Chapter 65: Too Much Trouble.

“Jane. Jane! Come on baby don’t pout.”

She turned around. Her face so red that it seemed like she might burst like a ripened fruit hitting the ground at any second.

She pointed an accusing finger at me. Wagging it up and down while she drew in heavy breaths through her nose. Her mouth opened and closed several times over the course of a few seconds. Her mind unable to conjure the right words even as her Symbiote changed back to the usual dress shape she liked.

“Stop, you. You! Stop calling me baby! You cheating, disingenuous, deceitful little bastard!”

I sighed despite my best efforts to keep a poker face on.

‘Damn it. Not this again.’

“Baby. Come on. You know I’d never cheat on you. How could you say that?”

“Stop! Stop trying to trick me! I remember what I saw when that psycho shared our memories around! You never loved me! All you wanted was my family’s money! And now that you’ve got superpowers, you’re going out there and chasing random sluts off the streets!”

It took a lot of self-control to keep myself from cringing at her comments. Not just because they were true, but because of the wave of fear striking out from the pit of my stomach.

‘Come on Jane. Get a hold of yourself for (Prudence)’s sake! If Slab or Dusty catch you calling him a psycho, they’ll tear you a new (Prudence)hole. An they’ll follow up with me as soon as they’re done.’

Granted, Dusty and him were having their own share of relationship troubles, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think I was safe just yet. That happy go-lucky attitude had gotten me deep-fried on a different timeline. I wasn’t about to make that mistake again. Paranoia was the best ally I had down here. That and the other’s general tendencies for social ineptitude.

I took another deep breath as I prepared my answer and let it loose just as she was turning around to leave.

“Jane. You know that’s not true. That woman was a reporter. She was doing her job after we saved that school-bus full of children. I mean, just think about it for a second. She had a microphone and that big puffy hairstyle and that camera crew trailing behind her. Do you honestly think I would have been flirting with her right then and there? In the middle of a busy intersection that, may I remind you, was literally on fire?”

“Stop lying to me!” She demanded. Stomping her feet like a child and making me cringe with irritation.

“I saw the way she was looking at you! I saw the way she was clinging to you too! You didn’t push her away or anything! You were totally giving her the look!”

‘Yeah, because I wanted to get some good PR in case we ever wound up coming back. That’s the whole point of [Alluring Presence] and [Entrancing Gaze]. To work the crowds to your advantage without spending Psy.’

I thought back to how useful it had been during that robbery last week and during the hostage negotiation yesterday. [Puppet Sentient] and [Friendship] had been potent enough, but they could only target a single person at a time and at ruinous Psy costs to boot. In contrast, the presence and gaze abilities were both passives that could also affect large groups at once. Add in a touch of [Friendship] in cases where their effects didn’t kick in fast enough and you had an easy out that applied in almost any situation.

Better yet, affected people didn’t get the sense of panic and disquiet that they got when you used [Puppet Sentient]. Meaning you could get away with almost anything and they’d end up thanking you for passing by and being to nice to be around.

The only downside was that their effects weakened the stronger a target was. Meaning that Jane was no longer feeling it as she used to, now that she was catching up in levels.

‘No, actually, there was that other annoyance too.’

Solomon, that (Prudence)ing monster, had come back from killing a kaiju or whatever with a merged ability that was leagues ahead of mine. I mean, it wasn’t even close. Just looking at him for a few minutes at a time made people forget about how much of an unstable psychopath he actually was; to the point where even I had begun having second thoughts about him.

That, by itself, would have been bad enough, but nooooo. That freak just had to go on and babble about his new experiences with anyone that cared to listen. Meaning the others I’d been slowly winning back had begun putting themselves on guard whenever we passed each other or gathered around to eat.

“Jane. Sweetie. I would never give another woman any kind of look.”

I approached her and took one of her hands in mine own.

“I love you. Okay? You’re the only one for me and that will never change. I can’t help it if other people sneak in a few glances now and then. I mean, just look at how popular you were back home. How many other boys wanted you because of how beautiful and elegant and nice you were. I never said anything then. Instead, I worked harder so that I could be good enough for you. Because you are my everything Jane. Now and forever.”

I took a small risk then. Using the smallest hint of [Friendship] on her to seal the deal.

It worked.

Her rage faltered somewhat and her face softened.

I searched my fog at once. Checking to see if any other Telepaths were within a few dozen metres. Thankfully, the only ones nearby were Ramon and Stellio and they were both stumbling out of the bar like the wastes of skin that they were.

I closed the distance with Jane and pressed my lips to hers. Infusing the touch with more [Friendship].

I felt the tension washing out of her within a single heartbeat. Her hands wrapping themselves around my waist as we both lost ourselves on the kiss.

When we separated, her face had lost all of the anger she’d been holding. Those annoying emotions having been replaced with a cute blush that set my heart aflutter.

“Okay.” She whispered softly. “I’ll believe you. This one time. But I better not catch you getting close to other girls.”

“Jane. You’re hurting me with those words. I would never leave you for someone else.”

‘Not as long as we’re trapped down here anyway. Breakups are messy enough when either party can run to the ends of the earth. I’d rather not see what happens down here where you can’t walk five minutes away from the psycho’s range without running into a twisted abomination or three.’

I felt a twinge of bitterness for a second there. Softly cursing my parents for urging me on at every step of the way.

If it were any other girl, I might have been able to wrangle them and Louise into some, group activities. But Jane was so needy and attention-hungry that she’d blow a fuse if I ever suggested it. Meaning I couldn’t patch things up with Louise in any meaningful way.

‘Damn them. Damn Solomon. Damn Prudence. Damn them both. (Prudence)ing psychopaths to a fault. Getting in my business when its no concern of theirs.’

There was nothing for it though. Prudence was strong, popular, beautiful, and worst of all, a mind-reader like me. I couldn’t afford to go picking fights, lest she take a closer interest in my life.

As for Solomon…

I shivered just from thinking about it.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘Perhaps I should be thankful that he’s an annoying moralist deep down. I can’t imagine being a mindless puppet for the rest of my life would have been any fun.’

No. Any kind of payback would have to wait until this Randall was dealt with on a more permanent basis. Alongside with whomever this Anezka woman was. After that, I could take my time and merge [Alluring Presence] and [Entrancing Gaze] together with [Friendship].

Only then would I be able to make any kind of comeback.

‘Just you wait you crazy freaks. I’ll show you what happens when you mess with me. I’ll show you all.’

I paused as soon as the thoughts went through my head. Dispelling them with all the willpower I could summon.

‘That was reckless. Too reckless. [Block Mental Detection] and [Block Mental Attack] aren’t foolproof. Control yourself Ryan. Don’t get yourself killed on a slip up.’

“Ryan?” Jane asked, worriedly. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course, baby. Everything’s fine.” I lied through my teeth. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find something to eat.”

Space warped around us at that moment. Releasing other fellow survivors in a burst of shimmering light.

There, in front of us, were Jacob, Prudence, Kaito, Olga, Gina and… Louise. Her body still shifted into that snarling werewolf form she liked so much.

Her big yellowed eyes took me in a second faster than those of her peers. Paying close attention at the way my hands were intertwined with Jane’s.

Then she snorted and went over to the cafeteria with the rest of her new team.

I was about to turn the other way when Jane stopped me.

“Ryan? I thought we were going to get something to eat? I’m starving.”

‘Holy (Prudence). Read the room.’

But of course, I couldn’t say that, so I smiled and led her to the benches were the others were buying pizzas in bulk from the fridge store.

Kaito hooted like some hooligan. One hand holding onto a slice of extra cheese and pepperoni while another hand fist-bumped Jacob. The other man didn’t even look his way. His eyes glued to a series of devices he and Prudence had been carrying in their arms.

I squinted at it. Taking in the slightly dented steel shell and the red colouring. The bright tubes and what they were connected to.

“Is that a, generator?”

“It sure is!” Olga smirked. “And yes. That other thing is a TV.”

“I know what a TV is.” I answered. Trying very hard to keep the sarcasm off my face.

“Where did you get this?”

“From a hardware store. Duh.”

“No, I meant… uhg. How did you pay for it? Don’t tell me you stole it.”

“Hey!” Prudence barked back. “Don’t you insinuate anything about my group Mr. Dingleberry.”

“Ryan Perry. I’ll ask that you don’t stoop to playground insults. Thank you very much.”

“And I’ll ask you to stop being such an (Gnome), Mr. Dingleberry. Leave me and my team alone. We got these babies as rewards. Fair and square. The owner gifted them to us.”

“In exchange for not burning down his store?”

Prudence thought about cutting my arm off and that was enough. I leapt backwards as my heart burst into motion. Thundering inside my ribs with the fury of a thousand suns. Sweat pooling on my forehead and falling down my face as my hands tightened into fists and my legs started to shake.

She only stood there, smirking.

“What’s wrong Mr. Dingleberry? Peeking into other people thoughts again? Hasn’t anyone told you its rude? Even Sully’s been trying to avoid it you know and he’s got a massive range.”

I cursed her inside my mind, but said nothing.

Jane took my arm in hers soon thereafter. Not caring about the looks that Louise was shooting our way.

“Don’t pick on Ryan. He was just making sure none of you had committed any crimes. He was looking out for you.”

“Oh yeah?” Prudence asked. Some small amount of smugness visible on her face. “And how do you figure that?”

“Easy.” Jane answered cooly. “All you have to do is imagine what Sully would do if he thought some of us had turned into supervillains.”

The entire hall went deathly quiet. Everyone from this lot, to the others coming and going to and from the showers, the dorms, the bar and the sparring arena shutting up with a speed that would have been unthinkable to any outsiders not familiar with the subject at hand.

Jane didn’t stop there however. She pointed an accusatory finger at Gina and kept speaking.

“You there. You were from a crime family, weren’t you? You and Esmeralda. How do you justify the things they did?”

‘Oh (Prudence). Shut up Jane. Shut your (Prudence)ing mouth before you get yourself stabbed in a tunnel somewhere.’

Of all the people she could have picked a fight with, Gina was perhaps the third worst. Trailing behind Dusty and Solomon. She’d been one of the last people to be rescued from gnomes, meaning she’d had the luxury of being blasted with [Insight] for longer than the rest of us since Solomon had been able to regenerate his entire pool. It was to the point where she had three Types instead of the usual two here in the Warehouse.

She held Enhancer, Shifter, and Telepath. All three almost at level 50. A fight here, or anywhere else for that matter, wouldn’t go Jane’s way.

‘What is she thinking? Does she actually think she stands a chance? Oh. No. Don’t tell me she thinks I’m going to step in for her.’

If she did, she was about to be sorely disappointed.

I stared at Gina. Hoping against hope that [Alluring Presence] and [Entrancing Gaze] were about to pull off a miracle.

No such luck.

Gina was halfway there between being outraged and mortified. Her face twisting in ways I hadn’t thought possible for a human being.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about princess.” She finally hissed through gritted teeth. “I can’t be held responsible for what my folks did.”

“Oh? Then what about the things that you did? Huh? What about those stores that you held up at gunpoint?”

Jane thought she had Gina on the ropes. Meanwhile, everyone else in the Warehouse was glaring at her in a manner that suggested gruesome murder was imminent. In all honesty, I couldn’t blame them. Out of all the rules we had, not using that freak as a weapon was right up there with ‘Don’t murder’. It was just one of those things that all of us could agree on.

Solomon was unstable at the best of times. If he were to somehow lose more of his marbles…

“Baby, let’s go somewhere else.”

“No Ryan. We are not going to go somewhere else. These (Gnome) were making fun of you for asking a very good question. So, now they get to answer my own questions. I’ll repeat myself just in case they didn’t hear me. Gina. What about those stores that you held up at gunpoint?”

“That’s all in the past.” Gina said. Sweating bullets as she did so. “I’m a new person now. Completely non-violent.”

“Is that so? Then I guess you won’t mind telling Sully what you did to get that TV.”

“What TV?” A voice asked from the dorm entrance.

All of us held our breaths. Even Jane, who was rearing up for yet another verbal lashing.

My head turned. Ever so slowly. Towards Solomon.

He looked like death. His usual astronaut suit having transformed into a stark-white suit. One that was missing the shoes for some reason.

His posture was, oddly stiff. As if he wasn’t truly in control of his body, but rather, possessed by some kind of malevolent spirit.

Moreover, his hands…

One of them was holding tightly to his weapon. The Slasher of Veils. Only, it had transformed back into a knife. A skinning knife.

And that wasn’t the only strange thing about him. His eyes…. They seemed, empty. Not looking at anything in particular while staring out into the distance. Until they landed on me.

The look he gave me almost made me (Prudence) my pants.

“Hello Ryan.” He said, in a monotone voice.

That was enough for most of the onlookers to begin retreating. Shuffling nervously back to wherever they’d come from.

“Peachy. Stop.” He said. Maintaining that flat, detached tone.

I chanced a glance at the merchant and found that she appeared to be as terrified as me. Somehow.

“Peachy. Answer my question. Can you merchants trade items among yourselves?”

“Yes.” She squeaked.

“Even through different Tutorial instances?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Now tell me. Can we, the students, trade items among ourselves through different Tutorial Instances? Can we travel to other Tutorial Instances?”

“Not without a trading token or a difficulty transfer token.”

“I see. And, would you happen to sell those tokens?”

“No. They would have been rewards for, random events. The kind that take place after the second cycle.”

Solomon nodded slowly. Turning to her.

“Very well. In that case, I will need something from you, Peachy. I will need you to trade something to one, Granny Golden.”

His empty eyes turned to me.

“Say, Ryan. Do you happen to have a sister named… Patricia?”

‘(Prudence)!!!! (Prudence)! (Prudence)! (Prudence)! (Prudence)!!!!!! What the (Prudence)! Pat!? What the (Prudence) did you do!?’

“I had a dream, Ryan. One where I was running from a… specter from my past. For what felt like an eternity. Then, I had a vision. Of my best friend Henry, in the Novice difficulty Tutorial. Your, sister. She was there. Organizing a mob in order to hurt him. Accusing him of many things. Many terrible things I know he did not do. She, your sister, that is, managed to get one of the teachers there on her side. A gnome.”

‘OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!!!! (Prudence) ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pat!!!!! WHAT THE (Prudence)!!!!!!’

There was a deep and terrible darkness in Solomon’s eyes. An abyss that seemed to swallow all happiness and mirth. Those pale blue orbs were staring into me. Into my very soul.

My own eyes were unable to look away. Taking in more and more details.

Such as the ethereal waves of nothingness washing off of him. The small murmurs that echoed out from around his person. The foul smell of burning tar that emanated from the places where his feet touched the floor. The way his hands were dripping unreal illusions of blood that disappeared before each droplet touched the stones below.

The strength he put into his grip. As he held the knife.

“I… I’m not in a good place right now, Ryan. I didn’t get much sleep and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to sleep again. What’s more. I’m close to losing Henry. Someone I’ve known and cared about since forever. Someone who’d always been there for me. I… I don’t think I could bear it, Ryan. I don’t think my heart could take it.”

His shadow lengthened. Until it stretched up the wall behind him and into the ceiling. Small motes of black light splintered off from the main shadow then. Dancing and waving their misshapen arms in wanton ecstasy.

At the same time, all the knives stored in the kitchen flew up as if drawn from a hundred different hands. Landing tip first on the rough stone floor behind me and spinning in place. Faster and faster. Making sounds akin to nails on a chalkboard.

It was then, that a familiar warmth spread through the front of my pants.

“I think I need to, communicate better. Ryan. I think I need Peachy to send a message to your sister. Come. Let us, talk in private.”

My eyes locked on to the knife and then to his eyes. His deep, weary, terrible eyes.

And that warmth spread to the back of my pants, as well as the front.