Sally groaned as she pushed herself up from the grass. Recovering from a weird dream about being in the diner on Earth again, she rubbed her eyes and surveyed the scene around her.

  “Ah, dammit,” she grumbled, looking at all the corpses in the forest clearing. “Not off to the best of starts.”

  “Your System Sickness has gone now, however.”

  She looked down to see that Archie was curled up beside her. “I’m pretty sure eating the locals and taking a nap while the rest of the group are off on their own wasn’t on the schedule, Arch.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, they weren’t Players.”

  Sally pulled a face and looked back over at the bodies. Strange, as they had tasted pretty good. Over the years, she had become an expert on feeling out the difference between brains that were locally sourced or imported. If the cat hadn’t said anything, she would have guessed they were once real people - that’s why the Outsiders were here to save the world, of course.

  “What about the rest of the goofballs?” she asked. “They turn murderhobo just as fast, or have they shown more restraint? Oh, are they alive?”

  The cat nodded. “All are living. I can confirm that none of them have murdered a Player.”

  She grunted in response. It wasn’t normal for all of them to behave while she wasn’t around. The details were in what Archie hadn’t said, however. Alive and they hadn’t killed Players, but that didn’t mean they were uninjured and safe.

  Sally stretched out her hand and sighed. “I’d better go rally the troops. Where is the closest goober?”

  Archie flicked his tail back and forth. “You should find the first, right about…”

  As he trailed off, a sound in the woods caught the zombie’s attention. She turned to the side as a clattering amongst the bushes and thick branches of the vegetation snapped and rustled. As the closeness of the noise increased rapidly, a figure tumbled into view and slammed against the wide trunk of a tree.

  “I shoulda… stayed at home,” the limp body of Bully grumbled.

  “…now,” Archie finished.

  Sally clicked her fingers. “Perfect. If the rest of the lost sheep could just appear as easily, we’ll be able to get this mission started properly.”

  After a moment of waiting—and many more murmured complaints from the alchemist—it didn’t look like any of the other Outsiders had found their way back to her. The zombie eyed up the cat expectantly. There was an odd glimmer in Archie’s eyes. He was enjoying this a lot more than their usual exploits, even though things were off to a rough start. It was suspicious, so she’d need to keep an eye on him.

  “Which direction to the next natural disaster?” she asked.

  The cat waved his tail back and forth before stretching out. “Closest is Edward, although he may need some assistance due to his injury.”

  “Yeah.” Sally looked in the direction he was indicating. “I could see that.”

  The demon drummed his fingers on the flat of his sword as he sat with it across his lap. Bad news was that his magical sight had a limited use time, and had run out. Blind once more. The good news was that he had killed everything within the village area that dared come close to him.

  He was sure that Sally and the others would be annoyed at the killing spree, but it wasn’t like he had much choice. Aside from maybe sprouting wings and flying away from the situation, which was… far too much energy to use at the time.

  Thankfully, Demonic Regeneration was one of the few types of healing that could repair or replace missing body parts. He had never had to grow his eyeballs back before, and it was remarkably uncomfortable. Another half an hour and they might be inflated and functional enough to get out of this place.

  Edward leaned back against the wall behind him. This adventure had seemed like a fun way to experience something to tease Theo about later on, along with providing ample opportunity to hint that he was going to betray everyone. Now that he was in the thick of it, he just felt a little exhausted.

  Perhaps he should have retired, like some of the others over the years.

  Playing sinister pranks and pretending to work on the Wasteland Council was certainly a more simple life than this. Part of it was the loyalty to Sally and the other Outsiders. Not only his existence, but the whole of Sanctuary, owed their lives to the strange zombie and her friends. Sure, he had played his own role in it all, but…

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  The sound of footsteps off to the right put a halt to his thoughts.

  It wasn’t just the one person, either. With his sharp teeth bared, the demon pushed himself up to his feet and leveled his sword out in the direction of the noise. Even blind, he was a reasonable fighter. The risk was great, however. He’d have to scare them off rather than engage.

  “Turn from this place,” he said, his jaw clenched. “Lest you join the corpses surrounding me.”

  The footsteps got a little closer before stopping. Silence followed, which probably meant he’d have to fight. Edward tensed up at the ready.

  “Sorry, Ed. I can’t help with your eyes,” Sally said.

  “Oh, it’s you.” The demon deflated and lowered his sword. “Joy. Now I have fewer senses to try to ignore you with.”

  The zombie beamed and ran her eyes across the scene. Dead bodies lay everywhere, either slashed to ribbons or dropped by poisons and curses. “You did all this while blind?”

  “A paltry threat, compared to the years of preparation I have put myself through to be ready to kill the Outsiders.” He gestured vaguely around him. “None of these felt as capable as a Player should.”

  “Correct,” Archie piped up. “These are not Players.”

  “I’m here too,” Bully murmured.

  Edward nodded. “The others?”

  The cat hopped up onto a short wall and sat, wrapping his tail around himself. “Together, and in reasonable health. They may require our assistance.”

  “Is everywhere as aggressive as here?” The demon rubbed at his face. “They were blabbering on about a prophecy or something.”

  “Yes.”

  Sally narrowed her eyes at the cat, but his poker face remained unbroken. Five misfits arriving from the sky and defending the populace from an insectoid invasion did sound like something worth making a prophecy about… but it still didn’t sit with her quite right.

  For one, she expected a higher population of Players. Maybe not a world full of them like Sanctuary, but a sizable amount to have made some contact with the new arrivals by now. The fact that the System-created here was quite intelligent and delicious wasn’t entirely noteworthy, but added to the greater conspiracy. Perhaps this was just a more successful world than hers.

  The best they’ve ever encountered.

  While Edward bent Bully’s ear over whether the frogman had any potions that could help with his recovery, Sally started looking around at the surroundings.

  She checked a few of the corpses, but looting them was rather pointless. Months spent grinding on her home world had given her the best items and skills she could get, and she never had a lack of gold, thanks to Theo’s efforts.

  The inside of a nearest hut provided some cover from the bickering of the two outside, at least. There was the smell of some earthy incense, and a warmth to the tribal-adjacent decor. Not unpleasant. She glanced briefly over the occupants' wordly possession, before turning to see that Archie had just walked in through the doorway.

  “Going to clue me in?” she asked, eyes narrowing again.

  He sat down and remained nonplussed. “The mission briefing was insufficient?”

  “The mission briefing feels incomplete.” Sally crossed her arms. “Which is a more favorable take than saying it was misleading.”

  He just blinked in response, the tip of his tail waving back and forth for a few seconds before he spoke. “There are three dungeons in this world that hold powerful treasures. Chuck requires one of them to make a final change to the STAR System, one that will make converting new planets even easier and risk-free.”

  “There was no reason not to lead with that. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gone adventuring for such power… why withhold the information now?” Her brow furrowed further.

  Archie squirmed under the weight of her gaze. “If I tell you, you have to promise me no harm.”

  Sally’s hand tightened around the handle of her dagger.

  “I promise.”

  The squeal of metal against metal echoed through the crowded streets of Lunavaille.

  Raised voices shouted threats, or for assistance, as a throng of bodies moved toward the city hall. Some ran in fear, but most sought out weapons—if not already armed—and gathered to march as one.

  Atop the bloodied stone steps leading up to this building was a hulking mass of thick metal plates. A flaming skull grinned down on the assailing forces as the Death Knight swung his large greatsword around in another wide arc.

  “Fuck’s sake,” Jackie swore from behind a fallen pillar nearby.

  Following the deluded tin-can had been a mistake. Not that she had much choice. Without knowing where any of the other Outsiders were, sticking to Humphrey made some sense…

  But he had clearly lost the plot.

  She dropped the stubby cigarette from her mouth and reloaded her repeating crossbow. The Death Knight had been on a warpath, seeing every living thing as an enemy. This was the third town they had carved a bloody trail through, and it was only a new delusion that had stopped them from rolling into a fourth.

  “I shall not let you desecrate Theo’s tomb,” Humphrey bellowed, swiping off another head from the armed townsfolk.

  //Jackie: We’re holed up in a place called Lunavaille.

  //Jackie: The walking refrigerator is having flashbacks and won’t stop murderin

  //Sally: We’re on our way.

  A surprisingly curt message from the zombie. Perhaps she had been having her own issues.

  Jackie turned and placed her crossbow to rest against the stone pillar that Humphrey had knocked over. She fired bolts into the crowd, thinning their numbers so they wouldn’t overwhelm the Death Knight. It was remarkable enough that so many of them fancied their chances in a fight, but everyone who was armed was dressed like an adventurer.

  The goons who were trying to sacrifice her were equally hardy and ready for battle. She wasn’t an expert on the different worlds that Sally and the others liked to hop between, but the standard villager-level System folk were never usually this competent and bloodthirsty. This couldn’t just be a normal world.

  An arrow bounced off the stone pillar about a foot away from her. She turned her aim and fired an Explosive shot at the culprit. Forget the bugs. It looked like they’d be destroying the population before the space roaches even arrived.

  The gangster ducked back behind cover to reload and light a new cigarette. All she had to do was keep the dumbass standing until Sally arrived and knocked some sense into him. Simple enough, and not too dangerous.

  She flicked sparks from her lighter three times, but it wouldn’t light.

  Her eyes drifted upwards as a large shadow washed over the area, blotting out the sun.