Stanley rose slowly from the darkness, his body and mind feeling stronger than ever. He could feel the Souls all around him, including Caffeine whose head was twitching on his chest. Stanley floated there, in the pleasant afterglow that came with the absence of pain and the rush of power.

Until a distant boom penetrated into his mind and he suddenly jolted awake. "Caff! The bats…"

Stanley paused in his sudden alarm, wrapped his arms around Caffeine and hugged him close. "Good boy." He whispered as he caught up to the rest of what [Soul Awareness] was telling him.

Wary! Afraid! Danger! Wait!

There was more but it was less distinct. He lifted himself upright, Caffeine settling into his lap, and focused on his [Soul Awareness].

Bats. Above and below. Undead below. But they were stopped… waiting for something. They must have blocked off an area because the bats were massed nearby but not attacking. Above was… "I see." He whispered to himself.

The only problem was that he couldn’t feel the Undead Leader anywhere. "No way he just runs away." The monster was strong and Stanley was still unsure if he could actually defeat it. "I think I can escape now at least…"

Stanley looked at the Bats crouching near the elevator and watching him warily.

"Did you tell them to stop?" He asked Caffeine while giving him a good ear scratch. The pug leaned into the scratching and sighed tiredly. "Here you go." Stanley said as he held open his jacket. "You can rest now." Caffeine eagerly crawled in and settled against his chest.

Stanley looked back at the Bats in front of him as Caffeine almost immediately started twitching and faintly whimpering. "He was so tired." He thought. "I'll find you something to eat soon." He promised silently, then paused as he felt power flowing in and around the pug. "He's ranking up!"

"Good boy!" He whispered. "…did he wait for me to finish?" Stanley wondered, though he had no idea how it actually worked.

He made sure Caffeine was as comfortable as possible and while he hated the idea of Caffeine suffering like he just had… he was glad. They needed power, and anything that made Caffeine harder to kill was great.

Stanley flexed his arms. "I'm stronger than I've ever been before." Yet his arms were still just twigs inside his jacket. His hands also didn't look any older or more withered, which was a relief. He'd been a bit worried that his Choice would turn him into a shriveled up old man immediately, but it didn’t. "I made the right choice." He told himself as he felt out his new level of power.

All the Energy gained from Ranking up… he felt great. His mind was clear and he could feel his Psionic Energy Pool swirling inside him. It didn't feel any bigger but the Energy felt more… well, more. "Nate was right…" He understood what the man had meant now. "But he neglected to mention a few things..." He would have some things to say to Nate, next time.

The Bats moved away as he approached the elevator doors and then followed after him as he flew up the shaft. "No rush to leave yet." He thought. "Not until Caffeine is ready." Though there was something to check on first.

As he went higher he noticed that the walls of the shaft were changing. He eventually stopped to get a better look and saw what looked like rock covering the walls. "Like a cave…" He continued and watched as the elevator shaft turned completely into what looked like a natural underground cave tunnel. 'Looked' was used loosely since it was mostly dark, with only the light coming through the open elevator doors on each floor. As he moved higher the large windows got smaller and the office floor plans became more and more cave-like until the windows were tiny cracks in the stone that let in slivers of daylight and small gusts of wind. "Must be something to do with being a 'Lair'." He did wonder if the whole building would eventually turn into a pillar of rock.

Stanley felt the bats following them get more and more agitated as he ascended, until they finally screeched and attacked him.

Stanley was ready, having felt their Souls shifting from wary and afraid, into wary, afraid and desperate. He didn't hurt them, Caffeine had probably been making friends with them after all. He only blocked their path and continued up.

At the top level he stopped and stepped onto the rocky floor. He looked around what must have been the penthouse as two huge bats dropped down at him and froze in place.

A high rocky ceiling with small cracks was letting in just enough light for Stanley to see what he was expecting.

Humans. Six of them, all trapped inside a makeshift cage that looked like it was made from old rebar. One of the humans moved when he entered and was frantically waving at him while not making a sound.

Stanley was not surprised when a huge bat burst from a tunnel that might have been a doorway at some point and charged towards him in an angry, screaming crawl. Behind it followed another bat, just a bit smaller.

The Queen, and her mate. She was very likely the one responsible for all the bats, including the new ones designed to hunt him.

"Run!" The man who had been waving yelled, giving up on trying to be quiet.

Stanley ignored the man as the Queen suddenly pounced at him. She struck an invisible wall and bounced back, landing near the cage. Her mate slowed his approach after her failure and started trying to circle Stanley.

The man in the cage yelled out. "Tell Adrian we're …" He choked off and collapsed as the queen turned her head towards the humans and drew in a deep breath. Stanley could see Mana visibly flowing into her mouth, from the air and from the caged Humans. "Regenerating food supply." Stanley thought as he observed. "Clever."

She stopped inhaling when the humans all collapsed and before she could do anything Stanley spoke.

"If you attack me again, I will kill you." Stanley knew she didn't understand his words but he tried to infuse his will into the statement, putting intent and meaning behind the words. Just enough to hopefully impart to the queen the knowledge and confidence he held about how easy it would be to crush her. And it would be easy. She was only about as strong as the General Zombies and with his new Rank, Stanley felt no threat from her. Though it was a testament to her strategy, or maybe just a lucky Evolution, that despite being so weak she could hold off the Undead.

The Queen hesitated at his threat.

She had some intelligence, the imprisoned Humans were proof of that. She was also giving him a lot more information than the little bats had. They were very simple creatures running on instincts hard wired into them. The queen however, had desires, ambitions, and dreams.

Stanley’s [Soul Awareness] was going crazy, jumping around on different feelings and ideas, before it finally settled on mostly resigned. He could feel her anger, fear and hunger. Then Caffeine released an adorable little howl in his sleep.

You have heard the Howl of the Beast Lord.

+1% Effectiveness of All Attributes to Friends

-1% Effectiveness of All Attributes to Not Friends

The Queen's gaze shifted down to the large lump under Stanley's jacket and in the end her fear won out.

The Beast Lair Queen has surrendered. Lair Defeated. The Exit is open.

You have Defeated a Lair while alone.

Title: [Solo Hunter] upgraded. +1%

Stanley watched the queen stalk backwards as a rock wall popped open off to the side. Above the opening was an unlit emergency exit sign. Stanley let her two guard bats go and they immediately crawled up the walls near the elevator shaft, getting back in position to ambush anything that came through.

"Help us!" The man whispered from the cage and Stanley floated closer. He glared at the queen when she took a step towards them. "I'm taking them." He told her and she screeched. A cacophony of screeching echoed from the open elevator shaft.

"You didn't kill the bats?" The man asked him, wide eyed. He looked between Stanley and the angry Queen. "What did you do to it?"

Stanley ignored the man's question and listened to his [Soul Awareness]. "I'll be right back." He said and flew back into the elevator shaft.

"Wait! Don't leave…" His voice faded as Stanley descended quickly until he reached the door that the Undead had blocked off.

He paused as he assessed what lay on the other side and looked over the swarm of bats crowded around inside the shaft. "Still no Raid Leader…" Then he struck.

The barrier of office paraphernalia shattered and rained over and through the Undead on the other side. Stanley grabbed two of the Undead and launched back up towards the penthouse as the bats swarmed through the new opening.

The sound of screeching and exploding bats followed him back upstairs.

The queen stilled when he entered with two Zombie Generals trailing behind. "At least I think they are…" He realized that he hadn't gotten a message about killing an Enemy General when he killed the one outside. "Was that first one special?" They all felt about as strong… Hopefully the first one 'was' special and its death hurt them. "Bastards."

He thrust the unmoving Zombies, Generals or not, flat onto the floor in front of the queen and ripped her Human cage open at the same time.

"Go to the exit." He told the people in the group who were all looking at him wide eyed. "Today!" He snapped when nobody reacted.

He got a couple nods as they started moving and he turned his attention back to the Queen.

She was crouched near the Zombies warily, they were near her own power and apparently she could tell. "A Trade." He told her, adding his mental intent of taking her prisoners, her food, and leaving these Zombies behind. He didn’t really want to fight or kill the bats, as they were a great nemesis for the Undead and a potential safe haven for him.

The queen's hunger grew until it dominated her Soul and she pounced on one of the Zombies and bit down on its head. Stanley watched the Mana get sucked out of the creature until it crumbled into dust. "Even the Core gets drained?" He thought. "Does she get the stats or just Mana?"

The queen crawled back into the other room, her belly swollen and glowing, and her mate bit into the remaining Zombie.

Stanley held it down until he felt its resistance end and then started for the door.

He could feel something odd coming from the room where the queen went. Souls were being… created?

"No…" He realized what was happening. "They are being born." A lot of them in fact. They mostly felt like the small Undead eaters and not the ones created to find him. "Good."

As he stopped at the exit he saw a few small bats crawling into the room, they also had glowing bellies. Each one stopped in front of the Queen's chamber and puked up little blue glowing rocks. "Interesting." Stanley mused as he wondered briefly about how other Lairs would work. "Can't all be Mana eaters, right?"

Stanley shook away the speculation when he noticed one of the former prisoners was already a few floors down when he stepped into the stairwell. "Lots of Undead down there…" Stanley murmured as he looked at the rocky stairs.

"You made it here." A man said. "Can't you get us through?"

"Did Adrian send you?" Another man said at the same time. Stanley looked over the group of three men and two women. They were dirty and had some minor scratches that were still healing, but otherwise seemed okay.

"No…" Stanley said quietly to the five of them. "I came in here to escape from the Undead…"

"But…" The first man started.

"There is a Raid Leader out there… somewhere." He refused to believe it had left, that would be too easy.

Both men looked at each other and back at him. "That sounds familiar…" One of them said, "What's a Raid Leader?" Another asked.

Stanley sighed and settled into a cross legged sitting position in midair. "It's bad news. Very bad." He wrapped his arms around Caffeine as the pug continued his Rank up and started floating down the stairs. "Think of a Necromancer but worse…"

Stanley floated slowly down the stairs as introductions were exchanged, which Stanley immediately forgot, and he told them what he knew of the Raid Leader. It wasn't much, strong, fast, magic…

They caught up with the runner when he got tired and found him sweating and gasping for breath.

Stanley half listened as they told him how they had ended up trapped in the Lair. Apparently the burning building that Stanley had passed in his run from the Raid Leaders, was a stronghold of sorts led by two men, Adrian and Daryl. The two had some kind of magic fire that kept the Miasma out and they were strong enough to fend off the Undead, so far.

"...spotted these two coming in here, Tim and Becky." Someone pointed at the two. "We volunteered as the rescue team to get over here and bring them back." He slumped. "We didn't know about the Lair and by the time we discovered what was in here…"

One of the other men, what's his name, chimed in. "Monsters that explode when you kill them…" He was gently rubbing his arm that was still an angry red. "Thought I might lose my arm. Bloody cheaters."

Stanley wasn't listening. He was focused on his [Soul Awareness] and finding the Leader. "It has to be here…" But he couldn’t sense it, only the bats and the Undead scattered around the building. They had given up on holding a position in the building and were all outside now.

Someone said something about food and water and Stanley tried to find another vending machine but all the doorways from the stairwell were fused shut. Something to do with the Lair Exit, no doubt. He thought about his backpack that may or may not still be on the street outside. "We'll see…"

Stanley wasn't in a hurry though. He had no intention of leaving the Lair until Caffeine woke up. So despite the others grumbling, he continued his sedate pace. He used the time to practice moving with his eyes closed and feeling his surroundings with his mind.

He tested his range and figured out that if he stopped moving he could send his mental touch all the way to the ground floor. He couldn’t 'see' everything in between or see directly around himself at the same time but his range was… well he didn't know if it was better since he hadn’t tried that before.

He did notice that he couldn’t find an open path outside. The stairwell ended at the ground floor and he thought he found a door leading out but it wouldn't open. Stanley figured it must be a Lair thing. He would worry about it when he got there.

Blah, blah, blah, they kept yapping, well some of them. Stanley ignored it and tried to make sense of their Souls. He was getting far more than even the Bat Queen had put out. Fear, excitement, hope, anger, and more. He was also feeling a steady undercurrent of hunger and thirst from all of them.

Eventually they reached the bottom and Stanley opened his eyes just before they entered the room outside the stairwell. The stairs, now looking like regular old boring concrete, ended and a doorway led into a small room beyond.

"Stop." Everyone jumped a bit when he spoke and Stanley carefully studied the room ahead. There was indeed a closed door leading to outside the building, but there was also an open door leading into the room. "We wait here."

There were some looks back and forth and before anyone could ask Stanley clarified. "No one goes through the door until Caffeine is awake and ready." He rested his arms around the twitching and occasionally whimpering lump inside his jacket. "He is stronger than I am." He said quietly to the assorted looks he was getting.

"Was he that message…" One of the men started and trailed off. "Beast Lord?" Another asked.

Stanley hovered in front of the open doorway and looked at his fellow humans. "Sit. Rest, while I tell you how this is going to happen." All but one of them took a seat on the stairs. Stanley could feel their hunger and thirst, but fear was close behind.

"When we go out, you will run as fast as you can through the door." He waved behind himself. "When we are all outside, I will pick all of you up." He lifted all of them into the air. "Like so." He let them get their alarmed yells out as he tested their resistance to his power. It was there, but it felt weaker than previous times, either they were weaker or he was stronger. Or both.

He continued to hold them up and explained. "I want you all to focus on accepting and wanting me to carry you. It makes it… easier."

"But…"

"Put me down!"

Stanley glared at them. "I am leaving fast, supersonic fast." They quieted under his glare. "If you slow me down, I'll leave you behind. If you fight my power I will drop you." He met their eyes. "I only rescued you because I had time to kill." He got more glares. "Now, I would prefer if more Humans are alive to fight back, but… I would let you all die to save me and Caff."

Stolen novel; please report.

"To save your dog?" One of the women exclaimed.

"Absolutely!" Stanley shouted at her. " And if he wanted to eat you I would break you into bite sized pieces!"

She wilted under his yell and Stanley set them all down and closed his eyes. He took slow deep breaths in the silence as he felt Caffeine’s roiling power begin to settle. "Stay calm, Stan." He thought. "We will get out."

When he felt calm enough, he opened his eyes. "If you want to stay behind, that's fine. If you're coming with me…" He sighed. "Just don't fight me. Better yet just close your eyes and hold your breath as soon as you get out the door and I grab you."

Stanley looked at the man who had mentioned the burning stronghold. "I plan to reach your base in less than two seconds. Understand?"

The man was wide eyed as he nodded. "You can do that?" He whispered.

Stanley nodded back. "And so can the monster hiding out there." He said quietly.

A few quiet agreements to come with him were drowned out by one man. "We're not going! Right babe?" He looked at one of the women who looked away from him. "I'll go with him…" She whispered.

"What?!" The man yelled. "You just heard this Psycho and you're ready to… urk." He clutched at his throat as Stanley did his own Darth Vader impression.

"Shut up." Stanley glared at him. "If you're in you're in, if you're out… good luck."

Stanley suddenly dropped the man, smiled and unzipped his jacket to let the squirming pug free. Caffeine jumped up and licked at his face with happy whines. Then he barked, jumped down and started running over to smell the others. "Meet Caffeine." Stanley said, smiling. "He's harmless."

Caffeine still felt the same to Stanley, power wise, as he sniffed at proffered hands and accepted the hesitant head scratches. But Stanley had always been surprised by Caffeine’s strength so that was fine.

The angry man drew back his foot when Caffeine tried to sniff him and Stanley was ready to break the man in half if he tried to kick the pug, but the man just stepped back. "Glad you're not a total idiot."

"Okay." Stanley took a deep, nervous breath. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

He waited for the others to go through the doorway into the small room, then passed through himself and the door shut behind him. He had expected something and so wasn't surprised.

You have Exited the Defeated Lair and Spared the Queen.

Reward: One Skill Shard.

Stanley saw the Shard coalescing on the floor as the door outside swung open. He pulled the Shard into his hand.

Congratulations! You have found a [Core Fragment(Shard)].

[Skill Shard(Rare)]

Effect: Attempt to Learn Skill: [Mana Drain]

Absorb [Yes/No]

"Well damn, that could be useful." Stanley was starting to understand. "Defeat the Lair but leave the Queen alive and you get a Skill." That was… basically a Dungeon. But instead of the monsters getting respawned, they were spawned or bred from the Queen. "What happens if I go back inside and attack again?" He was curious if he could just farm the Lair for Skills over and over again.

"Or what if I kill the Queen?" Would the Lair disappear or would a new Queen appear? Would the reward be different?

Stanley brought his attention back to the Shard.

Skill: [Mana Drain(Initiate)](UnCommon)

Effects:

Touching a target will allow you to drain Mana from it and add it to your own Mana Pool.

Drain amount affected by Intelligence and Skill Level.

Stanley sighed dejectedly. "It requires touch and would it even work if I don't have a Mana Pool?" Humans could allegedly learn any skill but did that mean they could use any skill? He decided to hold off on learning it just yet.

"Ready?" He asked the others as he looked outside. "Run!"

Caffeine was in his arms as he floated on the heels of the last person. As soon as they were all outside Stanley grabbed all of them completely, pushed the air out of the way, and was pulling hard into the sky and down the street in a heartbeat.

The buildings were a blur as he pulled for the open sky, and he saw something just as he felt a rumble coming from Caffeine. "Fuck!"

Glowing lines appeared around everyone, like spiderwebs trailing behind them. The lines got brighter and thicker until all of them were dragged to a halt in midair. "No!"

Stanley looked back and saw the origins of the magic. A massive ring of orange light was glowing with strange symbols across the ground. It surrounded the Lair they had left and the glowing ropes of magic led down into the ring. "Fucking…"

He felt it then. Above him the monster was suddenly there, its Soul brimming with power. Too much power. "How is it still so much stronger!" Stanley had really hoped the gap between them would have shrunk more.

Stanley gave up on the others and wrapped himself and Caffeine in all his power. I AM FREE

He flew forward as the glowing strings slipped from him, his power draining out of him. "Yes! Go!"

But more strings appeared already around him and thickened until he stopped and gasped as his power bottomed out. "Only a few feet?! Fuck!"

Stanley was held by the magic, it wouldn't let him move in any direction not even to fall out of the sky. His whole body stiffened as something flowed from the still thickening magic ropes. It hit him like an ongoing electric shock.

"Pathetic." A raspy voice came from behind and above him. Stanley heard Caffeine growling and felt him squirming but couldn't even turn his head down to look. "Fuck!"

"I thought you might be the one." The voice continued. Stanley struggled against the bindings as his power trickled back up.

"But you are only a Psionic." The voice spat with venom. "No Psionic could have killed my brother." The monster drifted into Stanley's line of sight. "All the options in the universe and you picked that." Its jaw didn't move as its voice came from the pale, not human skull. Twin fires of gray light flickered in the empty eye sockets. "Magic is the only true power."

Stanley heard something crack and shatter as Caffeine snarled. Then the pug was sliding from his arms. "Caff!" He panicked and before he could remember that Caffeine could probably jump off a skyscraper unharmed, the pug leapt off of his chest and launched at the Undead. And was immediately wrapped up by more magical ropes.

"This one on the other hand." The Raid Leader gestured with one skeletal hand at the pug. "This one caught my attention."

Caffeine went to work chewing on and then eating the magic binding him.

"That Skill you have, the one I am sure you took from my brother's corpse." The raspy voice continued, somewhat drowned out by the crunching and growling pug.

"That Skill made me think you must have done the deed. But even if your Purifier was helping I doubted you could accomplish it."

Caffeine broke free again and Barked at the Undead before leaping off of his previous constraints and towards the Monster. A shield flashed around it as it lifted another arm and a glowing sphere formed around the pug. Caffeine tumbled as the sphere spun under his feet like a hamster ball. "But with this one involved maybe…" It trailed off.

"It shouldn't actually be able to do that." The Raid Leader said as he waved at the fading, half eaten magic ropes. "It's as if your Beast doesn't know what it cannot do and so does it anyway." He laughed then, a horrible dry, scratchy laugh. "That is why I waited for you here, to claim this..." Stanley focused on one of the burning eyes, hoping that if he attacked a smaller area he might get through.

CUT

The shield flashed again and the Monster snarled at the interruption. "You humans… you dumb beasts." It drifted closer until it was only an arms length from Stanley. "We were never supposed to be in danger here. The only reason we haven't killed all of you…"

CUT

It raised a hand up, magic blossoming into brilliant green fire. The hand swept down towards Stanley and behind the Undead he saw Caffeine balloon up, shattering the bubble holding him and blur towards the things back.

CUT

The Raid Leader slapped Stanley as more magic ropes snared Caffeine. Stanley tried to scream as something in his face crunched, but he couldn’t even close his eyes. "I'll kill you!

Caffeine Barked and the Undead lurched forward slightly as his shield flashed again. "Silence Beast!" It roared and suddenly Stanley couldn't hear Caffeine growling anymore. It lifted all four hands and traced out a complex pattern in the air as Caffeine ate through the magic binding him once again. "Be Still!" The Undead said loudly, and Caffeine froze. "Caff…"

"I'll teach you manners, Beast." It turned back to face Stanley. "After I free you from this waste of Cores."

"Free him…" Stanley's mind was racing as he desperately tried to think of something he could do. The four hands began moving again, leaving trails of magic hovering in the air as it cast another spell.

CUT

"This will hurt." The Raid Leader hissed as he finished his spell and slammed all four hands into Stanley's chest. His vision tunneled and then Stanley was in the void and staring at his Soul.

A horrifyingly bright thing was next to him. "It's in my Soul!" Stanley gaped helplessly at the Undead as it studied his Soul. "What did you do to your Soul?" Its voice was nails on a chalkboard inside his mind but it sounded actually surprised. "How did you ever survive this… hmm... nevermind." It moved forward and inside the misshapen orb that was his Soul.

Stanley saw something then, something flickered into view and vanished again. "Lee! Ru..." Stanley started to tell his brother to escape before he was ensnared as well and then realized, this was their Soul, there was nowhere to run. "Help!" He thought instead.

"I'm trying… be ready." The barest of whispers danced through his mind and his brother was gone again.

Stanley was still wrapped in the glowing magic chains, even inside his Soul but he Willed himself forward and his form followed the Necromancer into his inner Soul.

Inside Stanley stopped as the monster turned in surprise. "You can navigate inside your Soul Space?" It shook its head. "No matter. It's time to set my new Beast free."

"Your what?" Stanley thought. Then he noticed something. "Where is the crack?" There was no glowing crack and for that matter, where was Caffeine? He should have been in here sitting on the crack.

"There it is!" The Undead exclaimed, while looking at something in his Soul. "If I just cut here, my Beast will be free." Glowing energy lit up on its ghostly arm. "You will likely die but don't worry I will take care of the Beast." It hissed. "It will become more powerful than it ever could chained to you."

Stanley desperately struggled against his bindings. "He won't be happy as an Undead!"

The Necromancer laughed. "Who cares about being happy? He will be powerful!"

Stanley screamed and struggled futilely as it raised its glowing hand. "Noooo…"

Shadows moved behind the Undead and a glowing crack was revealed as darkness pulled up and away from the bright line beneath."Caff!" The shadows coalesced into the looming form of Caffeine. "Was he hiding the crack?" Brilliant, blinding white teeth formed around the Undead's throat as the midnight form coalesced behind the Raid Leader.

The pug bit down, hard.

"Aaaagh!" The Necromancer screamed in agony as the giant teeth dug deep into its form.

Its glowing hand swept down as it staggered and a blade of green fire carved deeply into Stanley's Soul.

Stanley heard Caffeine Snarling and Growling. He wanted to cheer for the pug but it was all he could do to stay conscious as his Soul bled screaming agony out from the ragged gash.

Multi colored blood, fire, smoke, something, poured, raged, drifted, flowed out.

Stanley saw Lee flicker into sight near the wound, tiny glowing symbols floating around him. His brother did something and the symbols started attaching themselves around the gash.

Stanley forced himself to approach, trying to push his own power against the leak. Then the Undead started laughing.

Stanley and Lee both looked over to the Monster. It was holding the Shadowy form of Caffeine in four struggling arms as it stared at the Bright Glowing Crack. "Oh no…" Stanley had an instant of terrible understanding.

"I Will Be A GOD!" The Necromancer roared. "I see now why your Soul was damaged." He laughed, a cruel mocking sound, as Caffeine’s Shadow snarled and struggled to bite him. "A crude attempt, using the Beast… but I will do it right!"

Stanley felt its glee, its hunger and thirst, its greed, as it looked at the [Source] shining through from the crack in their Soul.

Energy started running up its arms and stabbing into Caffeine who yelped and barked as he bit at the Energy.

Stanley wasn't watching. He was staring at the magic chains wrapped around him. Staring at the Soul... Blood, Energy, whatever it was. He was watching the chains crack and melt where that Energy touched them.

He moved his form fully into the Energy flowing from his Soul and almost instantly he was free. Stanley didn’t need to look at Lee for confirmation of his next move, he could feel his brothers full agreement. "Do it!"

Stanley reached his mind and his Psionic Energy into that gaping wound in their Soul. He latched onto their Soul Energy, their Soul Blood, what made them, Them.

He wrapped his power around It and It around his power.

CUT

Stanley, Lee and Caffeine all howled in agony.

When he came back from the blinding pain, Stanley was in two places at once. He was standing in the now much bigger wound in their Soul, and he was hanging in the air between the skyscrapers.

The Raid Leader, no longer inside their Soul, was screaming and clawing at its eye.

The magic bindings around Stanley fizzled under the iridescent glow coming from both him and Caffeine.

"I'll kill you!" The Undead screeched and its four arms started moving in a blur as magic rapidly bloomed before it.

Stanley noted that only one of its eyes burned with gray light now, the other was dark with a cut bisecting it and then Caffeine latched onto one of its arms with a tugging, thrashing Growl.

Its spell ballooned out to one side when Caffeine interrupted and then detonated in a blinding flash. They all dropped out of the air to the street below.

Stanley landed hard and lifted himself up with trembling arms and legs to see Caffeine still holding the Skeletal arm in a death grip as he snarled and tugged at it.

Inside their Soul, Lee was surrounded by a cloud of glowing blue Symbols as he stood before the belching wound.

The Undead hauled to his feet, magic flashing and coalescing around him or lashing out at the giant pug. Caffeine whimpered in-between snarls and kept tugging, throwing the Undead's aim off and sending magic zipping randomly around.

"He is too strong!" Stanley railed. "How!"

He gathered up more of their Soul, Lee nodding to him. "Kill it!" Lee whispered.

CUT

He saw a cut open in the Monster's skull, a few blinding white sparks drifting in the sudden gap. The cut moved down the front of its face, digging and shattering through the remaining eye socket and leaving it dark.

Caffeine crunched down and shattered the arm in his clenched jaws as the pug screamed in agony. "I'm so sorry…" Stanley thought, then the pain caught up to him.

He lost some time and when Stanley finally stopped screaming he looked up and saw the Raid Leader.

It was swiping at a small orange fox who's tail was on fire, it's three tails that were on fire. "What…"

A flaming screech dove out of the sky and slammed into the Undead's face. A brilliant flaming bird was revealed as it clawed at the Undead and then soared between the spells and back up into the sky.

"You filthy insects dare!" The Necromancer roared and two arms started casting a large spell while the remaining one thrust towards Caffeine.

The pug suddenly crashed to the ground, leaving a crater under him as he struggled back to his feet, all the while growing bigger as the crater grew deeper around him.

The fox appeared in front of the Necromancer and breathed out a cone of fire over the Undead. It screamed, its hands slowing slightly and lashed out with a kick but the fox danced around the blow and ran away.

A barrage of magic soared into view and crashed into the Undead. Stanley saw arrows and spears strike and bounce off of its bones. More and more attacks slammed into the thing, its arms slowed down but it didn’t stop casting the spell. He saw tiny chips and splinters of bone breaking off from the strikes but it wasn't enough.

Stanley looked around in a daze as the spell built bigger and bigger. All around him were Humans. Most were fighting against a literal horde of Undead, Zombies and Skeletons. Many were throwing everything they had at the Raid Leader.

But it wasn't enough.

"We could really use the Source right now…" Stanley thought. He didn't know why he couldn't get at it again, if Caffeine was blocking it or if something else was.

Stanley gazed inside himself, at his Soul as the battle around him slowed to a crawl, as the Necromancer's spell reached a crescendo that he knew would be the end for all of them.

The wound in their Soul was so much bigger now... Lee stood before it, a storm of symbols raging around him.

They understood each other fully in that moment of stillness, in the pause between heartbeats.

"Finish it." Lee thought resolutely. "I Will hold us together."

Stanley gathered up the Power, their Soul, once more.

"I know." Stanley stated.

He saw Caffeine clawing his way free of the crater with massive feet digging through the shattered asphalt as he fought against what Stanley assumed was Gravity magic or something like it.

Meanwhile the flaming bird slammed into the Necromancer's face and detonated in a small but brilliant explosion, leaving cracks spreading from the damaged eye sockets.

Stanley could feel the Raid Leader's Soul, could feel the anger and frustration. Could feel the angry pride that it had been hurt, and the satisfaction that it would prevail.

He felt it when the Monster noticed what he was doing. Felt the rage, the hatred, and the Fear.

Stanley fed back to it his own fear, his own pain, his Rage!

CUT

Its body shattered in half.

The nearly completed spell split in half and arcs of magic dug into the falling Skeleton and everything around it as the spell failed.

Congratulations! You have Defeated a…

Stanley tried to let the darkness take him away from the pain but he couldn’t escape.

Along with the tearing, searing, burning agony came every Soul echo crashing into his mind.

Every.

One.

He saw all the humans around him. The Undead being slaughtered. The animals above and below. On land and underwater.

He saw pockets of Humanity, spread far across the area.

He saw Zeke with his iconic golden Soul.

He saw the other Raid Leader next to Zeke!

Stanley felt only Rage as he screamed under the barrage of too much information. The pain had surpassed his threshold and now he only felt blind Rage towards the Undead. Towards the ones who trapped him here in this nightmare. Who had inflicted so much pain on him and everyone he cared for.

He knew that the other Raid Leader could feel him, could feel his Rage. Stanley could feel its fear building as he listened to its Soul.

"I'll kill that one too." He decided. It was weaker than the one that he had just killed. What was one more little piece of shit to scrape off his shoe.

Stanley was already reaching across the distance between them, he didn't care how far it was, it would die!

And then it was gone. Stanley faltered as the target of his rage vanished. He could feel the Undead surrounding Zeke, they were dying or running away. Zeke was happy and...

"STAN!" Lee was holding him inside their Soul. "Do it now!"

Caffeine was there, large and looming in front of the gaping wound in their Soul and Stanley saw it. He understood what his brother wanted. "You always were the smarter one." He thought.

"Now!" Lee and Stanley both pushed their new shared Skill to its limits.

[Soul Awareness] Level Up

Caffeine stepped forward to the gash as both sides squeezed closer together and licked it. In that moment, when the rushing Energy paused behind the giant pug's tongue, Lee exploded with symbols. They slammed into and around the damaged area, creating a web-like tapestry that bound the wound in magical, blue, glowing stitches.

It shrank into a jagged iridescent line, and only faint wisps of Energy slipped from the new, second crack in their Soul.

The roar of Souls resounding on and against his mind dimmed and faded into a distant murmur.

"Thanks…" They both whispered as everything calmed abruptly.

"We rock." Stanley thought as Caffeine laid down between them and with a sad whine, fell asleep. "We do rock." Lee agreed as he laid his head on Caffeine while Stanley lay against the other side.

Sweet, sweet oblivion took away the rest of the pain and they slept, inside their Soul, cuddling with a big little dog.