Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

Another Mantid rushed to meet him, attacking from his flank, and Gus hit Dash to meet it halfway. They clashed together, the metal band blocking the outstretched claws and folding the Mantid’s arms back, pinning them to its chest. Gus launched Counter-attack, bashing the Mantid in the face with the metal band and then swiping the blade across its face, downing the enemy.

Gus fired Dash again, to retreat and get some room to assess his opponents. The Mantid he had hit with Wreck-tums! was lurking behind two of its buddies, using them as a shield. Gus dashed and vaulted over the other Mantids using Basic Flight. A simple kick was enough to remove the last HP of the cowardly bot. Another chain icon appeared but resulted in only a glancing blow on the back of one Mantid, due to activating the skill late.

The final two Mantids coordinated their attack simultaneously, and Gus blocked one attack but had to dodge the other. That put him out of position to retaliate. After another block, Gus counter-attacked late and barely scratched his opponent. The Mantids were beginning to copy his dodges and they were getting better at effectively dancing in and out of strike range.

After one failed attack, one of the Mantids jumped backward and ended up next to the other, so Gus rushed straight at them. Mentally choosing the one on the left, he braced himself for a bash from the other Mantid. At the last moment, he dropped to his knees and slid, swiping low to knock the Mantid off its feet with Sweep the Leg.

A tone went off again and Gus saw the chain icon appear. Gus activated the skill, not sure what would happen since he was not in an ideal battle stance. He spun backward, still gliding as if he were on a slip and slide, and threw the naginata at the other Mantid, scoring a direct hit.

The tripped Mantid was still momentarily stunned and Gus jumped to his feet and dashed toward the Mantid. He activated another jump, assisted by firing his Basic Flight skill, to sail over the Mantid to retrieve his weapon. A slight headache started to kick in and Gus saw that he had drained almost all of his MP.

Time to go old school. Grabbing the butt end, he used the shaft as a fulcrum and used the last available MP to use Basic Flight to swing around, changing his direction. After turning, he deftly yanked the naginata out at the last minute. He hit the Mantid feet first just as it was getting to its feet, carrying it back to the mat. Gus landed in a crouch and stabbed forward, ending the battle.

Gus stood trying to catch his breath, being a little more winded, and seeing that both his stamina and MP was getting pretty low. He stepped out of the ring and checked his logs again.

You have unlocked the skill: Slide (Level 1)!

Glide along a frictionless ether sheet, regardless of medium texture.

Level 1: Maximum glide 10 feet

MP: 2 MP per second of gliding effect

100 XP awarded

200 FP awarded

You have unlocked the skill: Thrown Weapon (Level 1)!

Increased damage if attack connects (+5n damage where n=skill level). Note: Weapon may not be recoverable, I hope you’re good at hand-to-hand combat!

100 XP awarded

200 FP awarded

Quest Complete: The Chain

Quest Rewards: 1000 XP, 600 FP

Gus looked and saw that he finally had fulfilled the conditions for the quest. That and the dimming of the lights was also a dead-giveaway that training was done for the day. Even though he had trained hard, he still felt more amped than ever. He had most of the day to kill, literally, before his new weapon and armor were done. He kicked himself for not going there sooner and getting things queued up, but no sense in crying about it now.

How could he have known about Razorback’s true nature? He almost grabbed an arena naginata, but checking his watch, the new one should be done at the Foundry in a little over an hour. Gus headed to the elevator, an idea springing to his mind on how to spend the time.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

If Only

45 years ago…

They were finally underway. Methiochos’ hand-picked crew were aboard and en route to the island. Everyone, from support personnel to command, were supers in some way, shape, or form.

As soon as he landed, Methiochos planned on raising the bio-stasis field and giving orders for the crew. After unlocking the manor and getting personnel into their departments, training and expansion could begin. In the ship were numerous projects of the world’s best minds. Both ones developed by Manticorps itself, and those that were obtained in less-than-ethical ways from other thinktanks around the globe.

The new tech they would develop would bring the regs to their side, and the augmentations they devised for their supers would make them an unstoppable army. Methiochos believed his solid leadership would help unite people into one world government, with him at the head, of course. The fragmented Factions and impotent world governments would eventually come to his side when they saw that opposition would be fruitless.

Methiochos scanned the bridge, looking for Dara to give her some instructions on how to mobilize the crew when they reached the island. He was surprised to find her absent, which was uncharacteristic for her usually organized, perfectionist personality.

He queried his control console and only received the reply: ‘No personnel found that match search parameters.’ Furrowing his brow, Methiochos went below-decks to see if he could find Dara in her quarters. The door was locked, and even with his command override, he could not open the doors.

He would have to find someone to surreptitiously open her chambers without arousing concern and alarming the crew. Something was off here, and the cool confidence he had felt was beginning to ebb with these unforeseen complications. It was probably nothing, he assured himself. Turning, he made his way to maintenance.

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Methiochos came back to