Blood and Cupcakes

by Taj McCoy El

  “BOMB!!!!” She threw her two trees knives at the box as the imps piled on top and ordered Vergie to stop Strongdalf. The imps were blocked from view as the trees came back into reality. Margaret then pulled the two gold imps and the platinum imp. She sent the gold imps at Strongdalf and the platinum imp at the samurai when an explosion rocked the trees slightly. Handfuls of imp and a few small metal balls flew past the trees onto the field. A tree appeared between her and the balls as they started to go off. She could hear the sound of the needles pelting the tree. The barrage lasted for 2 seconds and then stopped like the sudden end of a summer squall. Mayah looked back and saw Strongdalf’s shield hanging on by a thread with the mangled imps still wailing on it.

  The samurai was too fast for the platinum imp to get a good hit, but Grax was there in a flash. He activated Petal Storm around the samurai’s head and hacked at the samurai’s swords with his. He knocked them out of the air and onto the ground a few feet away. As Mayah ran towards Strongdalf, she saw the samurai try to dive to the side as the platinum imp swung a fist through the fading petals. The blow connected and knocked the samurai into the barrier surrounding the field so hard he bounced off and fell to the ground.

  Ouch! I know how that feels.

  Grax was already flying across the field to meet him, swords drawn. She activated torch, Rage of Pyrmos, Whack-A-Vole and Crushing Blow and targeted Strongdalf who was distracted by his flying friend. She caught him unawares and hit him in the small of his back.

  Critical hit x2

  152dp

  Strongdalf stumbled forward where one of the gold imps knocked him to the ground with a one-two gorilla punch to the back of the neck. Their massive hands beat a meaty staccato on his spine. Mayah took a quick look at Grax who had just finished the samurai.

  “Grax go check on the tinker!” she ordered.

  She returned her attention to Strongdalf when a silver foot stomped down on him, leaving him stunned. The Platinum imps foot fell once again and then before it could fall a third time, it was stopped in midair. The crowd didn’t cheer so the tinker must still be alive. Then she noticed Grax’s HP dwindling.

  “Margaret,” Mayah yelled, “Grax is in trouble! Send in the imps.

  Margaret shot 3 arrows downfield and silver imps appeared behind the tree stump and started pummeling what she could only assume was the tinker. She jumped atop the logs only to see that when the shield had collapsed, the remaining hunks of silver imps had fallen on him pinning him underneath the weight of the tree. He was stuck under the imp corpses and being attacked by imps. She couldn’t help but laugh. He was squirming under the onslaught with nowhere to go. The only thing that saved him were the remains of his attacker’s brethren and the awkward angle at which he was stuck under the tree.

  “Mags call’em off.” The imps stopped attacking. She looked down at the tinker. “Do you yield?”

  He looked back at her with a smile. “Would you?” and he pressed a button at his waist.

  Mayah turned to run, but the blast ripped through the tree catching her. The force propelled her cartwheeling through the air, until she landed twenty feet away with a whole-body slap to the ground. Happiness skittered out of her grasp. There were large slivers of wood sticking out of her body while a shower of tree chunks was still falling onto her back. A few large chunks had further dropped her health to a quarter and given her a concussed and bleeding status. That’s when she noticed Grax’s health bar was greyed out.

  She tried to stand up, No… not Grax

  The crowd began to cheer. A loud uproarious, wave crossed the stadium like the audience was holding its breath and could finally breathe again. She tried to get to her feet, but stumbled.

  Where’s Grax?

  Margaret was there in a flash helping her.

  “This might hurt a bit.” She felt hunks of wood being torn from her back before she could protest.

  “Grax?” she said.

  “He’s coming. They had to untie him.”

  “Untie?” She tried to turn her head to look. “I thought he was dead?”

  “Tournament dead, yes, but not dead, dead. Or even real-life dead for that matter, dear.” She worked on cleaning the wood out of Mayah’s wounds.

  “Well that’s good.” She pat Margaret’s supportive arm in relief. “This concussed status is insane. Hey Vergie, lem’me lean on ya.” She wrapped her arm around Vergie’s neck and felt the deep purr coming from her. “Somehow they figured out how to make a concussion seem realistic. You know how in most games your avatar may get concussed but you can still focus?”

  “Not really, dear, this is my first video game.”

  “Oh, that’s right. Well I feel like I’m actually concussed. My vision is a little swimmy and jerky and my balance is all loopy. It’s quite interesting really.”

  A mage came over to see how she was doing and pulled out a vial of orange liquid. She took it in her hand. “Healing potion?” He nodded, and she threw the whole bottle back in three gulps. As her senses returned, she noticed that her tongue tasted like she had been licking cinnamon someone had sprinkled onto a well-used litterbox.

  “Oh my god, that is disgusting.” she shuddered in disgust as her wounds closed and her negative statuses disappeared.

  “Hello Ladies,” Grax said “How is she, doc?”

  “She’ll be fine now that she got her potion.” Margaret explained.

  “You drank a potion too?”

  “Yup?”

  “What did it taste like?” the cat inquired.

  “Like cinnamon and cat butt.” Grax raised an eyebrow. Mayah realized what she had said and corrected her statement. “Present company excluded… of course.”

  “Thank god! That was an uncomfortable description.” he said.

  “But very accurate.”

  “Mine was purple and tasted like a rotten grape fart.”

  “Well, I’m never going to drink a potion if that’s the way you both describe it,” Margaret cut in.

  “See… Margaret… you say that now….” Grax shrugged his shoulders as he began to explain. Margaret was saved by the approach of a mage who asked them to follow him. He led them to the center of the field as the voice of Mayor Bisharro came over the loudspeaker.

  “Please congratulate the winners of the first ever Paladin’s Tournament Classed Team Division. Give it up for The Royal Death claws.” The crowd gave them a standing ovation. The trio waved and bowed to the crowd. They were pelted with copper, silver, and even a few gold coins.

  They were ushered off the stage after a few minutes. The mages let them know that all of the coin would be collected for them as well as any leftover items of theirs and returned to them. “You are also free to watch the rest of the matches. The prizes will be awarded at 9 am tomorrow morning.”

  That’s good we can have a night to say goodbyes and resupply. I’m thinking that I need some rest. “Well guys, good job! I’m gonna find Jensen and then go take a nap.”

  “Not yet you aren’t. We gotta put my dolls away.”

  “What are you in Kindergarten?” Grax said. “Call Cloutus and let Fluff take a nap.”

  “That may not be a bad idea.” She began to blush again. “Besides, he’ll get to share in the good news.” She clapped her hands like a giddy child that was just told they could have their favorite sweet.

  Mayah threw up her first two fingers, said, “Peace,” and rolled out of the doors. She froze for a second and walked back in.

  “Forget something?” Margaret asked.

  “Just needed to know how Grax got killed.”

  Grax hung his head in shame. “He got me with a snare device. Wires wrapped around me and started to cut into my skin. The wires were poisoned, by the way. I think it was the same stuff he used on the needles. It sucked.”

  “Guess you underestimated someone, huh?”

  “Shut it, princess. I’m already gonna get a lecture from Jensen. He’s been in the stands drinking and betting all day. I bet
he lost a bet because I died.”

  “Probably right, but I also bet, that he had a bet that one of us would die in the final match. Also, what was the deal with the Acid (D) dagger?”

  “Oh! You probably couldn’t see it from where you were but there were tiny wires attached to his swords. That’s how he could manipulate them so well. I was cutting the wires so I could disarm him and kick his samurai-ney heiney.”

  “Samurai-ney heiney? HA…!!!” Mayah exclaimed, with a snort. Then she turned to Margaret and summed up her experiences from the tournament.

  “Now WE… need to prohibit Grax from naming anything ever again. Thank god, he didn’t name us Furious Thunder Feline Team Six. We got a good name for the team. But Grax… if you ever do that again I will make all of your gear pink, even the stuff I didn’t make for you.” Margaret laughed at Grax’s growl as Mayah turned and waved goodbye over her shoulder and went to find Jensen.

  …..

  Sergeant Major Hicks looked over the data one last time to make sure he understood it fully and then took the tablet to First Lieutenant Auset. Auset glanced at it for a moment, two fingers on his lips, he nodded his approval. Hicks left to spin the gears of their little war machine while Auset was left alone to relive the loss of his base again.

  Furious couldn’t begin to explain the rage that jumped and twisted inside of him, clamped down for the moment as it was. He reminded himself that having a raging outburst wouldn’t help him in any way right now. He let his insides boil until there was nothing left but the pure, blistering, hostility of failure. He had lost their base, their IMCs and the element of surprise. Now it was time for Attactus to lose something. He was a soldier, and this was now his war. He would reach his objective and complete the mission. He would take their data from them, even if he had to take out a little girl to do it.

  “Sometimes war is necessary, but never pretty,” he thought to himself. “Better to lose the foot than the heart,” he said into his growing darkness. Objectives clear, he collected himself and went to help ready the plans. They would be ready by sunrise.

  …..

  Jensen was surrounded by a bunch of other people laughing and joking when he spotted her. “Here comes the champion now!” He did his best imitation of a trumpet fanfare. All of the people around her applauded and clapped her on the back.

  “Hey, Jensen, I’m gonna go take a nap.”

  “Ye feeling okay?”

  “Yeah, just need to turn my brain off for a bit.”

  “Ye deserve it Princess.” He turned up the volume a bit for the people standing around. “There were some ugly rumors that ye were just a fluke, but ye put those rumors to rest in a deep unmarked grave!” He winked at her, then whispered in her ear, “I more than quadrupled yer money for ye. I’ll give it to ye tonight.”

  She smiled and hugged him. “Send Grax to come and get me. I don’t want to miss the celebrations.”

  “Sure thing, Princess.”

  As she turned to walk away, another round of applause erupted. She turned and gave a flamboyant curtsey before hustling off.

  …..

  Mayah walked up to her door on the dorm. She leaned against the door, tired but happy. She turned the knob and she walked into the room, her room. She got lost in remembering the first views she had of the beams in the ceiling, the window where she threw the bomb.

  Yeah, room, it’s been fun.

  She placed her hand on her desk and shrunk it back to its default setting. Her chair disappeared, replaced by the original. She took a pencil and drew a runeagram on the floor and began placing all her items into storage.

  A few hundred pounds turned into two ounces. That’s a good day’s work.

  She threw the crystals into her bag, touched the desk and sent the full reset code. The room refreshed back to its default settings. The bed was made, her trash bin was clean, and the runeagram had disappeared. She looked around to make sure everything was good, and noticed a few items on the desk.

  A bobbin of black thread, a needle and her thimble. She picked up the bobbin and stared at it.

  Name: Thread of Iron

  Grade: B

  Material: Cotton and Iron

  While soft and supple, this thread has the tensile strength of iron. Increases durability of items sewn with this thread.

  Durability: 120/120

  Name: Silvered Needle

  Grade: B

  Material: Iron covered in Silver

  Durability: 22/22

  Name: Thimble

  Grade: B

  Material: Steel

  Durability: 40/41

  She enchanted the needle and the thread.

  Name: Silvered Needle of Iron thread

  Grade: B

  Material: Silvered Iron and Iron Enchanted Cotton

  This needle needs no thread. The thread is contained in the needle and activates as you sew. While soft and supple, this thread has the tensile strength of iron. Increases durability of items sewn with this thread

  Thread: 217/217yds

  Durability: 136/136

  That’s a nice bonus for using the enchanted thread. She let out a little chuckle. “Man, this place sure was starting to feel like home.” She flopped back on the freshly made bed.

  She stared at the beams on the ceiling and thought about everything that had happened to her since she came into the world of Majesta. There were so many characters that seemed so real and alive. Each one had affected her deeply, but in different ways. From Chano and his uptight loyalty, to Jensen and his secrets and questionable financial transactions, Maam and John, Ibn Daw, Cloutus and the vendors at all of the stores. All of them had their own lives, not just a backstory. The Majesta servers probably ran thousands of years of simulations and held the data within the game in old manuscripts locked away in dungeons or hidden cities far and away from the world she used to live in.

  Her mind drifted off to visions of Majesta. Sprawling cities, ancient forests, wide grassy plains and majestic peaks. Her eyes closed and she took flight into the skies of Majesta, light as a cloud and fast as the wind.

  …..

  “Those ports ready?” Delilah yelled.

  Ronald made a last few strokes on his keyboard and said, “Ports are green for go.”

  “Just in time. She’s entering her apartment.” Delilah smiled.

  The room watched their displays tensely for a few minutes while Mayah cleaned up her room as if on fast forward. Carelton raised a hand, “We have sleep cycle. Implement port in three… two…. one….”

  Kyle announced, “Port is now online.”

  “No negative feedback from Mayah,” Delilah studied the readings one last time, “Implementing tracers.”

  “Ports have synced! The fact that she decided to take a nap right then was crazy. She won’t notice we did anything. She is going to be so surprised.” Ronald wiped his damp red hair out of his face.

  “We definitely couldn’t have planned it better.” Carelton said.

  Standing up from the master console Delilah broke in. “Sheriece I want those readings. Carelton, maintain brain telemetry.” She looked around the room and found Ronald slipping away. “RONALD!!!”

  Ronald’s head dipped sharply and he turned around. “Y-yes…?”

  “Good job.”

  “Thanks…” he replied a little shakily.

  “Okay, let’s get the rest of the team up and prepped. Josh wants a G-87 full dive configuration. Send word to the lab we have room for three. Reroute all remaining cores to training hall A. Construct level Gold. Initiate in 3… 2....

  …..

  As Mayah walked into the tavern with Grax on her heels, the place burst into explosive cheers. It was so sudden she shied from the noise and almost ducked under a table for cover. Everyone laughed at her. Mayah had to laugh at herself as well.

  A PK and Raider marked Champion of the tournament ducking under the table. Real smooth cupcake, real smooth...

  She shook hands and had so many
heavy-handed ham hocks slapped against her back she felt bruised by the time she made it to the table where Jensen, John, Maam, Cloutus, Margaret and Grax, who had obviously left her in the maelstrom, sat.

  “Well, look who finally made it. Ye’d be late for yer own funeral.” Jensen quipped.

  “Jensen, why are you talking about Grax like that?”

  An “Ooooh..” rose from the table. Maam, had her hand to her mouth her eyes looking back and forth while John roared with laughter.

  “It was one time…!!!”

  Everyone laughed and someone put a bubble tea into her hand. Jensen stood up on the tabletop and raised his glass. People around the tavern turned as a hush raced over the room.

  “For bringing the children of Earth and the children of Majestan closer together, I, Jensen Clanmeister Salute you.” As he saluted there were a few others in the room who actually saluted her as well. “For Being the winner of the tournament, overcoming all obstacles and dropping trees on your opponents I congratulate you.” He reached over and shook her hand. “And finally, YOU… Pretty Princess Cuddle Fluff, YOU… Graxiel Destruir and YOU… Margaret Crenshaw, you are the ROYAL DEATH CLAWS!!!!! And for that dear paladins, I LOVE YOU!!!”

  The room exploded into cheers again. Wolf whistles threatened to end her hearing permanently as glasses clinked and smiles and laughter reigned. Mayah smiled too. She knew that tomorrow would be more work, but she deserved a night of rest after working so hard. Her worries dropped as she equipped happiness and held it triumphantly above her head with one hand. The cheers tripled in volume.