SAVE POINT 28
Dormouse
Admittedly, I was using Fanboi as a bit of a human shield the closer we got to the Slytherin fan crowd. Part of me was curious. The other part knew when to give up and roll over, playing dead with the best of them like a small, scared animal. ...And, I was currently feeling like the second option might hold some serious merit...
There were five of them, something I'd discovered by way of a quick headcount: five Slytherin fans.
Two were engaged in what appeared to be a heated lightsaber battle, their swishing, interlocking blades making hissing and searing noises in the air. One wore a t-shirt emblazoned with Joy's face with a pink checkmark over it above gothic letters proclaiming: 'RESTING BITCH FACE' A second girl wore a green and black scarf wrapped around her neck, even in this heat, with a similar Joy tee. ...And, then, there was a bearded, middle-aged man who looked as lost as I felt inside.
"Dudes, hey!" Fanboi shouted, nodding at us to signal our approach to the group.
A girl with shamrock-green hair, pulled up in short, protruding pigtails, waltzed directly at me—shit, I'd been discovered. An enormous sneer encased her otherwise petite features, "Well if it isn't Martyr Mouse in the House—"
"Hey, lay off," an athletic-looking, Hispanic man confronted the green-haired girl, rolling his amble shoulders back as he faced her like he was gonna bite her, "I like Dormouse." He flashed a smile at me which made me more than slightly uncomfortable, "Sign my abs?"
He lifted his t-shirt to reveal rippling, tan pectorals and a killer tattoo which took up most of his right side.
[System Reward: Somehow, This Guy’s Into You +10 Swag Points, 80]
...And then there was that.
I winced in what must be a clearly tangible way because his smile flickered as I hurried to dismiss the system popup.
"He's straight, asshole," Maude lectured, attempting to bat the guy away, but it was only partially working.
"Cool," the kid flashed his brilliant, pearly whites again, raising an interested eyebrow, "I'm not."
"Good lot of villains you have here," Maude raised her arms widely, spinning to address Fanboi, "All I see are morons—"
"Watch it, lady," the green-haired, pigtailed one growled. With a quickness that, frankly, scared me, she yanked a lightsaber from the hands of another in the group, bringing the glowing, blue, tip down in front of Maude's face. The buzzing point hovered just in front of her lips, pausing there, spitting electricity. Shit, that thing looked real. My nervous eyes danced between the group, and that’s when I saw it: an overturned bucket off to the side where a Laxtail Chira dragon struggled for its life against a band of duct tape twice its size. Shit, they were using forced dragon CM? No wonder they were bringing darkness. Both parties had to trust each other for CM to work correctly which meant…well, it wasn’t and that lightsaber was basically a torch waiting to explode. …And very real… I swallowed hard, my eyes darting back to the green-haired girl, now speaking:
"Did you know in the medieval era they'd cut out your tongue for lying?" A particularly savage glint in the green-pigtailed girl's eyes made my throat tighten. I hated that it was her hand on the other side of that saber. A panic attack was already ensuing in my chest. Oh my God—oh my God—I couldn't let her harm Maude! No, I didn't like-like the blonde anymore, but she was still a person. Still someone—shit. I was gonna have to do something... Did it have to be me????
"Hey, careful; you know, those things are real," I blubbered, stepping forward before a second, green lightsaber swished towards me, thanks to another kid. He held it, buzzing in the air, at my chest.
I threw up my hands in innocence and defeat, but—damn. These guys were serious.
These psychos definitely were the reason for the crack and the earthquake. The evidence was all around us—weapons literally laying in the yellow, field grass—at our feet:
A few different wands.
A bejeweled broad sword.
A bow and a quiver of arrows.
Two ornate daggers.
They could have brought some of it through the portal with them, but not all—definitely not the very real lightsabers, at least. That had to have been made with Creator Magic—Creator Magic that they’d clearly forced out of the dragon. I got it, they wanted to feel cool—finally hold the weapons they'd watched movies and read about—but...
But there was a price for everything and tying up a poor Chira was not the way to go.
"Why should we trust you?" the green-haired leader squinted at both me and her light-saber weapon like trying to determine if it was, in fact, sharp, "You're probably lying."
Defying all laws of physics again, the girl twisted her wrist before I could even blink and brought the saber down—
Sizzle!
Zing!
When the smoke cleared, I saw both a hefty slice out of a nearby rock and the villainous nerds' jaws...dropping open as they stared at the rock's still-fuming gap as a system alert popped into the air over the lightsaber’s blade.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
[EMERALDCITY_88, UNIDENTIFIED CLASS, UNIDENTIFIED LEVEL: Way To Rock That Weapon…Get it…Rock? +10 XP, 10/100]
The girl scoffed at the words in the air, “Ten out of one hundred? Now, that’s gonna have to improve—"
"Not lying, see?" Maude pointed out, stubbornly, gesturing back to the rock.
...An action which just meant she was instantly at the pointed end of the blue lightsaber again.
"Doesn't mean I'm going to surrender," argued the green-haired girl with a growl; her tiny pigtails wobbled, and a purple tongue ring showed through her teeth.
And it'd come down to this: which entitled, bull-headed girl would outlast—blonde or green? This suddenly felt like a reality tv show. Maude chomped on her gum, meeting the other girl’s stare like a volcano was brewing inside.
"Everyone calm down."
I didn't really realize I'd said the words till every eye in this corner of the field landed on me. SH-EYE-T.
"Who told you you could talk?" demanded a scrawny-looking kid whose glasses told me he was at the bottom of the food chain…anywhere.
"Listen," I reasoned carefully, "put the space sword down and—and I'll sign this guy's abs like he wanted. What's your name?" I nodded at the Hispanic guy from before. My voice sounded strangely casual coming from my lips—really, what kind of cool-guy demon had taken over my body suddenly? I was kinda okay with it...
"Sprocket55," the Hispanic guy stuttered back, looking, suddenly, thrown off.
But my smoothness continued, "Sprocket55, that signature you wanted—done if you let me and my friends go." I watched the corresponding trade bob in the air:
[Proposed Trade: DORMOUSE, CODER 14 Will Sign Chest of Sprocket55. UNIDENTIFIED CLASS, UNIDENTIFIED LEVEL If Friends Are Released.]
[Will You Accept the Trade?]
[Yes] [No]
The guy's eyes flashed between me, the neon text and the green-haired girl at the head of the group.
The Hispanic guy leaned forward, "Dude, do it."
But the rest didn't look as convinced. In fact, they looked...suspicious.
"I'll—I'll sign anything you want"—I was well-aware I was all but begging now. My eyes darted to Mimi's flashing ones—"You can sell the signatures if you don't want to keep them, make money off this, okay? Just lower the weapons. Let the blonde go."
Maude. I could see she was barely swallowing against the tip of the blue lightsaber. She wasn’t one to be scared, but I swore I saw the emotion bubbling up in her eyes. An electronic beep sounded, loud in the tense quiet.
[Revised Proposed Trade: DORMOUSE, CODER 14 Will Sign Chest of Sprocket55. UNIDENTIFIED CLASS, UNIDENTIFIED LEVEL And Anything Else For Potential Monetary Gain If Friends Are Released.]
[Will You Accept the Trade?]
[Yes] [No]
Down. I watched as the green-haired girl finally lowered her weapon. Slowly. Maude clutched at her throat and stepped back to our side. The green lightsaber left my chest too as neon words flashed between our groups:.
[System Alert: Covenant Sealed]
[System Reward: Somehow, They Honored That Deal +25 XP, 1454/1500]
I took the Hispanic guy’s marker than and signed his chest and a stack of papers as he held them out. I’d never been happier to sign anything.
Annoying head-of-Slytherin-villain-club blew out a sigh, ruffling her short pigtails with a shake of her head and kicking up grass with her thick-soled, combat boots.
"If you ask me," she huffed, "this game has been dry so far. It needs a little...chaos. Something to run from. I'm happy to supply that in the future."
"You all have no idea the chaos you've already caused here," Mimi lectured, raising a finger that only made the green-haired girl raise an eyebrow, telling me she was barely listening as she feigned a yawn. "Creator Magic," Mimi continued, "isn't supposed to be forced. It’s a contract between a dragon and a Gamer. Look what you’ve done to this poor dragon?!" The freckled girl fumed, “Taping it down—?!” Tears shone in Mimi’s eyes, and I could see she was about to gale-force-wind lose it on them unless I stepped in—
“Forcing the magic makes darkness, cracks The Game world and causes zombies," I started, interrupting and hoping to help them understand.
"Zombies?" the green-haired girl spat, looking relieved, "Finally, something I can get on board with. ...You think I care about hurting your dragon—your Game? You are as naive as they say. Buh-bye, fan favorite ratboy. I'm bored with all of you. I think I'll go create and ride a winged, black leopard to find a normal-sized dragon or something with some real amusement factor."
"No—" Mimi lunged forward.
But the green-pigtailed girl skipped towards the Laxtail Chira, secured to the bucket top, yanking the little creature’s mouth open with her middle finger. Magic flashed, and an enormous, growling, black leopard with massive angel wings appeared right beside her. She easily jumped on its back, digging the heels of her studded, combat boots into the beast, who snarled at the pain.
"Let's ride!" she screamed.
And the beast's enormous wings beat at the air around us, kicking up hurricane winds.
And the sky, which had just been sunny, was, suddenly, dark.
Thunder rumbled. Rain pelted down. And the girl took off.
Till we were all left staring at the bleak clouds above while water ran like tears we hadn't cried yet down our cheeks. I wiped a hand through my now-soaked hair, feeling...was this emotion called 'desperation'? 'Hopelessness'? Well, this didn't go to plan...
"Great," Maude—also thoroughly soaked from the rain with her blonde hair plastered to her cheeks, turned towards Fanboi, wiping eyeliner away from her eyes, "so, now, we have to run after Miss Bo-Peep like the lost sheep."
"Except she's a psycho," I added.
Fanboi scratched at his unkempt beard, nodding, "Bro, literally could not have phrased that better myself." He shook his dreads like a dog trying to dispel the water from its coat, but it was of little use; the deluge only continued. "EmeraldCity_88," the man drawled, thoughtfully, "Sounded like an innocent username...who knew she was a little shit..."
We stared in silence at the rest of the Slytherin group, at a loss for words except—
Except something crazy welled up in me then.
A knowing.
An urge.
A confidence.
That I hadn't had before. I marched over to the Laxtail Chira, and I ripped the tape free. The little animal gurgled in delight, twirling upward—around my head and neck, shaking off the rainwater—before whizzing off into the sky. And I knew then. I knew the words I wanted to say—knew what I had to do because someone had to do it.
"I'll do it. I'll go after EmeraldCity," I vowed determinedly. I turned to Mimi who’d already opened her mouth to protest. "Mimi, you and Maude stay here and do what you were trained for—portal crowd control. You'll need Fanboi's direction. He knows these people. I'll find EmeraldCity and bring her back before she can do anymore harm. I can do this."
The system went crazy, then, with rewards.
[System Reward: Whoa Boy, You Are Looking Hotter And Hotter With That Confidence +10 Swag Points, 90]
[System Reward: You Just Volunteered To Be The Hero, Nice Going! +10 XP, 1464/1500]
My arms and heart danced with a strange set of untethered nerves.
I COULD do this. …But, truth be told, I wondered if I was saying that last sentence for them...or for me.