“Amos? Oh, fuck! Amos!”

Lacy stood at the portal’s edge, her eyes narrowed in confusion, then widening as she saw the blood spurting across my face.

“What is it—”

“Get through the portal!” I yelled. This portal was mine, so it wouldn’t close unless I came back through a second time. But there was no way in hell I was leaving Lacy alone in the Hold.

She hesitated a second, then leaped through right before I reached her with Amos. The icy blue surface washed over us and before I could halt my momentum, I was barreling into her back.

We collapsed to the floor with shouts of pain and surprise, but I was back on my feet in an instant.

“Mama G! Where’s Mama G?”

I scanned around my Personal Space and found her lying down on my bed, an ice pack pressed against her face. She was slow to respond, so I rushed over and shook her to get her attention.

“Get off me, boy,” she grumbled, trying to slap my hands away.

I growled, hoisting her out of the bed and onto her feet in a single motion.

“Open your fucking eyes! We need the delight and now!”

She cast me a cold look, then saw Amos bleeding out on the floor. Without another word, she began swiping through the air, presumably searching her Inventory.

I turned back to Lacy while Mama G did that.

“Put pressure on the wound!”

She bent over and held her hands to his neck, the blood pooling around her fingers almost instantly.

“What happened?” Jerome asked, his voice solemn for once.

Mama G pulled the little fudge cube out of thin air and handed it to me in a rush. I was shoving it down Amos’ throat a moment later. His eyes were staring up at the ceiling, tears forming in the corners.

“His own fuckin’ pigeon did that.” Working his jaw, I helped the delight go down. The blood seeping out of his neck slowed, then stemmed entirely. I sat back on my heels with a sigh of relief.

Amos started to whisper something, but was interrupted by a coughing fit. I flinched as little bits of fudge flew toward me, then leaned in to give him a sip of water.

“What’s that?” I asked, once he’d swallowed and caught his breath.

“My Lala,” he croaked.

“Lala?” I repeated. “That’s the one that attacked you?”

His eyes came alive as the delight did its work, then began frantically scanning the room.

“Where is she? Lala?” he called out.

Lacy and I shared a worried look. We knew exactly where the pigeon was.

“She didn’t come through—” Frank started. I cut him off with a hard glare, but it was too late.

“Lala!” He tried to sit up, but I held him down with a hand on his chest.

“Amos, no.”

“Get yer feckin’ hands off me, ye cunt!” he shouted. “Lala! Lala! Daddy’s coming!”

The delight had finished its work and I’d never had known he had almost died if it weren’t for the pool of blood on my Personal Space floor. So he was fighting me with a vigor that you wouldn’t expect of an aging alcoholic. But I kept forgetting the Body Boon had given him even more Strength than my own baseline. I struggled for a moment, then ramped up my mass, boosting my Strength and Endurance to 150.

“Calm the fuck down, dude,” I grunted, pinning his arms while he bucked like a bronco. “Little help here?”

Jerome grabbed one leg while Frank and Lacy pinned the other. Lex just flapped around erratically. Amos was screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs that were increasingly becoming incoherent.

Over his shouting, I turned to address the others.

“What do we do?” I had to yell to be heard.

“Knock him out,” Jerome suggested.

As much as that appealed, that wasn’t an exact science, what with his Endurance being in the 50s. Sure, I could manage with my boosted mass. But with our stats, I didn’t know where the line between unconsciousness and brain damage stood.

Instead, I slapped him across the face.

“Oi!” Another slap. “Oi, feck off. I’m fin—” And one more for good measure.

The mass-enhanced slaps seemed to elicit some sense in the man. He stopped bucking against us, his limbs still under our weight. My palm print shined bright red against his cheek.

“Feckin’ hell, mate…that stung.”

I settled back a bit, but was ready to dive back on if he tried to make a break for the portal.

“Amos, I’m sorry, man,” I said. “I know she meant a lot to you—”

His eyes went wide and he suddenly sat up. I reacted on instinct, pinning him back down, but realized he wasn’t fighting against me.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“She’s not dead, mate. We can still save ‘er!”

“Amos…” Lacy said. “We’d be sitting ducks going back through the portal. He can see through my illusions.”

His eyes were frantic, scanning my Personal Space for a solution. Then they locked onto something over my shoulder and I turned to follow his gaze.

He was staring at the second portal standing tall in my room—the portal that led to the stairs leading up to the Second Floor of the Tower.

Lacy and I noticed at the same time and shared a look.

“Could work,” she said softly.

I sighed. “And what? Come up behind the Jree army and ask if they’ve seen any pigeons flapping around?”

“I guess I could scout,” Lex offered reluctantly.

“My Lala would’ve flown off,” Amos said in a rush, shaking his head. “She’s not like ‘em tourist pigeons, scraping about for bread crumbs like a cunt. Bet me girl’s hiding on a roof nearby.”

“Can yo-you summon her?” Frank asked.

He nodded frantically. “Two hundred meters, she’ll sense me!”

No one said anything for a moment while we weighed the options.

“Amos…” I started. “You’re asking us to risk our lives for…” I was about to say a flying rat, but that seemed crass at the moment. “For Lala.”

His shoulders slumped, and I swear there were tears forming in his eyes.

“Let me go, mate. That’s me girl.”

“We’re not letting you run into the Hold by yourself,” Lacy said.

“We’re not?” I quipped quietly, then sighed as her eyes bore into me. “I mean: we’re not.”

Amos looked up, his eyes wide.

“Mate…?”

Am I really about to go on a rescue mission for a Goddamned pigeon?

“We need to go back and warn Hiko anyway,” Lacy added. “If Craig finds them, we could have the Kaori turning against us, too.”

Shit, that actually made sense.

“Alright, but we need to be smart about this. My bond with Lex means he should be able to resist Craig. Jerome, your armor also seems to have some mental resistance built in. Amos, you need to stay way back. In fact, don’t even come through until I give you the signal.” I looked at Frank, Lacy, and Mama G. Mama G was on my bunk bed, laying against the post with her eyes closed. “You three don’t have any mental defenses, so—”

“Actually,” Lacy interrupted. Red rushed to her cheeks and she looked away. “I kinda created a new core…back in the Hold.”

My eyes went wide. “What? How?”

She bit her lip and shrugged. “I…don’t know,” she said with an embarrassed chuckle. “It just sorta happened.”

“Well, what is—”

The door to the training space opened and Athena walked in, her hair plastered to her face with sweat. We were frozen in shock at her sudden appearance and must have looked terrible.

Amos was still on the ground, a gallon of blood drenching his clothes. Mama G had a broken nose and was leaning back with eyes closed. And the rest of us were crowded around the Aussie, mostly drenched in his blood as well.

“What the f—” She suddenly bit her lip, her eyes tracking over Mama G. “Are you guys okay!”

“Jerome, honey,” Mama G said wearily. “Take the girl to my room, please.”

The temperature in the room instantly chilled. Athena’s face darkened, her eyes narrowing.

“I’m not a baby,” she said icily. “I’m not scared of a little blood.”

Mama G closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. “You still a child, girl—”

“My name’s Athena!”

The older woman’s eyes snapped open, all of her weariness gone in a flash. She took a step toward Athena, as if she were going to drag the girl out of the room herself.

“How dare you bark at—”

She stopped as I stepped in front of her, her eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms.

It was past time I did this.

“Mama G, enough. Just…enough.”

“Enough what, boy? Enough caring for her? Enough protecting her?” Her tone was acid. “All this time, you lot—” She waved her hand to indicate the group. “—been gallivanting and cavorting in that cursed Tower. Making deals with demons and false gods. Killing people like there ain’t no judgment comin’ to ya. I been here, taking care o’ her when no one else would!”

“That’s not true!” Athena yelled back. “All you do is tell me what to do, what not to do—”

I turned and held my hand out low. With my back to Mama G, I gave the girl a look that said, ‘Let me handle this. I got you.’ She pursed her lips, a scowl on her face. But she kept quiet.

Turning back to Mama G, I said, “Let’s talk in private.” I nodded toward the Personal Space hallway.

Mama G didn’t look pleased, casting one more angry look toward Athena before following me out. I stepped to the side and indicated for her to lead the way. She scowled but opened her Personal Space door. When we stepped inside, I softly closed the door behind me.

Before she could yell or scold me, I spoke quietly.

“Did I ever tell you how I found her?”

She didn’t respond immediately, so I turned to look at her. The cold look in her eyes had thawed a bit and I took that as invitation to continue.

“Some bandits tried to take me out, so I took them out first. When I was clearing out their base, I found her, tied up to a radiator. She was so scared, she couldn’t even look at me.” Mama G’s face softened even more and I could see the pity in her eyes. “You know most of that, I’m sure. What I didn’t tell you was, both her parents were there, too.” I paused, remembering the scene like it was right in front of me. “They were both dead, left to rot in the same room. Her mother—” I felt my throat tighten, but I pushed through. “Her mother’s clothes were ripped off. She was naked…”

Her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth with a hand.

“That girl has seen things that would break any other kid. But not her. Not Athena. And it’s not because she’s strong—even though she is. It’s because she has a goal, a purpose. And that purpose is to get stronger. Become so strong that no one could ever do that to her or anyone she cares about. And to do that, she needs us to let her make mistakes, let her stumble and fail and get hurt.

“She deserves more from us. She deserves more from you. More respect and more grace. We all deserve more from you—” Her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to interrupt. “—Hold on, I’m not trying to be a dick. Just…let me get out what I’m trying to say.” I paused a beat to compose my thoughts. “What I’m trying to say is, we’re risking our lives every time we go in that Tower. Not just for us, or Athena, but for all of humanity. You’ve seen it—the demons, the hostile aliens, even the Integration Guide running this entire thing. They want to eradicate us as a species. And no one is coming to save us—not angels, not God, not any higher power. It’s on us, sink or swim. Now, no one asked you to follow us in battle, kill other people, or let go of your God…But Goddammit, Mama, do you have to be so fucking caustic all the damn time?”

Oops, that one slipped out.

She crossed her arms, a sour look on her face.

“Fine, Dirk,” she said flatly. “You don’t want me around—”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“I let you talk, now it’s my turn.” She paused, then, “Maybe you be thinkin’ I’m caustic, but it be because I care. I…I lost someone once. Most important person in my world.” Her voice hitched and she cleared her throat. “I gave up on livin’, bo—Dirk. Gave up on carin’. Till I saw that li’l girl, alone, dirty, needin’ love and care. I…” She looked away uncomfortably. “I overcompensated.”

I sat back on my heels, the connection between my thoughts and my mouth completely severed.

“Mama…I, uh, I—”

“Don’t,” she interrupted with a raised hand. “Don’t need no pity nor no apologies. Believe it or not, I see what you been doing. I know you been good to that girl—good to Athena. I maybe, mighta been a little…” She looked away again.

“What, Mama?”

“Jealous, boy!” she said suddenly, whirling back. “I was jealous!”

My mouth was hanging open and I closed it with a click of my teeth. “Mama…I don’t know what to say…”

“Best you say nothin’. Pretend I said nothin’.” She looked at me now, one brow arched. “And I’ll try to be less…caustic.”

I chuckled and nodded. “Alright, Mama. We better get back or Jerome will be on my ass.”

She nodded, put a hand on my arm, and said, “Don’t swear so much, Dirk. You’re better than that.” Then she walked back into my Personal Space, leaving me stunned in place.

Was that Mama G’s first compliment…ever?

I shook myself out of my shock, following behind her.

When I entered the room, I was surprised to see everyone’s attention wasn’t on me and Mama G, but around a propped-up Byron. He saw me come in and gave me one of his stupid smiles.

“I hear Operation Flying Rat Down is a go. Let’s go save Lala!”