Pepper’s eye had a nice deep blue bruise from the nightstand it had hit the previous night. His fingers continued to poke and jab at the injury, the pain throbbing with every touch. He grimaced.
The greater pain didn’t come from his face, but rather his heart and soul. Every minute that ticked down to when the bus would arrive caused even more dread. He had tried to plead with his mom to let him stay home sick. The thought of dealing with her for a whole day was a much better prospect than the embarrassment of facing his classmates.
She had refused, of course, and yelled at him to get out of the bathroom and go to the bus stop. His shoulders slouched and he kept his hat down as low as it could go. He tried to avoid any onlookers and kept his back to as many people as possible.
He was successful until Brent jumped onto the bus. His friend immediately knew something was wrong. Pepper merely lifted his head and glanced at his friend as soon as he began asking questions. He didn’t respond right away, but Brent’s contorted face said it all.
“Did you win?” Brent asked.
Pepper rolled his eyes. “Nightstand 1, Pepper 0.”
“Ouch… must have been a pretty bad dream.”
“Just the usual demonic attack that destroys the neighborhood.”
“Oh yeah, been there before. I feel like everyone has those dreams. It would make sense if there was just that one initial attack and only those who survived, like our parents, had the night terrors. But, I mean, we have new probe attacks all through the year. Everyone I know has night terrors. People will understand, P-Dub. Don’t beat yourself up.”
Pepper shrugged. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”
“Hey! Did I ever tell you about the nightmare I had where I thought I was a caterpillar?”
Pepper chuckled. “No.”
“Yeah! So… that dream was wild. I could have sworn that I really was a caterpillar. I was just scrunching my butt up and down while I crawled around on this tree. But that isn’t the worst part.” Brent’s hand shot out and added emphasis. “So, I start to slowly weave into my little cocoon thing, right.” Pepper continued to laugh under his breath at his friend. Brent was wiggling his body around and acting out every small part of the story.
“So, I get all up in my cocoon and I am there for who knows how long. But then… in an instant, rather than transforming into a butterfly, I pop out as a birthday cake!”
Pepper’s eyes widened in confusion. “What?”
“Yeah! Straight up, caterpillar, cocoon, birthday cake. But that, of course, still isn’t the worst part!” Brent leaned in with his eyes locked onto Pepper’s. “I was then placed on a table at a kid’s birthday party. They cut me up into little pieces and all the kids started to eat me.”
“Eww… that’s nasty, Brent.”
“Needless to say, I haven’t touched birthday cake since.”
Pepper tilted his head. “Wait… didn’t you have birthday cake at Meg’s party last year?”
“Nope… birthday cupcake. Not the same thing, but still the same great sugary frosting!” Brent ended with a large smile.
Pepper rolled his eyes and smiled. He felt his heart warm in appreciation of his best friend. A familiar annoying voice quickly ended that, though.
“Well, geez, Peepers! You lean in for a kiss on your friend Summer and get denied?” Tamin mocked.
Brent not only launched into a defense of his best friend but of his childhood crush. “Hey, Tamin!” Brent stood up and chest bumped Tamin in the center aisle. Tamin was taller than Brent, but at that moment, you couldn’t tell. Brent barked and leaned aggressively into his nemesis as if he was his own personal guard dog. “Pretty sure nobody asked for your spoiled opinion on the matter. But since you want to put your nose into places it don’t belong, how about you try out a piece of this birthday cake? Huh? You wanna? You wanna?”
Pepper was now coming to the defense of his best friend by, one, holding him back, but two, and more importantly, encouraging him to shut his mouth. The verbal battle was quickly being lost as Brent said the first thing that came into his mind. “Dude, you sound ridiculous right now,” Pepper muttered.
“I might sound ridiculous, but at least I don’t look like a spoiled brat. Come on and taste these sprinkles!”
“Brent! Shut up!” Pepper continued.
The bus driver bellowed out a warning for the boys to take their seats. Their fellow students were all laughing at the ordeal. Tamin brushed his shoulder off and confidently walked to a different section of the bus. Brent was still jittery with passionate energy and was finally convinced to have a seat.
“Showed him,” Brent said in a confident tone.
Pepper’s eyebrows arched upwards in shocked disbelief. “Yeah… showed him how insane you are. That and terrible with verbal comebacks.”
***
The rest of the morning was filled with Pepper trying to avoid the prying eyes of others. He was easily distracted, however, due to Brent still not letting go of his resentment towards Tamin. His best friend continually found ways to interject it into every conversation.
The two sat down at their usual table in the cafeteria, directly in the middle of the room but on the far exterior edge with Pepper’s back against the wall. He found a great deal of pleasure in people-watching. There was something about the practice where he could sit in silence but watch and listen to the commotion going on all around him. Pepper never really cared to be the center of attention, but neither did he appreciate being an outsider. He felt that he just wanted to be a part of something.
[:::] A New Episode of RuneCast Is Live [:::]
Pepper and Brent started to slowly chip away at their food and then a message arrived on his holodex. Pepper tapped it open and changed the projection configuration so it would be more easily seen by both of them. The two watched the countdown timer and the theme music began.
The warm, welcoming, and jolly voice of John Douglas arrived first. The screen then swiped away to show the famed host. John always had on his Season 1 Golem League ball cap. The hat was completely faded and worn down, but the thing was practically a collector’s item now. John quickly adjusted his glasses and ran his hand down his beard.
“What is going on, golem fans?” the southern gentleman started. He smiled and tilted his head slightly while his hands came up into view and moved around as he spoke into the camera. “I know in our last episode that I said I would have a surprise for y’all. And I will tell you what, I just can’t wait any freaking longer! On today’s episode of RuneCast, we have a special guest. I am excited to welcome the one, the only, the defending Golem Master Champion who controls the most awesome panda bear there is … Mr. Brandon Benard!”
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There was an audio track of an audience applauding while a second screen appeared. Brandon had on his own ball cap, but his was even more prestigious—an official Golem League Golem Master Champion hat specifically made for him, with only a handful ever produced, purchased by the ultra-select few who could afford them. Brandon adjusted his own glasses and shifted in his seat. “Hey, John, what’s up, man … that was quite the introduction.”
“Well, you know I am always excited when I get to talk to my favorite golem gladiators! And, of course, there is no better time to celebrate and get excited when you have on the defending champion!” John leaned a little closer towards his camera with a big smile.
Brandon waved his hand towards the camera, brushing off the compliment while his smile grew even larger. “John, seriously… there are so many other amazing gladiators out here. I mean, I was just having dinner with James Dean the other night. I’m super sad to see him retire from the League and feel bad cos I was his last match, you know?”
“That is something that I noticed the other day when we saw the post-match interview with Shami and Stephen. You all really do spend a lot of time together behind the scenes, don’t you?”
Brandon pressed his lips together and nodded. “Absolutely. I would say you almost have to when you get up at this level.”
John’s face had a curious expression. “And why is that exactly?”
“The stress, the pressure… the demand on your time and energy.”
John shook his head but then smiled. “And here I am being the jerk taking up your precious free time.”
Brandon chuckled. “Ahh, naw, John. You know I will always make time for you, man.”
The two smiled on screen while Pepper and Brent chuckled along with them. Pepper leaned his head to one side. “I wonder what it’s like to be interviewed.”
Brent huffed in reply. “You’ll find out for yourself one day.”
Pepper rolled his eyes in disbelief and returned his gaze to John, who had just started his next question. “Brandon… I have to say, those rune adjustments to Panda Cakes were incredible. I mean, four energy refinement runes and four energy precision runes? My goodness, no wonder you won, but did you ever take a massive risk.”
Brandon nodded at the end of John’s statement. “Yeah, I took a massive risk filling up all my rune slots with that. I practically had no defense and was nothing but pure offense.”
“I was about to say, Brandon, you had elemental defense and an elemental energy shield and finally that gravity force push. Now, I am assuming the force push was added with the intent of defense, was it not?”
Brandon nodded. “Yeah, that gravity force push was added specifically for that reason. I mean, James’s Iron Ram is a beast, and when it gets going at full speed with all that metal armor, you need something to help give you that standoff distance.”
“But you added a Quintek gravity rune. Why not stay with one made by Centaur or Ronin? Because they have some really nice gravity runes, and they are also rated with more power delivery, if I remember correctly.”
“You’re totally right, John, and yeah, those Ronin and Centaur runes are really nice. Their power is much greater than the Quintek, but the thing that the Quintek has over theirs is refresh rate. That was what I was more concerned with. If James had gotten inside my inner circle before I had time to power up the staff, I would need to keep his charges at bay. The Quintek rune would allow me to keep using it, rather than having to wait for the cool-down period of the Ronin and Centaur.”
John nodded along, and an excited energy came over him. “See! This is what I love and why I love RuneCast so much. I love it when we get down to these nitty gritty details. The planning and scope, that crunchy data and tactical approach. Not many gladiators go into depth in explaining their strategies.”
Brandon smiled and tilted his head from side to side. “I mean, there are some days where you just wing it.”
John’s jaw dropped. “What? Wing it? In the Pantheon League? You’re joking.”
Brandon started with a chuckle that built into a small laugh. “I’m serious. Yeah, the Golem League is a professional job and something we have to work hard at. But you still have to have fun at the end of the day. But I won’t lie, there are some matches where you go into it and wing it, or go wild and try something crazy—something you’ve never seen done before. If you know you’re already going to make it into the championship bracket at the end of the season but still have a match or two left before it starts, well, then go all out and have fun. Those matches don’t matter if you win or lose, because you’re going on into the championship.”
John had a big smile on his face. “I think that says it all right there. All right everyone, we’re going to take a quick commercial break with our sponsors. Don’t go anywhere.”
[:::] Five Minutes Until Physical Education Class [:::]
Pepper’s notification flashed across the screen. They both sighed and he closed the podcast down into his holodex. “I guess we can just finish it later.”
Brent grabbed his lunch tray for him and began to stand up. “What are you doing later tonight?”
[:::] 384.42 F Deposited Into Your Account [:::]
Pepper’s eyebrows danced as he smiled. “Looks like I am headed to the store first thing after school and going to be working on Mala.”
Brent shook his head. “You can’t call your golem that… not yet, at least.”
“Why not?” He leaned his head back with an argumentative look.
“Because Mala is supposed to be a white battle tiger, not a brown clay half-shaped battle tiger!” Brent lifted the trays and hunched his shoulders. He gave Pepper a sarcastic look.
“Well, have fun in Mrs. Crandall’s class!” Pepper yelled over the background chatter.
“I will!” he replied.
***
“Let’s go! Get moving! Two laps around the track!” Mr. Beaulieu yelled across the field. He stood in the center of the football field. His black Golem League hat fitted his color scheme. His long bushy black beard made it look like he was in a heavy metal band. He wore a matching black athletic T-shirt, shorts, and shoes.
Some of the students felt he came off as cold. But Pepper had never had a problem with him, though. He was blunt, straightforward, but fair across the board. He treated everyone the same and took serious ownership of the physical education program. The PE teacher would let some things slide, but only if it was before or after his training session.
There was a slight reflection off his thick black-framed glasses. He twirled his whistle around while holding on to the lanyard. It was a bad day if he started to squelch that thing to life. He could be as stern as Nate inside the Ohana dojo, but overall it was pretty much the same in Pepper’s mind.
“Pick up your feet, Miss Cypher! Mr. Watkins, Mr. Middleton, let’s go! You can chit-chat later.”
Pepper kicked off into a jog. He kept himself in the middle of the track, with a few course corrections to weave around some of the slower individuals.
“What happened to you, Peepers? Huh? Your girlfriend tell you no again?” Tamin’s voice cut through him from behind.
Pepper felt his muscles tighten as he ran. He stretched out his neck but didn’t slow his pace or give Tamin any attention. His eyes remained focused straight ahead.
“You can’t deny it, Peeps! I saw you drooling all over her at the ice cream shop the other night.”
Pepper started to grind his teeth. He felt Tamin’s presence and then noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. His nemesis was trotting along next to him. He couldn’t help himself; he dashed a glance over and saw the arrogant glee written all over Tamin’s face.
“So did Summer say yes to dating you because you are just as special as her little brother?”
Pepper could feel his face start to flush with anger. He couldn’t help but shake his head and did everything he could to ignore him. His feet picked up the pace, and he worked to get away from Tamin.
“Where you going, Peepsicle?” Tamin maintained the same pace as him. “Seriously, is that how you land a dime like Summer? You just need to stutter and drool all over your—”
Pepper couldn’t take it any longer. He angled his left leg out and tripped Tamin in mid stride. He crashed onto the track and rolled over. Pepper reacted without thinking and continued his pursuit.
His punch came down and cracked right into Tamin’s face. Tamin curled up into a ball and started to cry out, acting like an innocent victim. A crowd had already encircled them and was cheering them on. Pepper rained down as many hits as he could.
“Is that the best you got, freak?” Tamin asked, continuing to provoke him.
Pepper reared back and landed a solid strike exactly where his first one had landed. He raised his fist again and was about to rain down another hit when he felt himself being pulled off from behind.
“I said that is enough, Mr. Walker!” Mr. Beaulieu yelled.
Pepper had blocked him out. The entire time, all he had heard were random voices that sounded like they were trapped inside a tin can. He struggled to break free and continue the fight.
Mr. Beaulieu’s strength was too much for him though. His burly arms were now wrapped around his waist, and Pepper found himself being carried off the field. “It’s done, over!”
“Oh, it’s not over, Mr. B… it’s only just begun,” Pepper replied through gritted teeth.