Velvet Worm Chapter 3: Friends, Get! (Patreon)

Chapter 3: Friends, Get!

‘Okay, Zane, you can do this,’ I told myself as I entered Winslow’s cafeteria the next day.

Handler’s plea for me to find some Social Links had lingered in my head all throughout my grind session with Slime, and so, after a lot of thought, I decided to suck it up and try to make a friend.

‘This is for saving the world,’ I told myself. ‘And how hard can it be?’

I looked around the cafeteria, wondering who I should try and inflict myself upon in the half-hour between classes we were given to eat our lunches.

For a moment, I considered trying to find Taylor to sit down with her, but that felt too much like tempting fate, especially after the verbal clash I’d had with two of her bullies. She might think it was trick or something.

And, if I was honest, I still had the mind of a man in his early thirties, so trying to start a conversation with a teenaged girl felt… skeevy as hell, to put it bluntly.

Eventually, after suppressing a shudder, my eyes landed on a pair of boys who were at a booth in the back, somewhat ignored and given wide-berth by the rest of the students.

‘Ah, my first pair of victims… I mean friends,’ I thought, and I headed over to the duo I knew only through reputation.

“Greg, right?” I asked as I approached their table, even though I already knew who he was.

“That’s right,” Greg Veder, also known as ‘XXVoid_CowboyXX’ on PHO, replied with a nod.

“Neat. Mind if I sit here?”

“Here?” he asked, surprised, but then nodded. “I mean, sure, okay.”

“Thanks,” I said, plopping down on the uncomfortable plastic bench that Winslow used as cafeteria seats.

“Uh, so, not to sound rude…” Greg began, but I cut him off.

“You want to know why I’m sitting here with you, talking to you and Sparky, when before I was a social loner who acted like he had anywhere better to be than in this cesspit of a school?” I asked, unwrapping a sandwich.

“Yeah, kinda,” he said, Sparky nodding along with him.

“Well, somebody reminded me recently that I… need to make friends,” I admitted, taking a large bit out of my lunch and chewing with a bit of annoyance.

“And this is your attempt to be friendly?” Sparky asked skeptically.

“It has been a long time since I’ve needed to make friends,” I replied grumpily.

I’d had a close circle of friends back in my original life, ones I’d had for several years. Some were from way back in Middle School, others were ones I’d met online or in college. Point was, I’d had them for so long, I’d kinda forgotten how to make new ones. And when I did make new ones, it was my old friends who brought them into the group.

“Ah. Yeah. I remember my parents pushing me to make friends in Kindergarten and Elementary,” Greg said, Sparky bobbing his head in agreement.

“Not easy, right?” I replied, and they both nodded empathically, and I was glad to have something in common with the two.

“No it was not!” Sparky huffed.

The three of us basked in the comradery of hating the pain of making friends before returning to more important matters: namely, school gossip.

“Is it true you told off Emma and Madison in Mr. Gladly’s class yesterday?” Sparky wondered, and I nodded.

“They were using this awful air freshener stuff, spraying it everywhere and it was getting in my face,” I replied with a grimace.

“Kinda thought you were trying to stand up for Taylor,” Greg said.

“Can one of you explain what the hell is the deal with her?” I asked. “I know most of you have been attending Winslow and living in Brockton Bay longer than I have, but why is she being targeted like that? And why the hell is nobody doing anything?”

I waved a hand. “I mean, I get it, this place is a shithole, but surely someone would try to stop what those three bitches are doing to her!”

“I dunno,” Greg admitted. “I knew her back in Middle School, and she’s… very different, now. They both are.”

“Both?” I asked, urging him to continue.

“Emma. Her and Taylor were thick as thieves. BFFs. But then something happened. Taylor’s mother died in a car accident, and then the next year she went to this summer camp to try and… I guess recover.” He shrugged. “Taylor was quieter, yeah, but so would I if my mom died. But then Emma just… changed. Got mean. Got nasty. And she started hanging around Sophia at the same time, so…”

“Ah. The Alpha Bitch of Winslow corrupted Emma and turned her against Taylor,” I hummed. “Shit.”

“Yeah. It’s really nasty,” Sparky agreed. “I mean, growing apart is one thing, but turning on Taylor like that? Sheesh. It’s sick.”

“And nobody does anything because why?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I mean, what do you expect us to do?” Greg asked, a note of frustration, but also shame, coloring his voice. “We’re teenagers. Can’t make adults do shit, and it’s clear that nobody gives a damn about the school or the students here. And Blackwell only cares about her ‘star students’ which means only the top athletes like Sophia.”

“Plus, there’s Emma dad. He’s a lawyer,” Sparky added.

“Lawyers aren’t gods,” I huffed. “I bet I could beat him up in a fight, too.”

“I dunno, he’s kinda a big guy,” Greg replied, but Sparky snorted.

“Hey, I’d pay to see that. Somebody bullying you? Beat up their dad!” he cackled. “Sounds like a great way to solve disputes.”

I laughed at that, and so did Greg.

“You know, you two are alright,” I declared. “What do you do for fun around here?”

“Video games,” they both said in unison.

“Nice, me too,” I said. “I’m a big fan of RPGs, though they’ve lost a bit of luster recently.”

“RPGs are great!” Greg declared. “Though I’ve got a hankering for fighters and shooters. Action is where it’s at!”

“True,” Sparky agreed. “Fast paced combat is where it’s at. No real time or turn-based strategy for me.”

“You probably just haven’t found the right RTS,” I told him. “I’ll give ya some suggestions tomorrow.”

“Cool,” Sparky nodded.

“Any consoles?” Greg asked me.

“Well, I had some, but I lost them in the move,” I said, sighing a little. I missed my PS2, PS4, Steam Deck, 3DS and Switch! Curse Igor for not letting me take them with me!

“Dude, that sucks,” Sparky commiserated, shaking his head with pity.

“You should check out Wingdings. It’s this electronic’s shop near the Boardwalk that had a bunch of, well, everything. Cellphones, laptops, and game consoles. Heck, I built my PC using the stuff they sold there,” Greg suggested.

“Hey, that sounds damn good,” I said, nodding slowly.

That place was probably bugged to hell and back by the gangs and PRT to watch for any Tinkers that might want to buy parts for their inventions, but since I didn’t have any ability like that, I wasn’t too worried about browsing.

‘And I do need a new laptop and PC,’ I mused. No need for a new smartphone, thought. I already had an indestructible one that always teleported back to my pocket no matter where it or I was.

Oh, and it let me turn into a hero, summon Shadows and Personas, and warp into the Inverted City. So, yeah, a pretty cool phone all things considered. And speaking of which…

“We should swap numbers,” I said, and Greg and Sparky both agreed.

I now had two new people’s names and contact info, and when I finished entering them, my phone buzzed as a notification popped up on the Persona App.

[You have awakened the Level 1 Hanged Man Social Link with Greg Veder!]

[Increase Dodge bonus by 10%!]

[You have awakened the Level 1 Councilor Social Link with James ‘Sparky’ Samson!]

[Gain 10% extra resistance to negative Status Effects!]

‘Well, damn,’ I thought as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang out, forcing Greg, Sparky, and I to vacate the cafeteria.

As I walked to my next class, I thought about what I’d just seen on the screen.

The Hanged Man… self-loathing, often self-sacrificing, desperate to escape stagnation, freedom from bindings through the act of selflessness, and a bridge between the lofty ideals of heaven and the pragmatism of earth.

However, those who bear this Arcana are trapped between doing the right but hard thing and doing what is easy yet leads to evil. This inability to decide led to stagnation, and could lead to somebody sinking into apathy and suffering extreme depression feeling immense shame for their actions, or lack thereof.

Shadows and Personas related to the Hanged Man were those related to curses and the Underworld, but also escape from dire straits and rebirth.

I could see how someone like Greg Veder had the potential to represent such a thing. The guy was… kind of an asshole, but clearly wanted to try and be something better, yet he’d fallen into a rut. Greg shitposted on the internet as a way to try obtain some semblance of control over his life, but in the end, wasn’t willing to undertake the first step to change for the better.

The Councilor… that was a bit trickier to understand. It embodied diplomacy, creativity, and persuasiveness, but when reversed, called forth indecisiveness, lack of originality, and sickness.

Personas and Shadows connected to this Arcana were healers but also those who spread sickness. They were embodiments of truth and creativity, like the Muses of Greek mythology, but also took the form of creatures related to boredom or lies. They were typically support units, but could possess great strength.

I could sort of see how that might relate to Sparky, as he really seemed like a follower more than a leader and seemed to hang with Greg simply because it was the easy thing to do, but I’d need to get to know him better.

‘Also, his name is James?’ I thought. ‘I did not know that.’

I’d never heard anyone call him anything other than ‘Sparky.’ Not even the teachers!

Still, I felt… pride? Or maybe happiness? Whatever it was, it felt good, and I kinda liked it. Plus, two new friends! Yay!

My good mood soon evaporated when a shoulder bumped harshly into me, jostling my arm and causing me to drop the phone. Before I could pick it up, a shoe lashed out, kicking it and sending it skittering away down the hall.

If it had been a regular phone, it’d have been crushed by the tide of students stomping through the corridors to their next classroom. Thankfully, it wasn’t, but it was still annoying.

“Oops,” Emma said with the most fake tone I’d ever heard as I looked up to glare at her and her bitches Sophia and Maddison.

“You owe me a new phone,” I declared, eyes narrowed at her.

“Huh, what’s that? You’re the one who bumped into me!” Emma declared, lying out of her ass.

“Bitch I know what you did,” I shot back, not letting up with my glare. “That’ll be a hundred bucks. Cash. Not credit.”

“You must be brain-damaged,” she sneered at me, Sophia folding her arms across her chest to try and look intimidating (it wasn’t) while Maddison bobbed her head like a sycophant.

“Yeah, well, I don’t accept ‘favors,’ especially not from somebody like you. Who knows what sort of diseases I’d get if that happened,” I retorted, and Emma’s face twisted in fury and started to turn red like her hair.

“How dare you?!” she shrieked.

The warning bell to tell students to hurry up and get to class shattered the standoff, and I sighed before pushing past the trio. I was not about to get into this.

With a thought, I summoned my phone back into my pocket, ignoring the Mean Girls of Winslow as I headed off to math. I’d be late, but who cares? It’s just math. Not like I’d ever need to use the Pythagorean Theorem to save the world!

‘Though I have the feeling they’re not going to take that lying down,’ I thought, thinking back to the trio.

They were not going to stop there. That was the feeling I got. Not until I either started fighting back, to fit in with Sophia’s stupid ‘predator’ ideology, or I gave up and surrendered to their antics, thus proving their were the alphas or whatever.

111 &&& 111

Another night, another attempt to deal with a Mind Palace. I’d gotten good intel from the ABB, so I figured I should follow up on that. Which meant tracking down either Alex Shinosuke, the only other Farm manager I knew the name of, or Ho Luong, one of the ABB’s delivery drivers who moved between the Farms and the brothels.

‘Honestly, gonna just toss a coin right now,’ I decided as I did just that. ‘Heads, it’s Ho, tails, it’s Alex.’

The quarter I fished out of my pocket flipped through the air before I snatched it up and slapped it down onto the back of my hand. There, I checked and saw it was tails.

My destination determined, I slipped into the Inverted City and called the Velvet Valet Service from my phone, and the Driver appeared with the Velvet Limo a few seconds later.

“Hey ladies. And guy,” I said as I got in.

“Welcome back, Wildcard,” Messenger said with a grin.

“You’ve finally begun the long arduous path towards friendship,” Handler said, a small smile on her lips.

“Yeah. Any suggestions on if I should, you know, introduce them to this place yet, or not?” I asked.

“It would be best to hold off until they’ve reached Bond Level 2 or 3,” the Handler urged. “Right now, you are ‘Acquaintances.’ They like you, and will talk to you, but do not expect them to stick their necks out for you quite yet. And the Inverted City is not a kind or safe place even at the best of times.”

“Yeah. Team Work is Dream Work, and you won’t be able to trust ‘em to watch your back properly with a minor Bond Level like that,” Messenger piped up.

“Damn,” I sighed. “Well, fine. Guess I’ll just have to deepen our bonds… and I feel like there had to be a better way to phrase that.”

Messenger giggled a little while Handler merely smiled. I rolled my eyes and tapped on the divider between me and Driver, and when he rolled the glass down I told him where I wanted to go.

Ten dollars and five minutes later, and I was stepping out of the limo in front of a distorted, rundown mechanic’s shop.

“Level 8? Easy,” I huffed when I saw the Level Requirement.

Knocking down the door, I summoned Nostradamus and strode through the place. It was, as expected, disgusting. The Mind Palace resembled a mechanic’s shop, but instead of putting together cars, it was women on the assembly floor, being pieced together.

Obviously, this meant that Alex thought of women as objects, and in the Farm, he could ‘fix’ them to suit whatever needs he or his clients had. Gross.

Kicking his ass – he was another Incubus, because of course that’s what his Persona would be – went quickly, and when I was done, I had the Treasure and the Memorials ready to turn in.

The limo was still there, thankfully, and Messenger cheerfully provided me the info I needed when I handed over the meta-physical representations of that foul man’s inner demons.

“Thanks,” I said as I absorbed the Memorial with the memory of the Farm’s location.

“Kick butt, Wildcard!” Messenger shouted.

That was something I’d be happy to do, and switched out from the Inverted City to the real world.

It was dark, fitting since it was almost eleven p.m., and I crept through the darkness in a dark brown hoodie and plain cargo pants painted black. I didn’t want to be noticed, but thankfully I’d appeared in the real world near enough to the Farm I could hoof it on foot.

Located far from the interior of Brockton Bay, the Farm was based in an old mechanic’s shop that led out to the highway. It had a gas station and a convenience store nearby as a cover, but the real business was trafficking women.

Trucks could come and go without being seen as odd, and so the victims could be loaded or unloaded without much trouble or being noticed.

There was a light on in the convenience store, and a street lamp flickered nearby, illuminating the gas pumps. But everything around it was dark and gloomy.

‘This will need stealth and finesse,’ I thought to myself as I got closer, and fished out my smartphone.

“Pixie,” I whispered, selecting her icon on my phone’s screen. She appeared with a burst of light and sparkles, and I winced, looking around to make sure nobody noticed.

“Hi-!” she began, but I covered her mouth with a finger.

“Shh!” I whispered. “You need to sneak into that place, okay? Tell me everything about the people who might be there!”

“Okay!” she saluted before flying off.

The tiny fairy was a good infiltrator due to her size, and she flew into the convenience store first, checking for anybody who might be inside. Then, she flew out and into the mechanic’s shop. This search took a lot longer, and when she returned, she was glowing with murderous rage.

“There is one person in the snack house,” Pixie informed me. “Teenager. Bored and on his phone.”

“Yeah. And the Farm?”

“There are seven women inside, and three men. One of whom looks a lot like the man you got the Memorial from,” she revealed, and I blinked.

“He’s here? Alex is here?” I pressed, and she nodded.

“He looked like he was going crazy, ranting and raving about something.”

“Huh. The sudden guilt must have hit him hard,” I mused.

Gunshots suddenly rang out, shattering the silence of the night, and I winced. “And it seems like the sudden difference in opinion has caused some conflict.”

The guy in the convenience store heard and ran out to investigate, and I sighed before tapping another button on my phone.

Like a magical girl sequence, my body was wrapped in ribbons of light, and when they faded, I was in my armor.

“Come on,” I grunted, running forward. As I headed to the farm, I also summoned Silkie, as she’d be more useful for area denial and non-lethal takedowns with her Ice and Wind magic.

Naturally, the sudden burst of light and sudden appearance of an ethereal maid drew the attention of the teenaged ABB goon, and he stopped and stared at me and my ladies in bewilderment.

“Silkie, Bufu!” I ordered, and a bolt of ice lashed out, striking the gang member in the chest and causing him to cry out in pain and shock as frost coated his body while also knocking him to the ground.

His head met my bat as I ran past, clocking him good, and he slumped, shivering but unconscious. Reaching the mechanic shop’s door, I rushed inside and found the entrance to the Farm behind a janitor's closet. I shoulder checked it and knocked it open, revealing a set of stairs leading down.

I quickly descended, and found a disgusting scene. Several dirty bed mattresses were laid on the floor, and women cowered on them as two men wrestled for a gun and one man bled out on the ground.

“Ah shit,” I muttered, recognizing one of the scuffling gangsters as Alex, the manager. “Silkie, Garu, break ‘em apart! Pixie, grab the gun!”

 An explosion of wind erupted from the maid, whose face was a rictus of fury at the sight of the mistreated girls, and it bowled the two ABB thugs over. The gun went flying, and Pixie grabbed it out of the air, shouting “I got it!” before flying back towards me.

Both men jumped to their feet, glaring at me. One rushed at me to take me down, but the unnamed thug got a bat to the knee followed by a blow to the face. Silkie frozen him in place, and I scowled at the last remaining man. Alex had a crazed look in his eyes, and they seemed to widen in recognition.

“White Knight,” he hissed.

“Name’s Quest,” I retorted.

“What… what did you do to me?!” he demanded. “I-I feel… what did you do to me?!”

“Huh. I guess the effects are a lot more immediate and noticeable when the person is awake when the Treasure is taken,” I mused, intrigued by this development.

Screaming incoherently, Alex threw himself at me… no, at Pixie, trying to get the gun back from her!

I stepped in front of Pixie and hit his ass with a Zio, his body collapsing as it smoked and twitched from several thousand volts turning him into a lightning rod.

“Settle down,” I grunted, kicking his head.

That solved the problem, and I looked over at the women who were staring at me in shock, disbelief, and hope. Seeing this, I smiled at them.

“Hey, there,” I said softly. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

I gestured to Pixie. “Put that down and heal the ladies, please.”

“Yes, boss!” she saluted, placing the gun on the floor before flying around the women, casting Dia on them until the wounds on their body were gone.

While she worked, I bent down to inspect the man with the gunshot wound. He was alive, but barely breathing, and after a moment I shook my head. Maybe if I let Pixie heal him, or I used a Life Stone, he could be saved, but I wasn’t exactly feeling charitable right now.

Stepping over his body, I went to the back of the Farm where a door led to an office. Inside, I found a computer, some filing cabinets, and a landline phone.

Dialing 911, I called in the cops, and then went back up top to wait for the police to arrive.

Didn’t take that long. Guess somebody had heard the gunshots and reported it, so they had somebody already on the way.

Three police cruisers pulled up along with an ambulance, lights flashing, and I watched as they got out, eyeing me and the frozen teen on the ground. 

“Good evening, Quest,” one of the cops said. I recognized him as one of the people who’d appeared on Sunday evening to arrest the other ABB goons at the last Farm I’d raided.

“Glad you could make it so quickly,” I said, nodding at them. “There’s four ABB. One’s dead, three are injured. One’s got frost burn and a concussion, one has a broken knee and a concussion, and the last has got some electricity burns.”

“And how did the death occur?” he asked, pulling out a notebook as the other cops went out to grab the gang members and the women.

“One of the ABB guys had a gun, and he was firing it wildly. Not sure why, but it seemed like one of them had an argument with the other, which escalated. I assume he got shot and that’s how he died.”

I gestured to the downed thug who now had a thermal blanket wrapped around him. “He was the lookout and went running, but noticed me coming closer. I’d heard the shots and went to act, as I didn’t want the women getting hurt.”

“Alright, then,” the cop hummed, recording my words. I don’t think he believed me, but I didn’t care, since it was the truth and forensics would prove my words.

It took an hour for everything to be sorted. The women needed a lot of care and we had to get some female officers to help out. I’d dismissed my Shadows already, so the police didn’t get to see them, but I knew they’d find out about them anyways.

Once that was done, I jogged off into the darkness of night and hopped into the Inverted City so I could fast travel back home. Once that was done, I was more than eager to get some sleep.

I drifted off, content in the knowledge I’d done some good and saved some people today, bringing a tiny bit of hope into the world. Oh, and I had some potential new friends to help me save the world. Yay.

111 &&& 111

Author's Note: Happy Halloween, everyone! Enjoy a free chapter on this spookiest of days!