“So let me get this right,” Kaleb began as he drove his car through the streets. “Your whole fear of ants stems from some ancient Pre-Union Vid that you were shown as a kid about giant ants?”

“Yeeeeees.” Jar-lock said, drawing out the word. Clearly done with the current conversation.

They were currently following Abby’s car along the main road into Downtown Austin. Claire and Two Gun were in the backseat discussing something about their IRL farm while Kaleb and Jar-lock were in the front seat. Kaleb had taken the opportunity to broach the subject about Jar-lock’s fear.

“But how could that affect you so much? You literally just told me it was a black and white Vid from thousands of years ago. I don’t even want to think about what those graphics looked like.”

Jar-lock sighed. “Look, I was a kid, okay? It was a scary movie about giant ants and it gave me nightmares. My mom wouldn’t let me go back to my uncle’s house for months after that. Yes, the ants looked stupid, and yes, the Vid had no color. But it still gave me the heebie-jeebies, okay?!”

Kaleb raised a hand off the steering wheel and turned to his friend. “Whoa, easy there, big guy. I get what you're saying. It just sounds weird to me.”

“Oh, like you have nothing traumatizing in your past?”

Kaleb kept his mouth shut as his brain immediately went to an incident in his cousin’s pool involving his jerk cousin and a chocolate bar. He shuddered as he remembered the shame and the laughter of his cousins. Jar-lock was still looking at him as he coughed and turned his head back to the road. He looked in the rear-view mirror to see Two Gun and Claire finished with their conversation.

“Ahem. So did you guys hear the plan for this?” He asked. Next to him, he heard Jar-lock scoff at his obvious evasion.

Two Gun grinned, obviously intent on staying mute, but luckily Claire spoke up. “We caught bits and pieces of your conversation with Farrah. So some of us are going inside the nest while the casters stay outside and examine the barrier?”

Jar-lock turned in his seat to talk to her. “Gee, thanks for giving him an out. But yes, we are going to split into two groups. One will investigate the nest, trying to find any signs of tampering or escaped ants, while the other will stay safe above ground and fix the barrier.”

“If it’s even broken.” Kaleb scoffed.

Jar-lock turned back around in his seat. “We have to assume it is. If it isn’t, that would mean the House of Ainsley is lying. Which I don’t think they would. Plus, that doesn’t account for the Heroes who are causing trouble inside and out of the nest.”

“Yeah, so what’s the rule about them? Are we free to engage them?”

“Engage? Yes. Kill? Absolutely not. We do not want any blood on our hands at the end of this one.”

“Even if they are probably a bunch of HLO stooges.” Kaleb muttered as he followed Abby, exiting downtown Austin and heading north.

“You really need to stop with that.” Jar-lock sighed. “Seriously. Sure, they are probably responsible for this one. But come on, they can’t be all bad. They’ve cleaned up the city pretty well and they treat a good deal of the heroes with respect.”

“Yeah, you just caught a bad hand cause you’re technically a mundane. At least you were when you started.” Two Gun added.

Kaleb waved them both off. “Bah! I don’t trust them. Something about the whole thing reeks to me.”

Claire snickered. “Did it start to smell before or after they suspended you?”

Kaleb gave a loud scoff as he turned off the main road and into the suburbs of North Austin. The houses started getting bigger and farther apart until large swathes of road were just grass. Kaleb counted three gated communities before Abby finally turned her car onto a gravel road.

A large four-story Gothic style mansion sat at the end of the driveway, surrounded by various shrubbery. Nearby, a section of the mansion’s large lawn had been cordoned off and three odd vehicles were parked there. Kaleb thought he saw what look like a circular spaceship as Abby lead them into the cordoned off parking lot. He saw a teenage attendant approach Abby’s car and say something. They held a quick conversation before the attendant move away and waved them both through.

Kaleb parked and checked his gear. He smiled as he heard Two Gun slam his head into his door’s window. His car was an old police vehicle, so the back doors wouldn’t open for the inside. People sometimes forgot that. His smile went away though when he heard Claire’s door creak.

“I have to get the door. Remember?” He said as he dashed out and around his door to let out Claire.

“Oh gee, I almost forget.” Claire said sarcastically as she stood to her full height and glared down at him.

Kaleb stuck his tongue out at her petulantly and the glare fell from her face as she laughed. Two Gun was still grumbling as he slid his way out of the back seat. Nearby, Kaleb saw Abby wave at the parking attendant as Varlin glanced around the parking lot. The lanky sorcerer looked confused as he cast his gaze back and forth.

“Did he lose something?” Kaleb asked Abby as she walked over to them.

“Nope. The parking lot is emptier than it’s been since they started allowing heroes to dive into the nest. He’s just concerned that his house has stopped the dives.”

Jar-lock joined them as Abby lead the way around the house, Varlin bringing up the rear. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing? Fewer people around means less trouble.”

“It also means less money.” Abby explained. “Remember: the House of Ainsley isn’t exactly a prestigious house. This whole nest debacle was on track to force them to shut down their house. But they flipped everything and turn it into a win.”

“For a short while at least,” Kaleb muttered.

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They walked through the well-manicured lawn around the large mansion until a large backyard came into view. The backyard was as ornate as the front yard, with large, well-kept hedges and evenly graveled paths. It was almost picturesque, if it wasn’t for the large dirt mound to the right-hand side of the yard.

As they approached, Kaleb saw three men in bright blue robes talking to someone. They were facing away from him and whoever they were talking to was either very short or seated. All three men were facing the ant mound as they walked. A female voice spoke up as a low rumble shook the ground.

“They’ll be here any minute, and then we can continue our investigation. Okay?”

Kaleb thought the voice sounded familiar when Jar-lock gave a questioning shout, “Viv?!”

The three men spun around and glared at their group. Kaleb thought he could feel the surrounding air tighten as several trinkets on the men glowed with power. Abby put her hands up defensively as Jar-lock waved off the Sorcerers and marched up to them. Vivienne popped up behind the three sorcerers and pushed them aside, meeting Jar-lock and throwing her arms around him.

“Hey! You guys are here. That’s great! Mass is still inside playing around, but I needed a rest and someone had to calm down the Smurf brigade.”

“The wha…?” Jar-lock asked before a sorcerer with flaming red hair spoke up.

“We are not Smurfs! Whatever the hell those are. We are a commission of sorcerers under the House of Ainsley who have been charged with discovering if any tampering has occurred with our new nest.”

The next sorcerer in line stepped forward, addressing Jar-lock. This one was slightly younger than the first and had brown hair, but still appeared human.

“Indeed. We requested Varlin retrieve any other magic users he had associated with in the past. We were hoping to get some outside eyes on the situation. But a few minutes ago, the Ward we placed around the nest flickered again. We were asking Ms. Vivienne when you would arrive.”

The final sorcerer, this one clearly an alien with silver-toned skin, stepped forward and finished. “We also had to ask the other Heroes to vacate the premises while we worked. We were hoping some would balk and we might have some likely suspects to accuse. But everyone inside and outside the nest has been accounted for. Well…except for your, uhhh…large friend.”

Kaleb let Jar-lock and Vivienne finished their hug as he stepped forward. “What about the other vehicles in that parking lot?”

“Ours and a few of the new inside staff.” The redhead answered.

“New staff?” Kaleb questioned.

The brunette answered. “I know what you’re thinking, but we have screened all new hires. This nest has been a very sudden windfall for our house, but we haven’t forgotten about security.”

Jar-lock finished having a quiet conversation with Vivienne before he interjected. “Ahem! First off: hello. I’m Jar-lock, the cowboy and green lady are Two Gun and Claire, and the manner-less lizard is The Professor.”

The three sorcerers looked chagrined as Kaleb just shot the big mage the finger.

“I’m George” said the redhead.

“Derek.” said the brunette.

“Tzitika.” said the silver alien.

All three men clasped their left hands to their chest and bowed. Kaleb saw Varlin return the gesture and wanted to copy him, but the moment went by too quickly. No sense looking like an idiot.

“Well, it’s good to meet you all and we are happy to help, but I have a question.” Jar-lock said politely. “You mentioned a Ward? Varlin told us you had set up a barrier?”

George gave Varlin a look reminiscent of a disappointed teacher, while Derek and Tzitika sighed. Varlin huffed under their collective gazes and threw up his hands.

“Barrier, Ward, what’s the difference?! The thing that stops people from getting in has started to fail. That’s what’s in important.” Varlin argued.

Jar-lock shook his head, grinning. “Varlin, a barrier is a static shield that keeps people out. A Ward is a provisional lock that opens if someone has the right key.”

“So one’s a door-less cage, while the other is a digital security gate?” Two Gun asked as Claire and Vivienne shared a quick hug.

“Quite right.” Said George. “We don’t know why, but the ward has been flickering between states for a while now.”

“So someone’s turning it off and sneaking in.” Kaleb said, pointing out what he thought was obvious.

“Sneaking in where?” Derek asked. “If they dig underground, the ants will see it as an attack, and they can’t go over us.”

He pointed at the clear blue sky above the ant nest. “Not to mention there are a few miles’ worth of tunnels down there.” Tzitika added.

“We are sure the Ward encompasses the whole nest, but they had dug quite a way before we got the Ward set up.”

“So some of us will go inside and explore, while the magical eggheads stay out here and look over the Ward.” Kaleb said, looking around at his friends. “That work for everyone?”

“If anyone counts as a Magical Egghead out here, it’s you.” Jar-lock grumbled.

“Also, someone with magic should go with the nest group. Just in case whatever is messing with the Ward is magical.” Varlin said.

Kaleb nodded as he counted up his friends. “So me, Abby, Two Gun, Claire, Varlin or Vivienne, and Mass if he still wants to smash some ants.”

Vivienne snorted as she returned to Jar-lock’s side. “He never tires of smashing bugs, trust me. Also, I am staying out here. I have had enough of dirt pits for today. Varlin can take a turn in the deep dark for a while.”

“Gee, thanks Cuz.” Varlin grumbled, shooting Vivienne a mock glare. She stuck her tongue out at him and flipped her hair mockingly.

“I’m good with that and having someone from the actual magic house will probably look good for us,” Kaleb agreed as he looked at Claire and Two Gun.

After the pair nodded, he turned to check on Abby’s opinion, but the diminutive mutant was already halfway toward the Ant Nest. Kaleb shook his head and followed, laughing as he waved goodbye at Jar-lock and the trio of sorcerers. He heard Varlin and Vivienne softly talking to each other as he checked walked and checked his weapons. He hadn’t had time to reload his Taser Eggs, but everything else seemed charged.

He gave his thermal scanner a brief glance, but other than their group, it didn’t look like anyone or anything was around. Of course, he didn’t know if the ants would even show up on the scanner. He thought the dirt walls would impede the scan, but the large red dot further, showing their friend Mass, was a good sign. As he approached the entrance, he saw Abby waiting outside, looking impatient.

“What’s the rush?” Kaleb asked, bemused.

“This is the closest we get to an actual dungeon dive in this game. But if shit goes sideways, then we may not get another chance. So I want to make the most of it with the time I have.”

“That’s understandable, dear.” Claire said from behind Kaleb.

Kaleb turned his head to look at his assembled friends. “Really? I have had my fill of underground liars. Under-town is alright, but marching into an unknown cave system? Nope. Once was really enough.”

“This is about the Man-rat thing you told us about a while back?” Two Gun asked. At Kaleb’s nod, he continued. “Well, I guess that makes sense, but then why even come with us? You could stay out here and stare at magical shit.”

“Bah!” Kaleb said, waving him off. “We got Claire and Mass with us. I don’t think I have to worry too much if I have the muscle team with me.”

Claire grinned and flexed her thin green arms. She went through a series of poses as they all chuckled before her husband got her to stop. Kaleb chuckled as he waved for Abby to lead the way. Grinning at herself, she stepped into the dark oblong entrance of the ant nest, followed closely by Claire and then Two Gun while Kaleb brought up the rear.

A chill went down his spine as he passed the threshold to the nest and he felt a nervous feeling sink into his gut. He wasn’t sure what it was, but something about the nest raised his hackles. Kaleb chalked it up to his encounters with Rat-man, but he decided to keep his guard up. There’s was no telling what marching into a giant ant’s nest would entail, but he was semi-sure it would at least be fun.