It was dark outside, but lit up and wide awake in the underground.

Zeke was leading over a dozen people through some martial arts technique, and no one seemed tired yet. He had healed everyone who needed it, with only a few more Oaths required. Stanley had assisted in the questioning and discovered that most of the bad blood between the camps was limited to a few people.

Walter donated some food, claiming that his storage was shrinking and he needed the space, but Stanley knew that was a half truth. Food was tight down here because it was now too dangerous to go hunt spiders; courtesy of Stanley and Co. There were families here with hungry children, and Walter was a softy. Not that Stanley was against the idea, and besides, getting a few more regular spiders wouldn't be very hard for him.

Eve was working again on finishing her fourth rocket blaster. She claimed that all four would be enough to carry the truck, and Stanley was looking forward to leaving this island. He really hoped that the ridiculously short distance they'd gone so far on this journey wasn't indicative of what they had to look forward to down the road.

Stanley had sent Sara to join Zeke's training, and it was great fun to watch. Her participation had drawn in a few more children and they were all adorably inept, but improving. Stanley hoped that she would learn something from it; she didn't have to follow his path of crippling his physical body, and it might be useful to know some martial arts someday.

Jacob was among the students and he quickly got over his anger once he realized just how much Zeke could help him. Apparently there were some Skills and Skill levels gained for the effort. Zeke insisted that he wasn't a good teacher like Nate, but they learned all the same. Apparently, this training session couldn't compare to what Zeke had enjoyed, including one on one sparring daily with a Master Martial Artist.

Stanley learned that Jacob had two more children, both learning alongside him, and they brought out a much gentler side of the man. It made Stanley feel better about Zeke's over-eagerness to see the good in everyone. It also made him feel worse about his willingness to execute Erin when they met… more so when he saw the man interacting with his own wife and kids. "Stupid humans being complicated individuals!" Stanley just hoped the man had learned something from their exchange, if only for his kids.

For his own part, Stanley waited and watched, both in here and as much of the city above as he could reach. The tiny spiders were still everywhere, and he could feel more Orb Weavers moving about in the distance. Some even wandered dangerously close to this place, and for that reason, Stanley kept his Soul blanketing the entire gathering of humanity. As a result, he was also doing his best to remain cheerful, or at least calm. He would wait for Zeke's training to end before offering to unlock some Soul Attributes, no need to traumatize anyone before that.

Daryl was moving among the people, looking for an Apprentice of his own, and that surprised Stanley. It wasn't something he'd expected from the somewhat antisocial illusionist.

"He is coming out of his shell," Walter said quietly beside him, "more every day since you returned." Stanley wasn't sure what his return had done to help Daryl… but Walter continued, "Daryl did not know that Adrian still lived, not truly, and not until you told him of the Souls. He feared that only Cheesesteak would one day emerge, that Adrian was lost forever."

"Okay. I can see how that would help…"

"He spent nearly every day fighting and hunting, in a never ending quest to be strong enough, to not fail his love again. He would not listen to my words, could not see anything other than his own perceived failure."

Stanley thought of his own time trapped in Stasis. There had been fear and worry, thoughts of death and failure too, but he'd had something that helped him endure the long dark. In those long and endless nights with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company there had been the messages from Caffeine. Little rays of light in the dark, signs that told him that he wasn't dead, that his brother wasn't dead, that they still had hope.

"Yes, that is what you have given him, hope. Hope for the future. Hope that there will be more to this life than the violence and death." Walter smiled as he watched Daryl talking to children and their parents. "Now he seeks to pass hope onward, to share it with others. That is truly a wonderful sight to see after so long in the darkness." His hand squeezed Stanley's shoulder and Walter didn't say anything else, but he didn't need to.

Eve had said that a few more bodies wouldn't matter for her flight plans… Stanley just hoped she was right.

The training ended with plenty of tired people, and many went to their respective 'homes' in this cave. Stanley took the opportunity of the slightly more pleasant mood, and gathered crowd to both tell of, and ask about, the Mimics. He closely watched the Souls of everyone present as he did so.

Daryl and Zeke were cleared of suspicion by Caffeine's clear joy at seeing them, along with the wolves and Princess. Of course, Caffeine was friendly to pretty much anyone, and his attack on the Sara Mimic might have only been because it attacked the girl first. However, Stanley did assume that Caffeine would take issue if one of his friends had been replaced…

But as for everyone else… Stanley had no idea what the limits might be for those creatures, and he still had no way to tell if one of these people might be a Mimic in disguise. None of the people in the camp had seen or heard of the specific monster Stanley told them about, and none of their Souls betrayed any deception in their denials. The one wrinkle to this method, was that the Mimic who attacked Sara had shown no hostility in its Soul right as it tried to take a swing at the real child.

Stanley didn't know if that was how they all did things or if the one and only Mimic they'd seen might just be what he suspected; a weak stray that was not indicative of the rest of its species. The theory was heavily supported by the fact that the Mimic was too weak to be anywhere near enough of a threat to the spiders…

He also shared what they knew of the Orb Weavers, the acid river, and the B Grade lurking in the park. Stanley thought it might put a damper on their enthusiasm to reclaim the city, but instead, it had the opposite effect. Obviously, they were a bunch of lunatics.

The rest of the night passed slowly for Stanley as he meditated and watched for danger. Caffeine came and went repeatedly, sometimes returning panting and ready for a nap, but never too tired to sprint off again for more play or snack time.

Sara made every other child in the camp extremely jealous when she started flying around the more open spaces, and Stanley had to turn away more than a few people that wanted to Apprentice, including adults. He did unlock some Souls eventually, and in the process felt slightly vindicated for taking on Sara; no one else came close to her Affinity. Stanley also felt oddly pleased with their envy of his Apprentice. They should be jealous of Sara, she was His Apprentice, after all.

Unlike the last place, they had an enchanter in this camp, and he claimed that his magic could keep the spiders from ever finding them. Stanley still kept his Soul Shield going. To be fair, they had survived all this time without his help, but Stanley felt just a tiny bit responsible for increasing the threat level outside, and so did his own part. Though the glowing symbols did remind him of his twin…

Lee laughed in his Soul Fortress when Stanley finally got a chance to tell him what had been happening over here. "Maybe she can help you be less gloomy, especially since she can ignore your Soul!"

"Yea, yea," Stanley grumbled, "I'm going to be a real ray of sunshine now."

"Teach her well, Stanley. She might even teach you something you hadn't thought of, I know Gabriel has given me plenty of new ideas."

People eventually drifted away to sleep as the night wore on, mostly the children at first with their lower Attributes and higher sleep requirements, but the others followed in time. Stanley kept up his vigil through it all, practicing keeping his mouth shut in the low stakes environment.

Eve didn't sleep. She stayed up in a bid to finally finish her project and get them all out of this city. She worked quietly through the night, all of her creations made through her magic and unaccompanied by the usual cacophony one would expect in a machine shop.

Stanley watched it go together like an insane jigsaw puzzle as piece after piece was crafted in her hands and added to the growing device. He would have assumed it was all the same silvery metal, except he was close enough to know that despite looking similar there was a wide variety of different… alloys? Stanley had no clue what they were exactly, only that there were indeed differences.

He gained a new appreciation for Eve's work as he watched. Just the sheer number and miniscule size of the crafted pieces was enough to make him glad it wasn't his Class. Some pieces got infused with her Soul, while many did not, for reasons only she understood. Core Shards also went into the device, placed delicately into fragile seeming sockets that Stanley knew were anything but.

Morning, for most of the people here, came before dawn. No one needed that much sleep anymore, and many of the combat capable were eager to grow stronger after getting a glimpse of what they were missing. Stanley wasn't sure how well they would be able to hunt with the stirred up spiders, but they apparently had some secret tunnels directly into a few buildings that would allow them to bypass the streets.

Stanley pulled Erin aside before the man left; still feeling guilty about almost killing him. The man was somewhat receptive to his words, but Stanley could feel the stubbornness at his core. In the end, he could only sigh and hope for the best as the man left.

"I'm done!" Eve proclaimed, finally standing from where she had spent the night. The new blaster rocket went on her back, and she briefly tested it by hovering around the underground chamber. "Who's ready to leave this shithole?"

They were all ready, though Eve got a few dirty looks from the residents of said shithole.

They said farewell and headed back out into the tunnels. Daryl hadn't found anyone with a high enough Affinity for his Class, for which Stanley was secretly pleased. He already had too many people to protect…

Jacob provided them a guide before they left, and the man led them to one of the hidden passages that let out into a building above ground. It was a great help because it allowed them to avoid breaking out through the grates and drawing the attention doing so would bring. It also helped because the tiny spiders did not clog the buildings like they did the streets.

Walking outside was easier with Daryl along for the trek. His magic didn’t plunge everyone into total darkness like Stanley's attempts to hide did. They all halted shortly after stepping out though, because of Sara.

"It's so big!" She stared up into the sky with awe, and Stanley got close enough to grab her if she tried to fly away.

"She's never been outside before," Angelina said in explanation, a sad expression on her face but hope and affection in her Soul as she watched her daughter take it all in.

Stanley grabbed Sara's wrist an instant before she launched skyward. He focused on his desire not to go anywhere, but didn't directly use his power to stop her. It was enough. Between his Will holding him in the air and the weight of his C Grade body, Sara couldn't escape easily. "Later, Sara," Stanley told her. "We will fly after we leave the city. There's a lot of spider webs up there, and you don't want to get tangled up in them. Besides, you need to get stronger so you can take your mom with you. I'm sure she would want to be there."

Angelina very much did not agree with his statement, but she managed a smile while pulling Sara back into her arms.

Whatever Daryl was showing the world with his illusion, it was effective. Almost all of the little spiders got out of their way, and the few slower ones were easy enough for Stanley to toss away. Gently, of course.

"It's an Orb Weaver," Daryl said when asked about it. "Smaller than the real thing, obviously, but I think the colors mean something to the rest. Just tell me if a real one gets close, I doubt we'll fool those."

Thanks to the illusion and Stanley's ability to warn of approaching Orb Weavers, they decided to stay topside the whole way back. It avoided the issue of breaking the webs that sealed off the underground, though they did have to duck into buildings more than once to avoid the patrolling monsters or get around particularly thick webs.

Stanley was the first to notice the problem when they got back to the truck. Namely, that the truck wasn't there.

Eve didn't believe him when he told her and she rushed ahead forcing everyone to keep pace with the illusion. She found their parking spot, now sans both the truck and the illusion that had hid it. Eve ran into the space with hands outstretched as if expecting it to be there only invisible. "No, no, no!" She found only empty air. "No! This can't be right! Fuck! It took me so long…" Eve fell to hands and knees in the vacant spot, Soul radiating a storm of emotions.

Stanley might have thought her reaction a bit extreme, if not for watching her work all night. He really hoped the entire truck hadn't been as complex… While he contemplated that, another split was trying to figure out what they would do now. He could probably carry everyone past the river… It would probably require multiple trips, and he would need some kind of harness for the wolves…

Eve climbed to her feet, still upset but rallying away from the anger. "Stanley, don't do anything!"

He blinked at her. "I was…"

"I can still get us over the river! I'll just need to build a crude platform… and the flight will need to be short because we won't have the extra power supply." She looked at Stanley. "You won't be able to sleep, and I don't know how long it will take to make enough of my metal for another pod… So don't do anything! Maybe just sit on the ground?" Stanley hadn't thought of that…

Eve started walking away. "Daryl, don't set up here. We need to get closer to the river for this."

Daryl was weaving a new illusion over them and he shook his head at her words. "It doesn't make any sense. Did they destroy it? Drag it away? There are no marks on the ground to indicate dragging, and there's not even a bit of debris that should be left behind if they destroyed it. It's like it just vanished into thin air…"

Stanley felt a Soul appear out of nowhere behind him within the rubble of the collapsed building next door. The Soul was surprised, quickly followed by relieved, before it vanished once again. Stanley smiled as Daryl's complaint about the lack of evidence suddenly made sense. "Wait." He caught Eve's arm as she was stomping away, her feet coming down just a bit harder than necessary, and turned her around to face him.

Eve's eyes went wide as the Soul abruptly reappeared behind him, along with a familiar shape. Stanley turned to follow her gaze and saw Adam stumble through the trailer door. The young man almost fell on the ground when he landed, but he stood straight and looked at them. "Kept safe," was all he said before looking away.

Eve was already walking back in a disbelieving haze. "Adam…" Then she took off running. "I fucking love you, Adam!" Her attempt to hug him met only air when Adam vanished, but Eve took it in stride, changing course to the cab, throwing the hood open and instead hugging the engine. "I missed you, baby! I'll never let Stanley talk me into abandoning you again!"

Stanley rolled his eyes but he was smiling. Eve's very real joy was infectious. He was also glad that he would be able to sleep when it became necessary… Caffeine vanished into the trailer where Adam's Soul had retreated, and his happy little cries at being reunited were a soothing sound. Though, Stanley did follow and do his best to keep the pug's joyful exclamations from drawing the wrong attention onto them. He dragged the two new additions to their group with him, one confused and worried, the other excited and awestruck.

Eve was already injecting her Soul back into the engine when she called over her shoulder. "Stanley, get into the pod. We're going to need the power."

Daryl quickly spun an illusion over the entire truck again, and then followed Walter to the trailer. Stanley was settling into his spot when Walter's Domain reclaimed the trailer. The relief in his Soul finally brought into contrast just how much the butler had disliked abandoning this place, and Stanley even found himself feeling almost at home… Not from being in the pod, but just the feeling of everyone in the right place again.

Eve finished empowering the engine quickly and moved on to installing the rockets. That took much longer, and Stanley spent the time watching out for danger while also passively charging the batteries. Though, he couldn't really take credit for that.

Walter prepared food, clearly pleased to be back in his kitchen instead of over a fire, and he made sure to present the first plate to Adam. "Thank you, Sir. We are all in your debt and I thank you. Please, if you desire anything simply make it known and I shall endeavor to provide." Adam didn't reply but he did immediately dig into the fried spider meat. That was enough for Walter and he served the others, including sending a plate to Eve outside via Zeke.

Sara bounded around the inside of the trailer while asking about everything that she hadn't seen before. "What's that? What's this for?" And so on. She did stay inside at least.

Her mother sat quietly eating her meal and smiling at Sara's exuberance. The little bubbles of nervousness in her Soul finally bubbled up into a question. "Is this truck really going to fly?" She asked quietly, as if afraid of the answer.

"God damn right it is!" Eve proclaimed from outside, her statement providing no consolation to Angelina.

"Don't worry," Daryl said, "worst case scenario is that we fall out of the sky and Stanley can catch us." He had his eyes closed as he scouted with Princess and the mischievous smile didn't help.

"Don't listen to him," Eve said, "I'm a fucking genius!"

Zeke took Angelina's hand and golden light surrounded them both. That did the trick, and Angelina calmed considerably.

All too soon, Eve was finished and ready to test her creation. "Kick the tires and light the fires!" Stanley could feel her tension despite the bravado, but he kept his mouth shut.

Eve took the driver seat and hesitated only a moment before… Well, she didn't have a big red button to punch, but she did something, and the truck blasted off.

They only went a couple feet off the ground, but still, they had liftoff! Unfortunately, it didn't come without consequences. "We're putting out a lot of Mana, Eve. I can't hold the illusions," Daryl said over the roar of the… rockets? They weren't really rockets, maybe closer to jet engines, and they were creating a lot of wind outside.

Eve set them back down, and Stanley gave everyone the really bad news. "The Orb Weavers are coming!"

"Do your thing, Daryl!" Eve called back. "We're hitting the road."

He did, and they surged forward onto the street. Only this time moving on wheels rather than through the air. "Might as well get closer to the river," Eve said. "We won't be able to fly forever."

Once again, most of the tiny spiders got out of the way, and Stanley was busy dealing with the stragglers. It gave him something to do to distract from the upcoming chance at escape from New York.

The test flight seemed to pay off because the Orb Weavers converged behind them at the building while they drove further and further away. Unfortunately, it didn't last. Too many webs had been strewn between the buildings, and they only seemed to get more dense the closer to the river.

Stanley shared the bad news, and Eve hammered down. "Hold on back there. We need to break through and it might get rough."

The turbines spun up again and angled straight back, adding to their speed before tilting to thrust them into the sky with a sudden lurch from crumbling surface streets to smooth air. Sara tumbled through the trailer with a squeal of delight, completely oblivious to the gravity of the situation.

They climbed, one storey, two stories, but the momentum didn't last. The webs were sticking and not breaking as they stretched back behind the truck to impossible lengths.

Stanley sent out his Soul-coated knives even as Eve realized the problem and her cannons opened fire on the webs ahead. Meanwhile, he went to work on the trailing threads tying them to the earth. The webs burned away under the streaks of hot light that went ahead, and the trailing webs failed to stand up to Stanley's flying weapons. It didn't even cost any Soul to slice through the silk strands, and they could find no purchase on the dark blades.

The much heavier streaks of webbing coming from the pursuing Orb Weavers were a surprise, and those burned when his knives cut them apart. It wasn't to the point of costing him points, but Stanley knew it would if he kept it up. That was no deterrent and Stanley cut them apart as fast as they speared out.

The truck was still advancing and ascending. Three storeys up, four storeys… The river was in sight a few blocks ahead… But they were slowing.

The Orb Weavers weren't very fast, but they were big. Their size made up for the slower speed and the long legs ate up the blocks between them at a ridiculous rate. The first one came into range, and Stanley blendered its head.

-1 Twin-Soul

-1 Twin-Soul

Its crashing corpse tangled up the one behind it and bought them a few seconds.

Daryl and Princess popped a small hatch on the rear of the trailer and started bombarding the spiders with fire. Walter appeared at the opening right as a strand of spider webbing as thick as his leg shot through the gap. It slammed into Walter's arm that was suddenly before Daryl's face, and Stanley cut it off outside before Walter was dragged forcibly from the trailer.

Through it all they flew. Bit by bit they pulled higher and further away.

Sara was no longer excited, having picked up on the fact that this might not just be a fun adventure. Maybe she had seen out the back at the monsters chasing them, or had started to feel the impacts hitting the trailer. Now she was holding onto her mother with wide, scared eyes. Despite that, Stanley could feel her small Will pushing on the truck and trying to help.

They reached the rooftops. Nothing but clear sky ahead as webs trailed from them in a tangle to the buildings below and behind. Another Orb Weaver got too close…

-1 Twin-Soul

-1 Twin-Soul

More webs were shot and more were cut off. A few fell short as they climbed higher and higher.

Stanley started cutting away the thick matting of web that still trailed behind them, trying to lighten the load if nothing else.

They left the rooftops falling away below as the river approached at speed. Only one block left. Then half a block. Then…

The B Grade in the park moved.

Time slowed as Stanley felt his heart sinking. They were so close!

A perfect sphere of web appeared around the truck. It was intricate, almost fractal in design, and not attached to anything. The lurch when it suddenly constricted tight around them still threw everyone forward.

Stanley was cutting it to pieces before that and looking for any clue to how it was restraining them. He found nothing and his Soul Burned with each cut strand.

-1 Twin-Soul

-1 Twin-Soul

-1 Twin-Soul

This would cost him, but it wouldn't be enough to stop…

Another sphere of web appeared around them. The sphere, or maybe Orb was a better description, the Orb closed as violently onto them as the first. Meanwhile, the B Grade was approaching, and doing so faster than any of the Orb Weavers.

Eve was cursing and cajoling her truck to give just a bit more as power blasted from each engine, the exhaust enough to burn away the encircling Orb where it passed close.

They were over the water now, just past the halfway mark and still moving forward.

Another Orb closed around them. Stanley couldn't keep up, the webs appearing faster than he could cut them away… They were slowing. Stopping. The truck was shaking violently and Stanley feared the engines would rip themselves free.

Of course, when everything was going wrong, it just had to get worse.

Stanley didn't see anything from where he was trapped inside the darkness of the shell, but he felt it when the water reached the lowest point of his mental touch.

Time slowed to the point that Stanley felt his mind starting to take damage. He didn't let it deter him, besides, Zeke's aura was blazing and it would keep him going even if his Regeneration couldn't keep up.

The pillar of water reaching for them was massive. It was ridiculous! A skyscraper's worth of water couldn't do that! And yet it was.

The webs that didn't have to be connected to anything were somehow dragging them back. Eve could reverse the thrust and it would likely pull them from the path of the acid, but that would only be handing them to the B Grade…

Throwing Caffeine at the spider might be an option, but these webs… worried Stanley. If they could restrain the truck, without travel time, and without even needing to tie to anything… could Caffeine even dodge, much less escape if he was caught? The Soul-coated blades might be able to help kill the monster…

It was all moot, though. Eve wouldn't be able to reverse in time. The ridiculous, cheating, acid was closing too fast and too wide. Stanley wasn't sure how much damage they would take before escaping, if they even could, he had no definitive proof that the webs weren't simply holding them in place after all.

Stanley took a few frozen seconds to look over his people, his family. All of them frozen in various states of fear, determination, and anger.

Daryl had retreated to hover protectively over Adrian, Princess and Walter at his side, the latter with one arm buried beneath thick webbing.

Zeke stood behind Eve, his Soul strong with belief as he supported her in the only way he could.

Adam was bleeding from eyes, ears, and nose, while in the process of passing out from trying to break them free.

Cunning Fang lay under Adam, her gaze focused behind them directly toward the B Grade in pursuit. Her mate was likewise looking in the same direction.

Sara clutched her mother and was held tightly in return as they both cried out with fear.

Caffeine watched Stanley, and he blinked slowly as his gaze jumped back and forth to the B Grade.

"Not this time, Caff." Inside Stanley's Soul, glowing eyes cracked open.

Stanley's mind filled with Power, and time seemed to grind to a complete stop as his mind swelled with the influx.

"I could kill you all," Stanley thought. "It would be easy. Just a snap of my finger and you are all dust…" Even now he wasn't sure how to kill the acid, but that wouldn't matter either. He could boil every drop of liquid in the river to gas, then boil it into a plasma. He could then boil the ocean just to be sure.

"But I won't." He didn't need to, and it would cost more than it was worth. "I only need a little bit, just enough, and no more." Stanley gently gathered his family into mental arms, cradled them carefully in his mind, and he Moved.

The unbreakable orb of silk binding to and wrapping around them suddenly had no choice but to let go. Mostly because it vaporized in the air turned plasma shockwave that Stanley allowed to form in front of them as they left. Not that it mattered, nothing could stop him now. He wanted to move and so he did.

The reaching acid boiled in that same shockwave, not all of it, and not nearly enough of it, but Stanley hoped that it could feel pain.

The world blurred past as he took them a few miles past the river, or at least that was his best guess. Far enough that they could drive on and leave this shit show behind, but still as close as he dared. If something was hunting for him, then less might be more in this case. Hopefully the shell would survive, and if they were really lucky it would hide his use of the Source.

-150 All Base Attributes

A small price to pay. Glowing eyes closed in his Soul.

Eve was the first to notice what had happened, not that the others could miss him using the Source almost directly next to them. The truck accelerated hard in the first few moments after Stanley let go, but Eve was quick on the uptake and she got it under control.

Stanley had left them above what looked like a road, at least in his mind's eye, and Eve leveled off briefly before descending to land with a few bouncing jolts. She slowed down and eventually stopped, just breathing in the aftermath of another near death experience.

Sara and her mother remained frozen in terror as they stared at the shell hiding Stanley from sight, which meant that the shell probably hadn't blocked enough… Everyone else was worried, but they'd felt the power enough that it was not so shocking.

Stanley popped clear of his confinement. "I had to…"

"Yea," Eve said, "I saw the fucking acid."

"I just hope…" Stanley felt it an instant before the Notification, and this time he knew there would be no last second escape.

You Have Been Conscripted into Greater Raid Dungeon.

Stanley could feel them. Like the eyes of a monster glaring at him. Two points of Power had appeared in this world, and they were both looking right at him.

"Walter, the Core, now!" Stanley held out a hand as the world slowed to a crawl once more. Walter's own hand moved upward at a snails pace and Stanley pulled Caffeine into his lap while he waited the tense moments. He didn't know for sure that it would be necessary, but if ever he needed it, this was the time.

Stanley could feel power building, could feel an attack rising towards a crescendo, and he started moving. Out the door, into the sky and facing off toward the twin threats streaking towards him. Both were B Grade, and nothing like the spider he had just left behind in the... The spider hadn't been left behind. It was in this Dungeon as well, which meant the acid was too.

Inside his Soul, the slumbering pug opened his eyes wide and then stood up.

The Core appeared in Walter's hand, still encased in the metal shell, and Stanley pulled it to himself as he Moved. "Watch out for me Lee, and you too Caff." It was all he could do.

+1000 All Base Attributes

The rush of power from the Core was a heady feeling, but it was lost in the raging inferno of Power that was the Source. There was something else there as well, something wrong... but Stanley didn't have time to dwell on it. The attacks had begun.

A bolt of power streaked across the sky so fast that it appeared almost to have originated at the destination. Stanley Moved, and it burned a scorching hole through the sky past him.

They were still too far away to strike back. So Stanley advanced.

Caffeine was squirming free and Stanley dove closer to the ground as the next attack streaked over his head. That was enough for Caffeine and he jumped clear as they neared the ground. The crater left behind when Caffeine touched down and immediately vanished was only still forming as Stanley flew past. It exploded in a bomb blast behind him that stretched into the sky.

Stanley laid eyes on the first of his attackers, and it looked like a bug. A humanoid shaped bug. "Of course, it's more bugs."

Then Caffeine was there and the monster dodged the black missile going for its throat.

Cut

It dodged his Cut...

That attack shouldn't be dodgeable. It was the speed of thought, and Stanley was thinking very fast right now.

Another explosion of dirt and trees heralded the return of Caffeine, and Stanley barely managed to slide just enough to one side to dodge the second monsters beam of death.

Only after avoiding the attack did Stanley note the direction it had been pointed in. "No!"

Stanley felt Walter touch on his Source Tether, an instant before his Soul lit up in pain. But that was all, only pain, and his Soul still glowed with life.

The monster turned to look that direction, likely drawn by the use of Source, and Stanley didn't give it time to think about finding another target.

Cut

He was falling back on old habits here, which was probably a good idea, this wasn't the time to get creative. Not that it was working. It dodged again!

Caffeine narrowly missed the bug and kicked off the ground in an abrupt course correction that avoided another of the lightning bolts from the other monster.