Explosions rang throughout the convention center. The mad scientist with thick glasses must be blowing up more parts of the area. This gave Adrian pause on how to move forward. There's no way he didn't hit any humans in the blast. If their goal was to stay alive, getting as far away from the man creating explosions seemed like a good decision.

  As the new team turned down a new aisle of booths, they found more targets. Funko pops around them began glowing. Rows of Venum, Naruto, and My Hero Academia characters awakened. A life-size version of the Cleveland Browns players was also brought to life.

  "Ha! Look at the Cleveland Browns players; they're even bigger disappointments than the virgins who attend these conventions. I'll put them out of their misery." Paige had two things in her hands that Adrian couldn't register. They were something, but Adrian couldn't see them clearly. When she got closer, the mist solidified, and she thrust the misty blade into the football player's neck… again and again.

  "Just like the regular season, pathetic," Paige cackled as she continued to stab away.

  They may not be weebs, but they are misfits and unhinged. Who needs to collect pokemon when I'm collecting sociopaths?

  Adrian moved with the group, swinging his nunchucks and keeping up the [Absorb] skill to keep his shinobi skills active. Adrian felt shame when he pinned his arms behind his back, but got over it when he received the massive speed bump. Pinning the arms back while running was popularized in the anime Naruto. There were jokes about it, but the show was too good to push the joke.

  Before he discovered magic, Adrian was self-conscious about publicly expressing his interest in nerdy topics, such as anime and video games. He never really put himself out there and secretly resented content creators who posted about the hobbies he enjoyed. While he felt guilty about pinning his arms back, he loved the speed boost and enjoyed living out the scenes from one of his favorite anime series. A smile found its way to his face.

  Combined with [Feather Foot] and [Stealth], Adrian became a menace on the battlefield in his own right. The [Explosive Swing] significantly added mana back from the hits when combined with [Absorb]. Duskwalker was weaving in and out of the animated collectibles, successfully whittling down the numbers. Brody mentally took control of the Cookie Monster, which was eating the other animated toys. Adrian was relieved to see Brody playing nicely, but knew he had a limited clock before answering for his actions.

  Adrian had a lot of kill notifications, but couldn't access any of them yet. Around the convention, others were fighting their fights too. Not many remained, but everyone seemed to be holding their own against the hordes of collectibles. Loot items were still appearing sporadically across the convention floor.

  As the enemy numbers dwindled, another Funko Pop glowed and hovered to the center of the floor. It grew in size and underwent its transformation to become alive. The toy began to move and floated into the air, its blue and white bodysuit, scouter over its right eye, and tail flicking through the ashy air. Adrian received a notification that the Sayian was looking down on the convention-goers.

  Group Quest: Defeat Vegeta

  Welcome to the first mini-boss fight of your young careers! The quest has been given to all humans inside the Huntington Convention Center and cannot be opted out of. Work as a team to put this powerful foe into my power system - I mean, the dirt. Yes, that's where the energy of powerful magic users goes after death… the ground.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Rewards: Phase 2 functionality of your system interface, plus one badass reward from Yours Truly because I like you guys.

  Bonus Objective: Defeat Vegeta without mortalities

  Bonus Objective: Defeat Vegeta within one hour. You know how hard it is to put these Saiyans down.

  Brody stood up and looked at the life-sized collectible. He was the first to move and shouted with a deep bass in his voice,

  "Don't move." Brody attempted to imbue his words with magic, likely related to his class and how he controlled those two women.

  Vegeta froze for a split second before the spell wore off. A Funko Pop of the Cookie Monster gave way and attempted to bite off Vegeta's tail, but was way too slow and was kicked across the convention floor. Adrian could see Cash and his squad getting into position, which had increased in size. He could also see another group ready for battle; a group he hadn't taken note of yet, but looked as formidable as a group dressed as anime characters could look. One of them even had a lightsaber. Other solo combatants wanted in on the action, still unknown in their magic and combat prowess.

  Vegeta smirked, gesturing for everyone to bring it with his hand, and it began.

  Paige cast her mist, covering a part of the area. An arrow landed with a thud on Vegeta's head, causing damage. A bomb simultaneously blew up in his face, and Vegeta became enraged. Before anyone else could attack, a massive windstorm occurred inside the convention center, blowing some people off their feet.

  "Hey! That wind ruined my move!" Paige shouted into the abyss. No one could hear her as explosions were sent off target and towards the people. The wind threw Melee combatants aside before they could close the distance. Vegeta made his move before any attacks could be launched. He stretched his arm out in front with his palm facing Cash's group and launched energy attacks. Orbs slightly larger than his hand were launched at the speed of an arrow coming in rapid fire. The group scattered in response to the attacks, while some wielding lightsabers managed to deflect them. Some lightsaber carriers could only withstand one energy orb, while a few were fine after taking on an entire barrage. Only a few members were wounded.

  They’re good.

  Adrian had to admit it. This group had power and seemed competent.

  Maybe I should consider joining them?

  Adrian cast that thought aside as the wind finally started to subside. Fortunately, it appeared that the wind had caused damage to Vegeta, with minor cuts all over his body, and his armor showing signs of wear. With the wind gone, melee attackers jumped back into the fray. Duskwalker landed a blow, and Cash struck true; however, his lightsaber was unable to penetrate Vegeta's armored bodysuit. Another arrow plunked off Vegeta's head, unable to penetrate his skin.

  Vegeta no longer stood still and started flying around to pick off ranged combatants. A master of both melee and ranged combat, Vegeta closed the gap on some people. A wizard shooting magic from his wand was punched through his stomach, ending his life. He attempted the same attack on a gunslinger, who continually landed his ranged shots. Still, Cash's teammates, now known as the Swords of Ontario, intercepted him, landing more and more hits with their lightsabers.

  A spell was cast, and the collectible Vegeta flew away from the group and back into the middle of the floor while getting pelted with more attacks. His arm and neck started to show purple veins, and there was blood coming from his head, while his armor mostly held up. Vegeta started to rage when he screamed, and a massive buildup of energy began to permeate from Vegeta, causing everyone in range to be blown back. Vegeta was attempting to power up.

  While Vegeta’s power buildup was happening, the convention center defenders tried to get close, but the energy was too strong to close the gap. Vegeta continued charging, causing ripples of energy to pulse throughout the building. His hair was starting to flicker in color. A moment later, a bomb successfully detonated next to Vegeta, throwing him to the ground and cutting off his buildup. He was bleeding heavily now, and his arm was out of commission. The mad scientist-looking guy landed a critical blow. Everyone pounced on the opportunity and landed strike after strike. The purple became more prominent, and the blows caused greater damage.

  Just when the convention goers thought the fight was over, Vegeta floated in the middle of the room and powered up again, this time throwing everyone in the room against the walls. Energy was gathering around him as his aura expanded. His aura was originally white, but it flickered to gold with each passing moment.

  Vegeta yelled, "This isn't even my final form!"