''t until Matilda landed on me that I noticed my small group had grown into maybe a third of the town listening to me speak. Matilda looked at me and started signing semaphore with her wings. I still wasn''t great at reading it, but I was mostly certain that this one meant something about maneuvering away from something. She probably wanted to talk in private about something. Politely excusing myself, I escaped the curious crowd and asked Matilda what she wanted. "I''m pretty sure I know why they haven''t heard from the church and their investigators are going missing." Chapter 2.4: Under Siege We had waited for night to fully settle before heading towards the church. My night vision might not be great, but with tremorsense it wasn''t much of a problem. Besides, I had both Damian and Matilda to guide me, both had great night vision. This did leave me being forced to carry our fourth member, Anna, as her senses were not nearly as developed. My new instincts were NOT happy about this, but it was better than the smaller snake constantly bumping into me. That had had me constantly having to fight off the urge to loudly hiss or bite the woman every time she accidentally bumped me which was simply not acceptable. "Hold up a minute Joe," Matilda called while we were still roughly a mile out from the church, "They''ve still got a few sentries on watch. Give me and Damian a moment to clear them out." I nodded and settled in under a bridge as both drifted out of sight into the night. I was content to wait, watching the smaller moth Matilda had left behind for a signal. Anna soon started to get restless. "You said that you know what''s wrong at Stonewall," she asked quietly, a soft tremble running through her body. Probably fear as I doubt her animal instincts were any happier about this arrangement than mine were. "Could you tell me please?" "Yeah, you know those boars that walk around like gorillas?" At her nod I continued, "There seems to be around eight groups of them, numbering between a dozen to a score each, laying siege to the place. We''re going to try and quietly remove the sentries they have watching the place and sneak inside to find out what their conditions are like. From there we are going to decide if we evacuate the building, gather a relief force, or sally forth to break the siege. "Personally I''m hoping to leave all of the groupings either wiped out or brutally devastated. I don''t want these pigs to think attacking people is tolerable behavior." That''s what I get for thinking the things would keep themselves in line without a show of force. Even relatively domesticated animals like horses or dogs sometimes needed to be given a smack to be taught not to do something. If nearly a fifth of the human population were literally incapable of behaving without the unseen club of violence hanging over them I honestly don''t know why I expected better of an animal as aggressive and destructive as boars. At least no one could say I hadn''t given these a chance. "Do you think everyone is still alive?" Anna asked with hopeful worry. "I doubt everyone is," I answered honestly, "but I wager at least half the people in the community still are considering the siege is still ongoing and Matilda said she didn''t see obvious signs of a breach. If the pigs haven''t already stormed the place it''s probably because they aren''t confident they could do so successfully." Anna seemed less than happy with my answer, or maybe she was still worried I was about to attack her. Admittedly my animal side was screaming at me to do so still, so perhaps hers was screaming at her to get away before I attacked her. I opened my mouth to say something when Matilda''s little moth started signing at us. ''Ahead slow''? I think. Bother. I wish she knew Morse Code, I know that way better than Semaphore. Creeping down the road as quietly as a road roller over gravel I caught up to Matilda herself sitting on a concrete divider between the freeway. A flick of my tongue caught the heavy scent of fresh blood. Following the smell led me to discover Damian standing all but invisible in the night nearby, his right side absolutely drenched in blood. Looking at the condition of his clothes, none of it was his, which was a major relief. "We''ve managed to neutralize one of the groups surrounding the place, but have a new problem." Damian said, pausing to idly lick at the blood on his arm. He jerked the arm away with an almost embarrassed look. "Whoever''s at the church has built a wall around it by running dozens of inch thick strands of silk between light poles and trees around the parking lot." He continued, "This means getting you two in without either making a lot of noise or a hole in their defenses will be tricky." "Currently our best idea is for me to carry Damian in and try to convince them to briefly open a hole in the wall to let you in." Matilda took over, "The problem with that is that''s likely to get spotted by other sentries and it gives the pigs a chance to attack. Not to mention that these people might be jumpy enough to attack something coming over their walls at o¡¯ dark thirty." "We could dig a tunnel," I pointed out, "Three of us are rather good at digging. It would also give us a good way to evacuate the building if necessary." "We considered that," Damian sighed, "Problem there is noise and time. If we want it done fast we''d need to dig close to the surface and that would be heard. These things might have shit eyesight, but they''re hearing was sharp enough to follow Matilda''s larger moths. If we don''t want to be heard, we''d have to dig deep and that would take time. The rest of the night for sure, possibly days if we want to make sure the pigs don''t find it." "Uhm, not to sound presumptuous, but why don''t you three just kill the rest of the boar-monkeys in their sleep?" Anna asks from my back. "We barely managed to take this group down quietly," Matilda admitted, "They got very close to getting a shout off, and this was one of the smaller groups." "Yeah, no way we win if we alert this makeshift army." I nod solemnly, "Ten of these things were enough to overpower me a couple days ago, a hundred is certain doom." "O-oh," Anna whimpered. "It might just be best to just jump the wall," Matilda pointed out, "Yes the sound of you landing will alert everything for miles, but it gets us inside quickly to check on the survivors." "It also makes our options for breaking the siege much more difficult," I countered, "Once they find the group you dealt with I don''t see them remaining so lax in their defenses so we won''t be able to pick off groups as easily. It would also make getting out a far harder task if we need to evacuate people that are seriously injured." I pondered a moment, "You said that their fence is made up of threads, any chance that Anna and I could squeeze through? We are snakes, we can fit into some pretty tight spaces despite our size."Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "I already thought of that and have been actively checking and so far all the holes are small enough that I don''t see that as being possible." Matilda shook her head sadly, "Whoever built their fence did a very good job of it, there''s barely any enough room for my smallest moths to fly between the gaps, no way we fit through something as big as you." "Damn, guess we aren''t going to stumble into a perfect solution," I grumbled, "Yeah, try flying over and getting them to open a hole for us. If they won''t at least try to open dialog with them so we at least find out what they need, are capable of, and maybe coordinate a strike with them. Leave a moth here so if they turn violent for some reason you can signal me to jump in and ''discourage'' such behaviors." "Don''t worry Joe," Damian chuckled, drawing his borrowed knife and revolver, striking what he probably thought was a cool pose. I''d give it a five of ten at best, not dynamic enough or taking advantage of the fact he''s half covered in blood. "I''ll be there with her in case things go south." "I''m sure you will be a most effective guardian," Matilda cooed with a tone of voice like a grandmother pinching the cheek of a precocious child, "Come along now, I can only carry you so far after all. I''m hardly as big as Joe." Watching the two head off into the dark as one of Matilda''s moths settled on the tip of my nose, I gave a couple cautious breaths to make sure I wouldn''t accidentally inhale the thing. I did not want a repeat of the incident where Matilda had rammed one of those things up my nose. When it was clear that wouldn''t happen I settled as best as I could with multiple tons of additional snake on my back. I had no clue how long this would take after all and might as well catch a couple winks of sleep while I wait. I occasionally lightly tapped my tail blade against the ground to trigger a burst of vision via my tremorsense just in case something tried to sneak up on me. While I was settling down to wait, Anna seemed to be riling herself up with worry. After maybe five minutes of waiting she asked, "Are you sure they''ll be okay on their own?" "No, but I''m confident they can take care of themselves long enough for help to arrive if things go wrong." I commented without opening my eyes. "But they''re so small." She fretted, "Just about anything could overwhelm them." "No, we''re just big." I corrected, "Besides, being small doesn''t mean they''re helpless. I''ve seen the smallest guy I''ve met hold off five guys on his own and the biggest guy I''ve seen die to people smaller than his head. Both of them have fought creatures dozens of times their size and won. Relax." She worries as much as I do. I thought with an amused snort. The moth on my nose suddenly fluttered its wings loud enough for me to crack an eye open. It then quickly started signaling a long complex chain of signs I simply didn''t follow. "Uh, sorry Matilda, but my flag reading isn''t that good yet." This made the little moth bristle and start batting aggressively at my nose. I could easily imagine the older woman railing at me for not spending more time learning a useful tool that I myself had suggested to her. The moth then angrily pointed at me then at the ground. "You want me to stay here?" I asked in confusion. The little moth nodded, its little antennas wiggling crossly. "Why would she contact you to tell you to stay in place?" Anna asked in confusion. "I''m pretty sure she was saying something else at first," I chuckled nervously, "Now she''s probably coming here in person to relay the message, and likely chew me out a bit. I''m just hoping she doesn''t stuff any of her moths up my nose again." The moth at the end of my nose seemed to pause before spinning about to start marching towards my nostrils. Immediately driving my nose into the ground I gave the little drone a glare, "Don''t even joke about it missy." "But it would be such a good way to make you take your studies seriously. " Matilda called from overhead as she fluttered down and slapped her wing against the side of my head. "Honestly, you suggested this and don''t even bother to study? Shameful young man, absolutely shameful." "I am studying," I protest, "I only had the dang book for a few hours and have been having to learn the rest from you!" The old woman waved her wings and forelegs dismissively, "Bah excuses." She tittered lightly before sobering, "Anyways, I said that we''ve made contact and the people in the church are willing to fight. They''ve tried to sally out a few times before, but the pigs have always tried to surround them. They think that with Damian knocking out a few more sentries and me to guide them to the unaware groups they''ll be able to finally drive these pigs off." "Need me for anything in this plan?" I asked with a coy smile suspecting several rolls I could play in this. "You are going to be the signal to kick this off." Matilda stated with a nod, "I remember that crater you made back at the Stadium, something like that could completely wipe out one of these groups. If you strike one of the furthest out groups it should also add to the confusion as the pigs are attacked from two directions. After that just kill until the quest completes." "Quest?" "Ah, yes. It probably hasn''t appeared for you yet. Get closer to the church and it should appear." Matilda spread her wings to leave when Anna spoke up. "What about me?" She asks before desperately demanding, "Or Markus? Did you see someone named Markus at the church? He looks like this big squirrel thing with fleshy wings that-" "I didn''t really have time to look around before coming back dearie," Matilda said softly, walking up to the smaller giant snake to softly pat her snout with a fluffy leg, "I''m sure Markus is fine. Do you want to help fight?" "I, I can''t see well in this darkness, but I can try." The nervous and obviously distraught woman said. "That''s wonderful dearie," Matilda cooed before shaking out two more moths from her thick fluff, "Just follow these two and be ready to help out the people of Stonewall. Don''t forget to flee if the pigs start to overwhelm you. I''m sure Markus would rather you be alive than to die trying to reach him." As my favorite moth walked the woman through the basics of combat, the little moth on my nose slapped my face to get my attention. When I focused on the little thing it turned and pointed into the night. Slithering as quietly as a store full of metal plates being dragged over concrete could, I followed the little bug''s directions. After maybe a mile and a half of slithering it raised its little legs to call a halt. When I stopped it mixed peering into the distance and pointed. I gave that direction a good squint before rapping my tail against the ground. Through tremorsense I got a brief look at a mass of about twenty boarillas sleeping maybe eight hundred feet away looking sleepily in my direction. "I see them," I whispered to the moth, "Just spread your wings when everyone else is ready and I''ll kick things off." I coiled up, running a bit of Kentucky windage in my head as I waited for the signal. Inside my chest something wild and bloody all but salivating in its eagerness to tear into these pigs. I fought down a vicious giggle as thoughts of violence danced behind my eyes. Then the little moth spread its wings. Chapter 2.5 Duels and Slaughter With a Focused Leap I rocketed high into the night sky on a ballistic arc, feeling the wind tear at my eyes. Looking down I felt wild terror grip me as my fear of heights reasserted itself even as I frantically reminded my hindbrain that the skill rendered me immune to the kinetic shock of impact. That fear mixed queerly with my bloodthirsty longing for combat and predatory delight at seeing the pile of drowsy boarillas scanning the landscape beneath me. I fired off a Lunge to correct my trajectory and Bunker Down to curl into a nice defensive ball. I wasn''t looking to be a spear tonight, I wanted to be a "CANNONBALL!" As I streaked towards the ground I found my vision obscured. ¨CEvent Quest in progress Under Siege¨C ¨CJoin Quest?¨C ¨CY/N¨C I frantically hammered yes and shoved to pop ups out of the way desperate to see where I was going before impact. I caught just a flash of the boarillas looking up in shock, a few trying to run as I impacted the ground with an earth shattering kaboom. The impact threw chunks of dirt and meat flying hundreds of feet into the air, looking and sounding like a multi-ton bomb had gone off. The impact was heard for miles and served as a very clear signal that the counter attack had begun. I was only tangentially aware of this, as while I was not damaged by the impact, The G-Forces left me more than a little punch drunk. ¨CLeap leveled up¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C Cackling wildly, I pulled myself free of the tons of dirt raining down on me, whooping with delight. I felt full to bursting with wildly churning power as, despite taking no damage, Bunker Down had banked a sea of energy from the impact and falling debris. I was even able to ''see'' fairly clearly through the massive dust cloud thanks to all the shockwaves being made from torso sized chunks of earth slamming into the ground. As such I was very aware of the crowd of maybe ten boarillas running towards my impact site to either investigate or try to help the pigs I''d just rendered into fine salsa. I showed this new group no more mercy than the last as I lunged from the thick cloud of dirt swinging my surfboard of a tail blade in a wide horizontal sweep. All that power roiling around inside me shunted itself into the swing, making the air around me thunder from the near supersonic attack. Needless to say, a multi-ton blade moving that fast produced more of a wet burst than a slice as it tore through eight of the ten pigs. The momentum of the swing spun me almost completely around and added the slightest bit of dizziness to my already addled state. ¨CBunker Down leveled up¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C A quick glance at the two remaining pig monkeys revealed one of them on the ground bleeding heavily from the bone shrapnel embedded in its side, unmoving. The other was fleeing with loud fearful squeals. Instincts both old and new locked onto the runner in an instant as I cheerfully declared, "Nope!" Thrusting my head forwards I enveloped the upper half of the runner in my mouth and lifted him effortlessly into the air. A cruel cackle bubbled up as I felt the boarilla struggle futility to force my Jaws apart and I bit down. It only took a second before I was rewarded with a dry crack, a wet splat, and the metallic stench of blood flooding my mouth alongside a familiar pork flavor. ¨CGrappling Strike leveled up¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C ¨CConstrict leveled up¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C Flinging the carcass aside and doing my snakey best to spit out the blood, pigs were hardly known for being free of disease and parasites after all, I tilted my head and listened to the suddenly noisy night. Frightful and furious squeals filled the air, often accompanied by the shriek, roar, and howl of a dozen other monsters. This felt right to me. I was exactly where I was supposed to be doing exactly what I had been born to do. A laugh forced its way out of me as I listened, that vicious part of me I constantly fought to suppress reveling at the sounds of battle and slaughter. It called out for more and for once I was happy to indulge it. I slammed the flat of my tail against the ground twice, the vibrations rapidly shooting through the ground and returning. The system granted sense translated the return echoes into a mental wire frame of several buildings, electrical/sewer lines, and dozens of boarillas under attack by a menagerie of monsters. One nearby group of nearly twelve individuals was not currently under attack and appeared to be locked in a heated argument. I decided to render their argument moot by inserting myself in the middle of it via a Focused Lunge.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. My multi-ton form plowed through the building between me and them, a single story house, rolled over a couple of pigs that I could feel being ground to meaty mulch beneath me, before slamming into another house to halt my momentum. I crowed out an exuberant, "Caught ya sleepin''!" as I looked down on the gang, eyes lit with a wild energy and my smile painfully wide. I tried to wrap myself around the entire group while they were surprised. Sadly, with how spread out they were, my need to pull myself free of the half collapsed house, and the boarillas'' agility I only managed to trap four of them between my razor sharp scales. They still squealed with intoxicating terror as I began to squeeze, spurring the remaining members of the group into action as I cackled out, "I gotcha where I wantcha-" Six of the seven remaining pig beasts threw themselves against my side, pushing against my torso to try and forcibly loosen my coils. The largest of them hung back and squealed something that made the four in my coils begin to resist my crushing force in a more organized manner, actually managing to temporarily halt my attempts to squeeze the life out of them. Then the big one charged my face with a battle cry, lifting high a crude metal weapon made by a length of highway guardrail. I simply laughed at their efforts. "Now I''m gonna getcha!" Focusing on my Myoelectric mutagen I let the electricity storing organs in my muscles discharge a localized storm into the ten intelligent beast attacking me causing them all to hoot in shock. The boost to my strength let me easily grind the trapped four against my side into broken meat as the other six collapsing in a twitching pile. ¨CSuidarian is Stunned! x9¨C The last remaining gorilla shaped pig of the group stumbled in its charge as it suddenly found itself alone against me. I gave the lone boarilla a wide toothy smile as I pulled the pile of stunned pork into my coils and began to slowly squeeze. "Whatever will you do now Porky?" I teased, "Run away and leave everyone to die? Or fight a futile battle you have no hope of winning?" A few of the electrocuted boarillas in my coils began to weakly protest as my coils slowly tightened. "Decisions, decisions." An evil chortle bubbled free as the sounds of combat filled the night around us. The lone boarilla seemed caught in indecision, looking around helplessly in the dark for aid, its ears locked on the weakly squealing pile of allies trapped in my coils. Its beady eyes and posture radiated a sense of helplessness as the cries of death and battle filled the night, but only for a few seconds. The boar quickly seemed to gird its loins, its half hoof hands tighten around its weapon as it looked me in the eyes and let loose a loud series of oinks and squeals before charging me. "Ha! I respect your courage, little pig!" I cheered, smiling wide even as I raised my tail''s blade into a high ready, "I, Joe Palmer, First of his name, accept your challenge!" I swung my massive weapon in a low sweep at around the pig''s waist, my smile only grew wider as the pig managed to hop over my first swing. Quickly spinning the momentum of my swing around into an overhead backswing, the lone boarilla threw himself out of the way, briefly scrabbling along on all fours to continue his charge towards my main body, eyes locked on my own with a toothy snarl. I responded by simply sweeping the blade and tail along the ground towards him. The pig, lacking sufficient footing to try jumping again, raised its guardrail weapon like a shield, blocking my razor edged scales, but still getting swept off his feet. As the lone boarilla tumbled across the ground, I reared my head back and struck, seeking to impale him with my bladed nose. The pig''s eyes widened in fright as it saw me coming and threw himself into the roll, letting him avoid being impaled, but still suffered a severe gash along the back of its right shoulder. The pig cried in pain, but recovered in an instant, grabbing hold of my nostril with its left hand and using it to rip itself up to lash at my eye with the weapon on its right. I closed my eye and felt galvanized steel scrape harmlessly along my tungsten scales before using my superior mass to simply shove the pig away with the shake of my head. The boarilla warrior was flung nearly twenty feet, landing heavily enough to suffer some serious road rash as he tumbled another fifteen feet before stopping. He grunted with pain as he forced himself upright and raised his weapon in defiance, seeming completely undeterred by his complete inability to hurt me thus far. I barked out a laugh as I uncoiled to face this lone man facing down the unkillable beast, I would give him the attention he deserved. "I didn''t hear no bell either." The warrior squealed out something as he slammed his weapon on the ground. I knew exactly what he was doing, I could clearly feel and hear the dazed steps of the still half stunned and badly injured boarillas behind me staggering away. It would take me only an instant to turn and kill them all, to extinguish all hope and drown this lone pig in despair before I killed him. Why bother though? Killing the pigs in and of themselves provided no rewards beyond a moment''s satisfaction, and would render this warrior''s courageous sacrifice meaningless. I was not so cruel. Besides, this one boarilla was far more fun than all the others put together. I gave the retreating pigs a single glance, simply to confirm they weren''t trying something sneaky before returning my attention fully to lone warrior. I gave him a lone nod as I readied my blade again much to his apparent bewilderment. I opened with a thrust he barely managed to poorly block, biting into and partially through his weapon into his arm, blowing him off his feet. I followed up with a downward slash he rolled away from, using the anchor point to drag my main body closer as he regained his feet. I did the equivalent of shoulder checking the warrior by slamming a fold of my coils into his chest, the sharp scales flensing away thick hair and flesh. Shockingly he managed to keep his feet and struck back, doing nothing to my bloody scales leaving himself open to a thrust from my head. He just managed to get his weapon between my nose and his head. I felt the galvanized steel shatter along with his hand and arm as the force of the blow sent him spinning down into a small creek that was flowing alongside the road we were fighting on. He slowly and painfully tried to rise to his feet again, but he was too slow. I was on him, using a bit of Focus on my prehensile tail to widen it into a broad fan and slam him down into the mud and pin him in place. I dangled my head above him, the sharp shovel point of my noise above him like a waiting guillotine. The defeated warrior simply smiled up at me with an expression of tired satisfaction as he seemed to sigh out a defeated grunt. I paused, as even with my battle high filling my blood, making my thoughts fuzzy, I found I didn''t want to kill this one. He''d shown such courage and honor in sacrificing himself for his fellows I had come to respect him. I really should spare him, maybe he could instill such virtues among the rest of his kind. Yes, a second chance. Because if this bastard ever pulled this shit again I''d not hold back and simply destroy him. Best put some sort of mark on him to make him recognizable. Lowering my bladed nose slowly towards the warrior''s face I slowly slid the edge through the flesh over his brow, digging it deep to help ensure it scarred. Lifting my nose free and sliced another deep cut in his face from temple to snout leaving an easily recognizable bleeding cross in the man''s face. He looked up at me with both pain and confusion writ large on his boar face. "For your skill, sacrifice, and valor I grant you the greatest gift I can bestow upon you. Mercy," I whispered down to the defeated warrior. Seeing the flowing creek next to us, a random impulse flits through my head that I choose to indulge. "and Salvation." Wrapping my prehensile tail around him, I shift him to just above the flowing waters. "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Immersing the warrior in the flowing water briefly before pulling him out as he gasp and sputters. The newly baptized warrior looks at me in confusion, seemingly unable to understand what has just happened. "I dub thee Chad, go now and live with the blessing of God, child." I set the wet and bleeding man down on the road and turn away. I listen for the next closest sound of combat and Leap towards it, this quest is still far from over after all. Chapter 2.6 First Impressions Slamming down with enough force to crater the parking lot of what looked to be a heavily looted store and a car wash. Though thankfully not a truly earthshaking impact this time. I found myself facing the back of a badly injured pack of borillas fighting against a titanic corn spider with swords for legs alongside a horse sized sugar glider and an emu with giant claws. My appearance seems to have surprised both groups as I rise above the dust cloud surrounding me, my eyes gleaming once more with wicked joy as I pump a bit of Focus into my prehensile tail to twist my tail-blade into a kukri shaped blade. A manic giggle worms its way out as I sing song, "These little piggies never made it home." Lashing out with my tail, the curved blade bites deep into the side of one of the boarillas, nearly fully bisecting the beast in a single strike as it plows into two more of the ape like pigs and bowls them over. Seems that, without the boost from Bunker Down, my swings just don''t have the power to rip through entire crowds of these things yet. Several of the pigs turn to face me only to get stabbed in the back by the spider, or wrapped up in the sugar glider''s fleshy wings. A horrified squealing comes from the injured boarillas, especially the one wrapped up by the sugar glider, causing the remaining pigs to freeze as they struggle to figure out which threat to face. I take advantage of the indecision to snatch up another pig in my jaws to begin crushing even as I use my nose to slash a deep gash into another pig''s side. ¨CGrappling strike has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C ¨CConstrict has leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp¨C As the emu lashes out with a pair of rending kicks, the morale of the boarillas seem to shatter as they begin to flee to the south towards a modest woodland. Giggling around my mouthful of dying monster I raise as much of my fifty foot long body as high into the air as I can and bring it down like a collapsing building on the fleeing piggies. Several manage to hurl themselves out of the way, others are simply too focused on running to look back and are crushed by several tons of metal driving them into the pavement and shredded by my scales. Rolling with the momentum in a clumsy seldom seen snake cartwheel to plant myself in the path of the survivors as a giant wall of death before the horrified monsters. I dropped the boar in my mouth as its bones audible shatter between my jaws, smiling cruelly down at the prey trapped between me and the three locals. I laughed slowly at the utter hopelessness in the faces of these pigs, none of them showing the courage of Chad as I hummed, "I said, ''These little piggies never made it home'' little piggies." A low electrical hum fills the air as my Myoelectric mutagen goes live again and I use the added strength to hurl my head forward, impaling one boar before swinging my head to the side as a massive spiked club that sends another flying into the side of the store. The remaining six boars split up, four trying to break past the three locals while two try to flee around me while I''m not looking. Too bad for them that their little hooves clacking on the pavement makes their location blatantly obvious to me as I raise my tail high. The four trying to make it past the locals are swiftly torn apart by blades, claws, and teeth, the two trying to sneak past me are crushed flat as I curl my tail into a massive metal hammer and bring it slamming down with a thunderous boom. As their bodies are smashed into a thin red paste, a new notification pops up signaling an end to the fighting much to my relief and regret. ¨CEvent Quest: Under Siege complete!¨C ¨C96/114 Beasts Defeated!¨C ¨CCalculatingParticipation¡­¨C ¨C2/114 Enemies Disabled - 41 Killing Blows.¨C ¨CPerformance: Unbelievable¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_EQReward¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Minor Fusion Token¨C ¨CSysAutoGen_BonusLoot¡­¨C ¨CReceived: Random Skill Token B¨CThis narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¨CGained 250xp!¨C ¨CGained 2pts!¨C ¨CPrehensile Tail leveled up!¨C ¨CGained 3xp!¨C I take a deep shuddering breath that I let out as a satisfied purr that ends in a low rumbling giggling fit to help work myself down from my battle high and work to force my mask of civility back into place. I doubt the calming ritual or wide rictus grin still on my face did anything to calm the locals who were watching me with blatant wariness. I don''t blame them, I''d be just as wary if I saw some titanic metallic snake slam down into the street singing wildly as it cut down several of the monsters I''d been fighting. I doubt the fact I was once again completely coated in mud, blood, and dust did anything to help the very negative impression I was painting. Not that they weren''t wearing more than a little blood themselves, especially the sugar glider, but that was fairly localized while I was practically painted in grime "Dang it, and I just had a bath this morning too." I moan with frustration. I probably lost my hat at some point in that whole tussle as well so I''d have to- oh! No, it was still on my head. How!? Giving the hat a poke I found that it appeared to be literally glued to my head in two places, likely by Matilda. I did have to question when and why she did that, but it was nice not to lose my hat in a fight for once. Though it likely needed a wash just as badly as I did at this point. I really hope that they had somewhere for me to wash up. As I turned to look at the three locals they all flinched and the sugar glider stood on his hind legs showing off the underside of his rodent wings. Ew! He had like a dozen gnashing jaws on those flesh wings of his! That''s amazingly messed up! No wonder those pigs he''d wrapped up were screaming like that. Shaking off my fascination with the messed up biology the system had inflicted upon the individual I fell back to my well ingrained manners and tilted my hat to the three, "G'' evenin'' folks. I''m here on behalf of the folks staying in the park. We were told they''d lost contact with you, perhaps Matilda mentioned me?" "She did mention a friend signaling the start," the spider grumbled, "Wasn''t expecting an insane snake." "He''s lying," the gliding rodent with too many mouths sneered, "I know Agatha. I was her last chance, she wouldn''t have sent anyone else after I didn''t return." "Oh, are you Markus?" I asked, I took the shocked blink as confirmation, "Anna was looking for you, she''s the one who told us about the situation. Agatha didn''t want us to risk ourselves in the venture, I figured we''d be fine." "Anna sent you?" Markus finally dropped onto all fours again, "She didn''t come with you did she?" "Yeah?" I tilted my head in a snakey shrug, "She wanted to try and find you. No clue where she is, Matilda led her to a different group," Markus began to radiate worry, "She''s probably, she''s a pretty tough species and Matilda probably was looking after her." Markus immediately bolted back towards the church quietly spewing a stream of curses leaving the three of us in an awkward silence until the emu cleared his throat, "Forgive us for our distrust, we have had a rough time of things since the recent event and are rather on edge. We had begun to lose hope when you and your companions arrived. I''d like to thank you for aiding us in our time of need. If there''s anything we can do to thank you within reason, we will do all in our power to grant it." "It''s fine my guy," I used my tail to wave him off, letting him know I took no offense to their reasonable caution, "I absolutely understand, had to deal with a gang trying to turn slavers back in the metroplex, I get it. That and I probably look a right fright at the moment. Don''t suppose you''ve got somewhere for me to wash up? I''d rather not let all this blood and mud rot between my scales." "There is a large fountain pond in front of the church that should be big enough for you enough for you," the emu man smiles softly, "though it has been rather stagnate for, well, however long it has been. I can''t guarantee its freshness." "It''s better than trying to fit in a creek to get clean," I smile politely. "Thanks for offering, ah, sorry, I''m afraid I didn''t get your name." "My apologies as well," the emu chuckled, "It seems we''ve both forgotten our manners after recent events. I am Father Granfield, I''m the priest of the Stonewall Church you just helped save." He extended a wing to shake but seemed to realize that we both lacked hands as he bashfully put it away. "I''m his brother, Barry," the spider extended one of his blade legs, "Thanks for the assist." I clacked my own blade against his own blade appendage, "Name''s Joe, and it was nothing, just being a bit neighborly. Oh, Father, I doubt it, but would you be willing to head to the metroplex to ply your trade? I''ve got some people up there looking for spiritual guidance and have already had some issues spring up from the poor quality of the only local priest we''ve found." I scowled, "He is very modern and judgmental." I can see a bit of a scowl flicker over the bird face of Father Granfield before he answers, "I can sympathize with your struggle child, sadly I''m already rather overbooked here. I''ve been requested to hurry around the various local churches and gathering sights to preach and give people some sense of normality tomorrow, a commitment I will again be able to try and fulfill thanks to your aid. I sadly don''t have a replacement to send or any peers to call upon at the moment." "That''s fine." I sigh, "I wasn''t expecting a yes, but had to ask. Perhaps you might be willing to take my Confessions after I was up and we cook up these pigs?" "I''d be more than happy to help you lay down your burdens my son," Father Granfield beamed softly. "Wait," Barry interrupted, "You''ve been cooking things?" I boggled at the giant spider man with a look of horror, "You mean you''ve been eating things raw!?" My voice so thick with shocked disbelief that it seemed to make the two men feel more than a little self conscious. Chapter 2.7 Cookout This Confession, thankfully, goes far better than my last attempt at sharing my burdens. There is still the problem that it isn''t quite properly done, as I''m hardly going to fit in a confessional, but Father Granfield is a far more professional priest than that tube rat back in the metroplex. When he hears about how I''ve had to kill people and serve as an executioner, he does not turn judgmental, but his face and stance become suffused with a deep sorrow and a hint of what might be nostalgia. He doesn''t even bat an eye as I begin to ramble over how I''m not sure if all of the boarillas I''ve killed count or not, since they are clearly showing signs of sapience and I was never clear on if killing a non-human sapient was a sin, or if the boarillas even still counted as one of God''s creatures. When I''ve finished unloading my many failures and sins of the past several years the father is quick to hand out my penance, a whole rosary''s worth of Our Fathers and Hail Marys, a promise to see that those I killed are at least given a tombstone upon my eventual return to the Metroplex, and he is quick to pull me aside and offer me a hug. I awkwardly accept and he wraps his wings around my throat as best he can to whisper to me, "I know how heavily such burdens weigh on you child. The deed is often so laughably easy to accomplish with the proper tools that it can feel wrong. It is easy for one to tie oneself up in knots over the feelings, or lack of feelings, such acts can inflict upon us. Remember that more people would have died had you not acted as you did and that God is always willing to forgive you if you approach him in humble supplication. "If you feel you need to talk to someone about it while you are with us. Seek out either my brother or myself and we would be happy to help you out of whatever darkness is threatening to consume you." I am very careful in my movements for fear of accidentally crushing or shredding the smaller bird with my living weapon of a body. It''s made all the harder with the lump in my throat that seems to refuse to vanish that makes breathing hard as my tongue flicks of its own accord. I still managed to keep from choking up as I pulled away from him, "I- Thank you for the offer father, but for the moment, I''m not sure I''m the one in the most need of aid. I do believe both you, and everyone else here, have gone almost without food for the last two days." "Not entirely without food," he defends himself weakly even as his stomach rumbles loudly enough for me to feel from here, "We managed to bring a few of those porks down when we went to get water, but admittedly that was hardly enough for all of us." He looks up at me, "We''ve already eaten them raw before, you don''t have to trouble yourself to cook them for us." "Pigs are a banned food in several religions for a reason," I began getting to draw on the knowledge I''d gathered over the last several years when I, accurately, predicted that within the next decade or two something massive would happen that would likely kill off at least half the population of Earth and disrupt supply lines. "They tend to be rife with disease and parasites that make them hazardous to eat when not raised and prepared to modern standards. Even cooking them doesn''t mean they are completely safe, though it does render them far safer to eat. I''d just like to try and minimize the chance of finding out what kind of horrors ring worms, hair worms, tape worms, or any of the other horrid parasites that lurk in wait have become in our new magical hell." Even through his feathers I can see Father Granfield looking fairly pale as his feathers all stand on end, "Yes, I suppose that is a valid concern, though I''m not sure how many of my people will be willing to wait however long it takes several hundred pounds of pig to cook." "I''ve actually got an idea on how to get them cooked fairly quickly." I admit proudly. Leading Father Granfield back towards the parking lot where Damian and Berry are both gutting the boarillas, leaving my little fluffy dino friend coated head to tail in blood and other bodily fluids. Indeed, as Father Granfield predicted, several people seemed very eager to either start tearing into pigs or even try to steal some of the raw organs. Currently they were being held at bay by Matilda and her army of smaller moths, which had a couple people nursing or itching at some seriously inflamed and irritated marks on their faces or paws. Made me glad my thick metal scales rendered me mostly immune to the woman''s toxins, it would make traveling with her difficult if I couldn''t touch her. Approaching one of the pigs the pair had already gutted and skinned I asked, "You mind if I try something with this do you?" "You''re not going to do some Jeremy type crap are you?" Damian demanded. "Nah, I''ve just got an idea on how to cook these things quickly based on my favorite potentially dangerous way to cook a hot dog as a kid." I admitted. Damian stopped working to turn to properly face me with a look of confused curiosity. "Alright, I''m curious enough to allow it." Taking both of the dead monster''s ''hands'' in my mouth and wrapping my tail around its ankles I kicked on the myoelectric mutation hearing the slight cracks and pops as electricity arched across my scales. I kept it running as I saw the muscles on the corpse tighten and fight to contract as the electricity arched through the body. It wasn''t easy to keep the power flowing, it felt a bit like constantly clenching your abs as hard as you could, easy at first, then increasingly hard and distracting. I still managed to keep it up for almost a full two minutes before dropping the charge and slicing off a bit of the boarilla''s leg, examining the meat for a moment. I sigh and lowered the body down to the others.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "I can''t tell if the meat''s properly cooked thanks to being completely colorblind," I grumbled, "How''s it look to you?" Damian examined the meat, poked it with his bloody claws, gave it a sniff before tearing a chunk off with his teeth and swallowing it in a couple bites. "A bit dry but cooked through." He nodded to Matilda who shifted her vanguard to let the hungry begin to quickly start ripping the carcass apart, "What the heck kind of cooking utensil gave you the idea to try tazing the pigs?" "You mean you never had a Changeo Hotdogger growing up?" I chuckled remembering the spike filled apparatus that had electrocuted me three times as a kid. "Pass me another carcass would you?" I managed to cook the second carcass without too much effort, but by the third I was struggling, the fourth felt like squeezing blood from a stone and was dangerously close to undercooked. Despite my efforts I just couldn''t seem to conjure up even a spark, even Focus yielded nothing but a painful knotting sensation throughout my body. Double checking the mutation I found the likely cause, my muscles had the ability to generate and store charge, and it seems that I had squeezed out all the charge I''d stored. Given a bit of time I might be able to get zapping again, but for now I was tapped out. "It''s cool Joe," Berry waved dismissively as he wrapped up the offal organs in webs and bit the bundle, "I think that the several hundred pounds of bone and meat you''ve already prepared will be enough for the moment. We can slow roast and smoke the rest, probably best not to gorge ourselves after going hungry for so long anyways." I simply smile wearily and let the various people tear into the cooked bodies as my tongue flickers out to catch the tantalizing smell of cooked pork. Honestly what I''d cooked would barely be enough for me, probably just enough to be satisfying. It didn''t help that I''d been holding back for almost a week because I wanted to make sure everyone else had enough, Anthony had been right, I needed to be eating more. If only I was like a real snake and needed to eat maybe twice a month, but no, my hunger seemed to build constantly. It was getting to the point that the fact the boarillas were clearly sapient and uncooked was doing nothing to keep them from looking delicious. "I think we''ll go ahead and keep cooking them in a more traditional manner," I said, my tongue flicking again as my throat muscles flexed, "You got a big grill or something we could cook these things on?" Thankfully like many churches in my experience they did have a massive charcoal grill for large events that still seemed to be in good condition. It still meant that I''d be stuck waiting for a couple hours for one pig to be finished cooking, smelling its delectable scent over the nostalgic scent of burning charcoal. Hopefully it wouldn''t take my electricity long to build up again and I could gulp down a half dozen of the scores of dead pigs. Maybe, just, one raw boarilla would hurt would it? No! Stop it Joe! Observe patience, it''s one of the few virtues you are even halfway capable of! Just need to distract myself. "We''re going to need more charcoal to cook all of these pigs," I point out, "Damian do you think you could start building a charcoal kiln like I showed you the other day?" The absolutely filthy raptor man froze halfway towards the pond he''d been heading towards, blood and less obvious fluids dripping from his now utterly ruined leather clothes. He let out a long suffering sigh, never turning away from the already murky pond as he said, "Yeah, just give me a moment to wash this crud out of my bristles, it feels so much worse than I thought it would." Sadly the process of building the mud kiln, chopping up a dead tree, and arranging the branches only took about an hour leaving with over an hour to wait for the food to finish cooking. A quick check of my mutation and I estimated I was only back up to half charge at best, enough for one pig, maybe two, not really enough for me at the moment. Looking for something to distract me, I decided to go ahead and pop open my skill token to see what the loot box had for me. ¨CYou have received a Random Skill Token: B¨C ¨CWould you like to redeem your Token?¨C Yes dang it! Why do you even ask me!? It''s not like this is some sort of quick twitch action game or something. Who the heck would try to activate the token and then select no!? How would you even accidentally activate one of these things! Look, smelling the food cooking and being this hungry is making me irritable okay! So excuse me if I''m getting a bit irritable. ¨CSysAutoGen_Skill¡­¨C ¨CReceived Dielectric Breakdown B¨C That... I''m not sure actually. It is obviously something to do with electricity, which is probably good considering my mutation, but breakdown could mean this goes either way. Does it make my electricity break things down? That could be HORRID considering my electricity is generated inside my body. How do you examine a skill again? I hate this user interface so much, give good ol'' pen and paper any day. |Dielectric Breakdown B: Your electricity flows with such powerful current that it turns the resistance of most materials into a conductor letting it bypass 90% of resistance. Increase the cost of using electricity based skills and mutations. Passive.| Bally bad cess Omega! How the heck is that skill only a B!? I ogle the skill for a solid minute. This might be the first time the random system has given me something actually useful and it''s a super jackpot at that! I''m glad no one else got this one because I bet that to ninety nine percent of the population this skill is completely useless. Maybe that''s why it''s only a B? It''s a super niche skill that would be sitting as dead weight on the sheet of most people, still it''s such a lucky roll for me that I''m borderline suspicious of it. There has to be some sort of catch to it right? Oh. Right. I''m currently full up on skills. Thankfully I''ve got a fusion token, even if it''s a minor one. Still this means I''m going to have to do something I try to do as little as possible, open my character sheet. Uhg. Chapter 2.8 Fusion Frustrations
User: Joe Palmer Species: Broadblade Adder A Rank: E Health 492/492 (+++) Stam 110/110 Level: 11 Exp: 1429/1750 Special: Tremorsense D
Traits: 4/4 Grappling Strike E: Your strikes now inflict the Grab condition. [5/10] Tremorsense D: Feel out low frequency waves through solid objects you''re touching to see with more than just your eyes. May reveal weaknesses in structures and foes. [4/10] Constrict E: Allows you to inflict additional ongoing Impact Damage to targets afflicted by your Grab. Moderate Stamina drain. (Health+) [4/10] Large (long): Your form is large sized and very long, weighing no more than 20000 lbs. (Health++) [n/a]
Abilities: 4/4 Prehensile Tail D : Your tail is flexible enough to carry or manipulate simple objects. [1/10] Bunker Down C : Become an immobile barrier capable of withstand all but the harshest attacks. Your next attack upon ending this ability is much more powerful. [6/10] Lunge D : Hurl yourself at your enemies and deal extra damage. Modest Stamina Cost. [1/10] Leap C: Jump great distances and use your resulting momentum as a weapon. Moderate Stamina Drain. [5/10]
Mutagens: 5/5 Wolfram Mutagen C: Your entire body is coated in a dense metallic substance that is highly resistant to various forms of damage. Respiring Mutagen E: When holding still your stamina recovery increases drastically. Fossorial Mutagen C: Burrow quickly through earth and stone. Upgradeable Sabertail Bloodline: Ancestral memory of blade bearing brutes capable of cleaving through the hardest of defenses. Cutting and piercing attacks natively bypass 75% of physical defenses. Provides greater control over cutting surfaces. Tailsaber A long sharp blade natural grows from your tail. Will regrow if damaged or removed. Myoelectric Mutagen A: Your muscle fibers gain the ability to generate and store small electrical charges, enhancing strength and potentially stunning enemies on contact.
Sins: George Curz, F¨¦lix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge Gonz¨¢lez
Inventory: Flexibility Mutagen E, Dielectric Breakdown B
Uhg, I hate looking at this sheet. Having so many aspects of myself broken down into such a sterile sheet makes me feel like an unimportant NPC in a game. Hell, I honestly don''t know that I''m not! Maybe everything before the System activating was background lore/prequel to a game that someone or several someones are players in. Or maybe it was someone installing a total overhaul mod on a game in the middle of a run. Hell if I know! But the overly game based nature of the system points towards either a video game or one of those dime a dozen uninspired audiobooks my dad loves so much. Almost makes me wish I''d paid more attention to his attempt to talk about them, maybe I''d have gotten some kind of hint about where things are going. If I see some tween with a sword I swear I''m going to pound him flat. Come on Joe, push past the existential terror induced by the surety of the very shape of reality being brought into question for the second time this year. You''ve dealt with stuff on this level before, just push it down and let it trickle out in small manageable drops until you''re ready to fully come to grips with it. Suppressing, and out of mind for the moment.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Alright, what to use this token on to make room for Dielectric Breakdown? ... Well the most immediately obvious option would be to fuse together Lunge and Leap, but I''m not certain that''s the best idea. Yes the two would likely mix nicely to make a good mobility/attack ability, but there''s no guarantee that I''d be able to chain the resulting ability into itself the way I do Lunge and Leap which could actually result in me losing offensive striking power, as well as my ability to drunkenly fly. Not that I ever used the ability, I might be immune to fall damage from using Leap, but my terror of heights made sure I never enjoyed the experience of rocketing through the sky. Hrm, a non-zero chance I might lose that in the fusion. Let''s just put that as a ''maybe'' and look at other possibilities. ... You know, it might be a good idea to try fusing my traits. Meshing Grappling Strike and Constrict together sounds like something worthwhile. I might even be able to select a new trait or slot one of my abilities into the opened slot. Even if I can''t, I''m pretty sure what''s going down at the iron mill is probably a boss monster so I''d get a proper fusion token and be able to go ahead and mix Myoelectric Mutagen with Dielectric Breakdown then and there and be able to choose a new trait when I evolve again. That certainly sounds like a win to me. System, use the minor fusion token to fuse Grappling Strike with Constrict. ¨CCritical Error: Traits cannot be fused or swapped until reaching Adult Status¨C What? You mean everyone is stuck with four basic traits that they can''t do anything with until they hit level thirty five? That''s some special kind of BULL SHIET! Who the heck looked at that and decided that was a good idea!? ''Direct control over evolutionary forces'' Satan''s castrated cock! Hrrrm, I was really looking forward to giving myself some limbs or something. What other good fusion options do I have? None that are immediately obvious from fusing my current abilities together. Fusing Bunker Down and Leap might result in some sort of twin impact meteor strike, which would certainly be cool as heck, but I''ve kind of already bookmarked Bunker down to get fused with Respiring Mutagen to make a really powerful fortifying passive. Hmm. Actually, fusing a couple mutagens has some tempting possibilities. Respiring with my Wolfram might result in that stamina recovery being constant, or reduce the stamina cost of all my abilities. Throwing Flexibility into the mix and there''s some other interesting possibilities. Respiring suddenly being active even while moving? Wolfram becoming streamlined and easier to move in? Myoelectric building charge faster or directing it better? Fossorial... Dig better? Actually, what would happen if I mixed Fossorial with Wolfram? Would I be able to dig through defenses? Probably not. I just don''t see mixing a movement mutation with a defense somehow resulting in an offensive one. Mixing Fossorial with respiring would probably just make me recover faster underground, and Myoelectrical would, what? Make me a better grounding rod? That one just doesn''t seem like it would mix well, should probably just keep it book marked to try fusing it with aquatic when I evolve to try for something really neat. I probably shouldn''t mix Wolfram or my Bloodline with Myoelectric though, that would likely render me continuously electrified which might render clothes and carrying passengers problematic even if it might be a potent defensive upgrade. Fusing a Mutagen might actually be the better answer and then fusing in Dielectric later, despite it being such a juicy looking ability. Still, any good potentials for mixing that bad boy in with my current abilities? What would even happen if I mixed it with Prehensile Tail? Would it grant shocks originating from my tail the resistance penetration? That could be useful considering the massive weapon my bloodline had slapped down there, mixing the 75% damage bypass with another 90% damage bypass would be a shocking surprise to say the least. Though that would be something of a one off surprise, not like a giant slab of sharpened metal is something most people would judge to be a minor threat, so while it would be powerful, I''m not certain it would be useful. Leap or Lunge then? . . . The only thing I could possibly see from mixing Breakdown with either of those is either adding a generalized damage bypass to them, which would certainly be useful, especially considering the cataclysmic force Leap seems to be capable of putting out when mixed with a downward Lunge or three. Though again it raises the point of making an ability that seems capable of one shoting all but the most of people and monsters even more powerful. True I am aiming to bring down some very big fish and Jorge has shown that people can get very big and tough, but the more I dwell on it, adding the damage bypass to only one of my attacks seems a bit of waste when I probably should use a proper token to mix it with Myoelectric Mutagen to simply make electricity innately bypass defenses. Which still leaves me struggling with four potentially good to great options to sort through. All of them have their advantages and I find myself struggling to pick, so I go to an old reliable in situations like this. Assigning each option a space in my mind I twirl a mental finger and begin the ritual chant. Eenie meenie minie moe Chapter 2.9: Flexible Fusion My mental finger stops and I feel my largely immobile snake features scrunch up. I mean, technically it was an option, but I never felt particularly strongly about it. Honestly, I should have just just left the Lunge/Leap out of the contest in the first place. The immense disappointment I feel confirms that, no, this is not the right choice. Discarding the option and running through it again I continue using the method that I''ve developed over the years to ferret out my subconscious yearnings that often help me come to a better decision than my conscious mind alone can manage. Things like this, flipping a coin, rolling a die, all have been great for helping my gut instincts that have been built up over eons of evolution make their voices known. I can honestly say that the results aren''t always the best outcome, but they are always something I''m happy with. Some would argue that one should stick to making the most optimal choices in everything regardless of one''s personal feelings, but following only the most optimal choice leads to shit like slavery and purges. I''ll take my less than perfect but far more human method thank you very much. Wolfram/Respiring? It''s certainly less of a visceral reaction, but I still find myself waffling on it, certain that there''s a better option to pick from out of the set. I toss the mix aside and run it once again landing on Wolfram/Flexibility. Really? I''d kind of held onto the mutation out of the hope that down the line I could mix it with my prehensile tail to let it better act as a hand. The best this pairing would offer me would maybe be streamlining my armored form to be easier to move in, which hardly sounds revolutionary. Still as I sit here with my mental finger option I feel a bit of quiet satisfaction coming from my gut. That and a roaring annoyance that I haven''t fed it despite there being food right there! Well too bad guts! I am a civilized snake and I don''t eat food raw! Not even things that are supposed to be eaten raw, at least this apocalypse has wiped out that abomination that people call sushi. Before my various body parts can start picking fights with my brain again I poke the system to get the fusion out of the way. ¨CConfirm Fusion of: Flexibility E & Wolfram C?¨C ¨CFusion will result in: D Mutagen¨C Yes! Again who comes in here and selects ''no''!? ¨CFusing¨C ¨CReceived: Spring Steel Mutagen D: Your metallic hide is mixed with a flexible and strong metal that greatly reduces its weight, increasing speed and flexibility without sacrificing toughness.¨C Ooh, spring steel! That''s a really high end metal, I''m surprised the system has such advanced composites on its listin- Christ on Harley! I''d somehow forgotten about the horrible flesh bubbling sensation of mutations being added to my body and was being given an unpleasant reminder. It started from the base of my neck and flowed quickly down my spine before the sensation of churning, bubbling fluid flowing between my skin before gathering at the base of my scales. Somehow at that point it got worse as it felt like the bits of flesh inside each scale were swelling and shoving against the inside of the armored body parts. My mind flashed to those odd dreams of my fingernails falling out as I hear my scales cracking and splitting, but it was worse than that. The best comparison I could come to for the sensation was suddenly becoming aware of every hair on your body as someone starts tugging on them while feeling them actively and aggressively growing. The fact it didn''t hurt but was more of a phantom sensation echoing on the other side of the swirling numbness of a sleeping limb only compounded it because my skin was asleep! "Joe?" Damian called out, voice tinted with concern, "You okay? You''re kind of, shedding?" I grunt giving myself the best shake I can manage, feeling as several of my heavy tungsten scales clatter off the stone of the church parking lot. "Fused mutations. Forgot how it feels." At least the sensation was largely over now, the bubbling numbness dying down and leaving me with just the annoyance of my old cracked open scales clinging to whatever my new ones were. "Feeling better now?" Damian asked, rotating his head to let both of his compound eye clusters view me while keeping an eye on the intake ports of the charcoal kiln. Actually, yeah I was! I feel amazing in fact! Give myself a small slither and twirl, I''m amazed at how much easier it is to move around. I must have dropped several tons of armor weight with this fusion! I''ve still got a fair bit of that motion drift as the inertia of my multi-ton body fights my efforts to either start moving or stop, but it is way more manageable now. My metal scales are even a couple shades lighter than the dark grey they were before giving me a bit of shine as they are currently completely free of all the various nastiness I''ve accumulated. Even my tail blade seems to have gotten in on a bit of the action, having a fair bit more flex to it despite still being about four inches thick. A couple quick practice slashes with the thing has it all but singing through the air and handling far easier than it used to, I might actually be able to wield it like a proper sword rather than a sword shaped cudgel. "Yeah," I heave a satisfied sigh, "I don''t think I realized how much that heavy carapace was weighing on me. I feel like I just came home after a long hiking trip and stripped off my backpack and heavy clothing before collapsing on the couch. It''s really nice." "Is sacrificing that defense going to be an issue?" Matilda asked, "You do seem to depend on throwing your weight around in a fight." "The mutagen says I''m not sacrificing any defense for the reduced weight," I offer her tilt of my head in a snaky shrug, "As for the weight, well my Leaps might not be quiet as explosive, but I think I''ll be a lot more capable of fighting than merely thrashing about like I''ve been doing up until now. Having better control of my movements again will be nice." Speaking of control, "Pass me one of those uncooked pigs, that mutation seems to have made me even hungrier and I don''t feel like waiting anymore." The first pig cooked quickly letting me swallow it down without regret, they really did still taste a lot like pork. I barely managed to get the second cooked before I felt that almost painful wrung out sensation akin to dehydration overtake me. The boarilla was still a lot pinker than I tended to like my meat, but I was without any sauce and still ferociously hungry so I swallowed it down as well. I eyed the rest of the already gutted pile of dead arguably sapient monsters and was sorely tempted to snag a couple more, raw or no. Thankfully, with two already down I was able to exert enough control to hold myself back for the couple hours it would take me to properly recharge. Becoming a more literal monster doesn''t mean I can let standards slip.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "You two think you''ll be without me for a bit?" I ask my friends. "Yeah, I remember what you wanted me to do." Damian states. "You heading somewhere Joe?" Matilda asks, fluttering atop my head. "Thought I might mingle a bit with people while I recharge and the food cooks," I admitted, "Maybe go and pick up our stuff from Agatha and let her know that we''re all fine." "Oh, I already let her know." Matilda dismissed. "When?" I asked, "How? I somehow doubt she understands semaphore better than I do." "Oh she doesn''t, not at all." Matilda chortles, "She does however read just fine, especially with the moon as full as it is. Charcoal is a perfectly serviceable writing utensil, even if my penmanship has suffered from the change." "You can get your little moths to write messages for you?" I asked with interest, filing away that little nugget of information for later. "Indeed," she preens, "I''ve been having to do so frequently, as most people don''t seem to know semaphore or Morse code yet." "I didn''t think you knew Morse code," I tap out ''the eck?'' on the ground over the next few seconds. Matilda''s chortle grows into a full laugh, "I don''t really. I still need to have a cheat sheet to hand to use it. Plus it takes so long to get complex messages across. I''m also having to learn stenography at the same time to try and keep messages brief, which of course means teaching other people stenography, semaphore, and Morse code to keep things clear." "You sure you aren''t just a bee with moth wings Matilda?" Damian inquires with a mirthful chuckle. "Going to end up needing a moth whisperer in every town just to keep you from having to write everything out," I joke. "Probably more like four or five to let them work in shifts and keep communication between scouting and hunting teams," she grumbles, "I''m playing middle woman with about fifteen towns at this point and that doesn''t even include the moths I''m using as sentries and scouts. Honestly I feel like I''m even busier than a bee." Both me and Damian share a worried glance. "How are you feeling about managing all of that?" I inquire gently. "How are you managing all of that?" Damian asks, flabbergasted. "I''m managing," she flutters her wings in a small shrug as she cleans her antenna, "It''s nice to feel useful again, though it''s a bit frustrating keeping it all running. I''m getting better at it. It will get even easier once more people start grasping semaphore and I can relay things quickly." "You are getting enough rest aren''t you?" Just the thought of managing all of that sounded exhausting to me and I know for a fact I''m better than most at juggling that level of logistical nonsense. "Don''t worry your little head over me dearie," Matilda pats my head, "I know how to take care of myself and my limits. Don''t worry about me and go mingle amongst those you helped save. I don''t doubt it will do you some good." Again, I shared a look with Damian, he seemed fairly nonplussed by the dismissal as well. Still he motioned for me to head on out and he''d keep poking at the old woman, or at least I think that''s what he was saying with the dismissive wave and tapping tail. I head off and try to mingle with the people of the church. The interactions were something of a mixed bag. Everyone was polite and pleasant as could be expected, I even managed to get into a good discussion with a former model painter about several niche settings we both enjoyed, but I was obviously an outsider. These were people who''d been living together and had known, or at least been aware of, each other for years if not decades. We might all be Americans and fellow Texans, but I was not ''from here''. Heck, by some of the more conservative views I wasn''t even ''from'' Texas being only the second generation of my family to live in the area. While I was a welcomed guest, I was not a known presence who had deep roots in this place and that led to a level of distance. Compounding this feeling of distance was the fact that the first many of these people had seen of me had been me coated in blood and mud indulging the worst side of myself. I might be being the model ''nice young man'' at the moment, but for all they knew I was a hair''s breadth from becoming the cackling living threshing machine that killed more than two fifth of the siege forces on my own without suffering a point of damage. I seriously doubted that anything less than a solid week of saintly behavior would brush away that image in their eyes. Well depending on the Saint in question I suppose. I did eventually spot Anna wrapped tightly around a particularly annoyed looking flying squirrel, hugging him tightly with her little arms and her body as her victim glowered at the fire, radiating palpable waves of embarrassment. A bit curious, I headed over to investigate. "Do I need to find a room for you two?" I asked as a joke. Anna hissed in fright, her coils flexing causing her victim to squeak like a rubber toy. It was so adorable that despite my animal side going ballistic I couldn''t help but smile. "Joe!? Don''t sneak up on me you ass!" Anna frowned. She raised her tail as if to smack me but seemed to think better of it. "How did I sneak!? I still sound like someone dragging a laundromat''s worth of quarters over gravel!" I demand in exasperation, "He going to be okay?" "Not at this rate," Markus wheezed grumpily. "Oh hush you," Anna shushed giving the trapped man a noogie, "Can''t a big sister be happy that her baby brother is okay? Especially when he''s become so big and strong?" "I''m not a baby! I''m legally an adult!" the squirrel groused, thrashing against his sister''s coils, "I can legally drink dang it! Let go of me!" "But you''re still so small and cute," Anna cooed, pinching his cheeks. Markus made a solid attempt to bite her but his sister was too quick. "and being so responsible too! I heard what people were saying about you here Markus and I''m just so happy to hear how you''ve been stepping up." "It''s a lot easier to be responsible when it doesn''t feel like the whole of society is fighting me," the poor man grumbled so softly I don''t think I was supposed to have heard it. He tosses a suspicious glare my way and growls, "What do you want anyways you nutter? Come to watch my suffering?" "Only partially," my smile widens as he frowns, "Was also wanting to check up on you two, make sure you''re getting enough to eat." "Got plenty to eat during the fight," the squirrel man huffed, reminding me of the dozen or so mouths on the inside of his wings. "How''d that come about?" I inquired wondering how the man had ended up with such a unique nightmare biology. "Started with something called patagium dentata which gave me a mouth per wing, then ended up getting slapped with ''extra mouths'' multiple times while out hunting." Markus visibly seethes, "I sold most of them while evolving and my evolution ended up slapping them right back on." "Oft, that sucks," I commiserate, "I don''t want to even run the numbers about how unlikely that is to happen. At least you''ve got it better than another couple of horror stories I''ve seen so far." "Hardly makes me feel better knowing others have gotten screwed over harder than I have." "Though," I pause remembering a detail of tomorrow that I might be able to exploit, "speaking of evolving. I do know something that would generate a ton of experience for everyone who participates fairly safely. As in, enough experience to guarantee anyone who hasn''t hit their first evolution hits it. Think the people here and back at the park would be interested?"