Stage 3: Timed Mission Arc 4.4
That's enough practice with Quick Items, no time for more. I manifest the tree branch and my spare pair of pants in each hand and wrap the branch up to make a large air-disturbing surface area. I summon up the duct tape and attach it to the long four legged dirt head-crab thing I just made. It's crude as hell I have no time to make something of higher quality. Can't reinforce it either, that makes it take too long to imbue.
I glance at my mini-map again, Chela's icon still exists, and she still is on my relationship sheet, so she's still alive. Mannequin is still headed toward Jack with her.
"Inventory Sand Particles"
The status effect 'Lung Irritation' has been removed.
"Headcrab, move to waypoint one" Hmm, no reaction from Shatterbird's icon. Not enough surface area, or has it not moved far enough? How do I lure her into chasing it? "Headcrab, move to me" I don't want to use this, but I need to.
I ready my duct tape and pull Fredrico's smartphone from my inventory. No signal, I hear a faint crack, the screen goes blank and Shatterbird starts moving toward my location. I duct tape it to the headcrab and send it on its way, as I follow with my free camera.
The caltrops arrive and shred through my spare pair of pants and the tree branch. I play my pre-selected profanity filter noise of wailing screams and alter my golem's course. Now switch back to first person mode and change my position. The golem has lost half its hit points already, just from stumbling around, impacting stuff and making it jump off the rock overhang. The glass caltrops may have done some damage too. My golem scrambles under the large snow covered bush and stops moving, the shredded pants having gotten tangled up on the outside branches and ripped off.
Shatterbird descends to investigate. She hasn't come down in quite the location I want her to, but at least she's below the rock ledge. I stealth my way over to the ledge and summon a rock from my inventory. "Power Strike"
-63 HP Backstab, Critical hit
-24 HP
"Death from above, Bitch" I yell as I tackle her to the ground, my rock shatters her glass helmet as I slam it down on the back over her head and I hear the unmistakable clang as it hits the sub-dermal armor on her skull. Still, it means I rang her bell. Her head is a bloody mess and my other hand grabs onto her broken wrist. She screams just as my music playing power starts belting out another. At least it waited until after I struck from stealth first.
-28 HP (24 Resisted)
-12 HP (24 Resisted)
-10 HP (24 Resisted)
She responds by stabbing me with her glass projectiles. "Inventory Glass caltrops, Inventory rock, Headcrab attack Shatterbird." Three of her projectiles disappear into my inventory. Rock no longer in hand, I rip the biggest chunk off her glass helmet off her head and inventory that too.
Three more of her projectiles collide into my golem as it bounds out of the bush toward Shatterbird. Suddenly, I can't see as a cloud of sand starts digging into my eyes. It's irritating, but doing no damage. I close my eyes and hold my breath as I feel more sand trying to shove its way down my throat. "Inventory sand particles" I subvocalize. The distraction however allows Shatterbird to slip out of my grasp.
She rockets into the air only to get stopped suddenly as I feel my arm yank up. Knowing exactly what I did a moment ago (oh thank you One Red Hand, you do more than pickpocket in combat), I yank my arm down as hard as I can.
-10 HP
"Get over here!" I yell as I smack her back into the ground before she smothers me with sand again.
-14 HP (24 Resisted)
"You fucking hand-cuffed me to you?" she yells as she slams a glass caltrop into my wrist that I had hand-cuffed to her. "Inventory glass caltrop" I subvocalize and I feel it disappear. I still can't fucking see, this is not going quite how I planned, but she can't get away either despite dragging me along.
She starts saying something again but screams instead. I'm not sure what happened, fuck this. I switch my camera to third person mode, now I can see again. Headcrab is doing its thing on her head, but it's losing chunks to flying glass shards. "Inventory sand particles" I subvocalize a few times, eliminating the sand she shoved down my throat when I last opened my mouth, as well as lessening the cloud slightly. I'm just going to hold my breath and keep my mouth and eyes shut, even though fighting in over the shoulder view like this is fucking awkward. Just pretend it's a 3D fighting game. I don't have to open my mouth to subvocalize. "Power Strike…"
-8 HP
I finally manage to punch her in her broken jaw and grab another piece of her broken glass mask and inventory it at the same time. Why the fuck won't she go down already? I summon my rock again and try to bash her but just hit her heavy coat.
-4 HP (24 Resisted)
She stabs me in the hand with a glass caltrop again and I lose my rock as she drags us along the ground. I inventory the glass caltrop, and shove my hand down her coat and start breaking off glass beads from her costume and inventorying them. She realizes what I'm doing and tries to shred my arm with them. The small cuts and the confined space under her coat don't allow enough velocity for them to do any damage.
"Fuck you! You're NOT smarter than me!"
What? Oh the song, guess it is getting to her. I can't help but respond. "Seems like I am, doll" I say right as I cop a feel and rip a handful of glass off the front of her costume and inventory it. This wasn't how I imagined getting to second base. I'm rewarded with another lungful of sand as I speak and inhale. "Inventory sand particles" I guess that's one way to eliminate the cloud. I do that a few more times as she drags me on the ground again at a slower speed, and slams me right into a tree trunk.
-6 HP (24 Resisted)
I yank my arm back hard again causing her head to slam into the tree trunk as well.
-12 HP
While she's dazed and mumbling I pin her down, straddle her, and rip off the majority of her glass costume and inventory it. No more trying to fly away.
-25 HP (24 Resisted)
-22 HP (24 Resisted)
Her last two glass caltrops fly in at high speed and stab me in the neck and chest. I inventory them, summon Julia's gun and point it at her face. Her eyes go wide, but I just lift it up and smash the butt of it down onto her exposed forehead. "Power Strike."
-20 HP
Shatterbird goes limp and passes out. I gather up every speck of glass left behind and inventory what's left of her costume, mask and helmet. I inventory the piles of sand that fell to the ground as well but I'll never be able to get every particle. Fuck. Was all that worth it? I could have ended it a lot sooner and there is no guarantee this gambit will even work, but I have to try something to get Chela back.
A flash of lightning illuminates the scene after I switch back to first person view. I'm still straddling her, Julia's gun in my hand. She's laying there in the snow unconscious, in nothing but her bra, underwear, and boots, still handcuffed to me. Even though Shatterbird is a horrible monster that has murdered thousands, I can't help but feel deeply disturbed by what this looks like.
No, I swear to whatever gods might exist out there and more importantly to me, I'll never allow myself to become a monster like these fuckers. But I will kill them, somehow.
I inventory the handcuffs, get off her and roll her over onto her stomach. I dismiss all my useless notifications and examine the good ones.
+660 XP, Quest Timed Missions Suck, 4 of 8 members evaded.
+634 XP for defeat of Shatterbird
You have upgraded an Achievement: Parahuman defeat: Shatterbird
You have learned a new thing about yourself: You don't abandon those you care for, no matter the cost.
So, Mannequin's timer ran out and Shatterbirds is still ticking away after defeating her. "Observe" I look over Shatterbird's stats again. She's pretty fucked up. Interesting; other people can be at zero HP without being dead. Does that mean zero HP is incapacitation? I incapacitated her before, and she wasn't at zero. Furthermore I can get XP more than once for defeating the same opponent twice? Not as large of an amount as before, and this one wasn't even assisted. Did her level drop from all her prior injuries, before our fight? Probably, but can't tell, whatever it was, it was still too high to read at the time, but it would be consistent. Now though, unconscious and at my mercy; she shows as level 16. That's still awful high for someone that's incapacitated. I re-summon the handcuffs, and cuff her hands behind her back. She's level 14 now.
She has to count as a true monster. I could end her, and finish that quest right now, but I need her. "Headcrab, fetch pants. Headcrab follow me, ten meters." The golem, what was left of it, scurries off and retrieves the shredded pants that got left in the bush. I salvage the belt from them and take off my own, link them together, buckle one end around Shatterbird's neck, and wrap the other around my fore-arm. I make a gag out of what is left of the pants-cloth. Shatterbird awakens as I tie the thing closed. I can tell by her status effect and the sudden level jump to 30.
"I know you're awake. Get up. Do anything stupid and I will hurt you." She doesn't move for two seconds so I yank on the belt. She tries to scream through the gag, so I just drag her along until she gets to her feet. I point Julia's gun at the side of her head again. "Walk that way, quickly."
"Errhm, izzin"
"Tough shit, I don't care how cold you are; walk."
I push her at a relentless pace in the direction Mannequin went. I still see them all on my mini-map. Chela and Mannequin haven't reached Jack yet, but still have an uncomfortable head start. The others are off map, though Crawler and The Siberian's icons are moving along the edges, indicating a significant change in vectors. Bonesaw and her set of puppets are still in the same general off-map direction as she has been most of the night.
I watch as Shatterbird's level tick up again, it's at 35 now, and another notification fires off.
You are suffering from the status effect 'Lung Irritation'
"Inventory sand particles" I subvocalize.
You are no longer suffering from the status effect 'Lung Irritation'
Well she hasn't found any significant glass to arm herself with or her level would have jumped up a lot more. I stop abruptly causing her to choke on the belt, and then slam the butt of the gun down onto her broken collar bone. Shatterbird collapses and she makes a muffled scream through the gag. I shift the gun and point it at her ear.
"What part of don't do anything stupid do you not understand? Bonesaw's sub-dermal armor won't stop multiple point blank bullets straight through your ear canal. Now drop every single piece of fucking sand you've been pulling out of the soil, right fucking now."
Her level drops back down to 33, so I audibly cock the pistol. "I said all of it. Don't make me repeat myself." Her level drops back down to 30 again. "Now, get up, and keep going."
****?
+660 XP, Quest Timed Missions Suck, 5 of 8 members evaded.
Shatterbird's turn ends and we keep going. So far she hasn't tried anything else. She's probably too busy shivering. Her level has dropped some more, 28 now. "Observe" I subvocalize again. 'Hypothermia' has set in. Walking around at night in a snowstorm in just boots and your undergarments will do that. She's legitimately having trouble walking. Not that I'll let up for one second. I poke the freezing cold gun barrel into her exposed back one more time to remind her. Hell, even I feel cold, and I'm supposed to be immune to non-damaging temperature effects.
-1 HP (Cold Damage)
Well, shit.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
We make better headway as we come across a road. We pass a sign that points toward Gathright Dam and Lake Moomaw campgrounds. I check my mini-map again. Mannequin and Chela are with Jack now. They're in the campground. Crawler and the Siberian are on my map now. They're still far away, but I feel a lot more uncomfortable than a moment ago. I may not have thought through everything I should have.
-1 HP (Cold Damage)
I'm as close as I’m willing to risk. I push Shatterbird down into the snow. "Don't move" Time for a very short free camera trip.
I move my camera up and get a better vantage point as I move toward the campsite. Big RV, lots of glass in that, Shatterbird had to have sensed all that already. Jack is in a camping chair, wrapped up in a big coat, poking at a campfire, and drinking from a beer can. Chela is quivering on the ground with her hands bound, next to the fire and Mannequin, who's standing over her. Mannequin's metal finger thing is still impaled in her shoulder. She has a bag on her head and is kneeling in a small pool of her own blood, which is slowly dripping from both sides of her wound.
"Observe…" Oh, oh fuck… she's still alive though, that's what's most important.
Jack is playing with a switchblade in his other hand, and he puts down the beer. There's a walkie-talkie on the table next to it. Mannequin taps his fingers on his torso and Jack picks it up and presses the talk button.
"Showtime" Jack says into it before putting it down again. Then he stands slowly clapping and some bright flood light comes on illuminating the area. Fuck, how did he know? I swap back to first person mode.
"You got some big brass balls kid. Might as well come on out." Jack yells over the wind.
Shit, shit, shit. Crawler and the Siberian are making a beeline for the campsite. No, get it together, play the part. I pull Shatterbird up and walk closer into view, gun to the back of her head.
"What did you do to her?" I ask Jack.
"Nothing, yet. I may be a monster but even I have standards." Jack responds. Shatterbird tries to yell something through her gag, but I clamp down on her broken shoulder again. "Why Balluri, you're looking a little blue, I guess your turn went badly." Jack smirks.
"She interfered, you know, broke the rules of your game."
"Did she now? That's disappointing, Shatterbird. So where's that leave us, in one of those, what do you call them, Mexican stand-offs? Nah, that's not it. That implies some kind of equality" Jack says, flicking his knife. Chela winces as a part of her shirt separates. A light thin red line of blood wells up.
I still have her Observe window up, minor laceration. "Trade. Release the girl or I kill Shatterbird." A flash of lightning ominously occurs as I speak, followed by a roll of thunder.
"Hmm, Thundersnow," Jack exclaims. "That's pretty rare this far from the great lakes."
"Who cares about the fucking weather?" I notice Mannequin has gotten closer and glance at him. Creepy fucker didn't make a sound.
Jack made a tsk sound at me. "Careful now Alan, don't get close, you don't want to get 'disappeared'."
Mannequin stops and doesn't move any closer. Shit, Jack just trashed a major part of my plan with an off-hand remark. This is getting fucked, why did I do this?
"What do you want her for anyway? Some misplaced sense of nobility?" Jack asks. "I mean, there was a small chance you could have gotten away without her."
"I want to keep my options open, not like I forgot what you asked me to do."
"Interesting, interesting, not that I actually believe you."
I glance at my map again. Fuck, he's stalling and they're getting closer. "You just want me to kill someone. Wasn't Burnscar good enough for you?"
"Ned fished her corpse out the river. The way I hear it, that was more the girl's work than yours; Jason too. She's done better than you have. But enough chit-chat, the girl or Shatterbird, you want to shoot one of them, go right ahead. I'll watch."
Fuck, that's it. They're nearly here and you're fucked. He called your bluff. Why did I think this would work at all? I cock the gun again next to Shatterbird's ear. She starts yelling at Jack through the gag. A high pitched hum sounds through the air as the glass around us starts singing.
Jack laughs. "Alright, alright; Mannequin let the girl go. I'm actually curious to see how this turns out. And see what you think you could actually accomplish."
Mannequin cocks his head at Jack before walking backward, keeping his faceless head turned towards me. He lifts Chela up by the back of her shirt and onto her feet. She whimpers as she stands. Then Mannequin does something behind her and the metal blade thing ungrapples itself from the front of her shoulder. The prongs fold back inside it and he pulls the thing out from her back as Chela screams. A fresh stream of blood pours out of the wound as he shoves her in my direction. I let go of the belt I was holding Shatterbird with to catch her.
"Besides" I hear Jack speak rather loudly, "It's a bit difficult to shoot anyone when your gun isn't loaded. Isn't it?"
The singing intensifies and the flood lights go out as all the glass from the RV and the lights shatter and float into the air. Shatterbird stands up and turns to face me, a mere arm's length away, a look of pure hatred in her eyes. The closest piece of glass floats forward and cuts off her gag.
Her level shoots back into a range above what I can read and she speaks as the gag falls to the ground, "I…will….kill…y---"
"Inventory Crawler's acidic spit" I subvocalize as Crawler's loogie and all the other drops I captured comes out of my out-stretched hand, and covers Shatterbird. She screams for a split second before her throat dissolves, along with the rest of her, and all the glass falls down. I grab the bag off Chela's head and inventory it, as I feel the ground shake and hear Crawler's thundering roar.
"Beautiful," Jack yells after recovering from a look of surprise. "Maybe you've got potential after all. Ned, Sibby, fetch…"
Simon's Character Sheet:
Name: Simon Clarence Anderson
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Class: Teenage Runaway / Rogue
Faction: None
Money: $5.16
Title: Gentleman Thief
Level: 23 (12.24%)
XP: 48951
Primary Attributes
STR: 16 (-1.00) 15.00 (0.00%)
AGI: 15 (-2.00) 13.00 (1.78%)
CON: 55 (-4.00) 51.00 (26.32%)
INT: 30 (-1.00) 29.00 (0.00%)
PER: 12 (-1.00) 11.00 (32.48%)
WIS: 22 (-1.00) 21.00 (34.24%)
CHA: 14 (+0.00) 14.00 (0.00%)
LUC: 15 (+0.00) 15.00 (76.05%)
Unspent Points: 8
Secondary Attributes
Health Pool: 1052/2607
Stamina Pool: 1505/1505
Mana Pool: 7845/8625
Stress Pool: 451/520
Attack: 16.50
Speed: 2.93
Dodge: 16.26
Armor: 0.40
Carry: 150.00
Allure: 3 (-0.50) 2.5
Status Effects
Teenage Acne: ALU -0.50
Alluring Charm*: ALU +1.00
Fractured Ribs: STR -1.00 AGI -1.50 CON -3.00
Bruised Organs x4: AGI -0.50 CON -1.00
Mild Concussion: INT -1.00 PER -1.00 WIS -1.00
Visage of a Wuss: ALU -1.00
Skills
Max Slots: 63
Free Skill Slots: 20
Artistry: 10 (85.89%)
Athletics: 13 (8.30%)
Basic Academics: 9 (0.00%)
Computers: 10 (11.23%)
Crafting (Stone & Pottery): 10 (5.67%)
Create Mana Golem: 12 (22.50%)
Damage Resistance (Corrosive): 2 (43.31%)
Damage Resistance (Electrical): 3 (24.35%)
Damage Resistance (Fire & Heat): 4 (0.75%)
Damage Resistance (Physical): 12 (10.04%)
Damage Resistance (Sonic & Concussive): 1 (0.00%)
Disable Device: 12 (7.45%)
Disease Resistance: 7 (44.66%)
Disguise: 4 (25.98%)
Drug & Poison Resistance: 20 (18.65%)
Empathy: 13 (8.15%)
Firearms: 1 (0.00%)
Gamer's Body: MAX (0.00%)
Gamer's Interface: MAX (0.00%)
Gamer's Mind: MAX (0.00%)
Language-English: MAX (0.00%)
Language-Spanish: MAX (0.00%)
Mathematics: 4 (0.00%)
Medicine: 3 (4.53%)
Meditation: 12 (48.91%)
Melee Weapons: 4 (31.96%)
Null Resistance: 12 (29.76%)
Observe: 23 (20.05%)
Parahuman Lore: 11 (4.65%)
Power Dash: 1 (0.00%)
Power Strike: 10 (8.52%)
Programming: 10 (0.54%)
Psychology: 5 (12.61%)
Science (Biology): 1 (53.22%)
Science (Chemistry): 1 (0.00%)
Science (Earth): 1 (0.00%)
Speech: 11 (1.25%)
Stealth: 13 (3.25%)
Strategy: 6 (10.35%)
Thievery: 11 (19.80%)
Unarmed Combat: 5 (11.10%)
Vehicle Operations: 3 (0.00%)
Video Games: 26 (16.74%)
Unspent Skill Points: 0
Perks
Free Perk Slots: 0
Gaia's Blessing: Mana Pool and Mana Skill access
Gaia's Attunement: Elemental Affinity access
Light Sleeper: Need only 5 hours to get fully rested
Mana Reserve: Bonus MP per level increased by 25%
XP Whore: +10% Level XP
Fast Recovery: x4 HP and Stamina regeneration speed (Free at 50 CON)
Toughness: Bonus HP per level increased by 50%
Quick Items: Retrieve and place items in inventory instantly w/out using the window
Flaws
Selective Amnesia: We had to make room for stuff in your head
A Bit of a Troll: Sometimes you just can't help yourself
Unnatural Curiosity: Can't always resist the urge to find stuff out
You still look like a Wuss: Even with a few extra muscles, you still look like a wuss.
Affinities
Earth: 7
Water: 1
Plant: 1
Lightning: 3
Fire: 3
Air: 1
