Jim's POV

Once they stopped fighting they efficiently started repairing the damage to the ship. Luckily there were extra parts below and they had two working examples of the large fans to emulate.

As they were working Charlotte mumbled “You know this is bullshit right? There is no way these fans and canvas could provide enough lift for something this size. If anything the wind speed’s effect on the canvas should send us spinning to the ground.”

Jim snorted and said “Kinda like how bullshit your armor is when I break it and then it magically appears good as new?”

Rolling her eyes she said “Oh? Then what about the fact that my futuristic guns couldn’t even put a dent in your armor. Totally logical there buddy.”

He laughed. She had a point. Probably. Technically he was only a couple days old on this new memory, so he didn’t think he had the qualifications to make that call. Either way they worked and bantered until they got the ship in more or less decent shape.

“So, what are you going to do now Charlotte?”

Sighing she said “Probably need to finish the level. There is usually a marker, let me go over to the railing and check.”

As she started scanning around she said horrified “What the hell is going on down there?”

Taking a look Jim said “Looks like a continuation of the war. Guess the monster attack caused them to get a bit jumpy.”

“Monster attack! Those green portals are no monster attack! Their from the damn game that keeps forcing me to fight!”

Bumping up his vision Jim now saw the likeness to the story Charlotte had just told. Then he saw the little green lights showing up in the center of the city. Worriedly he said “Those ones in the city are trouble. With the soldiers fighting each other the citizens won’t be protected.”

“Oh no…”

Jim already said he wouldn't be apart of their war, but protecting those who could not defend themselves from indiscriminate killers was something else.

Yelling back he said “Voss! Bring us down! Right where that cluster of green portals are!”

Voss excitedly said “Nice! I get a brand new ship!”

Sighing he bent down to the wolf pups and said “Make sure he comes back.”

After getting a couple nods he waited for his chance to jump. Right before they passed the cluster of portals he yelled “Now!”

They both jumped down to the warzone below.

Scarlet's POV

The first place Scarlet wanted to check was the academy. If there was anyone who was loyal left, they would probably be there. Glancing back she could barely see Forrest following her. He was getting better.

Forrest seemed to be much better at concealing himself in the wild. But the city was her element. It’s sharp corners and small sources of light made things that didn’t belong more easy to pick out. For one trained in such things finding those anomalies was second nature. Still, he was much better than he was at Jacksberg.

As she entered the auditorium memories filled her. Her earliest memories were from here. The teachers spoke of how special they were, and that the students would become the mighty protectors of the city. And that was what she had become.

She had absorbed many of the lessons and excelled in the training. Still, even with all this preparation and training she had spent too little time looking for threats from within. Her city had fallen and her loyal defenders along with her.

Running her fingers over the chair that she had sat at in the auditorium so long ago she got distracted. Someone said quietly “Scarlet. Welcome home.”

Glancing up she saw one of her old teachers! Excitedly she said “So, some of her defenders still live! How many others are there?”

The old man shook his head and said “I’m sorry Scarlet. You misunderstand. We are her defenders, not you.”

What? And who was this “we”? Glancing around she saw a couple more shadowy figures.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, I knew your mother and father Scarlet. You have no idea how much they suffered when you displayed your first manifestation of magic in public. You know what the law says about that right?”

Nodding she recited “All magic users are to be taken in and given special training."

“Have you ever questioned that? If you had a child would you want to be raised as you have been? Without ever knowing your parents?”

Scarlet had never thought about it. She didn’t know. But still this was wrong. Why was her teacher going against what he himself had taught?

“Why are you saying this now?”

“Because Xalross was too small to stand alone. For generations we put the burden on talented youngsters such as yourself, ripping you away from your rightful families. Slowly through the years more and more people agreed that it would just be better to live under Jacksberg or Shila rule.”

His words made a twisted sense but there was still the fact that she had been sent to her death, and many others like her. As anger started building up she asked “How many? How many did you have killed in the night so you could betray us to our enemies?”

Her old teacher said sadly “This was why you were never approached. Always too loyal. You were exceptional you know? But because of that many of us spoiled you. Your life here was more pleasant than most. I’m sorry Scarlet, but it was for the best.”

As he said that her teacher’s hands started to glow, but then instantly he had an arrow in his throat. The glow in his hands faded as he started grasping at the arrow in his neck. Someone tried rushing towards him but Scarlet was ready.

She used her sharpen blade spell and then viciously slashed at the woman who was trying to give her former teacher a potion. The blade was now full of fire magic thanks to her armor and the woman's body started burning.

Always when she fought before there was the heady rush and anticipation for violence. But now? She only felt empty. More gathered around them and she yelled to Forrest “Let’s get out of here! Run!”

Matching her actions to her words she started running back from where they came. As others tried to follow they were rewarded with arrows sprouting from their bodies. She was confused and conflicted. Scarlet needed some time to think. Hopefully they could find Jim and get out of this hellhole.

Gwen's POV

Before going downstairs Gwen knocked. It was just after noon, yet Charlotte had not come to get her. After there was no answer she opened the door and said “Charlotte? You there?”

Still no answer. Going down she saw two people sitting together on the couch. Curious she went around and saw what it really was. Gwen sadly looked at the pair.

Gwen shook her shoulder, and she still didn't get up. Charlotte was breathing. Sighing she realized that Charlotte had left without her. She was disappointed.

But she understood it as well. Sometimes you had to fight your own battles. Either way Gwen would be there for her.

Jim’s PoV

The streets were in chaos. Demons were pouring out of portals that seemed to be centralized in the plaza. Jim was having a fairly easy time of it but Charlotte had a lot of trouble for fear of friendly fire. Seeing her struggle Jim pulled up his inventory and took out one of the better swords and yelled “Charlotte! Try this!”

Catching her attention he threw the blade and buried it into the earth a couple steps in front of her. Then she yelled back “How is this primitive piece of crap better than my gun?”

Jim demonstrated by slashing and hacking at the demons amassing in front of him and then yelled “Swords only kill what you stab at. Not anything extra behind it.”

Grunting she said “Maybe.”

Taking up the blade they started efficiently clearing out the creatures. Then something else came out of the portals. Flying gray demons with wings and one eye. They seemed to have a sonic attacked that knocked down everyone in a short range.

Charlotte pulled out her former weapon and started blasting the creatures out of the air. She triumphantly yelled back at him “But swords can’t do that!”

“Jim! Why does your city smell like crap! Seriously, If I didn’t have to hold my nose closed this would be alot easier.”

“How is that my fault?”

“Because you made this damn world!”

Oh. Yeah. Maybe.

Then Scarlet popped up out of nowhere and exclaimed “What? Jim, you made the world?”

Flustered he didn’t know what to say. According to Charlotte he had made this place. Then Charlotte helpfully said “Yep. That man over there made your world. So, if there is a problem, it’s his fault!”

Wow, that really pissed Scarlet off for some reason. Jim didn’t want one of the few people he knew to be angry at him, so he said “That’s not entirely true. While I may have created it, it was some 60 year old Japanese guy that made the story up. Or at least that’s what Charlotte told me.”

Scarlet perked up and asked “Is he still alive?”

“I’m not sure.”

Raising his voice he asked Charlotte “Is the maker of FF3 still alive?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Looking back to Scarlet the words seemed to cool her anger towards him. Unfortunately that anger seems to have been directed elsewhere. Maybe he should have told her he was dead? Actually that would have just made her angry at him again. Flawless blame deflection!

He would have to be careful with Scarlet if she ever got into the other world. Or else some poor game developer might wind up dead. With Scarlet and Forrest helping them out it started becoming a clean up operation.

Figuring it was safe he tried using one of the sense spells that he had. So far he had only used it sparingly, it didn’t tell him a lot of information.

Using it on one of the creatures it gave a bland read out of the stats with a flavor statement saying “Really wants to kill you.”

Rolling his eyes he muttered “Really? I didn’t know that. Couldn’t have even guessed.”

To his surprise he got a notification!

“Congratulations! You have learned a new spell!”

With interest he opened up the correct menu and took a look at what he got.

Sense Lv4.

For some reason he felt irrationally angry. Before he could even think about his actions he tried to punch his menu screen. Of course the blow went right through the screen that only he could see.

After he got his weirdly explosive temper under control he read the description for the spell.

“Allows the user to see things which are generally hidden from normal eyes. Skill is active at all times.”

Looking around he tried to see if there was anything new that seemed to pop up. But nope, nothing. Not a thing. Everything looked exactly the same.

The irrational anger came back with the vengeance and his hands started to shake. Wow. This must have been something so traumatizing that even his body still remembered what his mind could not!

Shrugging he put the thoughts out of his mind and continued to fight the monsters.

Reporter’s PoV

“This is April in front of the county police station with Officer Brady! Officer Brady, can you give us an update of what's going on?”

The man nodded seriously and said “The national guard has come to our aid and are mopping up the city as we speak. Please, stay indoors! These things are still out there and they are extremely dangerous.”

“What are these things? Does anyone know?”

The man said reluctantly “I can’t answer that question at this time.”

Damn, how was she supposed to get any ratings with these dull and routine answers? April was hoping to make a name for herself. This was the perfect opportunity to get out of doing the financial news! The fighting had died down and soon the street would be swamped with other reporters, but she had been the first one to make it to the police station.

“Do you have any tips on confronting one of these.. People?”

She said people reluctantly. April had seen enough of their bodies to know that they definitely weren't human, however if she said as much it might cause her station to be in a bind. The government had already issued several warnings about making sure not to cause an incitement to panic. But she had said people once, so the lawyers should be able to keep the government at bay.

“Don’t stand still if they see you. Run away. They seemed to be equipped with something that is very effective at piercing through many materials. Don’t trust barriers to keep you safe if they see you. They are slow and most people should be able to outrun them.”

More boring statements. He seemed new, maybe she should try to throw him a curve ball?

“So, anyone waiting for our fearless protector of the city to come home?”

Ha! Got em! He blushed and said awkwardly “There might be someone.”

Turning to the camera she said “Looks like your too late ladies! He’s already taken! This as been April reporting live, signing off!”

Agent Kerry’s POV

Kerry said “On three. One, two, three!”

In unison his team lifted the new freezer up. After some shuffling and jostling they finally got it into place. He wondered to himself how in the world he went from a top ranked special agent to a handyman.

Looking to Milly she said “Perfect! Now I just need to get rid of the old one!”

Rubbing his temples he muttered to himself “The mission comes first.”

After reporting back to his boss about the crazy woman who roamed around curing imminent death his mission changed. At first he was told to capture the woman, but then he transferred the footage of the people and monsters she had dealt with.

Seriously Milly was like a ticking time bomb. If just one of those violet glass vials around her belt cracked then all that would be left in that area would be red paste. That meant even using sleeping darts was out of the question. She could fall wrong and then that would be the end of their VIP.

Hell, they had implemented a protocol around her. No sudden movements. Always stay slow. Keep a range of three meters if possible. It was like walking around someone with a suicide vest. While they dealt with the benevolent terrorist other teams were looking for leads.

There was one team looking into where she got the miracle cures from. Whatever they were it had caught the attention of a number of important people in the government.

Which was why he and a couple members of his team were acting as movers. Then Milly got a phone call. Using one of his little tech devices he pointed it at her and then the stream of audio could be heard in his ear piece.

“Milly! What happened! Almost all the plants are gone! Where did they go?”

Casually Milly said “I wanted to fix my freezer, but no one would help me! So I went over to the compound to grind some of them up to make potions. Luckily I found some really nice customers! They even convinced the store to open up so I could buy a new freezer!”

“Milly! Over two thirds of the plants are gone! It will take years to recover! Years!”

Shrugging Milly said “Nah. I’ll talk to Jim. He should be able to get more.”

Oh no. No way. The same Jim his team just killed?

“Are you sure? These plants are unlike anything we have seen before! If our supply is this low it will take at least a decade before we can set up a sustainable supply to start manufacturing the new drug!”

“Yeah, don’t worry! I have him wrapped around my finger! Jim will totally do what I tell him to! Easy peasey!”

Looking to the nearest agent he said in an angry whisper “Keep an eye on her. I need to make a phone call.”

After a couple nods he exited the room and made a phone call to his boss. A decade? He was hoping with all his might that this was some other Jim, but Kerry didn’t think he had that kind of luck.