Perspective Shift
'What the- where the hell am I?' Were the first thoughts Emma had when she gained consciousness. There was a faint throbbing pain in the back of her head and when she tried to move her arms to inspect the damage, she couldn't. She could still feel her body and she wasn't restrained in the slightest. Not even a blindfold.
Emma tried to move something in her body but there was this sluggishness in her thoughts. She started to panic as she tried to move, to do anything, but her body refused to listen. Then, she tried to activate her power.
She screamed in her mind as a searing hot pain lanced through her mind before staying like a pool of molten metal. Her head felt like she was shot in the head by a glowing hot rebar and it hurt so much that she couldn't help but cry. Her first conscious action was crying. If she weren't in so much pain, she would have probably thought that she was pitiful. Emma was a survivor.
The pain was slowly receding, enough that she could think.
She racked her mind, trying to find out how she ended up in this situation, only to come up with an unsatisfying answer. She couldn't remember if anyone assaulted them and she found it unlikely to have happened.
Last she remembered, she was in Winslow talking to Sophia and Madison while walking towards their next class. She remembered Madison asking if they should let Taylor out of her locker, remembered Sophia saying something about calling a janitor to let her out at the end of school, she remembered snorting at a joke...
And then nothing. There was a blank space in her memories.
'What the hell happened? Maybe someone attacked Winslow? I wouldn't put it past those Empire cocksuckers.'
Emma cut her thoughts off when the world around her shook. Maybe she really was kidnapped? Hit in the head, drugged, then shoved in a van? She'd hate to be in an ABB whore-house. Powers or no powers, she would have killed those fuckers, consequences be damned. Murder is extremely frowned upon after all, even when it's criminals you're murdering. It's the entire reason why Sophia had to be in the Wards.
The thing she was in was still shaking, and it lasted for at least five minutes before it stopped. Then, the lights suddenly turned on and kept on turning up. The headache returned and her eyes were forced shut.
Her body shifted without her input, committing towards a superhero landing. Suspicion and worry planted its seed into her mind and she felt nervousness pool in her gut. The seed bloomed into horror immediately when her body barely acknowledged the fall and proceeded to stand up, all without conscious thought.
'I'm being Mastered! Shit, what do I do?' Emma panicked. 'Threat assessment. Breathe. Find out which cape- no... no I can't do that either because I'm pretty sure there aren't any Masters in the Bay! Shit. Out of town villain? No, he knew who I was in my civilian identity. Who? Why?'
A treacherous thought fluttered into her mind. 'Maybe someone triggered? But why... Taylor? No. She can't have triggered from that locker!' She denied. 'but there's a chance that- no stop, it doesn't matter who it was. Sophia probably got away. It won't be long before the Protectorate and the PRT arrive.' She rationalized, trying to give herself hope. She hated it, but there really wasn't anything she could do. She was at the tender mercies of the Master controlling her, like a predator toying with its prey.
'I just need to calm down. Breathe. I just have to wait for backup. In the meantime...'
Emma turned her attention outwards. She can still feel, hear, and see. The place was eerily silent, despite the overwhelming amount of fragile things around. Glowing crystals littered the room she fell in like someone gave her powers a Shaker component. Tall outcroppings and spires of crystals were scattered across the cave-like area and sharp stalactites lined the ceiling. Despite the abundance of the shining rocks, the room felt familiar. Her head peered side to side, looking around for something. Emma didn't know what, but she took the opportunity to gain more information about her location.
She noticed long tables and chairs thrown to the sides of the room, piling up like a mountain of trash.
'Those are the canteen's chairs and tables! What the hell happened to Winslow? Did the Master make me do this? How? I couldn't have done this, I'm not a Shaker!' She was confused but mostly worried. If she had gone berserk, then the PRT would have been here while she was unconscious. The unknowns were overwhelming her. She didn't know what was going on, she didn't have any kind of control. She wanted to cry again.
She heard some scuffling from the direction her body was facing and her head snapped towards it, eyes narrowed dangerously as a familiar person emerged from behind a tall crystal. Large green eyes gazed at her body blankly, and wide, thin lips pressed together in a slight frown.
'Taylor!? She must have triggered! Was she the one behind this? No, she doesn't look happy or triumphant. It's like she doesn't even recognize me.' Emma tried to look down, to at least glance at her clothes. Maybe she was wearing something different? Or...
'Huh, her glasses are missing. Great. My possible rescuer is a blind spineless moron.' Emma lamented. 'I mean, first sign of trouble and what does she do? Look for the source of trouble!'
Emma felt a vicious smirk form on her head's mouth and she knew something bad was about to go down.
"Taylor. I'm surprised to see you here. I expected to see you cry and wait for someone to rescue you." Emma's voice jeered, but she didn't want to say that. At this point, Emma would take any help she can get, and antagonizing her ally would be the last thing on her list, worthless rescuer or not.
Taylor's stance shifted, but not in the way Emma expected her to. Her already narrowed eyes narrowed further, shifting into a glare. Her flat pressed lips turned into a scowl, and her body seemed ready to fight instead of hunching and making herself look small.
'Didn't know shoving her in a locker would give her a spine. Too bad it also took whatever she has for a brain. Who in their right mind would try and fight a cape?' Emma thought.
"Emma." The black-haired girl growled.
'Well, she doesn't look happy.'
"My, you don't sound happy to see me. I thought we were friends, Tay-tay."
'It'll be a cold day in hell before I become friends with weaklings like Taylor.'
"Friends!? You tried to kill me!" Taylor shouted, her face losing the blankness it had when she first popped out of hiding. An expression of growing fury gradually replaced her previously flat expression.
'Tried to kill her? What? When!? Did she mean the locker?' Emma thought. If she could furrow her eyebrows, she would have done so in confusion. 'That was a prank, Taylor. It was a prank! You wouldn't have died from that. Maybe.'
"Well you're still alive, aren't you? You look stronger too. Maybe after this, we can be true friends again," The Master stated instead of denying Taylor.
'Like I said, a snowball has more chance in hell than us being friends again.'
"After what you did to me, I'd sooner die than be anything with you ever again."
'After what I di- oh for the love of Scion, stop being so melodramatic, Taylor.'
"And what, leave your father alone, crying for a week like you did when your mother died?"
The world paused. Taylor's head fell, looking downcast, and her shoulders shook. Emma scoffed internally. 'She'll never be strong. One comment and she cries like a baby.'
A roar resounded across the room, cutting through Emma's thoughts. If she could widen her eyes, she would have.
'What the fuck was that? Was that Taylor?' She felt her body lock up, eyes riveted towards the girl running.
'Wait, she's running towards me!' Emma panicked.
Emma's right hand raised itself and shifted into crystals, a spike half the size of her forearm beginning to form on her palms. 'What the- is the Master planning on killing Taylor? I only use that spike against high-level brutes, not normals!' She shouted in her mind. The stake- because it was too big to be called a spike- was a couple of steps above her normal spikes. Emma went to the Rig for power testing and it went amazingly well. They said she could be a killing machine if she used her powers improperly. Sure, they may have said it with a different intention than the one in her head, but she didn't care. All it meant for her was that she was strong, that she was a very capable predator. She would never be a victim again.
That did not mean she wanted to kill anyone, no matter how much they deserved it. She would never mar her record with murder, she would never be like Sophia and get pressganged into doing something she doesn't want. Her freedom was at stake. So, she screamed in her head.
'Taylor, dodge!'
Unless Taylor was a psychic, she wouldn't know that Emma screamed. Somehow, though, Taylor dodged the spike at the last possible moment without breaking her stride. It was like she blurred to the side and continued her mad dash.
Emma was lucky she couldn't drop her jaw in amazement. Taylor kept running, despite the onslaught, despite getting nicked a few times.
A couple of minutes of continuous barrage and Taylor constantly dodging, she finally closed the distance. She roared again before she raised her glowing bat and bashed Emma in the head. The headache returned, and she found her body crashing like a puppet with its strings cut. Taylor was on top of her in a flash of movement before continuing her assault. Pain erupted from all over her body, rattling her consciousness further.
'Fuck fuck fuck that hurts shit- Taylor STOP!' "That's enough!" She felt her right arm shift before a crystalline fist hit Taylor's midsection, throwing the lanky teen away. Taylor slammed against a crystal spire, unmoving.
Crystals started forming around Emma's body as she stood up, covering her from head to toe whilst Taylor was still staggered from the hit she just took.
'Shit- that hurt.' She breathed out in her mindscape. 'Taylor must have triggered as a Brute/Mover. That's a shitty matchup against me.'
The Master raised her crystalline fist and punched the ground with enough force to practically pulverize the floor. The room shook again and crystal stalactites started falling from the ceiling. Taylor seemed to understand what was happening and started running past Emma, one of her hands in her lab coat rooting around for something.
'Where's she going? Wait, is she eating?' Emma thought incredulously as she watched Taylor speed past her, somehow dodging falling crystal pikes and the crystal spikes the Master was sending her way, with a granola bar in hand.
"COME BACK HERE, TAYLOR!"
'Heh, seems like the Master is pissed.' She smirked as the Master controlling her raised both of her arms and started shooting crystalline spines towards Taylor, trailing behind the black-haired girl. Some hit her coat and legs, but it barely did anything against her.
Then, Taylor was gone, jumping over the bar that separated the kitchen from the actual cafeteria and then running towards the kitchen's doors.
Emma snorted. 'That was such a Taylor thing to do. Running away and hiding.'
"Tch. Administrator! Release my restrictions! I'll squash this pest with my minions!" Her body screamed at the ceiling.
{Confirmed.} A voice echoed in her mind.
{Amusement.}
"Don't laugh at me, your host is incredibly annoying."
'What the fuck? Who the hell was that? And minions?' As if to answer her mental questions, the room shook again. The tall crystal outcrops scattered across the floor started shattering on their own, cracking like eggs. It wasn't a terrible analogy as crystal monsters emerged from within, the lanky ones lumbering towards her and the large crystal people patrolled the room. Emma gaped.
'What the hell is going on!?' Emma screamed.
'Shit shit shit shit run run run' Taylor thought as she sped through the crystal-infested floor, mixing in [Quick Dodge] and [Sprint] to avoid getting hit by the crystal spikes Emma was sending her way and the stalactites falling over her head. Some projectiles snagged her lab coat, but the weird physics of the dungeon caused it to not affect her gait, but some did hit her.
'Shit shit my health and stamina are less than 50 fuck I need a ration bar'
Taylor hopped over the counter and kicked the kitchen doors open, narrowly avoiding a porcupine transformation as she entered.
[You Have Abandoned the Battle.]
[The Enemy grows the more you stay away.]
'Fuck. Fuck. Okay. Okay. I'm safe here. But it's not a safe zone, so gotta be quick.'
She started bashing cupboards open, barely minding what she was grabbing and shoving into her inventory. Taylor also started pulling sandwiches out and started eating them, breaking doors open with her right hand and eating with the other.
'Okay. Okay. I'm okay. I can do this. It's just Emma. Calm down. I need to do this.'
She took a deep, shuddering breath as she put a hand on the kitchen door. She didn't know what was happening anymore. The revelations, the flood of emotions, the dumb choices she did...
Where was [Gamer's Mind]? The surge of anger earlier was gone, replaced by absolute terror. Not the terror she felt when she was locked in the locker, but actually terrified for her life. Seeing her HP reach the point where she can count it on both her fingers and toes, it terrified her. She didn't know what would happen if she died. Her mind was hazy, and it was her tunnel vision that landed her in trouble and saved her from it. If she wasn't so focused, so angry, she would have probably broken down in front of Emma and got skewered in the process.
But that same anger and tunnel vision turned her into this mad brute. She didn't even use any of her mana related skills earlier! She could have done more damage! She could have ended the fight then and there, while Emma was still human! Instead, she ran away and abandoned the fight when she could have just persisted.
But then again, she was also a couple of hits away from dying. Krystalia's punch dealt 125 damage, just a bit higher than [Crystal Brutes], and her spike barrage dealt 25 HP per hit. Luckily most of the spikes that hit were glancing blows and dealt much less damage.
'Maybe there's a status ailment? Status.' She thought the command as she pulled her hand from the door.
She read through it and noticed that [Gamer's Mind] was missing from the list. In its place was:
[Berserk] – Anger leads to Conflict. Anger provides Strength and Stupidity. +25 % STR and END. -20% INT and WIS.
'What the- reduced INT and WIS? All of my hard-earned points and bonuses, crippled by this?'
Irritation welled up within her, like the bile of nervousness and anger that previously resided in her belly.
'Increased strength against an opponent with high physical resistance. Yeah. That will definitely work out in my favor!'
She forcefully shut the status screen off and took a calming breath. 'It's alright, I can still do this,' she thought to herself as pushed through the doors, only to immediately cast [Quick Dodge] as a veritable hailstorm of crystal spikes barraged the door she came out of. She ducked behind the counter and took quick shallow breaths.'
Taylor poked her head out and quickly looked around, her eyes widening as she saw the environment.
The room was clearer, most of the huge crystal spires were missing. There were a few still scattered on the field, but it was significantly less. In exchange for the crystals, [Crystal Brutes] stood and [Crystal Blasters] surrounded Emma, holding a loose circular formation.
The field was practically a kill-zone, and running through it cover to cover would be a problem.
"Enjoyed your lunch break, Taylor? I suppose you do need it, you freak." Emma quipped, a mixture of a smirk and a sneer painted on her face. Her crystalline armor glinted in the glowing room, looking pristine despite the beatdown Taylor gave her. Taylor ignored the insult and looked at the bars over Emma's head and squinted at the tiny text. The distance made it hard to see. She tried to adjust her glasses with two fingers, only to end up almost poking her eyes out.
'What the- shit, nevermind. As long as I can still see.'
[GUI Updated]
Emma's HP and SP appeared as bars in Taylor's vision, taking up the top right portion of her HUD. Muttering a quick thanks to Gaia, she focused on the numbers and calculated her best route of action.
Krystalia
1050/1500 HP
334/1000 SP
[Danger Sense] pinged thrice as Taylor jumped out of cover, casting a barrage of [Mana Bolts] with her right hand, aimed at Krystalia. She had a hunch that if Emma fell, so too would her minions. If she can hit the teenage heroine at least.
Taylor might have underestimated Emma, though. The crystalline woman dodged some of the blue bolts sent her way while Taylor was forced to [Block] the crystal shards launched at her from multiple sources. She needed to use her mana effectively, so she had to stop and aim.
"Did you really think I'd be dumb like you? That I'd stand still and take your shots?" came Krystalia's mocking voice, though it was tinged with pain and anger. Taylor didn't know how painful her [Mana Bolts] were, but from Emma's reactions, it must sting like hell.
Taylor grimaced as sharp needles hit lodged themselves into her bat and her arms. [Danger Sense] pinged again and she instinctively activated her dodge skill. A glowing fist crashed to the floor, throwing a smokescreen of crystals and concrete dust.
'How the fuck did that brute get so close to me?'
Taylor took the opportunity to run towards a nearby crystal outcropping, activating [Sneak] and [Sprint] at the same time. She took a water bottle out of her inventory as she pressed her back against the crystal and started drinking to replenish her lost mana.
Out of her 6 casts, 3 of them hit and dealt 293 damage.
'Shouldn't that be 367? Don't tell me she has a magical resistance too!' She thought, mentally cursing. 'Because of course a debuff isn't enough! Because of course I can't have nice things!' So she might be a tad bit hysterical.
"Taylor, where are you?" Emma jeered with her simpering noise.
Taylor took deep breaths behind cover, trying to calm herself down. 'At least Krystalia's HP is down to 757 and her SP's still getting drained.'
"Minions, hunt her down."
Taylor's eyes widened as the creatures roared loud enough to shake the room. Crystal shards pinged against her cover and the floor beside her. Taylor took a deep breath before pulling her water bottles. She had an insane plan cooking in the back of her mind, but she needed to have full bars before she could execute it.
She watched as her bars filled up before deciding that it was good enough. She waited and after a few minutes of uninterrupted barrages and uncomfortable paranoia, she finally moved.
And the moment she pulled away from cover was the exact time it got blown up by an overeager [Crystal Brute].
'They can do that!? I thought things were invincible here!' Her thoughts were tinged with a subtle sense of horror. Taylor ran away and looked around for threats, noting that the brute that destroyed the crystal outcropping was chasing after her. It was too damn slow though, so she managed to slip past.
Sharp needles whistled through the air, almost drowning the pings [Danger Sense] gave her, and she dodged again. The game slowly turned into a mixture of tag and pin the spike on the Taylor as she ran around the room. She fired off a bolt towards Emma, only to be disappointed when she missed. In response, Emma launched her brand of spikes, joining the barrage her [Crystal Blasters] sent towards Taylor.
'I need to stun them!' Her eyes widened as an insane idea popped in her mind. It was time to cheese the battle. And if it didn't work, well...
Taylor popped out of cover and confirmed Emma's position. The cape was still standing in the center of the room, beneath the crystal chrysalis she came out of and huddled with her [Crystal Blasters]. The [Brutes] seemed intent on being a nuisance on the outer edges of their circle, making sure Taylor couldn't come close. Too bad it didn't matter.
Taylor [Sprinted] towards the center and activated her [Block] skill, conserving as much SP as possible.
"Have you finally gone insane? Perhaps you've accepted your fate?" There was a hint of incredulity in the cape's tone like she just saw someone run through a busy highway. Perhaps it could be transformed into a metaphor relating to whatever Taylor was doing, but in the end, Taylor didn't give it much thought.
She ignored the insult and started running in a zigzag, hoping to at least throw off Krystalia and her minions' aim. When Taylor got close enough, she activated her recently leveled up [Brave Roar] skill and stunned every single creature around her, including Emma, for 2 seconds. One second was all she needed to cast a [Mana Bolt].
Her skills had no cooldown, no charge up time, and it was completely broken how she can do things as long as she has the fuel for it. So, she roared her lungs out and cast [Mana Bolt].
"[Brave Roar]!" Again.
"[Brave Roar]!" and again.
"[Brave Roar]!" and again.
"[Brave Roar]!" and again.
"[Brave Roar]!" and...
'Time to run!' Taylor thought as she quickly used the last [Brave Roar] as a way to escape, hastily casting [Quick Dodge] and [Sprint].
'Replenish SP and MP, keep moving, then back again for another round. Rinse and repeat.'
If she survives the next few minutes, at least.
'What the fuck was that!? Since when can she do that!?' Emma screamed in her head. It was the only thing she can do, and it's the only thing she's been doing for the last couple minutes, hoping that the Master can hear her thoughts. At least that way she can help Taylor by being an annoyance.
"KILL HER!" The Master screamed like a wailing banshee using her body. 'Do I sound like that?'
The minions roared too, the thin ones firing unceasingly at Taylor's path and the thick ones lumbering towards the running girl. Emma wondered if she can make minions too. It would be amazing to have projections, becoming a one-woman army. She could probably take on the gangs and wipe them out if she had this much force!
Although she was giddy at the thought, reality doused her hopes. The Master knew her powers better than she did, controlled it better than she could, and did things that she didn't even know she could do. It was like her powers were modified and cranked to another level.
'A Trump Master combo? Shit, if that takes Taylor instead of me...' Emma went green at the thought. As much as she hated to admit it, Taylor won the powers lottery. She seemed to have her powers all over the board. Primarily a Trump for her multiple powers which give her her Brute, Mover, Blaster, Striker, Shaker, and, at least Emma suspected, a Thinker power to go along with it. She just seemed to detect danger a few seconds before they hit, allowing her to react. And if the master gained control of her too, who knows what else Taylor can do.
'She's probably stronger than me now. Who would've thought that beanpole Taylor could do this shit.'
She didn't feel guilty, not at all. She stopped feeling guilty a long time ago when nothing seemed to work on Taylor. She didn't feel jealous or angry. Instead, she was proud of Taylor. Taylor rose, survived, and fought, despite facing overwhelming odds. She proved herself today, and if Emma could, she would have hugged Taylor.
Maybe when this was all over. Taylor still has to survive this.
"Enough of this bullshit! Fuck whatever Queen says!" Emma's voice growled. Her arm raised itself and she felt the changes happen. Instead of forming a spike on the palms of her hand, the crystal formed and covered the entirety of her hands. Her arm turned into a crystal blade.
"Suppress her. I'll handle the rest."
Spike volleys barraged the crystal obelisk Taylor was hiding behind, but Emma barely noticed it as her body weaved and sped through the midst of it. And then, her crystalline body was directly beside Taylor's, whose eyes widened in shock. She seemed to be in the middle of eating and drinking.
Taylor's early warning system activated and she turned towards Emma.
But Taylor was too slow to react.
Emma watched in horror as Taylor's thinker power failed, watched as her crystal arm-blades plunged deep into Taylor's body, watched as Taylor gasped in both surprise and, most likely, pain.
"Got you now, bitch."
"[Brave Roar]! [Quick Dodge]! [Mana Bolt]!"
Taylor shouted, hopping backward and firing off a bright blue bolt from her right palm, hitting Emma in the face. She seemed smart enough to dodge rightwards, instead of backward. Backward would have left her open for the Spike Throwers' attacks.
Emma saw Taylor's eyes widened as she gasped each breath, nearly hyperventilating, but the thin teen seemed to steel herself. Krystalia moved again, but Taylor managed to react in time, blocking Krystalia's overhead swing with her bat. A battle of strength occurred, Taylor's dark eyes boring into Emma's green.
How Taylor managed to block the sharp crystal sword-arm with a piece of wood, Emma didn't know, but it must have still hurt as Taylor flinched from the force.
"This ends now!" Emma's mouth spat.
"Yeah, it ends now you crazy bitch." Taylor growled back through gritted teeth.
Taylor did her best Triumph impression and roared, her face looking the fiercest Emma has ever seen.
And then the pain train resumed operations. Blue bolts of light blasted into her crystal midsection but her body couldn't move. Couldn't do anything.
"NO!"
Emma's left arm transformed into a blade identical to the one still locked against Taylor's bat and thrust it through Taylor's unprotected stomach. The crystal blade went through from the front of the black turtleneck the thin woman was wearing and through her back.
Despite that, the barrage of blue, almost white, lights continued. Emma's vision started turning dark.
'This is probably some kind of nightmare. I'll know when I wake up.'
Emma's eyes closed and her body fell slack. Crystals receded from her body, turning her back into her human form.
'I did it. I did it!' Taylor pulled her body away from the crystal sword still impaled in her. 'That was way too close. She shouldn't have rushed me,' she thought as she let Emma's body drop to the crystal floor.
{Congratulations!} shouted a cheery voice in her head. Taylor flinched and raised her bat, looking around the room for the source. She barely noted the fact that the environment was fading away, all signs of the crystal infestation disappearing into motes of light. The room was turning back to its dilapidated nature, but distinctly human-made. The mountains of chairs and tables
[Core Systems Partially Restored.]
[Assistant System Partially Restored.]
{You leveled up thrice! I can automatically invest stat points depending on your goals, just say the word!}
'What the- who are you!?' Taylor asked internally as she prepared for another fight. All of her bars were nearly empty, but she could still spend some to run back to the kitchens if she has to.
[Status Bars refilled and all Ailments reset.]
[Gamer's Mind reactivated.]
{Hello, Taylor! I'm QA, short for Queen Assistant! Gaia 'sent' me here to help you reach your maximum potential. }
"What?" Taylor blinked confusedly, her bat arm lowering. Whatever it was, it filled all of her status bars back up. "How can I trust you? You might be the parasite the System was talking about," Taylor spoke aloud, [Gamer's Mind] filling her with the confidence and peace of mind she would have appreciated
She could somehow hear the text box like it was a giddy elementary schoolgirl. Honestly, she would probably feel terrified about hearing a voice in her head, but [Gamer's Mind] was back. If the voice was there to harm her, it probably would tear her mind apart just to get the voice out.
{Look, Gaia will kill me the moment I say a treacherous comment, much faster the moment I even remotely think about harming you. So, can we move on?} the kiddie voice sounded exasperated. Taylor thought it over. The voice was probably right, but... there was something wrong about it.
"Fine." She ground out. She looked around the room and found that the place was back to a modicum of normalcy. The cafeteria was painfully dark, but the last remaining crystal, the giant chrysalis hanging from the ceiling, served as a source of faint light.
{Seems like Gaia doesn't know jack about video games. To be fair, neither do I. We'll have to overhaul some of the System parts when we get out of here. For now, though...}
[Main Quest Updated]
1/3 Sub-bosses
114/200 Monsters
0/1 Main Boss
Taylor narrowed her eyes at the screen. "I'm getting closer, but I feel weak. That fight with Emma felt like a shit show. Everything feels... weak. Those blaster minions legitimately just stood still in the center while the brutes were dumber than rocks."
{The parasite is interfering with the systems, which in turn has broken everything. Statistics are a janky mess, skills are weirdly implemented, levels feel inconsequential, and the quests are way too easy.} QA said. Taylor thought there was a hint of disappointment in her assistant's tone. {Like seriously, you're more than halfway the Bonus Objective and you're still on the first sub-boss.}
{On the flip side, the parasite can't do much either due to the battle it's fighting against Gaia. You wouldn't survive the first minion if it weren't for that.}
"Can't you just fix things? Maybe make things easier?"
{I'm just an assistant, Taylor. I'll need to be promoted to Administrator status before I can make changes around here.}
{And what do you mean easier? This is supposed to be a tutorial mission, the world outside has much, much greater threats than emotional teens with powers.}
Taylor flinched. The Endbringers were probably on that level along with Scion. The Triumvirate at the upper hundreds. Locally, Lung would probably Triumvirate level too. He did fight Leviathan and survived, after all.
"I guess we'll just have to tough it out."
A pained moan broke Taylor's conversation with the voice in her head and she jumped back. The screens blocking her vision disappeared in the same motion. A mana bolt was prepared in her hand, aimed at the source of the noise.
'That's Emma. Why hasn't she disappeared yet? Do I have to fight her again? I already did it once, and the next time will be easier without the debuff.'
{She's not a monster Taylor. Well, not a dungeon monster. I recommend using your observation skills.}
Taylor did just that and scrunched her face in confusion.
[Emma Barnes – Krystalia] LVL 15
100/500 HP
0/250 SP
Purified Shard Bearer. Emma Barnes is a teenager studying at Winslow High School. She also patrols as the cape known as Krystalia.
'She's weaker than she was earlier. Why's that?'
{Her shard, the parasite in her head, lost connection with the Entity. Her powers now rely on her body's stamina and, most likely, Gaia.}
'I'm going to pretend I understood that.'
{Look, it's a topic for another time. Right now, it would be best if we moved on so we can get to the good stuff.}
'We can't just... leave her here!'
{Ah right. Well, you just have to wait for her to wake up. In the meantime, might I suggest rooting around this place for loot?}
Taylor picked Emma's body up from the ground she was lying on and dropped her on haphazardly on a long table. She might not want to leave the girl here, but she sure as hell didn't like the red-haired bitch.
She looked around again, looking for the loot QA was talking about.
There, in the center of the room, was a small pile of crystal shards mixed with some other things.
'Is that a sword?'
Taylor practically ran towards the pile of loot.
[Purified Shard Fragment (Crystal Brute) - Rare] x 5
[Purified Shard Fragment (Crystal Blaster) - Rare] x 10
[Small Mana Potion - Rare] x 3
Restores 50 MP on use. Tastes like grapes.
[Crystal Sword - Rare]
Deals 5 * STR Damage.
High chance to inflict [Bleeding].
'Looks like I found a better weapon not related to Nazis.' She thought giddily.
Taylor held it in her right hand, turning it over and inspecting it. The double-edged sword was made out of a smooth pinkish crystal and was as long as her bat. It was surprisingly easy to hold and swing, although she wasn't particularly an expert on the subject of weapons so she was probably making mistakes that a professional would call her out on.
'Doesn't matter though, I have a new thing to kill minions with. And those mana potions... no more drinking a week's worth of water just to recover mana.'
She put the shards into her inventory along with her trusty bat. It served its purpose and she might be forced to use it if she drops her weapon to use [Double Cast].
'Are those Crystal minions still going to spawn even if I defeated the sub-boss they came from?'
'Yes, though in much smaller amounts.'
'Hmm. I sure hope they spawn more. I'd hate to get out of here with trash in my inventory.' Taylor said to her assistant, referencing the pile of shard fragments in her inventory.
The mana potions she put in the very first inventory slots for easy reach, next to the other recovery items.
Taylor walked towards the table her ex-best friend was lying on and stood at the end of it, watching as the injured girl moaned in pain. She could probably heal her up with her [First Aid Kit] but why waste resources on a potential enemy?
{Plus, she has high Vit and End. She can recover her HP and SP easily, although some recovery items won't hurt.} QA said.
Now she just has to wait for Emma to wake up so they can get over this shitshow. Which wasn't long.
"What the fuck did you hit me with, Taylor? A goddamned truck?" Emma groaned as she pushed herself up, propping herself in a sitting position.
"I don't know, you tell me." Taylor snarked back. 'She seems different.'
"I... remember- I think I was trapped in my head when I was fighting you. No, I knew I was trapped in my head. I could see you and hear you and shit, but I couldn't control myself," Emma explained. "I think I was mastered."
"Right." This one was tinged with doubt and Taylor's narrowed eyes showed it.
"No, really, you have to believe me. I didn't want to kill you."
"Right," Taylor repeated, drawing out the word and coating it in a heavy serving of sarcasm.
"Look, I heard what you said. That locker thing, that was a prank, okay?" Emma sighed. "I'll be the first to admit, it wasn't a good prank, but it's not like we were going to leave you there for a day or something."
"Right. You definitely would not do that."
"Look, what do you want from me? I already said that it wasn't a good prank. Can we please talk about what happened here instead? What the fuck happened to this room?" Emma questioned as she leveled a glare at Taylor, fiery green eyes meeting a dull green pair.
"What I want from you is an explanation," Taylor ground out, expression unchanging, but a hint of frustration bled into her voice.
"I already told you, I was Master-"
"Not that. I don't care why you attacked me," Taylor cut her explanation off. "All I want to know is why you did- why you bullied me for years. Why you shoved me in that locker. What happened to you?"
Emma scowled at her.
"I don't know how that's any of your business." She growled.
"It became my business the moment it endangered my life." Taylor's words were calm, but she could feel the anger slamming against her mental walls.
She wasn't the only one, and it was evident with Emma's reddening face that the red-haired girl was also feeling anger. Finally, she responded. "I hated being seen close to weaklings like you! That's the reason! I grew up, I realized that I needed better friends than some freak who cries for a fucking wee-"
"Finish that sentence and I will kill you. You're not the only one with powers in this room, and unlike you, I am not injured." The coldness in Taylor's voice, the blue ball coalescing in her palm seemed to knock the winds out of Emma's sails.
'And it would be oh so easy to do. My [Mana Bolt] would obliterate her at her current status.'
Emma flinched and shut her mouth. Her glare was still fixed on her face but Taylor could see that it was losing the fire it had when their conversation started. Taylor didn't let the ball dissipate, letting the threat hang until her former best friend answered her question.
"I- it- I... I wanted to see you fight back. I wanted to see proof that you were strong, like me. That you were a survivor too. I wanted to prove to Sophia that she was wrong about you, but you never did. All you did was take it. All you did was cry and run away." Emma spouted off, frustration mounting at every word. Just the same, Taylor's expression grew incredulous at every word that came out of the redhead's mouth.
"But at least you got out of it with amazing powers!" Emma said, smiling at Taylor. All the black-haired teen did was stare angrily at the teen with questionable sanity.
"Did you ever wonder why I didn't fight back?"
"What?" Emma blinked confusedly at her question.
"Why I couldn't fight back. You checkmated me the moment you started. I had no options. If I punched you, I'd risk getting sued. When I complained about you to the authorities, to Blackwell and her band of idiots, nothing happens. I can't even get away from you!" Taylor ranted, anger finally bleeding into her speech, all directed at Emma.
"Now I know why Blackwell does jack shit when I report the bullying. It's because you're a fucking cape," She paused in front of Emma and glared at her stunned face. "You're a hero. If you were me, you'd laugh at the irony of that statement. The piece of shit that thought shoving a girl in a locker full of fucking used tampons was an innocent goddamned prank! A HERO!" Taylor raged, a palpable tide of anger choked the room. An outlet, she finally found an outlet for her anger. She was distracted by the fight earlier, distracted by the terror and near-death experiences, but the revelations were still there, niggling in the back of her mind.
Her enemies were entrenched, lobbing stones at her because they were secure. They had nothing to fear. They were the strongest. The bright blue ball in her palm grew brighter as she unconsciously poured her mana into the spell.
"My personal tormentor, a fucking hero. The next thing the universe will throw at me is Sophia being a fucking Ward!"
There was a terrible silence. Taylor's eyes were steadily fixated on Emma's face, but the redhead's eyes avoided the angry gaze Taylor was sending her.
Then the realization hit Taylor. An Independent Heroine shouldn't have that much influence on a school principal, unless if Emma threatened Blackwell with violence. No, there's someone else that's stopping them from acting against her tormentors. Someone that can put up a lot of red-tape and Krystalia was often sighted patrolling with the Wards but was mostly seen with Shadow Stalker. PHO often gossiped about the two of them and the shippers were quick to write smut about the teenage capes.
But that didn't matter to Taylor. A Ward would be reason enough to stay silent about the matter. Sophia Hess practically fits the description of Shadow Stalker.
"You're fucking joking. You have got to be fucking messing with me right now."
{Taylor, calm down. [Gamer's Mind] is still fragile at the current state of things. It will most likely break again.}
'CALM DOWN!? CaLM dOwN!? How can I do that when this- this miserable excuse of a hero sits in front of me like she did nothing wrong. Like she DID ME A FUCKING FAVOR-' [Gamer's Mind] slammed its walls down in her head and she lost all traces of anger, as well as whatever concentration she had for the [Mana Bolt] swirling in her hand.
The blue bolt in her hand flew out of her hand and pierced through a wall behind Emma. Taylor closed her eyes and took a deep breath before focusing on her former friend. She watched as the redhead hesitated; like she didn't know what to say. She watched as the heroine failed to meet her eyes.
"Taylor, I... I didn't..." Emma swallowed, like the next words out of her mouth were painful to say. "I'm sorry."
"Too little, too late, don't you think?" She snarled, making the opposite girl flinch. Taylor sighed. She was calm now. She needed to stay calm, or else that [Mana Bolt] was going to hit something she'd probably enjoy hitting.
The two wallowed in tense silence before Taylor sighed.
"Whatever. We need to move on so we can get out of here." Taylor said before pulling a couple of sandwiches and water bottles out of her inventory. Emma looked apprehensive.
"Are you injured anywhere?" Taylor asked the still hunched girl.
"N-no, just a bit of pain."
"Here, eat these. It should heal you." Taylor handed it over, somewhat surprised when Emma perked up all of a sudden. Out of hunger or interest, she didn't really care. But she needed someone to tank the damage when they get out of here, and Emma can't do that with a hundred health points.
"Is that why you were eating during our fight?" Emma asked curiously, taking the sandwich and water from Taylor's hands. She didn't start eating immediately, however, but she started inspecting it instead. Taylor nodded.
"Are you sure it works on other people?"
"No. If it doesn't, then at least I won't hear you complain about being hungry for a while."
"What if it just kills me?"
Taylor didn't respond, but her glare spoke volumes.
"Alright, alright. Can you explain the situation while I eat? What happened to Winslow? Could have sworn this room was crystal wonderland earlier." Emma asked as she unwrapped the sandwich and bit into it.
Taylor thought about what information to give the cape. She didn't want to reveal everything that she knew since Emma could probably spin the tale against her when they all come out of the dungeon.
"...As far as I can tell, we're in a mirror dimension of Winslow. I say that because I'm pretty sure the hallways don't go on for hours just to reach the cafeteria." Taylor paused and raised an eyebrow when Emma sighed in relief.
"I thought I had gone berserk in school," the heroine explained. "Wait, you had that Mover thing earlier, so how come it took you hours?" Emma questioned.
"Your minions accosted me. Hallways are practically crawling with them, so I had to fight my way here. When we get out, we'll probably have to fight too until we reach either Sophia- no, sorry, Shadow Stalker's room."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Look, it's pretty easy to see that whatever put us here took capes. The next logical person that we both know of is Hess. The other one, I have no idea who."
"We'll have to fight them? Sophia is stronger than the both of us! Well, not stronger, but more experienced," Emma stated, "Plus, she would be very difficult to hit. We're both Brutes and she phases through physical attacks!"
"We'll most likely find out the most ideal way of dealing with her when we step out of those doors. If she has minions as you do, then that will give us time to experiment." Taylor explained, her eyes narrowed.
Emma seemed to be taking the situation far too well for her liking; like it was a pretty common occurrence to be in another world fighting her Mastered friends. "If all else fails, I'll stun her before she can shift and you close in on her and do what I did to you earlier."
"R-right, I can do that too."
"Alright, let's get out of this place," Taylor said as she spun on her heel and went for the exit.
'One down, three to go.'
A/N:
Hello again!
It took me a while to update because this chapter was just absolute hell to write. I felt like it's much worse than the others I've written. I just couldn't capture the mood and the pacing, along with the thought processes of the characters well enough- it was just terrible. I even tried out different styles, but this one was the only one that worked out for me.
I think I'll go back to the style I used in the last chapter because this was just a mess.
College just started so updates will be much more sporadic, but expect hopefully longer chapters. I'm trying to adjust the pacing so we can actually move on to the plot and out into the real world.
I've also read your suggestions and, hopefully, I can implement them after this dungeon. I hope that I can at least make a decent story out of this premise.
Other than that, criticisms are welcome but please be kind.