My thoughts on Mister B? Dude's a machine. You almost feel sorry for the monsters.

  - Rudy Vazquez

  Something was wrong with his uncle.

  In the two weeks since the Event Dungeon, TJ's life had changed considerably. While still having to go to school was somewhat annoying, it seemed to be a blessing in disguise. More than any tutorial, the classes seemed designed to help the Students improve their skills. To learn how to interface with the System better. They weren't memorizing endless facts about dead English kings and Roman Emperors, now they were learning the various monsters likely to appear in the local environment and how to deal with them.

  As one of the 'dungeon closers, ' TJ was a minor celebrity. His popularity at school had spiked sharply, and he wasn't entirely certain how to deal with all the fakes suddenly coming for him. He'd always enjoyed a mild amount of popularity before as a decent-looking theater kid who played guitar. This was on a whole different level, though, and he felt isolated. Rudy and Maxine were up to their own eyeballs in much of the same, and Alex had been an empty shell of a person since that day. Something in him was just fundamentally damaged, and all TJ could do was be supportive of him.

  Word had gotten back to him through the gossip that his Uncle was 'important' now. He was clearing dungeons with the Guards. Working with the Sheriff to take care of wandering monster threats. Shaken hands with the Mayor. Local celebrity Brom Jones. It seemed that his uncle's new brand of cope was staying busy as fuck. Busy enough that TJ had been hesitant to reach out and see if he was free to talk.

  Imagine his shock to see his uncle on stage at the Special Assembly today. The man who'd lived in Iron Maiden tee shirts and beat up sneakers, who'd calmly shown TJ how to play the riff from Cowboys From Hell for the talent show, who'd calmly made him breakfast while the whole world ended, he'd changed. And not just the fact he'd gone from level 7 to level 8.

  The visual difference was stark. Heavy boots, a belt of black iron rings, that black leather coat with no sleeves, and a thick ruff of grey fur. His red hair was getting longer, pulled back at the nape of his neck, and there was stubble on his jaw. When TJ first met his gaze, those grey eyes had been cold and distant. It wasn't until his attention focused that they warmed up, the expression TJ expected to find lighting up in them. What the hell was going on?!

  He couldn't focus on the whole Assembly, tuning out everything. He watched his uncle speak, but he didn't really listen to him. It was like seeing a caricature of a person. TJ couldn't understand it. It couldn't just be the Event Dungeon, his Uncle had been exhausted after that, but... TJ couldn't put his finger on it, but was more and more certain the longer Brom spoke. Something was wrong. Something was uncanny.

  But for a moment, when he found Brom backstage, all that was forgotten. The hug was the same, the way his shoulders were held, and Brom smiled down at him. "Hey kiddo! How are you holding up?"

  The concern? That was real, that was the same. That broke TJ, and from the change in his uncle's posture, Brom saw it. Suddenly, one of those big arms was around his shoulder, and that head lowered down so that they could talk softer. "Kiddo?"

  "...not well..."

  It was nice to have someone concerned.

  TJ had grown up fed the family narrative about his Uncle Brom. In his grandparents' house, there were only two or three photos of him amid the dozens that hung on the walls. He lived only in the dusty pages of photo albums, boxed away and taken out for holidays. And in the scornful tones of memory whenever his name popped up in conversation. For much of his young life, TJ had believed that his Uncle was a bad-tempered failure who got drunk and called himself a musician. Then his great-grandparents had died, and for the first time in his life, TJ had come face to face with his infamous uncle.

  It had been disappointing in a way. Like finding out that your soda had been swapped for a diet version when nobody was looking.

  Brom was tall, clean-shaven, and respectful. Turning up in a crisp black blazer, white shirt, and pressed slacks, he certainly hadn't looked like some burnt-out addict. The weight of Brom's grief had been palpable, like he was a boat that had lost an anchor. It wasn't until a month later that TJ realized that wasn't far from the truth. Despite his father's protests and scorn of his grandparents and other uncle, TJ had decided to at least meet and talk with Brom. At least once.

  A year later, and here he was, looking to the 'family failure' for comfort and support that his own father couldn't give him. It turned out that despite the maltreatment, Brom had always been willing to work to improve things. It was why he'd been low contact and not no contact. Nobody was innocent in the failings of the Jones family relationships, but his Uncle didn't seem willing to punish TJ for the sins of his father. Their relationship had only gotten stronger, sharing the end of the world together.

  Now he just sat there on the school's loading dock, legs dangling as his uncle sat next to him, wanting to cry but somehow dry-eyed.

  "Everything's going to shit. Dad's fucking lost it. He just keeps trying to get Grandma Lucy and Grandpa Max to respond to him, and he doesn't get it. They're not going to. Marcella left. I don't blame her, she was on her way out the day the world ended. She just took her time to get herself together. Rudy and Maxine are... well, we're kinda strained right now. Rudy is riding the fame wave, and Maxine's family won't even let her talk to us because they think we'll drag her back in a dungeon. Alex..." He put his head in his hands.

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  How did he explain Alex?

  "He's just broke." Easier to say that than to explain. Maybe another time. When he was feeling stronger. He picked his head up and looked over at his Uncle, finding Brom watching him with worry. His face was doing the little part-frown thing he always did when one of the cats was acting weird. It was a sign he cared.

  "TJ, you wanna stay out at the house for a bit? I can make up the guest room, let you clear your head a little? It's safe, I've cleared out anything that was lurking anywhere near the place, and I'll know if anything moves in. Just me, the cats, and a whole lotta peace."

  Did he? Yeah. He would have loved nothing more. But there was still one more thing. "You've changed too." He poked his uncle in the shoulder. "Uncle B, what's happening to you?"

  "Well, I've been doing a lot of stuff recently. Like, there was the dungeon out at Gull Cove, some Shore Patrol, and I was fitting it all in around my schedule at the dump. But I put in my notice, yesterday was my last day, so I should get more free time."

  TJ shook his head. "Not that. I mean, I guess partly that, but... It's in your eyes." He couldn't explain it, not looking into them now. Everything seemed normal right now. "When I first saw you today, you were fucking cold. Like you were just killing time and resented it." TJ drummed his fingers on his knee.

  Brom rubbed the back of his neck, clearly confused by his nephew's words. "So, my resting bitch face was too intense? I mean, I know I'm changing, kiddo. There's no way I wouldn't be considering I'm making actual changes in my life. Like before, I was just a security guard at a landfill. Scariest thing I did was honk an airhorn at a black bear. Now I'm beating up drowned corpses and weird flesh-eating monsters in the woods. I have a quest to go take on the 'Sea King's Challenge' on the full moon, and I have no idea what that is. It's been a rough little bit for me, kiddo. For you too."

  That wasn't it. TJ just couldn't explain.

  "I-" TJ paused and started his words over, needing to make his uncle understand. "Uncle B, remember when you first talked about music with me? Comparing the callouses on our fingers? All the fighting you're doing, that's like building callouses. I get that. I understand that. I'm not seeing callouses, but I can't tell you what it is. You lost something."

  Brom sighed. "Probably. You're a smart kid, so if you're seeing it, you're seeing it. Even if you can't put it into words, you've got gut instinct. I don't notice it, whatever it is, so I can't guide you to it. But I can tell you this. Whatever this missing thing is, it doesn't change what we've been building. Doesn't change that you're my nephew and I care about you, kiddo. Doesn't change that you can come to me when you need stuff. Like now. You're hurting, and I know you are. Whatever I've lost, it doesn't stop me from feeling frustrated that I can't make this easier on you. Or less pissed at your dad that he's making it harder."

  TJ gave a bitter chuckle. "You always keep saying he loves me, though."

  "Yeah, well, he can love you and still be a massive douche nozzle. I'm not out there telling you to love and forgive him, just telling you not to hate him. Weird as that sounds." Brom scratched his cheek, then paused. "Wait a second, aren't you supposed to be getting back to class?"

  TJ laughed. "I'm an Epic Archer. I only do half days right now. Afternoons are for Rare and below to help them strengthen themselves. Technically its 'self-study' but I don't think anyone's going to question me talking to you, Uncle B. I mean, usually I use the time to head down to the beach and hunt some of the monsters there. Now that all the Sirens are gone, it's pretty peaceful to just wander around shooting the crabs and clam beasts that pop up."

  "Yeah, I can see you levelled up a bit. You want me to take you through a dungeon or two?"

  TJ blinked. "That. That right there." That was what was different. His uncle would never have done that before. "That's part of what changed Uncle B."

  Brom's brow furrowed. "TJ, I say that because I've done the dungeons around here so much in the past few weeks, I am confident that you can sit back and do nothing. I only suggest it because I can vow, completely, that you wouldn't even get wet."

  "So you'll take me to the underwater dungeon, and you're going to protect me from water?" He laughed a little at that. "Uncle B, I'm not helpless. I'm actually pretty strong for a high schooler." After all, the strongest man in Cold Bay was right next to him. His uncle had more health than the entire junior class combined.

  "...I get what you're saying. You're right. I would never have offered to take you into a dungeon before. But I also understand that this is the way the world works now. I kinda accepted it to survive. So I want to do what I can as your family to help you not just survive, but thrive. I'm not offering to bring your friends with me, there are programs in the works for shit like that, like I was saying today, but you..." Brom smiled. "TJ, you made effort to show up and form your own opinion about me when for sixteen years everyone told you I was good for nothing. Consider this a reward for having some trust and faith."

  "I mean, I don't need to be rewarded for basic decency, Uncle B, but I'll take it." TJ still watched his uncle warily for a moment, eyes sweeping up and down him. Accepting the world was that really what had changed? If so, TJ would need to keep a close eye on his uncle from now on. "So, tell me more about this 'Sea King Challenge' thing. It sounds cool."