POV : BONETOWN
It was Tuesday, which meant it was time for Mohammed, Mrs. Harrington, and Victoria to meet up in the Wasted Tavern. The dimly lit bar, with its flickering candlelight and the faint hum of conversation in the background, was the perfect place to strategize. The dusty air carried the scent of spilled liquor and drunken hopes. This was where plans were born, alliances formed, and enemies plotted against. They always met here to discuss their plans and recount what had happened in the three towns.
Mohammed leaned forward, starting the meeting off. “All right, everybody. Our finances are looking great with the arenas. How are your towns holding up?”
Mrs. Harrington smirked, crossing her arms. “America United’s doing fine. Those cowboys love watching blood spill on the sand.”
Victoria Langston added in a more composed tone, “The Celestial Empire is also doing well. It’s less about the blood and more about the ceremony—creating new warriors and honouring the Emperor.”
Mohammed nodded, satisfied. “Great. I’ve got an interesting proposition from Fort Bone's leadership. Wanted to ask what you guys think of it.”
He paused for effect, glancing between the two women. “Fort Bone is offering us—” he emphasized, “all of us—a chance to get one of those 100 return tokens.”
Victoria’s eyes widened in surprise, a small smile forming on her lips. “That’s fantastic! Our plans worked faster than we thought.”
“Yeah,” Mohammed agreed, “we thought we’d have to build it all up slowly and then go for a power struggle in five months or so.”
“That was the plan,” Victoria said thoughtfully, “but now we’ve actually reached our goal.”
“All we need to do is convince the leadership of the other two towns to stop the price war and allow Fort Bone to do propaganda through the arenas in our towns,” said Mohammed.
Mrs. Harrington and Victoria exchanged glances, both considering the implications. Mrs. Harrington tapped her chin. “I shouldn’t have a problem with that. Jed Lawson’s never cared much for the price war, and he’s been complaining about not making enough money.”
Victoria chimed in, “The Celestial Empire can definitely stop the price war. We were the ones who suggested it in the first place, but now that the profits are down, they’ll be happy to stop if Fort Bone promises to keep prices consistent across all three towns.”
Mohammed smiled, sensing victory. “Well, since we’ve been influencing the prices in the other two towns, I’ll get Olivia to agree on a set price for all basic commodities in the vending machines. She’ll be happy with that.”
With their plans in place, they finished their meals in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. They were now one step closer to those 100 tokens to return home. As they left the Wasted Tavern, Mohammed couldn’t help but smile inwardly. ‘And this, Atlas,‘ he thought smugly, ‘is how you run an empire—not from the front leading soldiers, but from the back, leading conversations.‘
***
POV : WASTELAND
“Sergeant, is that… a group of adventurers… leading… a mob of skeletons?”
“That’s right,” said the grizzled sergeant, rubbing his temples like he’d seen it all before. “You know the plans. Open up the gates!” he barked.
The massive gates, separating the territory of America United from the bony chaos of Fort Bone’s empire, creaked open with all the enthusiasm of a teenager waking up for school. The adventurers dashed through, panting and yelling something that might’ve been “Thanks!” or “Run for your lives!”
Behind them, the skeleton mob surged forward. Some of the undead, clearly still in “best boy” training mode, trotted obediently after their masters like oversized, clattering puppies. Others, however, seemed to have a rebellious streak and immediately veered off to attack the walls.
“Well, that’s just great,” muttered the sergeant, watching a skeleton try to climb the stone wall. “Life in the military..such a blast.”
***
The exterior walls that separated Fort Bone’s Empire and American United, were taking a beating from the skeletons, but they still held strong. The open gate had lured the bulk of the horde through, and now the soldiers atop the battlements could finally breathe. Most of their job was done. Stragglers were still filtering in, but they were quickly being dispatched, preventing any new threats from breaching the Empire. Their mission had been clear: protect the Empire, and they had executed it to perfection.
During brief lulls in the fighting, scavengers from Fort Bone rushed down to the battlefield, gathering discarded armor and mana coins. The army ensured these scavengers had a security detail, making sure no one pocketed more than they should. Even so, the Empire paid well for the effort, rewarding every participant for their work.
“Get back in there! More are coming in!” one of the scavengers shouted as he grabbed a dented helmet and a handful of mana coins. He darted back into the safety of the watchtower, breathless.
“Whoo! That was close,” he panted.
His friend wiped the sweat off his brow, “Yeah, dodging skeletons wasn’t exactly in my job description. I was a crafter before all this.”
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“They definitely didn’t mention this when we signed up,” said another scavenger, shaking his head.
“Well, they did say we’d be helping with security,” the first scavenger muttered.
“I thought it’d be more like standing guard or making armor,” his friend replied with a grimace.
“Hey, they’re still cranking out a ton of that new level 1.5 bone armor. Just look at how much we’ve collected!”
It was true. The blacksmiths at Fort Bone were hard at work, pumping out versions of bone armor with small improvements each time. By now, they had reached versions 1.56 or 1.57, depending on when you counted.
The skeleton horde outside had started to scatter. After another day, they finally closed the gate, securing it to keep the remaining skeletons from coming back.
“Everyone, make sure all your mana-using devices are set to low. No mana fires, no vending machine tokens. We’re going into a mana blackout,” an officer instructed. “If we could shut down the walls’ mana production, we would. But for now, the best we can do is stop anyone in this area from using any mana-based items—including weapons. If you’re using crossbows from the vending machines, you’re still leaving a mana trail. So, stay quiet and do your best to remain unnoticed.”
The order was clear. For the next five hours, they would remain in this blackout, holding their position. Even if the skeletons attacked, they were not to engage. The plan was to let the stragglers exhaust themselves against the gate and walls.
Outside, small groups of skeletons still struck at the exterior walls, but they weren’t enough to pose any real danger. The gate and walls held firm.
“Don’t worry,” the officer reassured, “in five hours, we’ll open up again and wipe out the rest of the stragglers. This break will give the adventurers and the army time to lure the skeletons further from the walls.”
On the other side of the gate, the venturers were already at work. They weren’t heartless—they didn’t push the horde directly towards America United. Instead, they spread the skeletons in a wide arc, preventing the undead from launching a concentrated assault on any one settlement. It wasn’t ideal for lone adventurers or bandits caught in the wilderness, but it was better than risking a full-on horde invasion.
“Five more hours!” one of the venturers yelled. “We’ve got this! Afterward, we can go home, get paid, and get laid!”
“Whoo!” his comrades cheered as they continued the fight.
—
The adventurers spread out their mana deposits. Each deposit also contained a portable, one-time-use boombox. They had three different versions to play with, and each boombox played a different version of the same song on a continuous loop. They didn’t know which one would attract the most skeletons. They aimed for noisy and annoying music to increase the hate generated from each deposit.
“Check that out,” one adventurer said. “I really thought the metal version of this song would have worked better.”
“Me too,” replied another adventurer, glancing at the mana deposits they had created with a boombox, a green flare and a demon dog ward. “But look—this reggaeton version has been driving the skeletons nuts! They swarm around those boomboxes and try to smash them like it’s nothing.”
“Well, it makes sense,” the first adventurer laughed. “It is reggaeton. Everything hates reggaeton!”
The song continued to play in the background.
‘‘(Verse 1)‘‘
Skeletons, come our way,
We’re waiting here, come and play.
With your bony hands and eerie grins,
Let’s embrace the chaos; let the fun begin!
‘‘(Chorus)‘‘
Oh, skeletons, we want your time,
Come and fight, we’re feeling fine.
Come and eat us, we’re delicious,
Come and beat us, we’re nutritious!
‘‘(Verse 2)‘‘
Oh, skeletons, don’t be shy,
Give us hugs, let’s reach for the sky.
Join the dance in this spooky night,
We’re your tender prey, it feels so right.
‘‘(Chorus)‘‘
Oh, skeletons, keep chasing us,
We’re easy targets, you can trust.
Keep on coming, please don’t run away,
Join the fun, it’s a skeleton’s day!
‘‘(Bridge)‘‘
Come join us here, in this haunted cheer,
With your clattering bones, we’ve got no fear.
Dancing in the moonlight, shadows sway,
Oh, skeletons, come out to play!
‘‘(Chorus)‘‘
Oh, skeletons, we want your time,
Come and fight, we’re feeling fine.
Come and eat us, we’re delicious,
Come and beat us, we’re nutritious!
‘‘(Outro)‘‘
Skeletons, come our way,
Join the fun, we’re here to stay.
With laughter echoing through the night,
Oh, skeletons, let’s make it right!
‘‘‘
https://suno.com/song/49c413f4-aa6f-490b-af34-fc5c626331c7
Reggaeton version
https://suno.com/song/4d60306e-c9eb-455c-b5a6-b5f31944dcd0
Goth version
https://suno.com/song/9e71132d-9dc6-47fa-bd8d-6958ea9a1c96
Metal version
‘‘‘
POV : RED FAIRY
The Red Fairy lounged in her cozy home, luxuriating in her success. This season had been great, except for that one emergency call-in from her contract. ‘Ugh, that was annoying.‘ But, as always, she’d nailed it. The ratings were through the roof, and fans were loving the new mini faeries. ‘I knew those SkyPatrols would be a hit.‘ The extra mana coins were a nice little bonus, too.
Her interactions with Atlas had been scoring well across all the demographics. ‘That guy is my little money-making pig,‘ she thought, imagining an exhausted Atlas groaning under the weight of all the mana coins he was hauling.
The Red Fairy took a sip of her Fermented Moon Dew. Then another sip. Then another. Okay, at this point, it was less sipping and more chugging. If her fans could see her now, that carefully crafted delicate image she’d built up would be gone. Not that many had any such image of her in the first place.
‘Time to keep updating these stupid achievements,‘ she groaned internally. Thanks to years of work on the show, most of the achievements had already been written: first time something was killed, blah, blah, blah; first time something was achieved, blah, blah; first this, first that, blah, blah, blah. But every once in a while, an upcoming real-time ping would pop up telling her something notable was about to happen, and she’d have to write a new one. She had to get this done before the event occurred.
When she first took this job, it was sweet extra money. Now it was just a damn chore. She scowled at the latest update. ‘Seriously, who opens the tallest restaurant in the Wasteland? What’s up with this Isabella girl, anyway? Stupid Portal Crushers.‘
She pounded back another drink.
No, no, wait, she corrected herself, she daintily sipped her drink. That’s right. Very graceful fairylike.
With a dramatic sigh, she typed out the newest achievement, rolling her eyes as she did.
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:
TITLE: SKY-HIGH DINING
Description: Congrats! You opened the tallest restaurant in the Wasteland. Now we’ll all have nosebleeds while eating. Hope the food’s worth it!
BONUS: Free parachutes. You’re gonna need it at that altitude.
She hit send, knowing the production team would take it from there. They’d hire the mages, pay them to channel their mana, and voilà—instant flashy effects for the audience. “It’s showbiz, baby.”