"Iustitia!" – Regular Speech
'Mistress!' – Thoughts/Telepathy
[Justice for All]! – Skill/Ability being used.
Beta'd by BigCC
Session 1.6
The roar that was presumably Hamelin's expression of rage continued on for a moment before cutting out. Either he was still in the middle of fighting/fleeing the Protectorate and couldn't come into his little fiefdom or he had shifted in and was on his way here already.
In either case, I knew we couldn't last much longer. I dunno about the Wards, the Undersiders or the two younger members of New Wave, but I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. I'd been awake since seven this morning and it was at least ten o'clock right now and the last three or four hours had been nothing but constant stress and combat. We needed rest, and I had the funniest feeling we weren't going to get it anytime soon.
Voicing this opinion wasn't wise, as it would drag down morale, so I kept quiet about it. Instead, I examined Iustitia. She had taken on the physical appearance of a fourteen year old, one more gifted than I was in the bust, hips and rear-end department and she also had a pretty face. Typical, my own power was more physically attractive than I was!
"So what's the plan?" Kid Win asked.
"We're all tired, so we rest while we can." I informed him.
"Seriously?" Aegis asked.
"What about that roar just now? Isn't Hamelin pissed at us?" Glory Girl asked with a frown, scanning her surroundings. I was willing to bet that the instant the kidnapping Cape appeared, she'd try to brain him. I'd do the same, truth be told.
"What else is there to do?" I asked, offering a light shrug. When I was met with silence, I continued as I plopped down on the ground and leaned against a wall, trying to get as comfortable as I can. "Either he's still running from and/or fighting the Protectorate and New Wave or he's already here. If it's the latter, we can't do anything without him being within laser pistol range. If he's still playing tag with your superiors and family we can use this time to catch our breaths and get some rest. Because, I don't know about you lot, but I'm bushed."
"Yeah, we're a bit tired too." Vista nodded, stifling a yawn.
"So then, we'll take hour-long naps in shifts, half on, half off." I proposed. "Not nearly as good as sleeping properly, but it'll at least mean we're not dead on our feet when the Pied Piper of Crazytown comes calling."
"Sounds like an idea." Grue nodded. "Kid Win told me that you have weapons. Care to share the wealth?"
I looked through my inventory and saw that Iustitia must have touched the Giant Rat stuck in the door or one of the Hamelians and played around with my drops from that, because I had a whole bunch of weapons. "Any preferences?"
"I'm a fist fighter." The Undersiders' leader said.
"Any cattle prods?" Regent asked.
"Hand to hand." Bitch grunted.
"Ranged…if possible." Tattletale said, wincing as her headache throbbed in fury.
"Well…for Grue and Bitch…these [Knuckle Gloves] will be good." I said, drawing two pairs of hand protectors. Each had blunt spikes atop the knuckles that slightly increased their damage in hand to hand combat, regardless of whether they were used as a boxer's weapon or in swipes like Bitch used. I had to explain that to Grue when he pointed out his teammate's fighting style, and he was impressed by my 'Trumping effect' so that was good.
"As for you, Regent…nope. Fresh out of cattle prods." I shrugged. "Got a blackjack though."
"Meh, better than nothing." The renaissance-faire reject shrugged. The one I gave him was one of three I received, with this one having a 10% chance to double the damage dealt with each hit and a 5% chance to stun per hit.
Ranged weapons…yeah, I only had one.
"What the heck is this?" Tattletale looked at it in bafflement. It was a pouch with several small projectiles in it.
"Throwing darts, sixteen of them." I informed her. "They may not look like much, but they'll hit with a shock effect, paralyzing whoever's hit with them for a moment. That should give you time to get away. Take this baton too."
What I gave her was a billy-club made of wood, with no special effects other than raising her defence slightly while she wielded it. I noticed Aegis staring in my direction for a moment before looking away. I could tell that he was very much in of the thought that handing out weapons to villains was A Bad Thing, but screw him. We were under an Endbringer Truce and everything, so they needed to be able to pull their weight.
Besides, I didn't give Regent my best blackjack, nor did I give Grue and Bitch my best gloves. Tattletale's ranged weapon was limited in ammo and her close combat weapon was only as lethal as her arms could swing it. She obviously preferred to stay out of CQC, so I doubted that she had much practice at using weapons like the club.
See Aegis? I can think ahead too! Ya jerk…
In the end, despite my exhaustion, I was one of the ones to remain awake and on guard duty, alongside Gallant, Glory Girl, Aegis, Grue and Regent. Kid Win, Vista, Panacea, Clockblocker, Bitch and Tattletale would sleep, or at least try to. I really felt sorry for Tattletale, who was still suffering under her Thinker headache. I was pretty thankful that I didn't have Thinker powers if one of those damned headaches was the end result.
"You sure this is a good idea?" Aegis quietly asked uneasily half an hour later, looking around at the villains suspiciously.
"I don't see anything suspicious with them, Aegis." I pointed out softly.
Grue and Regent were talking in low voices, with Grue looking around every so often. The Wards Leader twitched every time he did.
"Look, we need all the help we can get." I said patiently. "Grue agreed to an Endbringer Truce, so we have to take them at their word. If there's one thing that villains can be counted upon, it's keeping the Endbringer Truce. Doesn't the Protectorate teach you anything?"
Aegis shut up.
I sighed and went back to scanning the valley. Aegis was such a self-righteous little…! I mean, I could understand it if the Undersiders had made ANY suspicious moves since they'd woken up, but they hadn't done anything fishy at all from what I could see. Maybe they'd done something while I'd been playing decoy?
Or maybe Aegis is just a lawful stupid kinda guy. I had no clue what his damage was here, but I could tell that once Hamelin was dealt with, he was going to be a pain in the ass.
I stood up and walked over to lean against the wall of the enclosed valley. Iustitia followed me.
'That boy is irritating you, Mistress?' she asked silently.
'Yes. He's so convinced that someone being a villain automatically makes them a threat that has to be neutralized, even in this kind of circumstance.' I replied. 'Given that he's eying Grue and Regent like a sheepdog eyes a wolf, I think he's probably going to try to arrest the Undersiders after Hamelin is taken care of.'
'They are villains.' Iustitia pointed out. She didn't sound accusing, more like she was simply stating the facts.
'True, but there are very clear and defined rules to do with an Endbringer Truce.' I explained patiently. 'As soon as the Endbringer Sirens go off, the Truce is in effect. It only ends once all heroes and villains are returned to their homes without incident. In the spirit of that, this mini-Endbringer Truce should be in effect until the Wards, New Wave and the Undersiders separate. Aegis is likely going to claim that with no authority figures from the Protectorate here to make it, the truce doesn't count or something like that. That is unjust, so I will oppose him if it comes to it.'
'If that is your justice, then I shall grant you my power to carry it out, Mistress.' My Embryo stated firmly. I nodded at her with a smile before continuing my watch. Half an hour later, it was my turn to rest and I dropped off like a light.
Waking up an hour later left me feeling groggy as hell. Seriously, I was going to lock myself in my room and sleep for a couple of days once this was over.
"Any sign of him?" I asked Panacea, who had been the one to wake me up.
"Nope." The healer shook her head. "He's not shown his face here, ditto for any more projections."
That…was worrying. We've violated his base of operations, taken custody of the source of his stolen powers and destroyed what had to be a good portion of his minions. By all rights, he should have stormed in here ages ago ready to cut us into pieces. The fact that he hadn't meant that either he couldn't, for whatever reason, or that he was coming up with a way to attack us with another projection while he was still outside.
If it was the former, then it also led to the latter. My mom had been able to carry on a full conversation while she graded papers from her job as an English Lit professor, so I knew that it was possible to multitask. If Hamelin was making a projection to take us on whilst simultaneously running from and/or fighting the heroes chasing him, it was a worrying prospect.
The only bright side is that it obviously took the bastard time to do so; otherwise we'd have been overrun long before now.
When I informed the others of my guess, I was met with groans. Evidently they deemed it likely as well.
"This guy's like a goddamned Dungeon Master." Clockblocker muttered. "If I have to fight a bugbear or something, I am going to be so pissed."
"Uh, guys?" Vista said with a gulp. "The wall's warping!"
Looking over at where the Shaker was pointing at, the wall on the opposite side of the valley, a large section of the wall was being warped by some kind of purple and orange energy field. It was about the side of a one-story house and did not give me the warm fuzzies to look at.
Fortunately, my Stamina Bar was now full from both eating and sleeping for an hour. If Hamelin wanted to play games, I'd play games right back at him.
'Mistress, I sense a BM being formed.' Iustitia spoke up suddenly. She had retreated into the seal on my hand while I slept.
'A what now?' I asked.
'A Boss Monster.' My Embryo replied. 'A vastly stronger monster than any of the regular ones you have faced up until now. Typically, it will be a large version of monsters you have faced in the area. That's how it is for an Area Boss, anyway. Unique Boss Monsters are even more troublesome, but fortunately, this aura isn't that of a UBM.'
'Lovely.' I thought back to her as the rock of the valley wall warped into a large metal double-door.
"Looks like we have the old monster out of the cave routine." I sighed.
Kid Win snorted. "What, like the Rancor from Star Wars?"
The doors burst open as soon as they were finished forming, revealing a horrific sight; a large conglomeration of hairless rats the size of race cars, their tails tied together in the center. The shrill shrieking of the dozen or so rats hurt my ears to listen to.
"No…as in a supersized Rat King." I deadpanned back. Rat Kings were troublesome omens spoken of in step with the Black Plague. They were actually just a group of rats who had their tails stuck together through some happenstance. This Rat King, however, was a walking bag of trouble that we have to deal with.
"Kid…" Glory Girl growled. "You just had to jinx it!"
"Gimme a break!"
"Iustitia, Form One." I ordered.
"Yes Mistress!" Iustitia said excitedly and transformed back into the sword and scales. Using this form was preferred in a one-on-one fight compared to the tipstaff form. If my Stamina dropped low enough, I'd swap over, but not before then. The [Balance the Scales] ability of the Scales was really too useful.
"We…have to fight that thing?" Tattletale said nervously.
"Not the Undersiders or Panacea." Gallant shook his head firmly. "Not Vista either. You're all either disempowered or not combat capable. Don't argue, Vista. Your Shaker power isn't useful in this situation."
"Stupid Manton Limit…" the green-clad girl grumbled.
"Er, guys? That thing's coming this way!" Clockblocker said with a gulp.
Indeed, the Rat King was somehow coordinating its movements to charge across the valley at us. Just bloody perfect!
"Whatever you do, do not separate the rats!" I shouted as I started to run at the charging rat pack. "The fact that they have to divide their attention to coordinate their movement is too big of an advantage to give up, so whatever you do, do NOT cut off their tails!"
"Roger that!" Kid Win nodded and pointed his laser pistol at the Rat King. Blasts of focused light leapt from it, swiftly joined by the laser rifle in Clockblocker's hands, the red beams hitting the forerunning huge rats and making them screech in pain.
"Glory Girl, smackdown time!" I called.
"Hell yeah!" The Alexandria-type grinned and flew up into the air, only to slam into the head of one of the rats like a javelin. She rose up and flew into the town, only to return with a long wooden beam that she had apparently taken from the construction materials in the town. She set about slamming her new weapon into the Rat King as a makeshift bludgeon.
"[Balance the Scales]!" I shouted once I came within range of the Rat King. The energy pulsed from the scales and slammed into the many bodies of the Rat King, which promptly faltered, staggered and collapsed to the ground.
At the same time, however, an immense weight landed on my shoulders. It was like I was trying to bench an eighteen wheeler!
'Mistress, you can't keep this up!' Iustitia informed me in a panic. 'This boss is resistant to my [Balance the Scales] Skill! If you keep this up, you'll be hurt!'
'How long before I have to release it?' I asked with gritted teeth.
'At best, you can keep it up for five minutes.' Iustitia said after a moment. 'I would prefer it if you would cut it out at three, however.'
"Guys!" I called out. "This thing has a Trump effect, an anti-Shaker one! It isn't too strong, but I can only weaken the Rat King for another few minutes, five at the very outside!"
"Fuckin' Trumps." Aegis growled as he sped in to pummel the Rat King with another wooden beam. Huh, so he took a leaf from Glory Girl's book. Nice.
I also went in and started to cut and stab with my sword. Unlike the others, who were shooting and smashing the bodies of the Rat King, I was targeting a specific part of them; the eyes. Granted, rats had a better sense of hearing and smell than sight, but I'd take whatever advantage I could get against the damn things.
I actually managed to blind three quarters of the bedamned things before I was forced to release [Balance the Scales]. Stupid damned Trump effects…
'[Balance the Scales] is on a five minute cooldown before it can be used again.' Iustitia informed me.
'OK. Let me know when my Stamina reaches below 800.' I told her.
With a chorus of roars, the Rat King's bodies rose back to their feet and started lashing out at the irritating insects that were attacking them. Fortunately, the two big hitters were fliers, which made it hard for the conjoin-tailed mess of giant rats to reach them without dragging the other rats away from their own attacks.
Being ground bound and up close with them, a lot of the rats' attacks came at me. I managed to dodge most of them, and the armor-slash-costume I wore stopped what little got through, but it hurt like hell to be slashed by the talon of a rat the size of a Buick.
"You OK?" Glory Girl shouted as she crushed the paw of one rat with her oversized club.
"F-Fine." I managed. The damn rat had sent me flying with barely a pause. Even if I was wearing armor, it was only made of leather, so I was reasonably certain that I had a few fractured ribs at least from that blow. Not to mention the cuts and scrapes from a few near misses earlier.
"What does it take to kill these things?!" Clockblocker shouted as he blasted away with Kid Win's laser rifle.
"Aim for their heads!" Glory Girl roared and, following her own advice, she slammed her club down on one huge rat head, splitting it apart like a melon hit by a sledgehammer.
"Gross!" Vista shouted from the rear.
Aegis followed suit and pretty soon, there was only one living part of the Rat King left alive. I took care of it with a stab through the eye and into the brain.
You have slain the Boss [Giant Rat King of Hamelin]! You earn 450 EXP!
Generating Boss Loot…generated!
You receive [Half-Closed Helm of the Rat King]!
That was interesting. I had both earned enough EXP to level up again (I added another level of [Maceman]) and gotten a piece of loot from the boss that Iustitia didn't give me.
I pulled up the helm out of curiosity.
[Half-Closed Helm of the Rat King]
Rarity: Rare
Acquired from the Giant Rat King of Hamelin, this helm retains the counter-Shaker property that was the Boss monster's selling point.
Defence: +50
Special Effect: Shaker Resistance (All Shaker effects used against the user are 50% more energy intensive to use and can only affect the user for a maximum of three to five minutes. Medium chance of forcing Shaker powers used on the user to go into cooldown after use of them is discontinued.)
The appearance of the helmet was more than slightly freaky, resembling a bunch of rats draped over a metal shell. It also had a faceplate, although the lower face below the nose was left exposed. Checking it out, I was relieved to see that they were not live rats but highly ornate metal ones. I could also wear it on top of my current face mask as the face mask counted as eyewear for some strange reason.
Equipping it made some of the others start in surprise, but they were a bit envious of my power once I explained what I got from the boss.
"Some people get all the luck." Clockblocker grumbled. "I temporarily stop time with a touch and you get a kickass video game power."
I just shrugged helplessly. What could you even say to that?
After Panacea healed everyone up, we inspected the room that the Boss had come from. Carved out of one wall was a large gate even larger than the one that the Rat King had used. On one half of the gate was a sword and scales, while there were multiple symbols drawn on the other one; a clock face, a shield, a small cross, a tiara, a helmet…
"So this is his game." I snorted, hefting my sword onto my shoulder.
"What?" Vista asked.
"This door leads out, but only one party can go through." I nodded at the doors. "That's what I think the symbols mean. I'm all alone on one half, while the other half has symbols representing everyone else that's awake. Basically, we're being forced to make a choice; either I go out alone or you all go out, leaving me behind. I recommend the second one."
"Son of a bitch!" Glory Girl swore.
"Language." Aegis said automatically.
"Oh, grow a spine." Vista snapped. "I've heard worse on patrol. We are not leaving you, Justitia."
"You guys have to tell the Protectorate about Hamelin; his powers, limits and motives." I retorted. "The Protectorate won't listen to me; hell, because my costume's got a rat theme to it, they might think I'm Hamelin's collaborator or something. Nope, you guys have to get outta here and take the other Capes he has trapped here with you. I think I can handle Hamelin alone for a while, especially if he's disempowered somewhat."
"This is a bad idea." Aegis shook his head slowly. "If he gets his hand on your power…"
"My power can't be used by anyone other than me. He'd have to get my Embryo on his side in order to make it work and, trust me, there's a better chance of the Simurgh getting a show in Vegas than that happening." I disagreed. I didn't actually know this for a fact, but I had a feeling it wouldn't work out well for Hamelin if he tried to usurp my power. "Look, it's a number game. One is less than a group. Go, I'll be fine."
It took another five minutes to persuade the Wards, New Wave duo and the Undersiders to go and leave me. Grue promised that once I got out, the Undersiders would owe me a favour. That was pretty nice of him.
Figuring out how the door worked was pretty easy. All I had to do was place my hand on the door that had the symbols of the others on it and it opened. They walked through, most supporting at least one unconscious cape, very reluctantly. Kid Win hesitated for a moment before handing me his laser pistol.
"Eh?!" I was shocked. Why would he…?
"Make sure you return it." He said seriously before walking through the door.
I holstered the pistol in a pouch on my belt before the door closed shut behind the others. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and exited the gate room. Moving to the center of the room, I stood still and waited. Hamelin would be along in a moment, I was certain.
Sure enough a black-red orb of energy appeared in front of the gates of the town and faded away, revealing the multi-colored robe of Hamelin, who immediately turned his hooded head to face me.
"You…!" he seethed.
"Yes?" I said impatiently. "I what?"
"You…do you know how much work you have disrupted? Three long years of it!" Hamelin hissed, the man was practically frothing like a rabid dog at the moment. "Three years of canvasing my targets, three years of dodging villains and heroes. Three years of work that you have made defunct in less than a day!"
I shrugged easily before placing my arms on my hips. "And what of it? You kidnapped me, out of costume, and stuck me in this place full of giant rats and whatnot! Not to mention kidnapping Panacea, Glory Girl, the Undersiders and the Wards!"
"My ambitions required them." The man said coldly. "It will be tedious to recapture them once I have dealt with you, but at least I'll have your strange power to use against the Protectorate and New Wave."
I scoffed. "Ha. It was one thing to attack them when they were off-guard and unaware of you, but now? Now that they know how you operate and how your powers work, it may as well be suicide for you. Besides…I plan on stopping you here and now."
"Ha! As expected, that was your intention when you stood back to let the other children go." Hamelin barked out laugh, though the murderous glare he was giving me never changed. "Arrogance precedes many a fall, child. This time, the fall is yours."
"Kindly don't go declaring your victory before the first punch has been thrown." I offered him a smirk, I knew that my attitude was getting to him, and I needed every advantage I could get for this. I needed him fighting mad, I needed him fighting stupid. "Last time I checked, all of your power sources were taken out of your control zone. You should only have your original power left to you."
Reaching inside of his robe, Hamelin withdrew a familiar flute. "I may not have my organic batteries anymore, but I still have the residual powers left in this dimension from those who were here for at least a month to draw upon. I can only use them while in my dimension, but as we're here already…well, it is most unfortunate for you."
"Iustitia, Form One!" I ordered softly.
In a flash, my sword and scales were in my hands, ready and willing.
'Mistress, don't use [Balance the Scales] against this person.' My Embryo whispered to me. 'Your physical stats are superior to his, so you will help him if you use it.'
'Got it.' I sent back grimly. This man had kidnapped me, kidnapped the Wards and even kidnapped Panacea. There was no way I was going to let him get away with that, even more so because he knew what I looked like underneath my mask. I wonder about if I hit him on the head enough times, could he develop amnesia?
"Ready? Then let us begin…" Hamelin said sinisterly as he brought his flute to his lips.