What Next?
It took about thirty-six hours of nearly non-stop work to get everything back from the JRB to Dallas. They even enlisted the help of other members of the guild to help load and unload everything from weapons and armor to missiles and explosives. Most of the weaponry was infantry-based, but they still found some other fun weapons that Derek promised he would teach people to use.
Feeling like a bag of warmed-over crap, Tom finally got back to his room and left others to the task of getting all the weapons sorted and cataloged. There were better people to deal with the items than himself. In total, they had also managed to bring back seventeen of the F35 jets when they found more in a storage building on the Lockheed property after Anderson mentioned that they stored some of them there before delivery. He showered and climbed into bed, falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit his pillow.
When he awoke the next morning, Tom went down to the cafeteria for some breakfast. As he entered the room he was greeted by applause from the people in the room.
"What's this all about?" Tom asked, genuinely confused about what had everyone so excited.
"They are showing appreciation for the work you did yesterday," Derek said to him as he walked over.
"But I really didn't do anything," Tom said bashfully.
"You just gave them hope for an invasion where they felt they might be severely outgunned. They have hope again." Derek explained, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"But...we lost Zach," Tom replied, feeling as if he didn't deserve the praise for what happened.
"I know. It's not easy. But this is something that happens. We will have a ceremony to honor him as we did the others. You gave them hope, though. You need to remember that." Derek tried to console him.
Tom waved awkwardly to the people applauding him as he made his way to the serving line. Charlene had made him a special breakfast as thanks for the work he was doing, and he moved to sit at a table and eat. People came up to pat him on the back or say a kind word to him as he ate. He felt as though he didn't deserve it at first, but when a child came up to him his heart melted at the words he said.
"Uncle Tom, thank you for helping to keep us safe. My momma was so scared, and you make her feel better." The small boy gave him a big hug after the thanks and Tom couldn't help but put a hand on his small back.
"You're welcome, buddy. I hope you're going to make sure you learn as much as you can so that you can grow up to protect your momma too." Tom said as he tried to hold back the overwhelming feelings.
"I'm gonna be just like you! I'll fight the bad guys and monsters too so we can all be safe!" The little boy said excitedly as he ran back to his mother.
His mother was standing behind him and smiled warmly at her son. She gave a nod to Tom and the two walked off together. Tom sat watching them leave for a moment before turning back to his food.
"I don't know how I feel about this," Tom said as he looked down at his breakfast.
"You'll get used to it. They want to show you their appreciation. It would be rude to turn them away or brush them off." Derek replied.
"I know. I'll try. What's next for now?" Tom said trying to change the subject.
"Harold was able to find a blueprint for the F35 in a vending machine and is going to take one of the jets to begin immediately working on a new fuel system. In the meantime, we will be working on training people to fly them as well as getting the weapons sorted and assigned to members of the guild. We also have the military people we brought back that need to be dealt with. Brian said he would handle the process of making sure they aren't going to stab us in the back before letting them join the guild." Derek explained.
"And what do we do?" Tom asked. "That doesn't sound like any of it needs us."
"We can spend some time leveling up. We need to make sure we are ready for whatever the invaders can throw at us. So, I suggest we do some dungeon runs." Derek said as he also ate some bacon and eggs.
"Dungeon runs, eh? How about that dungeon of chance again? I bet we can get some loot there as well." Tom suggested.
"I was thinking the same thing," Derek smiled at him.
Tom smiled and began eating much faster. When he finished, he looked up at Derek.
"Let's go. I'm ready for a dungeon break."
They left the cafeteria and went to the security office to gather their team to head out. Once everyone had been assembled, they left for the garage to head to the dungeon. Jerky rode in the trunk with Squirrel who seemed especially happy to be taken on the trip since James had left him behind for the jet raid.
"Everyone ready?" Tom turned around in the driver's seat and asked.
With a thumbs up from everyone on the team, they headed out to the dungeon location. Upon arrival, they parked and went inside. After locating the entrance, Tom opened the door and they all stepped inside. The same darkness that wasn't darkness greeted them and once all had entered and the door was closed, the writing in the air appeared again along with the twenty-sided die in the air.
Tom flicked the die and it fell from the air landing on what should have been the ground and rolled away from them. A three lay face up as the die pulsed once with light and the world began to change around them.
What greeted them was not what they had been expecting at all. They stood on a dirt road beaten into the earth by years of travel by feet and wagons, as evidenced by the tracks left in the path. Sunshine like a warm spring day beat down on them from above with grassy fields lining both sides of the road.
More writing appeared in the air and began to give them a basic set of instructions.
"Welcome to Fantasmia. The world of all things cute and cuddly. A plague of Bunnicorns has been wreaking havoc on the munchkin people who live in the town of Candyville. Reach the town and find out how you can help with the pests." Tom read out loud as the words formed in the air.
"Fantasmia? Bunnicorns? Candyville? What the hell is this?" James asked in disgust at all of the cute terms being used.
Several butterflies floated by as a squirrel with abnormally large, cute eyes climbed down from a tree and nuzzled up against his leg.
"Get the hell away from me! This is like some kind of kawaii nightmare." James said as he punted the squirrel into the field nearby, Squirrel eagerly chasing after it.
There was a brief sound of terrified squeaking coming from the tall grass as the wolf found his prey and grabbed it with his mouth, shaking it back and forth until the sounds ceased.
"Good boy, Squirrel! We don't like this." James said the last bit as he turned to the rest of the group.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
"I'm not really sure what to make of this either. It feels like a kid's dungeon of some sort. But we're here, so we may as well get this over with." Tom said.
Looking ahead, he saw a road sign made from a wooden pole and two signs pointing down two different paths. Moving toward it, he looked at the signs and saw one read Candyville, and the other read Gumdrop Castle.
"This is bullshit," James mumbled as he read the signs as well.
"Look, I don't like this any more than you do," Kiera said to him. "But we should just pass up XP. I didn't like this when I was five and I don't like it now."
"Guess we just follow this road," Derek said, his battle armor standing out as a stark contrast to the bright and colorful landscape around them.
Beginning the journey toward Candyville, the team walked. They only traveled a few miles down the road before they saw the town. It appeared to have gingerbread walls surrounding buildings made of the same material and decorated with all sorts of candy. Frosting seemed to hold everything together or in place, and singing could be heard coming from the town square.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm with James here. I think I'm gonna be sick from all the cute." Jay commented.
"You know, for being stuck in a world devastated by an apocalypse, you all sure do a lot of complaining about the happiness shown here," Tom reeled around and said to his team.
"You can't tell us that you are enjoying this happy-sappy load of crap they are trying to feed us, right?" James asked him.
"All I'm saying is that after doom and gloom for a while, this place seems like a great break," Tom replied. "So, knock off the pessimism and let's get this quest completed."
"Touchy much?" James whispered to Jay.
"Shut up," Tom said in an exasperated tone.
Continuing on the path, when they neared the walls, they realized that they were only about three feet tall. Coming to a stop outside the gates, Tom stared down at them, unsure how to proceed.
"Um...hello? We are here to help with the, uh....Bunnicorn problem?" Tom called out.
The singing stopped, but the music continued to play as movement could be seen in between buildings. Soon they saw people no more than a foot tall rushing to the gate.
"You've really come to help us?" One little man with a beard said as he looked up at them from behind the wall, his high-pitched voice filled with hope.
"Sure," Tom said, suddenly unsure of himself.
"They've come to slay the Bunnicorns!" The little man turned and shouted to the town.
A high-pitched squeaky cheer went up from the people all gathering near the walls.
"We just need you to find and kill the Bunnicorn Matriarch so that they will stop attacking our town and eating our homes." The little man said. "Oh, and stealing our children in the dead of night never to be seen again."
"What?!" Tom said suddenly.
"Now, we're getting somewhere," James said as he rubbed his hands together.
"Yes, they come at night, destroy the walls, eat our homes, and take out children," The tiny man smiled up at him.
"You seem awfully cheerful for someone who has children stolen from their town," Tom commented.
"We can't show any emotion but joy, it's the curse we have been living with for the last thousand years!" The munchkin man said with cheer as he turned to the other people of the town.
They all let up a rowdy huzzah as he raised his hands to them in what appeared to be a form of request for support.
"This just got creepy," Kiera said.
"Isn't it so much better?" James asked.
"Can you tell us where they are?" Tom asked.
"Sure can! Right over there!" The man said still as cheerful as ever as he pointed to the west.
Tom turned to look in the direction the man pointed and saw a horde of white furry creatures headed their way as they watched.
"Really? They are coming right now?" Tom asked.
"We probably triggered some kind of event by asking about it," Derek offered as a possibility.
A dust cloud was being kicked up by the adorable creatures as they raced down the path toward the town. As they got closer Tom could see that they had the same large, cute eyes as the squirrel from before and they had shining golden horns on their foreheads. The squeaking sounds they made as they got closer sounded just like the squeakers in dog toys.
"Alright....if that's what we need to do...." Tom said, pausing in a mixture of confusion and disbelief at the story this dungeon had set up for them.
Tom walked around the walls of the city and placed himself between the western wall and the incoming enemies. Drawing two handguns, he aimed and fired at the closest of the Bunnicorns. Its head exploded in a fountain of gore and blood as it fell and rolled under the other advancing rabbits.
"Oh, cool! I was expecting them to be like pinatas where candy might fall out of them." James said as he joined in and began firing on the furry creatures as they continued to advance, seemingly oblivious to their comrade's deaths.
Everyone else moved to join in the slaughter. The Bunnicorns just kept coming though, and soon, they had closed the gap between them and the team. They seemingly ignored the fighters though and began to hop over the walls into the town.
"Hey, wait!" Tom shouted as he turned around to look at where they were going.
The rabbits began to tear the houses apart and chase the munchkins around the city, some of them grabbing the small creatures in their sharp teeth and ripping body parts off.
"NO! I'M NOT READY TO DIE!" One small female munchkin screamed, the cheerful smile never leaving their face.
"This is sick," Tom said as he leaped over the wall to begin killing the Bunnicorns inside the town.
"I feel so much better," James said as he shot over and over at the small white furry creatures around him, kicking some of them and sending them flying through the air.
One of the Bunnicorns dodged his kick and jumped up and stabbed James in the butt with his horn.
"OUCH! Fucking shit-stained little cunts!" James shouted as everyone else in the party began to laugh hysterically as they continued the slaughter.
Squirrel was having an absolute hay day as he picked up Bunnicorn after Bunnicorn in his mouth, shaking them like ragdolls. Jerky was lighting the creatures on fire with small fireball spells as he giggled at the sounds they made when they died.
Soon, most of the Bunnicorns lay dead either outside or inside the city. A rumble sounded in the distance, and they could see a large shape rushing toward them.
"What is that?" Derek said squinting at the creature in the distance.
"The Matriarch! She comes!" Squeaked an injured munchkin lying in a chocolate fountain in the town square, his blood mixing with the sweets. "She comes to avenge her children."