Chapter 117

Manager Suite 297, Merder Stadium, Atlanta - 8:38 AM

When I opened my eyes again, my body was whole. My clothes were still ripped to shreds and my sword had returned to its original scalpel form, but I was back in one piece. All of my HP and MP were topped up, though I immediately refilled the Medallion of Uuska since that remained empty, and I was feeling good.

Howard, on the other hand, was staring at me with an open mouth and a horrified expression on his face. “What the actual hell, Warmonger?“ he shouted, waving his arms around. “Your arm!“

“… It got better,“ I replied as I tossed the Scalpel of Angelic Healing back into my inventory.

“Why'd you shear your arm off in the first place!?“

“Well, I had to…“ I paused and tried to recreate my position without getting down onto the ground. “You know, because the basket was all the way up here, and I had to see it to win. So I had to twist, but the axe was there, in order to see it.“

“Yeah, I get that part, but your arm!“ he repeated.

I started nodding. “Okay, so this is really just more of a ‘how could you’ than a ‘why did you do that.’ I got it. You ready to go?“

Howard’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to figure out how to respond to my nonchalance. In the end, he simply shook his head and sighed. “Yeah, I guess.“

“Good, then let’s go. We’ve got to visit the Dunbar Runners before they get too far,“ I told him as I headed to the door. “They usually do a team debriefing in their suite, so we’ve got time, but speed and efficiency is key.“

I heard Howard following after me. “What do we need to see them for?“ he asked.

“Well, I say we when I really should have said I need to visit them,“ I corrected, stopping at the door. “But I can only make one of those doorways back to the hotel at a time so you’re coming along.“

“Oh, alright, sure.“

Opening the door to leave, I was met with a man in fur-lined armor who was about to knock. Howard yelped and hid behind me, clutching the back of my hoodie, and I waved.

“Hello again, Lars,“ I greeted. “I’ve got a limited amount of time, and you know better than most what it means to keep me from where I want to go.“

Lars visibly swallowed and took a hesitant step back. He had been the one in charge of keeping people out of the Skylounge on top of the Glenn Hotel when I went to save Howard. I had shaken him up with some words about his family, though in the end I still ended up using Crash Test to shove him through a door.

He put his hands up and shook them in a way that indicated he meant no harm. “I’m not here to stop you, Warmonger,“ he said quickly. “I’m just here to offer an invitation from Mr. Branson. He thinks there’s a lot he can offer you that-“

“Hard pass,“ I said, interrupting him. “Now, if you’ll run along I have some place to be.“

I watched as Lars set his jaw and shook his head. “Look, man, I don’t want to be here talking to you-“

“The feeling is absolutely mutual.“

“-But denying Mr. Branson is very dangerous, and you’re, what?“ Lars hesitated. “Trying to poach Jamie? Actively destroying the gear his people own? Why?“

“Do you want a real answer to that question?“ I asked, and after another moment of hesitation, he nodded. “Branson is a plague. I’ll be honest, I could just kill him and get it over with. Lord knows the only one of you that would put up a decent fight is Jamie. That’s just not how I’ll roll. Instead, I’ll bankrupt the man, make it so nobody trusts him on business decisions ever again, and do it without any needless bloodshed.

“By me, I should say. Without any needless bloodshed by me,“ I continued. “After all, Jacob Branson has a lot of people he pissed off by throwing his weight around. Once his most loyal followers think he’s a fraud, then how much protection do you think he’ll have? It's only a matter of time, you know. He’s hurt the people of Atlanta, Lars, and you've been a part of it. You’re protecting your wife and son because you know what he’ll do to them.“

“How do you-“

“Shh, shh, I am a man of much knowledge, Lars,“ I said, taking a step forward. He stiffened and reached for his sword, but didn’t draw. I reached out and adjusted the fur on his armor. “I don’t need to meet with Branson. He is a blip on my radar that is so minuscule, so minute, that aside from saving Howard, I don’t ever have to see him in order to take him down. The amount of effort I need to ruin him is incredibly small. A few words in the right place, some broken equipment, and destroying his attempts to rig the Chaos Cup by simply existing.“

Lars took a deep breath and whispered his next words. “Branson took something from you, didn’t he?“

I shook my head. “No, Lars. Branson isn’t capable of taking anything from me except my time and patience. What he did was hurt my friend, and the people of this fine city. Just like he’ll do to you, and especially your wife. He covets her, you know, and it’s only a matter of time. Your points have stopped flowing as freely, haven’t they?“

The man didn’t answer, so I continued. “One failure, which was not being able to stop me so that’s hardly a failure, and he’s treating you like you’re a dog that doesn’t even deserve the table scraps. That’s why he sent you here today, Lars, to test your loyalty and to see how far I’ll go. And here you are, like a good little puppy. It won’t get you back into his good graces, you know that, but that doesn’t mean you won’t try. For them.“

“What are you going to do?“ Lars asked meekly.

“Nothing of consequence to you. I’m going to go make new friends with people I’ve done horrible things to,“ I said cheerfully. Looking over towards the other manager suites, I could see the Sherwood Forest Knaves, one of Branson’s teams that I hadn’t had a chance to meet with in the arena, sticking their heads out and watching us. “So the only question now, is how you want to part ways.“

“I can’t go back empty handed,“ he said, his voice pleading.

“Of course you can,“ I said, looking back at him and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Here, let me help you a little bit so that you have a few witnesses. Try not to panic too hard.“

Lars paled as I released the Cable Conglomerate from the Vambrace of Wires and used it to pin his arms to his side. Splitting my focus and Lifting both the rope and his armor, I slammed him against the ceiling. I could still feel Howard clinging to me, and I spared both him and the man I had tied up from the force of my Tyrant’s Will. The aura pulsed through the hallways, and I could easily hear the Sherwood Forest Knaves reacting to it.

“Listen here,“ I announced loudly, looking up at Lars. He didn’t feel the dread from my aura, but that just meant his fear was genuine. “If Branson wants something, then he doesn’t get to send a lackey. I am not someone he can intimidate, and this is the third time he’s barred my path. First, at the Skylounge. Second, to keep me and Howard out of the suite. Third, you, here and now.“

I brought Lars back down so that his face was hovering inches away from mine. “Tell him to inconvenience me one more time, lapdog,“ I yelled, letting my voice ooze with the venom of hundreds of years of pent up aggression. “Tell him to inconvenience me one more time. Branson’ll get his face to face meeting, then, and he’ll learn firsthand what it means when the Warmonger really goes to war.“

Releasing Lift, Lars dropped to the ground and the wire rope freed him before returning to my vambrace. I jerked my head, indicating to Howard that he should follow me, and I started walking down the hallway. Tyrant’s Will was still active, and I saw the door to Sherwood Forest Knaves’ room close quickly as I approached. That was when I dropped it.

“You can be scary, you know that?“ Howard whispered.

“Oh, Howard, you don’t even know the half of it,“ I said, banging on Sherwood Forest Knaves’ door as I laughed maniacally. I didn’t stop for them, though.

Luckily, my destination wasn’t on the other side of Merder Stadium. The only way across was to change floors and go across either the 200 or 300 skybridge that connected the two sides of the building. The Dunbar Runners manager’s suite wasn’t far, and was made up of several suites with the walls knocked down so that it was nearly the size of mine. As the darlings of the Merder Stadium safe zone, they got the room closest to the press box that Benedict Merder had made his office.

No other teams came out to greet us, though there were only a few on this side, and we made it with plenty of time to spare. I knocked on the door to suite 278.

“We’re busy!“ a teenage girl shouted through the door. “Get lost!“

“Now that I don’t have Tito’s Pathfinder passive, that might be an option!“ I yelled back. There wasn’t any response, and the only sound was the crowd in another part of the stadium. I put my hands on my hips and waited.

“Do you think they’re waiting for us to leave?“ Howard asked after only a few seconds.

“No, dude, chill,“ I said, waving him off.

It didn’t take much longer, but the door did open just a crack. Ramona Marino, the manager of Dunbar Runners and Manny’s sister, peeked through, and I waved. She narrowed her eyes. “What are you here for?“

“To make new friends, of course.“

“Friends, right,“ she scoffed. “Didn’t you just poison my uncle Tito?“

“I did, yes.“

“And throw Joanna off a mountain?“

“Yep, did that, too.“

“And cut off your own arm on my brother's evil axe?“

“I got better.“

“And what makes you think I’m-“

Before she could say anymore, the door jerked open. Ramona lurched backwards and I saw Manny standing there with his hand on the handle. He glared at me before his gaze shifted to Howard.

“Hi, I’m Howard,“ my manager said, though he was looking past Manny and into the room. “I had nothing to do with any cliff throwing or poisoning.“

I shook my head and sighed, but I got a good look inside the room. Tito and Joanna were still sitting, each had their arms crossed and a disgruntled look on their face. To my surprise, both Kayla and Jeff were here.  I guessed they had really hit it off with the Dunbar Runners if they were here watching the game from premium seats.

Kayla managed to keep a stoic face, but Jeff was doing a poor job of hiding his excitement. It was obvious that she had shown her husband the note, which I expected, and he wasn’t nearly as good at hiding things as she was. At least it looked like he could just be excited to meet the Warmonger.

“Oh, Dunbar Runners plus friends,“ I exclaimed. “Are you going to invite us in?“

“Are you going to lead us into the tunnels?“ Manny asked, crossing his arms. He looked very cross with me.

“That is what I’m here to discuss, yes. Though not, you know, here here. Somewhere else more private. I’ll take you.“

“Whatever you have to say, you can say it to everyone here,“ he claimed.

“Oh, you trust these two random people?“ I asked, waving my hand towards the Mills.

“More than you,“ Ramona muttered.

“Fair enough. Then, may we come in?“ I asked again.

Ramona looked up at Manny, who scowled and moved out of our way. I ushered Howard in before entering myself, heading straight for Tito. He shifted into a more defensive position, like he was about to leap from the chair and deck me.

“First, before we get any farther. Tito, I’m sorry,“ I said, snapping open my inventory. “I don’t like using those on people, and I was only doing what I had to in order to achieve victory. Your synergy with Joanna makes winning without such tricks incredibly hard, especially as my own stats were stunted by the Wheels of Chaos.“

Tito relaxed a little bit, but I could see the anger in his eyes. “If you think an apology is going to make me forget that feeling, then you’ve got another thing coming, kid.“

“You’re absolutely right,“ I replied, nodding. I pulled out another of Talspra’s bolts and offered it to him.

He looked at it, confused. “What is this?“

“This bolt came from the same place as the one I hit you with,“ I explained. “Take it, and stab me.“

“What the hell are you talking about?“ Tito asked, looking up at me.

“I don’t want there to be any animosity between our teams. So I’m offering you a chance to hit me with the same thing I hit you with. Eye for an eye, and we can put this all behind us. I have a higher Constitution than you, but it’ll lay me out for just about as long as it did you. So, go ahead.“ I knew he wouldn't stab me with it, but the act of such a powerful olive branch would get them thinking, at least.

“You just lost your arm! Do you have something wrong with your brain?“ Looking from the bolt up to me, Tito shook his head. “Actually, it doesn't matter. That’s a bit too much for me, kid. I may want you to suffer, but not like that.“

“Then take it and use it when you need it,“ I offered. “On a monster of some sort, if you don’t want to use it on a person. Which is understandable, of course. As I said, I don’t like it either.“ Tito looked into my eyes, and I urged him to take it. He sighed, but gingerly plucked the bolt from my hand and put it into his inventory.

“And what about me?“ Joanna asked.

“You got thrown off a mountain,“ I scoffed. “Which happened both after I helped you up and warned you that I’d remove you from the game afterwards. You had, what? Seconds of terror?“

Joanna leaned back in her chair. “Maybe it was a bit uncalled for.“

“Very well, perhaps it was,“ I said, wanting to get this conflict over with. I turned to Joanna and bowed slightly. “I’m sorry for throwing you off a mountain, but I’m not giving you any gifts because of it. What happened to Roberto Marino was a special case.“

“And Lucas Cox,“ Ramona said. “You got him with the same stuff.“

“Yeah, but nobody likes him,“ I replied with a shake of my head. “I’m not offering him a poisoned bolt to stick me with because I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t stop at just that. Tito, here, is at least a gentleman about it.“

“You talk like you know me, but we have no idea who you are,“ Tito said. “You going to spill that little secret?“

I shook my head. “I arrived in Atlanta as the Warmonger, and I plan on leaving Atlanta as the Warmonger,“ I lied. “But that’s neither here nor there. Shall we head to a more secure location away from any potential adoring fans? We were already accosted on the way here, and I’d like to be gone from this place before Benedict Merder decides a couple of MVPs in one place is a party he’d like to invite himself to.“

“Jeff’s an MVP, too,“ Joanna said, jerking her thumb back at the Mills.

“All the more reason to get out of here, then,“ I said, giving Jeff a nod, which he returned. “Even if they’re awfully quiet.“

“You go by the moniker Warmonger, gleefully run around killing and tying people up, and put two men through immense pain all for the sake of your own victory,“ Kayla listed off coldly. “I think quiet observance is the right call here.“

“That doesn’t mean we’re letting you take our friends without giving them some backup, though,“ Jeff added, standing up.

I snorted in amusement. “Good friends indeed,“ I said before turning to Manny. “One more time, shall we go and discuss the tunnels?“

Manny looked at everyone else in the room except for Howard and myself, getting nods, before turning to me. He gestured towards the door. “Lead the way.“

“Gladly,“ I said before heading that way. I stopped in front of it and activated Broken Boundary so that it would deposit us in the hotel. “Howard, you’ll need to go first. It’ll drop us off in the room I was in this morning, and since none of them should have access to our floor, it’ll be up to you to give them an invite. Just say ‘you’re invited’ as they pop in.“

“Pop in?“ Tito asked.

“Oh, it’s really cool,“ Howard said. “He’ll open the door and it’ll be a big glowing light and you step through it and it’s somewhere else. Also, got it, Warmonger.“

“Good. In you go, then.“ I opened the door, revealing exactly what Howard had described, and the manager walked through. “It doesn’t last long, so let’s be quick about it.“

Manny was the second to walk through after everyone hesitated. Once he did, Ramona, Joanna, and Tito followed. Jeff was next, offering me a fist bump, but Kayla paused. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?“ she asked, giving me a quick hug in greeting.

“No, we’ve hit more snags,“ I told her as I returned the hug. Not lingering, I snapped open my inventory and pulled out the Hidden Claws I received from the Thunder Chaska. I handed them over, and she quickly stored them in her own inventory. “These are for you, but we can’t talk now, it’ll be suspicious.“

Without another word, she passed through and I followed her into a now very cramped hotel room.