New Phoenix

“Doug, if we don’t keep Litchfield’s raiding parties from slipping over the highway it will be an unmitigated disaster. Keep those Blackhawks flying. I’ll release the funds for the fuel and bullets.” Daniel Smits, the former Governor of all of Arizona sighed into the phone as the man on the other end complained about not having enough fuel and pilots to continue supporting the front against Litchfield. Governor Smits grimaced as his Head of Intelligence entered the open office door and took a seat with a knowing smile.

“Hey, Doug, I know Mesa is up to something, but we need to keep our citizens from getting snatched up and enslaved by James King. Look, Allison just walked in, I’ll put up another round of quests for them adventurer types to supplement your forces.” The man on the other end of the phone began to protest and the Governor rolled his eyes at the stunning brunette that sat across from his desk, “Yeah, yeah, look, I know, I have to go, we’ll talk later.”

Smits set the phone down on the cradle and rubbed his face with his free hand, “Tell me you got good news.”

“You know, you could just use your VPA to handle the call, I don’t know why you still use a physical phone. You know the VPA’s have hijacked the system, right? All calls are routed straight to your head.”

“And that doesn’t creep you out?”, he looked at her incredulously.

“At first, but considering what we’ve seen? That’s the least concerning thing on my mind. And I think I do have good news.”

She smiled vindictively before continuing, “Our agent successfully inserted the intelligence on who took his, ahem, manhood. He sent Kameron Jones, his personal guard, to Lake Pleasant to confront Irene. As you know, Jones has been chomping at the bit to hit Irene and her people. He has some personal beef with her, though I haven’t been able to figure it out yet.”

“So why are they back on our doorstep? Were Irene and her freaky fish men just a bunch of pushovers after all?” The Arizona Governor scoffed and reached into his drawer to retrieve a cigar.

“Well, our man on the scene indicated they had brought a pair of .50 Caliber machine guns, and before you ask, they got them from the Cartel.” She raised a hand as he paused in lighting his cigar.

“Fuck, if the Cartel is supplying them with hardware, we are probably going to have to invest in that comprehensive defensive package Doug was begging for.” He looked out the window of his office for a moment, then lit his cigar. After a few strong drags to get the stogie burning he returned his attention to Allison.

“Wait on that, it gets better.”

“Better? As in, they’re all on their way to work a mine in Mexico because they got steamrolled, better?” Smits arched his brow, waiting for a response.

“No, they actually survived with only light casualties.” She responded with another sultry smirk. She didn’t like to dump all the information at once, she liked stringing the man along.

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, what happened?” He barked after another drag on his cigar.

“The military showed up. Looks like a reinforced Armor company. They had a couple howitzers, Bradleys, humvees, and a dozen tanks. One was even a System model. Dropped some custom munitions on top of the .50’s and Jones turned tail and ran.” The woman’s smile widened and she could barely contain herself as she watched the former Arizona Governor go through several different facial expressions in less than a second.

“Well, fuck, we need to make contact. See what their intent is, maybe even conscript them for access to supplies.” The man was instantly scheming on how he could bring more of the patriotic type of firepower under his control. Then he noticed that Allison’s smile was only getting bigger, “What, what else is there?”

She chuckled lightly, the game they played a part of the power dynamic that let the Governor believe he had everything under control, “Here’s a folder on the key individuals of this new unit. Of note are the company commander and his daughter.”

“Why should I care about the daughter?” He asked as he took the folder she tossed on his desk and began flipping through it.

“Let me show you.” She then forwarded the playback her agent had sent of Samantha Devers. She recognized the vacant look in his eyes as he watched the literal first hand recording of what her agent saw. A young woman, with a missing arm glowing pink and floating in the air. Absorbing every .50 caliber bullet that struck her and not even flinching.

The Governors eyes refocused then looked at Allison with a bit of apprehension, “Jesus, people are getting that powerful?”

“You have no idea, that girl is only a few levels into her Advanced Class. All of Captain Devers’ men are as well. I keep telling you it’s a whole new world. You ready to face it, Governor?”

Show Low

“So, sexy Deer Lady is gone, what do we do now?” Stephen asked the rest of us.

“We go chat up the locals, see what we can find out about our host.” Food smells good, I think I’ll go take a look. “I saw some of your people running around, care to join me?” I asked Keeg who had been staring through the same door I was fixated on.

“I would.” He responded and we both stood and began moving around the table.

“Everyone, stay in this room, but try to chat up the workers.”

“Do you think she really hasn’t killed anyone?” Keeg asked as we wove our way towards the smell of cooking food.

I shrugged, “I’m sure she has killed some people. Has she killed any of our people? Who knows?”

We reached the door a moment later and pushed our way through, the smell of cooking meat and vegetables made my mouth water and we both looked around at the barely controlled chaos in front of us. The kitchen was massive and surprisingly modern. At least two dozen men and women, fully clothed, labored within, cooking and preparing food, cleaning large pots and pans, and generally doing what one does in a kitchen.

At the center was a woman who was probably pushing sixty, only because of the generous amount of grey hair across her temples. Even Old Johnny’s hair had turned largely back to a thick dark black, with the signature silver dusting, and he was pushing seventy before the System. The woman instantly noticed our presence and scowled as she marched towards us.

“It ain’t time yet, you... oh, you’re new.” She had started out berating us before she realized we weren’t regulars.

“We are, sort of, might we have a minute of your time?” I asked the woman with as much politeness as I could muster. Always respect your elders, right?

She scrutinized my height, then the arsenal of pistols I had strapped to my person. Once she was satisfied with her inspection, she did the same to Keeg, “I ain’t got much time, gotta keep everyone working or that lot out there having the time of their lives won’t get fed.”

“Understandable, ma’am, do you mind if I speak with some of my people I see back here? It’s been weeks since I had seen my own, I thought I was the last.” Keeg asked as soon as she finished speaking.

Her expression immediately softened and she simply nodded, the man left my side and went about his business. Then she turned her full attention on me. “And what is it you want?”

“Information. How many of you are there? Are you here willingly? Has The Lady harmed anyone? You know, the usual. I’m Karl, by the way.”

She flashed me a half smile, pulled a rag out of her apron and wiped her hands dry, then shook my hand. “Name’s Beth, Karl, nice to meet ya. So you’s wondering if we are safe with the Deer Lady?”

“Essentially, yes.” I shrugged and leaned against the prep counter with the older woman.

“Where’d you come from? We thought everyone from the town was dead.” Her smile slipped and she looked on me forlornly, before I could answer she continued, “We’re good, Karl. Better than we should be I suppose.”

I chewed her response over in my head for a moment before speaking again, “I’m the leader of Winslow, Flagstaff, and now Snowflake. Everyone in town is dead. Me and my party just fought our way here, we were expecting another fight when we came here, not...”

“A fucking orgy!?” She laughed at my surprised look, “I’m 68 years old Karl, And I look like I’m in my mid-forties with the body I wish I had in my twenties. I know I’m good. Did you even get a good look at what goes on in the private rooms? The orgy is the least of the crazy shit happening here.”

“Well, there is that, huh?” I shrugged, what else was there to really say to that.

“Look, when she appeared we were in a bad way. She hasn’t harmed us, she saved us. And the only thing she wants is for us to fuck like teenagers for one day a week, work at maintaining the place and feeding ourselves for another day. The rest of the time is ours.”

“Are you compelled to be here? Is she keeping you against your wills?” I asked, pressing for more information from the salty old woman.

“Mmmmm, well, it’s more like, indentured servitude. We don’t have to agree, if we don’t, though, she sends you on your way.”

I thought about that for a minute and the older woman casually checked me out, not bothering pretending like she wasn’t. “Ok, Beth, what if you want to leave right now? Will she stop you?”

She smiled and thought a moment herself, “No, you can break the pact, but again, she’ll cut you loose. Then you’re on your own with the demons, undead, and monsters. Even the handful of religious prudes we have staying with us are enjoying themselves too much. In fact, they spend the most time in the private rooms.” She elbowed me in the side with that last admission.

“Thank you, Beth, I think you’ve answered my questions.” I said as Keeg disengaged from the trio of dark elf women he had found working around a large stainless-steel kettle.

“Any time, Karl, and you know, if you’re still around in the morning, maybe you’d like to have a go with an older hot ass woman?” She winked and managed to reach out and grab a palm full of my ass before I could react. Holy fuck! I thought to myself, unsure how to respond. The woman chuckled as she walked past Keeg who was giving me some serious side eye.

“Uh, did I interrupt?” He asked with a knowing smirk.

“Heh, watch out for that one, she’s quick. How did your investigation go?”

“Just as the Lady had said, they meet their requirements and they are cared for. You?”

“Pretty much the same, apparently they are free to leave at any time. But, you know, great sex, food, a roof over your head.” I waved my hands about.

“Indeed, my people expressed the same as yours, shall we go back to the banquet hall and summon the Lady?”

“Yeah, you know what I’m thinking, don’t you?” I asked as we left the pleasant-smelling kitchen.

Upon returning to the table, only Henry and Carly were present. “Uh, where’s Courtney and Stephen?”

Henry chuckled and Carly cut his response off, “They saw some... things... they wanted to check out.”

Horny fuckers! That kid’s a fucking STUD! Soon only Carly wasn’t laughing as she was too busy blushing to find the humor in the situation. I looked around and found an attendant stationed near our table I hadn’t noticed before and flagged them over.

A young naked man hurried over to me and waited expectantly, “Please inform the Lady we are ready to continue if she is.”

“Right away, Sir.” He bowed slightly and then ran off towards the door we had entered through originally.

We waited in companionable silence and I collected my thoughts on what I wanted from the Lady. I had an idea forming, but I wanted to see how amenable this supernatural woman was. Soon, the beautiful naked woman walked towards us with a genuine smile on her face. She seemed to be radiating good vibes and I realized her time at the center of the orgy must of have replenished the energy she spent when she tried to preemptively subdue us. So, another weakness.

She looked at the gathered faces and slightly frowned, “I see we are missing two, would you like me to send someone to retrieve them?”

“Nah, they’re out... partaking in the festivities.” Henry chuckled out a response, “I say let them enjoy themselves, the boy did almost die a few hours ago.” Carly rolled her eyes but said nothing in response to the old man’s prodding.

“They’re fine, we had some things we wished to discuss, one of which pertains to what Henry just mentioned.”

“Oh, I sense you need something of me?” She slid a little closer, clearly hoping I would risk bedding her. Not gonna happen lady, even though the thought of plowing you from behind while yanking on that ‘rack’ isn’t unappealing... I silently cleared my thoughts and focused on our conversation.

“I’m sure you know we took the opportunity to chat up the locals. I think I better understand the situation. You currently have all the control with little expenditure of effort.”

“Well, it’s not like...” She began to defend her actions, clearly concerned I was about to end her current arrangement.

“Let me finish.” I shot her a hard glare and her smile was instantly replaced with a frown and the sound of her gulping in fear. “You currently have the better end of the arrangement, my question for you is this; If the other demons were removed, Pestilence’s challenges were cleared, what would you do then?”

She glanced around the table, all of our faces held stern expressions, because it was exactly this situation I intended to enact, and if she wasn’t willing to relinquish her hold on our people, I would simply end her here.

“I, uh, well. To be fair, I never really considered the possibility that such capable adventurers would arrive and drive out the evil. If such a thing did happen, I don’t know what I would do.”

“Well, you need to decide, because right now I’m like a chisel. Carving out my own kingdom, and this place is the next block up. If I can’t do the work myself, I have an army I can call in to level this place. So I need to know, are you just a System monster, or are you something more?”

For the first time since we had met the Deer Lady exhibited an emotion other than lust. She slapped her hands on the table and glared at me in outrage, “I am no monster! And the System doesn’t control my actions.”

To their credit, my team didn’t even bat an eye at her display of anger, they just maintained their cold icy stares, and soon the Lady took a breath and sat. She refused to meet my eyes and stared sullenly at the table in front of her like a scolded child.

“What would you have of me?” She quietly asked.

“I would have you continue doing what you are doing for now. I have another team member guarding people that were tortured by Ashoka. I want him to bring them here where they don’t have to fear being brutally murdered. Is that possible?”

She looked on me, hope returning to her beautiful hazel eyes, “Yes, let me have the details of how many I will be receiving and I will have Beth organize a work crew to be ready to care for them. What else would you have of me?”

“That should be enough to start, however, if you had intel on the next lot over, that would be great. Also, when I’m done here, I’ve made a deal with Pestilence, he’s going to need an assistant, and I’m going to need someone to make sure he’s not abusing the authority I give him.”

She blinked at this then smiled, “I think that is a suitable arrangement, though, what if these people don’t want to change their circumstance?”

I thought a moment and came to a realization, “Then keep them under your spell, as long as no one is being hurt or tortured... you know, anyone that doesn’t want to be hurt and tortured that is... then I don’t really care.”

Carly gave me a sharp look before the Lady spoke again, “I think that is acceptable. How long, do you think, before you have cleared all of the End Bringer’s challenges?”

“If we don’t waste much more time here, three days max, two if we don’t run into any significant difficulty.”

“Well, then Karl, I believe a Pact is made. I accept your terms.” A notification appeared in my vision as soon as she finished her sentence and I grimaced. I wasn’t really looking for anything so formal damn it.

A Pact has been freely entered into between Karl Brunett and the Deer Lady. Details of said Pact have been logged with the proper System Authority and details of aforementioned Pact are available upon request.