Modern Age Online

Kaleb entered The Pit and was immediately assaulted with questions from Roy.

“What the hell was that about?! Who were those guys? Was it about the bounty on your head?!”

Kaleb just smiled and moved over to his workbench answering the questions. “The bounty, amateurs, and yes.”

Roy was panting, and he had a wild look in his eyes. Kaleb could tell the young man had wound himself up for a fight and now all that adrenaline had nowhere to go. He took his boots off and carefully deployed their spikes. He cleaned the spikes off his lab-coat cloth while he spoke to his assistant.

“Calm down, Roy. Do some exercises or something. Burn off some of that nervous energy.”

Roy looked liked he would argue before he dropped to the garage floor and started doing push-ups. Kaleb wiped his heel spikes cleaned and set his boots on the workbench. He listened to Roy pant in exertion as he grabbed his angle grinder and sharpened his heel spikes. As he did, he went over his defenses.

He had Shocky, his armor, and his lab coat. He thought about adding a helmet or something but the restricted vision wasn’t worth it. Of course that could change the first time he took a shot to the head. Kaleb did his best to sharpen his boot spikes before a weird thought came to him. Maybe I should take the Laser Pen Cutter?

It was an errant thought and Kaleb couldn’t imagine why he would need it. But it was small and could cut through metal. He wrestled with the idea before he added the pen cutter to his pockets. It would probably get lost or damaged but he figured it was better to have and not need. He finished sharpening his spikes as Roy completed his short workout.

Roy stood up panting slightly but less manic looking. Kaleb smiled at his assistant as he slipped back into his boots. Roy nodded his thanks before he went into the kitchen, Kaleb stayed and opened the first package he had ordered. He pulled out the Kevlar, Stun Glove and zip ties. The zip ties went right into his pocket, but the Stun Glove he wanted to study it a little.

It was a light flexible black glove with wiring sewn into it. The wires circled the palm before going up the fingers and circling again at the fingertips. There was a rectangular bulge on the top that Kaleb guessed was the power supply. He didn’t like that, the power supply was vulnerable. It would be on the back of his hand. He considered the problem as Roy moved back into the lab and watched him.

“Is that more Kevlar?” Roy asked.

Kaleb nodded as he turned the glove over in his. “Yeah, figured we would need more to finish the armor. Plus, if you want to make your own armor.”

Roy laughed as he said. “Ha! Yeah I was thinking about armor ideas. Sure I can use the Kevlar?”

“Yeah, I have no problem with that. But could you finish my armor first?” Kaleb smiled up at Roy.

“I got it, Doc. I finished the right shoulder piece. I just need to do the shin guards for you.”

Kaleb nodded and went back it looking at his Stun glove. He put the glove on and twisted his hand around feeling the material stretch. It had extra padding at the knuckles where small metal circles would be an unwelcome surprise for anyone he punched. He felt a button in the space between his thumb and index finger. Pressing his thumb into it he heard a snap of electricity and the Stun Glove activated.

Kaleb smiled as he turned the glove off and took it off. He found the charger for the glove in the box and plugged it in when he got a drink from his kitchen. Kaleb checked the clock as he sipped at his water. It was 2:30 pm, Kaleb was hoping to get this done fast so he could watch Diana Torero challenge Edward Derana. He finished his drink and asked Farrah a question.

“Still no word?”

Farrah made a weird coughing sound before she answered. “Vivienne joined but nothing from Jar-lock.”

Kaleb twisted his head curious. “You okay?”

“I was eating lunch. But with ten people you can start team-speak via your handlers.” Farrah explained.

Kaleb nodded. “Please connect us up, would you?”

There was silence for a bit before he heard several voices speak at once. He couldn’t identify them but what they said made it easier.

“You there, Professor?”

“Feel me in on what this is about.”

“Did your arm grow back?”

“Hey, Mr. Rat-Lizard!”

Kaleb shook his head at the voices cascading out of his wrist and tried to wrangle everyone’s attention.

“Hey! Easy people, we are still waiting on Jar-lock. But, I wanted to give everyone a basic run-down about the mission. First things first: Deckart, you there?”

The line went silent as Deckart’s voice answered him. “Here, Professor.”

“Everyone this is Jericho Deckart, he is a fellow Super and Player. His nephew: Rick, another player, was just abducted by a band of magical racist called the House of Druchuvin. The goal of this mission is to assault a base where we think they are holding Rick and save him.” Kaleb explained.

A mechanical voice Kaleb assumed was D43d–I asked. “How did you trigger this mess?”

Kaleb sighed as he moved into his lab. “It’s a long story, but you remember the fun I had selling the Greater Ifrit corpse?”

A chorus of three voices answered. “Yes.”

“Well after that, someone put a price on my head. Detective Deckart and his two nephews offered to help me figure out who put out the bounty. In the process someone took Rick hostage.” Kaleb said as he sat at his workbench.

There was silent as the others processed his words. Then Claire’s accented voice asked. “So where are we going and when?”

Kaleb answered. “An abandoned elementary school north of 32nd street. I was hoping to wait for Jar-lock but we can head out now. The police are on standby waiting for our go ahead.”

Two Gun’s gruff voice asked the next question. “How many do we have?”

“Without Jar-lock it's eleven of us.”

“Why so many?!” Two Gun asked surprised.

Abby answered before Kaleb could. “Magic users have access to large AOE spells and some can even summon creatures. On our first patrol the Professor and I fought at least 20 magical risen zombies. Any idea how many magic user’s are in the building?”

Kaleb shook his head, and he crossed his arms. “No, but it's my understanding that this is only a small part of the House of Druchuvin so reprisals will probably happen afterward.”

“This that Torero lot?” Varlin asked.

“Yeah, how did you know?” Kaleb asked curious.

Vivienne answered. “We asked around after yesterday. The Toreros are mostly Sorcerer’s so we can expect plenty of summoned defenses. They have a few wizards so there might be wards around the place.”

“But the House of Druchuvin is just the Torero Family, is it?” Varlin said. “They also have a few casts offs from other families. People who agree with their idiocy.”

Kaleb rubbed his chin. “But this base seems to be a hide-out of Alessandro Torero. So it's a good bet his lackeys are family, right?”

“Maybe.” Deckart answered dubiously.

The all fell silent as they considered things. Kaleb went over to check Roy’s work and saw that his assistant had completed a shin guard and was adding straps to it. Kaleb was about to bring up adding random players to their raid group when a new voice spoke up.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Jar-lock’s deep voice asked.

There was a chorus of cheers and greetings when everyone heard the Warlock’s voice. Kaleb was about to explain the situation to Jar-lock when Varlin asked.

“You finished sulking, Warlock?”

“I wasn’t sulking!” Jar-lock said petulantly.

Two Gun added fuel to the fire by asking. “What was he sulking about?”

“Hehehe. He had to give up his pet Ifrit because he can’t access the Domain.” Giggled Vivienne.

Abby spoke up curious. “What does that mean?”

“It means.” Jar-lock started, sounding annoyed. “That I can’t access the Summoning Domain so my Ifrit would never get better. Plus, I would lose control of it if it got too powerful. The Summoning Domain gives us access to spells and abilities for raising our summons.”

“So you sold it?” Kaleb asked.

Varlin laughed. “No, he transferred it to me.”

Kaleb remembered how disappointed Varlin was at losing his lesser Ifrit. He couldn’t imagine his Warlock friend was too happy about giving up his summoned pet. Trying to bring the conversation back to rescuing Rick Kaleb gave Jar-lock a brief rundown of everything. The others explained what they had been discussing before he logged-in. Jar-lock listened silently until everyone was finished and then said.

“So what we need is a rescue team and distraction team. I think our heavy hitters should stay outside while the faster of us should get inside the school and get the kid out.”

There were murmurs of agreement from everyone when D43d–I said. “I can work at close or long range, but I’m not quick.”

Robert spoke up for the first time. “I’m going in. He is my brother.”

“Me too.” Deckart agreed.

Jar-lock gave a grunt of assent before saying. “I think Abby, Me and Professor should join you two. Everyone else can assault the front of the school.”

“I agree, but I think we will have to fight our way in. If they have wards around the school, then they’ll know we are coming. Unless you can break the wards without alerting them.” Kaleb said.

“Hmmm.” Varlin said.

“I don’t think we can. At least I don’t know how to break a ward silently.” Vivienne said.

“Me either.” Jar-lock agreed.

Kaleb glanced over at Roy to see the boy had laid out Kaleb’s armor and was working on another set of armor. Kaleb guessed his assistant was making armor for himself. He strapped his armor on, two shin guards, two shoulder guards and a back and chest piece. Once he finished he checked it DIY Armor stats.

*DIY Body Armor*

Defense: +15 +2(DIY Armorer)

Upgrades: 0/3

Durability: 95/95

Pieces: 6/6

Grade: D

Description: Lightweight aluminum armor with a Kevlar lining. Light with good flexibility this armor is good when you want to keep on your feet. Now with leg protection. Good Job!

Kaleb checked over his inventory, making sure he had his weapons and all of his armor. He went into his kitchen and collected his new glove. He hoped the thing would come in handy. Figuring he was prepared enough he spoke up to his group.

“Ok unless anyone thinks we should invite randoms, I am ready to go. We can all meet on west 32nd street.”

Everyone agreed to meet up, So Kaleb looked up to Roy, who had stopped working and was watching Kaleb. Roy just gave him a smile and a thumbs up before he went back to work on his armor. Kaleb smiled at his assistant’s back and walked out of his lab.

“Remember to lock up, Roy.” Kaleb shouted as he opened his car door.

He barely made out Roy’s “Sure thing.” as he closed his door and started his car.

The drive out to the school was quick and filled with loud conversations from his communicator. Kaleb described the events of his day while his other friends explained their own adventures. He hadn’t seen Abby since their patrol and Two Gun and Claire were mostly playing together. He felt like the group was coming together but the real test would be their upcoming fight. He found it odd that Mass wasn’t chatting with everyone but he figured D43d–I was keeping the big guy quiet.

Kaleb parked his car at the corner of 32nd and Kerbey Lane and got out. He looked around at the houses nearby. This was obviously a residential district but the houses where older and bigger than the houses in his neighborhood. He even saw a house where someone had planted a giant cherry blossom in the front yard. That had to be expensive. Kaleb thought as he scanned the other houses.

He spotted two men standing on the opposite corner for him and they were staring right at him. Kaleb straightened up and studied them. They wore plain T-shirts and jeans and they were standing just in front of a black sedan with no visible license plates. Kaleb was running through his options when he noticed the shorter of the two men twist his body away and reach a hand up to his ear.

“Farrah? Are they cops?” Kaleb whispered into his communicator.

“Yeah, I confirmed it. Apparently this is the outer edge of the current perimeter. When you and your friends go in, they’ll constrict around the school.”

Kaleb nodded his head in understanding before he glanced back at the two plain-clothes police. They both gave him slight nods and went back to watching their surroundings. Kaleb leaned on the hood of his car and waited for his friends. It was barely a minute later when he noticed the shadows of the nearby trees were disappearing. No, not disappearing, they were coalescing in the middle in the street into a big hole made from shadows.

The center of the shadows spiked upward and then fell away from the female figure as she stepped out of the shadows. When Abby placed her foot into the street, the shadows all retracted back to their original positions. Abby took two steps before she stumbled. Kaleb rushed to her side to help her up and saw she was sweating like crazy and panting like she had run a marathon.

“That wasn’t as easy as I thought.” Abby’s quiet voice said as he put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

Kaleb grinned. “You were impressive until you almost fell over.”

Abby shook her head and wobbled over to the curb and sat down. “I have to practice with the ability for it to get better. But it’s like exercise: Annoying and gains are slow.”

“Like you don’t absolutely love it.” Kaleb said.

Abby just grinned up at him before she laughed. “Haha, Shadow walking is awesome.”

Kaleb was about to ask more about his friend's new ability when he heard a strange sound.

“Hehehehehehehehehe.”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Hehehehehehehehehehe.”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Hehehehehehehehehehehe.”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

*SLAM*

A large pink boulder giggle-screamed its way through the sky before it collided into the intersection. The ground shook, and the boulder created a large crater in the street. Kaleb could still hear Mass giggling as dust and debris flew into the air. As the large mass of muscle stepped out of the crater he made, smiling wide, Kaleb noticed the four-armed duck-man attached to Mass’s back. D43d–I seemed to have a death grip on the bigger man’s neck with all four arms.

D43d–I fell to the street when he realized Mass was on solid ground. He had a shell-shocked look on his face and his rifle on his back slipped over his shoulder without his notice. Mass was laughing as he waved at Kaleb.

“HAHA! Hi Rat-Lizard. That was fun!”

D43d–I gave a loud quack.

*Quack!*

“Fun?! I almost died!”

“He came up with that idea by himself?” Kaleb asked doubtful.

*Quack*

“No, it was my idea. I figured I would be fine since I could glide if I fell off. But this maniac spun in the air!” Said D43d–I fixing his rifle strap and pointing a finger at Mass.

Mass just giggled. “It’s fun to spin!”

D43d–I quacked angrily at Mass while Abby moved to Kaleb’s side to watch.

“Friends of yours?” Abby asked.

Kaleb nodded smiling. “Yeah, meet D43d–I and Mass. So far they have been a laugh although they tried to kill-steal a Greater Ifrit from Jar-lock and me.”

Abby’s face got stern at his mention of kill stealing but the sound of cars coming up the road caught their attention. Turning, Kaleb saw two automated taxi’s pulling over behind his car. Claire and Two Gun got out of one while Robert and Deckart got out of the second. As Kaleb moved over to greet them the last three members of their party fell out of a portal that appeared above Kaleb’s car.

The red-rimmed portal opened just above the roof of Kaleb’s car and Jar-lock, Vivienne, and Varlin tumbled out. Jar-lock rolled down the front window onto, while Varlin clipped the side of the roof and fell to the sidewalk, and Vivienne laid prone on top of his car.

“Yeah that was worth the 150 credits.” Jar-lock said sarcastically as he rolled off the hood of Kaleb’s car.

Vivienne sat up slowly on the roof and said. “To be fair: he said he just learned the skill.”

Jar-lock helped Vivienne off the roof and turned to help Varlin up but the Sorcerer stayed prone on the sidewalk. As Kaleb walked over along with the others they all looked worriedly down at Varlin. Jar-lock prodded his friend with his foot.

“You ok there, Varlin?”

Varlin exploded up to his feet yelling. “Of course not! I was writing that bastard’s name down. Once we finished here, I will get my money back!”

Varlin was red-faced and panting when he finished yelling. There was a sudden silence before everyone but Varlin burst out laughing. The disheveled, angry Sorcerer was a funny sight, and Kaleb couldn’t help himself. Varlin just looked annoyed as the laughing died down. Once it did, everyone got around to introductions.

“Well, we should kick this thing off don’t you think?” Two Gun asked after conversation died down.

Kaleb looked around at their group and nodded. “Yeah, lets at least get a look at this school.”

Kaleb took the lead as the others followed him up the block. Once they got to 33rd Street, the school’s parking lot came into view. The school took up the whole block with a playground on the east side and the main school building further north. Connected to the school building sitting on the western side of the block was what Kaleb assumed was the gymnasium.

They stood in the street staring at the school building. As Kaleb looked around, he immediately spotted a flaw in their plan.

“There are four school buildings and only two of them are connected.” Kaleb said as he pointed at the gym and main school building. Then he pointed at two more buildings that sat near the large playground.

Jar-lock and Two Gun nodded. “That means the Rescue team will have to search several buildings.”

Varlin was moving around the street with his hand out before him like he was afraid he would hit something. “I don’t sense any wards. Maybe we lucked -”

Something cut the sorcerer’s words off as he walked onto the sidewalk and curled into the fetal position screaming in terror. Kaleb rushed over to help, he heard the others shouting, but he wasn’t paying attention. As soon as Kaleb crossed over the curb, he felt an extreme pressure at the center of his forehead.

Suddenly it was dark. He was chained to a table and dozens of zombies were tearing at his insides. He felt their claw-like hands dig into his stomach while their dead stench clogged up his nose. He screamed as he watched zombies dig large handfuls of his guts out of him and shove them into their faces. He struggled against his chains as the pain intensified and he felt like he would pass out from screaming. But he couldn’t, something was keeping him awake to watch as the zombies tore away at him.

Just as quick as it came, the darkness disappeared. He was laying prone in the middle of the street staring up at the sky. He’s chest hurt from screaming and he his mouth was dry. He heard Varlin nearby coughing loudly. As he looked around, he saw Jar-lock and Vivienne near the school chanting uncomprehendingly, Claire, Abby and Two Gun were watching over him and Varlin. Claire had a metal pole in her hands.

Kaleb realized she had pulled the pole from a chain-link fence nearby. She had probably used it to knock him and Varlin out of whatever trap they had triggered. Kaleb sat up slowly and coughed, placing a hand on his chest he asked.

“What the hell?”

Abby, Claire, and Two Gun just shrugged, not knowing. Varlin answered his question in a shaky voice.

“Fear Ward. Takes your worst fear and you live it over and over.”

“Why the fuck would they do that? They would have people screaming in their parking lot at all hours of the day.” Kaleb asked slowly getting to his feet.

Jar-lock shouted from his spot near the sidewalk. “Not if they collected the victims.”

Kaleb looked over to see the Warlock nodding toward the school parking lot. Four black-robed figures stood in the parking lot. Hoods pulled up to cover their faces. The tallest seemed to glide forward over the parking lot and raised a hand. Jar-lock and Vivienne moved back defensively before they stopped.

“He dropped the ward?!” Vivienne shouted in surprise.

Their group stared questioningly at the robed man lowered his hand and stood in the parking lot. A voice echoed through the street.

“To what do we owe the pleassssure of your visssit?”

The voice came from nowhere Kaleb could find and seemed to hiss its words out. Kaleb looked around at his companions, He saw Varlin angrily get to his feet probably about to yell something. But, Deckart answered from them before the angry Sorcerer got a word out.

“Someone took my nephew. We have it on good authority he is here!”

The voice echoed out from the ether again. “There isss no authority, except oursssss. But if you sssspeak of the interloper than he belongsss to usss.”

“We are gonna have to disagree.” Deckart said angrily, drawing his blaster pistol.

“Come get him if you can. But, know when you fail your ssssoulss shall empower ussss.” said the voice before it died away and the street grew deathly quiet.

Two of the robed figures convulsed and shook. Their robes bulging oddly. The other two raised their arms in began fiercely gesturing. Kaleb drew his Cybar pistol and fired at the closest Robed figure. His blast fizzled out inches from the robed man.

“Don’t let them finish casting!” Two Gun yelled as he fired his revolvers at the robed men.

Kaleb nodded as he holstered his gun and drew his sword. He saw Claire and Abby charge with him as they all collided with the lead Magician’s shield. Claire’s metal pole clanged off it so did Abby’s shadow blade. Kaleb felt the bubble of protection bend under his swing for a bit before it recoiled throwing his arms backward hard.

Kaleb heard the rapport of Two Gun, Deckart’s, D43d–I’s guns while Jar-lock and the others bombarded the other chanting figure. Kaleb looked around for Robert seeing the young man sneaking up on one of the convulsing men. Robert jumped on the man’s back and jammed his dagger into where the man’s neck should have been.

*CLINK*

Kaleb heard Robert’s dagger snap as the both of the convulsing men grew large. The pair burst from their robes revealing grey stone skin. Kaleb watched as the pair of men transformed into 20-foot Golems of pure stone. Robert had let go of the golem’s neck and disappeared again. Kaleb shook off his surprise and went back to assaulting his opponent’s shield. Abby and Claire were still battering the shimmering blue armor.

*Quack*

“Sic’em, Mass!” Shouted D43d–I.

A large shadow passed over Kaleb’s group as Mass jumped over the parking lot yelling. “WHEEEEEEEEE!”

Mass collided with the face of one of the newly arisen golems, sending it toppling backwards. Kaleb grinned as he swung his sword into the shield again. His hands were going numb as he kept swinging. Claire metal pole had been bent to uselessness. Suddenly there was a shout and a blast of magical energy sending their group back several feet. Kaleb heard a similar shout coming from where the other magician was.

The surrounding ground shook as he and the others stood. He could hear Mass giggling as he pounded away at the fallen golem. As Kaleb moved to attack again a pale white hand erupted from the parking lot. Kaleb froze as he realized other hands were popping up all over the place. The hands dug themselves out of the ground bringing with them a foul stench that assaulted his senses. Nearby he noticed the pieces of the broken parking lot rolling together.

Kaleb along with his companions watched as a horde of zombies dug themselves out of the ground. As they did the rock and detritus gathered together forming an army of human-sized golems. The two robed men who had summoned the golems and zombies wobbled on their feet while they tried to back up toward the school. Robert appeared behind the man closest to Kaleb and performed the same choke-hold stab combo.

His dagger stabbed into the robed man’s throat. As it did the darkness around the man’s face disappeared revealing his shock. Robert’s blade dug into the man’s throat as Robert grabbed the man’s chin and wrenched his neck hard.

“KILL THE BASTARDS!” Robert shouted sounding eerily like his brother.

His shout snapped everyone into action. Claire moved to help Mass as Abby sliced away at the nearest zombies. Kaleb stabbed down at an emerging zombie head, the zombie flopped around before it stilled. Kaleb pulled his sword free and swung a horizontal slash at an oncoming zombie. To his surprise, the zombie swayed backward narrowly dodging the swing. Kaleb spun himself all the way around placing his back to the zombie when he felt the thing's breath on his neck he jammed his sword backward aiming up at the zombie's neck.

He felt the thing's cold blood splash against his neck and he heard its death rattle. He pulled his sword free and moved when he noticed a fast moving zombie loping on all fours toward Abby’s back.

“Abby! Behind!” Kaleb shouted as he ducked a wild swing from a nearby zombie.

He watched as the zombie pounced toward his friend. Abby tucked her arms into her sides and her shadow blades disappeared. As Abby seemed to concentrate as shadows solidified into a large spike sticking straight out from her back. It impaled the leaping zombie mid-flight. Kaleb sighed as he felt a strike miss his back by inches. He spun bringing his sword down on the shoulder of his attacker.

*SNAP*

Kaleb watched as his sword snapped in half along the blade. He had brought his sword down hard on one of the summoned golems. The golem slammed its circular fist into Kaleb’s gut knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying backwards. Kaleb landed on his back and sucked in air as he tried to get back up. He felt grab hold of his forearm and turned to come face to face with a zombie half submerged in the parking lot. Shouting in surprise and fear Kaleb fumbled with his Cybar pistol before he got the gun out of its holster.

*BZZT*

The smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils as he felt cold fluid slap against his face. Kaleb watched as the now head less zombie toppled backward. Kaleb sighed before realizing that the golem that had punched him was stomping forward. Kaleb rolled backward and stood up firing his pistol at the oncoming golem. It took three shots, but the golem collapsed into the street as Kaleb drew his Sun Gun and set it to the ‘Kill’ setting.

Kaleb set about shooting into the mass of enemies as he took in the battle. Two Gun and D43d–I were firing wildly into the horde of golems and zombies. Two Gun with his pistol and D43d–I with all three of his weapons. Two of his hands were wielding short shotguns while his other two hands fired his long rifle. The magic trio were nearby flinging ice and fire spells. Kaleb could make out two small Lesser Ifrit also throwing fireballs next to Vivienne and Varlin.

Kaleb dodged a charging zombie and stomped down on the side of its knee. As his spiked heel deployed, he wrenched his foot hard, ripping the back of the zombie's knee off. The zombie collapsed to one leg as Kaleb placed his Sun Gun against its temple and pulled the trigger. The zombie collapsed as Kaleb searched around from Robert and Deckart. He thought he heard Deckart’s gun venting but he couldn’t find it. Suddenly the ground shook as a loud sound echoed throughout the parking lot.

*BAM*

“Claire!” Two Gun shouted worriedly.

Kaleb looked toward the source of the noise and saw Claire on her knees holding her hands above her head. She was trying to stop one of the giant golems from punching her into the asphalt. She struggled as she held up the golem‘s large arm. Jar-lock ran forward mouth moving casting some spell.

“I got it!” Jar-lock shouted as he thrust his hand toward several smaller golems.

The small golems fell apart as pieces of their body flew off and surrounded Jar-lock’s right arm. The Warlock shuffled back a step off-balance, before he thrust his other hand behind him. A blast of air exploding out of Jar-lock’s hand catapulting him up toward the large golem’s face. As Jar-lock got close, he swung his rock covered arm into the Golem’s eye. The rock around his arm shattered, but the golem recoiled giving Claire enough time to charge forward and slam her shoulder into the golems leg.

There was another loud boom as the second golem fell. As Kaleb watched, he noticed Robert's red hair behind where the golem was. Standing next to his nephew was Deckart. The detective made eye contact with Kaleb and pointed two fingers at the buildings by the playground. Then Deckart shook his head implying that they had already been searched. Kaleb pointed at the gym and Deckart shrugged his shoulders.

Kaleb dodged a leaping zombie and sent a shot following after it as he shouted. “Abby! Jar-lock! To the gym!”

“Can everyone else manage?!” Jar-lock shouted back from somewhere ahead of Kaleb.

Kaleb watched Two Gun use the handle of one of his revolvers to bash a zombie’s head in. “Yeah, we should be all right! Go finish the mission!”

Kaleb watched as D43d–I tapped Two Gun on the shoulder and the pair switched places. Two Gun reloaded as D43d–I fired into a mass of golems.

*Quack*

“Go!” D43d–I shouted.

Kaleb took off toward the double doors of the gym. He fired the odd pot shot as he passed the large golem Mass had slammed into. Mass had smashed the golem’s head into the ground and now Mass was gleefully punching the other large golem. Kaleb made it to the metal overhang by the doors when he looked around for the others. He killed a few more zombies before venting his pistol. As he stood waiting he tried to guess how many shots he had with his Sun Gun.

“Professor!” Shouted Deckart from his side.

“Down!” Abby shouted from ahead of him.

Kaleb crouched as fast as he could. As he did, he watched Abby charge at him and pull in shadows into both of her arms. Abby dove into a forward roll over him, arms outstretched and formed into big shadow blade. Kaleb heard her slam into something so he spun on his knee gun up. He was just in time to watch Abby pull her arms apart, opening the chest of a rock golem that was sneaking up on Kaleb.

Abby stood as Deckart and Robert joined them by the doors.

“Robert checked the other buildings. He has to be in here.” Deckart shouted over the sounds of the battle.

“We just need Jar-lock!” Kaleb shouted back.

Robert looked around anxiously. “Well, where is he?”

Before Kaleb could answer several nearby golems where pulled backwards and condensed into a large asphalt ball. Jar-lock waved his hand and sent the ball rolling into several zombies. The Warlock calmly walked up to them and exhaled. To Kaleb, Jar-lock looked like he had just come from a walk in the park.

“Shall we?” Jar-lock asked pointed at the double doors leading to the gym.

Kaleb’s group nodded. Deckart and Kaleb posted up on the side of the door as Jar-lock counted down from three with his fingers. As Jar-lock got to one Robert kicked open the door and rushed in followed by Deckart and Kaleb. As they all charged inside, Kaleb realized the gym was pitch black. As he turned to prop the doors open, he felt a burst of wind blow by him and slam the doors shut. Leaving them all in darkness.