Becoming Monsters: I'm Blue 27

Becoming Monsters is the creation of AiLovesToGrow, setting used with permission.

Ashes to Ashes is a guild based in Chicago, from TheNyxianLily's Blood And Chlorophyll tale. Lola comes from a different side story, Nine Lives.

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Chapter 27: On The Edge

When the sun rose, it felt heavy. Like the day itself had a weight that would not be denied. Justin had an entirely different but equally-undeniable weight on him: Abbey. Unlike the night before, she hadn't shifted her size down. Also unlike the night before, she'd managed at some point to roll over on top of him. While Justin suspected the Good Girlfriend Wish had been preventing it in the past, this was one of those situations where the Good Husband Wish might have overridden it. Maybe she'd been cold, or needed support for some reason, but that was academic. He found he couldn't easily move due to her warm, welcome weight. He also found that he needed to move, fairly desperately, due to his right arm falling asleep and his unfortunate possession of biological processes.

Reluctantly extricating himself almost too long. By the time he scrambled to the bathroom he had JUST enough time to use his left hand and get his pajama pants off.

By the time he finished and washed his hands, feeling had thankfully returned. That meant it was time for the next bits of the morning: starting coffee, checking his mana, then grabbing his half-made glass sword and materials to keep working on it for as long as his mana held out. He found it alongside the remaining shards, but with them were two containers of bright blue powder. Cobalt glass pigment.

There was no note with them, but then again there was no need for one. There was only one person who could have possibly known what he was about to go looking for, tracked it down, and purchased it in abundance like that. Abbey had done it again, and Justin had to resist the temptation to run back into their room to wake her up with a huge kiss. Coffee, breakfast, and letting her have the last few minutes of rest would work way better. Then kisses. Either way, he had a few minutes while the coffee percolated to use up some of the mana he had recovered in the last day or two.

Once again out back on the beach, once again sifting an area of sand to get rid of major contaminants. He pulled out what he had, along with the Gold coin he'd managed to earn. The Mana he had wouldn't last long. Best to make it count. He laid out his pieces, planned his moves, grabbed a handful of the purest sand he could find, and dove in. The Gold flowed, the glass adhered like glue. The occasional pinch or sprinkle of sand to get a bit filled in rather than expending more of the precious Gold. A pinch of cobalt and more focus let him push the blue into the blade. Another and it was swirling deeper, standing out against the gold.

Justin blinked twice, a headache starting to form. He'd overdone it a bit, but in his hands were no mere shards of glass. Pommel stone, fluted grip, S-shaped guard, double-edged blade with fullers. He was holding a katzbalger, the deep blue glass clear enough to show the threads and panes of gold running through it, the shards clearly once separated yet now together again. Though heavier than he'd expected, the edge was sharp and the construction sturdy.

The sword was completed.

The flowing blue caught the rising sun and seemed to flow like the ocean's waters, it glowed in the reflected light in ways that dared the eye to try to settle on one point. He beheld the work of his hands and could hardly believe it.

"Justin! Breakfast! You okay out here..." Abbey's sudden call jolted him out of his reverie, and he turned around. "Oh! Is it done?"

Justin nodded, walking forward. "I... ah, I think it is. I put an edge on it and everything. Not sure what to do now, I kind of didn't think past this part." He seemed a bit sheepish.

The corner of Abbey's mouth quirked up in a smile. "Well, thankfully I'm here to nudge you on that. Come in, put the sword away in our room, eat breakfast, then I recommend getting to class and showing your grader the project. Let them know you need to bring it to Camp so that you still have it."

He sighed, half in relief at having a direction and half in frustration at how much was left to do. "You're the best, Abs. And sorry I drained a bit more from the pool than I intended."

She shrugged. "Can't complain, given the results. Just make sure you keep making it easy on the house in case one of us needs to use it later. Maybe take a day or two to let the pool regenerate. Now come on, your waffles are getting cold."

Their guests didn't show up before the two of them were done with breakfast, though when they emerged from their room after showering (sword in a long cardboard box that had certainly not been there an hour before) Song was there, sipping blearily on a cup of coffee. "Thanks for putting on enough for everyone. Going to need it today."

Abbey frowned. "What happened?"

"Ghata and I got called in last night. Someone did something stupid and they needed extra hands at the hospital. We've slept maybe an hour."

"Sounds like a bit more than just 'stupid,' one person screwing up doesn't usually mean calling in reinforcements." Abbey sat down at the table with her.

"It does when someone tries to kidnap a Guild Leader, leading to a gunfight in a warehouse in the Docks, someone getting shredded by claws, and a bunch of others taken down by his Strikers. Beat them to a pulp and dropped them on the stairs of the police station with a handwritten note."

Abbey's hand came to her forehead. "Yeah, that tracks for Delvers. Who the heck is dumb enough to try to do that to a Guild Leader of all people?"

Justin shrugged. "Same as anyone else. If they think they can threaten or coerce the guy, he's a target. Looks like they bit off more than they could chew, though."

The guest room door opened, and out stepped a monster. A woman, tall and powerfully-built. One whose fur was red-orange and striped with black, her arms showing significant muscle past her short-sleeved pajama shirt, hands situated backwards on her arms. Her yawn revealed a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth before snapping shut. A Tiger of some kind, one that Justin did not immediately recognize. He understandably reacted sharply and suddenly, moving to interpose himself between Abbey and the threat, drawing the glass sword out of its box and readying himself for an attack. "Abbey, look out!"

The Tigress looked around behind her as Abbey scrambled out of her seat, but then looked down. "Oops. Uh, sorry about that. Nice reaction time, though." The voice was familiar, though the body looked like the exact opposite of who it belonged to. She focused for a moment, then began to shrink. The fur retracted to reveal brown skin, the hands changed direction, the muscles receded. Before long, the pajamas were on a petite Indian woman. Ghata.

"That's a new one." Justin was a bit slow to put away his weapon.

Song's voice from behind him almost made him jump out of his skin. "Take it as a compliment, she only ever wears her natural form in private. Ghata must have gotten really comfortable with this house and you as hosts if she forgot to put her face on."

"Yeah. Um, mind putting the sword back in the box so I can get coffee? Been a long night."

Justin gave himself a shake, then put it away. "Uh, sure, sorry about that."

Ghata grinned, an expression that showed quite nearly as much fang as her other form. "Like I said, good reaction time. I fully believe you were willing to charge at a Dragon about it." She glanced over at the microwave, specifically at the clock readout on it. "This is nice, but don't you have class you need to get to?"

"Shoot! Gotta run!" Justin turned, gave Abbey a quick kiss, and quickly turned again to head for the stairs.

Abbey yelled after him "Stop running!"

Justin yelled back an affirmative as he slowed to a (very) fast walk. After all, it wouldn't do to break the sword now that he finished it... or fall on it and find out how sharp the edge was the hard way. He did make it, though, taking his seat just before class started.

Back at the Seaside Manor, Abbey took a breath of her own. It was hard to believe he'd finally done it. She never doubted he would, but it was still a heck of a feeling. "Okay, now that Justin's off where he needs to be, I need to get to the Guild Hall. If there was a Delver issue overnight, the Marshal's team is going to need the extra pair of hands."

Ghata poured herself a mug of coffee. Then, thinking better of it, grabbed a much larger mug to fill. "Good point. Never really thought about that side of the house."

"You're medical, I'm in business admin. We do what we can." Abbey stood. "I'll see you when I'm done for the day."

She wasn't wrong, either. By the time she arrived to help, she had to consciously increase her size to be able to wade through the crowd outside of the administrative hall. The people inside were all working at an absolutely frantic pace, but not all of it seemed to be what she thought it would be about. The telepathic man who stopped her from seeing the Marshal last time, whose name she could not recall, spotted her coming in. She desperately wished she did, it would make this easier.

"Don't worry, it's James but I didn't get to tell you last time."

How did... right, telepath and he hears it when people shout thoughts... "Thanks. What's going on? I made sure to come over when I heard about someone trying to kidnap a Guild Leader."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"I know a couple of people at the hospital."

James shook himself. "Okay, phew. Makes sense. Thing is, that's one of three or four major things going on. You're going to be busy today." He held out a folder to her."

"What's this?" She was tempted to open it, but felt like it might be a bad idea.

"The actual big thing. Guild Leader Kithkin is more than capable of defending himself, but this is a Judgement I need you to take over to the Major Guild offices. Conclave decided someone's misdeeds were enough to be punished. Ostracism with Contagion." He shuddered. "Nasty stuff, might as well put out a kill order."

A chill ran up Abbey's spine. "What... does that mean?"

James looked at her oddly. "Easy to forget you're new around these parts. Ostracism's bad enough. No support or willing interaction from any member of our Guild Hall, or from our Guilds' presence elsewhere. Period. They ask to borrow a pen, you tell them to use their own blood first." He sighed. "But they added Contagion. Anyone willingly helping her? Same sentence. Period. The folder in your hand has a dozen copies of the official order."

Abbey took a moment to digest that. "That's more than needed if it's just notifying the Majors."

"You're right. The others go to the Job Board and stay up for at least a week, the Gate House, and the other Admin building. They'll let the crafters and other independents know."

"Got it. Anything else I need to know about what's going on?" Abbey was looking at the front table for one of the many Guild Hall maps kept there for tourists. She'd need one in order to plan her route.

"Don't offer comment to reporters, about this or any other topic. Dungeon Expo West is still happening, as is all other standard functions. For anything else, they come here and wait in line like everyone else."

"Got it. I'll be back once this is done." Abbey's route was easy enough, if a bit circuitous. The hard part was getting through the crowd again. The route to the Major Halls took her through a small plaza used by the Guilds, separating their area from the more public ones, it had one of the two job boards in the camp, which she went ahead and posted a sheet on. Behind her were several armored people muttering about the sentence, though she couldn't quite hear who thought what. Except for the Troll. He was quite clearly displeased when he saw the Black Cat Beastfolk's portrait.

No time to wait for that, she kept striding on. There was a building back here with several offices in it. The Guild Leader offices, a dozen of them all told, only a few filled. One had to be in charge of one of the Majors to get a room here. One of the rooms was newly dedicated but still standing empty, an icon of a silver shield on a black circle over the door, its owner not yet moved in. Most of the Guild Leaders weren't in, but had someone there to receive the papers. One of the doors, however, opened on her knock.

Inside were two people who absolutely could not have been more different. Sitting in a chair was a man who was so generic-looking as to be invisible even in this room. His clothes were only slightly worn, with light armor underneath. His daggers didn't shine, his hair was slightly messy, and even his sardonic grin seemed like it was just supposed to be there. Guild Leader Sherman, of Uprising. A guild that specialized in rapid, overwhelming assault on Labyrinth targets. The man whose office she had just stepped into "You must be the Marshal's new hire. is this news about Ashes to Ashes trying to establish a branch here?"

"I'm sorry, that isn't it."

Before she could speak further, the other man interrupted. He was not dressed in nondescript, casual clothes. He'd dehydrate before long if he did, what covered his mostly-humanoid body was basically an inverted wetsuit that only left his head and shell exposed. The head was slimy and poorly-defined, with salmon-colored flesh and bulging eyes. His shell was quite colorful and cone-shaped, with a single spine protruding up near his head. Guild Leader Arden, of Longshot, the deadliest Sniper in a bunch that specialized in death from afar. He had survived becoming aquatic in the Change and found out that his Cone Snail kin type came with poison so powerful that even he considered it disrespectful to the point of cheating. "Bleh, let them stay in Chicago. Too much collateral damage, no respect for their peers." His burbling voice was hard to make out, but he'd worked hard to become understandable.

Sherman shrugged. "Nah, no respect for you in particular. They like me and Weiss, and I can appreciate how they get things done." He referred to the leader of Golden Age.

"Agree to disagree. Now, we do have a message to receive."

Abbey had been nervous to speak up, but gratefully took the opportunity. "Yes, Guild Leader. There was a judgement passed, and the details are here. Ostracism with contagion, so the Marshall's Hall wanted to make sure the Majors were notified." She handed both of them a sheet.

Guild Leader Sherman glanced at it. "We didn't deal with her much anyway, but I'll let my people know. Have you posted this to the job board?"

"Yes, Guild Leader. Next stop is the admin building, then the Gate."

Guild Leader Arden nodded, his eyes actually protruding forward on stalks to look at the sheet... and then at Abbey. She found this more than slightly unnerving. "Good. I have no Hexers in my talent pool, they cannot mesh with our tactics, but business deals may be a part of it. These will stop." He nodded, a surprisingly sharp motion. "You may go."

"Yes, Guild Leader." Abbey turned and walked away, heart racing, meeting people who concentrated that much power while bearing bad news was probably never going to get less stressful. Hopefully, she wouldn't need to do it often, or she would be asking for hazard pay on her first evaluation. The Admin house was a matter of thirty seconds, the Workshop Aelf at the desk immediately set to making copies. She checked her watch. A quick trip to the Gate House and by the time she got back it would be about lunch time. Perfect. A quick check in at the Main Hall to make sure everything was under control, and she could head to the bank to take care of business there. A good day, if she did say so herself.

A few minutes later she caught the shuttle bus out to the Dungeon entrance. An open field, one that had seen preparations for expeditions innumerable in the last five years. A small shack was stationed near the actual entryway, and standing in it was a tall woman in medium armor. Quite shapely, with tall ears and fetchingly spotted fur. Ocelot, perhaps. She was watching the Gate as a shorter Gray Cat in leather armor strode into the Labyrinth, but shook her head and turned to face Abbey as she approached. "Good morning, I'm Lola. What Guild are you running with today, and when is it scheduled?" She was pulling out a book from under the counter."

Abbey shook her head. "I'm not a Delver, just working for the Marshal. You all need to be aware of a judgement." She handed over a sheet.

Lola's eyes furrowed. "Always sad to see a cat go bad, but we'll post it up. This precludes us from rescuing her or her party if called."

THAT was a shock, but on second thought it shouldn't have been. If what she'd done was bad enough to get her banned from all interaction, it made sense that her calls for help would be viewed as suspect. "Alright, if that's all..." her phone rang, interrupting the sentence. Without hesitation she answered it. "Hello?"

The smooth voice on the other end of the line was instantly recognizable. "Abbey, it's Marshal Shapiro. Where are you?"

She felt her spine stiffen. "At the Dungeon Gate, sir. Just handed the notice to the Guard House."

"Perfect. Do not come back just yet, I will need a description of a duel that is going to happen there in... about forty-five minutes. A rather loud argument just happened and that resulted."

"Yes sir. Anything else?"

"No, that is all." He hung up.

Abbey sighed and conveyed the information to the guard, but as she finished her phone rang again. "Hey, love! Class went well, I'm over at Quiverbow's getting my project checked. Need anything while I'm here?"

"Actually, yes. I need you to get your behind over to the Dungeon Gate. Like... right now. A major duel is going down and I don't want to be alone."

"I'll be there on the next shuttle, love..." there was a murmur of chatter on his side of the conversation, back and forth for a few moments. "Okay, maybe sooner. Love you!"

"Love you, too!" Abbey sighed and hung up. She looked across the field, the shuttle bus had pulled up. Even before it opened its door she could tell this one was going to be different; at least a dozen people who could jump, fly, or climb were holding onto the roof. As soon as the vehicle slowed down they all dismounted, not even waiting for it to stop. As soon as it stopped and the doors opened, a flood of Delvers in all shapes and sizes spilled out. One of them, a Human with brown hair, glasses, and blue-trimmed black robes, immediately jogged over to a central flat area of the field and stood there with arms crossed. Another man, an enormous and armored Troll with an equally huge shield and hammer, strode over to him. Once he set down his weapon he started talking to the Human.

From the way they're interacting, the Human will be judging this duel and the Troll's one of combatants, but who could the other one be? It has to be someone important, likely also quite strong, or the crowd wouldn't be like this.

Further thought was interrupted by a flutter of wings and a couple of thumps on the grass behind her. Spinning to face, she saw Justin brushing himself off and standing next to a green-feathered avian Beastkin, looking somewhat parrot-like. Justin turned to face him and conveyed his thanks, revealing that he had a scabbard on his hip. The hilt that protruded from it was glittering blue and gold in the sun.

"Justin, thanks for coming so fast, but I thought you weren't going to carry that ready to fight?"

"Thank José, he carried me. And I didn't plan to, but it was either this or I wouldn't have been able to carry it at all when he brought me without risking dropping it." He looked over as a second bus pulled up. "And Quiverbow insisted that it go at least a couple days in the scabbard to test that it's strong enough before it gets enchanted. Any idea who's fighting?"

She saw a large, gray man step out into the sun, several women fanning out into the gathering crowds. At his side was a sword, his wings shook themselves out from being compressed on the bus. Importantly, on his chest was a badge. Silver shield on a black circle, like the empty office she saw earlier. He started walking to the open center of the field, towards the Troll and the Human there. "I'm not sure, but it's probably him."

Justin looked. "Huh, if that's him it's going to be a big one. No wonder there's a crowd."

"What do you mean?"

"He's a customer of Quiverbow's. Guild Leader Kithkin, dude's been going viral for some stuff recently. And Incubus."

Recognition clicked for Abbey. "Wait, I think I know him! The bank robbery, he was there!"

"Oh, yeah, wasn't he the guy who stomped those skeletons?"

"If that's him, it definitely explains the crowd." And a crowd it was. There was almost a festival feel in the air. A modern gladiatorial combat, in circumstances that could very well be to the death. Drones were flying overhead to record what was going on. "The Marshal asked me to watch it closely, so I either need to be up front or I need to be full size."

Justin looked around. "Try for the first, then use size as a backup? I'd like to see it, and riding on your shoulders might not be the best way to do it."

It took them several minutes to slowly worm their way almost to the front row, but it was worth it. Over the background of the crowd, they heard the black-robed man speaking. "Do either of you wish to take this chance to avert combat?" Neither did, and they moved to their places. "So be it. All courtesies have been observed, all attempts at peace offered. Now, before myself and these witnesses, let the Status favor the righteous. Get ready. Begin!"

The Troll dashed in with an overhead strike, the gray man nimbly dodging out of the way and returning fire with fire and lightning their taunts against each other were interrupted by the chime of steel on steel, and the crowd shifted back a bit as their exchanges brought them close to the edge that had been formed. NOBODY wanted to get caught in the crossfire accidentally. First blood was drawn as Kithkin suddenly appeared to be in two places at once, and the Troll picked the wrong target. A roar of pain, more taunts, and the Incubus did it again. He split into two, tricked the Troll into facing the wrong one, but this time he pulled a gun out of nowhere and shot him twice. Followed by a beam of light that blew the larger combatant's armor apart. The crowd cheered, it was a spectacular play.

There were a few more words exchanged, the gun disappeared once more, but the fight was back on. The Troll charged once again, his green flesh an unstoppable force. Or almost unstoppable. Two words escaped the gray man's lips. "Flame Ray." From the hand that had just been holding the firearm, a beam of blue flame shot forth. It pierced the Troll to the further cheers of the crowd, and the larger man's momentum dropped him to the ground. He didn't stand again, but literally tried to claw his way forward towards the Incubus.

The cheers rapidly stilled into horror. The duel could not end until one of the two either died, fell unconscious, or surrendered. There was an extremely clear victory, but he refused to kill his enemy and either wouldn't or couldn't knock him out. It took endless minutes before the Troll stopped struggling, minutes where all the gray man could do is slowly back away out of reach.

Eventually he did, though. Not verbally, but by collapsing onto his face. Though he was conscious, the arbiter could take it as a surrender. The arbiter immediately declared the victor and called for medics, the crowd dispersing, the Incubus's guild mates coming forward to support him. Abbey recognized the look. Guild Leader Kithkin was on the edge of breaking. The act of shooting that last attack had been more than he could bear. "Justin... can we go?"

"I'm here for you, love. Let's... um. Let's get to the bus stop. These are the stakes they play for. I'm just glad that neither of us are the ones playing it."