"Be ready," I said. "He's a scientist, which means he's probably smart enough to figure out what we're doing with the lights. As soon as he does, he's going to be back here."
Kimberly bit her lip and nodded. I wasn't sure if I should distract her, but I didn't want her to be caught off guard.
As we waited, I mentally prepared myself for what was to come. If we succeeded, it would mean a fight. If we failed, there wouldn't be much of a fight. I reviewed Doctor Halle's stats again.
Plot Armor: 12.
My understanding was that enemies' stats worked the same way as ours did, which meant that if he had twelve Plot Armor, those twelve points were divided among his five stats. I wanted to estimate what his different stats might be so that I might be of more use when the time came.
"What's his Moxie?" I asked.
Kimberly's third trope, after
"It's zero," she said. "He has no Moxie at all."
Interesting.
That meant that all of his 12 Plot Armor points were distributed among his Mettle, Hustle, Savvy, and Grit stats.
Given that he was a scientist, I assumed a big chunk of those points would be attributed to his Savvy stat. After all, that's how Camden was distributed, and he was a
He had abducted Kimberly and injured Antoine in his Ghost form, which had heightened Mettle and Hustle. Given that both his Ghost form and Possessed form gave him a boost to Mettle, he probably didn't have much in his base form. Furthermore, he had a weapon that One-Hit-KOed any target. He probably didn't need much Mettle. I figured a single point was in Mettle.
Likewise, he probably wouldn't need a high base Hustle either, given his Ghost form buffs that stat so much. I'll assign it another single point, though it could be zero as well.
That left Grit.
He could easily have five or more points in Grit.
Even a boosted Antoine couldn't kill the Astralist in his Possessed form, not like that. He got two points added to Grit in that form. It would have to be Antoine and Anna working together with a boost from Anna's
TO SUMMARIZE:
In the final battle, Anna and Antoine would have to fight him, attacking his Comatose form anytime he tried to release his Ghost form. This would force him into his Possessed form, which has a higher Grit, but a lower Mettle. Harder to kill, but less deadly.
That could work.
I hoped my estimate was correct, and if so, we stood a chance, especially if Camden figured out his weakness.
Now all I could hope was that I would have the chance to relay that information to my friends.
"Kimberly," I said, "I have a plan for the final battle. If I'm not around to tel—"
"Why must you always resist your greater purpose?"
My blood went cold.
I looked over to the bed where Doctor Halle had been laying. Now, he sat upright. His ghostly right arm and head had returned. He must have noticed the lights.
"A clever attempt, truly. What did you think? That I wouldn't understand Morse code?"
His ghostly arm flickered, and something struck me in the chest. The wind was knocked out of me. I struggled to breathe.
"Kimberly," I tried to say, but I didn't have the ability. She needed to continue; it was our only hope. I glanced up at her. She was furiously flipping the switch in that same pattern—in cellar, in cellar, in cellar.
I needed to buy her some time.
Luckily, her Plot Armor had risen to an amazing 15—her original 10 Plot Armor plus 3 Savvy because of her successful use of her
Finally, I had actually managed to make a prediction that triggered my
All the theorizing on what kind of monster we were fighting hadn't worked, but something that simple had. I'd have to make note of that for the future.
I strained to stand up.
My estimation put his current Mettle in Possessed form at 3. It wouldn't really matter; whatever his Mettle, it was higher than my Grit.
I couldn't buff myself. I only had one thing going for me, and that was his
As soon as I was up on my feet and moving again, trying to draw his attention away from Kimberly, his arm flickered again, and this time he struck me in the shoulder. I managed to catch myself against his giant machine.
"Do not touch that," he said. "It's very sensitive."
His arm flickered again, and I was flung backward.
He was just playing with me.
"Don't you worry," he said, "I wouldn't damage your body too much. It was true when I said that I was going to bring you back. Your death will only be temporary. Can you not see the importance of my work, how such a small sacrifice could make a meaningful impact across all of humanity? Don't be so selfish."
This ghostly arm flickered once more, and I felt it grab onto my foot. I was dragged down onto the ground as he pulled me toward one of the chairs. I was helpless to fight. After all, I was a minor character, and the best I could do was motivate my friends with my death.
"You are in luck," he said. "I think I'm close to finally mapping the astral plane. You may be revived in time to see your family for the holidays."
A knock sounded against the wall. It was loud, and I could hear wood crunching on the other side.
Camden, Anna, and Antoine had gotten the message.
They were trying to get in. Antoine's 5 Mettle plus Anna's 3 and Camden's 1 should equal 9 total. Plus, two more because of Anna's
If they were all trying to get into the basement, then whatever mechanism was keeping the hidden door closed would have to withstand that. Unlike the revolving door upstairs, I couldn't think of any reason why they wouldn't be able to get through. There was a chance.
"It appears they did not want to wait their turn," Doctor Halle said. He turned and began walking toward the secret door, releasing me.
I couldn't let him harm them before they got in, so as soon as he had let go of my ankle, I was on my feet and running at him.
Before he could flicker his ghostly arm, I had jumped on his back. My arms and hands went right through his ethereal shoulder and neck, and I grabbed onto his physical body.
That was a terrible idea. I was not at all specced for that.
He threw me off with ease, but at least his attention was on me again. The only problem with that was that now that the main characters had shown up, I was sure that this was the final battle, meaning he wasn't taking hostages anymore. I lay on my back as he approached me.
"Oh, how you vie for my attention," Doctor Halle said. "But love is more important than all things, more important than you."
His ghostly arm reached forward and grabbed me by the neck, lifting me into the air. "You do have strength of spirit, I'll grant you that, but then so do I."
Did he just tell a joke?
He began to choke me tighter.
Strangely, it didn't look like he enjoyed this. This was a waste of a specimen.
As I struggled, I saw Kimberly come from behind and try to beat him with a thin pipe that she had found somewhere at his workstation. It did nothing. Kimberly's Mettle was zero. I don't think that she could beat him to death if she had all day.
The room started to go dark. Here I was, just as I had feared—the character who dies. That was my true fate. I could feel tears forming in my eyes as I lost the energy to even struggle.
I watched and waited for my status to change to
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Check Out the Auxiliary Chapter for Archetypes, Aspects, and Characters.
Also Please Send Stones for Motivation Purposes.
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