The Hollow struggled against the combined strength of Josh, Lucy, and Ken's vines, not giving up even as Luke stood over it.

  "Where is the real Carlos?" Luke asked it.

  The monster put on the same casual smile it showed before turning to flee. "I am the real Carlos. This is just a huge misunderstanding."

  "Are you sure, Luke?" Cam asked, coming up to join the others. "He sounds like Carlos, though."

  Luke got down on one knee and put his hand on Hollow-Carlos's chest. Threads of Mana snaked inside the monster, and he wrapped them around the thing's monster core, squeezing. "Are you feeling this, Carlos? I'm holding your monster core, and I can yank it out of you whenever I want."

  Hollow-Carlos let out a wheezing giggle.

  "Where is the real Carlos?" Luke asked.

  The mirth disappeared from Hollow-Carlos's face, but it was not replaced by fear or much of anything else, either. It was still Carlos, but now void of any emotions.

  "Eerie," Lucy said, her knee crushing down on the thing's arm.

  "Your friends are gone. Nourishment for our young," Hollow-Carlos said, or perhaps it wasn't him. The voice was different. Low, full of authority, with a hiss to it. "Soon, you will all be gone, you who have intruded upon our domain."

  "Who are you?" Luke asked.

  "Your language has no name for what we are. For what we have become."

  "Hollow," Josh grunted, his upper lip pulled back in disgust.

  A croaking, wet sound, almost like a toad's, crawled out of the thing's throat, and Luke thought it might be their version of a tired laugh.

  "Hollow," Hollow-Carlos said, as if tasting the word. "No. The name implies a link to the Void. We are the opposite. The Void is nothing. We are everything. We are Host. Soon, we shall spread from this forgotten sub-system and take our rightful place once again to hold dominion over your home world and expand until we find our lost kin."

  The proclamation hung in the air for a breath, and the writhing and wriggling of the flesh around the Hollow entrance were the only sounds.

  Lucy drew in a deep breath. "We should kill this thing."

  Luke gave her a look before returning his attention to the Hollow. "What is the Void?"

  "Nothing."

  "Where do you come from?" Luke asked. "This is not your world."

  "Everywhere. We are ancient."

  "We can't trust a word coming out of this thing's mouth," Ken said. "It's a monster."

  "Maybe," Luke said. He pointed to the Hollow entrance. "What's in there?"

  "We are."

  Josh drew his mace and raised it in both hands. "This is a waste of time. Out of the way."

  "Wait," Luke said, but it was too late.

  Hollow-Carlos died without making a sound, its monster core pierced by one of the mace's spikes.

  "Do you think the real Carlos is still alive?" Cam asked.

  "What about Freya?" Mitch added. "I can't lose her!"

  "They are probably dead," Luke said, getting to his feet. He gave Josh a glare. "If this Hollow still lived, we could have asked it again."

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  "Like it would've told us the truth," Josh snorted, gesturing to Ken. "Listen to the Mage. We can't trust these things."

  "Are we going down there or not?" Lucy asked.

  Josh returned the mace to his inventory and turned to the entrance. "Of course we're going down there. Let's go."

  "Hold on a moment," Luke said.

  "What?" Josh asked.

  "The Hollow said they want to go through the portal and take over Earth. We can't just head down there without notifying everyone else in the dungeon," Luke said, stepping backwards and away from the entrance. "We have to make sure Hollows don't exit."

  "Or we go down there and kill the queen. That should end it," Josh argued.

  "It'd be reckless to assume that," Ken said.

  Lucy shook her head. "Luke is right."

  “We can't just leave this here,” Josh said. "I'll stand guard."

  "Look what happened to Carlos and Mitch's sister-in-law. They'll come out and grab you, too. And when we return, Hollow-Josh will stand here," Lucy argued.

  “I won't let them take me,” Josh said.

  “Freya is still down there,” Mitch said, licking his thin lips. “I'm going in.”

  "I'm coming with you," Cam said.

  “Don't be stupid,” Lucy said with a sigh. “They haven't left anyone alive as far as we know. It's unlikely your sister-in-law is still alive down there. And even if she was, you wouldn't be able to save her on your own.”

  “I'm going too,” she said.

  Josh nodded. “It's settled, then. You three head back. I'll take the Modern Family guys down with me.”

  “You won't make it without the healer,” Luke said. And he meant it, too. Not to make himself sound important, but without healing, they'd get overwhelmed and killed. “At least try to find Kenny.”

  “Who's Kenny?” Josh asked.

  “He's another healer that's in here somewhere. In the dungeon, I mean.”

  “That'll take forever,” Josh said, withdrawing his mace, along with his shield. “I stocked up on health potions before going through the portal. I'll be fine.” He looked to Lucy. “Don't worry. I'll be careful.”

  “Stupid asshole,” Lucy muttered, then waved. “Do whatever you want.”

  Unable to make the other three see reason, Luke, Lucy, and Ken headed back to the portal. Sounds of combat reached them at several points, but they never spotted anyone fighting, and they made it back to the portal without having to face any more Hollows.

  The scene had changed back there. Cops stood around in riot gear, flak vests, and the tall, transparent shields Luke saw back at the orb. They had created a perimeter around the portal, keeping a large group of people back.

  “Let me through!” someone shouted.

  “I want to go home,” another said.

  Luke walked through the group of perhaps fifty Integrated arguing with the cops. “What's going on here?”

  “Please remain calm, sir,” the closest cop said, his voice a little muffled from under the cloth mask he wore, covering the lower part of his face. “As I have said to everyone multiple times, we cannot allow anyone to pass through.”

  Inspected Integrated: Ryan. Nova Paladin. Level 3.

  “Why not, Ryan?” Luke asked.

  The cop gave him a stern look. “The shapeshifters cannot be allowed to reach Chicago.”

  “Fascist!” a young woman's voice called out from the back of the crowd.

  “You are only level 3. Do you think you can stop us?” someone else added. "You already let some people through!"

  “Don't worry,” Luke said. “I have a solution."

  "We are here to keep the peace on orders from the Governor himself!" Ryan the cop shouted. A sword appeared in his fist, and he dropped the riot shield to bring out a tall metal one instead. "Please remain calm and step away from the perimeter. Do not force us to take you into custody!"

  "Keeping the Hollows back is important!" Luke shouted, raising his hands as Lucy and Ken stepped up to either side of him. "But I have a skill that will tell me if someone is a Hollow! Let me test anyone who wants to leave, and then you'll know it'll be safe!"

  Ryan was about to speak over him, but quieted once he heard Luke's message. "How can we trust this skill of yours? Are you a Hollow yourself, maybe?"

  Luke frowned. "What? No! Don't be ridiculous!"

  "Luke," Lucy said.

  "Just let me-" Luke began, then turned to face Lucy, and stopped himself when he saw her expression. "What?"

  She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back into the crowd and away from the portal and the cops guarding it.

  "What?" he repeated.

  "One second," Lucy said, glancing over his shoulder. "Now they can't hear."

  Luke just looked at her, waiting for her to keep going, but it was Ken who spoke next. "I talked with some others here, and the policemen went deeper into the dungeon, then returned almost right away."

  "Oh no," Luke said. "Hollows."

  "It's possible," Lucy said. "Can you check?"

  "Not without getting close enough to touch them, and I don't know how, since they just learned about my skill."

  Ken's eyes widened. "Oh, I think you'll have your chance."

  Luke spun back around. A small contingent of cops was pushing Integrated back, forcing their way through the crowd, heading straight for Luke and the others.

  "Crap," Luke grunted. "Well, it's now or never, then."

  "Please let them be real cops," Ken whispered.

  "We'll either have to kill fake cops or we'll get arrested," Lucy said, equipping her katars.

  "Hold them," Luke said.

  "Integrated!" the front cop said. "We must assess that skill of yours. Come with us now!"

  Inspected Integrated: Leonardo. Gadgeteer. Level 4.

  Leonardo reached his hand out to grab Luke, who ducked to the side and grabbed the cop's wrist. Threads of Mana surged into the cop's mana channels, heading for his chest, searching for either a meta-heart or a monster core.