Time coming to a halt cut off the hum of the car, and Alejandra’s ears rang to make up for the lack of noise.

Roll to hit.

Alejandra rolled the d20. It landed on a fourteen, and the +6 made a nice dirty twenty. She was so used to fighting with the great sword that it was odd to only get one d8 instead of two d6’s. Either way, it was damage, and they needed to get those monsters’ attention.

The d8 landed on a six. The +4 made it ten. Everyone often criticized fighters as the basic choice, but honestly, it was nice to deal damage like this.

Time resumed. A flash of light exploded out of Ezekiel’s palm, and Hraktar shot his crossbow bolt.

Shelob sensed the flames before it hit, scuttling away so fast it made Alejandra feel a deep desire to get out of the way of a predator. The bolt smacked into the huge snake’s body. It made the fine hairs on Alejandra’s arms stick straight up as the spider turned its multiple eyes toward them, clicking its pincers. The snake gave a low hiss, staring straight at Hraktar.

Rafael slammed on the gas pedal, and the car lurched forward.

“You said the car can go faster than them,” Alejandra said.

Her brother glanced at them through the mirror. “Tell that to my adrenaline.”

Alejandra watched the spider shoot forward, its multiple legs moving in a fluid motion, bringing its pincers ever closer to them. The snake, despite getting hit, dropped to its belly and slithered forward, looking like it could eat the car if it wanted to.

The scene froze, and Alejandra felt nauseous.

Roll for initiative.

Alejandra rolled, nervous about her total of fourteen. Time resumed, and Alejandra watched in horror as Rafael stopped the car.

“What are you doing?” She tried to keep the alarm from her voice.

“Four-way stop.” He waited as another car moved past them. “Gotta keep the law.”

Bassie slithered forward, its jaw opening far too wide and leapt, her fangs just missing the car as Rafael jerked it forward again. Alejandra’s ears pounded from all the blood rushing to them.

“I’ll stay on Shelob, you stay on Bassie.” Ezekiel did his best to stay buckled as he pointed his hand behind him, shooting sacred flame again. And once again, Shelob scuttled out of the way. “Those things sure know how to move.”

Time slowed down, and Alejandra rolled the dice. She saw fifteen and didn’t even bother waiting to see what the bonus gave. Even with the awkward partial cover Bassie got, it was still past twenty. She waited for that d8.

The d8 landed on a seven, and she gave a relieved breath. The +4 was a nice eleven.

Hraktar already had the bolt loaded. He craned his head around and shoved his arm outside. The bolt released, and it flew true, smacking into the snake and causing it to stumble.

Ezekiel watched the snake try to recover. “Perhaps you should try for Shelob. You might actually hit it.”

Alejandra kept glancing at her phone clock. They should be at the park by now, but the time stops always made it difficult to tell time.

“What is Shelob doing?” Ezekiel’s voice sounded strained.

Alejandra never whipped around so fast. Shelob finished climbing on top of a house before turning around and spitting a web right at them.

“Ah, shit,” Rafael said.

The web tangled the back tires. Rafael grabbed the steering wheel and Alejandra braced herself. Instead, like before, the car shuddered before leaving a lesser copy of itself behind. Hraktar and Ezekiel shouted in surprise as they were transported to the car copy.

Rafael pulled over, pressing the emergency lights. Alejandra stumbled out of the car to check on Hraktar and Ezekiel.

“Stay in the car,” she shouted to Hraktar, who was already trying to get out. “You’ll be better protected in there!” She already had her phone out, calling Derek. The back tires got stuck, and the car had swerved before smacking into a tree. Bassie leapt forward and bit the car, gnawing on the back lights, trying to break it.

Rafael had a hand in his hair. “What do we do?”

“Alejandra?” Derek asked.

“Change of plans, Shelob stopped our car. We’re on Adams Street, not far.”

Derek let out a string of curses in Spanish that reminded Alejandra of her mother when she was talking to her abuela. “We’ll be there in a minute.” He said it as though he didn’t get creative with Spanish phrases.

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Ezekiel tried once again to hit the snake with sacred flame, but it made a wild shot, leaving the snake perfectly fine. Rafael groaned. “I suck at sacred flame.”

“Bassie’s probably got an unbelievable dexterity saving roll. It’s not your fault,” Alejandra said.

Ezekiel was safe in the car. Him and his ten hit points couldn’t get hit. Even with the window down, she doubted the snake could get through.

Alejandra forced herself not to look at the enormous spider chilling on top of a house. A house. She was relieved Evelyn was out of town.

She was happy when the dice landed on an eighteen, and beyond happy when her damage dice landed on an eight. With twelve total, they really needed to get Shelob looking a lot worse.

Hraktar had his loaded crossbow ready, sticking his hand out and aiming right at Shelob, letting the bolt fly. It smacked into one of its legs, and the creature let out a spitting hiss. Alejandra backed away into Rafael.

She felt like a hypocrite. It was easier to want ugly creatures to die.

The snake slammed into the copy of the car, and Rafael winced, opening his folded arms to brace himself. He and Alejandra both glanced at the real car to make sure it was still fine.

“I don’t like this,” Rafael said.

From inside the car, Ezekiel pointed his hands upward toward where Bassie was. Light exploded from his palm, traveling through the car, and smacking the snake in the stomach. It squealed in pain before rolling off and falling to the ground.

Alejandra scanned the road, trying to find where Derek was. It took her a second to figure out the d20 was hanging in front of her. She grabbed it, giving it a good shake. Eleven. Seventeen total. She grabbed the d8 and was again relieved when it landed on eight again. Another twelve total.

Hraktar was a machine. Once again, he pushed his hand out of the window and shot his crossbow, smacking another spider leg.

A police car turned, coming down the street. Her eyes widened, then looked at Rafael. Their hazard lights were on. The policeman was going to check. Who wouldn’t?

“We’ll be alright,” Rafael said.

Shelob tried again to bite the car. The police car drove right past the fight, which she found jarring. How anyone couldn’t see a ginormous snake and spider attacking a replica of a car could only mean something magical was involved.

The spider tried to snap at Hraktar’s arm, but her fighter brought it back in, the copy car rocking with the battle as the police car pulled in behind them, bumper to bumper with the copy of the car.

Alejandra put on a smile as the snake tried to wrap itself around the copy car. She struggled between pretending a battle wasn’t happening and fully aware that a police officer was walking toward them. His nametag read Officer Dominguez. He seemed friendly enough. He had short, cropped brown hair and brown eyes. “Hey, kids. You alright?”

Alejandra glanced at Rafael. He tried to smile. Nerves strangled her ability to speak. Officer Dominguez studied them again before rattling off a phrase in Spanish. It took Alejandra a moment to realize he asked them if they understood Spanish better.

“No, no, sorry. You startled us, that’s all.” Her cheeks burned.

“Yeah. Yeah um, car trouble?” Rafael said.

“Car trouble, huh?” Officer Dominguez pulled his flashlight out.

Rafael might have tried grunting, but a whimper came out instead. She glanced at him as Ezekiel once again filled the dark sky with radiant damage that completely missed the snake.

“Let’s check ‘er out then, shall we?” the officer asked.

Time slowed down, and Alejandra took a moment to calm herself. Her hands trembled as she grabbed the dice. According to all the laws of probability and statistics, there was no way her nerves had anything to do with the roll, but she blamed them anyway as the d20 landed on a two.

Time resumed and Alejandra watched as Hraktar tried to shoot the spider, but the creature was prepared now. The instant Hraktar pushed his hand out, the spider dodged the bolt, then bit down hard on Hraktar’s arm. Alejandra gasped.

Make a constitution saving throw.

Alejandra whimpered, then grabbed the dice. She let out a scream of frustration as it landed on a five before she forced herself to shut up.

Time resumed, and Hraktar bellowed with rage as the officer leaned over to look at their car. Alejandra searched the character sheet for her fighter’s hit points.

16/34 HP.

Her stomach dropped. One attack and Hraktar’s hit points were cut in half. That was a deadly blow.

Officer Dominguez straightened, touching the car. “Ah, I see what your issue is.”

Rafael and Alejandra both tore their gazes from the battle to look at the officer, surprised. Alejandra expected nothing to be wrong with the car. Heat flushed to her cheeks again. The car was always a clunker. Whatever was wrong with it, they already knew and couldn’t afford to fix it.

“At least, I’ve never seen this before.” Officer Dominguez pointed to the back light. “Are those teeth marks?” He brushed against it, and Alejandra’s eyes widened as she saw exactly that. The marks of a huge creature, like a snake fang, right there near the brake lights. Alejandra and Rafael exchanged a terrified look before they both shot their gaze at the copy car.

Bassie tried again to squeeze the car. There was a groaning of metal, and Alejandra and Rafael both glanced at the original car, seeing the metal bend ever so slightly. Officer Dominguez saw it too. He touched the car, frowning. “What the devil…”

A blast of radiant light exploded from the copy car, and the snake roared in pain. All the while, Rafael and Alejandra tried not to react.

Rafael rubbed his mouth, leaning ever so slightly toward her. “We’ve got to move them out of the car.”

Alejandra winced as time stood still for her. How could they do that when Shelob’s bite cut Hraktar’s HP in half? She became aware of how fragile Ezekiel still was.

She pushed those thoughts to one side as she glanced at Hraktar’s options. Shelob was close enough now that the crossbow and the bow would be at a disadvantage. The great sword would be clunky. Perhaps his mauling would be good enough. Shelob’s face was close. It might work.

She chose that and rolled the d20. It landed on a five, and she let out a defeated sigh. She had taken way too long to decide something that, in the end, didn’t matter.

Time resumed, and Hraktar attempted to punch Shelob in the face. The creature dodged out of the way, clicking with its pincers. It opened its mouth wide, biting down on the open window. Hraktar moved out of the way as its jaws bent the metal frame.

“Alejandra,” Rafael said.

It took her a second to realize Rafael suggested moving them out of the car before the time freeze. She shook her head. “If Shelob bites Ezekiel, it’s a powerful enough bite, it could kill him instantly. He’s still at level one.”

Officer Dominguez shined his flashlight toward them. “What was that?”

Both of them froze, not saying anything. Thankfully, they didn’t have to. Derek’s car appeared, pulling to a stop in front of them. Derek hardly parked when Milo leapt from the car, a handheld cannon in one hand and his crossbow in the other. The mana fusor came prepared as he faced the two monsters.

“Why hello, uglies,” Milo said.