Tommy stood firm, fiery fists clenched and ready to fight as the gentle breezy of his ancestral magic swirled about, softly lapping against the loose end of his leather jacket. Aaron stood beside his friend and brother, holding a table leg that had been broken years ago. The metal leg was cold in the dwarf’s grip, but Aaron remained focused on the temporal rift ahead.
The great tear in reality sparked with torn and damaged arcane energies as a massive grey troll stepped one foot, then another, out of the portal and into the the night club. Before the troll could turn to look around, one of Jackie’s portals opened beneath the troll, causing him to fall through the floor. Aaron watched as the troll fell through the ceiling in a distant corner of the club and crashed into a large pile of debris. Metal rods and broken glass sliced and impaled the beast as he flailed about, cursing at the sky.
“That wasn’t Yolo,” Tommy muttered.
A successful passive check scrolled across Aaron’s vision, and the dwarf reacted in the same instant. “Move!”
Aaron jumped and slammed into Tommy, prompting Tommy to hold his friend as they dove to the side.
Aaron (Dodge) vs. Yolo – 9 vs. 7 Aaron succeeds.
Yolo charged through the spot where the duo had stood, crashing through a table and chairs before skidding to a halt. The large troll grinned wickedly and laughed. “I am impressed, elf. You tried to take out my cousin without a single word. Who would have thought you could be so cutthroat?”
“I have no intention of listening to whatever diatribe you intend to speak.” Tommy stood, ready to fight.
“I wasn’t planning on giving you a speech,” The troll spoke as he casually walked toward Tommy’s flank. “But you know I do intend to make a show of you. Castor!”
As Tommy and Aaron turned to keep Yolofrom flanking them, they saw another portal. This was the portal from which Yolo had emerged. This was also the portal through which members of the Alpha Numeros gang poured. The gangers rushed out and formed a semicircle around Tommy and Aaron. Aaron did a double-take when he realized the last ganger to emerge from the portal was Castor.
Half of Castor’s face was swollen, with one eye swollen shut and his lip split open. The half-elf’s clothes were bloodied and torn, but that was not the worst. Where Castor once had a hand, a metal rod protruded from the poorly bandaged stump. The half-elf hobbled to Yolo and stood beside the troll obediently.
Yolo’s grin did not waiver as he gave Castor a rough pat on the head. “Castor was the first show of example. If he had not lost his focus rod, he would have been able to do the job I had tasked him. So, to help him do his job, I ate his hand and replaced it with the focus rod. Now, he won’t forget what he needs. Isn’t the right Castor?”
The half-elf’s voice was broken and feeble. “Yes, Yolo.”
The half-elf’s head fit easily in the troll’s palm, and Yolo gave Castor’s beaten head a brief squeeze before letting go. “Now, it’s time to feast.”
“No, Yolo!”
The voice caught everyone off guard. Yolo straightened to see who spoke, and Aaron glanced over his shoulder to see one of the gangers step forward from the circle. The gang member stood defiant as he stared down the massive troll.
“I will hang you in my freezer and let you watch me eat pieces of you in the days to come,” Yolo snarled.
“We know what you did to the boss,” The gang member pressed. “It wasn’t right. We came here because we stand for Tommy, not you.”
Aaron glanced up at Tommy, who seemed equally surprised by this defiance.
“We?” Asked Yolo.
More gangers took a step forward, though it was still less than half.
The troll smiled. “More meat.”
Suddenly, the front door of the boarded-up nightclub exploded open, and over half a dozen yakuza in black suits and white shirts rushed into the room. They all carried hatchets except for the leader, who wielded a long, elegantly crafted katana. The lead yakuza pointed his katana at Tomm and Aaron. “Tomatoe Fisherman and A’aron, the Slayer of Frim, you have dishonored us by taking our rightful task from Majutsu-shi Takiyasha.”
“What in the blasted depths?” Aaron cried out. “Are you talking to us? How did you—? No, frag that. I don’t care. Just get in line, dude.”
“I will stand in no line,” The yakuza leader marched forward, katana still pointing at Tommy. “I will have your head, and I will have that gnome. This will restore my honor.”
Yolo straightened to his full height and turned to face the yakuza. “That head and that gnome are mine.”
The lead yakuza moved into a shin-no-seigan stance. “I will cut through you if you stand in my way.”
A tremendous roar erupted from the corner of the club, and the large grey troll charged, smashing into the side of the yakuza leader and tossing the gangster across the open room. The troll continued to charge after the tossed yakuza leader as hatchet men chased after the troll, waving their handaxes in the air.
Yolo laughed at the scene, but his laugh was quickly cut off as a portal opened beneath him, causing him to fall through the floor. Castor reacted quickly, spotting Yolo falling from the ceiling and catching the troll with a portal of his own. Yolo landed hard on his feet next to Castor’s other side. The troll casually turned to face Tommy. “Now—”
Tommy leaped forward without waiting and hammered into Yolo’s face with a fiery fist. The troll’s head spun from the force of Tommy’s blow, and Yolo reeled back, nearly losing balance. Tommy did not let up. In rapid succession, the large island elf landed blow upon blow to the troll's gut, kidneys, and face. Singed burn marks smoked and hissed with every punch from Tommy’s fire-enchanted brass knuckles. The elf yelled in retribution. He reared back for another massive blow when he suddenly fell through the floor.
“You filthy slag!” Aaron yelled as he charged at Castor.
It was like the final cue needed to get the rest of the gang in the fight. A bloody civil war ensued among the Alpha Numeros, with every ganger pulling knives or guns on each other and fighting to the death. The chaos was brutal as curses, shouts, and agony filled the air of the nightclub.
Castor jumped at the dwarf’s charge and quickly opened a portal in front of Aaron.
Aaron could not stop his charge and was suddenly falling through the ceiling, heading straight for a collection of deadly debris. Then, another portal opened, and he was falling through the floor. The dwarf’s momentum carried him a foot or two above the floor before he fell back down, crashing onto his back.
“You okay?” Jackie asked, staying crouched behind one of the nightclub bars.
“Ow.” Aaron groaned and coughed as he rolled to his side and got to all fours.
“I don’t think these gloves can keep up with that Castor person.” Jackie quickly peeked over the bar and then ducked back down. “We need to take him out so I can take out the troll.”
“How are you going to take out the troll, Jackie? You saw dropping the first one only made it mad.”
“Do you have a better idea?” Jackie snapped back as she cast a portal to catch Tommy again.
Yolo could be heard yelling at Castor. “Tommy is mine, Castor. Stay the hell out of my fight, or I will eat more than your other hand.”
“Y-y-y-yes, Yolo,” Castor stammered.
Jackie ducked back down behind the bar. “Help me take out Castor; then we’ll figure out what to do about the troll.”
“Deal.” Aaron searched for the metal rod he held before the fall but could not find it. “Blasted slag.”
“What?” Jackie peeked back up over the bar.
“It’s nothing. I just lost the table leg I was using as a weapon.”
Jackie cast a portal next to a pile of debris and opened the other side of the portal in front of Aaron. An old broken pipe fell into the portal and popped up in front of the dwarf.
Aaron quickly snagged the pipe in the air and nodded to the street elf with approval.
“Go!” Jackie urged as she returned her focus to the gang war in the nightclub.
The dwarf jumped over the bar and charged back into the fray.
Though Aaron was a veteran of the Esoteric Wars, he was never actually in the thick of combat. He was always behind a computer screen, pulling virtual strings and supporting the ground troops. Molly was always the real deal, as she was among the elite who tried to stop the red mages and their terror cults. It was an odd juxtaposition for Aaron to find himself out of the military and fighting a battle far bloodier than anything he had ever witnessed while in the service.
Castor glanced over his shoulder and saw Aaron charging for him. The half-elf quickly opened a portal, but Aaron was ready this time and dodged to the side. The dwarf continued his charge and swung for Castor’s head. As Aaron’s swing came full force toward the half-elf’s head, Castor opened another portal, allowing the pipe to swing through it.
The end of Aaron’s pipe shot through another portal and collided with his own head. The dwarf saw stars and stumbled, falling to one knee from the force of his own blow. He shook his head woozily, started to stand, but was again falling through the floor. He yelled as he fell from the ceiling into another portal, which led to another portal and another. The dwarf was rapidly gaining speed as he helplessly fell through portal after portal before finally being shot out of a portal like an oversized cannonball, colliding with Castor and three other A1 gang members. The five of them tumbled and rolled across the room in a giant heap, and Aaron was sure he was about to puke from the portal disorientation.
Castor clambered out of the pile first and began to cast another portal but suddenly fell through the floor.
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One of the Alpha Numeros with whom Aaron had collided jumped up and stabbed at the dwarf, but Aaron clumsily parried the strike with his pipe. Another gang member threw himself into the first and began to stab repeatedly at Aaron’s attacker. The dwarf fumbled about as he tried to untangle himself from his trenchcoat and get to his feet. He realized the third ganger he had been on top of was unconscious or maybe dead; it was tough to tell.
The ganger who defended Aaron rose from the bloodied, convulsing body underneath and nodded to Aaron.
Aaron nodded back with uneasy gratitude from the unsettling violence. “Uh, thanks.”
“De nada.” With that, the ganger jumped back into the fight, setting his sights on the next fellow ganger.
Unsure who was on his side, Aaron moved to avoid any Alpha Numero confrontations and searched for Castor. He saw the Yakuza were still in a bloody fight with the massive grey troll. Three of the yakuza were hanging on the troll’s back, hacking away with their hatchets while the troll had a fourth in its grip, pounding that one to a pulp with its blood stump.
Aaron continued to scan the battle and saw Tommy on the other side of the club, putting up an incredible fight with Yolo. Though the troll was larger than Tommy, the island elf was in a class of his own when it came to pugilist fighting. Tommy's punches landed hard and fast, and Yolo's temper struggled to remain in check. Still, Aaron could see Tommy wearing down while the troll slowly healed from every blow inflicted on him. Investigating the fight more closely, Aaron noticed the burn marks from the fiery brass knuckles still hadn’t fully healed and were more numerous than before. The dwarf began to surmise that fire might be the troll’s weakness.
A shout from the side yanked the dwarf’s attention back to the battle, and Aaron saw an Alpha Numeros ganger charging toward him with a knife. The dwarf hefted his pipe and prepared to meet his opponent.
A yakuza hatchetman screamed as he flew through the air, being tossed by the grey troll. He collided with the A1 ganger, and together, the two gangsters rolled past Aaron like a great ball of flesh. They crashed into the wall behind the dwarf and did not get up. Satisfied that the fight was over before it began, Aaron rushed toward the club’s stage, hoping to get a better perspective regarding Castor’s location.
The battle raged throughout the club, and Aaron was sure they were not winning. From the vantage of the stage, it was easier to see everything and everyone. Only half of the yakuza hatchetmen were still on their feet fighting the grey troll, and that troll, who now looked more red than grey, was fighting sluggishly. Despite this vantage, there was still no sign of Castor. Aaron was about ready to give up looking for the worthless slag of a half-elf.
“Hey, enano!”
Aaron paused and tilted his head, unsure he had heard what he heard.
“Enano! Down here.”
The dwarf looked down, and to his surprise, he saw the three gnomes peeking up between a few cracked and broken floorboards. “Well, isn’t this a bucket of beryl? I thought you three had run off.”
“It is dangerous to stay, senor, but it was worse for us to leave. We might be able to help.”
“Oh, yeah?” Aaron knelt down so he was closer to the stage floor. “How could you three help out?”
“We’re bards. There is magic in our music. If you could just get us our instruments—”
“Slow your mine cart, little gnome. We’re in the middle of a battle to the death, and you guys are trying to send me on a fetch quest?”
“Si, senor. If you could get us our instruments, we could help.”
“Pyrite and shale!” Aaron stood, fuming with anger. “Get your own blasted instruments. There’s a war going on right here, right now. I don’t have time to play fetch. If you can help, then help. Otherwise, stay here in hiding until this war is won.”
“But senor, enano—”
Aaron waved his hand, cutting off the gnome and moving away from the broken floorboards. The dwarf was sure he had seen something from the corner of his eyes and quickly walked in that direction.
The corner of the stage was empty, but something didn’t feel right. The dwarf activated his investigation skill to find clues to help him identify his suspicions. Several things lit up that indicated debris had been moved and tossed about, which was no surprise considering they were in the middle of a gang war, but something was different here. Aaron took a step closer and a portal opened in the floor before him.
Jackie and Castor burst up through the portal in the floor, knocking Aaron onto his fourth point of contact. They were locked in a death roll, swinging punches with bloodied fists as they disappeared through another portal that opened above them.
The dwarf sat in amazement for a moment before recollecting himself, getting back to his feet, and quickly trying to figure out where they would emerge from next. He scrambled across the stage, searching the highlighted clues and looking for a pattern, when he saw Jackie and Castor falling from the ceiling. Jackie was holding the focus rod attached to Castor’s arm while Castor was punching Jackie in the head with his free hand. Aaron sprinted toward them, not knowing what to do but refusing to just stand and watch. He had almost got close enough to catch them when a portal opened, and they fell into it.
Skidding to a halt, Aaron again searched for clues that would lead him to their next portal. Before a pattern emerged, a portal opened in the wall beside Aaron, and Jackie and Castor shot out of the portal in pure ballistic fashion. The three of them tumbled and rolled across the floor before being split apart and cast aside. The dwarf was on his back, dizzy and worn, but still, he tried to rise. He only got to sit halfway up before a boot swiftly connected with his face. Aaron felt his nose explode with blood as his head fell back and cracked into the concrete floor. His vision was blurry and cross-eyed, but the dwarf could see someone standing over him.
“I’ve been looking forward to this!” The figure over the dwarf had a maniacal note to his voice as he swung a metal rod into the side of Aaron’s head.
Aaron (Strength) vs. Castor – 5 vs. 8 Aaron fails. 1 Physical Moxie strike inflicted.
Somehow, the stars that flew across the dwarf’s brain from that strike uncrossed his eyes, and Aaron could see clearly again. He looked up and saw Castor; though the half-elf was beaten to such a bloody pulp, Aaron barely recognized this person standing over him. Castor screamed in pain while cradling the arm with the focus rod protruding from it.
“This hurts!” Castor yelled. “Every fuckin’ time I use it, it hurts! And it’s all your fault!”
“Eat coprolite, you worthless hunk of slag.”
“No!” Castor smashed the side of the metal focus rod into Aaron’s chest, then quickly slid the rod up to the dwarf’s throat. The half-elf pressed with all his weight, and Aaron could feel his windpipe slowly being crushed. The dwarf pushed, struggled, and tried to fight back, but nothing seemed to work. Aaron gagged and choked, struggling, pushing against the darkness that began to cloud his vision. He couldn’t die again, not like this. The dwarf tried to yell, but his voice was only a choked gurgle. The corner of Castor’s mouth looked like it was the only part of the half-elf’s face that still worked, and that corner held an insane grin filled with bloodlust and the desire for death.
A faint yell was heard to the side, followed by a solid strike of metal connecting with flesh and bone. Suddenly, Castor was gone, the weight was gone, and Aaron gasped in ragged pain as the air came back to his lungs and brain. The dwarf rolled over and sat up on his knees to see what happened.
Jackie walked, dragging the pipe Aaron had carried and approaching Castor with rageful intent. She fired projectile after projectile from a small portal over her shoulder. Castor took two hits from the projectiles before falling to the ground. Once on the ground, Jackie stomped on the half-elf’s arm, which had the focus rod. Castor screamed in pain, but the screams did not phase Jackie. The street elf opened a portal under the focus rod and slammed the pipe into the distal end. Castor writhed and flailed, screaming as his sanity became lost in the pain. Aaron rushed over and flopped his body onto Castor as Jackie slammed the pipe down again. With the third blow, the focus rod wrenched free, tearing out of the half-elf’s forearm and tumbling into the portal below. Jackie closed her portal, turned to Castor, who was blinded to the world by pain and rage, and then swung the pipe against Castor’s head. The half-elf went limp and silent. The street elf dropped the pipe and collapsed to the floor.
Aaron shoved the body of the limp half-elf aside and rushed to Jackie. Tears streamed down her face as she gingerly held her hand out in front of her. The gloves she wore that were once gleaming white now dripped red with blood. More than one of Jackie’s fingers were bent in odd directions, and irregular bumps pushed from the back of her gloves—Aaron could only guess those were more broken bones.
“I can’t,” The street elf sobbed quietly. “I can’t do it anymore.”
“It’s okay,” Aaron’s voice sounded damaged and raspy. He tried to be convincing for both of them but knew it was a failed attempt from the start. “We’ll figure something out.”
“No, there’s no time.” Jackie’s gaze pierced Aaron. “You need to save Tommy. I can’t cast another portal to save him, but you still have a chance.”
“He’s your brother. You need to figure out how.”
“What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me, just go! Go help, Tommy!”
The dwarf stared at the street elf a moment longer, then turned and ran back into the fray.
Aaron sprinted past groups of Alpha Numeros who were still fighting, jumped around debris, and headed for the biggest fight in the nightclub. The dwarf noted the grey troll was on the ground in a distant corner, with two yakuza still hacking away at it. It looked like the fight was nearly over. Spotting Tommy toward the center, it looked like that fight was getting closer to the end as well, and the troll was winning that one.
Yolo delivered a rapid jab and left hook. Tommy blocked the jab but was tired and took the full force of Yolo’s hook. The bronze-skinned elf staggered and stumbled back. Aaron rushed to his brother’s side and kept Tommy on his feet.
“Thanks, brother.” Tommy’s lip was split, as was an eyebrow. He was worn and beaten, yet he continued to smile as he spoke to Aaron. “You ready to tap in for me?”
“Ha! You ready to call pyrite real gold?”
Tommy laughed as he moved to the side, preventing Yolo from flanking him. “Not gonna lie, I could use a little help from Jackie right now.”
Aaron kept his eyes on the troll as he moved alongside Tommy. “Jackie’s out of commission. She sent me to help.”
“Well, you know what you need to do, right brother?”
Yolo feinted a charge, prompting Tommy and Aaron to jump to the side. The troll quickly moved to the same side and swung at Tommy, who blocked the first and second punches by moving into a clinch against the troll.
“No!” Aaron rolled out of the way to avoid tripping Tommy or being trampled by Yolo. “I don’t know what I need to do, Tommy!”
Tommy struggled to keep his footing as the troll attempted to throw the island elf out of the clinch. “Use your Hero’s Die, brother!”
Aaron stumbled to a halt at Tommy’s words. The red storm from the island swirled to the forefront of his mind, and the thought of Molly consumed all thought. His voice was as distant as the island where he left his love. “I can’t.”
Yolo glanced at Aaron and saw the dwarf frozen. Tommy broke the clinch and gave the troll a swift uppercut, causing Yolo to stumble back and give Tommy some space.
“You’ve got to brother.” Tommy moved so that he was between Yolo and Aaron. “I’ve used mine, Swift used his, and Jackie used hers. You haven’t used yours yet.”
“I can’t!” Aaron yelled through the storm that was consuming his mind.
“I know how you feel about this, brother, and I wouldn’t ask it of you lightly. But I need you, now more than ever, I need you to use your Die.”
Yolo grinned and laughed as he casually walked a slow circle around Tommy and Aaron. His dark eyes focused on the dwarf, frozen by internal conflict. “I find it amusing that you think I haven’t used my Hero’s Die, Tommy.”
“It doesn’t matter if you have. Aaron’s got the help I need to put you down, Yolo.”
Yolo threw his head back in howling laughter. “Really, elf? You really think this little shit-stained stone can cast a Hero’s Die roll that would defeat me?”
Tommy smiled as he moved into a crouched fighting stance. “Come on, brother, let’s show this troll what it means when he takes us on together.”
Aaron remained kneeling behind Tommy, unmoving, lost in the memory of the red storm. He had left Molly to fend for herself; left her to use her Hero’s Die. That Hero’s Die was supposed to save her, and it didn’t. He vowed he would never use that cursed implement of the system. Yet, now, he was in this place, and in the distance, he could hear Tommy calling out. “I got you, brother; you can do this. Use your Hero’s Die.”
Aaron also heard the dark voice of Yolo. “Go on, gravel-eater. Use you Die. You will still be meat for my freezer.”
Molly said she would use her Hero’s Die, and she told him everything would be okay.
“Use your die, Aaron!” Tommy called out through the raging storm in Aaron’s mind.
“Use your die, dwarf!” Yolo echoed through the pain and anguish thundering across his head.
“I’ll use my die,” Molly said. —And then he left her. How did he leave her to die?!
The storm of voices, sands of anguish, winds of pain encompassed Aaron, overwhelming his senses consuming him with dread, regret, loss.
“Brother!”
“Dwarf!”
I love you.
Aaron suddenly snapped awake through the storm. He heard her voice. In that instant, he heard Molly! But where?
Fighting through the storm in his mind, the dwarf desperately searched for his lost love, trying to find where she was.
“Looks like your brother failed you, Tommy.” Yolo chuckled. “It’s too bad we won’t see what the little gravel-eater can do.”
Aaron felt something against his chest. Reaching into the breast pocket of his trenchcoat, the dwarf withdrew the glowing purple dust that had been given to him by the yakuza sorceress back when they first started this investigation. She said it was a specially crafted composite from the arcane energies of the Tuber arcanatum—a mushroom Aaron had been carefully cultivating for years. It was the one thing he could find that held the magical power to get him back to Molly.
Yolo cocked his head as he saw Aaron start to move. The troll and the dwarf locked eyes. Yolo grinned wickedly. “Use your Hero’s Die, dwarf.”
Aaron sneered, tightly gripping the vial of purple arcane dust. “No.”
In one swift movement, the dwarf popped the cap off the vial and snorted every last flake of the purple snow.