Stuck Between A Bone and a Hard Place

“What’s going on?” John called up to her, and she dropped the bag in response. He was floating toward the top and was about to emerge from it when a gruff, grainy voice and a popup stopped him in his tracks.

Warning! You have been pulled into a trap barrier! Defeat all enemies to escape!

Party invite sent to ally (Jenny Hudson)! Combat settings set to default!

“Dumb girl. We has caught you with no weapon and alone,” the monstrosity in front of Jenny taunted. John could just barely make it out from the opening of the bag. It was a fifteen foot tall mass of melted bones, shaped into an unholy abomination. Its features seemed molded by a novice sculptor inspired by a surrealist, bulges sticking out from its limbs and its surface runny like warm candle wax. Its limbs were oblong, one arm being a foot longer than the other, and scraping the ground as it walked. The scent of decay filled the air once again, and Jenny smirked as a plan formed in her mind, and she hit accept on the party invite.

A look down into her bag told John that Jenny wanted him to keep quiet for now. “That’s right, you caught me. All alone,” Jenny replied, and John watched as she got onto her knees; “I surrender.” Little did the monstrosity know, and beyond John’s suspicions, Jenny took her lucky pick out of her pocket as she stared up at the monstrosity.

“Now I take you back to Nairis, and finally get some more int-, intel-, intle… ah hell. Get some smarts.” The behemoth took Jenny’s arm in its hand, and Jenny slid her pick across the ground, right under its feet.

“Cover your ears, John!” Jenny ordered, and John did exactly as he was told not a moment too soon. Sound waves exploded out of the pick, decimating all the skeletons in a ten foot radius. However, it wasn’t as effective as she had hoped, as the behemoth took the brunt of the blow, and though it recoiled back and let go of her arm… it remained standing. “Now, John!”

John leapt out of the bag, spotting a gun toting skeleton wearing a quiver. It seemed to be grabbing piles of bullets out of the quiver and sloppily reloading. John took three quick shots, and both its hands were gone. He summoned a baseball bat in his hand using Mana Construct to finish it off and smashed its head clean off. He picked up the gun it left behind and bent to pick up the quiver, but a blur, moving faster than he could see, explained in a suave voice “Actually, this is supposed to go somewhere else. That’s my bad! Have this instead.”

A fancy looking gun belt with two holsters was left behind, and John used Spy on it, curious as to what the fancy leather and mythical sheen were. The moment he picked it up, it filled with bullets, but it didn’t seem to load his guns. I’ll have to figure that out later…

Magnum Belt
Lightweight. A stylish looking gun belt, crafted from kangaroo leather, designed to have two holsters. Bullets drawn from this belt have a ⅓ chance of dealing extra explosive or bleeding damage.
Ammo: 50/50

Clearing most of the weaker skeletons, he used Spy on the raging behemoth that was decimating the battlefield. Its level horrified him.

Boss Monster!
Skeleton Goliath, Level 20
This monster was crafted by a skilled necromancer and benefits from increased Strength and Endurance at the cost of Wisdom, Intelligence, and Agility. Always angry, and its Strength increases as its Intelligence decreases based on anger. Currently seeking to bring Jenny in, dead or alive, and now you as a bonus. Known enemy weaknesses: sound, rot.
Common: $2,000, Liquid Bone - Uncommon: Minor Essence of Rage, Greater Rotting Bone Charm - Rare: Calcified Armguards, Essence of Rage - Epic: Major Essence of Rage, Skeleton Key - Legendary: Spellbook: Raise Undead, Diamond Skull, Horn of Summoned Skull

The Goliath let out an ungodly roar that shook the ground and made the barrier’s fake windows shatter as it noticed John. Jenny somersaulted backwards, grabbing her bag in the process. She ripped the golden zipper off and unzipped it with the silvery zipper to reveal her bass. Sliding her bass out of her bag, she pulled a pick from its strings and began playing, humming “Don’t you misfire, fill me up. With the desire, to carry ooo-n…”

The mundane skeletons fell in droves to her waves, crumbling to dust beneath her expert playing. At the same time, John was rapid firing into the crowd with both guns, testing the waters by reloading with Move.

Marksmanship Level 5! Your reload speed has eclipsed your normal Agility!

He ejected the magazines on both guns and lined up two rows of twelve bullets in the air. Move held the guns in the area for less than a second as he swept the magazines over the bullets flawlessly, fully loading them and sliding them back in.

The Goliath rampaged, tossing aside its allies as though they were trash in an effort to make it to Jenny. She noticed its approach and leapt over it, playing directly in its ear canal for immense damage. It was too slow to turn around, and she backpedaled out of the way as its fist slammed into the ground, cracking it and leaving behind a deep impact crater in the asphalt. She didn’t notice its elongated arm, which swung around and slammed into her.

The breath was knocked out of her, and her ribs were cracked as she was knocked a few feet back, but she quickly recovered, getting to her feet and pulling the zipper of her bag with her free hand, taking a red vial out of it. She gulped down this vial as she backpedaled away from the much slower, larger creature chasing her. “Cover me for a sec, John!” she called as she reached down into her bag.

Random Egg is ready to hatch!

He swiped away the popup and called over, “You got it!” He finished off some of the weaker skeletons. He peppered the Goliath’s head with bullets and taunted him, “Over here! What’s the matter, bone weaker than brass?”

This enraged the creature further, and it slammed the ground as it growled at him, “Puny human! Hit me with fists! Not bullets!” With that, it stumbled over to John and wildly punched at him, swinging around both arms. John noticed that its shorter arm was cracked and began to take aim at it, focusing all his fire on it. A fresh onslaught of bullets cracked the Goliath’s arm further until it shattered, and the Goliath roared in pain.

Taking the moment it was distracted, John slapped the Rotting Bone Charm onto its longer arm. It attempted to slam the aforementioned appendage into John, but he created a dense wall with Mana Construct before the brute could succeed, and its remaining arm bounced off it uselessly.

“Now that it’s back to full power, let’s try this again!” Jenny sprinted toward the Goliath, dodging a swipe from its remaining arm, which was dripping with the decay of its structure. She leapt onto its back and jammed her lucky pick into its neck, chipping away at the already compromised bone structure. Propelling herself up by her hands, she flipped over the bumbling brute’s head behind the wall John had erected and quickly ordered, “Reinforce the wall, quick!”

He did as she ordered, forcing the rest of his mana into the wall and extending it above them, turning it into a veritable bunker. The pick exploded, the Goliath and the wall along with it, destroying the Rotting Bone Charm and slamming John and Jenny into the wall behind them, the shrapnel from the beast’s torso embedding itself in Jenny, and the large chunk that was its arm knocking into John.

But despite all that… it still stood in front of them. No arms, half a torso missing, and shaking just to stand. Somehow, despite being the epicenter of the explosion, its neck was intact. It was only smart enough for one word: “Angry.”

Jenny tried to stand and winced at the shards of bone that made it past her jacket. “Johnny, I used the rest of my juice charging that explosion. Have you got anything left?”

“I used the rest of my mana on that wall. I think one more good hit will do it though,” John responded, reaching for one of his guns on the ground. The Goliath stepped forward with its left foot and crushed his hand and the gun under it. John expected as much, which is why his other hand was reaching for his other gun. He shot twice, but only one hit. The Goliath recoiled, and what remained of its torso crumbled further, until the only thing holding it together was a faint blue sphere just barely concealed by what was left of its torso. He could hardly focus as he tried to select another weapon from his inventory and missed, pulling the egg out instead.

The creature within your Random Egg has decided to hatch, regardless of your wishes, in an effort to save you! This will have a negative impact on its future obedience, and a positive impact on its future affection.

John hardly had time to read it before the egg cracked in his hand, and the Goliath crept closer. A hawk chick burst out, chirping furiously. The last thing John saw as his vision became spotty was the chick divebombing toward the Goliath’s foot, despite being unable to fly.

Hey guys, TheGunslinger here! If you want to see what happened to the quiver (or if you just want to read a branch that is both further in aaaand way better than mine) then go check out Juvia's branch! He's also the one who came up with the idea and description of the gunbelt! (Link to Juvia's first chapter: https://chyoa.com/chapter/Creatively.414392)