Dom met Emma at the edge of the staging area, just beyond the perimeter Aegis had set up around the gate.
The morning sun cast a pale, cold glow, and the air buzzed with old concrete scent.
Emma waited by the barricades, auburn hair pulled back, Lume flickering faintly at her shoulder.
She looked nervous but more steady than she had a week ago.
“You ready?” Dom asked, a hint of anticipation in his voice.
She nodded.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Noxie’s already here with her full entourage,” he said, nodding toward a cluster of Aegis vans.
“Try not to let her get under your skin.”
“Why would she?” Emma responded, brow furrowing.
“She’s… a lot,” Dom replied softly.
“What does that mean?” Emma pressed.
“You’ll see,” Dom said with a small smile.
Together, they crossed the perimeter, passing through a security checkpoint where an Aegis guard quickly scanned their IDs and waved them inside.
The staging area was a transformed parking lot, bustling with support staff and logistics coordinators dressed sharply in Aegis uniforms.
They were to oversee the perimeter, coordinate emergency escapes if needed, and stage it all to look like a legit event for the sponsors.
Center stage, like a queen in her court, was Noxie.
She stood amid a small crowd, one hand on her hip, gesturing animatedly to handlers.
Her navy bob caught the light, sharp against her jawline.
She wore a designer gym jacket off one shoulder, revealing a black sports bra straining to contain her full, heavy bust.
High-waisted leggings hugged her hips and thighs, emphasizing her curves.
A sliver of toned midriff showed, and she moved confidently, unbothered by her appearance.
She looked like she stepped out of a fitness commercial into a war zone, and knew it.
When she spotted Dom, she shed her handlers and strode over, her green eyes gleaming with amusement.
“There he is—the man of the hour.”
“Here I am,” Dom replied with a grin.
She studied him briefly, then turned her attention to Emma, who had gone very still beside him.
“And you brought your partner,” Noxie said, her smile widening.
“I’ve seen the clips. Nice to meet you.”
Emma blushed.
“I—thank you. I’m just support.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Dom said firmly.
“She’s going to be keeping us alive.”
Noxie raised an eyebrow.
“Protective. I like that.” She focused again on Emma.
“Half of our audience are here just to see you two be adorable. The other half want to watch Dom do something crazy. And the third half? They’re here for me.”
Emma blinked.
“That’s three halves.”
“Exactly,” Noxie winked.
“That’s how much the internet craves this collab.”
“But three halves make no sense.” Emma whispered to herself.
A handler called Noxie’s name, and she turned with effortless confidence that made people stop and stare.
“I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t go into the dungeon without me,” she said, then walked off.
Emma exhaled slowly.
“She’s… Got a lot of energy.”
“Told you,” Dom said, grinning.
“She’s also really pretty,” Emma added softly.
Dom looked at her, smile mischievous.
“You’re pretty too.”
Emma’s face turned crimson.
“I—that’s—you can’t just—”
“You are way to fun to tease,” Dom interrupted, starting toward the gate.
“Come on. We’ve got a dungeon to clear.”
The gate shimmered like a tear in the side of a half-collapsed warehouse, its edges pulsing with ghostly blue light.
Aegis had hurriedly set up a temporary platform around it, complete with barriers to keep curious onlookers at bay and ensure a clear view for the stream.
Technicians bustled around, fine-tuning unfamiliar equipment, sensor arrays, mana readers, and something that resembled a massive microphone.
Dom paused, eyeing the setup.
“What’s with all this gear? The system handles the stream.”
Jess appeared at his side, tablet in hand, her fox pin catching the sunlight.
“That’s not for the stream. That’s for the emergency extraction team,” she explained, pointing to the sensor arrays.
“They keep an eye on dungeon stability. If the gate starts to collapse, we’ll know before you do.”
“And that giant-looking mic?”
Jess squinted.
“Not a mic. That’s a mana resonance amplifier, meant to stabilize the gate if things go awry.”
Dom stared.
“You brought a mana resonance amplifier to a controlled gate?”
“Standard protocol for B-rank raids. The guild doesn’t take chances.” She adjusted her glasses.
“Plus, it was already in the budget, might as well use it.”
“Right. The budget.”
Jess’s expression lit up.
“The budget’s generous. We even have snacks. Want some? I’ve got energy bars in the van.”
Dom shook his head.
“I’m about to enter a dungeon. I don’t think I should be eating now.”
“They’re really good though, artisanal energy bars. Noxie’s nutritionist swore by them.”
Noxie appeared beside him, breathless from her latest activity.
“Are you offering him artisanal energy bars? He wouldn’t want those. Try caffeinated ones.”
“There are caffeinated ones?” Jess’s eyes widened.
“I didn’t know those existed.”
“Behind the cooler, next to the electrolyte water,” Noxie pointed out.
Jess was already moving.
“I’ll grab some for the road.”
Dom watched her depart.
“Your manager’s… enthusiastic.”
“She’s a furry with a logistics degree and anxiety issues,” Noxie said with a grin.
“But she’s the best at what she does.” She gestured toward the team.
“Come on, let’s do the pre-stream thing so we can get this show rolling.”
They took their positions at the gate.
Dom pulled his hood over his ears, they twitched in the cold.
Noxie’s eyes widened slightly before she caught herself.
“Wow, they are very cute.” she murmured.
“True, but no touching” Dom confirmed.
“And they’re about to be on stream.”
Noxie grinned.
“Let’s give the fans what they came for.”
The system chimed softly, signaling readiness.
[BROADCAST STARTED!!]
[Going live on: Nyaablade channels, Noxie’s channels, Emma’s channel]
[Current viewers: 50,000… 75,000… 100,000…]
The chat erupted across every platform, sparking a frenzy of usernames and emojis.
Dom’s screen flooded with familiar tags, and he saw Noxie and Emma experiencing the same chaos through their own interfaces.
The system had fused them together.
BussyBlaster9000: THE COLLAB IS LIVE!
xXDungeonDaddyXx: CATBOY, NOXIE, AND EMMA ALL IN ONE STREAM!
MomsCreditCard: I’M SO EXCITED I COULD BURST!
“Can I get a purr in the chat?” Dom asked, voice steady but eager.
Instantly, a flood of purrs and feline emojis cascaded across the chat, stretching on endlessly.
Noxie leaned forward, eyes sparkling with excitement.
PixelSlvt: PURR IN THE CHAT FOR THE COLLAB!
SaltySupp0rt: The ritual begins.
Noxie glanced at her interface, a mix of awe and curiosity.
“Is this what it’s like every time?”
“Every time,” Dom replied confidently.
“You get used to it.”
“It might just take some time,” he added with a grin.
Suddenly, the system’s golden glow flared bright, immersing Noxie in a dazzling overlay—her branding, chat, donation alerts, all layered over the feed.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“This… isn’t what I expected,” she finally whispered.
Noxie’s Chat: WHAT’S HAPPENING?
WHY DOES SHE LOOK SHOCKED?
BussyBlaster9000: @Noxie’s Chat, she’s seeing the system for the first time.
Welcome to the nyaverse.
Emma watched quietly, a gentle smile playing on her lips.
“It’s a lot to take in at first.”
Noxie quickly snapped back into streamer mode, her instincts kicking in.
“Okay, this is crazy. I’m live on five platforms at once,” she said, turning to Dom with glowing green eyes.
“How are you doing this, catboy?”
“Like I said, it’s the system,” he responded, shrugging.
“Yeah. You said ‘the system does everything.’ That’s like saying ‘the ocean is wet’—it doesn’t explain anything.”
“Let’s just chalk it up as one of the universe’s many mysteries,” Dom mused.
The chat erupted in cheers and laughter.
ActuallyADruid: Noxie’s reaction is priceless!
She’ll adapt.
And with that, they stepped through the gate.
The world suddenly twisted, and they found themselves in a dense forest.
The transition was startling, one moment they were in a cold, concrete morning air; the next, they stood beneath a canopy of silver-barked trees stretching toward a faintly green sky.
Bioluminescent flowers pulsed along the ground, casting gentle pools of light over roots as thick as fallen logs.
The air was warm and humid, filled with the scent of damp moss and a sweet aroma.
In the distance, the calls of birds, or creatures that sounded like birds, echoed in melodies that almost seemed musical.
Noxie’s breath hitched.
“Oh. This is… not what I expected.”
“It’s a dungeon,” Dom said, voice steady.
“Designed to kill us.”
“Beautiful and deadly. My favorite combo,” she murmured, slowly turning to soak it all in.
“This will look amazing on stream.”
Emma raised her hands, mana already crackling at her fingertips.
Lume flitted ahead, her glow casting a bright light against the alien foliage.
“I’ll scout. Stay close.”
Lume chirped once, then vanished into the undergrowth as a golden blur between the trees.
Emma’s gaze tracked her, then she nodded.
“She’s found a trail. It’s clear for now.”
They moved along the trail, the forest thickening around them.
Ancient trees with trunks cloaked in glowing moss and slow-pulsing fungi seemed to breathe with life.
The path wound between massive roots and over iridescent streams.
Everything was stunning, alive, and watching.
Dom’s ears twitched, picking up sounds beyond his sight, rustles in the canopy, faint chittering from hidden burrows, a distant snap of a twig that wasn’t theirs.
The forest wasn’t hostile…
yet.
But it was aware.
“Something’s circling,” he murmured.
Noxie reached for her weapon, a sleek baton crackling with static.
“What kind of thing?”
“Not sure. Small. Maybe pack hunters.” Dom drew his blades.
“Emma, ward me.”
Suddenly, figures emerged from the undergrowth, slim, wolf-like creatures covered in moss with too many eyes.
Nine of them.
They formed a loose semicircle, eyes testing, growls vibrating through Dom like a challenge.
The fight wrapped up in less than a minute, but it left no room for clean attacks.
The creatures moved with coordinated precision.
Dom took down two with swift, decisive strikes, throat and spine, quick and final.
Emma’s ward flashed twice, deflecting hits that could have opened his back.
Lume lunged, blinding a flanker, giving Emma enough space to mend a deep cut on Dom’s forearm.
Noxie’s lightning bolt struck a flanker mid-leap, but another circled behind her before she could react, only for Dom to take it down just in time.
Nine bodies lay still in the moss, their fur already fading to grey.
Noxie leaned against a tree, her baton crackling, chest heaving.
“That was… faster than I expected.” she said softly.
Dom wiped his blades.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Just…” she glanced at the nearest corpse.
“Thought I’d have more time to react.”
“You reacted fine. Next time, stay closer to Emma. Her ward’s the only thing guarding you from the flankers.”
Noxie nodded, her earlier bravado flickering but not lost.
“Got it.”
“Come on let’s keep going.”
They moved forward as the forest grew denser around them.
The shifting light filtered through the thick canopy, casting a greenish glow that barely let them see.
Lume’s golden light became their only guide, bobbing ahead like a friendly star piercing the gloom.
The trail narrowed, forcing them into single file, and the air thickened with the scent of damp earth and faint floral notes.
PixelSlvt: THE FOREST IS GETTING CREEPY
MomsCreditCard: @PixelSlvt cozy horror vibes
A low, measured voice from the system broke the silence.
[Host. Unusual mana signatures detected.]
Dom pressed on without hesitation.
“What kind?” he asked.
[The dungeon’s structural mana is fluctuating. The source remains unclear. The system will continue monitoring.]
He took note but said nothing, continuing onward.
It was only a gut feeling, not enough to act on, feelings rarely fit into battle plans.