Polynya

“–Hiccupanaratapana,” Sophia says, her nose held high. “I speak Thulean.”

“Cool, then you can fickin’ take the medal off the faun’s chest and stuff it in your mouth.”

Doc laughs. “Sophia has an Order of The Red Flag of The Hero of Socialist Fraternal Labor of The Peasants and Workers of The People’s Democratic Republic of Tritania medal too, Hiccup. We both have one. But I like the idea.”

“Doc!”

“Kidding, Doctor Wang,” the faun says, straightening up. “This is your show now, so let’s get down to brass tacks.”

“Right.” Sophia smooths her hands over her white dress and lifts into the air a few inches. “Ryuk, I need to meet you in person.”

Hiccup snorts, but doesn’t say anything else.

“In … person?”

“Yes. As your humandroid reported, there have been multiple attempts from NPCs to come through to our world using resetters. Since you are still experiencing digital hallucinations from time to time, I believe it is best if we meet. I will leave the US for Japan later tomorrow morning.”

“Just you?”

“I will have my AI Chuntao with me as well.”

“I’m dead, an RPC,” Doc says, “in case you didn’t already know through context clues. I’ll be overseeing the Knights in the meantime. Your guild – what was the name again?” he asks Sophia.

“The, um, Mitherfickers.”

“Got it. The Mitherfickers will act as a satellite of the Knights. It’d be best for the Shinigami to believe that you are all still in trouble. We can easily mask your handles and get new looks for you, hell, new avatars, but one of you livestreams so that’s a no go.”

FeeTwix says, “I can stop streaming temporarily, if it means I’ll avenge Tomas.”

“He’s the reason he came here,” Sophia informs Doc, again using her advanced abilities to read the Swede’s mind.

Doc considers this for a moment and says, “No, no. It would help, but your fans would come looking for you, especially if you just dropped the stream. No, the Shinigami should know we’re up to something. It’ll make them think twice about whatever they do next.”

He looks from Sophia to the Mitherfickers. “You all are running the show here and you really need to start grinding and level up. I’ve had my time in the sun. But if I can help in any way, let me know.”

“Thanks, Doc,” says Sophia.

“Yes.” Ryuk bows. “Thank you.”

“Later.” The faun waves and slowly fades away.

“So what now?” Hiccup asks after Doc is gone. “I don’t feel like fighting shit at the moment.”

“We will get levels later, starting tomorrow,” Ryuk says. “I believe we should go after the three Runestones of Tritinakh.”

“The what?”

“What the ink shadow told us about back in the catacombs.”

“Oh, fick that guy!”

“That’s a good idea,” Sophia says. “Going after the Runestones will at least bring you to a level that will allow you to travel to the next continent. You’ll still need to keep grinding, and if I were you, I’d do whatever I could to use EXP boosters.”

“You don’t happen to know Dirty Dave, do you lady?” Hiccup asks.

Her face hardens. “Yes.”

“Well, first off, lady, he ain’t fickin’ guilty. It’s the media out to get him.”

Sophia rolls her eyes. “No, he is guilty. Dave created Wizardous years ago based on a drug from Cyber Noir called Riotous. That said, he has proven useful in the past, and it is the only reason that he keeps evading authorities.”

“Welp, sorting that out is above my paygrade.” Hiccup glares at Ryuk. “Any-fickin’-hoo, that guy not only knows how to make good barbeque, he also seems to have all sorts of shit that can help us level up.”

“I’ll get in touch with Dave now,” Aiden says. He’s gone before anyone can say otherwise.

“Good. Then we have a plan. Ryuk and I will meet come tomorrow and your guild can get to leveling up. You two are free to log out,” Sophia tells FeeTwix and Ryuk.

The Swede shrugs. “Nah, I think I’ll stay logged in. Actually, if you are meeting Ryuk in Tokyo, do you think I could come? I could take a quick flight from Sweden.”

Sophia glances at Ryuk and shrugs. “What do you think?”

“Honestly, I rarely meet anyone.”

“We know you’re a loser, Marbles,” Hiccup says, “you don’t have to remind us. Hey! Who did that?” He bats his hands over his head. “Phew! It was Liz. Thought it was a ghost. I fickin’ hate ghosts.”

“I have no problem with you joining us,” Sophia says.

“Ryuk?”

“Sure, FeeTwix. Just for the day then, right?” Ryuk asks Sophia. “I’m assuming you two wouldn’t be staying for long. I don’t have much space. Well, I have some, but … ” He thinks of the thugs hired to protect him. “My life is a bit complicated on the outside.”

“The day works for me, Ryuk. I want to stay in one of those Proxima capsule hotels. They seem legit. Hell, maybe I’ll stay two days if it’s comfy. I have a ton of frequent flier miles.”

“Mile high club!” Hiccup adds.

“Do you even know what that is?” Sophia asks, baring her fangs.

“It’s when you get high a mile up. Like if I did some Wizardous while we were riding a dragon. Shit, we have a dragon. Forget to tell you that, lady. The dragon’s name is Snowballs, but as you can see, Marbles is an absent father.”