PRIVATE MESSAGE / FROM DANIELLE BRAID: Yes. Hang on.
Moving as fluidly as Kaa, Danielle waved at me to come to her, and then moved behind the truck again.
“Change me back, nya,” she said. “I’m worried one of the kids will run up here and see me like this.”
“Byebye, kitty,” I said with a tiny bit of regret. She was so hot like that. On the other hand, the human form that emerged from the blur was also ridiculously hot, so really it was fine either way. Or at least so I told myself.
We walked back to the others. Danielle’s face was grim.
“Sheila was right,” she said. “There are at least two people in there. I…” She looked surprised at the memory for a second. “I heard them. They moved when the rock hit the door. One of them talked. It was a little girl. She sounded scared to death.”
“What did she say?” asked Joe. He had lifted his bat. I didn’t think he even knew he’d done it. He wanted to protect someone. Anyone. Everyone. And that little girl was afraid.
“‘I’m scared, I wish mommy would come back,’ is what she said. Someone else made a noise after she said it, but they didn’t speak.” Danielle looked like she was about to cry.
“Now what?” asked Mandy.
“We can’t leave them like that,” I said. “Danielle, you didn’t hear anybody else?”
“No,” she said. “That’s all. Except I think there’s a mouse in the attic.” She gave me a Look. “Not a word. I heard it scrabbling in the rafters, that’s all.”
“Note to self: feed Danielle before we go in the house,” I said, looking at nothing in particular.
She might have changed back to her human form, but she was still faster and more precise than the finest pre-System gymnast. The result was a foregone conclusion.
“Ow!” I held my hand over my poor abused arm, far too late. “Would you stop that?”
“No,” she said. Mandy gave her an amused thumbs-up.
“Fine,” I said. “Just for that, I’m not going to tell you my secret plan.”
“What secret plan?” asked Joe.
“You get to find out,” I said. “You’re part of it. It’s a good plan.”
Mandy frowned at me. “He’s not going up to that door alone.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. He is our tank. He must tank. It’s in the Meatshield Code of Honor.” Joe laughed at this but Mandy was starting to look angry.
“Mandy, he’ll be perfectly safe. Trust me,” I said quickly. I already had one crazy person bopping me regularly. I didn’t need her doing it too.
I walked down the drive until I could see the others, who were a few feet back from the road.
“You were right, Sheila,” I said, just loud enough for them to hear. “Come back, we’ll go in and look.”
After we were all together, I looked at Sheila. “Tell me exactly what your Special Skill description says.”
“It says ‘Executive Protection,’” she said, her eyes focused on nothing. “’Make yourself or anyone you work with invulnerable to all harm for sixty seconds. Range, thirty feet and line-of-sight. 8 hour cooldown. 130 MP.’”
“How much Mana do you have? How many MP, I mean?” This could work.
“It says ‘130,’ then a slash, then ‘130’ again.”
“Okay,” I said. “That means it takes all your Mana. You won’t be able to use any skills or anything that needs mana for a while after you do it. And ‘cooldown’ means that’s how long it takes before you can use it again. But you’re fully charged. This will work.”
“What will work?” asked Mandy, sounding a little exasperated.
“She’s contracted to our party,” I explained. “Joe’s in our party. Therefore she works with Joe. She can make him invulnerable, he walks up and kicks the door in and if anybody in there’s feeling shooty, he can laugh in their faces.”
“Is that really how it works?” asked Sheila.
“Yes, is it?” asked Mandy.
“I bet it is,” I said. “The System is a bastard but it hasn’t lied to us yet.”
“I’m up for it,” said Joe. “I’ve always wanted to be invulnerable.”
“As long as you understand that if somebody shoots, you run so we can help you,” said Mandy severely.
“I will,” he said. “Getting shot really hurts.”
Mandy let out a long sigh and gave me a look that promised severe bodily harm if anything happened to Joe. But she didn’t say anything, just nodded.
“Sheila, I know this sounds silly,” I said. “But when we’re ready, I want you to concentrate on Joe as hard as you can and say ‘Executive Protection.’ You don’t have to yell, just speak clearly. Got it?
“Yes,” she said. She clearly did think it sounded silly.
“Joe, when she buffs you, run up to the door and bang on it. If nobody answers, kick it in and look for the girl. Keep talking the whole time, I’m here to help, yada yada. The rest of us will cover you. Like your boss says, if anybody wants to fight, you run back out here. Okay?” I gave Mandy a glance. She smiled faintly at being called Joe’s boss.
“Sounds good,” he said. He put his bat down and stared at the door for a second. “I’m ready. Do it, Sheila.”
“‘Executive Protection!’” said Sheila, looking mortified.
I didn’t see anything like the light from my Mana Bolt, but obviously something had happened. Two somethings, in fact.
First, Joe blinked and seemed to stand up a little taller.
Second, Sheila’s eyes went soft and she swayed, then slowly fell to her knees. Bruce jumped to her side.
“Sheila!” he cried out. “Are you okay?”
Meanwhile, Joe was looking Sheila with a confused expression. Seeing Mike stepping toward her, I concentrated on Joe.
“Did it work?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said quickly. “I have an ‘Invulnerable’ buff. It says ‘Invulnerable to all harm.’ There’s a countdown timer.”
“Go,” I snapped. “She can only do it once. We’ll take care of her.”
My firm voice - Or was this somehow my Charisma working? Maybe even something from the Mesmerist Class? - made him start jogging toward the door before his face even firmed up. He started banging on it and shouting.
“Danielle,” I said sharply. She looked up at me.
“Your job is to watch the house, please. Anything happens, Joe comes out, you yell.” I got a nod and immediately turned to where Mike was checking out an obviously-woozy Sheila.
He looked up at me from where he was kneeling at her side. “Vitals seem okay. She’s dizzy and weak.”
Anthony looked at me and said, “Mana sick?”
Nodding, I said, “Sounds like it.”
Mike immediately asked, “’Mana sick?’ What the Hell is that? Mana makes us sick now?”
I paused as a huge crash came from the direction of the house. Apparently Joe hadn’t gotten any response. A glance confirmed that he’d bashed the door open and had already slipped inside.