Holy S*** I Know Kung Fu

Cody looked around and could see that many people were...different than before. Some were bloody, others were smiling like they had just won the lottery.

He didn't know what to do. He felt calm, like he was an outside observer. He wanted to feel the rush of one of his dreams coming true, but he knew it would be foolhardy to do so.

'People are going to die, a lot of them. In every movie, every story, the side characters get shit on. How does a side character win?' Cody felt hopeless. His reading habits in high school were not the most...academic in nature, but he enjoyed them.

Cody just sat there for a few moments. His legs crossed and he felt the world falling away from him.

The nothingness around him was so sweet. He thought about his own insecurities and realized he would not be able to solve them today, tomorrow, or anytime soon. So, put them on hold.

'What I CAN do is fuck shit up.' His eyes opened and time had passed.

'Holy shit, is it night time? How long was I gone for?' Cody stood up, completely refreshed. Then the woman from before came in and was screaming, "HELLPPP! WE GOT AMBUSHED!!!!" She was covered in blood, most of it not her own.

Cody was confused then he realized, 'Monsters.'

The Slimes were just the first wave of mutations, they were the easiest and appeared on most worlds that were shifting.

The dogs? Well, those had a bit more potential than the others.

Then come the Varrish'mal, a lovely creature with deadly venom.

She looked at Cody, standing in awe at the blood, "YOU, why are you in here if you are a tank?" She began to cry and just seemed to want to blame someone.

Cody stood there stuttering and was grabbed by Ira as they headed to the breached area.

"Now, you straighten up boy. She was just scared, nobody blames you for whatever is happening." Ira was breathing heavily as he anticipated combat once more.

Cody was confused, 'I wasn't thinkin' that at all? She is a crazy lady, I didn't do anything wrong.'

He shook his head, then the screams were close. "AHHHHHHHHH, HELP!!!" The man was crying as his veins and capillaries became brown and black. Then the man slowly stopped moving in entirety.

Cody panicked. 'Gun.' He pointed it at a nearby crab looking thing with a black maw and he let a round off! But.."My gun jammed?" Cody was confused when Gramps handed him a bat. "No guns." Ira simply left him with that and ran to the enemy.

"Shit, no guns." He facepalmed, 'Obviously no guns.'

Cody walked up to the creature and felt the calm that had washed over him lift away, "No FUCKING GUNS!" and he smashed a crab with the bat as hard as possible, shattering the crab's shell all over the place.

People around him looked at him but continued buying time for openings.

Cody looked to his left and right and noticed they had a wide open middle, he shouted, "GOING MIDDLE!" and then rushed the creature on the right flank of their line.

Ira noticed what he was doing and they quickly attacked together as certain 'bugs' on the left were trying to follow the noise and prevent their kin from being killed.

The whole line was being pushed back as the crabs fell.

Cody noticed that they had a sense of teamwork and would not attack blindly like most "mindless monsters."

Cody was keeping an eye out as he tried to get an opening on his side. He picked up a rock and chucked it at the closest one.

It worked...a little too well.

Cody watched as the beings around him turned to him and noticed him picking up a new rock.

Ira was using this opportunity to get as many kills as possible, but he saw too many heading for his Grandson.

"BOY, RUN!" Cody heard and he turned to escape but a crab lifted itself off the ground and blocked his way.

'What the hell, it must have…' Cody was thinking about how it fit perfectly into the ground and its shell changed color to match the surrounding road.

It was too late, a black maw was lunging at him, he had no time to dodge.

It was at that moment that his pants got a little browner. But he also had an instinct to shuffle forward.

[True Fist of the Monk, Activated.]

He saw flashes of movement, his fist smashed into something and it squished everywhere, he threw a kick haphazardly and it swept a crab's legs like he was a master.

A maw nearly landed on him but his body unnaturally lifted from the ground and lashed upward with his heel as he rotated around the encirclement of monsters.

'Did I just do that shit?' He felt amazing, but he knew something was wrong.

He killed 8 more of the bugs and noticed that people around him were flashing the golden color that he had before.

The bugs ran, they knew they could not defeat this opponent and they would move their hive in fear of retaliation.

Cody felt the black and grey shell on his hands and knelt on the ground.

[WARNING: STAMINA AND MANA BELOW 25%]

The voice had skipped the deactivation phrase but Cody knew it had stopped as he no longer felt the urges.

'The system is so instinctual. Maybe that is how the monsters use it?' He was breathing heavily as he watched his Papaw approach.

"Bub...that was some Bruce Lee shit." Ira had a smile on his face, "I didn't know you knew kung-fu, why didn't you tell us?" He was lifting him up.

Cody shook his head, "I don't know kung-fu, I don't know what that was. I think it was something to do with the class or something."

Ira nodded, "One of your active abilities?" He smiled.

"Gramps, how do you know what that is?" Cody was intrigued at that knowing smirk on his face.

"What!" Ira put his hands up, "I paid attention during my tutorial, duh." He was giddy after his grandson kicked ass for the first time.

-------

Betty had made some potluck with the frozen food they had brought. It was delicious, the perishables had to be used up as they would go bad in the next few days, if their electricity didn't stay on.

Cody's brain pulsed as he felt like he needed to meditate to accumulate his gains.

He finished up, kissed his Grandma and hit the sack, drooling everywhere in the process.