Chapter 30: Mr. & Mrs. G

His parents entered, followed by Jimmy.  Both of them looked decades younger than he remembered.  His dad used to walk with shorter steps from a chronically sore back.  His mom had lost a lot of weight and she stood straighter.  But their eyes — Their eyes were full of water.  Why were they crying?

“Hi Rick,” his dad’s voice called out.  “Don’t hurt yourself trying to talk to us.  Jimmy told us everything we needed to know, so he can translate.”

“Why are they sad?” Rick asked.  The tears didn’t look like tears of happiness to him.

Jimmy translated as Rick spoke, making the conversation go smoothly.

“We know that you’re in here, Ricky.  But… We lost our boy.  You’re not here with us,” his mom began.

Rick’s dad put a hand on her shoulder, “Honey… It's alright.  He can hear us.  He’s here.”

“I’m fine, guys.  In fact, I feel more alive than I’ve ever felt.  I have a purpose,” Rick said.

“I understand you feel that way. But… I can’t hug you.  Or make you a plate of food to cheer you up.  Or even hear your voice.  I miss you, baby,” Rick’s mom said, holding back from a full-on sob.

“I’m sorry.  This is all my fault.  Everything.  I’m — I’m sorry,” Rick said.  He could never bear to see his parents in pain.  Mad?  Sure.  Hurt? No chance.

Rick’s Dad shook his head, “No, Jimmy told us what happened.  You couldn’t have possibly known and all of this would have happened sooner or later.”

“Will you stay here?  This is a safe place.  I’ll build whatever you want.  Your old house.  Anything,” Rick pleaded.

His parents looked at each other and Rick’s dad responded, “For a time, yes.  But not forever.  Gus is more dangerous than you know.”

“How so?” Rick asked.  He truly didn’t know what Gus could do to him with the defensive array in place.  Everyday Challengers could pose more of a problem.

“For one, he’s now gained control of Luke Airforce Base.  He could level this place in moments,” Rick’s dad explained.  “Not to mention all of the people outside.  Though, I wouldn’t call them innocent.”

“Well, fuck.  That is a problem,” Rick said.  “In that case, both of you need to get as far away from here as possible.  You too Jimmy.”

Jimmy stopped translating for a moment, “I’m not going anywhere, dude.  No point trying that bullshit with me.”

Rick’s mom smiled for the first time as she looked at Jimmy supporting her son.

“We aren’t leaving until this business is over with Gus either,” Rick’s dad cut in.  “The reason he’s so dangerous is because if he can’t control something, he’ll destroy it.  Or try to break it until they submit.”

“The silver lining is that he sees the value in this place.  In — you,” his mom said.  “It gives us an opportunity to kill him, or at the very least, stall him until he finds something else he’s more interested in.”

“Yeah, he lost interest in us long enough for us to escape.  Jimmy told us about the attack, but we were already gone.  I’m sorry all of those people died on our behalf.  It’ll be a heavy burden, but I’ll try to pay those families back in some way if I can,” his dad said.

“Don’t worry about it.  They knew what they signed up for and wanted to get rid of the Eagle Empire too,” Rick said.

His parents exchanged another concerned look.

“Baby, we’ve watched the broadcasts,” his mom started.  “How can you allow such senseless killing?  These people have families.  We didn’t raise you like this.  Where is your empathy?”

Rick struggled to respond for a moment.  How could he explain that some of his human emotions just weren’t the same anymore?  That the sacrifices excited him and fed him to become stronger.  It was a basic need for him now.  The needs he had as a human were all gone now and replaced.  He no longer needed to eat, breathe, drink.  Now, he needed the souls of the Challengers.

“Don’t watch the broadcasts.  I can’t stop and I need people to keep coming in here.  Just don’t watch.  Please,” he said.

“We’ll… Try,” his mom sniffed.

Penny wandered over and brushed her body against his parents.  Rick could sense her scarf going to work, easing the pain and sadness his parents felt right now.

“So what’s your plan with Gus?” Rick asked, trying to change the subject.  He avoided snapping at them about the hypocrisy of them wanting to kill Gus while admonishing him of his way of life.

“We’re going to challenge the dungeon and grow stronger.  Once we’re strong enough, we’ll take the fight to Gus,” his dad said firmly.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not.  Jimmy bar them from entering any of the other floors, please.”

Jimmy quickly translated, then added a comment of his own, “Way ahead of you, Rick.  Sorry Mr. and Mrs. G.”

His parents glared at Jimmy, “You have to let us.  It’s as important for us to grow stronger as it is for you and everyone else.”

“Yeah, not going to be responsible for my parent’s death,” Rick said.  “What’s your Plan B?”

“Buy a few of those little metal hummingbirds like Jimmy has.  Track him, find a good time to strike and attack him,” his mom said.

“Well, that’s a much better plan.  How about you let me and Jimmy handle that?  We can do this with the help of the Cartel now that we know how strong he is.  Surely, he has a weakness or stupid daily pattern that we can exploit.”

“We’re not just going to stay cooped up in here, Rick.  That’s fine if you want to help, but we need to be involved,” his dad said, putting his figurative foot down.

Rick produced a diamond and various gems for his parents to sell.  “Fine, take these and get your hummingbirds.  I’ll make you a little hobbit house and work on something more like home.”

His parents gave a sad smile as the gifts appeared before them. “Thanks,” his dad said.  “We heard about some of the wildlife near South Mountain have become larger and give good experience.  So we’re going to try to gain some levels there since you won’t let us do it here.”

“No way.  What if Gus’ cronies get to you while you’re out there?”

Rick’s dad scoffed, “I think he’s mostly forgotten about us.  Of course, the longer we’re in here and not on your little broadcast, the more we might draw attention.  Also, you need to have a little faith in your mom and me.  We can take anyone in the Eagle Empire except for Gus and his close circle.  For now, at least.”

His mom crossed her arms, “And we wouldn’t have to if you just let us kill your little beasts.  Although, I’ll need to see if the System Shop has any good makeup.  I can’t go in there looking like this.”  She gently patted her face, suddenly embarrassed by her appearance.

“Oh, sure.  Guilt me,” Rick said sarcastically.  “Nothing is ever easy with you two.  Jimmy, do you think we can send Kara?  She could probably use the levels too and is a total badass from what I’ve seen.  I’d feel more comfortable if she went with them.”

Jimmy hesitated for a moment. “Yeah… Sure.  Let me ask her first.  Is it alright with you two if my friend Kara tags along?  She needs the combat experience too,” Jimmy asked.

Rick’s mom smiled, “Of course.  We’ll protect her, honey.”

Kara had obviously been eavesdropping as she walked down the staircase from her high-rise hobbit house.  Rick noticed she had purchased some of those Healing Huffs and strapped them to her belt.  “Hi, Rick’s parents.  I can’t call you that the whole time.  What are your names?”

Rick’s mom giggled and her arms swung out wide for a hug even though she was ten feet away, “Hi honey, I’m Elena and my husband is Angelo.”  She closed the distance and embraced a smiling Kara.

While Kara and Elena were talking, Angelo turned to Jimmy, “I do have one suggestion, if you want it.”

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, “Of course, Mr. G. What is it?”

“I’ve been thinking about everything you told me about the defensive array.  How many people can it zap at once?”

“I assume it can handle any number of people.  It uses their own mana against them,” Jimmy said, scratching the back of his head.

“You don’t sound too sure. I have an idea to test its limits though.  Try letting in a group of known enemies and then activate it once they’re all in,” Angelo explained.

“Not a bad idea.  I have thought about doing that, but I haven’t had the time to watch over it as much as I should.”

Angelo clapped Jimmy on the shoulder, “Yeah, just something to think about.  Anyway, you did pick a good one.  I imagine they can’t exactly warn their pals in the Eagle Empire about what happened to them.”

“True, but all the Eagle Empire knows is that any time one of them gets near our area, they don’t come back.  So, it’s painting an even larger target on our backs.”

“Hmm good point,” Angelo said.  “Nothing you can really do about that.”

“Yeah.  I’m planning on fortifying this place better as the Credits start to roll in more.  Gus has a head start but there is plenty of shit in the Shop that can counter whatever he throws at us — even jets.  It’s just so goddamn expensive.”

Angelo burst into an unexpected laughter, “I just had an idea but we’d need someone to infiltrate the air force base.”

“Alright, I’m intrigued.  What ‘ya got for me, Mr. G?”

“So, you know how when we sell something to the shop, it just disappears?” Angelo asked.

Jimmy was catching on, “Yes, like how Rick just absorbs shit.  The System does the same thing, but anywhere.”

“Yeah, so we need someone to sneak in and sell off all of their big guns,” Angel said.

Jimmy started laughing as well, “Shit, would that work?  I’ve never tried to sell anything that wasn’t in my direct possession.”

“Let’s give it a shot,” Angelo said and grabbed Jimmy’s wrist.  Nothing happened from Rick’s point of view.

“I just got a notification warning me that someone was attempting to steal my watch,” Jimmy said.

“And I got one asking me to confirm that I’d like to steal your watch,” Angelo grinned.  Suddenly, Jimmy’s watch disappeared.

“What the fuck, Mr. G?  I loved that goddamn watch,” Jimmy seethed.

Rick cackled in Jimmy’s ear, “Don’t kill my dad, dude.”  Rick knew that if there was one thing you never did to Jimmy, it was to mess with his jewelry.

Jimmy took a deep breath, “You’re an even bigger ass hat than Rick.  I’m assuming it worked.  What did you get for it?”

Angelo was red in the face from his wheezing laughter, “Eight hundred Credits.  Must have been a good watch.”

“It. Was,” Jimmy said through a clenched jaw.  “But that presents a bigger problem.  People are going to steal everything they can and sell it.  It’ll be hard to gather resources.”

“And whoever goes to steal the aircraft will notify the owners,” Angelo confirmed.

“Damn, that’s risky,” Jimmy grumbled.  “I wish Adam were here.  He could have gotten in there and done that.  No chance I let Kara go, so don’t even ask.”

“What about Deandre?  That dude was fast as fuck,” Rick suggested.

Previous --- Next