Monty jumped the last few feet back up to the road while CJ got reeled in with the winch. Jenn helped CJ up and over the concrete divider. All the while CJ kept asking himself why there was such a huge gap between the east and westbound sides of the bridge. The road actually splits and bows out like a big letter O. He guessed it was more dungeon magic fuckery. Now he needed to check on everyone and get that hanging section of bridge back down so they could continue to the other side.
“Did anyone talk to the cops?” CJ asked, his hands on his knees and secretly praying he didn’t have to do that again, “I’d really like to get this show on the road.”
“Elena is talking to them now. The conversation seems more animated than I’d like…” Jenn trailed off pointing in the direction of the police barricade.
“We got rid of your damn wasp nest, now bring down that section of bridge like you promised,” yelled Elena with almost visible waves of heat coming off her.
“Like I just told you, the crane operator says the armature bent during the bridge swaying. Unless he fixes it, the crane will be locked in position,” clucked the chicken cop gesturing across the gap at the crane.
CJ caught the tail end of the conversation as he jogged over. He looked across the gap noticing the lower level of the bridge that had been suspended in midair was much closer than before. He’d go as far as to think it was a jumpable distance for them if they started from the concrete divider. If that was the case, they might be able to scramble across the hanging pavement and get to the other side.
“Why is it lower than before?” asked CJ.
“When the crane arm bent, the separated section dipped lower. I’m not a civic engineer. Don’t ask me why.”
New Message from Party Leader CJ: I think we are supposed to hop across and help the crane operator. That or just bail on the rest of this. If we can get to the other side of this bridge that’ll end the dungeon.
New Message from Psycho: But then we’ll only get a B grade. It seems simple enough to help the crane operator.
New Message from Elena: I don’t know anything about fixing cranes.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: I’ve got an item that can repair things but only a one square foot cube. If the damage can fit inside that box, we should be good.
No sooner did CJ send that message then they heard the groaning of metal bending under too much stress. The hanging section shuddered and dropped another foot closer. At the same time Monty was standing on the concrete and rebar divider. Brown sigils spun around his right forepaw before an amalgamation of grey concrete and cobalt colored asphalt bled together into a fist that grabbed the lower section of the hanging road.
New Message from Monty: Move your asses. This spell won’t last forever.
The team did so. Elena scrabbled her way over the earthen arm up onto the precarious road. Jenn then followed her who gingerly tight rope walked up the arm. Both of her arms held out in a line for balance. Finally, CJ crawled up the arm avoiding looking down. He worried that he may be developing a fear of heights after his last stunt on this bridge.
Once standing firm on the lower section of the bridge, CJ looked left and right. The fact that nothing was holding it parallel to the upper section messed with his sense of gravity. They jogged over to the other side noting the drop was a little steeper here compared to the way they got up her.
“Here, let me.” CJ said before casting Earth Fist. It grew out of the road up here and reached down toward the upper level on the east bound side. “Shit, that’s as far as it’ll go. We may have to jump from the end of the hand.
CJ flexed open the fingers on that hand and the earth fist mimicked it. That just granted them a few more inches. Then a separate hand reached up from the road on the other side before clasping its fingers up to the second knuckle. A makeshift gangplank was created from the road surface to the hanging portion. CJ looked down at his side and Monty had cast the spell again. The bunny looked up at him and smirked derisively.
“Yes, I’m better at this than you are. Can we go now?”
“You smug little bastard. When I get my hands on you—” CJ was cut off by another shutter and the piece of road they were standing on shook. The sound of stone cracking could be heard from the plank of earth they’d created.
“Go, Go, Go!”
This time they all sprinted across the anchored spells before the center broke from the strain and sheering pressures of the moving piece of bridge. They all huffed their elation out as the two spells broke apart. Pieces of concrete fracturing and falling no longer taking the form of clasped hands.
“I’m done with this dungeon. Let’s just leave,” gasped out Elena as she stared past the oncoming traffic that was standing still waiting for the bridge to be fixed. “All we have to do is walk to the end now.”
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Jenn was about to agree before she noticed CJ was climbing the ladder up to the cab where he found the crane operator.
CJ opened the door to find an anthropomorphic chicken wearing a yellow hard hat and safety vest. He had jeans and work boots on as well. It all clashed with the beak, waddle, and white feathers that littered almost every inch of the cab. The operators’ eyes were wild and looked like he was having some kind of fit.
“What is wrong with you? I’m here to help fix the crane.”
“You’ve got about five minutes to do something. This has been hanging here for hours and its only supposed to be up to let ships pass under. Another shimmy of this bridge and the arm’s gonna snap. That’ll cause the raised section to fall uncontrollably. It could bring down the whole bridge if it lands wrong. You see that section up there, it’s not supposed to bed that way. I can’t get up there to fix it. I’m afraid of heights. That’s why I work the crane. No climbing.”
“Fuck me!” cried CJ as he crawled out onto the arm and began scaling it.
New Message from Elena: What the hell are you doing?
New Message from Party Leader CJ: If this thing falls it’ll destroy the whole bridge. We’d never make to the toll plaza in time. Not with all these cars in the way.
CJ made it halfway up before he was hit with an intense feeling of vertigo. He clasp his arms around the metal rungs and held on for dear life. His teeth even began chattering.
“Don’t look down. Just keep going. Shit its magic, how close to I have to actually be?”
He pulled his left hand free and pointed his Ring of Refurbishment at the point the metal began to indent into itself. A translucent box about one foot cubed appeared in his vision. CJ attempted to overlay the box on the bent portion. Then he felt the bridge begin to shimmy. If the arm bent anymore, it would be wider than the targeting box. He had to do it now. Triggering the ring he saw a spiral of clock faces sink into the affected cube.
The hands on the clocks were spinning counterclockwise as the metal began to right itself into its original position. The spell ended and CJ could no longer feel any mana in the ring. The charge for today had been expended.
As soon as crane operator saw what was happening, he cheered from cab waving his hard hat back and forth.
“Tada.” CJ said to himself as he slowly climbed back down.
The separated portion of the bridge was lowered in place without anything else going wrong. Traffic started moving slowly as the chicken cops opened one lane at a time. Mostly to get people moving while all the equipment was being packed away.
CJ and the team received nods of approval from the police on the opposite side of the now whole bridge. Then they picked up the pace before every lane became a dance with death. Once on the Bayone side of the bridge the world began to swirl in that kaleidoscopic way CJ had become accustomed too.
Then the colors stopped moving and the party interface all went gray except for his health and mana bar. CJ found himself standing next to a strange looking tree. The branches were all spindly with truly little of a canopy on top. It stretched out to cover a large area, but it could be described, at best, as anemic.
“Where the fuck?”
“So, you’ve completed the third of five bolster dungeons. Very good. You may end up completing his quest before the full moon.” Said a voice in heavily accented English.
CJ spun around looking for whomever was talking but found nothing. Then an army of spiders began crawling up the tree trunk next to him. There were so many and in such variety that his mammalian brain began to fritz out. He looked at the grass lands around him to see they swarmed with spiders of all sizes.
“No need to worry. You are no danger from my children. In fact, I think you’ll all get along rather well after what I have to say.”
The voice sounded like it was coming from all directions the first time but this time it was coming from just above him. He very slowly looked up. Bulbous spheroids of spider’s eggs rolled together into a shape. The shape coalesced into a man with pitch black skin sitting in the tree wearing jeans and flip flops. He had no shirt on, but his hair was braided and tied together behind his head. Although the braids appeared to have segmented joints.
“You see, nothing to worry about.”
“Alright, fine. I had dreamt about something like this but there was a huge spider hanging from a tree above a pride of lions. I suppose this is better than the alternative.”
“Quite right. Where are my manners, I have not introduced myself yet. I am Anansi, purveyor of stories and wisdom, a compatriot of your Wukong. We are in a bit of an alliance right now. Much to be done about the corrupted mana. Right now, you are the front runner. Do you understand why he asked you to clear these dungeons?”
“As I understand it, the dungeons can purify the corrupted mana. The sooner we do that the better,” answered CJ as he continued to see the tree fill up with more arachnids than it could truly contain. “What I want to know is, why didn’t the goddess of fate tell anyone?”
“That is a good question.” Answered Anansi as one of his braid reached around his face holding an apple. He waived it back and the braid retreated. “I believe she just doesn’t know. She may have come from somewhere that was mana rich, and the corruption was only seen in monsters, or she hasn’t been a god for exceptionally long. Small g. Only time will tell. I suggest you ask your patron about her Harbinger; he may know more than he’s told you.”
“Then that brings to my main question. Why am I here?”
“Back to business I see. Very well, I pulled you here while you were in-between dimensions.” CJ opened his mouth to say something, but Anansi kept talking, “You’ll learn more about that later in your adventures. For now, I come bearing gifts. I will mark you before we finish talking. Do not fret, my mark will give you power and aid you. Things will become… what is the English word for it. Troublesome. That’s it. In the future. You have yet to truly explore your Harbingers abilities. A bare handful of awakened slates but to your credit there have been very few people you’ve come in contact with that you haven’t killed.”
“Excuse me? It’s the god damned apocalypse out there. It’s not like I haven’t tried.”
“I meant no offense. Just stating facts. You’ve done well with very little combat training. The guns seem to help out quite a bit, but I wonder how well you’ll do when they are no longer as effective.”
“You mean against monsters that require enchantment to be damaged?”
“That and some other things. Your class leans heavily into trickery but don’t forgo magics that will make you powerful. That is my advice. Your friends need you so I will not keep you longer. Accept my mark and go with my blessings,” said Anansi as CJ received a new Slate message.
Deific Mark Received: The Mark of Anansi- This mark grants you the following benefits: Cytotoxic Transference, access to the Arachnid Web Works, Call of the Swarm.