CHAPTER 48: Killing Time
Melina plodded into the conference room door just ahead of Adam and his parents. Adam never cared much for how he looked, but that girl could only be described as a slob. Her hair hadn’t been brushed since waking up, puffing out and looking tangled. She was coming to the meeting in wrinkly pajamas and barefooted. She was even eating toast as she walked, without a plate, dropping crumbs everywhere. Even with the ability to instantly clean parts of this dimension he felt disappointed in her.
It turned out that Sword, his real name was Lilliard, hadn’t come because he wanted to fight Adam. While he was a trained swordsman, he didn’t often engage in real combat. He had come as a favor to the person who crafted his swords.
Garrett Starf was in his forties and made a living, barely according to Shield whose real name was Hickory, by blacksmithing for competitive swordsmen and renaissance fairs. The man had started as a machinist, being trained on modern technology to work with metals. He had given up that career to try and use old style blacksmith techniques. It was a profession that cost almost as much on materials and equipment maintenance as it made from the work, which really limited how much he could explore the profession.
Garrett had asked Lilliard to come on the off chance that they could get noticed by the suddenly famous group of alien hunters, and get sponsored to make equipment for them. Hickory and Melina, the mage from the trio, had come along for the novelty of it. They were role playing enthusiasts.
Upon finding out about Garrett, Tom had forced Detective Baker to run a background check. When it cleared, he invited them to stay in a three-bedroom unit in the rift headquarters. Adam didn’t really care about it, but Jordan had instantly hit it off with Garrett. The two had spent most of the night designing Garrett’s smithy within the rift dimension. Using the technology from the rift’s menu, they were going to be able to make the smithy much more advanced compared to what Earth could provide. The issue now was sourcing enough materials to create weapons within the time left until the invasions.
Adam pulled out a seat and went to sit, but a cough from Tom got his attention midway down. He looked at Tom who then nonchalantly pointed, in as blatant a way as possible, to a chair that was different than the rest. It was a large, high-backed chair that could only be described as a throne. It was colored gold and red, with carvings all along the sides and top. It sat half a foot higher than the other chairs, and the round table had been modified so the area in front of the chair was raised as well.
“That is?” Adam asked, not sure whether he should stand back up or finish his sitting motion.
“Your throne,” Tom chirped excitedly. Adam decided to stand.
“And who is that next to you?” Adam looked at a man in his thirties who had a high-end tablet with a stylus in front of him.
“This is Gerald. He's an indie comic artist.”
“Why do we need an indie comic artist?” asked Ron.
“For the designs,” said Tom, to explain in a way that no one else understood.
“I don’t get it,” responded Adam’s dad.
Tom sighed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “If we want to look as bad ass as possible, we need someone to help design our outfits, weapons, and statues of the boss. Why just look normal when we’re the Sentinel Army? Just look at that throne! Gerald designed it and then Jordan built it using the rift menu. Don’t we want to look not just our best, but THE best?”
Melina, who had been slouched all over the table, suddenly picked her head up, focusing on what Tom had said. “Oh. OH! Yeah! Gerald, make time for me this afternoon. I have some great outfit ideas that you can help me with. Some great old style plus future combos.”
Adam sighed and began walked around the table, back straight, to the throne. No reason to discourage the enthusiasm. In a way it was kind of fun seeing everyone get caught up in the craziness, even if inside all he wanted was to get out there and fight the invaders. Even the adults seemed to be having fun with it.
Abbey, Andrea, and Alissa giggled and whispered as he walked past them and sat in the throne. Adam was a little shocked when he realized the throne was comfortable. It was even made as a recliner, so he could lean back if he wanted to.
Once the meeting began, Ron pulled out his notebook.
“Adam, was it really appropriate to have that brawl at the end of yesterday? There were a lot of injuries and people getting bloodied. Quite a few organizations want you arrested and are threatening lawsuits.”
“Didn’t we get everyone healed by Ed in the end?” asked Adam. When Ed heard about the challenges, he had begged off the animal hunting trip to film the event. Videos of the most significant matches were already on their website, with the brawl as the highlight.
“Well, yes. No one was hurt in the end. They said you were inciting a riot though.”
“A riot? Didn’t it all stay on the field? No one fought outside of it. How is that a riot?”
“I see your point, and it probably wouldn’t go very far in the courts. These organizations just like to complain a lot,” said Ron.
“Then why do we care?” asked Adam.
“Better yet,” interrupted Tom, “We should start arguing with them in the news. I’ll call Angeline today to get things started. I’ll play it like a wrestling heel and try to get them all worked up. There is no doubt most people will side with us, plus it will get us more attention.”
“Is that smart? Shouldn’t you guys come across as professional?” asked Ron.
Brittney snorted a laugh. “Professional for monster and alien hunters. Right. Tom, let me know if you want a female to get in on it too. I’ll put those people in their place.”
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“Thanks, wifey,” taunted Tom.
“Besides,” cut in Adam. “In a few more days the invaders come for real and none of it’ll matter. We’ll probably all be fighting for our lives.”
“That’s depressing,” said Hickory. Adam just shrugged at him.
“What about the animals you all went to investigate?” asked Adam. “Are they going to be a problem.”
Lucas picked up the topic. “They weren’t a problem for our levels, but they could be a problem if they continue to grow or evolve. For now, the police are going to hunt them for levels since we were a bit too strong to get much from them.”
“We had bobcats that were three times the size, with scales instead of fur,” said Lamar. “Their breath was cold and their claws were scarier than I’ve seen before. Another group ran into what might have begun as eagles, except their necks were stretched out like vultures and their beaks and talons were serrated. The last group mostly found mutant groundhogs and turkeys. They were all at most level 4 so far, so we’ll have to see what level they can get to.”
Discussions then moved on to the preparations being made. The volunteers were picking up the requested items. Vehicles were brought to the warehouse, including motorcycles, cars, and different types of trucks. Barrels of gasoline were on order. The main base had only small amounts of running water, so few had chosen to move into their condos yet. The police chief had been working with Zachary Jones, the former policeman who had shot Adam, and the mayor’s office to set up evacuation procedures in case of danger to the city. It all focused on getting as many people as possible into, or close to, the Sentinel Army’s dimensional convergence rift, though no one was sure how to get enough materials to build shelters.
“Is this really all necessary? Aren’t you exaggerating things a bit?” asked Hickory suddenly, interrupting everyone. He was tall, mid-twenties, with a muscular build overlaid with a bit of pudge, and a short haircut. He was frowning as he asked, this being his first time exposed to the invasion talk.
Adam turned a look on Hickory, and he froze. “If you were invading, how many people would you bring?” He asked with hostility.
“A lot?” Said Hickory with trepidation, feeling Adam’s eyes intensely staring at him.
“It’s said you need three times as many forces to attack than the defending army, all things being equal. That's in Earth wars. The new wars are going to be completely different. Armies are going to be cannon fodder. One strong person can decimate everything. Bullets didn’t even affect the elves’ wind shields at level 12. Our police and military would be instantly rendered useless. Do we nuke an entire city to take out a single powerful foe? How many times will that be necessary? The only way to survive is to get more powerful than them. We should expect to be cut off from other cities, to have what we need to survive here without expecting supplies or reinforcements from other parts of the country. They will be able to turn invisible, taking out the leaders without anyone knowing, hurl elements like gods, mind control whole armies. Nothing we have or can do would stop those. Does that sound like exaggeration to you?!”
Steam was rising from Adam’s skin as he ranted. Many from his group were nodding, already believed what he was saying and used to Adam’s intensity on the subject. The rest were all a bit shell shocked at both the truth in Adam’s words as well as the fury coming from him. The air was suffocating and people were holding their breathes.
“Mind control can’t be real, right?” muttered Hickory. The teens looked at him like his question was nonsensical. Ron just gave him a sympathetic head shake.
Then Tom laughed. “The boss here killed thousands of goblins by himself, crushing their armies. Then he almost killed all the elves. We need to get strong enough to survive without him, and also to be with him when he conquers the world.”
Adam’s chest throbbed. The heat that had been building was taking over, and the message embedded in his soul cried out, releasing a desire stronger than need. CONQUER!
He started breathing heavily and everyone watched him as he gripped his chest. His eyes saw nothing in front of him and each breath he pulled in triggered his memory of the goblin’s blood.
Uncertain of how long he was like that, he focused his eyes on Ron. “I need to kill something.”
“Adam!” his mother gasped, and others looked horrified.
“Invaders, mom. Sorry, but I think I need to get some right now,” Adam suddenly knew what addiction felt like. He knew in that moment that both his body and soul needed the fight and dominance. “Ron, what likely targets do we have?”
Ron nervously pulled out a folder and looked through it. He tried to ignore the fiery stare that Adam was giving him, a man controlling the wrath of God that would not be denied.
“Um, Adam, the, uh, best bet is the scrap yard. The workers there say, and provided video evidence, that the piles of scrap have been shrinking and they can’t figure out why. Based on what Jordan said the other day it seems possible that invaders are pulling it into their rift for materials.”
“All right. Let’s gear up and go. Those not fighting continue with your normal tasks,” Adam commanded.
***
“What’s going on here?” Rick, the lead police officer in the group, asked the large man in front of him.
They had come to the scrapyard. It wasn’t far from the dump, so the air smelled a bit funky on top of the metal and rust smell that was everywhere. There were all kinds of junk piled in organized mountains around them. Crushed cars, cars in decent condition used for parts, refrigerators, slabs of different kinds of metals, bent beams and sheet metal were all separated out with wide lanes between the piles to provide driving space.
A small office building, made of a double wide, was near the entrance to the grounds. There were also large machines nearby for crushing, compacting, and melting. All kinds of trucks were parked around the open space they had driven to, including tow trucks, a forklift, a mobile crane, and a second crane with a wrecking back attached, and several other vehicles for purposes that Adam didn’t really know about.
“We think it’s them invaders,” said Earnest, the operator of the scrapyard. “I’m surprised you folk took our complaint seriously. Brought a lot out here too, but why so many kids? And what’s with the knight? Not sure if you’re taking us seriously or not.”
Adam’s full group had come out, as well as Hickory in his LARPing gear, and Lilliard with his swords and tabard outfit. Melina had stayed back to force Gerald to work with her on clothing designs. There were around ten policemen with them as well. Rick was a Sergeant who had come with them to the elves and the animal hunt. He was a respectable level 6, with the rest of the policemen either 4 or 5. They had the stronger type of riot armor and shields. Following the Sentinels’ example each had one hunting knife, one elven knife, which were stronger, sharper, and more awkward to use, as well as a baton, gun, and assault rifle. Overall, they should be able to take a hit and damage weaker opponents, though the guns negate any strength or speed improvements they have from leveling.
“Naw, bro! Check it out,” said a rather heavy and muscular man as he pointed to Adam. “That there is The General. World’s strongest man. There are tons of videos of him killing these alien critters. If he's here then they are taking it seriously, bro.”
“Dale, I ain't had time to watch any videos. How is that little feller supposed to be the strongest?”
Adam casual bent down, grabbed the front of a police cruiser and lifted it easily into the air. He looked at the two men impassively as their jaws dropped.
“Damn, even the engine block side,” said Earnest. “Not even struggling. I’ll buy he’s the strongest.”
“General, bro, can we get a pic with you?” asked Dale, fumbling in a heavy leather apron pocket to pull out a phone.
“That’s fine, but invaders. Where are they?” Adam asked as Earnest and Dale tried to lower themselves to Adam’s height, while Tom took the phone for the picture.
“Make a mean expression for this pic. Look all menacing, General.”
Adam looked at Dale with his Scary Face and both Dale and Earnest froze, terror creeping onto their faces. “Is this menacing enough?” he asked, getting emphatic nods. The camera flashed as Tom chuckled.
“Now sirs, where are the invaders?” Rick asked politely. Two shaking hands pointed down the driving trail.
“T-turn right at the fourth mountain of crushed cars, then eight mountains down.”