Time dragged on as Xander explained the situation in Tristram. The falling star that made the dead rise, Leah searching for her Uncle, and Mad King Leoric threatening to massacre everyone.
"Four hours there is one hour here," he said. "Time moves only on that side, so I don't have to worry about this world falling apart when I sleep here."
"By yourself?" Powder asked.
"Yeah. I'm not pulling you into it."
"So Mr. Freak-boy gets to go world-hopping, but I can't return the favor?"
"This world isn't like yours. There are monsters and—"
"There are monsters here too," she cut in. "What's the difference?"
"…None, if you put it that way. But they're worse, and they don't drop anything useful. You'd just burn through supplies when you've still got fights to win here."
"Come on, just one day— or I guess four hours." Powder wandered closer, eyes twinkling as she examined the portal. "If nothing else, I wanna see what another world looks like."
"Powder…" Vi warned.
"No," Xander said firmly. "Your family needs you— wait, stop!"
"Byeee~"
He froze as she grinned and, in one exaggerated step, waved and vanished through the portal.
"...Fuck."
"Powder!" Vi shouted, bolting after her. Xander groaned and followed, muttering curses.
Behind them, Vander ran toward the portal then stopped. His hand hovered just short of the light. His fingers trembled before he pulled back, face twisting in anguish as he stepped away, glaring at the glow resentfully.
--------------------
~Tristram~
"Woah! your helmet is so cool! And your sword...so big~"
Xander exhaled in pure frustration. He could've sworn he heard Vander's footsteps behind them but clearly not.
Powder was already circling Captain Rumford and Leah, poking at their clothes and weapons like a kid in a toy shop.
"Where'd you get this haircut? You HAVE to tell me!"
Rumford stammered helplessly while Powder darted to Leah and tugged her sleeve.
"This outfit looks just like Vi's! Can I get one?"
"Uh—" Leah blinked, taking a nervous step back as Powder crowded her space until Vi hauled her back by the collar.
"What are you doing?!" Vi hissed. Her eyes darted around the fog-drenched landscape and staring observers. "We need to go back. Now."
"Xander!" Rumford called, lowering his sword but watching Powder warily. "Your friends are... unusual. Will they be assisting you?"
"Yup!" Powder hummed, smirking as she managed to poke his nose. "Why else would we be here?"
"We're not!" Vi barked, yanking her back again. "We're going home before-"
Screams echoed in the far distance and a guard stumbled past, bloodied and half-conscious.
Xander pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "If you want to help, follow me. We'll see if you still feel that way after you see what's out there."
A few zombies and a wretched mother should be enough to scare them off.
Vi's tough but she's never seen real horror. Powder… she's different. I don't know with her.
"I'll accompany you to the gate," Rumford said, signaling his men ahead to open the gate. "They can follow if they insist."
Glancing back at the ladies several paces behind with even Leah following, skeptically looking between them and Xander, Rumford leaned in. "Is it wise to bring them? They don't look ready."
"I'm trying to lose them," Xander muttered. "The gate should be enough."
Rumford nodded grimly, then turned back and scowled at the girls as if they were reckless children. Powder, catching this, just stuck out her tongue and Vi shook her head again.
At his signal, the gate creaked open. He pointed down the road toward a wagon blocking the path.
"That road leads to Old Tristram, and—"
Just like in the game, the wagon exploded. Shrapnel and debris flew everywhere as guards shouted, drawing bows and swords.
"It's a Wretched Mother!" Rumford yelled, sword drawn as six corpses staggered from the smoke.
Slow, shambling, and foul. Behind them came a bloated woman, her flesh gray-green and slick with bile.
Xander, however, tilted his head, unimpressed. "They're slower in person…"
Despite this observation, his eyes widened when he saw the wretched mother's chest heave, eyeing him angrily before spitting a glowing ball of acid toward him.
"Down!" he shouted, diving aside as it struck the gate, sizzling through wood and iron.
He raised a hand and bone spikes erupted from the ground, skewering three instantly and killing them.
Then-
BANG!
Another fell. Everyone flinched and turned toward the gunshot. Powder stood there, pistol raised and grinning.
"Told ya I could help."
She fired again and dropped another zombie.
The Wretched Mother wailed, body twisting violently until her mouth split wide, unnaturally wide, and a full-grown corpse slithered out like a newborn.
"What the fuck…?" Vi whispered, covering her mouth. Even Powder gagged, dry-retching before firing twice more.
BANG!
The mother dropped.
BANG!
The newborn corpse followed.
Everything went still.
Everyone stared at Powder. The guards, Rumford, even Leah, all frozen in disbelief.
"Is that… an angelic weapon?" one guard whispered.
"It must be! Sent from the heavens!"
"I've never seen anything like it…"
Powder grinned, striking a dramatic pose with her pistol raised and her chin held high. She gave a little bow before strutting toward Xander with smug, overexaggerated steps.
"Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week," she teased, flicking open the barrel of her gun in style. "No autographs though."
Reaching into her bag, she grabbed for new rounds when she suddenly froze.
"Huh?"
"What?" Xander and Vi said together.
"My bullets," Powder blinked, confused. "They're still in my gun."
Vi frowned. "What do you mean still here? You fired, like, six shots. You should be empty!"
"I don't know! I was going reload for the cool factor, but now..."
She shook her gun trying to dislodge the bullets, tilting head in confusion as she stared at and studied them.
Xander couldn't find words as he tried to find an explanation mentally.
Is this… the Demon Hunter class? Infinite arrows, or bullets, in her case?
He pointed down the road where a lone zombie shambled toward them, its broken jaw hanging loose.
"Powder," he said carefully, "try something for me. Shoot at the treeline. Imagine the bullet hits the zombie anyway."
Vi threw up her hands. "You've lost it. Both of you."
"Just trust me," Xander muttered.
Powder grinned, spun the pistol once, and fired into the treeline.
BANG!
The bullet streaked through the air like a tracer round, curving mid-flight and puncturing the zombie's skull. It dropped instantly.
Everyone gawked. Even Vi went silent for a few seconds before crossing her arms.
"Okay… that's not fair," she muttered.
Xander rubbed his temples. None of this makes sense. She can't use magic- but when the hell did anything here ever make sense? I shouldn't be able to use necromancy.
He exhaled. "Fine. You can come."
"Ha!" Powder smirked, spinning her pistol like a gunslinger. "Told ya. I'm the best sidekick you'll ever have, demon boy."
"But Vi…" Xander hesitated. "You don't even have a weapon."
Vi's lips curled into a grin. She raised her bandaged fists, flexing her hands.
"I've got these."
Xander stared at her for a long moment, then at her wrists. There, a subtle glow began to flicker under her skin, like the faint trace of internal energy and his eyes widened slightly.
Don't fucking tell me… HOW!
He slowly sucked in air, very hesitant with his next words.
"You know what? Let's test something out, Vi."
Vi cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of test?"
"The kind where you hit something," Xander said, stepping aside and pointing to a half-rotted tree trunk nearby. "Let's see if you have what I think you have."
Powder's grin widened. "Ohhh this I gotta see."
Vi smirked, cracked her knuckles, and stepped forward.
"Fine. Hope you're right, freak."
She swung. The air trembled and the tree didn't just crack, it exploded.
Dumbfounded, Xander watched as the rotten shards fell into the foliage.
"What the fuck."
-------------
Hours passed.
Xander, against his better judgment, ended up letting Vi and Powder tag along. Not that he had much of a choice after watching them tear through hordes like a pair of cheerful psychopaths, even he had to admit they were effective.
It became a running joke. A guard would be screaming as a zombie gnawed on his arm, and five feet away Powder was casually twirling her pistol, humming while she shot another clean through the skull.
Vi crushed the larger undead with glowing fists, her dashes so fast they left trails of light. And Xander… well, he was the necromancer, skewering corpses, summoning skeletal mages, and muttering curses while the sisters laughed like maniacs enjoying the thrill.
Wretched Mothers went down before they could even vomit their bile. Basements full of coins were looted like a market stall. Quill Fiends, fast and shrieking, barely got a chance to fire their spines before Vi pulverized them or Powder picked them off from range.
By the time they reached Old Tristram, the Wretched Queen barely lasted a few hits before collapsing into dust under their combined assault.
When the last echo of battle faded, Xander opened the portal next to a gate leading to the cathedral. An ethereal circle of blue light began to glow from the inscriptions on the ground as it began to activate.
Powder crouched near it, eyes wide with curiosity. "Where's this take us?"
"Back to New Tristram," Xander replied, already sensing Vi's skepticism. "It's a waypoint. We can come back here whenever we need."
"Why go back?" Vi asked, crossing her arms. "Let's just keep pushing forward. We're finally making progress and can save what's-her-face's Uncle."
"That's a big shift from when we started," Xander said dryly. "Didn't you want to run back home five minutes in?"
"Yeah," Vi admitted with a grin before holding up her blood-stained, still-glowing fists. "But things have changed a bit."
Powder chimed in with mock seriousness. "She's got a new toy now. You know how she gets."
They've gotten addicted to feeling overpowered.
Xander sighed, rubbing his forehead. "We need Leah to open the gate leading to the cathedral. And we need to check on your father."
Vi froze. "...Shit."
"Oh yeah," Powder facepalmed. "Shit!"
Without another word, they stepped onto the portal and in a flash of light, they vanished.
When they blinked back into existence on the waypoint in New Tristram, the faint murmur of townsfolk filled their ears. Before either Vi or Powder could say a word, Xander had already opened another portal beside them. He grabbed their arms and immediately he stepped in, pulling them with him.
--------------
~Undercity: Arcade~
The portal rippled and sealed itself with a blinding flare. Vander, sitting in the corner of the arcade, shot up immediately.
"Powder! Vi!" he shouted, his voice breaking with relief before his gaze landed on Xander. That relief turned into fury.
"You put my daughters in danger!" Vander roared, running forward and grabbing Xander by the collar, lifting him effortlessly off the ground.
"Dad, stop!" Powder cried, trying to pull his arm away.
Vi stepped in fast, shoving between them with both hands. "Stop it!"
Her push was stronger than Vander expected. Strong enough to send him stumbling back while Xander hit the floor with a painful grunt.
"It's over," Vi snapped, glaring between the two. "Enough! I'm done. Just- stop."
The fight drained out of her voice as quickly as it had come. Her shoulders slumped, exhaustion hit all at once. Powder rubbed her arm awkwardly, glancing between them.
Xander, still on the floor, stared blankly at the ceiling before letting out a long sigh.
"I'm just gonna sleep here," he muttered.
"Oof!"
A pillow hit him in the face before Powder dropped down beside him with her own, muttering, "Me too."
From somewhere in front of them, Vander's voice rumbled with confusion. "What happened?"
Vi sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Don't ask. Let's just sleep. We'll tell you in the morning."