《The Awakened World》Vol. 2, Ch. 52 : Reuniting with acquaintances
Advertisement
We eventually decided to have Sophia just web them all up, so they're attached to the windows of the guild now.
"So, what's your name?" Meanwhile, Thomas is talking with Officer Cooper.
"Daniel Cooper, sir, but people just call me Cooper…or Dan, but mostly just Cooper," he says as he extends his hand out. Thomas grasps his hand and says, "Charmed to meet you."
Thomas turns to all of us. "So…my information sources have told me that a, *cough*, 'Doctor' Graves has obviously revived the Nazi army from World War II." Thomas throws the word 'Doctor' in air quotes.
"However, it's not just the heroes with which he has issues. The man has accrued massive debts from the other villains. It has gotten to the point where he has to enlist the help of B-List Villains. They're, uh, real sad-sacks to be honest."
He starts ticking them off on his fingers with a wistful expression. "First, Major Inconvenience. He utilizes Murphy's Law in a minor way. Things will usually go wrong around him, but he has little control over what is effected. At worst, you might be more likely to stub your toe."
"Dr. Crime, who actually has a PhD, and has committed every petty crime in the book. The amount of candy he has stolen, or the amount of times he has jaywalked is numerous…and really sad."
Thomas pauses for a second, remembering something with difficulty painted on his face. I wouldn't expect him to have memory problems—what with being a cyborg and all. "Oh, right! Hector. Yeah, he's wanted for federal crimes, so if anybody does catch him, he's technically out of your jurisdiction."
Midas raises his hand. "What crimes?"
Thomas stares at him in confusion. "Why did you raise your hand? You're an adult… But! To answer your question, he's charged with several accounts of tax evasion. He isn't really a danger to anyone except for your paychecks. I'm pretty sure that the guilds still run on taxes, right?"
Advertisement
"Yes, they are," Midas affirms. "Our paychecks still run off of taxes."
"Right! So, basically, what we have to do is just drain the mana of 'Doctor' Graves. The only issue is location and the literal army of Nazis in-between us."
I raise my hand. "How do we drain Doctor Graves of his mana?"
Thomas facepalms. "You- You don't have to raise your hand either." He straightens up. "Damaging a person's soul is an effective way to change his Status Effect to Mana Leakage. Space Weaver has an ability to hurt the soul."
Soul? I mean, I know that the soul has something to do with magic; I dive into it all the time. It just seems like damaging the soul is a really bad idea.
Wait, he mentioned Sophia. Umm, oh, right! Yeah, I remember. When she stared at me with those eyes, I felt something pierce my soul, then I got Soul Resistance.
But…what happens if a soul is shattered? I know a person can live on without mana, heck, 90% of America's population can't use it. And what about skills? People without leveling or magic can still get and use those. I'm not really feeling great about using this plan.
Rose raises her hand. "Does anybody here have tracking skills?"
Thomas takes a deep breath, then slouches over in defeat. "Forget it," he mumbles before standing up straight. "I would use drones in this situation, if it were not for the fact that all of them are down for maintenance right now."
Start to raise my hand, but stop under Thomas's glare. We probably shouldn't push his buttons any further. "If we have anything of his, then I could try and," I sigh, "I could sniff him out." I should just accept my fate of a sniffer dog.
Advertisement
"Hmm, we may just need to pay a visit to Madman then. Knowing that guy, he's probably stolen something of Graves's."
————————————————————————————————————
Alright, imagine this.
You're living your life in New York. Ambient noises on the streets so loud that you have to scream to have a conversation. Shady buildings prime for Real Estate Vultures to swoop in and steal a deal. Oh, and the occasional crime scene.
Then there's you. The middle-aged woman sitting in one of her favorite coffee shops—a popular franchise. You had just ruined a perfectly good coffee and an employee's day. You sit down after berating the poor worker after he placed the ice on top of your drink when you specifically asked for the middle. After pledging to never shop there again, the manager fixed everything. All is right in your world.
Then this guy with a thick German accent runs up to you with a gun—a weapon of war. Perhaps a rifle, or a handgun? You really don't know the difference, but you do know that people that own guns are evil and out to kill everyone.
You take a stand and shout in defiance, "YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT!!! CAN'T YOU SEE THIS IS A GUN-FREE ZONE?!" You nod in satisfaction at your complete triumph over the evil, gun-wielding maniac. Now that he knows this is a gun-free zone, he will follow his natural human instincts and give up his weapon.
*click* Why does he aim the gun at you? I just informed him that this is a gun-free zone. You scowl in response. You need to look up where this guy works on social media and contact his manager. That should do it.
Then you hear a gunshot, but it's not from the gun in your face. No. Whatever horrid weapon caused you to experience flashbacks and gave you PTSD made the person's head explode. You might have some real trauma afterwards.
Then you see him—a metal man holding the gun.
Or, at least, that's how I think the events up till now have gone. Thomas is arguing back and forth with this woman whom just had her life saved. We discovered that the bullets Cooper had were too weak to actually kill the zombies.
Thomas had a revolver that blew up the torsos like they were eggs…We went with the revolver.
"Ma'am. I just saved your life with this gun," Thomas explains for the umpteenth time.
"You shouldn't have that- that- that horrid thing! We banned the guns so that criminals couldn't attack us with them," she huffs and crosses her arms.
Thomas looks like he's about to strangle this person. "As I said, that man was about to kill you. I used my means to defend myself and others to defend you."
While all that was happening, the rest of us decided to order something at the restaurant. I got some raspberry juice. Sophia got a cake. I have no clue what Midas ordered, but it sure was expensive. He asked for a separate bill since it cost a couple thousand dollars.
Were those gold flakes real?
Rose ordered a ham sandwich while Cooper ordered a turkey panini.
We all sat down and began eating; waiting for this argument to eventually be over. We would teleport, but we need to ensure the citizens' safety.
"ARGH!!!" Thomas shouts in frustration.
Yeah, we'll be here a while.
Advertisement
- In Serial43 Chapters
Life is but a Dream
Sometimes, when you close your eyes to sleep, you find yourself in a dream. You may not remember the dream, but for those precious moments, or perhaps seemingly years, that is your life. Yuclaus finds himself rocked to sleep while returning home on a public bus. As he falls into a deep slumber, his heart slowing down, he jerks awake. Where he finds himself is a world full of various creatures, races, mysteries, laws of physics, and creations so fantastical, it could only be a dream. Yet with every person he meets, with every encounter, he realizes how lifelike this world is. He starts subconsciously accepting this as his reality, but is that really wise? No matter how you look at it, this world could be nothing but a dream. Disclaimer: There is a profanity warning. If you are worried about swearing in every dialogue, fear not. In order to capture a character's reaction properly, I felt I needed them to swear. As of now there are three uses of profanity. There are also multiple times a swear word is started, but not finished. For example: "bi—".
8 205 - In Serial28 Chapters
Elysium Online
After the economic and agricultural disasters of the twenty-second century people migrated in droves to city centers. Now almost ninety percent of the world's population lives in high rise buildings located in large cities. This move has forced the world's population to find space in the virtual world.People work, play, and live online. Robert finds escape from his difficult life working a dead end job and caring for his sick mother online. When a ground breaking new virtual game is announced for a limited number of people who can afford the price tag Robert knows he will miss out. Or will he? This is a work in progress that is posted here and on Royal Road. My goal is to publish 8 chapters a month, but I reserve the right to adjust that schedule due to financial and time issues. My Patreon supporters get access to the chapters prior to them being provided here for free.
8 98 - In Serial7 Chapters
Rulers
Arnold Ryu is a god-like fighter who excells at combat, after he finds out that his parents died at the hand of a conlfict between Mitsurtin delinquents and the police in Japan, he moves to Japan and enrolls in Mitsurin Highschool so he can find out about how his parents died and vows to start a new "Era for Delinquency"! (Story contains GORE and PROFANITY).
8 150 - In Serial29 Chapters
Trollhunters and Avengers
After the Battle of New York, the Avengers find themselves investigating strange portals appearing in a small town in California. When they drop by, they'll find that the weirdness of Earth is not confined to Loki,HYDRA or aliens from beyond the stars... A crossover with Trollhunters, by Guillermo del Toro. Trollhunters is owned by Dreamworks and the MCU by the Disney Corporation. All characters are the property of their IP holder and no challenge is implied.
8 175 - In Serial13 Chapters
The Omnexus Chronicles
All things are inextricably bound to the Omnexus, and through it to all other things. What if every human, and not just a special few, had an equal power to shape elemental energies at their fingertips? When everyone is super-human, what does it mean to be human? This is a series of short stories set in a world where all people are born with an ability simply called the "Touch". With it comes control of physical energies, and even flora and fauna. The people you will meet in these tales are not heroes. They are neither chosen ones nor dark lords. They are common folk - but their struggles and challenges are anything but common. Walk this world in their shoes, and discover nuanced and detailed new realms; with powers, mystical and misunderstood; creatures, outlandish and obscure… and secrets, buried dark and deep.
8 133 - In Serial12 Chapters
Vegas Pete
Kinnporsche Side Story.Pete is Kinn's bodyguard that was sent to Vegas's house to search for evidence of their family's corruption, but he got caught and tortured by Vegas. Vegas envied Kinn, because everybody loved him, even the bodyguard didn't want to betray him despite being tortured.
8 111

