Becoming Monsters: In the Mirror Ch. 02

I did not ask her why she hid. After all, we had just finished having that discussion. Once we were both decent, we went our separate ways. The day was still young, after all. That would keep me going for another day or two as long as no emergencies cropped up.

True to the Doctor's word, the lesser mana potion was about a week off of decomposition and tasted like it had been stored next to gym socks for its entire shelf life, but it worked. Ish. On most casting classes it would have been worth about 10%, on me it was over 30%. If I got attacked or a monster appeared the appropriate reaction would not immediately be to run like a civilian. The bus ride back home looked to be significantly less eventful than the hospital visit, other than the *PING* of a pending transaction notice and the mad scramble to fix the tone while I waited for the next shuttle. At least, it was for the first six minutes. Then, the screams started.

My head snapped up towards the source. The shriek was particularly high, coming from the vicinity of the park. My feet were pounding pavement before my brain even caught up to the input. Ahead of me, lightning pulsed. Upward. The screams got louder. I got faster.

I hit the SOS signal on my watch, preprogrammed to alert Lucy of danger and my location. She'd know what to do from there, but it would still take time. That, unfortunately, was something I was hideously short of. Hideous, as a term, was carrying a lot of weight on it, as I crossed into the park and looked at the playground with cold terror in my heart.

The screams were coming from children, their parents within view but unable to help. To the right, a charred body of a humanoid, still breathing. He'd need medical attention, and soon, but thankfully we were a 3-minute walk (or 1-minute sprint) from the ER. Just had to take care of one issue first. That issue? A humanoid covered in greasy black feathers standing eight feet tall, approaching the playground equipment from their exit. It had the wings and head of a vulture, and where it tread tiny but disgusting vines sprouted. A Vrock. Major demon. The way this one was acting, an actual Dungeon Demon.

There were two simultaneous thoughts in my head: "I don't know if I'm a match for this, but I have no choice," and "the bounty for this is going to make our lives a LOT easier for a bit."

So. Giant dangerous nasty. Reinforcement en-route, unknown time. I was without weapons due to where I had just been working, my only armor was an undershirt enchanted with something similar to the hospital jumper, which I wore in case of this kind of emergency. I was solid on health, relatively low though not critical on MP, and Hunger was best not to utilize despite the recent dose. One person severely injured, at least three children in a dangerous position, two adult bystanders who presumably were not Delvers or surface hunters, given that they had not acted to rescue the kids. Had to solve that part first.

"HEY! UGLY!"

Alright, so probably not the most creative or powerful thing I could have done, but I was short on time. Either way, it worked. The Vrock turned sharply to look at me, a hiss sounding like a steam whistle emerging from its beak, and started to walk in my direction. Mission accomplished, one of the women (who looked somewhat beastkin, it was hard to tell from this distance) leapt up onto the playground and grabbed the children playing there. The other was circling around trying to get close to the injured, but not yet able to dart in to help. I was luckier than I had any right to be. Going two for two on bystanders able to assist defied odds reminiscent of lotteries and lightning strikes. Karma must have been saving up.

As soon as there was some distance, I threw a lightning net at it and followed it with a Purge, trying to clear out any mystical reinforcement it might have. I was spending my limited resources like water, but the first stages of the fight were always the most important. The net was nowhere near as effective against this particular target compared to yesterday's scorpion, but I'd have to take it. The monster's beady eyes glared at what was now wrapping its arms and wings to its torso, flexed, and forced it off. I could see some electric burns, but nowhere near even slowing it down. Those wings weren't being used to move, and it wasn't exactly running, so maybe it could be kited.

I snapped off to the right, trying to draw its attention away from the direction of the hospital. It worked, perhaps too well, as those wings it hadn't been bothering to use thundered. It lunged at me, only stopped by a reflexive thrown net. This time, wrapping the wings did a lot more, as its momentum slammed it painfully into the ground. I took a deep breath and activated another old friend. One I earned the hard way the one time a young dragon actually escaped into the city. Exhaling sharply, I bathed the demon in flame. It screamed, though perhaps not as loudly as I could have wished. Demons. Fire. Something about it not working too well crossed my mind, but I wasn't exactly spoiled for options. As it struggled to its feet, I ran to get some distance.

I had a problem. I was running dry, rapidly. There was enough mana left in my pool for perhaps two more nets, and I didn't have any alternative energy sources. I didn't dare expend the energy to Scan, I didn't have it to spare, but the Vrock was not looking as injured as I needed it to be. The Poison I had just acquired was not yet developed enough to be effective against hard targets, especially since this kind often resisted it. Translation: I had bitten off entirely more than I could chew. Absent reinforcements, I was about to meet an exceedingly bad ending.

It got its feet under it, and did something I didn't expect. It started to dance. A cloud of brown spores was flowing off of it, causing more of those hideous vines to sprout nearby, but I was outside of the area where this was happening. I observed intently, catching my breath, also seeing the injured woman being half-dragged away, thankful she was conscious enough to be able to help with it. My watch pinged, Lucy was close. I would just need to hold out a little...

*KAZAP*

I was blown backwards several feet by a sudden blast of lightning, the Vrock having stopped dancing a shaved second prior. Letting one's mind wander when staring down a threat like this was simply not a good idea. My manashed shirt was obliterated, there was nothing it could do to handle this kind of energy flow, and though I was still standing I could feel every inch of my body twitching. Had it not been for Mirror Shield and my own favored lightning, that might have been the end. As it was, I got to my feet in time to see a glob of darkness engulf the thing's face. It started clawing at it, unable to see, as my wife (wearing light chain mail herself) ran up and tossed me what the situation was missing. My pistol, a heavy-caliber job that was meant to take advantage of my frame. Major monster attacks like this were specifically called out to qualify as "in extremis," and the Great Equalizer now in my hand was authorized for use. As I took aim, Lucy pelted the thing with rays of concentrated flame, again not doing as much direct damage as she might otherwise but definitely making progress.

It finally tore the darkness away from its eyes and glared at us. I placed a bullet between its eyes, followed by two more to its chest. The thing had to be getting critical, when I noticed something unexpected. The last hit on its chest exposed a very familiar-looking rune in the shape of an eye. "Love! I need you to keep it away or contained!"

She gave me a glare. "Are you KIDDING me right now?"

"That thing is under a curse that I think I can undo. I need you to give me two minutes, I'll know by then if it's going to work or not." The visualization of the sigil was already coming forth, this one blackened and looking rotten. Still, the chains looked similar enough, and I had just gotten a serious lesson in how to attack this one. "It's a valid Cursebreaker target. I can explain later, no time now!" My hands glowed, this time pure white. I would not be pulling the chains apart this time, but slicing them like a scalpel.

"Jeremiah Kithkin, you are the ONLY person I'd do this for!" Her own hands were surrounded by an aura causing the air to shimmer and distort. This was not one of her specialties, but I knew the one. With a screech, the monster charged at us. With one easily its equal, Lucy let loose an enormous blast of kinetic energy directed straight at its center of gravity. Thankfully, the blast proved the greater of the two, knocking it onto its back then slamming down onto it to keep it pinned. "Hurry!"

I was already firing lances of light at it, knowing that my wife could at least sense what I was doing. I didn't have many shots, and couldn't afford to have the curse reconnect itself. I used my pistol as a sight, taking the links down with as much precision as I possibly could. There was nobody within range for it to flee to, with the last of my mana I severed its link holding it to this world and obliterated it.

Under the shimmering field of sorcerous might, the demon suddenly caught fire. It no longer struggled. Lucy dismissed her telekinetic efforts and, panting heavily, pulled out her phone to snap a few pictures. "This. THIS is when you're supposed to get proof, Jay."

I ran up to the burning corpse to see what would remain, and was caught wildly off guard. A few gold coins and enormous black feathers were on the ground, but by far the most important was what was emerging from the flames. The body of a dark-skinned, tall, muscular woman. One with black feathers on her body instead of hair, and black-feathered wings. A demonic person, not a full demon. She was begging for help, thrashing in pain, not seeming to realize I was there. The curse had worked the same way. This was about to get complicated.