"Oh my God, why are there so many Nazis!?"
We went into Empire Territory to find Prinnirider before she gets herself killed or something, and suddenly it's just—
Twenty of the exact same generic faced guy in generic, vaguely Nazi-themed gang uniforms all shouted "Sieg heil" at once and started shooting at me with generic 'nazi' aesthetic machine guns.
The only thing I could imagine was that E88 had recruited a new Master with a very specific power set.
Their bullets bounced off me harmlessly. The Nazi Grunts, as the stat screen called them, were all too low level to hurt and of us.
Tattletale did that thing where she jumps and a car comes out of nowhere and rams into the other guy, causing half of the Nazi Grunts to be knocked over and then fade from existence. That was the other thing that convinced me that they were master creations.
"So... Is there any reason why we're fighting them instead of just forcing our way past?" Regent asked. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that they can't do anything to us and..."
"It's been over two years!" Lisa shouted. "without sufficient action, it'll feel like a letdown." It'd been like, an hour tops since we started fighting. We fight a bunch, they vanish, we move, fight more, and so on. It was kind of repetitive.
Suddenly, like a hundred more Nazi Grunts appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh come on, what the hell!?" And then...
Music. Like... It was like someone was trying to play sensual, swingy, vaguely Latin sounding music on an electric guitar and a synthesizer.
"Where is that coming from?" I asked aloud... Nobody else seemed to know, judging from how everyone but the grunts was looking around.
Everyone but the grunts and Mouse Protector, who I'd honestly forgotten had come with us in all of the chaos. She was vibrating like a fangirl who saw Legend making out with Eidolon.
Even with her helmet, I could practically smell the goofy grin she had to be giving. "It's him. He's here."
I was about to ask who "he" was when I saw him in the corner of my eye.
He stood atop a tall building and looked all imposing in his armor, not quite unlike Prinnirider's but in tannish brown color and a helmet more like a stylized rat than a penguin. And a white cape billowing behind him in a wind that simply wasn't there.
He quickly thrust his arms out and locked them in place so that he resembled a T, or perhaps a cross, and all of a sudden... It was like a funnel cloud but made of rats. A ratnado, came out of nowhere and engulfed a good fifty Nazi grunts. It vanished and there was no sign of those who engulfed it.
The armored figure spun his cape around himself and disappeared, appearing in the same manner in front of me. Throwing his arms forward, two rats the size Rachel's largest dogs lept out from his shadow and charged, taking out another twenty each before vanishing into another shadow.
Twenty left, the ten that Lisa had missed and the remnants of the hundred that had shown up. All in a nice little symmetrical shape. A four by four square with one extra guy on the middle of each side.
The armored figure began vocalizing in a deep voice "Aaaaaahhh!" While an aura of golden light erupted around him and crackled like a bonfire. He began to rise into the air while waving his hands around in circles in front of them, more energy building up around his hands before he pulled them to the right side. "Ne... Zu... Ha... Me..." He thrust his hands forward and a massive rat-shaped beam of energy erupted forward. "Ha!"
And then there were no more Nazi Grunts.
"...Who are you?" I asked as he landed.
He looked at me and, quite suddenly, I felt like an eight-year-old starring up at a very tall and imposing grownup. "I am an ally of all that is good," he said in a deep voice that reverberated with confidence and authority. "Devourer of the cheese of injustice. I am... The Great Ratman!"
That was such a stupid line, but, but the way he said it was just... Just...
"...So cool," both Mouse Protector and Sicily mumbled at the same time.
He was still looking right at me, though. "Your mother would be proud of you, and what you're trying to do." And then he vanished with a twirl of his cape.
...Dad. I'd have to ask Dad if he knew who this guy was. This... Incredibly cool guy who knew mom.
An alert flashed before my eyes. "Mouse Protector has entered a nerd coma and has left your party."
...She'd probably be fine. We had a kid to stop from getting killed.
A Hell of a Time
We found Prinnirider getting her ass kicked by Hookwolf. Checking her stat screen, she was still level one. He, on the other hand, was closer to my own party's level. Hookwolf's Class was "Blender" and his titles were "I wish I was a Viking" and "Not actually a Nazi, just a violent fuckhead who only Nazis will put up with."
Currently, he was in his human form and suplexing a preteen.
She landed and her armor broke, revealing the child inside. Honestly...
Misguided as she was. Whatever sins she'd committed to end up in this existence... Seeing a grown man beating up on a child made my blood boil.
And then I was straddling Hookwolf's chest and repeatedly slamming my fists into his bruised and bloody face.
"Wow... You didn't even use any special moves," Sicily commented.
"You know," Regent added from wherever he was, "I get the feeling that most of us could have stayed in the base and this would have played out exactly the same."
"Ugg," Prinnirider mumbled. I turned and looked to see her get up and adjust her hat. "Wusgonin, dood?"
"You're coming with us whether you like it or not," I said as I got up off the man who'd earned the title "Worf" at some point in the last... However long I'd been beating the shit out of him.
It was then, and only then, That Armsmaster pulled up on his motorcycle. "...How did you get here before I did?" Was his only question.
"Don't know, don't care, arrest the asshole I'm taking the kid," I said while lifting Prinnirider up and slinging her over my shoulder. Then I started walking off.
AN: After ten thousand years... Honestly, I don't know if we're back or not, but there's this. Enjoy.