Katy pointed her spear at the trio. “Stay back!”

Henry chuckled. “Oh, I will. I’ll stay right here until you call uncle and hand over those credits.”

He gestured. The monsters surged forward, fierce, sharp teeth bared.

“Quick, in, get in!” Rowan shouted, yanking Ikara back from the window. Katy spun and hopped through the gap, launching herself feet-first over the counter. She landed gracefully and lifted the spear.

“We can stay here all day, if you like,” Henry chuckled. Behind him, the burly duo drew closer.

The first of the monsters reached the concessions window. Closest to the window, Ikara threw her hands out. “Unspool!”

Thread stretched between her fingers, winding into place. The furless, rancid-skinned dog bounced off the thread and fell back out of the window.

Ikara stumbled back. Rowan surged up to take her place and pinned the dog-monster to the ground before it could rise. Katy shoved past him and stabbed the monster. It screeched once and went still.

Before the dog finished dying, two monsters jumped up to take its place, a beetle and a crow with white eyes and a silvery beak. The crow lunged for Rowan, claws aimed at his eyes. Rowan abandoned the rake and blindly drew something from his tools. The hand spade met the crow’s rush. It fought back, pushing into the concessions box, wings flapping.

“Unspool! Tangle!”

Thread spun around the crow’s wings, binding them to its body. It fell heavily to the floor. Rowan stomped on its head, and it went still.

“Yuck, now my threads are all gross,” Ikara muttered. Making a face, she held her hands over the dead crow. “Spool.”

“Sorry about that,” Rowan replied.

“Huh? No big.”

The beetle rattled to the floor, pierced through by Katy’s spear. She twisted her lips, uncomfortable. “I don’t like this. I’m not meant to be stuck in a tiny box like this.”

“He said it best—he can do this all day. We can’t stay here,” Rowan replied.

“Flee?” Ikara suggested, nodding at the hole to the woman’s bathroom.

Rowan narrowed his eyes. “What, and let them win?”

“They’re level twenty,” Katy reminded him, stabbing a six-legged cat on its way through the window.

“How’d you see that, anyways? I can’t scan them,” Rowan said.

“You can’t scan? That’s a pretty rare ability,” Ikara remarked. She turned and squinted at them, then nodded to herself. “Rowan’s right. We might actually be able to take them.”

“Huh?” Katy asked.

Ikara pointed out the window. “That man, he’s got to be a Tamer-type class. It looks like he specialized in mob control, which works in our favor, because it means he won’t have one big scary beast. And if I’m correct, he’s only got one other partner… because his partner is an Illusionist.”

“You figure?” Rowan asked.

“They can first get scan-blocking skills at level ten-ish. Lowest level for any class I know of. It’d explain why Katy saw they were level twenty, when none of the rest of us saw anything. And these idiots? I can’t imagine they’re above level twenty. Hard to grind that high out of the Tower, and no one runs around mugging people in an exclusion zone if they can beat the Tower.”

Rowan nodded. “So his partner is a non-offensive mage. Not impossible to take out. That just leaves Henry, our Tamer.”

“Right. And Tamers usually don’t get high stats or self-focused skills. All their power is focused externally, onto the monsters,” Ikara replied.

Rowan nodded thoughtfully, a hand on his chin.

Katy slashed a bat out of the air. “So? What’re we doing?”

He glanced up at the girls. “I have a plan. Are you willing to give it a try? If you don’t want to, we can flee. Especially you, Katy.”

“Fuck that noise. Let’s take those haughty combat classes down a peg!” Ikara enthused.

Katy nodded. “I don’t like the idea of these people out here, mugging innocent passerby. I want to be the kind of combat class who stands up for justice.”

Ikara let out a bitter cough of a laugh. Rowan caught a strange look in her eyes, but before he could ask, she smiled and shook her head. All business, she clapped her hands. “Alright, bossman. Let’s hear that plan.”

Rowan drew out his notebook. “It’s like this…”

--

“Are we ready?” Rowan asked.

“Whenever you are,” Ikara replied, flashing a handful of pins and a grin.

Katy stabbed one last monster down from the countertop. “Window’s clear!”

“We’re all clear on our roles, right? I take left, Ikara right, Katy, down the middle?”

“Got it, boss. On your mark.”

Rowan took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, visualizing his route. This has to go perfect. If it goes sideways, we’re all fucked.

No. We’ve got this. I have to believe in us.

He opened his eyes. “Go!”