~~~Stanley~~~

Stanley stayed high in the sky for the rest of the night, his mind whirling and raging.

He didn't know if he'd killed Samantha, and the thought that he might have, ate at him. It wasn't his fault. She shouldn't have been in the room with him, much less in his face like that. She asked for it...

Caffeine had tried to save her. Plowing straight through a lair wall to do so. Stanley knew it must have hurt him. He was strong, but not that strong. The power Stanley used to smash his way out had been everything he had...

I hit her so hard...

That thought, piling atop the thought of Caffeine hurt from his actions made Stanley's stomach twist and his mind threaten another spiral. He wanted to go kill something. Destroy something. But Caffeine was still down there, eating and healing. He'd checked. His mental touch feeling the pug chomp down on a strip of meat was the only thing keeping him from completely losing it.

That limp body beside Caffeine...

The least he could do now was to watch over the pug in case something else showed up. So he curled around himself and raged impotently at the misery of it all as he hung in the dark sky.

It was all Samantha's fault. She'd gotten into Caffeine's head, and tonight she tried to get him too. Why else would he dream about her? Maybe it was his premonition skill warning him...

But all that would mean that Caffeine was no longer reliable... that he could no longer trust him. That was... impossible. Caffeine was all he had... and she tried to take him away!

Stanley raged. Clawing his mind against the air itself as it cracked and boomed.

Spent once again, and gasping for breath, he cast that thought aside. Caffeine wouldn't turn on him. The idea was impossible and unthinkable. Caffeine was the only thing he could trust in this nightmare prison. He would have died without the pug. He would die without him in the future... and he wasn't sure he could even go on if Caffeine betrayed him, too. He wouldn't want to...

Caffeine had trusted them from the first moment. That had to mean something. He'd never growled at them like he did with the rest of the monsters. Were they really trustworthy? That would mean it was his fault... He might have killed Samantha when she was only trying to help...

What must Caffeine think of him?

The sun eventually climbed over the horizon, setting him aglow while darkness still covered the land far below. He watched the shadows of skyscrapers appear, stretching to the horizon. Then watched them shrink as the sun continued its ascent.

One small light in the darkness of Stanley's mind was that he'd never gone so far from Caffeine before. That wasn't the positive bit. Rather, it was the discovery that he could feel Caffeine in the distance. Just like he could feel Lee in the west. Caffeine's presence was even more clear, likely because of proximity. Or maybe the dungeon wall...

Which meant Caffeine could probably feel him as well, and might explain why he'd gone nowhere all night, only remained directly below. Stanley also felt the intense worry in the pug that only built through the night and wanted nothing more than to go comfort him. But that would mean facing... them. Her. If she was still alive…

The guilt from Caffeine's worry eventually won out against his guilt over Samantha, and Stanley headed back down.

Caffeine met him at the hole he'd left in the wall, launching out like a missile and sending Stanley sailing backward on impact. The frantic crying, face-licking, and wagging tail both eased his heart and made him feel worse about leaving.

When he'd finally calmed down to a more normal level of excitement, and right as Stanley considered flying away with him, Caffeine bounded back into the building. He took a few steps and then looked back expectantly.

Stanley sighed and flew in after him.

Samantha wasn't dead. Which was a relief... but the ugly bruises covering her face looked awful. Especially when she smiled at him. "Stanley. I'm glad you came back." Clearly, she was a crazy person. Also, her regeneration wasn't very good...

Jerry had the same and only expression Stanley had ever seen on him. While Arthur was the only sane one because he looked terrified... and angry. Maybe it had been an assassination attempt... and he was mad she failed? No. Caffeine would have killed her. Stanley was just being paranoid.

He didn't know what to say after almost accidentally killing someone. So he kept it straightforward. "I’m sorry… You shouldn't have come into my room."

"Got it," she said, still smiling. "Won't happen again."

She hadn't moved from where she sat, and Stanley wondered if he'd broken anything important. "Are you..." He stopped. He didn't want to be here, and they shouldn't either. They needed to get away from him before they died. "I'll try to find some other people for you to go..."

"No!" Samantha's shout made Stanley flinch, and he saw Arthur respond in kind, shooting an angry look at the woman. "Let us stay with you! We can help just like we did yesterday!"

Stanley couldn't understand her. What was wrong with her brain that she wanted to stay anywhere near him? Another thought popped up in his mind. A reason she might behave this way, and a question he should have asked the day before. "Why are you guys out here alone, and how did you not die before I showed up?"

"We were in a big group the day before we met you," Samantha said. "But... things were getting weird... so we left."

Jerry nodded behind her, and Lee shifted his gaze to the man. "You left... and came out here to die? Because they were... weird." Jerry shrugged, but didn't disagree with the statement.

"It was more than that," Samantha said. "We got some newcomers a few days ago, and they were trying to recruit people into some kind of cult... or something."

"I killed a cult leader a couple days ago," Stanley said. "Were you there? They were going to burn someone at the stake."

Jerry shook his head, but Samantha answered. "That sounds terrible... I'm sorry you had to do that, but I'm glad you stopped them." The concern on her face looked real... "And no, it wasn't like that. They talked about immortality... but it didn't seem religious... more like they were just trying to recruit people into an order… or something."

"Isn't that like literally how religion works?"

"The trees didn't like them," Samantha said, and then glanced around. "I know how it sounds... but I swear..."

"They weren't human," Jerry said. "And they were multiplying."

Stanley felt like a lightbulb lit up in his mind. "Not human?" he demanded. "Were they aliens? The invaders?! Where was this?" His heart was pounding. This might be it! He might get out of this shithole and finally be able to get home to Lee!

"I..." Jerry shifted away slightly at whatever he saw on Stanley's face. "They looked human. But... well... they weren't edible. They felt corrupted."

"That's why you came with me?" Samantha looked as confused as Stanley felt as she stared at the man. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Jerry shrugged. "What did it matter? We got out of there, didn't we?"

"Explain." Stanley demanded.

"My class tells me what I can cook," Jerry said reluctantly. "Along with some hints about what is better or worse to eat. Humans are considered... well, food. Those people weren't. And they were multiplying every day."

It wasn't as clear a sign of the invaders he'd been hoping for, but still the best clue he'd heard since this started. Maybe humans were not unique to this world... maybe the invaders looked exactly like them... That was a terrifying thought that had Stanley eyeing the other people in the room with suspicion once again.

But Caffeine liked them...

"Take me there, now." Stanley scooped them all up and was outside before Samantha begged him to go back for their stuff. He didn't listen. "We can come here later." If there even was a later. He might get free! I'm coming, Lee!

He took them straight up until the entire city spread out below. "Where was this? Tell me!"

"I... I don't..." Samantha stammered, staring wide eyed at the ground far below.

"That way," Arthur pointed. "Just past that brown skyscraper with the tall..."

Stanley was tearing through the sky before he'd finished talking, and the roaring wind drowned out the rest of Arthur’s words. As he flew, he let his mind dwell on all the horrors that had been inflicted on him since this started. He thought about all the monsters who'd hurt him... and let his anger rise.

This was his chance to get free. He couldn't afford to waste it, and he would need every shred of power to ensure that whatever these invaders were, they would die. Screaming.

He only slowed one more time, just long enough for one of them to point at the sprawling mall before he tore his way inside. It wasn't a lair, and the structure had no chance to stand up to him as he ripped it open in a searching spree of destruction.

It was also empty. Ceilings flew into the sky. He tore holes through second story floors to search the lower levels. Store after store met the same fate as he combed the entire place.

Not a single living soul was in the entire massive complex.

"Where are they!?" He finally screamed at the people trailing behind him. "Tell me!"

White faces stared back with wide eyes as he roared at them. It was Samantha who spoke first. "W... we were in the Macys... They're gone. They're all gone..."

"Damn it!" Stanley tore the Macy's apart. Down to the foundation. Then he started digging, looking for a basement. They had to be here! This was his one chance! He had to find them!

Caffeine kept sticking his head in the way, blocking his view as he ripped up the concrete, until Stanley had to push him out of his lap and hold the pug off to one side.

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He found only dirt and rock below the foundation. So he went to the next building and started tearing out its floor, too. "Where the fuck are they!?"

Caffeine abruptly became extremely heavy, and Stanley had to pause his digging to focus on holding the pug up. He was also howling... and huge. Stanley saw nothing attacking the dog, as he'd feared, but did suddenly hear Samantha yelling his name.

"Stanley stop! There's no basement. Please stop!"

Stanley spun on her, ready to scream... and saw her heavily bruised face.

His rage faltered as the memory of slapping her through a wall resurfaced. Then Caffeine’s increasingly large legs touched the ground and kicked off it, shooting him right into Stanley's lap as he shrank back into his small form.

The whimpering tongue-lashing he doled out on Stanley's face cooled the rage further, and Stanley held the pug as bitter disappointment welled up inside him. I'm still trapped.

If he'd just asked those idiots yesterday... if they had just told him about the monsters... "Do any of you know where they might have gone?" he asked through clenched teeth.

Stanley looked away from the useless, blank faces and stared out at his handiwork instead. The mall was gone. Nothing but rubble now. No humans. No monsters. Nothing even alive. In fact... the small potted trees that had decorated the main hall were all wilted and dead... and a little crushed now.

"Did these trees look like this when you left? Were they healthy?"

Samantha looked sad as she shook her head. "N... no. They were healthy... but the miasma was bothering them a lot. I was helping..."

"The miasma!" Stanley exclaimed. He'd been ignoring the messages about resisting that debuff for... how many days now? "What is it!?"

They all looked puzzled. "Don't you have the debuff?" Samantha finally asked.

"I resisted it. Tell me what it is!"

"Of course he resisted it," Arthur muttered.

"Fucking tell me! Now!"

"It... it's a debuff that takes a percentage of our attributes..."

"What does it say? Exactly!?"

"[Miasma]

Miasmic corruption fills the area and weakens all it touches.

Effects: -2% All Base Attributes."

She said it all with unfocused eyes, as if she was reading it off a notification.

That definitely sounded unusual. Especially since it seemed to cover the entire dungeon... except for the lairs. Why were they unaffected? Why hadn't he asked anyone else about it before? Sure, ask the fucks actively trying to murder me.

"Where is it coming from?" He asked the people currently not trying to murder him. "And why isn't it in the lairs?"

"I... don't know," Samantha shook her head. "We talked about it, but no one knows..." She hesitated and then added, "The debuff was higher when we left... at negative five percent..."

If it was higher when they were here... that could mean they were the source... So maybe he could just fly around with someone and see if it went up? Stanley suddenly looked at Jerry. "You said they were corrupt? The invaders?"

"I did, though I don't know that they are the invaders... I assumed you knew about the debuff... sorry."

"You..." Stanley closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he settled everyone on the ground in the mall parking lot. It was his own damn fault for not remembering the debuff. He got so caught up on worrying about the monsters... human and otherwise. "What do you know about them?" he asked, as calmly as he could. "Tell me everything. Were they truly not human... and what did you mean about multiplying?"

"We lost and gained people every day," Jerry said. "Some of those that were more receptive to the corrupt people came back. Came back stronger... and they came back corrupted, too. Though they still looked human to the eye. Then Samantha here was going to get herself killed, so I left with her. For all the good it was."

"What are you talking about?" Samantha said.

"You didn't see them looking at you?" Jerry shook his head. "You were telling everyone who would listen that they were bad news. They were totally going to kill you."

"I... didn't... see that..."

Jerry snorted. "I expected we would die, anyway. I just didn't want to find out the hard way what was up with those... things."

Stanley looked at Arthur, the man having stayed silent the whole conversation. "Why did you leave? Do you know something more about them?"

Arthur glanced at Samantha before shaking his head. "I... just wanted to protect Samantha."

"You thought she was bonkers," Jerry said, and the other man looked at the floor.

"I... did. Why didn't you say anything?"

Stanley was also staring at the ground too as he tried to figure out some way to find these so-called corrupted. The best bet still seemed like just flying around to see if the debuff increased or decreased.

His thoughts distracted him enough that he didn't notice Samantha creeping closer until she touched his hand, and he flinched away while cursing himself for the lack of focus. He pushed his mind out wide, tearing up the parking lot beyond their little area and pulling dirt and crushed asphalt into a fresh dome around them. He'd left the engine blocks atop the lair in his rush to get here... Stupid!

"Are you okay?" Samantha asked, ignoring the flying debris as her worried expression vanished into the darkness beneath Stanley's dome. "What happened back there?"

Stanley pulled back when she reached out again. "Don't touch me." He considered telling her about how anger increased his power, but dismissed it immediately. She didn't need to know that. It might be something she could use against him. "Nothing happened. Other than all of you, failing to provide vital information when I needed it. When it might have been fucking useful!"

"I'm not your enemy," Samantha said. "I have nothing to gain and everything to lose if I attack you. If I could even hurt you..."

"Do you know that humans always drop skill shards when they die?" Stanley couldn't see her in the dark, but he could feel her. He could feel all of them in his mental touch, and felt them freeze up.

"I... didn't know. That sounds... bad."

"You think? Would you kill me if it meant gaining my power? Is that enough motivation for you? Are you thinking about how to pull it off now? Let me tell you right upfront, you can't. Bigger monsters than you have tried, and they're all fucking dead!"

Except that one teleporting bastard... but at least he'd lost a hand and foot for trying. Hopefully, that would discourage the fuck from looking for him.

"I wasn't thinking that," Samantha said, in what had to be a lie. "I was just thinking about how many poor people are going to get killed for such a terrible reason."

"Did you kill someone for your power?" Jerry asked.

The question surprised Stanley enough that he didn't even get angry at the insinuation. Jerry had some balls on him. "What if I did? You know... your skill might be useful to help me find these corrupted."

"Do people drop classes when they die? Because if not, then it sounds like you will want to keep me alive now."

Serious balls.

Stanley had a feeling that if trees didn't like corrupted people, then Caffeine wouldn't either. He didn't need this man. He said as much.

"You're probably right." Jerry didn't even try to plead his case... but Samantha did.

"We can still help you. Let us! You don't have to be alone in this fight."

"I have Caffeine."

"You do. An absolutely loyal companion that would never betray..."

Stanley tore open a hole in his dome to let the light illuminate her face as her words echoed far too close to his own fears. What was she implying? Maybe it wasn't just trees that she could mess with. "What did you do to him!?"

She clammed up in the light when his power wrapped tightly around her. Damn her bruises! If she...

"I... nothing!" she gasped. "I was... only... complimenting... him. He clearly loves you!"

He lost sight of her as Caffeine once again moved in her defense and filled Stanley's vision with his giant pug face. Why did he insist on protecting her? She must have done something! Probably while he was unconscious after the damn owls...

"Why, Caff? What did she do to... you?" His voice cracked as the reality of being all alone hit him like a physical weight. Like a vise crushing his heart...

"Just... kill me," Samantha said behind the pug. "Don't doubt him because of me... If you truly think that I did anything to him, then kill me. Kill me now, and then go find these monsters and kill them. Save the good people that are still out there. That's all I ever wanted from you. If you do that, then I don't need to live to see it."

Stanley couldn't see her, but he could hear the tears in her voice when she stopped talking. He didn't respond, and not because of that.

Caffeine was staring at him with those big brown eyes, and Stanley could suddenly feel him like he had the night before when they'd been separated by distance. Only now, the feeling was amplified a thousand times stronger. A million times...

Within that overpowering sensation, Stanley could feel an absolute love that permeated his being. Maybe even his very soul. They were Soul-Bonded... and Stanley hadn't understood what that meant until this very moment.

Caffeine couldn't betray him. Couldn't betray them. Because Lee was there too. Stanley could feel his brother closer than he'd ever felt before. It reminded him of that day in the mountains... though he didn't know why.

Together; they basked in the absolute that was Caffeine's dedication.

It wasn't that he magically could not betray them, but he just couldn't because he cared too much. The very idea couldn't exist in the sensations Stanley was feeling from the pug. Caffeine would die a thousand times to protect them, and do so willingly and eagerly. His reality didn't include an option where they were not together. It was literally impossible for Caffeine ever to give them up. They belonged to him. He would never let them go. No. Matter. What. Forever. No magic could ever change that reality.

Then the feeling dimmed. Lee's presence receded, and Stanley was alone with a little pug, who was staring up at him with a wagging tail and lolling tongue.

Caffeine was in his arms when Stanley's knees hit the ground, and he stayed there while Stanley wept bitter tears of regret. He would never doubt Caffeine again. He hadn't before... not until Samantha showed up!

But... Caffeine trusted her. If he trusted Caffeine, then he had to trust her. Didn't he?

He would... try. That was the best Stanley could do for the strange woman. So long as Caffeine trusted her, Stanley would keep and protect her. He would give her the benefit of the doubt... mostly.

As much as he could.

For some reason, Samantha was crying when Stanley finally stood back up. Or rather, floated above the ground with Caffeine in his lap.

The whole scene was further confused by the small trees blooming bright green around Samantha and Arthur... the older man looking exceedingly worried as he tried to comfort her.

Samantha met his eyes from between the vibrant flora and smiled through her tears. "That was so beautiful..."

Stanley's paranoia flared at the thought that she had somehow snuck into his... but no. The two men were also misty-eyed as they blinked and tried to remain stoic. That reminded Stanley that he'd been openly weeping in front of these strangers... but the memory of what had caused it made him not care about what they thought.

Caff still loves me! He hadn't realized how much the fear of losing Caffeine had weighed on his mind... the fear that all his mistakes would turn the pug away from him... but that was impossible. The feelings Caffeine shared with him...

It sure seemed like they might have caught a glimpse as well.

"I'm going to find the invaders," Stanley said, ignoring the sudden trees. "Caffeine wants me to trust you... so it's up to you. Do you want to join my hunt? Or I can find another group to leave you with. A group that Caffeine approves of." That was assuming Caffeine would let them leave...

"I'm in!" Samantha shouted, leaping to her feet and rushing forward. She stopped just shy of touching him, and Caffeine gave her frozen, outstretched hand a lick before laying back down. She beamed at him and gently scratched his head before retreating a step.

"Sure," Jerry said. "I can't complain about having a bad ass looking out for me. Or two of them, I should say."

Arthur hesitated, his gaze lingering on Samantha. Either he was definitely her secret father, or the guy had an unrequited thing for her, with the way his gaze so often lingered. Kinda creepy if the latter; he was so old... "I will come, though I doubt how useful I will be in this fight. I will do what I can."

"Fine. Good. Then we hunt." He picked them all up and took off. "We'll start a grid search from here, and..."

"Stanley?" Samantha interrupted. "Since we're all friends now... can you be a little more gentle when you yank us around? Not that I'm complaining. Especially when you're saving us from a giant squid or the like. But the rest of the time..."

Stanley sighed as dirt swirled up to blot out the light. "Fine." He wasn't that rough, was he?

"Thanks!" Samantha said cheerfully from the blackness, and Stanley suppressed a groan. Sure, he was feeling happier than ever right now... but her upbeat attitude was just excessive.