The fact that I was disappointed rather than surprised annoyed me more than a little.
Oddly enough, most of the soldiers weren’t on board with Rachel’s reasoning. Some were, but not a lot. They were shouting back and forth. Rachel seemed to be winning the argument slowly but surely.
Walked back over to the Sergeant, “Did you hear all that?”
The Sergeant stopped trying to escape the ring around his neck. He sagged visibly as he sighed, “Yeah, I heard.”
“We done then?” I pressed.
“I yield,” the Sergeant said quietly, before yelling, “Now let me out of this god damn ring!”
‘Fine,” One Destruction check and he was loose. I helped him up. For a moment we looked at the crowd of the Chimera soldiers arguing. “You gonna…”
“Try and talk the Lieutenant off the ledge?” He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the mech and lit one, “Yeah, just give me a minute.” He offered me the pack. When I declined, he asked in the same low, serious tone he’d surrendered in, “Are you a vengeful man?”
“What?” That seemed a bit out of nowhere.
“If I fail to resolve this peacefully, are you going to take that out on the people of the Technacoast?” He asked before taking a drag from the cigarette.
“I am not going to hurt people. I don’t like violence,” I said. “That seems like quite the change of tone considering you challenged me to a duel.”
“Nothing personal,” the Sergeant assured me. He threw the butt into the snow, reached into the mech, and pulled out a small locket, stuffing it in his pocket as he ambled toward Rachel.
Angelica poked me. Hard. She then just pushed me back into the domain. Seth was standing next to Sunit: Seth looked exhausted, Sunit looked equal parts concerned for him and amused at my -frankly- stupid antics. Oh hey, Spine was there too. Hard to spot the little guy, with the snow lion pelts and the snow.
“Hey guys,” I started, “...where are Brunhilda and Brand?”
“Janie got Brand,” Spine elbowed past Seth and Sunit, “Something about cunning linguists.”
We all ignored that. Best of luck, Brand.
“And Brunihilda?” I asked.
“I think we went to get Brand back.” Spine answered with a shrug. “Who are you gonna wreck next?”
“I am pretty sure Rachel is going to force the issue,” I said watching the Chimera Corp have a robust discussion. One of them was waving a book around. Maybe the regulations. They started pointing at a page.
“Doug, don’t hurt my daughter,” Seth said.
We all looked at him.
Eventually he continued, “I am her biological father. I had her before I met James, with Samantha Blum. She was a fellow soldier. We would alternate deployments. She never came back one day when Rachel was three.”
“Huh, I just assumed…” I started. What were the narrators doing? This seemed over complicated.
“That I was gay,” Seth cut in, “And like every bisexual before me I let you because I had other shit to do that day. Focus.”
“Why not tell us about Rachel?” I asked. I needed to listen. The gaps in my situational awareness were at least partially responsible for this mess. A large chunk could be due to Lindsey being a spiteful loser. What was the scope of a Retcon? How far back can they change things?
Wait! Focus.
Seth faltered. He may have been talking to us but his eyes were just staring into the middle distance as memories hit him.“I… I wasn’t there for her. Between deployments, and… she wanted to follow in Samantha’s, in my footsteps. I didn’t react well. We fought… I came back to find out James used her for the Chimera Experiments…” he looked me in the eyes, “ I was ashamed.”
God dammit.
“If I don’t stop her she is going to kill you,” I pointed out.
“I would like to avoid that,” Seth said.
God dammit!
I rested a hand on Seth’s shoulder. I hoped it came across as comforting, “Let’s root for the Sergeant then.”
Better gather intel anyways.
Analyze check… Partially Successful
Name:
Rachel Blum
Race:
Human (Snow Lion/Manticore/Dark Dweller/Warbadger)
Class:
Chimera Corp Officer
Level:
35
HP:
350
Power:
44
Mobility:
40
Body:
32
Mind:
20
Face:
20
Magic:
4
Traits partially discerned
Trait:
Unnatural Trait: Chimera (Epic)
This is level independent. This trait increases its bearer’s Scale to Epic. It will also cause the bearer to show physical attributes similar to those of the Mobs used.
Warning: you are unstable. I am just saying live your life to the fullest, because… you know… just avoid unnecessary stress.
Perks could not be discerned
Disposition could not be discerned
God Damn it!
She was really strong. Level 35 was the same as Angelica.
That was not a coincidence. It couldn’t be.
The Sergeant didn’t seem to be convincing Rachel. I began to suspect things weren’t going my way when she pushed past him and stormed toward us.
Rachel stopped about ten paces from us. She glared at me determinedly, not looking at Seth. “I am killing him.”
“No,” I said.
“Then I challenge you to a duel,” She growled through clenched teeth.
“Find Brunhilda, please,” I asked Angelica.
Angelica was gone like lightning.
“Fine, let’s get this over with.” I sighed.
We both looked at Sunit,
He pointed “Get back to the ring.”
“I thought you said it didn’t matter,” I said as I fell into step with him.
“I said it serves as a starting point.” he corrected. “It will start there.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Rachel insisted, walking on Sunit’s other side.
“Tell me, are you really going to kill your dad?” I asked.
“Father,” Rachel corrected, “Jim was my dad. Seth, when he was around, was my father. A source of the biological material needed for me to exist.” She grew more angry as she spoke.
“Other than killing James Smith, what did he do to make you hate him?” I needed more information. Keeping her talking was the best shot I had.
“How could you understand?” You never were a kid with an abusive parent.” Rachel scoffed. “Must be nice.”
The words hit me like a knife to the back. Certain things require priority. This had to be addressed.
“You are technically right,” I admitted, “I was made. Pretty sure by the Titan. Not important. Wanna know a secret?” Rachel didn’t answer, I continued, “I was made with the memories of the Titan. I am sure now the Titan seems like this impossible, insurmountable existence, but before the system he was just a kid. A kid who lived in fear of his parents”
Rachel stared at me for a long moment, “Why are you telling me this? Most Titan Spawn kill people for trying to dig into the Titan’s past. Nadia would kill people for asking. Hell, there is a reason no one names their kids Ben or Wendy anymore.”
I was more than a little surprised those names didn’t trigger a bigger response. Then again I -the Titan- did call them dad and mom.
“I want you to understand my sincerity when I say, ‘make me believe Seth abused you and I will hold his arms behind his back while you do whatever you have to.” I said. I meant it too.
Yes, I had fought all this time to protect Seth. Yes, he did right by me. That said, it wouldn’t be the first time someone was good to me and terrible to others. Kate’s friend Bianca. Her mother was always the picture-perfect parent in public. Behind closed doors she was apparently quite the terror. I never saw it but Jo was there when the woman shouted at her daughter about being a gross pig for eating 1,300 calories that day.
Eventually Bianca was able to live with her Father. Thinking back I can't believe I -the Titan- couldn’t see how thin Bianca was.
Rachel studied my face, searching for any trace of deception. “He was never around. When he was, nothing I did was good enough. My grades were too low, my friends were losers, and I needed to control my emotions. Then there was the shit show when I was near my Secondary. I wanted to join the Defense Force. He went nuts and screamed about how I was going to die… just like my mom.” She was quiet for a long time, “That is literally the only time he ever talked about her.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Well shit. While that was the abridged format it still painted a picture. She was saying it right, too. That tired, almost dispassionate way people talk when they know what they went through wasn’t okay but aren’t going to articulate the harm, because that would require being vulnerable. If you know, you know. That wasn’t exactly gold star parenting, and I can see how that screwed a kid up. Hell I could even empathize with the anger, “I am sorry that happened, but that is standard bad parenting. Shitty yes. Worthy of death, no.”
“What do you call abuse then?” Rachel growled.
“Comparing trauma isn’t really beneficial-” I started. I mean no one wins at that game.
“You’re so full of shit. What the hell is this, some sick head game?” Rachel seethed.
This was imploding, “Fine, to me abuse is the willful infliction of violence or cruelty on another. I can’t list every aspect but I can tell you what I -the Titan- went through. Just to go off the greatest hits: his mother told him at age five his birth ruined her life and she blamed him for that. At age seven she told him he was a mistake and no one would ever love him. At age eight she said would watch him sleep hoping he would stop breathing so she could be free. Then there was dear old dad. He had no problem punching down. Broke the Titan’s arm three times in four years. I have the memory of a mouth filled with broken teeth. Thank god they were the baby teeth.
Then there was the night he finally snapped. The Titan saw his father murder his mother. It was with a knife. Eighteen times. He then drunkenly tried to finish off the Titan. Nine years old is hell of a time to be certain you are going to die. The boy, the Titan, lived. Lost part of his finger though.” I touched the tip of my pinkie finger.
I was too distant with that. These were just things that happened. Info that I knew. I had memories of the titan struggling with the fallout of that day. This haunted him. Why didn’t it hurt me more?
I was not the Titan.
I could see Rachel reading prompts. She was using some sort of skill, “Okay, you win. Your childhood was worse.”
I sighed, “It’s not about who suffered more. It's about how we move on.”
“What does that mean?” She pressed.
“I know what it's like to kill your father. The Titan managed to get the knife away from his father. His mother didn’t exactly go down without a fight. I remember the feeling of the knife sliding on the collar bone before embedding in the spine. I saw the life fade from his eyes. It didn’t make anything better. Rachel, if you aren’t careful you will end up like the Titan: alone in the cold with blood on your hands.” We were nearing the circle.
“What’s your point?” Rachel asked.
“Killing Seth won’t make things any better. You don’t have to forgive him, but if you don’t want him in your life just forget him. That’s true power.”
Persuasion Check… Critically Failed.
Well that is on me. I did roll the dice. I shouldn’t have tried using the skill at all. The fact that narrator fuckery had no hand in this biting me was just salt on the wound.
Rachel glared. “Who the fuck are you to play with my emotions?”
“Are you ready to begin?” Sunit asked.
“Sure,” and then I saw the prompt. The Eyes of the War Goddess were upon us.
The fight began.
Rachel decked me right in the face. It didn’t hurt me because of the armor, but came close to rattling my teeth. The microsecond hesitation to not counter with the sword but my free hand was just enough for her to duck my left hook. She then swept my leg and just before my head hit the ground she slammed her elbow into my head.
The impact did cause a brief flash, but my armor absorbed the damage. Rachel was certain fast and she was strong, but I had defense stacked to the sky. So she was doing the standard 1d4 damage to the shell per hit.
She rolled out of my reach when I slammed my fist down. She was able to turn the roll into a cartwheel back to her feet. I had to do a sit up. A Craft check turned the sword back into armor. I wasn’t planning to use it, so it was a liability.
Having two hands free adjusted the flow of the fight. She kicked me in the stomach hard enough that I could feel it. She then had to limbo backwards to avoid my back hand. Planting one hand on the ground, Rachel tried to put a boot to my head. I blocked that with my shoulder, then kicked out in a careful counter-attack.
It hit her square in the ribs and launched her back a good three yards.
Counter-Attack Successful.
Dampen Check successful. Rachel Blum takes 9 points of damage
Rachel stuck the landing but slid another yard away. Her eyes had the look of someone reading a prompt. Her vision focused on me, “You really are that tough. You don’t hit as hard as I would guess, though.”
“I am trying to not hurt you… permanently,” I explained. I didn’t approach her, instead manifesting the final layer of Ablative Shell.
Rachel mulled that over for a brief moment, “I appreciate that, and I really appreciate you taking it easy on my soldiers, but I have to get through you. Sorry I have to do this.” She pulled a small metal tin out of her chest pocket, snapped it open, and removed a narrow glass vial.
Right when I realized I should stop her, she snapped the vial in half and inhaled deeply. I have no idea what that was, but its effects were obvious. Rachel was fast before, but now she moved with a manic energy and ferocity that shouldn’t have been sustainable.
Clash of Styles!
N-th Step Up the Mountain Vs Unrelenting Glacier
No conflict observed. No benefits or penalties assigned.
That prompt told me she had ever so slightly sandbagged in our fist exchange. Now, though, this was everything and the kitchen sink. Her knee slammed into my stomach: Deflection stopped the damage. Rachel spun out of the way of my wild punch counter-attack. She used the momentum of her sprint to kick me in the back of the head.
The damage to my armor was minimal but it did push me forward a step. Which was just enough momentum for Rachel to flip me ass over teakettle. She then stomped on my face. I took the chance to counter and tried to kick her in the head. While that missed by a mile the movement and momentum was enough for me to roll to my feet.
I straightened and was promptly clocked once in the shoulder and once in the neck. I was able to deflect one, but the other did damage. I kicked out against her, but she hopped over the blow, and then kicked me in the chest. She then launched herself off me like a spring board.
After doing an admittedly sweet backflip she pulled out her gun and shot at me… like a jerk.
She did wing me once, but I was able to dodge the other two shots and close the distance. I managed to smack her hard on the left side. She rolled with the impact and launched herself over my shoulder. Rachel clung to my back and dumped the clip into me. The shell ate the damage but it was beginning to crack from the wear.
I managed to get a grip on her leg, and wrenched her from my back. I held on as Rachel kicked and stabbed and eventually shot me. Through her onslaught I managed to strike her once, with a tooth rattling uppercut. I tried to then pin her with my arm, but she heaved with everything she had and tore her leg free.
Her face may have been panicked but she ducked my elbow just fine, and was out in the world again.
I dodged another few rounds from her, and landed a kick knocking Rackel off her feet. Our eyes met for the split second she was in the air. My fist collided with her stomach the same instant she punted my face. She really liked aiming for my face.
Through the course of these back and forths she managed to shatter my outer layer of Ablative Shell. I dealt her a grand total of 38 points of damage. See looked lightly battered but far from beaten.
“How the hell are you this hard to hurt?” Rachel managed through clenched teeth.
I shrugged, ”Genetics?” I honestly don’t know how that works.
“I’ll crack your shell eventually,” She insisted. Rather than immediate attack again Rachel took a moment to catch her breath.
“That is an opinion you are having,” I explained, renewing the third layer of Ablative Shell.
Her face contorted with rage. She charged me again. She was just as fast as before, but now there was more rage and brutality. She just kept trying to hammer me with everything she had. Her pointed teeth seemed more fang-like. Her clawed nails had both thickened and lengthened. Her eyes looked more animal than person.
I was pretty sure this was the instability Seth mentioned. It would have been nice if I had been smart enough to ask follow-up questions instead of just assuming mental issues. Rachel’s muscles swelled as she kept assaulting me. The knife-like claws chipped away with each swipe as they lengthed.
I had a long term plan to address this. It was Plan: ‘lure-Rachel-outside-the-domain-and-use-my-scale-to-trap-her-in-the-ice-until-she-calms-down’, or’ it worked once and I wasn’t that creative’ for short. Making a mental note to actually learn how to fight in the future, I worked my way toward the edge of the domain.
Rachel was actually getting faster with time. She was also getting more animalistic both in behavior and appearance. She tried to bite my neck, but geometry and structural armor thwarted her. I figured she would get tired, but nope. The impacts of her punches, kicks and claws were precipitously increasing. Not enough to increase her damage, -thank you ablative shell- but her might was clearly rising.
Luckily her extreme aggression worked against her. I felt the weight of the domain leave me. While the domain and its force may have been subtle, the results of its absence were not.
I went from struggling to block Rachel’s strikes to being able to easily swat them away. I caught Rachel’s arm with one hand, and then blocked her follow up with the elbow on the same are and wrenched her off balance in the same motion. This caused her kick to swing wide.
I just took a few more hits from her and she cracked through another layer of Ablative shell. I took a step back and swung Rachel like a wrecking ball. She went up into the air, and had a momentary look of surprise cut through the blood rage. Then she slammed into the ice hard enough to leave an unreasonable crater.
Throw Attack… Successful
Dampen Check failed. Rachel Blum takes 36 damage.
Craft Check… Successful
Ice Tomb created.
Craft proved once again to be something I needed to really consider the uses of. The ice surged and encased Rachel. Well, almost. Her face and her left arm just above the elbow were sticking out. I hope she wasn’t claustrophobic. If she was this was kind of a fucked up thing to do. I never figured I would be to sort of person to capture people. Eh, so far I have only done it to violent people. That is a good limit. Otherwise shit like this would definitely need consent.
Rachel Screamed in rage.
I pulled the Titanic Brew out of my inventory and took a drink. I checked on Rachel. She was still trapped and still angry. Possibly she was angrier than before the Ice-tombing. Yeah that is a fair way to describe what I did.
“Let me out!” Rachel roared. Her voice had deepened significantly.
“You doing alright? You seem to be getting” I looked at the thick hair growing on the back of her hand and arm. The scales on her neck were growing darker. Her mouth was filling with fangs.
A moment of realization hit Rackel, she glanced at her hand. “Shit, you got to let me out.”
“No,” I shook my head.
“I am having an Instability. I need to get a hit of Stay-Bal. Let me out!” She grew progressively more freaked out.
I almost let her out, but instead I turned to the crowd. I spotted the Sergeant, “Sarge, Stay-Bal. Over her.”
The Sergeant dug in his pockets. Had a moment of panic, and then the still-scorched Lieutenant handed him an inhaler. The Sergeant immediately tossed it to me.
I caught it easily. “What do I need to… oh fuck me.”
I turned to find Grond kneeling over Rachel. The hateful son of a bitch had just appeared from nowhere. He gazed down at Rachel with the cold, appraising stare of a crocodile slowly approaching the shore. “You have a whole lot of beast in you. The balance is wrong though.”
“Get away from her, Grond” I started.
Grond looked up at me. He was back to his wolf pelt. Without the claws and armor he looked upsettingly thin and lanky, “Fine,” he stood and stepped back, hands in the air.
“What do you want?” I demanded. I hesitated in approaching Rachel. Yeah, Grond was outside his domain, and not as well geared as before, but he was still a god, and probably stronger than me.
“To see the Chimera Soldiers,” He said casually. He smiled, “All of them are somehow followers of mine. The connection is faint, but it is there. Fascinating really. Shame they aren’t making anymore. Oh well, Smith’s notes still exist.”
“You can’t interfere in this duel without triggering Lola’s wrath,” I said placing the Inhaler in Rachel's Mouth and giving her a puff.
“I need two,” she said around the mouth piece.
I pressed it again. Grond didn’t touch me.
“Interfering with the duel would go bad for me,” Grond admitted. He turned to walk away, but stopped, “Do you know what isn’t inference though? Divine intervention… well blessing at least.”
His eyes blazed with golden light. Rachel Roared and she blazed with the light of Apotheosis.
Analyze check… Partially Successful
Name:
Rachel Blum
Race:
Human (White Shadow/Megaleo/Cat Sith)
Class:
Chimera Corp Officer
Level:
35
HP:
700
Power:
55
Mobility:
51
Body:
38
Mind:
26
Face:
21
Magic:
10
Traits partially discerned
Trait:
Unnatural Trait: Chimera (Heroic)
This is level independent. This trait increases its bearer’s Scale to Heroic. It will also cause the bearer to show physical attributes similar to those of the Mobs used.
Warning: you are extremely unstable. I hope you like sunsets. This next one is probably the last one you will get to see. Treasure the moments, I guess.
Perks could not be discerned
Disposition could not be discerned
What in the name of Akira Toriyama? Rachel was surrounded in a golden aura. She roared as she burst free from the ice tomb. The scales were gone. Rachels claws had changed to hooked feline claws rather than the knife-like blades before. Her hair had gone white. The eyes were still yellow and catlike, but a sharper focus glared back at me.
Clash of Styles!
Ephemeral Predator Vs Unrelenting Glacier
No conflict observed. No benefits or penalties assigned.
With speed that rivaled Angelica, Rachel appeared in front of me and hit me with a catastrophic uppercut. The impact lifted me off my feet and launched me backward into the domain. In the split second after I decided to roll with the impact but before I hit the ground, a spectral Snow Lion pounced on me.
I really hate Snow Lions.
I almost voiced the question: what assholes are running this? But I knew. Wilson, Lindsey, and so on. I had no doubt those pedantic blue twits could spine some contrived reason that this didn’t violate the rules… that they made.