Victor sat on a wooden crate, twinkie in hand as he chewed on the little cake. The laundromat that served as their little stop spot wasn’t the best stocked, but at least it was quiet and boarded up.

“How did you cross the country so quick?” Alex asked him. That was the name of the woman who’d life he’d saved.

“The Gates. If you know your way around them, you could probably cross the world quicker than eighty days,” Victor told them.

“But… isn’t it dangerous in there?”

“Keep your head down and the danger isn’t as big. Now about what I asked?”

“Oh yeah,” Alex waved over another one of the survivors. The little boy looked terrified but handed Victor a marked map.

Victor unrolled the canvas and looked upon it. There were a few Gates scattered around Washington, but only one of them was marked with a red circle.

“That’s where the kids are being taken?” Victor asked.

“Just about. We’re lucky they haven’t caught us. The others weren’t as much.”

“Where are the Metamorphs taking them?”

“No idea. The only scout we sent out came back maimed. Said the whole place was a giant maze filled with monsters. As soon as he was spotted, they ran him off,” Alex said.

“…Metamorphs usually aren’t smart enough to keep territory. Were they Brutes or Thinkers?” Victor asked.

Alex shook her head.

“No. just…. Normal ones far as we got. Except one of them. That one looked more alive somehow. Jeremy said he looked veiny, and didn’t even bother moving to catch him,” Alex said.

Victor made a non-committal sound and looked back at the map. A maze of Metamorphs and their leader, who in all likelihood had absorbed a Seed. It stunk of a trap to him, but he’d promised Amadeus he’d get his kids back. And he wasn’t going to start being a liar now.

“Where’s the rest of your group situated?” Victor asked them.

“Pennsylvania Avenue,” Alex said.

“Can you hold a few more kids?”

“You don’t even need to ask. If you can take out those Metamorphs, we’d be more than happy to help you.”

“I’ll call over my people, then.”

****

The twins stuck onto Amadeus’ legs like shackles. It didn’t hinder his movement as much since he’d progressed his Seed, but the man felt it weigh him down regardless.

“Come on, you two. You’ll be safe here, I promise!” Amadeus said, trying to gently pry them off of his feet.

Victor stood at the side watching the whole affair with Lillie and Jared.

“Are those kids ever going to relent?” Victor asked.

“T-they will. Max and Minnie are stubborn, but they listen once they listen to Am enough,” Jared chimed in.

“Aren’t you stubborn too?” Lillie asked.

“I’m coming. I have to,” Jared said without pause.

“It’s dangerous, you know? You could help better out here instead,” Lillie told him.

“N-no.”

Jared balled his fists up and sneered at the ground in front of him.

“You heard him, Lil. Best to let the kid do his thing,” Victor said, watching Amadeus with a stare as he finally gained the upper hand against the twins.

“Don’t you think it’s just a bit dangerous, Vic?” she shot a glare at him. He softened his expression under her gaze.

“I know. But we don’t have the luxury to not. Jared’s got a Seed; he might as well progress it as much as he can. And this is the safest way.”

“He could be running missions with the other survivors instead,” Lillie replied.

“Don’t trust them yet. Maybe in the future, but the closer he is, the easier we can keep an eye on the kid,” Victor said.

Lillie smiled a coy smile at him.

“Aww, you’re worried about him, aren’t you? You big softie!” Lillie called him out.

“I can handle myself!” Jared interjected suddenly. Lillie chuckled a little and ruffled his hair while the teen blushed.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I’m sure you can, Jared!”

“Aha! I’m free!” Amadeus said from across the hall. The kids had finally relented, and Am shed his chains.

Soon after, they joined with the rest of the Washington survivors and put the twins in their care. The survivors gave them some rations and other necessities that might come in handy in the other world, and escorted them to the enemy’s door.

****

Bullet fire and lightning rained upon the Metamorphs guarding the Gate. They were vaporized without a second to spare, without even having the chance to raise their alarms.

Victor waited a step after that to check if more would come out. He and his group were atop a building looking down at the Gate, which had opened up in the middle of a junction. There were cars piled up around it to serve as a barricade, but that hadn’t prevented their aerial assault.

A second turned into a minute before he finally gave the go-ahead.

“We’re clear as we’ll ever be. Let’s go,” Victor said. They climbed down and over the barricaded cars to stand in front of the Gate.

Jared looked anxious, having covered his arm up to his arm in his gauntleted armour. His grip on his sword was shaky which prompted Am to place a hand over his shoulder.

“If it’s too scary, I’ll take you back. Don’t worry, Jared, you’ll be fine,” Amadeus reassured him. He looked up at Victor for confirmation, who nodded back.

Then they entered through the Gate to that same lurching feeling as always. The world turned inside out for a fraction of a second before they reached the other end, to a gothic castle that could’ve passed for the set of a Dracula movie.

Sconces were setup with red flames that danced dangerously bright. Despite that, the stones were dark and uninviting, cracks running along the parts that they could see. And they could only see a little, given that most of the floor was covered in a plush carpet that looked stained and old. The only other source of light came from the large glass window set in the far wall, which cast a purple light down onto the floor.

Though it was dark and dreary, that didn’t stop the group from attracting the attention of the Metamorph guards. Two Brutes hung at the back and looked up at them with Halberds in hand. They exchanged popping noises with each other before walking menacingly towards the group.

Amadeus looked behind him. Victor had his guns, Jared his sword and even Lillie had her panes of light. All weapons they could use while he was left bare-handed.

“Feels like I should’ve brought a whip or something,” he muttered to himself.

“We’ll find you one inside,” Victor replied as he moved ahead.

He fired towards the Brutes, but they hardened their free hands into shields.

“Jared, stick back for this one. These are too hard for you,” Victor intoned as he shot again.

Amadeus came forward and hit the Brutes with crackling lightning. Their skin popped louder in response as though they were trying to communicate.

“They’re trying to call more of the others!” Lillie told them.

“Let’s be quick about this!” Victor shouted for them. He jumped towards the Brute who was ready to swing his halberd down. His arm caught and the Metamorph found it encased in light.

Victor shot his joints with his Frigustone pistol, freezing it in place. He popped a large blade from his arm, shooting the enlarged edge at the frozen over shoulder. It impacted and broke off the creature’s arm. Victor fell and ducked under another swing before creating another blade. He enlarged and slashed it upwards, cutting the other arm off.

The Metamorph shot out a clay limb from its chest and smashed Victor to the walls. Breath left his lungs and the chandelier overhead shook a little. The clay was spreading across his chest, constricting him further, giving him little time to reply.

Victor jammed both of his guns into the clay and fired. The bullets scorched one half and froze over the other. He slammed the butts of the guns into the clay, breaking it apart and letting him fall.

The Brute had managed to reattach his other arm in the meanwhile. He swung downwards and Victor was forced to roll sideways. The halberd missed him and a pane of light stuck it in place. Victor took aim at the arm again but reconsidered.

No. He instead moved it to the centre of the creature and fired there. The Brute tried to raise its shield to block again but stopped halfway. Another pane of light helped give Victor the opening to fire into the Brute’s chest.

He jumped before the next attack and stowed his guns away. The frost was spreading over the Brute’s chest and he’d slowed considerably. Victor just needed another hit. And why waste the bullets when he had another option.

“Lillie! I need some stairs!” Victor shouted.

Horizontal panes of light appeared ahead of Victor and he climbed them up to the chandelier. He hoisted himself over and popped a blade along his forearm. The blade cut through the chains and both it and Victor went crashing down.

The Brute beneath them was splattered in an instant. Its clay spread over Victor and Lillie while the core remained unblemished. Victor fired off his forearm blade at the core and cracked it. The light dulled and Victor turned to the other Metamorph.

It was encased in light with sparks dancing over its body. Victor raised a hand to fire at the thing but it was unneeded, as a bolt of lightning stripped the flesh of the monster and cracked the core in a single hit. Amadeus fell to one knee after the display, gasping for breath as Jared fussed over him.

[Ability Unlocked: Sense of Time Boost]

[Ability Unlocked: Senses Boost]

That was a bit of a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. His Timewalker’s Origin wasn’t nearly as quick to progress as his other Seeds.

“Am, you alright?” Victor shouted as he searched the corpses.

“Y-yeah! Just a bit wrung out!”

Victor acknowledged and continued his search. Apart from the halberds, there wasn’t anything of worth on them. Except with his enhanced senses, Victor did find a little bump in the clay that seemed a bit…. Crystalline.

He wiped away the clay to find a blood red stone beneath it. It looked like coagulated blood cut like a diamond. Victor picked it up, putting his oft-forgotten identification to use.

[[Hemostone]:

A stone crafted by Hemotep himself. His castle’s a maze, so guests best be prepared with the appropriate Hemostone should they need to visit the Count.]

“What kind of person lives in a maze?” Victor asked aloud.

“The Count, I guess,” Lillie said, bending down to take a closer look at the Hemostone.

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s an official title,” Victor replied. It sounded more like a mockery, like a mime would do to annoy passersby.

“There’s a pedestal over here!” Jared shouted from the end of the hall. Where the Brutes had been guarding. The slot seemed perfect for the Hemostone and so Victor walked towards it while twirling the gem around his finger.

He slammed it down into the pedestal and the wall ahead of them split apart slowly. Behind it lay another hallway soaked in red light and filled with Metamorph Basics.

“You’re up, kid,” Victor walked inside. Jared didn’t complain, nodding feverishly as he brandished his blade. Victor was happy. The training would go much easier if the kid cooperated.

He pulled out his dual pistols and took aim as the fight started once more.