Role Playing 5.1

Once Tattletale and I both approved of James naming our new team the Monarchs the expected pop-up barrage happened.

«Quest Completed!»
«You have earned 7,500 XP»
«Relationship with James Barron has increased!»
«Relationship with James Barron has changed from 'Partner' to 'Teammate'»
«Relationship with Lisa Wilbourn has increased!»

I felt a bit disappointed that I hadn't leveled, but I had expected things to slow down now that I was level twenty-six. The relationship changes were nice, but I noticed that Lisa's status had increased, but hadn't changed types. While 'Lisa' stared at the pop-ups she'd received and started explaining that James's power had a videogame theme because his unconscious mind chose that theme, I flipped over to the relationships tab. Lisa was still a 'Peer'. Was that a bad sign?

Lisa picked up a large paper shopping bag that my bugs had noted as having two metal boxes inside it. "Not to change the subject or anything, but I brought something to give you two. It's nothing compared to what I suspect you've just given me, but it's a start." She opened the bag and pulled out two lunch boxes. She handed a plain grey tin to James and gave me a little kiddie Alexandria lunchbox. She offered an apologetic smile to James. "All they had left was Armsmaster. Each has two thousand dollars in it." She paused and sighed dramatically. "I have to be honest. It's not even from me. Coil thought he could lure you into joining the Undersiders by showing just how lucrative being a villain can be. But money is money, and I'm sure you two can find a good use for it. James should at least finish his costume."

I popped mine open. I'd thought that two hundred and ten dollars was a lot of money. I'd never seen so much money in one place outside the movies. I thumbed through the cash and said the first thing that popped into my head. "Oh, the skill books we can buy with this!"

As soon as I heard what I said, I wanted to take it back. I sounded greedy and shallow. Granted, a part of me was already making a mental list of books to buy, but the money was from Coil. I should probably consider the moral implications of accepting his cash, but was it any different than using the money that Legion Zombie had dropped? I wasn't going to report that to the IRS, and I could put Coil's bad money to good use.

"I'm going to have to call home and let them know I'll be out late," said James.

Whoa. Hand. Hand on my ass. A hand that jumped away like James had touched a hot stove. The part of me that was relaxing and enjoying the massage weighed his actions and decided it was an accident. The main part of me stayed focused on the conversation with Lisa, so the only reaction I had was a blush. Apparently my ability to «Multitask» did not completely cover my automatic responses.

Lisa didn't seem to notice, but she was distracted. The look of shock and surprise on her face was priceless. "Skill books?! You can get powers by reading books? And you're sharing that power? That's just…"

"Bullshit!" I chimed in. This time I beat James by a smidge.

"No, this isn't just bullshit." Lisa had a good disbelief rant going. "Bullshit is Scion speaking again. This is the kind of bullshit that makes Scion say 'bullshit'."

"Try saying «Status»." This was too easy.

Lisa obviously smelled more bullshit, because the self-satisfied smirk on her face had finally faded, but she only hesitated a moment. "«Status»… No fucking way." Lisa stared off into space at windows that I couldn't see.

While blowing Lisa's mind was fun, it was time to get serious. We had important stuff to do, and I didn't need to be laying around getting my legs rubbed. Sure, it felt good, but James wasn't my personal masseuse. Not to mention that his hands had already strayed once. I trusted him, but he was a teenaged boy. "I think my legs are good now." More accurately they didn't hurt as bad, but close enough. I caught him looking at me, and I could feel my face glowing. Damn it. If he could be professional, then I could. I needed to focus. "I was going to suggest introducing her to some zombies, but now I think we should hit some used bookstores."

"Used?" Lisa might be distracted, but she still managed to pack a load of scorn into her tone. "I drop four grand on you, and you're going to buy used books? No, we're hitting the major bookstores. Better selection, and anything they don't have we can order. If we run out of cash, I've got my own savings. It's just money." She looked from me to James. "Listen carefully: Coil doesn't play by the rules. He recruited me at gunpoint. When, not if, he finds out about James' powers, he'll do anything to control you. Torture, rape, and murder are the best case scenario. Your friends, family, even pets will be in danger. If we can buy powers, then we spend the damn money."

I gave her a firm nod to show that I heard her loud and clear. "You're absolutely right." I stood up and dusted the rocks off my costume. "Let's get changed. We've got some serious shopping to do.

I was really tempted to summon up a cloud of mostly butterflies and do a cheesy cartoon costume change. However, I wanted to make sure it worked first. I didn't want to flash everything I had, not that I had much to hide, but unlike James I knew what the word modesty meant. Instead James and I took turns changing in an alleyway between two smelly dumpsters with my cape acting as a changing screen.

Lisa grilled us about skills all the way to the boardwalk where we hit three separate bookstores and stocked up. I already had ideas on what skill books to get. Talking with Lisa added to them. At the top of my list were any books that would give me instant levels to skills that I already had. Those were easy enough to find: books on various different programming languages to books «Computer Programming»; books on knitting, crochet, needlepoint and others to boost «Fashion Design»; books on military strategy for «Tactics», and many, many more. «Cheerleading» turned out to be a subskill of «Acrobatics», which made sense in hindsight.

After boosting my current skills, my second priority was acquiring the skills I would need to opt out of high school. «Mathematics» and «History» books were easy to find. Chemistry turned out to be two skills: «Chemistry» that covered the theory and «Alchemy» that covered the practical side of things. Even better the «Alchemy» skill allowed the making of potions! Unfortunately all the 'formula' that came with the chemistry books were for mundane compounds. Books on English grammar showed up as «Writing», but books on literature didn't show up as skill books at all. Biology also turned out to be difficult. It showed up as dozens of subskills including «Entomology», but I couldn't find any book that gave the «Biology» skill that James had earned from going to class.

Other than my school subjects, there were only a few skills I wanted: «Anatomy», «First Aid» and «Trapping». They were were easy to find, but Tattle had more skill books to add to everyone's lists: «Chinese» so we could talk among ourselves and build it up. «Meditation» because it boosted WIS. «Dancing» because it boosted VIT. «Sleight of Hand» so we could be sneakier about accessing hidden windows when people were watching. «Speedreading» and «Hypnosis» because they were bullshit. Actually, I was the only one who had the WIS to learn «Hypnosis», but she insisted I pick it up.

James and I both blew through all of Coil's bribe money by the third stop, and that was counting the substantial bulk purchase discount that Lisa negotiated at the stores. Lisa was cool about covering the difference. She acknowledged we could have got cheaper at a used bookstores, but improving our skills and saving time were both vastly more important than money. She insisted we keep our personal spending money. Mentally I noted that I owed her owed her three hundred and eighty and some change. I fully intended to repay her eventually. James went over by a similar amount and from the look we shared, he also planned to repay Lisa – eventually.

We had so many books that we had to store them in James's inventory between stops. When we were finally done shopping for skill books, we found a quiet alleyway to memorize them. Watching Lisa learn her first skill was so very entertaining. She knew we were up to something, but was still freaked when the book in her hand started to glow. She tossed the book one way and dove the other ending up behind a dumpster. She emerged a little later with a burger wrapper stuck to her hair. When we laughed, she threatened to kick both our asses with her newly acquired «Capoeira» skill.

After that first light show, we got smarter. James opened an empty Illusion Barrier for us, and we had a good old-fashioned book-burning party. Except when the books burned up, they burned themselves into our brains. Learning one skill from one book was a miracle of bullshit. Learning a second skill was a head rush. Sitting there in a circle learning book after book was… surreal. I could only compare it to the time after I triggered when I was coming to grips with my powers, and they kept dosing me with different drugs. Knowledge was different from intelligence, but I felt smarter, filled to bursting with new facts, recipes, dance steps, chemical formula, military strategies and much more. I could recite every battle of Napoleon, and tell which sides made mistakes and why. I knew how to dance every move of the lambada; something that made my cheeks flush merely to think about, not that I would dance something so… slutty. I'd been struggling with geometry before, but after absorbing seven math books I could do calculus in my head.

It probably also helped that I actually was smarter. I'd learned thirteen new skills, bringing me to a round fifty skills in total. To do that I'd had to use my saved points. I'd raised my INT to 52, giving me two free slots so I wouldn't miss any skills acquired through doing things. Sure, it ran the risk of me learning a lame skill like «Dishwashing», but I didn't want to miss useful skills. Being maxed on skills had already cost me «First Aid». Being sure to have slots open had earned me «Bluff» and «Sprint». The possibility of learning a useless skill was just a risk I had to run.

I think we all felt a little giddy by the time we were done. Lisa suggested that we first fill James's inventory with emergency supplies and take a break to eat some food and plan. With addition of a short detour so that James and I could phone home we agreed. My father was not happy that I was out, or very accepting of my excuse that it was 'hero stuff', but there was little he could do when I hung up on him. James got luckier when he called home. No one was there, so he just left a message on the answering machine.

Lisa led us on a whirlwind shopping trip. First stop was for cellphones. We both got one cutting-edge internet capable phone for regular use and two cheapass burner phones. Next stop was an electronics store where she picked us both up little palm-sized recording devices that cost a bundle.

James looked his over. "Are these for dealing with Winslow?"

"Probably not. I have a plan for dealing with Winslow that will work faster than trying to record an incriminating conversation. These are for general use. Both of you need to keep these with you at all times. You never know when you'll hear something you want to be able to prove later."

"What's the plan for Winslow?" While I liked the concept of a better plan, I wanted details and not vague promises.

"Later, over dinner. I want to hit one more store before the evening rush."

At Crazy Dave's Army Surplus she loaded up on survival gear: bottled water, three fully-loaded medical kits (the kind the sell for In-Case-Of-Endbringer), sleeping bags, air mattresses, tents, urban camo suits in our sizes, and more. At my suggestion we also got rope. It was heavier than what I could make with spider silk, but it would work against Legion Zombie. When we got to the MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), James started slowing Lisa down by reading the small print.

Lisa snatched some MREs off the shelf. "I got you covered. These four meals..." she showed them to James "… are lacto-ovo vegetarian friendly. I'll make sure to stock extra. We good?"

"Yeah." James nodded. "That's all I wanted."

Lisa was done with stocking up on food and survival gear. She led us to a different part of the store where she bought cases of .38 ammo. She checked out, paid in cash, and didn't get carded. I wasn't entirely happy with all the ammunition. I knew about the gun in her purse. I'd quietly removed my bugs from it earlier without telling her, but did she intend for us to use guns as well?

Outside we transferred all of it to James's inventory. "How much ammo do you need?" He must have shared my reservations about guns.

"I've owned a pistol for a while. I've never had to use it. I carry it for emergencies. My character sheet put a number on my skill, «Pistol Mastery 2.» Honestly, that's embarrassing. I'm not going to stop carrying a gun. I've already got the skill, and it's a good holdout weapon. But if I'm going to carry it, I'm going to know how to use it properly."

I still wasn't entirely happy with her declaration that she would be using a gun, but guns were good enough for Miss Militia. I also knew about the shotgun that my father kept in his closet, so who was I to judge? "So… gun control is hitting what you're aiming at?"

"Just so." Lisa nodded her agreement, and took a deep breath. She looked both of us over critically. "While Taylor's costume is impressive, you both could use a fashion overhaul in your daily wear, but not tonight. Let's get food. Hmm, it's Monday. There's a good Thai place nearby, and you both like Thai."

I frowned a little at her presumption at telling me I like Thai. It was true, but I would have liked to have been asked. Her comment about a fashion overhaul wasn't very flattering either, but she was annoyingly correct about that as well. Maybe it was because I'd leveled up «Fashion Design», but I was acutely aware that I was dressed to unimpress. Neither dinner nor clothes were worth arguing over, so I simply agreed. "Sure."

"I like Thai?" asked James. "...as long as they don't fry it in grease."

We ended up eating at Siam Palace. I'd never been there before, and it was certainly a couple of steps up from Fugly Bob's. We were met at the door by a hostess in a fancy dress who showed us to a booth with a clean white tablecloth. A waitress almost immediately appeared with our silverware and took our drink orders. Soft oriental music came from hidden speakers. I checked out the kitchen and found it had less than the average number of bugs. Their largest insect problem was flies that had probably come in from the alleyway behind them which was crawling with maggots. I took care of their bug problem by feeding the flies to the local spiders. The menu wasn't pure Thai. They crossed over into the Japanese with some sushi items. Lisa had Mee krob and chicken satay. James had pad Thai. I opted for the pad thai as well, but with chicken in mine.

Once our waitress departed Lisa spoke in «Chinese». "Our waitress really is Thai, unlike the cook, but no one close to us speaks «Chinese» so we can speak freely."

James nodded. "And work on our «Chinese» at the same time. Win-win."

"Good," I replied in «Chinese» trying out the language. It felt pretty natural. I also approved of the multitasking. That's why I'd picked up «Chinese», so we could grind it together. "So you promised to tell us your plan?"

"Of course, but first you need to know more about Coil, particularly his power. He claims it's destiny manipulation, but I can tell that's a lie."

James frowned. "Wait, destiny manipulation? How would that even work?"

"Coil strongly implied that his power lets him choose the outcome of any event: what numbers win the lottery, which horse wins the race, and who wins a fight."

I didn't like the sound of that at all. "I'd call bullshit, but given what James's power can do…" Well, I wasn't sure what the limits were on how bullshit powers could be any longer. "Can he really control destiny?"

Lisa took a long slow sip of her drink. I'm certain she did that on purpose just to tease us. "Not to the extent he claims, but he can do a good imitation of it. When he 'hired' me he showed off by controlling eight coin tosses in a row."

James snorted. "That doesn't even take powers. I might need another level or two of «Sleight of Hand» to pull it off with an unaltered coin, but I can think of a few ways to do it without much practice. One or two weighted coins, one heads and one tails, would be simple enough."

I found myself nodding in agreement with James, and even discarding «Sleight of Hand» there were numerous parahuman abilities that could control a coin toss or make it appear so: telekinesis, illusions, super speed, and precognition to name a few.

"I wish it was that simple. My power reveals secrets. I know he manipulated outcomes; he wasn't just faking it, but he was overselling his power. He had to use a coin, not something like a deck of cards."

The knowledge from math books I'd absorbed earlier was still bubbling inside my head. Included in that had been quite a bit of probability theory, so her point was obvious. "Because a coin toss only has two outcomes."

"Exactly. Unfortunately, his power does more than coin tosses. When Coil sent the Undersiders out to fight Lung, he gave me his guarantee that we would survive. He completely believed we would survive. I'm not buying his power arranging for the two of you to show up before Lung could roast us, but he did something. Could anyone else have known you were going to fight Lung?"

"Nope," replied James. "Not a chance. We didn't know we were going to fight Lung, and no one else knew we were out training, let alone where. Taylor spotted a bunch of ABB thugs, and we followed them. We didn't even plan on fighting. Could any power have arranged all that?"

Lisa shook her head. "It can't be that powerful. Otherwise Coil would already be king of the world. Coil is ultra-paranoid, hiding in a well-fortified base surrounded by mercenaries. He clearly has his limits."

"Maybe it doesn't matter what Coil's power is," I suggested. "Functionally he may as well have precognition. The question is, 'How do we counter it?'"

"Simple, we don't let him pick the battlefield. Coil is invested in Brockton Bay. He has a base, soldiers, moles, informants, and assets galore. He can somehow affect the outcome of one event. So we give him dozens. We hit everything he's got at once. Even if he escapes, his power base will be ruined and he won't be able to retaliate effectively."

I weighed that plan. It didn't sound that bad. In fact, it sounded pretty good. If Coil's power was really destiny manipulation, then he wouldn't need the base and soldiers. So stripping all that away from him would hurt. Given my insects' ability to put down the hurt over large areas, I had a pretty good idea which of us three would be responsible for taking down Coil's soldiers in his base. Hopefully I'd have some time to build up my insect control abilities before that time came. "That's a good outline, now how about details?"

Lisa expanded on her plan in bad Chinese while we ate good Thai food. Neither James nor I liked Lisa's plan against Coil, but she knew Coil best. It was hard to argue with her especially when she explained that it would ensure our friends and families were safe for at least a few days. We were able to come up with a fall-back plan. It was less a plan B and more of a way to protect our families if worse came to worse. On the other hand she had some very good ideas that would help bring justice to Winslow. Unfortunately with Coil's willingness to target friends and family, that quest just didn't seem as important any longer.

Other than a happy tummy the only real positive for me from that meeting was learning that my high WIS actually did something meaningful. I learned «Chinese» faster than either James or Lisa. After Lisa announced that with her not-psychic power, James confirmed that he'd read it in the Beginner's Guide to the Gamer. As fun as it was watching Lisa's mind get blown again at the concept of a power coming with its own owner's manual, it was even more amusing to listen to her increasingly strident requests/demands to read the guide.

Naturally, I came in on James's side. "Can you talk about the book later? Lisa, we've already mentioned fighting zombies. I think you should really experience what that is all about first. It's a chance for you to gain valuable skills and level up skills you have. If James decides to lend you the book, you can read it later. We're done planning. You've paid for dinner. Let's go smash some zombies."

Lisa tilted her head at me, like a bird, then nodded. "You're right. The more context I have, the easier it will be to understand the book. So, James, ready to show me to your 'dungeon'. I think Taylor is eager to tie up some victims in silk cords. Where are we going to do this?"

"Um, dungeon…" James seemed a bit taking aback by Tattletale's repartee. "We've been practicing in the Boat Graveyard, but anywhere can do. We just need a hidden spot to enter and exit the dungeon. Since you picked «Capoeira», you'll want more room to really cut loose."

I still wasn't sure whether I liked Lisa's teasing James. It wasn't mean spirited, but she wasn't as funny as she thought she was. It made me feel uneasy in a way that I just couldn't pin down. Regardless, an open field wasn't a good idea. "We need at least part of the zone to be constricted. We can leave every hour or so and reset the dungeon to avoid spawning the boss zombie, but if he does come out to play we'll need a place to lure him into a trap."

"Don't go easy on me, I'm a big girl. Capes don't always get to pick their battlegrounds. Let's stick with what you already know for today."

"Fine with me." James glanced around the streets. There wasn't much traffic and we were largely being ignored even though we were three white kids talking in «Chinese». "So… want to race?"

To tell the truth I was still a little sore and Lisa didn't have the «Sprint» skill yet. "Maybe we should walk and let our food settle?"

Lisa looked me over and shook her head. "If you keep pushing, you're going to hurt yourself someday, and if you keep hiding things, you might not be the only one who gets hurt. We're a team, aren't we?"

"Taylor?" asked James.

"My legs are still a little sore. I can manage. I should get a level up from the zombies. That will wash away all the muscle aches."

"Bullshit," mumbled Lisa.

Was she talking about the fact that James's power could wash away fatigue? Or about me being stubborn?

James was still looking at me concerned. "We can call it a night if you need to rest."

"No. I'm fine." I was not going to be the weak link. Lisa had made it clear that Coil was dangerous. "If it gets bad, I'll call a break, and you can «Massage» my legs, okay?"

James eyed me seriously for a moment before nodding. "Okay. But if you start limping, I'm pulling us out."

"Fine. I get it. I won't push it."

«Relationship with Lisa Wilbourn has increased!»

What? I'd been talking to James.

Lisa rolled her eyes, clutched her chest and gave a huge fake sigh. "Such honor, such nobility of spirit. Now, if you two are done making eyes at each other, could you tell me what you mean about 'leveling'?"

"We're not!" I sputtered on top of James's "What?"

"Good to know you're both available," said Lisa with a wink for James, then she laughed. "You two are too easy. Now, leveling up, give me details."

Lisa grilled us for the rest of the walk to the Ship Graveyard. She starting with leveling and then moved on to zombies. She had just started asking about the ghost dungeon when we arrived at our spot.

"Excuse me while I change costumes." I stepped out a ways away from James and Lisa and swapped into my Lady Bug costume.

Lisa pointed in another direction. "And I'll be changing over there. No peeking. Not on the first date."

When I returned I found Lisa wearing the urban camo gear we'd picked up at Crazy Dave's. James had switched into Beetle Knight and had swapped out the Chalcosoma atlas, or Atlas beetle, horns for a pair of serrate antennae, compromised of multiple segments with angled edges giving them a saw-tooth appearance. At the scape, or base, where they attached to James's helmet there was a glowing bulge shaped rather like a beetle abdomen. The light given off by this odd bump was a golden yellow similar to the bioluminescence of Lampyridae. Apparently this was the firefly attachment to his helm. "Hey James, nice headlights."

Lisa cackled at that one. "Isn't that supposed to be his line?"

James stared at Lisa before glancing at my chest. He forced his eyes up and to mine before awkwardly returning his gaze to Lisa. "I don't know what you're talking about?"

I was so glad that I had my facemask on now. It was really hot behind my mask. I decided to just be nonchalant about the whole… incident. "Hey, it's a good idea. I've collected some fireflies, and I've got a couple of cold-light sticks, but we could use the extra light." For someone who kept harping on us about needing to take things seriously, Lisa sure enjoyed her little quips. I was ready to repay the favor. "So, ready to be covered in bugs? We're planning to quit before the boss shows, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. The only way to bring my bugs along is by having them touch one of us."

"Not looking forward to it, but I'll manage." Lisa put one hand on James's shoulder. "Ready as I'm going to get, bug me."

I placed a hand on James and landed bugs on us until we were all covered and then James stuck his hand in the air and opened up the Illusion Barrier. The sky seemed to shatter and crack, but the sky didn't fall. Instead zombies started popping up. I dispersed my bugs sending them flying out across the zone to create a «Combat Map» and sent my skirt-nets flying out to the closest zombies to trip them and immobilize them. James immediately charged a zombie and punched it in the face. I unlimbered my bat and waded in ready to protect Lisa, but it wasn't necessary. Lisa abruptly spun around twice and on the second spin kicked the zombie closest to her in the head. She didn't put it down, but the zombie staggered back and she was able to kick it again.

"Nice kick, Rookie!" shouted James.

"Thanks, but don't call me 'Rookie', Rookie. You didn't mention that they reek like rotten meat."

"They're zombies," replied James. "Did you expect them to smell nice?"

I quietly took out another zombie and put several others on hold until we were ready for them. I also had new tricks to work on. "«Swarm Clones,»" I commanded as I gathered bugs into vaguely humanoid shapes to practice drawing zombies off course. Then I invoked "«Swarm of Doom»" trying to mentally define it to apply to not all the bugs in my radius, but only the zombies in our immediate area. I just wanted to soften the zombies up a little while practicing my «Swarm of Doom», not do a zone-wide kill like I'd done… was that only yesterday?

It felt a bit awkward fighting with Lisa at first. After hours of fighting together James and I had fallen into a rhythm where we hardly needed to speak to each other. Sometimes a little bit of combat chatter was needed to handle zombies who popped in an unusual places, or the rare scuba-type zombies, but for the most part when a zombie approached whoever was closest would kill it. Lisa seemed effective with «Capoeira», but she moved all over the place. She engaged zombies that James and I were in better position to handle, and twice she attacked zombies I had on hold with «Entangle». Really, I could understand why it was happening. When I first learned «Aikido», I'd wanted to jump right into a mass of zombies and toss them left, right and center. «Capoeira» seemed equally useful for multiple attackers. I resolved the problem by calling out targets more and using fireflies to designate the targets that I wanted Lisa to attack. That worked until Lisa got winded, but she fixed that problem herself by taking a break from «Capoeira» and practicing her «Gun Mastery» until she got her breath back.

I fed injured zombies to Lisa so she could get her «Apprentice Undead Hunter» title. It was really too easy. In fact I found that I could one-shot zombies with a good critical hit and had to ease up. We were killing them that quickly.

James must have gotten bored as well, because out of the blue he started singing the lyrics to Thriller. I joined in and after a little bit Lisa sang with us, too. As I sang along it was like a whole new musical world opened up to me. Despite receiving the «Singing» skill, I'd been so clueless about what singing really meant. I'd been happy merely to get the lyrics right. I'd even been singing softer and louder at times when I should have been changing pitch. Now I could matching James note for note. We were singing in the same range: alto for me and countertenor for James. He was actually a decent singing voice. He was a little fragile in his upper range; his voice probably hadn't settled yet. On the other hand, it was the low notes that gave me trouble, because I was a mezzo-soprano and not a contralto. Still, James and I had some nice harmony going. Lisa, got the lyrics right, but she was an off-key soprano. I really had no room to complain. Prior to the four skill books I'd absorbed on «Singing», I'd been just as bad, if not worse. I felt like I owed James an apology for torturing his ears. Once we were done with Thriller, we kept singing taking turns trying to come up with undead or Halloween themed songs. Unfortunately, we didn't know the lyrics to most of them. The Monster Mash was a graveyard smash and… something, something. At least Lisa got the «Singing» skill out of it.

"It's been almost an hour, Taylor. Want to call your bugs in so I can reset this? Or we could give the Dragon Yakuza Dungeon a try. This is almost too easy, and 7 XP a kill is weak."

I'd noticed that, but with three of us we killed them faster as well. Zombies were safe. I'd been keeping an eye on Tattletale with my bugs. She'd had a few close calls. I'd been ready to step in every time, but I wasn't sure she was ready for a harder dungeon yet. "Hmm, how about we don't stop? We just keep going and kill Legion Zombie again. We've got rope and we know how to kill him. We can try out the Dragon Yakuza dungeon tomorrow in the daylight."

"Sure, sounds good. Hey Lisa, are you okay with fighting the boss? He drops better loot."

"If two rookies could handle him, I'm sure all three of us can manage."

"Good. Then we're leaving the ship. I want to look over our ambush spot before Legion Zombie spawns. Lisa, we'll encounter more zombies this way and from all directions, but nothing you can't handle. I'll still be tagging your targets and using «Entangles» for crowd control. Have you received «Finishing Blow» yet?" As I spoke I used fireflies to direct James to take point and lead us off the container ship.

"Just a minute ago. It's still only level 1. I've got «Power Strike» as well, but didn't manage those other two you mentioned."

"That's fine. You won't really need them…" As we moved off the ship, onto the beach and amongst the twisty maze of the Boat Graveyard, I described our battle plan to Lisa in detail, making sure she understood. I knew that it was probably redundant with her super-intuition power, but Legion Zombie was potentially deadly. He was stupid and could be played like a matador plays a bull, but we had no idea how strong he was. I'd rather not put it to the test. Especially considering that Lisa had no armor at all. By the time I'd finished with my description we'd reached the ambush point. It was still probably the best place in the instance to run the ambush. Two of the larger wrecks made an alleyway down which we could funnel Legion Zombie into a trap.

"When the time comes, James, you'll be here like before." Giant firefly arrow to make sure it was clear. "I'll be over here, same as last time." I used another firefly arrow to light up my hiding place. I noticed the flaw that I hadn't seen last time. My escape route required me to go up a slope. When I'd turned to run during the fight, the sand had slipped under me, and I hadn't been able to run fast enough. If James hadn't disobeyed my orders and jumped in, would I have gotten away? I didn't know, but this time I wasn't taking chances. "I need to set up a rope to help me get up that slope. We'll take care of that after these zombies." My planning got put on hold for a bit. The zombies hadn't stopped spawning, so we had to clear them out. "Lisa. You'll be in one of two places. If we lead him in from the east, I want you hidden here." I marked it with fireflies. "But, if we lead him in from the west, I want you hidden here." Another batch of fireflies to light it up. "Any insights, improvements or questions?"

"I'm good," replied James immediately.

"One of each," Lisa said with her patented self-amused tone.

Really, I was more surprised that was all she had and that she'd let me take the lead as much as she had so far. I directed James toward an approaching zombie and took on another myself. "Go for it."

"You really came up with this battle plan the first time on the fly and improvised the rope from your skirt-nets?"

I shrugged as I «Entangled» a zombie heading towards Lisa. She could kill it in a moment. "Yes, I did."

"The insight is you should give yourself more credit. It's a good plan. Maybe a tactical Thinker could do better, but I can't see how. Especially not with what you had on hand. Your «Multitasking» is subtle, but don't sell it short. Use it right and you might be as good a Thinker as me someday."

Really? I'd been expecting snark. "Thanks. Lisa."

«Relationship with Lisa Wilbourn has increased!»

James snickered. "Me brutezan. Me hit things good."

"Your powers are even more bullshit than hers," replied Lisa. "You're in no danger of being overshadowed." She pointed at the zombie I had «Entangled». "Lady Bug, you going to let that thing go so I can kick it in the face?"

"Yeah, sure." I released the zombie and it stumbled toward her.

After our mutual admiration party, we resumed clearing the zone. It wasn't too much longer until the Legion Zombie spawned, just as big and bad as ever, but the plan went off without a hitch. Fortunately it was also just as stupid as the first one. I used my «Swarm Clones» to lead it into the alleyway, entangled it with not one, but three ropes around its legs. We pounded away at its knees with «Finishing Blows» while it was down, then took turns running away from it while the other two beat on it from behind. The outcome was never in doubt. In the end the Legion Zombie faded away with a final scream of rage leaving nothing but my ropes and some loot.

«You have gained a level!»

"Whew! That's a rush! Not quite as much as I expected from what you said, Tayor, but should be way more beat than this."

I was still tingling from the level-up refresh myself. I looked from Lisa to James. Should we hug? James and I had after killing Legion Zombie, but that had been because we were both just thrilled to actually be alive.

Lisa laughed and spread out her arms. "Don't be silly. Group hug time! We beat the giant monster."

I shrugged and joined the group hug. For some reason it felt more awkward with Lisa in the mix, but still we'd won.

«Relationship with Lisa Wilbourn has increased!»
«Relationship with Lisa Wilbourn has advanced from 'Peer' to 'Friend'»

"Ooh, loot! Look's like another «Low Grade Recovery Potion», that's a healing potion. And this is... a «Potion of Zombie Strength», gives an extra 20% STR for ten minutes. Blueprint! Hmm, ten ribs and a skin will let me «Craft» a «Bone Rot Bow». Looks like it takes 40 STR to use it, but it gives +5% to accuracy and damage. It also can debuff enemies with [Bone Rot], which drains a little VIT. And we've got some cash again. Does anyone want a bow? I'm not super-excited about picking up an «Archery» skill, but this might be the way to kill the ghosts. Sometimes enemies that are immune to normal weapons can be hurt by weapons with even the slightest enchantment on them."

Did I want a bow? Not really, I'd already spent a good chunk of my stat points raising my INT to get skills. I didn't really want to try to maintain another skill that didn't mesh with my «Blunt Weapon Mastery» and «Aikido.» "I'd have to dump a huge amount points into STR to be able to use it. Lisa? You want to become our ranged weapons expert? Maybe there are special ranged attacks, just like there are hand to hand attacks?"

"I don't have the strength either, but let me check something. «Skills.»" Lisa manipulated the screen. "You know nothing in «Power Strike» or «Finishing Blow» says anything about it being restricted to hand to hand. Let me try it out." She brought out her gun and called out "«Power Strike»" as she fired it. The gun almost jumped out her hand and hit her in the face and the oil drum she'd used as a target had a big hole in it. "It's got some kick to it, but «Power Strike» at least works with ranged attacks."

"Good to know." I'd never considered that «Power Strike» would work with more than hand-to-hand. Would it work for «Finishing Blow», «Grounding Strike» and «Rising Strike». Something to test some other time. I'd leave that to Lisa since I didn't have a ranged weapon.

"Cool, you know gun-fu," added James. "I guess none of us will be using a bow anytime soon. My STR isn't up to it yet. Not need to make one unless someone will be using it. What about the potions?"

"Keep them in your «Inventory,»" advised Lisa. "Safest place for them."

"Okay." James picked up everything and shoved it into his «Inventory». "There's $360 in cash, so only $120 each. It's not as good as last time's loot, but I did get more than enough parts to make «Undead Shirts» and «Pauldrons» for both of you. The shirt is light armor, gives an extra 3 VIT, and you can wear it under your normal costume. The pauldrons only give 1 VIT, but every bit helps."

I ran my eye over James's shirt. «Fashion Design» popped up to tell me he still looked goofy. The shirt was awfully snug on him. Not something I'd want to wear in public, but it would go under my armor. So it didn't matter. Extra protection was always good and +3 VIT couldn't hurt either. However, the pauldrons wouldn't work with my costume at all. "I wouldn't say no the shirt."

Lisa frowned. "Potions, magic items, the more stuff you use the harder it will be to keep your abilities under wraps, but on the other hand turning down an advantage is stupid. I'll take a shirt."

"Want to go again? Or check out the Dragon Yakuza?" asked James hopefully.

I checked my watch. It was twenty past nine. "I'd told my father I'd be home by 10:30. I should head back." Honestly I'd rather face another Legion Zombie.

"And you're still sore," said Lisa proving what an apt name Tattletale was for her. "So am I. James will just have to «Massage» us both before we call it a night. And James, I need you to get all my muscles. Unlike Taylor, I don't want a sore ass in the morning."