by Macronomicon
It worked with the three stooges.
Without warning, a bronze spear fell out of the sky and drove itself through his chest, aided by an Ability of some kind, no doubt.
The mannequin’s thoughts grew fuzzy. It was hard to think with a spear through his core. Still, even with this confusion going on, one question was raised above all others.
How can I benefit Casey’s survival?
Make noise. Waken other defenders.
The Mannequin lurched to its feet, slamming its blade against its own wooden forearm.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Another spear buried itself in the mannequin's chest, tearing him in half.
“Everybody Up! Who’s in the cave? sound off!” The mannequin was pleased to hear the other humans awaken before its consciousness ceased existing.
***Jebediah Trapper***
Jeb’s chest was being crushed by a thick metal beam, pressing him painfully into his hard G.I. mattress. He glanced to his side and saw Tyler’s feet behind all that collapsed debris, out in the hallway, where he’d been coming back from the head.
At least he didn’t get hurt, Jeb thought, his vision darkening as the metal beam collapsed his heart and lungs.
“FFUCK!” Tyler shouted, his left hand bleeding as he picked up a piece of jagged metal and heaved it aside.
“Hold on, man, I’m getting you out of there,” Tyler shouted, and Jeb could see the man’s hand reach down and grab the beam on his chest. “You’re gonna be okay, I promised!” The blood from Tyler’s hand dripped onto the wound, and Jeb felt…something open inside him.
No scion of mine is going to accept what something as petty as fate has decided for them. Use it.
No. No, this didn’t happen. I survived. Tyler was in the room! I SURVIVED.
Jeb tried to trace the scar on his palm, but his thumb failed to find the reassuring proof of his attempts to save Tyler.
Use the promise.
NO!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Tyler began slamming against the beam, moving it ever so slightly off Jeb’s chest, but the damage was done. He was going to die.
No, this is wrong! This isn’t what happened!
Take his FATE!
Jeb lunged up, his eyes wide open, but seeing nothing. He could feel the sweat rolling down his body as he gasped in a desperate lungful of air.
Right, we’re in the cave.
When his vision adapted, he could see Casey’s elbow was digging into his chest. Probably what had started the dream. He could feel Smartass sleeping on his hair. It was starting to get unkempt from lack of scissors.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Jeb turned cold. Am I still dreaming? He fingered the scar, finding the reassuring lump on his palm.
No! Real noise! Real noise bad!
Jeb instantly leapt up from his cubby in the corner of the hollowed out cave, startling Casey awake.
“Everybody up! Who’s in the cave? sound off!”
“Amanda.”
“Brett.”
“Casey.”
…
“Ron here,” Ron said when Jessica failed to speak.
“Where’s Jessica?”
“She was still out when I went to bed,” Ron said, yawning.
“Shit,” Jeb drew Myst out of his Core and wrapped himself in a bubble before ducking his head outside.
“She’s probably just banging on some armor out there or something,” Ron said, rubbing his eyes.
Jeb spotted the two mannequins, perforated by bronze spears and completely immobile.
Nope. Definitely not Jessica.
Jeb jerked his head back just in time for a bronze spear to break through the bubble and sink through a foot of solid stone beside him.
Okay, no way in hell bronze can do that.
If we step outside, we get perforated. If we let them approach from downslope, they’ll be able to throw straight into the cave, and our shield isn’t gonna stop throws that strong.
I might be able to fly out fast enough to avoid getting hit, but I’d be a sitting duck after that.
What we need are some disposable mooks.
Jeb glanced over at Casey, a downright vicious idea bubbling to the surface.
***Ch’goth, Master of the Hunt, level 32***
The huntmaster crept closer to the cave entrance, where the evidence of the fleshy creatures was strewn about the ground.
Their nonliving sentinels had been no challenge at all, but the creatures had already demonstrated that they were cunning and resilient, so he was not taking any chances. They were slowly advancing on the sides of the cave, spears at the ready.
The huntmaster had considered going downslope to throw directly into the cave, but he preferred to keep the high ground and slowly strangle off their ability to escape, rather than pursue that limited advantage.
No, they would throw a javelin every time one of the creatures ducked a head out, until they were mere feet away from the entrance, then they would toss in a choke-smoke bag to take the fight out of them before finishing the hunt.
Hunting was never a glorious competition between equal parties. It was brutal and unfair. And that was just the way Ch’goth preferred it.
He felt a pulse of Myst from something beside his foot, and time slowed down.
SHHHH!
Blades of Myst manifested all around him, whipping toward him from both directions at an obscene speed.
In that fraction of a second, Ch’goth’s mind was able to map the trajectory of all of the blades. Using his spear as leverage, Ch’goth jumped, tucking his arms and legs into the tiny pocket of safety as best he could.
The sound of tearing flesh filled Ch’goth’s ears as those around him too slow to react were torn into large chunks of quivering flesh, their natural armor shredded.
He fell to the ground, burning pain spreading from his right foot. His prized spear toppled to the ground beside him in pieces.
Ch’goth gave a trumpet of pain as he realized he hadn’t been able to tuck all of his foot inside the pocket of safety.
He pushed himself up and glanced backwards. No less than thirty warriors had been lost to the vicious trap.
“Run, NOW!” Ch’goth shouted through the pain. His warriors nodded and began running without hesitation. He was proud of their training.
A thought occurred to Ch’goth, and he looked at where he had felt the pulse of Myst. There was an unnaturally round glass marble made of crude opaque glass.
“Beware!” Ch’goth shouted, picking up the marble and tossing it to his warriors. The rearmost S’ketchan turned back and snatched the marble out of the air with a nod before rejoining the pack, leaving Ch’goth alone with the corpses of his hunters.
He turned back to the cave and spotted a brilliant light emerge from the front, rising into the air in a spectacular display.
“Haha! Look at my Glory and despair, heathens!”
Ch’goth couldn’t understand what the creature was saying. It was a garbled mess of guttural noises.
It looked vaguely S’ketchan, with two arms and two legs, but it lacked the smooth, attractive natural copper armor. Its muscles were clearly on display, reminding him of some kind of skinned corpse that moved.
It also had some kind of strange wings on its back, and a fiery length of burning metal in its hand.
It was so bright and attention-grabbing, that Ch’goth didn’t notice the dark little marbles streaming out of the cave, moving under their own power.
***Jeb***
Jeb took a chance and ducked his head out while Mike acted as a flare.
The creatures were….retreating. There was a semicircular swath of chunked corpses near the edge of the camp, where he’d tossed the betties the night before.
Huh. I guess my evil plan wasn’t necessary.
Still gonna do it, though.
“They’re running away!” Amanda said, poking her head out from behind Jeb. “One of them’s still alive!”
“Amanda,
what the hell are you –“Jeb tried to put a hand in front of her to keep her inside the safety of the cave, but she was a lot stronger than him.
The healer broke out into the open and Jeb began spinning up the old Myst engine. He needed to be able to ward off a spear and pull her out of the way if necessary.
“Brett!?” Jeb demanded as the soldier sprinted past him, carrying the heavy shield they kept to seal the cave entrance.
“I know!” Brett shouted with a grin. “Why do you think I married her?”
Damnit, Jeb thought, running out after them, slowed by his pegleg
He ran out into the field through the jagged rocky terrain wearing nothing but his briefs. Brett ran up to where Amanda was approaching the wounded copper-skinned insect creature and interposed himself and the heavy shield between her and the retreating creatures
The coppery monster hissed and spit at her, trying to hop up to one foot and take a swipe when she got close.
Amanda rushed forward and physically overpowered the creature, pressing it to the ground as a spark of white Myst leapt between them.
The creature’s wound immediately sealed itself off, and its struggle intensified, biting Amanda in the process.
The healer pushed herself away from the monster, running a hand over the bite mark, the wound disappearing as she did.
The creature hopped away from her, before it’s head cocked in obvious confusion. It glanced down at its leg, then over to Amanda.
Amanda held her hands up in a placating gesture, slowly backing away from it.
“It’s okay,” She said. “I don’t want to hurt you. We don’t have to fight.”
It studied her for a moment, before glancing around, noticing Jeb and Brett facing it.
It gave a soft hiss, and slowly bent down to pick up a nearby spear that hadn’t been shredded.
Jeb tensed, prepared to turn the creature into swiss cheese, but it simply rested its weight on the shaft of the spear, studying them.
Slowly, the creature reached into the pouch on its waist and retrieved something small and shiny.
It was a strange-looking tool, composed of a bronze handle that widened out to a wide, flat knob at the base, that narrowed down to where a crimson red gemstone was set at the tip.
It looked like a chisel with a ruby set at the tip.
Actually, I think that might be exactly what it is.
The creature tossed the strange tool to Amanda before turning away, using his spear as a crutch.
“Did you just Ghibli-princess a monster?” Ron asked from the entrance of the cave.
“See?” Amanda said, turning to Jeb, the ruby-studded needle in her hand. “They can be reasoned with. If we can start up some kind of dialogue, we shouldn’t have to kill them.”
“Huh…” Jeb said, crossing his arms. “I probably shouldn’t have made all those killbots, then.”
“You did what now?”
***
***
This is bop betty leader to bop betty squadron, I have a visual.
The thumb-sized marble wiggled its air bubble at the others, the only way of communicating that they had. They’d figured out a language fast enough, though.
Their line of sight was typically awful, being as low to the ground as they were, it was rare that they were able to make visual contact with their prey. In this case though, Bop Betty leader was on top of a small swell of ston, no bigger than a man’s foot. it afforded him a better view of the surroundings than the fifty-four marbles rolling around him.
The enormous entrance to the cavern was looming in front of the bop-betty, approximately fifty feet away. Standing guard at the entrance were two creatures that had tried a night raid on Casey.
That was unacceptable.
Bop Betty leader, confirm visual. Sending in Bop Betty five four.
This is Bop Betty twenty-four, starting my approach.
The glassy marble began rolling forward, nearly undetectable in the dim light. Their stealth mission was guaranteed to succeed due to their small size and the poor ambient light.
Or so they thought.
Once Bop Betty twenty four was within fifteen feet of the creatures, they noticed, reacting violently, throwing spears at Twenty-four.
I’m getting a lot of enemy fire here! Twenty-four signed as he hopped from side to side, sprays of stone shrapnel peppering his sides as spears missed him by inches.
Bop Betty leader watched the marble put himself into high gear now that the stealth aspect was blown. They couldn’t afford to let these creatures report to the rest of their ilk.
Twenty-four spun rapidly and blasted forward, popped up into the air at the two and a half foot mark, bubble pointing straight up as he sailed through the air.
FOR CASEY!!!
A fraction of a second later, the delicate spellwork inside the marble keeping Twenty-four alive fizzled out as the powerful Mystic trigger erupted out of him.
Massive telekinetic blades manifested above him and turned the two enemy guards to quivering chunks. Large gouges were dug out of the wall where the blades impacted the stone face of the mountain.
The marble clinked to the ground, lifeless. There simply hadn’t been enough time and body mass in the marbles to imbue them with resilient life like the golem guards, and as a result, the enchantment keeping each of them alive and moving was whisper-thin.
None of them railed against the cruel fate of such a limited existence, though. They were proud to be doing what had to be done to keep Casey safe: striking back before the enemy organized a defense.
A brave man. A moment of silence for Twenty-four. Salute!
The bop bettys turned their bubbles toward the motionless marble in the midst of the carnage. They held this pose for a solid five seconds.
All right, you marbles, we know this is a one way trip now! Sear every moment into your SOUL and take as many of these bastards to hell with you as you can! They tried to hunt our mother!
The Betties cheered and streamed forward into the enormous entrance, ignoring the sweltering heat of the dungeon as they tracked the strange copper creatures back to their source.
***
“This is horrible…” Amanda gasped, scanning the scene of the slaughter. Shelters made of carefully melted together stone dotted the new cavern, creating a circle of stone igloos, at least a hundred.
The stone huts were torn to shreds, toppled to the ground without exception, huge gouges taken out of their sides.
The ground was covered in the bodies of copper-skinned creatures in various states of dismemberment. Some of the luckier ones only seemed to be missing an arm or a leg, while others were horrifically carved into chunks.
In the center of most of these piles of dead bodies was a single black marble with a bubble facing up.
“Is this what you meant!?” Amanda demanded, rounding on Jeb. She pointed at an obvious child, its body was over a foot shorter than the other bipedal creatures, its form split in two. “They’re people!”
“They tried to kill us. Twice.” Jessica retorted. “Now they’re not.”
Ron and Brett looked uncomfortable.
“The decision was made in a cave under threat of death,” Jeb said, stepping between the two of them, facing Amanda. “I didn’t know it would be this effective, and I’d do it differently if I could, but we can’t undo this.” he motioned to the carnage.
Jess snorted behind him.
Amanda glared at him, her eyes burning behind her visor.
“You created autonomous drones capable of finding and killing people with no human involvement. You can’t tell me you didn’t know that was a war crime.”
“It wasn’t war,” Jeb muttered, scanning the desolate village. “It was hunting.” He glanced back up to Amanda. “They weren’t trying to capture us, interrogate us or anything of that nature. They were hunting us. Plain and simple.”
Jeb pointed to a corner of the village, where one of Eddie’s men sat, half-butchered.
Amanda stared at the corpse, jaw hanging open.
“It’s never gonna be easy,” Brett said, gently pulling his wife closer before her back started shaking.
Jeb heard a quiet groan behind him and spotted Jess rolling her eyes,
Damnit, this group is hanging on by a thread. I need to defuse the situation and separate Amanda from the glaring reality, give her some time to cool down. I should talk to Jess about not antagonizing the healer, too.
“Let’s push on,” Jeb said. “Hanging out here isn’t doing anyone any good.”
Beyond the ruined village was a tunnel winding down deeper into the mountain. They were experts at bypassing the murderholes by now, and Jeb had enough trapped rocks to keep the lava squids at bay.
With Ron’s zombies made from native ingredients, they were able to withstand the heat and act as a buffer between the worst the dungeon had to offer and themselves.
Ron’s Mystic Taxidermist Class was a C rank class that he chose because it gave him the ability to repair and redesign corpses at will, in exchange for Myst. In short, the synergy with his Core was well worth taking the lower ranked class.
He’d floated the idea of stitching the useful parts of the copper-skinned villagers to his giant caterpillar zombies, but Jeb had quietly taken him aside and explained the need to avoid Amanda losing her shit and abandoning them.
If Amanda left, Brett would obviously go too, then they would be down a frontliner and a healer.
Jeb also found time while Brett and Amanda were holding against a line of slow golems up front to single Jess out for a little talk. The Assassin was standoffish, but Jeb pointed out that if she was cold enough to kill people without remorse, she should at least be cold enough to pretend she wasn’t into it, if it gave her an advantage.
In this case, less friction with the group and access to life-saving treatment.
She seemed to be considering it before Jeb ducked back to the others.
They dispatched the fire golems and worked their way down to the bottom of the dungeon, where the boss was waiting for them.
They stepped into a large cavern, not quite as big as the first one in the entrance, but big enough to hold a prom in.
The chamber was round, with flat tiled stones with jagged edges composing the floor, lines of bright red showed at seams where hot magma peered through.