“Beware of the gangs forming in the streets. Numerous jails have been demolished, and all their prisoners unaccounted for. Monsters are roaming the streets. I repeat, this is not a drill. America is under fire!”
~American News, 1 day before the power grids fell.
The vibe in the pub changed as soon as the thug walked. Patrons paused their conversations, each whispering warnings to the other about the person who walked in, the tall pasty bundle of muscles and mean. Customers flinched as the man’s gaze skimmed over the bar, and of course with Devin’s luck, those eyes landed squarely on the trio.
“These are the so-called ‘hunters’, huh?” He drew quotes in the air as he walked up to them, “I heard from my boss that you posers stole his kill.”
“Bro, we didn’t do anything.” Ben tried to preemptively defuse the situation. “We just protected ourselves when Bateman failed to do it for us.”
“It was your job to be the bait!” The apparent leader slammed his palm on the table, and jabbed a crooked finger in Ben’s direction. “All y’all had to do was lure the fat pig to the spot.”
“And that’s what happened.” Devin insisted.
“That’s not how my boss sees it.” He huffed and crossed his arms. “He still had to give up his shards, despite not getting what he paid for. It costs money to post on the job board, you see.”
The two that had been glowering at them since earlier jumped from their chairs and backed him up.
“Give us the shards back, while I’m asking nicely.” The goon leader ordered menacingly. The music dimmed, leaving the bar so painfully silent that Devin swore he could hear a mouse fart.
He was about to snap when the bartender reappeared behind them. “I thought I told you, Lenny boy.” O’Brian said. “You and ye kind aren’t welcome here.”
“We don’t have any business with you, dried up ginger.” Lenny cracked his knuckles. “Just leave us alone while we get our boss’s money back.”
“Yeah, it isn’t right to take from good people.” The short, fat guy behind him smirked while the tall one crossed his arms—silent, but equally as menacing.
The air became even more tense as the thugs stared them down. It was so unbearable that Devin was about to step up to deal with it, but the owner beat him to it.
The Irishman cleared his throat with a snort before he hacked a wad of spit that landed on the goon leader’s head.
“You disgusting old man!” Lenny snarled as he nearly barreled over his friends trying to dodge the spit. “If you want me to smash your face in too, then all you gotta do is say so.”
The patrons began to whisper excitedly to one another; every single one of them watched with their eyes glued to the scene.
What’s going on? Devin thought as he looked at everyone’s reaction. They know something I don’t?
A blue ring appeared above the old man’s hand, which suddenly glowed with power. O’Brian snapped his fingers, and a wave of energy cascaded through the pub to surround the malicious trio.The murmurs around the pub grew into a low rumble.
Lenny yelled all types of obscenities while throwing fists at the bubble around them, but it was useless. All the force the thug could muster dissipated against the magical barrier.
The old man scoffed. “I’m too old to mess around, boyo. You broke my rules, so you—Are! Banned!” Space fluctuated as he slammed his hand onto the table like a gavel.
The thugs noiselessly screamed before they disappeared with a blip.
Roars of cheers and laughter exploded through the tavern. Many guessed where the trio was sent to this time, some of which included the abandoned sewage plant, and the old town’s dump.
That’s one hell of a deterrent. Devin gulped. “Thanks for that.” He bowed his head slightly.
“Think nothing of it.” The old bartender waved it off. “I hated those gobshites since I landed here. Don’t worry about getting home, airight. They’re knee deep in shit’s creek right about now.”
“Oh I didn’t know you invited them out for a pool party.” Devin joked.
“Oh, fuck off, wanker!” The Irish man waved him off with a grin.
Devin smiled at the good-natured owner. He would’ve never guessed the man was a super, but it seemed like the man awakened the perfect set of powers for himself.
And he puts it to good use. He didn’t have to protect his customers, nor make his pub a safe environment, but he did so freely without any added charge.
I could stay for a bit longer. Devin reasoned, getting comfortable in his seat, unaware of the person watching him.
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“Arghhh! Those fucking shitheads!” Lenny screamed for the fifth time in a row. He didn’t care if something heard him—if anything, he was hoping for a mutant to come by. At least then he would have something to vent his anger on.
But nothing was going to come to investigate, be it mutant, monster, or human. Shit’s Creeks just smelled too fucking horrible.
“When I get my hands on those pieces of—-ARGGHHH!”
“Calm down, Lenny.” Rob said, still waste deep in shit water. “I paid off one of those homeless men to watch them just in case this happened.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Lenny immediately stopped screaming, turning his bloodshot eyes towards Rob. “You knew this was going to happen, and you didn’t tell me?”
“Well, I thought it might ha—” Rob was cut off as Lenny dunked his head underwater. Sewage water was thrown everywhere as he struggled underneath Lenny’s grip, but against his superhuman abilities, there was nothing he could do.
Lenny kept Rob’s head underneath the water until he stopped struggling, then he allowed him to come up to take a breath. “That’s for not warning me.” Lenny said, only to shove him back down in the water. “And that’s for getting me teleported to the crap canal!”
As merciful as he was, Lenny didn’t let him drown. Instead, he threw the man right onto the beach face first. “I should just let you die in this disgusting cesspool, but I’ll give you a chance to fix your mistake.” Lenny jumped out of the water with a powerful shockwave that pushed him even further than he threw Rob.
“Find me some new clothes, then lead the way to those shitheads.”
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Despite having things to do, Devin stayed. He didn’t really like the alcohol, but he enjoyed the atmosphere and company. He had fun sharing stories with the other customers as he kept an eye on the twins.
Looks like I’m keeping my promise. He thought, Might as well keep my word as best as I can.
It wasn’t so hard to make sure they were good. Ben sat at the bar, nursing a single cup while Ken ran around like a monster, downing every cup of alcohol in sight.
The hard part was helping the twins get home.
“I understand Ken, but how the hell did you get drunk Ben.” Devin whispered to himself, trying to walk with the drunken boys’ arms over his shoulders.
So far out of town, Devin just now realized he didn’t know where the twins stayed—not that he could have carried them there even if he did. Luckily, his house was a few blocks from the pub. It wasn’t a shabby distance, but also wasn’t too far.
It was too bad the idiots weren’t making it easy for him.
“We love you, Dev!” Ken yelled into the night, his voice echoing through the mostly ruined city.
“No, I love him more!” Ben yelled back, almost flinging himself off Devin’s previously injured shoulder. It was already hard trying to keep balance while guiding two drunk people, but with them yelling at each other made it near impossible.
They have been spewing out love nonsense ever since they left the bar. It seemed like they were competing to see who could trip Devin up the most while shouting something about love at the top of their lungs. The brothers acted like toddlers, squirming in his grasp while playing footsies.
“Stop!” Devin yelled. “If you keep kicking me, I will leave you here.”
“Aw, you’re no fun.” Ken complained, while Ben pouted, but they both put more of their weight on him.
“Stop squirming. We’re almost there.” Devin huffed, carrying the twins and his food one step at a time through the junk-ridden yard leading to his house.
Whew, they're a little heavy. So much so that Devin was getting tempted to increase his POW. He sighed, Let's not waste shards for stupid reasons. Devin lugged the boys through his back door and through the paper-filled kitchen before, throwing them into the living room onto the freshly cleaned couc. It was only then did Devin allow himself a moment to breathe.
Been a long day, but finally, I can rest. Although he had every reason not to go, he didn’t regret spending time with his teammates. Now, the town felt a little less lonely.
Why the hell am I getting so sentimental, I have more important things to do. Like making my deck!
Although Devin was stoked to create a deck for himself, with so few cards in his possession, there were only so many things he could do. Since he wanted to be ready for a fight at any time, he configured his decks with battle in mind.
Main Deck: Rage, Boar’s Charge
Side Deck: Stick Tribe’s Bag O’ Tricks, Stealy’s Red Cap
Now I’m looking like a real superhuman. Devin stared at his soul card, proud of the immense changes that took place in less than a day. And this is just the first step. I’ll only get stronger from here. Devin could hardly imagine it.
A noise outside took Devin from his musings. He looked through a crack in the boarded up window to see three figures gathered at the edge of his property, carrying hefty blunt weapons.
Crap! He bolted down the stairs, and slapped the boys awake. When that didn’t work, Devin splashed a bucket of leaky roof water on them.
“Why the hell did you do that?” Ken yelled.
“You both need to get up, we got friends from before.” Devin said, thumbing the last two bullets he had into his clip, and slamming it back in the pistol. “Pick up something to defend yourself with, I doubt we’re going to get away without a fight.”
The boys looked around in a panic, yet Devin wasn’t delusional. He knew two incredibly drunk children and one man had almost no chance against three fully grown, possibly superhuman gangsters—even with a couple of bullets. So, Devin grabbed his secret weapon he’s been keeping since the beginning of the apocalypse.
A police-issued pistol with only 3 shots left
Without waiting to see if either of the twins were ready, Devin stepped over the trip wire, threw the door open, and cocked the pistol to be sure that a round was chambered. The click made all three figures stop in their tracks.
It was the same thugs from the bar, Devin confirmed, who looked a lot more pissed than before. And they smell like rotten fish covered in crap. Devin wrinkled his nose.
“You got one chance to get out of here before I blow a hole in you.” Devin bluffed, adjusting his fingers on the pistol’s grip.
Two of the goons stopped walking, but the third looked at his gun with contempt. “You can’t hurt me with that. I'm a cardholder. I’m superhuman.” He declared, unceasing in his approach.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Devin followed through with his threat, shooting at the leader, once then twice. It was his hope to put the first brave one into the ground, and send the other two running.
That plan fell through when the bullets bounced off Lenny's face. He kept walking forward, as if they were nothing more than just a mosquito.
Devin gulped.
“Haha!” The leader grinned before he yelled. “Get ‘em, boys!”
He took aim at the other two, but was caught off guard when two flashes blinded him. Something incredibly hot exploded against his arm, knocking the weapon out of his hand, while another ball of heat smashed into his chest, blowing him off his feet.
The world spun, then came to an abrupt stop as Devin hit the ground.
He groaned, blinking the blind spots to his vision. Devin stumbled to his feet, and ran back into the house.
The three behind him ran through the littered yard, tripping over pieces of garbage and scrap metal. Devin left the door open for them.
He loudly whispered at the two boys. “Go out the back! Don’t let them see you.”
The twins followed his directions, running at the back door as fast as they could. A loud bang, followed by several loud screams told Devin the thugs found his trap at the front door. So he turned around, and summoned his magical circle.
It flourished around him with a soft, red light before it flowed into as he activated a card.
Rage (Common)
Enhancement/Dynamic
Wrath fills your body and soul.
Go forth, and destroy your enemies.
Cantrip Class—POW
+0.1 POW per cast
Bonuses based on Wrath
Devin plowed through the living room with surging strength and a monstrous anger he didn’t know he possessed. The two thugs were still clawing at their eyes when Devin tackled them through the boarded window where they landed in a mound of trash next to the back door.
Grabbing the groaning men into a crushing bear hug, Devin spun them round and round, heedless of their screams.. They gained a crushing amount of momentum until Devin released his hold and threw the two men across the junk-ridden yard.
He was about to follow his prey when something slammed into his back, sending him flying until he crashed into the cab of a truck.
Dazed, he shook the double vision away, right in time to see Lenny fly at him with a flame-covered fist. Even with his rage-addled mind, Devin recognized the huge amount of energy in that hand. He panicked, summoning his crimson ring once more to use another card at his disposal.
Boar’s Charge (Uncommon)
Conjuration/Atomic
Summon the soul of an elite
monster to charge anywhere
its strength sends it,
1st Circle—POW
Conjures a limited projection
Synergy Detected!
Big Bertha’s Blitz
(Rage)(Boar’s Charge)(Wrath)
Increased Velocity, Increased Mass, Increased Wrath Essence
Fist met hard light as a sudden velocity took over Devin. The superpowered goon bounced off the solid red projection, the shockwave he created through sheer strength having no effect on the conjuration.
Lenny’s arms folded as the boar charged with that same force that it had in life. And it didn’t stop; the projection kept going, slamming the thug through car after car.
It dissipated after five seconds of continuous charging, leaving Devin’s yard divided and in shambles, with three thugs groaning in pain.
Devin stopped channeling resources into [Rage], finding the process as simple as cutting off a light switch.
“You got one more chance.” Devin said slowly as he felt the foreign rage drain away. “Leave while I’m still asking nicely.”
The groans came louder as the men slowly got up. They got to their feet so slowly that their unrushed pace pissed Devin off even further.
“LEAVE!” Devin screamed at the top of his lungs. Startled, the three of them seemed to get the message with that one.
The one with the least injuries helped the other two to their feet, and they all carried their leader away as one. The bastard had the gall to glare at him on his way out.
Devin put up a strong front as he watched the bastards leave, but as soon as they disappeared down the bend of the driveway, he exhaled a sigh of relief.
He messed up so many things, and he could have definitely done a lot of things better, but for his first superpowered fight, it went pretty well.
I just hope this isn’t going to come back to haunt me later.
“Dev, what the hell was that red monster? And were you flying?! Are you a super?!” Ken yelled from inside the house. Ben stood next to him, shell-shocked.
Exhausted, Devin waved at the twins in the house, but that lasted for only a moment. As soon as he saw the figure on his rooftop, Devin summoned his circle and blasted to the roof with the might of a monster.
Except, as soon as he got within striking distance, Devin stopped in sheer disbelief.
“Bella?” He wiped his eyes to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
“Nice to see you're destroying our home with style, Dev.” His estranged sister said with a bitter smile.