Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Antoinette made it out of the casino and to the bus stop without incident. Midnight stood by her side, scanning the surrounding area for movement and ready to alert her should he see anything. After a short time, she saw the bus rambling down the street leaving a small cloud of exhaust in its wake.

“So first we will go to Wally’s and cash in the quests,” Antoinette said excitedly. “After that we will go home and drop Roy’s disk into the podium to see what kind of surprise it is.”

“Woof,” he answered while his tail wagged happily.

“Do you think I should call someone about the box?” She asked. “Roy or Ravioli might know the answer, but what if it is something really valuable. I don’t think I need to advertise discovery of some rare loot.”

The bus pulled up and the door opened. She climbed the steps and was hoping that Rebecca would be riding also, but the bus was empty. She found a spot near the back and Midnight took the set next to her.

After several seconds of waiting, the doors to the bus closed and it lurched forward. Antoinette looked out the windows to watch the landscape, searching to discover anything new that would help her. While she looked, the hum of the bus’s engine created a sense of calm. Her thoughts wandered to whether or not she could be attacked on the bus, or if it was neutral ground.

What about in PvP zones? Was there some type of transportation that allowed for safe travel? She remembered her blueprint of the Crotch Rocket of Darkness and tried to think of what kind of special powers it had to make it legendary. Could the reference to darkness mean that it had an ability to cloak to the surroundings and make it virtually invisible? Maybe the darkness referred to a power to cast a sphere of darkness on an enemy, or enemies, so they were totally immobilized. Whatever the powers, she was going to have to wait for some time to be able to use it.

Finally, the bus neared Wally's Weapons, and Antoinette pulled on the rope. The bus slowed to a stop in front of the shop and the doors swung open. Antionette and Midnight exited the city transit and walked in.

“Hello Wally,” Antoinette called in his direction. “Is that gun clean yet?”

"Hello and welcome to Wally's Weapons. How can I help?" He asked.

“Do you have anything interesting to sell?” She asked as she logged on to the system.

Level Up!

She saw her credit total increase to 800 and she smiled as all of her current quests now showed complete. She wondered about the materials, but saw that she carried 12 in her inventory. She couldn’t remember where she got all of them from, but having more was always better than having less.

“I have a flame thrower,” Wally answered.

Antoinette stood frozen where she stood. This interaction with Wally was more than she ever had before. Normally he was just cleaning his AK-47, but to let her know there was something new in the shop must be a sign of some kind.

“Is it from the first World War?” Antoinette snickered while clicking the screen for more Quests. She tapped on the first three without hesitation, but the last one had “DANGER” in front of it all in red capital letters.

I Never Let My Best Friend Do Stupid Things … Alone – Join a Guild

Teamwork means never having to take all the blame yourself – Complete a Raid

Home is a Shelter from Storms – Increase Residence to 5 rooms

Wally didn’t take the bait. When Antoinette looked over, he was back to cleaning the assault rifle.

“Is that AK-47 for sale Wally?” Antoinette asked. She looked at the last quest and could feel panic gripping her body, making it hard to breathe. Wally could have answered her, but her heartbeat was pounding so hard in her ears, it blocked out all ambient sounds around her.

Her panic was broken when Midnight jumped into her butt and knocked her into the wall. Antoinette was able to put her arms up and there was no damage done, but she had to shake her head several times to break the imaginary spell she was under.

“Thanks boy,” she said while bending down to rub his head. “I’m not sure what happened, but you brought me back. I think I might have to ask around about that last one before taking it on.”

“You’re going to need a flame thrower to kill the Zombie Prince,” Wally said.

“What zombie prince?” Antoinette asked. “Do you mean …”

“DON’T SAY HIS NAME IN MY SHOP!” Wally yelled. “Yes, that is the one named on the quest you have not yet accepted.”

“You’re telling me that there’s zombie royalty in this place,” she said questioningly. “What’s next, a zombie king and queen?”

“The ruling family predates anything we can remember,” Wally said.

“How can zombies predate history?” Antoinette sounded incredulous.

“You’re going to need a flame thrower to kill the zombie prince,” Wally repeated, as if she was too stupid to understand the first time.

“I’m not sure I like your tone,” Antoinette said.

“You’re going to need a flame thrower …” Wally started again.

“HOW MUCH IS YOUR FUCKING FLAME THROWER?” Antoinette shouted to keep him from continuing.

“Log into the terminal and see,” Wally said.

“I don’t know why you’re riding me today, Wally,” Antoinette said. She was sure she spotted the corner of his mouth turn up in a smirk while he went back to polishing.

She scanned into the terminal and was greeted with ‘Buy, Sell or Modify’. Antoinette clicked on ‘Buy’ and there were three choices on the screen. The same old sniper rifle for 100 credits, a flame thrower for 600 credits and grenades for 50 credits a pop.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had grenades?” Antoinette asked. She checked her credit total and debated on loading up on grenades instead of the flame thrower. “Can’t I just blow up the zombie prince with several well-placed grenades?”

“Sure, if you want to kill him over and over and over,” Wally said while shaking his head back and forth slowly.

“Okay, I’ll buy the stupid flame thrower,” she said more to herself than anyone.

She tapped on the flame thrower and it appeared on the counter. She picked it up and strapped it to her back and her credit balance dropped to 200. She filled up on ammo for her shotgun and still had enough for 1 measly grenade.

Before she left the shop, she went back over to the quest board and closed her eyes before tapping on the last quest:

A Zombie Deposed – Kill Groolix the Zombie Prince

“See you later, alligator,” Antoinette called to Wally over her shoulder as she opened the door to leave the shop.

“Toodle-oo, kangaroo,” Wally answered.

She stopped in her tracks before turning back to Wally. “Did you just say ‘Toodle-oo, kangaroo’ to me?”

Wally did not respond. She shook her head and looked down to make sure Midnight was following her. The two of them left the shop and she made it back to the Safe House without encountering a zombie. She wondered if areas cleared out lower-level mobs, and that’s why she didn’t see a shambler; she was going to have to ask Ravioli, or Roy.

Antoinette entered her Safe House and the podium rose from the floor.

"Please insert the coin in the slot."

She patted her pockets until she found the disk Roy gave her and slid it into the slot. It started to descend into the floor and she took the elevator to her apartment.

She could hardly wait for the door to her place, and hopped softly on the balls of her feet until there was enough room to slide in and access the terminal.

Level Up – 2 Skill Points to Use

Name

Antoinette

Level

6

Profession

Assassin

Race

Human

Health

48

Skills

Bloodshed – Rookie 3

Strength

10

Stealth – Novice 3

Intelligence

17

Accuracy – Beginner 4

Wisdom

13

Weaponsmith – Beginner 1

Dexterity

18

Inventor – Novice 1

Constitution

11

Charisma

12

Special Skills

None

“HOLY SHIT MIDNIGHT!” Antoinette yelled to where she assumed he was lying on her bed. “I moved up two levels. Only four more levels to boom-chicka-wah-wah! Plus, Bella’s Boutique should also be open.”

The thoughts of trying on new clothes filled her body with excitement. She remembered the first time she met Ravioli and the way he looked in his clothes. She felt the same way when she met Roy. Hell, even Rebecca was outfitted pretty sexy in her clothes.

“Let’s go check right now and see if it is a 24-hour shop or if Bella has certain hours,” she called to Midnight.

She stepped away from the terminal and before she could exit the metal room, the terminal started beeping. She looked back and saw a familiar orange message flashing on the screen:

Time left to allocate Skill Point – 33 seconds

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The message was counting down and she cursed the distraction of new clothes to not paying attention to her point allocation. Now she had to make a decision or most likely the terminal would make the choice for her.

It was the same mental battle on where to improve her skills. As handy as Bloodshed was, she wasn’t sure she should put any points into it, because there weren’t too many assassins that bludgeoned people to death.

26 seconds

She still wasn’t sure about all the benefits of Stealth, but maximum accuracy could be very useful. She remembered how Roy plunked the zombie behind her with a sawed-off shotgun. The shot should have been damn near impossible, but he acted like it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

For some reason, she focused on Inventor and thought about the possibilities. She had a Laboratory to work in, and Roy had given her a disk with a microscope on. All the signs were pointing towards putting the points there.

18 seconds

Maybe she should go Weaponsmith? The ability to make and modify weapons could be amazing if there was some type of market to sell things at, along with having the coolest stuff without having to find it.

11 seconds

Shit, she was running out of time. She made the decision and tapped on Inventor. The screen stopped flashing and her rank for the skill changed to Beginner 1. Now that she made the decision, her stress level dropped and she turned her thoughts to what she might be able to research in her new Laboratory. Antoinette wondered if maybe there was the ability to change her class to Mad Scientist.

Happy with her choice, she waited for several seconds to make sure there wasn’t anything else for her to do at the terminal. While the seconds ticked away, she remembered the small box from the slot-machine and tapped the Identify button. She set the box on the blue circle and waited.

Cannot Identify – Box must be opened first

That didn’t work out the way she planned. She picked up the box and tried twisting and turning it in her hands. She ran her fingernail over the edges, looking for any cracks that she might be able to pry open. No matter what she did, she couldn’t open the box.

“Maybe a bit of force will help,” she said to Midnight. Antoinette dropped the box on the metal floor, but nothing changed. She picked it up and threw it against the far wall. The sound of the box hitting the shiny metal vibrated in her ears, but after ricocheting off the wall, it fell to the floor.

“I guess that’s a puzzle for later,” Antoinette said.

She retrieved the box and moved it into her bedroom and the device on her wrist buzzed. As she wondered who it could be, she debated which person she most wanted to hear from right now, and was surprised when the name of the caller was listed as Bruce Wayne. She tapped the device.

“Hello,” she answered the call.

“Hello Antoinette,” a man’s voice said. “I’m Bruce, the Recruiting Officer for the Justice League Guild. We are looking for more members.”

“Does Alfred know you are using the phone?” She asked with a bit of snark. “How did you get my number?”

“Wow, I never heard that one before,” Bruce laughed. “Anyway, I see you on the list of eligible members and wanted to see if you were looking for a home.”

Antoinette wasn’t sure if she was looking to join a Guild so soon without knowing more about the process, but decided to play along a bit. “What are the benefits?”

“The usual, fame and fortune,” Bruce said with a chuckle.

“Is there a promotional brochure you can give me to make sure this would be a good fit for me?” She inquired.

“I can always stop over to explain some things and make sure it was right,” Bruce offered.

“I’m busy right now, but thanks for the offer,” she said. “I have some shopping to do.”

“That sounds exciting,” he said. “What shops have you opened up so far?”

A voice in her head told her that maybe she shouldn’t share too much information with someone that cold called her about joining their Guild. Instead, she thought to use the conversation to pry for information.

“Are there certain shops I want before others?” She asked.

“There certainly are, but your level restricts you from entering the majority of the fun ones,” he answered. “My favorite is Trinity’s Tavern, but patrons mostly refer to it as the White Rabbit.”

“Like from The Matrix?” She asked excitedly.

“The same,” he said.

Her device started vibrating and blinking for another incoming call.

“Bruce, I have another call,” she said. “I’ll get back to you later. Bye.”

She tapped to end her current call and accept the new one from Croaker.

“Hello,” She answered. “Let me guess, you are from a Guild named The Black Company and you’re here for my soul.”

“Hi Antoinette,” Croaker said. “It’s too early to ask you for your soul. I’m here just to let you know that we are recruiting new members and are in need of an assassin.”

She had to think about that. She remembered that her profession was assassin, but she just assumed that everyone was the same. Having it revealed that there were other professions, she wondered if she had been doing things wrong clubbing zombies to death with her bat.

“How many other professions are there?” She asked.

“There’s Aetherist, Explorer, Adventurer, Alchemist, Electrologist, Engineer, Medic, Inventor, Bruiser and Assassin,” Croaker said. “There may be more, I just don’t know about them.”

“Holy shit!” Antoinette exclaimed. “I didn’t know there were so many. Why are you in need of an Assassin?”

“Because we don’t have one,” Croaker said like he was explaining something simple to a child.

“Buy why don’t you have one?” She continued.

“He had an accident on our last raid,” Croaker admitted. “Our Inventor had an issue and we lost both our assassin and Bruiser.”

“The Captain was really pissed off at how the raid went down, and now we have to secure more members to be able to try it again,” he said.

“How many weeks of vacation does membership come with?” Antoinette joked.

“I see you’re all about the jokes today,” Croaker said.

She felt slightly insulted that he didn’t like her playful banter. If that was the case, maybe this wasn’t the right spot for her.

“I’m going to have to think on it, Croaker,” she said, hoping that it would end the conversation.

The line went dead and she wasn’t sure if it was her or Croaker that ended the call. She tapped the device and noticed that there was an option to silence it, which she engaged. Happy for a bit of quiet, she gave Midnight a scratch and headed to the elevator.

The elevator car descended to the bottom floor and she exited, hoping to find more buildings in the large area; but there was still only Bella’s Boutique. She skipped across the open space until she was standing in front of the door. The lights were on and she gave the door a pull; it opened and she walked in.

Antoinette was surprised to see that the Boutique was full of other shoppers. She stopped and turned to look back into the open space, wondering where all the shoppers came from.

“Hello, it looks like this is your first time,” a woman said as she was approaching Antoinette. Antoinette nodded absently while the woman took her hand and pulled her gently into the shop.

“I’m Bella,” she smiled. “I’m going to let you know how shops work here.”

Now that Antoinette was in the shop, she turned her attention to Bella and what she was wearing. Bella was dressed in a black brocade bustle skirt, black corset, white long sleeved buttoned shirt and black boots that came just above her knees to show plenty of thigh. She wasn’t wearing any headgear and her long blonde hair fell in ringlets past her shoulders. Antoinette was both jealous of Bella and turned on by the way the shopkeeper looked.

“Once you open up a shop, it takes at least 24 hours for the construction to complete; some shops can take as long as a week,” Bella started. “When you attain the minimum level for entrance, you can come and go as you please, making purchases or bartering or just window shopping.”

Antoinette nodded to let Bella know that she understood.

“The shops are communal locations for everyone, and each person’s door opens into the shop at the same location. When you leave, you will be back to your Safe House and cannot use a shop to port into someone else’s base,” Bella continued.

“All shops are non-PVP zones, so there is no camping out in a shop hoping to gank someone while they are doing business,” Bella said. “Some shops have other rules, but that’s the basics. Now what can I help you find?”

“I need to get out of these and into something more proper,” Antoinette said. She felt embarrassed in how she was dressed when looking around at the other patrons in the boutique.

“Of course,” Bella said. “Do you have a budget that you’d like to stay under?”

Antoinette felt the blood drain from her face. She hadn’t even thought about how she was going to pay for new clothes. She checked her credit balance and wondered what 32 credits could buy.

“I’m on a pretty tight budget at the moment, so I think I’ll just window shop today,” Antoinette said.

“How much do you have?” Bella asked.

“30 credits,” she answered.

“Well, it’s not enough to totally remake your look, but we can get started,” Bella said.

She took Antoinette by the hand and let her through the shop to a rack in the back with a bit yellow ‘CLEARANCE’ sign on it.

“See if you can find something on here that you like,” Bella said.

Antoinette started looking through the items on the rack when she heard a familiar voice. She turned and he was looking right at her, fuck. Ravioli waved and made his way through the racks of items until he was standing next to Bella and Antoinette.

“Hello ladies,” he said, and then leaned in and gave Bella a kiss on her cheek.

“Hello Ravioli,” Bella said. “Your order is finished. I’ll go and get it from the back room.”

“Wait,” he put his hand lightly on Bella side and she stopped moving. “Antoinette certainly doesn’t have to shop off of this rack. Let her pick out something nice and put it on my tab.”

“No Ravioli, I can’t let you do that,” Antoinette said.

She was filled with a myriad of emotions; embarrassment that he was here while she was shopping off the clearance rack, jealousy of the way he put his hand on Bella’s side like it was something that happened often, and anger that he kissed Bella on the cheek, but didn’t do the same for her.

“Bella, make sure she finds something nice,” Ravioli said.

He reached and took Antoinette’s hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand and she immediately felt the heat of his lips. She felt her knees go weak and a rush of energy washed over her, tightening her nipples. She wondered how he was able to do that, if the ‘rule’ was no sex until level 10? Maybe an ‘innocent’ kiss on her hand was in the rules, but not the way he did it. He released her hand and walked in the direction of the register.

“It looks like you’re on Ravioli’s dime today,” Bella said. “Let’s head to the changing room.”

When they got to the changing room Bella advised Antoinette to take off her clothes while Bella brought in some selections. Antoinette felt very exposed while waiting for Bella to return. She took the time to look at herself in the mirror and saw that not much had changed. The leveling up hadn’t enlarged her small firm breasts. She spun and looked over her shoulder and smiled as the curve of her ass.

“Try this on,” Bella said from the other side of the door to the changing room. The door was open on the bottom and was low enough that Antoinette could just see over the top. She reached her hand over the top and grabbed the items from Bella.

The first one looked like lingerie. It was a black corset with a layered lace skirt that just covered her ass. There was a black thong that she kept on the hanger until she decided if this was the outfit or not. She put it on, but needed someone to help her with the lacing. She opened the door and Bella was ready to help. In no time she pulled the lacing tight and secured it. Antoinette went back into the changing room and smiled.

She knew at first glance that this was the one for her. She loved the idea of a cute and sexy assassin dealing death. She didn’t need a body suit to blend it, and with only a 12 charisma, she needed all the help she could get with her outfit.

“Do you like that one?” Bella asked.

Antoinette loved the way the corset pushed her breasts up to give her cleavage. She turned in a circle and saw that the layered skirt lifted up like a figure-skaters to show her ass. She put on the black thong and smiled.

“Yes, I like this one very much,” Antoinette said. “But can I get some gloves and boots to match?

Bella must have been reading her mind, because seconds later a pair of black lace-up boots slid under the door. On the boots were a pair of black lace gloves that were cut off at the knuckles. Antoinette put on the boots first and then stood up and pulled on the soft lace gloves. She looked at her reflection in the mirror again and was surprised. She could have swore that her breasts got bigger over the last several minutes.

“Hey Bella?” Antoinette called. “Can you come in here?”

The door opened and Bella walked in. The area was large enough for both of them to fit comfortably. She smiled at Antoinette like she knew a secret that she couldn’t wait to reveal.

“You know something,” Antoinette said. “Tell me!”

“Since Ravioli didn’t give me a limit for you, I decided to pick you something from my personal collection,” she giggled. “You’ll find out when you get back to your residence.”

“You’re amazing Bella!” Antoinette shrieked. “This is the best day I’ve had in a while.”

She stepped close to Bella and tried to kiss her on the cheek, but the same invisible barrier stopped her millimeters short. Bella wrapped her arms around Antoinette and the two shared an awkward barrier protected hug.

As Antoinette stepped back, she asked, “Can I trust Ravioli?”

An alarm sounded and Bella bolted out of the changing room. Antoinette picked up her gear and raced after. She arrived in time to see Bella holding a man up in the air by his neck. The man was much larger physically than Bella, but she was holding him easily with one hand while her other hand searched his body.

“The shop will be closing early,” Bella announced to the patrons. “Please stop and pay for your purchases and leave.”

Antoinette started walking towards the door and passed by the giant gear covered register on a counter. Patrons took turns setting their items on the counter, to which the gears would spin and a chime would sound to let the patrons know credits were deducted from their balances and they were free to leave.

As she made it to the door, she looked behind her, but didn’t see any sign of Ravioli and felt disappointed. She wanted to walk past him in her new outfit to see his reaction, but that would have to wait for another time. She turned and exited the shop and Midnight was waiting patiently for her.

The excitement of the shop distracted her and she hadn’t even looked for Midnight inside. She felt bad and picked him up to carry back to her apartment. During their trip up the elevator and into the terminal room, she told him all about her time in the boutique.

When she got inside, she set him on the floor and took off her clothes. One by one she set them on the pulsing blue circle and hit Identify on the terminal.

Boots – Nothing

Corset – Nothing

Skirt – Nothing

“Don’t tell me it’s the thong …” she said to no one in particular.

Thong – Nothing

With a puzzled look on her face, she set the soft lace gloves on the circle and pressed Identify.

Stevie’s gloves of Beauty: +3 Charisma, -1 Intelligence, -1 Wisdom

“Son-of-a-bitch …,” she breathed.

No wonder she looked better in the mirror at the boutique. It wasn’t the skirt or corset, or even the thong. She picked up the gloves and ran to the bathroom. When she got there, she looked at herself in the mirror and then put on the gloves. The transformation was visible.

Her breasts increased at least a full cup size and her hair became fully, with more shine. Her posture improved and her hips filled out a bit. She pulled off the gloves and the changes faded.

“Midnight, would you rather be hotter, but just a smidge dumber and more gullible, or very average looking with better that other stuff?” She called to her pup.

“Woof!”

“I agree,” she said. “The gloves definitely have to stay on during sex.”

Stats:

Name

Antoinette

Level

6

Profession

Assassin

Race

Human

Health

48

Skills

Bloodshed – Rookie 3

Strength

10

Stealth – Novice 3*

Intelligence

16*

Accuracy – Beginner 4*

Wisdom

13*

Weaponsmith – Beginner 1

Dexterity

18

Inventor – Beginner 1

Constitution

11

Charisma

15*

Special Skills

None

Weapons:

Colt SAA Revolver

Knife

Shotgun

Cat X Baseball Bat

Flame Thrower

Grenade - 1

Items of Note:

Hat of Accuracy

+1 Accuracy Level

Goggles of Shadows

+1 Stealth Level

Stevie’s Gloves of Beauty

+3 Charisma, -1 Intelligence, -1 Wisdom

Blueprints:

Sniper Rifle of Carnage

Crotch Rocket of Darkness