Above ground the freedom turkey, or whatever the thing was supposed to be, whirled in a circle with its gun barrel out. The enemy of liberty was a sneaky one, as such people usually were!

The eagle man’s eyes narrowed as a surge of patriotism welled up inside. It wouldn’t be long now. He would deliver twelve-gauge democracy to the lawless usurper!

Darkness itself began to rise up all around the freedom turkey. It shrieked, but this time its shriek was met with an extreme counterattack. A wave of pure terror washed over it.

“Commies! Everywhere!” it shrieked. Eyes wide, like it had done all the drugs that there were to do, it began firing wildly. They were everywhere! Hippie pink commies!

The darkness quickly shifted back into human form, but there was an obvious strain in Scott’s eyes. A few choice words crept from his lips as he staggered toward the shrieking eagle. “Tis of thee…!” barked Scott softly. He caught himself before he sang more of that patriotic song.

“Socialist!” snarled the freedom turkey as it turned toward the sound of patriotic singing. However, it’s shrieks and snarls no longer held power. Its hands shook tremulously as wave after wave of soul-searing terror washed over it.

Scott tried to avoid taking fire as he closed in, but there was only so much that he could do. A shot to the hip knocked him off balance, and another blast to the chest knocked him on the ass. Once again, he became darkness.

His mist form was a calculated risk. Magic had a greater influence on him in that form, otherwise he would just stay in that shape and end this. As things stood, he dived into the earth once more and flowed toward the source of his current pain and annoyance.

He flew out of the dirt and engulfed the creature. It cried, “Freedom!”

Scott gave into his sudden desire to pledge allegiance to the flag, but also unleashed as much of his aura as possible. Now at ground zero of this terror bomb, the freedom turkey had no chance to resist.

Its arms shook. Its legs shook. Scott was certain that it even peed a little. Yet, it was not enough. Captain Freedom refused to fall to terrorism! So, Scott shifted quickly into dragon form and tackled it to the ground. Its shotgun fired off a few more times, never let it be said that the freedom turkey did not go down shooting! Inevitably, Scott’s fangs found its throat and he worried it like a dog might worry a hunk of flesh.

The beast clung to life for a time, but it succumbed after a few minutes of being ripped into by those dagger-like teeth. A testament to its enduring desire for life and freedom perhaps, though Scott believed it to be more likely that it was meant to be something akin to a raid boss. Its stats were no doubt much higher than its level to account for needing to face down a possible army of similar leveled usurpation forces. It was unfortunate for the commander, however, that its opponent qualified as a raid boss by himself.

Captain Freedom, or the Freedom Turkey as Scott thought of him, had fallen. The land was now his to do with as he wished. Though, he had to wait a few minutes for it to be determined as official.

The fog of war dissipated even as the shitty music finally ceased blaring. A message window opened that congratulated him on his victory.

Deep gouges rent in his flesh, lips split open, eyes blackened and possible broken ribs, he did not feel victorious. Yet, the system recognized his strength.

“Damn. Who knew overthrowing democracy would be so hard?” he muttered to himself.

The message window soon showed him a few other interesting things, not the least of which was a bit regarding his noble status. “Cool…”

Congratulations!

You have usurped a portion of the United States of America. The land is now yours to do with as you please, provided no one takes it from you.

You have increased your official land holdings. Continue to do so, and you may soon be promoted to a new noble title.

You may now upgrade this land and its infrastructure. This land is yours in total, and thus you may construct a transportation node. The cost to do so is high, but you will not need to pay transport costs if you use the node. Do note that a transport node requires constant maintenance and a fee will be charged each month.

“You know, if this was the dream, I would have probably gained a level… Cheap bastards,” he said through his bloodied lips.

He shifted to human form then ran his hand down his face. His everything hurt. In fact, it hurt so much that he almost missed something interesting. Unlike the ghosts, the freedom turkey did not dissipate. Neither did his shotgun.

Curious, Scott picked it up. He stared at it for a moment then grunted.

Shotgun

This item is not yet cataloged properly.

“Thanks for the cool boss loot…. Assholes,” said Scott. This world never ceased to disappoint him.

“Can I even reload this thing?” He looked to see if there was a place to put shells, but from what he could see there was none. He did pull the trigger to test it out, but all he heard was a single dry click.

“Whatever…” It could be synergy fodder if nothing else. Maybe it would have stats at some point if he held onto it long enough.

At any rate, he set about cleaning up the battlefield. If he was lucky no one would have heard the commotion due to the fog of war. Given how things worked for him, he fully expected a small horde of people to come running over soon.

He took his time and scoured the area in search of anything good, but all he found was a few soul gems and some loose cash. “Couldn’t even be bothered to give me decent loot, huh?”

Scott absorbed a soul gem then sighed. “At least I’ll be fully topped off again soon.”

His mild annoyance at the situation soon gave way to a sudden onset of pain between his eyes. Scott cried out in shock and fell to his knees. The air around him began to twist and writhe even as his senses went crazy.

For several minutes he clutched at his head and screamed. Whatever it was that had happened eventually, passed but for the time being he had no idea what was going on. Stuck in a fetal position, all he could do was pant for air while he stared at nothing in particular. There was a wrongness to the world, as though something indefinable had changed but he did not know what such a thing might be.