The one good thing about this newfound wild reality we all found ourselves in was that there was an endless means to make a living. Homlessness dropped significantly and all in all it made even boring things rather exciting. For example, a ten pound big mouth bass before was a fun catch. Try a fifty or even hundred pound one. The bigger the fish the bigger stronger you needed to be or have special equipment that defied the old laws of physics that don't really bind us anymore.
My boat, yes I have one, no, never has a dead person been aboard it. Just dead fish. Where was I? Oh yeah, even on my boat, catching the now behemoth fishes and various new species that swim the waters makes it possible for anyone to catch and sell or eat. For a time laws regarding things like hunting or fishing had to be revised or modified, but in the end when the Guilds system took over everything more or less worked out and now I can fish with a gun.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
And by me I mean my sister.
"Shit, think that was a fifty pounder?" Debra asked as the bleeding mass of Big Mouth floated lifelessly on the water's surface. I used the long hook and began to pull it onto the boat.
"Certainly feels heavy that's for sure." I mentioned as I pulled up the fish.
It had been a month since Alex Timmons died, permanently. We've all had a respawn since this reality came into being. It's an odd feeling, dying one moment then waking up in your bed or car or wherever you left took a sleeping session for an hour. Since then the case has gotten fairly cold and in a universe of super powers and magic finding the real murderer is going to be a headache.
"So, like the new piece?"Debra asked as she showed off her new handgun. Her new handgun looked fairly average, shiny metals and decorative flower engravings along the barrel and handle. WIth dungeons, super powers, magic, and respawning all a thing Gun laws basically got thrown out the window. After all, if a person can make themselves into a sword or shoot fire out their mouth, then why bother putting so much restrictions on gun laws when you can work around it so easily. Hell, Debra once arrested a guy who was made of living electricity. Took a lot of rubber to keep him restrained.
"It certainly looks you inspired." I joked at all the pretty little flower engravings on it.
"Shut up." She laughed as she helped me haul this massive thing onto the boat. "Was on sale. Looked nice, figured I could put it on display or take it out when I wanna look nice. Still sometimes thinking back to dollars rather than Rem. The best part about a universal currency is that I don't have to convert any cash when I travel."
"And also a good thing about universal currency is that it can't be worth literally nothing, as it's usually converted from a bunch of other currencies." I mentioned.
"Few places that still have their own currencies. Fucking Purists." Debra sighed, helping me put it onto the workshop table and we began gutting and de-scaling it. I pulled out one of Deb's bullets. Copper bullets. Cheap, seven to ten bullets for a rem at most shops. Given that things like mines also respawn their deposits in a year, metals, oil, all those once finite resources are now unlimited. Global warming also got solved too.
"Still can't believe how many problems from back home were so quickly fixed here." I brought up.
"Tell me about it. So, now that the ice caps aren't melting and the pandas aren't extinct, are you and Rita going to go traveling again?"
"That would be nice." I mentioned. "But currently we still have that big case going on." I brought up.
"True, but fucking trail's been cold for days now." Debra spat as she grabbed a beer from the cooler and started drinking it. "Honestly it's no wonder we get a bad rap considering the Heroes Guilds. Lucky sons of bitches get all the high tech fancy toys and we still gotta raise money for new computers. Ironic considering we all got them on our arms now." She tapped onto her Assistant.
It was weird to think what was essentially a tattoo on your wrist could turn you into an RPG character, yet here we are. Deb has put a lot of work into 'leveling up' as it were. I just got enough to avoid nasty colds and heal faster. Paper and knife cuts are gone in minutes over days or so.
"You'd think that they'd help fund their local police forces, considering how rigorous the training is and all the evaluations you have to go through." I rolled my eyes, knowing I had a minor bout of bias thrown at me and I had to do more than most other detectives...but considering the alternative of what I could have been I suppose it wasn't too bad for an extra day or two of tests every month.
"Worst case scenario we merge. Lot of other law and state, government agencies. Fuck we're one of the few indipendent old school agencies left outside of Purist territories. Maybe a dungeon run could get a lot of money from that."
"Yeah, Dungeon runs always gives us plenty of money and supplies." I nodded. "While I can agree that the Hero's Guild is necessary… you can't just get rid of your local law enforcement."
"Heh, people will be singing that tune differently in a few hundred more years. Fuck am I really that old now?" She asked as she looked at her hands and arms over. "Ya know, part of me always figured being this… semi immortal thing was gonna get boring but between Dungeons, Weapons, magic and Multiversal TV, gotta say I'm amazed at how the time still seems to fly."
"Yeah, all of this has been keeping us so busy we barely noticed hundreds of years flew by." I chuckled. "Time fly's when your having fun."
"Think that was the idea when that Mother god or whatever she is did all this. Heh, christ sometimes I still can't believe it's all real. Remember that show we used to watch as kids, the one with the cats and Thunder, Thunder Cats?" I nodded. "Christ I about shit myself meeting the real deal. Got a sweet version of that sword too."
I laughed, remembering that. She took that sword to work for a month before the Lieutenant made her leave it after she nearly sliced the roof open. A lot of people were in the same boat though so can't say I blame her.
"Yeah, that was a hilarious month, too bad the lieutenant told you to leave it at home, you loved that thing." I chuckled.
"Fuck yeah. I still do. Though I am better with a gun than a sword so I'll just leave it hanging on my wall. We all started collecting shit we wished were real. Hell that slutty litteral bitch girl Masuka married he got from one of those Prize Pod things. Still think that's freaky though. Win People from Dungeons? Christ."
Prize Pod People. One of the most, no, THE most controversial prize in dungeons. Lot of debates and talk but they have no prior memories and those that do it's because they are copies or reflections of people from fiction or even real people. In the end they've fallen into a Limbo space where yes you can 'keep them' but only if they are willing. 99.99% of all of them do. That rare .01% is often the Ally class.
"I mean...in some cases I can understand why people would look for Prize Pod People." I answered. "At least the Lover Class...you know how hard it is to date sometimes, and when you can literally get your perfect wife or husband it's...well out of a fantasy really."
"Yeah but then you got the Masuka and… yikes… Well, least he's happy and has a lot of kids… pups… christ they are cute I'll give the prevy fuck that." She chuckled. "So, that aside feels like in terms of the case, we're just waiting for another body… that's the fucked part about this…"
"Only problem is that they seem...too careful with it, almost methodical with how they did it…" I frowned.
"Even in this reality serial killers gotta get their jolly's somehow. Most after coming to terms that death wasn't permanent gave up. Others just got absorbed in the idea of eternally tormenting people. Remember that Killer X case thirty years back? Shit head had sixty people trapped in a respawn loop in their basement killing them over and over again."
"Yeah...third time I had to see a Time Walker step in for three of those people." I sighed out bitterly, hating what I had to see that day and the other two times it happened.
"Yeah. Go insane and get a mercy kill or managed to get to a level five dungeon boss or a void admin and die at your own risk." Deb sighed. "I really hope I never go insane like that."
"The only reasons why someone would go Mad is when they are faced with a realization so profound that they feel numb...that they can't feel anything anymore and their psyche starts to shatter along with it." I sighed out. "I don't know if there's a way to cure it or at least reverse the effects if it starts...but it's terrible."
"Yeah. Hard to tell what's worse, dying the old fashioned way or that. Makes you wonder how the Time Walkers deal with it. Also, the fuck kind of name is Time Walkers anyway? Sounds like some edgy teen band or some shit."
"Considering the name, I'd say they're time travelers." I mentioned. "They're effectively the time police considering some speedster's forget that they can go so fast they can literally go back in time." I mentioned. "Looking at you Barry." I grumbled.
"Hmm… Dunno. Also what is with you and The Flash? Seriously go find a Speed Force Gem and then you can compare lightning sizes."
"I'm sorry but when an entire show involves one character being told constantly not to do the obviously bad thing, and he keeps fucking doing it, I can get mad." I frowned, having watched the live action Flash show and hating how many times he time travels after being explicitly told not to.
"It's TV, which is ironic considering it used to be real life but I digress."
It was nice. To share the boat with Debra, with Rita, with friends and family. It was nice to enjoy the simple pleasures.
We bickered back and forth for a while before we got the call.
I docked the boat and we were off fast. Another body. Another Dexter Morgan Victim.
"Have they respawned yet?" I asked carefully.
"Body is six hour old and they haven't found him yet at his house. Checking with friends and family now." Debra said, breaking several speed rules as we arrived at the site. It was the home of one Phillip Barnes, the first slide in my killer copy's second box of slides.
This was different. It was more in tune with Killer Morgan's tactics. Stabbed through the heart, bleeding out then cut up into various smaller pieces, but he was left in the plastic wrap kill room made from their garage.
"Think this is one of those Killer Alternates of you" Deb asked. I was taking photos of the scene. It was left specifically for us to find. Not something my Killer Copies typically do.
"It's way more in tune with them, yes." I nodded. "But there's something terribly wrong here, cause if it was me...then there'd be no way in hell they'd just leave this here for us to find." I frowned, looking over the entire room carefully, looking at every detail of the place. "They wanted us to find this...but why?"
"Plus the MO is different too. Normally your crazy others kill other killers, this guy in some territories was or is a killer who killed young women but here he was just a basic wedding photographer." Debra said as she looked around. "So why kill an innocent man?"
"Either because they can, or because they think that every version is worth killing." I frowned. "Or...maybe to prove a point about something…"
"Question is, are we looking for a Psycho Dexter or someone else? There were version where the Bay Harbor Butcher killings was someone else."
"Yeah…" I frowned, trying to find any details in this plastic covered mess to help us figure out what's really going on.
Sadly whoever left here left only what they wanted us to find. No hair, no blood not belonging to the victim. Not even any footprints in the yard.
The Crime scene was packed up and I was back in the lab. First Alex Timmons, now Phillip Barnes. Both were the first in their respective blood slides… The first… That's their connection. Both were the first in the box of blood slides. Whoever this killer is, be it a version of me or someone else, they're recreating the kills of Serial Killer Dexter Morgan.
"Alright...who's next in line on the blood slides…" I muttered to myself, thinking back to the third blood slide that my serial killer version had and wondered if we could cut this bastard off before he kills another innocent.
Let's see. Thank you internet and here. Two potential victims. Gene Marshall who is number two of Box Slide one and Hector Nevaro, aka the Wife Killer in some realities, in Box Two. I gotta tell the Captain.
"Well...it's as good a lead as any." I sighed out as I decided to call up the Captain to tell them the news.
Once I told her of the possible trend, she sent out protective details to the houses of the possible targets. Actually a lot of people on that list could be next but since he went after the first of the two slide boxes, must mean they're going in some sort of order.
"Let's hope this hunch of mine is good and not condemning others…" I muttered bitterly, trying to think of why they'd go in order.
With work done for the day I headed home. Rita was waiting with dinner being made. "Hey Dexter." She said, giving me a kiss as I entered the kitchen. "Back a bit early."
"Well, there wasn't much to go on and what hunch I managed to have, it was taken care of by others." I shrugged. "But how have you been today Rita?"
"Good. Package came for you earlier, it's on the table." She stated.
I looked over at the package. The box was your standard cardboard. Opening it was easy enough, and once I did I saw… a knife. A single, stainless steel knife caked in blood within a Ziploc bag. Shit...
"They know where we fucking live…" I growled. "Rita...I've got some bad news."
I called Deb and she brought the team.
No fingerprints, but the blood was a match for both Alex Timmins and Phillip Barnes. It was a simple steel knife. Nothing special about it so it's not the murder weapon. Torture maybe but who or what Perma killed these two has to have been either a Level Five Dungeon Boss, a Void Admin, or a Time Walker. No other beings in this new reality can kill permanently.
*You holding up okay Dex?" Debra asked as she sat next to me on the couch.
"No…" I sighed out. "The bastard found my house and threatened me with a blood soaked knife...I'm concerned they're gonna target Rita."
"To be fair, not hard to find an address. No return address on the package and the mail driver said he picked it up at the warehouse. Was dropped off in the drop off bin. Hooded figure. Fucking figures. Dex… you and Rita should consider going into some kinda witness protection or something. This proves you're the obsession of this fucker, and I don't wanna know what they'll do to you or Rita when they decide to stop dancing around with this shit."
"I need to get Rita to safety...cause if they're obsessed with me, than we know what they'll probably do next if they want to walk in my murderous counterparts footsteps." I stated.
"What makes me more pissed off is that you had to deal with a lot of shit too back… when this all started. God you couldn't leave your house for years." She sighed.
Those first years after this reality got made, and that stupid show about the Killer take on me was on every streaming and crime drama tv channel, it's been difficult. For a while would be heroes and cops looking for an easy arrest would harass and assault me. Ten years I dealt with that crap before it finally died down. Dad always said every storm comes to pass. Now I'm getting thrown head first into a new one. One where all the blood of sick mirror versions of me are looking to remake a me that never existed here.
"Yeah...it was the biggest pain in the ass…" I sighed out.
"Might wanna consider moving." Jame spoke as he walked up. "Just got another body in."
"Shit, who?" Deb asked.
"Gene Marshall."
"I thought he had a protective watch over him?"
"He did. They're dead too."
Shit… That's another innocent man dead and two cops dead now too… "No fucking way…" Deb muttered. "How?"
"Don't know. I'm heading over there now. Masuka is over there too and it's bad." James stated. "Said looks like Gene was left on display just like the last victim, but our guys… Well, he said I needed to see it to get how bad it was."
"God damn it…" I muttered bitterly.
"So what do we do? Clearly normal cops aren't gonna cut it protecting these people and if they are circling around to Dex then…" Deb huffed.
"I might know a way Dexter and Rita can keep safe." Jame started. "Back when I was first dungeon crawling I set up a lot of small bunkers and houses in the safe zones along the border of the Hazerd Zones near some dungeons."
For those of you who are wondering what he's talking about, apparently our new Gods are RPG fans and so there's 'Safe Zones' where people can live and farm without fear, and the Hazard Zones where monsters and Dungeons run wild. "No real property laws that far out unless you're establishing a settlement and isolated, no papertrales."
"No way for anyone to find them…" Debra added.
"We're...probably dealing with me here." I brought up. "They know where I live, they knew where all these victims have lived and planned this out…"
"Then we do what a crazy version of you won't expect." James brought up. "Hide. All these versions of you aways fight back through stealth and murder and manipulation but if you hide and the only people who know where you are going go with you, then their left with the deadest dead end any SOB can end up at."
"Fuck it, early retierment and Dungeon Crawling for life? Sounds fun." Deb said.
"That...works for me." I shrugged. "This should be a good idea...plus it would be some good exercise every now and then."
"Not gonna lie, gonna suck leaving Miami but if it means avoiding more of this shit then let's go."
"That would be preferable." I nodded. "Plus, some dungeon's can be pretty nice scenery wise."
"Oh hell yeah they can." James said with a smile. "In fact, I might have the perfect location in mind for this. Let's inform the others then start heading out. The quicker the better."
"I'll go pack my shit." Deb said as she headed out the door.
I sighed. Leaving my life here won't be easy, but it will keep Rita and I safe, especially if we are dealing with a killer version of me. I doubt she'll be all that happy about this, but better she be made for a while then…
It took a while but eventually our group made it to our new home. James didn't lie when he said this place was isolated. Nearest town was almost five hundred thousand miles away, and yes, that is how far away it is. Remember, this world isn't like the ones we used to live on. Surrounding us was enough jungle to cover earth back in the old days as well as various cliffs, mountains, rivers, and large lakes all of which anyone could get lost in.
We had to fly here and once we landed, still can't believe James can fly a cargo plane, we were met by a large lakefront house sitting almost covered by jungle overgrowth. "Wow, James wasn't kidding when he said it was beautiful here." Rita said as we stood looking out over the lake. This makes me glad I brought my boat.
"James wouldn't have just left us in the middle of a desolate wasteland that's for sure." I chuckled.
"Damn right." James himself said as he walked by. "Come on now, the plane ain't gonna empty itself."
It was nice to know my friends had my back, and most came with me. Debra, James, Brian, they all came here to help Rita and I settle into what I can basically summarize as Frontier life, in style.
"Alright alright." I nodded, following along to help unpack all our stuff. "Let's just hope thing's will work out."
It took some time but eventually we all had our things unpacked and rooms picked. The sunset was amazing from our window. "Hey Dex." I looked to the door, seeing Deb there. "James is gonna take me out Hunting around here, see what we can cook for dinner."
"No monkeys." Rita spoke up from the bed.
"No promises." Deb replied as she headed off. I laughed. Well, if she does come back with Monkey meat then that would be interesting.
"Well, so far things seem to be simple enough." I mentioned.
"Simple is gonna be nice. With all the fertile ground, could finally build that garden I've been wanting. Lots of fruit trees and flowers."
I smiled. That would be nice. Heh, Dexter Morgan. Farmer. Actually that fits pretty well.
"Never thought I'd be a farmer before...but I like the ring of being a farmer." I said honestly.
"Does sound rather nice. Plus there are so many new and interesting plants we can grow. Maybe even find some animals."
"Seems like a whole lotta good things are heading our way." I said with a smile.
"Guess it's time we get acquainted with some of those crafting machines and systems. Rather not have to learn about making tools by hand."
"Yeah, I'd rather not have to learn blacksmithing when I can just make the thing's with a machine." I said honestly, ever so thankful that there are just machines to help create stuff on the fly.
It was a few hours before James and Debra came back. Thankfully they didn't return with Monkey, they came back with Dinosaur. "A fucking dinosaur! Best day ever!" Deb cheered as she and James worked to skin and cut the massive beast.
"Think that's an Iguanodon?" Brain spoke up. "Herbivores I think."
"Explains why it was in the Safe Zone area then. And why it didn't try and fight back." James said.
"Sounds great." I smiled. "Haven't had dinosaur before."
"I forget that formerly extinct animals aren't extinct anymore…" Rita said, watching a grotesque fascination. Honestly, it's just refreshing to not see the insides of a person for a change.
"Yeah, sometimes its still a lot to take in that we're in a realm that has literally everything in it." I shrugged.
"Hey, the air's good and the planet ain't poisoned. That's all I care about." James spoke up.
Cutting up a dino that big took a while, and it's meat wasn't bad either. Almost like beef. The rest, well, most of it, we managed to put away.
Tomorrow we start working. Deb and James were gonna go Dungeon Crawling and Rita, Brian and I were going to work on a garden.
"Where did he go? Where did that fucking little mistake go!?"
"Thank god James had a few tools here." Brian huffed as we got to work. It was early in the morning and while Rita pulled vines and weeds Brian and I used a shovel and an axe to cut a few branches and small trees out so we could set up this garden properly.
The soil was rich, fertile and would yield lots of produce, but first we have to clear out the current plantlife.
"I think some of these weeds might actually be herbs." Rita said as she pulled some of the green plants from the ground. "Should look them up. Might be useful."
"Might as well." I said while using my Scan ability to help see what these specific types of plants were, as I yet again thanked the Mother for this universally useful ability.
I usually keep away from the Skill trees. They're easy enough to understand but I don't like the idea of Super Powers too much. I just grabbed what was useful really. Healing, immunity to most common illnesses, and Scan.
The Weeds Rita was pulling were, in fact, herbs.
[Scan Complete.
Plant Species: Lively Healer
Classification: Health Based Herb
This plant species is a base component in many healing potions, creams and rubs that help prevent infections and rapidly repair even severe bone, tissue, and nerve damage. When brewed properly into a potion, this herb can even reattach severed limbs.]
"Jackpot." I said in awe. "The Lively Healer is apparently a pretty good healing herb."
"Guess I'll take these and store them." Rita said with a smile and she pulled some more out.
It took several hours but eventually we had a good square...ish space of land cleared out. Once we dug into the soil to make sure there wouldn't be unwanted growth we began to look around for wild fruits and such to plant. We found a Mango tree and after picking it clean ate the fruit and worked on planting the seeds. It was a start.
With that done Rita starting looking into the herbs. Out here so far away from modern medical care they'd be a big help, so she looked into farming and brewing them. Rita, the Forest Alchemist… actually that has a nice ring too.
Dexter Morgan, Farmer. Rita Morgan, Alchemist. If I can come up with something for Brian, James and Debra we'd officially become an RPG party.
"This is legit silly without context…" I chuckled at what we were doing right now. "I was an investigator, always looking at blood splatters and death...now I'm a farmer growing crops in the middle of the woods."
"Makes for a better retirement plan if you ask me." Rita spoke up. She was in the kitchen, following online instructions for making those herbs into potions.
One of the bright sides to having magic computers put into your arm is the fact you always have internet access. While Rita learned the art of Potion Brewing I was reading up on various types of crops, storage methods for produce and animal care. If we do find animals to raise and farm as well.
Brian was looking through apps, yes these things get apps they're a magic phone-computer-whatever things, looking for something to make the workloads easier.
"Learning how to domesticate dinosaurs to be beasts of burden?" I asked Brian.
"Seeing if any of the Apps available can work as crafting machines. With James and sis dungeon crawling I doubt raw materials will be much of an issue so, figured we best have the means to keep those two in bullets and us in tools and other useful things. So far there's a lot of options. No wonder so many people quit their day jobs for an independent lifestyle." He replied.
"That's what happens when you have practically everything you'd need tattooed on your arm." I shrugged.
"True. Hopefully everything is going well with Deb and James."
"Knowing those two they are having plenty of fun killing things." I chuckled.
"They did embrace the whole Super Powers and magic thing better than most people back in the early days." Brian nodded.
"Both were fans of video games." I shrugged. "So I'm not surprised they immediately took to it."
"Especially the weapons. The day either of them walk in here with anything from the Doom video games, I'm making my own house a distance away."
"That would be for the best." I nodded in agreement. "They really need to...control themselves with that."
"I do wonder what kind of dungeons are around here?" Rita spoke up. "They're supposed to be themed, right?"
"Most of the time yeah." I nodded. "Sometimes they can be...out there from what I've heard."
"Heard about one that was space themed while also being underground." Brian said. "How in the Fuck does that work?"
"Fuck if I know." I shrugged helplessly.
"Wait… space as in Outer Space? Like, suns and moons and zero gravity?" Rita asked.
"And the size of our old solar system." Brian informed.
"... I'm never going into a dungeon if I can help it." Rita declared.
"That's fair." I nodded. "Dungeon's are...a little specific for people."
The familiar two person laughter from outside told us Deb and James were back. And at least had fun. As the two entered, I had to do a double take.
Debra was dressed in a cheetah skin coat and boots worn over her normal clothes while sporting a new fully packed quiver and bow.
James on the other hand was wearing some kind of… Spanish conquistadors armor. Hat included.
"Dex, you will not believe the shit we just got back from." Debra said with the largest grin I've ever seen on her face.
"Roleplaying?" Brian sassed.
"Half right." Debra said. "Fucking Shadow of the Tomb Raider Dungeons all over this fucking place!"
"It was amazing. Save all the human remains. Still find it creepy as shit those are considered decorations. Smells just like the real thing too…" James added.
"Yeah… definitely never going into a dungeon." Rita confirmed.
"That's just those specific dungeons." I brought up. "Not all dungeons are that or extremely weird."
"The ones around here are." Debra said. "Also, found an amazing waterfall fed pond. Water is crystal clear. We are all going swimming there as soon as possible."
"We also got a fair amount of gold, iron, some weapons of varying types and conditions, lots of medicinal plants, and," James reached under their chest plate and pulled up a bag. "These things called Starfruit seeds."
"Hmm...what are Starfruit?" I wondered as I brought up my Assistant to look up Starfruit on the handy dandy internet.
[Starfruit:
This delectable fruit grows in hot, humid environments the best and Is rather sweet with a sour undertone. It is used for jams, jellies, drink and wine and is an extremely juicy fruit to eat. Many compare it to a ripe mango with the pulp and juice of an orange. From seeds alone these plants take two weeks to mature in the proper conditions and will present a harvest once a week if kept in ideal conditions. Each Starfruit tree can produce two to five fruits a harvest, given their normally small size.]
"Well...the Starfruit is pretty good for food." I mentioned. "And their rather quick to mature."
"Sweet! And we got twenty of these bad boys!" Debra cheered.
"Huh, fast growing plants. And in terms of proper environment, guess you can't get more ideal than a tropical rain forest." James said with a shrug as he tossed me the seeds.
"I can craft a seed maker, so we can just find the plants and grow them from seeds like that." Brian said, still looking through his Assistant. Guess he found a good crafting app. "Just need wood, some coal and gold."
"Well wood is all around us and James and I just got a fair amount of Gold. Just leaves the coal." Debra said thoughtfully.
"Saw a cave on our way back. Might have a small deposit." James said.
"We'll be back!" Debra declared as she and James practically ran out.
"They are enjoying this way too much." Brian laughed.
"I'm glad they're happy. Means things for us will be looking up. Especially once we expand and get the garden producing." Rita stated.
"Which is all around a good thing." I nodded. "Hopefully thing's keep working out like this."
Oh how I wish this is what fate had in store for us...