Queen Killer

by M. H. Johnson

  But nothing said he couldn’t close his eyes -ignore the screams, ignore the screams!- and focus, meditate on the odd symphony of his soul, the song of endless evolutionary potential singing through all his chromosomes, somehow sensing just what notes to pluck so not only his body but his very genetic destiny would ring with wondrous potential, realizing he had always been faster, stronger, and tougher than anyone had ever given him credit for.

  Tier 2 Strength achieved! Your Strength is now 17! You're now in the top 0.5% percent of all Terrans in terms of Strength! Thanks to your fusion of abomination and faerie magics and genetics, there are now no limits to your Strength potential! (2 of 5 points spent.)

  Tier 2 Vitality achieved! Your Vitality is now 17! You're now in the top 0.5% of all Terrans in terms of Vitality! Thanks to your fusion of abomination and faerie magics and genetics, to say nothing of your inconceivably potent regeneration, there are now no limits to your Vitality potential! (3 of 5 points spent.)

  Tier 3 Quickness achieved! Your Quickness is now 20! Only a handful of humans can match you in terms of quickness. You are the equivalent of a top ranked Olympian! Even on your worst days, you would place against the fastest in the world. On a good day, you'll take home the gold. Thanks to your fusion of abomination and faerie magics and genetics, there are now no limits to your Quickness potential! (4 of 5 points spent.)

  John frowned. Here, in this odd state where he seemed to encapsulate the potential of a living wave function, able to collapse into so many intriguing possibilities, he found himself torn between the benefits of added Finesses, and even more fierce resolve.

  But his sense of fierce purpose had only grown, spiced with a dash of madness, after the hideous ordeal he had survived in the pain vat. At that moment he couldn't envision having any more intense a focus than he already did. And finesse was a wonderful thing, but the added speed and strength wouldn't make him any less coordinated than he had already been, and he could already accurately cleave his tungsten blade through moving targets nine times out of ten.

  He could only imagine how deadly he’d be in the training room now.

  Besides, he knew all too well the hidden powers of the foes he planned on taking on, predators so fierce they had colonized and enslaved an entire galactic arm to themselves.

  When he thought about it, the most prudent choice was right before him. His Midnight Mantis form gave him exquisite combat abilities, his Blink Step, Dimensional Rift, and Tier 5 Advanced regeneration gave him incredible advantages he knew he would be spending many hours mastering the use of. What he perhaps needed most of all, besides utter immunity to blaster fire, was to be able to even better ward his mind.

  Though he had survived a number of close calls, it had only been thanks to ambush, shock, and horror giving him the drop, and never having to mentally duel more than one Highlord one at a time. With what he was planning next, nothing was to stop his foes from attacking his psyche in concert. He damn well better have a well-warded mind.

  And when he reflected on what he had endured just that night, having devised a mental ward that allowed him to cut right through the shockwave of most psionic attacks, he realized he had already developed a tolerance to pain and a mental defense unlike anything he had sensed from his foes. He just needed to fine-tune his sense of its internal structure, so that only the fiercest, deadliest Highlords could hope to pierce his mental wards.

  Congratulations! Invulnerable Mind is now Rank 4! (5 of 5 points spent!)

  Your intense use of magic and psionics this level has boosted both Mana and Psion by 15 points!

  _________________________________________

  John Everwood – Level 7 Evolved Symbiote / Level 1 Champion of Arcadia (Bloodknight)

  Primary Attributes

  Strength 17 / Vitality 17 / Finesse 13 / Quickness 20 / Perception 18 / Scholarship 11 / Willpower 17 / Charisma 12 / Luck 12

  Secondary Attributes

  Health 187 / Survival 229 / Stamina 187 / Mana 120 / Psion 140 / Insight 15

  Base Appearance 13 +1 (12 Charisma) +1 (Athletic) -4 (Darkpoints) = +1 reaction modifier from most Jordians and Terrans who are increasingly uncomfortable with the darkness in your soul, despite your exotic good looks and charm! You have a +2 to influence and lead all those aligned with Faerie, Nightmare, or other adventurers and hybrids who just like your style. This becomes a +6 bonus to all attempts to terrify and intimidate, when you let your furious potency shine!

  Dark Points 4 – You have a +40% Combat potency when you embrace your wrath! Willpower check needed to avoid flying into a berserker rage when embracing your wrath! A second Willpower check is needed to boost Psionic combat! (Some Contenders can use their Dark Points far more efficiently than you. But who cares? As long as you get to do some killing!)

  Perks

  Greater Pain Tolerance – Surviving the horrors of the pain vats means you will never sleep easy again, but pain will neither stun you nor cause disorientation, and you have +4 to save against all secondary Psionic effects!

  Path of Self-mastery Tier 2 – Your second Greater Genetic insight involves the fusing of Arcadian magics to what had once been your Symbiote potential! Thanks to your fusion of abomination and faerie genetics, there are now no limits to your physical attribute potential, with no risk of transforming to a horror unless you want to!

  Skills

  Grappling Rank 3 / Saber Rank 2 / Stealth Rank 2 / Mercantile Rank 2 / Persuasion Rank 2 / Arcane Perception Rank 2 / Magesight Rank 2 / Two-handed swords Rank 3 / Sword & Shield Rank 3 / Psion Skills:

  Highlord Skills

  Invulnerable Mind Rank 4 / Mindblade Rank 3 / Ego Crush Rank 1 / Mindreading Rank 2 / Psi-Tactics Rank 2 / Psi-Sense Rank 2 (Hunter’s Sense dependent)

  Greater Skills

  Faerie Magic Rank 3 – This skill allows you to manipulate Arcadian Powers in ways never intended! Decrease cost, casting time, and all limitations or requirements by 10% per skill level.

  Faerie Oathbinding Rank 1 – Any promise made by any sentient being to you will be bound by a Faerie Oathbinding, regardless of whether the target realizes it or not! Breaking this oath will cause increasing discomfort and dismay in their lives until they seek contrition. The higher the level of this skill, the more severe and immediate the penalty for betraying the trust of a Faerie Lord will be. This power cannot be resisted. Note. You are equally bound to any covenant you make!

  Arcadian Powers

  You are now a Champion of Arcadia and have chosen the Midnight Mantis form. All Abomination powers and abilities are now Dark Faerie Powers! Every Psionicist or Horror of significance that you kill grants you 1 additional point to spend on Arcadian Powers as you see fit!

  Infravision – See in the dark better than the most sophisticated infrared optics!

  Hunter's Sense – Embrace senses as keen as the deadliest of predators! Cost to maintain, 10 mana per minute. (Find Weakness skill check is boosted by +4 if Hunter’s Sense is further incorporated with Magesight, Infravision, or Psi-Sense.)

  Durability Rank 1 – You absorb 20 points of damage and 1 Wound Tier from most attacks!

  Midnight Mantis Form – Transform into a Giant Mantis-Spider at will! 100 Mana Cost. Your serrated limbs effortlessly pierce most defenses, and strike for Critical to Fatal damage. Your Carapace reduces all wounds by 3 Tiers! You can scale any surface, shoot webbing for zero cost at will, and can entangle enemy weapons or hit other specific targets (such as eyes, mouth, or entangle lower limbs) with a Finesse check. With time, you can build massive web complexes and devise all sorts of deadly spidery traps! Your Strength and Vitality while in this form are effectively doubled! All opponents must save versus horror or flee. All those infected by fear will fight with a -4 penalty to all skill checks!

  Faerie Magic skill check has been made. You can synergize Midnight Mantis Form with Tier 2 Rigidity! Your serrated limbs can now slice through even high quality steel. Only Elementium or force fields remain impervious! Your carapace is as s
trong as an armored tank hull. (But sufficient blaster fire, such as from a battle-mech or artillery, can still pierce your defenses!) Note! Imperfect transformation. Damaged spiracles mean you would slowly asphyxiate over a period of hours with Tier 2 Rigidity in effect, were it not for your supernatural regeneration!

  Greater Regeneration Rank 5 – You regenerate 16 Health and Stamina per second! Your adept potency puts you on par with lesser immortals! Rest easy in the depths of the sea or the vast reaches of space! You can even survive decapitation, so long as organic matter of any type lies in range of tendrils you can shoot from your neck stump. This can even include the living flesh of your enemies! Regenerate your entire body in the time it would take to regenerate to full health: Under 17 seconds! Your magic will preserve brain function for a time even if no sustenance is nearby, but there is risk of permanent skill and memory loss, should your decapitated head be denied access to organic matter for too long. Note. If your brain is entirely destroyed, game over. So protect that noggin of yours!

  Warped Magic – You no longer follow standard Jordian magical traditions. You can learn nothing save theory and perhaps insights into Faerie Magic skill when studying under Jordian mages. You can learn no Jordian spells nor increase any Jordian arts.

  Arcadian Magic affinities – The Paths of Herbam and Blood are open to you. All Faerie magics that mimic the dark arts of Nightmare abominations are open to you! Note. Most Arcadian Powers cost 10 Mana to cast, save for those that are always in effect. Each additional power or modifier added increases cost by 10. Entire cost is decreased 10% for every level of Faerie Magic skill you have.

  Bloodlink Rank 1 – Any weapon marked with your blood reduces opponent’s armor by 1 category. You are instantly healed for 20% of damage you inflict.

  Greenbinding Rank 1 – All foliage within a ten-foot diameter will instantly tangle your foes! If Rigidity is in effect, thorns and leaves will cut into your captive’s flesh like steel blades! A basic Faerie Magic skill check and the use of the right seeds will allow you to manipulate this spell into a tiny harmless grove with knotted foliage overhead. Can also be synergized with Bloodlink to form Blood Vines at will which heal you for 20% of the damage your vines inflict!

  Woodland Step Rank 5 – Step between groves, up to 10,000 miles in any direction! 1.25 seconds casting time. Adept rank achieved! You only need the shade of 2 adjoining trees to make the journey to any destination of 2 or more trees! Highlord Synergism! You can jump to any grove known by any Spirit Linked party member, or known to any mind you have plundered! You may bring up to 5 individuals along with you on your journey.

  Blink Step Rank 1 – You can instantly teleport 10 yards in any direction! You can now orient yourself in any position whenever you use Blink Step with a simple Faerie Magic skill check! (You have Mastered the technique ‘step and pivot.’ Now you can automatically blink in position behind any targeted foe.)

  Dream Shift Rank 1 – Your connection to Arcadia allows you to step between layers of reality. For 10 mana per second, you can dodge and strike at right angles to all known points! Step past inconvenient bank vaults, slip past sword blows! Successful use of this skill will give you +5 to all combat and stealth checks, allowing you to weave past enemy defenses and dodge strikes that should have claimed your head!

  Arcadian Power Modifiers

  Synergized Link (Meta Modifier) You have linked the paths of Herbam, Blood, and Horror! Your Arcadian power modifiers can be used with all your abilities, no matter what path a given modifier was originally intended for! Note: Extreme combinations will require a Faerie Magic skill check to successfully synergize.

  Synergized Forms (Meta Modifier.) Shoot sticky webbing to grab the remote, or transform your fists into serrated limbs able to gouge steel, because now you can freely shift all powers and abilities between forms! (Zero Mana cost.)

  Rigidity Rank 2 – Now all your Faerie magic, including your Midnight Mantis form, can have the tensile strength and cutting edge of the best quality steel alloys known to man! (Additional 10 Mana spell cost.)

  Domain Rank 1 – Each Rank will double the original area of effect of your Faerie magic! (Additional 10 Mana spell cost.)

  Champion of Arcadia (Blood Knight)

  Congratulations! The Arcadian Elders have made you their champion! Claim territories to strengthen Arcadia’s links to Jordia and ensure magic and wonder never truly leaves this world, for all that psychopathic Highlords turned your own life into a living nightmare!

  As a Rank 1 Champion, you have access to all Faerie portals and questlines. All mortals with Faerie blood in their veins will look past your monstrous origins and see the noble soul within. So long as you restrict your madness to mundane Jordians, all Faeries will treat you with respect, even reverence! +3 reaction modifier from Faeries of all realms. Arcadian Faeries will recognize you as one of their chosen, with a +6 reaction modifier.

  Each additional rank will earn you 5 points to spend on Arcadian Powers and allow you to take your first steps along paths of power that will have your allies gasping in awe, and your enemies trembling with fear! Champion ranks increase with momentous deeds performed on behalf of Faerie, or territories claimed under Arcadia’s banner.

  Faerie strictures as a Blood Knight. - Just one. Never break your oath.

  _____________________________________________

  28

  Haunted by memories of his idealistic former self that had been so in awe of this manor, John made his way to the luxurious pantry the ghost of a far kinder Mitch had cheerfully shown him just the night before. John didn't hesitate to stock up on all the victuals stored in the ice box, and with the recent boosting of his strength, his body was eager to take in as much sustenance as it could in pursuit of its new norm.

  Of course, there were other ways for him to almost instantly get what he needed, he thought, his mind momentarily flashing upon the horrors of the bio vat, but far more delicious means were available to him. He spared not another thought for memories he wished he could bury for all time, memories he was desperate to distract himself from as much as he possibly could, guzzling down a bottle of red wine before piling his plate high with exotic looking fruits, cheeses, roasted meats, and the entirety of the blood-spattered puff pastry plate left on the counter.

  Delicate, fluffy, cream-filled pastries that some enterprising chef had made before the entire manor had fallen to the darkest of power struggles, the dismembered chef’s head still upon the counter along with his final creation, gazing John’s way with sightless eyes even now. Which made John frown, because he sure as hell hadn’t been the executioner.

  Hunter’s Sense activated!

  John flashed a killer’s smile, putting down his plate of food.

  He could smell her cinnamon-tinted musk, hear the soft clicking of mandibles, sense the flapping of membranous wings as another predator settled herself within the kitchen, gazing at him with piercing obsidian eyes now so like his own.

  Sade.

  The girl from his dreams.

  With her soft full lips, heart shaped features, and caramel complexion setting off her striking eyes, she was as exquisite, as beautiful as any woman he had ever seen. At least she was to him. And the pair of ivory mandibles that seemed to flow like liquid silver into the flesh of her face as she gazed so intently at him fazed him not at all. Nor did the shimmering butterfly-like wings she seemed able to fold into herself, leaving not a trace to the naked eye.

  She swallowed, looking strangely nervous as a crimson-colored fingertip brushed his cheek, and John didn’t move.

  “I was afraid...” her soft, husky voice sent shivers down his spine. “I was afraid I was too late. I was afraid they had already claimed you.” Haunted eyes peered intently into his own. “Didn’t you get my warning?”

  John hid nothing from her gaze. “I did. And I was too much of a fool to pay any heed. Too ashamed of my origins to take in what you had to say.”

  Her gaze grew solemn. “I see nothing
but blood and death. This manor’s become a killing field.” She gazed almost apologetically at the dismembered pastry chef before smiling fondly at the pastries. “I do so enjoy crème eclairs in the north, along with my morning coffee. Playing the sweet college student trying to master those damned charts, living a gentle life, harming not a single soul.” Her gaze locked with his own once more. “I think, well, honestly? I think I was trying to be worthy of you.”

  John blinked as she lowered her gaze. “But when my senses were awash with the screams and blood, I grew… I grew dizzy with the hunger. The need to feed. Then I saw the pastries, freshly baked, and didn’t think it at all odd, devouring half a dozen before the scent of warm ripe blood washed over me, a heart still beating among scores of butchered bodies and, well, before I knew it, I had cleaved his head off, and was drinking my fill.”

  John smiled at her chagrin and didn't hesitate to kiss those soft, bloodstained lips he had hungered for in so many dreams.

  Her eyes widened with surprise and John felt a sudden sharp sting in his back, abruptly removed, understanding at once what had happened.

  “But, John, you’re not mad at me?” She forced an anxious chuckle. “I came here hoping to rescue you, somehow, but after what happened to the chef, I was afraid you’d want to...” The words died on her lips as John’s own sealed hers tight, anxious uncertainty turning to a desperate moan as their kiss deepened and they sunk to the ground.

  Sade gasped for breath, smelling of cinnamon and musk, transfixing him with her hungry gaze. Yet somehow she forced herself to hold back, to ask the awful question. “What happened, John? What changed?”

  His bitter smile sent chills down her spine even John could sense. “Everything, Sade. Absolutely everything.”

  She paled. “Oh my God, I was too late.”