Modern Age Online

Kaleb sat at the bar. Diligently tying wires together in his hands. The spool of wires and broken plastic eggs spilled out across the bar top. He would’ve preferred a quieter and cleaner workspace. But he didn’t have much time. Although, how much time he had was a mystery to him. It had already been thirty minutes since he got the notification. He was sure Rat-man was in Under-Town and trying to sniff him out.

If Kaleb guessed right. The beast was probably going around and asking his little cousins to search for Kaleb. Which meant an entire cave town of rats was out looking for him. He hoped that returning to the original bar would buy him some time to prepare. Also, the bar itself would be a great place to search for weapons and items for traps. But unsurprisingly, the bar patrons and owner were highly resistant to Kaleb’s arguments for help.

BAM

A body slammed into the bar and almost unseated Kaleb from his stool. Looking over, he saw an angry horned alien glaring into the bar. Kaleb swiftly drew his Sun Gun and fire a shot into the side of the alien’s head. The yellow orb of energy slammed into the man and he went rigid. The alien toppled over and Kaleb went back to work as the sounds of fighting carried on behind him. Abby’s voice broke into his concentration, sounding winded and annoyed for some reason.

“You could be helping, you know!?”

“I have to prepare for Rat-Man. He is no joke and I’m going to need all my strength and skill to bring him down.”

“You don’t think me being exhausted is going to hurt our chances?”

Kaleb spun around with a raised eyebrow. Abby was at the center of a group of criminals running and stabbing whoever got close. The short woman was ducking and dodging around the various aliens, hybrids and humanoids while chopping off limbs with her shadow-blades. She flipped over the head of a Minotaur-looking guy and stabbed backward, chancing a glance in his direction.

“To be honest, I figured you’d go for the information broker while I dealt with this.”

Kaleb finished tying the ends of the wires together and started rolling them up. He rolled them along the bar, careful not to trip on the dozens of bodies on the floor of the bar. At the end of the bar were three large mason jars with cupnex wiring spilling out of them. He wound the wires up and jammed them into the last jar before sealing it tight. Spinning toward Abby, he raised his new creation high and cackled.

“BEHOLD! The Taser-Jar!”

“Not your best work.” Abby grunted as she grabbed an alien’s head and kicked off another thug’s face.

“Everyone’s a critic.” Kaleb said as he drew his pistol and started firing.

Abby had already cleared out most of the bar’s clientele. But the sticklers and the ones looking for nothing but a fight had hung around. The true criminals. The cowards and bullies had all high-tailed it as soon as Abby had started chopping limbs off. His Cybar and Sun Gun’s energy slammed into the back of several aliens and they howled in pain. Between Abby and him, they cleaned up the remaining thugs with no problems. Although Abby still looked angry… and a little winded.

“What?!”

“We could’ve been done twice as fast!” Abby complained as she kicked an unconscious gangster.

“Hey! I didn’t want it to go this way to begin with. I figured these idiots would bolt as soon as you started slicing people up.”

“Really? How did you see this going? You’d just walk into a bar full of criminals, wave some credits around and they’d all jump up to help you?”

Kaleb shrugged his shoulders as he set his Taser Jar down and walked behind the bar. “Yes. The criminal element has always been motivated by money. It’s a proven fact. Wave some credits in their faces and they’d…”

“Try to rob you. Immediately.” Abby deadpanned.

Kaleb rolled his eyes as he grabbed a large brown glass bottle from behind the bar. “I even told them it was all I had. What were they going to do? Try to rob me for more?”

“YES!”

“Well, I know that now.”

Kaleb turned to grab another bottle when a sweaty pink hand reached up and grabbed his wrist. He looked down to see the bartender glaring up at him, half-angry, half-pleading.

“Don’t! That’s my livelihood.”

Kaleb smacked the guy in the face with his metal fist and sighed. “Which I offered to buy from you at a premium. But instead, you sicced your goons on us and now your bar is going to get trashed. Believe me, I wish it could’ve been different.”

Kaleb found some duct tape under the bar and started taping three bottles of liquor together. He popped the tops on them and shoved whatever cloth he could into the tops. While he did that, Abby grabbed a glass of water and sat down. She watched him as he prepared four sets of firebombs. When he finished the fourth and started on a fifth, she snorted.

“Geez! Are you sure you have enough?”

Kaleb set the bottles of liquor down and glared at her. “I don’t think you truly understand what we’re dealing with here. It is a super-strong, super-tough rat with telepathic powers and an army of rat followers. I need every edge I can get.”

“You mean we.”

“No. I meant ‘I.’ You need to go and find this UGB info-broker. We can’t ignore the whole reason we came down here. We need to find information on the demons.”

Abby sipped at her water. “We don’t even know if this info-broker is going to know anything. But I’m supposed to find them while you're over here having an epic boss battle? Fuck that! The notification said you could have a party help you, right? So, I’m helping. I bet the rewards for taking down a nemesis are sweet!”

“Abby,” Kaleb said, wrapping duct tape around the bottles. “I’m not planning on winning. I got extremely lucky last time. The guy was playing with his food and I managed to just barely beat him. This time, he is coming for blood and I doubt he’ll be holding back. He hits me once and I am paste. I know it.”

“So don’t let him hit you. Stick and move, then put his furry ass into the ground. Besides, isn’t that more of a reason for me to stick around? Between the both of us, we can take the sonofabitch down.”

“Or he could kill both of us and we’d both be out any skill growth or points we’ve earned while in Under-Town. Not to mention all the damage to our equipment I’d have to repair.”

Abby opened her mouth to say something. But it got caught in her throat as she looked around. The bar was full of aliens and humanoids that she had taken down fairly ruthlessly and efficiently. She glared at all of them before snapping her eyes back to Kaleb.

“Is that why you let me fight all these guys alone? You knew I’d gain a bunch of Evo Points from fighting them and now you’re using the fear of losing them as a way to get me to leave?”

Kaleb kept quiet as he finished preparing his fire bomb. That actually wasn’t what he had planned. But it was better to stay quiet and let others think he was smarter than he was. In truth, he just didn’t want to have to come down here again after Rat-Man killed them. It was better for one of them to find the UGB guy and find out if they had been wasting their time. Otherwise they’d get killed, lose a shit-load of progress and then have to come back down here, anyway.

Abby’s face twisted into a smile. “Well, the jokes on you, fucker. I didn’t get a lot of points from these thugs. But I can spend the points I got right now and still be prepared for your evil Man-Rat.”

“Rat-Man.” Kaleb corrected as a shiver went down his spine.

The air seemed to grow tense and Kaleb felt an ominous feeling in the air. It was like standing in a field right before a storm. The air was almost humming as he turned to Abby.

“You’re too late, Abby. He’s here.”

Abby snorted. “Pfft! Good try. I’m still helping you.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when the front of the bar exploded. Bits of wood and metal went sailing toward them. Kaleb grabbed as many firebombs as he could off the bar counter before throwing himself away from the oncoming debris. He got a glimpse of Abby back-flipping away as he cradled his firebombs. He only managed to grab three of them. A roar from the front of the bar grabbed his attention, and Kaleb turned to see his Nemesis.

Rat-Man stood in the center of his impromptu entrance, his snout-like nose raised high as he sniffed the air. His bulging muscles tensed as he caught Kaleb’s scent in the air and turned toward him. Unlike last time, Rat-Man was actually half-dressed in a pair of orange shorts that looked like they used to be prison pants. His muscular torso was, of course, bare. The giant bipedal rat’s foot-claws clicked against the wooden floorboards as he entered the room and stared down at Kaleb.

Kaleb felt the familiar intrusion as Rat-Man forced his thoughts into Kaleb’s mind.

“ENEMY!”

Kaleb stood to his full height and adjusted his lab coat. He set two of the firebombs on a nearby table as he cradled the third in his hand. Moving away from the other bottles, Kaleb smirked at his Nemesis.

“I see your vocabulary is still the same.”

Rat-Man chortled. The sound was a disturbing gurgling from the back of the Rat’s throat.

“NO. I’VE LEARNED. IMPROVED!”

Kaleb blinked as he noticed the words sounded a little smoother and less guttural than the last time.

“Yet you’re still shouting all the time.” Kaleb winced as he sneakily reached for his Cybar.

“I SHOUT. CAUSE. I AM ANGRY!”

“And I’d love to help you with that big fella. But I have more important stuff to do.”

Kaleb brought his gun up and pointed it at the giant Rat-man. But the creature ignored the weapon as it pounded angrily on its own chest. It screeched in fury and Kaleb winced as the sound seemed to pierce into his mind. When he finished screaming, the beast spread its massive arms and curled its fingers into claws.

“I AM MOST IMPORTANT! I AM MASTER! ENEMY. DESTROY!”

Rat-man launched himself as he finished speaking. But Kaleb was already dodging to the side. As he did, he awkwardly threw his firebomb with his right hand. With his left, he took aim and waited for the right moment. Rat-man sailed through the air snarling as Kaleb jumped away. The trio of taped bottles was on a direct course for the giant rat, and Kaleb waited for the last moment. Even as his own dodge ended and he landed on the floor. He kept his gun up and waited until the liquor was right in front of Rat-man and then he fired.

The earth-shattering explosion Kaleb had been expecting didn’t happen. Instead, a large ball of fire engulfed the flying Rat-Man as little bits of fire rained all around. Kaleb quickly got to his feet as Rat-Man roared in pain and fury. He kept firing with his Cybar as he circled around to the front of the building. Rat-Man scratched at his face and body until the flames were out and then whirled to Kaleb again. Bits of fire spread along the wooden floor and the assorted bodies, growing slowly bigger.

Rat-man ran at Kaleb this time and he circled to his right again. Trying to get toward the other firebombs and his Taser Jars. He couldn’t find Abby, but he hoped she was running for it. Or at least planning something spectacular. A ripping sound filled the air as Rat-Man’s claws caught the tail-end of Kaleb’s lab coat. The fabric and Kevlar tore under the Rat’s claws as Kaleb spun out from his dash.

Spinning around, Kaleb vented his Cybar and grabbed his Sun Gun. Setting it to its highest setting, Kaleb aimed right at Rat-Man’s snarling face. He unloaded two blasts of solar-powered energy into the beast, but it ignored both of them as it dashed forward again. Its clawed feet tearing up the bar’s floor.

Kaleb rolled out of the way of the charging bull and got to his feet in the middle of the bar. The flames were growing along the floor at his feet. But he ignored them as he put more energy rounds into the mutated rat’s flank. It roared petulantly as it punched a nearby table in a rage. The table shattered under the punch and Rat-Man kicked the debris at Kaleb. Bits of wood hit Kaleb in the shins, doing little to no damage as he tried to get closer to the bar.

Two of his Taser Jars were sitting at the edge of the bar. Thankfully, unshattered from the force of Rat-Man’s entrance. But it would put Kaleb dangerously close to the approaching beast. Rat-Man had fallen to all fours and was screeching like a beast. He watched Kaleb as he slid toward the bar. Rat-Man’s beady eyes caught sight of the jars and seemed to come to an understanding. He launched himself at the edge of the bar, massive shoulder turning the wooden counter into splinters. Both jars shattered on impact, but the cupnex wiring did its job and sprang out like a net.

As Rat-Man stood back up to his full height, his body was wrapped with thin wires that crisscrossed his furred body. He started ripping the wires off of him, but his fur and his large nails made it difficult. Kaleb took his chance and sent a bolt from his Sun Gun into the mass of wires and fur. The cupnex took the charge and dispersed it as electrical energy shocking Rat-Man all over his body. The enormous beast froze up and squealed as the electricity coursed through his body.

“Suck it, fucker!” Kaleb screamed as he back-pedaled a few steps while reaching into his lab coat.

Taking a knee, he pulled his trump card from its shoulder holster and focused. The Magic Gun whirred to life as the center chamber spun and glowed blue. Rat-Man was still writhing as Kaleb focused on thoughts of a large icicle piercing the beast’s chest. He channeled all of his meager magical power into the gun’s chamber and then, with a shout, he released it.

A blue missile formed at the end of the Magic Gun and shot forward. The large blue icicle shot through the air without a sound and slammed right into Rat-Man’s chest. The beast roared in pain and fell to its knees, half the icicle sticking out of its chest. Kaleb had hit it on the left pectoral and the magical shot seemed to have gone halfway through Rat-Man’s body.

Kaleb shakily got to his feet as a headache swelled behind his eyes. His vision blurred as he took in his Nemesis. When he saw that Rat-Man wasn’t moving, he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t known if the Taser jar would work, let alone the Magic Gun. But it appeared that Rat-Man’s flesh wasn’t as tough as he thought. Kaleb was about to shout his victory to the sky when a creaking of wood filled his ears. He tried to turn back to Rat-Man, but his vision swam and his new headache made him squint his eyes.

What felt like a grenade went off in Kaleb’s chest and he felt his feet leave the ground. The next sensation was his back hitting something hard and then sailing through that. Then he hit something metal and the sounds of metal tearing filled his world. Kaleb heard the distant roar of Rat-Man and tried to focus. But his whole body felt like it was on fire.

He blinked away the dust and debris in the air, as well as his pounding head. He was lying on his back, staring up at a corrugated metal ceiling. Unrecognizable shouts and screams filled his ears. But he ignored them as he raised his head. There was a large hole in the wall at his feet. As he looked through it, he saw a path of destruction as realized he had been punched through several homes as well as the bar wall.

Kaleb gave a silent thank you to the creators of the K-Tech armor as he got to his feet. It hadn’t blunted the damage much at all. But he assumed the armor was the reason his spine wasn't liquid right now. Slowly pulling himself to his feet, Kaleb grimaced as he saw a family of aliens all glaring at him.

“Sorry.” He said feebly.

He threw a few credit chits to the nearest alien and stumbled back through the hole he had made. In the distance, he could hear Rat-Man roaring. But it didn’t sound like the beast was having fun. Kaleb gazed through the houses he had been punched through and tried to see the bar. Rat-Man’s large form was just visible as he stood in the hole he had punched Kaleb through. A dark figure was dancing around the beast and Kaleb swore under his breath.

“Damn it, Abby.”

He vented his Cybar and holstered his Magic Gun as he checked his HP.

HEALTH: 36/151

Kaleb stumbled his way through the three other houses he’d been punched through. With one hit, he’d been almost killed. And who knew how much damage he had done to Rat-Man? The back of his mind started thinking up ideas for new weapons while the rest of his attention was on the fight ahead of him.

Abby was dashing in and out of the giant rat’s range. Each time she got close, new wounds would open up on the other mutant’s body. But Rat-Man seemed oblivious as he swiped angrily at the dashing woman. Kaleb wasn’t sure how long she could keep it up, but at least she was doing some damage. Kaleb trudged closer as he tried to think of a way to help. His Cyber and Sun Gun were good dps, but he needed to hit harder. The Magic Gun in his shoulder holster beat against his ribs and Kaleb formed an idea.

After speed-walking through the next building, Kaleb turned north and moved around the back of the buildings. As the sounds of Abby and Rat-Man’s fight grew fiercer, he made his way to the bar from behind. He tried kicking in the back door, but when his foot went through, he simply shot the doorknob and opened it. He rushed through the back rooms of the bar and came out into the main room.

Abby and Rat-Man were still fighting near the hole in the eastern wall. But Kaleb’s eyes went to the western side of the bar where his two firebombs were. The first one had been a disappointment explosion wise, but Kaleb had an idea. Pulling his Magic Gun, he started focusing on a giant fireball. The pain behind his eyes spiked, and Kaleb felt his legs go weak. But he continued toward the two molotovs.

He gripped both in his large metal hand and aimed his gun with his normal one. Abby dashed around the side of Rat-Man and then froze when she saw Kaleb. He winced as Rat-Man used the opportunity to backhand his friend. Abby went sailing the through back of the bar, taking the wooden walls with her. Rat-Man roared in triumph and raised his hands to the sky.

“Hey!” Kaleb shouted.

Rat-Man whirled, hissing, as he caught sight of Kaleb. With no further words, Kaleb tossed both firebombs at once. Rat-Man charged, his eyes firmly set on Kaleb. He ignored both bunches of bottles as they broke against his fur, coating him with alcohol. It felt like a knife was jammed into Kaleb’s brain as he used the last of his magic to shoot a fireball from his Magic Gun.

Kaleb didn’t get to see what happened after that as his vision went black. The sound died down and he felt his body collapse. The last thing he saw was a large orange blur filling his vision. He waited in darkness for what felt like a long time, but he didn’t get any notifications of his death, nor was he transported to Deathville.

The next thing he saw was Abby’s face as he blearily opened his eyes. Her dark hair was haloed by a ring of fire and Kaleb blinked as he realized she was saying something. But his body wasn’t responding to his commands at the moment. He could barely register where he was at first. But soon things came to him.

The bar was fully on fire now. Behind Abby was a kneeling Rat-Man who looked frozen in place. His fur was blackened and his skin was cracked. Bits of metal and wood were falling from the ceiling and Abby was trying to get him to stand. Kaleb tried to say something, but all that came out was a stream of liquid he assumed was blood. Judging by Abby’s worried look, he was right.

Kaleb rolled onto his back and waited for the game’s healing. Hopefully, it would give him enough strength to get out of the building before it crashed on top of him. Meanwhile, Abby seemed to vanish as he blinked, but he couldn’t blame her. He was probably screwed. No sense in both of them having to go through Deathville.

As he waited, he went through his notifications. His Toughness was maxed again, along with his Regen finally. His Dodge had been raised to level four, and he had even earned a new skill. One he probably should’ve gotten a long time ago.

Congratulations

Your constant reliance on archaic and uncivilized weapons has awarded you the Ranged Combat skill. Now you can take your enemies out from afar… you chicken.

Ranged Combat – Beginner Level 3

The first person to win a fist fight is the person who’s friend arrives with a gun. You are that person. Ranged weapons are easier to handle and you hit what you're aiming at for once.

You are 3% faster with ranged weapons and 5% more likely to hit what you’re aiming at.

“That seems way past due.” Kaleb thought as he closed the notification.

But at least it came in at level three. Probably because of the fight with his Nemesis. Thinking of Rat-Man made Kaleb open his eyes. But again, his view was filled with Abby’s face. He tried to look around her, but he slowly realized she was jamming a vial of something against his lips. Wearily, he opened his mouth and felt a warm liquid roll down his throat.

Power surged through his body as his aches and pains disappeared. His ears popped as the sound came back to him and the roaring flames and Abby’s chastisement filled his head.

“We’ve got to go! This place is coming down and I don’t know if that bastard is going to get back up!”

Kaleb blinked. “Is he not dead!?”

Abby sighed as she looked over at Rat-Man kneeling on the floor. “I don’t know. I can’t touch him anymore. It’s like his glitched or something.”

“Or it needs me to do something. He is my Nemesis, after all.”

“Well, get the fuck up and do something, then. This bar is down for after the shit you just pulled.”

“You mean winning the fight?”

“I was winning the fight. Then you came in and distracted me. Next thing I know, I’m punted through several buildings and you’ve set this whole place on fire.”

Kaleb had nothing to say to that as he slowly got to his feet. The health potion Abby had gotten him was powerful stuff. He could feel his wounds healing in real time. The fire raged through the bar as Kaleb slowly approached Rat-Man. Abby was right. It looked like the beast was glitched out or something. The fire didn’t touch him and the debris falling from above passed right through.

Kaleb wondered if they should ping an admin as he got closer. But a sudden notification blocked his views.

Congratulations

You have defeated your Nemesis with a party. Experience gained is shared throughout the party based on contribution. But now that you’ve defeated your Nemesis, you have a choice. Do you defeat them for good or send them to jail? If you send them away, they will eventually come back stronger than before. But the rewards will be increased. But if you defeat them, your name will resound through the city and everyone will know what you have accomplished. For better or worse.

Spare/Kill

Kaleb felt a grin spread across his face, as he didn’t even have to think about it. With a press of a button, Kaleb sealed his and Rat-Man’s fate. A blue circle suddenly appeared around Rat-Man as Kaleb closed out the window. The circle pulsed twice and then Rat-Man and it were gone. Sighing, Kaleb turned toward Abby.

“Time to go.”