The dense vegetation and thick vines made traversing the jungle difficult for Maria and me. More Maria, than I as I had much higher agility. Ska had no issues as this was his element. No sooner had we stepped inside the foliage than he practically disappeared from view, thanks to his mottled fur.

Ska would do what he did best and scout out our path ahead, warning us if we needed to detour.

Stealth wasn’t needed thanks to the incessant drone of bugs, and animal noises. You had to practically shout to be heard over the sounds. Which was good because hacking through the jungle wasn’t a quiet affair.

Ska kept returning and adjusting our course as we pushed ahead. I could tell we were getting close from the sounds of the river in the distance. The darkness was all-consuming and made me feel wary of what lurked just beyond my limited sight. I stopped Maria and handed her a bottle, motioning for her to drink it. She did with a bit of hesitation.

The effects were immediate as I drank mine, the darkness seemed to retreat as the night vision potion took hold. It was good for an hour and was one of many potions I had purchased over the last few months. My tattoo worked as well but its field of view was more limited. Plus the light would give us away since I wasn't wearing my helmet.

I spotted Ska making his way back to us and he motioned for us to follow. Slowly we crept up to the treeline. I didn’t need night vision to see the barge or the party happening onboard. There was a lot of yelling, drinking, and general asshattery going on. It looked like a normal party filled with ignorant, drunk, unsupervised teenagers.

Now, I hadn’t run into a whole lot of teenagers since the world went to shit. Maria and Javier had been the first real examples and they were on the older spectrum. It was pretty much what I had expected to see when a bunch of unruly children was given god-like powers. They were trying to one-up each other and had constant duels to see who was the strongest. I knew they were duels because everyone was walking away without injury.

I turned to Ska and whispered, “do you think you can get in and out unnoticed?”

I watched him scan the barge before he pointed to a darker section near the command center, opposite the door into it. “I can sneak in from that side but you need to draw their attention.”

I scratched my head, thinking of a way to draw their attention. My gaze slipped toward the water and I got an idea.

Ska rushed off and would signal me with a small mirror when he was ready. It wasn’t the first time we used the mirror method to plan an ambush.

“Stay close,” I said quietly to Maria as I waited for Ska’s signal.

After ten minutes I spotted three quick flashes from the dark corner of the barge. I motioned for Maria to follow as I made my way along the tree line and toward the river. As soon as I got close enough, I cast Brimstone on the water. I was glad the spell only required somatic components. The surface of the river where I cast the spell burst into flame and Maria and I quickly made our way back to the path we had carved through the jungle.

It didn’t take long for the revelers to notice the out-of-place fire, a few of the braver ones jumped from the barge and walked over toward the water, cocky as could be. They weren’t stupid though, looking around warily while they had weapons out.

***

Ska waited in the darkness for the distraction, when it happened he was like a deadly ghost as he slipped past everyone and made it to the door unnoticed. He opened the door to the command center but found it empty. He suppressed a hiss of annoyance and looked over the group of people.

His gaze landed on his target, standing next to a taller human. They were walking toward the riverside of the barge to see what the noise was about but nobody else was near them.

Ska didn’t hesitate as he bounded across the metal deck, toward the duo. The taller man must have heard something as he stopped and turned. He didn’t have time to pull his weapon though as Ska bounded into him, using the man’s body as a springboard. The man went tumbling across the deck, knocking others over as Ska grabbed the stunned Javier and rushed back toward the treeline.

He could hear shouts as the men had figured something was amiss. But Ska was leaping off the end of the barge before the first spell was shot in his direction.

***

I groaned as I heard the shouts and saw the spells. Ska was slowed by having to carry Javier but not enough for the other people aboard to catch him before he made it back to us.

“What didn’t you understand about quiet?” I hissed.

Ska shrugged, “he wasn’t in the command room, I had to improvise.”

“Fine, let's get out of here.”

As I turned around a massive red wall surrounded the area, cutting off any retreat. When I looked back I saw it covered an enormous area. I touched the glowing barrier with my bare finger and felt the tip of my finger slough off before I could pull my hand back. I healed the minor damage and put my glove back on.

“Well, looks like we have to fight, You good Javier?”

“Mr. Paul? What’s going on, why are you here?” he asked in confusion.

I didn’t have time to answer him as five figures surrounded us, standing far enough away that most attacks would be easily avoided.

The five only watched and made sure we stayed in place as the slower members caught up.

All of them looked pissed off, but none more so than a tall boy, with a fresh trail of blood running down his nose.

He wiped it on his sleeve before he spoke in Spanish. I only understood a bit of Spanish and the system refused to translate for me.

“Sorry, I don’t speak Spanish,” I replied, getting a measure of the group by using Identify.

I was surprised at some of the levels as a few of the people were already level sixteen. Most were closer to twelve though.

“I said, I’m going to make your big kitty pay for attacking us, you fucking gringo. Did you understand that?”

“As much as I would like to see you try, how bout you let us go and I let you walk away?”

The teen looked around at his gang with a smirk on his face before turning back to me. “Oh, and you think the three of you can take us all down? You may have gotten the drop on me but now you are outnumbered and your few extra levels aren’t going to mean shit when we turn the area you are standing in into a molten crater.”

I was about to correct him and say four when I heard Maria scream.

“Javier, No!”

I wasn’t yet wearing my helmet to keep the aura deactivated and Javier did the smart thing, going straight for my head. Too bad he didn’t know about my defensive necklace.

I felt the crack of his staff as it impacted my skull but it was muted as the pain was transferred over my entire body and absorbed.

In the next instant two things happened, my helmet appeared on my head causing the aura of the armor to burst forth and my vision went red as Aura of Rage inadvertently triggered, flooded my body at the betrayal. A few of the lower leveled people took a step back in fright as both the aura of my armor and my skill washed over them.

Ska had already subdued Javier as I stepped forward, Consuming Void appearing in my hand. I was done talking.

I had given them a choice, and they had chosen very poorly.

The night was filled with screams and punctuated by bright flashes and malevolent energies as the battle raged inside the glowing cage. The five people with speed-boosting abilities were the hardest to deal with but I methodically chased each one down and dealt the killing blow.

Ska stuck near Maria who had turned into a tear-filled mess as she watched the horror show unfold around her. She wasn’t built to kill humans, sometimes I wished I hadn’t been either.

The leader I left for last as he finally lowered the barrier and tried to flee into the jungle. It was too little, too late. He put up one hell of a fight though, using more spells with that same red energy that the barrier had been made from. It cut through the trees like butter as he whipped deadly strings around to try and keep me away. But all he was doing was flailing about in a panic and I easily avoided the attacks.

I cornered him in a small gulley and finally subdued him, keeping him alive for the moment. I had some questions for him and Javier.

***

The first rays of dawn rippled across the surface of the river as I dipped my toes in while retrieving two large buckets of water. I shivered despite the warm air before I stepped out of the flowing water and went to where Javier and our other bound friend were tied up. Both sported slave collars and I had to grimace as I looked at them. Too many bad memories, but it was necessary to keep them compliant.

I set a bucket down in front of each man before I turned to Ska. “Please take Maria back to the fortress and bring it here.”

Ska nodded silently as he led the red and puffy-eyed girl away. I waited until they were in the forest before I grabbed the bucket next to the unknown man and dumped it across his face.

He sputtered awake and his eyes darted about until they landed on me. I watched him try and wrench his arms free, then try to cast his spells to free himself. I waited until he realized he was helpless in front of me before I bent down next to him.

“Why did you take Javier and my property and how did you turn him against me?”

The teenager tried to spit on me, but he was at an awkward angle and it went wide.

I hardened my voice. “I’m not going to ask nicely again.”

“Fuck you!”

“Alright.”

I grabbed him by one ankle and started dragging him toward the river.

“What are you doing! Let me go you fucking lunatic!”

I ignored his protests, his screams for help, and him trying to kick my hand from his ankle. It was all useless as I dragged him bodily behind me and into the river face down.

I let him struggle for a bit before I hauled his face out of the water.

“Are you going to answer me now?”

“Fuck y-,” I shoved his head back into the water and down into the rocky bottom before he finished his reply.

I held him there as he struggled in my grasp before I pulled him out and tossed him onto the shore. He gasped for breath as he spit out water. While he recovered, I pulled his boots off.

“W- What are you doing?” he asked in wide-eyed panic.

“You answer my questions, not the other way around.”

When he wasn’t forthcoming with an answer, I sprayed the tender bottoms of his feet with Boiling Oil while he screamed.

***

The kid turned out to be one hard-ass motherfucker. But he broke eventually, telling me the whole plan had been Javier’s idea. I wasn’t sure I believed that. I knew how easily teenagers caved to peer pressure and Javier was a very passive person. But it would explain Javier’s attack.

Their plan was to rob towns in South America and live it up like some sort of post-apocalyptic pirate kings. They had already robbed a few people, leaving more than a few corpses in their wake.

After I finished questioning the kid, I tossed him back into the river as he struggled. He didn’t make it very long as I saw his death notification pop up before I made it back to the still unconscious Javier.

I pulled over a crate that had fallen from the barge and sat on it facing Javier. In my hands was the same staff I had gifted him just before I left for Vegas, the same one he had attempted to bash my head in with the night before. My knuckles were white as I held the lovingly crafted weapon and it audibly creaked below my grip.

“You can stop pretending to be unconscious,” I said tiredly.

Javier opened his eyes and looked at me. No, he glared at me, hate was all I could see. Gone was the false mask of a shy teenager he had worn to fool me and everyone close to him. At that moment I realized the other kid had told me the truth.

“Nothing to say? Not even going to try and explain your actions?”

Javier remained silent and I sighed.

“You know, I could have forgiven you for taking the barge and going off on this ill-fated adventure, but I can’t forgive you for attempting to kill me. I guess I'm partly to blame for this mess. You fooled me, I can’t say many people are capable of that anymore.”

He finally deigned to speak.

“Fuck you, Mr. Paul, you come down to Mexico and think you are top dog! You are nothing but another parasite on our land, just like the rest of you Americans,” he said with dripping disdain, “ Are you going to drown me like you did Juan, you fucking coward?” Javier spit, a note of well-hidden fear in his voice.

I didn’t know if that fear was real or manufactured, it didn’t much matter at this point.

I shook my head, standing up. “No, Javier,” I replied.

I had to forgive his ignorance, he had been unconscious the entire night and hadn’t witnessed me kill all of his friends. I looked down at the foolish teen one last time. I had treated him like family, maybe not like a son but as a close nephew. I had given him opportunities that very few would or could offer and this was the thanks I got in return.

My eyes hardened with resignation as a single tear rolled down my cheek. With all of the force I could muster I smashed his head in with his own weapon. His body fell to the ground as blood and brain matter seeped across the stones. I heaved in a shuddering breath and hurled the weapon into the river.

Javier’s betrayal had hurt me more than anything I had suffered since the System arrived. While Fiona had betrayed me it wasn’t the same. She had done it out of a misguided notion that I was luring her into a trap. Not even the predations I suffered at the hands of Sharla and the Black Dragons hurt as much as this one teenager's betrayal and that fact made me irrationally angry.

Feelings I had bottled up and tried to hide for so long came spilling out and I was glad nobody was around to see the state I was in. It took time for me to get my emotions back under control, my throat hoarse from my screams and my face a mess.

I couldn’t afford to devolve back to my soulless state like when I was a slave but I also couldn’t afford to bear my heart and soul for everyone that died. A numb ache settled over me as I looked at the slowly cooling body on the ground. The blood had already dried over the pebbles of the beach.

I wrapped Javier’s body in a piece of fabric and carried it to the river, letting it float away.

I returned to the spot where I had dealt the killing blow and used the last bucket of water to wash the blood off the stones. I didn’t want Maria to see the body or the bloodstain, she was traumatized enough by watching me butcher the others. As for the weapon, I didn’t want a daily reminder of what I had been forced to do.