The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 215 - 209: Safehold - What is Buried Eventually Rises Up

Dawn arrived at Safehold on the back of sub-arctic temperatures and harsh winds. The temperatures had plummeted and the wall sentries were bundled in thick layers of winter clothing and thick gloves. Cass had given lectures on not letting the cold affect the body, but it was a practice far easier said than done. Even for Wisconsinites accustomed to sub-zero temperatures the weather was brutal. The sentries rotated out every two hours, retreating immediately inside their homes to huddle closely around the heater pods that Madison had invented.

"It'll be today," Cass said with confidence. Even he was bundled up, the weather cold enough to cause real damage.

Tess and the Vanguard nodded without replying. It was the 30th day since the Cryptid Challenge had started and, even if the weather hadn't been a harbinger of an imminent attack, they all felt it. Something was coming.

Ben, aka Announcer, had been pushing his skill to its limits, practicing putting viewing screens in as many homes as possible. He could only manage a dozen at the moment and still maintain the large screen in the center of their cul-de-sac, the latter a vital part of their strategies. Heat pods had been arrayed in a circle around the center stage where a makeshift command center had been placed. Tess didn't want to have to climb up and down the tower each time she needed to respond to a threat, so the primary meeting point had been placed on the stage. Ben still had to man the tower occasionally to reset the drones and have line-of-sight on where he wanted his cameras to go, but once set he could join them below. Madison had done everything she could to make it comfortable for him. While up there he was as warm and comfortable as in any home, which didn't stop him from complaining to anyone who would listen.

The Vanguard stood around a center table, eyes watching Ben's screen closely for any movement. The morning felt pregnant with dangerous possibility and the anticipation had them all up early and ready.

Ben, Ed, and Weeble were in a huddle, heads close together as they talked. Their conversation wrapped up and the three of them turned to join the group.

"Tess," Weeble said, "I want the Toys to be the first ones out for whatever is coming. We didn't get much camera time the other night and we want to show the people here what we can do." His blank mask turned to look at Ben and all felt the glare behind it.

Ben ignored it. "We've also been working on something special! Weeble had an idea that sounds fun, and I've been working with your man here to tweak my skill to make it work." He gestured at Ed who was grinning broadly.

"Are you guys going to keep me in suspense? What did you do?" She asked.

Ben grinned widely. "We gave you a soundtrack!"

Tess blinked, trying to parse the words and coming up short. "You… gave us a soundtrack?"

"Yeah!" Ben said excitedly. "Okay, so the show is great - people loved it and it does a great job of monitoring the surrounding areas. But it was missing that little pep. That extra punch. That je ne sais quoi that could push you into prime time!"

Tess returned his breathless explanation with a blank stare.

"We found a way to add music to the display," Ed said.

"Okay, but why? What does that do for us? How does that help?"

Ben scratched the scruff of a blonde beard that was just forming. "Well, I can't say it helps in the fighting, per se, but it'll be great entertainment!"

Weeble sighed and waved Ben to silence. "Tess, the videos helped. It showed the people that their Vanguard is strong and can protect them. Even so, they need something more. They need to not fear the creatures quite so much. Right now they feel better protected knowing that we're here, but that doesn't make them feel any safer when we're not around. They need help to overcome their own fears."

Tess eyed him skeptically. "And how does adding music to the displays do that?"

Weeble spread his arms wide with a showman's grace. "Why, it makes the whole thing a movie! A fight scene! It makes it a little less real, a little less serious. It adds a touch of entertainment to the whole shebang."

"But it IS real! It IS serious!"

Weeble patted the air at her objections. "I know that, they know that - they'll still treat it like it's real in the moment, but by stripping away some of the cold, boring danger of it all we can help make it feel a bit more like a movie. And let's be real - we're basically in a movie now. All of this has felt like some sort of sci-fi, post-apocalyptic adventure that we've been thrust into. Treating it like what it is will help put people in the right mindset to face it. Music has always been a critical part of battle. Military drummers kept time, soldiers sang war songs, the Maori performed their Hakas, the Scottish had their bagpipes - every civilization has incorporated music into their fighting. It unifies, gets people excited, puts them in the right state of mind, and gets the adrenaline pumping."

"And besides," he said, "it's just really cool."

"Okay," Tess said, "but how does it even work?"

"Oh, that's the easy part," Ben chimed in. "Madison rigged my iPhone up to run off System energy, and I basically had every song known to man on it. I did a lot of weddings, parties, and DJ gigs before The System and had to be ready for pretty much any request. Ed has been helping me magic my phone to my skill, and now I can play music along with the scenes!"

An alarm started blaring through Safehold and everyone turned to face the screen. Ben closed his eyes and his cameras turned the screen into a blur that made some turn away with queasy expressions. The image stopped spinning, slamming into place to focus on a figure that was walking through the trees at a distance. It was still too far away to get a good view of what it was, but none missed that its head could be seen just above the tops of the trees.

"Ooooh, he's a big'un!" Slinky was leaning forward, poking at the screen. Safehold had come alive at the alarm and the walls were a flurry of activity as people took to their posts. Even Lady Tutu had emerged from places unknown, snorting and jumping around, looking for the source of the noise. Rock'Em hopped off the stage and walked slowly to her, bending down to stroke her head. She snapped at him but he'd turned his hand to stone, expecting it. She gnawed a little longer before succumbing to his attention. In her mercurial way, her aggression disappeared instantly and she flopped onto her back, tongue lolling onto the ground and stomach exposed to be petted. Rock'Em kneeled and began rubbing her tummy, still not changing his hand back to flesh. He wasn't an idiot.

"Looks like you'll get your chance to prove yourself," Tess said.

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Weeble straightened, Slinky danced in place, Beyblade just stepped to the group with a sigh, and Rock'Em stood and walked calmly back to the group, as silent as ever.

"Alrighty, let's try this new system out!" Announcer pulled out his phone and opened up his music app.

"Me first! Me first!" Slinky snatched the phone out of his hand, scrolling rapidly through it. Her digital eyes turned into pixelated stars as she found what she was looking for. She punched in her song and handed it over to Weeble. He found his and passed it to Beyblade, who did the same before passing it to Rock'Em. Once the big man had selected his song he passed the phone back to Announcer.

Announcer's eyes went blank for a moment, then his focus returned. "Okay, we're all set! You tell me when to go and we'll get this show on the road!"

"You sure about this?" Tess asked Weeble. "That thing is big and we don't know what it is."

Weeble shrugged. "Whatever it is, we were going to have to face it at some point anyway. May as well knock it down a few pegs right away so that the people here don't shit themselves when more show up."

"More?" The thought hadn't occurred to Tess and her reply held a note of fear.

"Yeah," Weeble said quietly, "they're sending this one first thing in the morning. If I was a betting man - and I am - I'd bet that we're going to see more of these as the day goes on. I'd even be willing to bet that this one here will be the smallest one. The System seems to like ramping things up."

"If this is going to be the weakest one then maybe we should let the people on the walls face it first and we take out the stronger ones. It would be good for them to cut their teeth on the easier ones."

"Tess, come with me, please." Weeble hopped off the stage, not looking back to see if she would follow.

Tess eyed the screen and saw that whatever was approaching was still a distance from Announcer's limits, so they had a little time. She hopped off the stage to follow. He had walked to the closest empty house and ducked inside, leaving the door open. Confused, Tess stepped in.

As soon as she did the door slammed behind her. She spun around and saw Weeble there, body rigid and his stance aggressive.

"He's going to attack!" Fara's warning was met with a full situational analysis of everything in the room, what they knew of his capabilities, and the best methods of attack. Potential lines of attack appeared in front of her and she sought out the weapons in her dimensional space, ready to pull them in an instant.

Weeble rushed to her, but instead of unleashing a punch he pushed her back forcefully enough for her to backpedal into a table. She fought down the instinct to pull out Goliath.

"What the fuck is your problem?" He hissed. It was said in a half-shout, half-whisper that was not meant to carry beyond these walls.

She pushed off the table and lunged forward, pushing him backwards too. Instead of stumbling backwards he just absorbed the energy and Tess found herself pushed back again. "What is YOUR problem? What is this?"

Weeble had a finger in her face. "You're coddling these people and it's going to fucking kill them!"

She slapped his finger away. "Don't you ever put your finger in my face! And I'm not coddling them, I'm protecting them!"

Weeble threw his hands up and began pacing the room. "Tess, you're a good mom and a good protector. You're willing to put yourself between them and everything that's coming at them, but you're keeping them weak and it's going to lead to a lot of deaths!"

Tess flushed, skin hot and breaths coming shallow. Flashbacks of arguments between her and Zavier were running through her mind and bringing up old emotions she thought she'd dealt with. But if there was one thing therapy had taught her, it was that what was buried eventually rose up.

Weeble watched her, his stance ready for a fight. He looked down and Tess followed his gaze to her clenched fists. With supreme effort she unclenched them and stepped out of her attack stance. "I'm protecting them. They need it. They're not strong enough to face what's out there."

"And they never will be if you keep this shit up!" Weeble ran both hands down his mask in frustration. He took a deep breath, lowering the tone of his voice. "Look, Tess - it's not your fault they're weak, and it's not your responsibility to get them strong. You took them in how they were, and you have had them on the walls defending against the things that have been coming - but you're doing too much! You're the one keeping them safe, rather than making them learn to do it themselves! You're making them weak when they most need to grow stronger! This bullshit of only having them fight the weak creatures is going to be a death sentence if this Challenge goes months or years longer! What happens six months - eight, twelve months from now when something comes at us? Something that makes whatever is out there right now look like a muppet? Are you going to just kill everything for them and hope that it's enough? Are you going to put your Vanguard in the way of everything, letting us risk our lives over and over without ever expecting the same from everyone else?"

He was breathing heavy but he couldn't stop. "I said I'd help you - and I will. I'll stay until this Challenge is over, but only if everyone is doing their part. If you expect us to put our lives on the line daily but don't push your own people to do the same then we're fucking out, consequences be damned."

"You'd go back on your word and abandon us?" Tess's question was low, dangerous.

Weeble pointed at her again. "You're abandoning us first, Tess. You're abandoning them by keeping them wrapped in bubble wrap and heavy blankets. You want us to help? To pull our weight and do our part? Sure, I'm cool with that. But if you expect us to do all the work while you keep your people weak and soft then you can fuck right off with that noise. We're here to support, not to be bodyguards."

She slapped his finger away again. "I told you not to do that!" She turned to stomp across the room, then back towards him again. She opened her mouth to speak, snapped it closed, then paced back and forth again.

Weeble let her pace. He knew how to read a crowd - even a crowd of one. She was coming to it and he knew to let her get there on her own. The moment came and she stopped pacing, coming to a stop in front of the table. She took a deep breath and looked up to the ceiling, then dropped her head and shoulders as she let it out. She seemed to be having a conversation with herself and he gave her the time for it, but that didn't quell his anticipation of how little time they had.

WEEBLE: Where are we at with that thing? How close is it?

ROCK'EM SOCK'EM: Just reached the edge of the cameras. We can see it now and you're not going to believe it.

SLINKY: IT'S AN ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN!

Even through their text communication Weeble could feel the excitement and glee from her.

WEEBLE: Do I need to get out there?

ROCK'EM SOCK'EM: Doesn't look like it, boss. It's standing there, looking around. I think it's sizing up our defenses. If it decides to take a run at us we'll have less than a minute, though, so you'd better wrap up whatever you're doing and get out here quick. We're going up on the wall now.

WEEBLE: Got it. If you have to start without me go with 3-NW-4.

They'd spent long periods in their personal battle gym working out different strategies for any contingency. The 3 meant there were only three of them, the NW stood for 'No Weeble', and the 4 was the fourth attack pattern they had come up with for that formation. It was specifically designed for them fighting a larger opponent without Weeble's kinetic absorption abilities.

ROCK'EM SOCK'EM: Got it.

SLINKY: Got it.

BEYBLADE: Got it.

"Do you really think I'm keeping them weak?" Weeble had to shift his brain back into this room.

"What? Oh. Oh, yeah. Sorry Tess, but I do. How many people have gained any useful skills other than protecting the walls? How much can you really say you've been using this training period to force them to grow stronger? How long do you think they'd last if you were gone?"

Her back was still to him but he saw her nod. "You're right, but what do I do? I don't know how to lead a group of people. I barely know how to be a parent during the apocalypse - I'm just doing the best I can and I really don't know where to start."

"Tess," Weeble began walking towards the door. "I'd love to finish this life coaching session with you, but we don't have time. We have an abominable snowman at our doorstep and it just started walking this way."

"An abominable WHAT?" But she was speaking to an empty room.