Martin, Ska, and I were eating lunch when the teleport scrambler started beeping.

"Whelp! I guess our friends are here," I said, putting my fork down and wiping my mouth. "You think they will wait for us to come to them?"

There was a loud bang and the house shook as they tried to bash in the front door.

"That would be a no," Martin replied.

"Alas, they have no redeemable qualities. If they had, maybe, just maybe I would feel sorry about killing them. Nah, probably not," I added, standing and stretching as another bang rocked the house.

"They are persistent," Ska added, looking out the window.

"How many do you see?"

"I can only see four, but I smell more."

I grunted in affirmation.

"Martin and Ska, how bout you greet our guests, I'll land behind them. Feel free to kick it off."

Martin nodded and Ska gave a satisfying throat rumble.

I did not doubt that Ska would attack the first person he spotted. I headed for the back balcony as the others headed downstairs. I heard the clank of Martin's dice as they clattered on the floor. That would be an unpleasant surprise for our visitors.

I didn't know where Fiona was, she had followed the policeman as he left. Hopefully, the man figured she was a skill of ours and didn't realize he was being followed.

***

Martin rolled his dice as he got to the first floor. A red portal appeared, spewing noxious smoke as the summon stepped out. The creature stood six feet tall and looked like a roided up bulldog. Its skin was red and cracked, oozing green fluid that turned to smoke as it dripped from the beast. Its face was a large sucker surrounded by twelve tentacles that were at least a foot long. The tentacles waved around as if scenting the air and looking for a target.

Martin hesitated at the sight of the creature and Ska took a step back, hissing in fear. Martin had to remind himself that it was perfectly safe as long as he didn't lose control of the creature.

"Go forth, and kill," he said in a whispered chant.

The creature gave out a chirping gurgling howl as it bounded toward the front door. Ska beat the creature to the door, wrenching it open and leaping to the side as the creature burst forth, eliciting screams of surprise.

Martin stepped onto the now clear porch. The lesser gluttonous demon hound had one man's arm down its gullet and two others were attacking the creature, trying to get their friend free.

He took the time to look over the other men, focusing on one in particular. "You!" he yelled, pointing to the man standing in the back, watching.

The man looked at him, understanding showing on his face before a dark grin spread on the man's face.

"Well, if it isn't the husband of that puta I fucked and killed. I guess you came here to get fucked as well. I can't blame you, she couldn't stop moaning my name," the man said while rubbing at his crotch and laughing.

"Leave him to me, Paul, Ska."

"As you wish," Ska replied in a sibilant hiss as he rushed down the stairs at two other men.

Paul didn't reply, he just came crashing down on one of the two other free men.

***

After taking stock of the battlefield and seeing eight enemies I was going to aim for the strongest until Martin asked me to leave the man for him. I had heard the man's filthy words and wished Martin luck.

Seeing that three were busy with Martin's creature, Ska was fighting off two and Martin wanted the leader, it was an easy choice. I slammed down on one of the two free men, flattening his skull with a resounding boom of my staff. There were shocked looks as all our enemies stopped for a split second.

That was a fatal mistake for two of the men. I saw Ska tear the throat out of one man with his sharp claws. The other man was yanked from the grip of his friends and the creature expanded its void-like maw to completely devour the man while he screamed. The screams brought the rest back to reality and the enemy reacted.

I heard the leader scream in outrage, releasing a spell. A shockwave of force rippled out, slamming into everyone within a 20m range. Seeing the attack coming I reacted, casting Body Like Stone. Unfortunately, my spell wasn't fast enough to cover my companions before the enemy spell struck. Martin and Ska were knocked from their feet but I was able to resist the spell. Martin's creature was unaffected, as well as the enemies.

This led to... problems. Ska was stabbed in the side and was forced to retreat with a bloody limp. I also took a bloody cut across my arm as the other man, near me, took advantage of my distraction.

The large gash gushed blood as I looked toward it and then at the man that cut me. He had a cruel grin on his face as he watched me, both long knives at the ready.

"That little attack is going to cost you," I growled, casting Rejuvenate on myself. As my wound closed, the man's grin was wiped away. I was still poisoned but I ignored the weak poison as I spun my staff and used Identify.

Julio | Duelist | Level 11

I snorted at this. The man went livid with anger. "Sorry, I wasn't laughing at you, just it seems like every idiot has the duelist class."

That appeared to be the wrong thing to say as the man lunged at me, flicking his blades in and out quickly, trying to stab me. My agility was far superior and I slapped his strikes aside with ease with my much heavier weapon. All the while I kept an eye on my allies' stats and even managed to cast Healing Touch on Ska.

All I was doing was keeping the man busy while my friends fought their targets. I didn't make it easy on the man, giving him a few grazing cuts with the sharp spikes on the end of my staff. I didn't bother activating any abilities or the enchantment on my staff. The man simply wasn't worth the waste of mana.

There was a strangled scream that came from my right and I smiled, knowing Ska had managed to kill off his second target. I could only see one remaining man fighting Martin's creature and he was slashing about in panic to try and keep the creature's tentacles at bay. As for Martin, I could hear him firing the mana pistol every few seconds, followed by an angry scream for his target to die like a man. I figured it was time to get rid of my dance partner.

As the duelist retracted his blades I stepped back, sliding my staff behind my back and activating the shrink rune. The man acted predictably, launching himself forward, with both blades aimed at my neck.

My staff, turned mace, snapped out and I deactivated the rune. There was a crack as the heavy weapon slammed into the man's upper chest. He was launched backward by the weapon and I wiped away the two thin lines of blood the man had managed to draw. I Cleansed the poison and walked toward the man. From his appearance and the blood he was spitting up, I was pretty sure I broke more than a few ribs and collapsed his lung.

The man gave me a pleading look. I stepped on his neck and pushed until I heard a crunch, the man went limp and I turned to survey the rest of the fight.

***

Martin was forced to step to the side as the man named Carlito slashed at his face. Martin was thankful that his agility was high enough to keep up with Carlito's. It was only thanks to Paul's buff, but still.

Fighting like this wasn't Martin's forte but he didn't want to hide behind a shield. He wanted to kill this man with his bare hands. It seemed like Carlito had stacked his skills in strength and Martin could feel the broken rib from the punch he had taken when he allowed the man to get too close.

The greasy smile that Carlito held only stoked his anger further. Still, he fired away, hitting the man more than once. Carlito had some ability to shrug off the damage. Martin was forced to watch as Carlito's body flared in red light, wiping the damage away. Martin didn't think it was a healing spell, but something else.

Martin found out where all that damage went. Carlito's hand glowed a crimson red as he punched out, sending a concentrated wave of force barreling toward him. He felt his body quiver under the impact as his organs ruptured. The air forced from his lungs was red with blood as he was launched backward. He hit the ground hard, only to feel a healing warmth flood through him. He turned his head to see Paul, standing off to the side without a care, his staff in one hand and the chanted spell coming from his lips.

Martin spit out the remaining blood and got to his feet. Carlito still had a smug look on his face, even with three people arrayed against him.

"Let's dance, Gringos"

"You got this, Martin, show no mercy," Paul stated flatly, not responding to the other man's barb.

Martin nodded, sticking his fingers in his mouth and giving a shrill whistle. the demon bounded over and Martin slapped his palm onto the creature, activating Blood Bomb.

The creature shook before running at Carlito. The man laughed mockingly and pounded his fists together as his body started to enlarge itself. He was now twice his size and stood over ten feet tall. As the creature leaped at him he went to smash it to the ground with a left hook, only to have the creature explode.

"Ahh!" he roared, stumbling back and trying to wipe the blood and bone from his face. The hand that struck the creature was a ruined mess of shredded skin, muscle, and bone.

Martin followed this attack up with Breath of Corruption, blowing out a cone of tiny bugs from his mouth, that wormed their way into his skin and body.

The giant man was now frantically slapping his arm and face trying to crush the creatures below his skin. Martin pulled out one other skill that rarely got any use. Mostly because he couldn't cast it while under his shield.

An electric green whip appeared in his hand, and he lashed out, wrapping Carlito's good hand in the energy. Where the whip touched, the man's skin blackened and fell away. Carlito screamed in pain and rage and tried to yank Martin toward him, only to cause the whip to dig deeper. All the while Martin fired away with the mana pistol.

Eventually, Carlito stumbled to his knee. He was unable to absorb all of the damage from the three damage-over-time spells. Blood was leaking from hundreds of wounds as the damage continued to pile up. Martin just held the whip and watched. The man's final words were drowned out by the blood that bubbled up. At last, the man fell over dead, his body falling to pieces as the bugs devoured it.

Martin heard clapping from behind him and turned around.

***

I had to clap, that was one hell of a show. I always knew Martin was a badass.

We looted the remaining four corpses. Three had been devoured by Martin's creature and the last had been eaten by his spell. Still, they had nothing special, simple pre-system knives or machetes.

Fiona returned a half-hour later, looking around at all the blood. "Sorry I wasn't here, Carlito sent two of his men to kidnap someone. I decided to stop them before they got there, but one of the men gave me the slip for a bit."

"Someone related to our officer friend?" I asked.

"Yeah, he did kind of sell us out. But Carlito messed him up pretty good before heading over here. I couldn't just let those thugs get to the kid."

"No, what you did was for the best. I'm a bit disappointed with Kurt's choice, but it accomplished our goal here at least... assuming we got everyone."

"Hard to say," Fiona added, "we could ask Kurt when his senses return. I last saw him in the Mayor's office."

"Okay, Martin and Ska, you two stay here while Fiona and I have a chat with Kurt."

There wasn't any argument from the two. Martin was spent from his fight and Ska was still angry he had been injured in the fighting.

***

I lightly kicked the unconscious man, he groaned but didn't wake up. Grunting, I cast Regenerating Rain. Of course, I could have used any of my healing spells but the spluttering scream was its own reward.

"Morning sunshine, we need to have a chat," I said, leaning against the broken desk.

"Wha - how, Carlito should have killed you?"

"Ha, that loser... kill me? No, I don't think so. How many men did he have?"

I watched Kurt's mind struggle with my words. It seemed like he still had some damage from his run-in with Carlito.

"How... many... men... did he have?"

"Twelve," Kurt finally replied.

I did a quick count. We had killed two that morning, then there were the eight at the house. That made ten. Adding the two that Fiona took out, that made twelve.

I clapped my hands, "good, sounds like they are all dead."

"Dead? You managed to kill them!"

I ignored the man as I walked from the room. He kept calling after me, looking for answers, but, fuck him.