A burst of energy exploded out of Milo’s cannon, smacking the spider in the face. It flew back from the car, drawing its attention to Milo in time to get an electrified bolt to the face. Shelob finally, finally stumbled.
Derek walked over to them, hands in his pockets. Rafael bent his head to talk to him privately. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Derek smirked as he watched Shelob trying to get its balance. “Glad I could help.” He turned toward Officer Dominguez, disguising his smirk. “Hello. Rafael and Alejandra are good friends of mine. They called for help.”
The snake hissed as Grizzizzik and Clarissa approached the fight. Bassie leapt from the car. Despite never touching the actual car, it still seemed to echo from a ghost of a snake leaping off it. Derek raised an eyebrow, glancing at the original. Officer Dominguez winced, shining his flashlight at the top of the car. “What is going on?” the officer asked.
Derek glanced at Rafael and Alejandra, but it was difficult to explain with a battle raging behind them. Milo tried to get out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough. Bassie’s fang sliced his arm and into his side. Alejandra’s heart dropped to her stomach as Milo’s health hit fourteen.
“Uh…” Derek’s voice faltered, trying, like Rafael and Alejandra were, to pretend there wasn’t a battle happening behind them. “How are things?”
“Just helping them with a bit of car trouble.” Officer Dominguez kept the flashlight on the top, frowning. Sacred flame once again lit up the night sky. Bassie shrieked as it was hit in the back with radiant damage. Bassie’s breathing was haggard, and blood collected on the ground beneath it. Officer Dominguez could hear echoes of what was happening. Was the real world starting to see them?
“Don’t you dare let Ezekiel out of the car,” Alejandra whispered as Derek talked with Officer Dominguez a bit more about the weird sounds coming from the car.
“But what about our real car?” Rafael whispered back. It wasn’t quiet enough as Officer Dominguez glanced at him while popping the hood.
“It sounds like it’s working fine. Yeah, sounding rough, but I don’t believe there’s anything to—”
Roll to hit.
Alejandra picked the great sword, knowing Hraktar would get out of the car for this one. She rolled as fast as she could, trying to remember Officer Dominguez had been cut off mid-sentence and she didn’t want to forget what he would say.
Seventeen plus six. Easy hit. Two fives plus a four, fourteen damage. They needed this right now.
“—worry about. But if you want, I could help you get to a mechanic.”
Hraktar kicked open the door and got out, pulling out his great sword. He swiped it hard, slicing through two of Shelob’s legs.
Derek nodded, his voice dropping. “Mmm, that’s so badass.”
Officer Dominguez slammed the hood of the car as Derek said that. Grizzizzik ran to join Hraktar but was too hasty and tried to stab where Hraktar had already cut the legs off.
The rogue growled. “Leave some for me next time.”
Hraktar shrugged. Clarissa began a chant that sounded a lot like a howl before a fire erupted right underneath the snake. It shrieked, the skin bubbling from the flames as Officer Dominguez gave Rafael two thumbs up.
Alejandra’s phone went off. She grinned as she pulled it out, seeing it was Tyler calling.
“Hey!” she said in an over enthusiastic way.
“Is everything alright?”
“Oh, you know. Car trouble. But a super friendly police officer stopped to help us.” Alejandra smiled, waving at Officer Dominguez, who finished talking with Rafael. He smiled as he headed toward his cop car, completely oblivious of the two enormous monsters fighting nearby. Shelob thrashed around. Or at least that was what Alejandra thought. Instead, it turned around and shot out webbing again, wrapping Hraktar completely. He grunted, stumbling before collapsing to the ground. Alejandra gasped. She didn’t think Shelob would have that ability again.
“Oh. Uh…”
Milo lifted his cannon and his crossbow, glaring at Shelob. “That’s my friend!” The cannon shot off another ball of white electricity. It almost looked like a mana ball, smacking into Shelob. Milo tried shooting his crossbow, but his injured hand was impossible to ignore, and the bolt went wild. Still, the white electricity hit the snake, causing it to sputter and hiss.
Alejandra waved at the policeman as Rafael and Derek pretended to talk to each other.
“Are you feeling anything off?” she asked.
“Not any different from normal. The usual anxiety about the two worlds colliding.”
Alejandra ducked as a piece of broken concrete sailed over her head. It might not have actually hurt her, but instinct told her not to chance it. “We didn’t make it to the park.”
Bassie tried to lift its head to bite Milo, but the mana fusor had been so traumatized last time that he instinctually punched the snake with his bare hands. From her experience at the table, Alejandra got the feeling that snake rolled a nat one. Bassie hissed, sounding far weaker.
“That’s what I’m afraid of. Try not to let any creature touch something from the real world. I think it’s showing in our realm,” Tyler said.
“That’s… what we’re afraid of.” Alejandra touched the fang mark in the car. These things were taking a ton of damage, and she was worried about how long Derek and Rafael could keep pretending to talk about something else to linger around the battle.
Ezekiel again tried to hit the snake, but the sacred flame went wild, and instead hit the bonfire, adding to its flame.
“Can you pretend to talk to me a little more on the phone?” There was silence on the other end. “I mean, I guess you’re on a date. Do you have time to t—” She stopped when she noticed the d20 hanging in front of her. “Oh. Right.”
Make a strength check.
Alejandra glanced at her stats. Strength and constitution were Hraktar’s two highest stats, but she knew it wouldn’t mean anything if she didn’t roll high enough.
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An eight. She winced, then saw the +4 bump it up to twelve. It was an okay number, but would it be enough?
Success!
She breathed out some air as time resumed. Hraktar pushed the sticky webbing, tearing it apart with the help of his great sword.
“I’ve got to go. But text me when the battle is over,” Tyler said.
He must not have heard her request to stay on the phone, and Alejandra was too flustered to ask again. “Okay, bye.”
Hraktar scrambled to his feet, prepared for anything. Grizzizzik went in with a quick stab, finally hitting something that hadn’t already been hacked off. Shelob shrieked in pain, looking battered.
Clarissa pulled out a short bow, aiming at Bassie and hitting it in the stomach. The snake was not looking good, and Alejandra moved over to where Rafael and Derek were.
“If we get out of here slowly, we can circle around the block without it looking weird,” Derek said.
“Those two monsters can’t last much longer,” Rafael said.
Shelob leapt forward and bit down hard on Grizzizzik, who shouted in pain. Alejandra grimaced, remembering Hraktar’s own bite with Shelob. Grizzizzik’s hit points dropped to fifteen.
Derek headed toward the car. “Come on. A small circle around the block.”
Alejandra got in their car, and Rafael slid into the driver’s seat. “Do you think I’m strong enough with Ezekiel to be doing this?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Alejandra buckled herself. “The monsters can’t survive much longer.”
They watched Milo take two more shots, the cannon missing, and the electric bolt slamming into Shelob. That spider really wasn’t looking good, and Alejandra felt like a hypocrite. After the big stink she made about them slaughtering the drakes and fifteen orcs, she didn’t care that the spider looked so rough. She wished it would die a little quicker.
Rafael was starting up the car when Bassie, in a last effort, dove toward Milo and circled around him, binding him with its body. Rafael winced. “Oh, that’s not good.”
“Not good at all.” Alejandra gasped as Milo’s HP drop to one. “Really not good.”
“I can’t drive away from this,” Rafael muttered.
A flash of light burst from the copy car as Ezekiel tried again with sacred flame, but Bassie easily dodged out of the way, squeezing Milo, who struggled to breathe.
Time slowed down, and Alejandra shook the dice. Hraktar would have seen Milo’s predicament, so she made sure he focused on Bassie.
Which is when she landed on a nat one.
“No!” she shouted.
Rafael glanced at her as he pulled away. Hraktar headed toward the snake, but it not only easily dodged his attempt to drive the blade into its head, but it also smacked Hraktar’s feet, making him lose his balance and fall over, the great sword sliding out of reach.
Rafael headed toward the first street. “We’ll go a little faster.”
Alejandra kept her gaze on the back window in time to see Grizzizzik stab the spider’s bulbous body. Once they turned a corner, Rafael sped through the other street as Alejandra’s heart pounded.
“They’ll be fine. I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Rafael said.
Once they rounded the corner again and saw the fight, Rafael slowed down so they could get a better look. Grizzizzik suffered another bite, his shoulder soaked in blood and a dazed look in his eye, but still standing. Milo was still tight in Bassie’s grip. And Shelob was still alive.
“How long is it going to take for these things to die?” She waited for Rafael to answer, and when he didn’t, she realized once again time had stopped for her. With the great sword gone and having no time to pick it up, she chose maul. It could still deal excellent damage. She rolled the d20, hoping for the best, and groaning when she saw a six. An added six made it a twelve, and she was genuinely surprised when two d6’s appeared in her vision.
“I’m not complaining.” She shook the two dice. Nine, with a +4. Thirteen. That would have to kill that snake.
Time resumed, and Rafael was driving slow enough for her to see Hraktar bound over, grabbing Bassie’s throat with his bare hands and strangling the thing. “Let go of my friend!” Hraktar screamed.
Bassie thrashed, but kept Milo secure. Hraktar gave it a good punch, and part of the nose caved in. The snake was still miraculously alive.
“How! How is this possible?” Alejandra asked, hands in her hair.
Grizzizzik let out an exhausted grunt as he thrust his rapier into Shelob’s gut. The spider shrieked before its muscles stiffened.
“Yes! Yes! That thing has to be dead now!” She watched, relieved, as the spider fell, its legs curling toward its body. “Thank you Grizzizzik!” For a brief moment, she remembered who created that rogue, and her mind jumped off that subject almost as fast.
Clarissa tried to aim toward Bassie, but there were too many people, and the arrow went wide. Rafael pulled over again. “It’s got to be almost dead.”
Another burst of light from the copy car, another obvious miss.
Next was Alejandra’s turn, and she was nervous. She had a feeling Hraktar could finish it. She needed to roll well.
A two. Alejandra glanced at her options left. She’d have to do an action surge, because she knew this might be it. She rolled again, getting to a ten. That could be enough. Hraktar was strong enough with his bonus to hit.
She was relieved when two d6’s appeared. She rolled them quickly, watching them clatter. Two threes. And a +4. That had to be enough. This snake wasn’t magical.
Time resumed, and Hraktar kept a hand to Bassie’s throat. It was hissing weakly, and with a jerk, Hraktar tore the head completely off the snake’s body. Alejandra let out a relieved sigh. “It’s done! They did it!”
Rafael leaned against the seat. “Level two. Finally.”
Alejandra saw the experience bar fill up. She squinted, looking at it a bit more.
1560/2700 XP
That was a nice chunk, but there was still a bit before level four.
Derek pulled over, then poked his head out the side of the car. “Something tells me my guy will want to stay and examine the body. Grizzizzik, too.”
“Can’t you do whatever rolling from your house?” Alejandra asked.
“Yeah, probably. Should be safer that way, too. I’ll let Nick know, but you two can head back.”
“Thanks, man,” Rafael said.
“No, thank you. It’s great to have all five of them working together again. It’s good to know we can do something like this, too. Trade off while we’re working through things,” Derek said, glancing at the five characters.
Ezekiel opened the door, fully healed because he’d stayed in the car. He rushed over to Clarissa, checking her for wounds, but Clarissa never got hurt. In fact, this was the first battle where no one got knocked out.
Alejandra checked her watch. “Ezekiel, Clarissa, heal everyone, and then we’ve got to go.”
Out of nowhere, Grizzizzik started laughing. They turned toward the rogue, who gripped his shoulder, a pained smile on his face. Alejandra was worried about his mental state. “It’s been great seeing you all. I’m excited to go celebrate with you back in our cave outside town limits.” Alejandra frowned, about ready to ask Grizzizzik what he was talking about when his voice dropped. “Everyone get in the car now. We heal back at home.”
There was something about the quiet, urgent way Grizzizzik said that. She rarely saw the rogue unnerved, and it usually had something to do with…
Alejandra glanced toward the houses, frowning.
“Don’t look. Get in. Now.” Grizzizzik was already stumbling toward Derek’s car.
Alejandra didn’t wait. She tried to get in the car, pretending she wasn’t nervous. She climbed inside, buckling her seatbelt as Hraktar and Ezekiel slid in the back.
Rafael wasted no time getting in. Alejandra’s eyes lingered on Clarissa supporting Milo, healing him with mana as she helped him into the back of Derek’s car. By the time he was in there, he got seven more hit points added to his count. Grizzizzik still looked dazed and struggled with blood loss as Rafael pulled out onto the street and headed in a direction that wasn’t home. Derek went a different way.
The bodies of the enormous snake and spider were off to the side of the street when she saw the outline of a smaller snake slither to the middle of the road. Alejandra’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the smaller snake lift his body, distinctly human arms folded.
A terror she never felt before slammed into her chest. Akshi could do whatever he wanted. They barely survived Shelob and Bassie. They were seriously injured. He watched them fighting and did nothing. What was he planning? Or did they just manage to escape a trap he set?
Akshi watched them leave, and Alejandra tried to understand the implications.
“Does he know who we are?” she asked.
Rafael glanced at the rearview mirror. “There’s a good possibility.”
She didn’t want to go to school on Monday. She kept an eye on Akshi, standing there in the middle of the road, disappearing from sight once Rafael turned the car down a different street. With trembling hands, she opened her text to Tyler.
Battle is done. I think we’re okay. Akshi might have watched the whole thing.
She waited for Tyler to respond. It didn’t take long before her phone vibrated with Tyler’s incoming call.
“Alejandra?” he asked once she picked up. “Tell me everything.”