Everyone except for Penny and the boys snored away after drinking far too many beers under a new moon the night before.

Rick had been looking at the Flora Boost crystal in his registry for quite some time after everyone had fallen asleep. Now that he had created his vortex and gained his levels, the concept wasn’t nearly as complicated as before. After burning some water and red clover, Rick began replicating the crystal once more.

Jimmy would kill me if he knew I was doing this without telling him, but it’s not like they can help, Rick thought.

Rick’s new Energy Efficiency made its presence clear the moment he began winding the ball of mana. The vortex within his core barely wisped out as he methodically tightened the mana. The process only took a fraction of the time that it took from before. His Energy usage was never in any danger either with the increased efficiency and larger capacity.

Now that Rick knew Marv and Gus were related, Gus’ DNA became much more important to tinker with.

Atrono had warned Rick that experimenting with Gus’ DNA to recreate him was bad business. Rather than making abominations in secrecy, Rick began searching for alternatives. He needed something that he could use both inside and outside of his domain to keep Gus and his brother in check. Jimmy’s hummingbirds were fine for surveillance but there wasn’t any firepower to them. Not to mention, Gus was excellent at thwarting anyone or anything trying to spy on him. What if he were able to create something that could track them down based off of their DNA if he needed to? That way they couldn’t hide from Rick and he’d have the element of surprise on his side.

Rick had a modest amount of Challenge Points saved up now. It may have seemed like a lot, but for the really impressive items, he was still millions of credits away. He wouldn’t let that stop him from finding something to tinker with to fit his plan.

After all, he had a passion for thrifting.

First and foremost, he wanted stealth. The small hummingbirds were fairly stealthy, but Rick knew that Gus was aware of them. He needed something that either had a cloaking mechanism or was too fast to react to. Then, it had to have devastating single-target attack power. It didn’t take long for his filters to find assassin drones that were far outside of his price range. Rick mentally shuddered as he read about one that was microscopic and would enter the target’s brain before detonating, melting only the inside of someone’s head. One of those suckers cost 1.2 billion CP.

Rick found a fairly cheap option that scared him. The name was in a language that Rick didn’t understand, but the System translated as “Pest Control”. The craft was described as small and would put itself into orbit, constantly scanning for the DNA of something called “Chrotos”. There was no information on what a Chrotos was, but the craft was designed to eliminate them if they cropped up on whatever planet the craft orbited.

If the DNA pinged its radar, the craft would open up and release small drill like objects that could withstand reentry of most atmospheres. The drills would then shoot at the target and burrow into it until it was dead. Once their job was done, they would return to their vessel.

All Rick needed to do was reprogram the device to hold Gus’ DNA. Thankfully, it came with a mechanism to be on standby until an order was sent.

Rick imagined that it was cheap because it targeted something very specific already. Still, he imagined others would utilize such a device the same way he was and cater it to their own needs.

Not one to complain about a great deal, Rick bought the craft for only 20,000 CP. While that was still a lot of CP for him, it was only a fraction of other such devices. The craft materialized in his Treasure Room and nearly filled it. The description had said, “small craft”. Not this monstrosity.

“How the hell am I supposed to get this out there and launch it into space without anyone noticing?” Rick grumbled to himself.

“Wussat?” Jimmy mumbled half asleep.

Rick quickly absorbed the craft, disposing of the evidence, “Go back to sleep, Jim. We’ll have time to discuss later.”

As his friend drifted back to sleep, Rick examined the Pest Control craft. The tech wasn’t nearly as complicated as Rick thought it would have been. Certainly not as complicated as the mana or reproducing clones from DNA.

The first thing he tried to do was to swap the Chrotos DNA with Gus’. Rick should be able to manipulate anything in his registry, but the Chrotos DNA wouldn’t go anywhere. Anytime he tried to remove it, the rest of the craft became a worthless piece of junk. Whoever had made this, ensured that the tech couldn’t be used without that. What he could do was add Gus’ DNA to the targeting system.

“Atro-no-oooo,” Rick sang loudly.

The centaur kicked a leg and scrambled awake. His orange mohawk flopping down on one side. “What is it? Are we under attack?”

Rick chuckled, “No, but I couldn’t wait for you guys to sleep the day away. What are Chrotos?”

Atrono scrunched his face, “Did you say Chrotos? How do you even know about them?”

After a quick explanation, the centaur nodded in understanding.

“Ah, I see. I wouldn’t worry about it. Those crafts are cheap because Chrotos are vermin in the multiverse. If they somehow dig their claws in a planet, it’ll most likely be destroyed. Terrible creatures.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Why are they so terrible?” Rick asked, imagining Earth being overrun by mutant rats.

“They’re shapeshifters. Most of them are dumb as rocks, but once in a while, you get a smart one. The smart ones can control other Chrotos almost like a hive mind, but I haven’t heard of anything like that happening for ages.”

“So having one of these isn’t a bad idea even if it doesn’t work for what I’m trying to do,” Rick surmised.

“Yeah, but I can’t imagine Chrotos stumbling upon this planet for a long time,” Atrono yawned.

Jimmy had been rubbing his eyes, listening in. He sipped a dark roast coffee that Rick had produced for him. “Shapeshifters, you say?”

“Yep, but they’re easy to spot if you know what to look for.”

“Have you ever seen one?” Jimmy asked.

“Well, no. But–.”

“So these ‘vermin’ as you put it, would be on the run from most beings in the multiverse, looking for a planet to call their own?” Jimmy pressed.

“Yes, they’re always looking for–.”

“A home?” Jimmy said, cutting off Atrono. “Is it possible that they found Earth before it was open to the multiverse?”

Atrono frowned, thinking the question over. “It’s… possible,” he admitted.

Jimmy then turned his head upward, “And you programmed it to take out Gus too?”

“Well, maybe. I can set it to standby,” Rick began to explain.

The centaur held up a hand, “Are you certain that it will only target his unique DNA, or will it be programmed to attack all human DNA?”

“Well I input just his DNA. It’s unique after all,” Rick argued.

Atrono shook his head, “Can you spot the difference between his and all of the other humans you’ve absorbed?”

“They’re all different in some ways, but I see your point. I need to remove what they all have in common so that it focuses on what makes Gus and his family tree unique.”

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, “Damn, you’d just wipe out his entire bloodline like that?”

Rick realized how callous that sounded when someone said it out loud. “I wouldn’t shed any tears over the two people that we know of. I’m willing to do it if it means stopping them and anyone else like them.”

“Dude, that’s… pretty fucked up.”

“Look, I’m not going to activate it unless absolutely necessary. This way, we’ll have leverage over him,” Rick continued to argue. His human morals continued to erode. “Those two might be the last ones left for all we know.”

Jimmy’s face seemed conflicted, but he still conceded the point. “If we are being invaded by these Chrotos, then I do think we should launch your new toy. How many can you make?”

“As many as I want as long as I have the Energy.”

“Good. Let’s start small. One or two. It will also help answer any questions outside. If Gus asks what we’re doing, we’ll just say that you found something that might help our problem. It’s a mostly honest answer, right?”

Rick and Atrono both agreed, so Rick removed the similarities from Gus’s DNA to all of his other samples and produced two of the craft in the Auxiliary Room. It was easier than he had expected.

The three men continued to gameplan for another hour until the Spell & Sword woke up.

— — —

“Damn, it feels good to wake up with a nice morning sun shining through the window,” Diane breathed as Grady got dressed next to her. “Oh, thanks for last night. You didn’t seem as into it as usual,” she commented.

Grady shrugged, “I was just exhausted.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Diane said and began to get dressed herself.

Alex burst into their room before quickly averting his gaze, “Whoops, sorry guys. Get dressed and come check out what Rick made.”

Grady’s face flushed, but Diane didn’t seem to care about the intrusion.

Less than a minute later, the trio walked outside to find everyone else marveling at the two spacecraft just sitting in the middle of the Auxiliary Room floor. Jimmy waved them over and gave a quick rundown of their plan.

Diane started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Jimmy asked.

“How do you plan on getting these things outside?” she asked.

“Rick can manipulate the size of the doors. He just needs to put ‘em on wheels and we’ll be in business,” Jimmy explained.

“Not bad, but the funny part is what you’re going to tell people,” she said with an arrogant smirk. “If you think that Gus will just be happy to have some weapons on your side, you’re mistaken. He’s going to want them for himself as well as take any credit if they’re successful.”

Jimmy scratched his chin, “Yeah, you’re right. We gotta distract him and his scumbag brother.”

“I can distract Gus. You morons can distract his brother,” Diane said.

“How are you going to do that?” Alex asked, tilting his head like a dog.

“Fuck him,” Diane said casually. “He’s been hitting on me ever since our first Challenge and Grady’s getting boring. I’m willing to fall on the grenade for a good cause.”

Grady’s face changed to a dark crimson. Jimmy’s eyes went wide, accompanied by an awkward silence.

“Humans truly are primitive,” Atrono said, turning his nose up.

Jimmy took the opportunity to move the conversation along, “I don’t feel comfortable sending anyone to intercept Marv. He’s sharp as a whistle and uses that curse shit a little too liberally. Does anyone have any ideas for him?”

“He wants the kid, right?” Sarah asked, surprising everyone.

Jimmy nodded, “Yes, but there’s no chance we’re letting him near Marv.”

“No, that’s not what I was suggesting,” she said. “We simply have to spread the rumor that two boys matching Dane and Danny’s descriptions were seen fleeing out of town. Let him get far enough away, and then send Diane in after Gus. Once they’ve taken all the bait, we drag these things out and launch.”

“Some of this feels wrong, but whatever. Keep it simple, stupid, and all that jazz,” Jimmy said. “Okay, let’s start spreading some rumors.”

The group of Challengers begrudgingly left the safety of the Auxiliary Room to set their plan into motion.

Before Jimmy could exit, Rick called out, “Wait up, Jimmy. I have some more that I need to go over with you. Including a new floor.”