Steven’s cleats dug into the ice as he sprinted towards the moose.

The side of the road closer to the store had a couple of cars parked along it, which wasn’t much cover, but it was better than the single car Brick Shit house’s group had.

Steven sucked in a deep breath halfway to the moose, then bellowed. “OVER HERE, BULLWINKLE!”

The moose whirled on him. Its eyes were an unnaturally pale blue, and a slightly darker blue mist poured from its mouth to swirl around its antlers like an indistinct crown.

Steven skidded to a stop, luck keeping him on his feet as much as anything else, and Immediately turned and burned, heading straight back for the line of cars.

His plan was simple and arguably suicidal. In a word, kite the moose. In a straightaway run, Steven was dead. The bastard would run him down, and if the antlers didn’t catch him, a stray hoof would.

The advantage Steven had was his maneuverability. He could slip around cars or through trees faster than the moose could. And once he made it to the car, the others could try and make a break for the store- a ball of blue energy slammed into the ground near his feet, sending ice and snow spraying over him.

Okay! So the moose could do that! That was fine, this was fine. Just dodge those too.

Steven made it to the cars. The sound of pounding hooves made him immediately dive over the closet hood head first. Not being a parkour enthusiast, Steven ate shit on the other side, but he managed to roll with it enough to avoid anything going crunch.

The car, a black Mountaineer, slid into the curb as the moose slammed into it.

Steven scrambled to his feet before the moose could round the cars, his cheek and shoulder smarting.

The moose came around at a run, and Steven started the most stressful game of keep-away of his life.

It wasn’t that hard to stay ahead of the moose. He could maneuver around the cars faster than it could, but the thing was relentless, forcing Steven to constantly work to stay ahead of it. And there was- he ducked as a ball of wispy blue energy flew over his head.

It detonated somewhere behind him, spraying his back with a rain of ice chips.

Without turning his attention away from Bullwinkle, he called out to Brick Shit House.

“I’m not running around here for fun! Get inside next time it charges me!”

As if hearing the word ‘charge’ had set it off, the moose rushed him again, prompting a few more rounds of keep-away.

Steven needed to do something. The moose wasn’t backing off at all. And for all he knew, it wouldn’t ever back off. The damned thing could have magical rabies or something.

He narrowly ducked another mist blast.

Take inventory, Steven. What can you use?

He had a pocket knife, but using that would require getting close to the moose, so absolutely not.

He had his phone, so he could…what? Maybe shine its flashlight in the beast's eyes? He’d put that as plan D for now.

He didn’t have anything else on him. He’d only been out for a quick walk.

He stumbled on a block of ice as he rounded the Mountaineer and had to brace himself on the hood to avoid going down.

Wait, blocks of ice!

He started moving again before the moose could trample him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the group running. It was in the opposite direction from the store, but hey, that was still away from the moose. Mission accomplished, he supposed.

Of course, now he was alone with an enraged, super-powered moose hellbent on stomping him to death.

Shit.

The moose opened its mouth, and mist began to gather for another blast.

Steven ducked down and snatched a chunk of ice from the curb. It was just barely small enough to fit in his hand and had a decent heft to it.

The blast rocked the car next to him, and Steven quickly popped back up to aim. The moose was already moving closer, so he only had a second to make his shot.

The eye was the play. Even if he missed, he still had a good chance of hitting something vital.

He hurled the chunk of ice, and just as it left his fingers, a blinding flash lit up the world.

Another rumble tore through the ground. Blinded and off-balance, Steven stumbled and fell.

He couldn’t see a thing. The light was so bright that having his eyes open at all was like looking into the sun! His senses felt like they’d been turned up to eleven, the smell of tires and metal suddenly sharp in his nose. The sting from his shoulder and cheek started to throb with every heartbeat, and the blood pounding in his ears sounded like an orchestra.

He clutched at his face and prayed that the moose didn’t get lucky and kill him with a blind stomp.

The shaking grew worse, and the light somehow got even brighter. Steven felt a pressure in his chest, a crushing weight that had to feel like being in the depths of the ocean.

But just when Steven thought the shaking would never end, it all stopped. One second the light was digging into his eyes like a cruel knife. The next, he was staring up at the still green sky, all traces of pain gone as they’d never been.

He didn’t even have spots in his eyes!

While his sudden lack of pain was great if he was suddenly fine…

He looked up to see the hateful blue eyes of the moose staring down at him from above. They glinted like ice in the sun. Hateful, stupid ice that really should have run away by now.

There was a small gash on its nose. At least he hadn’t missed his throw completely.

It raised a dark hoof over his head. Well, well, well, if this wasn’t the consequences of his own actions. Steven glared up at the moose, his chest still burning with spite.

Dying for strangers he didn’t like was the opposite of everyone for themselves, so even if he died, he died proving that Brick Shit House wrong.

…Why was he still alive? The hoof was still hovering above his head, just waiting to fall.

Is it…is it dragging this out?

The moose was making him sweat!

“Finish it, you jerk!” He shouted. The moose snorted, mist billowing out to tingle against his skin.

“If you want me to try and scramble away, don’t bother. No way am I out running your leg.”

Its eyes narrowed, and its ears laid back.

Could it understand him?

Before Steven could contemplate just how terrifying that was, the hoof slammed down.

It filled his view, and he tensed. He wouldn’t scream.

Everything stopped. The screams in the distance, his rapidly approaching death, even the sound of his own rapidly beating heart.

All of it froze. Then a voice, deep-chested and tinged with traces of humor, spoke directly into his mind.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? It's always wild to me just how much can go down in the handful of minutes it takes me to integrate. But here we are, with no less than five people in Anchorage alone about to be killed by Bosses. Bosses spawning this soon at all is weird, but I’m counting at least three. Like I said, wild.”

What the hell?

“Well, since a Boss is a bit unfair out of the gate, I’m gonna move this bad boy to a different area. Sorry about the whole almost dying thing, but don’t expect another deus ex machina. Can’t have people getting complacent!”

A pillar of purple and green light slammed down on the moose like a lightning bolt, and it vanished with a pop.

Steven blinked up at the glowing sky, unsure if he had just lost his mind.

“Also, the whole charging a boss thing was certainly, err, brave. Yeah, brave. With a first impression like that, I’m curious to see in what way you get yourself killed. Okay, System out!”

What the hell!

Words flashed into his mind again, but these came with the feeling of a prerecorded message.

For putting your life on the line for others out of spite, you have gained an uncommon class!

Class: Spiteful Defender

Steven stared at the words, hearing the Systems voice in his head each time he read over the text.

He reread it once, twice. Then blinked.

What. The. Hell...