Alright Chapter 13 is here! Before anything else everyone I like to remind everyone that voting ends the 31st and honestly the votes so far been exciting. At this moment the votes are.
Borderlands with 15 votes
Jurassic Park with 14 votes
Dragon Age with 5 votes
This is surprising, honestly thought Dragon Age would have more votes. Either way there's still plenty of time. And now for the reviews!
Stella Imber: I would love to add them, but I need to add more cons before that. Let's be honest if I add the Dinobots while the cons don't have enough support it will be a slaughter. And yeah, I know everyone needs armor. I have a good idea for Raf and Miko but I'm still working with Jack's design.
Ryu Wolf: Yes, I plan on Jack getting a unique set of armor but for now he'll use what ever he'll find. Trust me it will be epic.
Psudocode Samurai: You make excellent points for all the voting options. No worries, whomever is the winner I will be making some tweaks for it to be helpful for everyone. For Raf, I do plan on him to be pretty strong. I do plan on more bots later. With all the boost they'll receive though expect more cons though.
Ice Fox 76: Thank you and trust me there will be some cons sticking around for a while. In fact, Strika will have a major role to play down the line.
Leaf Ranger: Yeah, I plan to ease up on him after this chapter. If I torture him too much, people will think I write the Spider-Man comics.
Pyrohelixdrago: That would be funny as heck. If Jurassic Park wins, I'll have to include that as a scene. Heck seeing how close the votes are I may have to have a second poll to see if anyone wants second place to be included.
Jack Redhawke: You are right. Looking back, I did forget to change the remaining stats, but I somehow added everything correctly for the stats at the end. Thank you for pointing that out. I'll be fixing that in the future.
To a couple of people who asked. The pairing is 100% Jack and Arcee. As for Flamewar it's a maybe leaning toward yes since everyone seems to love it. But it will be later. Jack and Arcee's relationship need to grow first. There's plenty of time since these gamer fics tend to produce a lot of chapters.
I don't own the Transformers franchise. If I did, we would have seen the Prime humans in RID!
?
Jack was running through his house looking desperately for his mother. He couldn't lose her, not to those things.
"Mom! Mom where are you?" He yelled out. Finding a door, he opens it only to gag in horror as the mauled and mangled bodies of Raf and Miko fall to the ground.
"Jack." Turning around his face twists in horror. A wendigo stood before him, but it wasn't just any wendigo, it was Simon and in his clawed hand was June. "You failed Jack, you couldn't save me, and you can't save them." He mocked as he breaks June's neck.
"NO!" Jack lurched forward as he woke up in his bed. He looked around and found himself in his room. Looking at the clock he finds that it was only five minutes until six. Getting up he dropped down and began doing pushups. It has been three days since his trip to Maplewood. Since then, he had been pushing himself, every morning he would do a hundred pushups, sit ups, and squats, when he was at the base he would spar, and when he had the time, he would be at the rec center to do more exercises. Once finished he put on his jogging gear for a mile run.
"Morning Cee." Jack greeted the two-wheeler.
"Morning Jack. Going for another run?"
"Yeah, I just need to work on those stats of mine. I'll be back in ten minutes." He said as he left leaving a concerned Arcee. Ever since the dungeon Jack had been pushing himself too far for the Autobot's liking. Even the others had noticed Jack was working himself to the bone. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. The femme merely hoped that he would be willing to listen to reason.
Meanwhile, in Omega One
Ratchet was examining the dark energon they have collected so far as Optimus came up to him.
"How goes the research Ratchet?"
"Concerning. While I haven't found a way to eliminate the dark energon without a chance of contamination I have made a few startling discoveries." Ratchet replied. Bringing Optimus over to a separate table the medic gestured to two pieces of metal.
"Take a look at both of these through the microscope and tell me what you see." The Prime looked at them and found while both had traces of dark energon, only one of the metals seemed to have melted slightly.
"One is far more damaged than the other."
"Exactly. The damaged one is a piece of cybertitanium while the other is Earth steel. Normally cybertitanium is superior in every way to common Earth steel but once the dark energon touches it…" Ratchet trails off.
"It becomes frailer." Optimus continued only for Ratchet to shake his head.
"Not just that Optimus. The Earth steel became far stronger than it was before, in fact all the Earth materials I tested became stronger." The medic explained to the Prime's shock.
"What could this mean Ratchet?"
"I have a theory. We know that dark energon was already on the planet. Jack had proved that already, but the question is how. It is a very rare substance to the point that it was thought of as myth. Looking into the planet's history I discovered something. Sixty-six million Earth years ago an asteroid crashed into the planet, wiping out the dominant species at the time. It is theorized that what led to this extinction event was caused by dust covering the atmosphere for nearly two years. Optimus, what if the space bridge explosion wasn't the first time the planet was seeded in dark energon. What if this asteroid had dark energon as well and everything that survived…"
"Adapted to the dark energon and even evolved from it."
"It is a possibility. The mutagenic effect on organics aligns with this hypothesis."
"Do you believe that Jack's abilities are from dark energon?"
"I. I don't know. Jack has claimed this power has a sentience, if that were to be true then it would only mean…"
"Unicron."
"Yes, but that would make no sense. The chaos bringer only craves destruction. Why would he give Jack powers or the ability to help us?" The medic wondered. "Could it be an elaborate trap to kill us all?"
"I don't think so. If it was then Jack wouldn't have the free will to do what he desires or he would have been forced to stop you from finding a way to destroy dark energon."
"That is true. I doubt the chaos bringer would allow either those."
"There is another possibility."
"And what is that?"
"That there is someone else at play," The Prime grimly pointed out.
Hours later after school the humans were at the base. Jack, Miko and Cliffjumper were preparing for the ID, all of them had been equipped with a recorder.
"Soooo, Jack. Can I pick which dungeon we go to?" Miko asked.
"Sure, I don't see why not."
"How about this one?" Miko asked pointed to the very first one.
"Rat's Nest? It was the first dungeon I been in, so it should help you with the basics."
"So, the tutorial dungeon. Got it." Jack paused at that, now that he really thinks about it, Rat's Nest seemed the most artificial of all the dungeons he's found so far. He never thought about it being a tutorial until Miko said it. Shaking his head, Jack and the other two soon found themselves in a familiar sewer.
"Ugh, this place stinks." Miko said. Jack merely looked ahead for any rats.
"Alright Miko, remember, use your surroundings and take out as many as you can as quickly as possible. They give each other a boost in numbers."
"Don't worry Jack Jack, I got this." Jack merely shook his head before he went over his stats.
[Name: Jack Darby]
[Title: The Gamer]
[Race: Human]
[LVL: 19 (1,858/20,749)]
[HP: 3,004/3,004]
[MP: 1,107/1,107]
[SP: 1,202/1,202]
[CON: 58]
[STR: 59 +10]
[DEX: 57 +3 +10]
[INT: 53]
[WIS: 54]
[LCK: 51]
[AP: 5]
[$3,494]
Jack fought back a groan; he slowed down when it came to increasing his stat points. It wasn't a big surprise. He was over half of Fowler's stats and Jack was a third, maybe a fourth of his age.
"Maybe there's a limit to how high my stats can be? I mean it makes sense. Mom told me stories of people doing extreme feats that are only possible because the safety switches in the brain turned off. She said if we were going at one hundred percent all the time, we would tear ourselves apart." Jack thought, if he was being honest, he was perfectly fine with the limitations. No what bothered him was the fact that there was a mini update to challenges, skills and spells.
[Challenge: Ice man cometh 2]
[Kill enemies with ice magic: 135/50]
[D-Rank spells mastered: 1/2]
[Rewards]
[Cryomancer perk]
[600 XP]
[Challenge: Shock and Awe 1]
[Kill enemies with lightning magic: 3/25]
[Rewards]
[One lightning spell]
[300 XP]
[Spell and Skill ranking system]
[Each spell and skill have a rank to show how many levels and how strong each spell can become.]
[S-Rank: Max LVL 30]
[A-Rank: Max LVL 25]
[B-Rank: Max LVL 20]
[C-Rank: Max LVL 15]
[D-Rank: Max LVL 10]
While inconvenient Jack would admit learning that most of his stuff were D and C-Rank with the only exceptions being war cry and binding shadows, both being B-Rank was useful. Right now, he was planning to complete a couple of challenges. At the moment he had nearly maxed out both ice wall and frost bomb.
"Hey Jack, we got company." Miko said, getting his attention. In front of them was a mischief of rats ready to attack.
[Giant Roof Rat X8]
[LVL: 18]
[HP: 395/395]
[Giant Norway Rat X3]
[LVL: 19]
[495/495]
"Looks like they went through some training. Do you think they became braver?" Jack asked before creating an ice wall behind the rats.
"Let's find out." Miko smirked as she sent out a terror tempo. The haunting wave struck the rats causing them to panic and run away. Some tried to get through the ice wall while others jumped into the treacherous waters.
"That is not a pleasant sound." Cliffjumper said as some of the rats met their fate with the leaches.
"Agreed. Should you finish it, or should I?" Jack asked. Miko shrugged before sending out a several forte fists ending the rats.
[Your party member has slain 8 Giant Roof Rats, you gained 10% of all XP.]
[+160 XP]
[Your party member has slain 3 Giant Norway Rats, you gained 10% of all XP]
[+67 XP]
"Wow."
"Wow what, Jacky boy." Miko asked.
"It's just. When I first came here, I would never been able to clear all those rats at once. Doing it now seems…bizarre." Jack said. It was strange to see how little trouble they were having.
"Duh, you aren't the same as before. You've gotten so much tougher. This is simply practice for you now." Miko pointed out. Jack merely nodded as the group noticed a figure slowly walking to them.
It was another rat, but this one was off. It was smaller than the other rats, about the size of a pug. It had dark green fur and milky white eyes.
[Corpse Rat]
[Race: Mutated Rat]
[LVL: 15]
[Title: Vile Life]
[HP: 25/25]
[MP: 20/20]
[SP: 50/50]
[Con: 5]
[STR: 15]
[DEX: 40]
[INT: 1]
[WIS: 2]
[LCK: 1]
[A rat that has been mutated to constant exposure to dark energon. They attack anything around them with reckless abandonment.]
[Perks]
[Night vision: Creatures with this perk can see well no matter how dark it its. (Note does not help if vision is obscured by dust, fog, snow, etc.)]
[Keen nose: Creature with this perk can smell others from afar and track them down.]
[Vile Bite: All bite attacks do 5 points of disease damage for 10 seconds.]
[Ravenous: Creatures with this perk are always hungry and will attack anything that moves to satisfy its hunger.]
[?:?]
"That's new." Jack said. He never encountered this rat the first time. Was this because of the updates or was it because he was at a much higher level? If that was the case, why was this thing so weak? Even the rats he faced were tougher back when they were level one. The rat jumped at the three only to meet a quick death by Jack's sword. Before he could move on a large plume of gas erupted from the corpse making the organic party members cough.
"W-what is this? Miko coughed.
[Corpse Gas: Upon death, release a noxious cloud to poison those around your corpse. 20 disease damage for 10 seconds]
[You slain a Corpse Rat]
[+25 XP]
"It was a kamikaze rat!" Miko cough. "I hate those mobs!"
"A what?" Cliffjumper asked.
"Basically, it's an enemy that decides that taking itself out is fine as long as we go with it. It's a pretty common troupe in video games." Miko explained as she plays healing harmony.
"I should have known something was wrong. It was too weak; I should've known better." Jack berated himself.
"Jack chhhhiiiilllll. So you didn't know. We can't expect everything. Besides we know now, so all we have to do is take it out at a distance and we'll be fine. Okay?" Miko reassured him.
"She's right Jack. Learn and adapt. That's all you can do." Cliff agreed.
"Right. Let's. Let's move on." Jack said as they continued. They pass by where Jack found the first chest and found a couple of healing potions, and soon they reached the bridge area. To no one's surprise there were more rats.
[Giant Roof Rat X12]
[LVL: 18]
[HP: 500/500]
[Giant Norway Rat X5]
[LVL: 19]
[600/600]
[Corpse Rat X3]
[LVL: 15]
[25/25]
Seeing the corpse rats Jack sent out a frost bomb taking two out. As they released the poisonous gas infecting the entire mischief, Miko sent out a forte fist knocking several rats into the water. Some rats tried charge them but were caught by an ice spike eruption, by this time the last corpse rat died due to its brother's gas and released its own infecting more of the rodent army. The number of rats were dropping like flies and so were their health boosts. Soon enough the last rat was killed.
[You have slain 7 Giant Roof Rats]
[+1,400 XP]
[Your party member has slain 5 Giant Roof Rats, you gained 10% of all XP]
[+100 XP]
[You have slain 2 Giant Norway Rats]
[+450 XP]
[Your party member has slain 3 Giant Norway Rats, you gained 10% of all XP]
[+67 XP]
[You have slain 3 Corpse Rats]
[+75 XP]
[Ice Wall has been maxed out!]
[Ice Wall: LVL MAX]
[D-Rank]
[Create a frozen barrier to protect against attacks.]
[Durability: 1,000/1,000]
[Maximum Size: 30 ft H, 50 ft L, 3 ft W]
[Cost: 20 MP]
[New spell gained!]
[Frost Step: LVL 1 (0/100)]
[C-Rank]
[Make a quick escape by turning into a frozen wind that can pass through objects and enemies. Enemies will take frost damage when passed through.]
[Max distance: 10 feet]
[10 damage]
[Cost: 20 MP]
[Frost Bomb maxed out!]
[Frost Bomb: LVL MAX]
[D-Rank]
[Send out a Ball of ice that explodes on impact!]
[Maximum Radius: 20 feet]
[300 Damage]
[Freeze Chance: 40%]
[Cost: 20 MP]
[New Spell gained!]
[Frost Cloak: LVL 1 (10/100)]
[C-Rank]
[Wrap yourself in a wind of ice and snow damaging foes close to you while empowering all ice spells.]
[Maximum Duration: 1 min]
[Radius: 1 foot]
[5 damage per second]
[Ice Spell Empowerment: 1%]
[Cost: 150 MP]
[Challenge Complete!]
[Challenge: Ice man cometh 2]
[Kill enemies with ice magic: 141/50]
[D-Rank spells mastered: 3/2]
[Rewards]
[+Cryomancer perk]
[+600 XP]
[Cryomancer: You are adept in all things frozen and cold and find Winter to be a pleasant time.]
[All Ice Spells are 25% stronger]
[All Ice Spells are 50% cheaper to cast]
[New challenge unlocked!]
[Challenge: Ice man cometh 3]
[Kill enemies with ice magic: 85/100]
[C-Rank spells mastered: 0/3]
[Rewards]
[1 Enchanted Ring]
[1,200 XP]
"Well, congrats Jack, looks like I have to start calling you Jack Frost now huh." Miko teased and congratulated.
"Thanks, Miko. These new spells look useful." Jack said as he looked over them. He was brainstorming ideas to use these with his other spells.
"Theres another chest nearby guarded by rats and a puzzle. Do you what to check it out?" Jack asked. Miko nodded as the three moved forward. She smirked silently to herself as her plan was coming together. It was no secret that Jack was blaming himself for what happened to the hunter. She completely understood but she saw how Jack was tearing himself apart mentally and physically, which was a no go in her book. So, she came up with a simple plan. Take Jack to the first dungeon he has ever been in, get him to realize how far he came and boom. Jack is better than ever, and he can cut back on all the work he's been doing. Plus, she can finally get in on some of the action. So, win-win.
They came across the puzzle area and found it guarded.
[Giant Norway Rat X3]
[LVL: 19]
[360/360]
[Corpse Rat]
[LVL: 15]
[25/25]
Without wasting time Jack sent out a lightning bolt taking out the corpse rat while Miko sent out a terror tempo. The now poisoned rats ran across the puzzle tiles and falling through the false ones to a spikey death.
[Your party member has slain 3 Giant Norway Rats, you gained 10% of all XP]
[+67 XP]
[You have slain a Corpse Rat]
[+25 XP]
Once that was out of the way they made it over the puzzle to the chest. They found more potions and a pair of boots. The boots were made of black leather with platform heels, metal clasps followed the shin right up to the wearer's knee.
[Platform Shakers]
[Rare quality]
[Durability: 300/300]
[A pair of boots that once belonged to one who enjoyed shaking things up.]
[+25% damage and duration to all AOE Spells and Skills]
[+50 Defense]
"Dibs." Miko said as she grabbed the boots. Jack chuckled as the rocker took a few steps with her new gear. In all honesty, Jack was going to give them to her anyway. He had a lot of enchanted gear already and he just got a bunch of spells.
"Alright. All that's left is the final stretch and the boss. You ready?" Jack asked.
"Bring it on!" Miko grinned. The three began to advance to the boss when they were confronted with the biggest mischief yet.
[Giant Roof Rat X20]
[LVL: 18]
[HP: 575/575]
[Giant Norway Rat X10]
[LVL: 19]
[675/675]
[Corpse Rat X5]
[LVL: 15]
[25/25]
"Did you have to deal with this many rats before?" Miko asked as she sent out another terror tempo.
"No. It could because of our levels or the fact there's more of us here." Jack said as he sent out an ice spike eruption nailing a couple of the corpse rats and wounding the others. Miko nailed a few with forte fist and Jack summoned up a frost cloak before sending another wave of ice spike eruptions. It didn't take long for the rats to be taken care of.
[You have slain 13 Giant Roof Rats]
[+2,600 XP]
[Your party member has slain 7 Giant Roof Rats, you gained 10% of all XP]
[+140 XP]
[You have slain 6 Giant Norway Rats]
[+1,350 XP]
[Your party member has slain 4 Giant Norway Rats, you gained 10% of all XP]
[+90 XP]
[You have slain 4 Corpse Rats]
[+100 XP]
[Your party member has slain a Corpse Rat, you gained 10% of all XP]
[+3 XP]
[Ice Spike Eruption leveled up!]
[Ice Spike Eruption: LVL 2 (47/110)]
[C-Rank]
[Create an eruption of ice spikes to impale your targets from the ground.]
[Damage: 150]
[Chance to freeze: 25%]
[Slows down target by 25%]
[Cost: 60 MP]
The three soon made their way to the boss chamber and sure enough there was Plague Spreader waiting for them, but it was different. It was much larger than before, about the size of a lion. All of its fur was gone, replaced with thick scaley hide. The once oozing energon had crystallized forming sharp fangs. The scythe-like tail too had edges of crystalized dark energon ready to cut anyone down.
[Evolved Plague Spreader]
[Race: Monster Rat]
[LVL: 20]
[Title: Diseased One]
[HP: 1,600/1,600]
[MP: 749/749]
[SP: 896/896]
[Con: 103]
[STR: 75]
[DEX: 87]
[INT: 30]
[WIS: 57]
[LCK: 8]
[What once was a lab rat used to study diseases only for it to escape during a test. Near death Plague Spreader was exposed to dark energon causing it to mutate into its monstrous form. It now only craves to kill all living beings.]
[Perks]
[Dungeon Boss LVL 5: + 500 to HP, SP, MP.]
[Evolved Virulent Touch: +50 disease damage to all melee attacks and 10 diseased damage for ten seconds]
[Night vision: Creatures with this perk can see well no matter how dark it its. (Note does not help if vision is obscured by dust, fog, snow, etc.)]
[Keen nose: Creature with this perk can smell others from afar and track them down.]
[Ravenous: Creatures with this perk are always hungry and will attack anything that moves to satisfy its hunger.]
[?:?]
"It evolved." Jack whispered in shock. He didn't expect this. Quickly Jack cast binding shadows allowing Miko to send a forte fist at the rat. Yet before the attack could reach the boss, Plague Spreader ripped itself from the bindings and jumped out of the way. Then it charged the three, the party split up avoiding the rat. Jack cast an ice spike that caught the beast.
[Evolved Plague Spreader]
[HP: 1,350/1,600]
The boss growled in rage before its tail began to glow purple, then before anyone to move it flicked its tail a Jack, sending a purple crescent of energy barreling right at him. Thinking fast the gamer created an ice wall in front of him. The attack struck the wall just as it formed, creating a large booming sound.
[Ice Wall]
[Durability: 950/1,250]
"Careful! That attack can do three hundred points of damage!" Jack called out in shock. What was going on? Plague Spreader never did that before. Sadly, Jack didn't have time to think about how this was possible because Plague Spreader had jumped over the wall to attack him. Luckily for Jack a purple energy fist slammed into the rat, knocking it away from him.
[Evolved Plague Spreader]
[HP: 1,137/1,600]
"I got you Frosty!" Miko called out. Jack nodded his head before an ear-piercing screech was heard. Plague Spreader was unleashing a roar as all around them a horde of corpse rats were coming at them. Jack watches three of them charge at him before being blasted away.
"I'll keep the little guys off you, just focus on the boss." Cliffjumper called out as he blasted the rest. Plague Spreader was back on its feet and charged up another energy attack. Seeing this Jack used frost step to get out of the way. Miko sent another forte fist at the rat knocking it back.
[Evolved Plague Spreader]
[HP: 924/1,600]
Enraged by the rocker, Plague Spreader leaped at her only to barely be hit by an ice spike from Jack.
[Evolved Plague Spreader]
[HP: 699/1,600]
The rat groaned before purple cracks began to form across its body. Before anyone could react, the beast exploded with a purple energy knocking everyone back and killing all the corpse rats.
[-350 HP]
[Jack Darby]
[2,654/3,004]
Jack groans as he gets up. "Did it blow itself up?" Looking at where the boss was, his eyes widened in horror. Plague Spreader was still standing, only now it was surrounded in a purple aura as the cracks around its body glowed ominously.
[Evolved Plague Spreader]
[Race: Monster Rat]
[LVL: 20]
[Title: Diseased One]
[HP: 394/1,600]
[MP: 194/749]
[SP: 357/896]
[Con: 103 X 2 = 206]
[STR: 75 X 2 =150]
[DEX: 87 X 2 =174]
[INT: 30]
[WIS: 57]
[LCK: 8]
[Blood Sacrifice: You are desperate and maybe insane, either way you are dangerous. Sacrifice half your health to cause a massive explosion dealing equal damage and double all physical stats. Lose 1 HP per second while active.]
The beast was down to a quarter of its health, but it was much stronger. Jack tried to send out an ice spike at the rat, but it moves out of the way easily. It glared at Jack as it barreled towards him. Just as it was about to strike at Jack a forte fist crashed in front of it. Jack, taking a chance sent out a hail of ice darts. Once again it dodges and lashes out with its tail, nailing Jack in the chest and sending him flying.
[-452 HP!]
"That's not good." Jack moaned out. Looking around he noticed Cliffjumper killing more and more of the corpse rats were coming. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the near constant cloud of death limiting the area they could be.
"Ahh!" Hearing a pained yell Jack turned to find that Plague Spreader knocked Miko into the poisonous cloud. It charged at the still down rocker ready to end her as memories flowed through Jack's mind.
"AHHH!"
"You couldn't save me, and you can't save them." Simon's voice echoes in his mind.
"No!" Quickly he cast binding shadows tripping the evolved monster. As it broke free of its bindings an ice spike eruption exploded out of the ground beneath it.
[Evolved Plague Spreader]
[HP: 209/1,600]
[Heavy Bleeding: -10 HP per second for 5 minutes or healed.]
The rat slowly pulled itself off the spikes as it glared hatefully at the gamer. It growls as it begins to charge up another tail attack. Jack created another ice wall before using frost step to get to the left side of the rat. Plague Spreader sent out its attack striking the wall. Seeing its attack repelled, the rat jumped onto the top of the wall believing its target was still there. Looking down it found nothing as three ice spikes impaled its back.
Jack watched as the body of Plague Spreader hit the ground with a sickening thwomp. Turning to Miko he runs over to help her up.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked as he checked her health.
[Name: Miko Nakadai]
[HP: 195/982]
"I'm alright. Just give me a minute to heal myself." Miko said as she used healing harmony.
"That's good to hear." Cliffjumper said as he took out the last of the corpse rats.
[You have slain Evolved Plague Spreader.]
[+3,500 XP]
[All party members received common boss core]
[Your party member slain 148 Corpse Rats; you gain 10% of all XP.]
[+370 XP]
[Common Boss Core]
[Common quality]
[One time use item]
[A small sphere that holds a fraction of the boss' power.
[Randomly gain +5 to any stat.]
"Let's get back to the others." Jack said before bringing the three back to Omega One.
"Welcome back. So how was the dungeon run?" Bumblebee asked looking up from the racing game he and Raf were playing.
"We beat the boss but there were some complications. I'm going to Miner's Folly to check something." Jack said to the shock of the others.
"Wait Jack, we just got back. Shouldn't you-." Cliffjumper said but it was too late. Jack had already disappeared to the dungeon. "Scrap."
"What happened?" Arcee asked. The look on Jack's face looked too familiar to her liking. The two looked at each other before telling the rest of the base what happened. When they got to the part where Plague Spreader was evolved, Ratchet interrupted.
"Evolved? Are you sure?" The medic asked as he sped through the recording.
"That's what the name said. And from what Jack told us, it definitely had some new tricks he didn't know about." Cliff said. Ratchet reviewed the footage before bringing up a picture of the first Plague Spreader.
"Optimus, come look at this." The prime looks at the two photos and frowns.
"You see it too." It wasn't a question as the Prime nodded. It seems that Ratchet's theory had gained more merit.
Miner's Folly Dungeon
Jack smashed through another skeleton before shooting a lightning bolt at another knocking it out of the air. Yes, the air, it turns out Jack was right, the creatures of the dungeon had changed. Instead of giant bats, the skeletons now had wings that came from the giant bats. Well just the skeleton part none of the fleshy parts. Turning to the other skeletons he sent out an ice spike eruption taking them down.
[You have slain 27 Skeleton Miners]
[+ 5,400 XP]
[+ 27 old Pickaxes]
[+ 102 various gems]
[You have slain 10 Winged Skeleton Miners]
[+ 2,500 XP]
[+ 10 old pickaxes]
[+ 120 various gems]
Jack looked around for more. So far there didn't seem to be that much more than last time he was here, so the number of enemies is based on the party size.
"But is that true for natural dungeons as well?" Jack asked himself. He was already berating himself for his sloppiness earlier. He should have checked to see if there were any changes or did some test with the bots. They were far more durable and could handle anything these low dungeons (For them) can throw. But he didn't and Miko could have died. Yes, he knows that all that would've happened would have been Miko being kicked out of the dungeon, but it still doesn't change the fact that he should've been more careful. If it was a natural dungeon Miko could have died, and it would've been his fault.
He made it to the chamber where the collapsed tunnel was and there waiting for him was the welcoming community.
[Winged Skeleton Miners X12]
[HP: 350/350]
[Skeleton Miners X 32]
[HP: 300/300]
Jack merely readied Frostedge before casting frost cloak and stone skin as he sends out a frost bomb. Twelve of the skeletons were taken out as Jack rolls out of the way of the winged skeletons. Sending out a quick lightning bolt, it clipped the wings of the flying undead making it crash to the ground. Turning to the rest of the horde, Jack got ready.
?
In a sterile lab a man looks over is experiments. One was a crow the size of a dog, a boar that was giving off smoke as small embers left its snout, and a mole that had metal claws.
"It seems experiments 95781-G, 54821-E, and 78642-K are progressing well. Hmm, I may have to begin live testing sooner than I thought." He muses.
"Are ya sure that's wise boss. I mean not that I'm questioning yous. But ya already got those other projects out there already." His assistant, a large and burly man asked. The man merely chuckled.
"I know I know but I can't help myself. All of them are doing so well. It's a shame experiment 75314-I escaped, it had so much potential." The scientist mused.
"It's probably for the best, dat rat was sickly looking." His boss merely nodded in agreement as he turned to the nearby lab table. He smiled as he looked at the marvelous material he found. It was thanks to it he was able to propel his experiments years into the future. Turning a knob, he watches as the crystal turns to its liquid state. Its glowing purple liquid state.
Miner's Folly
"Rah!"
Bang!
Jack Watched as the last of the winged skeleton falls crashed down dead…well deader.
[You have slain 32 Skeleton Miner]
[+ 6,400 XP]
[+ 32 old Pickaxes]
[+ 181 various gems]
[You have slain 12 Winged Skeleton Miners]
[+ 3,000 XP]
[+ 12 old pickaxes]
[+ 154 various gems]
[You leveled up!]
[+ 5AP]
[Name: Jack Darby]
[Title: The Gamer]
[Race: Human]
[LVL: 20 (7,523/22,824)]
[HP: 3,3120/3,120]
[MP: 1,160/1,160]
[SP: 1,260/1,260]
[CON: 58]
[STR: 59 +10 +10]
[DEX: 57 +3 +10]
[INT: 53]
[WIS: 54]
[LCK: 51]
[AP: 10]
[$3,494]
Nodding at the level up Jack made his way down the tunnels. Entering the next chamber, he found nothing. Confused he looked around before finding what he guessed was one of the zombie miners but there was something off with the body. It was a husk, as if someone took all the liquid inside away and left what's remained here. Growing uneasy Jack made sure stone skin and frost cloak were active as he made his way to the final area. Once he got there, he saw that Old Pete had changed as well. The once fat miner now had the body of a professional body builder, crystals of dark energon were sticking out his back and his entire right arm was made of the vile matter forming a pickaxe head at the end.
[Boss Encounter!]
[Old Pete the Revenant]
[Race: Zombie (Undead)]
[LVL: 21]
[Title: Greed unending]
[HP: 1,550/1,550]
[MP: 850/850]
[SP:1, 550/1,550]
[Con: 98]
[STR: 124]
[DEX: 45]
[INT: 5]
[WIS: 1]
[LCK: 1]
[Peter Axel or better known as "Old Pete" was a greedy man in life. Always finding ways to make a quick buck by any means. Even murdering his own brother for the ownership of the mine. Now in death his greed for the souls of anyone who enters the mine is what keeps this revenant bound to the living plane.]
[Perks]
[Dungeon Boss Bonus LVL 5: + 500 to HP, MP, and SP.]
[Tremor Sense: can locate anything touching the ground in a 50 feet radius.]
[Stone stillness: your affinity with stone aids your recovery. Restore 20% of HP, MP and SP when standing still]
[Blood Sacrifice: You are desperate and maybe insane, either way you are dangerous. Sacrifice half your health to cause a massive explosion dealing equal damage and double all physical stats. Lose 1 HP per second while active.]
The massive boss spotted Jack and let loose a massive roar. It raised its mutated arm and slammed it down causing a wave of stalagmites like before. Using frost step Jack moves out of the way and sends a couple of ice spikes nailing the boss.
[Old Pete the Revenant]
[HP: 1,100/1,550]
The undead boss roared in fury as he summoned ten skeletons to fight. The horde charged at Jack but before he could move stalagmites erupt from underneath him.
[-457 HP!]
Caught off guard Jack was knocked to the ground as the horde caught up to him. For the first time in a while Jack used his ace.
[War Cry!]
[+ 44 to CON, STR, and DEX!]
Springing up Jack sent a frost bomb at the horde before he uses frost step to get behind the revenant. He slashed the monster's back and jumped away avoiding more stalagmites.
[Old Pete the Revenant]
[HP: 789/1,550]
Old Pete roared as he began to glow like Plague Spreader. Seeing this Jack created an ice wall just as the boss exploded with power.
[Old Pete the Revenant]
[Race: Zombie (Undead)]
[LVL: 21]
[Title: Greed unending]
[HP: 394/1,550]
[MP: 850/850]
[SP:1, 550/1,550]
[Con: 98 X 2 =196]
[STR: 124 X 2 =248]
[DEX: 45 X 2 =90]
[INT: 5]
[WIS: 1]
[LCK: 1]
"Not this time." Jack growled. The boss blitzed towards Jack as the gamer used frost step to avoid the behemoth. Knowing he had to avoid being hit at all cost Jack kept dodging the mindless corpse. Soon old Pete raised his pickaxe hand and slammed down with all his might to kill the gamer, but Jack used frost step avoiding the blow. Enraged, old Pete tried to pull back his arm, but it was stuck. Seeing this Jack took the opportunity and blasted the boss with ice spikes taking it down.
[You have slain Old Pete the Revenant.]
[+4,000 XP]
[+226 various gems]
[You received a common boss core]
[War Cry ended. Exhausted debuff added (44 Minutes)]
[Spells and Skills leveled up!]
[Frost Cloak: LVL 2 (97/110)]
[C-Rank]
[Wrap yourself in a wind of ice and snow damaging foes close to you while empowering all ice spells.]
[Maximum Duration: 2 mins]
[Radius: 1 foot]
[10 damage per second]
[Ice Spell Empowerment: 2%]
[Cost: 140 MP]
[Frost Step: LVL 2 (96/110)]
[C-Rank]
[Make a quick escape by turning into a frozen wind that can pass through objects and enemies. Enemies will take frost damage when passed through.]
[Max distance: 15 feet]
[20 damage]
[Cost: 19 MP]
[Ice Spike Eruption: LVL 3 (47/121)]
[C-Rank]
[Create an eruption of ice spikes to impale your targets from the ground.]
[Damage: 175]
[Chance to freeze: 30%]
[Slows down target by 30%]
[Cost: 50 MP]
[Stone Skin LVL: 4 (23/133)]
[D-Rank]
[Harden your skin at the cost of mobility]
[+65 defense]
[- 7 DEX]
[Cost: 20 MP]
[War Cry LVL 5 (57/146)]
[B-Rank]
[Unleash a roar of blood lust enhancing you for every enemy nearby.]
[+ 8 to CON, STR, and DEX for every enemy in 20 feet, bonus wear off once combat ends]
[10% chance to stun enemies]
[5% chance to cause fear in enemies]
[Will leave user exhausted for several minutes base on stat increase. +4 Stats = 2 Minutes]
[Cost: 20 SP]
Jack simply groaned as he lay on the cavern floor. His thoughts were on the bosses and how they changed. Plague Spreader was more monstrous, something he never thought possible, while Old Pete seemed to turn savage. No words, no curses, he even acted less of a person and more like a rabid animal. The question was why. Was it the dark enegon? He'll have to ask Ratchet later. For now, he had to wait for the debuff to wear off. What fun.
Omega One
The Autobots were going about their normal business. Arcee was waiting for Jack to bring him home, Raf and Miko already left since it was getting late. Sure enough, not even five minutes past did Jack reappear.
"So how did it go." Arcee asked calmly.
"I was right. It was different than before. The boss changed and there was a new creature there." Jack said as he handed over his recordings to Ratchet.
"Come on, the others already left for home. You don't want to miss curfew, do you?" Arcee said as she transforms. Jack nodded as he got on and the two drove off. A few moments later though, Arcee drove off the road and into the desert.
"Arcee? Where are we going?"
"We need to have a talk." Arcee said as they stopped behind a mesa. Once Jack got off, she transformed and looked at Jack wondering how to do this.
"You wanted to talk? What about?"
"About how you been pushing yourself too far too fast." Arcee replied, deciding to rip the mesh patch off.
"Arcee I'm training. You seen what we had to face." Jack said.
"I know. But there is a difference between training and burning yourself out."
"I'm not-." He tried to deny but Arcee interrupted.
"Yes, you are. If a regular human had been doing what you have, they would have collapsed from exhaustion by now."
"I need to train Arcee!" Jack said with his voice raising. Why was she trying to stop him from training, doesn't she understand what could happen.
"You need to slow down."
"I can't! I can't let anyone else die!" Jack yelled. The feeling of guilt finally consuming him as he felt tears fall from his face. "I just can't." Jack whispered. The two stood there in silence for several minutes before Arcee broke it.
"Tailgate."
"What?" Jack asked. Arcee knelt down and looked Jack in the eyes.
"He was my partner. I knew him for years; we saved each other's lives more time than I could count. One day we were on a mission. It went south and we were captured by this insane glitch. She wanted these codes, but I didn't know them. She brought him in and killed him in front of me." Arcee said.
"Arcee. I'm sorry I didn't know. I-."
"But you do. You know how it feels to lose someone, but I want to point out several things to you. First, unlike me you managed to take down the ones responsible. Second, you saved a lot of lives. From what you told us those things were killing and eating anything they could catch. Finally, and this is the most important one. You are not alone in this. You have all of us to help you." Arcee told him. Jack looked at her as he felt like a weight was lifted from his chest.
"Thank you Arcee."
"Tell you what. Next dungeon we find I'll come along. Afterall I can't let my partner get in over his head now, can I?"
"Partner huh." Jack smirked at her.
"Junior partner. I still outrank you." Arcee counter. The two shared a laugh as they headed home and for the first time in days Jack was able to sleep peacefully. His dreams were of long drives with a certain two-wheeler.
[Name: Jack Darby]
[Title: The Gamer]
[Race: Human]
[LVL: 20 (11,523/22,824)]
[HP: 3,3120/3,120]
[MP: 1,160/1,160]
[SP: 1,260/1,260]
[CON: 58]
[STR: 59 +10]
[DEX: 57 +3]
[INT: 53]
[WIS: 54]
[LCK: 51]
[AP: 10]
[$3,494]
Okay that did not have the amount of fluff I was hoping for but at least I can move on from Jack feeling guilty and depressed. But there were plenty of action, we are seeing what happens to long term exposure to Dark Energon and a new threat? Looks like we'll be in for some surprises.