Charlie Murderpaws Endeavour was not happy. Myles had come home to find a broken auto feeder, a full and stinking litter tray and an extra poo in one of his shoes. A shoe that would be getting burned in the back garden.
“I said I was sorry Charlie, I got home as quickly as I could.” said Myles doing his best to placate his furry charge.
Apologies were met with yowls of displeasure. A substantial tribute of chicken would be required for this outrage. Charlie granted Myles a fantastic view of his arsehole before parking himself on the arm of the sofa opposite, making sure he was in full plain view but pointedly facing away from his human.
“ouch“ said Myles to himself, shouldering the rebuke as only an experienced cat parent could.
Llex had advised Myles to eat and drink plenty. This advise manifested as Myles sticking a heroic amount of chicken into the oven albeit with a few bits left unseasoned for the cat. Anything green or looking like it might contain some kind of vitamin was plundered from the fridge, chopped and was awaiting a stir fry once the poultry was done. For some reason Charlie was much less interested in bell peppers and carrots than he was the chicken. Beer had not been prescribed by Llex, but Myles figured he deserved one after the night he had. Technically weekend thanks to what Cerulean Sweets special cheat to win button he had up his sleeve.
“Llex, how would I counter a stasis lock if I come up against one again?”
“I think there has been a Trigger user or two in the past who had a natural immunity, but those were more the exception than the rule. I think your best bet is not get into fights where stasis locks could be deployed.”
Myles made a mental note to cut the power to these places ahead of time, he made a second mental note to learn how to cut the power to places like that in the first place. He marked it on the big whiteboard he had set up in the living room next to a town map and a pile of highlighter pens.
“I’ll admit I’m a little surprised. John would be running around picking fights with whatever beastie he came across right now.” said Llex
“John is both strong and his experience outweighs mine by… centuries? Myles le the question hang.
“Sounds about right yes.” Confirmed Llex
“I on the other hand have all of ten minutes experience and while I might have been on the temporal naughty step for a couple of days to me it was barely three hours ago I survived a parade of fairy horrors to find my prize for winning that particular shitshow was getting cockslapped around a mini golf course by a reclusive billionaire with super powers. So what do I do? Go out and get myself killed thanks to a stupid mistake because I’m wrung out, letting the fae turn the town into an all you can eat buffet. Or, hope for the best and rest up while making an actual plan so I don’t die fighting an insurmountable horde of eldritch abominations.”
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“So this is what it’s like to work with someone sensible.” Mused Llex “Did you know he once refused help from someone because they clashed with his outfit.”
Myles found that sadly believable.
Munching through the huge plate of chicken and vegetables Myles took time between mouthfuls to circle another location on the town map.
“So, the harvest site at the old quarry, the park, the Arkwright & Fletcher construction site, the abandoned warehouse district and weirdly the town centre. Have I missed any?” Myles asked Llex
“Seems you got it covered. Based on pre-existing weak spots those are where we are likely to see the buggers writing in. said Llex.
Myles stared at the map as he shovelled more food into his mouth barely staving off the animal hunger he had felt growing, it was nearly as bad as when he first bonded with his Trigger. There was no spacial pattern to the marked sites. Maybe some thematic link existed, but it was one could not grasp yet. He picked the highlighter pen back up and drew what he thought was the most optimal route to cover all of the sites.
“This should take me through all those sites ending up at the Harvest site. if I can keep them enraged I can maybe kite them there, taking some out was I go to keep it manageable.” Myles said.
“That does seem like the optimal solution.” agreed Llex
Myles knew he would be playing the numbers game. His plan was to patrol and take out as many fae as possible while making himself bait to draw in strays to the harvest site. This way, he was maximising his efforts. It was the most efficient way of keeping casualties low for the duration of the towns time stuck in the turn. But, it was it was cold, it was planned and would leave little room for deviating. there would be little opportunity to react to random attacks. Myles could jet allover town trying to put out fires, that might make him feel more of a hero, but it would result in increased life loss over time. The gnawing pit in myles’ gut had nothing to do with the hunger he was feeling from the boosted healing earlier. He had always been pragmatic and he knew deep down he could not save everyone, but that realisation still tasted bitter.
Myles finished his food and fell into his old habit of checking all of the locks in the house. His sleep would be disturbed enough without home security playing on his mind too. A big part of him wanted to dash out into the night and start fighting. But that would be folly, he needed rest. Myles collapse onto his bed and fell sound asleep. Charlie Murderpaws though still pissed off at his human for the extended absence was not unkind. He would not leave him unprotected so he settled on the end of the bed to deter any would be predators.
The screaming was intense and Sandra Bright did not care for it. But she saw it as her duty to endure. She had dealt with her own pain earning her first upgrade, a reward for the success of the harvest and the potential future bounty the turn could bring. But Cerulean Sweet had lost his arms, one completely missing and the other might as well have been cut off to for all the good it did hanging there. Damaged upgrades were picked out, one limb reattached and the other regrown. Some material would need to be burned up to power the healing but there was nothing to be done. The Luminary could not be weak. No one thought less of Cerulean Sweet for his screams, the regeneration process they had reverse engineered was hideously painful, it was one of the areas they had not fully mastered just yet. Part of her felt guilty, his injury was a result of her grudge against Myles Endevour, but the Luminary had not seen it that way, he had applauded her on recognising the threat he posed. Sandra Bright had considered him a nuisance at best, nothing more than something to be played with and disposed off as she saw fit. She recalled the feeling of sorry as bright crimson sheared through Cerulean Sweet’s arms. Myles Endevour turned the powerful man into a cripple in milliseconds. In the end she had not even needed to make the call to activate the turn protocol, Cerulean Sweet had done that himself. A Fairy Trigger alone inside a turn, the amount of fae he would have to fight over the next few weeks… no one could survive those odds. Granted no one else would survive either. But it meant that as soon as reality clicked back into place armed Sweetbright could dive in and collect remains and kill off the stragglers. The future was looking very profitable.