Now that I'm sure the T-Rex is dead, I make my way back to the loading bay to retrieve the stuff I dropped and begin preparing to leave. I strap my bags to the forklift before going to loot the dead Lizardman commander. I take everything he has: the jewelry, the bags from his belt with the glowing mushrooms. It isn't until I remove his necklace that I feel it’s also been enchanted, so I use Identify on it.

  "I’ll give this one to Monty," I say, as it definitely didn't make me violently sick after trying it out. I put it in a bag on the forklift, then quickly make my way through the maintenance corridors and retrieve the things I stashed. With the last of my loot in hand, I go back to the forklift and put them away before beginning the last task I need to complete before leaving this place behind.

  Looking under the shelving units and shaking the remaining ravioli from the MRE, I start looking for the lizard. It ran off somewhere while I was fighting the T-Rex. After a bit of searching, I come across a crate with a faint sound of scratching inside.

  I pry open the crate and find my little buddy inside, lying on a bed of paper. I pick him up. "How did you get in there?" I look back into the crate and see something that makes me feel a certain way, so I use Identify on it.

  I pick up the flamethrower and examine it. There’s a hole drilled into the tank, and the nozzle was welded shut, but still, I think I can restore it to working condition. I put the little lizard on my shoulder and strap the flamethrower to the forklift. Now, the last thing I need to get is my trolley from the entrance hall, and I can finally leave.

  I get onto the forklift, turn the key, and after a bit of sputtering, it roars to life... as much as a forklift can roar. Still, it goes around the corner at a glorious 13 miles per hour. I might be able to run faster, but where’s the fun in that?

  I cruise through the halls, one hand on the steering wheel, the other holding my submachine gun. As I’m about to turn the corner to the main hall, I shout, “Fear me, you lizards! OSHA ain’t got—HOLY SHIT!” I put the forklift in park and duck behind it, because in front of the exit is a small army of Lizardmen, with the Lizardman queen at the front.

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  “Intruder, surrender now and we will make your death quick. Refuse, and we will capture you. You will be kept alive, and we will slowly feed you to our young piece by piece.”

  “Go fuck yourself, you lizard bitch. You will be the first one I’ll shoot.”

  “So be it. Guards, subdue him.”

  I don’t waste time. I shoulder the submachine gun and shoot the nearest guard, then the next, and the next. I duck as an arrow hits the metal overhead guard. I move to the side of my cover and search for the archer. It doesn’t go well, as two other archers shoot at me, prepared for retaliation. But now I know where they are.

  I take the spear I took from the general off the forklift and muster all the adrenaline I have, trying to trigger a fight-or-flight reaction. The moment a feral Lizardman skids past my cover and frightens me, it triggers. My heart begins to beat like a drum as the feral starts to lunge, but I’m faster now. My fist connects with its snout, and the world turns bright. Colors pop around me as a spray of blood from the feral’s head crushes between my fist and the floor.

  My knuckles turn white around the spear, and my lips curl into a slight, manic grin as I coil my body back, getting ready to throw the spear. With strength I’ve gained through the system and the adrenaline boost from the mark on my arm, it feels like I could rival a ballista in strength. I release the spear. My form is not perfect, but my weapon handling skill makes it good enough. Though it doesn’t hit where I was aiming, it spears half a dozen lizards and shatters the tip of the spear on the stone wall of the museum.

  The Lizardman line falls silent as my spear rips through several of their kin. My grin grows into a manic smile. The Lizardmen stop in their tracks, trying to reconcile what they’ve just witnessed, as they aren’t used to my kind having such strength. But they’re snapped out of their stupor when a shot rings out, and one of their archers falls dead.

  Before they regain their composure, I pick off two more archers and injure another, leaving only two standing. I take cover again as two arrows fly overhead.

  Switching to full auto, I spray where the two remaining archers were. I see them fall, so I stand up properly, put the submachine gun on the forklift, grab my mace, draw my revolver, and take aim. I shoot the last one first and move up until it's empty, killing four and leaving three to be taken out by hand. I holster the revolver, grab the mace in both hands, the rough wood biting into my grip.

  I kick the first to reach into the second. I don’t know proper fighting techniques for double-handed maces, and while weapon handling helps, I understand a baseball swing better. So, with the simplest swing I can, I hit the Lizardman in the chest, and it caves in like it isn’t there. It also knocks the second one down, who now struggles to get out from under his fellow guard’s corpse.

  I step over the Lizardman and hold the mace above its head, letting it drop. The head of the mace races down when released from my grip and smashes the Lizardman’s head in.

  While bending over to pick up my mace, I feel the little lizard tumble out of the hood of my hoodie. I catch him before he hits the ground and check him over—he seems fine. I’m about to tuck him into my pocket when the queen’s voice rings out, cutting through the chaos.

  “Stand down!”

  I freeze, looking around. All the Lizardmen are standing still, their confusion evident in the way they glance from one another to the queen.