“Why does the Star Stream even generate leaderboards?

It’s to create conflicts, to paint a target on the winners back. It forces them to keep growing, to refuse stagnation. Lest they die.”

~Scholar Ameil

The afternoon turned into evening in a warm and blissful glow from the sunset, but the bright light also casted deep, dark shadows. The encroaching night distorted the atmosphere into a different ambiance; a chilly wind swept from the darkening horizon on the east, promising death and misery.

Devin looked out the window of his resummoned house, squinting through the distance.

Jenkins—Sarah, He reminded himself, she told me to call her Sarah—had just finished condensing her shards into a circle and started the process of connecting the construct to the focus. Devin focused his meta-awareness on the shimmering section of reality, trying to make sense of the static.

Wondered what monster core she was using. Devin thought as he watched the glowing branches of green move towards the shimmering center. Looks somewhat like a flower. There’s flower monsters too?

Devin imagined what a monster made flora would look like before he shuddered, and erased the image from his head. He redoubled his attention on Jenkins, making sure everything went well.

Watching someone ascend to the first circle is always a treat to see. Devin was glad to help someone awaken to new levels of power, but the timing couldn’t be any worse. The last bits of sunlight vanished from the sky, giving way to darkness of night that belonged to monsters and nightmares.

The monster hordes would soon come

It wouldn’t be long till they came. One worse than the nights prior, if that old man is to be believed. Devin was skeptical, but he couldn’t deny his gut feeling.

They need to leave sooner rather than later.

Luckily, Sarah was way more talented than him, cutting what should’ve taken a lengthy bit of time into barely ten minutes. The circle chimed with completion, vanishing into its master’s body. Her eyes fluttered awake with a pink afterglow that quickly faded.

She opened her mouth, presumably to ask a question, but Devin cut her off. “Come on, we need to leave.” Devin said, reaching down to pick her up in a princess carry. He quickly switched to his combat deck and activated Rage with a flash of his new gray ring.

“Wait—” Her words were lost in the wind, Devin’s superhuman strength propelling them through the sky.

With an increased base POW, the card propelled his strength above the score of 1.0, allowing him to soar through the air. He hardly needed more than a stomp to clear entire stretches of trees, buildings, and rubble. For the first time, Devin felt like a superhero.

It was exhilarating, feeling all the better with Sarah pressing her face into his chest, but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

The newly built wall that was covered in floodlights and lined with machine guns quickly came into view, the mass of bodies congregating on top seeming like a swarming anthill from such a distance. Once they got closer, Devin was able to make out more details.

Like the multiple barrels pointed in his direction.

“HALT!” A booming voice cut through the mass of yells. Devin stopped on a dime; he wasn’t confident he could tank bullets like some people were.

Sarah climbed out of his arms, silently thanking him before fearlessly turning around, and walking up to the wall. “Specialist Jenkins reporting for duty, Sergeant Major!”

“...Well I’ll be damned.” The voice said. Devin struggled to squint past the floodlights.

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“Come up here, soldier, and bring your friend too.” A line of knotted rope dropped down the fifteen-foot wall. Devin let Sarah go up first, following up after her. Climbing to the top of the wall, they were greeted by a multitude of stares. Devin's skin prickled under the weight of so many gazes.

An old man—in fact, the same one that came to visit him earlier in the day—separated himself from the crowd, clapping Sarah on the shoulders while whispering something in her ear. Devin watched her nod at whatever Jeb told her, giving Devin a look he couldn’t quite decipher before quickly fleeing the scene,

Leaving Devin alone surrounded by people he didn't know.

Jeb, that old bastard, had a smile on his face as he walked up to him. “So glad to have you join us, son. Do you want to join one of the civilian super groups? I’m sure there is one that’ll take you in.”

Devin gave him a dirty look. “I don’t like working with people I don’t trust. Where did you send Jenkins?”

The sergeant major waved off his concern, “I sent her to get dressed in uniform and join her unit on the other side of town.”

“Well, I’ll go over to that side, and contribute there—” The old man grabbed his wrist before he could leave. Despite Devin’s strength, the old man locked him in place.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and I can’t stop you, but what if I told you most of the horde’s forces will be concentrated on this side.” Jeb pinned him with a stare. “What happens if this town falls because one of the more powerful supers decided to protect their crush instead of being where they are needed.”

Devin stared into the old man’s eyes, then snatched his hand back. “...I don’t work with people I don’t trust.” He relented.

“Just contribute what you can, on this side. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.” Devin sighed, finding a relatively empty spot behind the wall. He couldn’t see behind the construction of mud bricks from the ground, so he settled for perching on the roof of an abandoned house nearby.

I wonder where they are. He thought as he looked over the gathered crowd for the faces of his hunting teammates.

The previously crowded streets inside the safe zone were now a ghost town, with hardly a soul brave enough to walk through the rapidly darkening night. There were only two places that people felt safe enough to hole up in; the school, or the hospital. The rest of the population consisted of soldiers and supers who risked their lives to defend the town. The soldiers were in formation, doing roll call, while a loud officer yelled at the civilian supers to create a proper formation.

The civilian supers were a jumble of dirty, torn clothes with the odd piece of shiny equipment—and there was equipment of all types. Swords, spears, armor, bows, guns; Devin even saw a tiara thrown into the mix, its glittering gems glittering from the floodlights above the wall.

Devin was surprised to see more than a few summons as well. There was a band of warriors four feet taller than any person he’d ever seen before, a cyclops a head taller than the warriors that carried a huge club; there was even a giant, green slime that bounced in anticipation. The most striking summon was a flock of crows spread over the formation and town. Devin could perceive the countless strands of arcanium connecting all the crows to one place.

A shiver ran up his spine. I can’t even imagine controlling all that at the same time.

The officer issued some commands, rearranging entire groups to have some semblance of order among the arcanists. Those who wielded spells or other long-distance cards were relegated to the far back, while those with full body armor and/or shields were repositioned to the front, creating an impromptu shield wall to protect the others with the summons placed even further ahead of them. Then came the swords and the polearms, which were placed in that order respectively.

Healers and rogues were left to their own devices, their help too invaluable to place in just one spot of the formation. The one caveat was that healers wore an armband with a red cross, signifying their status.

Devin shuffled amongst it, unsure of where to even go, considering all his abilities.

What am I doing here? I got way more than I wanted coming to this town; I even made the house into a card. I can take it anywhere. He wasn’t tied down to anything anymore. There was nothing left to keep him here. I’m not a hero. I’m not supposed to be here, risking my life for people I don’t know.

When all was said and done, the group of civilian supers resembled the soldiers, if only slightly. Their group formed a lop-sided rectangle made up of uneven rows and columns, but it was too late to nitpick now. The officer shook his head in disappointment, leaving in a huff.

But what about Gerald and his family? What about the twins? What about Jenkins?

Devin didn’t have many friends, but he’d like to think the relationships he made could last if he gave them a chance. If the world gave us a chance. He thought bitterly as stared out into the rapidly darkening wilderness.

The crowd around the wall fell into silence as chaotic roars, screeches, and howls reverberated through the air. Black shapes flitted through the shadows, creeping at the boundary the floodlights created.

I could leave right now. Devin told himself even as he got up from his perch, feeling his muscles tense in anticipation. I could run away, and not look back. He tried to convince himself, but deep down, Devin knew that wasn’t an option.

If he ran away now, he wouldn’t stop running for the rest of his life.

Devin was tired of running; from monsters, people—life. He had gotten a taste of what it meant to confront opposition and win. He wouldn’t run anymore, Devin refused to be a coward—he refused to be powerless; to himself, or anyone else. He refused to be at the mercy of the world.

He would fight for his little slice of life.

The wild uproar surged as the last ray of light in the sky disappeared, but Devin found himself donning a savage smile. He cracked his neck, pulling Dewey out of his collar, and making her promise not to join the fighting.

With his combat deck active, he was forced to use Dewey’s card as a medium to keep her manifested, as he did with his equipment—the only difference was he wouldn’t forgive himself if anything happened to his partner.

The mouse spirit gave a mock salute, lifting Devin’s spirits. “Where did you even learn that?” He chuckled, letting the mouse down onto the roof.

Then, he activated Rage once again, shuddering from the intense influx of POW.

The roof shook under his feet as he jumped off his perch, easily clearing ten feet of air above the wall to meet the monsters and beasts that gathered in the shadows. Several figures covered in a multitude of colors followed his lead, plunging deep into the horde of fur, claws, scales, and fangs.