Charlotte’s PoV

Charlotte wanted to make sure the equipment was working properly so she took off the helmet from Jim and attached it to herself. Looking back to the diagnostic tool she again clicked the “Me right now” icon.

To her relief it showed full activity. That meant the thing was actually working right and whatever the hell Jim had attached to it didn't affect the results. Still she was curious what else Jim had been squirreling away and hiding from her so she started looking around. Then on the desktop she found a folder called games.

Absentmindedly she clicked it. Then a list of games appeared

Final Fantastic 3 (With Cheats)

Final Fantastic 3

The Legend of Zondala

Doomed Earth II: Invasion of Earth

World of Crafting War

She smirked at the with cheats moniker. Still Charlotte felt like a game might do her some good. It was probably almost morning and she couldn't get to sleep.

There were too many decisions to be made, most of which could wait till she got some rest. Could she really just leave a body in her basement? Did she need to put it in a freezer? She had no idea.

Shrugging she clicked Doomed Earth II: Invasion of Earth. If she remembered right it was an old shooter game. It was kind of 3D but the models were basically 2D pictures that rotated based on the angle the character was looking at. Demons and all sorts of monsters found a way to be transported from hell and the silent protagonist would mow them all down. Her brother use to play it when she was a kid. She had some fond memories of watching him beat the game.

Maybe it could scare her enough to stop thinking about the same things over and over. Her mind was going in circles and it was preventing her from sleeping. She double clicked the file.

Then she felt really tired all of the sudden. She relaxed and for some reason she could see a little loading symbol in the corner of her eye. Closing her eyes the thing went away. Staying up long enough to start hallucinating was a bad thing. Thankfully sleep took her in the next few seconds.

Officer Brady’s PoV

Brady was running dispatch for the night and something really felt fishy. He had gotten word that the FBI were doing training in town and that any disturbances in a peculiar area were probably them. So he had instructions given to him that any and all calls for that were to be relayed to the FBI correspondent.

But he had gotten the fifth phone call. Why in the hell were they doing training in an urban area? After getting half a dozen reports he finally called his off duty partner.

“Yeah, what's up Brady?”

“Have you ever heard of training being done in urban areas? With multiple gun shots and explosives? This doesn’t seem right man.”

After a few seconds of silence Max said “Sounds weird. I’ll go check it out. Address?”

“You sure? You’re off duty.”

An exasperated voice on the other line said “What did you think was going to happen when you made this phone call? I would talk to you and give you moral support?”

Brady laughed and said “Sorry. Just didn’t know who else to call. I've been specifically instructed not to point any uniforms in that direction so my hands are kind of tied.”

Max said “That sounds weird. Who did this come from exactly? Chief? Or someone else?”

Thinking about it he said “No it was from an LT. He said it was from the Chief though. Should I have questioned it?”

Max said “You got that in writing?”

Shit. No he didn’t. All that he had in writing was the phone number to forward reports to the FBI.

“You’re silence is not promising. If I don’t call back in ten minutes, send people there. Got it?”

“Sure thing Max.”

Forrest’s PoV

Damn he hated this airship. It was even worse than being on water. What made it terrible was that Scarlet and Jim seemed to like to take turns flying the craft. That last little loop seemed to spark a competitive spirit in Scarlet. What made it worse was that she hung around Jim while smirking at Forrest. The little minx knew he couldn't sick the dogs on her while they were playing their game.

But his time would come! When she was vulnerable and sleeping she would get her comeuppance! As one of them did a new swirling trick he did his best to focus on not throwing up. And of course he was the only one who had that kind of problem!

Voss didn’t seem affected at all and the wolves looked well enough. On the bright side they were making good speed towards King’s End. The speed was truly incredible. Even with their competitive moves Voss kept them pointed in the right direction, or so he said.

Then Forrest perked up. Looking over the horizon he finally saw some familiar terrain. They were almost home! Looking over to Voss it seemed he was pointing out the town to Scarlet who happened to be on the wheel at the time.

It felt odd coming home. He had been through a lot since last time he was here. Also it was Davis who was in charge when they left. Would the council even listen to him? Also he looked different now. He left with the clothes on his back and now he was wearing probably the most powerful armor anyone had seen.

While it was true Jim insisted better armor was out there, that was there and this was here. Only Jim had better armor. As they descended to the village a small crowd started gathering cautiously around the airship. Soon enough the power was cut and the ship landed.

Jim walked over to him and asked “How much time do you need?”

Forrest didn't know and he said as much. Then someone from the crowd shouted “That's the merchant circle girl that started this mess! Kill her!”

Rage. Pure rage filled him. In a fluid motion he drew his bow back and fired a shot at the man. Shocked the crowd saw the man who was causing the ruckus had his belt buckle shot off. His pants fell and tangled around his legs. When he ran it tripped him and he went face down into the dirt.

Forrest said “No harm will come to me or my friends. I have a message for the council and then I'll be on my way.”

There was a bit of quiet mumbling when Scarlet came up to his side and said “Do you want me to come along with you? You might need someone to guard your back. After all if they attack you at close range what are you gonna do? Menacingly threaten to whack them with your stick?"

Thinking about it he said “Can you be discreet? If they find you many will try to come after you.”

Scarlet scoffed and said “If they find me it will go bad for them. Even before I left here I was more than a match for most. Now? I could probably wipe out this little village in the same manner as going for a casual stroll.”

Forrest chuckled. It was probably true. He felt so much stronger now. After every battle he felt stronger. Scarlet had told him about her sense ability which gave her an indication of how powerful people were. She too agreed he had grown a lot on this trip.

Officer Brady’s POV

Brady was getting nervous. There were some weird reports going on. Max had reported that Jim's house looked like a battle had happened there but that was moved down to low priority. Multiple reports had been constantly coming in about crazy people dressed up in red looking monster suits. Chatter on the radio said they were drugged out of their mind and didn't feel any pain.

They claimed to have spikes jutting out of them with jagged teeth. Even officers were reporting attacks on them. The speculation over the radio seemed to think it was a gang using some kind of new drug. It was getting crazy.

They had just called in for help from counties that bordered them in addition to the FBI unit that was in town. He was almost thankful those shady FBI agents were still here. Still he knew the house that was damaged. It was Jim's. He couldn't help but think it had something to do with the powers he witnessed a week ago.

The phone rang and he picked it up saying “This is 911, what is your emergency?”

“Oh god there are these red creatures everywhere! They're burning down the mall! It's a riot over here! People are running and screaming!”

Then another call came in. And another. Other officers picked up the phones that were ringing but he focused on the person at the other end of the line and said “Find somewhere safe, units will be dispatched! Stay safe!”

As he was getting ready to make the call two other dispatchers said “You two just get a call from the mall? Same drugged up costume gang?”

“Yea”

“Yes”

Damn this was big. Using the GPS system he tagged the highest priority code on the mall and then keyed the radio saying “We have three reports of those same hostels at the mall. All available units please proceed. Report back when you arrive. Out.”

Looking back to his fellow officers he said “I think we should open up the armory. We have been getting multiple reports that these guys are too drugged up to feel pain. We need to get the shotguns out.”

After a moment the senior most officer said “Yea. I’ve never seen it like this before. The station is almost empty, there're only half a dozen people here. Everyone else is on the street.”

The one officer left and Brady checked his own weapon. Full magazine, chamber empty, weapon on safe. Going through his vest he checked that all extra magazines were topped off. He had a feeling he was going to be using them tonight.

A bright green light flashed around a corner outside of the police station. On alert he watched. Then one of those red costumes with spikes and jagged teeth turned the corner. Reinforced glass stood between them. But then with a sinking sensation he saw the creature's hand glow. Oh shit, it was a different color but he saw a glow like that before.

Brady leapt out of the way and then looked behind him. There was a burn hole the size of a basketball through the glass and it continued to strike the wall where he had been. Vaguely he remembered that when Gwen used her lightning there was a short delay in between each attack.

Hoping that held true with this creature he rushed forward and poked his gun out of the hole and started aiming at the man’s chest.

Four shots rattled off, all of them striking the things torso. The thing staggered and then it’s hands started to glow again. Still with his weapon aimed at the thing he put another shot into him. Finally the creature sagged over.

Green. It’s blood was green. With the dawn he could see it clearly. That was no human.

Milly’s PoV

Milly was having the time of her life! She had assistants! Actual assistants! They took her every word down like it was the gospel. It was like her own little kingdom!

And she had her own apartment and someone came and picked her up and dropped her off everyday. She felt like royalty! And the best part was the shower. She had her own shower that she didn’t even have to share. Oh the stories she would tell her cousin when ever she got back to Jacksberg. She was going to be so jealous!

Her cousin was always a little bit preachy. “Milly, if you found yourself a nice man he could help you take care of the shop. It makes life a lot easier!”

Milly rolled her eyes. Seriously her cousin was married a year and all of the sudden its marriage this and marriage that. Maybe she could convince Jim to bring over her cousin next time. But of course she would have to get her cousin to first admit that she was wrong!

And then there was Milly’s second favorite thing. The microwave! Her cousin had a kitchen and she was nice enough to let Milly eat the cheaper stuff for free, but the food here! All of it she could cook in minutes and it was all delicious! She was so happy when Jim showed her the microwave. Milly thought her cousin would totally be jealous of her awesome food too!

With her first paycheck she bought a big freezer and then stuffed every pennies worth left to fill it up. Milly had more variety in her meals this past week than her entire life!

As she was caressing her magnificent new freezer she suddenly saw a hole in the wall. Blinking she saw the red outline of the wall. Then she looked at her new freezer. No! There was a head sized hole in her new freezer! Who in the hell!

Milly checked her belt and felt for one of the newer concoctions she made. Then she saw it. It was a damned monster. Why were monsters in the city? Didn’t they have a gate to stop them?

How dare some random monster waste her valuable money! Enraged she left her apartment and ran up to the monster and then tossed her vial at it. The creature started to turn to her when it suddenly fell to its knees. It started to bleed from it’s pores as the gravity of the small area increased a hundredfold.

A second later it was the size of a green penny and the gravity force stopped. With anger she kicked the little green pebble and returned to her apartment. She needed to call one of her assistants. They would know how to save the freezer's life.