Chapter 84: 76. Team Noir: First Contact

The closer Jay fell to the fight, the greater his spatial-g awareness became. His Intellect kicked into high gear to keep track of the multiple moving parts flying above the flood.

At the same time, Jay’s veins pumped around a heavy dosage of adrenaline, a heady cocktail he desperately missed like a thrill-seeking addict. His hammering heart pushed him to be a daring risk-taker again. But smarter. And more loaded with tools.

Jay started things off with his [Eye of Venerated Madness] Talent. It forcefully pierced the veil obscuring one of the flying monsters within Jay’s direct line of vision.

[Madly Identifying:] Yoroachian Grunt, Level 15–This monster has a base of 400 Health, 600 Stamina, 700 Mana, x2 Chance. Favors the Perception Attribute. Most utilized powers are [Unnoticed Cloaking] and [Mana Claws]. You’re gonna want to be wary of its predatory cunning. And it doesn’t fight solo. A swarm of these will put your will to kill and protect against its grossly intelligent design to survive and thrive.

Shit! No wonder Tim struggled. These things had better advantages: Rank 2, more numbers, higher Statuses. By the time Jay neared, he could see half a dozen gouges covering Tim’s body, the blood mixing with the rainwater coursing down his lean frame. The only reason he could be alive right now was due to the power of their Titles, especially [YoAnna's Champion of Challenge and Change]. But Tim was still disadvantaged.

His Health had fallen below halfway. His Stamina dropped so quickly that he nearly bottomed out before burning Mana for more Stamina. His entire survival relied on his Skills [Swift and Slick] keeping him a step ahead and [Renewed Breath] turning Mana into more Stamina.

But Tim was a dog of a Champion. If he found an opening to attack, he took it. He used his [Conjure Arrows] Skill to form a projectile to draw on his bow and loosen at a vulnerable target. While simultaneously dodging near-death strikes from magically soaked claws swooping in all around him.

Kleo’s intervention to help Tim remained a simple but effective strategy–fly around, distract, and let the hungry monsters chase her. She peeled away grunts to keep the heat off Tim. But each risk she took would nearly get her snatched up by the monsters’ grabby claws.

Jay’s thrill-seeking attitude turned to fury when he fell upon two grunts swooping at Tim’s back. The [Freak] chose to help the under-leveled [Fighter] instead of his [Faerie], which rankled Jay even if it was necessary.

Jay used [Eye of Venerated Madness’s] future-event predicting power. Golden rings rippled out where one grunt would be. Then Jay activated and readjusted every Skill he needed for a single moment and the follow-up: [Moonwalker], [Dance Floor Relativity], [Grav Kick], and his familiar’s [Orbital Mastery].

Jay stomped the lower grunt with a gravity-blasting dropkick. The purple explosion sent it careening into a cement wall where it crunched headfirst without dying. This one hadn’t garnered Jay’s complete focus since its path had been predicted by his divine eye for a single second.

The second grunt, however, had most of Jay’s attention as he used the [Grav Kick] blowback to trampoline upward. Jay attacked the soft belly of the higher flier and nearly cleaved it in two–[Omen Bearer of the Apocalypse] bared its teeth.

Two monsters falling eased the pressure on Tim. From here, the [Fighter] could backpedal across walls and rooftops to better kite and outmaneuver the Yoroachians. He could turn the wounded grunts into pincushions with his conjured arrows. If Jay’s first attack was all he did for Tim, that would be enough.

But Jay was a fucking [Freak].

The past week between school and the motel hadn’t been spent idle magic-wise. He theorized with Mike, his mom, and even his favored agents. He conducted small tests with Kleo to bridge magic with math and science. He learned more about Physics rapidly, getting outside of his comfort zone.

He did all of this so he could really push the envelope with his powers. It wasn’t enough for him to just settle with good support and timed attacks. He wanted to get freaky with his affinity and Skills in ways few people would ever imagine.

[Dance Floor Relativity] cut off to save mana.

[Moonwalker] fell into passive mode.

The stage was set for Jay to follow up with [Orbital Mastery].

The target of the Skill: Tim.

The dogged [Fighter] became the center of Jay’s world.

Jay mixed passive and active movements–the latter igniting his feet with purply gravity thrusters–as he orbited around Tim at a maximum distance of eighteen feet. The ingenuity behind this Skill came down to Tim moving wherever he wanted and Jay’s [Orbital Mastery] bubble moving in the same direction while fixed on Tim.

This was like someone grabbing a fish bowl and moving it around while the fish, Jay, could swim in any direction he wanted within that purple bowl. But in that purple bowl was an environment that treated Jay as if he was in quasi zero-g space. It was a disorientating transition for most people to see other than Jay and Kleo, bewildering the monsters.

Tim barely batted an eye.

The stoic [Fighter] nodded at Jay’s orbiting form and continued his kiting outmaneuvers. Tim increased his arrow shooting production, too. At the same time, Jay tied a few more tricks together as grunts swarmed in from the sides.

[One Heavy Step] and [Weighted Touch] went on a zero-g date with Jay and his sword. Ironically, neither of those Skills should work without a strong source of gravity. And it seemed like the System used “weight” more loosely when it probably should account for Jay’s mass and density. Jay’s current environment counting as quasi-zero-g mattered here.

He could move around seemingly unaffected by gravity and still use Earth’s gravity to empower himself. So, when he brutally shoulder-checked a grunt, reversed directions, and swung a backhand cut into another grunt, Jay would feel tougher and heavier to the grunts than he should be.

Then he continued to orbit and thrust around Tim just like how Kleo would around Jay, but as a fully sized teen (ignoring his short height).

Better yet, the perspective was confusing for the outside onlooker. Tim could move in any direction. Jay’s bubble would move with Tim while Jay hurtled around with a totally different vector. This puzzled the uninitiated regardless of the monsters having some Perception to them.

But wait, there was more!

Jay couldn’t suffer [One Heavy Step’s] sucky Agility penalization as long as he didn’t take an actual step. This led to a huge long-lasting buff.

[One Heavy Step, Level 15]: When activated, increase your weight and improve your [Resilience] and [Poise] depending on your Magic Capacity. This effect has a moderate mana cost and only lasts for one step. Your [Agility] for the next three steps will be penalized sharply. Leveling up reduces [Agility] penalization and improves Magic scaling.

Again, the System should probably reword things to account for mass. But that wouldn’t exactly be a gravity power, wouldn’t it? It was probably cheating slightly by using weight and throwing magic on it to bend reality.

Nonetheless, Jay became an impressively tanky, nimble, and ferocious orbital melee satellite for Tim. This tactic became so ridiculously effective they reached a point where the duo stood still for the nervous and hesitant Yoroachians to approach them.

Their numbers were so reduced, Kleo could fly around, distract, and pop off little [Grav Kicks]. She attacked any grunt that lost track of her–draining their magic resistance even if she delivered small to moderate damage.

[Grav Kick, Level 14]: Before striking, charge a magic-soaked kick that grows stronger while the user moves with gravity. Weight and terminal velocity factors, too. Upon impact, the target will take solidified magic damage and Poise reduction. Small mana costs. Leveling up increases the damage scaling with your magic and the reduction in the enemy’s Poise.

That made things easier for Tim even if he didn’t need the extra help. Because the grunts that decided to retreat triggered [Dog Boon’s] more aggressive perk: some of his Attributes improved against fleeing enemies, intensifying Tim's damage-per-second offensive nature.

Tim stopped kiting.

Tim started killing.

He conjured full sets of arrows that stayed hovering near him wherever he went. He rapid-fired arrows from his recurve bow like an assault rifle. Each arrow struck with more damage to the fleeing monsters, whittling them down despite Tim’s lower level. Those arrows had a bit of magic to them, too. Every Yoroachian suffering from a [Grav Kick] debuff to their Poise, their magic defense, got hurt more by the arrows.

Despite that advantage, the gaggle of grunts remaining could still fly away and escape. Tim’s gas tank for his Stamina and Mana was nearly empty.

Kleo couldn’t help further with all of Tim’s statuses so low. Jay was okay with his position by Tim, protecting the wounded [Fighter]. It looked like the encounter wouldn’t end with a complete victory.

Then a frigid, ghastly, and horribly scary black mist rolled into the area in front of the Yoroachians. Tim and Kleo slowed down. Jay floated to a standstill in his zero-g bubble. The [Fighter], [Faerie], and [Freak] regarded the scary mist, the distorted red faces howling in its depths, and the deathly cold energy it gave off.

Jay didn’t blame the grunts for stopping and not wanting to go into the mist.

“DEATH COMES FOR YOU!” roared a bunch of [Spooky Friends] appearing right behind the Yoroachians.

The ghosts did what ghosts did best, pester and haunt until their targets’ good logical thinking got crumpled and torn apart. The Yorochians flapped forward mistakenly before trying to rise. Only two slipped the closing net.

Six fell into Emily’s [Mist of Death] Skill, the monsters screeching with strangely alluring feminine voices. A horrible noise to a horrible end for Jay’s imagination to illustrate, dramatize, and turn into extra trauma.

Nonetheless, Jay, Kleo, and Tim held a silent vigil as Emily’s Skill came to an end. It gradually dispersed, leaving a frost-covered patch of water, empty construction, and four dead monster corpses contorted strangely like mistreated dolls. Two had made it out, even if barely.

Then the System Notifications adapted to the novel circumstances and Jay’s [Eye of Venerated Madness]. It wasn’t always specific, but the System might be picking up on Jay’s growing ability to account for more details when necessary. When it gave out rewards, Jay could see the System readjusting to give more to those who were weaker. Jay was way stronger than the monsters, so he didn't get as much.

You’ve ended an initial contact encounter with 20 Yoroachian Grunts (1 subdued, 4 escaped)!

[1] You’ve slain 4 grunts! You’ve earned +1 Strength

[2] Tim’s slain 7 grunts! He’s earned +2 Resilience, +3 Poise, +1 Agility

[3] Emily’s slain 4 grunts! She’s earned +1 Conviction, +2 Agility

…

Moonwalker leveled up to 19!

Dance Floor Relativity leveled up to 20!

Grav Kick leveled from 14 to 16!

One Heavy Step leveled from 15 to 17!

Weighted Touch leveled from 3 to 7!

Orbital Mastery leveled from 17 to 19!

Gravity Mastery leveled from 5 to 9!

…

Teeny Faerie leveled up to 14! +1 Poise, +1 Agility delivered.

Tim can evolve to Rank 2!

Emily leveled up to 12!

***

Jay was sitting on a low wall, the party reunited in thigh-high water surrounded by uncompleted construction. He was watching Emily stand out of the water on a pile of cement blocks, straddling their subdued enemy. She reminded him of how deeply disturbing Death [Medium] could be as an Affinity-equipped Class.

“… Feast of Flowing Life!” Emily sang hauntingly, casting her bread and butter incantation.

Her pale hands clawed at the air above her victim and slowly teased a red amorphous substance out of the subdued Yoroachian. She took her time, stomping her boot heel into the monster’s bleeding gut as it squirmed and screeched in terrible pain. It was too weak to stop its life from oozing out from between the broken gaps in its carapace. Its six limbs flailed pathetically as its Health gradually rolled into a blob between Emily’s darkly eager hands. The Yorochian’s suffering was a huge contrast to Emily’s ecstatic mood.

Emily’s glasses looked like twin blood moons from reflecting the red glow as her black-painted lips widened into a smile, accentuating the angles of her face that reminded Jay of her femme fatale alter ego. The way she stroked and raked at the blob made her nails akin to the black talons of a scornful and lascivious villainess. And when she closed out the Yoroachian’s life with a slight flourish of her arms, she orchestrated one last scream from her victim that sounded eerily feminine and horribly painful, getting a shiver out of Jay.

Finally, Emily allowed the monster to die. She shifted her attention to the watermelon-sized prize rotating above her palm. It was like a giant glowing droplet of blood suspended in outer space.

With a delighted giggle, she turned and hurled it down. The Health blob flew like an engorged water balloon. It slapped against Tim’s uncovered stomach.

The blob passed through his stone-hard abs. Red healing magic spread out from the center of his body, sealing all of his wounds and bringing him to full Health.

“There, that should fix you up,” she said perkily from her stage of nightmares.

The rest of the team stared up at her in silence. The Systemless gaped like they’d seen the original sin, and it turned out to be a teenage girl.

Tim nodded slowly in thanks. He donned his shirt again even though it still had blood-soaked rips where he’d been wounded.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Emily said, oblivious of the horrified stares, which Jay found kind of funny and kind of not.

She flicked her hand at her team.

Five [Spooky Friends] materialized, becoming more tangible and visible. Which scared the Systemless even more. The ghosts looked like demented black mini-whales with jiggly red eyes and creepypasta smiles.

At the very least, they came bearing gifts. Between the nubs of their flipper-like limbs, they each held a small shiny blue marble. It was coalesced mana.

Three went to Tim.

One went to Jay.

Emily took the last for herself.

The coalesced mana got dropped on their heads. It passed through skin and skull to help recover their Mana Statuses. It gave a nice cooling rush around Jay’s brain.

The recovery wasn’t much for Jay, though. He still thanked Emily for the gesture while he had Kleo hovering next to his face.

Unbothered by Emily’s gleefully evil moment, the [Faerie] sang and danced next to Jay's ear. She was doing a nice cover for a Haitian love song their mom liked: M Pa La Ankò.

To Jay, the [Faerie] was the most loving (and spiteful) familiar you could ever have. She did godly work when she used [Manasinger] especially.

[Manasinger (Faerie), Level 1]: Kleo's singing draws ambient mana faster, boosting mana regen to whoever she's orbiting, especially her Master–he gets slightly more mana regen benefits. Kleo must concentrate on singing to maintain this Skill and cannot diverge her attention to other strenuous or magical activities. This Skill can only be used by Kleo. Kleo's dancing improves the mana regen. Leveling up improves the mana regen effect slightly.

Manasinger leveled from 1 to 3!

Jay smiled as his Mana Status regenerated faster than ever before. Naturally, all of his Statuses (except for Chance because of its weird mechanics) would regenerate faster than the other Champions.

While most if not all the Champions had gained Titles upon evolving to Rank 2, Jay had gained the [Status Channels] Talent. The Talent helped Jay recover faster in all of his Statuses. It was not something Jay could read since Talents and Titles remained unreadable until YoAnna returned with a personal System update, but Jay could see the effect now as his mana refilled faster than ever before. The [Status Channels] Talent hadn’t seemed very important when Jay got it for ranking up, but now Jay could reap the benefits during a brief break–and have Kleo sing and dance for him.

The only thing missing was a good drink. Jay’s breaks between skirmishes would be the absolute best if the Multiverse had special magic rum that restored Statuses. That didn’t mean he would hog all the fun for himself, either.

Jay wasn’t stingy.

He liked to spread a good time around to friends and family.

“Kleo, help Tim top off, please.” Jay had a greater pool of Mana, after all.

“Yes, Master.” The [Faerie] zipped to Tim and switched to a pop radio hit: Shape of You.

Jay schooled his face to keep from smiling at Tim’s emotional-g. It revealed heavy nervousness and embarrassment. Maybe Kleo dancing and singing was too cute for Tim.

Putting that aside, Jay eyed Emily swaying joyfully on top of the cement pile. He could see she was still high off of the monster torture. Definitely not balanced like she’d said she wanted to be.

“Miss Hellsing, I’m going to assume you’re done being edgy,” Jay drawled at Death [Medium].

Emily blinked in confusion and snapped away from her high. She lost her perky smile. Her hands fidgeted with her extra round glasses.

“I wasn’t that edgy,” she mumbled, falling into a seat, her knees tucked into her chest.

Oof, Jay might’ve hit a little too hard there.

“Devils,” Cutie said. “You’re all devils.” She pointed her rifle at the dead Yoroachian. “And what the fuck is that?”

A roach humanoid. Two legs. Four arms. Strangely feminine features. Stood about five feet at its tallest. It was definitely a disturbing thing for anyone to face. A walking nightmare.

Jay wanted to smack it with a slipper. This was a natural Floridian instinct.

“One of the multiple monsters we’ve been trailing,” Malcolm said shakily, shining his flashlight on the Yoroachian’s pain-stricken face. “God almighty, it’s an actual match. You could see its mandible behind the lips. It has insectoid teeth that would create those ridgy bites.” He focused the flashlight on the claws. “Little claws. This thing is one of maybe two face-up eaters. The second perp might be a big sister to this one.” He turned to Jay. “And you say they use… magic… to conceal themselves and sharpen their claws supernaturally?”

Jay didn’t respond, letting his annoyance be felt. Malcolm had disregarded orders to follow Emily, forcing Cutie to follow him. The man’s Death Flag wasn’t going away any time soon with his reluctance to stay put.

This reminded Jay of Commander Steele

Old fools, the both of them. Salty and stubborn to the end.

Yeah, just like Commander Steele.

“Jay,” Emily called, her voice slightly muffled from speaking behind her knees.

She looked all small and vulnerable while sitting curled up like that, especially with the rain still pattering down over them.

Jay didn’t want to let that soften his stance.

She kept on, “He might die if he leaves our sight. It might be better to face the threat that wants to kill him in order to save him.”

Jay sighed, feeling his meta-g go ding, ding, ding!

The storyline’s center of gravity wasn’t on him. He had to work a little harder for the plot points this time. But mostly everyone here had a natural fit for the next phase of the narrative. That meant Team Noir was still a go depending on another member’s choices.

“[Unnoticed Cloaking] and [Mana Claws],” Jay said. “The cloaking is going to be a pain. I can miss it if I’m not focused. And the claws. Hm. You know how we can easily hack through bone and gear with a magic sword?” Jay raised his short sword. “They’ll hack through bone, gear, thick plates of armor, and more. Their magic claws are way sharper than this sword.”

Jay pointed at a few nicks and chips where the Yoroachians had damaged his blade. None of these marks had come from super hard blows either.

Malcolm nodded before pressing his finger to an earpiece. “You got all that?” he asked his people on the other side of his comms.

Cutie shifted nervously. She looked between the dead monster and the walking dead agent. Her emotional-g was a twitchy, frightened, and paranoid thing.

To Jay’s growing surprise, she kept a good handle on her fear. She wasn’t picked because she was fearless. She was part of Team Noir because she was the most scared person here, and she didn’t let the fear rule over her like it would with most people.

She was a good asset connected with the locals, too. However, there was a limit to how much a Systemless could help.

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“Yes, Sir, I’ll ask.” Malcolm looked hard into Jay’s shiny, different-colored eyes. “How many do you think we’re facing here?”

Jay sighed, looking away briefly. His eyes found Tim. The [Fighter] shrugged. Jay looked at Emily sitting with her arms wrapped around her legs. She shrugged the same.

Jay nodded, feeling things out with meta-g. Then he realized he didn’t have to. He glanced at Kleo as she finished topping off Tim.

Manasinger leveled up to 4!

Right on cue, his [Faerie] hovered to the center of attention. Jay could feel through his meta-g the deep depths of this pivotal moment. It was huge.

Whatever Kleo had to say would change everything. It might even change the world as they knew it. Forever.

“Let’s break it down,” Kleo declared to Team Noir, the CWG, and possibly the highest levels of the United States government.

The [Faerie] folded her arms and wore a serious face.

“There have been many humans slain throughout the day," she said. "All of this seems to be happening recently. Nobody’s able to give too much info because the monsters are smart. They have good concealing magic. They move as a team. And only target vulnerable humans. These monsters are based on your world’s pests–roaches. But they are the big and deadly and magical version. I can taste the magic. I can tell there’s way more than just the twenty we’ve fought.”

Kleo paused to let that sink in.

“This is a leak in the apocalypse,” Kleo said. “But not with a dungeon. These monsters don’t disperse or give loot like dungeon monsters. These are in-world monsters. Earth monsters. Your monsters. So, I'll repeat myself for you to know how serious this is. This is a leak in the apocalypse.”

Silence.

Astonishment.

Disbelief.

Acceptance.

Jay felt a range of emotions from everybody and from himself.

“I’m fielding questions for my guys back at the rear,” Malcolm said. “They wanna know how this can happen. Miss YoAnna said this would only occur with dungeon breaks. This is backed by the files the MPC shared. Got any ideas?”

“I only know what this is. I don’t know how this can happen,” Kleo lied.

It took a lot for Jay not to react to Kleo's lying. He had no idea why she was lying, but it felt like a big deal when people dying were involved.

This was one of those trust tests, huh?

Well, Jay would put his life at stake for Kleo, so the [Freak] kept his mouth shut. He could feel Kleo thanking him through [Faerie Master].

“Ladies, gents,” Malcolm said with sudden soberness that made him sound way, way older. “The adults have so many questions for you it’s grating even to me. They want us to pull back. Expect meetings. Lots of them. This is the type of national security that’ll mobilize the army.”

“Are they going to have questions about my edgy moment?” Emily asked timidly. “I’m working on it, I swear. Death can be balanced. Maybe good, sometimes. Maybe I should keep doing good by hunting the monster lady roaches instead of doing meetings.”

They already had a bunch of meetings this week, so Jay felt for Emily.

“I need to rank up,” Tim said. “But there are more monsters to fight. No time to sit. No time for meetings.”

That was succinctly put.

But it had to be opposed.

“We need to make time for you, Tim,” Jay groaned. “We’re missing out on a huge power boost from a Title, possible Affinity, Skill, or whatever that’ll come up.”

“Casey, Brit, and Dennis will reach Junkside in fifteen minutes,” Emily informed. “Our [Mages] and [Crafters] are about twenty-five away. Any word on Frank or Rick?”

The boys shook their heads.

“Tim,” Cutie called with quiet resolve. “I need to go. I can’t help any more than this.”

Jay checked with Kleo. The [Faerie] nodded, reconfirming that Cutie’s meta-g in this narrative had reached its conclusion. Cutie wouldn’t go deep into the background anytime soon. But it was her time to leave Team Noir.

“Thanks, Cutie. You helped a lot.” Tim clasped her forearm and shook it like a Spartan.

Both of their emotional-g’s flared with a heady mix of nervousness, fear, shame, and reluctance. Then their emotions settled down and hardened underneath the surface. Like proper Junkers. Everything stayed buried inside.

Cutie stopped beside Malcolm.

“You’re still a Narc,” she said. “But you’re an alright Narc. Don’t let that Death Flag win, Malcolm. Survive, and I will get you free drinks at a good spot I know.”

“I should turn that down, conflict of interests and all sorts of legalities. But to hell with that. It’s us against the apocalypse. I have to take you up on that offer.”

Cutie grinned, flashing her overbite, a cute look on her that had Jay smiling. Then she hardened back into her gang leader self.

She ran off after a series of farewells.

“She won’t get eaten by Yoroachians, will she?” Jay asked Kleo.

“Nah. She’s got a good exit out of this arc,” Kleo informed. “Her character’s still developing in unforeseen ways.”

“I am in awe and wonder of what you all are saying,” Malcolm admitted truthfully. “So are the boys and girls in the rear. You sure you won’t return behind the wire?”

All three Champions shook their heads in unison.

“How long do you need?” Jay asked Tim.

“Dunno.”

“It’ll take about ten to fifteen minutes. Needs to be a safe space,” Kleo said.

“The first group of Champions will be here by then,” Emily said happily. Jay could tell she was eager to see her half-sisters and her [Medium] sister.

Before they repositioned to find a safe spot for Tim, Jay’s meta-g felt waves of something bad on the horizon. Kleo shot in the direction of hysterical screaming a thousand feet south of their position. That was in the direction the four escaped Yoroachians had gone.

“We need to move,” Tim announced, bounding to Emily on the cement pile and scooping her up.

“Wait, if you’re taking her….” Jay gritted his teeth as Tim launched from the cement pile to a wall. Then he bounded to a bare support column before leaping for the next platform above the thigh-high water.

Malcolm stared at Jay.

Jay stared at Malcolm.

“Piggyback,” they said in unison.

It turned out to be an awkward arrangement. Jay’s gravity skills made it work anyway.

They fell ahead of Tim and Emily, keeping to the skies.

To the old man’s credit, he held down the scream that wanted to come out. The disorientating feeling of gravity getting switched around as you hurtled at terminal velocity tended to make strong impressions.

From the rainy sky, Jay spotted Kleo’s glowy purple form as she zipped back and forth in front of a group of people with flashlights and torches. They had guns, machetes, and everyday tools made into weapons.

One man had a shovel that he swung around at Kleo. As if he could bat her out of the air with his Systemless prowess. She was way too fast for that, and Jay could feel she was calm even while under duress.

It still rankled to see his familiar get treated poorly.

“All of you stop and calm down!” Jay commanded, pushing his graven voice to its limit. His voice wasn’t like thunder, but the rippling waves of Conviction staggered the people and forced them to do as told.

For a few seconds, at least.

Which was long enough for Jay to make a flashy purple landing. Subtlety went out the window with a local monster invasion.

It was here that Jay realized losing Cutie might sting for a while. These people needed a Junker to tell them what was what.

“What’s the situation?” Malcolm asked Kleo as he dismounted from Jay’s back.

“The Yoroschians took a child,” Kleo said. “I was doubtful before. I couldn’t tell until we’d progressed far enough into the story. But I’m sure now. We’ll find more monsters and the child this way.”

She pointed into the closet storm drain. It was a large one. It was pouring out brown water and small pieces of debris slower than most storm drains Jay had seen so far, too. You could enter it even with the flooding, which made it a definite monster passage.

“My boy! I need to save my boy!” The man with the shovel roared. He was a big and burly guy. He pointed his shovel at the geared-up agent, Malcolm. “This is your bullshit, ain’t it? First, you make a mess in the Junkyard. Now you’re taking our children. Why won’t you leave us alone?”

The mess in the Junkyard had been the fault of assassins. But Jay could see how Malcolm would easily get blamed for that.

The agent relied on his usual tactic of having his hands raised to placate the crowd. It wasn’t working.

“Our people are dying!” another man shouted.

“My neighbor got eaten,” said a woman. “And so did my other neighbor!”

“They have them flying in the air ready to take us!” one Junker accused.

“The government is doing it on purpose!” added another. A riot might form.

“The Godzilla out west is gonna come after us next!”

Wait, what?

“Bring me back my boy!” Shovel man stepped toward Malcolm, cocking his weapon back for a full swing.

Jay waited because meta-g was popping off. This was a perfect moment for a dramatic–

Tim made an entrance with Emily still in his arms. He slid to a stop between shovel man and Malcolm. He swung Emily away from the attack and HEADBUTTED the shovel spade. The handle snapped from the sheer collision of a mundane object meeting a magical teenager.

Tim gently lowered Emily as everyone fell into a shocked silence. He wiped away a trickle of blood from the cut opened over his right eye. The tiny wound added to his raw action-hero look. As if getting cut served his narrative purpose a little more this way.

Tim scanned the scared and concerned Junkers. He looked at the storm drain, which Jay just started to notice was cramped, curvy, and bad for ranged attacks. A true-to-form, dungeon crawling experience.

Tim bagged his recurve bow in his bag of holding.

His eyes studied his scarred knuckles.

He nodded stoically to himself.

“I’m Timothy O’Kelly.” The [Fighter] tore off his shirt, showing the hard and toned body he earned before becoming a Champion.

“This business belongs to the O’Kelly Family now.” Tim shredded the shirt into strips and wrapped them around his fists quickly.

“The kid will be brought back alive. If not, we’ll pay for the damages.” Tim tied a couple of knots around the back of his fisticuffs and cinched them.

He rolled his bare shoulders and cricked his neck. “Don’t get in our damn way.”

That cooled the Junker crowd right away.

“You’re telling me,” Malcolm said, “you’re gonna dive without backup into a tightly confined area, fulfill an unlikely-to-succeed rescue mission, and fistfight an infestation of magical monsters with armor-shearing claws,” he paused to point at Tim’s impromptu hand wraps before saying, “with those rags?”

“Yes, he will, and that deserves recognition,” Emily declared, her voice a cold and ghoulish howl that promised something horrid and great. “Oh, He Who’ll Punch Monsters, you darkened hero riding the horse of oblivion, let me deliver this terrible blessing, the last wind from my dead lungs, the black touch of a dying kiss, I give unto you, Gloves of the Last Breath!”

The air turned frigid. Phantoms howled through the veil separating the living from the dead. Emily glowed with ghastly power that alighted Tim and sent some of the Junkers fleeing and screaming in pure fright. Jay figured the runners were a little smarter than those staying to watch in dreaded wonder.

Tim’s ghetto hand wraps shifted, thickened, blackened, and hardened. They turned into a flexible, non-metal material with hints of red on the thorn-tipped knuckles. A subtle aura of black and red wavered around the Gloves of the Last Breath. It gave off a cold, windy, and menacing feel.

Tim raised his death-clad fists to his face. The ghoulish glow highlighted the dark rings around his piercing green eyes.

He nodded in satisfaction. “Thanks.”

Emily gave him a bubbly thumbs up, back to enjoying the highness of overt Death powers.

Jay ogled them. “On YoAnna, Team Noir doesn’t disappoint.”

Hell, they had gotten to use a Word of Power, too! Emily freestyled an incantation with it. Word of Powers seemed to enhance or elevate a pivotal moment that the System and magic would hype up. It gave Jay’s meta-g all sorts of nice feelings when done correctly.

This should be enough before committing a reckless, ill-advised, unprepared, suicidal rescue mission with a Systemless and an under-ranked Champion.

Jay turned away and pulled on his wet hood to hide his smile. He knew what the System had to do in situations like these.

Jay’s Chance: x3 → x4

Emily’s Chance: x5 → x4 → x7

Tim’s Chance: x3 → x6

Wait, what?

Jay blinked. He checked Tim’s Chance again.

Tim’s Chance: x6/x3 CM.

Before Jay could consider whether he should bring that up, his [Faerie] sent her feelings of desperation through [Faerie Master]. The child’s expectancy to survive was waning. Jay responded through his Talent with a simple message:

Go.

“Follow me,” Kleo declared, using her gravity aura to illuminate the dark and wet space ahead. She was living up to her role as a fairy guide nobly.

They dove into the storm drain, all five with Malcolm in the rear. Tim moved doggedly beside Kleo. Emily went second, splashing water back in Jay’s face. She had more Agility now, enough to outrun and outmaneuver most Systemless people, but she still harbored a klutz nature.

Jay made sure the party slowed down and didn’t leave Malcolm behind. The magic was in the air, changing the storm drain slightly. Jay checked on the old man repeatedly in case the Death Flag triggered from a trap. They had to be ready for the consequences, good or ill.

They made some tight turns. They traveled quite a bit, chest-deep in muck and water. It was as disgusting as it could get. Malcolm’s people back in the rear were seeing true down-and-dirty dungeon-crawling work with magical teenagers and their fairy guide leading the way. Any military man among them might recognize this as something Jay had only seen in the movies–being in the shit.

Long. Arduous. Annoying. Cold. Mentally tiring. Water roaring. Voices quiet. Wet, wet, wet. Slow. Very slow. Malcolm slowed them to an actual crawl. No choice.

And then a sudden change. The atmosphere. It forced Jay to really pay attention.

Huge distortions. Magical. Transformative. Destructive. Big, big, big.

Something Jay had experienced already.

“We know this, Kleo,” Jay said, his voice echoing creepily.

“Yes, we do, Master.”

“Ladies, gents,” Malcolm whispered worriedly. “I’ve lost contact with command. Can’t get a signal even with this high-tech and waterproof comms.”

Jay shared a grim look with his fellow crawlers. They all had gotten the same System notification around the time Malcolm's comms dropped.

You’ve entered the Yoroachian Monster Lair, Rank 2!

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