Andrew looked around as everyone gathered together for dinner, noting that it seemed like everyone was there for once, which was rare. At least, it hadn't happened since Andrew and the rest had arrived. Maybe it was just that everyone was still settling in? Georgia and Sophia certainly seemed more comfortable. Georgia was… he didn't want to say she was pestering Chris, but she was oddly focused on him while Chris didn't seem interested at all. Not that Chris ever seemed all that interested in anything… he was at least talking back, so maybe he was okay with it? On the other hand, Sophia had integrated herself with Greg's group, along with Victoria, looking a lot more relaxed than she'd been the past few days.
"Not enjoying your meal?" Sarah asked, nudging him slightly.
Andrew blinked, glancing down at his mostly ignored pork-steak thing. "No, it's fine, just- I mean, I like meat, but not, you know, for every meal."
Sarah snickered. "Yeah, I get that. But hey! At least we have sides now thanks to your friend." She gestured to Chris. "Before him it was just meat on meat on meat." She stuck her tongue out with a 'bleh'.
"Wow. How did you survive?" Andrew smirked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you know, it's still food." Sarah shrugged. "Plus, if you want to get stronger, you have to eat what has the mana. Beggars can't be choosers."
"Fair." Andrew nodded. "Such a weird system…" Greg's power system seemed a lot like his own, just… worse. You still had to find and kill stronger creatures to grow, but instead of an easy to absorb ability crystal, you actually had to eat the damn thing! Plus, growing your ability didn't make you any stronger. Admittedly spells allowed for a lot more versatility, but Andrew didn't think the trade-off was worth it. Plus, if Andrew wanted more versatility, he'd just grab more cores.
"So, have you figured out your ability yet?" Sarah asked.
Andrew scowled. "No, I haven't." He'd been channeling his ability almost constantly for the past few days, and he still couldn't tell what it actually did. It was obviously there but as far as he could tell, all it did was channel mana.
Sarah patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Maybe it's a passive one like mine or Victor's? Something that just happens without you needing to do anything?"
"Maybe, but you'd think I'd have noticed an effect by now." Andrew sighed. "I mean, I've had it running pretty much constantly!" Why couldn't he have been like Victoria? Super strength wouldn't be his preferred ability, but it was better than nothing! It'd be just like- Andrew paused, before letting out a groan and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm an idiot."
Sarah blinked. "Did you figure it out?"
Andrew shook his head. "No, just- I realized it doesn't actually matter." He replied, his expression twisting in bitter amusement as he gathered some aura together and created a core, sending most of his aura into it. He pointed at a nearby wall and a beam of light shot out of his finger, burning a small circle in it.
"Andrew, why are you damaging my ship?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he fixed the burn mark. "If you want to show off, take it onto the deck."
Andrew flushed. "I wasn't- I was just making sure it worked!" He protested. He knew he could move cores between Worlds, but he'd never tried creating a core from a different World before. He just wanted to make sure everything worked right, and thankfully it did. He already felt stronger and he could obviously create light beams like the Deer core was supposed to.
"What'd you do?" Sarah asked, cocking her head curiously. "That couldn't have been your ability, right?"
"No, that was-" Andrew paused, glancing around as he noticed everyone listening. "I, uh-" He glanced at Jennifer, Georgia, and Sophia.
"Don't worry, I already told them what we are." Chris waved dismissively. "What did you do?"
"You what?!?" Victoria interjected incredulously. "Chris, what did we say about just telling people things!"
"Stage one is okay?" Chris cocked his head.
"There are stages?" Georgia asked with a frown.
Chris nodded. "Yeah, stage one is our nature, stage two-"
"Chris!" Victoria snapped.
Chris paused. "Okay, so I told them stage two as well, which is the Multiverse stuff. Don't worry about stage three. It isn't particularly relevant."
Greg raised an eyebrow at Sophia. "Is this why you decided to join us today?"
Sophia flushed. "I- I just- It- It seemed to be a good idea to-"
"It just made it clear that holding ourselves apart was a stupid idea." Jennifer interjected. "As long as we're here, we might as well at least be friendly, if not friends."
"See, this is why you don't tell people things." Victoria grumbled, shooting Chris a look. "It gives them ulterior motives."
"People always have ulterior motives." Chris shrugged. "No one interacts with someone for no reason. What matters isn't why someone is interacting with you, it's whether they're being honest or not, if they're trying to manipulate you, scam you, whatever." Chris paused, turning to Georgia. "Are you trying to manipulate us?"
"N-no!" Georgia protested, shaking her head.
"See?" Chris turned back to Victoria. "No problem."
Victoria frowned at him for a moment, before shaking her head. "Whatever." She turned to Andrew. "So, what'd you do?"
"I- made myself a Beast core." Andrew replied. "I just realized that it's pretty much the same as your innate mana, but it also increases my physical power."
Greg frowned. "But you won't be able to use spells with it, right?"
"I can still use my other core for spells." Andrew explained.
Greg cocked his head thoughtfully, before shrugging. "Fair enough. I suppose spells don't really do much for you until you get them to a decent tier anyway."
"Speaking of, we're going to be passing by a yellow zone tomorrow." Tessa commented. "I was thinking it might be a good idea to stop and do some hunting. Just a few days to add to our stock and stretch our legs a bit. We've been cooped up on the ship for a while now."
"I wouldn't mind grabbing a few creatures." Chris nodded. "I still don't have any power structure here. Plus I could use the energy."
"Couldn't we all." Victor snorted.
"Sure, but you have your meat." Chris pointed out. "I got nothing right now."
"Well, you also have the meat." Greg commented. "It isn't our fault you can't do anything with it yet."
"Which again, is why I want to hunt." Chris retorted.
"Sure, I'm just saying it isn't really about the energy. We have plenty of that available." Greg countered.
"Fair, but it's still your energy." Chris shook his head. "I'd rather get my own."
"We would like to contribute as well." Georgia added, Jennifer and Sophia nodding in agreement. "We don't want to just leech off of you all."
"Is there anyone who thinks we shouldn't stop?" Tessa asked, looking around, specifically giving Travis a look. The dude didn't even look up from his plate, causing her to frown slightly. Maybe she should have Greg talk to him again… obviously he was having trouble with something. But no one was protesting, so she nodded. "Then that's what we'll do. Who wants to be a part of the hunt?"
Georgia, Jennifer, and Sophia instantly raised their hands, obviously, as did Victor, Brittany, Casey, Emily, Jake, Carlos, and Debbie. Chris just raised a finger for a moment, while Andrew and Victoria hesitated. They wanted to join, but… they weren't even at the level of tier ones yet. They still needed time to grow their mana pools before they could contribute to a hunt in any significant way. Greg just leaned back, assuming his inclusion was obvious.
Tessa looked around. "Okay… would you three prefer to work together or would you be okay with working with the rest of us?"
"I think it'd be best to split us up." Jennifer replied. "We know how to work with each other, but we should learn how to work with the rest of the group too."
Tessa nodded. "That's what I was thinking. What positions do you all fall into?"
"Georgia and I have high damage abilities, wind for me, ice for her, while Sophia is a healer, but all our spells revolve around control and suppression, because… well, you know." Jennifer sighed. "We can function at tier four with our abilities, and tier three for our spells."
Tessa considered all that for a moment. "Okay, we'll make three teams then. I'll lead team one, Chris will take team two, and… Georgia can lead team three?" She offered. She remembered that Georgia led a team back on Earth, so she should be able to handle it, right.
"If Chris is looking to capture creatures, then I should go with him." Georgia frowned. "My ice is better for capturing than hunting."
Tessa raised an eyebrow at her. She wasn't exactly wrong, but any control type abilities would be good for capturing creatures. That's why she was planning on sending Jake and Carlos with Chris, which in addition to either Jennifer or Sophia, should be more than enough. Plus, while ice might give the meat a little freezer burn, it wasn't something they couldn't handle. Debbie focused on ice damage herself, so they were used to working around it. Tessa was pretty sure Georgia's insistence was more about Chris than how suitable her ability was for capturing creatures, but she wasn't about to call her out on it, so… "Okay, then would one of you be okay with leading team three?" She asked, turning to Jennifer and Sophia.
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"I can." Jennifer offered. Honestly, any one of them could do it, since they'd all been Colonels under Travis during the war. Leading a small hunting team would be nothing in comparison.
"Alright, then we'll put Georgia with Chris, along with Jake and Carlos. I'll have Brittany, Emily, and Sophia, and Jennifer will take Victor, Debbie, and Casey." Tessa decided.
"Wow, you're giving her me and Debbie?" Victor commented, raising an eyebrow at Tessa. "What'd she do to piss you off?"
Tessa scowled at him. "First off, you two will behave, or I'm going to hang you from the mast by your toes! Secondly, I'd prefer to not have you two starting arguments with Sophia every five seconds, and you don't have the spells necessary to help Chris."
"This is a violation of our right to free speech!" Debbie exclaimed, pounding the table.
"How are they supposed to get used to us if you keep censoring us, huh?" Victor added.
"Our voices have a right to be heard!" Debbie continued. "Down with-"
"Shhh." Jennifer put her finger to her lips as Debbie suddenly went silent, her mouth still moving but no sound coming out. Victor's mouth moved as well, but again, no sound. Jennifer turned to Tessa with a smirk. "Don't worry, I think I can handle them." Tessa gave Victor and Debbie a cautious look as they got a crafty look in their eyes. She couldn't imagine that was going to end well.
*
They arrived outside the yellow zone early the next morning. The yellow zone in question turned out to be a large marsh full of colorful plants and deep pools, providing plenty of places for creatures to hide and set ambushes from. "So… are we sure we want to stop at this yellow zone?" Victor asked, looking down from the ship with a twisted expression. Navigating this terrain was going to be a bitch and his ability wasn't going to help him if he got stuck in some mud pit.
"It's the closest and densest mana zone in the area." Tessa shook her head. "It's here, or nowhere."
"We do still have a lot of meat…" Jake commented hesitantly.
"Well I'm going." Chris announced, pulling out his bow. "Join me if you want." He shot an arrow into the marsh before disappearing.
"Wait for me!" Georgia yelled after him, creating an ice slide down to the ground, before running after him, freezing the ground as she went to make it more stable. Carlos glanced at Jake, before shrugging and sliding down after her.
Jake's expression twisted, before he sighed in defeat. "This is how I'm gonna die." He grumbled, sliding down the ice and running to catch up.
"Well, they're off." Greg commented as he sent a fairy after them, turning to the others. "How about the rest of you?"
"We're going." Tessa declared, waving for her team to follow. "Though we're not running into a damn yellow zone." She added with a grumble as they headed down.
"I- guess we'll go too?" Jennifer agreed tentatively, glancing at her team.
Victor sighed. "Well now we'd look like birches if we didn't, so I guess we have to."
"Yeah, I ain't no bitch!" Debbie declared, before pausing. "Well, not that kind of bitch. I'm a badass bitch, not a whiny bitch."
"No, you're a crazy bitch." Victor grinned. "Casey is the badass bitch."
"Does that make me boss bitch?" Jennifer asked, raising an eyebrow at them.
"Yup, and Victor is the son of a bitch." Casey snickered.
"Alright bitch crew, let's get this party started!" Debbie whooped, jumping down the ice slide, yelping as it cracked beneath her, the construct not built to last very long, ending up tumbling to the ground in a shower of ice. "Medic!"
Meredith rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Could you hold Heidi for a minute?" She asked Rachel, who nodded as she handed her the baby. She then headed down the stairs to go help the loudly moaning and groaning Debbie.
Jennifer blinked. Maybe she wasn't as prepared for this as she'd thought…
*
Georgia yelped and stumbled as Chris suddenly appeared in front of her with a frown. "What is the point of me scouting if you run after me, stumbling into who knows what?" Chris asked, causing Georgia to freeze, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly as Carlos and Jake caught up, stopping to catch their breath. "Well?" Chris prodded her, raising an eyebrow.
"I- I didn't- you just-" Georgia stammered, beginning to flush in embarrassment. He'd just left and told them to follow! How was she supposed to know he was scouting?!? But… that probably meant she should have been more careful.
Chris shook his head, waving his hand to open a portal to another section of the swamp. "Whatever. Come on, I found something." He entered, waving them through, before pausing. "I don't need to tell you to be quiet, do I?"
Georgia gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, flushing deeply as she began to stomp through the portal, before freezing as she realized that was exactly what he'd just told her not to do, flushing even more as she carefully crept after him. Carlos tried to share an amused look with Jake, while Jake tried to share a disapproving look with him, leading to both of them sharing a confused look, before Carlos shrugged and crept after Georgia and Chris, followed by an even more confused Jake.
"They're just over here." Chris announced quietly, easing aside the brush to reveal a group of… frog seals? Sleek, rubbery bodies with large powerful back legs and flipper forelegs. Georgia watched as one opened its mouth, shooting out a long tongue to snag a small bird out of the air, pulling it into its mouth with a crunch. There were about a dozen of the creatures, all giving off a powerful aura.
"This… seems a bit beyond us." Georgia muttered. "It isn't a great idea to go after packs in general, let alone ones with creatures this large." The frog seals were slightly smaller than a human, but they looked dense.
"We don't need to defeat them, we just need to get them through my portals." Chris replied, shaking his head. "What I'm thinking is that Georgia will create a field of ice spikes on the ground, forcing them to jump. Then I'll create portals underneath them, and Carlos and Jake will work to make sure they go in. No direct confrontation, just using their own instincts and gravity against them."
Georgia hesitated. "That- could work? But how are you going to create portals underneath them?"
Chris grinned. "I thought of a new trick." He replied. "A few, actually." He added as he opened a portal and a swarm of tiny insects flew out, flying towards the frog seals. Tiny portals opened around the insects and a light fog spewed out, filling the air around the seal frogs until the whole area was covered. "Now I can open a portal anywhere in this area, since I own all the fog." Chris explained. He'd gotten the idea from watching Greg. If he could turn into smoke and his fairies with his matter, why couldn't Chris do something like that with the matter he owned? "Plus, if anything goes wrong…" Chris gestured to the portal behind them, which now led to his world. "Just run."
"Well, can't argue with that." Carlos chuckled.
"What if one of them has an ability that lets them fly?" Jake asked with a frown.
"Then we get the rest and leave." Chris replied. "We don't need to get all of them."
Jake still didn't look happy, but he nodded anyway. It wasn't that the plan was bad, it was just that Chris made it all seem too easy… he couldn't help but be nervous.
"Well then, shall we get started?" Chris gestured to Georgia.
She glanced at the other two, making sure they were ready, before taking a deep breath and focusing on the frog seals. She raised her hands, gathering her mana before releasing it, sending it shooting towards the frog seals as a field of ice spikes erupted from the ground! The frog seals let out distressed croaks as they leapt into the air, portals opening beneath them and barriers popping up around them to funnel them inside as Jake's telekinesis pushed them down. One of them had a flipper impaled by an ice spike, tumbling into its portal with a panicked flail as it flapped it, failing to catch the air. Georgia blinked as she watched the rest of the frog seals' flippers expand into massive wings, beating powerfully as they gained altitude, suddenly noticing the large talons on their flippers. Her eyes widened as they began to glide, circling towards them. "I- I think we should go now." She gulped, backing towards the portal as the creatures screeched!
"You three go." Chris agreed, waving them into the portal. "I think I can still work with this."
Georgia hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, now go." He gestured as the frog seals dived, talons extended.
"But-" Georgia began.
"Go!" Chris yelled at her, cursing as a tongue shot towards them, jumping in front of it and getting pulled into the air.
"Chris!" Georgia exclaimed in a panic, shooting ice at the frog seal that had grabbed him, yelping as another tongue impacted a hastily erected barrier.
"Get your ass through the fucking portal!" Chris roared, disappearing as he reached the seal frog, only to reappear behind it a moment later, pulling out his bow to shoot at the creatures targeting her, drawing their attention towards him.
Georgia finally scrambled towards the portal as she realized just how much danger she was in, throwing up ice barriers, Carlos and Jake adding in defenses of their own, as a frog seal crashed down on her, barely missing her as she dived through the portal and it snapped shut.
"What were you thinking!" Chris demanded the moment she was inside, glaring down at her. "I told you to get into the damn portal! That means you get into the damn portal!"
"But you- it was dangerous and-" Georgia tried to protest before Chris cut her off.
"I am immortal!" Chris snapped. "Those things can swipe at me all day long! It won't do shit to me! What they can do is kill you if you don't get into my fucking world!"
Georgia's expression twisted, her fists clenching as she glared at the ground, flushing deeply. "I- I forgot-"
"Even then, the point is I gave you an order, repeatedly, and you ignored it!" Chris cut her off. "You don't have to understand what I'm doing, all you have to do is follow orders! Which means if I want to die on my own while you get into the damn portal, you get into the damn portal!"
"I- I'm sorry, I just-" Georgia stammered, her voice choking as tears began to run down her cheek, before she froze as Chris gave her a hug, patting her back.
"There, there, no need to cry." Chris assured her. He'd just been trying to drive home his point, not make the woman cry! Seriously, people could be so sensitive. But at least he knew what to do when people cried now: give them a hug. "I just want you to stay safe, okay?" He told her as he pulled back, giving the stunned woman a serious look. "Don't do something like this again. The portal is there for a reason."
Georgia nodded dumbly, feeling completely numb as her thoughts whirled through her mind. Why would he hug her? Wasn't he just yelling at her? Was he angry with her or concerned for her?!? Or… was he angry because he was concerned? Did- did he like her? Georgia flushed as Chris opened another portal taking them to a different section of the marsh, eyeing his back as she followed him out, wondering just what it would mean to her if Chris actually did like her.
Carlos looked between Georgia and Chris with an impressed look. "This dude is good." He chuckled to himself.
"How could he yell at her like that?" Jake muttered, shaking his head in disappointment.
"Still need more creatures." Chris murmured as he made his way deeper into the marsh, completely unaware he'd done anything worth commenting on.