"BLADECALL!"
Johnquis echoed, his tone low and calm. His chain uncoiled, humming faintly in the damp air. He slid to a stop beside the bus, eyes darting through the tal ribs of the wreck. The Digger’s hunched shape flickered between broken windows and torn seats — skittering like it owned the place.
"These Diggers... not strong, but smart. They know every hole to crawl into."
He bared his teeth, raising the chain, eyes locked on the shifting shadow.
"But not smart enough to stall us for long."
He swung the chain back with a smooth whip, lips curling in a predator’s grin.
"Co on, you muddy bastard. Run all you want — there’s nowhere left to dig."
And the hunt closed in.
They hit the ground running, crunching through puddles of rusted rainwater, chain and blade singing in the stale night air. Savier led the charge now, all that lazy half-drunk charm gone. What was left was his savage grin and a low, nasty chuckle that curled out of his chest every ti his boots slapped tal.
"The savior of the apocalypse is back in action, baby!"
His voice ricocheting off the twisted bus fras and collapsed roof trusses. "Co on, Johnkiss — don’t crawl behind now! Old tis!"
Johnquis grinned, wind burning his eyes as he sprinted after him. "Eat my chain, freak! Last one to gut it steal the next batch of noodles."
Savier laugh. "Ha! I miss that bet — back in the school, huh?"
"Yeah. That’s why you didn’t graduate on ti, always stealing food ’cause you kept losing."
"Fuck you, Johnkiss!" Savier snapped, but he was smiling like a kid.
They both vaulted over a crumpled commuter train half-buried in collapsed concrete. Savier slamd his heel into a dangling handrail, swung himself up and over a tangle of rebar like it was a playground bar.
He landed on the roof of an overturned tram, boots skidding. Johnquis hit the sa roof a second later, his chain snapping out to hook a signpost for balance.
Below, the Digger scuttled crab-like over the cracked pavent — shoulders pumping, claws scraping up anything shiny or sharp it could find. Bits of twisted tal and old signage clattered behind it like breadcrumbs.
"Look at it run!" Savier laughed, eyes fever-bright. "That’s right, little shovel-back — run straight into daddy’s mouth—"
The Digger hissed — a wet, miserable sound then lunged at an old luggage rack. It ripped free a half-broken bench seat and hurled it up the slope. The twisted fra slamd into Savier’s shin mid-vault.
"Ah — fuck!"
He pitched forward, montum gone. He hit the tram roof shoulder-first, skidded down the slick curve, and thumped into a collapsed bus door with a winded groan.
Up on a higher ledge, Dancer cocked her head, watching him slide like at off a hook. Her eyes glowed with that ghostly golden glint. No pity, no scold, just a predator’s cold assessnt.
"Oh, don’t give that look!" Savier coughed, rolling onto his back.
But Dancer was already gone, leaping across the gap, trailing sparks from her heel blade. She landed on the next bus fra, claws shredding the roof as she lunged for the Digger. It squealed, diving sideways into a half-collapsed food stand, its claws wrenching open a rusty floor grate.
Johnquis kicked off the tram roof, chain singing through the air as he swung to a catwalk above the hole.
"Dancer! Corner it — don’t let it burrow!"
Too late. The Digger flung the floor grate up behind it like a steel trapdoor, then dropped into the hole below. Dancer ramd through the opening just a breath later, but her claws slamd to a dead stop — a fizz of ghostly static exploded around her limbs.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: AREA RESTRICTED]
A flickering band of hexes snapped up around the grate, humming with an energy Johnquis felt in his teeth. Dancer snarled, batting at it, the hexes rippled but didn’t break.
Savier scrambled up next to her, dust streaked across his face. He slamd his palm against the hex wall — only to get blasted backward by a burst of crackling force. He landed on his ass, boots scraping concrete.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
- Your rank is too low for this nest.
"GODDAMN RANK RESTRICTION! I NEED MY BONUS FEED COUNT, SYSTEM! GIVE IT BACK!"
Dancer just crouched there, claws tapping the edge of the hex barrier like a cat testing a cage.
Johnquis dropped down beside Savier, chain still humming in his hand. He watched the flickering hole — the Digger’s hiss echoing faintly as it disappeared into the deep tunnels below.
He pressed his palm against the hexes — the sa jolt ran up his arm as a cold ping popped into his vision:
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[D Tier — Nest]
Johnquis pressed his palm flat to the crackling hex wall. The low buzz crawled up his arm, static dancing on his fingertips. He squinted at the flickering [SYSTEM NOTICE] pinned in his vision — the words pulsing in that cold, indifferent glow.
"Of course... A Digger. What’s it do? Digs a nest. And a D-tier one, huh?"
He glanced down at the rust-choked hole, listening to the echo of the Digger’s claws vanish deeper into the guts of the ruin.
"Bet that hole’s swarming with eaters... eggs, spawn... maybe level 2s."
Savier scrambled to his feet, slipping on the wet tal. He stomped over to Johnquis, wiping the dirt off his split lip with his thumb.
"A whole nest."
He barked a humorless laugh. "A thousand points for that crusty crab and now a whole D-tier hole full of bonus chow just locked behind system walls? I hate this rigged-ass world."
Dancer hissed low, claw tapping the barrier like she could taste the burrow beneath.
Johnquis flexed his fingers, chain rattling on his hip. "It’s not impossible, though. System only kicks your ass out if you’re alone or under-ranked."
He rubbed his palm, eyes sharpening as he thought out loud. "But you can bypass a rank restriction if you’re in a squad or—"
He cut himself off, turning his head to Savier. The sa idea flickered in both their eyes, bright and hungry.
They said it at the sa ti, voices overlapping with a grin:
"—DUO."
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