Chapter nine. This took an awhile to make.
?: I'll say dipstick.
Is this going to be a thing now? Ember this isn't even your fandom.
Ember: Did you really think you could reference me and not have me show up then your almost as dumb as Skulker.
Rude.
Ember: It's who I am. Why did it take so long anyway?
Internet and laptop problems mostly. Then it was mainly writing this in a way to make Arcee competent but not have her steam roll everything.
Ember: Fair enough.
Alright now for the reviews.
Leaf Ranger: One of them will be revealed at the end of this chapter. As for the Shell programing yeah, the cons have the whole mind patch thing so it's not too far of a stretch.
Trainman Captain-Writer: Epic name by the way. I have a loosely end game for now, but I have major points that I want to get to first. As for the bots getting their own chapters the answer is yes. I have a couple of ideas here and there but for now I'm building to that.
GranAlan Masterplox: Thank you and yeah Jack may get some grey hairs from her. You have no idea how much I want to make Screamer's stats a joke, but I will have to make him a threat. While he is a joke, he is still dangerous.
ChronoLocked: The daily quest is a parament part of the base now where the bots don't need to be in the party. As for Jack probably not, he has a lot on his plate now.
The Hellbound: I don't blame you man. The first zombie game I really played was Dead Space 2 and that kept me up at night.
Atsik101: Thank you. While I never seen the show, I have seen some clips and I do see the similarities, just don't expect to see Miko shooting magic from her crotch. As for your idea I do have something along those lines but nothing concrete for now.
IdlemanRPG: I am thinking of bring in one or two bots who are under control, but I don't think I'll do Airachid though. There a lot of potential with her vampire like feeding after her infection.
Now for the Chapter.
Ember: The dipstick doesn't own anything.
Omega One- Zombie Apocalypse
When Jack open his eyes the first thing he did was look around for trouble. Due to his fear of zombies, he looked up quite a bit about them and how to survive. It basically came down to five simple rules.
Never assume anywhere is safe, if you do then there's probably a zombie ready to eat you.
For the love of god don't set them on fire, it does nothing but make them more dangerous.
Always double tap, just because its down it doesn't mean it's dead.
Stay in areas with more than one exit, you never know when a horde finds the door.
Cities are zombie central; most would be turned there and where you could find the hordes.
Unfortunately, Jack knew he would have to ignore rules two and five due to him having semi-limited range abilities and the boss will probably be in town. Getting a good look around he found himself still in the base, but it was very run down. There were now giant computers or monitors and old military equipment still laying around. The lights were either broken or flickering and the only still working monitor simply read defcon one. That did not fill him with confidence.
"Arcee do you see anything?" Jack whispered turning to her, only to freeze in shock. The normally towering femme was now only a little taller than him. Heck he only came up to her eyes.
"What the scrap?!" Arcee swore when she found her voice.
"Arcee! Keep it down. There might be undead near us." Jack stage whispered.
"Well, sorry if suddenly being no taller than a teenager was a shock to me." She whispered back. "Why am I like this anyway?" Before Jack could answer a new screen popped up.
[Due to entering a dungeon with someone more than five levels higher than you a penalty has been applied. Penalty will be removed once leaving the dungeon.]
[Name: Arcee]
[Title: SIC/ agile warrior]
[Race: Cybertronian]
[LVL: 217]
[HP: 537,780/537,780 (-75%) = 134,445/ 134,445]
[EP: 505,230/505,230 (-75%) = 126,307.5/ 126,307.5]
[SP: 537,780/537,780 (-75%) = 134,445/ 134,445]
[CON: 234 (-75%) =58.5]
[STR: 175(-75%) =43.8]
[DEX: 357(-75%) =89.3]
[INT: 219(-75%) =54.8]
[WIS: 147(-75%) =36.8]
[LCK: 156(-75%) =39]
"A penalty? But that's not even my fault!" Arcee whispered angerly.
"It's probably a balancing issue. But on the bright side you still got me beat in a lot of stats." Jack pointed out.
"So, what now?" Arcee grumbled still not liking her situation.
"Now we leave the base and had to town."
"Wouldn't it be better to search the base for supplies?"
"Yes, it would. But the thing with that is we may run into zombies. Arcee I have a fear of zombies and I would rather not associate the base or my home with them. So, for my sanity and peace of mind could we please get out of here before that happens?" Jack pleaded.
"Okay that's reasonable." Arcee said before transforming. Turns out the penalty didn't affect her alt size to Jack's secret relief. Although he would find it funny if she did transform into those tiny motorcycles, he seen little kids drive. Getting on they slowly drove out of the base reaching the end of the tunnel they saw a tank wedged in the doors keeping it open.
"Well, that's reassuring." Jack said before they climbed over it.
Omega One- Real World
Back in the real base Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper were laughing their tailpipes off. It was a rare occurrence that their SIC gets embarrassed, so it was always a good laugh.
"How is the connection Rafael?" Optimus asked.
"The sound is coming in a little staticky but the visual is all clear." Raf replied. Honestly the fact that Jack and Arcee are in a separate dimension and they're getting anything at all was amazing. Meanwhile Miko was climbing up Cliffjumper's medical berth.
"And what are you up to little lady?" The red mech asked.
"Well since I just got some spells I might as well start practicing them. So, while Jack and Arcee are smashing zombies I will be healing you up with my guitar." Miko explained.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Cliffjumper agreed causing Ratchet to groan. The medic had a feeling that he and that instrument are going to get along like oil and water. He was taken out of his musing by a notification on the monitor.
"Optimus I'm picking up an energon signal." Ratchet spoke up.
"Where?" The prime asked.
"Mid-west, moving at a fast rate."
"Should have known Starscream wouldn't cool his heels." Bulkhead grumbled.
"Perhaps but with Megatron gone maybe he can see reason and agree to an end of this war." Optimus replied.
"Sure, and then Unicron will stop being the stuff of nightmares." Cliffjumper snorted.
"There is always hope Cliffjumper." The prime reasoned. "Bumblebee come with me."
Gas station on the edge of town- Zombie Apocalypse
Soon the two reached a gas station. Getting off Jack looked around. So far nothing, turning back to Arcee Jack raised an eyebrow seeing she was still in her alt mode.
"Arcee, you do realize there isn't anyone but you and me, right? Anything we meet in here are only monsters for us to fight." Jack asked.
"Right, force of habit." She said transforming. Jack pulled out his steel cutlass, he hadn't used it yet and didn't want to use Frostedge until they faced something really dangerous. After all, why use an ace while a two can do. Walking in they saw the place was ransacked. Shelves were bare, glass on the freezers where smashed, and brown stains on the floor that Jack really hope was mud. Jack walked around the counter before he noticed a calendar.
"Cee take a look at this." He called over. Looking to what he was pointing at, Arcee raised an optic ridge.
"Jack, I understand you're a teenager and your hormones are going haywire, but I'm not really interested in scantily clad women." Arcee explained looking at the pinup.
"What? No not that. The year, according to the calendar the last time this was change was July 1976." Jack said blushing.
"And that's important?"
"Big time. This is ten years before the town was remodeled." Jack said. "After the mine collapse Jasper was entering a downward spiral. The next thirty years a lot of residents were leaving, and it was economically collapsing as well. People were starting to wonder if the town would go defunct but in 86 the mayor managed to rework the place offering deals for any and all small businesses. This attracted a lot of people allowing Jasper to survive." After learning about the mine Jack continued his research of the town hoping to find any more information. While nothing dungeon-like popped out it was still good information to have.
"Alright but I still don't see why that's important."
"Because during this time the mayor had blocks remodeled, old factories torn down and new buildings were put in place. What I'm trying to say the Jasper we know is completely different from this one. The only places that are still the same are the school, town hall and the mall."
"In other words, we can actually get lost because we don't know the area." Arcee caught on.
"Exactly."
[For discovering and piecing a lot of information with very little clues + 1 to WIS and INT]
Jack smiled at that one, for once it felt like the system wasn't mocking him.
"Well color me impressed Jack, but you missed one thing." Arcee said.
"What did I miss?" Jack asked.
"Even if the town is different the roads are bound to be the same right?" Jack paused at this, she had a good point, streets names aren't changed that often, and most are either numbered or named after a president. Before they could continue the sound of something shambling caught their attention. Walking out of the back room was once a man wearing a torn-up mechanic jumpsuit. His skin was pale and the flesh around his mouth was just gone revealing blood-stained teeth. To top it all one of its eyes were missing.
[Zombie]
[Race: Zombie (Undead)]
[Title: Unlucky Few]
[LVL: 16]
[HP: 350/350]
[MP: 0/0]
[SP: 100/100]
[CON: 50]
[STR: 50 (+50)]
[DEX: 5]
[INT: 1]
[WIS: 1]
[LCK: 0]
[An unlucky victim of a mass zombie outbreak.]
[Night vison: Creatures with this perk can see well no matter how dark it its. (Note does not help if vison is obscured by dust, fog, snow, etc.)]
[Unnatural Strength: No longer bound by pain the muscles are free to go all out even if it harms you. +50 STR, take 10% of all damage you deal.]
[Cannibal: Eat the flesh of the fallen to heal yourself for 25% of your max HP.]
Arcee recoiled at the sight of it, while it wasn't as bad as terrorcons it was still repulsive. As it moved toward them Jack brought his cutlass up before slashing at the corpse. It stumbled at the force before Jack followed it up with two more strikes with the last one at the neck causing the undead's head to fly off.
[You slain a zombie.]
[+ 250 XP]
[Slash Mastery: Level 185/100]
[Whether it is a dagger in an alley, 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 5%]
[Passively increase chances to cause minor bleeding status effect by 10%]
[Passively increase critical hit chances by 1%]
[Critical Hit LVL: 1 (25/100)]
[Striking an opponent's weak point is always a smart way to quickly end a fight.]
[10% more damage when dealing a critical hit.]
[Deal a critical hit whenever you attack based on 10% of your LCK]
"So how was that?" Jack asked.
"Decent but really sloppy. You never used a sword, have you?"
"Nope, first time really. But in my defense, it never occurred to me that I would need the skill."
"We're have to going to fix that later."
"Wait what?"
"You heard me smooth operator. If you and the others are planning to do more of these then it would be a good idea to teach you how to fight."
"That would be amazing Arcee. Thank you." It really was. Sure, Jack had been doing well but he was just using brute force, but with any of the bots teaching him and the others they would be fighting with skill.
"No problem. Now let's see what else this dungeon has to offer." Arcee said. The two look around and Jack manage to open the register finding a hundred dollars. Other than that, the place was empty. Moving out onto the street the two looked at the town, it was torn apart. Buildings had their windows and doors smashed, cars scattered around crashed into poles or buildings, and some buildings were even collapsed. It was pretty depressing for Jack, even though he knew this wasn't the real Jasper, it was still his home. Or at least a copy of it. Any further thought left his mind when they began to hear groaning. Looking down the road was a group of ten zombies.
"Alright Cee, don't get surrounded, they may be weak alone, but they can overwhelm in numbers." Jack warned casting [Stone Skin]. Honestly, he knew he had nearly nothing to worry about, but he was still going to be cautious.
"Noted, besides I want to see what you can do without my help." Arcee replied, she still ready her blasters though.
Looking back at the shambling dead Jack sent out two [Frost Bombs] causing a dual explosion of ice in the middle of the small horde. Three were now frozen solid while the rest were even moving slower now. In fact, it looks like they were on a video set to maybe a quarter speed. Seeing his chance Jack moved in with his cutlass slashing each with it quickly causing the undead to fall. When he reached the three frozen zombies, he checked their HP.
[Zombie]
[HP: 25/350]
Looks like being frozen delt damage over time. Shrugging his shoulders Jack finished them off.
[You slain 10 zombies.]
[+ 2,500 XP]
[+ $235]
"Well Jack I'm impressed. You took out ten enemies by yourself fairly quickly." Arcee said, while she had no experience with the undead, not counting the terrorcons, she could tell these weren't too dangerous by themselves, but like Jack warned her earlier they could be when in groups. To see him take out a small group like this was pretty good.
"Thanks, but these are the weakest enemies. We still haven't seen what this dungeon is capable off." Jack replied, looking around for anymore.
"How you figure?" Arcee asked.
"Every dungeon I came a crossed had at least more than one type of enemy so far. That's not even counting the boss, so if these are the weaker mobs, we have to face then it would make sense we will face stronger ones soon." Jack explained. Arcee raised a ridge but nodded anyway. Unlike Bumblebee who actually like to watch let's plays on his spare time she had no experience with video games.
BANG!
Any conversation ended when a sound like a crack of thunder rung out and Arcee's head whipped to the side as something struck her. Turning to the source of the sound Jack saw another group of zombies, this time there were about fifteen of them. But what caught his attention was one of them was dressed in an old school police uniform and had a gun in its hand. It fired the gun again this time it hit a window twenty feet to its left. Jack let a small sigh of relief. While the dead police officer can fire the gun, using it effectively was another story. The one shot it got on Arcee was nothing but pure luck. Good or back luck being a matter of perspective in this case.
"Arcee are you alright?!" Jack asked.
"Yeah, that bullet only took 300 of my HP." Arcee replied annoyed. She wasn't hurt, it just felt like a slap in the face by human standards. Jack paled at that, that was about half of his total HP. Whether or not the zombie can use it effectively didn't matter anymore, it just got first place in the "make it dead again category". Before Jack could take it out more groaning came from around him. Turning from the horde, he saw more zombies arrived, ten from the buildings to his left and twelve from his right and thirteen behind them. A grand total of fifty zombies all together, most of them were unarmed, but a few of them had pipes and other makeshift weapons. Thankfully none of them had any more guns.
"Where did these all come from?" Arcee asked pointing her blasters at the horde.
"The gun! Loud sounds attract zombies, so whenever the zombie shoots more will come." Jack explains shooting [Frost Darts] at the former cop. As the zombie seemed to aim at him something was different though, he felt more power go into the dart spell than normal and instead of a dozen darts a large single ice spike was shot out nailing the undead cop in the head.
[Frost Darts Maxed out!]
[Frost Darts LVL:MAX]
[Create spikes of ice to send out at your target]
[Cost: 5 MP]
[Number of darts 10]
[Damage per dart 15]
[Chance to freeze: 5% per dart]
[Slows targets down by 5% per dart]
[Due to maxing out a spell you have gain a new one!]
[Ice Spike LVL: 1 (15/100)]
[Create a large ice spike to impale your targets.]
[Cost: 50 MP]
[Damage: 150]
[Chance to freeze: 10%]
[Slows down target by 10%]
"Okay a new spell good but we still have forty-nine zombies left and I can't use [War Cry] or else I'll be a sitting duck for nearly an hour." Jack thought as the horde slowly approached them. Suddenly he had an idea. Gathering his magic Jack began to repeatedly cast [Ice Wall] over and over again until their right and left was completely blocked off.
"Arcee, you take the ones on your end, I'll handle the ones on mine!" Jack called out. The Autobot nodded as she opened fire on the undead walking down the ice hall. Each shot taking out one or two at the same time. Jack meanwhile charged at the approaching dead, the [Ice Wall] spell really drained his MP and now he was down to around two hundred mana, he had a plan though. Like before he charged a couple of [Frost Bombs] and sent them out. Due to the [Ice Walls] bottlenecking the horde a lot of them took more damage than before. Smirking he began to cut them down and sending out a [Lightning Bolt] or [Ice Spike] out. Soon after five minutes of undead slaughter it was over.
[You have slain 29 Zombies!]
[+7,250 XP!]
[Leveled up!]
[Miner's resolve activated!]
[+5 AP]
[Your party member slain 21 Zombies!]
[+525 shared party XP]
[+ $1,756]
[+1 9mm Glock]
[+1 Glock clip (17 9mm bullets)]
[Several skills leveled up!]
[Frost Bomb LVL 8 (37/213)]
[Send out a ball of ice that explodes on impact.]
[Cost: 30 MP]
[225 Damage]
[Radius: 10 feet]
[Chance to freeze opponents: 30%]
[Ice wall LVL: 7 (18/177)]
[Form a protective barrier of ice to block incoming attacks.]
[Durability 400/400]
[Max size: 15ft tall, 10ft wide, 2ft thick]
[MP cost: 40]
[Ice Spike LVL: 2 (49/110)]
[Create a large ice spike to impale your targets.]
[Cost: 50 MP]
[Damage: 175]
[Chance to freeze: 15%]
[Slows down target by 15%]
[Lightning Bolt: LVL 2 (0/110)]
[Create a small bolt of lightning to strike down your enemies]
[30 Damage]
[6% chance to paralyze]
[Cost:30 MP]
[Slash Mastery: Level 3 (12/121)]
[Whether it is a dagger in an alley, 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 15%]
[Passively increase chances to cause minor bleeding status effect by 20%]
[Passively increase critical hit chances by 3%]
[Critical Hit LVL: 2 (74/110)]
[Striking an opponent's weak point is always a smart way to quickly end a fight.]
[15% more damage when dealing a critical hit.]
[Deal a critical hit whenever you attack based on 10% of your LCK]
Jack let out a breath as he went over the skills he got. That was a massive work out, and they were only on the out skirts of the city.
"Are you okay Cee?"
"Besides the one in the beginning they didn't even touch me. Good work with that barrier."
"Thanks. We should get going. I don't want to stay in one place for too long."
"Can't argue with that."
In a canyon with Optimus and Bumblebee
Optimus ducked behind a rock as blaster fire struck it. Things weren't going as expected. He and Bumblebee found the Decepticon signals, Starscream and Soundwave, but there was another with them. Skyquake, a face the prime hasn't seen in years. Despite this he was still willing and eager to fill out Megatron's orders to kill him. Optimus did try reasoning with the con but Skyquake's loyalty was absolute. Negotiations to end the war with Starscream failed before they began. The seeker's pride and ego mixed with Skyquake's irritation with both the leaders simply lead to a shoot-out. The only saving grace was the fact Skyquake didn't have an alt mode.
"Bumblebee! Follow my lead!" The prime called out before transforming and driving away. The yellow bot nodded and followed.
"So, time has turn you into a coward prime!" Skyquake bellowed as he chased them. While all this was happening Starscream was watching with a twisted smile.
Don't miss a single moment Soundwave. We must have video recording of Optimus Prime's death, for the historical record." Starscream ordered. This was working out better than he hoped. Not only did he gain a student, who admittedly needed discipline training, but Optimus will be no more. Once that happens no one in the decepticon army will question him. His thoughts were broken when Soundwave got his attention.
"What is it Soundwave, I am savoring my, er, the decepticon victory." The seeker questioned. Soundwave's mask showed an image of Earth and the asteroid belt before zooming in a small location just past it.
"A second decepticon life signal, but Skyquake is the only sleeper agent in this area." Starscream replied, until he noted where the signal was coming from.
"The site of our destroyed spacebridge. You're not telling me that life signal belongs to Megatron. B-bu-but he was microns from the detonation point. Nothing could survive that blast. Your sensors must be faulty, ignore the signal and delete the coordinates." Starscream ordered as he turned around. But as he felt Soundwave's optics staring at his back he reconsidered.
"What am I saying. Of course, this must be investigated. If Megatron is still alive I will bring him home. Stay here and monitor the outcome. When Skyquake snuffs out Optimus' spark. I must bare witness." He said as he transformed. Soundwave watch silently until a recorded line of Starscream's voice was played.
"Must bare witness." His chest plate transformed and popped off revealing his drone Laserbeak, before it followed the seeker.
Jasper- Zombie Apocalypse
Jack and Arcee continued through the wrecked town, after scavenging the area all they found were a few lead pipes and baseball bats, nothing much but Jack threw them into his inventory. Maybe he could sell them at the game store, which reminded him he still hasn't checked that out. But that was for later for now he kept an eye out for anymore undead the dungeon had for him. So far they were nearing the town hall, which was nearly at the center of Jasper, despite this they haven't seen any more zombies since the horde. That was concerning. Once more it felt like something was out there. Watching them. No not watching. Hunting.
"Arcee?" Jack whispered, looking over his shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"Do you feel that?"
"If you mean that feeling of being watch? Then yes." She scowled, some memories she wanted to keep buried coming up. Before Jack could reply they hear something skittering in one of the buildings. They turn to it only to hear it again behind them. Standing back-to-back the two kept their eyes open.
"Jack, you're the resident zombie expert here, what is out there?" Arcee whispered.
"I don't know, so far we been dealing with the classic George Romero zombies."
"George who?"
"A movie director who pretty much kicked off the zombie genre for movies but since then people been changing the zombies. Some run, some are smart, and others…" Jack trailed off.
"Others?" Arcee pressed for answer she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"Some decided to make mutant varieties, stronger, more dangerous and have some kind of ability that makes it really hard for someone to survive." Jack explained. Before either could say anything else a figure jumped out of the building in front of Jack. If Jack thought the previous undead were unpleasant to look at this one made them look like super models. Most of its skin was just gone revealing muscle, what little remain was a sickly grey, its fingers rotted away leaving sharpen bone. Its mouth was no better seeing all its teeth was sharpen or broken to imitate a predator's maul.
[Ghoul]
[Race: Zombie (Undead)]
[Title: Advance undead]
[LVL: 18]
[HP: 500/500]
[MP: 0/0]
[SP: 200/200]
[CON: 50]
[STR: 100 (+50)]
[DEX: 25]
[INT: 3]
[WIS: 5]
[LCK: 0]
[When some are turned into undead, they simply become a zombie, others become something worse. Stronger, faster, and having a basic animal intelligence these undead a far superior at hunting then their regular brethren.]
[Night vison: Creatures with this perk can see well no matter how dark it its. (Note does not help if vison is obscured by dust, fog, snow, etc.)]
[Unnatural Strength: No longer bound by pain the muscles are free to go all out even if it harms you. +50 STR, take 10% of all damage you deal.]
[Cannibal: Eat the flesh of the fallen to heal yourself for 25% of your max HP.]
"I hate it when I'm right." Jack said before the ghoul shrieked and charged at them. The two dodged out of the way. Arcee was about to shoot the undead before she was splashed by some green slime like substance.
"What in Primus?" She said as she checked her HP. It was going down, not by a lot, just a point per second.
"What is this?" Looking in the direction of where the slime came from, she saw another ghoul hanging outside a second story window. Its chest swelled up before spitting out more of the slime.
"I was just puked on!?" Arcee yelled in rage. Before she could do anything a horde of undead came out and began to sprint at her. Jack seeing this checked what the slime was.
[Ghoul Vile]
[A disgusting slime regurgitated by a ghoul.]
[Does 1 point of acid damage per second for 300 seconds.]
[Attracts all undead in a 100ft radius for 300 seconds.]
[Gives all undead (except ghouls) +15 to DEX in a 25ft radius.]
Jack let out a curse as he dodges another swipe of the ghoul. That vile was attracting every zombie in the area and making them faster. Sure enough about a hundred zombies were now surrounding Arcee, not that she was bothered. Boost or not they were being torn apart by an angry blue and pink blender. Jack turned his attention back to the ghoul. He needed to take this thing out now. Letting it get close he used [Stun Bash] with the hilt of his cutlass before he followed it up with an [Ice Spike] to its leg.
[Status effect afflicted: left leg crippled. – 20 to DEX]
That was what he was hoping for. It fell to the ground and then tried to use it's hands and good leg to try and crawl away. Before Jack could continue the other ghoul tackled him sending him into an abandon car.
[-50 HP]
Glaring at the ghoul only to see it swelling up. He rolled out of the way before the vomit could land on him. Arcee may be able to tank it but he can't. Looking at the ghouls the one from before seemed to be trying to get away while the one that tackled him was charging at him. Sending a couple [Ice Spikes] out as he jumped out of the way. One of the spikes missed but the other was lodged into the ghoul's shoulder, not giving it any time to recover, he rushed it with his blade at the ready. Hitting it with a couple of slashes Jack shot another [Ice Spike] directly at its head finishing it. Turning back to the first one he saw it was still trying to get away.
"It seems that these things have some basic animal intelligence." Jack mumbled to himself. The other undead simply press towards them not caring they were being taken apart, the ghouls seemed to have self-preservation. Deciding to end this and help Arcee he sent a spike through its head ending it as well. Steeling himself he got ready to help Arcee with the horde only to freeze at what he saw.
It was Arcee.
Arcee standing on top of a massive pile of slain zombies while covered in putrid blood and zombie bile.
While holding a severed zombie head.
"Where's that slagging vomiting glitch!" She bellowed out. Jack simply stared at her before he made a note not to piss her off.
[For a very, very, very good choice + 5 WIS!]
[You slain 2 ghouls!]
[+ 700XP!]
[+ $220]
[Your party member slain 100 Zombies!]
[+2,500 shared party XP]
"I, um, I already took care of them." Jack nervously answered. Friend or not the sight in front of him was intimidating.
"Jack, if we ever meet whatever gave you this ability, I'm punching them. I don't care if they are some sort of enteral being. I will find a way." Arcee said in an eerily calm voice. Jack simply nodded his head.
"Well at least it can't get any worse." Arcee muttered as she wiped some of the gunk off. As if she provoked Murphy's law the ground rumbles as out of the cracks tendrils of flesh snaked out and began to grab all of the slain dead before pulling them underground. Before either Arcee or Jack could say anything a loud monstrous roar.
"That is probably the boss monster." Jack said.
"Scrap."
Earth's orbit- Site of the destroyed Ground Bridge
Starscream landed on one of the many asteroids that now floated in the vastness of the void. The site of one of the Autobots greatest victories and unknowingly his own. Looking around he chuckled to himself.
"Just as I thought. Faulty sensors. There is no way that anyone could survive this. Not even the oh so mighty Mega-" He was cut off as his comms picked up a pained wheezing groan. Optics widening, he looked around he saw an asteroid float out of the way revealing none other than Megatron.
"Me-Megatron?! But. But how!?" Floating over he saw the damage. Burn marks all over the once silver-grey body and a gaping hole in his chest. Inside was a glowing purple shard.
"I see the dark energon you put in your spark chamber mush have somehow kept you in one piece. It's a shame that it can't help you now." The seeker said as he pulled the crystal out mercilessly. Suddenly Megatron grabbed on to one of Starscream's arms scaring him but it was short lived as that seem to be the last of the warlord's energy as he fainted. Starscream was about to finished him off when the sight of Laserbeak, Soundwave's minicon, weaving through the many asteroids. Thinking quickly Starscream hid the dark energon before calling out.
"Soundwave! Soundwave thank Primus. Quickly send a rescue unit. I found Megatron but I don't know how much longer he can hold out!" The seeker acted; on the inside he was furious. With Megatron alive his ascension will be put on hold. Although without the dark energon to support him, it was likely Megatron will simply waste away. Starscream had to suppress a smirk at the thought.
With Optimus and Bumblebee
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Autobots. They managed to corner Skyquake but the unfortunate arrival of Fowler allowed the con to gain a jet mode, allowing him to take to the air and attack them. Fowler had to avoid several heat seeking missiles by playing chicken with a cliff wall. Right now, Bumblebee was trying to avoid the con's bullets as he drove out of the canyon. Reaching the top, he had an idea, a crazy idea but it might just work. Transforming to robot mode he looks to see Skyquake coming around a turn. Sprinting towards the edge he jumps off and manages to land on the con. Skyquake tries to shake off the Autobot as they get higher and higher into the sky. Not having much time before he loses his grip Bumblebee activities his blaster and sent multiple blast dead center of the aerial con.
As soon as he does that Skyquake began to nosedive as he felt his life fade away. Bumblebee braced himself for the upcoming impact until Fowler pulled up beside him, jumping onto the craft Bee let out a beep of thanks. Not a moment later Skyquake crashed down onto the Earth, his spark extinguished.
Optimus walked up to the fallen warrior with a sad expression. If only Skyquake left his master's path, he would have been alive now. Another life lost in this war. The prime wondered if it will ever end, but as long as the Decepticons threaten the lives and freedom of others they will have to fight.
Jasper- Zombie Apocalypse
Jack and Arcee looked around as the neared town hall. It was only a few minutes since they heard that massive roar and they were on guard.
"Alight Jack, any idea what the frag made that roar?"
"No clue, but it's big. The last time I fought a zombie boss he had earth magic and could summon skeletons. This could be anything for all we know.
"Great." Was her sarcastic reply.
Soon the two were in front of town hall, if was different than the current one, a simple building with a clock tower on its roof. Looking around the two saw a couple of zombies walking towards them.
[Kill enough Zombies to summon the Dungeon Boss!]
[0/25 Zombies]
[0/5 Ghouls]
It was simple enough, which worried Jack. Those tendrils from earlier kept springing up in his mind. He had no doubts that that was part of the boss monster, the fact it hadn't attacked them was concerning but it could have been the dungeon mechanics. Focusing he sent out more [Ice Spikes] and [Frost Bombs] out at the undead while Arcee charged at the ghouls, it seems that she was still mad from earlier. He began to charge and cut them down as he made sure not to get surrounded. Jack knew he got lucky earlier with the ghouls, but he won't make that mistake again.
It was when the last zombie was cut down the ground began to shake. Cracks began to appear on the town hall. It began to crumble and shake before it collapsed sending dust clouds everywhere making Jack cover his eyes. Once most of the dust died down Jack looked back at the cloud only to see a massive shadow. What stepped out was so horrifying [Gamer's Mind] had to activate begore Jack began to hyperventilate. It was bodies. Countless bodies melded together to form a massive ball of corpses, various limbs hung out writhing and grasping, four massive legs formed in a similar way to held up the building size body like that of a spider and a few dozen fleshy tendrils slithered from the top of the creature. As one all the heads open their mouths and let out a deafening unified roar.
[Boss Encounter]
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[Race: Zombie (Undead)]
[LVL: 20]
[Title: A corpse of thousand bodies]
[HP: 7,800/7,800]
[MP: 0/0]
[SP: 550/550]
[Con: 300]
[STR: 4,050]
[DEX: 450]
[INT: 5]
[WIS: 0]
[LCK: 5]
[An accumulation of undead that melded to together forming a creature of nightmares.]
[Perks]
[Dungeon Boss Bonus LVL 3: + 300 to HP, MP, and SP. Immune to being Frozen, Paralyzed, and Mind control.]
[Cannibal: Eat the flesh of the fallen to heal yourself for 25% of your max HP.]
[Dark Feast: Permanently gain 50 HP and SP for every corpse you eat, permanently gain 25 STR and DEX for every corpse you eat.]
[Mighty Slow: Exchange Speed for strength, 80% of DEX points go into STR instead.]
Jack stared at the stats of what he could only describe as nightmare fuel. Three words came to mind as he stared down this monster. Just three words to describe this whole thing.
"Ah fuck me."
As if that was a signal to begin the AoC sent dozens of tendrils towards the two. Luckily, they managed to dodge the onslaught as the each one of the appendages pierced the ground like it was wet paper.
Arcee activated her blasters and began to open fire before she was tackled from behind by a ghoul. Switching to her blades she carves the undead into pieces, looking up she sees that a lot of zombies and ghouls were arriving. It seems like the AoC's roar wasn't for intimidation but to summon minions. Scowling she turns to see Jack pull out Frostedge and began to cut down any zombie that got near him while also continuing to dodge the AoC's attacks. She shot at the thing each of her blast were nerfed, but they stilled if around two hundred and fifty points of damage. She smirked as she saw it was down to half health before a zombie grabbed her from behind. Bringing up her fist she was about to end it before a tentacle beat her to it. Looking around he saw many of the zombies and ghouls suffering the same fate before they were pulled into the mass of flesh.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[Race: Zombie (Undead)]
[LVL: 20]
[Title: A corpse of thousand bodies]
[HP: 8,200/8,200]
[MP: 0/0]
[SP: 750/750]
[Con: 300]
[STR: 4,050]
[DEX: 450]
[INT: 5]
[WIS: 0]
[LCK: 5]
Her optics went wide as not only was it healed completely it was even stronger than before. She was about to shoot it again before one of the tendrils wrapped around her waist. Arcee began to cut it but AoC threw her away as it did not sense any flesh it could consume. The femme sail through the sky before she landed harshly through the roof of a building a few blocks away.
Arcee let out a groan as she got up before checking her health bar.
[Name: Arcee]
[HP: 89,630/ 134,445]
That wasn't good. She was down a good amount of health and she had to get back to Jack before something happens to him. Before she could leave the sound of moaning caught her attention. All around her were zombies and ghouls. There were too many to simply avoid. Scowling she got her arm blades ready. "Hang on Jack I'll be there soon."
Back with Jack things were getting dicey. He was thankful he applied [Stone Skin] and got Frostedge because it allowed him to take down zombies much faster than his cutlass but every time, he did cut one down the AoC would absorb them and get stronger. None of his attacks were doing enough damage. A shadow was now above him, looking up he saw it was one of the creature's legs that were about to step on him. Quickly he got out of the way before it could crush him. Unfortunately, a ghoul suckered punch or sucker clawed him knocking him down. Having enough he decided to use his ace.
[War Cry!]
[War cry used! 27 enemies in range. + 162 to CON, STR, and DEX.]
[Name: Jack Darby]
[Title: The Gamer]
[Race: Human]
[LVL: 16 (8,897/10,623)]
[HP: 703/756 (3,298/3,348)]
[MP: 772/772]
[SP: 756/756 (3,348/3,348)]
[CON: 41 + 162 = 203]
[STR: 46 + 162 = 208]
[DEX: 50 + 3 + 162 = 215]
[INT: 42]
[WIS: 47]
[LCK: 32]
Looking at his new stats Jack smirked as he be bolted at the boss. Gripping Frostedge tightly he slashed at one of the monster's legs.
[150 + 208 + 14% = 409 Frost Damage!]
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 7,791/8,200]
It was a long way off but at least he can do this as long as he's smart about this. He sent another slash before jumping back from several tentacles trying to pierce him. Sending out both a [Frost Bomb] and a [Ice spike] Jack hid behind a destroyed car.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 6,982/8,200]
The creature gave a pained roar before attacking and consuming all of the undead around it.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 10,550/10,550]
Jack stared at the new health bar in shock. This really is the tankiest boss he had ever fought, looking around there weren't any more zombies or ghouls which means that its food source was gone. 'Until it roars again. I need a missile launcher to take that thing down.' Jack thought before his eyes widen in realization. Opening his inventory, he quickly found what he was looking for.
[Dynamite]
[Rare quality]
[One time use item]
[Radius 10 feet]
[1,000 Damage]
He only had six sticks but if he used these just right, he may have a shot. Lighting one he throws it at one of the legs. He didn't have to wait long before a loud explosion rocked his eardrums. Looking back at where he threw it Jack saw the leg of the creature was mangled and seemed to be barely hanging on. Jack had a plan that might make this a lot easier. Moving out from behind cover he sent out another [Frost Bomb] at he injured leg before charging at it. Several tendrils tried to hit him, but he managed to dodge them, barely. He sent a slash at the leg. Holding back his disgust he quickly lit another stick and lodge it in the gash he created and ran. The moment he got out of range the stick of dynamite went off damaging it further, but that wasn't what Jack was aiming for. No, it was the fact the limb was no longer attach to the monstrosity was his goal.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 7,916/10,550]
Jack check and saw the thing sent out several of its tentacles again. Unfortunately, he couldn't dodge all of them this time as one of the tendrils clipped him.
[-550 HP]
[Name: Jack Darby]
[HP: (2,748/3,348)]
"Okay I can't take too many of those and definitely not one directly." Jack groaned out. He sent out another three [Frost Bombs] before throwing another stick at one of the legs. Ignoring the explosion, he dodges a couple tendrils before slashing them making them fall to the ground.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 5,832/10,550]
"Halfway there and only three legs left to go." He sent out five shots of [Frost Darts], while they couldn't do a lot of damage, they can slow the thing down even more. He was proven right when a blue hue washed over the boss making it move much slower than before. Grinning Jack threw another stick of dynamite. Once it blew up Jack watch the massive collaboration of flesh crash onto the ground.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 3,582/10,550]
The two remaining legs began to lift and slam into the ground causing shock waves out knocking Jack onto this back as it roared. "Oh no you don't, you're not getting any more snacks to munch on!"
Not taking any more chances Jack lit the last two sticks of dynamite and threw them. They went off as soon as they bounced on the boss causing a large explosion. Not giving it a moment's reprieve Jack out three [Ice Spikes] bringing the boss's health down lower.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 1,057/10,550]
He was close, so very close. But he used the last of his mana so Jack charge at the boss dodging the tendrils as it tried to defend itself. Jack reaches it and brought up Frostedge and slammed it down.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 648/10,550]
And again.
[Amalgamation of Corpses]
[HP: 239/10,550]
And again, finally ended the boss once and for all.
[All enemies defeated. War Cry bonuses removed]
[Exhaustion status inflicted for 2 hours and 42 minutes]
Jack collapsed the moment the pop up appeared. He ignored the multiple notifications that appeared as he caught his breath. That was by far the toughest boss he had to fight. The only saving grace was the thing wasn't smart. If it was it would have called more zombies before it ate the fallen ones first. Jack wasn't going to complain, the boss was slain and now all he had to do is find Arcee.
Before he could even call out her name the sound of footsteps caught his attention. Turning towards the source Jack's eyes widen as it wasn't Arcee but a ghoul. He tried to get up but the [Exhaustion] debuff made even sitting up difficult. As the ghoul got closer Jack shakily brought up his hand ready to send out an [Ice Spike] even though it was taking all his strength just to lift his arm. Just when the ghoul got close…
Blam!
An energy blast destroyed the ghoul's head in seconds.
"Jack! Are you alright?" Arcee called out. Looking over to her Jack saw Arcee was running towards him.
"I am now, thanks I can't really move at the moment."
"What happen?" Arcee asked as she began to look over him for injuries.
"The boss gone even stronger after it threw you away. I had to resort to using [War Cry] and it wore off."
"I thought you said it doesn't wear off until every enemy was gone."
"They were. The ghoul showed up after the battle was over."
"Well try to make sure that there's nothing else next time." Arcee grumbled. She knew she couldn't stop him from using it. The skill was too useful in emergencies even with the drawback and Jack didn't have any other options. If she wasn't thrown away, they would have work together to take down the monster.
"What happened after the AoC threw you anyway?"
"I landed through a roof and the noise attracted over a hundred zombies. Had to fight my way through the entire building before I could get back here. What were those explosions I heard?"
"I use the dynamite I found in Miner's folly. Worked great in tearing it down." Jack groan.
"Alright let's get out of here." Jack nodded as he grabbed her hand.
Omega One- Real World
In a flash the two were back at the base. Arcee looked down to see that she was her regular size again.
"That was awesome! You two tore through those zombies like paper." Miko greeted them before scrunching up her nose and gagged. "Oh god, Arcee! You smell like a dozen gym shorts were mixed in with sewer water."
The two-wheeler glared at the rocker before turning around. "I'm taking a shower. A long shower."
Jack felt bad for her, the entire dungeon wasn't pleasant but at least he now knows how it would react to being stronger party members in.
"Are you alright Jack?" Optimus asked. He and Bumblebee came back when Jack was finishing off the boss. It was safe to say the prime was shocked to see such a creature as well as Jack defeating it.
"I will be. Just have to wait until the exhaustion wears off." He replied as Raf and Miko helped him to a couch. "Where did this come from?"
"From storage. Just something left over from when the military used this place." Miko answered.
Jack nodded as he looked at the rewards he got.
[You slain 25 Zombies!]
[+625XP!]
[Party Member has slain 5 ghouls!]
[+175 XP!]
[Several skills leveled up!]
[Ice Spike LVL: 3 (98/121)]
[Create a large ice spike to impale your targets.]
[Cost: 50 MP]
[Damage: 200]
[Chance to freeze: 20%]
[Slows down target by 20%]
[Frost Bomb LVL 9 (50/235)]
[Send out a ball of ice that explodes on impact.]
[Cost: 25 MP]
[250 Damage]
[Radius: 10 feet]
[Chance to freeze opponents: 35%]
[Slash Mastery: Level 4 (123/133)]
[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 20%]
[Passively increase chances to cause bleeding status effect by 10%]
[Passively increase critical hit chances by 5%]
[Stone Skin LVL: 3 (23/121)]
[Harden your skin at the cost of mobility]
[+60 defense]
[- 8 DEX]
[Cost: 25 MP]
[You have gained the perk Novice Undead Slayer: You go were few dare tread, bring death to the undead. + 10% more damage to all types of undead. -10% all damage taken from all types of undead.]
[War Cry LVL 4 (57/133)]
[Unleash a roar of blood lust enhancing you for every enemy nearby.]
[+ 4 to CON, STR, and DEX for every enemy in 15 feet, bonus wear off once combat ends]
[8% chance to stun enemies]
[4% chance to cause fear in enemies]
[Will leave user exhausted for several minutes base on stat increase. +2 Stats = 2 Minutes]
[Cost: 25 SP]
[For excellent planning + 2 INT]
[Due to Amalgamation of Corpses absorbing slain enemies all loot and XP from them are lost.]
[You slain Amalgamation of Corpses!]
[+4,000 XP!]
[For defeating Amalgamation of Corpses for the first time you may pick one of three rewards.]
[Cuirass of the dead: A chainmail cuirass made with bone and human leather that grants great strength to its wearer. + 20 STR, -20 INT, -10 WIS. Effects are double when below 50% of health. Effects are triple when below 25% health.]
[Staff of ghouls: A staff made of bone with a carving of a ghoul's head on the end. Does 75 Acid damage per second for one minute. Drains 30 HP per attack. Effects are tripled when below 50%.]
[Dead Man Walking: You dance on the edge of life and death so often people wonder if you are really alive or not. When less than 25% all stats are doubled, and all attacks are 25% more stronger. When less than 10% health all stats are tripled, and all attacks are 50% stronger.]
Jack looked at the rewards and it was an easy to eliminate one of them. The Cuirass was a no. In fact, he felt queasy after reading what it was made of, plus the negatives that came with it was too much for him. Yeah, if he was going for more of a pure STR build it would be useful but he likes to use his spells often so that was a no. That leaves the other two.
The staff was interesting. True it drains his health, but he could manage that with his healing spells and potions. The attacks it did were overpowered. He could eliminate anything near him for a while. Taking another look at it he saw the staff had a durability of fifty.
The perk was useful. While it wasn't much use normally it was a 'Oh my god things are really hitting the fan' last resort kind of thing. Thinking back to all his fights he realized how lucky he got with them. Sooner later that luck will run out and it would be good to have this.
He was torn. Both were really good but, in the end, he chose the perk. The staff while useful had a low durability and would break sooner than later. Plus, he was sure Arcee wouldn't appreciate him having a weapon that reminded her of the ghouls.
[You leveled up!]
[+ 5 AP]
[Miner's Resolve activated]
[For reaching 50 in Strength please pick one of these as a reward.]
[Athletic aptitude: Muscle memory is a grand thing. All physical skills level up 50% faster.]
[Grand Slam: Knock them out of the park! Any attack with a two-handed weapon will have a 10% chance of sending an opponent flying for extra damage! Chances are affected by size and weight of opponents. DMG is base on STR+ distance travels. EX: 10 STR + 20 ft = 110 DMG.]
[Iron Fist: What, are your hands made of metal? All hand-to-hand attacks do 25% more damage.]
Dang, all those rewards were good. Jack didn't know which one to pick. Iron fist seemed useful but so did grand slam. And athletic aptitude was great for his stun bash skill. "Wait, it says all physical skills, like cycling and running!" Jack realizes. That was huge! Yes, while it didn't sound like much at first but if he were to level those skills up then that meant he could push himself even farther much faster. Grinning he picked the perk. Hearing a surprised beep Jack looked look up to see Bumblebee beeping as a familiar disc popped up in front of him.
"A Cybertronian upgrade? Looks like we weren't the only ones busy today." Jack thought to himself.
Bee looked at the disc before glancing at Optimus. The prime nodded as it was the scout who brought down Skyquake. Ignoring Ratchet's disapproving scowl, Bumblebee activated the disc. He merely glanced at his options before the disc immediately dissolved into him.
"Well, that was quick, what did you get?" Bulkhead asked. Bumblebee look around and seemed to be hesitating, causing everyone to become worried.
Raf walked up to his guardian with a concern look on his face. "Bee?"
Bumblebee looked down at him and vented. "Raf." That single word shock all the bots present.
"You can talk." Raf gasp.
"I can talk!" Bee cheered. "I have my voice back!"
"Well, I'll be. The upgrade fixed your voice. And here I thought it didn't work." Cliffjumper chuckled.
"That's not all Cliff." Bee replied, but it wasn't his voice but Bulkhead's.
"Wait you can copy voices now as well?!" Miko exclaimed. "Sweet, I love to see what vocals you can do." The bots and teens congratulated the scout as Jack watch on. He wasn't sure what happen when he and Arcee were in the dungeon, but one thing was for certain was it was a good day.
The Nemesis
"Today have been nothing but a disaster!" Starscream thought to himself. He was sitting in the bridge waiting for Knockout's medical report. It was one set back after another. First Skyquake's refusal to obey him, Skyquake's failure of killing Optimus and the scout killing him was a total waste of time. Worst was Megatron being alive. The seeker let out a sigh as he remembered the only saving grace was nestled in his sub space. The shard of dark energon that he plucked out of Megatron's spark chamber, without it Starscream doubts that Megatron will ever recover. All he needs to do is bide his time.
"Sir we are receiving an incoming transmission." A vehicon informed him.
"Let it through."
{This is the scouting ship Malice requesting permission to bored.}
"This is lord Starscream, Leader of the Decepticons, to whom am I speaking to?"
{This is Strika! How dare you take lord Megatron's title!}
Starscream's optics widen at the name. Strika, one of Megatron's strongest and skilled generals. He smirked. If he plays this right, he'll have his right hand soon enough.
"Lady Strika forgive me. I had to put on a brave charade. Please come aboard as soon as possible. I will explain everything."
{You better.}
The seeker got up and made his way to the port. Things maybe looking up after all.
[Name: Jack Darby]
[Title: The Gamer]
[Race: Human]
[LVL: 17 (6,224/13,279)]
[HP: 797/797]
[MP: 814/814]
[SP: 797/797]
[CON: 41]
[STR: 52]
[DEX: 50 +3]
[INT: 42]
[WIS: 47]
[LCK: 36]
[AP: 15]
[$4,391]
Ember: Huh, gave Bee his voice back. Nice.
Yeah I was going to give him his stingers from animated but I can do that later.
Ember: You know the boss looks like the mind flayer from Stranger things.
My co-worker said the same thing when I drew it but the funny thing is, I haven't watched it. I was going for a Dead Space kinda deal.
Ember: Huh.
Yeah. I am going to take a break from undead though, I don't want to overuse them.
?: Why wasn't I revealed in this chapter?!
Chill, you're going to be revealed in the next one.
?: I don't chill! I burn!
Okay Inferno.
?: Oh, don't you dare say I'm anything like that insect.
Well, you're both crazy and have a lot to do with fire.
?: I hate you.
Happy Halloween everyone!