There were some reactions to the final scene to the last chapter, mostly positive, but there were some negative reactions. Taylor's words against them came from how Uber was trying to have more control than her, him wasting her time telling her about things she knew, and them not being respectable. If that isn't a good enough reason, nothing will be.
And to that one guy, I am not going to have Kendra stab Taylor in the back. That's messed up.
Here's chapter 6.
L12: E212; 31; 37; 25; 42; 18; 20
After the 'conversation' we had with Uber and Leet, Dad was not happy with me. That was understandable after how I had treated them, but the real reason was because I set up a meeting despite how everything broke down. He tried to call off the whole deal and would have managed it if not for the fact that no actual deal was made, and he was as much at fault. It took some doing, but I managed to talk him into giving it a second chance. I really did want to complete the Quest I got.
Quest: Gathering Gamers
At a friend's urging, you've decided that being on the same team as the video game villains would be the right step towards growing stronger. (Time limit: 53 hours)
Success: 2000-EXP; Skills trainer; ?
Failure: Antagonistic relationship with Uber and Leet.
(Bonus+50-EXP: arrange a face-to-face meeting.)
Another all nighter of training followed right after, which revealed some advantages of the Party System and having more Members. The night before, I had to do my internet searching in between periods of exercise. With Dad doing the searching in my stead, and Kendra doing the same with her laptop before passing it through the inventory, I didn't have to stop reading for a second and the quality of everything I read was much higher. They also took care of helping me find ways to keep my Stamina up. All they had to do was pick some random item, shove it into the inventory, then look into what it did when consumed. Energy drinks were the big stamina boosters, but they had the Caffeine Crash Status Effect that would begin draining Stamina an hour after consumption. Thing was, it was a physiological Status Effect. Kendra and Dad were both happy to let me have them for those reasons. Some foods were good for Health, and some things even gave me limited stat Training boosts, but one usually came at the cost of the other.
After many instances of passing Kendra's computer through space, we also came across reason to believe that anything that was held in the inventory was frozen in time. It only took a small bottle of hot water to confirm. It was also a happy discovery that plain water granted one Stamina Regeneration every second. How I only once needed a specific quantity of water to maintain that permanently was something none of us wanted to really think about. I didn't want to think about how I had 'compost' among my Materials either.
My powers were weird.
Eventually, I managed to convince them to go to bed, but only Kendra managed to go to sleep quickly. Jokingly thinking about putting my dad to sleep forcefully reminded that I needed to better research non-lethal takedown measures. I wasn't 'tear people limb from limb' levels of strong, but it was clearly an option. Having precise ways to apply that strength could only be a good idea. Of course, that became me looking up martial arts styles that I can put into my Melee Combat Skill. Most of the first styles I came across were mere sports. Three looked to be pretty useful, and another was nearly perfect for my body type, but would draw a lot of negative attention. That…didn't matter. I was already planning on kicking the hornet's nest. Hopefully I'd have a plan in place for when I inevitably get stung.
Kendra's phone and laptop continued to be a boon as they let me search and read on two computers while playing basic games on her phone. It turned out that solitaire had an impact on INTU and WSDM. It was unfortunately a very small impact, but it gave me an idea that made me believe that contacting the gaming villains was my best option. To my vexation, I realized that they may have seen the way I contacted and threatened them being in violation of the unwritten rules that I kept coming across in less formal publications. I may have noticed if I didn't get annoyed at Uber boasting at us. They likely thought that I was the kind of person who'd try to find them where they slept. I'd have to play things carefully to rid them of that notion peacefully.
That's why when morning came and both of my fellow conspirators were awake, I practiced applying makeup to myself, which was good for Self Presentation. I knew they would be expecting a girl, so I'd put my androgynous figure to good use. It still took a number of reminders for Dad to understand that they weren't going to kill a video game powered cape. He also had to be reminded that he would know where I was at all times. It took far too long to get him to agree with me going alone. It was enough time to earn another two Stat points, my third Level-up since contacting the villains, and complete my new look.
INTU+1=21 (50-EXP)
DEXT+1=26 (60-EXP)
Self Presentation is Level 13
Do you want to save your Facial Settings. Y/N
I tapped Yes, named it Gameboy, and played around with it enough to learn that it allowed me to hide my makeup in my power then reapply it the same way I would change clothes. It was interesting to note that Gameboy used up one of thirteen slots. When I shared this new ability, Kendra sounded like she was having the happiest seizure of her life. "You okay there Ken?"
"You have got to come over for another sleepover tonight." Too happy was a good description for how she sounded.
"You just want to put makeup on me all night."
"Yep." She was practically proud of herself.
"What happened to needing more than one reason to be my friend?"
"That was then, this is now"
"Well, there's no arguing against that." That was a lie. It's only that I doubted any argument would work on her. I caught Dad shaking his head with a tired smile, but he wasn't up for commenting. "Wish me luck." I had already stacked the deck as far in my favor as I could, so luck was all that was left. I didn't think that I would need it, so I headed out in search of the gaming duo.
I decided that I would run a meandering path to the Southern Ferry. With my hair tied up and my grey hoodie's hood up, I was indistinguishable from a tall too-thin boy. It was upsetting to so directly face one of the most common insults leveraged against me before, but the extra security was worth it. Dad and Kendra weren't lazing around either. Dad decided to spend his time looking for anything that would make for good gear. Pepper spray was at the top of his list, alongside discreet body armor and a weapon of some kind. Kendra was better off looking for anything that would make for good Skills. I was sure that they could coordinate without my input, so I toggled the Mute on, ran with my muscles tense, and Observed what I could along the way.
Observe is Level 4
Restorative Breathing is Level 10
VIGR+1=32 (72-EXP)
ENDR+1=38 (84-EXP)
DEXT+2=28 (126-EXP)
My higher DEXT and greater than tripled SP REGN was a significant boost to my training. Getting to the high-rises took not much longer than the night before. The tall buildings and alleys provided a good number of places to Sprint without being seen. The only people that noticed were the occasional bums, and they weren't in a position to accurately remember the features of a 5'7" person. I would have pulled up my scarf, but I didn't want a repeat of my meeting with Glory Girl.
Sprinting is Level 5
DEXT+1=29 (66-EXP)
Danny Hebert is trying to contact you.
I narrowed my eyes and slowed to a stop. Nearly an hour had passed with me running through the city streets and I was getting close to the place and time I was supposed to meet up with the duo. Ultimately, being punctual wasn't too high on my list of priorities, so I toggled Mute off. "What's going on Dad?"
"Taylor," he started with exasperation, "please talk some sense into your friend."
There was only one thing to say about that and one person to say it to. "Kendra. What did you do?"
"Oh. I got you books for Massage, Escape Artist, Lock Picking, Sleight of Hand, and Baking. I thought that they'd be great for you." That didn't sound bad, which presented the question of why Dad was upset.
"You stole them you mean," Dad said, answering my unasked question.
"They won't miss it."
I was starting to realize that certain kinds of people shouldn't be given access to an untraceable pocket dimension. "Kendra. Do you know why what you did was wrong?" I pressed on without waiting for a response. "The source of Brockton Bay's problems come from the bad economy. A city gets a bad economy when money isn't being spent. I do not want my powers used to make things worse, at least for non-capes."
A long minute passed until some loud sniffs were heard through the Chat. "I'm sorry. They were just $25, and Danny's buying really important stuff too, and you don't have a lot, and they were already in the Inventory, and…I wanted to help."
Kendra stole something and managed to make me feel like the bad guy. "Here's what we'll do. We'll keep the books in the Inventory until Dad can get to the store and pay for them. Anything else will draw more attention to you than I'm comfortable with."
WSDM+1=19 (46-EXP)
My dad sighed, in a way that told of his energy returning. "That's a good plan kiddo. Kendra, maybe you should go home for now."
"Okay M.H."
"Oh, and about the Massage Skill, I think that I can develop that easily enough without consuming a Skill Book. See if you can find anymore easily learned Skills while you're there." Crisis averted, I sighed in release and exasperation both, the latter because of what I had to look forward to. I could only hope that they wouldn't try to retaliate with violence, but my hopes weren't very high. A quick check of my Inventory showed that I was down to $22.73. I immediately noticed that I had sports armor, pepper spray, and a taser. All that remained was finding the gaming duo, and that was far easier than I ever wanted it to be. "Fuck my life."
"What's wrong kiddo?"
"Dad, Kendra. What can you guys tell me about a video game featuring a dog wearing a suit and what looks like a demented white rabbit with shark teeth."
Video Game Villain
LV: 26 Alvin Brunhold/Uber:
Movement Optimization Host
Video Game Villain
LV: 7 Joffrey Cardoso/Leet
Prototype Technology Host
There was no better way to describe how the two idiots decided to dress themselves. I could only call them idiots because they didn't have the sense nor the decency to be inside as they paraded around in their ridiculous outfits. It was no wonder why people were doing their best to keep their distance or were too stunned to think about doing the same. It was the stragglers that were cursed with the fate of being drawn into a conversation with Uber and Leet. And from the look on the current victim's face, those conversations weren't pleasant. "I'm passing by the library. I can do it."
"Are you sure?" I didn't want to refuse her outright if helping out would improve her mood.
"Yep." I heard a sigh from my dad's end, but he didn't say anything.
"Okay then. I'll go and rescue the bystanders from death via embarrassment." A flick of my fingers equipped a solid black scarf over my mouth, not to hide my fake features, but to make it clear that I was a cape.
Thanks to the angle of things, the two had a clear view of my approach. The momentary distraction was enough to give their 'victim' a way out. I decided to take the chance to observe the both of them.
Alvin Brunhold/Uber: LV: 26
Condition: Combative; Disguised
HP: 1460/1460
SP: 369/400
MP: N/A
VIGR: 16
ENDR: 42
DEXT: 26
INTL: 36
WSDM: [5-3]
INTU: 22
Known publicly as Uber, Alvin is a dedicated friend to his partner in crime, running away from his family and cutting all ties with them so that he can indulge in his passion for video games and share his passion through his villainous antics. He is uncertain about meeting a new cape.
Joffrey Cardoso/Leet: LV: 7
Condition: Combative; Disguised
HP: 420/420
SP: 47/60
MP: N/A
VIGR: 7
ENDR: 6
DEXT: 14
INTL: (13+250)
WSDM: [10-5]
INTU: (12+100)
Known publicly as Leet, Joffrey is the Tinker half of the video game duo. He is very cautious in the use of his power, always saving his best ideas, and suspecting that his power is actively trying to kill him, unknowing of how right he is. He is angry about meeting a new cape.
That, had some serious implications. Still, Leet looked like he would be a bigger problem, but I also got a perfect way to break his concentration if he ever got too confrontational. That seemed to be a highly likely problem with that Combative condition they were dealing with. I suspected that it had something to do with their reduced WSDM, and it only took one Observe to confirm that.
Combative:
Reduces WSDM by half, rounding down.
I was becoming more sure that I wasn't a normal cape. If what I was reading about them was normal, then it painted a picture of why the world had gotten so bad, and why they thought that turning the meeting into one of their shows was a good idea.
I had to save my pondering for later and instead devote my attention to the two standing five feet from me. Uber took the lead as I expected him to. "Look Max, an altitudinous bipedal hominid cloaked in surfeit toggery." Even I didn't know all those words, or if they were words, which reminded me to read a dictionary for my INTL.
"Can I stab it in the stomach?!" It was easy to guess that they were trying to be in character, and were overdoing it.
"Not now little buddy. We need to interrogate them first."
"So long as they spill their guts."
I had no patience for their particular brand of nonsense, so I walked between them and took a direct path towards the abandoned ferry building. "Hey Taylor. I think they are doing the Sam and Max games. It's a…point and click adventure game." Point and click adventure didn't sound too bad to me. "They're freelance police who solve cases with an absolute disregard for the law."
"Vigilante then."
"Careful kiddo. We don't know what they're really going to do." Not exactly, but it was obviously going to be some kind of revenge.
As I approached the ferry building, I couldn't help but notice the vintage car parked conspicuously in front of the building. It was painted in the black and white patterns of old police cars with a Sam and Max logo on the side.
DeSoto Adventure:
A car from the late 1950's, this sports car was first a four seat high performance sports coupe concept car, but was changed into a limited edition luxury model. It's highly collectable and was featured in the Sam and Max series.
My eye twitched when I realized that the two spent God knows how much on staying as faithful to their source material as they could. That realization insulted me on some fundamental level. With my resentment suppressed by Gamer's Mind, it was easy to ignore what irritation I had left as I waited for them by the car. It was disturbing to watch what were considered wanted criminals walk up to me with big, unexpressive, and furry masks over their heads. They were supposed to be adults for goodness' sakes.
I would have preferred to do the negotiations without public scrutiny, but their display made that an impossibility unless we left the area quickly. In fact, I was wondering why no Protectorate heroes had shown up yet. The ferry building's close proximity to The Rig was one reason I chose it for the meeting. Whether intentionally or not, they took the advantage of a quick hero response in case things went bad and turned it against me. If the heroes showed up, I was not going to help them.
"Dad, I'm getting in a car with them. Don't freak out."
"Don't…don't freak out!" Dad strangely stopped what I expected to be a lengthy tirade about the risks I was taking.
I waited until the two were within earshot before continuing with what I was saying. "Have the PRT and Protectorate numbers primed in case they get any bright ideas."
"Hey, he's talking to himself. I thought I was supposed to be the crazy one," Leet said.
"I do believe that we are cavorting with a female specimen my lagomorphic friend."
"So she's a c-EEP instead of a d-EEP."
"Did you just censor yourself?" My urge to facepalm was becoming very difficult to resist, as was my desire to lambaste their behavior.
"Yes," Uber said in reply. "Such is the nature of the maledict E10 rating. That's PG for the uneducated plebians."
"I blame the WECOSM."
My mind blanked out for a second at the raw nonsense coming from the rabbit suited man. "What?"
"Oh. That's the World Encompassing Coalition Of Soccer Moms."
I was starting to wonder if it would be worth more to me if I simply beat them up. I glanced at their stats then quickly ran through the math. "One thousand, seven hundred, and sixty-two. That's how much kicking your asses is worth to me."
The two took a moment to share a glance before Uber literally growled at me. "It looks like she's still looking down on us." My eyes narrowed when he pulled a large revolver out.
"Then we have to show her why that's a bad idea." With how my attention was focused on Uber's gun, I failed to notice that Leet had one too. It looked like one of those German pistols that I remember reading about at one point. Normally, I would have felt concern even through Gamer's Mind, but I was more cognizant of how Uber's Level remained unchanged and Leet's only went up by two. It indicated that the former had no intent to harm me, and that something was wrong with the latter's gun. I decided to Observe it.
Luger Pistol: TL: 2
Ammo: 7 (blanks.) 1 (7.45 g (115 gr) Winchester JHP +P)
Damage: 0-62
A pistol designed by Georg J. Luger and famous for it's association with Nazi Germany. It's also Max's gun of choice within the Sam and Max series.
He had only one functioning bullet in his gun, and if the numbers checked out, not even a penetrating headshot would be lethal to me, but it would be cutting it close. I'm sure it would be lethal if Status Effects were an issue for me. I double checked to ensure that Uber's .44 Magnum wasn't hiding any surprises, then thought about what I would do in response. It was clear that they were planning some kind of hazing, which Leet likely wasn't 100% on board with. It was not filling me with confidence in his ability to act as a proper teammate.
"You know what. Fuck it." I pointed at Uber, showing a complete dismissal of the 'guns' pointed at me. "Leet has a real bullet in his gun." My finger snapped to Leet as what I said registered. "You're right about your power. It is trying to kill you, but I don't know how or why. So now that I have your attention, let's get out of here before anyone shows up." With briskness speaking of my shortened patience, I grabbed Leet by the arms and tossed him into the passengers side. I tried to do the same to Uber, but the next I knew, I was in the back seat and flat on my back.
The moment of competence was refreshing.
"Taylor." My dad hissed through the chat. "What's this about a real bullet?"
"Relax Dad. It would have done 64 damage tops." Of course that didn't account for any Brutal or Critical hits."
"I'm more worried about Leet. It's kinda scary that his power is trying to kill him. How does that even work?"
The car lurched into motion before I could respond. I caught Uber looking back, and even through the dog mask, he seemed to freeze for a second. "Sweet cherry molasses slathered over Jimminy Cricket in a sombrero dancing the rumba! We've got a hero coming in at six o'clock!"
Leet in his crazed bunny suit struggled into an upright position and also looked back. "He's, um, he's six hours early then." It sounded like he wasn't quite as in the game as before.
"Right you are little buddy. I could recommend a stellar clock repairman, but I feel that he has other things in mind." I was glad to be in an upright sitting position by time he slammed on the gas. A quick glance had me finding the hero in question already at our side.
Protectorate Speedster
? ?/Velocity:
?
I decided to try Observing him.
You cannot Observe those who's Threat Level is more than 50 above your Level.
That was a disappointment on two levels. I couldn't get any info on him, and it indicated that he was already seeing me as a villain. Still, I learned that there was a hard limit on Observe, but it made me wonder two things: if it applied to someone who didn't see me as a threat and if Velocity's Threat Bonus came from his powers. I was certain that his powers prevented him from carrying any weapons.
"You'll never take us alive!" Leet yelled distractingly. He pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the hero. I turned towards Velocity, whose movement hitched for a fraction of a second before the explosion. Leet fired the one shot, exclaimed, "fuck!" unloaded the rest of the gun. Then, in an act of desperation that actually dropped my health by a point due to its sheer stupidity, Leet threw his gun at the pursuing hero.
"Fuck it," I said, feeling even more done with the situation than before. I laid down, closed my eyes, put half my attention into dynamic tension, the other half into figuring out a plan B, and waited for capture, or the unlikely event of escape. There were sharp turns, yelled slurs, quips, all ending in a crash that had Uber, Leet, and myself diving headfirst into a pile of pale yellow foam. I struggled against it and found myself held firmly in place. Strangely enough, my screens were still visible to me. I decided to try out the Voice Chat. "Gamer to Red and Blue, the plan is shot. Going for plan B, and requesting assistance on refining what plan B will be."
A few seconds passed before I heard one of the most smug tones I've ever heard from my dad's voice. "You know, I've forgotten what it feels like to be right. It's a good feeling."
"We're not done with those two yet Dad. If we manage to pull this off right, we might be able to get the best of both worlds."
Dad sighed loudly. "You aren't giving up on this, are you?"
"Actually, I'm about fed up with them, but I'm willing to bet that me having a clue about how Leet's power is trying to kill him is worth a lot to them, so I'm going to use it as a bargaining chip."
"Okay kiddo. Just promise me that this is the last time."
"That's not much of a promise, because regardless of if it works or not, I'm still joining the Wards within the week."
It's there that Kendra decided to burst into a laughing fit. "Oooohhh, that's what you mean by the best of both worlds."
"Yeah. I'm going to try to convince them to join the Protectorate. And guys, I'd like to do this alone."
"Taylor! No, we had…"
"DAD! … Please, I want to do this for myself." I didn't have the heart to tell him that I didn't trust him not to get angry at some point. It's true that I found them just as irritating, but my powers let me control myself. If they got too annoying, I could ignore them. Dad sighed, but didn't respond. "Create Party." I decided to name it Apologies.
To Swap to an Inactive Party, say "Swap to (Party Name). (A Party Member must be Promoted or all Party Members in an Inactive Party will be Dismissed.)
That was different. I decided to Observe what Promoting did.
Promote:
Grants a Party Member the ability to lead an Inactive Party. Inactive Parties lose access to Items in the Gamer's Inventory and their leaders can only invite new Members through physical contact. (In Privacy Mode, a Member must be Trusted before they can be Promoted.)
My eyes widened in surprise as I thought of the possibilities, but I only let myself consider them for a moment before explaining the new aspect of my power to Dad and Kendra. I agreed to promote Dad, and Swapped Parties after he returned and paid for the books I wanted while looking for anything else I could learn.
I took a deep breath through the foam, then made the invites.
L26: 16; 42; 26; 36; 5-3; 22
As far as most days went, the ninth of January was a complete shit show; and Uber knew who exactly to blame for things turning out the way that they did. Cool powers or not, that girl was way too full of herself without having a single accomplishment to her name. Hell, she didn't even have a name. Uber did his best to ignore the sensations of being isolated from the pile of foam and dumped into the back of a PRT van, focusing entirely on what he wanted to say to the one who started the mess they were in.
You have been invited to the "Apologies" Party. [Accept/Decline]
Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. It still left the question of how he was going to accept or decline with his arms bound. Channeling his power towards memory recall, he quickly remembered how Leet was able to accept the invitation by saying so instead of pressing the button like he did. Uber had a little geek out at realizing that her powers had voice activation before feeling jealous towards the one who had it. "I accept."
? Level: 12
Condition: Disguised; Restrained
HP: 920/920
MP: 1020/1020
SP: 49/380
[Voice Chat (On/Off)] [Trust (On/Off)]
Joffrey Cardoso/Leet: LV: 7
Condition: Combative; Disguised; Restrained
HP: 420/420
MP: N/A
SP: 47/60
[Voice Chat (On/Off)] [Trust (On/Off)]
A few things were different from the prior day. The line showing what condition they were in was new, she was three levels higher, and her HP, MP, and SP were all greater too. It made him wonder how she was getting the EXP and how her totals were calculated. "Well, we're waiting," he heard Leet say impatiently.
"I regret how all of this has turned out," she said in an apologetic tone.
"Yeah, you should." It wasn't the best apology that Uber had heard, but it sounded good enough.
He decided to switch to a breathing technique so he would have an easier time with speaking. "That's nice and all, but how are you going to make up for this mess we're in right now."
"I'm not sure. When I first contacted you, I was hoping that you would be able to help me figure out my powers. You guys are the experts as far as I know."
"Damn straight we are. Maybe if you ask nicely this time, we might forgive you."
"You'll have to agree to a few conditions too." He was done being completely in the dark.
"I was thinking more along the lines of quid pro quo."
Uber channelled the character he was disguised as and growled. "What do you think you have that we could want?"
"It's more about what I could offer in the future, say…answers to why Leet's powers want him dead."
Uber's heart skipped a beat again at the accusation. He had lost count of the number of times that Leet claimed that his powers were trying to get him killed. That was something that they never shared with anyone, and was only joked about online. The girl wasn't joking at all.
Uber switched back to memory recall and thought back to what she said. "You said that you don't know how or why. How does that help us?"
"Because my powers are constantly getting better. What I can't find out now, I'll be able to find out later. As long as we're on the same team, I'm willing to tell you what it is as soon as I can. Thing is, I'm joining the Wards after this."
All of Uber's thoughts were brought to a screeching halt by her declaration. If he was reading into her words correctly, she was telling them to switch sides, and was using Leet's life as a bargaining chip. "Fuck you! I don't care what you know, we're not abandoning our mission!"
"Who said you had to. Think about it for a second." She paused, likely to give them a chance to do exactly that, but no ideas came to Uber's mind.
Leet wasn't quite as patient. "You really think that the White hats are going to let us do our thing? If we join up with those assholes, Uber and Leet die. They'll split us up and send us to God knows where dressed like God knows what. No thanks!"
Uber nodded, the motion being allowed by the dog mask that held back the foam. "He's right."
In the wake of their united front, a pregnant silence persisted until she hummed in thought. "I'm not sure that I can save your identities as Uber and Leet if you switch sides, but keeping you two together shouldn't be too hard and completing your mission should be ludicrously easy for me, and even easier if I have your help."
"And how do you plan on doing that. Keeping us together and completing our mission." As far as Alvin was concerned, losing his identity as Uber wouldn't be too big of a loss. Even the mission was more Joffrey's thing.
"I can finish your mission for you by revealing the true nature of my powers at the right time. It would take time to become famous enough to pull it off, but there's no way it won't work. As for keeping you two together, well, I know that you are a package deal, and so should the Protectorate. All we have to do is make the deal a lot sweeter."
Before he could respond, he heard the familiar hissing sound of containment foam solvent being released. He completely failed to notice when he was deposited in his cell. "Keep it quiet. They're de-foaming us."
"We should be fine so long as we don't speak too loudly." That sounded useful, and all their masks ensured that no one would see their lips moving.
"Wait, you can't be seriously thinking about this?!" If it meant keeping his little buddy alive, he was.
"Observe. Observe. Observe. Observe."
Uber's brow furrowed a the sudden repeating of the same word. Leet ended up asking their shared question first. "What the hell are you doing?"
It took a moment before she responded. "I'm using my Observe Skill to Level it up. I just got it to five."
Uber's jaw dropped a little. "You can level up skills too." Suddenly, his image of her motivations became a bit clearer. "How many can you have?"
"I'm not sure what my limit is or if I have one, but I'm at sixteen right now."
"Oh that's just bullshit. You're bullshit. Powers are bullshit. Everyone is bullshit. We're actually going to give this shit a shot, aren't we?"
"I'll try to make it sure that you don't regret it." She said observe twice more. "Hey? Keeping your voices as low as you can, what can you guys tell me about Coil?"
Uber wondered if she had to make that question sound so ominous.
***ANWtP**
I had a little difficulty deciding where I was going to take this chapter when I had to decide between Uber and Leet escaping or being captured. Ultimately, I decided this would be more interesting both short and long-term.
The wait for the next chapter shouldn't take half as long as this one did, so look forward to it.
I've also settled upon five styles. Krav Maga, Eskrima, Capoeira, Tai Chi Chuan, and an in-universe style. Now I need a good name, though I'm using Level as a placeholder.