Steven sat in the rickety plastic chair, his dirty sneakers tapping on the tile. Principal Marsters stared him down from behind his large wooden desk. Steven was pretty sure the man thought it looked intimidating, but the desk was a little too old, a little too scratched up from years of use.

Instead of intimidating, it made him look like he was pretending to be someone important.

Steven shifted, his sneakers squeaked, and the principal's eye twitched. “Stay still, Kalio. Honesty, what possessed you to get into a fight in the cafeteria!“

Steven started to answer, and the man held up a hand. “Actually, I don’t want to hear it. Your father is almost here. He can deal with you when he arrives.“

Steven wanted to respond; he wanted to defend himself, but Principal Marsters would interpret that as disrespect. Which meant Steven had to stay quiet in the too-small office in his too-small chair.

The clock ticked steadily, and Steven took deep breaths. A floral air freshener and the smell of principal Marsters mint gum stuck in his nose. How much is he chewing for me to smell it from here?

Steven closed his eyes and tried not to think about anything at all.

The clock ticked, Steven shifted, the door opened, and his father stepped in.

Gregory Kalio was a solid man. Not overly tall or muscular, but solid. Like a sturdy fence that had been there through a dozen storms and would be there for a dozen more.

He wore thick jeans stained with dirt and grass, and his heavy workman’s coat was left unbuttoned, a pin of a flower Steven had made for him in the second grade proudly displayed on his collar. He brushed a leathery hand through his brown hair as he took in the scene.

He turned slightly so the principal couldn’t see his face, then gave Steven a wide grin.

Steven smiled back.

“Mr. Kalio, your son got into a fight. Again. He gave my son a black eye. I have half of mind to expel him for it!.“

His father glanced at him, saw the bruise on Steven’s cheek and the likely sullen look in his eye, and then turned back to the principal

“It looks like Steven’s banged up too. Kids getting into a fight isn’t something one should be expelled over, is it?“

Marsters glared at his father as if he just spat on his desk. “Since I believe in second and even third chances, I won’t expel Steven. But he will have a week of detention. I trust you can discipline him on your own aside from that.“ The man said with acid in his voice.

His father met the acid with a wide smile. “Of course, and thank you for your understanding principle.“

While his smile seemed genuine, his gratitude certainly wasn’t. And the principal knew it as his lips turned down into a scowl.

His father motioned towards the door, and Steven got up and followed him.

They walked through the halls in silence before reaching the parking lot and climbing into his father's spotless white truck. The man could abide his clothes getting dirty, but his truck was another matter.

Steven didn’t say a word as they pulled out of the school parking lot, his stomach turning as he glanced at his father.

Finally, after a few seconds, the man Spoke. “Did they deserve it?“

Steven nodded. “They were picking on Carl again. Calling him names and shoving him. I shoved them back.”

 His father smiled. “Good, I’m proud of you then, for sticking up for your friend.“ He leaned in, and his voice took on a conspiratorial edge. “In the future, though, try to make sure people see them throwing the first punch. Much easier to stick out a trouble that way.”

Steven smiled

~<>~<>~

Steven’s eyes snapped open, and he coughed out a mouthful of water. When the tide rose from the floor, he hadn’t had time to react before his head slammed into something solid, and everything went dark.

His head still pounded, but it wasn’t as bad as Skill backlash.

He took in their surroundings with a glance. They were not in the basement anymore. They were on the first floor, and things had changed. Dead bats littered the floor while others twitched and jerked, spluttering up bits of water.

The captain was a few dozen feet to the left, water swirling about him with the force of a raging river.

Past him, Micheal, Margie, Vanessa, and Carla were currently running toward Steven and the others.

Where was Del?

Steven kept searching, and the fog cleared from his brain. Del was leaning against the wall a few yards away from him, her forearm torn open, and blood dribbled down her skin. But that was nothing compared to her shoulder. He could see blood, muscle, and even a bit of bone through the holes that had been gouged into her.

A creature stood over her, its mouth open to expose too sharp teeth. It wore a robe or cloak that went all the way to its feet, and its beautiful features stood out in sharp contrast with its horrific maw.

And its hands were stained with red.

“Ah.“ Steven said.

He didn’t remember calling the shield, but the next instant, the vampire was contorting to the right as a Hand Shield whistled past its head.

Rage boiled in Steven‘s gut, the intensity of it taking him by surprise. It demanded that he fling himself at the monster, that he tear it apart and protect Del.

He forced the anger down, but he didn’t get rid of it. He guided it. He should be angry, but he needed to think.

“Micheal, get to Del. I’ll give you a path. Markus, on the vampire with me.“ The old man had been climbing to his feet as Steven spoke. He looked exhausted, water running down his face and his clothes hanging off his lean frame.

But as his eyes settled on Del and then the vampire, his gaze hardened, and exhaustion burned off him like mist as he clenched his fist.

Steven took a single deep breath, and then chaos descended on the captain cook.

The vampire hurled itself at Del, looking to finish her off, and Steven met it with shields.

One caught it in the shoulder, but it used the momentum, spinning around the shield with more dexterity than should be possible mid-air, and kept coming straight for Del.

Steven sent a second shield into Del’s uninjured shoulder, helping her dive away.

At the same time Markus closed on the vampire, amber light thickening around him as he went.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Steven hurled two more shields at the vampire and then spun in time to catch a wave sent by the captain.

They were out of range of his Anchor Shield, but he could fix that.

Steven opened his character sheet, removed Shield Pull from Hand Shield, and put it on his Anchor Shield.

For some reason, that made his head spin and his vision double. He almost lost his concentration altogether, barely reacting in time to stop a lance of water from taking him in the chest.

The fuck?

He shook his head, clearing the shapes dancing in his eyes and seizing his Anchor Shield with his mind.

Pull! The shield came to him, darting up through the massive hole in the floor to hang about his chest. The wave, which had built to be several feet wide and almost 6 feet tall, crashed into the tower shield with a boom. Water still blasted around him, nearly taking him from his feet, but he held on.

He sent a second flurry of Hand Shields at the vampire as it clashed with Markus, then sprinted around his Anchor Shield and moved straight for the captain.

Micheal was sprinting past Captain Bob with reckless abandon, completely ignoring the flurry of torrents and the cutlass aimed for his neck.

Steven’s focus narrowed.

He sent a Hand Shield for the captain's head and another for the cutlass. At the same time, Steven sprinted for the man before calling another shield to his left and pulling on his Anchor Shield. The Anchor Shield chased him as he ran, and he reached the captain as his first shield slammed towards his head.

Captain Bob’s cloak contorted, water bunching to protect the man. It stopped the shield cold, but it used enough of the cloak that Steven’s second shield knocked his arm off course, sending his swing wide of Micheal’s neck.

As that happened, Steven reached Captain Bob, and his Anchor Shield caught up a heartbeat later. Three of the torrents aimed for Micheal crashed into the shield as he passed by, and Steven blocked a fourth with a last Hand Shield.

Micheal passed him, and he didn’t just hear it when the man cried out. He felt it. A wave of power tingled over his skin as Micheal’s buff reacted to the Damsel's need. “Let me tend your wounds!“

There was a flash of blue from behind Steven, but he didn’t have the time to look. A slash of water from the octopus was coming at his face.

He barely got his head out of the way and then drove a punch at the captain while pulling a shield at him from behind. The water blocked the shield and his fist, but as the captain readied a round of torrents at Steven, he spared none of his attention for anyone else.

The octopus let out a shriek, but it was too late. The cloak was out of position, and the captain had already committed to a swing on Steven. Buford hit the man in the legs like a wrecking ball as Vanessa followed behind him, hammer raised and white light shining off it like a star.

Captain Bob went down under Buford’s hit, and then Vanessa‘s hammer was whistling down on him. He raised his hand, and a massive wave of water materialized, rushing for the woman like a moving wall.

She took the hit head-on, her hammer blasting half the wave apart like it wasn’t even there. Well, that was a ridiculous show of strength; it wasn’t enough. The remaining wave took her from her feet as it swept over Buford.

The hound's shroud dug into the ground, keeping him rooted in place. Steven was forced to block the rain of torrents instead of attacking, but the boss was still on the ground.

The captain's eyes narrowed, and the ground began to tremble.

Steven sucked in a breath. “God, dammit!“

~<>~<>~

Carla was impressed with their new friends. It was honestly fantastic luck that they had found allies so quickly and that their allies were strong. Steven felt like he was everywhere at once. Green flashed around the room, blocking pillars of water before they could take people from their feet, and somehow still found the time to take potshots at that fucking vampire.

And the rest of the group wasn’t anything to sneeze at either. Markus fought like a man possessed, moving with fluid grace and speed, managing to keep the vampire contained by himself. A feat that the rest of them combined failed to do.

Margie and those hounds were flexible, giving her surprising mobility and taking hits and delivering their own. And well, Micheal and Del weren’t quite as flashy as the others, Carla wasn’t an idiot. The man’s Skills made everyone better at what they were already doing, and Del had taken hits from that vampire that would’ve killed the rest of them.

Carla had to remind herself that none of them could die here. If they could, she would’ve already activated her Skill. Even if they had only recently met these people, they had done right by them so far, and Carla wouldn’t return that gesture by spitting on them.

But if death wasn’t on the table, what should she do here? She could make an impact here. She could end the fight immediately. But once Arman ran his course, she would be worthless for an uncomfortably long time.

What to do. She glanced at the Skills in the corner of her vision. They were a rich black and green, like obsidian shot through with emerald.

Summon Other

Epic

You have convinced the being Arman to deal with you. You may summon him for one hour.

Energy cost large.

Range 50 feet.

Cooldown: two hours. The more damage Arman amasses, the longer the cooldown will be. If he is completely destroyed before the duration ends, he will be unsummonable for 24 hours.

She stared at her trump card and considered. End the fight but potentially leave herself vulnerable later. She frowned. There were a few other things she could do in the meantime. She would hold Arman unless things grew truly hopeless.

~<>~<>~

Micheal had to fight to stay on his feet as energy was ripped out of him and plunged into Del.

His vision wavered, but he was able to see the wound in her shoulder and arm start to close up. It wouldn’t heal all of the damage, but she wouldn’t bleed out either.

Micheal spun, nearly falling as his vision doubled. Steven was a storm, shields flying in every direction as he battled Captain Bob. Markus was just as impressive, trading blows with the vampire that Micheal could barely keep track of.

Where was he needed? Where could he do the most good?

His vision focused on Captain Bob just as Buford hit him from behind. There was a flurry of motion, Vanessa‘s hammer swung, and a wave met her and was partially destroyed before carrying her off.

Then, the floor began to rumble.

Steven cursed and scrambled away from the downed captain. “Everybody run! Geysers are gonna come up, move! “

Micheal started backpedaling, grabbing Del as she shakily climbed to her feet.

He made it about 5 yards before the floor ballooned up, pillars of water punching through it in focused geysers.

They were concentrated on Steven and Buford. Steven battered himself back with a shield, pinballing himself to the left and right to dodge geysers while doing the same to Buford.

Micheal caught Margie from the corner of his eye doing the same, using Buford’s shroud to help redirect him away from the blasts.

It went on for a small eternity before finally slowing to a stop. Micheal’s ears rang, and his breaths still felt like his lungs had iron bands tied around them, but nobody had any new holes, so he would count that as a victory.

Captain Bob had regained his feet during that mess and now glared at them with barely contained fury. The octopus on his head did the same, its round eyes indignant. Steven was panting heavily, but his gaze was locked on the captain. “He won’t be able to do that for a while, push him, but be careful, we don’t know if he can do that massive wave again.“

The captain cracked his neck, and the octopus imitated him, bobbing its head left and right soundlessly. “You wretches think you can take Captain Bob! I’ll drown you in the deep! I’ll suffocate you with salt! I’ll-“

“Quit rhyming at us!” Margie shouted as she swung at the man from behind. His cloak shifted to meet her, but she vanished instantly, replaced with Noodle. The hound latched his jaws onto the captain's ankle before his watery veil could figure out what happened.

He roared and swung a fist down, water trailing after it.

Buford and Noodle swapped places before it landed, and the big dog weathered the hit before slamming his shoulder into Bob’s hips. The cloak absorbed much of the blow, but Buford was heavy. The captain staggered and then fell. Steven was on him a moment later, driving shields down like a jackhammer.

The cloak writhed and spasmed, blocking the shields at every turn. But that’s spread the armor thin. Buford bit the captain's thigh, and red sprayed out. The captain jerked as the electricity running along Buford’s teeth sparked through him. 

He started up another wave of torrents as the octopus frantically slashed Buford, and Steven was forced to abort his pile driver impression to protect the hound.

Alright, Micheal, what do you need to do? Who needs your help? He looked from the fight with Captain Bob to Markus and the vampire. Vern had joined Markus, throwing out slows that caught the vampire flat-footed.

The vampire broke the purple cloud around itself almost instantly each time, leaving Vern wincing and shaking. But Markus landed one or two good hits each time.

Vanessa rushed back towards Captain Bob, and Carla stood on the sideline. Micheal rose from Del and started towards the vampire.

Captain Bob could swing at him in too many ways. Either an errant slash from the octopus or a spare torrent could seriously injure or kill Micheal. Joining that fight would just put more of the strain on Steven.

With his mind made up, Micheal charged the vampire.