Josh swung his hammer with all his might, lightning shot from the hammer as it impacted against Matt’s shield. Josh groaned at the recoil, the shield hadn’t budged at all.

“This seems like cheating” Josh complained aloud.

Matt, who stood a few feet away, laughed “Maybe you need some more muscle density?”

Josh shot the man a glare and once more swung at the floating shield, attempting to push it aside to get to Matt. striking the side pushed it slightly but never far enough.

“Bet you wish you made the doors wider” Skye teased from across the room.

Josh frowned and looked to the ground, long lines of tape covered the ground forming a square around Matt, his shield floated over the only gap in the tape.

All around them similar shapes were littering the ground, creating a two-dimensional town. This had been Josh’s idea to train with Louie to take on humans, creating makeshift barriers to mark where she can or can’t shoot. He had spent the previous day placing the tape to create the terrain of an abandoned town. That was also the day that the newbies visited the real world, Lance had also gone back to Scream to see the fallout of the mission.

He had been so proud to show his work to Skye, Dale, and Matt for a morning training session. This died quickly as Skye told him God would've made a real abandoned town for 50 points. Josh had wanted to erase everything and go make the actual town but Skye wanted to keep it as to better observe the spar.

Behind Matt, Dale slowly crept around another tape barrier, moving directly behind the veteran. He carried a wooden pole nearly as long as he was tall with both hands. Once Dale was behind Matt, he angled the staff at the veteran’s back and thrusted forward, disregarding the tape barrier he crossed. Matt effortlessly turned and used the second shield on his arm to deflect the staff to the side. Dale overstepped during his attack, putting him close enough for Matt to grab and toss away.

“You’re not allowed to cross the tape” Matt reminded

“You shouldn’t get distracted,” Josh said.

In Josh’s hand a baseball sized transparent orb formed, in its center a miniature marble sat. Sparks of lightning popped out of the marble as Josh fueled the spell. The jock tossed the orb with startling speed and accuracy, curving around the floating shield and landing at Matt’s feet. Upon impact the transparent orb grew, swallowing Matt and his shields without resistance. The marble remained in the center as the orb grew. Once the transparent orb reached its full size, the marble fired bolts of lightning in all directions. Matt raised his shield, but the lightning arched around the defense and struck him directly. The lightning ended after two seconds, leaving Matt gasping on his knees.

“Was that too much?” Josh asked, stepping towards his team mate.

“That was awesome!” Dale said from the side

“I’m fine” Matt assured, flashing a ring on his hand “Happy to have a chance to actually use one of my items”

“I tried to keep it short” Josh said “Will your healing ring be enough?”

“That was awesome!” Skye interrupted, approaching from her lookout

“That's what I said” Dale pointed out

“Your new spell works great” Skye said “You won’t have to rely on your hammer all the time.”

“It felt like throwing a baseball” Josh grinned “I need to check how far I can throw now”

Skye turned to Matt “You see what you did wrong?”

“Got distracted” Matt shrugged

Skye shook her head “You’re guiding your shields through thoughts, you need to get them moving instinctually. You raised your arm before you moved your shield. If you moved your shield that fast you might've blocked it from reaching you”

“I’ll work on that” Matt said

“Dale” Skye turned to the newest member “Why’d you break the wall?”

“Practice for the future” Dale said excitedly “I’m going to learn how to infuse my Qi into my staff. Once I do that breaking through walls will be a breeze”

“I like that you have goals already” Skye nodded

Dale raised his staff proudly “I’m going to become the unbreakable pillar of Team East America. I’ll grow so strong that nothing will break my staff!”

“Yes!” Skye cheered, “We’ll show everyone our power!”

“We’re supposed to be training to grow stronger” Josh pointed out, bringing the duo out of their excitement.

“Right” Skye nodded and focused on Dale “You should focus on what you can do now before practicing future abilities. Practice using your Qi on your body before your staff”

Dale nodded seriously at the advice before closing his eyes.

“Not right now” Matt said “We should head up to meet with Logan”

Dale blushed lightly and laughed. The group made their way out of Josh’s basement and to the Lobby. Lance, Eve, and Louie all stood under God, talking in low voices. Josh immediately jogged over, his group following right behind.

“Hey guys” Josh greeted.

“Excellent!” Lance said as he noticed the approaching members “You guys are just in time”

“In time for what?” Skye asked

“Witnessing the creation of the newest member of our team” Lance declared

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You’re making a human creation?” Josh asked, directing the question at Louie

“Yeah, a bodyguard” Louie said “Someone to watch me when I’m sniping”

“Do you have the points to buff them up?” Matt asked “It might be better to wait till after the team battle”

“She’ll be fine” Louie said unconcerned “I’ll be passing on my shooting training and my fighting skills. Plus, I’ll make sure she’s the strongest God will make her”

“I think this is the perfect time to bring on a new member” Lance agreed “Especially for a new player, hopefully she’ll earn plenty of points for you”

“Do you want us to give you some privacy to make her?” Josh asked

“Nah,” Louie shook her head “I’m just about ready”

Louie took a step closer to God and closed her eyes. After a moment a beam of light shot down from God directly in front of Louie. From nothing a form appeared. A woman who looked to be in her twenties took shape, her chestnut brown hair was cut short and her skin was a bronze tan. She was dressed in standard outdoor wear and stood with proper posture.

“Excellent” Lance spoke first “Welcome to the team um what was the name again”

“Dawn” the human creation spoke for the first time “Please call me Dawn”

“Welcome to the team Dawn” Skye stepped forward and hugged the new member.

“Hey” Louie snapped “She’s my bodyguard, let me talk to her first”

“She’s right” Josh said, grabbing Lance’s arm and pulling him back “Let’s give them some time to get acquainted”

Before Josh could break up the group, Logan stepped out of his room and called for everyone to come in. Louie grumbled about being rushed but she and Dawn joined the team in Logan’s room. Only giving a brief introduction to Logan. Inside the rest of the team was waiting around a long wooden table, similar to ones in office buildings. Everyone took seats except for Lance and Eve who went around the table handing a paperback book to each member.

“What’s this?” Josh asked when he was handed a book.

On the cover was the image of a haggard old woman sitting on a stump.

“This is Fablehaven” Lance explained “A book where a pair of siblings discover a secret world magical creatures have been hidden away in preserves”

“This was the world Scream was mixed with” Josh realized.

“Correct” Lance nodded “I’ve quite enjoyed reading the first few books, they’re filled with the world’s secrets”

“Something we can use?” Skye asked

“Not yet” Lance said “The books take place ten years after the events of Scream. We effectively know the future of that world, part of it at least. We need to be careful what we mess with at this point in time”

“Give me some highlights” Logan requested

“Five artifacts, each on par with Tier A, magic items” Lance said “A demon prison holding the most powerful dark beings in check, several sanctuaries dedicated to dragons, and a worldwide network of experts on all areas of magic”

“Tier A, artifacts?” Skye asked in excitement “We definitely need to move in on those. What do they do?”

“They hold the demon prison together” Lance answered “We will work on located them but they are not to be brought to the lobby”

“Why's that?” Logan asked

“The magic in their world requires a key for a lock” Lance explained “In the book it was stated that the prison wouldn’t stand without the keys. It's some form of balance system. If we bring an artifact back, we risk destroying the magic that holds the demon prison together. Just like we severed the connection to Voldemort from the diadem.”

“There’s no reward without risk” Skye argued

“But there is a waste with haste” Lance said “If we focus on building a base in the movie world we can collect the artifacts one at a time. Once we have everything we want, we can take them all in one trip”

“Dooming an entire world” Josh pointed out

“Is that what we’re doing?” Crystal asked “Taking everything we want from these worlds, damn the consequences”

“If we have to” Logan said

“Its a long way out regardless” Lance interrupted “We won’t be returning to Scream until after this team battle. Just locating the artifacts will take some time”

“How was your meeting with Blake?” Logan asked

“It went well” Lance said “Mickey’s death is still unknown, it’s not uncommon for people to go missing on preserves”

“What about Sidney?” Crystal asked.

“Sidney” Lance hesitated before continuing “is unfortunately being held by federal police”

“Why?” Josh asked concerned

“She was left alone with Tatum’s body” Lance answered “She’s currently a suspect for all the murders that happened around town. The only suspect at the moment”

“We have to help her” Josh demanded angrily

“We will” Lance assured him “Blake knows some lawyers who are used to clients charged with impossible crimes. They will be reaching out to Sidney soon”

“Good” Josh nodded

“That poor girl” Crystal shook her head sadly “She did nothing wrong and had her whole life ruined”

“We can’t worry ourselves about every movie character” Skye spoke up “We will have missions that require hurting and outright killing innocent people in movies. There are benefits to making friends and building trust but casualties will be unavoidable”

“But we will help those who have helped us” Josh argued “Sidney worked with us and deserves to be treated the same. We need to pay back our debts.”

Skye didn’t look convinced but leaned back, showing she had nothing else to say.

“Let’s focus on why we’re here,” Logan said.

Lance and Eve took their seats while Logan stood at the head of the table.

“We will enter Raiders of the Lost Ark in three days” Logan said “All major exchanges and additions should be completed today. The rest of our time should be spent training or resting. For most of you this will be your first team battle so train hard! You don’t want this to be your last”

“I have a question” Skye spoke up through the somber mood

“What?” Logan barked

“Did you get me my plane?” Skye asked seriously

“We got you a plane” Logan answered and motioned to the group.

CC Pilaf Plane

A capsule that turns into a plane that can carry a pilot and two occupants. This plane can run on solar power at lower speeds but can use fuel batteries to accelerate travel speed. Cost DD rank reward and 3000 points.

“This was the best we could afford” Lance said with a shrug

“I’ll make it work” Skye grinned

“Wait, only two passengers?” Elijah spoke up “This isn’t a small town movie, how are we moving the entire team with this?”

“Two at a time” Lance smirked “This will take a few trips but we’ll make it work”

“We were able to get three of the fuel batteries” Logan continued, ignoring Elijah’s complaints “Use them sparingly”

“Yes, sir” Skye saluted

“We also need to review some discoveries from the previous movie” Logan said motioning to Lance.

“We gained new insight to how God awards bonus missions” Lance explained

“When?” Josh questioned

“It became clear when we were at the preserve” Eve answered “Despite travelling in dangerous territories and being harassed by powerful monsters we didn't earn any points. Until our fight with Naga Kurgo”

“Meaning God won’t reward us without actual danger” Lance picked up “If you had to fight on your way you may have earned some points”

“God loves rewarding combat” Skye agreed “No risk no reward”

“Does that mean we should be more aggressive in the next movie?” Louie asked, excitement creeping in her tone

“Not during a team battle” Logan said “Our focus needs to be on survival”