Alright a new chapter! And here as a guest today its everyone's favorite Prime Optimus!

Optimus: Thank you for having me here today.

Thank you for accepting. Now everyone as you can tell from the title this is a two parter, but I decided to try something new. This chapter will be mainly Jack's adventure while the next one will be more canon with a few tweaks and the fallout of this one.

Now for the reviews!

Greyblueflames98: Thank you and trust me the shock of having a little "sister" will be something.

GranAlen Masterplox: Thank you and while I could add that, the spider thing only came up like once or twice a joke. Not something that I feel counts enough for a debuff but I'll keep it in mind.

Captainrex22345: Yes, they will be a thing, as for the NICEE thing it was joke a few chapters back I decided to revisit for the omakes.

Atsik101" Thank you and I wish that would happen but I burned the K.O. Burger down in chapter 2. Man, that would have been funny.

CallofRanger13: Yes I heard of it and I'm very tempted to get it myself, and your 100% right it would be great for Miko's moves. I'm now imagining her with Animated Soundwave's guitars reeking havoc.

Starlight Skywolf: That would be because I'm using DnD as a base. Luckily Transformers somehow mixes fantasy in with the Syfy enough for me to get away with it. Heck, thanks to Rescue Bots ghost are canon in Prime. How crazy is that?

Optimus: Really?

Yeah it was an episode about holograms acting as ghost but turns out one was real.

I don't own anything!

The Desert outside of Jasper

The sound of an engine was heard in the Nevada desert as Arcee and Jack drove from mesa to mesa.

"Anything Jack?" Arcee asked.

"No, nothing yet." Jack groaned.

"Don't worry I'm sure we'll find a dungeon soon." Arcee assured him. Ratchet said he may find a way to destroy the dark energon safely, but he needed about three more crystals like the one Jack found. Since Jack found them in dungeons it was their best lead. Which is why they were in the desert outside of Jasper.

"How did you find the other dungeons anyway?" Arcee asked.

"The first one was purely dumb luck and the second came up from doing research. Maybe we should look for landmarks or something like that?"

"That may work. Maybe Raf would have better luck on his end." Jack smiled at that. Raf created a message bored asking about anything strange after the space bridge explosion. Official reports simply stated that two large asteroids collided and the purple meteorites that rain down was the debris. Honestly if Jack didn't know the truth, he would had believed it. A credit to Fowler's PR team, they work miracles. Speaking of which.

"Do you know why Agent Fowler called a meeting with Optimus today?" Jack asked.

"No idea but it shouldn't be that big of a problem. Most of the time it's just reports that needed to be gone over." Arcee answered.

Omega One

Agent Fowler wishes he just needed to go over reports right now. The mind-numbing review and occasional question to clarify something was preferable to what he had to do now. In the last hour he had watched the footage taken when Jack and Arcee went to the…dungeon. To be frank when Optimus informed him of the kid's abilities Fowler thought the prime had a few screws loose. But after finding that giant rat, bat, and zombie he was willing to suspend disbelief. Now though he knew what he needed to do.

"Prime, I'm putting a gag order on this."

"Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked confused.

"I mean it Prime. For his own safety, no one outside this base can know what the kid can do. Especially my superiors."

"Do you believe that they would endanger Jack." Optimus' tone turned guarded at the thought.

"I want to say no." Fowler sighs out. "I love my country and I'll happily die for it. Do you know why we're keeping your existence a secret Prime?" He asked.

"It was to avoid panic over the war was it not?" Optimus answered confused about the change of subject.

"It was more keeping them from panicking over alien life in general. You've seen it yourself prime. A person is smart. People though, they're dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know that. And Darby, he has a power that is reshaping reality and granting people powers as easy as dropping a hat. That will scare people at the top."

"Jackson has done nothing wrong; he has willingly put himself in danger more than once to help others." Optimus argued.

"Which is exactly why I wish to keep this a secret. The kid had help save both me and the world with no questions asked."

"Eventually his abilities will get out." The prime pointed out.

"I have a plan that may help. You see before meeting all of you I worked a case that involved an old man in India. He could manipulate rain and he always made sure the nearby farms had enough water or the monsoons in the area died down quickly."

"May I ask what happened to him?"

"He was determined to be a contained threat level six at first, but it was lowered to nine last year."

"I take it these levels dictate the response to the person."

"That's right. The lower half normally require monitoring as long they don't actively threaten people. The upper half though, they are usually detained for a certain amount of time until it's determined they're not a threat. The sole exception are threat level ones." Fowler explained.

Hearing this the prime was not happy to hear how those with unique abilities were treated but he had to asked.

"What happens to those who are classified as level ones?"

"They would be immediately imprisoned for an unknown amount of time in the best-case scenario. At least that would happen since there never had been a level one before."

"Never?"

"No, in order for anyone be classified to be a level one they would have to be able to warp reality itself. Whether intentionally or not. Now Prime, does that sound familiar?" Optimus didn't need to think about who Fowler was thinking of. Jack's power fits the description perfectly.

"What is your plan?"

"I didn't bring up the rainmaker for laughs. He had the power to flood towns and villages, but he was allowed to live a normal life. Eventually Jack and his powers will be revealed so here's the plan. We make a report about encountering Jack in one of these…dungeons and only tell them about his cryomancy. Couple this with his hood we'll be able to keep his identity secret." Fowler explained. Optimus thought it over it was a good plan, a half-truth to keep Jack safe.

"What of Rafael and Miko? They have gain powers as well."

"From what you told me they're at best a level nine, but I see your point. How about until they have a way to disguise themselves, we put a hold on the whole plan? The agent offered.

"Agreed, thank you agent Fowler. I will let the others know." Optimus replied, thankful that the children will be safe.

Nodding his head agent Fowler made his way towards the elevator. Once the doors closed, he let out the breath he as holding.

"That could have gone a lot worst." He said to himself. He was sure he just lost a lot the brownie points for the U.S. government when it came to the bots. If he said the wrong thing there no doubt in his mind the bots would have bugged out and hid somewhere no one could find them. Thankfully it hadn't come to that. Fowler cast his thought back to the subject of the whole think. Jack Darby. When Fowler heard the kid's powers, he immediately began his research. It wasn't that hard, a quick background check revealed everything there was about him. His mother was a nurse with her parents being a retired vet turned barber and a hairdresser, pretty simple. The other grandparents were a mechanic and a diner chef with no major issues to note. Jack's father on the other hand raised a couple of flags. A scientist that went missing without a trace.

A missing scientist was always bad news, even worst when they were the leading expert on bioengineering and robotics. The case was still fresh in the agent's mind. A car abandoned on the side of the road, no sign of a struggle, ID and money left in the car and no calls for ransom. All of it pointed to one conclusion in Fowler's mind. Abduction. Someone wanted something from Lynn Darby. So far there were no leads, but Fowler was willing to bet Uncle Sam's hat that Jack will find out.

"To think, giant transforming alien robots and their war was simpler." Fowler groaned out.

In the main room Miko was strumming on her guitar. She winces a bit as her fingers started to sting. Taking a break, she looks around, the base was in much better condition than it was a few days ago. Most of the damage was taken care of but Cliffjumper and Bulkhead were still busy with repairs.

"Hey Miko, I think a have a few leads." Raf called out.

"Really? What did you get?" She asked as she made her way to the tech wiz.

"I have twelve possible places we can investigate."

"That many? Are you sure they're legit?"

"Trust me I spent a good amount of time going through some troll post and fakes. I used an algorithm that checks news reports and any media near the locations given."

"Maybe we should narrow down a bit? Maybe go with the ones that have the most proof?" The rocker suggested.

"Already ahead of you. There, I got three places we can check. Strange, some of the reports are dated back before the space bridge explosion."

"Well Jack found some dark energon back in the mine, maybe it's something similar." It would make sense but that just leaves more questions of how it got there.

"Maybe, I'm going to call Jack to come back so we can plan." Raf said.

A half hour later Jack and Arcee drove into the base.

"Hey Raf, you said you got something."

"I managed to find three places we can look into. Here I'm bringing them up on screen now." Raf type on his laptop as three groups of articles began to pop up. The first showed pictures of what looked to be quills sticking out of a tree. With it was a massive paw print and news articles about increased wolf attacks. The second group was about people being poisoned with pictures of large webbing and a recording of something massive in a canyon. The final group had a blurred picture of something in the woods and missing hunters in the area.

"Okay these are most likely reports I found. The first one is in Haven, Alaska. Wolves have been attacking more than ever, not even bothering to eat anything. A group of hunters went out to deal with the problem, but they were attack by something big. They survived but one of the victims had a quill sticking out of them. Reports say he was screaming and attacking things that weren't there."

"So what? Are we dealing with wolves and a psychedelic porcupine?" Miko asked. Raf merely shrugged in response.

"Next one is in California, there have been increasing reports of scorpion victims in hospitals. And recently a video of something large skittering in a canyon. There's also reports of large webs being made in the area."

"Are we going be dealing with spiders?" Miko ask gently. While the rocker fear of spiders wasn't crippling, which is why it wasn't a debuff, she still wasn't a fan. She would be fine as long they don't crawl on her unexpectedly.

"Maybe, the webs a big hint but it could be something else." Jack offered.

"The last report is the most disturbing. In Utah there are reports of seasoned hunters who went their whole lives hunting have went missing." Jack leaned in to look at the picture better. Whatever it was seemed to be very tall and had horns or horns but nothing else could be seen due to how blurry the picture was.

"So we have three places to visit, the question is which one do we go to first?" Miko asked.

Jack looked over the three over the three before deciding. "The third one."

"Why that one in particular?" Raf asked.

"Normally I would say I should check out the closest or easiest one but unlike the others, people are in more danger right now than others.

"Wait don't you mean we Frosty?" Miko asked in an even tone.

"Unfortunately, no, right now I have a feeling that I'll need to investigate the area and since I'm the only one with a way to hide their identity…"

"Uggg that's so lame." Miko pouted. She knew Jack was right and yes, she knew keeping their identities secret was for their families' safety, but it was still lame.

"Optimus take a look at this; we're receiving a signal on a restrictive ban." Ratchet said. "It's coming from a starship in this solar system. It's an Autobot identification beacon."

"There's more bots out there?" Jack asked. Ever since they met the bots, they haven't mentioned anyone else, or at least anyone else off planet.

"The masses scattered throughout the galaxy when Cybertron finally went dark, although Decepticons have been known to bait traps with false beacons." Arcee explained.

"Unknown vessel, this is Autobot outpost Omega One. Identify yourself." Optimus ordered.

/ "I had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades."/ The voice over the comms quipped.

"Wheeljack!?" Bulkhead exclaimed as he made his way to the monitors. "You old con crusher. What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Bulkhead? That you? What's with all the security?"

"The rock we're on is crawling with cons. How soon can you get here to even the odds?"

"Sometime tomorrow if I put metal to the petal."

"Wheeljack, I know him by reputation only. Can you verity his voice print?" Optimus asked.

"He's one thousand percent the real deal Optimus."

"We will send land coordinates Wheeljack."

"See you soon buddy. I'll make sure you get a proper welcome." Bulkhead said as the comms ended.

"So, who's the boyfriend?" Arcee teased.

"Heh, Jackie and me go way back. We were part of the same unit. The wreckers, which means the cons are going to wish he never found us." Little did any of them know that the transmission was being listen to. On the Nemesis Starscream listened to the whole conversation from Soundwave.

"A war hero. Makeshift, we don't have much time!" The seeker called out. Walking up to the two Makeshift smiled as Soundwave downloaded the schematics into him.

"What's the plan my lord? Assassination? Sabotage? Reputation destruction?" Makeshift asked in Wheeljack's voice.

"All well and good but no. The plan is simple, discover the Autobot base location and inform us. Once we have its location, we can finally destroy the Autobots once and for all."

Darby Residence

Jack and Arcee pulled into the garage, ready to turn in for the day.

"So, another bot is coming. Excited?" Jack asked as he closed the garage door.

"Not nearly as much a Bulkhead. I swear he was a second away from breaking out in song and dance." She joked.

"I'll say. That does remind me, you guys never bring up any other bots. I actually thought that…" Jack began but wasn't sure how to continue.

"That we were all that's left?" Arcee finished.

"Yeah."

"That's fair. Well, you weren't too far off. The main reason we don't bring up the others up because we don't know what happened to them. They could be alive or not."

"Don't you guys have a network or something to keep in contact?" He was curious, surely the bots have some way to keep in touch.

"We do, Optimus has been sending out a recorded message since our arrival. It's just Wheeljack is the first one to respond." Arcee explained.

"Anyone you're hoping to hear from like old friends or family?" Jack asked.

"A couple of bots come to mind."

"Feel like sharing? I'm curious about others and well Cybertron in general really." Arcee transformed and gently sat against the wall.

"Well, I have two friends I was close to before the war. Moonracer and Greenlight. Saying Moon is hyper is like saying Starscream is a coward."

"So, a huge understatement." Jack said remember the stories the bots told him.

"Massively, yet she's one the best sharpshooters you'll ever meet. Honestly she was like the little sister of our group."

"And Greenlight?"

"A complete and utter hopeless romantic. I can't tell you how many times she tried to set us up on dates or tried to find her true love. Primus I was glad Ironhide finally decided to ask her out. Last I heard she became a saboteur taking out con frigates." Arcee explained.

"That's incredible. What did you three do before the war, you know for fun and stuff?"

"Well, there was this place call O'Malley's." Arcee began as hours past into the night the two talked about life on Cybertron before the war.

Outskirts of Maplewood-Utah

A swirling green vortex opened up before a figure step through. Standing a slightly above average height of 5'11'' was a twenty-seven-year-old man dressed in black dress shoes, tan pants, white shirt and tan trench coat. Brushing his hand through is now brown hair the man looks down at the small bangle around his wrist. It was made of leather with a green gemstone carved into a shape of an eye.

[Bangle of Concealing]

[Epic quality]

[A powerful item that can physically change the appearance of the wearer. Once removed the wearer will change back to normal. Does not change gender, species or clothes. Max age change is ten years.]

Jack smiled at the device. It costed him most of his money, a whooping six grand, but it was worth it. Now he can look around without anyone knowing it was him. The downside was manageable thanks to the gamer store. The [Jacket of the private eye] increased his chances of finding clues as well a boost to sneaking. Coming out behind him Cliffjumper looked around.

"Seems peaceful enough." The red mech said happy to be out of the base. Technically he was still on medical leave but given he was completely healed up he was allowed to go on light missions like this one while the others stay behind in case Wheeljack needed any help.

"Yeah, at least until we find what's causing the trouble here." Jack pointed out. Looking around he saw mountains in every direction covered in a sea of trees. A part of him wanted to explore to find the dungeon right away but that could take hours, so he had to get to town to find any clues. Nodding his head Cliffjumper transformed and the two drove to Maplewood.

As the small town came into view, they saw the town was a quiet rustic place. During a normal day kids would play in the streets; old men would enjoy their retirement by playing checkers outside the diner while people ran their ma and pop shops. But now? Now people are glancing around scared. Children were not allowed to go out without a parent nearby, and anyone outside quickly went to where they were going. Overall, the once calm town became a hub of fear and paranoia.

"Primus, this reminds me of the beginning of the war." Cliffjumper muttered as he drove through the town. Old memories filtering in the back of his processor. The first skirmishes began, and most were still clinging onto hope nothing would come of it. That hope died fast when the first city fell.

"Hopefully we can find out what's causing all this."

"Here's hoping. You think the local police will help ya?"

"Probably not. Even with my cover I'm an outsider so they won't trust me, but I am hoping to find a lead while I'm in the office."

"Well, here's your chance." Cliff said as they pulled up to the police station. Walking in he saw it was a modest set up. Jail cells were in the left side of the room while the right side had desks with old computers sitting on it. One of the officers looked up and made his way to Jack with a confused look on his face.

"Hello there, I'm sorry but may I ask who you are? I know just about everyone here so you must be from out of town." The man said. He was an older man. Maybe late forties or early fifties. He wore tan pants and a dark green long sleeve with a sheriff badge above his left breast and his dark greying hair was hidden beneath a brown cattlemen hat. Jack quickly used observe on him.

[Name: Elwood Lawson]

[Title: Old sheriff]

[Race: Human]

[LVL: 53]

[HP: 3,976/3,976]

[MP: 3,568/3,568]

[SP: 3,976/3,976]

[CON: 81]

[STR:83]

[DEX: 82]

[INT: 68]

[WIS: 81]

[LCK: 62]

[Elwood Lawson grew up in Maplewood and live there his whole life. Ever since he was little, he wanted to be a police officer and help others. Through hard work, dedication, and many cups of coffee he became the town's sheriff. Lately though he's worried about the people of the town may not be safe.]

"Sorry for intruding, my name is Richard Frost. I'm a private investigator sent here to try to find a Dale Hunter who went missing a couple of days ago." Jack said as he went over his cover story.

"Really now, well, let me check the first. Come along now." Elwood said as he led Jack to his desk. "If you don't mind me asking. Who hired you or is that confidential?"

"Not at all. One Sarah Dixon hired me. She said he's her cousin."

"Little Sarah sent you huh. Well sounds like her. Now let's see here. Ah there you are. You been active for two years and worked twenty-five cases. Impressive."

"Not really. Most of them were just teens running away. You know things that could have been avoided if the family simply talk to each other." Jack was once again thankful that Raf was a skill hacker. It took the little genius no time to create a fake identity and cases into the police mainframe.

"Always a shame that. Now I'll be honest with you here. Normally I don't go trusting strangers with cases. Other districts yes but not private eyes."

"I take it you're making an exception."

Elwood let out a sigh as he turns to Jack. "Look Frost, I'll be honest. We're spread thin. This town has around two hundred people and there's only five officers. Normally that wouldn't be a problem. Most of the time it's just the occasional drunk or someone hunting out of season. Nothing too severe. But the in the last month alone ten people have went missing in the woods and I don't mean kids. I mean full grown men who grew up here and know how to live in those woods, yet they have disappeared with only a couple spots of blood on the ground. Sure there been disappearances over the last few decades but never like this. I have called the FBI and the soonest they can get here is one in the morning. I'm taking any help I can get."

[New quest: The Hungry Forest!]

[The people of Maplewood have been disappearing in the forest surrounding them. Help the Sheriff and put a stop to what's causing this.]

[Objectives]

[Search around town for clues.]

[Find the source of the problems and stop it.]

[Bonus: Find and keep any survivors alive.]

[Rewards]

[3,000 XP]

[500 XP for each survivor]

[Sin of Gluttony Key]

[Failure]

[Everyone in Maplewood will be eaten alive!]

[Y/N]

"What can I do?" Jack asked as he hit yes.

Elwood chuckled. "Didn't even hesitate. You remind me of my younger self. Well to be frank you don't know squat about the forest, so I'll just have you look around town, ask questions that sort of thing. If you find anything come back here and tell me."

"Understood, hopefully I can help." Jack nodded as he left. Stepping outside he quickly walked up to Cliffjumper and got in.

"How did it go?"

"Good but I'm pretty sure he sent me out to do busy work." Jack said as he looks over a couple notifications.

[Lying leveled up!]

[Lying: LVL 4 [67/147]

[25% chance of someone believing you depending on the lie]

[For getting a season Sheriff to let you help + 2 LCK]

"Why do you say that?"

"He wants me to stay out of the forest and look around town for clues. He probably wants me to waste time before the FBI arrives."

"That's not good, how long until they show up?"

"Not until the morning but that's if he was telling me the truth."

"Got any ideas where to start?"

"Maybe the library, unless you have some suggestions."

"I have one." If Cliffjumper was in his bot mode, he would have been smirking. In a few minutes the two found themselves in front of the town's tavern.

"Really, a bit cliché don't you think?" Jack asked.

"There's a reason for that. Bars are a good place where everyone from any walk of life will meet. From the council members of Iacon to the miners of Keon. Everyone comes to a bar and following everyone is loose lips and intel." Cliff explained.

"Alright, alright you made your point. While I'm in there can you radio the base and give them an update?"

"Will do."

Walking into the tavern it was everything Jack thought it would be. Dim lighting, pool tables in the center, and bar stools next to the counter. Walking up to it Jack took a look at the bar tender. He was an old man, older than the sheriff even. He was bald with deep wrinkles and a neatly trimmed beard hung from his face. He wore a black t-shirt with a green apron over it as he was cleaning a mug.

"A new face in town huh. Wasn't excepting that with all the disappearances." The man said.

"That's the reason I'm here. Names Richard Frost, a private eye looking for Dale hunter." Jack said as he sat on the stool.

"Heh, a dick working as a dick. So, want anything to drink." The bartender chuckled, making Jack's eyes widen before [Gamer's Mind] kicked in. "Note to self, don't let Miko pick the names next time."

"Funny how that works, and I'll have pop if you don't mind. I like keep my head clear when I'm on a case." After paying for his soda Jack tried his luck getting any clues. "So, tell me, what's the word around town?"

The man snorted. "Besides being scared shitless? Everyone in town too afraid to leave their homes. We hear sounds in the forest at night and some families even left entirely."

"Noises, surely that's nothing new. I mean sure a mountain lion scream in scary but to move out of town?"

"If only it was that. But the sounds we been hearing at night. They aren't natural. It sounds like a man's scream mix together with bones being broken and a siren blaring. It's just not right and here I thought I wouldn't live to see another tragedy."

"Wait, this happened before?"

"No, no nothing like this. Honestly looking back, it was a lot worse than this."

"What happened?"

The old man looks up at Jack as his eyes glazed over for just a second, as if he was reliving the events that transpired many years ago. "I don't see why digging up the past is going to help now."

"You be surprised how often the past had answers for today." Jack replied hoping he could get some information out of him.

"Fine." The old man sighed out. "It was sixty, sixty-five years ago. Maplewood was once a ski resort town. Not known country wide but popular in this and the surrounding states. Everyone was making bank with all the tourist and skiers coming in, and the ones profiting the most we're the Witmens. They owned the ski resort and the lifts. So, you can imagine they were the richest family in town. They weren't good folk, but they didn't do anything illegal, they were just a bunch of snobs that looked down on everyone who wasn't rich."

"Sound like a lovely bunch." Jack said sarcastically.

"Yeah, and they got worst after the winter of 54."

"Winter of 54? I never heard of it."

"Not surprising, you're far too young to know of it. Hell, sheriff wasn't even in diapers yet when it happened. That winter was one of the worst in history. Snow came down in blankets day in and day out for a whole month. A lot of townsfolk didn't make it through. Power outages, food was scarce, the cold. I can still feel the cold from that year to even now. The town's mayor gave an emergency order to evacuate to the larger cities. Most of us listened to him."

"I take it the Witmen family didn't."

"No, those bastards book a couple of high-class clients the first week and refused to close and give out refunds. They, ten guest, and fifteen staff members stayed at the resort that month. Only the Witmens survived."

"W-What happened?"

"When storm settled and everyone began to move back in, a group was sent out to the resort to check on things. I was part of that group and to this day I wish I wasn't. It took us hours just to make it to the front door and when we did. God. They were everywhere."

"What was?"

"Bones. Human bones pick clean of flesh. Skulls shattered to get to the brains inside. Blood. The blood was everywhere. The floors, the walls. Fuck it was even on the fucking ceiling." The bartender took a couple of minutes to put himself back together before continuing. "When we found those bastards, they were still covered in blood and eating some poor bastard's arm. The sheriff had them arrested and put in jail, but they somehow escaped and made it to the forest."

"What then?"

"Nothing. We never seen them again and no town or city reported seeing those three. Everyone assumed they died in the wilderness. More than what they deserved if you asked me." Jack nodded his head and left a tip before walking outside. Once he got inside Cliffjumper he called Raf.

/Hey Jack, Cliffjumper radioed in already. /

"I know but I think I have a lead. Can't you by any chance look up Maplewood and see where an old ski resort was?"

/Let's see here. Found it. It's twenty miles up north, I'll send the directions to you. /

"Thanks, Raf, we'll see you guys soon." Jack said as he hung up. As they drove Jack brought up his stats.

[Name: Jack Darby]

[Title: The Gamer]

[Race: Human]

[LVL: 18 (457/16,599)]

[HP: 838/838]

[MP: 874/874]

[SP: 838/838]

[CON: 41]

[STR: 55]

[DEX: 50 +3]

[INT: 43]

[WIS: 51]

[LCK: 42]

[AP: 20]

[$494]

It was looking good but if he wanted to help any survivors and deal with what's causing this he needed a boost. Right now, could upgrade his CON and INT to fifty or just his luck, taking the safe route Jack put nine points each into CON and INT.

[For reaching 50 in Constitution, please pick one of these as your reward.]

[Dark Boost: Gain power by destroying your enemies! You permanently gain +100 HP for every named enemy you defeated (EX: Bosses and rare spawns) Will only work once per named enemy.]

[Healthy body: Your body is healthy, and your HP reflects that! HP calculation goes from 100+(LVLXCON) to (100+(LVLXCON))2 doubling your health pool here on out!]

[Poison Immunity: All poisons are now useless against you!]

[For reaching 50 in Intelligence, please pick one of these rewards!]

[Mental conditioning: Your mind is like a sponge! All non-psychical skills level up 50% faster!]

[Recognizable reaction: You can identify any spell casted at you and maybe even learn it! 100% chance of identifying the spell.

Chance of learning the spell is 10%.]

[Perfect memory: You can remember even the smallest details even from years ago!]

Jack picked [Mental conditioning] since it was [Athletic aptitude]'s counterpart as for the other perk he went with [Healthy Body]. While the others were good, he figured this will give him an edge. He then put the remaining points into his luck.

[Name: Jack Darby]

[Title: The Gamer]

[Race: Human]

[LVL: 18 (457/16,599)]

[HP: 2,000/2,000]

[MP: 1,000/1,000]

[SP: 1,000/1,000]

[CON: 50]

[STR: 55]

[DEX: 50 +3]

[INT: 50]

[WIS: 51]

[LCK: 42]

[AP: 0]

[$494]

"Scrap." Cliffjumper's voice broke Jack out of his thoughts. Looking up he saw the road had deteriorated to trees. It seems that over the last sixty years nature reclaimed the road. Stepping out Jack walked up to the tree when…

[New Dungeon: Witmen resort]

[Recommended LVLs: 18-20]

"Well, this is the place alright. How far are we from the resort?" Jack asked.

"One mile. Right now, I wish I had Arcee's cloaking." Cliffjumper groaned. Jack nodded in understanding. With the chance of the survivors being in the dungeon the red mech won't be able to enter or else risk their secret being out.

"I'll see you soon Cliff." Jack said as he equipped his gear, he was very thankful he could keep his disguise so no one could identify him. Once he stepped in Jack felt he was being watch. Feeling unnerved he move forward, trying to spot what was watching him but he couldn't see anything but shadows in the thick forest. The thick foliage blocked most of the light and what did break through was thin lines. The only reason Jack knew where he was going was the broken pavement beneath him. The deeper he got into the dungeon the more intense the watch feeling got.

"Really starting to wish I picked that alert me to attacks perk right around now." Jack thought to himself. A patch of orange caught his attention. Picking it up he saw it was the tattered remains of a hunting vest and a couple feet away from it was a rifle.

[Remington Model 700 BDL]

[Common Qaulity]

[Durability: 1,021/ 1,200]

[DMG Type: Piercing]

[DMG Stats]

[600 Piercing DMG]

[Ammo Type: .308]

[Magazine Capacity: 5]

Jack stored that away in his inventory right next to the pistol. While he has a small adherence to them due to his mother's profession, he know they may be useful someday.

Rustle. Rustle.

Jack whipped around hearing the noise behind him only to see nothing but the forest of trees. Remembering how the ghouls ambushed him and Arcee he immediately backed up until a tree was flush with his back. Activating [Night Eye] he still couldn't see anything. The forest was dead still. Jack tried to keep his breathing down as [Gamer's Mind] kicked in. As his heart settled down Jack saw several leaves fall from above him. Quickly jumping out of the way he narrowly avoided a slash from a clawed hand.

Turning around he saw what attacked him. What stood before at first reminded him a ghoul if it wasn't rotten. In front of him was an emancipated figure standing around seven to eight feet tall. It's greyish pale skin seemed to be stretched over it bones as tattered remains of a suit hung off it frame as if a child wearing their parent's clothes. It's arms were long enough to reach the ground as each of it's foot long blood soaked fingers curled like an ape's. Small patches of black greasy hair hung from it's head that nearly covered it's solid black eyes as fresh blood dripped from it's razor tooth maw.

[Patrick Witmen]

[Race: Wendigo (Monstrosity)]

[Title: The endless hunger]

[LVL: 19]

[HP: 800/800]

[MP: 250/250]

[SP: 400/400]

[CON: 87]

[STR: 100]

[DEX: 125]

[INT: 15]

[WIS: 25]

[LCK: 11]

[Patrick Witmen was the sole child of the Witmen family. He used to spend his days partying, drinking, and beating people up for fun. Now he's a monster with an endless appetite for flesh.]

[Endless hunger: No matter how much you eat you will always need more. +10% to all hunting skills.]

[Keen senses: You can see farther and clearer than others, hear things others would miss! +10 WIS when hunting.]

[Voice Mimicry: What are you a parrot? You can perfectly copy any voice to hear.]

[Ice heart: Your heart is made of ice, literally. Immunity to all frost base damage and frost effects and instead is healed by them.]

[Supernatural skin: Your skin has magical properties that both protects and harms you. Immune to all non-magical weapons. + 50% more damage from magic and magical weapons.]

The monster lunge at Jack with it's claws forcing him to raise his arms up to block. Feeling the claws of the beast he watched as it tore through his vambraces like they were nothing as Jack fell onto his back!

[-228 HP!]

[Old leather vambraces destroyed!]

Jack eyes widen at the amount of HP lost and his armor being destroyed. Casting both [Healing Vail] and [Stone Skin] he shot up to his feet and swung Frost Edge at the monster before him.

CRACK!

Jack struck it right on it's face costing it's head to whip to the side.

[Due to the effects of Ice Heart all damage is negated]

Jack's eyes once again widen as the wendigo turns it head back towards the gamer. It swung it's claw again forcing Jack to duck and run. He couldn't understand it. How could his axe not do anything, he thought before realized struck him as he leaped over a fallen tree. "Frost Edge counts as both blunt and frost damage! It can't hurt him!"

This combined with it's other perk meant his cutlass was useless and his only offense spell that wasn't frost based did a measly twenty damage! Barely dodging another lunge Jack had to come up with a way to stop this thing. He couldn't hurt it but perhaps he could slow it down. Leaping over a fallen tree Jack took the chance to look over his shoulder. The former Witmen was right behind him so he had to time this right. Right as the monster lunged at Jack he ducked as low as he could allowing the monster to fly over him. It crashed to the ground but before it could recover four walls of ice erupted from the ground and formed a pyramid entrapping it. Knowing it won't hold for long Jack booked it down the road. Soon enough he found the resort.

It was a large three-story building with cobblestone walls, fair chunk of the windows was shattered, and parts of the wooden roof seemed to have collapsed. Opening the doors Jack found himself in the welcoming foyer, walking in there was a massive stone fireplace with a pair of winding stairs on the sides with hallways leading further in.

RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

Hearing the roar Jack bolted up the stairs after placing and [Ice Wall] in the doorway. He needed somewhere to hide and fast. Running down the halls he jumped into one of the rooms and locked the door behind him. Stepping away from the door he looks around the room hoping to find anything that could help him. Searching he found a pearl necklace, which he kept for his mother, a hundred dollars, and an old journal.

It's such a bore, Mother insists that I must stop "acting like a ruffian". So, I beat a few of the poors in town to a bloody pulp, I'm a Witmen naturally I'm above them.

Jack's eyes widen as he realized this was Patrick's journal. "Though from that one entry I would have said he's related to Vince. Might as well read some more to see if I can either find out how he turned into that monster or something to help kill him." Jack thought before reading again.

Father says I have to stay this winter due to some influential clients. He says it's time for me to build my own connections. If only it wasn't so boring and though I must admit that purple crystal father received was quite spectacular. It actually gives off light. He said it was a down payment for us to stay open for the storm while the mayor ordered us to leave. The nerve of that fool, as if we need to be worried about a little snow.

Dark energon! Of course, that would be the problem, but what happened to start turning them into this?

Damn that peon of a second-rate cook! The snow has blocked us all inside the resort and what did that idiot do! He blew up the kitchen in a gas explosion and caused it to catch fire. While the servants did their damn jobs, with a couple whining about burns, most of our food supply is gone. Father tried to keep order, but those commoners banded together and demanded we rationed things out. Ration? We Witmens should decide who should get food or not. Not a bunch of inbred idiots.

So that's what happened. A fire burned away most of the food and they had to ration it.

I'm so hungry. We ran out of food yesterday and even then, I basically ate only scraps. Like some common street urchin! And some of the servants are still complaining about their burns. Like that idiot bellhop whining about his burned…cooked…flesh…

Jack closed the journal not needing to read it to know the rest. Hearing a door open he spun around ready to fight tooth and nail for his life against the monster. So imagine his surprise that instead of Patrick the wendigo, three scared grown men were standing in front of him, a door to a secret passage behind them.

[Dale Hunter]

[LVL 30]

[Simon Cook]

[LVL 28]

[Joe Slicks]

[LVL 33]

"W-Who the hell are you?" Dale said pointing his gun at Jack.

"Friendly. You Dale Hunter?" Jack asked.

"How do you know my name?!" The man whispered yelled.

"Your cousin sent me. She wanted me to find you." Jack said as he slowly got up keeping his hand in the air.

"Safety there is nowhere safe with that monster out there." Simon said.

"I trapped it once and I can do it again. Once I do, we can get to my car just down the road and get to town." "And have Cliffjumper blast that thing to the pit." Normally Jack wouldn't let the bots do all the work but right now he was useless.

"You trapped them. All of them?" Joe said in disbelief.

"Yeah I did…Wait what do you mean "All of them"?" Jack asked before remembering the bartender words. "When we found those bastards, they were still covered in blood and eating some poor bastard's arm." "The whole family had turned." Jack said in horrid realization. It was at that moment both the window and door shattered revealing Patrick and another wendigo.

"Through the passageway! Move! Move! Move!" Jack yelled out. Creating a couple of [Ice Walls] to slow them down, the four men ran for their lives. Once they reached the end of the passage, they push a large cabinet in front of the entrance. As Jack took a moment to catch his breath, he saw one of the hunters aiming his gun at him.

"What the hell are you?" He demanded.

"Simon what are you doing?" Joe asked panicking.

"You saw! He created that ice out of thin air! He's with them! Trying to kill us!" Simon said with a mad gleam in his eye.

Trying to stay calm Jack tried to defuse the situation. "I'm here to help. I want to stop those things."

"Then why didn't you use that fancy ice to kill them huh?" Simon countered.

"Si, we don't have time for this. Those things are still out there, and if they find us we'll be dragged to that cavern like Ralph." Dale said trying to calm down his friend.

"Look I tried to hurt those things, but they are immune to ice for some reason. So please put down the gun and…" Jack began.

"Fuck that! I'm not letting some freak, or his pets kill me!" Before he could shoot a pair of clawed hand burst through the floor grabbing his legs and pulled him through.

"Simon!" Joe and Dale yelled. Before the two could try to reach into the hole in a vain attempt to save their friend a gout of blood sprayed from the hole covering all three of them. Jack stood stock still as he felt the blood drip off of him. Yes, he has killed and yes, he had blood on him before but those were beast and the undead. This, this was a human being that was killed right in front of him. He felt his heart tried to climb out of his throat before [Gamer's mind] kicked in allowing him to focus.

"We need to move now! come on!" Jack yelled

[Alice Witmen]

[Race: Wendigo (Monstrosity)]

[Title: The endless hunger]

[LVL: 20]

[HP: 850/850]

[MP: 250/250]

[SP: 450/450]

[CON: 95]

[STR: 87]

[DEX: 79]

[INT: 34]

[WIS: 31]

[LCK: 16]

[Alice Witmen, matriarch of the Witmen family. When she was human, she often spied on guests to get blackmail on them, spread false about other for fun, and laugh at dying. What a peach.]

Cursing Jack pulled out his cutlass to defend himself before sending out a [Lightning bolt]. The bolt struck the monster dead center of it's chest.

[Alice Witmen]

[HP: 820/850]

All it seemed to do was anger the beast as she charged the group. Pushing the two away Jack brought his blade up to block the claws of the beast. Due to the effect of [Supernatural Skin] Alice's clawed hands weren't even cut despite the blade literally digging into her palms. Feeling the much stronger creature slowly push him back, Jack casted another [Lightning Bolt] to get her to let go, but to his shock instead of a bolt shooting out, the lightning traveled up his cutlass and began to encase it! Once it had fully encased the blade, it began to sink through the beast hands and cutting one of them off! It let out a horrifying screech what used to be Alice jumped away clutching her stump of a hand.

[You have created a new spell: Weapon enchantment LVL: 1 (0/100)]

[Temporally enchant your weapon with an effect of your choice]

[Cost: 20 MP]

[+ 10 damage to your weapon]

[Current effects available: Lightning, Frost]

[Time Limit: 1 MIN]

[You have inflicted [Heavy Bleeding] status effect. Target will lose 10 HP per second until healed or till all HP is lost.]

For the first time since entering the dungeon Jack smiled. Now he can start fighting back. "Alright looks like I got a new trick, now let's see how tough you really are." He growled at the monster before charging at her. With a downward slash he cut her from the left shoulder to right hip causing another screech.

[Alice Witmen]

[HP: 602/850]

Jack smirked to himself, looks like that [Supernateral skin] drawback was working in his favor. Alice swung her good hand at the gamer only for Jack to jump back.

[-57 HP!]

The blow did graze him, but he was able to avoid the worse of it. Activating [Shatter Sight] he quickly he sent a [Lightning Bolt] at her. Alice dodged but Jack caught her with another swing right at the elbow of her good arm. With an impressive display of dexterity, he lobbed the arm clean off.

[Alice Witmen]

[HP: 388/850]

[You have inflicted [Fatal Bleeding] status effect. Target will lose 20 HP per second until healed or till all HP is lost.]

[Weakness found! Emaciated body: Your body as began to eat itself to survive. All joints are far easier to damage and sever.]

Literally disarmed Alice tried to run away but an [Ice Wall] blocked her path. Turning around she saw Jack charging at her, desperate she lunges at the teen with the intent to bite into his neck. The gamer seeing this slid down to his knees bring his blade to bare and struck the beast in the neck, severing her head from her body and killing her once and for all.

[You have slain Alice the Wendigo]

[3,500 XP]

[For surviving an encounter with and powerful enemy that was immune to most of your attacks+ 2 LCK]

[For creating a spell that you absolutely needed + 3 LCK]

Jack looked at the screens in front of him before sighing. It seems that even the system was criticizing him. Not that he could blame it. He neglected his other skills and it was only through sheer luck that he created that spell. He wasn't prepared and a man is dead because of it.

"You. You actually killed it." Dale said. He couldn't believe it. Those things just shrugged off their bullets like nothing but now one of them was dead.

"Yeah. I got lucky though. I didn't even know I could do that." Jack said, while it wasn't a lie it wasn't the truth either.

"Yeah, well it got what it deserved. The damn thing." Joe said spitting on it.

"You said something about a cavern. What was it?" Jack asked. The two men looked at each other before turning back to the gamer.

"There's a massive cavern under the resort, hidden behind a fake wine barrel in the basement. We ended up in there when our friend Ralph was taken. We track them through a tunnel leading inside but when we found him. It, it was too late." Joe explained.

"Everyone said that the Witmens had secret tunnels and such but no one thought it was true." Dale added. Before anyone could say anything else a guttural roar shook the resort.

"We better get going. My car is down the road from here and we all can agree that leaving is our best option." Jack said. The men agreed as they made their way out cautiously. Making it outside to the road they quickly made their way to the exit.

"Guys…"

The three stopped when a voice broke out.

"Guys…Don't leave me here…"

"Oh lord. That's Si, he's alive." Joe said turning around trying to find him. As he moved closer to the thick tree line, Jack saw a couple of sticks and leaves fall from above and quickly pull the hunter away in time. Barely a moment later, Patrick landed right where Joe would have been.

"GO! I'll hold it off." Jack ordered the men. Scared the two took off running. Patrick seeing this was about to chase them only for a [Lightning Bolt] to strike him.

"Your fight is with me snaggletooth." Jack insulted. Growling the beast charged at him ready to feast on Jack's flesh. Casting [Weapon Enchantment] and [Stone Skin] Jack dodge the beast and slashed his side.

[Patrick Witmen]

[HP: 582/800]

"That was for earlier asshole." Jack cursed. The beast roared as it unleashed a fury of claws swipes trying kill the gamer. Jack for his part was back pedaling as he did is best to avoid them razor sharp claws. Thinking back to his spars Jack created a small [Ice Wall] and tripped the wendigo in front of him. As it fell Jack lashed out and sliced its right arm off from the shoulder.

[Patrick Witmen]

[HP: 364/800]

[You have inflicted [Heavy Bleeding] status effect. Target will lose 10 HP per second until healed or till all HP is lost.]

Jack watched as monster before yelled in pain as it held its stomp. Now that Jack thought about it, these monsters weren't as dangerous as others. The only reason they were dangerous was their enhanced strength, speed, and the perks protecting them. If it weren't for the [Supernatural Skin] perk the hunters could have killed them with bullets, then again Jack hadn't found the boss of the dungeon, which he was willing to bet was the father.

[For coming to a logical conclusion + 1 INT]

Shaking his head Jack focus on the monster in front of him. Sending out three [Lightning Bolts] Jack once again slashed at the beast. Patrick avoided two of the bolts but one struck it, growling it dodges the slash and struck out at Jack, just catching him in his shoulder.

[-97 HP!]

Grunting Jack thrust his sword forward and stab the monster through the gullet, pulling the blade free he back up as he checked the beast's HP.

[Patrick Witmen]

[HP: 86/800]

It was going to die, whether he attacked again or not didn't matter. In nine seconds the [Heavy Bleeding] effect will see to that. Regardless Jack got ready, he was not letting his guard down until this was over. Hissing Patrick shakily tried to attack again, but Jack simply batted away the clawed hand and struck its body, ending it.

[You have slain Patrick the Wendigo]

[3,000 XP]

[Skills leveled up!]

[Weapon enchantment LVL:2 (34/125)]

[Temporally enchant your weapon with an effect of your choice]

[Cost: 20 MP]

[+ 20 damage to your weapon]

[Current effects available: Lightning, Frost]

[Time Limit: 2 MIN]

[Lightning Bolt: LVL: 2 (97/125)]

[Create a small bolt of lightning to strike down your enemies]

[30 Damage]

[10% chance to paralyze]

[Cost:30 MP]

[Slash Mastery: Level: 5 (63/136)]

[Whether it is a dagger in an ally, a sword on a battlefield, or a machete in the apocalypse a bladed weapon is a friend and enemy to many.]

[Passively increase all slash weapon damage by 25%]

[Passively increase chances to cause bleeding status effect by 15%]

[Passively increase critical hit chances by 5%]

[Stone Skin LVL: 4 (57/133)]

[Harden your skin at the cost of mobility]

[+80 defense]

[- 5 DEX]

[Cost: 20 MP]

Checking his health Jack winced as he saw a quarter of his HP was gone. As he began to cast [Healing Vail] a couple of times, he made his way back to the resort. He knew where the last one was, after all a cavern below the resort sounded like a perfect place for a boss fight. It didn't take him long to fine the secret passage Joe talked about. They left it wide open revealing a stairwell carved out of stone. Walking down the steps Jack took a couple of his mana potions to help with his MP. Once he reached the bottom his eyes widen at what he was witnessing.

Bones. Bones everywhere. It was a large cavern the size of a gymnasium and it was completely covered in bones. Deer, bear, raccoon, rabbit, and human. It was if someone empty an entire graveyard's worth of skeletons inside this cave. Jack's mind went back to the sheriff's words.

"Sure, there been disappearances over the last few decades but never like this."

This has been going on for years and no one realized it. They chalked it all up to people getting lost in the woods.

SNAP!

Jack's head whipped towards the noise and saw the final member of the Witmen. It looked like the other two but with a couple of differences, it stood taller around ten feet tall and had a rack of antlers coming out of the top of the skull. It's eyes were glowing purple as it glared down at the teen.

[Charles Witmen]

[Race: Wendigo (Monstrosity)]

[Title: The endless hunger]

[LVL: 22]

[HP: 1,100/1,100]

[MP: 200/200]

[SP: 500/500]

[CON: 95]

[STR: 87]

[DEX: 79]

[INT: 34]

[WIS: 31]

[LCK: 16]

[Charles Witmen, patriarch of the Witmen family. When he was human, he was shrewd businessman who often bought out his competitors…or hire some thugs to get rid of them permanently.]

"Primus were all of you aftholes?" Jack asked. Really the whole family were a bunch of monsters before they were monsters. Charles apparently didn't like that insult to his family and charged the gamer. Jack was ready and dodged to the left unleashing a Swarm of [Lightning Bolts] at the monster. Five of the bolts struck the beast making growl in pain before it swung its claws into the bone piles and sending them at Jack. The gamer dodge them but Charles was able to land a direct hit to Jack's chest sending him flying.

[- 457 HP!]

[Steel Mercenary cuirass destroyed!]

Jack let out a gasp of air as he landed in pain. He didn't have time to lament his loss of his gear though as the monster was above him ready to bring down both claws into his chest. Rolling out of the way in the nick of time Jack slashed at monster's ankle, severing its foot.

[Charles Witmen]

[HP: 605/1,100]

[You have inflicted [Heavy Bleeding] status effect. Target will lose 10 HP per second until healed or till all HP is lost.]

[You have inflicted the [Lame] status effect, Target's DEX is halved, movement speed is -25%]

Three hits, three hits and this monster will fall. Charles growled as it began to charge the gamer but due to its injuries it was nowhere near as fast as before. This allowed Jack to fire off three more [Lightning Bolts] into the creature, damaging it even further. Once it neared Jack it tried to grab the teen, but Jack was able to drive his cutlass into the beast clawed hand and cut it off like he did with the wife.

[Charles Witmen]

[HP: 200/1,100]

[You have inflicted [Fatal Bleeding] status effect. Target will lose 20 HP per second until healed or till all HP is lost.]

Ten seconds, the monster had ten seconds left to live but Jack wasn't going to let it. The feeling of helplessness at not being able to hurt them earlier, the frustration at himself for being too reliant on his current skills, and the guilt of letting one of the survivors died all accumulated in one rage filled yell as he slashed the monster and ended both its life and its decades long hunt.

[You have slain Charles the Wendigo]

[+4,000 XP]

[For defeating this boss for the first time please choose one of these rewards]

[Gauntlets of the Bear: A pair of steel gauntlets covered in an albino black bear's fur with three bear claws sticking out of the knuckles. +10 to STR. Armor rating of 30 for each gauntlet.]

[Bow of the Elk: A bow fashioned from the bones and antlers of an elk. Adds 30 nature DMG to all arrows.]

[Spell tome: Mimic voice: Copy the voices of those around you.]

Jack pick the gauntlets easily; he didn't need another ranged weapon and he sure as pit wasn't going to get any skill that was similar to those slagpits.

[Quest Completed: The Hungry Forest!]

[You discover the Witmen faimly was still around and eating the people of Maplewood as monsters and put them down.]

[Objectives]

[Search around town for clues.]

[Find the source of the problems and stop it.]

[Bonus: Find and keep any survivors alive.]

[Rewards]

[+3,000 XP]

[2 survivors Saved! +1,000 XP]

[Sin of Gluttony Key added to your inventory.]

Jack just walked to the exit of the cave and right next to it was the chest. Opening it he found two thousand dollars, 3 skill discs, another spell tome and the dark energon crystal. He didn't bother checking any of it out as he threw everything into his inventory. After all no rewards today would make up for the fact that he failed. A man was dead because of him and nothing will change that.

[Name: Jack Darby]

[Title: The Gamer]

[Race: Human]

[LVL: 18 (14,957/16,599)]

[HP: 2,000/2,000]

[MP: 1,018/1,018]

[SP: 1,000/1,000]

[CON: 50]

[STR: 55]

[DEX: 50 +3]

[INT: 51]

[WIS: 51]

[LCK: 49]

[AP: 0]

[$2,494]

Chapter done!

Optimus: That was a dark chapter.

Yeah…between the this and the mine I probably should either add some fluff or add horror to the story tags.

Optimus: And may I ask about Jack.

I needed him to loose. Granted it was a guy he didn't know and hey tried to shoot him, but I would think Jack would have still felt some guilt given his character. This will just be a push for some development.

Optimus: It seems like a couple plot points were left unfinished.

That was on purpose, like I said in the beginning Jack isn't out of the woods yet and we still have to cover what happened back at the base. Alright everyone I hope you have a good day or night and feel free to review!

Shout out to Chris McFeely for his youtube channel about Transformers lore and characters! It has been a huge help for ideas for future chapters and stories!