CORNER OF 47TH AND 11TH, BRONZE LEVEL VIPER DEN. HELL’S KITCHEN, NYC
NEIGHBORHOOD: CLAIMED BY GUARDIAN: LOOPHOLE (CONTESTED)
CITY: UNCLAIMED (BLOCKED BY TIMER)
CURRENT PHASE POINTS: 5640
END OF PHASE ONE: 03D:03H:06M:41S
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“10th Precinct Assignment: Bronze Level Viper Den - Hell’s Kitchen : CLEARED! You have successfully subdued all of the Viper’s Biker Gang member’s at this Den, police will be by momentarily to collect the remaining living opponents. Hell’s Kitchen Viper Dens Cleared: 2 of 10. Reward: You have received 500 Credits and a Small Reputation Boost.”
“How about Patch Notes?” Jon suggested.
“Eh, I don’t really think it fits,” I said, stretching as I looked down at the knocked out grunts at my feet. “I mean, it’s at least better than GuideWire or MetaMind but I think there’s still something better.”
“You mean like Loophole?” Angie offered.
“Hey you know you like my name,” I shot back and she tutted.
“It’s growing on me, I’ll admit that much, but I still think you’re gonna be in a big fight somewhere and your enemy is gonna call you Poophole and all of your credibility will be gone.”
“How about Compendium?” Jon offered. He had quickly become natural at just skipping right past whatever Angie said and I found myself appreciating it.
“That one’s definitely closer,” I said.
Although my first two Den experiences had been eventful, tackling an actual bronze level den was a surprisingly easy task. While there had only been eight level 3 Grunts and a level 5 Brute that I couldn’t just knock over without breaking a sweat, it was the first time that I wasn’t even passingly worried about the outcome. I even almost felt like I had a little bit of fun as I dodge and weaved through the building, putting the bikers down with a great amount of efficiency.
I wasn’t sure if that was because of just growing confidence or because I was happy to have the weight of my secret lifted from my shoulder, but given the events of the day, I was willing to let myself have this one.
Jon didn’t say much during my initial infiltration of the building, instead sitting quietly and letting me do my thing. After I had cleared out the first room and it was obvious I wasn’t going to have an issue, he started to throw name ideas at me. Angie offered a few suggestions of her own, but for the most part surprisingly hung back as I fought my way through the last of the resistance.
There weren’t any secret compartments, nor did I have to fight another randomly appearing snake-man, but by the end of the fight, I had gotten exactly what I had come for and leveled up to 6. The fight had stayed self-contained and without an audience or any special features. After it was done, the only extra thing I was taking away from clearing the place was a Basebreaker phase point gain, adding 250 to my total.
“Hey, are you able to see the Wave Leaderboard from your setup?” I asked as I finished looting the downed enemies. While I hadn’t wanted to take them because I didn’t necessarily like the idea, I looted four different handguns and pulled them into my inventory. If I did happen to come across another soldier using a snake injector, it was something that I’d want to keep on hand just to be prepared. I even went as far as dousing each of their cartridges in venom before I put them away for good.
There was a flash of red and blue lights coming through the front door and I wandered over to it. “You’re gonna want to bring the cuffs, I don’t keep any on me,” I called out and held the door open as a handful of officers jogged into the building.
“Let’s see…” Jon murmured. “Yup got it right here, oh damn! Did you know you’re number five? That’s crazy as hell man.”
“Eh, luck played a big part, I got a huge boost from Axio because of all the stuff going on with you,” I said. We hadn’t exactly gone over any of the craziness that had been my conversation with him, and although I knew Angie knew I had it on my mind, she seemed unable to access any of it no matter how often it passed through my head.
“Hey how yah got there doesn’t matter as long as you can maintain your spot,” he said.
“True,” I said and thought about it for a second. “Actually, speaking of that. Is there a Pretty Pink Warthog on the list still? She was up there last night and I met her in the courtyard before the update on The First got announced.”
“Hmmm yeah, looks like she’s number six,” He said quickly, “Wait, what update on The First?”
“Oh… yeah I guess I hadn’t mentioned that yet… Angie didn’t you fill him in?” I asked and she huffed.
“Nooooope. That is not on the list of topics I was instructed to update him on,” she said and I rolled my eyes as I walked up the street. The cops had barely been paying attention to me as they hauled out the Vipers in cuffs and I hadn’t cared to linger, so I aimed myself back toward the apartment and casually started to jog away. “Also as I’ve told you before, generally speaking unless you specifically ask, I won’t just offer information up.”
“Okay, well I’m asking, what happened with The First? He hasn’t been on the news lately which isn’t exactly abnormal but I figure if he had been taken down that would be plastered everywhere, right?”
“I mean, your guess is as good as mine. I had just finished getting registered when I noticed a crowd gathering around the giant marble statue of the guy. His status had been updated to say ‘Unknown’ when the system updated and said he had abandoned all of his territory claims. Am I crazy or is it weird that no one was freaking out about it there?”
“First of all, I’m gonna need you to go right to wherever this statue is and let me see it literally as soon as possible,” Jon laughed for a moment before he settled and I heard the crunching of chips over the internal voice chat he was using. “It might be a little weird but I think I can understand why they weren’t freaking out. Objectively speaking at least.”
“Yeah? Want to explain?” I asked. Although I didn’t really like the attention it was giving me, Jon had pointed out on my way over here that it was better if I got used to it early for when I did have some way to move faster. I had been using the anonymity of taking off my gear to move around the city, and the logic of it made sense. But because of that, I couldn't easily get into and out of fights if they did happen nearby and besides the need for me to get used to attention, I also had to be more prepared to react to danger on a more immediate basis. Plus, though my neighborhood made it easier, there wasn't always going to be an alley big enough or private enough that I could use to activate my gear. I slowed to a stop by a gathering crowd on a street corner and did my best to feel like I didn't stand out.
“Well, think about it. First the status just said Unknown instead of Dead. From what I’ve been reading, the ‘unknown’ status just means that there could be any sort of obfuscation that's happening. That could mean a number of things and while yeah, him dropping the territories sucks, that really only matters to the game right?”
“Yeah I suppose,” I shrugged, putting on a smile and waving at a small kid who suddenly pulled at the bottom of my jacket. He looked up at me with awe as I stood waiting with the crowd, but before I could say anything the light changed and the boy's mother hurried him along.
“And then you have to consider the more obvious answer.”
“There’s a more obvious answer than that?” I asked curiously.
“Oh much more,” he said with a laugh. “I mean no offense but like, what would literally any of you guys do against someone who could take him down?”
“Exactly!” Angie practically yelled and I had to stop myself from physically cringing. “You could have the All-Seeing Eye on your side and you still wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Ooo-”
“No that is a terrible name too,” I said, shutting Jon down before he could even get started.
“Eh you’re right, god you move really slow, we need to figure out a way to get you around quicker,” he sighed. “There’s gotta be at least five or six ways I could think of that we could probably achieve some form of flight for you with your powerset, though it’d probably take some practice and the right skill book. I really need to take some time to look into exactly how those things work… Even then, super speed seems less likely and your range isn’t really long enough for anything more than maybe short range teleportation. That has its uses of course but probably not as a mode of getting around. Though I guess you could hopscotch teleport…”
“Yeah, you know what, Compendium might be the best bet. You know way too much about all of this,” I said, as I approached the corner to 49th and turned up toward our apartment.
“Yeah I know I suggested it, but it’s a real mouthful of a word. A good name should be like, two syllables at most. Loophole is good in that regard,” he said. “Oh how about-”
"Crime Alert! A Plain Ol’ Robbery. Not to interrupt this very important conversation. But some of those big mean bikers are robbing that poor man’s hotdog cart! That’s… incredibly unambitious. You should go and beat them up for setting their sights so low. Reward: You will receive a D:Tier loot box and a Small Reputation Boost if you stop the men from robbing that cart. This crime has a 10 minute time limit.”
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“Oh that’s cool, random events,” Jon said. “Can you see them? The map is saying they are up a block and a half on the other side of the street.”
“They show up on your map!?” I started to jog, leaving the crowd behind. Sure enough, I could see a few bikes blocking the street barely a hundred yards away.
“Yeah, it kinda sucks that you don’t have one built in just yet but eh, beggars can’t be choosers,” he said. “Okay, what’s the plan just gonna go in and drop them with the weight? It’s a pretty reliable starter.”
“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?” I said. One of the bikers seemed to notice me jogging up as I entered the street and patted a Brute on the shoulder. The large man turned to me with an unsettling smile.
“Well well, if it ain’t the bitchy little thorn in the boss’s side,” the brute snarled. He walked away from the “And here the bet was that we were gonna have to turn over at least a dozen of these marks before you’d show your face. Lucky us, eh?”
“Now, now, fellas, is that really how we’re gonna start things?” I asked as I came to a stop with the men just barely within my zone. I stopped and activated my Area Sense. Though I could make out three men total, I had already learned my lesson about not checking everything I could. Nothing stood out to me as odd, my area touching the cars on the edges of the streets as well as the liquid moving under my feet in the sewers. “How about you guys just do us all a favor and get on the ground. You’ll really be saving us a lot of trouble and then no one has to get hurt.”
There were civilians gathering in the distance already, and though the alert was going to be easy to finish, I felt lucky that there was a decent crowd just to stack a few additional Phase Points with the Crowdpleaser gain.
“Nah, we’re just gonna-”
Without moving a muscle, I activated Weighted Clothes and all three men dropped to the pavement. The weight outright crushed the two grunts to the ground, first dropping them to 75% before the lingering effect quickly ticked them down until they sported matching KO debuffs. As for the Brute; he had collapsed into a position that had reminded me of Gio, with his palms barely holding up his body. Unlike Gio though, he had taken over half of his health in damage from the initial attack and I felt a smile creep over my face. I stepped forward, deactivating Area Sense as I sauntered as casually as I could toward the man.
“Why is it that none of you ever listen when I tell you to get on the ground?”
“Oo oo I know this one!”
“Not now, Angie.”
“It’s because he’s not menacing enough I think, though the dramatics and quips are a nice touch,” Jon added.
“Not now, J- err… pick a name already so I can tell you to shut up too.”
“B- B- B- Bitch a- a- ass h- hero…” the Brute spat at my feet when I was in range and I skipped to the side before delivering a swift kick to his wrist. He collapsed to the ground and took another chunk of damage. Out of curiosity I highlighted the Brute and discovered he was only level 4 and I felt something gnaw at me as I looked around again.
“Wait, the manhole,” Jon said as my vision swept over the road and I looked back toward it. Sure enough, the metal cover to the sewer was being lifted up by a single large hand.
“Crime Alert Updated! The Plain Ol’ Robbery crime alert has been canceled. Rewards will no longer be granted.”
“Crime Alert! AMBUSH! Snake In The Sewers! Now look, I don’t know why you weren’t suspicious about a crime called a ‘Plain Ol’ Robbery’ so you not being prepared for this is really on both of you. I don’t know if I could have spelled this one out for you two any more clearly. And yes, I’m counting you at fault for this too Mr. Blue Eyes. An old… acquaintance has tracked you down, don’t let him make a snack out of you. This Alert has upgraded from Bronze level to Silver level. Reward: The reward for this alert is Variable depending on how you deal with the threat.”
The manhole was tossed to the side, embedding itself firmly into a car parked along the side of the road as the crowd suddenly screamed in fear. The alarm from the car began to blare and echo against the buildings. From the sewer, the hand was joined by a second that grabbed the edges of the street. The snake man pulled itself up and onto the main street, his large body still draping down into the sewer as he flexed and stretched his body in the sun. I had only seen two of them so far, I could have placed this one without even highlighting him, though I still did, just to confirm.
“Sal the Snake. Level 6 (Elite) Biker Lieutenant.”
He began to stalk toward me and I felt like I had to act in a split second. I looked back toward the Brute, still struggling on the ground and delivered a kick straight for his head as hard as I could. It was enough and it KOed him, allowing me to turn my attention to my lone remaining opponent.
“Sal! Old buddy! I thought we’d never see each other again,” I called out, stretching my arms out and walking toward him with a smile.
“What are you doing?” Jon asked.
“Stalling… I just used the main power I’ve been using to slow the snake guys down so far and now I’m not exactly sure how I’m supposed to beat this dude,” I replied. To my credit, Sal halted and looked at me with momentary confusion.
“You did prep the gun’s for exactly this situation, right? Seems like the easiest solution,” he offered before Sal slammed his tail against the pavement and left a noticeable crack in the asphalt.
“Niccccce try. Don’t think I don’t remember your little ssssssstunt back at the yards,” Sal hissed, flexing his hands and extending his claws as he started toward me once more.
“Who me? That was all the other guy’s fault, I barely did a thing.”
“You ssssssstole my children’s-”
“Wait, those snakes were your children? That’s… You know what, nevermind, I don’t want to know,” I said, slowly inching back toward the center of the street. The crowd wasn’t bothering to disperse and I wasn’t sure if I should be worried that they weren’t or flattered that they trusted me to take care of this. “Go on, you were saying.”
“Give me the venom!” He shouted and lunged toward me. I activated Mirror Image and dove to the side, rolling out of the way and watching Sal as he crashed through the afterimage left behind by my ability. He hit the ground with a noticeable THUD that cracked the asphalt, but he barely took a sliver of damage. Jon was exactly right, there was one thing I had on me that could do the trick and I immediately reached for one of the guns in my B.E.L.T., stopping myself only as a realization hit me.
There were dozens of civilians in the area and I couldn’t risk a bullet ricocheting off of Sal as it had with Gio. While we hadn’t necessarily tried to shoot Sal back at the train yard, it stood to reason that he’d have a similar resistance to being hit. I certainly could try the same trick with Mute Button, but he had barely flinched at the alarm as he exited the sewer, so that wasn’t a guarantee to slow him down either.
Whether I liked it or not, I still didn’t have another way to get the venom into his bloodstream and one of the guns felt like it would be my best bet. I still had six seconds left of my invisibility and I rushed toward Sal as he pushed himself back up until he could stretch and look around, eagerly trying to find where I had run off to. It was risky getting up close, I knew that, but there was an advantage to him not being able to see me. I just had to hope it would work.
I pulled a venom soaked gun from my B.E.L.T. just as I stopped next to Sal. There was only a bit over a second left on my invisibility when I pointed the gun directly at his side, the muzzle only an inch from his skin. I briefly held my breath as I reached for my Super Luck and hoped it would do the trick.
“New Ability! Defy The Odds! Luck is a funny thing isn’t it? Like, whenever they say something is resistant to something, it’s almost always saying “99% effective against X!” Well what about that 1%? What about that 1 in a million… hehe… shot. This is a Passive ability. Gain a 0.5% chance for every point of luck you have minus the enemy’s total luck for your (and only your) attacks to bypass any resistances they have. This chance is tripled if you are Hidden from the enemy.”
Without hesitating, I replaced Misfire on my hotbar and pulled the trigger.
Sal let out a scream of pain as the bullet penetrated his side and his health chunked down by 10%. He gained a modified version of the Weakened debuff as his head swiveled, his eyes catching mine just as I started to back up. I fired the gun twice more and while he still dropped a similar amount of health with each hit, the debuff above his head didn’t change. As I pulled the gun back into my B.E.L.T., I scanned the debuff, just to see why it looked different.
“Weakened (75%). This Augment has begun to adapt. Effectiveness of this weakness has been reduced. All stats are now lowered by 56.25% for 1 minute. Elite status and defenses have been nullified for the duration of this debuff.”
“There yah go!” Jon whooped in my head. “Follow it up, get back in close and hit him hard, just… you know… don’t get hit.”
“Ah yes, don’t get hit, sage advice,” I said and darted back in, activating Float Like a Butterfly as I dodged under a weak attempt at a grab from Sal. “Also no. Sage is also a terrible name for you.”
Before Jon could respond, I activated Sting Like A Bee and aimed right for his wounds. I struck three times in rapid succession and quickly brought his health down to just about 25% and he was clearly feeling the damage as he swayed like he was being charmed by music.
“You know, I get that you’re pretty tough and all that, but did yah ever think maybe don’t go after the guy who knows your weakness?” I said, feeling like I was able to show off just a bit. The crowd was yelling cheers of encouragement and I noticed I had actually received a buff that I hadn’t noticed. With Sal seemingly stunned, albeit briefly, I highlighted the debuff.
“Home Team! A crowd of more than 25 Sentient NPCs from a territory you have claimed are cheering you on during a fight! You feel inspired and invigorated. Increase all damage you deal by 25%!”
Depending on how long I had had that buff, it certainly helped to explain just how I had taken Sal’s health down so quickly. Though this should have been a struggle, the knowledge of his weakness alone made it far less threatening than it was. Sal even seemed to realize this as he looked around, his eyes filled with rage as the crowd cheered me on.
“You think that will sssssssave you forever,” He hissed as he looked back at me with a dangerous looking smile. “You heroessssss have a weaknesssss of your own you know.”
“What’s-” I started before I saw Sal lean back. His fangs started to drip with venom before his body snapped forward and a thick glob of green goo was launched in my direction.
His sluggishness was obvious and I barely even had to move to dodge the attack. I was just about to follow up, maybe even make a joke about him being a bad shot when I heard a scream of panic behind me. I turned and found an older man screaming in pain as his arm began to blister and turn red, the fabric of his shirt dissolving like it had been hit by acid the moment the venom hit it. He fell back against a wall, holding his arm up as several other civilians scrambled to back away.
“Shit!” I said, briefly looking back just as Sal disappeared back into the sewer. While I could certainly chase him down, I never even considered it as I pulled multiple vials of antivenom and an Enhanced Health Injector from my B.E.L.T., I rushed right for the hurt civilian. and dropped to my knees by the panicking man.
I wasn’t even sure if this was going to work but it wasn’t going to stop me from trying either. The man looked at me with hopeful eyes as I dumped one of the vials of antivenom right onto his arm. The blistering and sizzling from the venom immediately stopped and before the man could say a thing, I pushed the injector against his arm and activated it.
Unlike the instantaneous recovery I experienced when using the device, it seemed to take an unnervingly long time to activate. I was almost positive it wasn’t going to do a thing when the redness and blistering all rapidly began to heal, changing until the man’s skin was left pink but recovered.
“Th- th- thank you!” The man said, his eyes watering as he stared up at me. In that moment, even though I hadn’t put Sal down for the count, the crowd burst into cheers just as Angie chirped up.
“Crime Alert Completed!”