WillT 3:54 PM

  What are you seeing exactly?

  MattDog 3:54 PM

  A bunch of shoplins on motorcycles throwing petrol bombs at porcs with shields.

  Can't get a closer look without being spotted, but they're really going at it.

  SkullGirl33 3:54 PM

  So they're already powering up?

  VKlerk87 3:55 PM

  Not yet.

  We've been watching them. Porcs don't get stronger right away, they have to physically transport the shoplins they kill to their altar in Gateway first.

  This is good for us. They've committed soldiers to the shoplin fight, so it's the perfect time to make something happen.

  TroyTheFirst 3:55 PM

  So we sneak back into Gateway and blow up the altar.

  CosmicAcai 3:56 PM

  The porcs blocked off the tunnel Will made. We can't be sneaky little ferrets going that way.

  Shirokage428 3:56 PM

  A lot of people are still shopping. We'd need twenty minutes for a full raid, at least.

  Harm 3:56 PM

  Do we have twenty minutes?

  MattDog 3:56 PM

  Hard to tell, but I doubt it.

  VVVVVV 3:56 PM

  We got the same situation on the other end of the mall too, just with elves instead of pig guys.

  At least I think they're supposed to be elves? They're pretty fucked.

  WillT 3:57 PM

  Wait, what the hell are you doing over there?

  VVVVVV 3:57 PM

  Trying to slow these creeps down. West plaza's all kinds of cooked. Don't worry about it.

  SkullGirl33 3:57 PM

  Sit tight, Val. We'll think of something.

  We'd barricaded every path to the west plaza. Even here on Level Three, a row of weighed-down shelving kept us from just charging in. The pair of porcs standing guard made rude gestures and fired a warning bolt at us as we peeked around the corner.

  I decided not to risk another look. "So, what's the plan?"

  "Not sure yet," Kara said. "What would you advise?"

  "I want to hear your thoughts first," I said.

  Kara blinked. "I'm not sure? That's why I was asking you."

  I folded my arms. "Yeah, and then you just agree with everything I say to trick me into taking the lead. That's what you're doing, right?"

  Several seconds passed in silence.

  "No I'm not," she tried.

  "Kara."

  "Okay, fine!" She threw up her hands. "I thought you just didn't want to be the leader!"

  "I don't!"

  Zettachat dinged again.

  VKlerk87 3:59 PM

  I have a suggestion, actually.

  We don't need to do the entire Lair right now. We can capture some territory while they're distracted to even the odds.

  Come and get us, and we'll hold Level Three. If another group attacks Huge W at the same time, we can split their forces and capture the high ground. The people on the roof can climb down through the windows and skip the elevator.

  Then we just need to stall while everyone gets here. Even if they bring some shoplins back, it won't be as many as they're hoping for, right?

  It wasn't a bad plan. It was pretty good, actually. Smashing through the rooftop enclosure was dangerous, but once we secured Level Three they could at least lower themselves onto the escalators on a rope or something. Even better, it wasn't my idea.

  "Vaughn's plan okay?" I asked.

  Kara winked. "If that's what you'd advise."

  "I'm in, bro," Chaz said.

  Lex loaded her crossbow. "Let's do it."

  I exhaled and touched the dagger sheath hanging from my side. Now I could think.

  "Okay. Lex, can I have a couple of the exploding potions?"

  WillT 4:00 PM

  We're doing Vaughn's plan. How soon can Huge W attack?

  Harm 4:00 PM

  One, two minutes.

  WillT 4:00 PM

  Cool. Everyone who wants to hit Level Three has a minute to get over here.

  Lex passed me two bottles of neon yellow liquid. "Four left," she warned.

  I passed one to Kara. "Can you start us off?"

  Kara pressed the potion to her Chemical Compound bow. The neon yellow fluid flowed out, bent into the shape of an arrow, and went solid.

  "Don't worry, I got this," she said. "I did archery in high school and I was really good at pretending I was shooting the class creep."

  "I'll distract them. Just say when," Chaz said, and vanished.

  A lot of people were running towards us. Troy was at the front, not because he was eager to help but so he could stand next to us and pretend whatever we were doing was his idea.

  "So, how's the plan going?" he asked loudly, readying his bow.

  I tried not to roll my eyes and raised my own voice. "If you're asking what our plan is, Kara is exploiting a flaw in the porcs' barricade design."

  "Those are our barricades, Will," Troy said. "They haven't even upgraded them."

  "I know," I said. "That's the problem."

  SkullGirl33 4:01 PM

  Go!

  Chaz reappeared closer to the barricade, on the other side of the corridor, and did his best impression of the Wilhelm scream.

  "AAAAAHHH!"

  The porcs jumped in surprise, crossbows swinging. Chaz retreated into a store as Kara stepped around the corner.

  Her bow twanged. The arrow flew through the air, smacked into the barricade, and exploded.

  BOOM! It erupted, sending pieces and porcs flying.

  Lex and the other archers let loose, taking a porc out. I raced forward on my skates, leapt over the remains of the barricade, and brought the dagger down on the other one before he could get up.

  [ You have defeated a Porc Guard! ]

  [ You have defeated a Porc Guard! Yum! ]

  I passed Kara the other potion as we ran into the east plaza.

  The porcs weren't just wandering around aimlessly, like the shoplins; a dozen of them had dragged some sofas into a semicircle around Bullseye's entrance and had camped out there to keep the cargo crew trapped. They'd even scrounged up some donuts to eat.

  They'd heard the commotion and were already repositioning to face us, weapons raised. Not fast enough.

  Lex dropped a Smak Rak in front of them as Kara fired the second blast arrow. The porcs saw her aiming and dodged to the sides, which did absolutely dick for them when the arrow smacked into the sofa behind them.

  BOOM!

  Porcs tumbled in all directions, including ours. I grabbed the handle of my Stabchop and activated the dagger's effect. My turn.

  [ SHOPPING RUSH! Double attack speed! (00:04:59) ]

  Attack speed was exactly what it sounded like. If you swung a sword, you could swing it faster. If you fired a bow, you could shoot faster. If you could punch someone from across the room...

  My metal fist practically blurred as it flung outward, burying itself in a porc's snout and slamming him backwards into the floor. As he fell I swung my arm sideways, hand already whirling into its cannon form, and blasted a second one. It retracted at normal speed, but that was enough.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The rest of us surged forward. A porc in the back with an extra pip on his shirt barked a command in an unfamiliar language, and the porcs who could fall back began to retreat.

  "Nakagh! Naka—"

  Vaughn leapt out of Bullseye and smashed a bamboo shoe rack over his head.

  "HAH!"

  A wave of shorts-wearing warriors poured out of Bullseye and crashed into the porcs from behind.

  The porcs fought back, but their formation had broken. The cargo guys were great at dodging, but they were also willing to take a hit on purpose if it would help. Every blow a porc managed to land on one created an opening for a different one to hit them.

  A porc in front of me snarled and brought his baton down on another attacker, breaking their arm. How many heals had Dale prepared? Probably not enough, but that was a problem for Future Me.

  As the porc's victim screamed and fell, I switched my Stabchop into my metal hand and lashed out. The blade caught him in the neck. I left it in there for now and blasted him with the cannon, just to be sure.

  I stopped to retrieve my dagger and catch my breath as the others cleaned up the rest.

  [ Porc Scratching

  Defeat 10 Porcs.

  Reward: +$50 ]

  Vaughn gave me a thankful nod. "How's downstairs?"

  One of his guys stepped towards the balustrade to take a look. "Let me—oh fuck!"

  A bolt from below hit him in the neck.

  We hit the floor as more shots followed, shattering the glass balustrade and pinging off Bullseye's shield. A group of porcs somewhere in front of Dandy's store were firing up at us. They couldn't get a clean shot at this angle, but they were definitely going to snipe us if we stuck our heads out.

  "Will," Lex called out. She was pulling out one of Dale's poison bombs.

  I grabbed it and crawled towards the outer wall. Once I was there I could safely crouch, activate my skates, and zip around to the other side.

  From here I could see the battle in front of Huge W. Harmony was forcing the porcs back with her dollar-store Godzilla breath, clearing space for the others to rush out. If the porcs backed off much further though, the ones below me would have a clear shot at her. I had to act fast.

  I stretched Khan out, swung down, and dunked the poison bomb towards the source of the bolts Looney Tunes style.

  I heard a crack of glass, a rush of air, and coughing as a cloud of purple gas spread out below me.

  I skated back the way I came, towards the escalators. "Go!"

  Lex and the other archers stepped up and started firing downward, into the poison cloud. There was a crash above us, and glass rained down onto the escalator's landing. The people on the roof were taking a shortcut.

  A rope dropped down, followed by Raven. "We're coming!"

  I nodded. "Level Three is clear—"

  [ You have received a Death Daddy Well This Just Happened Crate. ]

  Who the hell was that?

  I opened my crate window. Matthew Jansen... he'd defected from Magic's team. His bot made him stealthy, so he'd been scouting the... God damn it!

  "They're coming!" I yelled, and ran down.

  As soon as the escalators passed below Level Two's ceiling, I started firing at the porcs. I didn't have to do much, because they were already losing. Harmony was going wild on one with her claws, while Manaia and Reg tag-teamed another with their fists alone. Somehow, Hugh was outperforming the three of them.

  He sent one flying with a roundhouse kick, executed a backflip straight out of a wuxia movie to dodge another, and unleashed a flurry of punches that sent his would-be attacker reeling. Thanks to him, the battle was wrapping up by the time I stepped off the escalator.

  Hugh waved. "Oh, Will! Hey!"

  I stared. "How did you do that?"

  "Auto-battle!" Hugh's arm snapped backward as if possessed and cracked a porc sneaking up on him in the jaw. "Computers are great at that. They're going to take over the world one day, you know."

  I wasn't sure what to make of that. "...Cool."

  "Hey, cuz," Reg said. "How's upstairs?"

  "Good!" Lex said. The others were catching up behind me.

  Harmony smacked her fist into her palm. "Let's do it!"

  Before we could set off, a shout made me turn around. The car park exit to the southeast had opened up, and a new squad of porcs was pouring in.

  I opened fire, but a porc with a heavy vest and a see-through riot shield stepped up to take it. The blast dissipated harmlessly.

  [ RIOT PORC, Lvl. 4 ]

  "Come on!"

  "I got it!" Hugh said. "You guys go! Navi, ask my phone to generate a cool battle cry!"

  Hugh rushed the pack. We watched as Hugh executed a perfect slide through the riot porc's legs, hopped to his feet, and started busting out some taekwondo.

  "An error has occurred!" he cried.

  Harmony frowned as porcs went flying. "I'm happy it's working, but I'm kinda pissed off about it."

  "Worry about it later!" I said, and raced around the plaza to the next set of escalators.

  Kara started circling the other way, to post up outside Dandy's. "Archers this way!"

  Porcs must have been rushing Level Three too. I could hear people running down to us, shouts, the sounds of battle. Something exploded. More notifications appeared.

  I could worry about them later. A group of porcs were rushing up the escalators to meet us, a shield guy leading the charge on mine—

  Kara planted another explosive arrow in the escalator in front of him. The concussive blast shattered glass, stopped the elevator, and sent him flying backward, into his allies.

  I leapt over the fallen porc and into his allies, dagger swinging wildly. Harmony charged down the other escalator, claws out, and sprayed flames into the porcs still standing.

  Lex dropped her force field down the side of the escalator facing Gateway, to protect us against archers, and fired a bolt over my head into the next porc. "More coming!"

  The porcs were returning from the car park down here too, pushing stolen wheelbarrows full of shoplin corpses. Two more shield guys took the front, watching out for ranged attacks.

  Lex threw the other poison bomb. It shattered on the floor in front of the porcs, temporarily halting their advance. I hammered the last escalator porc with a few punches and ran to the bottom, ready to stop them if—

  Harmony tackled me to the floor just as a hefty spear tore through the air in front of me.

  Force Braz, the miniboss, was standing in front of Gateway. He wasn't waiting for us to come to him.

  He raised an arm. His spear glowed, lifted in the air, and whirled back into his waiting hand.

  Harmony helped me up. "Watch your back, for fuck's sake!"

  "Sorry!"

  Lex threw the other poison bomb between the wheelbarrow porcs and the escalator landing, sending up another cloud. They'd have to run through it to come this way.

  I decided to trust the others to handle them and rushed Braz. I was scared as hell, but I was more scared of that spear. Someone had to keep him from using it.

  I sent my hand flying out again, this time with the dagger—

  Force Braz just stood there and took a knife to the side.

  He looked me in the eyes as his hand closed around my wrist, and yanked. I tripped on my skates and gasped as I fell forward, sliding towards him. Braz raised his spear, but had to move his arm to protect his face as Harmony breathed flames at him.

  I retracted my arm as fast as I could, sliding even faster across the floor until Braz was just holding me up. Now that I could reach the dagger with my free hand, I grabbed and twisted.

  Braz roared and flung his arm backwards, sending me rolling towards Gateway. With his arm free he stepped towards the charging Harmony, clenching his hand into a fist. It glowed.

  POW!

  The blow slammed into Harmony's stomach hard enough to lift her off the floor. She hit the ground and threw up as the riot porcs braved the poison cloud behind her. Manaia and the others had followed us, but they were forced to intercept the other porcs to save her life.

  Braz snorted, adjusted his tie, and turned to face me. I ran into Gateway. Maybe if I keep him busy...

  I could see the altar right there in the self-service area. I was pretty sure the porcs with the wheelbarrows had taken the long way around the plaza, but it wouldn't take them that long. This wasn't looking great.

  I let my skates carry me forward as I fled through the produce section and glanced behind me. Braz was raising his spear...

  I dived behind an empty vegetable display. The spear flew past me and all the way to the back of the store, ruining a freezer.

  "A whole raid out there and he chases me," I grumbled as I scrambled back to my feet. My backup plan was in my pocket...

  "Player: WillT," Braz said gruffly.

  I stopped.

  "Tutorial rank: two," Braz continued, raising his hand.

  His spear returned. "Killing bonus: considerable."

  He fell silent. That seemed to be all he had to say.

  "Fair enough," I said, and activated my skates.

  I raced for the back of the store. As Braz threw the spear again, I threw myself to the floor. The spear ripped the air above me.

  As I slid towards the back, I reached up and gripped it with both hands. "Ha!"

  Braz snorted and raised his arm again. I didn't actually have the strength to stop it. The spear tore out of my hands almost instantly, whirling back to its master...

  Who didn't notice the Proximity Artichoke stuck to it until it was too late.

  Beep.

  BOOM!

  The explosion took a chunk off his health bar, destroyed his spear, and sent him flying backwards into the trolley bay. I grinned, spun my wheels, and charged.

  I had like a minute left on Shopping Rush. I leapt on top of Braz and just started stabbing, as fast as I can.

  Braz recovered quicker than I was hoping he would. He lashed out and knocked me sideways, towards the bottle shop's entrance, and started getting to his feet. I hurried inside. The door to the plaza was closed, but I could hit the override button—

  The porc roared into the bottle shop and grabbed my shoulder. His other fist slammed me straight through the glass.

  "OOF!"

  I hit the ground and groaned, health in the red.

  Outside was a mess. The rest of the survivors were locked in a brutal melee with the remaining porcs. Harmony was up, but plenty of others were down. Worse, the wheelbarrows had reached Gateway. Porcs were throwing shoplins into the self-service area, towards the altar.

  Braz grinned and held out his arm. Half of his spear still obeyed his call. Shit.

  No, wait.

  Lex was nearby. I scooted backward, pointed and yelled.

  "Blast him!"

  She threw the last explosive into the bottle shop.

  BOOM! We'd mostly cleaned the place out, but obviously we'd left the worst beers. Braz stumbled back as the store was showered in shitty alcohol.

  Harmony didn't need to be told what to do. She breathed flames.

  WHOOSH! The store lit up. Braz roared. His health dropped further. Not red, but closing in.

  Behind us, the altar glowed.

  [ Ikana's Vengeance activated! The Porcs can choose a new perk! ]

  [ The Porcs have selected Fire Immunity. ]

  Braz's scorched hands forced the door open.

  "Oh, fuck off," I said.

  He grinned, leapt, and stopped.

  Chaz became visible again. Braz had impaled himself on his sword.

  "Omae wa shin— ow, that's hot!"

  Braz dropped to a knee and coughed blood. His health was in the red, and still dropping.

  I got to my feet.

  "Hey," I said. "You're not staying dead, right?"

  Braz chuckled, shook his head.

  "Good fight."

  I aimed my hand cannon.

  "Sorry about your bonus."

  [ You have defeated Force Braz! ]

  [ +5 EXP! +$300! ]

  [ LAIR CLEAR ]

  [ Killing Blow: WillT

  Most Damage: Environment (Harm & Lexy)

  Top Contributions:

  1. WillT and Khan Zoomer

  2. Harm and Fryvern

  3. Lexy and Snakpak

  4. Trinity_K and Toxobite

  5. Hughie and Mallscape Navigator ]

  [ Participation Rewards: +20 EXP

  Contribution Bonus: Contribution Bonus: +$600, +1 Gold Lair Crate, +3 Silver Lair Crate, +3 Crate Keys

  Killing Blow Bonus: +1 Gold Lair Crate

  Boss Contribution: +1 ZETTAMALL? Harsh Boss Crate ]

  [ The Pettiest Tyrant

  Defeat a Miniboss (Supervisor tier).

  Reward: Title: Supervisor ]

  [ Break The Breaker

  Clear a Breaker Supply Lair.

  Reward: +1 Breaker Supply Construction Crate ]

  [ STATUS

  TIME: Day 2, 4:27 PM

  CUSTOMERS: 539/1167

  ODDBOTZ: 444/539 ]

  The porc essences were a bust. The basic ones offered a health boost, while Braz boosted melee damage; neither seemed worth saving in my lunchbox for later.

  I tossed Braz's essence back into his body, sat on a bench, and tried to relax while the others cleaned up. The porcs were defeated, but these Lairs were getting harder.

  Chaz sat down beside me and held out a healing can. "Here. Fresh from Dandy's. Whose crates did you get?"

  "Matt and Trinity," I said. Seeing them alongside my rewards didn't feel great. "Five others I don't recognise."

  Chaz sighed. "Yeah. Half of Cosmo's party is in there. He's not doing great."

  I stared at the ceiling. "We need more protection from ranged attacks. Or better tactics."

  I glanced at the clock. We'd just passed the 24-hour mark. One day to go. More than half of us gone.

  But I felt fine. Today had been rough, but we were slowly figuring this out. Next time, we wouldn't lose anyone. The final 24 hours would be better.

  Definitely couldn't get worse.

  "We'll figure something out," Chaz said. "Actually, we can use the porc crossbows. They use a proprietary bolt we can't buy, but—"

  A roar from the car park rattled the storefronts.

  [ The special encounter effect of your D-Bran has activated. ]

  [ The BRANTICORE is here to take your life. ]

  [ END OF PART TWO ]