Bodega Cat (System Apocalypse, Deck Builder, Litrpg)

Khaleesi's voice came over the radio. Much to Ashley's consternation, Bagel had even not been a part of the radio checks.

The crackling disturbed Bagel and he jumped a foot into the air.

"Guys watch out," Khaleesi said. "Debris coming your way!"

They had stepped off of the street and into the building by then. Behind them a window pane smashed onto the ground. It just stopped moving, as if the glass refused to break.

"I would have thought that my ass has seen everything. I thought shards would have flown everywhere like in the movies but I guess the glass here is really just that good, isn't it?" Ashley said.

"I think the lesson here is that you need to be as strong as that glass thinks it is," Kate said.

The two of them stood there only for a few seconds before Khaleesi's voice once again and going through the radio. "Guys! Hit the button to respond. Is everyone okay?"

Ashley cursed under her breath before bringing the radio to her mouth. "We're fine! Over!"

Ashley was down there to sit there and look at it for a few minutes. I wasn't everyday that something fell out of this guy and tried to kill her. And also wasn't everyday that that kind of thing failed spectacularly but the fact that it hadn't shattered was definitely giving her pause. And it's off of what she was hearing, NYPD guys were done with this floor and when we got for the second one. A large open area that have been communal meeting place was now crawling with them. All the guild guys looked like they were sad.

They couldn't find something without a clear line of sight. Their card summons could.

Several summons mobs worked their way outside. Most of the police officers went out of their way to stuff their decks with a flying mascot or two and it showed. Three flying men of steel moved outside.

There were two staircases in the large negative space of the room that just spoke to someone being an architect of a very particular school. In the back an elevator looked like it didn't want to be touched by human hands ever. Bagel liked that kind of hostile architecture. He didn't want everyone to be able to enter his building.

This would do great.

Then the mascots outside began attacking something. Bagel did a double take.

They were all attacking a mob he hadn't seen before. The glass has reformed into a large humanoid.

Bagel was usually afraid of humans or humanoid creatures. But the fact of this one had no eyes, mouth or nose yet was directly squaring off against three mascots gave him pause. Kate was going to be announcing at any second that she was doing damage...

But she was too busy moving around, getting into position. Bagel snapped into combat mode, taking stock of his hand. Unfortunately, he had about a minute left on both of his mounts, Janet was out and he did not want to play a pizza rat but that's what he had. He could wait thirty seconds and see if he would be able to pull his possum dragon out and switch of that...

He made the quick decision to get into the action. With his backup there, his cook would be able to stab to its and his hearts content.

It wasn't like he wanted to stab things, but when things came by and it needed to be stabbed, he would whip out a stabby boy. They did really well in a fight with other humanoids.

The amount he was on who was a little bit closer as he refreshed his hands and Drew the card he'd been waiting for. He threw up the possum dragon, summoning the boa length hairy floating mob that immediately went for the glass mob.

"I wonder if it's-"

Another loud crashing sound stunned Bagel as his possum dragon headed in. A second monster joined the opposition, landing with slightly more grace.

There was a shout from down the street as more cards were summoned, the red light of the summon giving way to at least a dozen pizza rats that immediately surrounded the second humanoid.

Relief met with impatience as the reality of the situation presented itself. They would be able to bring down the unfamiliar monsters but it looked like they would take some time and meanwhile...

The first golem smashed through two pizza rats in one blow, then the next. Bagel wheeled back, checking the time for his mount.

He didn't have long for it and he needed it to ride around. But he could ride on Janet indefinitely so he took a second to readjust his position, just as a laser beam from the second golem destroyed five more pizza rats in one go.

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The mascots were surprisingly effective as they swarmed around it floating in unpredictable patterns darting in and out to deal a bit of damage every so often. But a little damage many times meant that they were actually hitting it and unfortunately, he couldn't see the hit points of whatever it was, this was something new to him. Previously when they'd fought monsters, he'd been able to see their stats this? This was different and new.

It was definitely taking damage. With each pulse of electric hit from a pizza rat, it got knocked back further and further. The poor things-Bagel needed to not think of his enemy as poor and unfortunate.

"Lasers where it's eyes should have been," he whispered. "Would have been... what a creep. Make eyes!"

Janet began a coordinated attack right where the face of the humanoid would have been. Bagel rotated around it, varying his height with Janet as he floated by clockwise around the two. This gave him the view of all of the people on the line for the Amish market. They all look pissed that they were being subject to this kind of assault but also none of them wanted to leave the line.

They had probably went in there for at least ten minutes in this summer heat. Why the heck would they leave for a little card battle against what would have to be a boss level monster.

"Has anyone seen any stats on this thing?" Kate yelled over the sounds of fighting.

"No!" Several police officers said, simultaneously. The guilders has formed a line behind all of them.

"Shame! It looks strong!" Kate was definitely planning something and as he rotated out into the middle of the road on his tour of the outer limits of the fighting, Bella could see that she was already climbing up to the second floor on the outside using Ashley's gentrifier crab. Her totem was well within range and-

Bagel ducked under a laser beam coming from the monster.

That could have killed him if he had been in position, but Janet moved and he'd adjusted, sticking into her. He wasn't able to dig his claws into her although at that point he tried. It wasn't something he wanted to do. He really didn't want to hear his AI but if he had to, he would sacrifice her. He could get her again if he just reused his bodega card, but that was very unlikely to happen.

Unlikely, unless a death ray killed him or a super powered laser. It was always those pesky things that stood in his way.

Big refreshed his hand is it had only been a minute since the fighting got started. Several people some with new mobs that just attacked relentlessly.

The first monster fell unceremoniously, turning into a puddle of metallic liquid. That broke the dam as a second one was completely surrounded and unable to get a worry and edgewise in the argument between the NYPD and its life.

Curiously, it did not instantly spawn a golden card above it though he expected that it would take a minute. He did level up.

Bagel didn't really appreciate summon strength until he saw their numbers. Humans working together in a pack were strong.

Cats were solitary creatures.

They didn't need what humans had with this pack mentality. True, a human with sufficient energy could run a cat down, but in a pinch, cats were faster and more handsome.

This came in handy when you needed to hunt only for yourself but he could see the power of a group of people dedicated to one thing.

"Did everyone level up?" Kate asked. She got a lot of thumbs up.

"I leveled up twice!" One of the police officers said. "Level ten baby!"

Bagel was elated with one level. That particular man had to have been low level to get that kind of change. The levels were now a little bit slower than they had been at the beginning but he'd put his points to use. It was worth some effort to plan things out but he had gone a bit overboard.

Just like the credits that he got for everything, he had a purpose or what he did and he embraced it. He had struggled with what to do with his points before but now it felt like he was going to need it for something and he... He wanted to save it for later.

Putting all of his points out of his head, Bagel took stock of the situation. Everyone was on high alert. He still had time on the resummoned mobs, but against his better judgement, he looked up. He really should have sent Janet up or listened to Khaleesi.

Khaleesi crackled over the radio once again. "There are no more about to jump out. The floor looks clear."

"What floor?" Ashley said from the doorway. Bagel moved to go back in, but she held up a hand.

Did it really matter what floor? They were going to clear them all but... Humans were strange. This wasn't the first time that they wanted to stall out on something just to feel the situation out.

It was like they didn't have The killing instinct that a peregrine falcon would or be more evolved North American house cat. Sure, they do things but they also were constantly in the thoroughs of indecision. There was absolutely no reason that eye find himself caught up an indecision at any point. He just didn't want to use those points for anything in particular yet. It wasn't like they were awesome things that you use them for coming, they're actually more but she didn't really feel like you did a big decision yet. Yet. There was no rushing these kinds of things.

There was no rushing brilliance.

You only cultivated it in order to become a better cat. But these humans stay the same to be happy with it being a standard type you and. And he was fine with that as they were all just kind of extra minions.

It just would have been nice if they could move on a little faster. You found himself drawn to that tiny little elevator once again. And the promise that it was big enough for only two people at most and that was if the first person walked all the way to the back which was probably an entire step from the front and then the second person walked in and turned around to face the door and rang the thing. Bella didn't know because he'd never been in one. Every billion you have been in he do live and walk upstairs or the elevator just didn't make any sense to use.

Even the veterinarian's office was on the first floor. His bodega? On the first floor with no elevator to the apartments above.

He began to feel a bit and nervous about the prospect of getting in a giant metallic bonds and being pulled up to a different floor through a series of levers and pulleys. Now that and itself was the the brilliant City expected from humans. They were smart and resourceful. Unfortunately, they were also unfocused.

He stood at the elevator door down as a human was regrouped and began to file back in. All the people on the delving party sent their mom was back upstairs as the people that were still online at the Amish market just recalled their cards. The most striking thing about this was that neither group said you even talk to each other, it was just that the adventure school districts expect them to help out anyway and some of them wanted that sweet experience.