Chapter 217. Called to Action.
“Melvin, are you ever going to stop?” I asked as I placed another taco on top of his body. Like with the previous six, the current taco was slowly absorbed into Melvin. The first few I had nicely unwrapped and doused with taco sauce for my gelatinous friend, but by the fifth one, he was fine going for them wrapper and all.
“Leave him alone, he’s enjoying them. Marie said, leaning back from the front seat to sprinkle a few tortilla chips onto Melvin who gobbled them up as fast as the tacos.
“Rico, be a pal and order us some more. I could do with another carne asada burrito, and a refill on my horchata,” Julio said.
“I’m done, way too full now,” Marie said, handing me her trash as I sighed and opened the back door of Julio’s Buick to head back into the taco shop. Before I got five steps from the car, Melvin sent me an image. He wanted a burrito like Julio’s and a horchata, and some nachos, and another two tacos, one beef, one chicken.
I had to admit, the restaurant that Julio had picked was good. It was a little, local joint called Tacos Frida. They had great prices, and the food was solid, just the type of restaurant that Julio seemed to be a wizard at finding. For Melvin’s first foray into Earth’s Mexican food, it was perfect.
“It’s a good thing I’m rich now. Bringing Melvin to Earth for a week and feeding him would bankrupt most families,” I whined to myself. I really wasn’t annoyed and was happy to see Melvin enjoying himself. It was even better to see the others dealing with him like it was totally normal to have a gelatinous cube in the back seat of your car.
Blieek didn’t go with us, he’d be a bit harder to hide than Melvin, and I knew when we got far enough away from the station that he’d be unsummoned. Jeff wanted to measure what happened with the mana gauge when he was unsummoned. Oddly enough, summoning the goblin hardly left a blip on the gauge, when my summoning and subsequent return had spiked it hard.
With another $30 of Mexican food in hand, I returned to the car. Julio and Melvin continued to eat, with Julio feeding our friend by tossing various things back toward him. Melvin would just stretch his body out if Julio was off the mark., never missing a morsel While they ate, Marie and I discussed our latest visit with Agent Lopez.
“Do you think we can request some support from the government? I’d like to get some more combat training. Something with small unit tactics would be great as well given the team I can summon,” I asked.
“That shouldn’t be a problem, Rico. I’ve already arranged a meeting so we can discuss our needs. Your comment on small unit tactics is a good one. I’ll check with the others, some general training is great, but if we can fine tune and find experts that mesh with everyone’s classes, all the better,” Marie replied.
“You guys ready to head back?” Julio asked as he bundled up the empty burrito wrapper and tossed it back to Melvin who seemed to eat anything that was vaguely organic, and from the way the bags and boxes were dissolving, I suppose cardboard and paper fit the requirements for Melvin’s diet.
“As long as Melvin’s done,” I asked, more than a little worried that he’d want to keep eating indefinitely. He sent me feelings of satisfaction and happiness over his meal.
“Tacos good,” he whispered in my mind.
“Don’t worry Melvin, we got a lot more for you to try while you’re here,” Julio said.
“Wait! Did you just understand what Melvin said,” I asked excitedly.
“Wow, yeah, I mean, I didn’t hear it, the words just sort of appeared in my mind,” Julio said, a bit shocked.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I didn’t hear anything, but that’s amazing if Melvin can communicate with someone he’s not bonded with,” Marie said, leaning over the passenger seat to get another look at Melvin.
“What do you mean not bonded? We’ve had a ton of burritos and tacos together, that’s some solid team building right there,” Julio said.
“Hey, I gave him some chips. Now I see where I stand with you, Melvin,” Marie joked, pretending to be upset with Melvin, who seemed unperturbed by her efforts.
“When we get back, I need to drop some things off with Jeanette. I was able to stock up on mana tabs and have some loot to sell off. We left so quickly for our meeting with Lopez that I forgot about it,” I said as we pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex that was Refuge’s Huntington Beach headquarters.
The others left to go about their day, though I suspected that Julio needed to sleep off the massive meal I had bought for him. Melvin was also dragging a bit, sliding slower than usual beside me as I headed to Jeanette’s apartment. I had been a bit worried about having him out in public, but Marie and Julio assured me that he would be fine, and they’d warn me if anyone not affiliated with Refuge was on the property.
“I take it you’re back from a summoning series, and a visit to Somhagen,” Jeanette said as she opened the door for me and spotted the typical leather bag the system sent our loot back in.
“Yeah, and I come bearing gifts,” I said, handing her the bag of loot and mana tabs.
“Woah, who’s that? I’m assuming he’s not dangerous or you wouldn’t be dragging him around the place, but if that messes up the floor, you’re responsible Rico,” Jeanette said as she spotted Melvin.
“This is Melvin, he’s a friend. Don’t worry, Melvin won’t cause any trouble,” I told Jeanette before looking directly at my friend. “And Melvin, you should know that Jeanette is the best cook in Refuge, so you’ll want to stay on her good side,” I explained.
“Well, he’s welcome for breakfast tomorrow if he behaves himself. Thank you for the mana tabs and I’ll get everything else sorted for you,” Jeanette said.
On the way back to my apartment, Melvin stirred up a bit of excitement as several of the kids in the complex spotted and were very interested in him. One of them had a small puppy that kept barking at Melvin, but he sent me confirmation that he wouldn’t hurt the animal or the excited children.
“Can we play with him?” one of the younger kids, a girl of about eight who was named Lani, asked.
“If your parents and Melvin are okay with it. Do you want to play with the kids now?” I asked him.
“Play?” Melvin asked.
“It’s just having fun, participating in some games, and just being goofy,” I explained through our connection.
“Melvin play.”
“Sounds like he wants to play, just stay where I can see you guys, and don’t leave the property,” I advised after one of the kids’ moms approved them playing with the creature.
“Rico, over here!” Julio shouted from across the lawn. Marie was hot on his heels, and I could see Elliot and Calvin also heading over from their apartments.
“What’s going on?” I asked as the mom shooed several upset kids away, realizing that something more important than playing with a gelatinous cube was happening.
“Agent Lopez just called in. There’s an incident in LA and they want our help. No details yet, other than wanting us to get rolling in that direction as soon as humanly possible,” Julio explained.
“Let’s go, should I bring Melvin?” I asked.
“Sadly, that’s a no, Lopez mentioned this was a sensitive issue and the risk of someone spotting him was too great. Also, no summoning your minions or using magic unless we’re cleared to do so,” Julio said.
Jeanette volunteered to keep an eye on Melvin while we were gone. Since he wasn’t a directly summoned minion, he shouldn’t disappear when I left the area. He should stick around until I was called back for another summoning.
We piled into the Buick, with Elliot and Calvin cramming in the back seat with me while Julio drove, and Marie took shotgun. Marie jumped on the phone as soon as we were rolling, speaking with Agent Lopez who was also enroute to whatever was going on. A few minutes later, we were on the 405-freeway heading toward LA when Marie finished the call.
“What’s the deal?” Elliot asked.
“A bank robbery of all things, and not just any bank robbery, one with hostages. At least one of the perpetrators has exhibited unusual powers, which caught the attention of Agent Lopez’s people. They want us to help, posing as a special hostage negotiation team. We’ll get geared up off site and then head in to deal with the summoned being,” Marie explained.
“Doesn’t Lopez have his own people for these kinds of things? We’re good for dealing with a rogue dungeon, but a tactical assault on bank robbers with hostages is a bit out of our wheelhouse,” I said, expressing my concern.
“He’ll have a tactical team on site to take lead on this. We’ll be along to deal with any summoner nonsense. Apparently, the summoned being causing all the chaos thinks he’s a supervillain and seems to have the powers to back up his claims,” Marie said.