Toni

  Toni was riding in a sports car, absent-mindedly looking over the landscape.

  She felt her minions expiring one by one. She lost over a hundred of her devotees. It was only a dent, but Toni didn't like these filthy monkeys digging so deep in her turf. It was an act of war, and she had an army at her disposal. Yet, with all the manpower at her disposal, she didn't have the strength to deal with him.

  Toni soon arrived at her destination, the Unwoke headquarters. A Costco made for a decent staging spot and supplied them with plenty of magical items and supplies. As she walked inside, she was greeted with guns pointed at her and a man at the entrance,

  "Membership card, please."

  "Out of my way, Joe."

  "You know the rules."

  Toni rolled her eyes. She hated these security measures but showed the man her magical membership,

  Repurposed Costco Membership - This membership card grants access to the repurposed Costco, home to the most outstanding leader the world has ever seen, and will restore sanity to the lost souls of the planet.

  After carefully looking for the membership card, the guard nodded and led her to the back. The repurposed Costco was busy. It appeared they were preparing for the inevitable clash with the local factions standing in their way. Toni made it to the back of a guarded door and was let in to find Carson, the leader of the Unwoke, at a desk in a large section of the warehouse that had been blocked off.

  Carson: Level 26

  Race: Human

  AI: ?

  Class: Snake Oil Salesman

  Attunement: ?

  Stats: ?

  This man gave Toni the creeps, but it was a necessity to remain on good terms with him. The room was filled with his own minions, all as slimy as he was. They weren't branded and forced into submission, but coerced through sweetened words and by preying on a person's wants, needs, fears, weaknesses, and insecurities. A true scumbag skilled at getting what he wants, knowing precisely what to say to the other person, even if it was utter bullshit. A sociopath who saw kindred spirits in the racists and homophobes, his prime targets for coercion.

  To the side, a man who had once been an Unwoke lay tied up, as Carson stood over him with a flail.

  "I'm sorry! I didn't think the Rangers would put up such strong resistance! Please forgive me!" The bloody man shouted at Carson.

  The man led a squadron into Ranger territory, land that Carson wanted. Ranger territory was a national park before Nexus arrived, and Carson wanted it all as his secluded vacation home, cut off from the rest of humanity.

  Carson put down the flail and knelt to meet the eyes of the disgraced commander. He put a hand on his shoulder and said,

  "You did your best. Anyone would've fallen to that ambush. Mistakes happen!" Carson said with a shrug. The bloodied commander released a breath he didn't know he was holding and sagged further to the ground, thinking he'd be spared.

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  Cruelty danced over Carson's face as he pulled magical gauntlets out of his spatial storage and stood up. An empowered punch came down and collapsed the man's head, body falling limply to the ground. A cynical grin spread wide at the display before becoming displeased again.

  Tyrant's Gauntlets- These gauntlets are made for one reason: to inflict pain. They are a symbol of power with the strength to make any of your subjects capitulate. Who needs love when you can rule with fear?

  +20 Strength

  Bonus Skill: Domination Punch

  Effects: +5 Pugilist Skill

  Effects: Adds magical pressure to those in a 10-foot radius

  Effects: Gain 5% Lifesteal on every killing blow

  Side Effects: Gradually, you think you're the only one who is capable of making any decision, and everyone else is an idiot. The more you wear the gauntlets, the more they accumulate.

  "Incompetent! You were a representative of me, and thought you could get away with such a massive failure?! This is what I get for putting a thin-skinned liberal in charge of an assault." Carson spat on the corpse before addressing everyone else in the room.

  "He failed because he was lazy and slacked off on his preparation. People don't want to do the work just because there's magic in the world now. We're letting the riff-raff gain ground! Do you all really want to live in a world where men who pee in the women's bathroom will have more power than you? That's who you want shaping this society? I DON'T!" Carson slammed his hand into a nearby wall, shaking the entire room.

  The old man in the 35-year-old body was seething at how others lived. That will never not bother Toni. They did not share the same politics. However, it's quite something to see how this sociopath adapted to magic and brought his subordinates into line. As Carson walked over to a bowl of water, he washed the blood off his gauntlets, relishing in his kill.

  You'll never be able to wash that blood off your hands, no matter how hard you scrub.

  "Toni! Didn't see you there!" Carson said, washing his hands while not bothering to look at Toni.

  You definitely saw me there. Do better with the power games.

  He continued.

  "It's great to see you alive and kicking. Had a scare for a second when the group known as the Cucks and Cunts infiltrated your domain. A crude name, but that's what happens when the world goes mad. It's up to people like us to bring these mongrels to heel." Carson smiled as he snapped his fingers to have one of his minions bring him a clean towel while another brought him a coffee.

  Toni hated how informed he was about everything. The man's intelligence network was a key factor in his dangerousness.

  "A slight inconvenience." Toni added, "However, we are facing increased probes from the north. Fighting a war on two fronts will strain us too far. We need to eliminate a few threats, and I come here asking for assistance."

  "Is that right?"

  "That is the predicament we find ourselves in. Both factions to the north and south of us have proven more competent than expected." Toni got down on one knee and began her pandering to the 80-year-old, now in a 35-year-old body, "I will offer my services forever moving forward if we can clear out this threat so I can work without pushback."

  Toni learned the best way to negotiate with this man was to massage his overinflated ego. He liked to hear himself talk, and, more importantly, he enjoyed hearing how great he thought he was. Buttering him up will help get his rednecks to fight for her.

  "She's lying." Said one of the minions. Toni froze, realizing she had made a costly oversight.

  Fuck, I forgot about her.

  Carson looked at Toni and stood up. He slowly strolled over to Toni and stood in her personal space, too small to reach her chin, yet still awkwardly way too close. Carson was relishing in her discomfort.

  "You're not attempting to betray me, are you, Toni?"

  "Of course not, boss."

  "She's lying." Toni shot a glare at Carson's truthsayer, calling her out.

  "Your pet doesn't like me, boss," Toni responded. The woman who called out Toni shot her a glare right back.

  "You know what I really care about, Toni?" Carson said as he continued to walk around the area with his hands behind his back, "Loyalty. I need to have people I trust in this room." Toni had to suppress an eye roll at those words.

  Yeah, I've seen what you do to people who trust you. Hard pass.

  "I believe you're loyal, Toni."

  No, you don't.

  "And I believe the threat to the north is becoming too large to ignore. Seeing as the tree huggers to the south aren't interested in leaving their lands, we'll switch our focus northbound. Man, finishing off those hippies would've been great. Those soft, kum-bi-a weasels won't bother us while we focus on the north. They're too soft to make the tough decisions."

  The arrogance of this man.

  Toni knew from experience that there wasn't anything soft about the Rangers occupying the national park to their south. They knew those woods and were exceptional in their defenses. Toni didn't understand how this man could underestimate them so much. The Rangers continually held out against the Unwoke assaults, failing to gain any ground. Toni even thought it was their strategy to farm her branded minions for experience points. Carson took a sip of his coffee before saying,

  "Let's talk about the campaign north."

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