Nordstrom, Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota - 8:31 PM
By the time Midnight Steel was done updating, I was mostly done dismantling the parts of the Mirror Mannequin I wanted to take with me. That included its shield and several of the shards that made up its namesake. I had pried off most of the ones on its chest by the time the drone rose into the air nearby.
“Did I miss anything?” Lucas asked, making his machine look around.
Midnight Steel’s previous matte black surface had made it look like he had taken a flying bowling ball and spray painted it. Now, the drone had a proper metallic sheen to it that made it seem like it wasn’t just cobbled together with spare parts.
“Nope,” I responded, replacing my scalpel back to its extradimensional space as I sent the last mirror shard to my inventory. “All good? How’s Midnight Steel?”
“Ya. All systems are operational, captain,” he said as the drone nodded. “Did we get the key?”
“Yup. I grabbed it while you were out,” I answered, raising my hand. A piece of paper appeared in my hand, and I held it up for him to read.
Lucas took a moment to scan the document. “Mall of America Human Resources Complaint Form?” he read aloud, asking more than saying. “For failing to provide clear instructions, the Mirror Mannequin… Sorry, what?”
I laughed. “Just a surprising amount of humor from an overdramatic administrator. The big boss of the place is up in the mall’s Human Resource all the way on the fourth floor. So, how do we get in there? By finding enough complaints that it has to let us in.”
This time, Lucas hesitated, but it was for a completely different reason. “I mean, I guess that makes sense,” he reluctantly conceded.
“Excellent, then we’ll be on our way,” I said. With a clap of my hands, the document disappeared back into my inventory. “Let’s go get chased again.”
“Do we have to? Can’t we just leave and go around to wherever we need to enter from?”
“Good idea, but no,” I replied with a shake of my head as I stood up. “The moment you try to leave the mall with one of the keys, you’ll get a warning that the department store will reset and you’ll lose it. Basically, once we’ve got one, we’re in it for the long haul. That’s one of the things that makes this so dangerous. Especially because the Merger Mannequin revives and gets stronger after every key.”
“That sucks.” Midnight Steel drooped, and Lucas sighed. “Alright. Let’s go get chased, then.”
The Mirror Mannequin had fallen on the escalator between the first and second floor, and I could see the key that would open the security door from here. My Absolute Awareness couldn’t see through the partition, but thanks to Sara I had known the Merger Mannequin had been getting more and more agitated as time passed.
I Spun the key from a distance, opening it up just a few feet before Spinning it back into the closed position. Then, I hightailed it upwards.
A large crash shook the building as the Merger Mannequin fell from the third floor to stop the door from closing. The heartbeat from its many voice boxes intensified, becoming even louder. My own heart started pumping faster as if reacting to it, and a slight pain spread through my chest before my Constitution and Wisdom, in tandem, calmed me down.
Even though the space wasn’t big enough to let the boss through, that didn’t deter it in the slightest. The walls around the security door cracked before it broke through and into the Nordstrom. Because it had no Plastic Watchers to tell it where we were, the Merger Mannequin started looking around the first floor for us.
By then, I was already on the third. I knew that moment I opened the door here, the boss would start chasing us again, and I grabbed Midnight Steel. “Let’s go!” I announced as I turned the key from a distance.
Beneath us, the Merger Mannequin paused while the door opened. I could see Plastic Watchers outside, and it was getting updated information. Throwing myself to the ground, I slid underneath the still opening security door. Rolling to my feet, I got back on my Heelies and started towards my next destination, closing the door behind me.
It wasn’t long before the boss broke through the gate we just left. This time, it had the full momentum of its body and made short work of barreling through the door, which had been struck with enough force that it actually passed me before losing momentum and falling to the ground floor as the Merger Mannequin resumed the chase. The constant sound of beating hearts continued to echo through the mall.
“That thing is terrifying!” Lucas exclaimed through the drone.
“You’re saying that, but I’m the one who’s actually in danger here,” I retorted, rapping my knuckles against Midnight Steel’s chassis.
Just like before, I started idly destroying Plastic Watchers along the way. There was no way I was going to get all of them before it was time to face the master, but it was giving me something to focus on other than the boss literally tearing up the mall in its efforts to catch up.
The Merger Mannequin was faster now. I knew from experience that it would be able to catch up to us if we were on the ground even with the Winged Messenger buff, but it was a different story when we were this high.
Up here, the third floor walkways were narrow compared to its huge body, and the railing was constantly getting knocked aside for simply being in its path. Entire chunks of metal, concrete, and tile were getting ripped up by its hands while its feet left craters and dust behind. Parts of the walkway even fell to the second floor, but the boss was long enough that it could ignore the newly created holes.
Our destination was, thankfully, straight ahead. With Nordstrom to the northwest, there was a clear path to Macy’s in the southwest corner of the mall. The issue came when the Merger Mannequin decided to put some of its unused arms to good use.
The boss started pulling out chunks of storefronts ranging from stone to metal to glass. Instead of releasing the debris and continuing its chase, it started passing the potential projectiles off to the arms that it wasn’t using to propel itself forward. The moment it started throwing, I juked to the left.
This was roughly the halfway mark, and I rolled onto a balcony as the path behind me was pelted with junk. Jumping the safety rail, I sailed over an adjacent glass walkway. I put up Shield as a few pieces of debris headed my way. Even though I deflected what I could, some still hit me in the back, causing my protective ability to nearly shatter before I landed on the second floor.
There was no time to waste, and I kept on moving. Above me, the Merger Mannequin attempted to cross the glass walkway I had jumped over, but it shattered under its weight. It stumbled, flailing, before bringing the whole bridge with it towards the ground. The boss hit the second floor, breaking through before tumbling down to the first.
Despite the success of getting away from what would have been a near constant bombardment, the victory didn’t last long. The Merger Mannequin didn’t seem injured in the slightest despite falling on its limbs from such a great height, and it was back to chasing us only seconds later. This time it was faster thanks to it being on solid ground. More projectiles started coming our way, but these were naturally blocked by the building.
Holding Midnight Steel in front of me, I Pushed it, eking out just a little extra speed. The three doors to Macy’s were up ahead, and I could see a veritable company of unmoving mannequin soldiers inside. As soon as I saw the keys to close the security doors, I turned them. The boss attempted to climb up before they closed, but it was bound by the same rules as the last and it couldn’t break this one down until the subquest was finished.
I let go of Midnight Steel so Lucas could take in the room. Unlike the rest of the mall, the Macy’s wasn’t destroyed. In fact, it looked like it hadn’t been touched. Everything was left in pristine condition, and the only sign that something was wrong was the plethora of mannequins and the lights that blinked off every few seconds.
“They’re just… staring,” the drone said as it moved to hover behind me. “And it’s so quiet. This might be worse than the big guy. What is this?”
Stepping forward, I gestured for him to follow me. Once we were far enough inside, the screen that would answer his question popped up.
<<<>>>
[[Scenario Subquest]]
The second of three Mall of America strongholds, the Fiberglass Sorceress readies herself for glorious battle. In order to find her, you must make it through her minions, the Pliant Soldiers. They do not appear to be dire threats, but taking your eyes off of them for a second could prove fatal.
Objective: Defeat the Fiberglass Sorceress.
Rewards: 750 points, Scenario Key.
<<<>>>
“Huh, alright. So we have to take out these mannequins to find the boss?” Lucas asked, moving so that Midnight Steel hovered over my shoulder.
“We don’t have to,” I answered, shaking my head. “If we were anyone else, then we’d have to. But, because I’m me, we don’t have to.”
The drone turned to look at me. “I feel like you didn’t really say anything meaningful.”
I smiled. “Turning away from them like that is one of the things that would get you killed here.” Midnight Steel jerked around so fast that, if Lucas was actually here, he could have snapped his own neck. “Relax, I’ve got us covered. The reason why there’s so much cover here and the lights are on and flickering is because the Pliant Soldiers move when they’re not being observed.”
“Like, a blink and you miss it kind of thing?”
“Literally that,” I answered as I started heading deeper into the department store, taking my time as I walked around the unmoving mannequins. Lucas turned his drone so he could watch the ones behind me. “What the administrator wasn’t expecting was someone with perfect 360 degree vision in every direction that even works through walls, floors, ceilings, depending on the material.”
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“So you’re telling me that you can see all of these mannequins? How?” he asked, sounding incredulous.
“By being psychic, obviously,” I snorted, tapping my head with my finger. “It’s not vision based on sight, but aura, and that’s enough. The Sorceress will still be able to move, but all of her soldiers are going to be completely still for the fight until she interacts with them.”
“Okay, that’s pretty cool,” Lucas said as we started heading up to the second floor. I sidled past a mannequin that was coming downstairs, and Midnight Steel paused to examine it. “But why don’t we just kill them? For the points, I mean.”
“Because if you reduce their hit points to zero, they’ll explode.”
The drone jerked back. “Really?”
“Plastic explosives,” I responded, knocking on a nearby mannequin with my knuckles once I was off of the escalator. Midnight Steel jerked back, but nothing came from it. “Pretty sure they added that in just for the name. Small blast, but if you get them grouped up then there can easily be a chain reaction that levels the whole floor. Very dangerous.”
Lucas seemed to think about this for a few seconds before joining me on the second floor. “Then what about the Sorceress? What does she do?”
Instead of answering verbally, I pointed. Hovering not twenty feet in front of us was a mannequin in Victorian garb. Unlike the other stock white ones, she was painted blue and wore a frilly black and red ball gown with a matching wide brimmed hat. There was a moment of peace and quiet, likely as the boss tried to figure out what was happening to her soldiers.
The moment didn’t last.
The Fiberglass Sorceress flung her hands to the side and ten small, plastic missiles flew out of her fingertips. They curved in the air, coming straight for the two of us.
“Hide!” I commanded. He didn’t hesitate; the drone was gone in a flash.
“How can I help!?” Lucas yelled from behind a section of wall.
“Stay put and don’t let her explode you or the soldiers around you,” I answered quickly.
Midnight Steel did as I said as I retrieved random things from my inventory. Pens, paper clips, various odds and ends emerged into my hands, and I sent them off one by one. Once the plastic missiles were on course, predicting where they would be was easy enough. With unerring precision, each one burst as they collided with something early, leaving small puffs of smoke in their wake.
The soldiers nearby crackled with energy for a moment before they, too, exploded. Theirs were bigger, louder, and created a cloud of smoke thick enough to obscure the other side.
Since that didn’t apply to me, I retrieved my Vague Stick from my inventory and activated Crash Test.
With the smoky cover, the Fiberglass Sorceress couldn’t see my charge. I Pushed one of the Pliant Soldiers out of my way as I willed the quarterstaff into a spear and raised it. My upper body collided with her legs, as she was still levitating, but my weapon pierced through her stomach. She had no reaction other than to wave her hands at me.
My scalp burned as a melting piece of plastic appeared on my head. It oozed downwards, covering my eyes and ears. Those senses were cut off, plunging me into a world of painful, quiet darkness. This was a short range spell that hindered the Sorceress’ opponents in a way that would likely lead to their death. A really dirty way to take someone out of the fight.
One that, of course, didn’t work on me.
I altered the tip of the Vague Spear. As she tried to back off of my weapon, she found that she couldn’t. The spearhead had turned into a diamond as wide as I could make it and it couldn’t fit through the hole anymore. Raising it up, I slammed her onto the ground.
The wide-brimmed hat flew off of her head as she hit the tiles, cracking them with the force of my swing. Her hands once again gestured towards me, her fingers frantically moving as she cast another spell. The Pliant Soldiers around us slid towards us, their limbs remaining still but moving towards us nonetheless.
I released the Vague Stick, but didn’t let her go. Instead, I raised my foot and put it on the weapon’s shaft, pinning it to the ground. Taking a breath, I focused on the enemies coming in to explode. The Fiberglass Sorceress was resistant to such attacks, so it would hurt me a lot more than it would her.
When the first Pliant Soldier arrived, my hand was already reaching out towards it. I gently put my palm against its chest and twisted my wrist. Its path altered as I flowed around it, and the mannequin was pushed to the side towards another one that was approaching. The two collided, exploding close enough that I could feel the heat but not close enough that I received more than a few points of damage.
Shifting my body, I juked around another one, placing my hand on its shoulder. So long as I didn’t deal damage, they wouldn’t self-destruct, and I gently redirected this one off of the ground before tossing it towards a group of two. This explosion was a little too close for comfort, and I put up Shield just in time.
“Any time, Lucas!” I yelled. The force almost knocked me off of the Vague Stick, but I managed to keep myself steady with Drop.
The Fiberglass Sorceress wasn’t just allowing me to pin her with my weapon. She struggled against it, trying to break the wooden staff, but her Strength was well below the average for a boss at this level. Players weren’t supposed to get this close so easily.
I continued my gentle redirection of the incoming Pliant Soldiers, but I could see Midnight Steel heading my way. There was no way I could hear him if he was talking, so I pointed towards the Fiberglass Sorceress.
“Blast her!”
Midnight Steel flew so that it was above us, and I saw its visor open up. Sensing danger, the boss raised her hands, and another piece of malleable plastic appeared above her. This one was in the shape of a large square. Once the drone’s laser started blasting, it covered her.
The Pliant Soldiers, on the other hand, stopped coming. Some fell over as the momentum suddenly left them, but I stopped the only one close enough to hurt us from hitting the ground with Force Field. It teetered before returning to its standing position. I Pushed it away along with the others that were too close for my liking.
I had to hand it to the boss; her shield was very effective. Midnight Steel continued to blast it with its laser, keeping it going for a while, and the plastic was melting. Based on the way the drone was shaking, I didn’t think it could keep it up for long.
Taking a step back, I pulled the Fiberglass Sorceress with me. The plastic square moved with her, staying not too far from where her hands were positioned, and I lifted her off of the ground. With all of her weight on one side, she should have slid around, but stayed where she was thanks to her hovering abilities.
Sticking one end of the Vague Stick under my armpit for support, I reached out and grabbed the Sorceress’ leg. She lashed out, trying to skewer me with a long, ruby red heel, but it was no good. I spun her on the stick so that her hands were facing downwards.
The plastic shield followed her arms as she maintained the pose. Midnight Steel’s laser struck her in the head with sustained fire, causing her to struggle harder as she took damage. She threw her hands at me over and over again, sending more missiles my way.
There was nothing I could do at this distance except activate Shield and Force Field. I couldn’t redirect these like I normally did, the only option was to stop them head-on.
Force Field was the first to break, but not before taking the brunt of my damage. Several exploded before they got to me thanks to my expert placement, but a few still got through. Even though Shield was back to full hit points, it also shattered with unfortunate quickness.
I grit my teeth through the pain of missiles exploding on my legs, all the while attempting to disrupt her casting by slamming the Fiberglass Sorceress into the ground arms-first. If she couldn’t make the gestures, then she couldn’t cast the spell. It was something I hadn’t wanted to resort to because it would make it harder for Lucas to concentrate his fire.
The Sorceress’ head was halfway melted, but she showed no signs of slowing down until Midnight Steel’s laser finally stopped. The spellcasting mannequin attempted to push herself off of the ground, but couldn’t compete with me.
“I’ve got it,” I said.
Stepping on her back, I used my other foot to crush her scorched head under my heel. It gave way with only a little bit of force, and I gave Midnight Steel a thumbs up as the plastic helmet around my head disappeared.
All around us, the Pliant Soldiers exploded in unison. Without their mistress, they were nothing, and they ceased to be. It had been a good thing I knew enough to send all the ones near us away so that only the outer reaches of the store was damaged.
<<<>>>
[[Scenario Subquest Complete]]
The Fiberglass Sorceress has fallen, the key revealed. One more to go before the Mannequin Master can be accessed.
Collect the token and find the next.
Reward: 750 points.
[[Patron Message]]
Another job well done, Anthony!
I wasn’t sure how much firepower Midnight Steel had, but he pulled through. Not that I didn’t think you couldn’t handle it. She seemed rather weak for a boss.
<<<>>>
“A little weak,” I agreed, talking to the sky. “But with all these minions around, they probably wanted to bala-”
“Mr. Anthony, are you okay?” Lucas asked, interrupting as Midnight Steel hovered close to my face. “Your hair’s all burnt!”
“I’m fine,” I said, pushing the drone away. It let me do so. “And don’t you worry about me. That’ll grow back in a few minutes.”
“It will?” he questioned.
“Yeah, my body has a very particular state it has to be in, and that state includes hair,” I said as I watched my body heal. I glanced down at the spoils. The Fiberglass Sorceress’s red and black hat was there as well as the skill book, but there wasn’t any chip. “Looks like you don’t get to upgrade Midnight Steel this time. I think I’ll take the hat, but you should grab the skill book. Either for yourself or to barter with.”
“Sure,” Lucas said, ducking down to pull it into his drone’s inventory.
I Lifted the hat into my hand and checked its description.
<<<>>>
[[Item]]
Magnanimous Hat of the Charitable
(+4 Constitution, +6 Willpower, +4 Wisdom, Forceful Gift Spell acquired, Noble Demeanor passive acquired.)
[[Spell]]
Forceful Gift
Offer an object to a creature. They must take it from you and use it even if it’s harmful to them. The efficacy of this spell is based on the difference between your Willpower stat and their defensive mental stat. If they do not have a defensive mental stat, their resistance depends on their highest stat divided by 2.
Cost: 90 Mental Points.
[[Passive]]
Noble Demeanor
You become well versed in the etiquette of nobility. Creatures that hold titles are more willing to listen to you without asking for anything in return and your words, if chosen carefully, can greatly influence them.
<<<>>>
“That is definitely a Kayla item,” I said aloud.
“Kayla?” Lucas asked.
“One of my friends,” I answered with a smile before letting the hat disappear into my inventory. I had no doubts that the Willpower and Wisdom boost for me would be a Credibility and Moxie boost for her. “Alright, take five to recharge your batteries, and then we’re off to meet the master.”
“Time to take out another boss!” he happily exclaimed.
“Not quite, but I like the enthusiasm,” I replied. “The last place is Sears, which is empty. So, we’ll be dealing with the Merger Mannequin again.”
Midnight Steel turned to face me. “I thought you said we wouldn’t be able to kill it?”
My smile became thin. “Yeah, and that makes this next part suck.”