Chapter 9: Melee Madness
You know what I think about Vega? That she’s a failed tool. Not that she isn’t a good person or a selfish being, I’ll let you decide. A scarecrow that doesn’t complete its job. To scare crows. In her one purpose, she is doomed to fail. Because she wants to help instead of being a tool. Funny, isn’t it? How so many are told to be a role, but can’t due to their nature. This idea leads to much confusion in the Oligarchy, the idea of expectation versus ambition.
When one wants to trick, and the other wants to deceive, what is the result? Oligarchs are expected to defend and aid their subjects, yet lusts for fame and glory. A bird is expected to be fearful of people but exploits them to their benefit.
It is only when it discomforts the operations of society it is seen as vulgar. Just as with the hay girl herself. It prompts a question. Are the performers acting out their assigned roles the issue? Their violation of those roles? Or is it the conductor forcing social relations is the issue? And why are they encouraged to do so?
I hold the truth that Vega longs for people. But she just can’t seem to get it right!
Seven people were stationed in the room, along with an air of distaste and tightened bowels in there with them. Amir, Valiato, Bolato, and Skaldi sat on the right side. Lai, Chakrit, Vega and Kaliba sat on the right. The soldier was the first to try to break the silence.
“Chakrit…”
“Bolato…” The tan man removed the mask of his costume, showing a pleasing but nervous face. Bolato moved his posture to copy that of Chakrit.
“So this isn’t exactly the best of situations.” Bolato admitted the truth.
“Having a huge target on your back tends not to be that, yeah. But then again, Lady and I would’ve been screwed in the first place.” Chakrit admitted the truth. It didn’t ease the tension in the room. But a voice spoke out, in pure innocence.
“So… do-do ya guys need help?” Vega sweetly chimed in.
“Yes. Tell me if you feel pain.” Skaldi sadistically chimed in.
“Yes, but only when-when I don’t close my eyes sometimes. But how does that help ya?” Kaliba shook its head.
“It doesn’t.”
“Oh… Do the rest of ya guys need help?” Valiato, peering over the shoulder of Amir, raised her hand.
“Yes-yes girl?”
“What are you, and how did you get in this concert?”
“Her name is Vega, she’s as simple as a stick, yada yada, we’re all dead.” Lai quickly summarized her history. Bolato leaned forward to ask.
“And you’re telling me it-”
“She.” Lai corrected.
“-She put you on the backfoot?” Bolato finished, having Lai and Chakrit looking down in disappointment. Valiato, in spite of their circumstance, had started to admire Vega. She hopped off the bench and joined Vega on her side.
“So where do you come from Vega?” This was the first time Vega had been asked this question personally, but she knew that people asked this question of her.
“Don’t know little lady. I’m not like you. I’m a ghost.” Valiato's face beamed.
“~Ari Amir! I found a ghost like me!~” Amir was dealing with an asthmatic fit but he raised a thumbs up to his daughter.
“But I can’t quite remember. I had a purpose, probably. Right now I’m trying to find this voice-voice. Have ya heard it?” Skaldi’s skin boiled with anxiety and rage. He was going to lose out on the heist, all because of some animated farming tool.
“Enough! We need to come up with a plan, or we're gonna lose this chance on easy cash.”
“Not exactly easy anymore.” Chakrit whispered to Lai.
“You, shut face. Let’s at least think… we got three big guys, two guys with range, and two wildcards.” Skaldi pondered their resources.
“Why am I a wildcard? Chakrit demanded.
“Ya forgot Kaliba.”
“Because you’re the one always making weird inventions. And fine, the bird counts too I guess.” Vega high fived Kaliba. Lai stood up, towering over the team, especially the redhead.
“Ok. A good plan of attack would be to hold the banner on me, use the traps to our advantage, and eventually outlast them.” Skaldi had immediate reservations.
“That won’t work. There’s hundreds of them out there. It would be better if we kept the banner on our fastest and most nimble person, and tossed it to someone else if they got tired. Fighting isn’t an option. Running is!”
The pair took to arguing, but definitely not the pathetic slapping as they were before. Amir finished his coughing fit, but noticed Vega and his daughter were whispering to each other.
“~Kid, what are you talking about?~”
“~Nothing just got a few ideas.~” Amir leaned forward and put his hand on his chin. The argument didn’t let up.
“How do we know that the traps will work? What if they end up hurting us instead?” Skaldi conflicted, pressing his finger to the face of the giant lady.
“At least we’re sticking together in mine! Your plan, running around like headless chickens, is gonna get us killed!”
“Don’t diss team Mega Ultra Chicken.” Bolato remarked.
“You’re not involved in this sweetie!”
“I’m feeling pretty involved.”
Vega, taking off her shirt, poured tens of dozens of doodats on the ground, catching everyone’s attention. She sorted through them until she found the object of desire. A metal ball with a long fuse. She was holding an active bomb.
“W-what is that?” Skaldi croaked out.
“Bob. At least that's what the bandits called it.”
“Bandits?”
“I helped out these bad-bad guys for a while, and they told me to hide stuff inside of me. Don’t know why-why.”
On the ground were various sets of knives, weighted dice, tripwire, a book used to hide encrypted messages, two false brass coins, and a pony. A toy pony which Valiato grabbed and hugged.
“And why did you pour your metaphorical and literal guts on the ground?” Skaldi prodded, careful not to set off Vega.
“Valiato wanted a toy-toy to play with.”
“Kids tend to do that.” Chakrit said, unfazed by the bomb, as was tinkering with his own black powder device.
“Also she came up with a cool-cool idea.” As she stuffed the contraband back inside, Valiato stood between the feuding parties.
“We don’t need to fight them. We just need to break their banners!” A silence was loud in the room.
“Idiots!” Kaliba cawed out.
“We can’t run or outlast, but we just need to break their banners and then we win.” Valiato enthusiastically spoke. Lai and Skaldi were given pause, why didn’t they think of that?
“Wow, we’re that dumb.” Lai rubbed her cheek.
“~Kid, you want to use the bomb?~” Amir knew the tempo of the conversation, and was proud that his daughter broke the argument.
“~Yes Ari!~”
“~That's my girl!~”
“Hold on. That is a good plan, but how do we do it sweetpea?” Skaldi knelt to the face of the girl.
“We piggy back-back ya guys-guys and you snipe the banners with your weapons!” Vega smiled beamed, not realizing that she said a sentence that was close to the idea of smart.
“That, actually might work. Sweetie, how many banners did you see?” Bolato prompted, as Skaldi counted on his fingers.
“Roughly fifty? Fivity five!”
“Alright! All we need to do is snipe at least forty seven banners and we’re set.” Bolato stood, ready to act. Lai and Skaldi groaned, the only thing agreeing with them.
“I know you guys don’t like each other, and you don’t need to. But just this once, we work together and we get on with our lives. Can you do that?” Bolato held their shoulders. Both of them stared away, but nodded.
“Glad you guys are happy. But one problem, who is going to hold the banner?” Chakrit questioned, stunning the room. But all eyes turned to the scarecrow, dropping some of the curios she was putting back into herself.
“Ya guys need help?”
The advertisement section of the concert had finished, along with the audience’s patience. They were ready for the final act of their long awaited entertainment. A chant started, starting from the top going to the bottom!
“Melee! Melee!” The crowd’s calls echoed out. The organizer motioned the doctor of the hospital to hurry up with his call for donation.
“So if you donate, you save a life. Thank you.” The antoid was disappointed that the people would prefer bloodshed over making blood banks. Nothing would change in this blasted Oligarchy.
The gates opened up, and hundreds of fighters walked in, taking their assigned place. Team Mega Ultra Chicken stood at the center. Valiato was on top of Bolato, Chakirt on Amir, and Skaldi on Lai. And Kaliba was also on Vega I guess.
“~You got the bomb ready?~” Amir coughed out, steeling himself against an asthma attack.
“What is the Tripol saying kid?”
“If you got the bomb ready?”
“Yeah. You sure you don’t want me to aim it directly at them?” Chakrit was thirsting for blood.
“If you do, you’re gonna get us a murder charge Amber!”
“But that makes it fun Lady.”
“Shut up and stick to the plan!” Skaldi hated being held by the giant lady and made it evident constantly.
“And that means you scarecrow!” Vega observed the many groups around them. She felt awkward with the banner inside her wooden ribs.
“Here we are! The final match in the Concert of Combat. Remember, whichever groups that make the top eight get an incredible two thousand gold!” A scream erupted from the crowd, amazed by the high stakes match.
“However, whoever takes first gets an incredible fifty thousand gold, along with a personal meeting with the Oligarch of Suncatch!” The audience’s screams grew, noticeably weakened by the low priced wine of the province.
“Stay focused! Eyes on the prize!” Skaldi commanded, but Vega didn’t listen. She saw something. A couple yards from her, was a gladiator. He was holding a trident. But she didn’t see it as one.
Want to know why she holds a pickaxe? Because for her it means life and creation. To make the natural into the artificial.
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“The melee will start in five!”
Want to know why she doesn’t hold a pitchfork?
Four!
Why does she doesn’t like them?
Three!
Because…
Two!
A pitchfork…
One!
Is a symbol of death. She felt the fear of death… for the second time.
“GO!"
“NO! Running! Run time!” Vega slipped backward and went into a sprint, away from the team.
“Charge!” Team Mega Ultra Chicken rushed forward, dodging all the immediate attacks, and began the climb to survival. The musicians broke out a handsome and tense song, with the orator adding low tones to it. Valiato and Skaldi quickly dispatched a few banners, but Chakrit struggled as Amir bobbled in his running.
“Stop running so weirdly!” Amir’s breath was harried, but he pressed onward. Vega’s bolting run wasn’t unnoticed as a few gladiators followed close behind her.
“The first trap voted… water pipes!” A geyser of water shot just behind her, knocking out the men into the air and crashing on the ground.
“Team Rusted Rangers are out!” A few boos came out from the crowd.
“Boo yourself! You bloodthirsty snake skins!” Skaldi yelled, as he threw at knife, breaking another banner. Their plan started to upset the team he eliminated.
“What!? But we just started!” Another rising pillar of water struck the complainers.
“Die! Die!” Valiato screamed, aiming at the face of a Goatling.
“Kid! The banners! Get the banners!” Bolato yelped out, dodging the increasing pools of water spawning around them. He jumped, skitted, and bulldozed through the men trying to take him down. Valiato’s face cooled, and she looked down.
“Oh yeah. Sorry about that Bola.”
“Less talking, more breaking!” He squealed. The audience in rows, rapidly voted in their next death trap of choice. The organizer looked on, noting the increasingly more sadistic and bizarre traps. Not that he didn’t mind, he was getting a lot of money from the audience voting.
“Next trap… Blood bug archers!” Squadrons of man sized flying mosquito soldiers flew above the battle. Each one carrying blunted arrows, and raining their bullets down at the fighters. One managed to strike a banner of a small ratling.
“Team Gold Heart is out of here!”
“~Whatever. Let’s go eat some garbage~” The ratling chirped out. Vega darted past the eliminated team, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
“Why?! Why-why do I have to feel bad now?! I hate this!” Vega screamed, her eyes still glued on the gladiator with the trident. A fighter, armed with two bows and four arms, took aim at her. She flipped and narrowly danced around his arrows.
“What do I do?!” An idea popped into her head. A wonderful idea. A divine, wonderful, very good idea.
“I got it! Stealth mode! Activate!” She stopped moving, confusing the Asuran archer. She planted her feet into the ground, completely sure that she would be safe. Soon after a giant spike ball slammed into her, carrying her off into the sky.
“Ouch! The spike ball set is a real crowd pleaser!” The orator called out, as the ball swung upwards to the crowd. She felt the banner was still intact inside her, while her belly was pierced by a spike.
“Oh! Now I feel better.” Vega clung to it like a child would to a doll. The melee grew intense, with the added traps breaking the sparse cohesion in the arena. Water broke teams apart, along with the flying fighters. The blood bugs peppered Lai, goading her into a barely restrained anger.
“Good! We’re fifteen down!” Skaldi boasted, annoying Lai who continued to get pelted by bullet after bullet. His skilled throwing of darts and knives secured the giant’s path, but pain came in her shouting voice.
“Shut up knife ear!”
“Shut up girl!” This threw her over the edge, as her face turned into a bright crimson.
“That’s it!” She lifted Skaldi off her, and held onto his legs.
“Wait! You’re not a gir-”. Lai, wielding him like a battle-axe, swung Skaldi at the men surrounding her. To great effectiveness, mind you. He put up his arms, desperately trying to survive the onslaught.
“You’re a lady! You’re a lady! Just stop using me as a weapon!” She knocked one man into a gesyer and another man into a spike ball. And finally placed Skaldi back on her shoulders, who was panting and painted in bruises.
“Damn that felt good.”
“Damn… that felt bad.” Skaldi exhausted.
Amir was on the brink of collapse, as Chakrit tried to communicate with him. He swung and battered men to the ground, but his legs numbed and felt faint.
“Don’t worry, just a little further and I can use the bomb!”
“~Whatever you’re saying… it sounds stupid!” Amir slowed down, as the men chasing him caught up.
“God damn it all!” Chakrit, using his wrist harpoon, fired the bomb into the air. He hopped off the heaving Tripol and struggled to pick him up.
“Why do all the people I interact with have to be so heavy? Come on! Don’t want to be near when the bomb explodes!” He bolted, as the gladiators behind him stared at the bomb still in the air.
“Should we move out of the way or…?” A fighter hesitantly asked.
“Nah, I haven’t seen fireworks before.”
FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATOMB!
A brilliant flash of light encased the entire arena, along with an echoing boom. It sent scores of people down to the ground.
“W-worth it…” A gladiator groaned out.
“Ah yes. Seems the black powder trap went a bit early! But that is just the beginning folks!” The orator spoke out. The explosion broke the chain of the spike ball the Vega was on, and was now falling to the arena below. She stared down, giving a solid ten seconds to think of a way to escape.
“Hmm. Maybe if I..” She pushed herself off the spike and jumped into the geyser below, catching her fall.
“Huh. That-that worked. Cool!” Kaliba peeked her neck.
“What is up Kali-PITCHFORK! RUN!” Vega continued on her sprint. Skaldi struggled to fire shots, at least ones that were good enough to break more banners.
“Hey redhead! What are you doing, we only need to eliminate ten more to get into the top eight!” His face pooled with sweat, and he brushed his hair out of his eyes, using only his thumb.
“Y-you wouldn’t happen to have something to drink, would you?” He slumped backward.
“Wake up elf! Wake up!” Lai ordered, but Skaldi couldn’t and definitely wouldn’t listen. Valiato struck multiple banners in quick succession, as Bolato kept up dodging the opposing teams. Bolato's pace was hampered by the blood bugs attacks, as he tried to shield Valiato from their blunted bullets.
“Hey kid!”
“Yeah Bola?”
“Can you hit the next bomb that comes out?” Valiato eyed up the bombs the workers were tossing. She proudly smiled.
“Can I?” A clearly rhetorical question.
“... can you-”
“Yeah!” She quickly interrupted. She spun her sling, preparing for the next bomb. It dropped just above the bug squadron. She ceased the movement, sending a rock right at the bomb. A flashing explosion blew the bugs down to the ground, as well as the team following them. Valiato’s voice beamed.
“Bola! Did you see that Bola! I did it!”
“What are you saying kid? I’m blind and I can’t see where I’m going!” He ran into a geyser on the ground, sending the pair flying upwards, and crashing on the ground.
“Two members of Team Mega Ultra Chicken have been eliminated, but there still remains just eleven more teams left!” Valiato was effectively unconscious, as well as Bolato. Charkit hopped over their bodies, chased by a horde of fighters.
“A-are you done dying old man, because they’re catching up to me!” Chakirt carried the elder, who was still recovering her strength.
“~Shut up cu-~”
“W-whatever ‘Guitin bal cotin’ means, it better mean you're getting off your ass s-soon!” Chakrit hissed. The gladiator wielding the trident threw his net at him, whizzing through the air.
“A-alright! Tossing you now!” Chakrit’s arm lifted, throwing Amir into the air and into a staggering landing. His ankles immediately tied up, making Chakrit faceplant into the ground.
“Another member of Team Mega is out, down to four members. This match is getting close now!” Amir eventually found his footings bolted to his nearest teammate he could see.
“Hey-hey big guy! How many teams do we-we need to get out?” Vega was glad to see the tall Tripol. He recoiled, slowly turning his head forward.
“~I should’ve taken that Iozian class back in college.~”
“Huh. Someone who I don’t understand. That’s ok, I like ya company either way.” The pair converged to Lai, running while shaking the elf increasingly harder.
“Wake up! I’ll stop being racist if you wake up!”
“Hey Lady! So what-what do we need to do?” Amir fell behind, but Vega held his hand, pulling him closer to ear shot.
“Well, the redhead is out of commission. The kid and Bolato are goners, and I assume Chakrit got decked. That doesn’t matter, we need just one more and we’re all set!” Skaldi’s eyes rose up, and he immediately became disgusted.
“Oh… it’s you again. Gonna use me as a weapon again, huh?”
“Shut up! You were being sexist!”
“I was being correct!”
“~Fuck… you… all…~” Amir collapsed behind, coughing egregiously before fainting. Lai and Vega stared back, and the giant lady released Skaldi onto the ground, joining in their sprint.
“Team Ultra down to three members! Who will claim their prize? Who will claim their lives?” The audience cheered and whooped, the ecstasy of betting fights took effect on the populace.
“Just use your knives or something!” Lai blurted, hoping that Skaldi would find a strategy to make their whole effort worth it.
“Don’t have anymore. Hey, scarecrow! Do you have any more knives in you?”
“Maybe, but then the stuff is also in my rib-ribs.”
“So, what’s the problem?” Skaldi beckoned.
“Well, what’s the reason ya guys put the banner in me in the first place?”
“...shit.” Lai laughed, humored at the fact the redhead forgot about their plan. His face turned passion red.
“Alright. How about this? We just hang on the sidelines and-” A geyser erupted beside them, sending Vega into the heavens. It hissed and showered all around, and essentially gave Vega a bath she was missing out on.
“Weeeeeee…” Vega squealed with excitement. The remaining two stopped moving to stare at the airborne construct, along with the arena.
“This geyser was sponsored by the Civitus Operation Group. For the low price for a hundred gold, you too can have geysers in your home. Need pipes? Bring the COGS!” A murmur of consideration emitted from the richer sections of the audience.
“Any other ideas Lady?” Skaldi sarcastically questioned. Lai looked around, searching for something to use. She saw a blood bug, just above them.
“Can I throw you?”
“Ha! Can you? …Wait, don't!” Lai picked up Skaldi, as he squirmed to get out of her grip. The fighters around her noticed, and immediately rushed her. She aimed, and pelted Skaldi at the flying fighter. He leapt on, holding the needle mouth of the mosquito mercenary.
“Yeah I know, it's weird that I’m here. But just give me your bow!” The bug dived and buzzed around the sides of the arena. The fighter took to slamming the redhead into the walls, scraping him in the process.
“As far as we know, there remains only one member left of Team Mega!”
“Shut up!”
“Idiot.” Kaliba flew right beside the bug, and took to poking it in its eye. It managed to scratch it, sending it careening into the ground. Skaldi launched himself off, taking the bow away from the bug. On his descent he saw just four fighters around him. Landing, he snickered, as he raised the bow in front of him.
“Fools! Did you seriously think you could best… Team! Mega! Ultra! Chicken!” He pulled back, notching an arrow inside. Then he pulled back again. And again. Never completely, to the confusion of the last fighters.
“Why can’t I shoot this thing!” Turns out being of terrible fitness translates to being a terrible archer.
“Want us to help you with that? The trident gladiator prompted.
“Oh! You must think you’re funny!” Skaldi furiously fired an insult.
“Bitch I might be.”
The gladiators took to kicking Skaldi’s ass. Booty shorts and all.
“So-so, when am I supposed to get down Kaliba?” Vega was being suspended in the air by the mighty Kaliba.
“Yes.”
“Ya sure?”
“Gold!?”
“Ah you’re right-right.” The pair descended to what looked like a rampaged battle field. Smoke, knocked out opponents, and the stray pools of water.
“Huh. Guess I should look-look for the red guy. Hey red guy! I still have the banner!”
“Wait, there's still another person here?”
“Yep-yep. Have you seen my buddy? He’s red, and has ears that look like leaves. Has that weird underwear on? Does that ring a bell-bell?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, ya see, I need to help him and his buddies, then I can go back to finding that voice.” Vega’s vision of the gladiator was obscured by the smoke around him.
“Don’t worry. Just follow my voice.” The trident gladiator stepped through the smoke, the only remaining fighter aside than Vega. And fine, the bird counts too I guess. She stepped back, she saw the pitchfork again.
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes. Come on scarecrow. Let’s finish this, just like our own teams couldn’t.” The gladiator navigated this wasteland, as the audience looked in great suspense. The orator and organizer had no words.
“Wait. Hold-hold on! I don’t want to fight you.”
“Why not? We’re both fighters, its what we do.” Vega felt an emptiness take hold, in all of her parts. She felt that distant feeling again.
“N-no. Please! Don’t hurt me…” The churning of the stomach, along with the faintness of the mind reappeared.
“Why not? Don’t you want to help me?” The gladiator’s voice shook with pure, vicious, sadism.
“S-stop… don’t ask-ask me to…”
“Come on. Weren’t you supposed to help your team?” Vega looked around, her whole team collapsed and was beaten. The fear shattered her smile, as she walked back, quivering.
“Our teams just got in the way of something beautiful. A duel between two entertainers. That’s all we are to these folk.” He stopped, giving the scarecrow a moment to collect herself. It lasted for an instant, nothing longer.
If you can’t help them, help me win instead!” The gladiator rushed forward, with great swiftness, hopping over the battlefield. Vega struggled. Any more insult, anymore conflict, and she felt that she would die on the spot.
“Why won’t you help me?” She needed to reinforce herself, she needed to say something. A truth she didn’t know.
“Because I’m scared!”
A pillar of water skyrocketed, taking the gladiator out. The arena was silent for a couple of seconds. The voice of the orator broke that despicable quiet.
“Unbelievable! Team Mega Ultra Chicken has taken first place! Winning the scarecrow a grand total of seventy two thousand gold! Congratulations!” The audience ruptured with praise and cheers. Her smile returned, in a softer and more worldly form. It wasn’t the money, the fame, or the work she did.
All that mattered was a job was finished, and that she helped someone. To help another be happy.
“Congrats.” Kaliba took Vega out of her stupor.
“Thanks Kaliba, I think ya are my best friend.”
“Thanks.” The crow retorted, causing Vega to close her eyes in glee. However, Vega’s attention suddenly turned to the lowering chandelier, as the actress spilled some of the coins down to her. It was overflowing with the treasure of gold on it. Vega immediately picked up the actress.
“Yay! I won the pretty lady on the chandelier. Now-now what do I do?”
“I don’t know. Usually the people that win these games just grab the gold or kiss me on the cheek.” The actress was honest. Vega was surprised.
“Oh. Ok. Smooch!”