We waited on one of several overpasses over I-30 waiting for the Veranda's contingent to arrive. The sun was quickly rising to its peak and I found myself tempted to simply slide under the bridge to seek the shelter of its shade. It would hardly be fair to the other thirty some odd people on the bridge to leave them in the baking sun while I lounged in the shade. I could easily call for everyone to move down into the shade while we waited, but I also didn't want to leave our cargo unattended up there.

It was hardly going to get up and walk off on its own, but it had already started attracting jackal-snakes and some sort of super fluffy white birds with serrated beaks had tried to get at it. That wasn't even including the twelve to twenty foot long centipede lions lurking in the shadows of buildings, all but invisible to everything but my tremorsense. Plus the damn thing was heavy enough that just moving the blasted thing this far had left me and the others responsible for hauling the load fairly gassed, we'd need the extra muscle just to get it to its destination.

So that left me sitting in the shadow of the great stinking thing with my eyes on the sky in case more birds came down to try and eat it. A rather mindless task that gave me far too much time to think, though my mind was largely occupied by four things.

George Curz, Félix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge.

I'd always known that in situations like this that it would be inevitable that conflict would spring up and that it would be the job of strong good men to strike down the wicked. Hell I'd had fantasies about being badly injured and wading into a screaming horde of men that behaved more like animals in order to buy others time to escape. I'd been one of those people who had unironically been hoping someone would try and break into his home so I'd have an excuse to fight and kill them. In all those fantasies and plans the people I'd been fighting or putting down had been faceless, nameless things.

George Curz, Félix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge.

It is amazing how much of a difference simply having a name to assign to their faces changed things. Turned a cackling villain into something that might have had loved ones, had a history, something that if I'd tried harder might have been lifted from the dirt to be guided on the hard path to heaven. I couldn't see any way that I could have reasonably guided them back onto God's path without potentially sacrificing dozens of innocent people to their cruel mercies. That should mean that what I did was the right thing, yet my heart hissed at me that such cold arithmetic was the kind of thinking that had guided the world to the verge of biblical anarchy before the Event.

George Curz, Félix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge.

One of these names was not like the others.

Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge. Jorge.

For the others, their names were known, thrown into my face by the system upon their death, no doubt the same was true for Jorge, but it was likely buried in the dozens of notifications waiting for me. I really should look at them. No doubt some useful information was waiting for me in there, but so was the name. Another proper name to hiss through my head like a knife through flesh, a name to give a vengeful whispering ghost on my back greater purchase. Surely it wouldn't be too bad to let it sit for another day or two would it?

The wicked flee when no man pursueth, hissed in my non-existent ear causing me to flinch. I had always had a habit of simply trying to avoid problems and hoping they'd go away or someone else would handle them. I guess Damian wasn't the only one waiting to be rescued on some level. Might as well use this time to check the updates. I could handle one more name without breaking. Just because I was a snake didn't mean I couldn't be as brave as a lion right?

–Fossorial Mutagen has leveled up! x4–

–Gained 12xp–

That would probably be from the frantic digging of the collapsing tunnel trap, we had been beyond lucky that he had stepped on it, if he'd stepped over it or stopped short we might have a major issue. We were probably lucky that his group didn't seem to have anyone with detection abilities like that, probably something to invest into.

–Tremorsense has leveled up! x2–

–Gained 6xp–

That would be the approach. I'm a little surprised that it didn't level up more than that considering just how much information Jorge's footsteps were feeding me. If I met anyone else on that scale I might need to hang around them for a few hours to grind the skill.

–Lunge has leveled up! x2–

–Gained 6xp–

–Lunge rank up!–

–Ability: E → D–

–Fossorial Mutagen has leveled up!–

–Gained 3xp–

–Leap has leveled up!–

–Gained 3xp–

Ah, that would be the initial attack. Hells, that was a terrible idea. I had been way too confident on the idea of being able to completely bore through the man with that combination where I wasn't even sure Fossorial helped me dig through flesh or just dirt. I really should have gone in tail first, used the giant blade to soak the impact. I'd been so concerned that my scales would rob too much penetration from the attack I hadn't even considered the possibility of knocking myself out by effectively launching myself face first into a bunker.

–You have taken 78 impact damage–

–You have taken 92 impact damage–

–You are inflicted with |Stun|–

–You are inflicted with |Cripple||Slow||Daze|–

–You have taken 18 impact damage–

–Warning: Stamina Low–

Just the memory of that pain made me cringe, I might technically be able to tank nearly three times that damage but forcing my way forwards through dark and clinging flesh while feeling my skull deform and bones grinding against each other was likely going to feature in a few nightmares in the coming weeks.

–WARNING! YOU ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF STAMINA!–

–CONTINUING WILL COST YOU HP!–

–You have taken 316 Crushing Damage–

–You have been afflicted by |Paralyze||Stun|–

–You are inflicted with |Bleed|–

–Bunker Down has leveled up! x2–

–Gained 6xp–

–Wolfram Mutagen has leveled up! x3–

–Gained 9xp–

–Your system services have been suspended–

–Your system services have been restored–

A deep shudder ran the length of my body, two simple lines that sounded no worse than the internet going down for a moment that signified the exact moment I'd died. I wonder if Jorge had seen my own name appear before him before he'd died.

–You have slain Jorge González–

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

–Gained 620xp!–

–Level up!–

–Gained 2pts!–

Huh, for some reason I hadn't expected him to actually be named Jorge. It sounded like such a fake name, like if I started calling myself Drake or something. Wait, was that even allowed in gangs? Were you allowed to make your gang name your actual name? That seemed wrong somehow, though I suppose expecting every gang member to have a unique name was probably a bit much. I should probably be glad that half the gang wasn't calling themselves 'Tex'... Could I get away with calling myself that? Nah, maybe if I somehow became a major player I might do that... Then again being some seven headed hydra, dragon or whatever I ended up getting turned into, and being amongst a bunch of 'Killfuck Soulshitter's and introducing myself as 'Average Joe' had a strong appeal.

Refocusing my wandering mind I focused on Jorge's full name and found myself, just feeling a bit tired. I just wanted things to be in a decent place before I went to check on my folks and now I had four names hanging around my neck like the cornerstones to a monument of death. Hell, there was very much a possibility that doing this would result in more names added to the list, would it get so long that I'd start forgetting names?

I opened my full character screen and started feeling around, there had to be some sort of notepad or something in this stupid thing. It took me several minutes to stumble across it and then staple it onto the bottom of my character sheet. I still hated the fact I basically had my own sheet like a Trailblazers Character, it made everything feel cheaper, like this was just another game of Trailblazers or SLRUPs where I had the misfortune of being a PC or NPC for a change. God Almighty don't let this be one of the games I run! I'm a terribly unfair System Master!

User: Joe Palmer

Species: Broadblade Adder

Rank: E

Health: 492/492 (+++)

Stam: 110/110

Level: 11

Exp: 993/1750

Special: Tremorsense D Traits: 4/4

Grappling Strike E: Your strikes now inflict the Grab condition.

[2/10]

Tremorsense D: Feel out low frequency waves through solid objects you're touching to see with more than just your eyes. May reveal weaknesses in structures and foes.

[4/10]

Constrict E: Allows you to inflict additional ongoing Impact Damage to targets afflicted by your Grab. Moderate Stamina drain. (Health+)

[2/10]

Large (long): Your form is large sized and very long, weighing no more than 20000 lbs. (Health++)

n/a Abilities: 4/4

Prehensile Tail E: Your tail is flexible enough to carry or manipulate simple objects.

[8/10]

Bunker Down C: Become an immobile barrier capable of withstand all but the harshest attacks. Your next attack upon ending this ability is much more powerful.

[5/10]

Lunge D: Hurl yourself at your enemies and deal extra damage. Modest Stamina Cost.

[0/10]

Leap C: Jump great distances and use your resulting momentum as a weapon. Moderate Stamina Drain.

[4/10] Mutagens: 5/5

Wolfram Mutagen C: Your entire body is coated in a dense metallic substance that is highly resistant to various forms of damage.

Respiring Mutagen E: When holding still your stamina recovery increases drastically.

Fossorial Mutagen C: Burrow quickly through earth and stone.

Sabertail Bloodline: Ancestral memory of blade bearing brutes capable of cleaving through the hardest of defenses.

Cutting and piercing attacks natively bypass 75% of physical defenses. Provides greater control over cutting surfaces. Tailsaber A long sharp blade natural grows from your tail. Will regrow if damaged or removed.

Myoelectric Mutagen A: Your muscle fibers gain the ability to generate and store small electrical charges, enhancing strength and potentially stunning enemies on contact. Sins: George Curz, Félix Perez, Carlos Mendez, Jorge González

There we go, perhaps 'memorial would have been better, but these were failings. I'd need to do better, work to redeem the spilled blood that stained my soul, even if it had been for a good cause. I couldn't let myself get comfortable with killing, to accept excuses like necessity or justified. I knew what I was like with slippery slopes and addiction, maybe this new form had solved my hyper addictive behavior, or maybe it hadn't. The only way I knew for sure to make sure that something didn't become a habit was to not start it.

I looked at those four names one last time before closing the screen, I hoped it would be enough.

Looking up from the menu fiddling and popup scrolling I saw the familiar equine form of Rumi and the giant gorilla armed centipede form of Donald. I had not the slightest clue who the two walking next to them were, one looked like someone had tried to make a man out of various pieces of wood but built them ten feet tall with massively oversized arms. The second was a nightmare come to life.

It looked like George's T-rex body, but someone had taken the upper body of one of the boarillas and glued it into George's bleeding neck stump and run all of George's scattered teeth through the arms as a form of improvised jaws. Where George had had tiny t-rex arms, instead there was a terrible amalgamation of what had to have been a dozen jackle-snakes glued together in the rough shape of arms ending with 'hands' made of several of the animals' severed heads. Each and every eye gazed out with the hazy grayness of death, yet they all still twitched about as if still taking in the world.

"Morning Joe," Donald called waving as if he wasn't being followed by a twisted abomination that put all of Jeremy's works to shame, "How you doing?"

"What," I jabbed my tailblade at the amalgamation, "In the Cinnamon Toast FUCK is that?"

Donald sighed and face palmed. "That," he said tiredly, "Is another of the tech bugs, they both wanted to come along for this, and sadly they aren't quite as easy on the eyes as Melvin is. The one driving the wickerman is Noah."

The wooden man/puppet raised an oversized log of a forearm to point at me with a finger made of multiple twigs held together by what looked like spider silk, "Before you ask, no I won't build you a boat."

"You never get tired of that joke do you?" Donald sighed as the wooden humanoid shrugged, "And the horrible meat amalgamation is being controlled by, ironically enough, Angel."

The thing waved it's arms before settling down on the ground, an absolutely tiny bug, maybe an inch or two long poked out of carrion pile and held up what looked like a megaphone made out of a piece of bone, "Sorry if it looks bad, kind of got stuck with a bum deal. Nice to meet ya."

I glared down at the tiny bug, "Was it really necessary to defile a dead man's corpse for this? Would not the boarillas be enough for your," I gestured to the corpse puppet with visible disgust, "project?"

"His was the biggest body we currently have and no one else was going to use it." the little bug shouted into his tiny megaphone.

I turned away from the corpse defiler to a familiar muscle horse, "Good to see you again Rumi."

"Is everyone okay?" she asked worriedly, "Kyli said the stadium was attacked when she brought in the trailer."

"I was the worst casualty," I assured her, "And as you can see I'm fine. We didn't lose anyone."

Donald's long armored antennas twitched at that, I suspect he caught what I wasn't saying even as Rumi sighed with visible relief.

"So you wanted us to come here," Donald stated moving past it for now, "What exactly were you wanting us for?"

"Well seeing as Jorge has been defeated along with his entire attacking force. I was wanting to march in on Tango's base and politely inform them that as of now, we are taking over and effectively vassalizing them. I figure showing a united front and showing up with as many scary looking fucks would be a good push towards them accepting our terms." I gestured to the cargo behind me, "Some help moving that would be appreciated as well."

Donald looked up at the massive form of Jorge's severed head sitting atop the modular house moving dolly and made an odd rattling cough sound, "Damn he's a giant bastard, glad my boys didn't have to try and fight that." He turned to look at me again, "You really think they'll just give up and be good little dogs from now on after this?"

"I'm really hoping so," I answered honestly, "I'd rather not have to kill any more of them."