The office chair was a silent, upholstered cannonball. The plush carpeting swallowed the sound, but the heavy, five-wheeled base, launched by Maya's explosive strength, sent it careening out of the doorway.
The lead goblin, its senses focused on the shadows, never saw it coming. The chair caught it square in the knees with a sickening, wet crunch of bone. The goblin went down, its legs folding at an unnatural angle, its helmeted head cracking against the floor with a dull thud.
The other four goblins froze, their primitive brains trying to process the bizarre attack. An office chair? Not in their combat protocols.
That half-second of confusion was an eternity. Maya exploded from the doorway, driving her knife into the exposed throat of the closest goblin. She spun, using the dying creature's body as a shield, and slammed the pommel of her other knife into the temple of a second one. It staggered back, stunned. Two down.
The remaining three, their shock giving way to rage, surged forward. One swung its short sword in a clumsy arc. Maya ducked under it, the blade whistling past her ear, and drove her own knife up under its arm, into the soft tissue of its armpit. It shrieked and dropped its weapon.
Arthur pulled Leo back into the office. "The probabilities… shifting!" he hissed, a mixture of terror and exhilaration in his voice. "A low-probability, high-impact maneuver! The odds… almost even now!"
Almost even. Not good enough. Maya danced back, putting space between herself and the last two opponents. She was good, but she was one person against two enraged, armored goblins.
Leo knew he had to do something. Not a major edit, but a minor one… an environmental change… He scanned the bullpen. Cubicles. Power strips. And on every desk, a heavy, old-fashioned CRT monitor.
He focused on the power strip under the desk nearest the two goblins.
Object: Power_Strip_Model_5B
[Status: Active]
[Property: Circuit_Breaker: Engaged]
He activated [Minor Edit]. The familiar ache bloomed behind his eyes. He pushed.
[Property: Circuit_Breaker: Short_Circuit]
Sparks erupted from the strip with a loud pop. The smell of burning plastic filled the air. The CRT monitor on the desk flickered, turned a brilliant blue, and went dark.
The goblins, startled, flinched toward the sound. A fraction of a second. Maya moved. The wounded goblin went down, a clean stab to the base of its skull. The last one spun back around just in time to see her coming. It was too slow. Maya's blade slid past its defense, and the fight was over.
Silence, broken only by the fizzing from the shorted-out power strip.
"Probability of survival… one hundred percent," Arthur breathed, leaning against the doorframe, his face pale and slick with sweat. "Unbelievable."
Maya was examining her blade. It was nicked. "Their armor," she growled. "It's working. I had to use brute force. It damaged my blade." She looked at Leo. "Your light show was a good distraction. Can't rely on tricks forever."
They moved quickly through the silent bullpen and into the corner office. A massive mahogany desk. Leather chairs. And a floor-to-ceiling window with a perfect, unobstructed view of the fifth floor.
They crept to the window and peered over the sill. The gym was a scene of carnage. But the goblin army was no longer a chaotic mob. They stood in disciplined ranks, their scavenged armor and weapons gleaming.
And in the center of it all was the Taskmaster. It wasn't just issuing commands. It was building something. A strange, pulsating, ugly machine made of scrap metal, exposed circuit boards, and glowing blue wires that pulsed with a familiar, sickening light. The light of the System.
As they watched, the Taskmaster placed a final component—a salvaged server rack, twisted into a new, horrific shape. A wave of blue energy pulsed outward, and the machine hummed to life, a low, discordant sound that vibrated in Leo's teeth.
"What… what is that thing?" Chloe whispered from the doorway.
Ben, who had followed them in, answered, his voice a dry croak. "It's a signal booster. A communications array. But the power draw… it's massive. It's not for talking to the other goblins in the building."
The Taskmaster stood back from its creation. It raised its head to the ceiling and let out a long, piercing shriek. Not a cry of victory. A call. A broadcast.
"It's not for talking," Leo said, his voice a horrified whisper. "It's for listening. And for calling for help."
As if in answer, Maya let out a sharp, indrawn hiss from another window. "Leo. You need to see this."
He scrambled over to her. The street below, which had been a flowing river of migrating goblins, was now… different. They had stopped. Thousands of them. And they were all turning. Turning to face their building. Turning to answer the call.
And then, from the darkness at the edge of the city, he saw them. New shapes. Bigger shapes. Hulking, monstrous silhouettes moving with a slow, deliberate, terrifying purpose.
The Taskmaster hadn't called for reinforcements. It had opened the door for the real army.