Return to Checkpoint 1 or Return to Start?
Returned to Checkpoint 1.
Beginning Run 35.
Attributes set.
Strength 0
Endurance 0
Agility 0
Intelligence 0
Luck 50
Class set.
Gambler.
Father had definitely learned something. He had learned a lot, really. There weren’t fifty two cards in the deck. Not all of the abilities had been helpful, but the ones that were had been great. There was likely a lot more he had yet to see. Getting into a fight with that many enemies required a better plan.
He gathered his guns as they all turned into cards, dice, and a coin, had the same conversation with Pleven, and escorted the little isopod to the police car. They were headed to the Reef in no time.
Father pulled up to the parking garage and took the dice from his pocket. They were two translucent red cubes with little divots to mark the numbers on each side.
Craps
Up or Down
Last Resort
Father muttered to himself. Every little thing had new abilities. How was he meant to remember all of it? There were so many different little things for different items in different classes. Maybe he wasn’t meant to remember any of it and he was just expected to save his Son before long. Testing every class and attribute combination was maybe not helping him reach his goal. Or maybe it was. He stood outside the car, watching the Hardbody Crustaceans at a distance.
Craps
Roll the pair of dice and wager your life against an opponent.
Father couldn’t imagine what that might include. After shooting a laser out of his claw after drawing a card, he had to try to think of the most outlandish possibilities. Wagering his life could mean too many things for him to want to try it out.
Up or Down
Roll the dice and pick a number. If you roll above, you gain a buff. If you roll below, you gain a debuff. If you match, you gain nothing. The higher the risk, the better the buff. The lower the risk, the more severe the debuff.
That was simple enough. Twelve was the highest possible roll, and two was the lowest. If he picked three, he would have a good chance of getting a buff, but it would likely be less useful than if he picked nine. That was a safe gamble.
The only issue was Father had no idea what a buff or debuff might look like, and as much as he wanted to run in and test it, he had already decided he needed a better plan before running into a fight again.
Last Resort
Throw the dice.
They will act as different thrown projectiles depending on the roll.
Father had to assume the dice wouldn’t be retrievable after throwing them given the name of the ability. He wouldn’t worry about that one unless he was really about to lose his life.
“You’re staring,” Pleven said.
“What?”
The isopod crawled across the front seats. “You’re staring and the fish are looking angry.”
Pleven was right. The Hardbody Crustaceans had noticed Father and were milling about, getting a little closer to the parking garage’s entrance. The only thing keeping them from running across the street to beat Father into a pulp was likely the police car he was leaning against.
He dropped the dice back into his pocket and pulled out the corroded coin.
Heads or Tails
Nothing else. Just a single ability.
Heads or Tails
Call it in the air.
Whoever loses dies.
“With a high luck . . .” Father rubbed the uneven sides of the coins between the tips of his claw. He tapped the car door. “I’ll be back.”
“What am I going to do? I thought I was going to pretend to be a Hardbody.” Pleven stuck his upper body out the window. “You look too much like a cop.”
“I’m a crustacean.”
“Yeah. I thought it was usually just pigfish. I guess that’s why you’re undercover, right?”
Father started across the street. “Sure. Stay there.”
The blue crab elbowed his friends and nodded toward Father. He put a claw on the gun in his waistband and walked out of the parking garage, meeting Father about halfway across the street.
“What kind of pigfish are you?” the blue crab asked.
Father held out the coin and positioned it on the tip of his claw. “Call it in the air.”
The blue crab smirked. “Are you some kind of idiot?”
Father flicked the coin in the air.
Heads or Tails
“Heads,” the blue crab said.
Father caught the coin on his claw.
The blue crab staggered. A line appeared across its neck, which soon leaked blood into the water. He tried to pull the gun from his waistband, but as soon as he started the action, his head tumbled from his body. The rest of the corpse soon collapsed onto the road.
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“Interesting.”
The rest of the Hardbody Crustaceans stood inside the parking garage and watched with horror in their eyes.
“Pleven,” Father said, pointing at the gun. “Come get this.”
“Yes, sir!” The isopod fell out of the window and scurried across the street. “Armed and dangerous, officer.”
Father pulled the dice from his pocket and tossed them onto the road in front of him.
Up or Down
“Six.”
The first die hit the ground, rolled, and stopped on two. Father watched the second bounce and roll to a five.
Faux Brawler
+10 Strength
+10 Endurance
30 Seconds Remaining.
Father sprinted at the Hardbody Crustaceans and threw a punch. He wasn’t nearly as strong as he had been with higher strength, but the extra ten was enough to send the catfish sprawling to the ground. Each hit that Father failed to counter or dodge, which was most, hurt less with his raised endurance.
He pulled the deck from his waistband.
A cod smashed a pipe against Father’s back.
Call
Father let out a grunt while the cod broke himself in half. He tumbled to the ground, wailing.
The buff wore off before Father could finish the fight, but the remaining cards in the deck were more than enough to handle most of the Hardbody Crustacean creatures. With only three left, Father took out the coin.
“Call it,” he said as he flicked it up.
The fish scrambled away, having seen what happened to the blue crab.
Father caught the coin. It was heads, but they had never called it.
Nothing happened.
Father flipped it again. “Heads.”
When he caught it, one of the fleeing creatures collapsed. The others turned a corner and left Father’s view. When he flipped it again and called it, nothing happened. No ping of energy, no sign that he had won.
“Are you some kind of wizard police?”
“Something like that.” Father flinched upon turning around.
Pleven was holding the submachine gun with it aimed at Father’s abdomen. “I can’t have that.”
“I thought you were going to help me,” Father said. He shifted the coin to position it on the edge of his claw.
“Don’t move.” The isopod thrust the gun forward, emphasizing where its barrel pointed. “Even wizards die from bullets.”
“Do they? Do you have a lot of experience with wizards at Trash Co.?”
Pleven nodded. “Put the coin down.”
Father dropped it. “Tails.”
The coin hit the concrete, bounced, and landed heads up.
Father felt the slice through his neck. Blood blossomed into the water.
“Shit.” His voice gurgled.
Return to Checkpoint 1 or Return to Start?
Returned to Checkpoint 1.
Beginning Run 36.
Attributes set.
Strength 0
Endurance 0
Agility 0
Intelligence 0
Luck 50
Class set.
Gambler.
Father collected his gambler items, walked into the hallway, and kicked Pleven into the wall.
The isopod shouted and flailed as he bounced. Father kicked him again, then pulled a card.
Draw
Impact
Father flinched as he felt the ping of energy. Some invisible force smashed Pleven into the ground, leaving a small crater and a whole cloud of isopod blood.
“Can’t trust anybody.”
Father started his long drive to the Reef. The parking garage was a waste of time. There were too many variables to deal with for a submachine gun that didn’t even have extra ammo. It especially wasn’t worth the time or effort when the gun would just turn into a card or something anyway.
He needed to try the higher luck against Doctor Holo. If maxed luck couldn’t defeat the second boss, then he needed to go back to the start and try something else.
By the time he reached Doctor Holo’s house, Father wasn’t sure about his plan. He’d had the whole drive to decide to try the coin right away. If he lost, he would just die and have to do the drive over. But if he won . . .
That’s why the class was called gambler.
2nd Checkpoint Boss
Doctor Holo
“I am accepting new patients,” Doctor Holo shouted. His shrill voice echoed through the neighborhood.
Father approached with the coin ready to flip. The last thing he wanted was to get cholera again. Once was definitely enough.
Doctor Holo moved, churning the well-maintained lawn with each brutal movement. The sea cucumber slowly faced Father. Tentacles moved with the water and drifted close to Father.
“Want to play a game?” Father held the coin out.
“A game? Fascinating. I would be interested in playing a game.” Doctor Holo slowly moved forward, leaving a furrow in the ground. “What is this game?”
Father did his best to maintain his composure as the massive sea cucumber stopped just in front of him. The tentacles drifted like seaweed while the red eyes stared at the corroded coin in Father’s claw.
“I’ll flip this coin and you just call it in the air. Heads or tails.”
“What do I get if I win?” Doctor Holo moved just a bit closer. His tentacles touched Father’s arm.
“What do you want?”
“Hmm. I will think.” Father flipped the coin.
Heads or Tails
“Call it.”
“Heads.”
Father caught the coin and grinned as he saw the back of the coin. A slice cut through Doctor Holo’s tentacles. The boss screamed and flailed, but definitely did not die.
Father quickly pulled the deck of cards from his waistband.
Divine
You are going to die.
“Great.” Father moved to activate another ability, but his vision vanished. He saw himself from a distance as Doctor Holo swiveled and launched a column of feces at him. The death looked painful, and Father knew well that the life after was also one of discomfort and pain.
His vision snapped back. Doctor Holo was in the process of turning his rear toward Father.
Without much thought, Father dropped to the ground. He pressed his face into the kelp lawn and tensed as a thick column passed by overhead.
Draw
Orange
Father looked at the round fruit now held delicately in a claw. “What am I going to do with this?” He jumped to his feet and threw the fruit, which unsurprisingly bounced harmlessly off the sea cucumber.
Doctor Holo whipped his head back and smacked Father with part of his bushy tentacles.
Call
Father hit the ground and slid over the kelp. The impact barely moved Doctor Holo.
“I have a new prescription for you. It’s death!”
Draw
Needle Strike
Father felt the ping in his arm and quickly aimed it. A thin piece of metal materialized and shot forward. It pierced Doctor Holo’s skin, but was so small that it hardly looked like it did anything at all.
Doctor Holo moved his backside and smashed it on the ground. It sent chunks of dirt and kelp flying into the water. The ground shook with the impact.
Father switched to the dice. “Come on luck. Do something for me.”
Craps
Father got back to his feet and stumbled as his vision fuzzed.
How much of your life would you like to wager?
“What is this?” Holo shouted. “My life?”
“We’re playing another game.” Father selected 50% and stood confidently.
Black numbers appeared over Doctor Holo.
25%
It drifted up and dissipated like sparks.
Father tried to reach for the cards to see his future, but he wasn’t able to move at all.
“I’m paralyzed!” Doctor Holo screamed.
The dice fell from Father’s claw and rolled dramatically. On the soft kelp, they should’ve hit the ground and stopped. Instead, they kept rolling.
More words appeared by Doctor Holo. The sea cucumber’s eyes flicked between both.
“What is this?”
Pass Line
Don’t Pass Line
“Craps,” Father said.
“The game? I don’t know how to play craps.”
Don’t Pass Line
The words stayed while the Pass Line option disappeared.
“What does this mean?” Doctor Holo asked.
“I don’t know.”
The dice stopped on a one and a two.
Three
Shooter loses.
Doctor Holo wins.
Father fell to his knees and gasped. Half of his life, whatever that meant, just disappeared. It felt like he had been getting kicked in the stomach for days on end. His heart hammered. Cracks spread through his chitin and caused the red shell to creak with every little movement.
“No more craps,” he said quietly. The dice reappeared in his hand.
Now that Doctor Holo was moving again, Father could see his death approaching rather quickly.
Last Resort
Father threw the dice.
Pineapple Grenade
The dice transformed midair into bumpy ovals. They hit Holo’s tentacles and exploded. The shrapnel tore into the sea cucumber’s face and shot across the lawn. Father felt a million hot needles sink into his damaged shell.
Holo screamed and flailed. His body slammed against the lawn and caused the ground to truly quake. The sea cucumber wriggled and aimed his anus at Father.
“No,” Father whispered. He stumbled, barely able to move. The deck of cards opened as soon as he touched the box.
“Die!” A massive cylinder shot from Doctor Holo.
Call
