Chương 55: R&R Ch. 55 — Before the Storm

Nicholas had hoped that they would go to the center and immediately be escorted to deal with Lupine, and then they would be done and dusted in like an hour. Instead, they had been in a waiting room for nearly two hours now, and Rend had vanished after the first thirty minutes, leaving the two of them playing cards. Nicholas was also trying to decide between him being magically unlucky or that Jasmine was cheating somehow, since he had yet to win a hand since they started.

"Sorry about that, Retort, Retribution. I hadn't thought my meeting was going to go that long," LongShot said, entering the waiting room and giving them a wave before blinking in surprise.

"You guys are still F." There was a hint of accusation in his tone. One Nicholas was minorly irritated about.

"We were both dealing with major soul damage along with misalignment with new aspects of our powers. We're waiting for it to fully heal till we do an ascension." Jasmine answered as they stood up and moved to the person they were here to meet.

"Been there, done that. It always sucks when you know more power is just around the bend. And you guys have it twice as bad. Next ascension would move you up to E rank, right?" LongShot asked, gesturing for them to follow him.

"We were told we would likely be considered specialized E-rank already. We were hoping to get that done today as well." Nicholas admitted. With all the work they had done, everyone on the strike team was getting a specialized rank up, even if they wouldn't be getting the actual rank up. LongShot rifled through the folder he was holding.

"Yeah, there's some paperwork about that, but do you really want to do that when you are just going to be regular E-ranks in a few days?" Nicholas wasn't sure, but he had the suspicion that doing less paperwork was going to be the ideal decision because at least it would mean one less form he had to sign.

"So, are we going to deal with Lupine today?" Jasmine asked, and Nicholas agreed. While he wasn't concerned, his partner had been feeling the weight build in her stomach since they had been fully healed, and it was pressing against their bond something fierce. He tried not to hold it against her, but he could acknowledge it was irritating.

"That's what we're here to talk about. It's a little bit more complicated than you all just deciding what's going to be done with him, and we're going to be bringing minders in as a guarantee." LongShot said, making a face. Nicholas also made a face. He was willing to do a lot of things with his powers, but he tried his best not to make something that was directly mind control. He wasn't even fully comfortable with the lullaby, and all that did was slowly drain people's energy until they had to sleep.

Though most minders weren't that effective for anything beyond therapy at the lower tiers because they had less intrinsic authority over the mind than their owners did, so outside of quick things like his own original call they couldn't accomplish much. Couple that with their lack of monster killing or flashy abilities most minders struggle to get into the higher tiers in the first place so this one either could do it without powers, has been at it for a long time, was carried with a team, or cheated.

They wouldn't be using a low-rank one for this; they would probably at least be rank D, maybe even C if they had one in the city. They were led to a conference room, and Nicholas and Jasmine took their seats. They had nothing to hide in this context, and it wasn't like something as benign as protocol would scare them.

"Overall, you two did admirably. No casualties among your forces, though a bit higher cost of resources allocated to you than expected, which you could say is because you didn't lose any people. Even helped out nearby fortifications a few times. The big one is you had someone you say break rank and caused every Beyonder currently on this side of the realm to start heading for us." Nicholas didn't think it was every Beyonder on the planet heading towards them.

Though it would probably be every Beyonder on the continent. Was that a problem? Certainly, but it was a manageable one, especially because it was post-wave anyway. There would be all sorts of Beyonders showing up for the next few weeks.

"We followed the suggestion of burying Beyonders using my ability along with a few others. It was better than letting them ramp up." Nicholas said simply. LongShot nodded.

"We expected as such you were already by and large outclassed, with the only C-ranks you have being ones who either hadn't been processed for a rank up or don't have the minimum number of successful cases." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"So, what's the problem?" Jasmine asked hopefully.

"Protocol. You caused the worst storage break in our city's history, which is actually an impressive mark in your favor in other conversations."

"What why?"

"Well, it means you guys a rank down, fought harder and stored more away than people who were fighting up." LongShot pointed out.

"Some of the higher ranks were day-drinking during the wave and just killing Beyonders on accident." Nicholas pretended to be surprised for all of a second before remembering who LongShot was. Everyone knew that the truly higher ranks could have done it without even trying, which was pretty disgusting to think about for long. He wouldn't let himself to that when he was a higher rank. Once he was at the top, the rules would change.

If he had to give a way for people to get Belief and Karma, there were ways to trick people without actually putting them in harm's way. More than that, he genuinely thought the whole thing was stupid. There were better ways to make heroes than cheat. And not forcing him to fight constantly when there were higher-ups working like it was a work from home job and shooting lasers out their window while still lounging in their pajamas.

He knew they worked harder for higher-ranked waves; when it came to this wave, even regular humans with the proper weapons could make a substantial impact. But it still irritated him. He exhaled slowly through his nose.

"So what's his story since apparently it's a he said, she said situation?"

"That you unduly put his life in danger several times and he didn't want to die so he decided to in an emergency juice himself to the gills so he could get back to safety." LongShot said. Nicholas was fuming, but a quick tug on their bond reminded him they were a team and Jasmine was actually the substantially calmer of the two of them.

"As the leaders you had spy drones on us more often than not? Especially when Retort did things like lead an entire force into the bunker he made to funnel them and utilize our melee members?" Jasmine asked evenly.

"We have some clips, yes."

"Retort and everyone else there had to save Lupine more than anyone else. And if you think it's wrong for us to use him in melee, then that's the fault of your classifications; we couldn't know he was a ranged combatant." LongShot looked like he either had a very unpleasant bowel movement or that he was trying to suppress a smile.

"He's not a ranged combatant; you all used him how you were expected to."

"So, what's the problem?" Jasmine asked, confusion and irritation rippling through their bond in equal measure. But Nicholas had a theory now: just like everything else in their society was a dog and pony show, this was too.

"Because it's not a problem. The controversy will get people interested. Our fans will believe in us more, and then when it's revealed that we had been set up, then even more people will be on our side," Nicholas said with a growl. Jasmine looked at Nicholas before also looking at LongShot with a growl. LongShot for his part, held his hands up in surrender.

"I told them you would figure it out. Don't look at me like the bad guy. But we can talk about something other than hypothetical blame?" Nicholas and Jasmine leveled identical stares at the stronger super. He was only two ranks above them. There were several videos of what they had been able to do against someone that would be considered his equivalent. They would certainly lose the fight.

Precognitives were hard to deal with at the best of times in an even match, and LongShot was a hero who fought up too, but it wouldn't be a one-sided stomp.

"Are you guys going to kill him or be merciful?"

"We haven't decided," Nicholas said quietly. LongShot stared at them in surprise.

"Well, we both have our stances, but we haven't been able to convince the other." Jasmine admitted.

"We can bring you in to talk to him. We haven't done more than the bare minimum to figure out what has gone on." LongShot said, standing up and gesturing for them to follow. Nicholas was pretty sure this was to distract them. So much so he almost didn't go, but this was what he wanted to do today, so there was no avoiding it.

"Don't worry," Nicholas said to Jasmine as they both stood up.

"I'll handle it either way, I promise."

"Thank you."

Lupine was curled in the corner of his cell, spear tucked against his shoulder as he focused on channeling the power he had gained. Soon the bastards that put him here would show up and he could finally deal with them. Might makes right, and all he had to do was be the strongest in the room and stop them from getting out. He was faster than them, stronger than them. And he wasn't suicidal.

Those two always seemed to be seeking death; they wouldn't care about survival, just winning, but they were true heroes; they wouldn't go for the kill. Lupine brought up his own stat windows. Both of them. Trevor Rank: 2 Belief: 4, 686 Karma: 10, 681 Power: Hunger: Spear All other information restricted.

Trevor Rank: 3 Source: 9, 372 Loan: 21, 362 Power: Soul: Fire Reforged Body: Void Flesh The one from the Hero System looked normal; his numbers weren't that good since he had been pulled out early so the public hadn't seen all the work he had put into saving their lives. But the one from his new powers? That was everything he could have thought of. Unlike the crystal, the source had even asked him what kind of ability he had wanted, which had been easy.

Both Retort and Retribution had been confirmed to use soul powers. So he would just take that from them. He had more than enough power to take them; he was certain he could do more than anyone. Lupine let some of his first power go to his body, draining his reserves to keep his flesh functional. The void consumed everything, even his own life if he didn't keep it fed, but it gave him rivers of power. He kept his new power tightly bound; there would be a chance, he was sure.