Goblin, coming to the end of the row, pulled the handbrake and executed a perfect ninety degree sharp right turn in the cramped confines of the garage. The orc warrior however, was flung into a concrete bollard with a sickening crunch.
[M/+2READ
[M/+2FIGHT
[M/+2POWER
[M/+2SPEED
[M/LEVEL UP. MIKE IS NOW LEVEL 2.
[G: BOOYAA! EASY STATS!
“YOU’RE INSANE!” screamed Mike, gripping the wheel with white knuckles. Not that he was going to attempt steering anything when he had a GTA level 8000 magical sword sticking up out of the hood controlling the car for him.
“HOW DOES A SWORD EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE?!” he screamed.
[G: BUFFS MIKE. ESSENCE. EXPLAIN LATER.
[GOBLIN | LEVEL 2 | STATE 1:15
[SOULBOUND SWORD | RUSTY THRUSTER
[FORCE 2:4 | GRADE 2:4
[WORMWOOD SPRIG | SPORTS CAR TIRE SHRED | SLOT | SLOT | SLOT
[MIKE | LEVEL 2 | HEALTH 78:150 | ENERGY 12:30
[SOULBOUND SWORD WIELDER | FIRST INHERITOR
[READ 5:10 | FIGHT 5:10 | POWER 7:10 | SPEED 6:10
[FEAR 2 | SPEED DEMON 1 | SLOT | SLOT | SLOT
[INVENTORY[-]
Another death flare shot across the tops of the parked cars, setting off alarms as it shook them in it's wake. It arced down at the last moment and hit the rear of the sports car, causing the back end to lurch sideways and the car to fishtail. It was a hard hit, and it nearly knocked them into the concrete wall, which at the speed they were going would have been the end of it.
“STEADY GOBLIN, LINE US UP FOR THE EXIT!”
Goblin recovered and lined up for a straight run to the exit ramp, leaving the shaman bellowing in rage in the basement.
They flew up the ramp. The garage door was closed. Mike cringed and ducked. The sports car smashed through it out into the street with a rending squeal of bent steel and sparks flying.
They launched into the busy city traffic, actually becoming airborne before crashing hard down into the asphalt.
“TURN RIGHT!” Mike yelled.
Goblin performed another impressive handbrake turn, ending up in an extremely tight opening between two cars.
“THERE! A GAP!”
The car immediately swerved hard to pass the car in front through a tight gap in the next lane.
Mike had taken his hands off the wheel, which was flinging itself left then right again wildly, instead gripping his seatbelt with both hands and holding his breath.
A black SUV that had been parked opposite Mike's building suddenly and brutally threw itself into the traffic behind them, swiping the cars beside it as it did.
[G: The other two orcs of the squad are behind us. When we get around the corner, you will need to be ready to get out, remove me from the bonnet, and run into the subway.
The SUV mounted the sidewalk and accelerated past the five cars between them, clipping street poles and nearly running over pedestrians who screamed and threw themselves out of the way. It powered up the sidewalk until it was right next to them. There were two orcs in the vehicle. A driver,
[ORC MEKANIC | LEVEL 10 | MIGHTY PUNCH 12 | CRANK WIELDER 10 | WELDED PLATE ARMOUR 8
and…
[ORC SHOOTA | LEVEL 11 | MACHINE BOLTER 10
[G: MIKE, GET DOWN!
"Oh shit!"
A hail of short, black nasty looking crossbow-type bolts peppered the side of the sports car, lodging in the metal body with sharp thunks.
Mike ducked just in time to hear the glass of the side window shatter above him, raining down shards of glass on his back. Five crossbow bolts stuck out of the seat and the dashboard.
"What is that thing, a crossbow machine gun?" Mike yelled.
[G: Yes. Bolter.
“GET US AWAY FROM IT! TRY THE OTHER LANE… DON'T HIT ANY CARS, I'M IN ENOUGH TROUBLE AS IT IS!”
Mike felt the sports car serve hard, followed by the squealing of tires braking hard and urgent angry horn blasts. He sat up again, trying to locate the orcs as he was thrown roughly from side to side. Goblin veered across to the other side of the road.
“SERVE LEFT! RIGHT! RIGHT!” Mike yelled as the sports car dodged the oncoming traffic. To his credit, Goblin never swiped another vehicle, unlike the SUV, now directly behind them in pursuit, who smashed through cars violently in their wake.
Mike saw the orc shoota, now reloaded, lean out the side window and unleash another barrage of the bolts in their direction, but his aim was as wild as the mekanic's driving and they didn't even get close, instead lodging dangerously in street poles and smashing storefront windows.
“THERE GOBLIN! THERE'S THE SUBWAY!”
[G: Mike. I'm badly damaged. There isn't much left. When you pull me out, I'll snap. Don't hesitate. Just run for it. There will be a guardian in the subway. Remember to tell him you're diving, and warn him about the orcs. I'll see you on the other side.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
[M: WAIT, GOBLIN, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??!
But the car screeched to a stop in a smoke cloud of burning rubber. The SUV was bearing down fast. Mike kicked the door open, ran around to the hood, grabbed Goblin by the hilt and pulled. The blade snapped in half. All Mike had was the grip and a jagged length of crumbling rusted metal sticking out of it.
The engine sparked and hissed, and smoke started pouring out of the engine bay. It felt extremely hot, and there was a ticking sound that was steadily gaining in speed and volume. By now there were people standing, gawking, watching.
That doesn't sound good. thought Mike.
“GET BACK!” he yelled to the onlookers, “GET AWAY FROM THE CAR!”
Most people started running away, others pulled out their phones to record.
[G/WARNING. STATE LESS THAN 1:15
That didn't sound good either.
[M: GOBLIN? GOBLIN YOU THERE?!
Mike turned and ran desperately towards the subway station entrance. He glanced back to see the SUV screech to a halt behind the sports car, smashing hard up the back of it. That got the crowd’s attention. There were screams and shouts as most of the onlookers were scared away.
The mekanic was grinning wildly as he jumped out and a huge, heavy piece of cast metal appeared in his substantial fist. It looked like a mechanical crankshaft, but whatever engine it had originally come from must have been gargantuan. The shoota was out now too, and unleashed another round from his bolter, shooting from the hip and cackling loudly.
Crossbow bolts whizzed and zipped past Mike wildly, as he kept running for the subway.
All of a sudden there was a shock wave and a hot, thumping explosion boomed behind him. It threw him to the ground, hard.
[M/HEALTH 27:150
[M/+4READ
[M/+4FIGHT
[M/+4POWER
[M/+4SPEED
He was dazed, and everything sounded muffled. His ears were ringing painfully. Something clattered to the ground near him. The orc bolter. It still had an orc finger hooked through the trigger guard. A wave of nausea and dizziness hit Mike. He couldn't move his limbs properly. He looked back again, weakly.
The sports car had exploded, taking the SUV and the two orcs with it. They hadn't stood a chance. There were people lying on the ground for a decent radius. Mike couldn't tell if anyone else had been badly hurt. Flames roared and smoke billowed out of the husks of the once beautiful sports car and the SUV. Mike tried to get up, but he still wasn't sure he could. He heard sirens in the distance.
Go, Mike! Go now! The shaman won't be far behind! He said it to himself, sounding like Goblin. He was actually worried about the sword. That was a weird feeling. But not as weird as being thrown to the ground by an exploding sports car. He had to go.
Mike pushed himself painfully up. He still felt woozy and there was definitely something wrong with his left leg, but he could limp. He started towards the subway. He had a second thought, and turned to hobble towards the orc bolter.
How do I add this to my inventory? he thought. And then it disappeared.
INVENTORY[-]
[HEALTH PILL MINOR 3
[HEALTH PILL EPIC 1
[LETTER FROM GRANDMA 1
[OLD BEER COASTER 1
[ORC BOLTER 1
[ORC BOLTER BOLT MAGAZINE 1
He ran once again, limping, towards the 42 St Port Authority Bus Terminal subway entrance. His mind was foggy. His eardrums ached. He half stumbled down the stairs past commuters, some looking at him strangely, most of them having heard or probably felt the explosion rock the subway and looking for clues as they emerged.
He pushed through the people and the barriers and lurched down the platform stairs and onto the platform which was now, suddenly, eerily, deserted.
Something’s wrong. he thought. Subways aren't ever deserted like this at this time of day…
The only person Mike could see was a solitary hooded figure partway along the platform, standing still, face concealed under a black hoodie, arms crossed.
That has to be the… rift guardian. Probably. Mike thought. There was no information available on him like with the magical monsters he had encountered, so he knew at least the guy wasn't a magical enemy. He ran along the platform, his feet echoing loudly in the large underground space.
He slowed as he approached the hooded figure, stopping a few paces away.
“Ahhh… diving?” he said.
The figure wordlessly stepped aside, leaned over and opened an aging yellow steel trapdoor in the platform floor that Mike hadn't even noticed. The hole revealed another set of old, dirty concrete steps that led down into murky darkness, only barely lit by old, dim orange fluorescent tubes on the wall. He hesitated.
Do I really want to be walking down into a dark abandoned subway basement? he thought.
He turned to the hooded guy, “Umm… I was chased.” he said, “By some… orcs?”
If this isn't the rift guy, then that would have come off real weird.
The hooded guy just nodded.
As if on cue, the orc shaman stepped off the stairs and onto the platform. He saw Mike and the hooded guy and immediately raised his arm, rippling with energy.
“Go.” said the hooded guy simply before he turned towards the shaman. Mike hesitated long enough to see a red death flare shoot towards them. It was repulsed with a loud crack by a shimmering blue barrier that the guardian seemed to have summoned with a slight flick of his fingers, not even uncrossing his arms.
Mike didn't wait around to watch. He heard the orc bellow and the sounds of cracks and whooshes as a violent exchange erupted behind him. Then the trapdoor slammed shut.
Mike took a few tentative steps down the stairs. He assumed he was safe here, but at the same time he didn't really know what a rift was, what it would look like, or even what to do when he found it.
[M: Goblin, you with me?
There was still no response.
At the bottom of the hall there was another door. A makeshift door, in a boarded up wall made of plywood construction panels screwed to a timber frame. There was a sign on it that read:
DANGER
DISUSED PLATFORM
NO ENTRY
AUTHORIZED PERSONS ONLY
Mike looked back up the stairs. It was the only door. Was he an authorized person? There was nowhere else to go.
The door was yanked open for him by a hulking muscle-bound human. He was bald, with a long, black beard and wore black leather biker pants and a studded black leather vest with patches all over it. He had the most enormous axe Mike had ever seen slung over his shoulder. It wasn't the sort of axe that was designed for chopping wood. He stomped towards Mike and pushed past with nothing more than a grunt. He was followed by two more, similarly tough looking men, also with axes. The three of them tromped up the stairway in solid black leather boots. Mike felt like he should warn them.
"Ahh... excuse me... there's an... orc shaman... um... battling up there." he called behind them hesitantly.
They stopped and turned to look back down at Mike as if they hadn't even seen him.
"Oh yeah?" growled one, "What level?"
"Um... twelve... I think." answered Mike seriously.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Good one kid! Like I give a fuck about a level twelve orc shaman." the lead man laughed derisively. He turned and kept walking.
Okay... thought Mike.
He turned back to the makeshift door at the bottom of the stairway, and pushed it open again. He stepped through carefully. As he did, he could hear the bustle of a crowd.
Commuters? Down here? he thought.
He emerged from the boarded up stairway onto the station platform, and his eyes widened in surprise.
The people on this platform weren't commuters…
…and what the hell is THAT?