Chapter 58: 54. Wombo Combo Champions

Kleo was out of the fight, a blow Jay didn't want to accept. But he had to.

He could feel Kleo inside of his chest. She literally made a home out of him, and taking enough damage forced her to reconstitute herself inside of her master. A weird concept, but Jay was game as long as Kleo would come out fine.

At the very least, Cutie and George survived the explosive barrage. Jay and Kleo's efforts to save their lives hadn't gone in vain. The gangster leaders had come out severely injured, but the Champions arrived then and cut straight through the assassins to reach Jay's unconscious form.

Brit had gone to work, saving everyone she could. The other Champions focused on what YoAnna had tasked them, showing mortals the error of foolishly challenging the Multiverse Protectorate Pantheon.

Jay could hear the magic action all in the background. But summoning the mood to take a look wasn't easy. It felt weird without Kleo and her commentary. His morose didn't go unnoticed as Brit returned to the makeshift tent, finding Jay resting on a moldy sofa.

"You look about half in the pig's pen," Brit said. "Can I trouble you for a piece of your mind?"

"You haven't met her yet," Jay said, "but I have this [Faerie] named Kleo. She took some bad damage. Now she has to heal up inside me. I wish that didn't happen." Jay slouched, feeling like a sorry [Faerie Master].

Brit set aside her dinged-up tower shield. Even though a big battle raged outside, that didn't seem to matter while here in the tent. It was like Brit brought with her peace and comfort everywhere, forcing the chaotic world to fade into the background.

"I bet she'll be a delightful little thing when we meet," Brit said. "What do you think she'll want you to do while she's away for now?"

"Get off my mopey butt and see the Champions kick-ass," Jay said. "It'll be cool to see more magic."

"The others got cooler magic than mine," Brit said with a shrug. "I'm just a vessel that expounds on nonsense and has some half-decent healing."

Half-decent, huh? Jay had his doubts since he'd woken up peachy fine.

He remembered the terrible damage he suffered when the rockets rained down. Part of the destruction had reached past [Graviton Wall]. Magical or not, Jay had Kleo to thank for her quick wit while he used [Horizondancer] and [One Heavy Step] to survive.

"I owe her lots of sweets," Jay said, getting to his feet. "And to help her pick out more outfits from my collection. She's conscious about that." His motivation was returning. "And probably get her on anime. Terrible anime. She'll have fun with that."

Brit smiled brightly, which buoyed Jay's rising mood further. She was an awfully pretty girl paired with a body that would make anyone look twice. And she had an attitude that would make her a great mother, honestly. Maybe there would've been something worth pursuing if Jay's sights weren't set on the pinnacle.

"Thanks, Brit."

"Glad to help." She shooed him. "Now go on with your bad self, mister one-man army."

Jay paused at the exit. It was still raining outside. Cold and dark. It made leaving Brit's warm and comfy side a little more difficult to entertain.

"I'm hardly a one-man army if I need everyone to back me up," he said.

Brit propped a fist on her hip. "Emily used her spooky ghost powers and got answers from a dead assassin. You've got a body count north of two hundred, Jay. Not counting the robots."

"Oh." Jay scratched his chin. "It got hard keeping track."

Brit chuckled. "Being in the Champions with you is gonna be an experience."

Jay nodded stiffly and walked out into the rain. The last part of her statement gave him squiggly feelings and made him wonder if he should spend more time getting to know Brit.

But Brit was probably going to get herself busy healing on the Champions' side after she took a break. He could hear her getting some rest, probably tuckered out from her duties.

And Jay could see why. The junkyard was a warzone like nothing he'd ever seen before. He had to pull back his sense of smell as he neared their central holding position. Something rotten was in the air.

He found Lilith flipping a glass bottle with a yellow-green substance contained inside. She gave him a friendly wave as he passed. Jay waved back.

"Don't go that way," she warned when Jay was about to take the leftmost path. "Magic mustard gas that way. Go down the center if you want to see what Rick and Tim are up to. Or go right. Team Divine's holding that direction."

"My team?" Jay asked.

"Causing trouble somewhere. Frank's not included, though."

Jay assumed the leader of Team FAAHI was still busying himself with Jhara. Jay rathered not dare ask about his mom's wellbeing. He was too scared to ask.

"Frank will have your mom safe and sound," Lilith added. "He made it his mission."

"I'll trust him on it," Jay said before darting down the center path. A few minutes later, he found Rick. He'd heard him first.

"What are you doing? Picking daisies?" Rick roared openly, waving his axe around. "I thought you were assassins! Stop trying to kill me and [Hit Me]!"

Rick stood on a small pile of old TV sets, drawing gunfire in his direction with a taunting Skill. Jay could feel the Skill's effect, but it was much weaker on the [Freak]. It was more of a warning about what Rick was up to. 

Which was insane.

Jay gaped as the junker soaked damage like a freaking sponge. His Health Status dropped fast, too.

But the drop rate slowed the closer it neared the bottom. Then it reached a point where a firing squad could barely scratch Rick as an eerie red aura surrounded the ginger-haired madlad. 

He launched himself from the top of the pile, a giant leap! He chopped his big crude axe into an assassin's shoulder.

He split the guy into two halves with an explosion of blood.

"[Blood Chain]," Rick announced, linking his axe to his hand. With the blood of his enemy. Then he whirled his weapon around, extending the red aura through the blood chain and weapon.

He struck out like he was using a whip. Each lashing hit exploded assassins into gory bursts, like popping balloons filled with red Kool-aid and melted taffy.

The ultra ridiculous and bloody violent display was so shocking that Jay nearly missed the thin projectiles in flight around Rick. Jay paid closer attention and saw the flying things were arrows.

Fast, silent, and easy to miss. The arrows scored hits on targets out of Rick's range. Or they put down any runners looking for an escape.

After some investigation, Jay found Tim with a bow a hundred feet away. The more silent Junker Twin sat casually on a flipped boat, loosening supernaturally accurate arrow shots without hesitation. And when Tim ran out, he extended his hand and conjured a dozen more arrows out of pure magic. They floated in the air where he could grab them quickly, too.

Rearmed, Tim went back to his silent and consistent work. Rick taunted, tanked, and went berserk while his brother provided pure and simple DPS from the back. They were a solid combo.

After watching them work, Jay came to a startling conclusion about Team Booty Bandits. They seemed a lot more standard of a team than their name suggested. Other than Lilith's Alchemy [Crafter] bringing doom to a dungeon near you, Booty Bandits had more of the standard healer build in the [Medium], berserker build in one [Fighter], and archer build in their other [Fighter].

Effective, but nothing super creative on paper.

Still, Jay hedged his bets that Team Divine was the most standard team among all three.

Ten minutes later, Hailey, Emily, and Macy proved that Team Divine was a more interesting team than Jay had assumed. He found them thanks to Macy riding in the cockpit of a Frankenstined vehicle made from multiple excavator arms, pickup trucks, and a taxidermy dolphin riding on the cabin's roof.

"Why the dolphin?" Jay asked while riding with Macy in her monstrous machine's cockpit.

"To strike fear in the heart of these uppity plebs," Macy said simply. "The dolphin is majestic, noble–"

"Horny," Jay interjected.

"And proud of its prowess, unlike these bottom feeders that attack us in envy," Macy said as she flicked a knob. One of the excavators' arms pulled down a wreckage tower on top of a fleeing group of assassins.

"I'm pretty sure you added the dolphin just for fun," Jay accused.

"You don't understand my artistry!" Macy huffed.

Jay shrugged before looking over at the other girls outside. It was no surprise to find Casey upfront using her sword and shield as part of a deadly dance that hacked and bashed assassins into submission. She was a work of art with her a tempo that was marvelously fast for a [Fighter].

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Between the five [Fighters], it was almost safe to say that Casey was the most fascinating to watch. She might give Frank a run for his money despite Frank's extensive experience.

If Casey and Macy alone were the highlights of Team Divine, they would still be a little standard. To Jay's surprise, Hailey and Emily were the sleeper hits that drew his attention the most. Both girls had unique fighting approaches, combining them for spectacular effects.

Emily's spectral ghosts haunted the immediate area. They looked like mini-black whales with jiggly red eyes and frowny faces. Asking Macy for clarification had revealed the Skill as Emily's [Spooky Friends], a servant summoning [Medium] Skill. They liked needling the opposition, feeding Emily information, and turning dead enemies' expiring life force into mana Emily could spread to her team. That helped Hailey immensely as the [Mage] focused on performing curse rituals aided by her [Ritual Worker] and [Enhance Curses] Skills.

With a flourish of her magic stencil writing out runes for a devastating Spell, Hailey cast a curse on assassins who had Emily's [Spooky Friends] trailing them. The cursed assassins suffered from lunacy and attacked each other. Then Hailey further enhanced the chaos by creating a nightmarish illusion to scare the assassins who weren't cursed. That ratcheted up their self-destruction, but it didn't seem to satisfy some of the meanest high school girls you could ever grant magic.

Emily strode seemingly invisible through the chaos, using another Skill to summon helpful Skeletons that ward away crazed assassins. She pulled out a single-shot, breech-bore pistol and fired on a specific target.

"Oh, that's one of Hailey and Emily's grossest moves," Macy commented. "If Emily executes the target she shot, she has the body possessed. Then Hailey curses it, and…."

The possessed body exploded amid a bunch of assassins rushing in as backup. The gory blast turned out to be acidic, melting the assassins caught by it.

Jay gaped. "This is Team Divine?"

"Yeah, I know. Not as awesome as me alone, but we make for a kick-butt team."

Jay felt troubled that Team Divine might be the more unorthodox team. They could also function pretty well in smaller units among their team.

He hoped Team FAAHI's reliance on Jay being the weird one was enough because Team Divine had weirdos in Macy, Emily, and Hailey working around Casey.

"You know where my crew is?" Jay asked.

Before she answered, he spotted a figure holding a giant magic sword flying through the rainy night.

"Nevermind," Jay said. "I think I found my gang of bastards. Thank you for gracing me with your time and presence, Macy."

Macy sniffed. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, Jay!"

Jay skedaddled past ghosts, skeletons, and suffering assassins.

The number of remaining assassins was still high. Since there was plenty to go around, the assassins had to fight the gangsters aligned with the O'Kelly Family if they weren't avoiding death via Champion magic.

The Zion Soldiers didn't have spectacular magic, Attributes, or anything that put them above mortals. But they were competent.

Jay found Cutie in a deadly shootout. She lacked the assassins' impressive weaponry, but she moved with bravery, instincts, and a surprising depth of awareness that eked out an advantage for herself. She outflanked two assassins and gunned one down. The other nearly took her head off with an assault rifle, forcing Cutie to hide behind a pile of gutted engine blocks.

Jay bounced around the bullet spray and joined Cutie behind her cover. 

"Need some help?" he asked.

"Monster," Cutie said. "You're a monster."

"So, no help?"

"Ugh. Fine! I'll take the help!"

Jay [Gravity Grasped] the assassin and [Sling Assisted] him into a wall of junk. The impact snapped the assassin's neck.

Cutie stared shakily at Jay. "You could've done that to me."

"I'm magical, not monstrous," Jay said. "You didn't attack me or hurt me. So don't worry about it."

"Whenever you meet someone stronger, you're supposed to show them respect," Cutie said, ducking her head down when a sniper nearly took it. "I didn't do that for you."

"Eh, I have an ego, but I don't have to flaunt it all the time." Jay grabbed a pipe with his fleshy hand and tossed it up. Since it was flying in his personal space, [Sling Assisting] it at the sniper was an easy maneuver.

He didn't think he'd hit. He just wanted to scare the guy off. But the pipe ran through the sniper and knocked him off his perch—another kill.

Cutie's fear of him grew. "George always talked about there being bigger things than us. You're one of those things."

The accent removed the 'h' out of things.

"Being called a 'ting' is both amusing and sad," Jay said. "My mom and I got this protocol when someone says that." He shook his head. "Anyway, I'm gonna catch up with my–"

Dennis's flying form zoomed toward Jay. The [Fighter] held a ginormous blue sword taller than him. It looked like the basic greatsword but on magical steroids.

"Coming through!" Dennis shouted.

Jay quickly assessed the guy was airborne against the helicopters trying to helo around and attack from above. Without having to move, Jay used [Sling Assist] on Dennis. Jay grunted against the mana price. He whirled around the big lug and giant magical sword and sent them flying back into the air. His massive weapon traced a glowing blue arc through the rainy night before he slashed apart the cockpit of a helicopter in his way.

Cutie's mouth hung open.

Jay chuckled at her reaction until Mike appeared. They dapped in greeting, Jay more than happy to see his friend again.

"Crazy night?" Jay asked.

"I had to tell my mom," Mike said. "She tried to ground my magic like that's something a parent can do."

Jay snorted. "Dennis's sword?"

"New Skill of mine," Mike said. "[Deconstruct and Reconstruct]. Hefty mana price. Plus, I had to [Mana Hype] Dennis so he could maintain it."

Jay whistled.

It was astounding that all the Champions got an array of powers within their first Rank. But all of that slowed afterward. Jay wouldn't have half the magic powers he had now if it hadn't been for his unique circumstances with Kleo and the Godling Dungeon.

The wombo combo plays Jay could achieve if he got paired or grouped up with different Champions was mind-boggling. Having Hailey or Emily or Rick or Tim or all of them would be insanely fun to play with as a Gravity [Freak] with a Gravity [Faerie].

"If you ignore the number of people we're killing horribly, this is all freaking amazing," Jay said. "I wish Kleo weren't healing in my chest, and mom was here to see this."

Mike hesitated. Something was on his mind. Cutie interrupted when she pointed toward a strange circumstance in the air.

A flaming helicopter was chasing the tail of another. Despite the chaos, darkness, and rain, Jay spotted Frank holding hostage the pilot driving the helicopter on fire.

Jay froze.

Frank forced the pilot to ram his helicopter's nose into the quarrel's tail. Both helicopters started going down, Frank's ride hurtling toward the ground fast. As much as Jay felt concerned for Frank, Jay's attention stayed on the other helicopter and who it contained. Jay could feel her.

"Mom," Jay whispered, feeling weak.

Despite the Champions' arrival, the target on Jay's back hadn't gone away. It was now at its heaviest.

Jay barely moved a couple of feet toward his mom when the assassins mustered one last push. It was surprising and violent. All the Champions showed up with Jay as if to answer a call to fight back the assassin tide. At the same time, Kleo's magical form started to awaken from inside Jay's chest.

But that was little comfort for Jay right now. He knew the story's angle, and to his growing horror, his mom was a pivotal piece. His mom's life was on the line if Chance favored the assassins. Even if the assassins died a bunch, her death was their victory. Jay knew deep down losing his mom would break him.

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