Crystalized Munchkinry - Act II - Chapter 18 (Patreon)

Taylor woke up excited.

Today was the day she would make her mark on the world. The only thing casting a shadow over it was the fact that she had no idea why she was doing it. Sure, Admin had given her a nebulous explanation about saving a young woman, but she felt, and he had pretty much confirmed, that there was more to it.

She decided to wait until the mission was over and hear his explanation before doing anything drastic. If she felt that his explanation was stupid or crazy, she would act.

One possibility was talking to her father about Admin.

Another, depending on just how crazy the explanation was, was talking to the PRT.

No matter how much she disliked the idea of the Wards, they were her best chance if Admin turned out to be evil.

Or criminally incompetent.

After she was done with her morning routine, which had luckily become shorter after she gained her hair powers, she wrote a quick explanation on a piece of paper, sealed it in an envelope, and hid it in her room. Then she repeated the process two more times, hiding one in her father’s room and the last one in the kitchen.

Each contained everything she knew about the mission, the information Admin had given her so far, and her theories about powers.

She hoped none of it would be necessary, but she had to make sure that if something happened to her, the truth would come out.

During breakfast, her dad noticed she was rather wound up, but accepted her explanation that she’d had another nightmare. He hinted a few times that she should also visit a therapist, but she ignored him. How could she approach a therapist when she couldn’t explain that the source of her frustration was an invisible floating slime that only she could see, and who also happened to be her power?

They would send her to an institute so fast Legend would be jealous.

After her father left for work, giving her an extra-long, tight hug, which she didn’t really mind, she went back to her room to distract herself with some studying.

She had barely started her first History module when she heard a car pull up outside, closely followed by another. She immediately dashed down the stairs, a little afraid of what would be waiting for her. Her only relief was that there were no police lights.

To her surprise, however, she saw her father coming back through the door, followed by Steve, their lawyer. One look at her father’s face was enough for her to say nothing as she headed to the kitchen to prepare a few drinks for them. And to grab a beer or two for him. He looked like he needed them.

She returned to the silent living room, where her dad and Steve were arranging a pile of papers on the table. She placed the tray with the drinks on the empty corner of the table and sat down next to her father.

“Thank you, dear,” he said, reaching for the tea.

“Yes, thank you, Taylor,” echoed Steve.

She nodded, then turned to her father. “Why did you come back so soon?”

“Steve called me just as I reached the office and wanted to meet. When he told me what it was about, I headed home immediately. It's important enough that you need to hear it,” her father answered.

“If you don't mind, Danny, I'll take over from here,” Steve spoke up.

Her dad motioned for him to continue and leaned back on the sofa.

Steve nodded and turned fully toward Taylor. “This morning, I got a call from the school. They want to settle.”

“Oh, really? Didn't they offer some paltry amount of money before?”

“Yes, they did. But today's offer is for much more. And, to put the cherry on top, the police called too. They arrested the girls who did it, though your father told me you already know that.” He paused briefly to make sure she was following. “What you may not know is that they're starting an investigation into the entire school. It's all very hush-hush.”

That cheered up Taylor. “Good. Those people deserve it.”

Steve didn't comment on that and continued. “So, I got an offer from them, and after looking it over, I have to urge the two of you to accept it.”

“Why?” Taylor asked.

“It's too good to be true. There has to be somebody powerful behind the scenes who wants this gone. I don't think we'd be able to put up much of a fight if we refused.”

That made sense to Taylor. The speed with which the police had arrested the Trio was very suspicious. According to everything she knew, including all the stories her father had told her, the police department didn't work that fast.

“How much did they offer?” she asked curiously.

Steve didn't answer. Instead, he handed her one of the documents lying on the table.

When Taylor saw the number of zeros, she could hardly believe it.

“Are you serious?”

“Well, they are.”

“That's a lot of money,” she said, completely flabbergasted.

"So I assume, now that they've arrested the girls, you won't mind accepting this deal?" he asked.

Taylor got the feeling he very much wanted them to accept it. She was leaning that way herself, but for final confirmation she turned to her father.

“What do you think, Dad?”

"I think we should accept it. No matter what we do, we won't get a better offer," he answered after a few seconds. "Besides, this lets us close this chapter of our lives, and you'll have a nice nest egg and a college fund for the future."

There was nothing in that she disagreed with, so she turned back to Steve. “We accept it… I accept it.”

"Good," he answered, visibly relieved by their decision. "Here's what you need to do..."

After the lawyer left, she went back to her room and continued studying, though her heart wasn't really in it. She kept going over what Steve had told them and everything she'd heard over the past few days.

The thought that her suffering was over just like that really shook her. She had tried so many times to get rid of them, yet in the end, she had barely needed to do anything.

It confused her.

By all accounts, she should have been jumping for joy. But she wasn't. Because even though she had finally gotten rid of Emma and Winslow, it also made everything final.

She would never get her sister and best friend back.

In the end, she steeled herself and made a vow.

When she had enough money, she would set up a program to help people like her and Emma. Because even though nobody ever mentioned it, there had obviously been something wrong with Emma.

Her father decided to work from home because he'd had a few beers after Steve left and didn't feel like driving. Not that Taylor would have let him. The last thing she needed now was her father dying in a car crash.

They spent the day in companionable silence.

She stayed in her room, working through educational modules like a train through powder snow, while he handled paperwork in the living room, occasionally taking calls.

For lunch, they ordered pizza, seeing as neither of them had remembered to prepare anything to eat. Still, the laugh they shared over the realization cheered her up a little. The fact that they could laugh together brought another smile to her face.

It was nice to see that even though her father had climbed out of the quagmire of depression, he was still the same forgetful goof he had always been.

By eight, her father was knocked out thanks to a sizeable amount of pizza and beer. He was merrily snoring away in his bedroom, while Taylor sat at her computer, building all sorts of projects with her Tinker power.

She was also writing down the details of several materials and devices that, according to Admin, could be sold. How she would actually do that, she didn't know yet, but it was better to have the information than not.

"So, Taylor, ready?" Admin asked from beside her.

She looked up from the screens and nodded. "Yeah. Let's do it."

"Good. Take out the package from your pocket space."

"What package?" she asked, though she was already opening her pocket space, which contained several things she'd stashed there, including a few bottles of water, some food, several changes of clothes, and other supplies. There was now also a package wrapped in plain brown paper.

She took it out, placed it on her bed, and began unwrapping it. Admin simply hovered over the bed, watching her.

When she finished, she found a neatly folded black outfit inside the box. She lifted the top piece out and held it up for inspection.

"This is a ninja outfit," she stated flatly.

"Well, this is a mission where you have to sneak around, so I thought it would be nice to be thematic," he answered cheekily.

Taylor didn't really have a response to that.

"Plus, the Inverse Ninja Law should help you out."

"The what?"

"The Inverse Ninja Law. The threat level of a ninja is inversely proportional to the number of other ninjas present at the location," he explained.

"That couldn't be real…"

"Maybe. But if it is, it'll be a real help if something happens."

Taylor looked at the floating slime, then back at the outfit. She considered it for a moment before deciding that, in a world of parahuman powers, the Inverse Ninja Law might as well be real. In the end, she concluded there wasn't any real drawback to wearing it.

"Fine. I'll wear it," she finally told Admin, who celebrated by doing a few cartwheels in the air.

"Thank you, Taylor-san!"

She simply ignored him and started pulling the rest of the outfit out of the box.

She stood in front of a mirror-like projection created by Admin, which showed her reflection in the ninja suit.

"I have cat ears on my hoodie," she stated, keeping her voice low and even. She didn't want to wake her dad just to yell at Admin.

"I'm sorry, it's required for the structural stability of the clothing," came the somber reply from the slime. The shit-eating grin he was sporting completely undermined his seriousness.

Taylor just sighed.

That was her life now.

Living with a slime who was obsessed with costumes. She already dreaded whatever suggestions he would make for her parahuman uniform.

"So how do I get to wherever I need to get?"

Admin reappeared, this time wearing a blue flight attendant outfit.

"Dear passengers, thank you for choosing Administrator Airlines. We realize you have other options, so we thank you for your patronage. Please keep all limbs close to your body during transit, and make sure not to make eye contact with any Eldritch entities," he recited as if reading from a manual. "Please have a great trip!"

As soon as he finished his strange speech, a circular portal opened in the middle of her room. Through it, she could see a pitch-black space, only faintly illuminated by the light spilling from her room.

It was filled to the brim with boxes, as far as she could tell.

She took one last look at a picture of her mother, pulled the black hoodie and plain mask over her head, took a deep breath, and stepped through the portal.

The moment she arrived, the portal blinked out of existence, plunging the room back into darkness. She immediately crouched and began surveying the space, activating several of her powers at once.

At the same time, multiple overlays appeared in her vision. Thankfully, she was used to them by now, so she didn't react outwardly. One was a clock and timer, another a minimap that, according to Admin, displayed humans in her vicinity, and a third was an arrow pointing in a specific direction.

"Okay, Agent, from now on, no actual names. Your designation is Agent, mine is Chief," Admin's voice echoed in her mind. "Keep calm and remember your training."

Where are we? she thought back.

"We are in a warehouse on the outskirts of Saint George's Hill village in Canada."

Okay, I have no idea where that is.

"That's probably the point."

She shrugged and began a slow walk toward her target.

"You have an hour to reach the target and return. After that, they leave, and we lose the opportunity." The moment he finished speaking, the timer in the upper corner of her vision began counting down.

She nodded and continued her careful, meticulous movement toward the door.

It took her around fifteen minutes to get out of the room, but after that, she simply moved through the warehouse. Occasionally, she flinched at shadows and checked for movement.

However, to her surprise, she didn't encounter anyone. As she made her way deeper toward her goal, she couldn't help wondering where everyone was.

Where are they? she asked Admin.

"There are only a few people here, plus this is just a stopover for them, which is why the boxes are here."

How many?

"Minimum three, but it could be more."

She nodded, still avoiding a camera that had been hastily attached to the wall. It was slightly drooping, which gave her a clean angle to slip past its field of view.

And where are those three people? she asked a few seconds later while she stood still in a shadowed corner, listening for any suspicious sounds.

"One is out on a grocery run, one is patrolling, and one is taking a nap," he said, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "Not very responsible of them."

Indeed.

Chief.

"Yes, Agent?"

Am I hallucinating, or are those suits of armor? she asked, trying to keep her voice steady, even inside her own mind. She knew that if she panicked, she would get noticed.

"Oh yes, they are!"

And are they dragon-themed?

"Your powers of observation are terrific, Agent," came the sarcastic reply.

Chief, please tell me we are not robbing Dragon right now.

"We are not. These are the Dragonslayers. Certified villains and psychopaths."

Thank god!

Now that she knew she wasn't robbing one of the most powerful and famous heroes on Earth Bet, she felt herself calm down a little. After all, stealing from villains was acceptable. It's not like they could go to the police to report it.

Her journey ended in front of a heavily reinforced door.

"Be careful, the napping one is in the next room. The slightest noise will wake him."

She didn't even dare to nod.

Instead, she studied the door. It was heavy metal, clearly old and originally part of the warehouse structure, but someone had fitted it with a new lock combining both a mechanical and an electronic system.

She used her power to map the electrical connections. As she expected, they connected the mechanical part to the electronic part. Which was connected by several cables to somewhere else. Probably an alarm system.

Using her power, she mapped the electrical connections. As expected, the electronic system interfaced directly with the mechanical lock through several cables that likely led to an alarm system elsewhere.

She maintained control over the outgoing electrical signals from the lock, then disabled the electronic component first. After that, she manipulated the metal in the mechanical section and slowly turned the lock, carefully ensuring she didn't trigger anything else in the process.

When she was done, she pushed the door open just enough to listen for any reaction that would tell her she had made a mistake. A quick glance at the timer showed she still had around twenty minutes left.

Hearing nothing in the next few seconds, she decided she was in the clear and slipped inside. Her slight build came in handy.

She closed the door behind her and carefully reset the mechanical lock, reconnecting the electronic system so it looked untouched.

No point leaving evidence.

The room contained several boxes, a desk covered in papers, and a modern-looking computer station with multiple large monitors displaying code and surveillance feeds.

"You are looking for an old silver briefcase," Admin spoke up.

She moved carefully through the room, making sure not to touch anything. She was wearing gloves, but it was better not to risk it.

Taylor found the briefcase under the monitors, stored in a reinforced, military-style case. She lifted it out carefully and immediately placed it into her pocket space.

"Excellent, Agent! Now through the portal and start running immediately!" Admin instructed the moment her pocket space closed.

She obeyed and jumped through the portal that opened in front of her. The moment her foot touched down, she was in a forest and immediately broke into a run.

For the next few minutes, she sprinted through alternating forests as portal after portal opened and closed behind her. Eventually, she found herself standing in a dark alley in a noisy city.

Was that necessary, Chief? she asked, exasperated.

"Absolutely? Not at all. But I'd rather not take any chances."

What now?

"One thing left. Change your hair to blond and let a few strands stick out from your hoodie."

She wanted to ask why, but agreed to wait for an explanation and simply complied.

"Now walk to the end of the alley and stop by the payphone."

She did as instructed and stopped in front of it. Cars rushed past on the street despite the late hour.

"I'm going to change your voice, so don't be surprised," Admin said. "Now dial the following number..."

She picked up the receiver, entered the number, and listened to it ring.

"Hello, you have reached the Guild hotline. We are legally required to inform you that this call is being recorded. If you have questions about the Guild, press one..."

She blinked in surprise and pressed the buttons as instructed. After a few seconds, a tired but professional voice came on the line.

"My name is Patricia. How can I help you today?"

She read the script Admin projected and spoke it aloud.

"Hello, my name is Serenity, and I have information about the Dragonslayers." There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end. "If you go to the following coordinates, you can find them."

She recited the coordinates, ignoring the operator's attempt to ask further questions.

"If you don't send Dragon, you have a ninety percent chance to capture them. If you arrive later than six a.m., that chance is lost."

When she finished, she hung up and stepped back into the alley.

"Let's go home, Agent," Admin said as she reached the end of the alley.

She nodded and stepped calmly through another portal.