With the four of them fighting, plus all of their skills, from Valeria’s ashen Pompei warriors to Hiro’s demon cats, they made quick work of the Spectators outside of the McDonalds, each receiving fifty SE. Continuing on, they reached the back of the One World Trade Center, which opened up onto an outdoor shopping mall near the Hudson River.
The fights continued, the group facing a group of strong Spectators again, who rewarded a hundred SE a pop. The first one they took down was easy enough, especially with Hiro and Samuel able to meet the Spectator’s bladed attacks with their own weapons while Rena and Valeria provided support.
“There’s another couple of wankers ahead,” Samuel said as he turned toward a memorial. The spectators rushed toward them, Hiro able to land a few debuffs with {Kiss or Slap}. He continually tried {Thoughts and Prayers} with each new wave of fighters, yet it was getting to the point that it felt like he was casting the skill out of spite.
Thunk!
Valeria took one out that had appeared on a rooftop. The direct shot brought the Spectator down to the streets below, killing her instantly. Without a ranged weapon and the ability to fight, Rena mostly stayed back, but she did manage to ignite a Spectator that rushed out of an alley prepared to attack Valeria with her fire ant hands.
“Thanks!” Valeria called to her as she used her Heelys to scale up the side of a building and get a better sniping position.
She continued to lay down cover fire as Hiro and Samuel fought. Hiro felt like he should be exhausted by this point, yet his boosted Stamina held strong, as he alternated between his normal attacks and the Bleed-causing reverse grip.
“A couple things,” Hiro told the group once they gathered near a pier, the Statue of Liberty once again visible in the distance yet far enough away that it hadn’t tried to attack them. He produced his metal bottle of Doom System Go Juice.
“What the hell is that?” Valeria asked Hiro.
“It will increase all of our stats by one point. It’s usable four times. There are four of us.”
“Bloody right,” Samuel said. “What’s the look on your face?”
“The stuff is foul,” Hiro told him. “I haven’t tried it yet, but it stinks.”
“I reckon.” The Australian pointed ahead, further down the pier, where more Spectators had just landed. “Shall we?”
“Let’s get them!” Bianca shouted as she pinwheeled off Hiro’s arm and bound toward the Spectators.
They battled their way through the next group and the next, Hiro getting even more comfortable fighting as part of a team. There was a cadence to it that he understood better as he moved in and out of the melee, sometimes commanding Hachi to do the same, oftentimes letting the dog do whatever it wanted.
The prompt came a little bit later as they finished off a powerful Spectator wielding a pair of greataxes.
Level up!
You have new followers!
Hiro kept fighting until they had defeated the weaker Spectators as well, the remnants of their explosive attacks causing the area to fill with smoke.
His phone buzzed. Once he was sure he was safe, Hiro crouched to check the message from his Companion.
Information flashed before him and he blinked through it.
Hiro Johnson
Level Nine
Current Title: Wolf Ronin of Wall Street
Interim Performance Grade: B-
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
STR: 1.9 [+1 Roulette Boost]
STA: 2.8 [+2 Roulette Boost]
DEX: 1.8 [+1 Roulette Boost]
REG: 1.8 [+1 Roulette Boost]
MIND: 2.6 [+2 Roulette Boost)
“Got a level,” Hiro called to the others as he slipped his phone away.
“I did too earlier,” Samuel said, “But I haven’t checked it yet.” He took his phone out of a pocket stitched into his cloak. “Not… what I was expecting.”
“What’s up?” Rena asked.
“Um, did any of you all take a look at the timer?”
Hiro, Rena, and Valeria all got their phones out at the same time.
“What the shit?” Valeria’s eyes bulged. “Less than an hour.”
“Not at the way it’s ticking,” Samuel said.
“How?”
Hiro squinted at the numbers. Time, at least time according to the countdown on their phones, had sped up dramatically.
“I don’t understand,” Rena said.
“The Doom System plays by its own rules,” Valeria told her. “And we suffer because of it.”
Hiro froze up. He wanted to scream, he wanted to throw his phone, but he knew the only way to eventually deal with the Doom System, if that were even possible, would be to comply.
He stood there for a moment, dumbfounded as Samuel’s eyes darted left and right, the Australian doing math in his head.
“It’s counting down at ten-X speed. That would mean we have around five minutes to reach the gate.” The Australian looked back in the direction of the gate just as a few more Spectators appeared. “Christ. It’s going to be a sprint to the finish, isn’t it?”
“Rena, on my back,” Valeria told her partner. “I can get us there.”
Hiro whistled for Hachi and scooped the dog into his arms. Hachi nipped at him once, but eventually relaxed. By this point, Samuel was already bounding toward the Spectators that stood between them and reaching the gate in time. He collided with the first, providing an opening for Valeria and Rena to zip past.
Behind them, and with Bianca yelling all sorts of crazy shit about how she wanted to stay and fight, Hiro jumped to the nearest rooftop. He surged forward from there, hit another roof, and continued even as a Spectator with a giant scythe pursued him.
I have to make it, he thought, only to remember the idea he’d earlier in his fallout shelter. What if the gate opening is a trap? What if all of this is a ploy from the Doom System to lure us in and do something terrible?
Ask the right questions, Hiro reminded himself once he landed on a roof near the gate, which hovered above the streets below, growing brighter than normal. What’s the worst that could happen when the gates open?
“Don’t say I never did anything for you!” Bianca jumped off Hiro’s back, sent her tentacles out and slammed into the face of the pursuing Spectator, killing her instantly.
Hiro peered down to the streets below and saw a man made of metal rushing toward the gate. “Is that… Juan?”
He jumped down, his sudden appearance surprising the Puerto Rican, who swiveled like he was going to tackle him. “Hiro? ¡Puñeta!” Juan lowered his baseball bat as he looked up at the hovering gate. “Where are the others?”
“Almost here. You survived?”
Juan fistbumped Hiro, his knuckles still metal. “I did, amigo. Teleported to Queens. I used to live over there, though, so I knew how to get back.”
Valeria appeared, Rena on her back. “You’re here,” Rena said as soon as she was down. She approached Juan and gave him a hug. “And Samuel?” she asked Hiro.
“He’ll be here.” Hiro got out his phone to check the time. Just two minutes, now. “Guys.” Once no one responded, the three too busy discussing their portaling he spoke again, louder this time: “Guys. We may have a problem.”
“What’s that?” Valeria asked.
“What if this is a trap? Some sort of trick?” Hiro looked up at the gate, his nerves tingling.
“A trap?” Juan, whose metal features had begun to fade, slowly tilted his chin up at the hovering gate. “You think?”
“The last three days have been dedicated to being here when the timer ends,” Rena said. “We’re here, the timer is finishing.”
He took a big step back and placed Hachi on the ground, the dog’s tail tucking between his legs as more Survivors approached, faces he didn’t recognize. Hiro paid little attention to them, his focus entirely on the three people he trusted and what they may have to say.
“Maybe you’re right,” Valeria finally told him. She also took a step back. “Rena?”
“What? No. I think we’re fine. We’ve done it. We made it.”
“What did I miss?” Samuel said as he landed, the cloaked man surprising a few of the Survivors around him. “What? You all have never seen a cloaked bloke appeared out of nowhere?” He laughed and grew tense as he registered the looks on Hiro and Valeria’s faces. “What’s going on?”
“What if it’s a trap?” Hiro asked as a few more Survivors rushed toward the gate, people from all walks of life. They were all like roaches in that way, appearing out of nowhere. Some even seemed to have been camped out in nearby buildings, awaiting the gate’s opening.
“What if what’s a trap?” Samuel asked.
A flash of energy drew their attention. The Lady in the Yellow Raincoat rose from the portal just as Hiro and Samuel jumped back . “Hello,” she said, her face concealed by a veil of chainmail. “Glad I made it in time.”