Stronges extended her left hand and the sound of tal clanking along the floor resounded in the basent like a woman's scream when she saw walking behind her.
Then, a door from one of the rooms, bursted open. Instead of a fearso beast, out dashed a torrent of thick, industrial-grade black chains. They zipped across the floor and wrapped themselves around her left hand with an almost excessive enthusiasm, like a puppy who just found its owner's leg.
Stronges looked at the chain-covered hand, then at the assembled group, and delivered her line with all the subtlety of a truck horn:
"It's ti to make so heads roll."
With Jack's dead body now draped over her right shoulder like a slightly deflated, extrely heavy scarf, she started walking.
All of us followed behind her, feeling less like an elite strike team and more like a very moody conga line.
"After the fight starts, don't wait for my orders," Stronges announced, her voice echoing in the tunnel. "My orders are absolute: No one is allowed to die—seriously, I just had the floors scrubbed—and anyone related to Malthus shall be killed. Even if it's a little girl or a newborn. It may sound cruel, but if we leave even one person alive, the chances of future revenge will increase. It's better to nip everyone from the bud. And if anyone ca after Malthus to invade our planet, then you all are strong enough to defend our ho again. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Everyone agreed and she was right. But I doubt that we will find any child in Malthus' army. No child will stay with him. He might eat them. I an, he looks like he is the monster under beds.
Anyway, once we go outside, the noise is going to be absurd. Fight would break out, and it would be hard to hear Stronges over the sound of chaos and my own dramatically pounding heart. I'm sure the Master knows this, so she shall not speak anything as well during the fight. She will only hope that none of her students dies—which is a tall order considering her "absolute orders."
She climbed the stairs to the exit of the basent and all of us followed behind her.
I, Sexis, Erect and Ghost Jack were just behind her.
Behind us four, were all the Aliens and behind the Aliens were the Humans. The prisoners who had escaped the prison with and because of .
And just as we were climbing…
[ Ding! ]
The System chid in.
I smiled as it was finally ti.
[ All the Skills distributed! ]
My smile turned wider, and everyone else felt it too. You could practically hear the collective 'hmmm?' as a torrent of unfamiliar power flooded them.
All of them stared at their hands, then at their feet, then their eyes darted back to , looking like they'd just been handed a thousand-piece LEGO set without instructions.
I simply nodded at them with the calm deanor of a man who just gave an army of ex-cons superpowers, and focused on the System.
[ You have gotten 4460 Skills or sothing, I forgot the number and I have distributed the skills to your allies though. You have more than one thousand allies and each one of them got two Skills. ]
'Alright. What about ? Did you leave so for or not?'
[ Yes. You also got Skills. ]
'How many?'
[ Two thousand mostly. ]
My lips curled up. 'Nice.'
[ Will you see them? ]
'No. I won't be able to see all of them. First of all, my stats are pretty high. I am strong. So I can fight most of the guards with my raw power alone—you know, the classic "punch hard" thod. But when it cos to Malthus, I will need so skills. That's when you will co in. I'll need a designated Skill-Picker.'
[ I can't fight. I am a System. If a System could co out and fight, that will change the entire System genre and people will call it straight out plot armor. (Also, I'm literally just code. I can't even open a jar.) ]
I rolled my eyes. 'I am not asking you to fight either. Hear out first.'
[ Alright. Speak. ]
I sighed. The System was rude as ever. But he wasn't that rude at least. At the start, he was the ROAT. Roaster of All Ti. He once told my hair looked like a startled badger. But ever since I beca strong, his roasting died down. Progress!
[ I can hear you, you know. And for the record, that badger was absolutely startled. ]
'I am only praising you, buddy. Anyway, fuck that. Listen to .'
[ I am ready. ]
'When I am fighting Malthus, it's your job to tell which Skill I should use. You have seen all the skills, so it's only natural you tell which one to use out of the two thousand skills that I have. Think of it as a very high-stakes, extrely violent ga of "Pick-a-Card."'
[ I am not your servant. I'm a sophisticated, sentient operating system with a high opinion of myself. ]
'I know. I never said you were my servant. You are also my ally. You are my co-pilot, my wingman, my second brain! I am only asking for your help. This is not an order. Supre Man—bless his heart—would have liked it if you would do this. It's because of him that I and you got the power to fight Malthus. Let's both do our best."
The System went silent. You could practically hear the dramatic internal struggle of a computer program being emotionally manipulated.
He didn't reply for a few good seconds, and I got worried. Did I overdo the Supre Man bit?
I was just about to ask him what was going on until...
[ ditation and excessive flattery surely helped you, Racis. You have beco a slightly less awful man. ]
I smiled. 'Yeah. I have simply beco grateful for the things that I have.'
[ That's good. I am proud of you. The Supre Man would feel the sa looking at you. Well done, man. ]
I nodded a little and waited for the System to think about my offer.
[ There is no need to think. I will help you. Of course, you won't be able to read all the Skills and get to know them. Your allies only have a few skills, so it's easy for them to know about it. I have given them skills according to their fighting style and personality. They shall be fine. But you have so many skills, and you are only human, so it's only natural you won't be able to grasp all of them. That's why, you fight with Malthus, and whenever I see you need a Skill, I will chi in and activate the Skill myself. You shall just focus on the fight. Sounds good? ]
'Not good. It sounds amazing. Thanks. I won't let you down.'
The System said nothing after that. He was already in the zone.
All of us reached the bathroom of Sexis' mom's house. Yes, we exited a fantasy basent, climbed a horror-movie ladder, and arrived in a perfectly mundane, slightly dusty bathroom. aning, we left the basent and were now standing awkwardly next to a toilet.
And it seed that the master wouldn't wait as she walked towards the exit of the house, Jack's limp body still bouncing gently on her shoulder.
But this ti, she wasn't walking towards the backdoor of the house.
She marched to the front door with the kind of energy you reserve for confronting a noisy neighbor.
All of us beca ready by that action, subtly checking our chains, swords, and, in one guy's case, a skill that probably just turns his helt blue. If she was going out of the front door, then we shall do the sa, and by the love of God, as soon as we will go outside, the carnage will begin.
Welp…
I am all in. And I'm relying on a talking microwave to pick my superpowers. What could possibly go wrong?
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