Changeling

“Alright. Most of those portals are fairly small, but I count two C-class ones about to breach,” Nestra said after a quick examination.

“I know the one on Garden Square,” Valerian said. “It’s a fairly long one. If it hasn’t already been started then it will breach.”

Nestra remembered Garden Square. It was an unaffiliated city landmark famous for its wild architecture and coffee shops around a wide pedestrian plaza. If she remembered correctly, young adults loved it as a dating and shopping venue, which explained why she’d had little interest in it.

“What about the other one?” Camille asked.

“Fairly straightforward. Easier than the one we just did,” Nestra replied.

The two C-classes exchanged a measuring glance. It was one of those other moments when professionalism and distrust were measured and balanced.

“The two of us would be enough to close it,” Valerian hazarded. “But we must hurry.”

Camille nodded without meeting his eyes.

“I can drive you there,” Calhoun ‘offered’ before giving up all pretense. “I must be around Citizen Nguyen at all times while they’re not inside of a portal.”

“Right. Then, you two go to K-131 B and clear it as fast as you safely can, then head towards Garden Square. We will handle four of the imminent breaches here, here, here and… here. We will retreat afterward,” Nestra said.

The other three exchanged a knowing look, one Calhoun utterly failed to interpret. They knew that Nestra’s true form would come out to play if necessary. Since there were no objections, she sent a confirmation message to Threshold’s emergency platform. Her plan was approved in exactly two seconds. One second after that, she was receiving a call from a government line which she ignored for now.

“Right, let’s split,” Nestra said.

“You guys take the loot,” Valerian insisted.

It was when she headed towards her pink roadster that Nestra found herself incredibly grateful that Helena's attunement was strength. The black-haired woman was so loaded with bags she was more like a moving luggage rack. They ended up having to stow some of their plunder on the back seat of the pink Gidung sports car. Only then did Nestra pick up.

“Sorry about that, had to pack our stuff,” she said as a way of greeting.

She smacked Helena’s hand away from the audio system, entered the first coordinates on her GPS and then floored it. Her driving AI was too conservative to handle emergencies. The electric engine whirred pleasantly as the roadster left its garage like a bat out of hell.

“Greetings, Miss Palladian,” a confident male voice said. “I’m Officer Xu. I’ll be your liaison here. I understand that your team has split?”

“Yes, you might want to call Redemption Officer Calhoun if you want to talk to the heavyweights.”

“Not to worry, my colleague will handle it. You will be joined by a gleam cadet squad for the last portal on your list. Their class will manage other imminent breaches.”

Nestra shook her head. There might be deaths. She didn’t like that.

Xu misunderstood her silence.

“I assure you, they have already cleared D-class portals under supervision. They are more than qualified to help.”

“Of course. I’m more worried about the safety of… it doesn’t matter. I assume the district is in lockdown?”

“No, but all of Threshold’s population has been evacuated to shelters as a precaution. Are you ready to proceed?”

“We’re on our way.”

“Let me know if I can be of assistance.”

Nestra gave Helena a glance. She was a little pale, and her eyes were bloodshot. Nestra thought she was more than enough to clear D-class portal and fighting while tired was a valuable experience for gleams — although the risks… It didn’t matter. Helena was a certified raider. It was her duty as a Thresholder to hold the line so the monsters wouldn’t start sniffing at shelter doors, or worse, find stragglers. The best thing Nestra could do was to make sure her sister had backup.

“Is there any place around that can deliver coffee?”

When Xu spoke, Nestra could hear the amusement in his tone.

“Latte? Black? Sugar?”

“Oh, oh! I want a cappuccino!” Helena squealed.

“Two cappuccinos if possible. No sugar.”

“Why no sugar?” Helena demanded.

“Errrr. I think it tastes better.”

“I’ll make sure you get them,” Xu chuckled. “Call me if you need a donut as well.”

Nestra grumbled as the donut love stereotype was the bane of her police career because donuts were objectively tasty. Nestra had the rare pleasure of ignoring speed limits as she charged across the highway, then down a ramp, and finally through the streets to a cistern. She parked on the curb like a savage. Very illegal. A moment later, a military drone descended from the heavens with two sealed cups stuck to its sides with duct tape.

“Man, gleam life is so wired. Stimulants on the taxpayer’s dime, delivered to my waiting hand,” Helena said.

“Don’t get used to it.”

They gulped down the beverages after Nestra cooled them down to slightly below scalding. After they were done, the mood returned to serious. Both of them were still wearing their armor, but they still checked their gear with great attention.

“Ok we’re good to go. I’m sending a message to Xu, then we dive in.”

The cistern was still functional, the portal being opened in a large room overlooking an emergency well. They moved into a fetid marsh.

“Let’s go,” Nestra said.

“I got your back.”

Nestra coated her armor, then raced alongside a half submerged path. This was a basic world like she’d cleared before as a baby Aszhii. A simple electric charge sent into the water forced ambushes by mana monkeys, their spears and darts failing to penetrate Nestra’s defenses. She and Helena carved a bloody path through the ugly primates while barely slowing down. Ten minutes of jogging later, they were ambushed by a muscular, giant version of the monster. This one was wielding an axe. Nestra had spent tens of hours being smacked with such an instrument by her overly enthusiastic sister. By comparison, the guardian was slow, awkward, and not nearly as violent. They slaughtered it in seconds.

Nestra still pocketed the mana stones on the way out.

“Here, take them,” Nestra offered.

“Just put everything in the car and we’ll split later.”

Nestra lamented the loss of her upholstery as the roadster took off to its next destination. Her marshy ass was sure to damage the precious synthetic leather of the driver’s seat. Alarms were blaring across the city by now, and something was burning a district away. Xu acknowledged the clear.

“The cadets are on their way. I’ll monitor the rest from here,” Xu told her. “I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

The second portal opened in a remote street, and it led to a desert world at night — highly unusual for Threshold. The pair was attacked by giant caterpillars carrying colonies of wasps on their backs. Nestra’s zero aura made short work of those while Helena’s blows tore the slow, armored monsters to pieces. By then though, Helena was so tired she wasn’t even using weird slang.

The guardian was a giant wasp. They were forced to hunker down until Nestra managed to land an icicle while the wasp was slowed by her zero aura. They were panting when they exited. There wouldn’t be enough time to recover all their mana this time.

“We had a breach in District Thirty-Three. I advise taking the exit off Thirty-Two and drive alongside Lake Vargas to avoid errant monsters, just in case,” Xu told them. “it should only delay you by one minute seeing as there is no traffic.”

Nestra did as ordered. The third portal was at the top of a fairly large dojo.

That portal was a slog. Since Helena was starting to crash down, Nestra did her best to compensate for her exhaustion. They had to force their ways through waves of mantis-like creatures with an annoying tendency to try and jump over their heads. The zero aura was a boon, but by now, Nestra was running on fumes mana wise. The guardian was a sort of bull that would charge straight at them, ironically forcing Nestra to jump over it. Its thick fur protected it from ice but not from axe blows. By the time they were done, both human Nestra and Helena were exhausted and covered in blood. Helena waved at herself.

“I mean, we can always…”

She yawned.

“Always put some loot bags over the seats? If you’re so worried?”

“It’s fine.”

There was intense chaos outside. Nestra could hear the distant retort of fixed artillery, meaning the army was firing at monsters outside the walls. The earlier fire had been extinguished, but she could see drones flocking over specific spots like murders of ominous birds. Nestra knew they were tracking breaches.

Xu guided them to the last portal on the list and this time, Nestra didn’t speed. She couldn’t take the risk.

Helena had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. Nestra only shook her after they were parked in front of a large building — some mid-sized corpo headquarters.

“Helena?”

“Hm? Are we there?”

“You can stop here if you want. It would be wiser.”

“Counterpoint: I’d be more vulnerable to a potential roaming monster if I’m alone.”

“Hmmm.”

Helena slapped her own cheeks. She was pale, with deep pockets under her eyes, but her mana was surprisingly active from what Nestra could tell. She really didn’t use much.

“We could let the other team take the lead — it’s not a very difficult portal. We keep an eye on them. If everything goes fine, we retreat to the nearest shelter instead of driving back.”

“It would be safer that way,” Nestra conceded.

“Exactly. And then you can…”

Helena gave her a knowing look. Nestra nodded. Most shelters had basic barracks. It would be easy for her Aszhii self to slip out while her human self pretended to sleep in, so to speak.

“Let’s do this.”

Nestra left the car after a last regretful glance at her seats. Maybe a deep cleaning could save them.

The cadet team was waiting for them in the lobby. The corpo building was pretty fancy with a lot of wood and an artificial garden built around the portal’s aperture. They had apparently decided to use it as a decoration, which was very ballsy of them. It looked good though. The radiant blue of the entrance came out from under a canopy of sculpted liana, as if conjured by some faerie magic. The final result was beautiful and invited relaxation. Unfortunately, the cadets milling about in front of the entrance were anything but.

There were three of them, all awakened but with no unlocked affinities. They wore identical, high tech armor, not as deadly and elaborate as the one Nestra had faced during her examination but still sleek and speaking of expensive material. Their weapons were very basic though, and they looked worried. Very much so. Riel, they were kids…

Nestra looked at the harried but determined Helena. No, they were not children. All three were, perhaps, a year or two older than her. Eighteen at most. But Helena was a scion of House Palladian, and those were new blood who’d decided to enlist after their mandatory service. The gap between their educations would never be bridged. There were two Korean men and a woman who looked vaguely Turkish, though Nestra couldn't be sure. They spotted the two Palladians quickly enough considering the lobby was otherwise empty. Empty and silent.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Are you our reinforcements?” the lead man asked, hand on the head of his sheathed mace.

“Riel,” the other whispered.

They displayed concern. Nestra had a look down. Her armor was covered in blood, with crystal shards clinging to various pieces like so many cracked bones. Helena was only marginally better and that was because her armor was darker.

“Are you… alright?” the woman asked.

“That blood isn’t mine,” Nestra said. “Otherwise we’re a little tired.”

“You did another portal before, right?” the second man asked.

The temptation to say ‘nay I had to wrestle a pack of barristas to get my java you fucking bookshelf’ was strong but she refrained because it wasn’t nice to punch down.

“This is our fifth today,” Helena said, pointing at the light behind them.

They exchanged looks of disbelief. Time was wasting.

“You guys are guilders or something?”

“Close enough,” Nestra said, interrupting whatever witty answer Helena had ready. “My name is Nestra, this is Helena. As she mentioned, we’re tired so you’ll be our vanguard and we’ll support you if it’s necessary. That will allow us to save some mana.”

“Hmm, any specific instructions?” the leader asked.

Nestra shook her head.

“You guys have trained together. Just do what you normally do and we’ll assist as we are able. We’re both close quarter fighters. I also have spells. I’ll warn you when I use them.”

The squad of cadets shared a look. They were obviously too green, not yet trained to operate without constant monitoring. They would never have been deployed without a mentor in a normal situation.

“It’s ok,” Nestra said. “We got your back. Now notify your handler, then move in first.”

“Alright.”

To their credit, they formed up quickly. They hadn’t been idle either, so they were ready to go. Nestra and Helena followed quickly after.

The portal world was surprisingly temperate. Trees that looked eerily like Earth ones dotted a gentle grassland. Heavy with fruits, they buzzed with the sounds of insects. When Nestra had a closer look though, the fruits were rotten, bitten to slimy dregs and the sweet scent of the air held something sour. She spotted movement in the canopies.

“Formation 2. Let’s go,” the leader of the cadets said in a hushed voice.

Nestra reformed her armor despite the drain on her dwindling reserves. Helena took the left side while she took the right.

“See anything?” the leader asked after a few steps.

The wind rose. Leaves rustled in the breeze, hiding the sounds of movement. The enemy class was in the file so they ought to know.

“In the trees,” Nestra told the squad. “They’re about to attack.”

Something jumped off of a branch. Several somethings. They were snake-like creatures holding rusty weapons and branches wrapped in their tails. Their eyes shone with malice.

Nestra cut those coming for her midair. They were fast but otherwise weak. Helena slapped one aside with her shield and grabbed another, crushing its neck between her fingers. The other squad wasn’t faring nearly as well, but the lead and woman managed to block most of the attacks, which were delivered by the snakes twisting through the air. Whatever blows went through were delivered with more speed than skill, and with poor excuses for weapons. They smacked against Threshold’s armor with little to show for it, though the cadets did swear. Nestra realized those snake creatures couldn’t hold their weapons very well. Opposable thumbs for the win.

Nestra held back a bit to allow the cadets to get some bruises. It was an important part of learning after all. The third cadet was using some sort of wand to throw blasts of unfocused mana. The cadet’s strategy was to have him intercept jumping snakes. They collapsed, and one of the two warriors closed in for the kill. It was a risky strategy that left the attacker open, but it was working well enough. Helena only moved in once to intercept a snake that would have caught the woman in the neck from a blind spot. Nestra approved. Even with gorgets and good helmets, neck injuries were no joke. Nestra paced herself, feeling wary to her bones by now. Whatever dregs of adrenaline she’d been drawing on had fully dissipated.

“Looks like they can manage,” Helena said.

Nestra hummed noncommittally. They couldn’t, not alone, but they also had good hearing. She waited while they finished off the last of the monsters.

“There’s no time to loot,” Nestra said after the leader looked at her to check her reaction. “Otherwise well done. Now that we’ve seen you work, we’re going to merge our two formations. We take the rear, watch your back. Go whenever you’re ready.”

The cadets looked relieved and more confident now that they’d repelled an attack with minimum damage. Nestra still made sure to check for injuries. And to think that less than a year before, she would have preferred to get foot massage from a wood chipper rather than lead a squad of gleams in battle. Had she grown as a person?

Nah, that was probably the human shape being social.

The next attack was even larger than the previous one. Nestra cut the attackers midair and even covered Helena, who was clearly on her last leg. The cadets were better now that they were more confident, and they didn’t feel the need to finish off stunned snakes immediately. The carnage was fully one dimensional this time. Nestra still found the creature strange and alien. Why were they tool users without the capability to use them properly, or even craft them? Strange.

“We’re coming up on the guardian,” she warned.

The guardian was a fairly large snake with a sword between its teeth. The sword wasn’t shitty and rusted, this time. It was properly magical. The creature jumped out from behind a boulder, charging the lead pair. The Korean shield guy interposed himself with a roar, which was stupid. Helena moved in. Nestra stopped her with an extended arm.

“Wait. No. Watch.”

The man’s mana fluctuated wildly. Suddenly, his mana ignited, taking on a crimson color.

“You will BURN.”

The man slashed. Flames roared out, splashing on the guardian which veered away with a hiss. The man stumbled, his irises turned red.

“Congrats on awakening an affinity,” Nestra said as she took his spot in the formation.

Mid-battle attunements were not uncommon but they were distracting so Nestra moved in. Her sword slashed at the snake’s mouth as she ducked under its slice. She drew blood. It retreated again, but Nestra kept up, slashing at its body. The scales were resistant but not that resistant.

The snake buckled. Its tail twisted.

Nestra had a fraction of a second to decide what to do. Annoyed, she moved in, blocking the blow rather than dodging it. She took the brunt of it on her armor while the wand cadet was sent careening. Helena and the female cadet moved in with powerful attacks. Nestra returned to the head, fencing with it. The snake’s jaw simply wasn’t a good tool to fight and she quickly gained the upper hand. Meanwhile, a fresh wave of fire hit the tail. Out of desperation, the guardian threw its sword at Nestra who easily parried it — not the first time someone had tried that stupid trick on her. She watched the creature reel back, mouth wide open. Nestra was out of breath. She knew what was coming.

She raised her blade.

The snake struck. Its jaw clamped on her midriff, over the frozen spikes. There was no pain as Nestra sliced down with a deadly cry. Her blade went through half of the scaled neck in one hit.

Should have coated the blade but her entire focus had been on reinforcing her armor.

The snake let go, mouth bleeding from the spike and grievously wounded. It was mad with pain. Nestra stepped in, turned, and sliced horizontally with all the strength she could still conjure. Her strike was true. The snake’s head now hung by a thread.

The guardian died with one last shiver.

The rest of the team stepped back from the bleeding body. Nestra checked herself for wounds. Although the guardian’s teeth had pierced through the ice, the Bellerophon’s steel had stopped them before their venom could reach her flesh. As expected.

“Anyone injured?” she asked.

The mage’s ribs hurt but he could walk. Nestra grabbed the fallen sword and tossed it at the cadet. She did the same with the mana stones, despite their protests.

“You need it more than we do, right?” she asked.

Helena walked on wobbly feet. Yeah, she was done for.

“Huh? What? Hm, sure,” she replied before almost dislocating her jaw with another yawn.

“Ok. We leave and go to the shelter,” Nestra said.

“We have instructions to regroup,” the head cadet replied with some hesitation.

“Sure, sure.”

They parted ways at the exit. Nestra wished she could have shared their excitement: they’d cleared a strong D-class world almost by themselves, got some expensive loot including a portal artifact, and one of them had awakened their first affinity. To them, it was a glorious day. For her it was just unpaid overtime.

“The nearest shelter should be under the building,” Xu informed them. “Look for a basement access. It should be on the lobby’s right side when you have the street at your back.”

“Got it.”

“Alright. I’ll be assigned to another team, but you can still contact me if there is any issue,” he told them before signing off.

They had no trouble getting into the shelter. The protocols were lax since the building wasn’t under attack, and being gleams helped. Men and women in corpo attire respectfully let them through which was nice, and unsurprising considering the blood. Even Helena hadn’t cleaned her axe yet. One of the managers gave them access to one of the VIP rooms. It was just a tiny bedroom with its own shower. Nice, anyway.

Helena waved Nestra away.

“I’ll shower then sleep.”

Another yawn interrupted her undressing. The smell of dirty teenager socks spread through the poorly ventilated space. Nestra refrained from complaining.

“You go do your thing, sis. Don’t worry about me. For the city! Yay!”

Nestra dropped her mask just as Helena stumbled under the water. She still took a few seconds to gather underwear before dunking them in the sink with some soap as a gesture of infinite love. A passe-muraille carried her up into a deserted demo room, then she was out and running towards Garden Square. She flipped her secure phone on. the emergency line blinked like an invitation.

“This is Crescent, on my way to Garden Square. Talk to me.”

***

The shift to the Garden Square area was sudden. Nestra was running by trees, residences, and the occasional company building when suddenly, the first themed cute cafe appeared at the corner of the street. From functional post-Incursion depression, the building styles shifted to brick and stone with elaborate flower beds suspended from low windows. The buildings grew shorter and more decorated. A cat despondent waited on an empty terrace. It spat when it noticed her.

“I’ve got better teeth,” she threatened.

It didn’t look very impressive. Nestra spotted the tall structure of the GS1 mall, the beating heart of the landmark. The portal would be right in front of it. She hurried, forcing herself to be visible to cameras even though she didn’t like it very much, if only to announce her arrival. It was important to be visible so as to avoid the old 12 gauge greeting from jumpy defenders. As she approached, she could feel the energy flicker in pleasant waves of zeta radiation. It wouldn't be long now.

Some enterprising gleams had barricaded the entrance with designer furniture, which was a bit of a shame given the price but whatever. Not her house. Gleams pointed an assortment of guns and spears at her. They were led by a C-class woman with shockingly white hair in a very expensive black suit. Nestra approached, realizing she was albino. Her eyes shone a peculiar red that wasn’t fire. A younger man stood by her side with two mismatched maces he’d clearly salvaged from a police station. The rest didn’t have affinity, a mix of mall guards and armed citizens. Nestra frowned.

A few of them pointed their weapons at her through the open doors, but they relented when they noticed her very obvious, very visible Threshold gleam badge. Sometimes, Nestra thought she could stick it on on a Neosaur’s snout and Thresholders would hesitate to shoot. Their trust in the city’s government was staggering.

“Why are you outsssside?” she asked, a little annoyed.

It was the albino gleam who replied. Her voice was low, confident. By her side, the shorter man moved protectively.

“We’re protecting civilians. When the evacuation order came, it took a long time to lead everyone to the shelters. By the time we realized there wasn’t enough room, it was too late to move them. Those who could not be protected are in the basement in front of the gates, and we’re here to make sure nothing gets to them.”

Nestra nodded. There were already roaming monsters all around. Escorting and splitting groups now might be more dangerous than just gathering them in one spot. Not the decision she would have made but it was too late now.

“The name’s Kaya, by the way, and this is John. John, say hello,” she commanded.

The shorter man saluted. Nestra realized he was wearing a collar. It made her blink a little.

“I’m the lead designer for Argus, on the sixth floor. John is my pet. I am also a blood mage, which is why I took the lead. However, I see you are obviously a raider…”

“Correct. I am Crescent.”

“So feel free to take charge here. If you can.”

Kaya tilted her head. Around her, the guards and armed civilians exchanged glances. The portal pulsed ominously behind Nestra. Distant explosions rang in her ears. Suddenly, Threshold’s artillery barrage reached a dangerous crescendo. She didn’t know what was going on in the reclamation zone but it was clearly not going well.

She returned her attention to the gathering of idiots. One thing was certain for Nestra, many of those people would die when the portal breached. Unless…

“When this thing breaks, the monsters will scatter. Most of them will come here, to you though, as soon as they spot you. They hate humans,” Nestra mused aloud.

“And we will hold the line as best as we can,” Kaya said with determination while John knocked the maces together.

It looked like he knew how to use them, but they were made to handle dokkaebi. They would only be marginally more useful than an emotional support knife against a C-class breach.

If she wanted to save everyone, she had to find a way to funnel the monsters towards her while also having room to maneuver. The temptation to move into the portal was strong, but it was too late now. She would just get swarmed and possibly eaten while the rest of the pack escaped behind her. Suddenly, her secure phone beeped.

“Yes?”

“You have two C-class raiders on their way to you, one buffer/tank, one striker. They have already closed two portals today, so expect them to be tired and plan accordingly. ETA seven minutes.”

The portal pulsed again, more erratically this time. They didn’t have seven minutes. Was there a way to get their attention? Well, yes. And maybe she could manage.

“There’s a music store here, right? Can you get me two speakers, a mixer, cables, and something that can play ‘Nighty night’ by Trevor Trash?”

That Threshold song was the most likely to garner attention Nestra could think of. Kaya signaled. John took off in a blur, soon followed by a pair of burly guards after Kaya barked at them. The blood mage rushed out on the far end of the square, next to an empty platform. She moved a flower pot aside to reveal an electric socket.

“How long until the breach?” Kaya asked.

“I reckon we have… two minutes,” Nestra said.

“You intend to pull a Queen’s gambit, and for this you’ve selected Nighty Night, one of the worst songs ever performed. Voted top three worst earworms in existence by the Threshold Post fifteen years in a row. Just listening to it makes you feel lobotomized and angry at the same time. That song?”

“Hm. Yes.”

Kaya gave her a glare. John and the two guards raced back, carrying six speakers with their stands. They set up a basic concert setup in record time. When it was done, Kaya connected the mixer herself — it looked like a small wireless black box.

“If you do not mind, you will achieve the same result with a much better song since monsters do not exactly have musical taste, hmm? I am partial to Dvorak myself. From the New World. I'm sure you don’t mind.”

Nestra wasn’t given a choice. The woman tested the power while her people raced back. Once she was satisfied, she left at a dead run. The portal pulsed again. Cracks formed on its surface. They had less than a minute left.

“One, two, test. John, adjust the… good boy.”

Nestra would have winced without her sensory defenses. The speakers were loud.

“Very well. We have closed the shutters and retreated to the basement, Crescent. We will take down anything that gets past. The stage is yours, precious.”

Nestra had the distinct feeling she was being used but somehow wasn’t sure how or what was happening. Her Aszhii instincts were all over the place — hubris conflicting with the fear of being discovered. She was masked though. Hell, she was even legal. Still… it felt incredibly weird.

“Dvorak, symphony number 9, movement 4: Allegro con Fuoco. On my mark, John? Oh and precious, try not to get killed.”

The portal cracked. Mana and radiation washed over her in a revolting cocktail: a half organic, half glassy crack that set her teeth on edge. Violins thundered as the music began, just as a hound the size of a car erupted from the broken aperture in a feral bound. Nestra’s sword fell. It brimmed with power. The blow carved the beast in two from neck to torso, spreading blood and organs on Nestra’s legs. Its life fed her. Energy seeped into her bones, strengthening them. A feeling of vitality spread through her limbs. Yes, this was what she was fighting for. Getting stronger. Always higher. Never defeated. Dancing on the edge. Two more hounds erupted from the wound in reality, its edges stabbing her mind with their lingering presence. With a roar, she smashed her coated blade into the flank of one. It didn’t kill it. She charged herself with electricity just as the jaws of the second were about to snap her calf. She kicked it. It was like hitting a brick wall. She won anyway.

It was sent careening with a yelp. She used momentum to slide by the wounded hound’s paw swipe and lunged. With the help of precision, her stab entered the wound, puncturing every organ from there to the opposite flank. With a roar, she raised the dying monster, then smashed it on the head of the living one. Another death fueled her. She was winning, and they were delicious. Another hound surfaced. Its baleful yellow eyes landed on her. She sidestepped the dazed hound before placing a charge on the newcomer’s forehead.

The bolt obliterated it.

“Welcome to Earth, idiot.”

The Scornful Crescent helped guide her steps as more hounds appeared, all C-grade. She carved through them, jumped from their attacks. She unleashed the electric charge in their midst, paralyzing them for a moment before killing two. The orchestra was in full swing by now and the loud noise was turning the beasts insane. Rather than spreading as breach monsters usually did, they focused on her. But she was one step ahead. Always one step ahead. She used passe-muraille to slide through Garden Square’s statues and benches while the beasts tripped on them. They finally cornered her on the platform, wary to attack. Nestra wanted to make the music louder.

As if Kaya heard her thought, the music switched to a faster beat just as Valerian smashed into the beasts’ flank with a roar of fury. His mace hit once. the hound shivered, then died, eyes and nose dripping with blood. Camille stabbed another clean through like putting a needle through a piece of bread. Nestra engaged again. They ended up fighting back to back, killing without mercy. Nestra’s body vibrated with the claimed power. This… this was it. The apex of existence, and not just that, but one she could share with friends.

The portal broke fully. An even bigger hound pushed through, electricity crackling between two massive fangs curved up from its massive jaw.

“Shit we might die,” Valerian whispered.

“I know!” Nestra screamed back “Isn’t that great?”

“Dibs on the core,” Camille said.

“NOT A CHANCE. WHO KILLS IT WINS IT!”

At first the battle was tight with the surviving hounds proving even more obnoxious next to what Nestra assumed was a matriarch, but after they were cleared, things went faster. Between Nestra and Camille, the matriarch couldn’t pick who to focus on. Her attacks were constantly interrupted by vicious jabs until, after a minute or so, she started shaking. Her limbs contracted in a horrifying cacophony of breaking bones until she died. A tide of power filled Nestra, though she had no idea who had cut their fun short.

“Hm,” Valerian said.

“Uh?”

“Its bone composition was peculiar, so I had them grow extremely quickly. Aberrant spikes cut into its brain.”

“Uh?”

“I gave it turbo bone cancer.”

“Well, that is, okay. Thanks,” Nestra said, a bit disappointed that the combat would stop without some sort of flourish.

“Ah, I wanted that core,” Camille complained.

“I am open to discuss it. It was a group effort,” Valerian allowed.

“Splendid! Splendid…”

The trio turned to Kaya as she emerged from the fortified mall, with her… companion in tow. Nestra was pretty sure something weird was going on.

“I will make sure the bodies are ready for harvest, if you have somewhere else to be. We must absolutely discuss the vid rights to this fantastic performance when things have calmed down a bit here. May I have your contact information?”

The elation of battle faded, leaving Nestra feeling like she’d been milked for… something. Scammed, as it were. She still gave the woman her Aszhii contact information. At least, they couldn’t release the battle footage without her consent. Probably.

With this, the breach was handled, and the portal closed like a scabbing wound.

***

The crisis inside the walls was mostly over. Smaller squads were still moving left and right through the districts to close the most urgent breaches, and there were still more monsters spilling into the world, but all the civilians were now properly evacuated while corpo house guards deployed to pick up the slack. The breaches shouldn’t lead to any more fatalities unless the guilds failed to return within a couple of days. It still made her realize how close the city was to the abyss at any given time. One afternoon would be all it took to turn the vibrant metropolis into a ravaged monster den. The fact it was a city at all stood as a testament to Threshold’s power and hubris. She could relate to that.

Her secure phone beeped. She expected a message from Shinran or Ragnarok, but the two were unexpectedly quiet. Maybe busy. The message came from the army. It didn’t sound good.

“Tide in progress. Kaiju arrival imminent. Mask presence requested.”

Coordinates pointed to the airport, the military side. She looked east. The sun was falling by now, and the red fell ominously over the arrogant skyscrapers, while the sea beyond already basked in darkness. With a sigh, Nestra called for a pick up. It was going to be a very long night.