Now, Manila

The sigbin bleated in Madalena’s face.

Carrion-flavored breath filled her nostrils.

She gagged, but killed the ugly creature with a punch to the throat.

“We need to get out of here!”

Madalena turned her head at the terrified voice.

Kane’s left hand was above his head. A glowing orb of light pushed away the darkness. His right hand was thrust forward, small marble-sized orbs streaked forth to burn small holes in three charging sigbin.

To his left, Adrian was down on one knee, M-16 barking away at more monsters.

Trin was on the other side. She struggled as monsters pulled at her shield while she hacked away with her axe.

A momentary distraction allowed another sigbin to lash its whip-like tail across Madalena’s faceshield. It cut right through the tough plastic. She watched the tail’s sharp end pass within inches from the tip of her nose.

Yet another sigbin leapt out of the darkness behind the power of its kangaroo-like hind legs, long, clawed arms swiping.

Madalena swatted the arms aside with her own and cracked the crown of her riot helmet into the sigbin’s muzzle. Cartilage, teeth and bone broke.

The monster gurgled on its own blood for a moment before she ended it with a stomp to its head.

Movement to her left.

A sigbin leapt in, head down.

She stopped it cold with a palm on the top of its head, right between its straight, pointed, goat horns.

The strength of the sigbin’s legs doomed it.

Madalena was the immovable object.

The monster’s neck snapped like a twig.

Madalena resisted the urge to gag as the monsters voided the contents of their guts in death. The smell was horrific. They already carried fetid stench around their gray and black furred bodies. Like sewer and death.

This was much worse.

“Retreat!” Madalena charged the sigbins that were slowly overwhelming the rest of her team.

The monsters scattered.

One was a split-second too slow. Madalena grabbed it by its long, floppy ears and twisted its head around.

The other three rushed out of the store and into the megamall’s open area.

The space was cavernous.

Kane’s light spell didn’t reach beyond the third floor above them. More sigbins lurked just outside the light’s radius.

“It’s like Moria…” Adrian looked up into the darkness beyond where the light died, “the darkness just goes on forever.”

“Shut up, Adrian!” Trin snapped. “There are five floors! Five!”

“Does it matter? We’re fucked! I’ve only got one mag left.”

“Where’s the boss monster? We triggered it, but it hasn’t shown up.” Kane was breathing heavily. The light was a small spell, but continuously draining.

Madalena felt helpless. She was pretty sure she could just plow her way through monsters with her superstrength.

Her team would be swarmed and torn apart.

“What do we do, Madalena?” Trin’s eyes were wide as they darted across the dozens of sets of shining eyes in the darkness around them.

A cacophony of bleating assaulted them from all sides.

“We’re leaving. I’ll scatter them and you guys run right into the opening.”

“But they’ll swarm us from behind!” Adrian said.

“Right, Then I’ll jump over you and scatter those. We’ll just keep doing that all the way to the exit.”

“That’s not the best plan you’ve ever had,” Kane said.

“Do you have any other ideas?”

“The sigbins can’t really hurt you. Why don’t the three of us put our backs to the wall and fight defensively, while you kill them all,” Kane said.

“We’ve been in here for over an hour and their numbers don’t seem to be going down,” Madalena said.

“Horde mode probably,” Trin said.

“But we haven’t gotten any wave notifications,” Adrian said.

“Suggestive,” Kane said. “That this is still the first wave,” he explained.

“My plan is the best option.” Madalena’s tone was final. “Get ready to go on th—”

Sometimes Encounter Challenges almost displayed a level of intelligence that was disturbing.

At that exact moment a screech echoed through the cavernous megamall interior. It was all the more disturbing for how human it sounded.

“Get back!” Madalena tackled her team out of the way as something large and heavy crashed down from above.

Another sigbin, twice as large as the standard, human-sized one sprang forward out of the small crater of broken floor tiles.

Madalena had been a dancer once. She was long-limbed and lithe. She also did karate from the age of five to fifteen.

Now she had superstrength to add to her balance and precise movements.

Her leg whipped around in a spinning kick. Her heel struck the side of the boss monster’s huge head.

It careened to one side, tail whipping around to score a stinging gash across Madalena’s unprotected upper arm.

She tried to grab the tail but it moved like a snake out of her reach.

The boss sigbin sent her flying into a store on the other side of the mall.

Glass shattered around her as she flew into the waiting claws of the sigbins inside the dark store.

Madalena thrashed wildly, breaking monsters with each desperate blow.

She needed to get back to the boss monster.

Her team couldn’t face it on their own.

“Taunt it!” Kane’s voice was on the verge of hysteria.

“Oh god,” Trin whispered. “Fight me!” she screamed and banged her riot shield.

“The rest of them are attacking!” Adrian screamed over the bursts from his assault rifle.

The boss sigbin’s tail struck like a spear.

Right through Trin’s shield. Into her throat.

“No…” Madalena said softly.

Kane grit his teeth and dived to grab the tail. “Flame Touch.”

The tail burst into flames.

The sigbin boss pulled it back with a human-like shriek as the flames ran up to the base of the tail to cover its backside and up its back.

Trin dropped to her knees. A look of complete shock on her face. Her axe and shield slipped out of her hands to clatter on the floor.

Kane rushed over and laid a hand on the gushing wound in her neck. “Jesus, please… Heal!”

The gunfire suddenly stopped.

The frantic clicking of Adrian’s trigger finger mingled with the bleating.

Madalena moved, but she was too slow.

Adrian’s screams were cut short as the sigbins piled on top of him.

Things were happening too fast.

“It’s not working—” Kane’s tear-filled eyes somehow found Madalena’s even with the only light being from the flames dancing on the boss sigbin’s body, “get out,” he whispered.

The huge sigbin leapt at Kane and the dying Trin.

“Immolate.”

Flames erupted form Kane’s body, consuming him and Trin just as the sigbin plowed into them.

The monster’s shrieks joined with Madalena’s.

Bleating shadows danced wildly in the fire light as they closed in around her.

Her roar shook the air as she charged madly.

Normal sigbins broke as they threw themselves at her.

Claws and teeth managed little more than tearing at her clothing and leaving thin scratches on the exposed portions of her skin.

She grabbed a leaping sigbin and threw it at the burning boss monster.

She came in right behind it with a jumping side kick.

Bang!

The boot into the boss monster’s massive chest echoed like a gunshot.

She ignored the heat from the flames to close in and land a pair of knees to the monster’s stomach.

Then wild punches at the monster’s throat.

The sigbin boss tried to chomp down on her head, but she grabbed its muzzle. One hand on the upper and one on the lower.

Its carrion breath blew hot in her face.

Madalena roared as she pulled the muzzle apart.

The monsters swiped at her body with its wicked claws.

She ignored the cuts.

A loud crack was followed by whimpers.

Madalena had pulled the boss sigbin’s jaws a hundred and eighty degrees wide.

The rest of the sigbins hesitated, milling around. Almost as if they were shocked by what they were witnessing.

They didn’t do anything as Madalena completed the rest of her grisly work.

The boss monster died gurgling as she tore it apart.

Tongue, limbs, head.

She was drenched in blood and gore when she was finished.

A loud chime sounded in her ears as the rest of the sigbins disappeared into the dark mall.

Congratulations!

You have defeated the Sigbin Alpha of the Encounter Challenge.

Reward: 25000 Universal Points.

Do you wish to face the True Boss to claim the SM Megamall?

Madalena glanced at the burned bodies of Kane and Trin. Of Adrian there was nothing left except his M-16 and a few scraps of bloody clothing.

She walked over listlessly and picked up the gun.

The adrenaline dump was hitting her and her limbs felt heavy.

“No,” she said.

Eron was just about to leave in search of Madalena and the others when his cousin barged through the door.

“I smell a lot of blood… not all yours or human,” Cherry said from her customary place at the bar, sipping from a glass filled with thick red liquid.

Eron took one look at Madalena’s bloody, burned and battered body. “Cherry, please give us the room.”

“No, fuck her! If she’s got something to say then we can settle this right here!” Madalena spat.

Eron placed himself in front of her with his arms wide.

“This is the only place I’m allowed to be,” Cherry sighed, “but whatever…”

Eron glanced back to see that the woman was gone.

“What happened?” Eron frowned.

Madalena didn’t meet his eyes.

“Trin, Kane, Adrian?” he said softly.

“Gone!” Madalena snarled as she shoved Eron back.

He stepped back, but kept himself in front of her. His cousin’s strength level wasn’t that far off from his current underpowered state, so it took some effort to keep from falling on his butt.

“Tell me.”

They stood eye to eye.

Madalena glared daggers for a long moment before she seemed to deflate.

“Why don’t you sit down?” Eron pulled out a chair at the closest table. “Something to drink?”

“Like I can get drunk,” Madalena said bitterly.

“You like the taste. Top shelf scotch, right?” Eron went behind the bar. “Anything specific?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Eron returned with a pair of glasses and a bottle. Something Scottish and ridiculously expensive. He filled both glasses to the brim and handed one to Madalena.

She drained it one gulp and snatched the bottle from Eron’s hand and took a long swig.

Then she told him what had happened.

The bottle was empty by the time she finished.

“Well, say something. You told me so, that sort of bullshit… cause you did,” Madalena spat.

Eron sighed and emptied his half-finished glass on the floor. “Trin, Kane and Adrian… for their bravery and sacrifice.”

Madalena laughed. “I wasted their lives,” she replied even as she tossed the contents of her glass.

Eron said nothing. He agreed with her assessment, but what good would it have done to shove her face in it. Still, he couldn’t just let this pass. Young men and a young woman had died.

“Do you really understand your mistakes?”

Madalena scowled. “Challenging the boss.”

Eron nodded. “Why?”

“Because we need to get stronger. We’re dying slow deaths. We can’t rely on Lilah to keep the wards up for much longer. You’re with her. You’ve seen it. It gets harder and harder for her each time. The fog’s getting stronger, while she’s getting weaker.”

“You could’ve waited for me,” Eron said.

“You were busy with your latest failure to escape,” Madalena said. “Then you had to take Lilah out. I couldn’t just sit here, waiting.”

“You’re not wrong, but we can’t be reckless in our desperation.”

“Why? What else do we have left? Powerless children? A dwindling number of fighters—” Madalena choked, her lips quivered.

Eron looked away while his cousin took a minute to compose herself.

“You and me are all that’s left. No one else can do the heavy lifting. Our only chance is to build enough people up that we can make one run at the boundary, so that at least some of us can get out. I don’t want to end up like the rest of my family, our family!”

Eron had leaned back from Madalena’s impassioned words. He studied the dregs left in his glass. “If we can hold out long enough for—”

“Oh come on!” Madalena threw her hands up. “Kuya Cal’s coming in to save us? Isn’t that what you were supposed to do? You dropped in here all shining like the sun… then what? Nothing. The fog drained you within a week and now you’re stuck here just like the rest of us.”

“He’ll have a plan,” Eron said flatly.

“Well, he’d better.” Madalena angrily stood and stomped toward the stairs in the back of the restaurant.

“Dr. Rufo is in the kids’ apartment. Have him clean up your wounds, but make sure the kids don’t see you. They should be sleeping, but some have nightmares and they sleep lightly.”

“I know that!” Madalena snapped. “I’ll do what you say, Kuya,” she mocked.

Eron sighed. He was only a few years older than his cousin so the honorific didn’t set well with him. He and his siblings had pretty much done away with the title, much to their parents’ chagrin.

He frowned. He didn’t like thinking of his family these days. It threatened him with hope.

“Wait… people have died because of me before. I screwed up or I made all the right moves. In the end it doesn’t matter. They’re still gone.”

Madalena stopped. “It doesn’t go away?”

“No.”

Eron listened to his cousin climb the stairs and knock on the apartment door before he decided to stop monitoring her.

The clock on the wall said the sun was going to be rising soon.

Eron supposed time was an arbitrary thing inside the fog when it always looked the same outside.

He was so tired, yet he couldn’t bring himself to sleep not when Madalena had been right about everything.

Time was running out.

He hated it, but it appeared that hope lay outside the fog and not in his hands.

“You look like you could use some rest,” Cherry whispered into his ear.

Eron stood abruptly and walked to the stairs. “I think I’ll actually take your advice on that. A few hours sleep would be good for me. Thanks.”

Now, Northern California

Cal landed near Hanna. Next to a grave.

“Do you think about your landings?” Hanna said without looking up.

“Yeah, actually I do. Too close and I jostle you. Too far and I have to walk up to you, which might be awkward.”

Hanna nodded. She kept her gaze on the grave.

Cal read the name carved into the tombstone.

“Keisha. Nila told me how it happened.”

“You didn’t really know her, did you?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I knew that she was one of the Watch’s top fighters. Nila fought with her a few times. She found Keisha impressive.”

“You did like to keep your distance from everyone. So much so that you disappeared for five years. And it turns out you went to another world. I do have to thank you for the futuristic gear,” Hanna waved a hand over the Threnosh armor she wore. “I feel like a tank in this. I can take getting hit by a car with only minor bruising… we’ve tested it. And any minor damage to the armor is fixed by running a hot blow dryer over it for a few minutes.”

“It’s a stripped down version. Basic impact dispersion built in each layer. You should see the ones with inertial dampeners,” Cal said warily. He sensed the tension coming off Hanna in palpable waves.

“The longsword was another great gift,” she drew the blade from the scabbard at her hip, “cuts through steel and, again, any chips and nicks are fixed by heat.”

“It’s like memory metal, but better,” Cal shrugged.

“All great things from you…”

“But?”

“I wonder if it’s enough to make up for your absence? I’ve been thinking if you were here, would all these people have died in the fighting with the fish cult? I have to believe that you and Remy could’ve handled the Deep Azure together. Which means that Keisha wouldn’t have had to step up against an opponent well beyond her league.”

“I’m surprised,” Cal began, “when I first recruited you… well, you were adamant about not fighting for the community. You only wanted to train others. What changed?”

“Things,” Hanna said flatly.

“Right… things change for every individual. I can’t change the past.”

“No, but you still direct the future. How many of my friends will die to save your brother?”

“I can’t say.”

“But you’ve run it through that big brain of yours? The shades of your extended family in the fog are stronger than us, right? And that’s not accounting for the monsters, animals and other people with magic and Skills.”

Hanna’s face was a hard mask.

“Fifty percent,” Cal said. “Worst case scenario… a handful survive.”

“Don’t you mean failure? That all of us will be taken by the fog and turned into these shades?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“But you can’t promise that.”

“No,” Cal was forced to admit, “but I’m not going to throw away lives. My life will always be in front.”

“Small comfort for the rest of use without your abilities.”

“Which the fog will likely strip away.”

Hanna nodded. “I’m surprised you didn’t bring up that we’re all volunteers in this mission,” she said.

“I won’t abrogate my responsibility for everyone by putting the onus on all of you.”

“I suppose we don’t have much of a choice. When you asked me what changed… it was the Deep Azure. Such an evil thing is beyond mere monsters or bad people. The knowledge that entities like that walked our world made me realize that I had two paths. I could hide, rely on people like you to keep me safe or I could gain my own strength,” Hanna said. “And so here I am. Ready to throw myself into overwhelming danger alongside people I care about knowing that many of them will die and that there’s nothing I can do about it. I don’t know if you can understand that feeling of powerlessness against the great evils lurking all around us.”

“You’d be surprised. I can tell you a few stories about what I found on the Threnosh world.”

“Your hand?”

“One such story.”

Hanna grunted. “I just want our lives to count,” she gazed across the cemetery.

Cal recognized the names on several tombstones. “The Watch members lost against the fish cult.”

“And against monsters, mutant animals and regular assholes. We’ve been more active helping the government increase their territory control. Like the spires said to do,” she spat.

Cal felt an invisible weight settling over him.

The burden of many lives. Some already lost, some set to be lost in the future and the ones that would make it.

He almost shied away, but accepted it.

“For months I’ve wanted nothing more than to disappear. No more monsters, no more fighting evil, no more responsibilities.”

“That’s impossible for you. Your powers are responsibility. You’d be less of a man than I thought had you done that.”

“I know. Maybe one day, if I can find someone else to take that burden, but then would I be the asshole if I did that to someone else?”

“Yeah… I think that pretty clearly fits the asshole definition,” Hanna cracked a grin.

“This world sucks,” Cal sighed.

“And it will continue to get worse, unless you can figure out how to stop it,” Hanna shrugged.

“Is that even possible?” Cal had a flash of inspiration that disappeared just as quickly.

“I don’t like this mission,” Hanna said. “But levels are our only path to some semblance of safety.”

“What level have you reached?”

“Twenty-seven. Our R&D brainiacs think I can hit thirty from this. We’ll have a better idea once the spires finally give the Quest notification.”

“I think you might be the highest leveled among everyone on the mission.”

“I’ve yet to encounter anyone with a higher level. It’s been slow going the past few months. The Threnosh gear makes it tougher for me to gain points and level. I’ve been going off into the forests by myself fighting the worst things I can find.”

“Makes sense. They’re so advanced that they take away the struggle and danger.”

“Your relatives’ shades?”

Cal nodded. “From what Eron says they’ll be… difficult.”

“Good news and bad news. I’m conflicted. I crave the challenge, yet I fear for my friends.”

Cal had no words. Comforting ones seemed hollow. So he kept quiet.

“Keisha would’ve been a monster with this Threnosh armor,” Hanna said sadly. “Let’s go,” she donned her helmet and picked up her shield.

Cal soared up into the sky while he pulled Hanna along.

“I’m having second thoughts on this.” Cal blew air out of his nostrils.

“Oh, good. I wasn’t sold on it anyways,” his dad said with evident relief.

“I shouldn’t have listened to Rayna. Everyone is looking at me funny,” Cal muttered.

“We’re not talking about the same thing, are we?” His dad looked up at the jet illuminated by the spotlights. “A night takeoff… another thing I’m concerned about.”

People lining up to board filed past the two Cruces men.

Cal saw the furtive glances in his direction. He could feel the judgment even without using his telepathy.

Would it be petty to use his power to see what they thought?

Yes, yes it would.

“I look ridiculous,” Cal sighed.

“I don’t know, looks pretty good, like a race car,” his dad added unhelpfully.

Rayna’s guy had painted the Threnosh armor in the dark blues, dark yellows and golds that Cal had asked.

Helmet, chest, gauntlets and boots were dark blue, while the rest was done in mix of dark yellow and gold.

The flat gray color of the first layer suit peeked out from a few spots, but otherwise he was now clad in his old alma mater’s colors.

“You should’ve had a logo added. That weird animal mascot thing your college had.”

“No, nope, definitely not,” Cal said. “Well, it’s too late now. Apparently this paint is going to be ridiculously tough to get off.”

“Well, since you can’t rethink the color scheme, then how about you rethink your crazy plan to ride on the outside of the plane.”

“Dad, we’ve been over this. I need to be there in order to respond to any potential attacks. Wyverns probably won’t be an issue cause they seem to be diurnal hunters and once the plane gets going they’re too slow. The problem is that we have no idea what other flying creatures are out there. Remember, I told you about that manta ray kaiju thing I took down?”

“You said you had to use laser mining drones and powerful explosives,” his dad narrowed his eyes, “it also ripped off your skin.”

Cal held up a finger. “One quarter of my torso’s skin… and some from my upper arm.”

Eyes widened as the people standing nearby overheard.

“Great, you’re embarrassing me in front of the cool kids,” Cal rolled his eyes then grinned. “Trust me, I’m stronger now than I was at that time. Besides my plan is to grab the plane with my telekinesis and run… er… fly faster away from flying kaiju if we find one.”

“Okay, just remember what I told you about how much strain the airframe can take.”

“The telekinesis will take care of most of that.”

“If you say so,” his dad replied skeptically.

“Dad, relax. It’ll be fine.”

“I hate flying.”

“Yes, but now you’ve got all the leg room you want. Drinks from the bar, MRE’s, movies,” Cal said lightly.

“Potentially giant flying monsters,” his dad grinned.

“You look just like your dad.” Hanna was at the end of the line. “Except a lot… smaller.” She introduced herself to Cal’s dad.

“What can I say, the old man’s yoked,” Cal said. “Everything all set?”

“Yeah, but the watch captain and me were hoping to go over plans and get a good picture of how our team fits in with the rangers. You also need to be updated on our current capabilities… can’t do that if your on top of the plane,” Hanna shook her head ruefully. “I suppose I’ve seen stranger things, but still…”

“I can patch into the plane’s radio,” Cal patted his helmet. “As for the rest, we can go over that when we stop to refuel.”

“We’re ready to go.” Stern-faced Demi called out from top of the portable stairs.

“Watch captain’s nervous,” Hanna said.

“So am I,” Cal’s dad said. “Well… shall we?”

“Yes sir,” Hanna climbed up into the plane.

“Be careful, Anak.”

Cal’s dad engulfed him in a crushing hug. “Damn, you’re strong,” Cal winced. “You cracked my back through the armor,” he shook his head in disbelief.

His dad laughed then tromped up to the plane.

The stairs groaned in protest.

His dad was a lot heavier than he looked.

Cal donned his helmet. “Pilot Peter, do you copy, over?”

“You don’t have to say ‘over’, and I’m cool with Pete,” the pilot’s voice came back loud and clear. “Hey, so you’re going to ride on top?”

“Not right away. Just fly like you normally would. I’ll be your wingman.”

Cal heard a soft curse on the other end.

“So, like how likely do you think we’ll be needing your protection, cause I’m no fighter pilot and this thing isn’t a jet fighter?”

“Pete, you’ll be happy to note that there aren’t any flying threats within miles of us.”

“Like how many miles?”

Cal laughed. “Enough that I can deal with any threats before they get too close. Try to relax, statistically speaking, flying is one of the safest forms of travel.”

“Yeah, that was back when there weren’t any wyverns and other shit.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be the first to know if we’re under attack.”

Another muffled curse.

“Safe flight,” Cal said as he rose up into the sky.

The cold dark of the open sky didn’t bother him.

The armor kept him perfectly comfortable and nothing could hide from his powers.

The ground crew pulled the stairs away and the private jet taxied toward the runaway.

Cal would be able to help his little brother soon.

At what cost?

How many of the people inside the plane below him would be able to return?

Whatever that number he knew that it would not be enough for him.