The permanence of her thousands of tattoos was a problem for later. The snake was moving towards her.

  The snake appeared both alive and artificial. In the darkness, its shadows were soft and curved against the matte like a floating puddle of ink, but the light reflected the sheen of hundreds of scales. The eye was the most uncanny. It curled around both brothers' necks, using them as they fought as poles to get closer to her. It was only a couple of feet away now and she could see its face in more detail. Each stroke of ink in its eye was exactly how she’d tattooed it. The glow that emanated from it wasn’t the shape of light, it was the same stylised brushstrokes of amber, illuminated but unable to escape the speckled lines she’d trapped it in. Tanya took it all in, in the moment it took the snake to slither an inch nearer.

  It moved in its same near-stillness from The System. She scanned her own body at the same speed. She wore a strappy crop top and high-waisted grey jeans, so her arm sleeve was all she had to work with. She didn’t know why she needed to see the tattoo to summon it, but she couldn’t imagine trying it another way. It was obvious what she wanted to summon. The sleeve was mostly botanical: skulls, plants, gemstones, tarot cards, insects, but most notably, a small blade on her inner wrist pointed at her hand. It was perfect for this situation, something she never would have predicted back when she got it. It was her father's hunting blade and she’d had it since the day of his funeral.

  The System freed time as she readied herself to summon it. Letters faded from The Interface sheet she’d displayed moments before. Then, the world came to life. The snake leaped towards her, mouth open, hissing. The brothers wrestled the gun back and forth between them. Adder’s body slammed into the floor, and he lost consciousness as soon as he tried to stand. Undercut backed towards the door, eyes wide.

  Tanya took a deep breath and tensed the muscles in her hand. She wasn’t sure how to do this, but her best guess was to picture it. She imagined the cold metal against her palm until she could almost feel it.

  Nothing happened. Dread washed over her.

  The snake was hurtling towards her face. Tanya ducked, holding her forearms to guard her head. The snake still hit her, one fang slicing the tattooless wrist and chucking its tail around her arm for more leverage. She tried again, picturing the blade, imagining how her skin would bubble and pull like the snake had. Adder's pained screams filled her head and a shiver ran down her spine but she persevered.

  Maybe I say it like before?

  She regretted not asking more questions. The snake reared its head, hissing and spitting. A gunshot echoed through the room. Tanya didn’t have time to look up but she knew it hadn’t hit her; it whipped past her ears a few feet away. Her ears rang.

  Summon blade!

  Error: no available Summons detected.

  What?

  Then understanding washed over her. None of her tattoos had been inked by her. She didn’t have time to kick herself for not realising sooner. The snake bit deeper into her arm.

  Its fangs dripped black ink into her veins. Her veins surged to the surface, taking on a purple tinge as the black ink ran up her arm. She expected it to hurt, but she couldn’t feel it. Her arm flopped by her side. She couldn’t move it any more.

  Poisoned condition active.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  She scanned the room. The gang stood in a group staring at her and the snake with mouths open. No tattoos and nothing else of use in her character sheet. She grabbed the nearest thing she could reach and shattered a lamp onto the snaked head with as much strength as she could muster.

  The bulb and stained glass lampshade coated her boots with multicoloured shards, the black outline on the fragments that used to be the 80s-style flowers stark against her boots.

  She held up what remained of it, barely believing it was her that had destroyed it. The metal frame was bent. Whatever this snake was made of, it was strong enough to bend steel.

  Its teeth sank into her arm. Her eyelids flickered as the world began to spin.

  Warning: toxin reaching dangerous levels.

  Don’t go passing out now.

  The world spun faster. The lamp was so beautiful. She couldn’t look away from it. Were colours usually that bright? She needed sunglasses. Did she leave them on her bedside table? Her hand reached to touch the jagged tip of the only remaining piece of lampshade.

  Oh, I can’t feel me arm?

  She looked down at the snake hanging off her arm and turned back to the lamp. It was mostly beautiful coloured shapes now, merging in and out of one another like an impressionist painting. It took her a moment to process.

  There’s a snake on me arm?

  She stared at it again until it came into focus again and gripped the lamp tighter. Something felt wrong about all this. The afterimage of the snake danced around her vision, she could barely tell which one was real. Her eyes rolled back in her head. She wrestled them back down.

  Holding the lamp up over her head with the sharp remaining glass poised to strike, she dropped her arm like an executioner, hoping she only got the snake and not her arm with it.

  Her arm throbbed as the snake lessened its clamped pose on her arm. She dropped the lamp and wrapped her hands around the snake, yanking it out.

  The gang members before her morphed into faceless shadows, their forms blurring and dripping like the spilled ink on the side table in the corner of her vision. The gang drew their weapons and backed up. Her head was clearing though as she blinked at the glinting metal, trying to determine what was a knife and what was a gun.

  The snake hissed, spitting the black liquid as a projectile ahead of it. It sizzled through the floor. Then the laughter started. Giggles escaped her lips completely devoid of emotion. Whatever this toxin was doing to her was the craziest thing she’d ever experienced.

  “Get out or I’ll kill ya!” Tanya yelled between crazed laughs, holding the snake out ahead of her. It was half to stop it from latching on again and half as a weapon in case the gang turned on her. She wasn't sure whether it was the snake's acid-ink or the maniacal laughter from the toxin, but the gang didn’t need telling twice.

  They backed towards the door, dragging their boss by the armpits. Adder was convulsing with sweat trickling down his brow. He flailed his arms and legs like he was fighting something. With one forceful flick, the snake escaped her arms, dove towards the gang, and slithered up Dreadlock's leg. He screamed, dropped his boss, and ran. Her vision returned to normal just in time to watch the snake clamp onto Dreadlock's throat. The life left his eyes before he hit the ground.

  The rest of the gang scattered.

  Tanya backed away from the snake. It arched its back on the floor to spit at her, so she kept backing up. She forced the laughs down, hiccuping over and over from the force of holding back the side effects. When her back was against the wall, the snake calmed. They remained locked in each other's gaze until the snake turned back to Adder with a final hiss. The way it looped around his neck was slow, its tongue flicking from its mouth slower than before. It nestled there, laying its head on the back of Adder’s neck until it had sunk back into his skin.

  * * *

  Alert!

  Alert suppression has ended. You are no longer in imminent danger.

  * * *

  Achievement: Bite of the Street

  Fangs in the shadows, blades on the streets. You faced down a poisonous snake and a ruthless gang, surviving where few would. The venom may have scarred you, but now it only makes you stronger.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Achievement Boon: You have been granted a 25% reduction to the severity and spread of poison effects.

  * * *

  Alert!

  You have increased enough Abilities in a single combat that they are too long to be sent as separate notifications. Grouped Notifications can be toggled off at will.

  * * *

  Alert!

  Through your efforts, you have increased the following Attributes:

  Will +1

  Dexterity +1

  Strength +1

  Concentration +1

  Vitality +1

  Learning Moment: Would you like to hear more about levelling up Attributes and what caused them?

  * * *

  Tanya’s legs gave out and she slid down the wall. Random hiccups and chuckles kept escaping her mouth. None of her body felt like hers.

  I oughta tie him up—

  She was unconscious before she could finish the thought.

  Tanya awoke with a start. Her head was pounding and she groaned, pulling herself upright to face the room. It was like the worst hangover ever. A sudden wave of nausea overtook her. She gagged, heaving over and over with her palm against the wall to steady her. Black ink splattered into the waste paper basket. It dripped down the papers in there in huge globs. She’d eaten leftovers that morning but no food came out, only the black venom.

  She studied the room through narrowed eyes, wincing against the neon light. There were two bodies on the floor. Adder. Her heart lurched, but he was still lying there in the same position. He hadn’t moved. She needed to check if he was dead, but she couldn’t make herself do it yet. A pool of blood and ink surrounded Dreadlock's neck. She was certain he was dead already.

  Tanya staggered around them, reaching her arms out in case she stumbled from her head spinning. Her left hand remained immobile. Four holes from the snake's teeth marred her forearm, tinged with black ink. Her veins stood out on the surface. She surveyed the room. Glass crunched underfoot, scattered around the room. Everything on her table lay overturned, ink spilled across the surface. She couldn’t tell what had splashed from her bottles or what the snake had spat. Some of the floorboards had holes through to the concrete underneath.

  Maria’s scarf stuck out of the recliner. It must have slipped off where she’d slung it over the back of her wheelchair. Tanya picked it up and held it to her chest, momentarily being pulled back to the laughter of that morning before… everything.

  She used it as a sling for her left arm, feeling slightly comfier with the soft green plaid of her friend against her chest. Her arm dulled into a steady throb once held still by the makeshift sling.

  Just keep it safe for now, everythin’ else can wait.

  Gritting her teeth and slinging her arm didn’t really do anything, but it made her feel a bit readier. She tiptoed towards Adder and Dreadlocks, picking up her tattoo gun on the way past. It was the only sharp thing in the room, aside from Dreadlocks’ knife glinting on the floor too close to Adder to get yet.She clenched the tattoo gun like a dagger, worrying with every breath that he’d move and she'd have to kill him. She’d never even seen a dead person before—well, not before now. She poked Adder with her foot and his body rolled slightly, flopping the other way. Reaching a shaking hand, she pressed her fingers into his throat. There was a gentle heartbeat. Her thoughts spiralled.

  Fuck.

  She wasn’t sure what she wanted to hear. Was it good that he wasn’t dead? No, it probably wasn’t, but she was a little bit glad all the same. It was hard to wish people dead. As a courtesy, she tried Dreadlocks’ neck. There was no pulse like she expected.

  She turned to the window.

  I could just leave ‘em both outside?

  Inching the blinds with her good hand, she expected to be bathed in light, but the sun was setting.

  How long was I out?

  6 hours and 23 minutes.

  Tanya furrowed her brow. The System responding to random thoughts was weird.

  The street outside was a wreck, shattered windows on the kebab place across the street, and smoke pouring out of the engine of the car that had crashed into the wall next to it. There was no one and nothing alive out there. Even when she pressed her nose to the glass and craned her neck down the street both ways she heard and saw nothing. It was like a ghost town.

  Leaving them out there seemed like a good idea. He’d no longer be her responsibility and all she’d need to do is go outside for under a minute—she stopped. A head lay in the back of the car, a discovery she’d missed behind the dark-tinted windows. It moved. Tanya’s heart lurched and she backed away from the window.

  System, what kinda powers do people get?

  Special individuals get Unique Classes custom-built for them. Abilities will always suit their Attributes and connect to why they were deemed Worthy.

  Yeah, but what sorta thing?

  The voice didn’t miss a beat.

  They can be anything.

  Shivers ran down her spine, mind slipping between different possible powers.

  She refused to go outside whilst someone was there. Part of her felt guilty in case they needed help, but The System said powers could be anything she could think of, and she could imagine all sorts of powers that would change someone’s personality.

  Adder was dangerous, but she knew how he fought, and he’d be tied up. That was far more than could be said for anyone else outside. She searched the room for something she could use, landing on the snapped landline cord. It was slightly stretchy but didn’t give when she pulled on it with her full weight.

  Muscle memory guided her through a double-column tie. She hadn’t done one in years—not since the long days making dens in the forest with her dad. To be safe, she added several more knots, using whatever ones came to mind. Tanya may have decided Adder was the lesser of two evils, but she trusted him about as far as she could throw him.

  Did she want him to live? The thought hit her like a football to the stomach. She could put him in the recovery position and make him more comfortable. Each small help brought the man who threatened her life a step closer to consciousness.

  She perched on the recliner and stared at him, her elbows on her knees and fingers interlocked. To an outsider, it would look like she was praying, but in reality, it was how she always sat when she was thinking. Every few seconds, his chest rose and fell. A faint whistle escaped at the back of his throat as he wheezed. It was the only proof he was alive.

  If he lived, he’d owe her one. But did that even mean anything? Technically he owed her one for the free tattoo as well. She had a feeling he’d say that just made them even on the missing protection money.

  Has he got powers?

  Insufficient Ability to perform inspection.

  Tanya furrowed her brows and thought more intentionally.

  I wasn’t asking you.

  The burns looked old, but she wasn’t sure if people’s past experiences impacted their powers too. She guessed that it depended on whether it was linked to them being Worthy, whatever that meant. The last thing she wanted right now was her shop and flat to be burnt down. If everyone else’s powers worked like hers, no one would know how to control them.

  Her gaze landed on the snake's rattle tail along his collarbone.

  He could summon that any time he wanted, even if he was restrained, and she had nothing to properly defend herself with.

  She gulped and staggered to the counter, downing a bottle of water there. It tasted slightly dusty.

  The weight bounced in her pocket with each step and she tugged it out, heart lurching at the safety of her mobile phone. She could call now, the police would come and even if it didn’t save her for good, the police would be better equipped to take him or the snake down.

  She dialled 999.

  A very cheery voice said, “This is the 999 emergency line. All our operators are busy. Please hold and your call will be answered as soon as possible.”

  Is stuff like this happening everywhere?

  Tanya had never heard of there being no operators before. Usually, the initial call would be instant and then wait times would be based on urgency. She took a deep breath and hung up the phone.

  Could I try makin’ a tattoo? I ain’t got a clue how to do it on purpose. He was proper out of it whilst it summoned. I’d be dead meat if he woke up.

  She shivered, picturing his face wracked with pain.

  He could only be out a few minutes. Even tracing me knife’ll take an hour an’ I’d be better off with something bigger.

  Her stomach churned.

  I need to kill him. Barely made it through that snake the first time.

  She told herself with certainty that she could do it, but in reality her body shouted against taking a single step towards him.

  I’m gonna kill him. Soon as he wakes up that snake’s comin’ back. It’s kill or be killed. Tanya, pull yourself together.

  She slapped herself across the face. The stinging felt good, proof that she was still alive even in this crazy new world.

  Before her empathy could weaken her resolve, she circled Dreadlocks, steeling herself to take his knife. It felt different now that it was in her hand instead of someone else’s: dangerous, powerful, terrifying.

  “I’m so sorry,” Tanya whispered. She quietened her mind to still her shaking wrist. This is what she needed to do to live—anyone else would do the same. She leant forwards, gripping the knife.

  Then his eyes opened.

  The Tattoo Summoner.

  at least 3x per week but hopefully 4-7!