The skies were still on fire. Despite the fact that I had mostly stopped pumping Psy into the atmosphere. Now, it didn’t bother me overmuch, but I was vaguely aware of the fact that people who weren’t me tended to

  Regardless, I was feeling pretty good about my exhibition.

  “Okay. Thank you all for coming on such short notice.” I told everyone.

  Vince raised his right hand.

  “Yes, Vince.”

  “Vince was told there would be cake and chicken nuggies.”

  I snapped my fingers and a couple dozen Solomonlings, Solomonite Chanters, Solomonite Gnomeburners and Inquisitors descended from the sky. Carrying several food and dessert tables between them. Courtesy of the gnomish mansions I’d ordered them to raid. No sense in wasting good food after all. Even if they were prepared by gnomish hands.

  “Vince says yay!” He cheered. Seconds before he dug in with gusto.

  Now, I recalled him and Thunder Fist and everyone else at the disciplinary event getting a bunch of Store Tokens for free, as well as the ability to purchase things directly from the System store as if they were approved Vendors. Which made his enthusiasm a bit suspicious. A quick search through their memories squashed that however. These two were simply nostalgic for human-like food and the System didn’t have the things they wanted in this case.

  ‘Though it does have rations to last them until the end of time. And the Novice Tutorial instances do have human food. Something to bring up when I see Hazimon, if I’m feeling petty.’

  Thunder Fist and Mittens helped themselves to the treats too, but all the others seemed to hesitate. Curiously, the fact that they had recently been stored in gnomish houses wasn’t what worried them. It was the colorful array of Intruders lined up to serve.

  More specifically, mom and dad were staring at the Solomonlings. Wide-eyed. While grandpa Gus stared at the Flagellants floating above the tables. Strips of flesh and leather hanging off their shivering bodies while their razor-sharp claws flinched and twitched.

  “Okay.” I said at once. “You guys go away. Shoo! Shoo! Leave my family to eat in peace!”

  All the Intruders vanished with the sound of rushing, displaced air, and then with a final pop. All except Mittens of course, as he was possessing someone.

  “Okay.” I said again. “Now that we’re all comfortable, I think it’s time to go over how my powers are actually a good thing and how I can be and I often am, a force for good.”

  I waved over at Monique.

  “Like when I helped my friend here save her children! And when an incident occurred and reality was destabilized, I took the opportunity to send over the Tall Man.”

  “Because he can go anywhere that has a zone of destabilized reality.” Henry confirmed.

  “Yes! Exactly!” I snapped to attention. “And since the Tall Man can use all the powers I can use, he was able to free an entire planet from a zombie apocalypse.”

  I made sure to pause for effect.

  Letting my eyes wash over each person there, but mostly on my parents.

  “That’s a planet that had 8 billion people not too long ago and that now only has 32 million people worldwide. Mostly bunched up around the artic countries. I repeat, I have saved the lives of 32 million people in the span of a single afternoon and I have asked for nothing in return! Not only that, but I also gave all of them powers! Yes, that’s right. Not only are the people there safe from all the zombies, but they are also safe from any other plague that might try to destroy their society in the future!”

  “And from the gnomes.” Thunder Fist spoke up. Crumbs falling from his full mouth as he did so. “Let us not forget about the most important part.”

  “Thank you, Thunder Fist!” I called out. “Yes indeed. I have saved 32 million people, a lot of them being little children conceived and born in the middle of the apocalypse, with no incentive at all. I did it because it was the right thing to do and I would gladly do it again.”

  Dusty, Slab, Boris and grandpa clapped. Though grandpa was kinda forcing it.

  None of the others looked over enthused however. Indeed, Henry looked downright suspicious.

  “Now I don’t want to read your minds all the time, but I can see how you’re feeling by your expressions.” I turned to the Tall Man as he floated closer.

  “And that is why I’ve brought one of my Intruders here to show you all everything we managed to do in a very short amount of time. Please sit back and let the memories flow in and you’ll see that I am, in fact, a force for good.”

  Our minds were linked and images began flooding in.

  “Now as you can all see, these two young kids, Jimmy and Ben, were all alone and living in this abandoned mansion outside Denver. Not only did I give Monique here a sword I created and an Intruder I manifested to protect them, but that sword also created the opportunity for them to get powers early. Let’s go to where they were immediately after.”

  We saw the abandoned roadside.

  “AAAAAAA!!!!!” Jimmy yelled.

  “OH MY GOSH!!! AAAAAA!!!!” Ben echoed.

  “HE MIND CONTROLLED THEM! HE MIND CONTROLLED HIS PARENTS!!”

  “HE MIND CONTROLLED EVERYONE!!!”

  “THAT PSYCHO IS WITH MOM!”

  “AAAAAAA!!!”

  “AAAAAAAA!!!!”

  I turned to the onlookers. Especially to Monique.

  “They saw my memories. Just like everyone I use the blast on. Don’t worry. They’ll be fine. I made sure the Tall Man used much less Psy than I used on Henry and Puffin and grandpa. It barely hurt.”

  “MY VEINS ARE ON FIRE!!!”

  “AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

  I turned back to the spectators.

  “They’re exaggerating. Really. It was barely a pinch.”

  “HOLY SHIT FUCKING SHIT JIMMY!!! YOU’RE ON FIRE!!!!!”

  “AAAAAAAA!!! I’M ON FIRE TOOO!!!! AAAAAAAA!!!!”

  I turned back to the spectator.

  “That’s just their powers acting up. They each got [Pyrokinesis III] and [Absorb Heat] at high level.”

  I started to realize that this was a bad look.

  “Just wait, it does get better. I promise. Tall Man, if we could just fast forward a couple of minutes. To the part where I told you to tell them about the survivors in Austin? Yes. Thank you.”

  The next images were of those same kids now using [Portal Network III] to up and hop their way to Texas. One massive jump at a time. Using their newly Enhanced eyesight to see far into the distance for a spot to land and then using that point to rest before doing it all again.

  Before long, they were back in the ruins of Austin. With Jude and his girlfriend Joice and all the other guys I helped survive.

  “See these guys here? They’re the same ones from the memories I showed you earlier. I saved them and killed all the zombies around them back in the day and now they have managed to build themselves a new base out of solid stone fused together with fire. A literal fort with electricity they got for themselves and scavenged electronics. Now the kids are no longer alone and they have people to look after them? Tall Man, can we zoom into their arrival?”

  We were treated to a scene of Jimmy and Ben landing atop one of the walls of the fort. Looking around like nervous baby birds.

  “Yo.” Jude called out. Walking over to them. “Are you the kids that Scalper told us about?”

  “Scalper?” Jimmy asked.

  “Sully Carter.” He corrected. “The guy who can’t get hard without scalping gnomes.”

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Yeah. That’s the one.” Ben confirmed.

  I turned to the others.

  “That’s a load of slander by the way. Never actually happened. Just so you’re aware.”

  Mom burst into tears.

  “Okay back to the memories.”

  The Tall Man showed us a scene of them having dinner together.

  “So yeah. Me and Joice ended up getting married after Sully gave us all powers.” Jude said happily. “Things got a little rough when a couple of warlords saw the lack of zombies and decided that they wanted this turf for their own, but the most they had was a couple of bazookas and Joice can fly and throw fire from her hands.”

  He snorted. Now giving the kids an odd look.

  “Man, honestly, I love my powers, but it feels so unfair seeing what just happened.”

  “What do you mean?” Jimmy asked.

  “I mean that you kids and everyone else here who didn’t get powers at first, the refugees that kept coming when they realized we had a good thing going, got way, WAY more stuff than any of us. I mean, I got a single Type, with a couple of powers like mind-reading and stuff. But you kids got that and fire and flight and teleportation and regeneration and super strength and all kinds of other things. It does not feel fair. I mean, I get that Scalper went through a lot but…”

  Joice hit him over the head.

  “Jude, stop dumping your sadness all over the kids. For gnome’s sake.”

  The memories broke off for a second.

  “Ah!” I cheered. “They’re using gnome as a curse even without the system! They learned! I’m so proud!”

  I turned to the rest.

  “Guys look! I started a trend!”

  Henry and Luigi stared at me. Their gazes hard and unblinking.

  Dad started doing it too. Mom started sobbing again.

  “Moving on, let’s get back to the show.”

  Jimmy and Ben were squirming while the rest of the compound started sharing more food and stories and showering them with compliments.

  “Why… why are you all being so nice to us?” Jimmy finally asked.

  “Because you’re kids?” Jude scoffed. “And because you’ve been alone this whole time and because you needed the help. Duh. What kind of sicko just leaves kids out there alone to cry themselves to sleep?”

  Jude shook his head.

  “I know it’s been hard, but this fort has been a place of hope ever since we got powers. The mutants and the zombies kept coming, because of course they did, but we finally had a way to stand up for ourselves and rebuild. And yeah, it ain’t easy. And yeah, I miss having internet and stuff. But it sure as gnome beats what we were going through before Scalper got here.”

  He gave the boys a gentle smile.

  “Honestly kids, he ain’t that bad.”

  “He gouged out their eyes!” Jimmy protested.

  “And ate them!” Ben followed up.

  “Yeah, he did, but gnomes were going around cutting off people’s ears and stuff. I’m not gonna judge Scalper for that. Think of it like this, do you know anyone out here that doesn’t hate the zeds?”

  Jimmy and Ben went quiet.

  “Exactly.” Jude said. “Now, if he were going around using his powers to abuse people like your mom, that’d be different. I still wouldn’t go against him because he is mother-gnoming terrifying and the mere thought of standing up to him makes me gnome my pants, but I’d get where you were coming from at least.”

  “But Scalper isn’t the kind of guy to do that.” Joice followed up again. “He’s really dedicated to the good guy bit. Like, really really dedicated. I think he might have brain damage or something.”

  I whirled my head.

  “I don’t by the way. I’ve had my head blown to smithereens and I’ve re-grown it from scratch and I can definitively confirm there’s nothing physically wrong with me.”

  Mom sobbed harder.

  “In any case! Let’s go back to zombie world!”

  The memories gathered by the Tall Man continued to flood in.

  “Someone else showed up.” Jimmy observed. His bowl of food now finished.

  “Yeah.” Jude agreed. “I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot of that. What with people now knowing about this place and getting the power to teleport like super-ninjas.”

  He sighed.

  “Dammit. I got freaking superpowers and now I’ll be weaker than a bunch of gnoming kids in diapers.”

  He threw his head back and let out a low chuckle.

  “Man I can’t wait for the Tutorial to end. I need some way to get myself more powers.”

  Jimmy looked flabbergasted.

  “You want to go there!? The crazy guy Scalper is there! He’ll be waiting at the city!”

  “Yeah? So? Why should I be worried? Do I look like a gnome to you? I may have the rosy cheeks but I’m missing the stubby legs and the conical skull and the general sadism.”

  Ben didn’t look convinced.

  “Look.” Joice intervened. “You kids might be worried, but you’re lucky. We’re just some guys Scalper helped once. Dude just helped millions of people today for no reason. He’s helping people all the time. We have to scramble to get ahead. You kids have an in. What with the sword and all.”

  She pointed at the silent Cherub.

  “That thing was born here. In Austin. I even recall Austin being part of its name. But it probably won’t lift a… whatever swords have for fingers, if some human gang decided to try and take the fort.”

  “Wait, isn’t that a major problem?” Jimmy looked startled.

  “It was, but not with you two here. Everyone saw Scalper’s memories and what he wants. And what he wants is peace on earth. For humans at least. The dude does not like criminals and the dude is, as I’ve said, scary as all gnome. That and you two are the kids of one of his team members. The sword will fight to protect you because that’s what Scalper wanted. That and I have a feeling the most deranged cannibal out there wants nothing to do with the Tall Man. Who can show up whenever the sword wants.”

  I turned to the others.

  “I took care of the cannibals by the way. They’ve all seen the error of their ways. There aren’t any left but they don’t know that.”

  That seemed to cheer dad a bit, at least. Or perhaps he was just letting go of some of his excess energy.

  “Sorry for the interruption, back to business.”

  The memories kept flooding afterwards.

  “I don’t think you needed to worry about that in the first place.” A stranger said from the side. “I just got here with my family and we’re just thankful to have a place to sleep in peace. I don’t want any sort of trouble.”

  The man stretched out his hand.

  “I’m Bill by the way. Bill Wozniak. Former sergeant and a guy who really doesn’t want to see zombies again.”

  Jimmy shook his hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Bill.” He stopped. “I guess I can get behind that.”

  “Don’t worry about it kid. And you don’t have to feel alone anymore. Me and my folks can look after you, if no else wants to.”

  Jimmy still looked hesitant. Edging closer to Jude. But Ben seemed to appreciate the sentiment.

  “How did you get here?” The younger boy asked.

  “Was stuck in a bunker. Same as you two. Only we were all the way out in Florida.” Bill spoke softly. “Whole place was flooded and we were contemplating eating the meat off an infected gator, when the Tall Man ghost thing did its whole planet power shower.”

  He shrugged.

  “So, yeah. Superpowers and Psy or Magic or whatever the gnome is real. And we might be in for an alien invasion in a few months. Gnome is gnomed. All around us. But me and my wife and our girls and boys are still alive. And I honestly didn’t think all of us would make it when I looked at the situation last week. Scalper might be a deranged psycho with a weird sadist thing for gnomes….”

  “I’m not.” I assured my audience.

  “But I owe him my life. And his life was kind gnomed up. And he still didn’t turn us all into slaves. Even though he totally could have.”

  Bill kinda deflated. Laughing nervously to himself.

  “Honestly, it’s a good thing he got those powers instead of me. I was not a person with good self-control when I was his age. I probably would have been more concerned with getting myself laid.”

  His wife hit him upside the head.

  “But not now. Obviously. That was just when I was young and stupid. My point is, yeah. The world still sucks and we’ve all got our privates in the grill, but at least the temperature went down a few notches. At least I can actually see a future for my kids.”

  “Yeah.” Another stranger said from the side. “I was seriously considering hanging out with the chandelier. Even got the rope and everything. No one ever said starving hurt that much.”

  “Me too.” Someone else piped up. “I was looking at my grandkids. Even when my daughter was dead and walking outside. I had a shovel in my hand and… I was thinking about it.”

  He whistled.

  “Scalper might be a freak, but I’ll gladly start scalping gnomes right alongside him if that’s what it takes to keep them safe. As long as they can live, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  I nodded with satisfaction.

  “Okay Tall Man. Show my parents other guys around the world.”

  The Tall Man did.

  He showed us a family in France making it out of the catacombs. Coughing up clouds of dust as they saw the sun again for the first time in weeks.

  He showed us a group of survivors who had been living in a nuclear submarine resurfacing and using their new powers to fly high in the air. All of them were laughing maniacally. Hope plastered on their face for the first time in forever.

  He showed us a small chain of islands with dozens upon dozens of boats tied to them through makeshift posts. All the children in those islands were screaming with joy. Twirling around and chanting as their parents made the waters around them rise with [Telekinesis III]. Lifting schools of fish for all to eat.

  He showed us families stuck in a series of mountain cabins and families stuck in the middle of dense jungles.

  He showed us orphan children coming out of caves and out of wooded areas and making their way over to settlements.

  He showed us makeshift barricades that had been close to collapsing, but didn’t. Because of me.

  “See? See the difference I made in these people’s lives?”

  Mom was still sobbing.

  Dad didn’t look convinced.

  Henry and Luigi were still as stone. Hand crossed in front of their faces as they both leaned forwards.

  “Vince thinks you did a great job with the zombies.” Vince piped up. “Vince is really impressed about the gnome thing too.”

  “Yeah. What he said.” Thunder Fist echoed. Slurping down a bowl of soup before wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “Honestly, I keep harping on the fact that we have to let people know about the evils of gnomes, but that’s only because it’s so hard to imagine them being evil unless you know them. They come waddling in with their rosy cheeks and happy smiles and they pretend to be your friend until they’re ready to stab you in the back.”

  He nodded sagely.

  “Oh yes. It’s excellent that more people know.”

  Then he turned to Monique.

  “Your kids look like wonderful young men by the way. I’m really glad they’re happy and healthy. I hope you see them soon.”

  “Thank you. Mr…. um…. Fist.”

  “No problem.” Thunder Fist nodded again. Now turning to my parents.

  “Honestly guys. I think you’re all being a bit too harsh to your son. From where I’m standing, he’s a true and selfless hero. Why, just see how many people in that world are now alive thanks to him? Just see how many kids now have a future? I mean, people often come up and tell me I’m doing a good job, or they used to, at least. They went on about how I’d saved a hospital full of kids and how I was better than doctors… even though I’ve never been that smart. If someone dumb like me can be a hero, then your son is definitely a hero.”

  “I agree.” Randall said from the side. “I do think it looks bad. But those people are alive and they seem to be happy. I don’t think you could call him a shining knight or anything, but anyone I’ve asked was glad to have Sully with them.”

  “Thank you, Randall.” I said. “Monique, what do you think?”

  She took a deep breath. Then let it out in one long hiss.

  “Thank you, Sully. I really appreciate you looking out for my kids.” She said afterwards. “I know I might be biased, but all I cared for was having them be alive and safe. I… I shouldn’t have left them alone by themselves. It probably hurt them. Thank you for sending them over to Texas. I’ll go get them the next time we have a break.”

  Then she turned to my mom and dad.

  “Look, I get it. He does not look good. I would probably cry if he were my kid or if Jimmy and Ben ended up like that. But he did save them. I… I can’t bring myself to hate him.”

  Mom and dad remained still. But Luigi sat up.

  “Okay. I’ve seen enough.” He said suddenly. “I want a power-blast too. Sully. If you can. I… I’ve seen what it takes to survive and I’ve seen how other worlds are now. I can’t afford to be weak.”

  His fists were clenched and his eyes were still darting over to Mittens in terror.

  “I don’t want to be a victim anymore.”

  “Of course Luigi!” I bellowed. “It is always my pleasure to help! You’ll see! It might hurt at first, but you’ll soon feel better than you’ve ever felt before!”