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The Awakened World
Vol. 2, Ch. 52 : Reuniting with acquaintances

Vol. 2, Ch. 52 : Reuniting with acquaintances

We eventually decided to have Sophia just web them all up, so they're attached to the windows of the guild now.

"So, what's your name?" Meanwhile, Thomas is talking with Officer Cooper.

"Daniel Cooper, sir, but people just call me Cooper…or Dan, but mostly just Cooper," he says as he extends his hand out. Thomas grasps his hand and says, "Charmed to meet you."

Thomas turns to all of us. "So…my information sources have told me that a, *cough*, 'Doctor' Graves has obviously revived the Nazi army from World War II." Thomas throws the word 'Doctor' in air quotes.

"However, it's not just the heroes with which he has issues. The man has accrued massive debts from the other villains. It has gotten to the point where he has to enlist the help of B-List Villains. They're, uh, real sad-sacks to be honest."

He starts ticking them off on his fingers with a wistful expression. "First, Major Inconvenience. He utilizes Murphy's Law in a minor way. Things will usually go wrong around him, but he has little control over what is effected. At worst, you might be more likely to stub your toe."

"Dr. Crime, who actually has a PhD, and has committed every petty crime in the book. The amount of candy he has stolen, or the amount of times he has jaywalked is numerous…and really sad."

Thomas pauses for a second, remembering something with difficulty painted on his face. I wouldn't expect him to have memory problems—what with being a cyborg and all. "Oh, right! Hector. Yeah, he's wanted for federal crimes, so if anybody does catch him, he's technically out of your jurisdiction."

Midas raises his hand. "What crimes?"

Thomas stares at him in confusion. "Why did you raise your hand? You're an adult… But! To answer your question, he's charged with several accounts of tax evasion. He isn't really a danger to anyone except for your paychecks. I'm pretty sure that the guilds still run on taxes, right?"

"Yes, they are," Midas affirms. "Our paychecks still run off of taxes."

"Right! So, basically, what we have to do is just drain the mana of 'Doctor' Graves. The only issue is location and the literal army of Nazis in-between us."

I raise my hand. "How do we drain Doctor Graves of his mana?"

Thomas facepalms. "You- You don't have to raise your hand either." He straightens up. "Damaging a person's soul is an effective way to change his Status Effect to Mana Leakage. Space Weaver has an ability to hurt the soul."

Soul? I mean, I know that the soul has something to do with magic; I dive into it all the time. It just seems like damaging the soul is a really bad idea.

Wait, he mentioned Sophia. Umm, oh, right! Yeah, I remember. When she stared at me with those eyes, I felt something pierce my soul, then I got Soul Resistance.

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But…what happens if a soul is shattered? I know a person can live on without mana, heck, 90% of America's population can't use it. And what about skills? People without leveling or magic can still get and use those. I'm not really feeling great about using this plan.

Rose raises her hand. "Does anybody here have tracking skills?"

Thomas takes a deep breath, then slouches over in defeat. "Forget it," he mumbles before standing up straight. "I would use drones in this situation, if it were not for the fact that all of them are down for maintenance right now."

Start to raise my hand, but stop under Thomas's glare. We probably shouldn't push his buttons any further. "If we have anything of his, then I could try and," I sigh, "I could sniff him out." I should just accept my fate of a sniffer dog.

"Hmm, we may just need to pay a visit to Madman then. Knowing that guy, he's probably stolen something of Graves's."

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Alright, imagine this.

You're living your life in New York. Ambient noises on the streets so loud that you have to scream to have a conversation. Shady buildings prime for Real Estate Vultures to swoop in and steal a deal. Oh, and the occasional crime scene.

Then there's you. The middle-aged woman sitting in one of her favorite coffee shops—a popular franchise. You had just ruined a perfectly good coffee and an employee's day. You sit down after berating the poor worker after he placed the ice on top of your drink when you specifically asked for the middle. After pledging to never shop there again, the manager fixed everything. All is right in your world.

Then this guy with a thick German accent runs up to you with a gun—a weapon of war. Perhaps a rifle, or a handgun? You really don't know the difference, but you do know that people that own guns are evil and out to kill everyone.

You take a stand and shout in defiance, "YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT!!! CAN'T YOU SEE THIS IS A GUN-FREE ZONE?!" You nod in satisfaction at your complete triumph over the evil, gun-wielding maniac. Now that he knows this is a gun-free zone, he will follow his natural human instincts and give up his weapon.

*click* Why does he aim the gun at you? I just informed him that this is a gun-free zone. You scowl in response. You need to look up where this guy works on social media and contact his manager. That should do it.

Then you hear a gunshot, but it's not from the gun in your face. No. Whatever horrid weapon caused you to experience flashbacks and gave you PTSD made the person's head explode. You might have some real trauma afterwards.

Then you see him—a metal man holding the gun.

Or, at least, that's how I think the events up till now have gone. Thomas is arguing back and forth with this woman whom just had her life saved. We discovered that the bullets Cooper had were too weak to actually kill the zombies.

Thomas had a revolver that blew up the torsos like they were eggs…We went with the revolver.

"Ma'am. I just saved your life with this gun," Thomas explains for the umpteenth time.

"You shouldn't have that- that- that horrid thing! We banned the guns so that criminals couldn't attack us with them," she huffs and crosses her arms.

Thomas looks like he's about to strangle this person. "As I said, that man was about to kill you. I used my means to defend myself and others to defend you."

While all that was happening, the rest of us decided to order something at the restaurant. I got some raspberry juice. Sophia got a cake. I have no clue what Midas ordered, but it sure was expensive. He asked for a separate bill since it cost a couple thousand dollars.

Were those gold flakes real?

Rose ordered a ham sandwich while Cooper ordered a turkey panini.

We all sat down and began eating; waiting for this argument to eventually be over. We would teleport, but we need to ensure the citizens' safety.

"ARGH!!!" Thomas shouts in frustration.

Yeah, we'll be here a while.