The community center basement hums under weak fluorescent lights, dust glowing in the slant of sunset through barred windows. Folding chairs form a rough circle, and in the corner a terrified teenager hugs their knees tight.
A retired veteran hero stands in front of the chairs, old scars showing at his jaw and hands. He turns when Buster Jones steps in, the room suddenly feeling too small for both men.
The Veteran Hero
You made it. Good.
The Veteran Hero
The hunters are closing in, and we need someone who can hold the line while we get this kid to safety.
The teenager flinches at the word hunters and presses harder into the wall, eyes locked on the basement stairs.
Buster Jones
The stairs are the obvious route in.
Up above, a heavy thud rolls through the building. Then another. Something, or someone, is testing the door.
The Veteran Hero
I can move the kid if you buy us thirty seconds. Do that, and I owe you one.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the mutant refugee
“I plant my feet and brace the basement door against the intruders.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled +2)
Buster plants his boots at the base of the stairs and catches the door with both hands. The impact shudders through the frame, but he holds it dead still.
The old wood groans, then settles against his strength. Dust jumps from the latch and drifts in the fluorescent light.
The Veteran Hero
That does it. Move, now.
He hooks an arm around the teenager and steers them toward a side exit half-hidden behind the utility shelves.
Leo
It actually holds...
Another heavy blow lands upstairs, and the door bows inward a fraction, but Buster keeps the entry pinned.
From the stairwell comes the scrape of boots and a muffled shout, close enough to hear through the wood. The veteran and the teenager reach the side exit, and the basement suddenly depends on what Buster does next.
“I keep holding the door”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled -2)
Buster grinds his palms harder into the warped wood, and the door finally gives him something to work with. It stops hammering open, pinned tight against the frame.
The strain bites back at him. Splinters press through his gloves, and a sharp crack runs along the latch as the door shivers under his hands.
The Veteran Hero
We’re clear. Keep them off it for one more second.
Leo
The exit is open. Go, go, go.
Boots scrape harder on the stairs above, but the barricaded entrance holds. Dust sifts down in a thin curtain around Buster’s arms.
The veteran and the teenager slip out through the side exit. The basement door still shakes in Buster’s grip, but the hunted face is gone.
Something metal rattles loose upstairs and clatters down a step. The hunters are still there, now with a blocked entry and a fresh noise to follow.
Quest Complete
Protect the mutant refugee
Fault Removed: Socially Awkward