In the split second before she pulled the trigger, my ring’s danger sense kicked in and its Holtzmann shield automatically went up. Nina didn’t waste time with single shots but held the trigger down and I immediately felt the rapid cascade of bullets striking my shield. None of them penetrated, but instead they all bounced harmlessly to the ground after the shield soaked up their impact.
Ouch.
Even though the shield also dispersed some of the kinetic energy, standing barely five yards from a full-auto attack still hurt like hell. I gritted my teeth and tried not to show just how much. If Lianna can be so cool about it, then I could too.
“As you can see,” I said, wincing, “the shield can stop the bullets, but...”
“Why is your health going down?” Sigrid said.
“Yeah, it’s not perfect,” I said through still-clenched teeth. “And I can still feel every impact.”
“What does it feel like?” Nina said. She was still squeezing the trigger and bullets were still pounding against my shield.
“Like an army of hill giants pummeling me with small rocks, why do you ask?”
“Huh?”
“Jesus, Nina,” Byron said. “He means it hurts.”
“Oh,” Nina said. “Oh!” She let go of the trigger and the bullets stopped coming. I lowered the shield and she handed the rifle to her husband before running over and healing me. “Sorry, Daniel. I guess I went a bit overboard.”
“Just a bit,” I said, but I smiled to let her know it was okay.
“Damn, I think I may need to learn how to use a crossbow now after all,” Kay said.
“You’ve been a busy beaver,” Arthur said.
“Oh, but there’s still more,” I said, feeling a lot better after Nina’s heal.
“Of course there is,” Jane said.
“It’s like watching the shopping channel,” Sigrid said.
“Are your attacks lacking oomph? Do you find aiming a hassle?” I said. “Why not try the R2 version?”
“See? He’s really getting into character now,” Sigrid said.
“I’ll bite,” Morgan said. “What’s the R2?”
“I am so glad you asked,” I said. Another weapon appeared in my hands, similar to the first rifle.
I held it out to her. “Give it a try, but don’t look at the Status yet.”
Morgan took it like I was handing her a sleeping viper. “Will it hurt?”
“Only if you stand in front of it.”
She aimed at the tree and pulled the trigger. A single blast composed of several projectiles blew from the muzzle and peppered the tree.
“Holy crap,” Wayne said. “It’s a boom stick.”
“Shop smart, shop S-Mart,” I said.
“That poor tree,” Sam said.
R2 Shotgun
You might like to keep this handy, for close encounters.
Powers:
Blammo! - Fire a scattered blast of projectiles
Jane laughed when she checked its Status. “Do you write these things yourself?”
“System does the power descriptions but lets me do the item names and descriptions,” I said. “I’ve only got these right now but I have plans for an R3 sniper rifle too, and some upgrades.”
“So let me get this straight,” Lianna said. “You really made all these?”
“Still wondering if you made a mistake joining him?” Sigrid said, bumping Lianna’s shoulder with hers.
Lianna gnawed her bottom lip for a moment, as though considering whether or not to say what was on her mind. In the end, she decided to say it.
“The thing is, why are you giving all these incredible items away?” she said, then looked around at the members of Team Maple Leaf. “I mean, it's nothing personal and I know you’re all friends and stuff, but you’re -- we're -- on a different team.”
“I was going to ask the same thing,” Arthur said, “but I recently learned it’s best to just let Daniel be Daniel.”
“Lianna,” I said, “do you remember what I said when you asked me what my goal was?”
Of course she remembered, she had eidetic memory too. All she had to do was put the pieces together.
“Ah, I think I get it now,” she said with barely a pause to consider the question. “You really are an odd duck, Captain.”
“I like her,” Jane said.
“Yeah, she sees it how it is,” Sigrid said.
“Definitely a keeper,” Morgan said.
“And she’s pretty,” Kenji mumbled from somewhere in the back. I didn’t even notice him showing up, which wasn’t anything new.
“Hang on,” Byron said. “I want to know what you said to her.”
“Yeah, me too,” Galahad said.
“I said that when one of us gets stronger, we all get stronger.”
It took them longer to think about it, but slowly they started nodding.
“That tracks,” Morgan said.
“Lianna, did he happen to mention that we’re all here together as a team because of him?” Nina said. “He was our team builder.”
“Then why aren’t you all on the same team?” Lianna said.
“That’s a bit of a long story,” I said. “There are some things we need to do after this, you and I. I’ll tell you then.”
“You mean there’s no more presents?” Jane said, grabbing my arm and looking at me with a colossal pout. “Is that all you made?”
“Jesus Christ, Jane,” Sigrid said. “You’d better be joking.”
“Someone’s jealous of my new bauble,” Jane said, letting go of me so she could wave her diamond ring. “But who’s joking? Hell, Sigrid, you know him better than any of us. Do you really think he stopped there?”
“Even Daniel has his limits,” Sigrid said.
I cleared my throat. “The thing is, I did make more.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“There it is,” Jane said. “Told you so.”
I frowned. “Now I’m not sure you deserve it.”
“Who, me? No, I totally deserve it!” Jane said, bouncing like a ninth-grader about to see a Taylor Swift concert. “Gimme gimme gimme!”
“Fine.”
I handed her a thin mithral tube about six inches long with a diameter about the size of a Loonie, wrapped with soft, finely-tanned leather. Embedded into one end there was a spherical diamond so comically big you'd assume it was just crystal.
She looked down at it with a pout. She clearly had no idea what it was at first, but then she looked at its Status. In an instant, her dour disappointment shifted to an expression of joyful expection. Her grip on it shifted. Now she held it like it was the handle of a sword with a crystal pommel.
“Hell yes,” she muttered. “Let there be light.”
A very thin glowing blade of pure light grew from it, shining white, humming with energy, and glowing like a laser. A curved loop guard made of the same energy surrounded her knuckles along with two glowing quillons acting as a cross guard.
Jane turned her elated face to me. “It’s a light—”
“Laser sword,” I said swiftly and firmly.
“But in the movies they call it—”
“A laser sword is what it’s called by everybody else,” I said again, aiming for a tone of finality I hoped would end the conversation and avoid potential litigation.
Jane Anders’ Laser Rapier Of Doom
A laser sword made for the siren hero herself.
Powers:
Kpissssh! - Create a sword blade made of plasma
Stay - Secure the hilt against an object
She slashed the air with it a few times.
“I’m sure you’ve got some nerdy reason why I can’t call it what it clearly is, but whatevs.” Instantly, the blade vanished. Jane giggled. The blade reappeared. “Hee hee.”
“So I take it you like it?”
She swung it some more.
“Isn’t it supposed to make, like, a sort of wum wum sound when it moves around?”
Sigrid elbowed her.
“Okay okay,” Jane said, flinching, “I like it, okay? Jesus, look at this thing. I fucking love it, I’m like living in the movies here. But seriously,” she switched it off, then back on again, “I see the power’s called kpissssh but where’s the kpissssh sound when it starts up?” She swung the laser sword around. “I miss the wum wum, too.”
“You really want your weapon to make noise all the time?” I said.
She thought about it for a split second. “Meh, I suppose not.” Her grin was wide and genuine as she fenced against an imaginary foe with her silent but brightly glowing blade. With her skill and grace it looked more like dance than combat.
“Hey Wayne, how about you give Jane something to fight against?” I said.
“I have just the thing,” Wayne said, and a tall skeleton rose from the ground. It wasn’t like the old spindly skeletons he used to summon, this one was larger, fiercer-looking, and its sword, shield, and armor looked less worn out. It tromped over to Jane and began fighting.
“You’ll find that you’ll be able to incorporate some slashing attacks to your repertoire with this one,” I said as she played with the skeleton. ”Your standard rapier is only effective as a stabbing tool and not great for parrying heavier weapons because it can easily break. This one’s more likely to burn right through an opponent’s weapon instead, and you can also slash with it as well.”
Jane tried it out. She was a bit awkward at first, being so used to using her steel rapier to jab and thrust, but her sword skill covered all kinds of fencing so she quickly adapted to working in some slashing attacks too.
While Jane played with the skeleton, Lianna leaned in closer. "That's a diamond."
"Uh huh."
"Do you understand how big that is?"
"Of course," I said. "It's 223 carats. I have the Appraisal skill too."
"I didn't ask if you knew how big it was, I asked if you understood."
"Um, I understand that a diamond the size of a ping pong ball is ludicrously big."
"And?"
"Expensive?" I said.
"Ludicrously so. You gave me a job to do, so this is me doing it: from now on, gifts and expenditures of significant value should go through both of us."
"Understood," I said with a grin. I knew she was the right choice.
After toying with the undead summon for a while, Jane eventually drew her laser sword blade in a wide arc in front of her, slicing the skeleton in half at the waist. It crumpled to the ground, then fizzled away. There was a smattering of applause, and she bowed graciously.
The blade seemed to get sucked back into the hilt and she pressed the slender tube against her hip. It stuck there as though held by a powerful magnet. She plucked it off then pressed it to her forearm. It stuck there too. She plucked it off again and held it gingerly in both hands like it was a sacred relic.
“Thank you, Daniel.”
I’ll never forget the smile she gave me.
Sigrid’s voice next to me said softly, but loud enough that everyone could hear, “Just because you’re idiotically nice don’t think for a second that excuses you from spending so much time cooped up in your freaky mad sorcerer’s lab. God knows how many days you spent in time dilation running yourself ragged making these. You can’t do that.”
“Does that mean you don’t want to see what else I made?” I said.
“There’s more?” Sigrid said.
“Of course there is,” Jane said without looking up from her new toy.
“I’ve got something for everyone, actually,” I said.
“It really is Christmas,” Sam said. “What’s mine?”
“You’re gonna like it,” I said, and a small ball appeared in my hand. Half of it was red, the other half white, with a black stripe separating the two hemispheres.
“That looks like a pokeball!” Chika said.
Sam Craig’s Creature Training Ball
Gotta catch ‘em all.
Powers:
Catch ‘Em - Form spiritual bonds with summoned creatures; Requires affinity with Nature
Pocket Monsters - Store bonded creatures; After 24 hours, stored creatures no longer count toward summoning limit; Storage capacity: 5 creatures; Requires affinity with Nature
Train ‘Em - Train bonded creatures to evolve them; Requires affinity with Nature
“Holy shit, it is a pokeball!” Chika said.
“Language,” I said.
“Sorry, Sensei, but come on! It’s. A. Freaking. Pokeball!”
“Wow, thanks, Daniel,” Sam said. “But...I don’t get it.”
Chika heaved a sigh. “You know those animals you summon? You can bond with them, then train them to evolve and be more powerful, and keep them in the ball so you can call them out whenever you want.”
“Ohhhh,” Sam said. “That’s really cool.”
“I know!” Chika said. She couldn’t take her eyes off the ball. “I waaaaaaaant it.”
“I made something similar for Wayne,” I said, making a cane appear. It was a slender shaft of gnarled wood topped with a miniature crystal skull.
Wayne Powell’s Baron Samedi Cane
Where the Baron goes, death surely follows.
Powers:
Netherworld - Store summoned undead; After 24 hours, stored creatures no longer count toward summoning limit; Storage capacity: 15 creatures; Requires affinity with Death
Bone Armor - Summoned undead have enhanced defense; Requires affinity with Death
“This is perfect, Daniel,” Wayne said, running his hand along the smooth, polished wood. “Not only can I have more summons active but they’re tougher too. Thank you.”
Chika was still sulking about not getting a pokeball so I did her next.
“Hey Chika?” I said.
She perked up. “My turn?”
“Your turn.” A strap of dark basilisk leather studded with metal spikes appeared.
“What the hell?” Jane said. “Is that...a collar?”
“Sure looks like one,” Kay said, stifling a laugh.
“You made the girl a collar?!” Jane said. “What is wrong with you?”
“You didn’t complain when I made you a choker.”
“Yeah, but that’s different. A choker’s cute and sexy. A collar...it’s got other connotations, doesn’t it?”
“It’s just a different style of necklace. How about we see what Chika thinks of it before we go getting all judgey,” Sigrid said as I passed it to Chika.
Chika’s eyes lit up when she saw the Status.
Chika Hachiman’s Kaiju Death Cat Collar
Meow-ve over Godzilla, there’s a new cat in town.
Powers:
Cat’s Eyes - Superior senses; Requires affinity with Death
Eye Of The Tiger - Transform into the Kaiju Death Cat; Requires affinity with Death
I’m-A Shred You - Vicious claw attack when in Kaiju Death Cat form
Nine Lives - Superior toughness, speed, and agility; Requires affinity with Death
She turned her back to me and pulled her long black hair out of the way, just as Jane had done when I’d given her the Siren’s Choker. “Put it on me, Sensei?”
Under Jane’s piercing scrutiny, I buckled the leather necklace around Chika’s neck.
“Can I try it out?” she said.
“I think you must,” I said.
As we all watched, little Chika transformed before our eyes like it was a scene in a werewolf movie. Her normally compact body grew to nearly three times its normal size and shifted its shape to become more feline, dark fur sprouting from all over so that she looked like a black panther who drank Dr Jeckyl’s secret Hyde formula. Two black cat ears sprouted from the top of her head along with a long, furry, serpentine tail from her behind.
She looked at me and grinned. At least, when her mouth grew wide and exposed its sharp fangs I figured it had to have been a grin, it was hard to tell. She held up a front paw and long claws extended from the stubby fingers.
“Okay,” Jane said. “I take it all back. That is fucking awesome.”
“Sensei!” Chika leapt at me, her long furry arms spread, but instead of bowling me over with her fifteen-foot tall monster body, by the time she reached me the Kaiju Death Cat had thankfully shrunk back into a cute teenage girl who squeezed me in a tight hug.
“Okay, okay,” I said, wiggling out of the embrace. “I’m glad you like it.”
Kay sprang in front of me. “Do me next!”
"That's what she said," Jane muttered, still staring at the laser sword she cradled in her hands.
Up next: Everybody gets a car!