The Lesser One Arc 2 Chapter 26: Tag Team

 

Tag Team

Chris and I are sitting in the small park beside the Esmex building. It is a fancy, manicured garden with a lot of rare plants—I’m assuming it’s either Crayton’s work or someone high up in Esmex. I just wanted to get some fresh air before I go to sleep. The lights of London are sparkling. I can see Big Ben in the distance, as well as the London Eye. The whole city is before me.

A bell rings. The world gains the now-familiar coat of post-apocalyptic ruin. I stand up, and Chris is teleported to the tag team bench.

I prepare for a battle. Instead, a man wearing a tacky Hawaiian shirt waves to me.

“Sorry.” He extends his hand. “This was the only way I could get your attention without getting everyone else’s.”

I take a step back. “What do you want?”

“I have a proposition for you.” He looks both ways, as if scared that someone is watching. “We have a benefactor who would like to meet you.”

I nod once. “Okay.”

He pulls out a card. “World break.” The world returns to normal and we leave the game realm.

“That’s a cool card. Is it an uber rare?” I make sure I am ready to fight if need be.

The man grins. “Yup. It’s got some limitations but it is a really good card.” He motions for me to follow him. His text box says his name is Jorge.

Chris looks at me and nods, and then the two of us go down the street to where a phone booth is standing. It looks straight out of a popular TV franchise. Jorge steps inside and doesn’t come out.

Chris pushes me aside. “I’ll go first.” She steps in and disappears.

 I step in as well and am transported to a small waiting room in an office building. I get a bit of a déjà vu feeling, but push it away. Jorge is standing next to a door.

“This is a pocket dimension that shuts off all Fallen Angel duels.” Jorge opens the door.

We enter a room full of people, all milling about and eating from a buffet line. Jorge throws up his arms. “Welcome to the Fallen Angel Honey Badgers!”

I look around. Some people seem to have noticed our arrival. They begin to congregate around us, asking us questions.

“Hey, noob! You have a skulk card!”

“Aw man, we’ve got some fresh meat!”

Jorge shoos them away and turns to me. “They’re a nice bunch. We’re all working for a single purpose here. To escape this god forsaken game.”

“Escape?”

“Yeah. When you lose your last Angel Point, your spirit is shut down. Though you can be given Angel Points, at that time most people only want to try and leave the game.”

A man with a long chin and thick glasses approaches us. He puts his arm around Jorge and grins. “Hey. You brought some new people here.”

“This is Anderson.” Jorge pushes Anderson away. “He’s one of the higher-ups in our organization.”

“Right.” Anderson takes over the conversation. “Our mission is to try and purchase the card “Resolution of Suffering” from the Angel Shop. Right now we’re fifty-eight percent of the way there.”

“With all these people?” I look around the room.

Jorge grimaces. “The kind of person who wants to leave the game isn’t the kind of person who is good at earning points.”

I shake my head. “I don’t think I want to leave this game just yet.”

Jorge shrugs. “Well, you can stay for some food if you want. It’s hot dog night.”

I walk to the buffet tray and help myself to some hot dogs. Anderson follows me. “You know, a person like you could really make some bank playing this game. Selling cards, hunting people.”

“Hunting people?”

Anderson winks. “Don’t tell anyone I said that.” He shrugs. “Not everyone has the wherewithal to purchase a skulk card when they’re low level.”

“I had some help.”

Anderson’s aura is a bit creepy. I’m not really sure I like this guy. He is wearing a wife beater and torn jeans, which really doesn’t add much to his charisma. His voice is a bit abrasive. However, I do my best not to judge him.

I try the hot dogs. They’re surprisingly good. When I finish eating I go up to Jorge, who is talking amongst a group of friends.

“Can I go home now?” I do my best to smile.

“Yeah. Just go back the way you came.”

I nod. Chris and I return to the door we entered from and leave through the office door. We pop back into existence inside of the phone booth. It’s a bit cramped but we manage to get out in once piece. The night sky is refreshing and the moon is bright.

I sit down on a bench on the street. “Yikes.” I shake my head. “This game must be harsh if there’s a whole society who wants to leave it."

Chris remains standing. “It’s probably time to get a good night’s sleep.”

“Sounds good.”

We walk back to the Esmex building and enter through the lobby doors. Sebastian is sitting at his usual spot, drinking a cup of coffee.

“Coffee this late?” I walk up to Sebastian.

Sebastian sips. “It’s decaf.”

“Ah.” I look toward Chris, who is as impassive as ever.

Her eyes don’t show anything about what she’s thinking. I nod once and then retire to my room via the private elevator. The view, strangely enough, never loses its impact. I know that the day after tomorrow is the big day where I get to meet the queen again and receive my second major award in less than a month. And then two weeks after that I’ll be headed home to New York. Truthfully, I miss my parents and I miss my friends as Ixtham. I can’t wait to go back and see who else plays Fallen Angels. Even though I currently suck at the game. Maybe I can buy some Angel Points? This game is already aggressively pay to win. And I have a lot of buying power.

I also, for a moment, am excited to eat at Rezolan’s restaurant. But that can wait for another time.

I sit down at my computer to do some research. I type “Fallen Angels” into the comm system.

The buttons “Angel Shop” and “Challenge” light up above my computer, even though I’m still in the Gaggle search results. I ignore those and look through the pages of results. The third result is a forum called “Angel’s Fallen Empire.” It sounds promising so I click on it and enter.

There are a number of sub forums. I enter the one called “new players.” There, in a pinned post, I am encouraged to introduce myself. I type up an entry.

My name is Markus Red. I am a new player. I recently bought a deck comprised of … Here I list the cards I bought. Do you have any suggestions?

I make the post and wait for people to respond. Ten minutes later I get my first reply.

<Sebeton> Yo, you rich or something? What kind of a first deck is that?

I reply.

<MRed> I am rich, yes. I am asking for help here.

I wait a while for the reply.

<Sebeton> Bro, switch Iron Gable for Steel Head Well.

<MRed> Thanks.

I get a lot more suggestions, and in the end I decide to switch out three of the nine cards I have available. The “global” slot takes up spaces in the deck but is unusable in game, though some global cards do convey benefits in game. I make the plan to head back down to the game store tomorrow after I work with my conjurers.

The day ends. I go to sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. I work with my conjurers until early afternoon, and then have Sebastian drive me to the game store, where I pick up some new cards. One the way back I am challenged.

“Oh, hell yeah.” I crack my knuckles.

But this time I am the one put on the tag team bench. The bench is surprisingly comfortable for what it is. I watch as Chris and the player known as Ignis face off against each other.

Chris uses the card <Dramatic Reversal>, which reflects the next card used. A split second later Ignis fires off <Fireball> Fireball is a card that can deal up to four hundred points of damage to a player and cause burn. The ball flies halfway across the field, turns around, and heads straight for its caster.

Chris sprints forward, holding a dagger in each hand. She slices Ignis twice, dealing two hundred points of damage each time, cutting off his right hand and leaving a long slice along his torso. It is gruesome, but I know he’ll be okay.

Ignis uses what appears to be a water spirit to push Chris away. He holds the stump of his hand.

Oh, and each time someone suffers damage, a bold number pops out of their head, floating over them for a few seconds.

Ignis loses his last few points to blood loss. The game shuts down, leaving us back inside the limo. Battles in Fallen Angels last a split second in real time, so we’re back on the road as if nothing has happened.

Chris smiles, the first time I’ve seen her do that.

“I’m wondering how we managed to be challenged in a car.” I look out the window. “Though we were at a stop light. I suppose that would allow someone to see our tags.”

Chris nods.

“You did great.” I smile back at her.

She returns to her usual icy expression, no hint of the smile left. I know I haven’t offended her, but it is a bit cold.

We arrive back at the Esmex building, where I spend the next few hours memorizing my cards and practicing with them. Chris does so as well. Both of our lives depend on it. While Chris was the one to officially get the Angel Point, we have decided to share our points as much as possible.

The day of the ceremony finally arrives. Sebastian drives us to the venue at Buckingham Palace. When we disembark, we are checked, checked again, and checked a third time. Finally we are allowed into the garden.

I get a glimpse of the queen and my jaw drops.

Elizabeth. Human level 100. Angel Points: 1210. Score: 109.

She plays it too! Our eyes meet for a split second and I can swear that she winks at me.

I break out into a cold sweat. There’s no way no one knows about this, right? Shouldn’t anyone who plays Fallen Angel instantly be able to tell by looking at her? What’s happening?

“Are you okay?” A well-dressed man holding a fluted champagne glass approaches me.

“Yeah. Yeah, uh, I’m just a little nervous.”

“You are the star of the show, after all.” The man bows. “Lord Chalet, at your service. I too am an adventurer. Though it has been a while since I last adventured.”

“Um, yeah …” I pause. “Do you think there is something unusual about the queen?”

Lord Chalet frowns. “No, nothing. Perhaps your American tastes are to blame.” His smile returns. “In any case, congratulations. You have done a lot to help the world, and especially the United Kingdom. We are happy to have someone like you with us, even if it’s only for a short period of time.”

“Thanks.” I do my best to smile.

It may be a bit difficult not to break character, this time.