Man, this is some A-Grade bullshit, Deacon complained to himself mentally as he leaned his back against the humming server bank, the glow of the laptop screen casting faint blue light over his face. The terminal on the laptop screen beeped softly every now and then, signifying that the progress bar had slowly inched forward; it was now 87%. He watched it with half-lidded eyes and a candy bar wrapper crinkling in one hand and a can of soda in another. "Just end me now."
Is this how slow devices were back on Earth?
Jass lounged nearby on an overturned crate, kicking her boots idly while sipping from a can of soda with an open packet of pretzels beside her. Esmerelda sat cross-legged with a small bag of chips resting on her lap, munching quietly, occasionally tilting her head in directions, supposedly "listening to spirits".
"Wait," Jass said suddenly, freezing mid-sip. "I just remembered where I saw that guy."
Esmerelda glanced up. "What guy?"
Jass set the soda down, eyes wide with realization. "The guy who said he'd bite Deacon's, you know what, off. And Deacon just goes, 'why would you? Fighting me? Involve your mouth around my junk?'"
Esmerelda snorted, then burst into a full-bellied laugh, to then choke on her chips and quickly downing her drink to swallow her food. "No way! You said that?"
"Hm?" Deacon blinked, straightening a bit. "Oh, right. I forgot about that guy."
Jass nodded. "Yup. That was the guy from Class E. You know, the one who tries to start a fight with everyone, but always manages to fuck up his sentences?"
"Never heard of him," Deacon muttered, furrowing his brow. "Did he try and start something with any of us?"
Esmerelda cocked her head, thinking. "Wait, wait… is that the guy whose mom supposedly left him in a dwarf bar when he was two, and when she came back, he pissed beer for a year straight?"
Jass shook her head, laughing. "No, no, different guy. That was… Garren, I think. This one's worse."
Deacon raised an eyebrow. "Worse than drunk toddler dwarf-bar guy?"
They ignored him.
"I'm pretty sure his name was… James? No. Hames. Yeah, Hames Michaels," Jass said, snapping her fingers.
Esmerelda's eyes lit up. "Oh, that Hames."
"Yup," Jass continued, "rumor is, he got a little too handsy with Mr. Pholous' daughter."
"Mr. Pholous?" Deacon repeated, sitting up ramrod straight. "Our centaur Floor Instructor for six years? That Mr. Pholous?"
Getting an excited and rapid nodding from Jass, Deacon continued, "How the fuck is he still alive then? Mr. Pholous would have killed him, hell, I've seen him kill for less."
"Dunno," Jass admitted, wiping her chin with the back of her hand that held her can of soda. "Maybe he has connections or something, cause Mr. Pho is a Tier 2 and according to the records in the academy he reached Floor Twenty Three before he began teaching."
"…Damn," Deacon muttered, taking another sip from his soda. "They must have given him something wicked good to make him stop from killing Hames."
Deacon leaned back against the terminal desk, eyeing Jass with mock suspicion. "Wait a second… how do you even know all this? You barely talk to anyone outside of the group and those you do talk to aren't with us in the academy."
Jass smirked around the rim of her soda can, taking another slow sip before lowering it. "That's exactly why I know everything."
Deacon raised an eyebrow. "What, are the spirits giving you gossip too now?"
Esmerelda giggled at his accusation to Jass as she sat cross-legged on the workbench, munching on a peanut butter and chocolate candy bar, absentmindedly swinging her legs. "Hey, don't bring the spirits into this. They mind their own business."
Jass leaned her glaive against her shoulder as she stretched her legs. "So many people let their guard down when they think you don't care or can't hear them. You'd be surprised by what you hear when people think you're a mute. The amount of gossip… You would never believe what I've heard from the girls."
Deacon opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a faint whirring noise that was then followed by a low hum that shook the room they were in.
They all paused.
"…Was that…?" Jass began, turning her head toward the ceiling.
The overhead lights flickered to life all at once, filling the server room with a bright glow that blinded them momentarily as they had but Deacon's fireball that hovered above them to light up the room. Hundreds of thousands of electrical currents swept across the walls of the server room the trio were inside, and sending out those electrical currents into the transformers and other devices within the substation, powered up for the first time in centuries.
Then the laptop dinged.
Esmerelda slid off the workbench, her half-eaten candy bar forgotten as she stepped forward.
"Holy crap sticks," she said softly, eyes wide.
Deacon turned toward the center console, where the laptop screen displayed in bold text:
GRID CONNECTION: ACTIVE
POWER DISTRIBUTION: ROUTED
CITY GRID STATUS: ONLINE
LAST ACTIVE: 327 Years, 2 Days, 12 Minutes, and 57 Seconds
Welcome back online Mr. Palmer
Jass moved to the tall window along the back wall and pushed it open with a squeal of rusted hinges. Cold, slightly damp air rushed in.
"…Guys," she called.
Deacon and Esmerelda joined her.
Outside, the ruined, mutant-infested Seattle's skyline had changed. What was once a maze of mutant-infested streets and blacked-out buildings in the night was now the same exact thing, but with light.
Streetlamps flickered to life, illuminating the streets, along with the various billboard signs that littered the rooftops of the ruined city of Seattle, sending the mutant birds that rested atop them into a frenzy.
The city looked alive again… Ignoring the thousands of mutant creatures living within it.
"…Holy shit," Deacon breathed.
Jass nodded, resting both hands on the windowsill. "Yeah."
Esmerelda didn't speak, she just smiled, eyes reflecting the distant glow.
For a moment, they said nothing. Just watched.
Then Deacon, half-smirking, muttered, "Guess that answers the 'what's next' question."
Jass stepped back from the window, shouldering her glaive again. "Next step: find the Floor Boss."
"And kick its ass," Esmerelda added, licking the remaining smudge of peanut butter and chocolate from off her thumb.
The soft whir of the electricity that coursed through the city was suddenly drowned out by a deep, guttural rumble that shook everything and everyone within the ruined city of Seattle.
Then moments later, accompanying the rumble that shook the entire city was a roar full of anger that tore through the air and sent every living being within the city on edge and sent more than half the cadets on their knees, clutching their heads in pain.
Deacon nearly dropped the laptop as he grabbed the edge of the console to steady himself. Jass instinctively lowered her stance, hand gripping her glaive as loose bolts trembled on the floor. Esmerelda froze, eyes wide as she felt the pressure of the roar deep in her chest.
"…I guess the Floor Boss was asleep," Deacon muttered, his voice tense.
Before anyone could respond, a second wave of sound swept over them.
Every mutant in the city, hundreds, possibly thousands, answered the roar with screeches, howls, and guttural bellows – from the lowliest ant to the strongest Elite. The air became thick with the sound of rage. Mana-charged cries echoed from every alley, rooftop, and sewer grate. Somewhere outside, a hound yelped as it leapt off a ledge, crashing into the pavement below, consumed by frenzied madness from the Floor Boss.
Then came the banging.
First, it was one, then many, slamming fists and clawed limbs beating on the reinforced exterior of the substation building. Doors rattled on their hinges. The walls shuddered.
"Uh, guys…" Esmerelda said, already leaping back onto the workstation desk and peering through the window.
"What do you see?" Jass asked, already gripping her glaive tighter.
Esme didn't blink. "Everything."
She swallowed. "Every mutant in the area is rushing this building… and they're not alone. Four Elites are charging straight at us. Level 4 and up."
Jass inhaled through her nose and exhaled slowly. "Lowest?"
"Four," Esmerelda confirmed. "Highest… six."
Deacon shut the laptop with one hand and slid it into his pack. "So much for chilling out for a bit before going to the big guy."
He looked to the girls. "We need to drag them away from here, to keep the power on."
Jass twirled her glaive once before steadying it in both hands, her usual smirk curling at her lips. "Should we head toward the convenience store and come up with a plan there?"
Deacon nodded in agreement.
Esmerelda landed lightly on the ground just behind Deacon and Jass with small magical circles already glowing around her fingertips. "Seems like we're nearing the end of the Floor."
The reinforced door behind them groaned.
They were running out of time.
"I'll carve us a way through them." Deacon drew both short swords in a single fluid motion, the blades hissing as he whispered the incantation Flame Armament. Flames erupted across the steel, licking up the edges with an angry crimson glow.
He tossed a small vial to Jass.
"Lesser Beastblood Tonic," he said gruffly, shoving a vial toward her. "Chug it quick."
He threw his own back without a second thought, the liquid burning down his throat. Almost instantly, the effects of the Lesser Beastblood Tonic hit him like a freight train. The veins within his eyes thickened and grew, tinting his sight red, his muscles swelled against his leather armor, and his breaths became heavy and ragged, like some sort of starved bear.
Then, Deacon let out a breath and inhaled. And within a few seconds, the rage and hunger that roared in his mind became muffled.
Across from him, Jass stumbled, catching herself against the wall before standing tall. Her eyes were different - pupils slit like a cat's, that usual playful smirk wiped clean off her face, replaced by something raw, almost feral.
"Damn," she muttered, her voice low, almost a growl. "This stuff's no joke."
Deacon rolled his shoulders, feeling the power surge through him. "Alright," he said, voice rough as he stepped toward the door. "It's show time."
Jass nodded, flexing her fingers on the shaft of her glaive.
Deacon roared and slammed a heavy boot into the reinforced door.
CRASH!
The door flew open, slamming into a crowd of writhing mutant flesh, humanoids with extra limbs, barking hounds with warped skulls, and screeching gnomes with serrated bone clubs. The creatures hesitated for only a split second.
But that was all Deacon needed to take advantage of.
He lunged forward like a battering ram of fire and fury.
Blades flashing, he cleaved a mutated hound in two, the Flame Armament setting it alight mid-scream. Another swipe severed a gnome's arm and drove a blade through its throat. The tonic sang through his bloodstream like wildfire. Everything was stronger and faster than before.
The burn of fatigue dulled into nothing. He didn't feel pain. He barely registered the hits bouncing off his shoulder.
Behind him, Esmerelda raised both hands, her eyes shining with pale blue light.
"Aegis Spira!"
A translucent shield of magic shimmered into existence around the three of them, clinging tight to their bodies like a second skin, protecting them from physical based attacks. Projectiles bounced harmlessly off it. Mutant claws scraped against it with ear-piercing squeals.
She lifted her right hand, three magic circles unfurled midair, rotating fast.
"Scalding Lance! Scalding Lance! Scalding Lance!"
Bolts of pressurized steam magic rocketed from her fingertips, spearing through mutant after mutant in arcs of sizzling power. Deacon felt the heat behind him but didn't flinch.
He trusted her aim.
Jass moved with mechanical grace behind them, her glaive spinning in wide, arcing sweeps. Any mutant that tried to flank or ambush was met with a brutal crack of the staff or a cleaving strike to the chest. The tonic only made her faster, more precise, every movement she made was both fluid and strong.
Ahead of them, four hulking figures loomed.
The Elites.
[Carnifex Ghoul – Elite Mutant Lv 6]
The Carnifex Ghoul was humanoid in shape, stood at two meters in height, with bone-like armor erupting from its shoulders and spine. Its head looked like some crossbreed between a demented vampire and a starving gnoll. It opened its mouth to reveal it was filled with jagged obsidian teeth.
[Bloodhound – Elite Mutant Lv 5]
The Bloodhound was an overgrown mutant hound with translucent skin and looking like it was doped up on every steroid in existence, along with an unhealthy amount of aphrodisiac, judging by an emerging fifth leg.
[Wretch Binder – Elite Mutant Lv 4]
The Wretch Binder was humanoid in shape, similar to the Carnifex Ghoul, but instead of having bone-like armor, it was draped in scraps of wire and leather straps. It didn't charge like the others, no, it raised its long arms and began chanting. Dark magic circles formed beneath a cluster of the regular mutants nearby.
A support-type Elite.
Fuck.
[Gnome Ironback – Elite Mutant Lv 4]
The Gnome Ironback was a 1.5 meter gnome and built like a cannonball with skin the color of steel. It wielded a forged slab of concrete as a shield and had jagged metal spikes protruding from its shoulders and elbows. Slow, but likely unmovable.