Sally slashed with her sword as she turned to the side, narrowly avoiding the large tongue of the shop mimic as it struck the earth. Why she had drawn the aggro of the Monster out of all of them was beyond her. Despite Poppy’s best attempts to attract the opponent away, it hadn’t sought to try to eat any of her Party.
Even the annoying bard, who had taken to playing a…
She scowled as she slid across the dirt. “Is that a kazoo? I oughta feed you to the-” The mimic interrupted her threat as it powered toward her again. Dirt churned at the edges as it slid toward her like an ungainly slug. Maybe it was because she could see past its disguise.
What made things worse was the fact that Cross was still prone in the grass. He had crawled forward slightly with his dagger, but seemed unable to right himself. Worrying, as she had to make sure he didn’t get squished in the collateral.
Before playing his infernal instrument, Kristov had put a bolt into the large pot mimic that had been outside of the shop. It had cracked, but the projectile had stopped within the body of the Monster as if it was just flesh beyond the thin outer layer. Not dead, but it had taken a backseat in the combat as everyone focused on the bigger threat.
Perhaps that was the answer to one of her problems…
“Poppy, tag it!”
The knight lashed forward with her lance skill, striking the mimic in the side. Wood and plaster splintered and split as dark blood oozed from the side of the faux building. Sally leaped over the tongue as it slid through the grass toward her. Landing into a roll, she immediately sprinted off at an angle.
There the little goober was. As the mimic turned to face her, anger flaring in its lantern-eyes at the attack from the knight, Sally scooped the goblin up into her arms. With a full-circled twist, she spun and launched her sword towards the mimic like a thrown dagger. A rumbled growl came from the Monster’s mouth as the right lantern burst from the impact, sending a splatter of dark gore across the shop front instead of the expected flame.
Dagger spun up into her hand and she hit [Chain] on the smaller mimic trying to play catch-up. With no way of stopping itself against the ground, the ceramic pot zipped across the grass right toward her.
A quick lash of her blade and the top of the mimic smashed and sprayed blood across her. She dumped the goblin inside, and then looked up just in time to see the shop swinging for her. Two slim arms had now grown from the side windows.
[Dent: Two minute warning.]
[Dent: Try not to move much.]
She waved the notifications away, but the damage was done. Long tongue jabbed at her, knocking her back like a spear. Not sharp enough to pierce through her armor, but as she toppled to the ground, it certainly felt like cracked ribs.
As a heal rolled through her, Kristov played a couple of sad notes on his kazoo.
“Bard,” she growled, trying to find her feet. “I’m about to shove that kazoo right up your-”
----------------------------------------
“Ass!” Theo took a few steps back, wobbling. “So sorry, Borin. Mania is making me sloppy.”
The giant held a hand up to his head, a line of fresh blood emerging from the wound and sticking to his fingers. “You are like a pesky gnat, always buzzing in my ears. It’s getting difficult to keep up with you.”
Theo put the head of the warhammer to the floor and leaned on the handle. “You’re not holding back on me, are you?”
“No.” Borin shook his hand out and picked his mace back up from the floor. “You have ten seconds to finish me off, otherwise I’ll heal back up.”
“Oh, in that case.” The vampire turned around and went to sit on the stairs. Getting comfortable, he leaned back and put his hands behind his head.
“Why are you toying with me? Can you not finish the job?”
“Eh.” Theo rolled his eyes. “We’ve had this conversation like ten times. I’m not going to kill you. Why are you so eager to die?”
There were a few moments of silence before the giant responded. “I tire of this existence. Being a pawn where combat is my only purpose. I’d rather face the infinite void than stand here missing all the things I used to cherish in my old life.”
“Sigh.” Theo exhaled through his nose. “It’s only because my lack of sleep has loosened my lips, but let me let you in on a secret.” He sat up straight and furrowed his brow.
“Okay…” The giant stared at him blankly, expecting the information to come without his input.
“Okay. Oh, ah - yeah. So… I’m going to rescue you from this place.”
Borin raised an eyebrow, putting his weapons to the side. “Rescue?”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“I’m not supposed to say in case I mess this up and you’re left here with more things to be sad about. But if possible, you’ll be coming back to my world.”
“Oh. So the farming questions…”
Theo nodded. “You seem like a nice enough chap, given the circumstances. We haven’t had a Player from another world join our System before, but if you want that kind of life then we have all sorts of job opportunities.”
The giant stood in silence for a moment before sitting down on the floor. Placing his weapons on the white tile, he put his chin in his hands and looked back at the vampire. “This is not a trick?”
A slow shake of the head was the only given response.
“There would be no requirement to fight?”
“No.” Theo smiled. “Live as you please. You’ll be our first non-human Player. It’s quite interesting.”
“You have not seen a giant before?”
“I have, although they are System-created. I’m… not sure if we have any Unique giants - but I can guarantee you that you wouldn’t face discrimination for being different.”
Borin snorted. “Your paradise has no prejudice? I find that hard to believe… then again, if a vampire and zombie are some of the chosen ambassadors for the world.”
Theo grinned and pushed his glasses up. “Well, people are people. I find they change their tune after you kill them with kindness. After killing them a couple of times the normal way, at least.”
“Better than being here and doing nothing but fight forever.” Borin stretched his back out and relaxed. “For what it is worth, blood-drinker, you have been the most interesting and pleasant combatant cursed to be pitched against me. Even if your words hold no weight… thank you.”
“Psh.” He shook his head and leaned back on the stairs. “Sounds like you need a sleep. I’m done gaining power. You want to just hang out until our fates are decided?”
“Hang out?” The giant grunted and looked around. “Very well, Theo. Let us wait and see.”
Theo didn’t reply, as he had already fallen asleep.
----------------------------------------
Sally wiped the blood and mimic drool from her eyes. This was getting exhausting. Being a near amorphous lump in the shape of a shop, the Monster didn’t really suffer much from the damage they had currently afflicted. Her curse was slowing it, but given that it was ignoring everything aside from her and she clearly didn’t put enough points into cardio… she was already at the limit of her patience.
She wasn’t too sure if Kristov talking or playing his instrument was worse. She was even less sure if the musical accompaniment was doing anything other than annoying her. Perhaps that was the point.
Over to her side, the ceramic pot mimic finally split open, and the zombie goblin stumbled out. A fire in his eyes - eating a brain was the proper fix that cured him. The happiness she felt at seeing her little snotbag all perked up was only marred by the realization that she should have a small group of zombies with her…
“When did I lose my other pals?” She cursed out into the air. Didn’t have them when freeing the bard… the previous dungeon, maybe? Did she outrun them, or did they die? How terrible of her to let them go so easily.
“Watch as I give this beast a fright, to allow our weary a brief respite.” The bard held up his kazoo and a raspy blast surged out, a flowing energy that swirled through the air and struck the mimic.
The shop deflated slightly and looked dazed.
[Poppy: Ten second stun, cancels if injured!]
Perfect. Sally rolled out her shoulders and stepped back from it a dozen steps. “Allow me to finish this once and for all.”
Her empty hand went out to face the shop as Cross stumbled over and grasped onto her leg.
“I curse you, weak creation of this failing System,” she began. “You are judged unworthy by Sally Danger - Queen of the Undead and Savior of Sanctuary. The gods smite you for standing opposed to me.”
There was a moment of silence, her eyes narrowing as she continued to hold her hand out. She slowly exhaled through her nose - Theo probably would have gotten the countdown more accurate. Give or take a second.
And then it happened. A tear opened up in the sky. Only a few feet across - but the bright green was a stark contrast to the blues and grays. With everyone’s attention to this strange phenomenon, Sally grinned.
A small object that reflected the light jettisoned from this hole, cratering down toward the ground. Just as soon as the metallic case left the tear, it sealed back up. Like an interdimensional bullet, the payload struck the mimic who was just about to leave the afflicted daze. With a large crack, the roof buckled inward and blood rocketed into the air.
All in all, not a bad show. Sally clicked her fingers as the Dungeon reward chest appeared to the side of the gurgling shop corpse. She figured Dent would be using her location to drop the care package near, so it was a little bit of luck and guesswork to assume it would land on the mimic.
Not that she would tell the impressed looking Party members.
[Poppy: Holy! What was that!!]
“That,” she said, “is a special bit of something from my home world. That I am only now realizing I will have to dig out of the big mushy corpse there.”
“Isn’t that kind of your thing?” Claude asked, a wry smile at the edge of his mouth.
She rolled her eyes and shook Cross away from her leg so that she could go retrieve whatever it actually was. Something more useful than a whole Humphrey, was her hope. Rolling out her neck, she put her feet on the lower window frame, only briefly annoyed that it was soft and sticky. A few handholds up the broken shop exterior, and then she slid down into the crater formed in its head.
A metal case, just as she thought. Same looking material as the Death Knight’s armor or Theo’s coffin. Not that there was any question of where this had come from, of course. Dent had given her a… oh, he was messaging again.
[Dent: Looks like it delivered fine?]
[Dent: Let us know if any issues, oddities, etc?]
[Sally: Will do!]
With a grunt, she dragged it back out to the edge of the roof and chucked it down to the ground - only barely missing the goblin who looked to be anxiously waiting for her return. With the grace of a cat she hopped back down off the Monster, only almost falling into a puddle of bile and mimic slobber.
“Are those your friends from the grave?” Kristov asked, pointing down the way. “Only they don’t want to return my wave.”
She scowled at the posturing bard before looking back behind her. A small group of very slowly shuffling zombies was on their way over. They’d need a good talking to when she was done.
[Poppy: What’s in the box? ^^]
Sally popped the seal and opened it up. A hiss and waft of smoke waved over her, reminding her of the Chance Boxes she used to pale at back in Sanctuary.
Hand went in and then withdrew, holding a familiar blade.
“This is how we unlock my true potential,” she said with a wide grin. “Using my [Skeleton Key]! Isn’t that right, Cross?”
The short zombie stumbled into the metal box and looked up at her.
“Puh,” he replied.