Having a pissed off mouse was both adorable and rather scary. Maria turned back a moment later, face red before she inhaled and exhaled.

“Sorry, I fucking overreacted because I wanted to be a dragon,” she explained as if this should have been rational and obvious. I raised an eyebrow at her.

“These are barely G-3 gems. I doubt dragon transform is below C rank,” I explained. Maria hummed and told me about her new mouse skill.

“Makes me into a mouse. Gives extra talent at nibbling and running from cats,” she said and shrugged.

“I mean if fucking thinking about it. It's a good scout and rogue ability. Plus I could transform if it gets faster to escape or appear instantly to shiv a dick!” she grinned. I was oddly getting used to her language.

It was charming in the ‘never let her meet your grandmother’ kind of way. I crushed my gem next and the green light filled me.

Well done! You have gained the skill ‘Martyr Barrier’!

Martyr Barrier. Energy. Active. Lv.1: Target 1 Ally and take the first hit intended for them once. Range of sight. Last 30 seconds. Cooldown 10 seconds. Cost 5 ENE.

“Oh that’s a Tank thing,” I said brightly. My build was already paying off in influencing my Skill Gem gains.

So, if my desire to protect gave me that... what did Maria’s mouseness say about her? Maria was more hesitant to crush her blue gem.

“Please, no rat plague... no swarm of rats...” she prayed. She read over the information with a blink.

“Well?” I said curiously. Instead of answering, she held out a hand and a glow began to appear. At first I thought she had created a sort of leathery baton until a flick of white light trailed down and coiled at her feet.

“I got a whip!” she exclaimed. The light died down to show that she did indeed have an old leather whip. The thing was ringed but it looked... like it could tear skin easy.

“It says it's a conjured weapon that’s G-2 and cost 20 MP a minute! It says it looked to be an ancient tool of fighting evil but has lost much power due to time,” Maria said excitedly. I eyed her.

“You are one weird girl,” I admitted. Maria looked crestfallen but I went on.

“I like that. Makes you interesting,” I said and watched her perk up, trying her new whip. There was a crack of the sound barrier as Maria quickly adjusted her chain abilities into the whip but it wasn’t quite seamless until she gasped.

“I got a skill for whips and it merged with my chain skill! I got the... Bondage Weapon skill?” she called out, unsure.

“Isn’t bondage to tie someone up? So I’m a fucking police officer now! That’s awesome!” she cried. I looked at King who gave me the look that clearly said ‘Roll with it’. Wise ant.

Maria had to disperse her whip due to the cost but she eyed the time with a wristwatch.

“I got an hour before I need to head off. We should have time to get another safe zone done and leave the end zone for tomorrow,” she said unsure, looking worried I might be annoyed.

“Sounds good. I need grub as well and camping in a Malice Zone can be quite weird, even if the Beings are nice like the System said,” I mused.

“I know. I keep hearing their voices, like whispers. They keep talking about ‘Stew’ and ‘Poking Monsters’. I try not to listen because it sounds like a million typewriters if you focus on it,” Maria’s eyes went distant.

I blocked them out by habit now so I would take her word for it. We snacked a few apples I purchased and some water before we headed on. King was happy to take the cores and melt the plastic for recycling.

We headed to the middle row of the diamond islands. We ended up on the far left middle island and Maria wanted to scout with her new form before we just walked in. I burned her a hole with acid at the bottom of the steel door and she vanished inside.

I counted to ten and she was back before I could worry. Her transformation back was too quick to see the details off thankfully.

“Got four Gremlins and one Brute. I think there’s something in the upper floor but its like an office and the door was closed. It’s like a head office with files and wrecked computers,” she said, clearly thrilled and excited about her power now her desire for dragon form had worn off.

I nodded.

“The Gremlins are easy enough to repel but the Brute and the unknown offer a problem,” I said. Maria thought about it.

“What if I transform to Mouse, sneak up the stairs and wait for the thing to rush out when you burst in and transform back then attack it from behind while you cause a scene then we’ll pincer them in?” she offered.

I shot this down right away.

“The unknown could be the strongest or another mech. You’d be trapped and I would be outnumbered. No I have a better idea. I’m sick of having to deal with these things like forward charging is the only path,” I said and stood.

I motioned Maria to the other side of the door, pushed it open and we both waited as the Gremlins made audible growing but also sounding confused. I motioned for Maria to get ready and when one of the ugly buggers stuck his head out. Maria grabbed it and chucked it into the abyss. The Brute appeared next, turning to face Maria with a snarl as well as another Gremlin on his heel. I Shield Smashed them into a fiery pulp as the completely ignored me since they assumed Maria was alone.

The lone remaining Gremlin turned to flee. I readied a pebble but Maria’s whip lashed out and tangled its legs. She pulled it back.

“You’re right, that was easier. You think they only spawn the monsters after we entered the room,” she giggled. She drew it in as the Gremlin scratched wildly and I stomped on it. The thing upstairs was still pacing.

X4 Gremlins defeated 12 EXP gained!

1x Brute defeated! 4 EXP gained!

No gems were visible and we both looked down at the Gremlin that was hurtled into the Abyss.

“Do you think they give us a gem if they found it?” Maria asked. I saw a flash of green symbols and faces of changing features. Their forms both Being and symbols. Text on black. Faces in boxes. Words with amusement.

“Let’s assume so and stop looking because my brain is shutting down,” I said hoarsely. We turned away and headed up the stairs, past rows of dismantled and rusty computers. Parts long harvested. The office had numerous scratches on it but remained intact. A shadow paced behind the fogged glass as Maria had said.

The shadow was tall, thin, and waved human arms.

As we neared, the door creaked open.

“Come in! I don’t have all day!” said an irate woman. Maria and I shared a look in confusion before I pushed the door open with my mace and we stood at the ready. A woman in a business suit was looking a clipboard. She looked up with black bags under brown eyes.

“Actual humans. I never thought I would see the day,” she grunted. She walked around the desk and sat with a heavy thump.

“Come in before the dregs see and come as well. Banging on about raises, and health concerns, and consuming human flesh. Low pay gets low workers,” she scoffed. I didn’t think I would like this woman.

“Who in the Lucifer’s fresh hell are you lady?” Maria demanded. The woman leaned forward.

“Noya Riko. I am in charge of funding, human resources, and getting this disaster of a project running,” she sniffed. She made a note on her clipboard.

“I’ll put you down as ‘not for public relations’,” Noya grunted at Maria.

“We’re not for hire. You’re like another person I met. An echo of a strong-willed person. You had something to do with what went down?” I crossed my arms and frowned. Noya snorted.

“I was there when the shit hit the fan? Ya... Nishima and his ‘wonder’ coding screwed over 200 people in this project,” she scoffed.

“How could one man bring down a project with trains?” Maria asked me in confusion. She decided Noya was not worth talking to directly.

“One man? He was the head of cutting edge automatic train rails technology in his field. We chose this dump of a city because it was a safe testing site. We built an entirely new railroad for them and then it all fell apart when Nishima flopped,” she lit up a cigarette.

“So, the sap is wandering around like the sad man he is in guilt and shame. Even his own toys cause him to run away crying. Seriously, he screwed us all over and it was for... nothing,” Noya finished and stood again.

“What will you take to kill Nishima or what he’s become?” the woman crossed her arms. I was worried that Maria might want gems or be tempted but she scoffed.

“Help is not a resource you charge by the second. If this man needs help it won’t be because you lined our pockets like a rich Judas,” she sneered. Noya shrugged.

“Free is good for me,” she walked off and went to stand by her window but a black shape rose up and the twisting of its head showed it was one of the Beings. It peered through the window showing gnarled branches and a single bleeding green eye as it leaked nightmares before it vanished.

Noya turned, pale and her nose bleeding.

“Nishima is in the centre island. He is not the one contained in the zone but merely a secondary force... if you accept my job to end his pain... I will give you a gem each,” she said in a blank tone.

I had a vague sense that the Beings liked the rules in place and things not to be boring.

I just nodded and she held out a hand each.

“State your desired colour and leave me to wallow in madness and hate,” she twitched then smiled.

“But all other Islands will be locked until Nishima is defeated,” she concluded.

Nice gal, a bit too psychotic for me though but considering her whole project and maybe her life was ended by Nishima... I’d cut her a break.

“Gold or Silver?” Maria tried and the woman frowned and shook her head.

“Only skill or item colours. White is pointless as a choice. Black is beyond me. Those two are even beyond that,” Noya stated.

I kinda knew what I needed wasn’t more abilities per se. What I actually lacked head protection and/or healing.

I pulled Maria away to discuss our options.

“We need to combo our efforts and cover each other's options. If I get a red, you shouldn’t because we need to expand our options. If I go green, you go red or if get an Item you could go blue, orange or red and so on,” I summed up, maybe even confusing myself as I rambled.

“What do we lack as a team?” Maria asked seriously.

“Healing. Proper pulls and negates. We lack ways to fix debuffs we could get, and we’d struggle to hit anything that’s faster than us if they’re also a caster or have ranged,” I listed.

“Green and Orange seem best routes to go,” Maria said finally.

“I’ll use the orange this time,” I said. Green while nice could spread too thin for a tank in terms of abilities. Maria might be able to limit it somewhat with her super defined build of Mouse Priest BDSM girl.

I think they called that an Inquestor subclass.

We got our gems and at the same time... crushed them.

Maria grabbed her head and passed out. I stared until I was wondering why I was staring at the ceiling.

Oh… they were G-4 gems.

Alrighty, theee-

Darkness took me.

---

“-escape our notice. Not the only thing either. I traced these holy ants back to a church in the Market area. They vanished and I caught a whiff near the old train station but I had to come back,” Yoruichi explained in a haggard breath.

“And why was that?” Kisuke turned the page in his weekly mad science magazine, oohing at a binding table for unwilling volunteers.

“I sensed... something happening. I can’t explain it but I felt like my cat soul had been challenged. I haven’t been this unsettled since my Bankai training...” the cat growled. Her tail flicked.

“SOMEONE TOOK MY THING, KISUKE! I can feel it!” she yelled and scratched his bored expression, making him cry out.

“Your need to hurt innocent men minding their own business? Or the thing where you leave love struck apprentices behind? Or the thing where you appear nude in front of strangers or the animal thing?” he questioned.

“My animal thing. Despite my feline form making me irrationally pissed... its worrying Kisuke. Someone may be... gaining power and gathering an army,” she sighed.

Kisuke leaned forward on his cane.

“Someone is turning into a small animal... gathering an army of holy ants... and putting Demi-Hollows to slumber for a while and/or hanging out in churches? I dare say I will call in the Gotei 13!” he stood and walked to his bedroom to pass out.

Yoruichi was going to ask Tessai to make sure he got extra ‘medicine’ tonight. She transformed and reached in the fridge for a beer, her tanned skin looking stressed. She stood drinking, only noticing the gaping redhead kid of Kisuke’s standing there with a broom.

“What?” she glared.

“NAKED PERVERT IN THE KITCHEN! MR TESSAI!” he screamed. A giant man appeared and also gaped at her body.

“It’s like living with Sui-Feng again...” she grumbled as she turned back into a cat.

---

I woke to a blinding headache and a floating screen.

Well done! You have learned the skill ‘Missile Defence!’

Missile Defence. Active. Energy. Lv.1: Grants all Party members including yourself a minor defence against weak projectiles. Weakest of the weak will simply be deflected to the side. Works only on physical targets. Cost 10 sustain for 5 Minutes. Only 1 physical defence buff may affect target. This goes up with every 10 physical.

“Maria?” I called out weakly and she groaned.

“Did you get healing?” I asked hopefully.

“Kinda,” she called back. Neither one of us could sit up yet. Well... that could be good or bad.

“It’s called Prayer and I need to chant for it to heal you slowly. Not an instant thing,” she said tiredly.

I got the ability to deflect pebbles and she could send prayers and thoughts my way.

We were so ready for the boss.