Lidarion: Chapter 24

It was several hours of stories and reconnection before anyone mentioned the reason they had reached out to Dean, by the time they got around to the business at hand the restaurant had been closed for hours. Dean moved his chair back from the table slightly. “So how can the crew of the Womamel be of service?” He asked.

Everyone looked down the table at Trent. “We’re bound for Cela’an.” He cut right to the chase.

Dean smiled uncomfortably. “Well that presents something in the way of a complication.” He offered.

Alex leaned forward, placing and elbow on the table. “What kind of complication?” She asked.

Dean cleared his throat. “Ah, well, you see, I won the Womamel in a card game, but the original owner stole it from the high elf ship yards the night before its maiden voyage.” He smiled sheepishly.

Lisa dropped her face into her hands. “So literally the last place on the planet you want to go is the only place on the planet we can get the answers you’re looking for.” She groaned.

The XP: Chapter 24

Volnado and Trart faded into the graveyard together. Volnado immediately exploded in rage, picking Trart up off his feet. Trart flailed his hands trying to break Volnado’s grip. “Woah, WOAH! Dude calm down! Your princess is in another castle man!”

The statement caught Volnado off guard, he blinked twice and lost sight of his blind rage, and set Trart down hard. “You are a very odd person.” He judged.

Trart shook his head. “Awesome, the word you were looking for is awesome.” He corrected.

Volnado shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.” He gave up.

Trart exploded with excitement. “WE GET BOATS?!” He shouted. Causing Volnado to lean back. Trart glanced over at him. “You ok?” He asked.

Volnado sat down and put his chin in his hands. “I don’t know anymore.”

Trart sat next to him. “Well the good news is, whatever’s ailing you can’t be fatal, this is just a game.” He offered.

Volnado looked over at him. “What are you going to do now?” He asked.

Trart thought about it for a second. “Like in five minutes or with the rest of my life?” He asked.

Volnado gestured to the virtual world around them. “In the game, what do you want to do next?” He asked.

Trart nodded. “I haven’t seen any of the end game, so I’d love to start playing through that. I wanna do the Sea of Ever Burning Fury at High Tide. I’d like to do the marathon of nightmares in less than half and hour, I actually have a huge list of stuff.” Trart admitted.

“And you are genuinely excited about that list?” Volnado asked.

Trart nodded. “Weren’t you when you first started playing?” He asked.

Volnado shook his head. “I don’t think so. I was always more interested in being the first to see or do something just so I could gloat or brag, it didn’t matter what it was.” He admitted.

Trart seemed confused. “If you don’t like the game, why play?” He asked.

Volnado looked at the computer generated sky. “I haven’t actually played any content since I became a Game Master.” He said.

Trart nodded. “Well you are supposed to be helping the players as a GM.” He replied.

Volnado shook his head. “I mean I haven’t done any game content at all in over two years. If I’m not logged in as a GM then I’m not logged in.” He clarified.

Trart lookd shocked. “You’ve done nothing but fix errors and punish players for over two years?” He asked. Volnado nodded. “All right then pick one.” Trart continued.

Volnado looked confused. “One what?” He asked.

Trart waved his hand at the game world. “An instance. It’s time to play the game for a change.” Trart said as he stood up.

Volnado shook his head. “But –“

Trart cut him off. “No but’s! Come on, we could run Oblivion Sanctuary, Caverns of Insanity, The Crystal Desert, Or the Twilight Mountains, And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.” Trart rambled.

Volnado stood up. “How can you have so much enthusiasm for the game?” He asked.

Trart shrugged his shoulders. “How can you not?” He asked in reply.

They made their way back to the tournament grounds. “You know Torcano is my brother right?” Volnado asked.

Trart shook his head. “Could not have guessed.” He replied.

Volnado rolled his eyes. “Smart ass.”

Trart smiled. “Beyond my cognitive powers to put that kind of thing together.” He continued.

Volnado put his hands in his pockets. “Not a big secret, I get it.” He replied.

Trart nodded. “That and he mentioned it.”

“You can stop now.” Volnado commanded.

“Several times.” Trart Continued.

“ANYWAY” Torcano forcefully continued. “We’ve shared everything for as far back as I can remember.” He explained.

Trart nodded. “You must have gotten your own tit at least.” He quipped.

Volnado tripped over the comment. “Excuse me?” He asked.

Trart shook his head. “Never mind, please continue.” Trart asked.

Volnado started moving through the crowd in the city. “I don’t even know why I applied for the job originally. I just wanted something of my own, I guess. Then Chad applied as well and I couldn’t think of anything else.” He explained.

Trart’s face lit up. “Torcano’s mundane name is Chad?” He asked with a huge smile on his face.

Volnado pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “worst confidant ever.” He grumbled.

Trart shook off his excitement. “Sorry I’m focused.” He swore.

Volnado continued. “Long story short, I was finally good at something Torcano –“

“Chad” Trart interrupted.

Volnado glared at him, “Wasn’t good at. And I swear if you tell him you know his real name he will kill us both.” Volnado warned.

Trart nodded. “Can I tell everyone BUT him?” He asked.

Volnado punched him in the shoulder. “I’m sorry I killed you.” He offered.

Trart shook his head. “All you did was fall into my clever trap. In truth, I killed you with my cunning ruse.” Trart corrected.

Volnado again rolled his eyes. “Dropping a thousand mines on the floor and waiting for someone to run over them is not a ‘ruse’ by any definition.” Volnado corrected.

Trart shrugged. “Agree to disagree.”

Volnado laughed. “I can see why they like having you around.” He complimented.

Trart nodded. “Like I said, the world you were looking for, was awesome.” He reiterated as they made their way through the crowd.

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 24

Thompson and Cynthia had never been to Cafe Atebit. They were college students and it was one of the more expensive trendy restaurants in the area. The waiter led to them to their table where Professor Banister and William were waiting. They stood to greet them as they approached.

“Thank you for meeting with us.” William said as they all sat down after greeting each other.

Cynthia was all smiles even though the bruise was already starting to darken her jawline. “Our Pleasure, what’s to occasion?” She asked.

Banister was caught in the middle of drinking water, finished his sip and set his glass down. “I’m retiring from teaching for a start.” He said. “It seems like a good time to move on, and work on a new project.” He explained.

Thompson nodded. “Which is?” He asked.

William couldn’t hold back any longer. “We’re starting our own independent production company. We used to talk about making off the wall, original games, and we’re both finally in a place where we can actually do that.” He explained.

The four of them shared lunch, talking about the school, their favorite games, and the things they missed seeing in emerging and finished projects. Toward the end of Lunch Cynthia asked the question that had been on her mind the entire time. “We’re both still graduate students, there’s nothing bankable about us, and we’re completely green, are you really going to start off your company by hiring at best background fill in actors?” She asked with all seriousness.

Bannister shook his head. “No usually in these situations you lock down your staring talent. The people you want to work with to build a brand and an expected level of quality that people rarely ever see. We’re not interested in selling millions of copies, we’re interested in creating engaging, well balanced, narrative experiences, and we want the overall experience to be the star.”

William picked up the conversation. “We don’t want you to get the wrong idea, we want you because you’re both fresh and eager to work, you’re both perfectionists, and we hope that you are both ready to take this chance with us.” He explained.

Thompson and Cynthia looked at each other.  Thompson picked up his water glass nervously. “Well what do you think? He asked Cynthia.

She tapped her fingers on the table for a second. “I’m interested. Do we need to give you an answer right away?” She asked.

Banister shook his head. “Not at all. We haven’t even begun to put this thing together but when we saw you at the showcase we knew we had found people we wanted to work with from concept to completed project. Please take your time.”

The alarm on Cynthia’s phone went off letting her know she needed to administer her intro to energy final in fifteen minutes. “It was fantastic meeting both of you, I have a final to administer but I’m fairly certain we will be giving you a call back sooner rather than later.” She stood and the rest of them stood with her. They all shook hands before She and Thomson headed back to campus.

Shades Of Justice: Chapter 28

Sonya stepped forward. "We didn't lose him, our command center was attacked while we were fighting a giant squid in the ocean. When we got back the place was destroyed, Lumarion and Technarious were both gone." She explained.

Spark was chaotically moving around the wall. "You guys must be green, of course I don't just hitch a ride in a Shade, I hitch a ride in a baby Shade, fantastic." He said as he moved around the wall. "Technarious is easy, we just need to scan the area. And if Lumarion is anything like he used to be, yup here it is. We got Technarious' Chemical signature." The map of the solar system popped up and a perfect ring of light emanated from the center of the earth. It hit the moon and a bell sounded throughout the command center. "He's being held on the moon. Get yourselves prepped, you've got a rescue mission." The spark flickered in the wall.

As the others got excited Sonya pulled Dante aside. "Sonya, look I'm so-" 

she cut him off. "Yeah save it. We're a team, we don't pull solo stunts, we barely know what's going on or what to do about it and you could have died SO easily out there. So either get on board with the group dynamic or peace the hell out because I can't be worrying about when you'll come up with your next Dante's secret side mission." She was ranting as quietly as possible.

Dante let her get it all out before he replied. "You are absolutely right, I was wrong, it won't happen again." He admitted sincerely.

There was a moment of silence before Sonya spoke again. "I'm glad something came of it though, we owe you for finding Spark." She admitted.

Dante shook his head. "I didn't do anything, Spark found me. I'm legit lucky to be alive." He admitted.

Sonya nodded. With nothing more to say they joined the group in planning the moon assault.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 51

The rest of the day was hard. They talked for a good majority of the morning, everyone cried. They played almost every board game their father owned. Mew didn't win a single game.

The next morning Eamon was ready to make good on his promise to teach the Starseeds how to make books. He had one last breakfast with Mew and his father. A simpler affair, cereals, fruits, toast with jam. He and his father were basically addicted to Fruity Marshmallow Bombs. A completely un healthy kids cereal with an annoying cartoon mascot. They both had gigantic bowls as was tradition in their house, a tradition Mew broke with a modest bowl of some boring adult healthy wheat garbage. 

Eamon noticed her choice instantly. "Seriously?" He asked pointing to her bowl.

She nodded. "Yeah seriously, I'm having breakfast, you and dad are having early heart attacks." She said as she playfully swatted his pointing finger.

Eamon shook his head. "How can you call that breakfast?" He started. "It doesn't turn the Milk into a sugary rainbow slurry, it doesn't have an annoying mascot, and it's commercials are boooring!" He accused while he dumped almost two full cups of milk in his bowel. 

Mew shook her head. "Hey it's got a slogan!" She playfully protested. For the millionth time in their lives.

Her father sat at the table with his giant bowl. "A healthy way to start the day is not a catch phrase it's a eulogy for fun." Eamon and his father gave each other a high five. "Now what time are you and your  brother leaving?" He asked.

Mew shook her head. "I'm not leaving."

They both looked at her quizzically. "At least not yet. I'm not going back to the station, and I have nothing else to do, so I figured I'd spend some time with you dad before, well just before." She explained.

Eamon nodded. "Something tells me the Starseeds are going to want you around eventually." He guessed. 

Mew shook her head. "Why me? I've got nothing to offer them, I'm a low level admin for a now defunct orbital facility. They need me like I need another hole in my head." She offered.

Eamon shrugged. "You made first contact, something tells me that's important. But I could be wrong, we'll see." He said. 

They finished their breakfasts and Eamon got himself ready to go. They said their goodbyes and gave each other hugs after Eamon had loaded his stuff into the ship. "I'll be back in about a week." He assured them as he climbed aboard.

The door shut while Mew and her father retreated to the safety of the house. Once the ship had taken off and could no longer be seen her father looked down at her with a smile. "Well now what?" He asked.

She smiled. "Tell me the story of how you met mom." She asked as they went back inside the house.

Lidarion: Chapter 23

The Womamel didn’t often dock in Lidarion. It wasn’t really a safe port for the captain or his crew, and while each and every member of the crew would swear up and down on a case of rum that they were legitimate traders only interested in running cargo from one free port to another for a profitable price, being branded pirates had less to do with how the crew felt about themselves and more about how the world saw them.

Still, the war had made it harder to find, and much less take honest transport work along the southern coast and there were bills to pay, and if you had a skill there was no better place on the planet to use it in trade than Lidarion. The Womamel stood out like a sore thumb when it pulled into port. It had begun its life as an elven coastal strider. A battle ship that had the space and windows for an excessively silly number of cannons. It had defended the norther coast of the southern continent until it was stolen by a band of pirate raiders who had taken the ship as their prized possession. It changed hands either taking care of debts in trade, or coming to new owners at the end of poker games. That happened to be how Lisa’s brother came to possess the ship. Dean was uncommonly good at card games and bluffed his way into possession of the ship while still the second mate of his pervious ship…Leaving the pirate’s island with the ship was another ordeal entirely.

With the Womamel docked, Dean stopped by the dock master's office to check his messages and found the employment request waiting for him. He had never been to Alex’s bar but there were members of his crew who swore by the place. As rare as it was for him to bring the ship to Lidarion, It was rarer still for him to leaving the shipping district. Luckily he had woken the dock master long enough to get directions and the bar wasn’t very far into the commerce district.

Growing up in his family both he and his sister had decreed that neither of them would allow the other to follow in their father’s footsteps. There were so many other possibilities as children that sailing seemed mundane and beneath them. His sister kept that promise, she had the skill and talent of magic from their mother so she dedicated her life to becoming a healer. As hard as she cried when she left for school, Dean had cried harder. He felt betrayed, abandoned, and left behind. As the years passed he found that the seas suited him. He enjoyed waking up with the horizon in every direction. He was better than most at navigation and his father grew to trust him regularly at the helm, eventually men twice his age made no complaint of taking his orders. Still almost nightly he swore to himself that when his father retired he would free himself to explore the world, get off the ship and see the dryland world. And when his father retired he did just that. He lasted less than a month. When his father’s ship docked again he was waiting for it, and the crew welcomed him home to his rightful place. As a child he swore to his sister that taking on a ship of his own would be the worst mistake of his life, the year after his father died he found himself making that mistake gladly.

Dean didn’t usually think about his family much, and felt strange that he should be thinking of them today. With his mind distracted by thoughts of the past he nearly tripped over the Bar. He shook off clawing grasp of memory and opened the door to the bar, only to see his sister sitting at a table with a bunch of people he had never met. He should feel warmth and relief, excitement and happiness. But the first thought that crossed his mind was turning around and leaving the bar before she saw him. She had obviously left the note, remembering the name of the ship he jokingly chose as a child. What would she think now that it was not only not a joke but a point of great pride in his life. She had done what they promised each other and he had done the exact opposite. She had left him behind but now he felt like the one who betrayed her.

Dean had frozen at the front door. An older woman behind the bar noticed him standing there and warmly shouted for him to seat himself. Lisa and the others at her table turned to look out of curiosity and they saw each other. Dean smiled awkwardly. Lisa was on her feet before he could shrug and before he could move they were hugging. A full body hug that destroyed any worries he had, any hatred he harbored and any anger he had kept for either his sister or himself. They had taken different paths but in this moment he had without a single word reminded them that they were family, always had been, always would be.

The XP: Chapter 23

Volnado began to rage. “You’re insects! Playing your little greedy games, trying to manipulate the loot tables and player economies!. I was always the best of us!” He began to grow significantly larger until he was three times the size of a normal player character.

Stygian looked past Volnado to Torcano who was still stuck to the wall. He then looked back to Trart. “He’s not mad at you.” Stygian said out loud.

Trart looked back at Stygian. “What?”

Stygian Threw a knife that Volnado stuck his hand out to block, the knife embedded itself in his hand. And Volnado instantly moved a less than half his normal speed. Stygian used the time to talk to Tart. “Volnado doesn’t hate you, he hates his brother and us. We need him so mad he won’t be able to think straight.” Stygian explained.

Trart looked over at Torcano still trapped on the wall. “You want me to try and free Torcano?” He asked.

Stygian nodded. “Ten or less bombs should take care of the thing holding him to the wall, and you’ll both be resurrected pretty quickly.” He explained.

Trart nodded. “So we free Torcano, then what?” He asked.

The poison of Crippled Time wore off Volnado. He and Trart Charged each other, Volnado batted Tart of out of the way like he was swatting a fly. He made a bee line for Stygian, bearing down on him, Stygian threw up his shield to protect himself from Volnado’s now giant, pounding fists. Impacting like a car being dropped on him, suddenly his shield cracked, breaking in half on the next blow.

Stygian stood tall and tossed the wasted shield aside. No sword or shield. Just his old black and blue armor. Volnado Turned to gloat to the assembled spectators but came chest to barrels of both Torcano’s pistols, from the look on his face it was pretty much the last thing he expected. Torcano pulled both triggers and for the first time Volnado’s health dropped significantly. “How!” Volnado gasped.

Torcano cocked his guns. “It’s been a while since you played a gunslinger brother. They have an ability called soul fire. Takes my base damage and multiplies it by the number of times I’ve died in an area or dungeon.” Normally the death rules keep it limited to double damage.”  He unloaded the last five bullets from each of his pistols.  “Apparently, the insects figured out a way around that limitation.” He reloaded his guns as Volnado got back to his feet.

When was back on his feet, Torcano had his hand out. “Let’s end this fight. I’m a dick and I’m sorry. I need to learn to share and treat you with you re –“ Volnado crushed Torcano's head in his giant hand. Then dropped his lifeless body to the ground. The move so infuriated Bob that she stopped her song of mana regeneration and unleashed a thunderous wave of force that blew past Stygian and hit Volnado like a hundred trucks knocking him back against the far wall of the Arena.

Once Tart had freed Torcano from his prison, he had quickly begun placing stacks of five mines while Volnado was distracted by his brother and the others. In the few minutes of freedom that he had he had placed almost five thousand mines.  Not paying attention to anything but placing as quickly as possible he had pretty much painted himself into a corner.

Volnado landed right in the middle of the giant half circle of death Trart had been laying out. Both of them had a split second of realization before the mines went off. Volnado looked at Trart with resigned annoyance. “Really?” was all he was able to say before they were enveloped in the expanding fire of Trart’s rainbow of death. The Arena went nuts as the explosions continued for almost ninety seconds.

As the mines exploded line after line the arena announcement board and all the screens outside the Area Brightly exclaimed that The End of the World Club had won.