Chapter Nineteen

Bob’s initial reaction almost doomed him.

To be fair, it could have happened to anyone. There were very few beings out there who, when confronted with hundreds of creatures chanting in unison for their demise, wouldn’t fall prey to the fight or flight response.

It was simply a shame that Bob tried to take the ‘flight’ path so literally.

Completely subsumed by the instinct to get as far away from the ground as possible, Bob tried desperately to ‘flap’ the sides of his bag as if they were wings. Forgetting briefly that just holding the things in a steady position was already a grueling task.

The attempt turned out about as well as you would expect. With him losing control of his decent and beginning to slowly plummet towards the ground below.

He managed to get himself back together quicker than he had previously, his prior experience being surprisingly helpful. But by the time he’d re-entered a steady glide, he’d already lost at least another fifty or so feet.

Fifty or so feet which were starting to seem really important.

From his new vantage, he had a better view of the crabs. Crabs which were now following after him, banding together to pursue his flight path.

The bigger ones – each, sans pincers, around the size of a large recliner – luckily seemed far less concerned with him than their smaller brethren. Only following for a few steps as he drifted over before losing interest; their voices in his head briefly booming before quickly fading away.

The others, who ranged from normal-crab-sized to monsters as big as an ottoman, were far less lackadaisical in nature. Their multiple legs pumping furiously as they tried to keep up.

They also seemed to be exceptionally angry with him for some reason. And quite vocal about it.

‘Kill!’

‘Tear!’

‘Rend!’

In its hysteria-addled state, the sci-fi nerd part of his brain couldn’t help but compare his soon-to-be murderers to Daleks. Probably due in part to their limited vocabulary and passionate, single minded dedication towards genocide. Either way, it had the effect of giving their voices a mildly tinny quality inside his head.

Admittedly, he found the fact that he could hear them at all more than a little distressing. It was bad enough when it was just a single slime capable of oozing its way into his brain. Now that it had broadened out to an entire group of monstrous crustaceans as well, he was at a bit of a loss.

However, this probably wasn’t the best time to try and sort the issue out. Or even the issue of why they seemed so desperate to kill him in the first place.

What with him currently hurtling towards his death and all.

As he desperately tried – and failed – to gain any altitude, Bob began searching around for any source of potential safety. He was still gliding at least five or six stories above the highest rooftops at this point, so a fair bit was laid out before him.

Unfortunately, a fair bit of that fair bit was covered in crabs. Those ‘hundreds’ he had seen earlier had now transformed into thousands. The only silver lining being that most of the larger crabs were confined to ground level. The biggest ones he’d spotted so far on the roof-tops being only slightly larger than a case of beer.

Which, unfortunately, was still easily big enough to crush him within their murderous little claws.

The closest building to him was the manor that he’d been eyeing up previously. At this point he doubted he could make it to the top of the tower before losing too much altitude, but even if he fell from the side of it, he would still land down on the four-story roof below.

In fact, looking at it, that might be his best bet overall. Or even his only one. After losing all that height previously, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it to another building before he hit the ground. Something which would result in his near-immediate death.

Hopefully. Given that he had no wish to experience the inner workings of a massive crab’s digestive system.

Genuinely seeing no other options Bob, as delicately as possible, attempted to alter his flight towards the tower. The minor dips and drops caused by these attempts resulting in no lack of enthusiasm from the crowd below.

‘Kill!’

‘Rip!’

‘Tear!’

Eventually, however, he managed to get himself mostly on track and under control; only losing another ten or so feet during the process. The mass of crabs below him only continuing to grow larger.

As he approached the manor, he felt desperately happy that he’d made the choice to turn towards it. Because forget not making the tower, at this point, he was going to be lucky to make the roof itself. Had he tried to go towards any other building, he wouldn’t have gotten even half-way there.

Nearing the delicately inscribed tiles, Bob turned his attention from the crustaceans screaming below him to focus on those quickly approaching from the slanted slates themselves.

The roof was impressively arched, the chitinous appendages of his charging foes sliding and clattering along the tiles in their rush to reach him. Bob unfortunately had no such mobility. Able only to mentally prepare himself for what was to come as he drifted the last few feet to the rooftop below.

He was oddly lucky in that he wasn’t the first to reach his landing spot. Two crabs arriving almost simultaneously some moments before he set down. He found himself mildly shocked when there was no hesitation before violence erupted between them. The larger of the two immediately smashing the other off to the side, causing it to tumble the rest of the way down the roof.

It had no time to resettle itself before he landed. Which made all the difference; given that the instant he hit the tiles, Bob did something that surprised every creature in the general area. Not least of all himself.

He went on the offensive.

Ding!

Toothless Grasp(E) has leveled up!

1 – 2

A small piece of him felt exultant about the level up. The first one he’d had in who knows how many weeks.

The rest of him, though, was a bit more focused on the desperately struggling pincher he’d clamped his jaw around. Hellbent on keeping it closed and not allowing it to play merry hell with his innards.

Unfortunately, his foe happened to be in possession of a pair of the things. And seemed quite keen on introducing him to both of them.

As the opposite claw began swinging towards him, however, he realized that it was less of an attack than an opportunity. One which allowed him to perform the only other useful action he was capable of.

Ding!

Dodge(E) has leveled up!

4 – 5

Between its attempted attack and Bob – who was still attached to its other pincher – suddenly flinging his body to the side, the crab immediately lost what little grip it had on the immaculately smooth tiles of the roof.

He quickly let go of its claw when he felt the crab begin to slide off; its legs and pinchers desperately skittering as it attempted to stymie its fall. Bob pressing his body flat to the slates so as not to be dragged along with it.

After watching its last leg disappear over the edge, he turned his attention further above him. Searching for his next foe.

Nearest to him were two normal-ish sized crabs who, after his quick victory over their larger cousins, seemed to be reevaluating their options. He ignored them in favor of the massive, suitcase sized goliath coming up from his left. Each of its slow, necessarily cautious steps at war with its desperate desire to tear his nonexistent face off.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Bob briefly wished he still had ‘Taunt’ equipped. The image of the huge crustacean toppling over the edge in its rush to destroy him was a pleasant one. Then again, given that the thing was literally foaming at the mouth as it clashed its claws and screamed murderous threats inside his head, he wasn’t really sure he could make it that much angrier.

Seeing that he had some time before it reached him, Bob stretched out his eye in an attempt to find some sort of egress into the building. He’d already noticed a lack of rooftop windows and was dismayed to see the absence of any low chimneys or evidence of ventilation. The closest entry in sight being set into the turret-like tower he’d previously been aiming for. The lowest in a series of elegant and empty window frames which rotated their way up the structure. The first one sitting a little over four-feet above the rooftop.

Bob started moving. Inching his way as quickly as possible up the steep incline. He had no idea how he was going to manage to climb up to the window, but it was currently his best and only option.

Plus, the huge crab seemed to have far more trouble moving up the roof as opposed to down. Which meant if nothing else he was mildly stretching out the time before his inglorious death.

He made it to the tower with time to spare, beginning to circle around the structure in an attempt to both get to the window and place as much of the stonework between himself and the huge crab as possible. The two smaller specimens seeming to have abandoned the idea of attacking him altogether, scuttling off in the opposite direction of the looming conflict.

Bob had just started pressing himself into the grout-lines, trying to squish his body into any crack in an attempt to get the leverage to climb up, when he heard the rattle and scrape of the crab reaching the opposite side of the tower.

He immediately dropped. His body beginning to slug its way in the opposite direction when he heard it start circling around. His mind desperately searching for some alternate way out of this situation.

An alternate way out that never appeared. His every glance up and down the rooftop only verifying what he’d already seen. There were no more windows. No chimneys or vents or obviously broken roof tiles.

The only visible entrance into the house was through the tower. His only other option being to randomly jump off the roof and hope he was lucky enough to grab hold of a windowsill somewhere on the way down.