Decided to just use Skill Books as… Skill Books.

For anyone who's curious, the Scrap Snapper and Scrap Spinner enemies appearing in this chapter come from Scott Cawthon's "The Desolate Room", which I'm going to continue using for enemies and Skills. "Virus Slash" also comes from the game, although in the game it's called "Virus Bite". I changed it, because otherwise every time Taylor uses it, I'm going to imagine her biting someone.

Hope you enjoy – this one's pretty much just a fight scene and establishing some things about my take on the Gamer power, but, yeah, just enjoy it, folks.

Don't look to deep into it – honestly, a lot of this was just me not wanting to make super OP Instant Dungeons, so instead, you get the Difficulty Settings, which still have risks.

Restart 2.2

"It's like a pocket dimension, I think," I told Emma. "I can't imagine that it would allow people outside of the system to get hurt." Emma looked doubtful, but then again, she almost always did. Powers rarely seemed to make sense, especially strange ones like mine.

"You really think that?" she asked. "For all we know, you flip that switch, and an Endbringer appears right here in front of us." I winced.

"Emma…"

"Oh, whoops," she muttered, both shameful and embarrassed. "I slip, sometimes."

"It's fine," I muttered. "Besides, I can't blame you. You might be right. But, well, we're in a scrapyard, Emma. I don't think one of... them is going to just pop up here because I flicked a switch."

"But who knows, right?" Emma grumbled, looking around. The scrapyard was, luckily, completely unoccupied, if one didn't count the rats. "Honestly, you may as well do it, at this point." I frowned.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving me off. "Get it over with." I sighed, before opening the new section in my Options Menu, having appeared the moment I broke LV 10.

Difficulty Settings

[Easy]

"What should I set it to?" I asked Emma. She frowned, pondering her decision.

"Uh, the next highest one?" she suggested. "What's it on right now?"

"Easy."

"Then try Medium."

Difficulty Settings

[Easy]-[Medium]

Enemy Mobs at Rarity Common/Uncommon/Rare will now spawn automatically. This ignores any already existing Mini-Bosses or Bosses.

"Um," I said. Shit, this was bad. The system wasn't indicating that we had transferred to any sort of pocket dimension. Maybe it just couldn't be bothered sending a message? "Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"It's not saying that we entered a protected space or anything." I stared at the window, the information refusing to change.

Enemy Mobs at 1-100% of your LV and Rarity Common/Uncommon/Rare will now spawn automatically. This ignores any already existing Mini-Bosses or Bosses.

"Shit." Emma glanced back in the direction of the road, her gaze hardening. "I'll go check." She sprinted back between the piles of scrap, as I went back to the window. Everything about the power so far had suggested that it wouldn't harm anyone unless they were part of the system. If the enemies were created by the system, then they wouldn't harm random people, would they?

But Sophia had been part of the system too – or at least the system had recognized her as a part of it. Because she had attacked me, and she was instantly classified as an enemy. If the people tried to run, or attacked the mobs, would they be recognized as part of the system?

"Taylor!" I twisted my head back to the road – Emma was running back, weaving between the piles of scrap. "Change it back to Easy! The people are still here!"

"On it!" I called back before trying to change the difficulty. I stared at the message that popped up instead.

Difficulty cannot be changed while in Active Combat.

"Fuck." Active Combat? The hell was Active Combat? It was just me and Emma here, wasn't it? But then again, it did say it was going to start spawning enemies automatically. Did that mean…

Behind the window, I heard a loud clang, metal against metal. I closed the window instantly, the blue cutting away to reveal… something. Some sort of robot, that was for sure. But it was covered in grime and rust, parts of it scratched and dented. It bore resemblance to a bird – its head was certainly shaped like an avian one, but its structure was also similar to that of a reptile, razor sharp teeth poking out from the top and bottom jaw, which constantly clashed against each other. Two glowing red eyes glared back at me, as a miniature satellite antenna swirled around on the creature's back. It walked on two feet, each one sporting enormous claws to the front and side.

Observe.

Scrap Snapper

ATK: 7

HP: 110/110

Armor 7

SPD: 8

A mechanical predator which preys upon those it deems to be vulnerable.

"Taylor? Have you switched it off yet?" Emma asked as she walked to my side.

"Sh." I pointed at the Scrap Snapper, eyeing it warily. "I can't change Difficulty Settings while we're in Active Combat."

"Active Combat?" She looked at the Scrap Snapper, freezing momentarily. I knew that when I had observed the Scrap Snapper, it has created a small label over its head detailing its name and stats – this thing was an actual potential threat towards her.

"We've got to deal with it somehow," I said. "It's not doing anything. Not yet."

"It's just… staring," Emma muttered. "Should we just attack it?" I watched the Scrap Snapper's jaw go limp, hanging open for a single second before snapping shut again.

"No," I said. "Just… start sending out your projections."

"On it." I heard the first phase into existence, then the second. All the way until there were five of them, standing behind us in a semicircle formation. The Scrap Snapper continued to observe us, its jaw continuing to seize and the antenna spinning round and round. The creature took a small step forward, pronounced by a loud clank.

All at once, we charged, Emma's projections by far the fastest of us. The Scrap Snapper barely even registered their presence, dashing through them as if they were nothing. I rushed in and kicked it from under the bottom jaw, the machine falling backwards. Its legs began to twist at impossible, inhuman angles, one clawed foot planting itself in the dirt as the rest of the body pivoted around the first leg segment, the other foot scratching against my arm as the creature swiveled itself around again.

The Scrap Snapper snarled as Emma punched it in the left eye, sparks flying as it jumped backwards, flimsy legs taking the strain. It began to circle us steadily, legs beginning to twitch at random intervals. It took me a moment realize that it was stalling, probably waiting for backup.

"Don't let it stall," I told her. "It's waiting for something." Emma nodded, rushing forwards even as her projections melted off her body, hanging back as I headed after her. If they were out, the Scrap Snapper would be almost useless against her. Emma aimed a kick at the creature's head – it rotated around on its leg, catching her foot with its claw and completing the revolution. Emma was thrown towards a pile of scrap, just as I managed to grab the robot's leg and swing it towards the ground. The Scrap Snapper contorted itself around my arm, so that its side only just glanced against the earth. I punched it in the eye again – the robot let out a horrific screech, hurting my ears so badly that I let go of it. That wasn't enough for me to just let it retreat; my hand was already reaching for it as it tore away, feet padding loudly against the earth, jaw hanging loosely as it headed for the other side of the cleared area in the scrapyard. Emma was climbing out of the pile she'd been thrown into, her hair disheveled and her clothes more wrinkled, but apart from that she seemed fine – we hadn't realized that the immunity to damage her clone's gave her also extended to whatever was in contact with her skin, until we'd gone through some largescale tests.

I looked back at the Scrap Snapper, at the way it walked. Jerkily, as if it couldn't control its body as well as it had. The reptilian robot's eyes flickered between the two of us, before going to the unmoving projections, mere distortions in the air.

I started dashing before it did, ready to destroy it before it managed to rip through the projections. The Scrap Snapper wasn't as fast as me, but it wasn't much slower either. And it was closer than I was. It charged towards the projections, which seemed to be grouping up together, almost… merging. Mere meters away, the Scrap Snapper leapt at the projections, biting down on an invisible arm. And it stayed there, hovering in the air. I felt myself stop running, just staring at the robot hovering there, the projections, once vulnerable when separated, now merged into something more powerful. The new projection, the product of the other five, threw the Scrap Snapper to the grounds. The lower jaw was bent beyond repair, as the creature tried to drag itself away. But I was waiting, my foot raised and ready to crush down on its head.

The Scrap Snapper jolted, screeching as my foot impacted on its eye, the bright red light dimming, the lens shattering. The robot struggled, jolting left and right like it was… sentient. As if it was truly desperate. I could still see the camera in its eye – only barely, but it was enough. It was darting around aimlessly, like a person cornered. The kind that did stupid, desperate things.

The Scrap Snapper kept struggling, its jaw snapping repetitively, only serving to further dent the already damaged structure. It was slowing down, oil beginning to spurt from the openings in the metal. The creature let out a final dying screech, and then it stopped altogether. The eyes went black, its antenna ceasing to spin.

Congratulations!

Your party has defeated Scrap Snapper!

Your party has received the following rewards:

-90 XP

-$30

-Iron Ingot (x1)

-Scrap Snapper Tooth (x3)

XP and $ will be split evenly between party members, while resources will be placed in the shared Party Inventory.

"Holy shit," Emma said as I removed my foot from its face. The Scrap Snapper was unmoving, completely still. It reminded me of a broken toy, thrown out and rejected. It looked sad, even. A blue light was beginning to envelop it – it was subtle, in a way that I didn't even notice until the creature's entire body was being absorbed by blue light. I watched, mesmerized, as the body was completely engulfed in the light, before apparently just phasing out of existence.

"The system took it back," I muttered.

"Seems like it," Emma agreed. "Do you think this is going to become a regular thing? This power of yours just… pulls shit like this?"

"Maybe. It keeps surprising me, pulling out random things whenever I'm not expecting it." I opened my window, trying to change the Difficulty.

Difficulty cannot be changed while in Active Combat.

"Oh. Crap," I muttered. "There's another enemy here."

"Worse," Emma replied. "More than one."

"Fuck." I closed my window and was greeted by the sight of another two Scrap Snappers, and a third mechanical creature between them. The first thing I noticed was the way the body kept spinning – a tower of glowing red eyeballs, all coiled together and constantly turning and bobbing up and down, bouncing upon four spiderlike legs. A single blinking antenna poked out from the top of its head, which I doubted to be just for cosmetic decoration.

"Oh, fucking hell. More of these things?" Emma muttered, glaring hatefully at the two Scrap Snappers as they descended from the hood of the car on which they were perched. The third creature remained atop the roof, every eye turning to stare at us for as long as possible each time it made its rotation. The creatures scuttled off the roof, leading the charge towards us as its antenna's blinking began to grow faster.

Observe.

Scrap Spinner

ATK: 9

HP: 185/185

Armor: 11

SPD: 9

A mechanical menace usually sighted either alone, or in numbers of 5-7. They are extremely effective as a group and are willing to attempt to take down creatures much larger than themselves.

"We need to get rid of the spider one," I told Emma hurriedly, "I think it can attract more enemies."

"It brings more of those things?!" she exclaimed. "For fuck's sake, I wanted to get back in time for lunch." The Scrap Spinner was absurdly fast, its spider legs propelling it along the ground with a cruel, ruthless forcefulness the Snapper had lacked. Its legs mere blurs, the robot bounced off the ground, legs snapping into lines lying horizontal with its body and proceeding to spin like a throwing star. I dodged to the side as it struck the ground, kicking up brown dirt and dust in its wake. The Snappers were following right behind, legs primed and ready to pounce. Emma began to spread her projections out, splitting apart the greater, more powerful one, in favor of more contingencies.

One of the Scrap Snappers was already leaping, the other advancing on foot. The airborne predator was knocked back by a single punch, but the other was quicker on its feet, moving around to my backside. It pounced at me as I darted off to the side, feeling the raking of its claws against my arm as one of its legs twisted unnaturally to score a blow. I checked my HP, cursing vehemently.

HP: 133/190 (REG 4.75 HP/min)

I wasn't low, not really, but much of that damage had come from the first fight, some of it likely from when it had struggled against my foot, sharp metal jabbing into me. I couldn't afford to take much damage in this fight.

The two Snappers were circling me, the way vultures circled a corpse. One of them clacked its head to the side, as if imitating a chicken. The other let out a noise which could have been a laugh, but sounded more like a guttural, screeching groan. The first widened its mouth, teeth coated in a bright green light. I was moving before it even began to tense – I wasn't going to risk finding out what that was. The Scrap Snapper leapt at me, and I ducked down, allowing it to pass over me. I grabbed its foot as it landed, tossing it in the rough direction of the other Snapper. I caught a glimpse of the other robot jumping over its comrade's body, before I rushed off to help Emma.

She was wrestling with the Spinner, two of its legs wrapped around her torso, and the remaining two stabbing at her face while she held them back with her hands. She shouted something at it, and the Scrap Spinner promptly replied by releasing her torso and twisting its body around, so that the legs could wrap around her head. The attack shocked her enough that she loosened her grip on the other two legs, allowing them to join the first pair in latching onto her head.

The Spinner must have seen me coming, because it began to loosen its grip on her head, but not before I managed to punch it off. The robot flailed, legs snapping to its sides before it began to roll along the floor. I chased after it, smashing my foot down and barely managing to miss it. It sprung up from the ground, burying a single leg into the ground and pivoting around on it to slice at me. I backed away, the legs passing through empty air.

Dodge is LV. 2!

The Scrap Snappers had caught up – well, one of them had, the other was still a few meters behind. Emma went to take care of the one lagging behind – I kicked at the incoming Snapper, but the robot bounded to the side, before propelling itself through the air towards me. I grabbed it in midair, holding it away from my body even as it twisted its legs to latch onto my shoulders. I tore the Snapper away as the Spinner tackled me in the leg, sending me flopping back onto the ground. The Snapper's claws raked against my back as I rolled away and got up, the Spinner seemingly ready to pounce again. I kicked the Snapper away as the Spinner advanced, scuttling menacingly as its eyes narrowed. The legs began to glow green, as the Scrap Snapper's teeth had.

I backed away as the Spinner propped itself onto its side, legs snapping out as it began to roll forwards like some sort of wheel or circular sawblade, cutting into the earth was it moved forwards. It was moving faster, too – like it had been building up energy, and here it was, unleashing it now. The glowing legs slashed at me, and a new status effect appeared.

Virus (-5 HP/min): 3:00

As the timer began to tick downwards, I cursed on the inside. My HP was…

HP: 91/190 (REG 4.75 HP/min) (Mod REG -0.25 HP/min)

Okay. That. It wasn't too bad – in fact, it was actually pretty good, when one considered that when coupled with my HP REG, it was only 1 HP every 4 minutes. But there was no way that this was that simple. It had to have something else to it.

Congratulations!

Your party has defeated Scrap Snapper!

Your party has received the following rewards:

-90 XP

-$20

-Iron Ingot (x4)

-Scrap Snapper Tooth (x3)

-Camera Lens (x1)

XP and $ will be split evenly between party members, while resources will be placed in the shared Party Inventory.

I twisted my head towards Emma, who was standing over a dead Scrap Snapper, her enormous projection standing next to her. She gave me a small shrug.

"Come help me!" I shrieked, as the Scrap Snapper latched onto my arm, teeth glowing green.

Virus (-10 HP/min): 3:00

Shit. Virus hadn't just reset its timer – it had stacked, and now I was losing 5.25 HP/min. That was much, much worse.

Emma's projection dashed towards us, as I ripped off the Scrap Snapper and narrowly avoided another slash from the Spinner. The projection reached us, kicking the Scrap Snapper to the side, its head denting against the hood of a car.

Congratulations!

Your party has defeated Scrap Snapper!

Your party has received the following rewards:

-90 XP

-$22

-Iron Ingot (x3)

-Antenna Fragment (x1)

-Scrap Snapper Tooth (x6)

XP and $ will be split evenly between party members, while resources will be placed in the shared Party Inventory.

The Scrap Spinner danced in between its legs, only for Emma to punch it back. I darted forward, grabbing one of the robot's legs and smashing its body into the ground. The eyes flickered, before going out, one by one.

Congratulations!

Your party has defeated Scrap Spinner!

Your party has received the following rewards:

-120 XP

-$30

-Iron Ingot (x4)

-Mechanical Spider Leg (x1)

-Skill Book: Virus Slash

XP and $ will be split evenly between party members, while resources will be placed in the shared Party Inventory.

I didn't waste any time – the moment I received the message, I was into my menu, switching the Difficulty.

Difficulty Settings

[Medium]-[Easy]

Enemies will no longer spawn automatically.

"Oh," I said, allowing myself to sit down as I eyes my HP.

HP: 71/190 (REG 4.75 HP/min) (Mod REG -5.25 HP/min)

Not too low. The Virus effect would run dry soon, and then I would start my regular REG again.

"That was…" Emma began.

"Terrifying?" I supplied.

"At first," she agreed. "But after we killed the first one, I… I felt satisfied. I wanted more."

"Yeah," I muttered. "I'm honestly just glad that I misinterpreted the Scrap Spinner's description. If it had called in more enemies–"

"Things wouldn't have ended well," Emma finished. "I know. I'm pretty much fucked for MP right now. Using projections up really drains on me."

"I'm alright, actually," I said. "But… they were dropping things, weren't they?"

"Oh, yeah," Emma said, perking up. The system said they were in the… Party Inventory?"

"Yeah. I'm going to check."

Status

Inventory

Abilities

Quests

Options

Friends

Messages

Party

Bestiary

Party.

Active Parties:

-Super Legit Heroes

"Emma."

"Yeah?"

"You renamed the Party."

"…Yes?"

"For fuck's sake," I muttered.

Super Legit Heroes

Members:

-Taylor Hebert

-Emma Barnes

Shared Party Inventory

Shared Party Inventory

-Iron Ingot (x12)

-Scrap Snapper Tooth (x12)

-Camera Lens (x1)

-Antenna Fragment (x1)

-Mechanical Spider Leg (x1)

-Skill Book: Virus Slash

The rest of the items were… nice. Probably extremely useful, even. But in that moment, I was more interested in the… the Skill Book. Was Virus Slash what the Scrap mobs had been using against me, to give me Virus? Because if so, that could be extremely useful.

"There's a… Skill Book," I told Emma. "It's called Virus Slash."

"The hell is a Skill Book?"

"I guess it gives me skills." I reached into the Inventory, withdrawing it from the grid. The book was black, with a grid of green, crisscrossing lines. A large green slash mark was on the bottom half of the cover, while the top half simply read "Virus Slash". Upon checking the back of the book, I found nothing but the same gridline pattern.

"Well, open it," Emma demanded. "You've been staring at it for, like, thirty seconds."

"Just checking," I muttered, before flicking to the first page. A message popped up in front of me.

Would you like to learn Special Skill: Virus Slash? (Y/N)

"Oh," I said. "Oh. That's… nice."

"What is it?" Emma asked.

"It's asking if I want to learn… Virus Slash."

"Um. You do want to learn it, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then… learn it," she said, clearly getting impatient. I sighed pressing the Yes option, expecting the window to close and the book to become available to read. Instead, it started glowing blue and dissolved in my hands.

"Ah. Should have expected that," I muttered. "Fucking video game power."

"Well, do you have the Skill?" Emma asked.

"Um, let me check," I said, opening the Abilities section in the Menu.

Special Skill: Virus Slash LV. 1 (0%)

20 MP

10-15 Ranged DMG

Inflicts Virus on enemies for 10 seconds.

"Yeah," I said, my mind already racing. An actual Ranged, MP based move. Not only did the stat now have a purpose, I could attack at range! And if these enemies had dropped a Skill Book, then…

"We're going to do this again, sometime soon," I announced. Emma seemed hesitant, as she glanced back in the direction of the street. "We'll find another place," I assured her. "Some place nowhere near any people."

"Okay," she said. The agreement had seemed somewhat reluctant, until I had seen the look on her face. The yearning.

"We'll grow stronger," I told her. "We'll level, we'll train, I'll find more Skill Books. We're… we're going to do this."

"We're going to be heroes?"

"Yeah," I smiled at her. "Yeah, we are."

"As long as I still get to be Echo."

"You're the one with the master power – go ahead."

"Yeah. Yeah, fuck it." Emma grinned at me. "Let's do it."