Chapter 102

Merder Stadium, Atlanta - 3:34 PM

I decided to take my time and walk back to Merder Stadium instead of using a Broken Boundary door. My shoes squelched uncomfortably with every step, my clothes were soaked through, and I needed to spend some time drying off. There was a trail of water left in my wake for most of the journey. While I still wasn’t dry by the time I made it to my destination, I didn’t let the discomfort bother me.

The battle royale to determine the Chaos Cup’s final teams had been a big hit, and the population had noticed.  There were no tickets needed which meant that seats were first come first serve. With so many expecting a rush, even the people who were merely curious had picked their spots and refused to move.

That was for the seating around the arena, though, and not my destination. I walked through the outskirts of the stadium, ignoring all of the strange looks I received, until I made it to the stairs. I ascended, heading towards the second Suite Level where the managers would be set up.

I headed towards suite 297 where the plaque on the door listed the team name, its members, and the manager. It read The Warmonger, The Warmonger, Howard Cooper. These were the command center for each team, a place where the manager could oversee everything and provide information as it became available. Opening the door, I was greeted by the sight of a mostly empty room.

This suite was just like the others in that it only had two chairs with no other furniture. I knew from experience that the chairs were very comfortable, but it made the room feel very empty. Howard was sitting in one of them near the window overlooking the arena. He moved his arms around and it looked like he was working on several screens at one time.

When his gaze fell on me, he nearly jumped out of his seat. “Holy hell, what happened to you?” he asked as I walked inside and closed the door behind me.

“I went for a quick bowl and went fishing,” I told him as I wrung out some of the water that was still in my hoodie. “I’m doing fine, thank you for asking. How are you doing?”

“How am I doing? How am I doing?” Howard repeated as if he couldn’t believe I had the gall to ask. “You left me with that blue Adonis wannabe and left me to fend for myself! He kept asking me questions about you and I had to keep playing coy because I don’t know anything about you. ‘Oh, Mr. Monger is very private, Mr. Merder,’ and ‘No, I won’t be able to tell you anything about his Patron or I might get in trouble, Mr. Merder.’ Like, come on, man! How could you do that to me?”

“Fairly easily, Howard my friend, fairly easily,” I responded as I approached and sat in the chair next to him. Howard crossed his arms as he started looking over his invisible screens again, though his gaze often returned to me out of the corner of his eyes.

Glancing out the window, I could see that the arena had already been set up. The “mountain” was large and tapered into a flat top above the Merder Stadium. The dome had been opened specifically for the event, and any contenders who made it up there would show up on screens that the audience members could open whenever they wanted.

At the base of the mountain was a clearing that lead to a forest that skirted the edge of the arena. Floating above the trees were sixteen large, silver discs. These were the spawn points. The majority of them had three circles etched on top, one closer to the mountain and two further away. Three of the discs had two circles, and only one contained a single circle; that one was mine.

After the clock hit four, the teams would be teleported to their discs one by one to get announced by Benedict Merder. Since betting was such a big thing in the Chaos Cup, the audience was able to get basic information on the various competitors so they could make an informed decision. They wouldn’t get anything pertaining to class, stat distribution, or skills that any player might have, but instead got their roles.

Manny’s team, the Dunbar Runners, would show up as having a Warrior, Rogue, and Controller to match their classes: Spirit Axe, Syndicate Shade, and Crowd Stopper. Their leader’s name would have a small graphic beside it to indicate that he was an MVP, and the system would give out what it calculated was their odds of winning. This could change as the Wheel of Chaos gave them their extra objectives, but the payout was reduced for those who waited.

“I want you to bet everything you have that Team Titan’s Claire will be first, followed by myself, followed by Dunbar Runners’ Joanna,” I said as I turned away from the glass and looked at Howard.

“… What?” he asked, then narrowed his eyes. “Hold on, before that, how did you know who was going to win? How do you know who’s going to win?”

“I told you that I had my ways, didn’t I?” I replied coyly.

“That’s a bullshit answer and you know it,” he said. “Come on, Warmonger. You threw me to Benedict Merder, you can at least answer this for me.”

“Oh, yes, how can I possibly resist the alluring siren song of ‘come on, Warmonger?’ If you must know, it’s a Patron benefit. That’s all I can tell you,” I lied. “He or she is-“

“Very private, yes, you told me,” Howard sighed. He put his face in both hands for a moment before shaking it off. “Well, it was very lucrative so I’d probably still be here no matter what you said. Except maybe sacrificing babies, or children, or people in general, I guess.”

“If it makes you feel better, I do not sacrifice anyone to my Patron for knowledge from the beyond.”

Howard paused for a moment, considering my words, and then nodded. “Yeah, that does make me feel a little better,” he said. His hands got to work on the multitude of screens all around him. “So Claire, you, then Joanna?”

“That’s right,” I replied. “Claire can shift into a small bird, which I’m sure you can see how easy a win would be.”

“That’s basically downright cheating, isn’t it?”

“Anything goes, for the most part,” I replied with a shrug. “I’ll be next up, and Joanna won’t be far behind me.”

“Okay, got… it… in… now,” he said, finishing up his typing. “Who’s next?”

“After us three, no one.” Settling into the chair, I began rocking back and forth.

Tilting his head towards me, Howard took his eyes off of the manager's screens. “No… one? Doesn’t this event go on for a whole hour?”

“Oh, of course it does,” I confirmed. “But this first event doesn’t have respawns enabled. If you drop off the cliff and die, then you’re done for.”

“Wait, so you’re saying everyone else is going to die?”

“There’s bonus points on the line for whatever team is the last one standing,” I explained. “Not that Benedict Merder has told anyone that particular rule because he wants this to be a spectacle. It’s also moot because, after this event, the contenders respawn.”

“So you’re saying that you’re going to kill everyone, then,” Howard stated nervously.

“Heavens, no, not everyone,” I chuckled. My manager looked relieved until I continued. “Some of them will kill each other, I’d say fifty or sixty percent of them.”

Howard stared at me and blinked, and I waited for him to process. “You’re one scary dude, Warmonger.”

“Thanks, that is the image I’m currently cultivating so I’ll take the compliment and thank you for it,” I said, giving him a small bow.

“Yes, I definitely meant it as a compliment,” he said slowly, looking back at the screens and tapping at the air. “Alright, looks like ‘no one’ is a valid answer to bet on.”

“Excellent.” I clapped my hands together once. “Now, if you’re done wondering about how I know things and forgetting that I am, in your words, a super powerful player, what kind of things did you come up with on ruining my odds?”

Howard frowned. “There’s 45 other players out there who are going to get ready to go after you once they realize how dangerous you are. Do you really need restrictions?”

I sighed as dramatically as I was able. “Howard, we went over this. The system determines the odds, and my odds are not great for making points. You gotta work with me here and make it so I at least line up with the other teams.”

“Okay, fine, fine, whatever,” Howard mumbled. He swiped open his inventory and pulled out a piece of paper, which he waved in my direction. “See? Made a list for you and everything.”

“Much appreciated, sir,” I said.

He started looking through it, running his finger down the paper. “So, how about, you’re not allowed to use weapons to kill?”

“Interesting. Melee, ranged, or any?”

Howard paused. “Uh, melee? I guess?”

I nodded. “Sounds good. There’s still punching.”

His finger stopped on the next item on the list. “… No punching.”

“Very fair, there’s always kicking,” I replied. I watched as Howard’s eyes flicked from me, to the list, and then back to me. “Was no kicking next on the list?”

“… Maybe,” he said quietly.

“Roger that. No lethal melee attacks, no punching, and no kicking,” I repeated. “That certainly makes things harder for me. Two more.”

“Those restrictions aren’t enough?” he asked incredulously.

“No, of course not! You’re supposed to challenge me, remember? Give me something creative!” I ordered, jabbing a finger at him.

“Fine, sheesh. Then, how about, you can only climb the mountain one handed?”

“Sure, that would make things more difficult for me, but it’s still child’s play,” I retorted. “Give me something good. Something big!”

“Those all were good!” he exclaimed, pointing a finger back at me. “Look, these are good suggestions. You are in for a bad time. What do you want from me?”

“Something creative, with a little pizazz! Come on, hit me!”

“Okay, so maybe no killing and no punching and no kicking aren’t very creative,” he admitted, rubbing his temples with his fingers. “But climbing up the mountain one handed, that’s a good one, isn’t it?”

“Sure, if you haven’t seen any action movies that contain even a little bit of vertical climbing,” I snorted. “You can do better. Do it.”

“I’m-“

“A good suggestion, I’m here for it.”

“Well, I’m try-“

“Give me your best shot.”

“Would you-“

“Even better than that one.”

“After every one of your kills, you have to meow for the crowd!” Howard yelled, cutting through my taunts.

I stared at him as I watched his expression turn from one of anger to one of horror as he realized he had just shouted at me. He couldn’t see my expression, and assumed from the mask’s narrowed eye slits that I was mad at him.

Honestly, I was just flabbergasted.

Eventually, after the seconds stretched out between us, I began laughing. “Stab, meow!” I roared, pounding my hand on the arm of my chair. “Oh, man, I’ve never heard that one before! It’s not really a handicap, but damn will that be funny. The scary Warmonger, meowing after every kill. People will be wondering if they should take me seriously after that!”

“So you, uh, you like that one?” Howard asked nervously.

“It doesn’t make my job any harder, but yeah, I like that one. Add it to the list, for sure,” I said as I finally stopped laughing. “Meow, oh man, that’s amazing.”

“If you say so, dude. Glad we can actually type these in instead of there being, like, a box to check, I guess. I’d hate to have to find some of these options.” Even though Howard was clearly weirded out by my response, he followed instructions. “And you’re getting three spins of that Chaos Wheel thing, right? Just want to make sure because every other team's picked one, except for Atlanta’s Worst Team, which picked two spins.”

I gave him a thumbs up, and he nodded to himself before shaking his head. “Something the matter?” I asked.

“Well, your odds went way down, but they’re still better than everyone else’s,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “Are we sure the system is calculating it correctly?”

This time, I gave him two thumbs up. “Anything else, manager?”

Howard skimmed through the menu screens, but shook his head. “No, I think that’s it. Less than a minute left before they start calling people, are you going to be okay out there?”

“What, are you doubting me now?” I asked, throwing my arms out to the side. “Chill, Howard. Everything will go exactly as planned.”

“Okay, sure, if you say so,” he said, though there wasn’t any certainty in his voice.

“That’s the spirit.”

There was a momentary lull before Howard sighed and ran a hand down his face. “So, this is probably an absurd question to ask this late in the conversation, but do you need me to go over the rules with you?”

I shook my head. “Climb up the mountain, don’t die, don’t try to leave the arena except on the mountain. It’s all easy.”

He stared at me before nodding and returning to his screens. “Yeah, that’s the basic gist of it, isn’t it? Should’ve been called Mr. Know-It-All instead of the Warmonger.”

“Oh, Howard, you don’t know the half of it.” Standing up, I patted him on the shoulder before returning to the window and looking out over the arena. Benedict Merder’s voice boomed through the stadium just as Seraphim’s had throughout northern Florida.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Merder Stadium safe zone, welcome! Are you ready for the Chaos Cup!?