“What’s up, quackers!” It was the familiar voice of Stephen Landry, who hopped over the back of Benjamin’s couch and landed next to him. He was wearing the same attire as he had during the match against Shami Stovall—fully kitted out in black. Black ball cap with the bill flared upwards, sunglasses, leather jacket, pants, and combat boots. The only thing that was not completely black was his shirt, which appeared to be of the metal band Demon Hunter. “Man, I love getting together with the Duck Squad!”
“I don’t really see why you would choose a duck out of all living creatures to represent your group, Stephen,” Benjamin replied.
“Hey! You mess with the flock and you’re gonna be quacked! Okay?”
“But… That doesn’t even rhyme or sound intimidating,” Benajmin countered with a confused expression.
“Yeah… well, it is intimidating when you see both Eric’s and my yetis walking over the hill while playing Ozzy’s ‘Iron Man’!”
“None of that makes sense, Stephen. Why do you call yourself the Duck Squad when your golems are yetis?”
“It doesn’t need to make sense to be awesome. It’s what the people want.” Stephen replied while making the hard rock devil horns hand gesture.
It was then that Pepper saw a small slender woman approaching. He couldn’t help but laugh, as she was wearing a duck onesie. She lowered the hood to expose her bright blue hair. Her smile beamed and she fluttered her eyelashes at Benjamin over her blue eyes. “Oh, come on! You know you want to be a part of the Duck Squad. Just admit it.”
“The level of commitment you all have towards this venture is both frightening and admirable at the same time,” Benjamin replied.
“Whatever… Okay, who else is going to see JoeDan destroy Mitch Johnson tomorrow?” Stephen asked the group. Everyone nodded, and Stephen confirmed with all the individuals until he made it to Pepper. “What’s up, new guy? You going to make it?”
Pepper smiled and shrugged. “Sure thing. When and where?”
Stephen made a sarcastic, smug expression. “You know what, dude? If Eric thinks you’re cool enough to hang out with, you’re cool enough with me. Here, what’s your League Chat account?”
Pepper was stunned with surprise for a second as he watched Stephen load up his holodex and navigate to League Chat’s “add friend” option. He ignored his hesitation and loaded up his account information. “Um, it’s 736368337.”
Stephen was head bobbing along as if there was a rock song playing in his mind that he was jamming along to. His hand typed away on the holographic screen. “Okay, dude. There you go.”
Pepper’s eyes widened in amazement when he saw the message appear.
[:::] Yo! What up duck… this is Landry’s contact info. [:::]
Just then, at that moment, Pepper stopped and reflected. He was sitting among the Golem League gladiators he had grown up watching and currently followed. Yet there wasn’t any feeling of superiority. They had all welcomed him without question. Invited him to take part in the conversation.
Though there were people who encouraged him back home, these were his people—a group of individuals who all shared their common love for the action of the arena. Who wanted to compete against one another while at the same time supporting each other in the best ways possible. There was nothing else like it.
***
The next morning came way too early for Pepper. It felt like he had just put his head on his pillow and his alarm clock was already ringing him back to life. To his surprise, there was already a message waiting for him from Stephen, telling him to get down to breakfast. He did his best to get ready and arrived to see everyone still carrying the same smiles and bright enthusiastic energy they’d had just a few hours prior. What was even more surprising was when Pepper found out the party had never stopped for the other gladiators. They’d raged throughout the night and kept chugging along on energy drinks and good vibes.
The group slammed down a hearty breakfast and washed it all down with energy drinks. It was quite the scene seeing them being herded like cats, but they were finally able to pile into a small passenger van. “To the arena!” they bellowed in unison.
The journey took far longer than Pepper had anticipated, but the van karaoke session erased that dread. They arrived at a large metal coliseum that appeared to be ten times larger than America’s biggest football stadium. Pepper found himself walking beside Stephen as they entered the massive structure. Stephen inclined his head towards him. “This is the latest coliseum construction. A lot of rumors that the Golem League wants to shift to this over the next couple of years. They’ve been discussing a multitude of options to make the Golem League even larger. The tier system is great, but it sounds like they want to make it more of a continent shift, creating different leagues that have mid-season and final season tournaments.”
“Why don’t they just make the shift now?” Pepper asked.
Stephen lifted his hand and tilted it back and forth. “They are very much like the military. It takes forever to make big changes like that. They have to consider all the different financial options and how’d they keep a secure hold on all the revenue. The unsanctioned matches are a huge competition for them. A lot of research shows that fans actually enjoy those matches more due to the amount of unregulated runes gladiators can use. They’re using simulations to try and test out how fans would like this other option. It’d bring in more of the international audience but also open up for more competitors, which overall equals more money.”
“Aren’t they making enough as it is?”
“Well, yes, but at the same time, the cost to maintain, repair, and rebuild damaged golems is huge,” Stephen replied.
Pepper huffed. He knew all too well how true that was. Their group found seats in the grandstand while in his mind flashed the price tag to rebuild Mala. Pepper immediately wanted to forget about the giant dumpster fire of shattered dreams that awaited him back home. As if the universe had heard him, a figure arrived and sat down next to him. He didn’t recognize the man at first with his gray ball cap, sunglasses, baby-blue button-up shirt, and khaki cargo shorts.
“Hey, Pepper. Have fun last night?” The voice was all too familiar, and Pepper immediately realized it was Harmon Cooper.
“Haha, you look different.” He smiled.
Harmon lowered his perfectly normal sunglasses and showed Pepper his bloodshot eyes. “Last night was insane… insane, man… Oof, my head is still pounding.”
“Let me guess, you didn’t get any sleep last night either?”
Harmon sighed. “Nope… especially not after I watched Michael Chatfield smoosh two pieces of bread on either side of Geneva’s face. The entire time he kept screaming, ‘Who’s a tasty marketing director sandwich?’ only for her to yell back, ‘This girl is!’ I don’t care who you are, Pepper, that stuff is nothing short of a horror story nightmare waiting to happen.”
“I dunno… that Queen Donut outfit was quite alarming as well,” Pepper replied with a soft laugh.
Harmon took a sip from his coffee cup. “Be careful what bets you make in this league, Pepper… these guys are the craziest bunch of looney tunes you’ll ever meet.”
The theme song for the Golem League blared through massive speakers scattered throughout the coliseum. Fireworks shot up, and it looked like the opening ceremony all over again. A jumbo screen opposite them flashed to life and the two commentators appeared with large smiles.
“Well, there is no better time to have an exhibition match than at GolemCon. What’s going on, golem fans? Are you ready for today’s match?” Nick opened. The crowd cheered, and the majority of people around Pepper cringed as the noise rang out and their bodies reminded them of the late-night festivities.
JD Glasscock was standing next to his counterpart on the screen and encouraged the crowd further. “Oh, come on, golem fans, the party never stops when it’s GolemCon! I haven’t stopped since the wheels of the aircraft touched down at the airport. The reason… for moments like this, we have two military veterans clashing it out. US Marine Mitch Johnson versus the one and only Navy Corpsman JoeDan Worley!”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
The far end of the arena floor opened up and the crowd watched as a giant green-painted golem was slowly lifted up. When the head came into view, Pepper could see it was chiseled into the features of a massive battle-hardened orc. The golem looked like it was straight out of a video game and spoke of a high level of craftsmanship. Pepper was amazed to see all the fine details that had been incorporated into the design. The pointed ears of the orc even had real earrings dangling down. It sported a nose ring and massive white teeth that jutted out from its jowls.
A large circular shield was on its left, with an etched intricate pattern all throughout it. Dead in the shield’s center was a painted demon skull. The right hand held a giant rock mallet. One end of the hammerhead was chiseled into a pointed tip, while the opposite side was flat. The orc was covered in what looked like animal hide clothing, with two demon skulls used as armor for its shoulders.
Pepper couldn’t tell if the skulls were real or not. Their craftsmanship was of such fine detail that he could not tell the difference. He could feel himself inching towards the edge of his seat. The orc was already powered on, but as the power core generated more energy, the golems eyes intensified in neon green color. It stretched out its arms and then brought its hammer and shield together. The result created a huge neon green flame that exploded out from the hammer in a display of power.
“Dude… orc battle, let’s go!” Stephen exclaimed.
The opposite end of the arena floor opened up. A bright shining light immediately reflected off a surface of the golem’s head when it appeared. The same high standard of detail and craftsmanship was instantly apparent, but the thing that caught Pepper’s curiosity was that fact that the golem was faceless.
As the golem was lifted up, it was clear to see that its design was that of a human. Yet there was no face. The ears were properly in place and the lower jawline was formed, but its face was nothing but a slightly curved surface. The body was of a unique design that looked like a metal statue of a man but the muscular structure appeared to be over-emphasized. The larger proportions were then crafted together with bolt heads and rivets creating seems which ran all along the lines of the body in a Frankenstein’s-monster-meets-armored-robot combination. A brushed metal finish added to the emphasis.
Pepper’s leg started to bounce up and down in excitement but then he froze in anticipation. The golem has no legs! he mentally exclaimed. The golem ended at the waist and was perfectly placed in the center of the platform. It powered on and a deep blue color shimmered across its surface as it began to lift itself up and float in the air.
“How is it doing that?” he asked out loud.
“Magnetism,” Harmon replied.
“This is gonna be epic! This is going to be epic!” Stephen started to chant.
The countdown timer began and the battle horn rang out. The orc was the first to act as it ran forward. It charged ahead and launched itself upward with a powerful leap. It brought its hammer across its body in a large swing. A quick lean to the right and the metal man glided away from the attack.
The orc landed with a skid and paused for a split second. Pepper could see that Mitch was trying to gauge the next move JoeDan was going to make. A quick adjustment and the orc surged back towards its opponent. The metal man still hovered near the edge of the arena.
Mitch’s orc quickly closed the distance and was about to launch itself into another leap when the metal man extended its arm. A quick flash of dark blue sparked out from its wrist. Pepper could just make out the reflected flash of the fingers that shot out as if they were bullets.
The orc dropped down onto its knees and skidded across the loose dirt floor of the arena. It brought its shield up with only a millisecond left before the fingers pelted upon it. Pepper could just make out the metal prongs that remained embedded in the shield. The deep blue glow wrapped around the stubby limb of the metal man, and Pepper watched as the metal prongs were drawn back and reattached themselves to the golem.
Mitch tried to shift his golem’s footing and get it ready to perform its next attack. But JoeDan was relentless. The metal man extended both arms. In the blink of an eye its fingers, hands, wrists, forearms, elbows, biceps, triceps, and shoulders all separated and fired towards their opponent. Each dismembered metal body part slammed into the orc’s shield. The fingers made sharp cracks and every body part thereafter amplified their impact into a series of loud thunderclaps. It ended when the final shoulder piece arrived and the shield exploded into a thousand pieces.
A small dust cloud wafted upwards in front of the orc. While it stood back up, the metal pieces slowly began to rattle down onto the arena floor. They were finally flung back towards their host body, and the sound of clanking metal confirmed they had arrived.
“That’s rough… though the shield was a good defensive weapon, Mitch likes to use it as a blunt striker option as well,” Stephen chimed in.
“He’ll probably switch to his lightning whips… but that will force him to practically max out his power core to sustain it,” Harmon said as soon as Stephen had finished.
Pepper listened intently, keeping his gaze fixed on the match. Mitch’s orc charged as he tried to cut the distance. JoeDan’s metal man was slowly drifting away, its speed now significantly slower. Pepper was sure this was because it had expended so much energy in its attack and now strained to maintain its ability to stay aloft.
The orc rushed forward and leapt towards its opponent, the battle hammer outstretched over its head and both hands gripping the handle. Pepper could see the metal man’s arms reached up to catch the hammer in an attempt to lessen the blow. It turned out to be a useless effort, as the flat head of the hammer arrived and sent the metal golem straight onto the arena floor.
A bellowing cheer came over the crowd. The orc was fast to continue its pursuit, not letting the shift of momentum be wasted. JoeDan’s faceless man was able to recover quickly and was back in the air by the time Mitch’s orc arrived.
Energy refinement rune, Pepper thought to himself.
Just as he finished his thought, he heard Stephen mutter, “Refinement rune… got to be. No way you get up from that.”
Pepper smiled and clenched his fist tightly. His heart swelled with pride and confidence that he was on the same wavelength as this great gladiator. A glance over at Harmon, though, and he saw the gladiator’s head tilt slightly.
“Or another power core. A lot of people are doing that these days. It makes sense too with how much this magnetism effect must be requiring.” Harmon took a sip of his coffee.
“True… true,” Stephen replied calmly.
The orc swung its hammer directly at the damaged chest plate. A deep blue light surged from the waistline of the metal golem and it began to rotate. The speed of the rotation picked up, the large metal fists of the golem were now spinning around. The metal man accelerated until it looked like a punching tornado.
Sparks and chips of granite scattered around the arena and the orc backpedaled. Mitch looked at a loss for what to do next. JoeDan continued to press his attack and sent his opponent backwards towards the far end of the arena.
Mitch’s golem practically had its back against the wall when it flung its hammer aside. It brought the palms of its two massive hands together. A bright green ball formed between them. The hands drew back towards its chest before they quickly extended again.
The green orb had now formed itself into a square. As the orc released its attack, the square was magnified into a massive wall that surged straight ahead. It smashed into the metal man and forced him back to the halfway point of the arena. The crowd cried out in excitement, and Pepper, along with his entire group of gladiators, joined in.
Pepper was fixated on the orc. It lowered its hands to its sides. The distinct neon green glow appeared once again. This time it flowed slowly downward and formed itself into what appeared to be a whip. Static electricity sizzled up and down the energy weapon.
“He needs to hurry and do something with that whip. It sure ain’t going to do anything in regards to blocking,” Harmon said.
The orc took a few steps forward, raised its arms, and sent the first whip streaking across the arena. It landed against the metal trapezius portion of JoeDan’s golem. Instead of retracting, though, it remained latched onto the golem’s exterior. The green electrified energy pulsed and began to draw the deep blue power out of its victim.
“That’s a new addition! He didn’t have leech last time he used that attack! This is epic!” Stephen exclaimed and looked to be on the verge of standing up.
“How does Stephen have so much energy?” Pepper whispered to Harmon.
“I think he has his own internal power core, cos no human heart should be able to sustain this level of operation,” Harmon replied.
The two chuckled before turning their attention back to the match. Pepper watch as the second whip was winding up and about to snap forward. The faceless golem detached its limbs. This time, though, instead of shooting forward towards their opponent, they began to spin in unison, creating a circular motion. The pieces now moved like a controlled saw blade. It created the appearance of a deep blue disk which was finally released and went cut across the arena.
Mitch’s orc was frantically snapping its whip and attempting to break through the attack closing in on it. The electrified cracks echoed throughout the coliseum, and a slight reverberation rippled across Pepper’s skin. He almost cringed at the ferocious thunderclaps of the metal crashing against the stone surface of the orc.
Pepper couldn’t help but feel an eerie sensation and a cold shiver crawling over the back of his neck. The sound reminded him all too much of the defensive military gun turrets firing during the last portal attack near his home. He had to shake his head and mentally pull himself out of the freezing fear his body almost surrendered to.
His eyes narrowed back in on the orc as more and more shards of stone were chipped away from its body. The orc abandoned its attempt to wield the energized whip. It quickly raised its hands and tried to catch hold of the pieces that continued to crash down upon its frame.
Pepper didn’t lose sight of the fact that JoeDan’s faceless man was now back up and hovering over the arena floor. It was slowly closing the distance, as if he knew the end was near before his opponent realized his fate. The metal golem drew in closer than it had before. Its opponent’s hands were now nothing but fractured nubs of stone.
In the blink of an eye, the faceless metal golem recalled its pieces. The two arms were reformed in a flash, and the left hand reached out and clutched the orc’s stone head. JoeDan extended his golem’s right hand, and it remained suspended in front of his opponent’s chest. The hand moved from side to side ever so slightly. It looked like it was able to feel and search for something.
The distinct sound of stone snapping and splitting cut across the area. A massive crack ripped down the side of the orc’s rib cage. A final fracture and Pepper watched as a bright pulsating green metallic orb detached itself from the orc and flew into the faceless golem’s hand.
“It ripped its heart out! That’s so sick!” Stephen yelled, leaping to his feet.
The metal golem’s hand clamped down and shattered the green power core. A massive eruption engulfed both golems for half a minute until the green power dissipated. By the time the smoke had cleared, the stone orc lay with its face in the dirt. The crowd began to chant with victorious pride, “VetCore! JoeDan! VetCore! JoeDan! VetCore! JoeDan!”