Before entering the incredibly busy and now heavily-guarded clinic, Daz summoned Rimmy.

It had been a massive mistake to summon Rimmy in New York for posturing purposes, Daz now realised. 'I'll never do that again. What a fucking colossal error in judgement. If he was here during the attack no one would be in critical condition right now.'

The massive golem's appearance along with Daz and his sister now being present helped create a sense of security and it calmed some of the looming nerves that the recent terrorist attack had created in the everyday people of Fort Skip.

"Rimmy, do you mind if I control you for a bit?" Daz asked his best friend.

Naturally, the lumbering giant with a heart of gold nodded and stuck his thumb out. "Rimmy!"

"Great." Daz willed for Rimmy to float up into the air and then he positioned him just over the clinic so that every part of the building was within 15-feet of him. "Like this, you can heal them all."

Everyone was aware of Rimmy's healing powers since the general citizens had been taking advantage of his SSS-ranked skill, Restorative Aura, to heal their blisters, bumps, and bruises from their new day jobs, so seeing him over the clinic was like a godsend for the people watching.

"Ah, The Guardian's here... My son will be fine now... Thank God..."

"T-Thank you, King Daz. You've saved my wife!"

"Foreman Sandy won't die anymore? I was so worried, but if anyone can save him, it's The Guardian..."

"That godless terrorist will be saved as well... I have some questions for him..."

"Me too!"

"Me as well!"

"He should be executed for trying to blow us up!"

Daz wore a sympathetic expression on his face as he raised his hand to quiet the gathered citizens down. "Don't worry, he'll be punished severely for his actions against us today. I am already aware of who he was working for, and after confirming a few things with Sandy and making sure that no one's life is in danger anymore, then I'll be leaving immediately to make the culprit for this attack pay."

"King Daz already knows who ordered him?"

"This wasn't a random attack? Are we being targetted?"

"Still, even if we are, no one died thanks to the barrier, the walls, and thanks to Foreman Sandy... He's a hero, that man."

"I knew he was a good guy when he held Ger, Sarah, and Jorden's funerals, but yeah, this is on a whole other scale..."

"Ah? He did that? I'm fairly new here..."

Daz raised his voice once more and added, "It has also come to my attention that we have spies living amongst us. This terroristic attack was only possible thanks to them. I take full responsibility for letting rats slip into our community and for allowing them to attempt to ruin it. I promise that they will be taken care of swiftly."

Concerned frowns spread amongst the crowd.

"It isn't your fault, King Daz."

"Right? You did your best. No one expected this."

"It's not like you wanted it to happen, so you shouldn't really blame yourself."

Daz had to wonder how different their tunes would have been had people died or were their loyalty stats not being boosted by his prior quest rewards or if his words weren't being made more reasonable by his stats and skills. Regardless, this was a good thing.

The reaper would be lying if he said that he wasn't at least slightly worried about possibly having to deal with mass citizen-dissatisfaction. Luckily, he had a living scapegoat and a solid target to pin the blame on.

'So long as I never let it happen again then we should be fine,' Daz decided as he, Rose, and Jim all entered the clinic.

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"Fuckin' explosion ruined ma pipe," Sandy grumbled. He was covered almost head-to-toe in bandages and could barely even move.

Rose snorted. "Better your pipe than your limbs. We can't get those back for you, not for free, at least."

"Yer a cheery girl, ain't ya?" Sandy spat back sarcastically.

Rose smiled. "As cheery as they come."

"I'm glad to see you're still in high spirits, Sandy," Daz said.

The man tried to shrug but instead groaned from the shooting pain his movement had caused him. "I don't want to say I'm used to it, but I'm the kinda man that got discharged dishonourably from the army for clocking ma commanding officer in the jaw. Beautiful right hook, though, If I do say so maself. I saw something wrong and I tried to stop it. No one's dead, so I think I did pretty damned well."

"Yes, you absolutely did," Daz immediately replied. "I have no idea how I can thank you, in all honesty."

"Some sort ah award ceremony probably," the old construction foreman said dismissively. "I've no interest in some'in like that, but I'm sure it'll please the normal folk at least."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Is there anything that you want, Sandy?" Daz asked. "Whatever you want, I'll try my best to give it to you."

"Hahaha, how's about a few days off? I might need a little bit ah R'n'R," Sandy said with a laugh that made him feel like his body was literally falling apart.

Daz smiled warmly. "Now, come on. Don't ask for the impossible. Rimmy'll have you healed up in no time."

"Tch, Smartass. Yeah, yeah, little kiddo King Daz doesn't have the manpower to build a city without his underqualified foreman. You're a slavedriver, Kiddo, you know that, right?" Sandy said as he rolled his eyes jokingly.

"Haha, with you, I try to be," Daz responded. "But in all seriousness, is there anything you want?"

"Havin' Maddy back would be a good start, I think. Stop fussin' over ol' me. I'll be fine now. Go save the daft girl, would ya?" Sandy asked with an overwhelming amount of seriousness in his tone.

Daz's expression turned cold. "Oh, don't worry, I will."

He waved his hand to unsummon all three of his clones and then resummoned them all directly in the clinic.

"Christ above... Don't ya go be doin' that near me. One of you boys is more than enough for ma ol' heart as it is, let alone four of yas," Sandy teased.

Rose nodded. "I wholeheartedly agree."

Daz ignored the two sarcastic jesters as he gave his attention to his clones. "Alpha, head to Vegas. I said I'd be back tomorrow, but I suspect I'll have other problems tomorrow and won't have the time, so I'm leaving handling that city to you."

"I'll do so, Original," Alpha calmly replied then walked out of the front door promptly.

"Gamma, you're the best at using my skills, so I want you to take control of Rimmy from me if you don't mind." He was going to be leaving for Los Angeles very shortly, after all, but Rimmy would have to be kept floating above the clinic for at least several hours. "While here, keep a close eye on our recovering prisoner. Under no circumstances should you let him kill himself or escape."

"Orders received, Original," Gamma answered then immediately focused his mind into taking full control of Rimmy's body from Daz without accidentally making the 30-foot tall golem smash into the building.

Once that was done, Daz gave a command to his final clone. "Beta, go and get Mu. Wait here with him for Crusher to come back, and once she arrives, tell the two of them to protect Fort Skip as if their lives depend on it, because trust me, they do. After that, find Lyle and take Fort Sky with him and meet me in Los Angeles."

"Of course, Original," the clone respectfully responded then, like Alpha, left the clinic.

"Okay then, let's go. You too, Jim. You can meet and catch up with your sister later," Daz said coldly.

"I hardly have a choice, do I?" the unlucky luck-based esper said in defeat.

Rose chuckled. "Wise observation. Wisdom like that will get you far."

'Perfect. Now I'm being lectured by a child... Lunatics. It'll take a miracle to convince me that they're anything but insane,' Jim privately thought as he dragged his feet behind the two of them.

Daz glanced down at Rose and said, "I don't know what you're mocking him for. Him coming with us means that you have to sit on my lap on the drive to L.A. You do remember that the car only has two seats, right?"

Rose's face paled and Jim's regained some colour.

"I never considered that... L-Let's not bring him, shall we?" Rose pleaded.

Jim laughed. "Ah, I suddenly really want to go and help now. I bet Governor Marglow will hate it if I steal all of his luck, right? That'll make killing him all the sweeter when everything around him crumbles without any input from you."

'And he thinks we've got some screws loose?' Daz rhetorically asked in thought. He couldn't read minds, of course, but it'd take a fool to not see how the man viewed the Hamilio siblings.

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Madison slowly opened her eyes and yawned softly. She stretched her arms and arched her back like a cat before she realised that she wasn't in her and Daz's bedroom like she usually was when waking up.

She was in a completely white room which only possessed a single door and a bed. Her Daz-stitched backpack was nowhere to be seen and neither was her sword or the sword-handling gloves that Daz had gifted to her.

She was still wearing the skinny jeans, flannel shirt, boots, and the same underwear as she was before she had been taken to wherever this place was, so that, at least, put her mind somewhat at ease.

"Kidnapped?" she mumbled.

Suddenly, a television-like screen appeared on the wall next to the room's door. A masked figure that seemed feminine appeared on it.

"I see that you've awoken, Codename Sword," the figure said with the clear voice of a woman.

Madison narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Asking questions probably wouldn't get her any sufficient answers, but she figured she may as well try. "You, who?"

"I am your jailor. More than that, you are not privy to know," the woman answered, much to Madison's expectations.

She sighed softly and got up before she crawled into the room's bed and got herself comfortable.

"You can pretend to be calm if you wish, Codename Sword, but it makes no difference," the woman claimed.

Madison scrunched up her eyes in annoyance. "Shh. Try, sleep. Rude."

"In your current circumstances trying to sleep is certainly very brave of you, Codename Sword. Very brave, or very foolish," the woman said in a powerful tone.

Madison snuggled up into her bedsheets and closed her eyes. "Doesn't, matter. I, escape, Daz, save, me. One, or, other. Sleep, now, wake, up, when, Daz, here."

"You truly are difficult to understand. Regardless, it is my job to tell you that you are a valuable political prisoner, as such, you will not be harmed, but you shall also not be afforded any freedoms. You are expected to employ the system to feed yourself and to avoid any bodily needs. Should you attempt to employ the system to aid in your escape of this facility then your life may be forfeit, though we both know how your ruler would react to that, now don't we?" the woman asked threateningly.

Madison yawned again and replied, "Me, not, worry, death. You, worry. Anyone, I, stranger, enter, I, kill."

"You're more vicious than the reports we have on you stated. Interesting. Regardless, I'm glad that you're complying," the woman on the screen said.

'I miss my Daz doll, but that's at home... I kind of want my backpack back...' Madison sulked with her eyes before she raised her torso and stared at the screen. "Request."

"I'm unlikely to grant it, but please, do ask," the woman responded a bit unfavourably.

"Backpack." Madison's inability to speak properly sometimes wasn't a bad thing as it became incredibly easy to get her point across at times.

"No. We've confirmed that it's just a backpack, yes, but its ability to tell us Codename Reaper's current condition is too valuable to simply give it back to you," the woman answered.

Madison frowned internally. "Return, or, escape."

"If you try to escape, we will kill you," the woman assertively stated.

Madison shook her head. "No. You're, scared. Kill, me, Daz, kill, all. You, stupid? Return, backpack."

"I don't think you understand the position you're in right now, Code-"

"System, buy, nuclear, bomb," Madison interrupted, alarming the masked woman enough to instantly give her a mild panic attack.

"W-Wait! L-Let me contact my superiors first!" the woman screamed.

'Heh. Nothing's changed. My family was scared of Daz's father, these people are scared of Daz. Maybe they're scared of nukes too? Either way, I'll get my backpack back!' Madison smiled with her eyes. She was very happy that her 'negotiation tactics' had made a bit of progress and given her some power in this somewhat dire situation.

If she was going to have to wait for Daz to come and save her anyway, then where was the harm in her getting back one of her belongings? Maybe she'd come up with an escape plan if Daz didn't come to collect her quickly enough, but she doubted that would be necessary. She had faith in the man that she loved and had spent over a decade with.