by S. K. Rose
“Seriously—I can’t believe you’re here.” I give him a curious look. “Why the heck are you here?”
“You logged back into TH an hour after we talked; I know you didn’t get much sleep. My little pep talk was clearly garbage.” His lips twist into a wry smile. “I knew we lived in the same state after you’d mentioned what college you go to. So, I looked up where the competition was being held and saw it was only a six-hour drive...I got up early this morning and here I am. Making sure you’re supported and all that.”
“Dude, that’s crazy.” I gape. “You didn’t have to drive all this way.”
He shrugs. “I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. Now that the band has taken off, I finally have a car and a little cash in my pocket. There was nothing holding me back from being here for you just like you’ve always been there for me.”
With tearful eyes, I smile up at his pierced face. “What the hell did I do to deserve a best friend like you?”
He cups his chin in thought. “Dunno, but you can start by introducing me to your roommate later.”
I snort with laughter. “Who, Nessa? You don’t even know anything about her—or even what she looks like.
He gets a mischievous look in his eye. “Yeah, but that Spanish accent I hear over the mic is sexy as fuck.”
I pat his arm. “You are sooo not her type, buddy.”
“Musicians are everyone’s type.” He winks.
“Yeah, let’s back it up for a minute. You’re in a freaking band? I mean I know I heard the guitar a lot over the mic, but I thought it was just the radio or something...”
He sticks his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his feet. “I dunno, man, we were too busy talking games and relationship drama. It just never came up.”
I reach up and tug on a long strand of his dark hair. “And your hair is almost as long as mine!” I squeal. He smacks me away and pats his hair back down.
“I haven’t cut it in four years,” he admits.
“Well, if you get serious about wooing Vanessa, you might want to consider it…”
“You mean change how I look so a girl will give me a chance?”
I laugh. “You’re right, that’s not the way us misfits roll.”
He shakes his head. “No, I was just asking for clarification if it would work. I’ll go bald if it would get me her number.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.
I snort and wave as I see my sister headed our way.
“Hey, Jules, you made it!”
“Mom tried to give me some bs work to do, but I snuck out early.” She gives me a hug and turns her curious gaze to Wren. “Well, hello, person I’ve never seen before.”
“This is Wren,” I explain. Her eyes become saucers.
“Wait, your online bestie since middle school, Wren?” she screeches.
I nod, and she claps her hands in excitement as she turns to look him up and down. “You look...different.”
I smack her. “Be nice.”
Her hands fly up. “No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Remember that one time we tried to Facebook him? The only result was this super geeky kid with oversized glasses. That’s just always how I pictured him.” She turns her head toward me and whispers, “Or as a forty year old pervert.”
Wren’s eyebrow arches at me. “You tried stalking me?”
“What?” I give him a pointed look. “I was an impressionable girl trying to make sure you weren’t an online predator.”
“You heard my squeaky voice, Red, you knew I wasn’t an old creep,” he chides.
“Fine,” I grumble. “We were curious.”
He chuckles. “I only got a Facebook account last year, whatever kid you were creepin’ on, wasn’t me.”
I smirk at my sister. “Told you it wasn’t him.”
Julie rolls her eyes and turns back to Wren. “So you’re here to watch Scar win, too?”
“Yeah, wanted to make sure she didn’t stay home and work herself into a sugar coma.”
I stick out my tongue, and he grins.
“Well, do you want to sit with us? They have a sweet setup in the other room for friends and family to watch.”
“Yeah, that would be awesome—you good, Red?” His eyes soften with concern.
I take a second to really think about it.
My nerves were shot to shit when I walked in this morning. Running on nothing but sugar and coffee after a night of little sleep did nothing to help. But now that I have my best friend and my sister by my side? Confidence and clarity are seeping back into my bones.
No matter what happens, win or lose, rain or shine, they’ll have my back.
“Yeah. I’m good. I got this.” And to my surprise, I believe it. “Better get back to my station, I’ll see you guys after.”
Julie loops her arms through Wren’s and wheels him away as she chatters on. He looks back at me over his shoulder with fearful eyes.
“She’s harmless!” I yell after him, laughing as he slowly turns back around and begins working his way out of her embrace as they walk to the other room.
Just as I sit down, the announcer booms over the mic, “Competitors to your gaming stations. We will be opening the arena in exactly five minutes. Take this time to turn your eyes to the front and recap the rules. If you break even one of them, you will be disqualified and asked to leave the room. If you’re killed, you may go to the back to watch the remainder of the match, but you cannot remain at your station. Any questions?”
The room is quiet, and the official nods.
“Then good luck, we cannot wait to have a new member on the Eko team.” He takes a seat, and a countdown pops up on everyone’s screens. I stare hard at Kane, wanting to give him one last nod before we begin, but he’s focused hard on the screen in front of him.
I pick up my pink controller and look down at it with a determined smile.
Boys and girls—it’s showtime.
24
Kane
The countdown has officially started. This is a match to the death, only the last player standing will take home the win. I have every confidence that player will be me. I’ve let all other thoughts wash away. I’m here for one reason and one reason only—to whoop some serious ass.
Five seconds to go.
After stretching my back, I settle into the seat and make sure my noise cancelling headset is snug on my ears.
Four seconds.
I ready my hand on the mouse.
Three seconds.
A bead of sweat rolls down the back of my neck.
Two seconds.
This is it.
One second.
A buzzer goes off in the room, and the game is finally unlocked.
My character appears in a rocky terrain surrounded by pine trees and is that?
Yep, it’s snowing. A small chunk of my health is knocked off. I quickly open my inventory and swap out for a piece of gear that will protect me from cold damage. Glad I spent that weekend hunting down protective gear from all the elements; it’s already paying off.
I smile as I also equip my prized possession, the Gravity Cannon. With a flip of a switch, gravity is disrupted, and everyone within the radius rises into the air and becomes disorientated. Unless you have gravity boots on, which happen to be a very rare item in the game.
The weapon is surprisingly not on the prohibited list and will give me an upper hand in tight situations.
I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and slide my mouse to look around. Aiming at the trees, I take a deep breath and wait. There’s a flash of color, and I pull the trigger without hesitation. Something crashes to the ground several paces away. I look up and see my character on the big screen with the words “First Kill” hovering above me.
Not a bad start.
I move quickly to the dead toon and loot his body. I lift a few pieces of crappy armor, a decent gun, and stash them in my inventory. Not sure which direction to head, I pick one at random and start walking through the trees. A
fter a few minutes, I notice footprints in the snow. They disappear fairly quickly, so whoever I’ve stumbled upon can’t be far ahead.
Suddenly, there’s a flash of green light, and I’m knocked back through the trees and thrown to the ground. Fuck, like a noob, I must have walked right into someone’s trap. I try to move my toon, hitting the key that’s supposed to make him stand, but nothing happens. Little bolts of lightning zig and zag across my body. I can’t move, that explosion not only took some of my health, but it stunned me as well.
Out of the green fog, I watch a small form walking toward me.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
A fairy with shimmering wings is aiming a blaster at me that’s nearly as large as she is. Lights are glowing brighter, whirling around the barrel of the gun as it powers up.
I smash my buttons faster. C’mon, get up. Get up!
A half a second before she blows a crater into the ground, I barrel roll away. Through my headset, I hear a feminine voice utter a curse. That must be the fairy. Because we’re within close range in the game, we’re able to hear one another if we talk into our mics. It’s a more realistic feature TH added that I love—although many turn the feature off or mute themselves.
The green fog has become thicker rather than dissipating like normal. I’m not sure what kind of potion she used, but it’s a pretty risky strategy. Sure, you take out your enemies’ vision, but you leave yourself at a disadvantage as well. I fire a few rounds through the trees in the last place she stood, but it’s pointless; I have no idea where she’s at now.
I back up and drag my mouse to the edge of the screen, looking around me in a circle for even the smallest movements. I curse when I see a flash of light and watch another chunk of my health fall off. She hit me. Thankfully, it wasn’t a fatal head or heart shot, or I would be out of the game rather than just missing some health. I back up and take off to the right, whizzing past trees as I move to circle around where the shot came from. I grin when I see a small form crouching in the mist. She’s facing away from me, likely thinking she’s right on my tail. I switch to my scope and aim directly for the back of her head. A fatal shot that will kill her and take her out of the game for good.
I pull the trigger, and the fairy splits and breaks apart into a hundred tiny butterflies. I hear a small giggle mock me.
What the fuck?
Oh shit, it was an illusion. I swing my scope to the left and watch the fairy step out from behind a tree with her light blaster aimed at me. We face each other in a standoff, may the faster player win. I hover my finger over the trigger key, but pause when her voice speaks up in my ear.
“Alliance?” she offers.
We’re allowed to team up for the competition, and many will; however, it’s not something I planned on. But this fairy is clearly smart and a stronger player...it wouldn’t be so bad to have someone watching my back until it’s down to the last few players and becomes every man for himself.
I think carefully before responding. “How do I know I can trust you?”
“You can’t, idiot, but I noticed you have the Grav Cannon equipped. I’m a fairy—I’m used to being in the air; it’s not going to affect me. We could be a deadly combo.”
Damn. She’s got a point. I read the gamertag floating above her toon. “Okay, Brightstar, until it’s down to the last five players, you’ve got yourself a partner.”
It should be Scarlett.
But no, she made it very clear. We are enemies until a winner is crowned, and even then, I don’t know what will happen. Not anymore, not since he came into the picture—whoever the fuck he was. She made it clear from the beginning that she’s still furious about the past, so what if this has all been a way to mess with my head on the day of the competition? Some twisted ass plot to get revenge?
Fuck, not important right now. Focus.
We both switch out of attack mode, and our weapons disappear and reappear slung over our shoulders. Flapping her wings, she flies forward, and I follow close behind, weaving in and out of trees until we get to a clearing. It’s a large field with a single tree in the middle, something large cradled in the branches about halfway up. It kinda looks like a nest?
I swap out my weapons and equip a sniper rifle that has a powerful scope. Sure enough, there’s a giant bird’s nest in the tree, two ugly baby birds are poking their heads out and—there’s something else nestled between them. A dark red rifle, holy shit that’s a...
“Crimson Strike,” Brightstar breathes.
I whistle. Crimson Strike is an extremely rare and deadly weapon. If you get shot, no matter where on your toon’s body, you get an automatic “bleed” debuff.1 Not only do you take damage to your health every thirty seconds, but you drip blood everywhere you walk, and it’s impossible to hide if someone is hunting you down.
Brightstar takes a step toward the clearing.
“Wait,” I hiss, and she stops. “We have company.”
Four other players step out of the clearing to our left and head straight for the nest. An orc, a human, and two elves. They’ve formed a team, and it’s made them cocky, walking right out into the open without first checking the perimeter. They’re a good distance away, but to be on the safe side, I don’t risk talking into the mic. Instead, I type out a message in a private chat to the fairy.
KarnageKing13: Ready to test out your theory?
Brightstar: Let’s do it.
KarnageKing13: Double up and distract them.
I equip the Grav Cannon with a grin. Brightstar splits into two, and her clone flies into the field. The group is on her in seconds; they pull out their guns and begin firing as she flits above their heads and draws attention away from where we hide. Stealth mode engaged, we creep forward. I flank the right and she goes left. I take aim at the elf closest to me; I pull the trigger, and the toon crumples to the floor. It was a headshot, instant kill.
From the corner of my eye, I see Brightstar take out the human.
The remaining two players flip around as they realize it’s an ambush. Without giving them a chance to react, I hit the keyboard combo that unleashes the Grav Cannon’s special ability. Brightstar kicks off to the air, and my boots power up and clamp to the ground. The orc and the elf float up as zero gravity kicks in all around them. Their arms and legs flail as they try to twist and shoot at us.
“What the shit?” A deep voice growls in confusion.
“Buh bye!” Brightstar giggles as she aims at the orc and watches him explode in a green cloud. My scope zeroes in on the floating elf, and with my gun fully powered, I hit the trigger and blast him out of the sky. With only a sliver of health remaining for each of them, Brightstar and I step forward and do one final headshot, ensuring they’re both out of the game.
I glance up at the large screen and see that the counter, which read “fifty players remaining,” is now at “thirty-three.” It’s only been twenty minutes, and people are getting knocked out of the competition left and right.
Brightstar flies up to the branches and yanks the sniper from between the squawking birds. With a triumphant smile, she floats down before me. I hear her voice speak up in my headphones.
“I don’t have a decent weapon, do you mind if…” she trails off.
“I have the Grav Cannon, you should definitely take the Crimson Strike.” I want nothing more than to own that badass rifle, but I can’t be greedy; she needs a good weapon if we’re going to make this to the end.
I flinch when a loud screech pierces my ear.
“What the hell was that?” I demand.
“I—I don’t know,” Brightstar stutters into her mic. “It wasn’t me.”
I drag my mouse to the edge of the screen and force my toon to turn, so I can see everything around us. But I see nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Look. Up,” Brightstar whispers.
Diving toward us is a monstrous black bird. It has two heads with four giant beady eyes trained on us as it sweeps through the air.
Above us, th
e baby birds in the nest finally stop squawking.
Mama’s home.
25
Scarlett
A bullet whizzes past my head. I drop to the ground and crawl beneath the thick underbrush of the forest. That orc is hella fast, and I’ve just barely managed to stay alive with him on my trail.
Holding my breath, I wait a few minutes and watch as he walks right past me.
“I heard you mumble something, little girl, come out and play with a real gamer.”
Looking through my inventory, I quickly switch out my weapon as he searches for me.
“So, because you have a dick swinging between your legs that makes you a ‘real gamer’?” I scoff in disgust. Looks like I’ll be dealing with a sexist pig sooner than I thought.
“We have more focus, more stamina, and we’re not worried about our periods or breaking a nail. It’s like I said, a real gamer.”
Peeking around a thick tree trunk, I aim the new gun and pull the trigger. The barrel makes a pathetic wheezing sound as a tiny creature pops out and falls to the ground.
The soosoo, an adorable yet incredibly uncommon creature of Ulicia, looks around curiously before it hops forward. His fur ripples as it changes color with each movement.
The orc stops as the soosoo skips ahead of him.
“What the hell is that?” He sounds more curious than worried.
The soosoo stops at his feet and looks up with big purple eyes. With a grunt, the player points his gun and shoots, but the soosoo dodges it with ease. They play this deadly game for a few seconds, and with every shot, the soosoo bolts out of the way, making a little squeak each time.
“Annoying little fucker, aren’t you?” The orc turns his back to the soosoo and begins to walk away.
Without warning, the tiny ball of fluff jumps onto the orc’s neck with a piercing scream.
With a Cheshire grin, I smash a button, and my toon takes off running in the opposite direction. The ground shakes, and I’m tossed into the air as a huge explosion is set off behind me.
