The Nexus Challenge [Chapters 5-8] The Meth Lab?

Hey peeps!

Here are more chapters. Everyone goes to Earth again, and then hilarity happens.Hopefully you all enjoy!

Shami

—Chapter 5—

—A Sudden Return to Earth—

“This is a nine-day game?” Mavis asked, her eyes wide.

Kellan turned to her. “What’s wrong?”

“I… The hex I have…”

The mere mention of the hex caused the hairs on Kellan’s neck to stand on end. Mavis’s hex was a brutal one. If she didn’t raise one of her physical stats within a seven-day period, she would die.

Gathering enough arcana would solve the problem. Hopefully. Kellan wasn’t entirely sure if they would be able to. Bitso said Earth didn’t produce any arcana because it was a dimension with a zero-magic rating. What if they couldn’t get any arcana in the second dimension, either? What would they do then?

“It’ll be fine,” Kellan stated. “As long as you have options to purchase stats through your magic, there’s nothing to worry about.”

His logic seemed to calm Mavis. She took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. The TV continued to play footage of Bitso, but it appeared as though the news anchor had nothing more to say. With a sigh, Bitso threw himself back on his chair and then lazily twirled around in a circle. He leaned all the way back, his back practically parallel with the floor.

Humming to himself, Bitso went limp, like a ragdoll thrown into a toybox and forgotten.

Kellan turned away, no longer bothered by the newsman’s bizarre behavior.

He needed to focus.

There game would take place on a magicless Earth, a medieval fantasy world known as Eveon, and then a high-tech future Earth filled with hostile aliens. How could they possibly prepare for that? What objects or items could Kellan gather before they were transported into the game?

To make matters more complicated, Bitso hadn’t given any hints on where the colored orbs could be found. He had given clues for the acorns, feathers, and bits, but the orbs—the most important part of the collect-a-thon—had nothing to go on.

“We should probably look for a net,” Kellan stated as he turned to face Mavis.

She shrugged. “Why? And where would we even find it?”

“There’s an Exchange somewhere in the AVU Palace. Xiang used it to find a magical item. And we should find a net because two of the four objects we need to find are guarded by animals. Yami animals.”

Those yami were nothing more than monsters. They were freakish and disgusting, and while Bitso hadn’t claimed they would attack, Kellan knew better. The damn squirrel and eagle would lash out if they got close, Kellan was willing to bet his life on it.

“What else do we need?” Mavis asked.

Kellan rubbed at his eyes, his own exhaustion creeping up on him. “Some sort of… I don’t know… Potion? Of wakefulness?”

“Do they make things like that?”

“They make cursed guns, body-controlling worms, and talking toasters,” Kellan quipped. “I don’t think an anti-sleeping potion is out of the question. Let’s ask someone. Maybe at one of the bars here in the palace.”

Kellan had been put to sleep at a bar. Perhaps they had something that was the opposite.

“Okay,” Mavis said. She whirled around and almost ran into a robot server.

The robot wobbled and beeps. “Your feast has yet to conclude. Take your seat and consume. Flesh sacks must intake organic fuel in order to function at optimum levels.”

Mavis sidestepped around the robot without acknowledging it. The machine flashed with little red lights, but nothing actually happened. The robot whirled around in a circle and then returned to its work, the interaction seemingly forgotten.

“Let’s meet back at the suite,” Mavis said as she hurried to the door. “I’ll try to get a net, you try to get your drink.”

Kellan wanted to protest, but before he got the words out, Bitso moved on the screen. The deranged newsman sat forward, one finger raised.

“Oh,” Bitso said. “I know most of you are probably asleep, but the Arbiter doesn’t want to wait. Game five will begin in three minutes.”

Three minutes?

The news sent a cold rush of adrenaline shooting through Kellan’s veins. He ran for the door, his heart pounding. He wanted to inform the rest of his team—or at least be close to them—but the suite was more than three minutes away. Fortunately, Kellan could shift through the darkness thanks to his Void Knight ability. He stepped into the shadows and moved through the darkness as though it were liquid.

His movement was restricted to the movement of a shadow—Kellan slid across the floor, and even darted under the crack of a door. But he couldn’t do it for long. Only ten feet. If Kellan wanted more range, he needed to improve eclipse magic, but now wasn’t the time to think about it.

He stepped out of the shadows, ran a few feet, and then did it again, holding his breath as he went, using his memory of the environment to guide his path.

Why would the Arbiter do this with the fifth game?

Bitso hadn’t stated whether or not the game was PvP or PvE, either. Kellan had a terrible feeling he already knew the answer. Each game had become deadlier and deadlier, and if everyone was stuck in the same area on the same dimension, it was going to turn into a bloodbath.

I need to speak with the others,Kellan thought, trying desperately to prioritize his actions as she rushed down the halls of the AVU Palace.

The floor shook. Kellan kept his balance, but he knew what the quaking meant. It had happened when Kellan traveled to the Nexus. They were shifting dimensions. Kellan’s heart went into overdrive as he ran for a staircase. He leapt up the steps, taking three at a time, until he reached the top.

All ambient noises suddenly cut out, as if the volume of the world had been set to zero.

Kellan grabbed at his ears. A piercing noise, a single note, pierced into his eardrums. But then it disappeared. Kellan felt a weight around his neck, as though someone had slipped a necklace onto him, but it never went over his head. It just… appeared.

A second later, all noises returned. The soft patter of rain across the roof filled the hallway. Kellan went for the first door and threw it open.

A rank odor hit Kellan first.

It smelled of ammonia and ether. He almost gagged as he stepped forward and glanced around. He was in a house—an apartment bedroom?—but the windows were covered in thick curtains and tinfoil, preventing Kellan from seeing outside.

Was this the AVU Palace?

The door shut behind Kellan.

There were two tables in the bedroom, both covered in small portable stoves, pots, and pans. Chemicals had been cooked in the pans, leaving the metal stained with a rainbow of colors. Liquids in unmarked containers were stacked in the corner of the room, most of which were clear.

“This isn’t the AVU Palace,” Kellan said aloud as he put everything together.

He whirled around on his heel and threw the door open again. It was a closet. A cramped closet filled with plastic bottles, bags, gloves, and gasmasks. Kellan held his breath as examined the small space, his eyes frantically searching. He had entered this room from the AVU Palace, but the palace had disappeared once he left the hallway.

Kellan was alone.

That was his first realization.

He wasn’t with his team.

Had the fifth game begun?

“Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between,” a voice said from deeper in the apartment, muffled by the walls. But Kellan would recognize Bitso’s voice anywhere.

Fueled by panic, Kellan leapt over one of the tables, knocking over a pan, and then went for the far door. He threw it open and found himself in a narrow hallway. The terrible odor of half-baked chemicals persisted. Kellan held his sleeve over his mouth, well aware that he could pass out if he didn’t get enough fresh air.

“The fifth game is now underway,” Bitso said, his voice drifting into the hallway from the living room. “All teams have been given a special collar for all their members. Think of it as a gift from the Arbiter! You’re all so lucky.”

Kellan ducked into the apartment’s tiny bathroom. The sink and the bathtub were stained with chemicals and filled with coffee filters, empty cough syrup containers, lithium batteries, and a thin layer of powder. Kellan didn’t care about that. He turned to the mirror.

While there were no lights in the room, that didn’t matter. Kellan could see in the dark thanks to his eclipse magic.

He slammed his hand on the glass and stared at the new—and bizarre—piece of jewelry around his neck.

Kellan still had his dog tags, but now he also had had a thin collar made of silver. It was more of a choker or torque—unable to move and held in a tight circle around his flesh. There was a jewel on the front with circuit board wiring throughout it.

Kellan touched the choker, his fingers shaking.

The motherboard-looking gem flickered with a green inner glow.

Normally, his Blitzkrieg Analysisgave him information the moment Kellan glanced at something. This time, he struggled to get it to activate.

Words appeared across the surface of his eyes, identifying the choker.

Magical Item [Unique]—Game Five Tracker

A tracking device in the shape of a necklace.

This item, made of tech and magic, is used to track the players in the Nexus Games. The Game Five Tracker ignores magical damage and absorbs the first 50 points of kinetic damage from every strike. If broken, removed from a living body, taken outside the designated game area, or tampered with, the necklace explodes and deals 200 unsoakable and unblockable damage to the wearer.

While worn, the Game Five Tracker grants the wearer the Tongues ability. The wear can speak and understand any verbal language (but this does not grant the wearer the ability to read other languages).

The Game Five Tracker cannot be concealed with illusions.

“Your new necklace is your best friend during the game,” Bitso said with a laugh. “You see, this game is a long one. Too long, in my opinion, but no cares what I think. And it won’t end until one team has found twelve orbs of different colors, or three orbs of the same color. So, to keep things interesting, the Arbiter has made sure nothing gets stale.”

Kellan stepped out of the bathroom and ran down the apartment hall. The barren walls, damaged wallpaper, and stained ceiling told him a disturbing story.

This was a meth lab.

He wasn’t sure why he was in a meth lab, but he knew not to question the logic of the Arbiter.

“The collar around your neck will indicate whenever the game changes from PvE to PvP. You’ll be given a minute of time before the change is official—but the Ultimate Collect-a-Thon will have times of conflict, and times of forced armistice.”

Bitso laughed louder than ever, as though he had just told an outrageous joke.

Oh, goddammit.

Kellan entered the living room and gaged. The kitchen was alive with boiling pans and fumes. A bizarre ventilation system was set up over the stove. Tubes ran from the pots up into the ceiling and through the fans, but whoever built it clearly had the carpentry skills of a corpse. The piss-poor job resulted in vapors flooding the apartment.

A single TV, mounted to the far wall, showed Bitso and his signature newsroom.

“The collar will also warn you when your time in this dimension is nearing its end,” Bitso said.

His desk had been returned to the center of the room. Bitso was now chained to it, his wristed cuffed straight to the top. He couldn’t seem to move his hands.

“Just think of the collar as a tiny piece of the Arbiter himself.” Bitso chuckled. “And thank goodness it’s on the outside, am I right? No one wants the Arbiter deep inside of them, after all.”

Kellan ran a hand over his face.

He didn’t have his backpack. He didn’t have cursed weapon, or his mermaid knife—all he had was the Nexus Games rule book, tightly rolled up and in his jacket pocket. He hoped beyond reason that one of his teammates had thought to grab his stuff before they transitioned over to the Earth.

If this is actually Earth…

“My announcements can be heard through the collar, if ever there isn’t a screen nearby,” Bitso said as he tugged on his restraints. “So remember—the game can switch from PvE to PvP at any time! And the game will only end once the appropriate number of orbs are collected. If you don’t want your life to be a living hell, you better you get on collecting!”

—Chapter 6—

—The Meth Lab—

The TV cut out, and the screen returned to a cold, black state.

Kellan glanced around the meth lab. Other than a few boiling pots, the apartment was as silent as the T in the word buffet.

Who had set the pots to boil? Didn’t the druggies who ran the place know the chemicals were both highly flammable and volatile? The whole apartment could explode if the cooking wasn’t monitored. Kellan had dealt with it enough times during past infiltration recon operations. He knew he didn’t want to be anywhere near here.

Kellan ran for the front door. It was locked with a chain and key padlock. He could slip under the door using his shadow-step ability, but then the door would remain locked. What if he needed to walk back through this area? Kellan didn’t like the idea of leaving this door blocked to the other members of his team.

Kellan spent a mana, reducing him to seventeen, and activated his Mold Metal ability.

The metal of the chain and padlock became mere putty in his hands. Kellan shaped them like clay, moving them out of the way so he could open the door with ease. Then he leapt out into the hallway, only to find it in a state of disarray.

The windows were covered in foil, and the floors were covered in trash bags. The smell of ether entered the hall along with Kellan, mixing with the garbage aroma. All the doors in the hallway were chained and locked.

The whole apartment building was a meth operation.

“Goddammit,” Kellan said through gritted teeth.

If one room exploded, the whole building could go up in a ball of flames.

The neighboring apartment door slammed open, the lock ripping off the doorframe. Kellan tensed and reached for his gun but found himself grabbing at air. He hadn’t taken it with him.

Fortunately for him, Husker was the one who entered the hall. The tall rennic was much too large for the apartment building. The whole place had been designed with humans in mind, not a nine-foot-tall werewolf. Husker kept himself hunched, his ears laid flat against his skull.

“I’m glad to see you,” Kellan said as he waded through the garbage. “Where is everyone else?”

“I don’t know,” Husker replied, his voice an irritated growl.

“Did you hear the rules for the fifth game? The Ultimate Collect-a-Thon?”

Husker nodded. “I did. The TVs in our suite came on for Bitso’s announcement. I had no idea the Arbiter would start the next game so quickly after the last.”

The giant rennic had a silver collar with a green circuit board gem, just like Kellan. It was half-hidden under Husker’s reddish fur, though. He also wore a long trench coat and pants and carried Kellan’s backpack on his shoulder. With a few awkward movements—as Husker tried to avoid hitting the ceiling—he removed the pack and handed it over to Kellan.

The pack was mostly empty, with Kellan’s rifle strapped to the side.

“You brought this with you?” Kellan asked.

Husker smiled, showing off his canine fangs. “I knew you’d need it. And I definitely don’t want to play this game with a handicap. Our warrior should be well equipped.”

“Thank you.”

Over and over again, Husker proved himself to be a valuable ally. Kellan opened his pack and examined all his belongings. There wasn’t much. He had a knife with an ornate handle carved to look like a mermaid tail. At the bottom of the pack was a pile of hane cigarettes. His black rifle, once cursed, hung on the side.

The knife…

Kellan picked it up and examined it more closely. His eyes gave him all the relevant details, but unlike before, he had to concentrate on the object to see the effects. And even then—the words that appeared across his eyes were faint and difficult to read.

Magical Item [Unique Weapon]—The Mermaid Knife

A mythical weapon created by the Arbiter himself.

When used against outsiders (any sentient race born outside of the Nexus), it deals strength + 3 damage (minus the target’s fortitude). This weapon ignores all armor rating and shielding, no matter the source. Additionally, the Mermaid Knife steals 1 unspent arcana per strike. If the target has no unspent arcana, this doesn’t trigger.

If the target is a Nexus resident, this weapon has no added effects.

If the Mermaid Knife is used to commit suicide, it triples the amount of arcana dropped afterward.

While the effects of the knife were useful—especially combined with Kellan’s Neo Excalibur ability—that wasn’t the first thing Kellan thought when he stared at it. The knife had been given to him by one of the inbred residents of the Nexus. A gift, for saving her life and treating her like a person, when everyone else had treated her like trash because of her misshapen appearance.

The woman had killed herself and given her gold arcana to Kellan to help him win the Nexus Games.

The memories still caused Kellan odd feelings. He didn’t like dwelling on it.

Kellan tucked the knife away and slung the pack onto his shoulder. “Where is everyone? Why is the apartment so… empty?”

“It’s the Conflux,” Husker replied. He tried to glance around, but his huge size made it difficult. “When things cross dimensions, it goes in both directions. It’s because the barriers are so thin.”

“So a bunch of meth heads were just transported to the Nexus when we were transported to Earth? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“Probably.”

Kellan smirked and chuckled to himself. That would be a disturbing wake up call for them.

But that didn’t change his current reality. They were still standing in an apartment complex filled with meth labs—and no meth-heads to tend to all the cooking. They needed to leave. Immediately.

“This way.” Kellan pointed to an exit sign hanging from the ceiling. “We need to get out of here.”

“Shouldn’t we search for the others?”

Kellan cursed under his breath. If Husker was here, wouldn’t the others be around as well? Determined to find them before it was too late, Kellan nodded once and then headed for the stairwell. Perhaps they could shout down each of the hallways until someone answered.

Husker followed along as close as he could. The narrow corridor prevented him from running, and he almost clocked his head against the glowing green exit sign.

They turned a corner, and Kellan stopped dead in his tracks. Husker, who hadn’t been moving very fast, slowly came to a stop behind him. Then Husker’s ears twitched.

The front room of the apartment building, a lounge of some kind, was filled with hushed slurs and conversation. Flickering fluorescent lighting kept the room illuminated. It was only twenty feet down the hallway—Kellan caught sight of couches and vending machines—and before anyone could notice his presence, Kellan backed up and around the corner, taking Husker with him.

Kellan listened.

“The rumblin’ stopped,” someone muttered.

But Kellan didn’t recognize the voice.

“Someone’s gonna call the cops,” another person said.

Again, Kellan didn’t recognize their voice. Masculine, definitely. Both were. But their enunciation was just slightly off. Were they high? Drunk? Or just lazy? Kellan wasn’t certain.

Someone snorted. “It’s just an earthquake.”

“I think we should check around, just in case.”

“Eh. Don’t get jittery.”

“I don’t want anyone fuckin’ up because they got scared. I’m just gonna go around and check on things. All peaceful-like.”

These were the drug lords who owned the business. Or perhaps paid bodyguards. Either way, Kellan knew he didn’t want to deal with them. They were in the middle of the Nexus Games, not a police sting operation. Kellan had to focus on finding the many objects hidden around the city before they were transported to another dimension.

“What the?” someone barked in surprise. “Who let this kid inside?”

“Hmpf! I’m not a child, you human moose. I’m a mage! And your superior. Step aside.”

Kellan recognized that voice.

Sen.

Even Husker groaned. “I think we found another member of our team. Sen can’t ever keep his mouth shut.”

“Let’s go get him before he gets himself shot,” Kellan whispered, his body tense.

He ran around the corner and hurried into the apartment lounge. The couches and vending machines had seen better days. Everything was dirty and scuffed. Even the gray carpets looked as though they were victims of neglect and abuse.

Three men, and one child, stood around the couches. Sen was obvious. His blinking sneakers gave him away. He stood with his arms crossed, his long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was barely three feet tall, and thin, even for children his size.

One of the Game Five Trackers was snug around his kid-sized neck.

The thugs all wore wifebeaters like they were the height of fashion. Their muscular arms carried a variety of tattoos, some better quality than others. The ones done in prison were blurry compared to the images made with an actual tattoo gun.

The men carried 9mm handguns held at the ready—SIG P320s. A common firearm preferred by thugs. They were compact, and easy to conceal.

Everyone turned to face Kellan. The thugs had wide eyes as they lifted their weapons.

“The fuck?” one of them shouted. “Who are you?”

“Sorry, gentlemen,” Kellan said. “But I lost my child. Have you seen him? Oh, wait. There he is. C’mon, Billy. You’re late for school.”

The thugs, more baffled than angry, glanced at the battered clock hanging on the wall. It was fifteen minutes past midnight. Kellan’s lie was obviously meant as a joke, and the fact that the thugs checked the time only made him laugh.

They clearly only had one functioning brain cell between the three of them.

“Billy?” Sen scoffed. “Did you just call me Billy? How dare you. I’m Sun Sen the Puppetmaster!” He stomped his foot, causing his sneaker to blink even faster.

“What the hell’s going on?” one thug asked as he leveled his handgun at Kellan. “How did you get in here? This is Tie-Money’sbuilding. Assholes like you don’t belong in Tie-Money’s business.”

Kellan shook his head. “I don’t care about whoever that is. Just give me the kid, and we’ll leave.”

“Tie-Money is gonna have your whole family gutted for messin’ with his shop,” another thug added, his firearm held with both hands. “So you better tell us how you got in here, fuck-face.”

“I’d like to see Tie-Tie-Dollar-Signstry me,” Kellan quipped.

But then all three of the thugs gasped and went pale at the same time.

Husker stomped into the lounge, his head practically pressed against the ceiling. His intimidating physique and stature were only made spookier by the flickering lights. When Husker growled, his lips peeled back to show the full extent of his fangs.

“Oh my fuckin’ god,” one thug whispered, his eyes painfully wide.

Another one stumbled backward until he collided with the vending machine. “H-Holy shit. It’s a gotdamn werewolf.”

The last goon took their overworked brain cell and ran out the front door. He took off on foot, never bothering to glance back, his lanky body propelled by sheer terror.

They were definitely on Earth. No one in the Nexus had that kind of reaction upon seeing a rennic.

The other two idiots opened fire.

[Mark Jones] shot [Alex Kellan] twice for a total of 6 damage.

[Tyranny Worms] restore [Alex Kellan] for 1 damage every 6 seconds.

Two bullets ripped through Kellan’s arm and the side of his gut. Blood and worms were splattered across the lounge, but Kellan had been through this song and dance before. While the pain was shocking—nearly blinding—he rolled to the side and ducked behind a couch. The moment he was out of sight, he slid into the shadows and darted to the other side of the room, to the darkness between the two vending machines.

Kellan stepped out of the void, blood weeping down his body.

The Tyranny Worms…

Their little yellow bodies squirmed throughout him, angrily stitching his body back together. The worms died to use their own bodies as new tissue for Kellan. Skin, bones, muscle, organs—it didn’t matter. The worms repaired the damage at a shockingly efficient rate.

The two thugs hadn’t seen Kellan move through the shadows. They were too busy shooting at Husker, their gunfire echoing throughout the empty apartment building.

Sen lifted his hand, and a shimmer of pink flashed in front of Husker. Sen’s shielding reduced damage by ninety percent, and Kellan was confident that Husker wasn’t in any real danger.

Kellan withdrew his Mermaid Knife. He didn’t want to spend any more mana—since Earth made it difficult to recover—so he just lunged for the first goon. The man never saw it coming. Kellan jammed the knife into the man’s throat and then slid it up and out, making sure to sever the artery and the many smaller muscles of the neck.

[Alex Kellan] stabbed [Mark Jones] for a total of 5 damage.

The combat information across Kellan’s eyes was faded and difficult to read… It was normally so much clearer.

The man—Mark Jones, apparently—gagged on blood and flailed around as he crashed to the floor. The surprise of being attacked from behind had apparently caused the man to panic-grab everything around him. He clung to a couch leg and then clawed at his own injury, like he was attempting to keep the blood inside his body by attacking it.

Mortal humans only had seven health.

Mark Jones wasn’t going to last long. Not while he was bleeding out.

The second thug never took his attention off Husker. Especially since Husker leapt over one of the couches and charged for him.

In one brutal swipe, Husker slashed his claws clean through the man’s face. A spray of scarlet went across the room as the man hit the floor. The force of the blow had left him unconscious. If he somehow survived, Kellan suspected he wouldn’t be able to remember the last two years of his life, that was how hard he had been hit.

Mark Jones stopped moving.

No arcana sprouted from his body.

It took Kellan a moment to remember why. Apparently, low-magic dimensions didn’t get arcana.

The worms continued to mend Kellan’s flesh, patching up his arm and side.

Sen placed his hands on his hips and walked around the gore, his mouth downturned in a sharp frown. “Ugh. Pathetic. Gross, even. Where are we on Earth? Who were those ruffians?”

“I don’t know.” Kellan coughed back the disgusting odors lingering in the air. “But we need to get out of here.” He grabbed Sen by the shoulder of his sweatshirt. “Let’s go.”

Sen didn’t struggle as Kellan dragged him toward the front door. They were feet away when a rumble shook the whole building. It wasn’t the same as shifting dimensions—it was followed by a pop and a shattering of glass.

An explosion ripped through the apartment building, blowing windows outward and devastating the interior structure. Kellan had to focus to maintain his balance. Fire rushed down the far hallway, billowing outward like a breath of flames from a dragon.

—Chapter 7—

—Cops—

Husker shoved Kellan and Sen out the front door in one forceful go. They all stumbled outside as a rush of hot air escaped into the parking lot with them. A second explosion followed the first, just as Kellan had feared. The many meth labs meant there was a chain reaction—there were far too many chemicals and not enough ventilation.

Kellan straightened himself and then backed away from the apartment building. Sen followed him closely. With shaky hands, Sen even grabbed on to the edge of Kellan’s coat.

Husker huffed and panted. Once outside, he could finally stand at his full height. The cool night air washed away the ether smell.

“What’s going on?” Kellan asked as he watched fire gush out the broken windows.

Husker snorted. “I don’t know. I think the humans were cooking something? It wasn’t anything healthy, though. No meat, no bread—just substances that burned my nose whenever I took in breath.”

“No, I wasn’t asking about the meth.” Kellan rubbed at his eyes. “What’s wrong with the messages? The information I see over my eyes? Normally, it’s clear as day—all the numbers and words. But it’s like I have cataracts now. The battle information was barely visible.”

Sen brushed himself off. “We’re on a zero-magic world. Your pathetic dimension is so devoid of anything magical that even static abilities struggle to function properly.”

“Why’s my dimension like this? Is there even a reason? Or are we just unlucky?”

“Every dimension is crafted by a primordial dragon,” Husker said. He pulled the collar up on his coat, and then dragged a hood out from inside the lining of his clothing. The hood covered his ears and most of his face, but it couldn’t hide his canine snout. “Your primordial dragon made the dimension this way. It was probably a weaker dragon, or perhaps it died before it could finish creating everything.”

“It died?” Kellan asked.

The whole plan of the Flestiss Dominion was to kill the primordial dragons. Had they already succeeded somehow?

“The dragons fought each other in the past,” Husker said as he walked away from the burning apartment building. “And they’ve fought with other beings as well. Some of them were killed … But I’m not sure how many. They’re powerful and mysterious beings. The only one I’ve ever seen with my own eyes is the Arbiter.”

Kellan motioned to the building. “Wait. We’ll talk about it later. We need to check this place for Mavis and Xiang.”

Sirens in the distance chilled Kellan’s enthusiasm. He didn’t fear the cops—especially not when he had magical powers—but he feared accidentally hurting the cops if they tried to arrest him.

He didn’t have time for that.

They only had three days to hunt down dozens, perhaps hundreds, of objects in the city. And Kellan had to find these objects, not just to win the game, but to also stop Team 42, and the Flestiss Dominion, from reaching Zenith.

Everything was on the line.

If Kellan failed… everyone would either be dead or enslaved.

Which meant if cops tried to detain him, Kellan wouldn’t be able to allow that.

Sen shielded his eyes as flames burst out another window. “Xiang isn’t here. If she were, this whole building would be leveled.”

“And Mavis?” Kellan asked.

“Mavis has developed fire control with her magma magic. Obviously, she isn’t here, either.” Sen turned on his heel and hurried across the parking, walking with his back straight and his gait as long as it could go with his little child legs. “They’re likely nearby. Come. We should regroup, and then start our search.”

The sirens grew louder.

Kellan sighed as he followed Husker and Sen. He glanced over his shoulder, impressed by the power of the flames. The apartment building must’ve had thousands of dollars’ worth of meth inside. Perhaps more. Last Kellan checked, an eighth of an ounce—an eight ball, as they called it—went for two hundred dollars.

Tie-Tie-Dollar-Signs wasn’t going to be happy. Kellan didn’t care. If he didn’t have time for cops, he didn’t have time for gangsters.

“The smells of the building messed with my nose,” Husker growled as he reached the edge of the parking lot. Then he shoved some of the decorative shrubbery to the side and continued to the sidewalk.

Kellan leapt over the bushes and then grabbed Husker by the arm. “Wait.”

The rennic stared down at him.

“You can’t go walking around.” Kellan pointed him to a back alleyway between buildings. “This way.”

The three of them hurried into the shadows. Kellan urged them to continue, the sounds of the sirens a terrible warning.

“What’re we doing?” Husker asked.

They stopped between two dumpsters.

“What do you mean?” Kellan asked.

Sen motioned to their surroundings. “I agree with Husker. What are we doing? This isn’t how we should search for my honorable sister.”

“Are you two insane?” Kellan gestured to them. “You’re a wolf man, and you’re a child. We stand out like sore thumbs. We can’t do that.”

Husker snorted. Then he turned his attention to Sen—who only came up to his waist—and chuckled. “This dimension is your home dimension?” he asked Kellan. “Is that it?”

“That’s right. And we don’t have rennic here. Only humans.”

“So? There are no mages here. Even if they have tech weapons, they’re no match for us.” Husker flexed his hand and fingers, extending his claws. “I can educate your dimension on rennic.”

Kellan placed his hand over Husker’s claws. “No. I don’t want us to slaughter our way through town.”

“Because it’s your homeland?”

“That’s right. Exactly. This whole city—Fayetteville—is my homeland, and I don’t want bodies piling up in the streets.”

The sirens blared in Kellan’s ears. They were too close to the apartment building. The cops and the firefighters would surely find them if they just stood around.

Husker pulled away. His fur stood on end as he shifted his gaze to the far end of the alleyway. “If that’s how you feel, then you have my support. We won’t harm your kith or kin.”

Sen scoffed. “Are you serious? I’ve been to this dimension. I was here when I helped my sister send you to the Nexus.” He stomped his foot, lighting up the alley with the red flashes of his shoes. “This is a sad dimension of dour humans awash in depression and anxiety. We’re only here for three days. We shouldn’t even bother keeping ourselves hidden! The other teams won’t.”

The other teams?

Kellan’s heart practically stopped.

He had, for just a moment, forgotten about the other teams.

They won’t hide themselves,Kellan reasoned. Sen’s right. This whole city is about to go into a panic.

Husker shook his head. Then he urged Sen and Kellan to the other end of the alleyway, away from the screech of the emergency personnel and their vehicles. When they came to another street, Husker stopped. The lights from the nearby buildings, and the streetlamps, kept the place well lit.

For a long moment, none of them moved or said a word.

Kellan’s panic oddly clarified his thoughts.

This was Earth. His Earth. His country. His hometown.

He needed to make sure they were prepared. He had to warn them.

“We’ll keep our destruction to a minimum,” Husker stated. “We need Xiang. Her illusions can make this easy. If this dimension truly lacks magic, then even the simplest of tricks should work against its citizens.”

“Oh, the simplest tricks dowork.” Sen smiled and stood a little taller. “With Xiang’s illusions, I strolled around this dimension as an invisible god while I searched for our warrior here.”

Kellan held up his hand and motioned for Sen and Husker to remain in the shadows of the alley. Then he stepped out onto the sidewalk and glanced around. It was cold. What day was it? Around New Year’s. Fayetteville wasn’t the liveliest city at night, but it still had its fair share of late-night people, tweakers, and graveyard-shift workers.

And it was party season.

A few cars drove by, one at a time.

Kellan reached for his cellphone, but then he realized he hadn’t had it since Christmas Eve. He couldn’t call for a rideshare. He wanted to get to his apartment. Was it still even in the city? Kellan rubbed at his eyes, thinking back to his transfer to the Nexus. Hadn’t he gone to the Nexus inside his apartment?

Would there even be anything there?

But his apartment could act as their base. A point of reference so they could systematically search the city.

When the next car turned down the road, Kellan stepped out into the street. The driver slammed on his brakes. Kellan walked around to the driver’s-side door and threw it open. The man in the seat stiffened and gulped down his words. He was a paper-pusher, and his Rolls-Royce SUV was posh with all the little details. Leather seats. Touchscreen monitor on the dashboard. A stereo system some people kill for.

“I’m with the United States Special Forces,” Kellan said, all authority. “My name is Alex Kellan. The city is in a state of emergency, and I need your vehicle.” Kellan didn’t give the man time to respond. He unbuckled the man, and then took him by the elbow in one swift motion.

“W-Wait,” the man said, his voice a warble.

“This is a matter of national security.”

Kellan moved the man away from the SUV, careful not to be too rough with the civilian. The paper-pusher was half his size.

“It would be best if you remained indoors,” Kellan stated. “For at least three days.”

“B-But what’s happening? I n-need my—”

Kellan slipped into the driver’s seat and gave the man a faux salute. “Thank you for your cooperation, citizen.”

Kellan turned the steering wheel hard and drove the SUV onto the sidewalk. He stopped in front of the alleyway. Then Kellan motioned to Sen and Husker with a tilt of his head.

The moment Husker stepped out of the darkness, the paper-pusher half-gasped and took off down the road. Sen stormed out a second later, haughty and irritated. He went straight for the shotgun seat—struggled to open the door—and then sat down without going for his seatbelt.

“Don’t go too fast,” Sen said. “I don’t like automobiles. They’re too… strange.”

“Don’t call them automobiles.” Kellan shot him a sideways glance. “It makes it sound like you just escaped the Renaissance era.”

Husker crawled into the back of the SUV, his weight shaking the vehicle as he clambered about. His claws slashed up the beautiful leather as he situated himself on the back seats.

“I don’t like automobiles, either,” Husker said with a groan.

Kellan fixed the rearview mirror. “Just, uh, stay down. As much as possible. We’re going to drive around the block. Keep an eye out for Xiang or Mavis. If we don’t see them, we’ll head to my apartment.”

“Oh, by the good graces of Hakael.” Sen rolled his eyes. “Nothing is sadder than your apartment. I thoroughly searched that place before I sent my puppets after you, and it was—”

Kellan slammed his foot on the gas. The SUV jerked into action. Sen gripped the sides of the seat like the vehicle was about to eat him. Husker pressed himself down onto the seat as much as possible.

“I dislike all machines that have a mind of their own,” Husker muttered into the seats.

Kellan drove down the roads at speeds thirty above the limit. He knew this city, but at the same time, it felt different. He hadn’t been away long, yet it felt like a lifetime. After what he had seen in the Nexus, everything on Earth seemed…

Dull.

The average streets, with simple signs, and fully functioning lights…

It all seemed so uninteresting. Kellan had seen monsters emerge from sewers, streets merge into houses, and magic sprout from plants. Earth just didn’t compare to those circumstances. There weren’t any present or immediate dangers.

Then a set of red and blue lights flashed behind Kellan. The boop of the police vehicle echoed down the street.

“What’s happening?” Husker growled.

“Our warrior attracted the attention of the authorities,” Sen replied matter-of-factly.

“They speak in lights and shrieks?”

“They use the most annoying means of communication. You remember tasers, don’t you? Obviously. You made a joke about them earlier. Well, the authorities here love them. Speak out of turn, and they’ll shock you.”

A disgruntled growl filled the back of the SUV.

Kellan slowed the SUV and brought it to the side of the road. He pointed to Sen, and then back to Husker. “Not another word. I’ll handle this.”

Sen and Husker fell silent.

The police car pulled up behind Kellan, and already he knew this was going to be… interesting.

—Chapter 8—

—Welcome Home—

A man dressed in a dark blue police uniform sauntered out of his car. Police officers pointed their headlights into the mirrors of the cars they pulled over to partially conceal their approach. Kellan knew their procedures all too well. He placed both his hands on the steering wheel before the cop made it to the driver’s-side door.

The officer turned on a high-powered flashlight and shone it into the SUV.

“Evening, sir,” the cop said. His bald head was so smooth the headlights basically shone off his scalp. “License and registration, please.”

Kellan half-smiled and shrugged—but he never removed his hands from the wheel. “I’m so sorry, Officer. I went to pick up my son from a sleepover gone wrong, and I rushed out of the house without grabbing my wallet.”

Kellan hadn’t had his wallet since he arrived in the Nexus. And while he wasn’t sure how he was going to exit this situation, he hoped that just being reasonable would buy him an out.

The police officer pointed his flashlight at the passenger seat. The light fell on Sen, and the man held up an arm to shield his eyes.

“You okay, son?” the cop asked.

Sen remained silent, a sneer on his face.

With a glare, Kellan silently mouthed, “Act young.”

Sen sighed. Then—looking the cop straight in the face—he said, “Goo-goo, ga-ga.”

“Not that young,” Kellan hissed under his breath. It took most of his willpower not to backhand the man.

The police officer flashed his light back onto Kellan. The two of them stared at each other. Kellan wasn’t even sure how to follow that up. With an awkward shrug, he said, “My son’s tired. He gets weird. You know how it goes.”

A long moment of silence passed between them.

“Wait right here while I run your plates,” the cop eventually said, his words slow. He narrowed his eyes into a squint as he ambled away from the SUV.

Thankfully, Husker remained down and quiet the entire time. When Kellan glanced back, he realized Husker was so big that he looked more like a pile of laundry, or lumpy luggage, rather than a person. His red fur even resembled a coat.

As soon as the cop was out of earshot, Kellan snapped his attention over to Sen. “Are you kidding me? Jesus Christ.” Kellan ran a hand down his face. “Goo-goo, ga-ga? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m. Not. A child. I refuse to act like one! It’s demeaning. I hate it. Do you understand?”

“I just want to get us out of this situation without fighting an innocent police officer. You can’t pretend for five seconds?”

“Hmpf!” Sen crossed his arms and dug his fingernails into his arms. He turned away and glared at the passenger window. “Why can’t you just handle this? I don’t want to be involved.”

“You say you’re not a child, but you’re acting like one right now.”

Sen whipped his head back around with an indignant gasp. Then his expression turned icy. “If you tell me to act like a child again, I’ll tell that police officer you’ve been touching me in my no-no area. Let’s see what happens then, hm?”

Kellan grabbed Sen by his sweatshirt, twisted his grip into the fabric, and jerked the kid right out of his seat. Sen’s eyes went wide, and his eyebrows knitted. His apparent fright was enough to chill some of Kellan’s rage, but not all of it. Kellan exhaled, counted to three, and then loosened his grip.

“You said you appreciated the fact I saved you—and our whole team—during the games,” Kellan said, his voice low. “I don’t think playing along with a ruse is too much to ask as a favor in return.” He released Sen and then returned his hands to the steering wheel, trying to keep his anger in check.

Kellan didn’t want to have to assault a police officer. The innocent man didn’t need that.

The police officer returned a moment later. Kellan wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but he figured something would be better than nothing. The cop shone his flashlight into the SUV, but before Kellan could utter a word, a soft sob caught his attention.

Both Kellan and the cop glanced over into the passenger seat. Sen sniffed and rubbed his eyes with the back of his arms.

“I… I just… I wanna go home,” Sen choked out. After another sob, he added, “Please, Dad. I wanna see Mom.”

Kellan almost couldn’t believe it. It was probably some of the best acting he had ever seen. Tears welled in the corners of Sen’s eyes. He wiped them away, his lip quavering.

“Driving without your license is an infraction,” the police officer said as he handed Kellan a ticket. “Just pay the fine and don’t let it happen again.”

“Thank you, Officer.” Kellan nodded once.

“Have a good night.” The cop offered Sen a short wave. “You’ll be home soon, son. Don’t worry.” Then he walked back to his police car.

Kellan thanked the unnamed paper-pusher that he didn’t have a warrant out for his arrest. The cop likely assumed that Kellan was the owner of the car, and let the whole situation go due to Sen’s distress.

“Did you call Kellan daddy?” Husker asked from the back seat, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice. “I can’t wait to tell this to Mavis.”

In an instant, Sen’s distress was gone. He fully turned around in his seat and glared over the headrest at Husker. “We take this to our graves. No one is to know about this.”

Kellan switched the SUV to drive and carefully made his way to the nearest turn and entered a residential street. The cop drove off in the opposite direction, and Kellan returned his focus to searching for Mavis and Xiang.

“We won’t talk about this.” Kellan glanced back at Husker. “All right? This is just between us. Sen was nice enough to play along—let’s not punish him for it.”

Husker, unable to stop his snickering, huffed out, “Sure.”

The neighborhood was cold and quiet. A simple suburb for families and old people. Kellan found the normalcy strange. He stared at every shadow and dark hiding place, waiting for a surprise attack or monster to come out and get him.

Nothing happened.

Kellan touched the tracker around his neck, reminding himself he was still in the game. Where were the other teams? And what was the designated game area? Apparently, the necklace would kill them if they left. Would it give them a warning before they crossed the line? Or would their death come as a complete surprise?

“Shouldn’t we be checking these homes?” Husker asked as he snuck a peek out the back window. “You heard Bitso. We need to collect things. Bits are supposedly inside buildings.”

“We should find our teammates first.” Kellan kept his attention on their surroundings.

“You think that’s for the best?”

“I do. We regroup, find a central safe space, and then systematically search the city. If we don’t have a system, we’ll likely miss an area.”

That was what the military did when they were searching for missing personnel. They searched in sweeping grid-like patterns. Haphazardly searching places was inefficient, and slow.

They left the residential area, and Kellan recognized the area. A CVS, a bar, and a shopping center were all clustered around a broken-down gas station. Kellan had visited the area frequently. Everything around here was cheap as dirt.

The red glow of the CVS sign kept the parking lot lit like a murder scene.

Kellan drove into the parking lot, concerned he hadn’t seen any hint of Xiang or Mavis. The meth lab apartment building was in the distance, smoke rising into the night sky. It was only a few blocks away. Had Xiang and Mavis gone in the opposite direction?

“Listen,” Sen muttered, breaking Kellan out of his thoughts. “I… apologize. For my behavior back there.” He tightened his ponytail and then smoothed his black hair. Sen never glanced up to meet Kellan’s gaze. “Having a body like this comes with downsides. Not only am I smaller and physically weaker, but chemical responses are more extreme, and—”

“It’s fine,” Kellan interjected.

“Well, but—”

“Let’s not dwell on it, all right? We have a game to win.”

Sen finally turned to face Kellan. With a slight smile, he said, “Yes. Of course. Good call.” He motioned to the CVS. It was open twenty-four hours. “Then I think Mavis might be in there. And I think my sister might’ve gone there.” Sen then pointed to the bar.

The bar was named The Snake Den,and designs of cobras and rattlesnakes were spray-painted onto the walls.

Kellan slowly nodded. Mavis was the type of person to gather supplies. And Xiang—for whatever reason—did seem to like snakes. Would she have gone into the bar looking for everyone else?

“You go into the CVS,” Kellan muttered as he parked the car. “I’ll go into the bar. Husker, you wait here.”

Husker huffed.

“I’ll leave the engine and AC running.” He wouldn’t want anything to happen to their rennic.

Kellan stepped out of the SUV and took a deep breath. The cold night air refreshed him. His backpack sat between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s. Kellan opted to take his knife and leave the rest. He didn’t want to find trouble, but if it found him, he was going to be ready.

I need a handgun, he thought as he slammed the door shut. He couldn’t go walking around with his rifle—not if he wanted to remain inconspicuous for as long as possible.

Sen slid out on his side and hurried toward the CVS. The all-in-one convenience store had all sorts of goodies—from food to medicine—but it wouldn’t have firearms. Kellan headed for the bar, determined to look around and get out as fast as possible.

The bar had all its windows covered with paint. Neon lights hung on the outside, illuminating the snake graffiti. There wasn’t a bouncer. Kellan walked through the front door, and then into the narrow hall that led to the seating area. Smoke and alcoholic fumes washed over Kellan as he strode over to the bar.

There were ten men in the bar, and one goddess.

At some point, Xiang had changed her illusionary outfit. She no longer wore her elegant and modest outfit of flowing silks. Now she wore a halter top with a plunging neckline that showed acres of exposed skin between her small breasts. She also rocked jeans so tight they may as well have been painted on.

No one noticed Kellan enter the building because no one wanted to tear their gaze away from Xiang’s sleek body, soft skin, and piercing eyes. The bartender leaned onto the counter, getting as close to Xiang as he could, while two others sat on stools on either side of her.

Xiang wore the same tracker necklace as everyone else, but she also wore a necklace made of bone. It was a special, and the way Xiang slid her fingertips over it was proof. Kellan struggled to see the information, but his eyes eventually provided him with the details.

Legendary Magical Artifact [Equipment]—World Ender’s Ring

A ring made from the skull of an Oom. This unique magical item was crafted by the rival dragon who ended the Oom’s life. When worn, the World Ender’s Ring enhances mind magic abilities.

The mage gains +6 willpower, +2 ranks of telekinesis (can surpass M rank), mana reduction of 2 per telekinetic attack, the ability to use the S-rank mind power Crush without mana cost, and +5 telekinetic shielding for the purpose of damage reduction.

It was called a ring, but that was because it was fashioned for a creature much larger than a human. A ring for a dragon was a necklace to someone like Xiang. It sat around her slender neck, wide enough for her to slip it over her head.

But not the tracker necklace. It was truly a choker, tightly wrapped around her neck.

Xiang turned—an elegant movement—and locked eyes with Kellan. She motioned him over with a twist of her hand. “Ah, Alex. I knew if I waited here that you’d eventually find me.”

Kellan walked across the room, drawing the attention of the other patrons. They gave him dirty glances, and a few stood from their seats. Kellan ignored them. When he reached Xiang’s spot at the bar, he gave her the once over.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked.

Xiang lifted an eyebrow. “You would be surprised how agreeable men get when you’re attractive.”

“They can also get handsy.”

“Are you worried about me?” Xiang offered him a coy smile. “That’s sweet, but no one in this bar is a threat. It’d be cute if they even tried.”

Kellan placed his hand on her shoulder. “C’mon. We need to regroup with the others.”

One of the bar patrons—a man with impressive height and bulk—knocked Kellan’s hand away from Xiang. The man stood from the barstool, his shoulders thick with muscle, his chin covered in a neat beard.

“What was that about people gettin’ handsy?” the man quipped. “Maybe you shouldn’t be touchin’ the nice young lady unless she invites you to.”