~~~~~

Lee

~~~~~

"This one is going to hurt…" Lee muttered as he looked at his new RuneScape floating before him. It was the best he had come up with to circumvent the collar. It was also more complicated than anything Lee had done before and the closest he had come to what he'd used to create [Three] but not quite, not even close really. Unfortunately, he wasn't skilled enough for that. In fact, he still had no idea how it had been done.

He mentally stood up and walked around his RuneScape. It was a new experience to move around inside his [Rune Storage] like this. Technically, it was now called a [Rune Storage Library] and mentioned their new Mental Fortress in the description. He didn't know how Stanley had brought this about, but he liked it. It felt like being inside [Three]... almost.

To be here with Stanley after what felt like so long was great… if only it could have been under better circumstances. Even now, he could hear angry whispers in his mind, Stanley's whispers. They were unintelligible hissing things, gone before he could understand what was said. Still, each one rumbled and thundered in his mind, carrying weight and power as his twin attacked the darkness around them with a single-minded focus.

Lee turned to his brother, floating cross-legged in the center of the courtyard with his eyes closed. Stanley's expression was dark, and his mouth twitched periodically into a snarl as waves of power rippled away from him in a steady drumbeat. Each surge of power passed through the walls and outside. There it crashed against the darkness and pushed it back a tiny bit more, or maybe just expanded the size of the Fortress. It was hard to tell.

Unfortunately, every bit of progress had a cost in pain. Lee felt the echoes of it from Stanley every time he attacked, then felt it himself when the darkness retaliated and the Fortress weathered the assault. Runes covered the entirety of the building now, and Lee didn't know why. Most of them had already been here when he woke up to the Notification, and the ones he put up had him unsure whether or not they were real.

Stanley appeared just as Lee remembered him, not changed into an old man like Lee himself had been. Lee didn't have a mirror to see himself in, but his hands looked young and healthy at the very least. It probably had something to do with being inside their Soul and the fact that they were only some kind of mental projection within this space. But while Stanley did look the same, he had changed in other ways. There was a new hardness in his eyes and a temper sitting too close to the surface, waiting to boil over at any moment. Buried under it all was fear, regret and maybe a hint of self-recrimination. Stanley tried to hide it, but he couldn't hide anything from Lee, not with their Souls bound so tightly and definitely not when they were in this place together.

Caffeine was still out there but no longer towering above them. Now he was at eye level to the third floor, the dark band of the collar still in his teeth as he stood defiantly unyielding. Lee didn't know what exactly was going on with the relative sizes but figured it was a good thing, the Fortress claiming more of their Soul than the tiny corner it had before.

He turned away and went back to work. There wasn't time to relax right now, and he had more RuneScapes to prepare. Lee hadn't mentioned something to Stanley about the collar and, more specifically, the other property it listed. He hadn't wanted to discourage his brother and was himself afraid to go looking too closely, lest he find himself forced to think about the difficult choices ahead. He looked again at the Notification.

You have Equipped [Soul-Binding Collar of Absolute Obedience](Source-Crafted Legendary)(Linked)

Soul-Binding in Progress… Soul-Binding Halted… Soul-Binding InComplete.

Debuff Resisted: [Collar of Absolute Obedience]

Debuff Gained: [Collar of Obedience]

What worried him was that 'linked' tag. He'd gotten a very brief look at what was happening back home, and among the horrors seen there, he was pretty sure that he'd detected magic running from his own collar to all the others around him. If it meant what he thought it did, then he needed more options.

Lee slid aside from the completed RuneScape and started a new one. "I'm coming for you guys…" Lee thought, "it is my turn to save you." He hadn't seen Alejandro when he was awake but was pretty sure he'd felt the man's Rune-covered gear nearby. He had spotted Maria and Gabriel though… both wearing collars.

"I really hope this isn't my fault…" he thought, "but I will get you free, Gabriel, Maria, all of you!" Lee had a bad feeling that he had brought this down on them all, that because of him, everyone would pay the price. "I'm so sorry… I should have…"

"Fight now, cry later!" Stanley snarled abruptly in front of him, "Rage if you have to!"

"Thanks," Lee said, smiling at Stanley’s scowling face, "I will." He pushed the thoughts of failure and guilt aside and started his next RuneScape. He finished that one and started another. And another. One after the other, Lee created every RuneScape he could think of, every possible effect he might need. Then he started on the larger, more complicated effects that would require multiple RuneScapes to work together.

The courtyard was getting increasingly crowded with the floating magic, all the way up to the roof when Stanley's rumbling stopped.

"I think I can wake you up now," Stanley said into the sudden calm. "Are you ready?"

Lee looked over his preparations one last time and then nodded his head to Stanley. "I am," he said, and then thought, "at least I hope I am…"

Stanley uncrossed his legs and set his feet on the floor. He walked up to Lee and put both hands on his shoulders. "We've been through worse," he said, "and we can beat this too. I got your back, little brother."

Lee smiled at the joke Stanley overused at every opportunity. "Three minutes older," Lee muttered almost out of reflex.

"You're goddamn right," Stanley stated, "and don't you forget it." He smiled at Lee, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Lee clenched his fists. They were in serious shit now, and maybe he had done a lousy job hiding his misgivings from his brother... But Stanley had a good point. They had been in bad spots before and prevailed, even if only by the thinnest margins. His palms felt sweaty...

Stanley pulled him into another hug. He didn't say anything, just held him. Lee returned the hug and took slow, deep breaths. He could do this. He had already charged into danger more than a few times, even sometimes when he shouldn't have… but he had done what he thought was necessary: to fight for and protect what he cared about. And now, his friends and family all needed him to boldly go once again. He let go of Stanley and whispered, "Let's do this."

Stanley stepped back and met his gaze. He must have been satisfied with what he saw there because he nodded once and closed his eyes.

"Wake up."

Stanley's voice crashed into him, and Lee was suddenly lying on his back, awake. His [Mana Mind] bombarded him with a deluge of information, and sound rushed back in as he forced himself to remain still, hopefully hiding the fact that he was awake.

The information coming to him from the Mana did nothing to help him remain calm, but he managed to keep his breathing slow and steady. Unfortunately, as he'd feared, he could indeed see the lines of magic running from his collar to the others. "Damn it." He tried to touch them with [Mana Mind] to see if he might be able to do something to the lines and free them, but those threads were not solely Mana. There was an ephemeral quality to them that slid and slipped aside from his attempts. "Is it Soul?" he thought, "Stanley might be able to break them… but will that free the others or damn them?" It was too early to risk something like that yet. Beyond them though, his [Mana Mind] hit a wall that he couldn't…

"I can't see anything," Stanley whispered, "it's all fuzzy static around you."

"My eyes are closed…" It took Lee a moment to guess what was happening. "I think you are sensing the Mana that I see." Maybe not having the actual Skill prevented Stanley from being able to make sense of what Lee saw clearly. "Just be ready. I don't want them to know we're awake yet."

Lee was still lying on the stone platform that Bradley had created, at least as far as he could tell, and a crowd of people was around him. However, only some of the people around him were human… and of those, only some had collars around their necks. He couldn't feel a single Rune in the crowd or anywhere within the bubble that blocked his [Mana Mind], but he could feel a lot of Runes in a big pile further away outside the bubble, with some obviously still being worn by people as they moved around.

Bradley and Saira both stood out clearly from the strong Aspect Mana they held in their Cores. He wasn't sure about all the rest without being able to see them. Except for Gabriel… his Liquid Mana was also easily distinguishable among the crowd, along with the collar around his neck… "Damn them! Who puts that shit on a kid!"

Of course, he knew who would. The elf that had put him to sleep stood out like a beacon in his senses. Bright twisting lines of magic ran from a bracelet around the thing's wrist, and Lee followed them to the collar wrapped around his throat. "Damn…"

The collar was a heavy weight on his neck and filled with dense power. Complex diagrams ran throughout the metal, reminding him vaguely of the amulet Trak used to translate but far more complicated. Random shapes, lines, and more connected in strange ways that didn't make any sense to him but did make him think of a circuit board… The worst part was that deep underneath it all, lurking in the very core of the metal, were a few more of the diagrams. Diagrams that were composed of a blinding white light…

"I still can't see anything…" Stanley said, "but I think you got someone's attention."

Lee saw the head turning in his direction. It was the elf with the bracelet… "Should I kill it?" Stanley asked. "I think I have enough power here, and none of the Souls I can feel are strong. Once you open your eyes, I'll kill any of the bastards that get close, and you do your thing, okay?" Both of them winced from the burning sensation the collar created around his neck at Stanley’s mention of violence toward the elf.

"What? No!" Lee exclaimed mentally, "You can't kill him!"

"Are you fucking serious!?"

"Can't you see the magic coming from his bracelet?" Lee asked, "It's a damn legendary item. I highly doubt that we can simply kill the controller and be done with it! It will probably kill us too!"

"I can't see fucking magic!" Stanley growled in Lee's head.

"We have to…" The elf was approaching now, and Lee weighed his options. His Runes were all still out there, ready and waiting to be taken back. Lee knew how much Mana was tied up in those Runes, and it would probably be more than enough to break the bubble around him. But he still didn’t know what would happen to the other collared people if he started attacking his own collar.

"They obviously want me alive so let's wait for the opportune moment," he told Stanley, "can you keep weakening the collar?" Stanley grumbled at that but accepted it and agreed as the elf stopped next to Lee. He was hoping it wouldn't know that he was awake yet… but it wasn't happening.

"I can feel you squirming," the elf said above him, "I know you are awake."

Lee opened his eyes and immediately squinted at the bright blue sky overhead. "Just how long were we in there…"

"You will use no Skills or Abilities without my explicit order!" the elf snapped.

Lee immediately felt the words sink deep into his mind, interrupting his thoughts and closing off ideas behind burning walls of pain. And just like that, it was too late to do anything…

"Now, I want to know how you are awake without my order," the elf demanded, "tell me!"

Lee felt a sudden urge to explain in great detail how he had woken up… Stanley cursed in his mind and whispered, "Do you actually know specifically how you woke up?"

Lee realized that he… did not. "I don't… know?" he said aloud and felt Stanley growling at something in their Soul.

The elf stared at him for a moment, and then something pulsed from the bracelet, traveling to the collar in a flash. Lee tried to scream at the sudden burning pain in his neck but had barely gasped in a breath before it abruptly stopped.

"Hesitance to obey will be punished," it said, "do you understand?"

Lee was still reeling from the shock of the pain and had only started to nod when more pain burned into his neck. "Ah! I got it!" Lee gasped out as soon as he could. He reached a shaking hand up to his neck but felt no damage on the skin under his tentative touch. "Just give me a second, I'm a little new to this whole being a slave thing!"

More pain followed. "You will speak only when instructed." Stanley's cursing in his head almost drowned out the creature's words, and Lee could feel him raging against the collar's power.

The elf waited for him to catch his breath and said, "You should be on your knees before me."

Cursing and pain went hand in hand until he was kneeling on the stone before the monster. His recollection from the first night in the new world was a bit hazy, but he was more and more sure that these were the same monsters. "How many different creatures could there be…"

"You may address me as Master," the elf smiled at him, revealing sharp teeth. That brought back memories…

"Go fuck yourself!" Stanley screamed in his head as Lee struggled against the compulsion to open his mouth.

He resisted it for all of two seconds, then felt more than heard Stanley grunt, and his mouth popped open, "Yes."

Alien eyes scrutinized him as the elf stepped slowly closer. It stopped right in front of him and then slapped him across the face. Hard. Lee saw stars and lost track of things for a moment while Stanley cursed up a storm in his head. Lee also felt lines of fire across his face and saw the long claw-like fingernails on the monster's hand, now bloody. Again, Lee heard the voice speak, "Heal him," but the words did not affect him this time.

Buff Gained: [Improved Regeneration]

Lee finally focused and saw Maria standing over him. "Maria…" Lee whispered, "I…" Her face was expressionless, but her eyes radiated pure fury.

"Go back to your place," the elf snapped and stomped back up to Lee as Maria turned without a word and walked away. "Did I tell you to speak to her?" It slapped Lee again, this time without the claws.

"Can I cut off his hand?" Stanley asked pleadingly.

"No!" Lee spat out blood.

"Get back on your knees."

Lee sat up, "Damn, that is annoying!" he thought.

"You are young," the elf said calmly, now sitting in a chair that Lee hadn't noticed before, "but you will learn the way of things in time. You humans are so annoying… but so precious."

Lee was only half listening, his attention focused on trying to reach past the magic wall around him. His [Mana Mind] Skill was still available to him despite the order not to use any skills or abilities, maybe due to it being a passive Skill. Lee didn’t know exactly but didn’t hesitate to make as much use of it as he could. Unfortunately, the magic-blocking wall was coming from a location further away, so he couldn't see the source.

Since the shell was blocking his [Mana Mind], he was stuck feeling for a weak spot to start hammering at. Lee even thought of sending his [Mana Mind's Eye] outside the barrier. That thought brought immediate pain. If he could reach [Three], then maybe…

"You will listen when I speak to you!" the elf yelled, and Lee's attention was pulled violently back to it.

Stanley chuckled darkly inside his head, "what a whiny little pissant. Keep him monologuing, and I'll keep cleaning this shit out of our Soul." Lee felt Stanley's presence fade slightly after that, though it felt like he had to struggle to get back to their Soul.

The elf was glaring at Lee during that split-second communication, then glanced around and back at him. "Much better," it leaned back in the chair, studying him. "Do you remember me?" it finally asked.

"No?" Lee said slowly, though the question made him wonder if it really was the same elves. Not that it would make any difference, they all looked the same to him…

"You will address me as Master!" it snapped and glared at him while holding up a sharp-nailed hand meaningfully.

Lee clenched his teeth but didn't fight the compulsion. "No, I don't remember you… Master." The words felt icky, but it wasn't time to show any of his cards… if he actually had any to play… But until then, Lee could play the part of the obedient slave.

The elf smiled smugly. "You took my hand," it said, holding up a perfectly fine-looking hand, albeit a bit non-human and alien looking. The fingers were too long, and the nails looked more like claws.

But Lee did remember a hand very similar to that, if not identical, lying on his apartment floor. The moment he made the connection, he felt the compulsion to answer. "Yes, I remember," Lee said unwillingly.

"Good, much better," the elf said, smiling again. "You took my hand, but I found so much more in return." It leaned forward in the chair. "See, I was the only one on my squad who had ever seen someone like you before. So I knew what that light was… It shouldn't have been possible, no, not for an F Rank world full of F Rank trash. But then I had a nice long chat with some of you Humans, and I discovered your Racial Trait." The elf looked positively gleeful now. "New Races join the Multiverse all the time, but one with 'that' Trait… and one of them somehow wielding a Source!"

Lee felt sick. "It does know, Stanley."

"Just keep the blowhard jabbering," Stanley whispered, "I'm still making progress."

The elf stood up excitedly and started pacing around Lee. "I even petitioned the System, thinking it must be interference! But no, it was real!"

That explained the message from the first night… but how did someone ‘petition’ the system?

It stopped in front of him, and Lee looked it in the eyes to show he was listening. "Don't meet my eyes unless ordered to!" the elf slapped him again.

"Petty tyrant," Stanley hissed, "he just wants to brag about how great he is, all hopped up on his presumed victory."

"Of course, I had to keep quiet about what I'd found," the elf resumed, "I made a deal with one of your Humans and waited until I could return to get what I needed, that wonderful little collar you're wearing!"

"Wilson had already sold us out from day one…" Lee couldn't pick the man out of the crowd with only [Mana Mind] but suspected that he was one of the uncollared. He resisted the urge to look for him. Otherwise, he might be tempted to see just how much damage he could do with [Mana Mind]...

Meanwhile, Lee was only half listening as the 'Master' kept yapping and bragging. He needed more Mana if he was going to do anything, and while he knew he could pull Mana from the people around him, it would be a paltry amount compared to his Liquid Mana. So he looked at the elf's feet while his mind was poking and prodding at the barrier.

"What is your Class?" the elf said, and the words pulled Lee's mouth open.

"Runic."

"Good, good," the elf said and returned to his pacing, "I already knew that, obviously, I know all about the Runic Class…"

"He is lying," Stanley said, "he doesn’t know anything about your Class."

"...but I did want to confirm. Now, tell me the rest of your Status."

Lee tried to resist that command and felt Stanley join in, but his mouth opened regardless, and he started speaking. Down the list, he read off everything.

Status

Name: Lee Cascade

Race: [Two Becomes Three(Human)](D Rank)

Titles:

[First Time?] [War is Hell]

Traits:

[Adaptable] [Source-Touched] [Mana Flesh and Blood] [This Is The Way] [Minor Lord] [Ruthless Unbreakable Soul] [We Are Three]

Class: [Runic(Adept IV)](Legendary)

Apprentice: 1/1 (Gabriel Morales)

Class Skills:

[Rune Compression(Apprentice IV)](Rare)

[Rune Creation(Journeyman V)](Rare)

[RuneScape Creation(Journeyman V)](Rare)

[Rune Storage Library(Initiate V)](Epic)

[Soul Reinforcement(Apprentice II)](Epic)

Attributes:

Strength: 206

Vitality: 207+

Dexterity 203

Perception 206

Intelligence 281+

Willpower 271+

Twin-Soul 216

Non-Class Skills:

[Soul Awareness(Apprentice VIII)](Rare)

[Create Rune Disc(Journeyman II)](Rare)

[Source Regeneration](UnCommon)(Passive)

[Venom Resistance I](Common)(Passive)

[Twin-Soul Mental Fortress(Journeyman VI)](Unique)(Passive)

[Liquid Mana Beam(Apprentice V)](Epic)

[Mana Mind(Journeyman II)](Epic)(Passive)

[Mana Mind's Eye(Initiate V)](Epic)

Buffs:

[Soul Support Tether]

Debuffs:

[Collar of Obedience]

The elf stopped him more than a few times, asking many questions. He asked about different Skills and how they worked, what his Traits were, and what Twin-Soul was… Unfortunately for the elf, Lee couldn’t answer most of them, seeing how the whole system was relatively new to him. Fortunately for Lee, while the compulsion forced him to mention Stanley, he managed not to mention the fact that his twin was currently sharing space inside his head… and the questions continued.

It felt like it was getting easier to resist the compulsion to answer as time passed. Lee didn’t know if that was from the elf putting less into the questions or from Stanley’s continued rumbling in his head. He hoped it was the latter.

Lee got to the final line and felt a moment of panic at the likely downgraded Debuff listed there. "Collar… of…"

His struggle was interrupted by Stanley whispering loudly in his head, "Say Absolute."

"...Absolute… Obedience." Lee stopped talking with a sigh of relief, quickly followed by rising fear. "You can control me too!?"

"Relax… little… brother…" Stanley's mental words sounded sluggish, exhausted, "I… only… nudged… the… collar's power enough… for you to do what you already wanted." His voice picked up, and the distant rumbling that had paused for the brief exchange picked up again.

Skill Level Up: [Twin-Soul Mental Fortress]

Lee accepted the explanation, partly because the Notification reminded him that they both had the same Skill that should protect them from mind control… and if he trusted anyone, it was Stanley.

Lee must have betrayed some of his thoughts because the elf picked up on something. Luckily for both of them, the monster in question seemed to have taken his reaction as a good sign and was smiling again. Then it asked him about the Source and what he could do with it.

"I can’t use it!" Lee exclaimed quickly, worried that the bastard would demand something. "It almost killed me the first time!"

"There must have been quite a price…" the elf said almost absent-mindedly, "for an F Rank to even touch it… tell me then, how did you claim a Source?"

"I don't know…"

"Don't lie to me! Tell me how!" the elf screamed as he leaped to his feet.

"I can't remember!" the words came from Lee's mouth before he had a chance to resist, "I don't know how… Master," he added belatedly and compulsory.

The elf stood still, glaring at him, then glanced at the collar on his neck and finally the bracelet around its wrist. The collar felt hot… as if at any moment Lee would suddenly feel the searing burn… "You are telling the truth." Lee nodded emphatically despite the lack of an actual question, and the elf sat back down with less enthusiasm. "But you used it to create your Fortress," it continued, "so tell me about… Three."

"I…" Lee struggled against the compulsion, searching for the right words to use. He didn't want to betray more than necessary. "I did use it to make Three… my Fortress. It is designed to protect me, Master." He stopped talking, technically having followed the order. The question of how the monster knew the name of his Fortress was self-explanatory. Lee didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but it had been more than a few hours, judging by the sun's height overhead. Plenty of time for everyone to be interrogated while he slept.

"How did you use the Source at that time? I want details!"

Lee winced even before he responded. He knew the bastard wasn't going to like his response… "I don't know, Mast… Ah!" The pointy-eared bastard did indeed not like his answer. "I really can't remember! I was going to explode and had to do something with the power!"

The pain grew, and Lee's screams drowned out Stanley's angry whispers. "I needed to be safe! I was scared and just needed to be safe!"

Lee didn't know where the words came from, but they stirred up the few memories he did have of that night. In that particular instant, before his memories became blinding, as he Burned and teetered on the brink of life and death, Lee's mind had clung to another more distant memory of comfort and safety from his childhood.

A stormy night, surrounded by noise and bright flashes and clinging to his brother as they both cried out in terror. Then their parents appeared, towering figures that drove back the monsters in the dark and wrapped them both in a warm embrace. His parents had seemed all powerful that night, unflinching and unbothered by the raging storm.

Lee had wanted to return to that, feeling completely safe and knowing that nothing could harm him while under the watchful care of their titan-like parents.

Skill Level Up: [Twin-Soul Mental Fortress]

The pain dimmed, and Lee heard the tail end of the angry rant by the elf, "...useless!"

"Are you ready to kill the fucker yet?" Stanley growled, "I think something might be happening over here…"

"Yes," Lee thought back and reached for one of his stored RuneScapes, "I…" It felt like his brain exploded, and all he could see or hear was the elf telling him not to use any Skills or Abilities.

The sensation nearly overwhelmed him, body and mind, but behind the roaring images, he could see a courtyard filled with glowing and glittering patterns. "I just need to pull back some Runes…" Pain seared its way into his brain, and when Lee returned to himself, the monster was standing over him.

"Still attempting to defy me?" it snarled and stepped even closer as it continued, "I Order you to stop resisting, stop looking for an escape, stop fighting and Obey!"

"Go… Fuck… Yourself!" Stanley screamed.

Skill Level Up: [Twin-Soul Mental Fortress]

The Level Up helped against the tide of pressure bearing down on him… but it wasn't enough. He was drowning, and the problem was that he couldn't stop resisting. Between Stanley, the Mental Fortress, and his own… Lee froze at the scene before him and ceased his struggles.

The elf had crouched down in front of a small child. "This is the one?" he asked. "You all look the same to me."

"Yes, my Lord!" That voice… "He is always with… aieee!"

"Wilson!" Lee found the speaker and crushed the man's Mana into immobility, trying to stop him from saying another word. Apparently, doing that hurt. "Good!"

The small girl was uncollared and clinging to her mother, Maria, herself frozen in place by the collar around her neck. Lee could see Maria’s hands twitching as the monster reached out one clawed hand and wrapped it around the child’s throat. The twitching grew into full body spasms as Anita was pulled away, and two more of the elves moved next to Maria, nervously watching her attempted movements as they grabbed her arms.

"As I understand it," the elf said, walking away from the crowd with Anita in tow, "you humans care deeply for your spawn." He effortlessly held the squirming girl with one hand around her neck. Anita’s crying and screaming cut off abruptly when he tightened his grip. "So," he continued, "I told you not to use any abilities or Skills, and yet you just did something to attack my subordinate…" A blade appeared in his free hand.

"I’m sorry!" Lee exclaimed, "I’ll obey you! Just let her go!" He saw the anger on the creature's face and quickly added, "Please, Master!"

"You say that as if it is your choice!" he looked even angrier now.

"I will obey!" Lee begged, "you won. You don’t have to hurt her, Master!" He threw himself forward, groveling on the ground.

"And yet you still struggle! Do you think I can’t feel that?" the elf raged and moved the blade closer to Anita’s face.

"Stanley, stop!"

The rumbles in his Soul ceased, and Stanley whispered, "We can’t trust him. We need to kill…"

Twin-Soul has been Breached…

"Oh no…" Stanley's presence was abruptly farther away, and Lee thought he heard Caff yelp. Then he felt rage bloom from his twin, and a flood of power bubbled up in their Soul.

"You are still fighting my control!" the elf screamed.

"It’s my brother!" Lee tried desperately to explain, "Something just attacked our Soul, and he is fighting against it! I think it must be the undead…"

The mention of the undead seemed to give the elf pause, but it was short-lived. "No, no more excuses. You will learn the price of defiance." It smiled then, "I am glad to see that your leader was right about how much you would care!" It pulled the knife back and then swung.

"Nooo!" Other voices sounded along with his, but Lee couldn’t hear them as he clawed for his Runes. Pain stabbed into him, and he fought through it, his mind pulling up a glittering RuneScape, and… he was too slow.

The knife swung under the struggling girl’s chin… and drove up into her head.

The whole world slowed to a crawl as Lee saw it happen. Lights flashed in his vision, and he felt a [Soul Tether] break, snapping back into his Soul like a hot poker stabbing into his chest. "No…"

Mocking laughter broke the silence as the elf pulled the bloody knife free. "That was your first lesson…"

Anita blinked and started crying!

"What…" the elf flinched in surprise, and something hit the ground with a thud off to the side. Lee’s gaze followed the sound and saw Maria face down on the stone only a few steps from the elf. She was convulsing violently and held a bloody knife in her outstretched hand. Where she had been standing moments ago now lay two dead elves, one with no apparent wounds and the other with a bloody hole in its forehead…

And behind them, Alejandro was on his knees, blood pouring from under his chin and down his chest… one hand held out towards his daughter, and a glow fading from his body. His lips moved as if he was trying to speak… then his arm fell limp, and his chin sank to his chest, his body settling down into the stillness of the dead.

"What is wrong with you!" the elf screamed, "I didn’t give you permission to die just to save a spawn!"

Lee heard him only distantly, his eyes locked on Alejandro. "Brother…"

"No matter," the elf said with a sigh, "a minor setback. I will just have to breed more of you."

Lee saw the elf turn back towards him in his [Mana Mind], his eyes still stuck on his new brother, now lost to him forever. "I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have…"

"It’s not your fault," Stanley whispered, suddenly back from wherever he had gone, "the fucker was going to kill her no matter what you did. I could see that much from his Soul…"

"Now I still have this one," the elf laughed, interrupting Stanley’s useless platitudes, "I doubt they can pull that off again… they shouldn’t have been able to do it at all the first time…" his voice sounded confused, almost worried. Still, it regained the former bluster, "Do you understand now? I am your Master, your God! Your lives are mine to do with as I please! Look at me!" it screamed, and Lee finally tore his gaze from Alejandro to look upon the monster who had killed him.

The elf spread his arms wide, a bloody knife in one hand and a crying Anita in the other. "Now, do you understand who I am?"

"I see who you are…" Lee said softly, his eyes locked on the elf’s as his mind reached into his [Rune Storage Library]. It didn’t hurt anymore. It actually felt kind of nice… a simple burning sensation that couldn’t compare to real pain. A pleasantly warm fire to drive back the ice-cold ache in his chest.

The elf smiled triumphantly at his words and then froze when he must have felt the Mana surge.

"...You are my Enemy!" Lee finished and pulled his Runes back from every piece of armor and weaponry outside the magic wall. The barrier broke under the flood of Liquid Mana, and Lee’s Runes bloomed bright all around them as he sent the Mana right back out. The light of his magic was blinding, and Lee had to rely on his [Mana Mind] to see until the glow finally dimmed.

"You didn’t…" The elf screamed as the light faded, revealing it staggering back with a still bloody knife in one hand and only a bleeding stump on the end of its other arm. An alien hand lay on the ground within a ring of glowing symbols and behind the shimmering dome that now covered both Anita and Maria.

Similar domes of light were now spread throughout the crowds around Lee, sheltering and protecting the humans from the elves among them. The forming shields had caught a few more of the alien creatures, and more screams echoed. But Lee was distracted by something else as he finished casting his [Mana Mind’s Eye] and pushing it across the gap between him and Three. Mana poured into him, but it came before he reached the building… "Three… what did you do?"

A trail of magic was in the ground, barely wide enough to be a sidewalk and thinner than a pane of glass. The entire thing was slowly growing towards him… and full of Runes. The strangest part was the fact that they were not his Runes… Instead, they felt so familiar that for an instant, Lee thought it was one of his RuneScape's, but it wasn’t his. It was… Three’s!

Lee could still feel all of his Runes in the massive conglomeration that was the building but hadn’t noticed the new ones stretching out from Three until his [Mana Mind] enveloped them. It was a lot of Runes… "We didn’t give it enough Soul to make that much, did we?" he thought and then had another realization, "Three is alive now, and growing…"

Lee was not idle during this time. Mana thundered through him as new RuneScapes formed around him and the others, increasing their protection and ensnaring every elf in range. He needed to make sure that no one could interfere and that he would be able to subvert the collar without interruption…

Blinding white light speared into his mind and scattered his thoughts. Lee felt Stanley beside him, bolstering him against the light. And deep within their Soul, another Light grew in response…

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -1 All Attributes Every One Second

"I knew you were hiding something!" the elf said into the sudden silence, "I knew that something was off with the collar!" Then he laughed… "I didn’t want to use this, but it seems that I will have to pay the price to claim my prize!"

Lee didn’t have to look at the elf to see what was happening. The bracelet around its wrist was glowing now. The small core of the enchantment where he had seen the Source was now spread throughout the thing. Lee could feel the wires of control that ran into him from the collar, could feel them growing, thickening into cables, and could feel his options shrinking. "Do or die time…" He pulled up more RuneScapes and…

"Stop whatever you are doing," the elf’s voice hit Lee like a freight train, and he blanked out for a moment. "Stop resisting, stop fighting, and OBEY!"

Lee did as he was told… even as a small part of him pulled at the Light in their Soul. "Stanley…help…" He could feel his twin fighting back, but it just wasn’t enough.

Lee’s eyes found the elf, and he saw why it hadn’t done this from the start. Its body had visibly aged, just like Lee and Stanley had… Its one remaining hand now hung low, as if the bracelet were too heavy to hold up. "It can’t keep this up!" Lee realized, "we just have to outlast…"

"You," the elf said to Maria, "get up."

Maria stood, knife in one hand and the other in a white-knuckled grip on Anita’s tiny hand.

Both of them had tears running down their faces, and Maria looked like she was preparing to throw the knife at the elf.

"Do to your offspring what you planned for me!" The elf said and then laughed as Maria turned slowly and with great struggle toward her daughter.

"No!" Lee shouted.

"You actually thought this would stop me?" the elf laughed cruelly as Maria lifted the blade in halting, jerking motions.

As the blade rose, Maria said something to Anita, "mami te quiere mucho!" Lee didn’t know what she was saying, but he could guess…

"Stop." Stanley’s voice roared in Lee’s head, and it felt like an icepick was driven into his brain. But Maria did stop… almost. She was now moving at a crawl as the bloody blade crept onward. "It won’t… last!" Stanley gasped, "I don’t have enough power here…"

"It won’t have to!" Lee told him and reached into his Storage. The Burning light in the collar fought him every step, and with each violent pulse from the collar, another light rose from their Soul to counter it.

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -2 All Attributes Every One Second

"Stop resisting my commands!" the elf screamed shrilly, and the words once again drove Lee to his knees.

"No." Stanley proclaimed, and this time the icepick in Lee’s brain helped him regain focus.

"Why do you even care about offspring when you can make as many as you want!?" the elf’s voice sounded almost pleading, then it doubled down… "All of you, I order you to kill every single unclassed offspring in this Fort!"

Voices rose in a chorus of protest, including some of the uncollared… they must have had children of their own. "You idiots made a deal with a demon!" But he would save their children too. He was ready as dozens of people exploded into motion, though luckily for him, some of the most dangerous were showing the same resistance as Maria. Most notably Bradley and Saira.

Bradley was a rock, literally. Lee could see his Mana pulling the stone around himself, compacting it repeatedly as he stood unmoving. Mar was taking stuttering steps and screaming the whole way as she flickered in and out of view. Saira closed her eyes, and her mouth moved as if whispering something. Right before a vine burst from her stomach and stabbed into Wilson standing next to her. The man squealed wonderfully.

Lee finally saw the Anubi outside the barrier. They were not collared, only gathered in a small crowd on their knees. Until the humans started trying to charge past them toward the assembled children, then they threw themselves into the fray, going low and wrapping tiny arms around their legs. Humans fell to their tactics, and more tripped over the fallen.

Martin stood just before the children, a collar around his neck. His hands at his sides and eyes closed as he looked almost peaceful. Jackson was nearby and, upon hearing the command, threw his head back and howled. Red light enveloped him, and he drew bloody rents through his neck while clawing at the collar. Then he turned to the nearest elf and started ripping it apart… and eating it…

In the meantime, Lee’s Mana plummeted as a massive glowing circle appeared beneath his feet. It expanded to encompass the entire stone platform Bradley had created and all the collared humans atop it. The Mana Well couldn’t keep up, so Lee pulled his RuneScape from the Walls.

The elf screamed in fear and ducked as the Mana roared in from every direction. The air shook and rippled as strange effects started manifesting in the flood. Lights flashed, and pockets of air solidified and fell to the ground in random shapes. The side of the building facing them turned to glass. The stone under their feet rippled and turned black.

Debuff Gained: [Mana Burn]

Symbols filled in the giant circle… and everything stopped. Well, almost everything. The collars all lit up, brighter and brighter, as everyone wearing one was now unable to complete their orders, including Lee.

Debuff Partially Resisted: [Stasis]

Debuff Gained: [Stasis](Partial)

The Source was running through his veins… or Mana Channels, along with it came mental empowerment. The enlightenment that had led him to create [Three] again filled his head, letting him see the problem before him. Lee and his twin could survive this. They just had to wait out the elf, which would likely die first. The backlash from his death would hurt, a lot, but they could survive. Unfortunately, everyone else would die… either from the backlash or simply from it all taking too long. Even now, Lee could see the collars killing them.

"It is time," Lee said, his body nearly as frozen as the rest, "I need more Source."

"I’m working on it." Stanley growled, "End this fucker already!" Then he pulled back from Lee’s conscious mind and down into their Soul.

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -3 All Attributes Every One Second

Twin-Soul +200

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -5 All Attributes Every One Second

Twin-Soul +200

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -10 All Attributes Every One Second

Lee ignored the Notifications. They didn’t matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was saving the rest of his friends and family. He was reasonably sure that he would die here… "We are Not going to die!" Stanley exclaimed, "I won’t allow it! Never!"

Lee let Stanley have his hope as he drank deep from the Source. He could see so much now… and it was glorious… also terrible. He could see the collar, the Source that powered it, and he knew that it wasn’t a true Source-Crafted Legendary. It was powerful, but only because it was meant to be used on higher-ranked targets. The collar was never intended to bind someone with a Source. Instead, a trickle of Source only boosted it to more strongly enslave whoever it was put on. Unfortunately for them, even that trickle was too much. At least if he wanted everyone that was linked to him to survive…

Lee began.

Mana flowed through him, wrapping itself up in threads of his Soul and the Source as it formed Runes. Lee was almost surprised to see that he still needed Mana, but not that surprised. His Runes required Liquid Mana, and he could see that even the Runes inside [Three] were made up primarily of the Liquid Mana. Lee had assumed they were pure Source, but he could see it now… and with that knowledge, Lee had a flash of what might be possible if he could channel enough Source into creating Liquid Source Runes…

He cast aside those thoughts and focused entirely on the two deceptively simple Runes he was forcing into the collar. No RuneScape's here. None of his grand preparations would suffice for this. Only two Runes were necessary. Two symbols that could overwrite the foundation that had already been laid in the collar.

Absolute. Freedom.

At a distance, they looked simple, but Lee could see past that. Now he could peek into the true power of the Runic. It was never about cramming as many Runes as he could onto an object. That was for beginners. The threads of his Soul that built each Rune were not there just to hold the liquid Mana in place. Though they did that, they could also do so much more.

Lee moved slowly, at least it felt slow inside this near stasis he had trapped all of them in, as his threads of power wove the symbols that would save them. Then, finally, the power slid into place, steadily forming the character for ‘Absolute,’ and as it did, Lee focused on the fragments of his Soul that made up the structure of it.

In Lee’s mind, Absolute meant all-powerful, unstoppable, unbreakable, eternal. He fed that knowledge into the forming Rune, let every concept and idea of that word he had flow into the formation, and as it did, he saw the threads of his Soul shifting at microscopic levels within the symbol. It would appear unchanged and straightforward on the larger scale, but Lee could see his own personal interpretations settling and codifying into the entire thing.

It was practically an entire RuneScape lurking within one Rune, except it wasn’t built from any Runes he knew. Instead, he created it from the Runes of his Soul, symbols that only he would understand and know, but symbols that would make this Rune of Absolute something more than it had been.

Before that symbol was even finished, Lee blended it into and combined it with the next Rune. Freedom. There he wove in his own concept of what Freedom meant to him. Freedom from enslavement was the obvious part, but also freedom from tyranny, violence, and death… Ultimately it was the power of choice, the ability to choose your own path, for good or evil… and then he combined it with the first Rune. Freedom that could never be taken away by force or threat of force, Freedom that no power could ever subvert. Absolute Freedom.

Lee didn’t know if he would survive here, but he would never allow something like this to happen again. Trak had warned him, told him they would be targets, and Lee had failed to prepare appropriately. So now Alejandro was dead… and who knew how many others had died during the attack. Never again!

Time passed strangely as Lee worked, seeming both slow and fast. Notifications came and went. Stanley whispered, shouted, screamed, and raged, and Lee ignored it all. Their Soul shook and rattled, but Lee kept working. The pain steadily increased and became a constant until finally, the RuneScape was done.

You have Destroyed a Legendary Item: [Soul-Binding Collar of Absolute Obedience]

Debuff Removed: [Collar of Obedience]

You have Created a Legendary Growth Item: [Collar of Absolute Freedom]

You have Equipped [Collar of Absolute Freedom](Runic Legendary)(Linked)

Buff Gained: [Absolute Freedom]

Debuff Removed: [Stasis](Partial)

The RuneScape on the ground beneath him shattered, and Lee slumped forward, his body feeling oddly light. "I did it!" Soothing light radiated from his collar and speared into every other collar around him.

"I failed," Stanley said bitterly in his head, "I’m sorry." His voice sounded farther away now as if he was hearing it from another room, the collar no longer binding them tightly together.

Lee looked through his Notifications while chaos erupted around him. "I see… we will die… but you didn’t fail," Lee told his twin, "we won. Look at them." Lee could feel the Source still roaring through them, killing them. But he couldn’t help smiling as he watched the elves die around him.

He noticed [Three] reach the stone platform beneath him. I’m sorry. I gave you life, and now I’m leaving you behind." The Runes spread slightly around him but didn’t go further. "I hope you will find new people to protect."

Then Lee looked at what he had spent his life creating and smiled wider. "I did it, and now this nightmare will never happen here again!"

[Collar of Absolute Freedom](Runic Legendary)(Linked)

A former Collar of Enslavement, this Collar has been Subverted by the [Runic](Lee Cascade) and become Anathema to Its former Purpose.

Created with Mana, Source, and Soul, this Item has the Potential to Grow Beyond Its Current Limits.

Charge: 100%

Equipped Effects:

Immune to All Movement Impairing Effects.

Immune to All Mental Impairing Effects.

Instantly Transports User to Safe Location at Will of Wearer When Charge is Full.

Instantly Transports User to Safe Location on Imminent Death and Places Into Stasis until Charge Depletes or Status Improves.

Instant Retaliation against any Active Control Bands Within 100 Meters.

Instantly Subverts Any Enslavement Collar Within 100 Meters.

All Subverted Collars Will Gain Full Effects Over Time based on Proximity.

Meanwhile, the one-handed elf looked around in bewilderment as his stupid dreams of power collapsed into blood and death. "You can’t do this… I am the Master!" He held up the bracelet and tried to do something.

"Bad idea," Lee thought, and he was right. The elf screamed as jagged bolts of lightning erupted from the bracelet and stabbed into him. Each bolt ripped holes through his flesh, vaporizing him piece by piece until only a pile of dust remained. Lee was honestly surprised that Maria hadn’t killed the elf first thing… but she only huddled with her children… next to Alejandro. "I should have acted sooner…" Lee still had the Source bolstering his mind, even as it burned away, and he saw a possibility within that light. It was… he didn’t know if it was the right choice… but there might be a way…. Of course, there would be a price… but watching his family mourn… "Stanley, I…"

"Just do it," Stanley sighed. "We had a good run…"

Lee looked at his Attributes and swallowed the lump in his throat. He should have enough… "Just one last time before I go…"

~~~~~~~~

Stanley

~~~~~~~~

Stanley was fighting against the darkness of the collar, driving it back beneath the steady presence of Caffeine. He couldn’t see what was happening outside while he fought the collar, but he still heard the piece of shit elf when it demanded they obey with its pissant whiny voice.

"Stanley, stop!" Lee sounded panicked, and Stanley stopped what he was doing to check on things.

"We can’t trust him." As soon as he looked at the fucker’s Soul, Stanley said, "We need to kill…"

Twin-Soul has been Breached…

Stanley heard Caffeine cry out…

[Still Mind of the Psionic Beast] Activated.

Stanley was back in their Soul an instant later, and he saw the rotting arms stretching into his Soul, claws digging into the enormous unmoving form of Caffeine.

"You fucking…" His mind went blank with rage, and Stanley sank his mental fingers into the invader. He yanked it the rest of the way inside… "You want to invade my Soul… Attack Caffeine… Then get the fuck in here!"

He dragged a zombie halfway into their Soul and stopped in surprise. "I know your Soul…" It roared at him and swung its disgusting claws. Stanley caught them in his Will… and started squeezing. "You are the one who ran away…" Of course, it wasn’t truly here in the flesh, only a Soul projection much like his own, but it was here and in his grasp!

The Zombie howled, "You!" It struggled to free its hand, but Stanley held it unyielding. "I will take your Beast! You are no match for me in Soul Magic!" it roared.

"No," Stanley said quietly, and with deadly calm, he squeezed the clawed hands in his grip into a pulpy mush. "You Won’t!"

The monster screamed, and Stanley let it as he continued, "you fucking undead, you just can’t leave me alone, always coming back for more…" He forced it to its knees in front of him by the crushed arms he held. "I should thank you," he added with a cold smile, "coming in here, delivering yourself right to me, but I won’t!" he screamed into its howling face, "Fucking dead freaks that don’t have the decency to stay in the dirt!"

"I am Eternal!" it howled, "I will…"

"You Are DUST!" Stanley screamed, "...so go back to the dirt where you belong!"

It looked like it tried to say something else, but Stanley’s Will had touched it now, and he felt his power reach beyond the Soul, out into the world where this pathetic weakling couldn’t resist. Its form crumbled and started dissolving before it could make another sound. The fear, pain, and disbelief screaming from its Soul were… delicious.

"Good riddance…" Stanley paused as he felt something else from outside his Soul. Coming from behind him, back where his body was…

It was Eve… and she was dying. Only something was off…Stanley left the Zombie to its death and reached out with his Will, gently pulling her Soul up to the edge of his own. "You’re dying… what is happening out there?"

"Stanley?" Eve's Soul felt scared and confused, conflicted, but at his words, she stirred. "The Undead… I couldn’t…"

Stanley studied her Soul. There was something… "You have a choice," he said softly, "options."

Eve pulled into herself, seeming to diminish slightly. "I… I'm scared," she whispered, "I don't know what I am turning into, what I will become. I keep changing, every step taking me further into the unknown."

"Does it matter?" Stanley smiled at her, "I know you won’t leave your brother behind because you're scared."

"I never said I wouldn't!" Eve yelled, "At least some of us are fighting while you take a fucking nap!" her usual fire rising to the surface, and then her anger stalled as she looked around. "What the fuck did you do to your Soul?"

"I’ve had a rough nap…" Stanley said.

"Damn, I thought it was bad before…" Eve trailed off.

"Thanks," Stanley said dryly, "shouldn’t you be getting on with the whole ‘not dying’ thing?"

"It’s bad, Stanley," she whispered, "real bad. We could really use your help…"

"I’m working on it."

Eve suddenly twitched and growled, "All right already, you fucking bitch! I accept your god’s damned evolution!" Her Soul withdrew in a heartbeat, coalescing back into her body as Eve aborted her imminent death.

"Take care of Caff…" Stanley whispered and then clutched at his head. "Oh, right."

[Still Mind of the Psionic Beast] Deactivated.

It was strange how much that didn’t feel like the usual times he used his Still Mind… But then, things sped up, and Stanley heard a fading scream…

Enemy Raid Leader Defeated…

As satisfying as it had been to crush that piece of shit, Stanley was still worried. Because unfortunately, things had indeed kicked off outside. Also, given that Caffeine just got attacked… and Eve was dying, it wasn’t going well. "Why didn’t you just kill that thing, Caff?" He was pretty sure there had been a notification about Raid Leaders earlier… "Maybe…"

Enemy Raid Leader Defeated…

Enemy Raid Leader Defeated…

That was a good sign… Eve must be kicking ass along with everyone else, but he was still trapped here. "I did what I could to prepare them…" Regardless, Stanley clawed his way back up to his brother’s consciousness and took in the shitshow on this side of the continent. "Well, fuck." He hadn’t been gone that long…

"It’s not your fault," Stanley told his twin, who was blaming himself, "the fucker was going to kill her no matter what you did. I could see that much from his Soul…"

Then Lee lost his temper and started raging. "It's like we’re twins!" Stanley thought sadly.

Stanley did what he could to hold back the pain and let Lee concentrate… he especially liked the part where Lee cut off the fucking elf’s hand, and then the Source crashed into them. The god damned piece of fucking shit collar had cheating bullshit Source! They were the ones who were supposed to cheat with Source… not the monsters.

It sucked ass… and then power rose from their Soul.

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -1 All Attributes Every One Second

Stanley let the light fill him and fought back against the commands hammering down on them. Then he saw the elf tell the woman to kill her child… "Stupid cheating elf that I can't just kill!"

Lee was doing something, but it wouldn't be fast enough. It was time to see exactly what he was capable of here.

Stanley gathered his Will and forced it out at the target. Not the elf that he wanted nothing more than to rip into pieces, but at the horror-stricken woman.

Stop

"Ow…" It fucking sucked how much that hurt. It must have required every bit of power that his Soul held… and maybe going through Lee wasn't a great idea. Already he could feel his Will being pushed back… but the relief in her Soul was balm enough.

"It won’t… last!" Stanley said, "I don’t have enough power here…"

His twin did something with magic, and Stanley's minimal experience with magic users made him wish dearly that he could have seen his brother in action against those fucking undead casters. Because they didn't have shit on what he could feel here.

The elf bitched and moaned some more, demanding they stop, and his twin stumbled. "No." Stanley defied the power pushing against them and grimaced at the pain, but it was worth it. Lee finally finished whatever he was doing, and everything around them abruptly stopped. "Hey, he copied me!" Stanley thought, though on a slightly larger scale… "I could do that," Stanley grumbled, "if I was there."

"It is time," Lee said, "I need more Source." Stanley agreed. It was time to end the shitshow.

He pulled back into their Soul and took in the changes. The darkness was pushed back almost to the edges, though the tendrils still stretched down toward the glowing crack. They now held streaks of brilliant white, and the gap they reached for looked wider… and brighter. It was leaking Source or radiating it… a reaction to the fucking collar trying to control them. But it wasn’t enough to break them free, merely a shield against the outside Source and the damage it would do if it touched them.

Caffeine still stood large and unrelenting with the collar in his teeth, and Stanley paused to give the large head some pets. "You’re a good boy, Caff. I’m sorry you got dragged into this shit." He didn’t know if Caffeine could hear him, but he hoped so.

As he floated before the glowing flood and soaked in the light, Stanley observed their Soul. However, he had a slight problem… because he didn’t know how to access the Source… Every time before had been instinctual, panic-driven events. But Stanley could see more with every second that passed, every second that more power filled them, and every second that more of their life burned away…

Stanley could feel the collar's strength, and he knew this paltry amount of Source wouldn’t be enough to break it. He also understood now that they had never really used the Source, the crack was a flaw they had drawn from, but that's all it was, a leak. A dripping faucet that they had sipped at, and now they needed to turn on the tap…

Following instincts more than anything else, Stanley pulled… or lifted… no, unwrapped, and their Soul unfolded… that was the best way he could think to describe it.

Twin-Soul +200

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -5 All Attributes Every One Second

Power flooded brighter and brighter, and more of their life burned away. "More." Stanley pulled again.

Twin-Soul +200

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -10 All Attributes Every One Second

So much of their Soul had been tied up in keeping the Source contained… and now it was free. Stanley felt pain more profound than any Source fire could burn as he looked for the first time at the Source laid bare.

A small, glowing pure white, curled-up little pug lay in their Soul's center. "Caff…" Stanley couldn’t remember how they had claimed the Source, even with all the power raging through his mind at this moment, but he had a good idea of what had happened now.

Caffeine had taken it… used his own Soul to house the Source and protect his Dearest Humans, then locked himself away, wrapped up inside their Soul. The pug he’d seen standing over the crack, biting the Raid Leader, and holding back the collar, was only a shadow of Caffeine’s true Soul.

Stanley didn’t know what it had cost the pug to do this, but he knew Caffeine had paid a heavy price. "We don’t deserve you, Caffeine," Stanley thought as he knelt and placed his hand gently on the sleeping pug.

He could barely see details through the blinding white light, but Stanley saw Caffeine’s eyes open, and the small curly tail started to wag back and forth.

As Lee started to act, Stanley remained in their soul's center. He knew that there was nothing to be done on his part. Anything he tried to do with the Source would only hasten their death, and he could feel Lee’s fatalistic attitude. "We are Not going to die!" Stanley declared, "I won’t allow it! Never!"

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -20 All Attributes Every One Second

Stanley kept an eye on the situation around his brother, but nothing needed his attention, so he simply stayed in place and pet Caffeine as their life burned away a second at a time until…

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -100 All Attributes.

"Lee must have been getting low…"

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -100 All Attributes.

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -30 All Attributes Every One Second

"Lee, you’re using too much!" His brother couldn’t hear him, lost deep in whatever he was doing.

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -200 All Attributes.

You Gain +100 All Attributes.

"It’s not going to last…"

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -20 All Attributes.

You Gain +10 All Attributes.

"You’re trying so hard, Caff… but I won’t let it end here."

Warning! Vitality Attribute Below 1. Death Imminent.

"Death is a choice…" Stanley murmured, his hand slowing as he rubbed a glowing white pug’s belly. He could feel their lives burning away, fading and teetering on the edge of oblivion. Stanley gathered up his Power, his Will, and drove it against the onrushing end…

"I Reject It!"

Death… Error! (-100) -75 Twin-Soul Attributes (25% Less Damage to Twin-Soul) from Trait: [Ruthless Unbreaking Soul]

You gain +200 All Attributes

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -40 All Attributes Every One Second

The pain was quite exquisite as he burned their Soul for more life… but they lived! Lee didn’t even falter as the Source continued to rage through him. "Hurry it up!" Stanley yelled, but he doubted his brother could hear him…

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -10 All Attributes.

You Gain +5 All Attributes.

Caffeine was trying, but it couldn’t keep up.

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

"I Reject It!" Stanley raged against the dying of the light.

Death… Error! (-100) -75 Twin-Soul Attributes (25% Less Damage to Twin-Soul) from Trait: [Ruthless Unbreaking Soul]

You gain +200 All Attributes

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -50 All Attributes Every One Second

It was all too soon before death reached its claws out for them again.

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -2 All Attributes.

You Gain +1 All Attributes.

"You’re the best boy, Caff."

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

I Reject It

Death… Error! (-100) -75 Twin-Soul Attributes (25% Less Damage to Twin-Soul) from Trait: [Ruthless Unbreaking Soul]

You gain +200 All Attributes

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -60 All Attributes Every One Second

Stanley lost a few seconds recovering from the pain of feeding his Soul to the Void, but he forged onward. "I won’t let us die!"

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -1 All Attributes.

You Gain +0.5 All Attributes.

I Reject…

Death… Error! (-100) -75 Twin-Soul Attributes (25% Less Damage to Twin-Soul) from Trait: [Ruthless Unbreaking Soul]

You gain +200 All Attributes

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -70 All Attributes Every One Second

Racial Evolution In Progress…

"No…" He was fighting a losing battle here, and Stanley had a bad feeling about that last bit.

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -0.5 All Attributes.

You Gain +0.25 All Attributes.

Reject…

Death… Error! (-100) -75 Twin-Soul Attributes (25% Less Damage to Twin-Soul) from Trait: [Ruthless Unbreaking Soul]

You gain +200 All Attributes

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -80 All Attributes Every One Second

Racial Evolution In Progress…

"I… will… not…" Then, another Notification came to him, seemingly from far away…

Enemy Raid Leader Defeated…

"That’s good… they haven’t given up yet…"

Warning! Vitality Attribute…

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -0.1 All Attributes.

You Gain +0.05 All Attributes.

"Please… don’t die, Caff… I need… you… to… live…" It was getting harder to keep his head up. Above him, in their Soul, Caffeine’s large form was dimming… fading out in spots. The collar in his teeth was glowing with two symbols steadily increasing in brightness, and that glow was spreading through the collar, but not fast enough….

I… Reject… It…

Stanley pushed his will against the universe… one more time… but it was getting so much heavier…

Death… Error! (-100) -75 Twin-Soul Attributes (25% Less Damage to Twin-Soul) from Trait: [Ruthless Unbreaking Soul]

You gain +200 All Attributes

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -100 All Attributes Every One Second

Racial Evolution Complete!

Trait Removed: [Adaptable]

Race Evolved: [Psionic Source of Power]

Trait [Ruthless Unbreaking Soul] Upgraded: [Ruthless Undying Soul]

Warning (Twin-Soul)[Source] is Burning your Body and Mind -10 All Attributes Every One Second

Lee chose that moment to finally finish his magic, and Stanley watched the collar turn from Soul-crushing blackness into brilliant white as the large pug faded away completely. "You did so well, Caff… " The force holding him tight to his brother vanished, and Stanley opened his eyes to a nightmare.

So much pain and fear… so many Soul’s crying out in despair…

Caffeine was lying on his chest, and he whimpered as he tried and failed to crawl toward Stanley’s face, tongue reaching out to give comforting licks. Stanley lifted himself up into his usual cross-legged position and felt the sting of the Source burning in him from that simple action… "I failed…"

Zeke, Eve and Walter were before him, standing at the threshold and holding back a tide of darkness. Zeke’s light was dim, shot through with black corruption… all three of them, no, everyone he could see, was rotting from that same sickness. "I’m sorry…"

Stanley had already checked his Status, and they only had a handful of seconds to live. He even looked for Cores… and found some… only it wasn’t nearly enough.

"I see… we will die… but you didn’t fail," Lee whispered from far away, "we won. Look at them." He sounded happy, and Stanley focused on trying to get back to his brother. He couldn’t see through his eyes anymore, but he did catch a glimpse of the Souls around Lee.

There was hope… and it was rising into more… though he could feel a dark spot, and Stanley could feel Lee focused on them. It was the woman and her children huddled around a man that was presumably her husband and their father, their dead father. Stanley could feel his Core still forming… But Lee was planning something… "Stanley, I…" Lee said hesitantly.

"Just do it," Stanley told him, "we had a good run…" Might as well do some final good deeds before they kicked off.

Then Stanley felt at the Souls around himself. It was much bleaker on this side, especially Zeke… the boy’s Soul was infected with sickening corruption, and it was coming from something embedded in his chest. They were surrounded by an army of Undead, and Stanley would definitely die instantly if he tried to kill them… but maybe he could… "I might as well…" Stanley thought, and he reached out… "I’ll give you something to believe in, Zeke."

You have Created a [Source-Tether](Ezekiel Mitchell)

"Ah… Oops, I didn’t mean to… Meh." It didn’t matter.

The golden light from the boy blossomed into high-noon sunshine as the corruption in his chest was instantly subsumed by white-gold light.

Stanley held Caffeine close in the warm glow as the helplessly weak pug licked his face. He pulled the few Cores in range to his hand before his Attributes dropped too low for even that and held them up to Caffeine. "Please eat it, Caff. You don’t have to die with me!" Caffeine only whined and ignored the Cores.

Stanley could see through the darkness now and what had been threatening the Tower. "Is that a ghost?" It looked like the light was burning it badly, yet it still came on, drifting closer and closer to Zeke. Stanley understood now why there were no Cores… Energy was pouring into the zombie in a flood. Soul Energy… He could feel the hordes outside, could feel their Souls being ripped free and sucked into the Raid Leader before him, keeping it alive despite Zeke's aura. "That explains why things went so bad…" It also explained why he wasn’t seeing Cores everywhere. "Dirty fuckers, they even steal the Cores." They fell in droves, and any Undead who reached Zeke’s aura instantly burned to ash. Most of those dropped Cores, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to the hordes dying further out.

Eve tried to pull her brother away, but he refused to budge, only holding out his arms as if to hug the monster. She screamed as it entered the building, and Zeke stepped forward, throwing his arms around it. Stanley could feel an almost identical shard of darkness in the ghost’s chest compared to what had been inside Zeke, and then the boy hugged it. The white gold touched the deathly black, and Zeke’s shard prevailed.

The golden light intensified, but Stanley could still see through it and saw the ghost transforming. Translucent flesh solidified, the rotting corruption all over it faded, and a young-looking alien stood there in the flesh. Its Soul radiated pure happiness, and it lifted thin arms to return the hug. It said something in a strange language, but Stanley got the gist from its Soul.

"Thank you."

Then its newly restored form started to fade away.

Enemy Raid Leader Defeated.

[Greater Boston Raid Dungeon] Ended. Victory!

All Invaders Defeated.

Calculating Contribution Rewards:

Rewards Reduced Due to Raid Dungeon Duration.

+200 All Base Attributes

Title Acquired: [First Time?]

Title Acquired: [Raider]

Trait Acquired: [Inspiring]

"A little more life to live…" Stanley thought and almost immediately saw the following Notification.

Soul-Bonded Beast(Caffeine) Sacrificed -200 All Attributes.

He didn’t gain anything and guessed that Caffeine sent them all to Lee. "You can’t save us, Caff," Stanley murmured sadly to the pug. He had considered going on a killing spree, but with him and Lee both losing ten points a second… it was hopeless. Their Soul was too small to wrap up the Source again, he had done that, burning it down to keep them alive, and combined with the new Evolution… which he strongly suspected had also been forced onto Lee...

He might be able to sustain himself if he fought non-stop, but Lee… no, he was tired. He was tired of fighting and killing. Better to die quietly than start down that road. A life of endless violence and death… how long until he was forced to harvest humans to gain a few more seconds of life?

He didn’t absorb the few Cores he’d claimed. A paltry couple dozen points wouldn’t make a difference. He would leave them for Caff. "Walter," he whispered, and the man appeared at his side.

"Stanley, I…" Walter hesitated, likely he could see the truth.

"Please take care of Caffeine," Stanley said with tears welling up in his eyes, "He likes cuddles and belly…" Stanley choked on a sob and continued, "...belly rubs." The pug in question howled a sad, weak little howl.

"Thank you, Sir," Walter said, "he shall want for nothing." Stanley could tell that the man was barely in control of his emotions, but he appreciated the effort.

"Come on, Caff. Let’s go see your other dearest human one last time." Stanley retreated into his Soul as he saw Zeke and Eve come running. It was better this way.

Lee had finished his project, and he felt happy. Stanley liked that. It was good to see his brother happy. "Lee…" He didn’t know what to say.

"It’s like you said," Lee appeared in the [Twin-Soul Mental Fortress] and smiled at him, "we had a good run and left the world better than we found it."

Stanley nodded slowly as his brother joined him next to the glowing white pug and sat down to rub Caffeine’s belly. "I like that," Stanley said, "we left the world better…" Zeke was a good kid, and he would go on to do great things, especially with all of the people around him looking out for him.

"Thank…"

Lee abruptly looked up. "Three! What are you doing?" He leapt to his feet, "Three, you can still survive! Don’t…"

Everything… Stopped.