Benjamin Vryce

He was pretty sure he had gotten the hang of it, or at least made the normal obsidian strong enough that he couldn’t break it with a dual essence enhanced punch anymore. He’d been at this for hours now, and after getting the shield more or less good enough, he fiddled with its shape a bit too. After watching Nyx fight in a few battles, he could easily see she like to ram her foes using her shield as cover.

So, he added a center spike to the shield. Not just a center spike either, but a completely separate piece that she could summon and attach to the shield while she was charging, hopefully surprising her target in the process. It wasn’t much of a spike, a foot long triangle that grew wider the further from the point one got. It looked somewhat like a stretched-out pyramid.

That done, he made Kali two as well. He already had the design down so it was easy for him to just make a few more. Then four daggers followed, again it was a slight design alteration from the pyramid blade he had mounted on the shields. The armor itself however, was proving a little bit more difficult. He could manage clothes ok; he had put together a set of squirrels skinned soft hides for Nyx after all in minutes.

A fitted set of armor though, and for a person he didn’t have in front of him to measure, was proving more difficult. As a prototype, he had created a trench coat, complete with four holes for her tentacle arms and a slit up the back for her tail. Making it black and putting a chipped obsidian pattern across the fabric to make it match everyone else’s armor. He looked at it and snickered, it looked great if he was going to a cosplay show. Kind of like Jade’s armor in that way, but for actual combat?

The gentle pressure on his upper thigh let him know someone was trying to get his attention. When the grip moved north and squeezed again…he knew who it was. With a sigh and a mumbled “damn it Jade” he looked at his work. A pile of spiked round shields, six daggers, he had made one for him and Nyx too, and the prototype armored trench coat he had made half as a joke. Lovely.

Opening his eyes into reality, he looked at Jade. Who was squatting down right in front of his cross-legged form; squeezing what one, if being generous, could call his leg. When he opened his eyes and caught sight of her grinning face, he started to tell her off. The words got caught in his mouth as her face darted in close and her lips met his in a quick kiss. She had moved away and stood up again so quickly that he didn’t have time to react.

After a second and a confused blink, Benjamin closed his mouth and looked around.

“What’s up?” he asked not hearing the sounds of combat or the approach of enemy units as he might have expected from being interrupted.

“Lord Benjamin? Ah good, I was worried that you might have been elsewhere. Now, if you please, Lord Shipwright has tasked me to take you, under protected escort, directly to the rift.”

Benjamin face palmed when he heard the overbearing chicken, speaking through the door. he understood why Jade had woken him up now, just not why she had been the one to do it. Speaking of…

“Nyx, why was Jade the one who woke me up?” he asked the demoness. Who was standing beside a partially overturned checkers board, black piece still held in her hand.

“My apologies, Master.” She said, dropping the checkers piece as his gaze fell upon it. “Jade was teaching me to play checkers, and she said she knew how to, get you up, the fastest.”

Benjamin sighed again, sometimes he forgot that, in a very real sense Nyx was only a few days old. He turned his attention to Kali, who was still standing guard at the door. she still hadn’t spoken to his knowledge, but he knew she could. He assumed it was his meddling with her personality, and hoped that the kobold woman lived long enough to learn to live again. Though, glancing over at Drake, who also held a checkers piece, that might be difficult since she was the last of her kind.

“Its fine Nyx, I am actually happy to see you learning a game. Just…try not to pick up any of her bad habits, ok?” he asked, without any real conviction in his voice. With a slight, and hopefully unnoticed, adjustment, he rose to his feet. The wink that Jade gave him as he did, let him know he’d failed.

“A moment, sir Drumstick.” He called through the door, no point provoking the golden chicken. Especially, if he had indeed brought friends.

“Here guys, I made this stuff for you.” next he handed out the daggers, the shields and…after a moment’s hesitation, the armored trench coat as well. It was closer to a Kevlar vest, with a few heavy plates over the vital spots, but it was all he had and it was better than nothing.

“What. Don’t I get anything Vice” Jade said with a pout, “I think I’d look pretty good with your dagger at my waist.” She said with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, I think you’ve handled my dagger, quite enough for one day Jade.” Benjamin replied, dead pan. He had to fight a smile when she started laughing at his gest.

“If you are quite finished with your ill-disguised courtship,” the damn chicken called through the door. “We really need to be going, the corruption has spread beyond Lord Shipwright’s ability to control.”

As much as he hated that bird, and the Shipwright for that matter, Benjamin had to admit he made a good point. The demons were everywhere, and he doubted they were going to make it all the way to the rift without help.

Looking around to be sure his companions were ready, and gesturing for Jade to put her game away, Benjamin moved over to the door.

“Alright, Drumstick you’re right.” He called as he opened the door. “We need to work to...” the drones arrayed in the hallway behind the chicken stole the words from his mouth.

* * *

Frank Briggs

Sooner then he expected, the trip ended. He was thrust from his void space and ended up in another hanger bay. This one just as massive as the one they had helped close the rift in. As he was looking around, and almost without thinking, he summoned his dire rats. They popped into existence at his feet and began exploring the immediate area.

“Hey kid, is it me or was that a really quick trip.” Blake had appeared next to him as he was searching the cargo bay, and spoken from his blind spot.

Her voice made him jump, and the booming laughter of Bishop let him know that the gladiator had arrived as well. He glanced at both of them, and then around at the empty hanger bay, before answering.

“I think that Shipwright must have messed with time to get us here so quickly.” He said, and chuckled at the confused expressions on the other’s faces. “Yes, the World Lords can effect time. Or so Shipwright told me once. From what I understand it’s a localized phenomenon, and is insanely essence taxing. If he really did mess with time to get us here, there really is a problem.”

“Very good my boy,” the mechanized voice of the World lord boomed out from the hanger bay’s speaker system. “The corruption has spread faster than I anticipated, if the rift isn’t closed soon, the station will fall. If only because the numbers of the invaders will grow large enough for them to open another rift soon.” Frank could understand the panic in the World lords voice, it was a big deal after all.

“Alright, Shipwright.” He said, taking the lead in their talks because he was the Shipwright’s champion, and the other two had insisted. “What do you need us to do?”

“I have sent a guide; they will arrive at your location shortly. Almost immediately after they arrive, the fourth member of your team will reach your position.” With that pronouncement the speaker switched off with an audible click. Leaving the three champions to look at each other with confusion.

Just then a ruckus of squawking and the chittering screech of the rats could be heard. The three friends quickly darted towards the sound, to find a silver-colored metal chicken, pleading for its life with the three rats.

“Please gentle beasts, I am afraid I am inedible. Made of metal you see, and besides I am the emissary for the Lord Shipwright, you wouldn’t kill the guide who was sent to aid you correct?”

Frank, Bishop, and Blake just stared at each other in wordless incomprehension. Did the Shipwright really send them a chicken as a guide? Frank called his rats back over to his side, and stepped forward.

“Um, hello.” He began uncertainly. “I’m Frank the Shipwright’s chosen Champion. And this is Mike Bishop, and Beth Blake. They are the Morrigan’s champions. We were sent to help close the rift, are you, our guide?” he finished, feeling a little silly talking to a silver chicken.

“Yes,” the chicken replied through a speaker, though it opened its beak while it spoke. “I have the honor of being your guide to the rift. I am the esteemed Chicken, known as Dumpling.” With this, it bowed low. Frank couldn’t help but think it was checking the deck for food, it was a very lifelike movement.

“Um, Hi Dumpling,” he said while his two friends laughed hysterically behind him and he tried very hard to hold in his own chuckles. “Shipwright said there was a fourth member coming, do you know who…” he was interrupted by a call from above.

“Hello down there,”

Frank looked up to see who was speaking. What he saw made his jaw drop, there was a figure wearing a battered old ripped and dirty black cloak, that bled purple light slowly descending from the darkness above. What was even stranger, was the plague doctors mask the figure wore. It was like something out of a b rated horror movie.

When the figure touched down, it gave a curtsy to each of them in turn. As it did it spoke to each of them.

“Hi Bishop, I was impressed with your saber skills against those black dogs. hi Blake, you really have to show me how you shoot so good.” When it got to him it stuttered a bit before greeting him. “Hello Frank, I was really impressed with how you flew that star fighter and controlled all those little planes at the same time…and not to be rude but…is that a metal chicken?”

The three of them just stood there, staring slack jawed at the weird ghost who seemed to know so much about them. they were saved from answering when Dumpling spoke up.

“Yes, champion Frank. Lord Shipwright spotted her approach and bumped the time line enough that you would all arrive together. This is the Specter’s champion, Annice.” It said by way of introduction.

“Oh, dang it, sorry guys. I guess I forgot that you didn’t know who I was too.” With that she reached up and pulled the mask from her face. her pale white skin looked to have been lightened further with makeup, and her lips were painted black. The hair that tumbled from her cloak’s hood was purple.

Frank gulped; he couldn’t help it. He was pretty sure this girl was his age, within a year or two at least. What’s more, she was very pretty, if a little weird. Though, Frank wasn’t one to judge, he had been a hard core LARPer back on earth. There were plenty of girls in that crowd who dressed like this.

“h..hi…Annice” he managed to get out at last. “I…it’s nice to me…meet you.”

“What my infatuated young companion here is trying to say, miss Annice.” Bishop broke in with a grin. “Is, welcome to the team” he finished with a smile, holding his hand out for a shake.