[Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [Roger that. saw it n on it.]
She must have been running Parkour once she left the van. Her dot on the party map was moving fast. She looked like she was moving through or more likely, vaulting over cars. I didn’t hear her running.
Blaze took our police escort, Officer Dalton, in tow and approached the nearest group. The crowd’s eyes weren’t on us. Their eyes and a few phones were locked on Bhaarrt, who had just climbed out of the van and picked up his maul.
Blaze held her badge high. “FBI! Eddington Police! Put your guns down and stand down.” She scanned the area. Most groups were watching us now, including the ones near the apartment stairs. A couple more people in the crowd had taken their phones out. I think most were pointed at Bhaarrt. Dalton had his right hand on his gun but hadn’t drawn it.
[Blaze:] [PARTY] [Will. Shield in front of us when I say can’t.]
[William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Roger that.]
Blaze spoke clearly, but loudly. “The world has changed. We’ve changed. Some of us more than others.”
“There’s monsters loose! We have to stop them before they kill us!” someone shouted.
“They’ve got one too! Kill it before it kills us!” another man yelled.
“Kill it! Kill it!” others began chanting.
“QUIET!” Blaze shouted. “No one’s gonna kill anyone today. You can’t.”
With that magic word, I cast a shield in front of Blaze and Officer Dalton, and myself. I poured 50 MANA into it. That’s enough for 100 points of defense. The nearest people stepped back when it flared into view, A sparkling translucent blue rectangle floated in the air between us and them.
“We won’t hurt anyone unless it’s to save lives,” Blaze said. “Bhaarrt’s not a monster. He became a half-ogre to protect his wife. She’s a paramedic, and our Healer. A mage put up the barrier between us. It stops bullets. Cold.”
She had more people’s attention now. “I know some of you have powers too. Maybe a few know how to use them. We do. We’ve already handled two threats to Eddington today. I don’t want you to be the third.”
[Blaze:] [William of Brinsford] [Calm them down.]
Making a couple of hand motions, I cast an area effect PACIFY on the people in front of us. Their muttering eased; shoulders relaxed. Others further back were out of range, but it helped overall.
“I know it sounds like an old joke, but we really are here to help. We’re the kind of group the President said cities should form. We’re here to protect people. Please. Let us do our job until you learn how to use your new skills. We’ll help with that later.”
Bhaarrt now stood beside Ingrid. We had a 3-2 formation. Three in front, two behind. We waited.
[Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [dudes outside apt talkin’ bout big green guy inside. Checked. Orc and half-Orcs are player races.]
[William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Maybe Bhaarrt should talk to whoever’s inside. Could be a WoW Horde player. Ogres side with the Horde.]
[Bartholomew Ironshaper:] [PARTY] [For the Horde!]
One of the armed men halfway between us and the apartment strode forward with a swagger. An armless black leather vest with patches on it was worn over a dark red, plaid shirt, worn jeans, and lace-up black boots.
His rifle looked like it was meant for big game. Like really big game. He kept it pointed nearly straight up, finger off the trigger. If he shot a rabbit with that, the only thing left would be tufts of fur and maybe part of an ear.
He stopped between us and the crowd. “We don’t need no Federal bitches tellin’ us what to do. Jus’ get the fuck outta here and I won’t shoot ya. The apocalypse is here, and it’s every God-fearin’ man for himself. Don’t need yer guvor-ment shit no more.”
“What are you gonna do?” Blaze asked. “Shoot me? The laws still apply.” She laughed and waved a hand. “Tell you what, PokerRun. That’s what you called yourself. You think you’re the big bad Hunter? Go ahead. Shoot.”
[Blaze:] [William of Brinsford] [Your shield stops how much?]
[William of Brinsford:] [Blaze] [100 now. Or until I run out of mana.]
[Blaze:] [William of Brinsford] [Keep it up. Gonna talk him down. Tell party.]
“I’ll make it easier on you.” Blaze slowly removed her jacket and tactical vest, handing them to Officer Dalton. Standing there in her beige blouse and shoulder holster, she added, “Sorry. I’m not flashing anyone. You can’t get through our defenses. Shoot till you’re dry. Then it’s my turn. If you give Officer Dalton your gun before that, I won’t kill you. But if you shoot anyone else? I will. Got it?”
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[Blaze:] [William of Brinsford] [Shield one way or two ways?]
[William of Brinsford:] [Blaze] [You can shoot through it. I’ll add a mental shield, but it’s weaker.]
[Blaze:] [PARTY] [Out of the line of fire. Sideways.]
PokerRun didn’t answer. He raised the rifle and took aim.
Before he could shoot, I added PSYCHIC SHIELD - PHYSICAL between my shield and Blaze. Unless you’re a mentalist, it’s invisible.
“Everyone else, back away. Move to the side,” Blaze said. “Don’t stand behind him. Get out of the line of fire. And speaking of fire…” She summoned a FIRE SHIELD closer to him, just beyond mine.
PokerRun flinched back a step but didn’t fire. “I’m a Fire Mage. Try me…if you can stand the heat.”
He aimed slowly…and fired.
The casing ejected sideways. He didn’t shoot again right away. He just stared at the bullet frozen in my shield.
Then he fired a second round. That one pierced Blaze’s shield again and hit mine. 40 points of damage after reductions. Then a third. Her shield went down completely, but I managed to buffer mine just in time with another 25 points. She flinched at the first shot.
The third shot stopped cold and hung there in front of her face, almost touching the others.
Blaze didn’t flinch the second and third times.
Then her FIRE SHIELD came up again.
“If you’ve got one left, you live,” Blaze said. “Otherwise… it’s my turn. Show it or burn.”
PokerRun stopped when the new FIRE SHIELD appeared. He may be a good old boy, but not totally stupid.
He pointed the rifle skyward and let out a long breath. Ejected the clip, thumbed out a round, and held it up. “I give. Felt it goin’ down. Didn’t figure you’d put the other back up. Or have backup. Not fair.”
“Never said it was,” Blaze said. “But that was damn good shooting. First round was between my eyes. You’re good. You’re good and you took a lot of accuracy buffs.”
“How you know that?”
“REVEAL STATS. It shows your Character info. You can take that spell. Everyone can. That is, if you live long enough to level up.”
“Agent Pozarkova, do you want me to arrest him for shooting at an officer?” Dalton asked.
“No. Will, how much was he hitting for?”
“Fifty. Before reductions. He dumped almost everything into shooting. He’s got some TRACKING, too. You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yeah. PokerRun, you’re right. Everything hit the fan. But this ain’t your apocalypse. Zombie or otherwise. You’ve got a choice. Most cops would arrest you…maybe shoot you for that stunt. I’ve got a better idea.”
[William of Brinsford:] [Blaze] [We’re recruiting.]
[Blaze:] [William of Brinsford] [Yep. He’s a damn good shot.]
“We’re recruiting. Want to be on the right side of the shield?”
“Huh? Whatcha mean?”
“We’re recruiting parties to deal with threats. Monsters. Mages. Other threats. Our party of five took down a second-level Ice Mage earlier today. He killed two people. Now he’s dead.”
PokerRun looked around. “Five? I only see four and a cop.”
“Nope, you don’t. One’s scouting.”
[William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [What you got? Anything new?]
[Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [got a look thru window. 2 green skins w/tusks like Bhaarrt. male & female. 3 small kids. human. scared. They huggin’ the Orcs.]
[Blaze:] [PARTY] [Looks like 2 adult Orcs, 3 small kids. Scared shitless. Bhaarrt, go WoW with them. Will can shield you if PokerRun doesn’t call off guards.]
“PokerRun. Our scout says it’s two Orcs and three small human kids in that apartment. Looks like a family. They livethere. We don’t want their children hurt. We don’t want anyone hurt. Can you call off the guards so Bhaarrt can talk to them?”
“If we don’t let you through?”
Blaze pointed up. When he looked, she launched a FIREBALL into the sky. It rose on a train of fire…then exploded. “They say Fire Mages got a temper. Want to find out the hard way?”
“Real FBI agents don’t make threats like that.”
“We do now. We don’t have time to shit around. That’s why we’re recruiting people who can do this. People who care. Game-type monsters will show up in a few hours. If they show up here, people will panic. People will die. I don’t think you’d panic. You’d shoot till you ran dry.”
PokerRun nodded. “Sheep can’t defend themselves. Never could. You want me to be a sheepdog?”
“Yes. You and others with long-range firepower. Close-range fighters too. We need both.”
Blaze looked at people in the crowd. “We want anyone who wants to be a sheepdog. Not a wolf. Wolves won’t last long. We may only need one Hunter per party, but we’ll need a lot of them.”
She stepped through the shields and offered her hand. “If you’re in, go to City Hall. Tell Sergeant Torres the Irregulars sent you. He’s handling party formation.”
PokerRun shook her hand. “Didn’t think I’d ever shake hands with a female FBI agent. You flinched, but you didn’t duck. You trusted your SHIELDs. Got guts, woman. I kin admire that.”
“Thank you,” Blaze said with a warm smile.
PokerRun turned and shouted, “Jake! Sam! Let ‘em through. They say that’s the family what lives in there. Give ‘em a chance. Big guy goin’ in!”
We waited while Bhaarrt made his way there. People stepped aside. At the bottom of the stairs, he hollered, “FOR THE HORDE!”
A curtain moved aside. Someone peeked. Then faintly from inside, I heard: “For the Horde!”
The apartment door opened.
***
We spent over an hour talking to residents about what happened and what to do now. Among them, we found three Healers and a Cleric. A scattering of other classes as well, mostly fighters, a few mages. Most hadn’t chosen a class yet.
Shadow returned to the van and went to sleep in the back. She was exhausted from what happened earlier. She’d help again if needed.
Bhaarrt spent time with the Orc couple inside. They had played WoW. When they had a chance to be Orcs, they took it. Both had years of gaming experience. They could help teach others the rules, and how to live with them.
Best part? When Bhaarrt talked to them, all of us, including Officer Dalton, got 30 EXPERIENCE POINTS. We hadn’t expected that, but we weren’t complaining.
On the way back to City Hall, we talked about how to handle future encounters. For now we decided:
- Blaze handles negotiation.
- Bhaarrt and I dealt with unusual races or cases.
- Shadow is our scout...uses STEALTH until first strike.
- Ingrid keeps everyone alive.
This wasn’t a game anymore. It was real. And if it worked, we’d use it.
When we returned to City Hall, we asked for a break. Ingrid and Bhaarrt took Shadow home in their truck. She wanted to read Bhaarrt’s manga and rest.
Blaze had her 48-hour bag in her car but wasn’t sure if she’d stay or drive two hours back to the capital. I offered her my son’s old room, and dinner.
She accepted.
She followed me home, as the saying goes.