We passed by a bunch of Players on the short walk from the second floor to the lobby. Every single one of them was facing towards the entrance, while also trying to get to where James was. The way their eyes were completely blank was kind of creepy.
“This power is really something,” Panda remarked, looking around. “I don’t see a single person not under the effect of Steve’s spell.”
“It’s not usually this strong,” the Birthday Brat admitted.
“The Aural Damage is increasing the potency,” Tina commented as though it was obvious. It seemed an unlikely interaction, but, then again, the way my punches were counted was also clearly not right.
The Venomancer paused as we entered the lobby. I turned to ask why, when a strong hand grabbed my right shoulder.
“What the fuck did you do to my Safe Zone,” hissed a gravelly male voice.
“They forced me to do it!” Steve squealed. The idiot was still holding the microphone I’d given him.
I put my gauntleted hand on the newcomer’s red-purple arm and yanked it off. Brock’s curse didn’t trigger, probably because of the Safe Zone rules. Strangely, Steve’s ability hadn’t counted as an attack, which was a pretty massive exploit.
The newcomer was a devil-looking humanoid with a red Billy Goat beard, ram’s horns, goat ears, furry hooves, and red-purple skin. A simple bow that looked like it was carved from a gnarled tree branch hung around his shoulder and his hands were covered in rings. I couldn’t tell if any of them were special or not.
“William,” Tina said. “Get out of our way or I’ll dunk your head in acid like I did your girlfriend.”
The guy narrowed his sharp red-hot eyes. “How’d you get back in here? You were banned last time...”
I blinked in surprise and looked to Tina. I’d thought for sure I was number one on their shitlist, but if they’d been dealing with Tina and Nina since the beginning of the Great Game, then they were unlikely to be good friends. She had a way of always seeking out the strongest people and trying to fuck with them. It was how we’d met at the asylum.
Steve looked surprised as well, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Then realization hit me.
“You’re William Twine?” I asked.
“Are you slow or something?” he replied.
“Gambit, seriously…?” Panda remarked.
“Your brother got me killed and stole two items from me,” I said.
“I know. I was the one who told him to get those.”
I clenched my fist.
“Gambit, hold up!” Panda urged.
“Get out of our way,” I said. “Unless you want to die.”
The Satyr laughed mockingly. “Try me.”
“Steve, get him to leave the Safe Zone,” I said.
“I can’t!” he replied. “If I use it again, the previous effect will be overridden.”
I groaned. “We don’t have time for this.”
To emphasize my point, a massive thump and resultant tremor came from just outside the town hall.
“Didn’t the CPS just kill you earlier?” asked William. “You’re going to fight them again?”
I gritted my teeth and barreled through him. It wasn’t enough to trigger the Safe Zone auto-ban for damaging another Player, but it was enough to forcefully knock him aside. Tina and Steve pushed past him when he tried to stop them as well, but despite his attitude he wasn’t very strong.
“I kind of figured this guy would be more of a menace,” Panda muttered. He seemed disappointed.
“Come back here you bastards!” he growled as we exited the Safe Zone.
WARNING!
Now exiting Safe Zone ‘Castle Twine’!
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
As soon as we stepped out of the building, a massive Aphid-Dog noticed us from only about thirty yards away and immediately began bounding toward us.
“Oh shit!” Steve exclaimed and ran back into the Safe Zone.
Except he couldn’t enter.
The threshold had become like a solid wall, even though the doors were open.
“It says we can’t enter the Safe Zone while in combat!” he exclaimed in terror.
“Meow,” Lordie said and disappeared back into his cage.
Tina ran forward while neon-green hair appeared atop her bald head, immediately beginning to fling her venomous spells at the giant insect beast.
“Gambit, look! There’s no rider on it!”
True enough, there was no Captain sitting behind its big head. It was similar to the other giant beetles I’d seen before, but it’s carapace was much thicker. Each of the Aphid’s six legs had massive claws attached and its front mandibles were capped with giant scythes. It also had three carapace-covered turrets grown into the front of its natural armor. These swiveled around as they searched for targets and looked like a cross between a ballista and an anti-air battery.
It looked way more dangerous than a Minor Warden or Queenguard.
I pulled out my Looking Glass and quickly appraised it.
Level 60
‘Cupcake’
Executioner x
“[I would like to eat you.]”
Job: Executioner Aphid-Dog
Affiliation: Child Protective Services
Unlike other Aphid-Dogs, this good boy isn’t controlled by a Minor Collector Captain. Instead, he has been trained specifically to operate on his own. He can sniff out an Amoral Pervert from about ten miles away, even though he doesn’t have a nose. He also loves to inflict pain.
These big balls of murder are scary enough as is, but, for some incomprehensible reason, someone thought it was a good idea to give them a speech module, which translates their thoughts into words.
Back during the Agency War, these guys were deemed a literal war crime to deploy in battle, but it’s A-OK in the GREAT GAME. Granted, that’s mostly due to the fact that Players aren’t considered to have rights.
If he kills you he gets a treat, so he’s pretty excited.
image [https://i.imgur.com/IsSk70n.png]
“Ah shit,” I muttered. “How the fuck are we supposed to get a Transponder if they won’t send a Captain!?”
“Are we even sure we can trust the intel of your Benefactor?” Panda asked. It was a fair question, given that I’d killed several Captains already and hadn’t gotten a single Transponder out of it.
“The Hive Ship is still above us,” Steve muttered from where he hid behind me.
As I looked up, William Twine came out through the Safe Zone entrance with his bow in hand. He froze as he saw the giant beast hurtling for the town hall.
“It’s a shame none of us can fly,” Steve continued.
I looked down at him, then back up at the black shape in the sky.
“I just got an amazing idea! Tina, uh, I mean Nina, come here!
The Venomancer launched a giant green serpent at the Aphid-Dog and ran back to where we stood in front of Castle Twine. The energy serpent managed to stop the beast for a couple seconds, but then his turrets and scythe mandibles tore it apart.
“Aren’t you going to kill it?” Steve asked.
“We don’t need to,” I told him. What I didn’t mention was that the things that would help me defeat it, like the Rebel’s Ring and Crimson Claymore, were on cooldown. Plus, if I defeated it, they would just send more or cut their losses and fly away.
No, leaving it alive served my goal more than trying to kill it, especially now that I’d realized a way to get to the Hive Ship without a Transponder.
“What the fuck did you bring to my doorstep!?” William exclaimed, raising his bow towards the giant insect. It’d smash into the front of the town hall in approximately twelve seconds.
I ignored him. “Here we go! hole.Worm( )!”
ERROR!
Target destination is too far.
I frowned. “Shit. Okay, different idea, but equally good! Steve, Nina, grab an arm each.”
They both did as I asked without question, which was a nice change for once.
Of course, they would no doubt regret it in a moment.
“Rules of Anarchy(Fuck Gravity)!” I shouted.
The ground trembled like an earthquake as the Aphid-Dog tore up the road to get to me. The three turrets on its armor started shooting giant spikes at us, each releasing a loud thud with their impacts, though their accuracy was poor thanks to the beast’s bounding motion as it ran.
Rules of Anarchy Activated!
Passive Selected: Fuck Gravity
Description:
Gravity has no control over you.
I grinned as I saw that the passive did exactly what I’d hoped.
“What happens now?” Steve asked.
A cast him a wink, then crouched to trigger SPRING_HEEL, before performing a powerful leap and shooting myself into the air. I wasn’t quite sure why, though I guessed it was because I weighed more than them, but Tina and Steve were easily pulled along as we flew towards the Hive Ship in the sky above.
And we didn’t stop. We just kept on flying into the air, higher-and-higher.
As I fell upward, I felt the Manhunter’s Badge point straight at the enormous black ship.
“We’re coming, Bee!” I yelled excitedly.
Steve was screaming his lungs out. Nina quickly transformed back into Tina, who couldn’t stop laughing.
Then Panda asked, “How are you planning on slowing down?”