Chapter 114

Big Time Hoops, Merder Stadium, Atlanta - 8:22 AM

Jamie stared at me for a few seconds before sighing and shaking her head. “’My gear or my life?’“ she repeated. “Really, Warmonger?“

I shrugged and began walking in a circle so that the other members of Summer’s Breeze wouldn’t be able to sneak up behind me. “What can I say? I’m a bit hammy.“

Not wanting to get stuck in a bad position, Jamie began circling just like me. However, she didn’t stop when I did. Not for a few more steps once she realized I got to where I wanted to be at least. Now that I could see the majority of the field, I started Dropping in balls thrown by the Jugglernauts. Both Blake and Charlie were working together to gather their own, but kept an eye on us and the scoreboard.

“Jamie!“ the Smuggler called. “Check the score!“

The Weapon Master looked back up and scowled at my rapidly rising score. When she returned her eyes to me, I shrugged. “Not taking them from your team, at least,“ I said before gesturing towards the Jugglernauts. “Not that they’ve noticed. You’d think having to look up so much would make it so they’d have a clear view of the scoreboard, but they are really intent on getting those balls in, huh?“

Instead of answering, Jamie tossed her knife into her inventory and started pulling her curved swords out of the sheathes on her belt. The two scimitars were identical, except that one had a golden hilt and a silver blade while the other had a silver hilt and a golden blade. I knew these blades worked in tandem to provide the wielder extra Mastery abilities, amongst other things.

“Oh, going to just get rid of all of your weapons so I can’t smash them, huh?“ I asked. “What, think you’re going to beat me bare handed?“

“Better than losing all my shit,“ Jamie replied. She raised her swords, but not to brandish them at me; these were going into her inventory next. “You’re not taking away my payda-“

I looked her straight in the eye and flexed my Tyrant’s Will at her.

[[Skill]]

Tyrant’s Will

You can cause dread in an opponent with a glance. By looking into another’s eyes and paying a low cost of Mental Points, you can instill a feeling of fear and anxiety in them based on the difference between your Willpower stat and their defensive mental stat. If they do not have a defensive mental stat, their resistance depends on their highest stat divided by 2. At a higher cost, you can project Tyrant’s Will as an aura that affects everyone inside a radius as far out as one foot per point of Willpower. At your discretion, some beings can be spared the weight of your will.

It wasn’t as potent as it could have been, but with no defensive stat she was at the mercy of her highest physical stat divided by two. No doubt that was still higher than my measly 15 Willpower, but Jamie’s instincts would work against her here. Her eyes widened and she dropped the swords, reaching out for them immediately after so that she was holding them properly.

This was my moment. I released the burst of Tyrant’s Will, not wanting to use up a lot of Mental Points on a weak effect, and lunged forwards. The fastest way to her was over a black square, and I took that damage as I readied Vermon’s Smash Stick.

A look of realization passed over Jamie’s face, but she didn’t scramble. Once the scimitars were in her hands, she shoved them towards her inventory as quickly as she could. It opened her up to taking damage herself, but if even one of the swords was destroyed then the set was ruined and she couldn’t have that.

Regardless of her intentions, her readjustment cost her time and gave me everything I needed. I swung my weapon. The golden bladed sword disappeared into her inventory just before my Smash Stick would have collided with it. That still left the sword with the silver blade, and Jamie did attempt to move so it wouldn’t get destroyed. She thrust it towards my chest.

I adjusted the Smash Stick’s path and shifted my feet. The Vespae’s mandible shattered her scimitar like glass, causing shards to scatter across the ground. Jamie clicked her tongue in irritation and backed off with a look of true fury in her eyes. She stepped back into a green patch of grass, and I followed after her.

Spinning the Smash Stick in my hand, I came in with a highly telegraphed strike aiming for her head. Jamie ducked under it and pulled the spear I had seen at the Skylounge from her inventory despite how little room she had. The haft was made of a dark red wood and with a shining black head that looked like it was made of stone. While I had been expecting her to make a move, I had expected a grapple in an attempt to get me back down into a position where I couldn’t swing the mandible around anymore.

Freeing one of my hands from my weapon, I attempted to grab the spear before she could attack with it. There wasn’t enough time, and the weapon pierced through my abdomen just as I got a good grip. Jamie twisted it, causing me intense pain, before stepping away.

I stepped up with her, not letting her escape, while keeping a firm grip on the spear. I raised the Smash Stick and brought it down on her back, striking at the golden shield strapped there. She was pushed forward, along with the spear, and I coughed up blood as it pierced my guts further.

“What the fuck, Warmonger?“ Jamie screamed at me.

“It’s just pain, lady,“ I said through grit teeth as I slammed the Smash Stick against her shield again. It was heavily dented, but easily repaired. The spear went further into me, and I let it go. “Not willing to go to such lengths, huh?“

“Fucking crazy,“ she said as she let go of the spear and attempted to disengage.

My hand reached up and grabbed Jamie by the hair, my fingers entangling themselves in her short, straw-colored strands. I kept her there long enough to make one last attack with the Smash Stick. The golden shield broke into three pieces, leaving only a small portion of what was left hanging from the strap that held it in place on her back.

Jamie gripped the spear with both hands and pushed. The stone head pierced through my back and I coughed up more blood, which dribbled directly onto her plastic armor. “Sorry about the blood,“ I said weakly. “Kinda what happens when I get stabbed.“

She glanced up at me, the anger in her expression had changed to one of confusion. “Why won’t you just die?“

“Built different,“ I claimed. “Hard Body, maybe, but who knows for sure.“

Gritting my teeth, I Pushed the spear through my body. The gore that was coating it caused it to slip out of Jamie’s hands and the weapon went flying backwards. Pulling my head back, I slammed my forehead into her face. She reeled from the blow, but couldn’t escape me. I let go of the Smash Stick.

With a lot of effort due to the hole in my stomach, I reached down and grabbed the last of her knives off of her leg. I knew that her plastic armor was tough. Trying to pierce through it would take too long and slicing at it would only scratch it at best. Spinning it in my hand, I brought it up and stabbed her directly through the bottom of her mouth.

Jamie disappeared after it had buried itself deep enough, and I fell into a sitting position on the ground. I set the knife down, picked up my Smash Stick, and broke it. The spear that passed through me would have disappeared, though, as that was one of its special abilities; it teleported back into her inventory after resting on the ground for a few seconds.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated another player.

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

I returned to watching the Jugglernauts. They had managed to rack up quite a large amount of points in a short amount of time, though Blake had started fighting Jack again. Isabella was still running around in a whirlwind of activity, scooping balls off of beetles and tossing them into baskets immediately after. I continued to Drop them, stealing points from the team.

Snapping open my inventory, I pulled out one of my Wondrous Health Potions and a straw. My wound was slowly bleeding me dry, but not for long if I could help it. Under normal circumstances I would have just allowed myself to die so I could return to full health, but with the two death restriction I couldn’t risk it. I popped the top, set in the straw, and began drinking the potion around the mask. My wounds healed immediately.

I stood up and started walking towards the nearest disc, though I didn’t stop paying attention to Isabella; I had to keep her in sight in order to keep stealing her shots. A quick glance away showed that this was a three circle disc, which meant it had to belong to Summer Breeze. There were only two of them left, as the ones belonging to those who were kicked out of the round disappeared, and the other team only had two people on it.

Setting up my chair again, I sat down beside the disc. I set up a Force Field right next to the circle meant for the leader and waited. A moment later, Jamie popped up. I had expected her to aim her rifle at me as soon as she respawned, and placed the Force Field where she would have to put the gun to shoot me. Give myself time to react. What I saw instead made me chuckle.

Jamie had changed out of her plastic armor and into a pair of pants, a black hoodie, and a red T-shirt that had the words “I tried“ in bold, blocky letters. The Weapon Master wielded no weapons, and had her arms crossed. Her eyes were cold, but I knew her well enough to tell that she was seething underneath that practiced facade.

“You get benched?“ I asked, trying not to sound cheeky. When she grunted in response, I nodded to myself. “Yeah, probably for the best. I was going to break some more stuff. Want a seat?“

That caused Jamie to glare at me, and it was a shame she couldn’t see my smirk. “Don't get cute with me,“ she snapped. It took all my power not to quip back. “What’s your game, Warmonger?“

"Kicking ass and embracing chaos, mostly.“

“If you’re not going to take this seriously, then I’m not going to bother having a conversation with you,“ she said angrily. I saw her glance up at the scoreboard, but her team was now well above the Jugglernauts and I noticed her relax.

“Did you know that Branson sent men to keep my manager and I from getting into our suite today?“ I asked. “Frastina showed up, banished the whole group from the safe zone for a week.“

“How do you know it was Branson?“ she asked in response. “Could just be that winning personality of yours at work.“

“No, it was definitely Branson,“ I retorted. “But now I’m on the hook for something, and I have no idea how it’s going to go. In the words of somebody I hold very dear to me, I’m absolutely nettled.“

“Don’t you sit there and tell me this wasn’t your plan all along. You were already set to break all of our gear back when we first met.“

“True. I’ll give you that but, in the words of someone I’m very close to, I’m just a little bit absolutely nettled,“ I replied.

Jamie scoffed. “Yeah? And what’s got your panties in a twist?“

Sighing, I shook my head. “Howard and I are stuck having dinner with Frastina after tonight’s event, so that’s not ideal.“

“The administrator?“ Jamie asked, glancing down at me.

“Yeah, nothing but bad news.“

The Weapon Master stared down at me and shifted her hands to her hips. “Why are you letting Summer Breeze move on to the next round?“ she asked. “I’m guessing you could easily sabotage us and let the Jugglernauts move on instead.“

“Several reasons, not all of them I’m willing to share,“ I admitted. I had stopped Dropping the balls, but only because Isabella had stopped scoring. She was now staring up at the scoreboard, shouting into the sky about one thing or another. “But the Jugglernauts are a strong team and I have an offer for you.“

Jamie shifted again, crossing her arms as she took a more defensive posture. “I’m not turning on my employer.“

“Nah, nothing like that,“ I said quickly. While she could be bought, her loyalty towards her employer was always admirable, even when it went towards assholes like Jacob Branson. “I’m offering you a job after the Chaos Cup is over.“

“I don’t thi-“

“I’m going to be quite rich, so I can afford your rates,“ I interrupted. “Plus, my Patron knows and shares many things. Points, gear, and skill books are abundant in the future for those who side with me.“

That gave her pause; I could always count on Jamie to have a mercenary mindset. Now that she knew I was interested, it meant she wouldn’t have to choose between staying with Branson, who was no doubt about to become very abusive, or go solo.

For right now, however, all I got was a clipped response. “I’ll think about it.“

“No rush, you have until the end of the Chaos Cup to get me an answer,“ I told her. “I’ll tell the hotel to allow you access to our floor so that you can visit and discuss. I’m not around often, but I’ll be there for about an hour before our matches.“

“Wow, you're getting way ahead of yourself, buddy.“ Jamie snorted and held up a hand. “I'm going to assume you don't mean to lure me to your hotel room with the promise of payment for degenerate reasons. So you're, what? Not afraid I’ll sneak in and slit your throat? I could be ordered to do that, you know. After this match, I’m not sure if I’d even hesitate.“

I slowly turned my head to look at her, tilting it as if I didn’t have a care in the world. “If Frastina banished twenty something people from the safe zone for a week for just blocking my path,“ I began with a slow intensity that she had not yet heard the Warmonger speak with. “Then what do you think she would do to someone who murders another contestant outside of the arena? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that you don’t want to be the one to find out.“

Jamie’s eyes widened before she looked away. “You make a… fair argument.“

“I’m not just a handsome mask, you know,“ I retorted. Taking another deep breath, I looked up at the screens. “It’s time.“

[[Notice]]

The following teams have been removed from Big Time Hoops.

Section 1/4: The Jugglernauts

Section 2/3: Atlanta’s Worst Team

Points have been reset but will count towards your final tally.

The wall bisecting the arena disappeared to reveal the two remaining teams on the other side, Dunbar Runners and Most Valuable Prisoners, in an intense team fight. The area went dark as Tito cast his spell of darkness. I was too far to see what went on, but one by one Joanna appeared behind her enemies and they popped out of the arena shortly after. She gathered the balls from the ground and used her shadow jumping abilities to make easy baskets.

“Well, since you’re being so talkative, tell me,“ Jamie said slowly. “Is my team making it past this round?“

“No, Jamie,“ I replied as I stole the balls Charlie had saved for the beginning of the round. I Dropped them all in, sparing him no points. “No, you are not.“