Fell Champions

Otter didn’t know when the transport happened, so she didn’t realize she was back at her seat on the bench until Rua’s arms were around her, squeezing tightly. She closed her eyes, and leaned into the warmth felt from the embrace and from the link they shared. She returned the hug, squeezing tighter, and tried to forget the memories of Nightmare.

 

“Are you okay?” Rua asked.

 

“No.”

 

She didn’t know how else to respond. She was pretty good at putting on a fake smile most of the time, but she just didn’t have the energy for it. As it was, she could barely hold herself from the edge of a breakdown.

 

It’d be a bad idea to show weakness here. It didn’t matter what Holt thought, but there were too many other players likely watching her every move now. They were going to be wary of her, now that she’d killed one of her peers. Nightmare had friends, too. Who knew if anyone would want revenge. And then there would just be the assholes who were going to judge her based on her gender, who would completely dismiss or vilify her from now on just because of what was between her legs.

 

Which, on second thought, was actually kind of funny, considering what she knew and they didn’t.

 

Otter just wanted to bury herself as far into Rua’s arms as she could manage, but instead she slowly extricated herself and pulled her broken pieces together. 

 

“We’re surrounded by enemies,” Otter said. “I have to be okay.”

 

Rua nodded, as if what she’d said was the most logical thing in the world. 

 

“I’m not an enemy!” Pandemona said.

 

She was standing off to the side, her posture awkward and clearly uncomfortable. Otter had honestly forgotten she was even there. She exchanged a glance with Rua, who shook her head, but didn’t give a poke indicating a lie.

 

“You’re not a friend, though,” Otter said.

 

“I could be. I like making friends. I’m, uh, famous for it?”

 

Rua firmly jabbed Otter in the thigh, but she wasn’t sure how much of the statement had been a lie. Definitely the latter, but the former could be easily open to interpretation. 

 

“The shield’s down,” Rua said.

 

Otter looked about, and while she hadn’t been able to see the shield surrounding them previously, she now realized she could make out actual people in the crowd, and not just shadowy figures. People were beginning to gather in small groups, freely interacting with one another now that anonymity was gone.

 

“What in the name of Sun Wukong’s sodomizing pole is Holt up to now?”

 

The screen he’d been using to communicate was gone. The only things on his throne was an empty goblet, tipped on its side, and his crown, dangling from the arm rest. 

 

What had even been the point of the anonymous game? Was it just to keep everyone separated until the fight had concluded? 

 

People were probably going to start approaching her. After that fight, a third of them might be too frightened to come near her, but the others would either want to recruit her, or feel her out and see if she was a potential enemy. 

 

It looked like some people were working up the nerve, but no one was making a move except…

 

“Shit,” Otter said. “Shit, shit, shit.”

 

Rua quirked an eyebrow and followed Otter’s sightline, and Pandemona said, “Oh, hey, didn’t think I’d see her.”

 

“You need to get out of here now,” Otter said.

 

It took Pandemona a quick second to figure out she was the one being spoken to. “What? Why?”

 

“Just get the fuck out of here, we’ll talk later.” 

 

‘Pandemona’ seemed faintly amused on top of not knowing how to process what she was being told, so Otter began applying strong arm tactics. And by ‘strong arm tactics,’ she started to try to push her away only to discover that apparently Pandemona had invested into a Strength build, because she wasn’t moving at all.

 

“You could just ask,” Pandemona said.

 

“Nope, too invested in the aggressive approach to back down now. Rua, pick her up and get her out of here.”

 

Rua looked as if she didn’t know whether to be worried or to be entertained, and apparently settled on the latter, because she smirked and said, “No, I want to see how whatever this is will play out.”

 

“Traitor, you’re supposed to, oh, hey, SamiRai, weird seeing you here, what’s up, person I totally don’t know.”

 

Sami always looked good. Decked out in a loose, billowy shirt that had apparently been cut for a man and left a lot of her chest exposed, and something that looked like harem pants, she looked absolutely gorgeous. Not even a pair of ill-fitting sandals could take away from her looks, or the fact that she wore a pair of battered swords, one at her side, the other strapped to her back.. How had she gotten gear already? Shouldn’t she have spawned with nothing like everyone else?

 

Sami drummed her fingers on her sword’s pommel stone, an old habit of hers. It meant she was thinking. And Otter suddenly realized she’d said a lot she probably shouldn’t have.

 

“I wasn’t aware we were acquainted,” Sami said.

 

“We aren’t. You’re just, you know, a big name in the industry. Everyone knows you.”

 

Rua sucked in a breath, and Otter found herself immediately by her side, and rubbing at her hand. Sami’s eyes narrowed at that.

 

Shit.

 

“Hi, I’m Pandemona.”

 

Sami tilted her head at that, looking at ‘Pandemona’ as if she were a strange worm she found on the ground and hadn’t decided whether she was going to step on it, or move around. 

 

“Really? With that lily-white skin? You know she’s Polynesian, right?”

 

Pandemona must’ve realized she’d stepped in it, because she did the smartest thing she could’ve done. She shut up.

 

Otter laughed nervously, “She probably changed it in character creation.”

 

“Pandemona? Give up her own ancestry for aesthetics? Maybe. She always was kind of a sellout.”

 

Okay, that patently wasn’t true. She almost barked a response when she realized it was a test. 

 

Oh no.

 

That meant Sami knew.

 

Ten seconds into a conversation, and already she’d been figured out. Or maybe not. If Sami was testing, it meant she wasn’t sure. She was testing a hypothesis. And it was likely more directed at ‘Pandemona’ than it was at Otter.

 

“Well, I guess you’d know,” Otter said. “Didn’t you two used to date? I think I remember reading that online somewhere.”

 

Pandemona gulped.

 

“I’d be surprised if you hadn’t,” Sami said. “Our Gallant Stand clan was a bit of a scandal, back in the day. Everyone knew we were poly.”

 

“Right, I forget how that whole thing worked. Pandemona was the one banging everyone, right? Hence the ‘pan’ in her name?”

 

Sami snorted. “No, Pan is about as lesbian as they come. She was only sleeping with me. ‘Pandemona’ was supposed to be a play on ‘Pandemonium.’ She loves her puns. Don’t you, Pandemona?”

 

The impostor gave a weak shrug. A very obvious sheen of sweat decorated her brow. “Oh. Uh. Yep. You know, I think I have something I, uh, need to do.”

 

Behind Sami, someone else was approaching, but she didn’t seem to notice. It was a big, burly blond man, nearly seven feet tall, and built as if from marble. He had an easygoing smile, the kind you had when you were about to sneak a hand in the cookie jar and you didn’t think anyone knew.

 

He’d changed his appearance a lot, but Otter recognized that jawline anywhere. This had to be that douche cryptobro, Paul Howlett. Ugh. Just what they needed. 

 

Sami said, “I’m sure you do. You know, I’m just kind of confused, though.”

 

“Confused?” Pandemona said.

 

”I mean, why even pretend? You clearly don’t know the first thing about her. Why assume someone else’s identity?”

 

Pandemona’s shoulders slumped. “We collabed once. She was… she was cool. I dunno. I guess I just… hey, what’s he doing?”

 

Paul had just been so casual about his stroll up to them that Otter had honestly stopped paying attention, focused more on trying to ease Rua’s headache and not drawing Sami’s ire. He was approaching now with one hand outstretched, fingers grasping for the sword on Sami’s back.

 

Rua beat all of them to the reaction, but only by a hair. She drew one of the two daggers Otter had tucked into her belt and threw it in a quick cast with her free hand. Sami was already twisting around, her other sword ripping free from its sheath. The dagger took Paul in the shoulder, hitting his shield and shattering it in one blow, before sinking into flesh. Sami’s drawn sword took his reaching hand clean off.

 

It all happened in an eyeblink. Sami, probably more from muscle memory from Gallant Stand than out of any actual coldness, flicked the blood from her blade at him and then sheathed her sword in one smooth motion. 

 

Paul didn’t react for a full second. And then it was a lot of bleeding, screaming, and falling to the ground and crying in pain. Typical asshole thief getting caught stealing behaviour. 

 

“Bitch,” he growled.

 

“Seriously?” Otter said. “You literally just watched me kill someone who got put in that arena because he tried to do the exact same thing. Now go away, we’re busy, read the room, fuck.”

 

Even in pain as he was, she really wanted to go over there and kick him. How could he be so fucking stupid? Did peddling crypto to idiots make him just as dumb as the people he ripped off? As if someone hadn’t just been made an example of.

 

“Take your hand with you,” Rua said. “If your Tenacity’s high enough, and if you hold it to the stump, it might reattach.”

 

“Might?” he asked in between laboured breaths of pain, as if he hadn’t just been offered a miracle.

 

“Or you can stay,” Sami said. “I’m kind of curious what kind of stat points I can extract from your corpse.”

 

His face flushed red. A vein in his forehead began to visibly throb.

 

“Don’t,” Otter said.

 

But it was too late. He picked up his severed hand and threw it at Sami. Her sword left its sheath in an instant, catching the projectile and deflecting it away. But Paul had ripped the dagger from his shoulder and was already lunging at Sami.

 

Otter triggered Thread of the Scourge, forming a lash of golden light and ripped the dagger from his hand. In the next instant, Pandemona was there, and laid him out with a single punch to the jaw. Something audibly broke, and Paul collapsed.

 

“Do, uh, do we just leave him like this?” Pandemona asked.

 

Sami inhaled sharply. Otter could see the wheels turning in her head. She was debating just killing him and taking what stats she could, and just claim it as self-defense with the spoils going to the victor.

Those fingers of hers drummed along the pommel of her sword, and Sami took a step forward.