“You are SO dead,” Teri exclaimed, glaring at Matt.

“Bite me,” he responded, casually flipping her own.

Lauren laughed at that. “It’s no big deal…”

However, Teri couldn’t resist arguing further. “But he took the last cookie…”

“And I have more,” Lauren assured her with a chuckle. “Just let me go get them out of the kitchen…”

Cassandra turned to me and asked, “Are they always like this?”

“Pretty much,” I admitted wryly. “You should see them when they really get going.”

The goth stared at Matt and Teri for a few seconds more before admitting, “I’m not sure if that would be entertaining or annoying.”

“A bit of both,” I assured he with a chuckle.

I leaned back in my chair and looked around the table where everyone was gathered for lunch. Teri and Matt had come over to eat with us, though this wasn’t really the casual meal it seemed. I was quite aware of the timer that was counting down on my screen, and I was pretty sure that Cassandra was keeping an eye on hers too.

It had been three days since I’d fought Nadine at the gym, and to my relief, I hadn’t seen any sign of her or Robe since. However, yesterday, twenty-three hours and fifty minutes ago, I’d received another popup warning of a contest. Now, we were all having lunch together and getting ready to go.

Teri had prepared for our upcoming contest the best she could, though it still wasn’t nearly enough. She was wearing knee and elbow pads, and had an aluminum baseball bat sitting on the floor beside her. What she really needed was some serious armor and a real weapon, but I had no idea where to get that kind of stuff, or how we could afford it.

Matt had made his own preparations, and had come dressed up in some of his paintball gear, which included black cargo pants and a black long sleeve shirt. In addition, he had a large bowie knife hanging from his belt, though I was pretty sure that he had no idea of how to actually use the thing.

I hadn’t bothered with any special preparation, at least not as far as clothes and weapons went. Those had already been taken care of for me. However, I had done a bit more training and had leveled a couple of my abilities. Hopefully, this would help.

My eyes went to Cassandra, who ironically enough, had skipped the war paint. Instead of her usual goth makeup, she’d gone a bit lighter, probably so it didn’t all get smeared. Now, even without her armor, she looked a lot more like Bow Girl again. As far as I was concerned, this was a good look for her.

“How much time do you have left?” Lauren asked Cassandra, though she glanced to me as well.

“Only a few minutes,” Cassandra answered with a sigh. “Then it’s back to the fucking war…”

“Do you have any idea of what to expect?” Matt asked her. He’d asked me the same question earlier, but I hadn’t been able to answer.

“Not much,” Cassandra said with a scowl. “But the last contest was pretty short and straight-forward, so you can bet your ass that they’ll make this one more complicated.”

I nodded at that, not taking my eyes off Cassandra. She’d told me a lot about the game and what to expect from the various contests. Without her, I probably would have felt even more out of my depth than I already did. However, I also knew that I’d be competing against her. We were allies, and would watch each other’s backs, but when push came to shove, we each had our own patrons and were obligated to do the best we could for them. If it was a race, with only one possible winner, then we’d do what we had to.

“Time to get ready,” Cassandra said.

Cassandra stood up and moved away from the table, then in a burst of sparks, she was suddenly dressed in her armor. Her wicked looking bow was now clutched firmly in hand, though she didn’t seem to have any arrows on her at all. Of course, when you had the ability to actually summon your own arrows, there was no real reason to carry a quiver.

I followed Cassandra’s example by backing up and switching over into my armor. I was really trying to think of it as armor, rather than a dress, to protect my already damaged ego.

Looking at my counter, I said, “Thirty seconds and counting.”

Matt and Teri both picked up their gear and got ready. He slipped on his paintball mask while she gave her baseball bat an experimental swing.

“Be careful,” Lauren said with a worried look. “And come back safe.”

“You bet your ass I will,” Cassandra responded with a smirk. “Those fuckers don’t stand a chance.”

Teri snickered. “I wonder if we’ll have to fight that perv again. If so, this time I’ll be ready…” She swung her bat again, grinning as she did.

As soon as my timer hit zero, the popup appeared.

THE CONTEST IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. PREPARE TO BE TRANSPORTED.

A couple seconds later, we were transported via the now familiar sparks and sparkles. I suddenly found myself in a new location, one that obviously wasn’t another empty parking lot.

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” Matt exclaimed nervously.

We were standing in the middle of a large room, which was shaped like an octagon. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of large grey bricks, while a dozen glowing spheres floated around the ceiling, acting like light fixtures. And then, adding to the strange atmosphere, there was a large wooden door placed along each of the eight walls.

“This place is totally creepy,” Teri said.

“This place looks like it came straight out of some game,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, it does,” Matt agreed.

Cassandra didn’t say anything, though she was looking around us with a deep scowl. I followed her gaze and saw her look past some of the other champions and settle on Robe. It was easy to forget that I wasn’t the only one who had a grudge against that bastard. Now that Cassandra knew that he’d killed Heather, she had a large grudge against him as well.

Seconds later, I spotted Nadine, on the other side of the room. I tensed up and clenched my staff more tightly, but didn’t make a move. I’d known her patron would probably bring her back to life, but for once, I would have preferred to have been wrong.

Matt elbowed me and then pointed to where the Coordinator, the Referee, and the Cleaner were standing on their invisible platform. I gave them my full attention, knowing that the show was about to begin.

“A new contest begins,” the Coordinator began speaking in a calm and even tone that easily carried through the entire room. “For this contest, you will enter a warren of tunnels and chambers, which are filled with dangerous creatures, of varying types and levels of power. Your performance will be judged on numerous factors, including the threats you overcome and how you contribute to your team. In addition, there are three mid-level opponents and one high-level one, which will be worth greater rewards and considerations.”

The Referee took a single step forward and announced, “Teams of up to four champions each, are allowed for this contest, but are not required. This contest will end in twelve hours, or when the mid and high-level opponents have all been defeated, whichever comes first. Once you begin, you will not be allowed to leave the warren until the contest is over. If you do not enter the warren through one of these doors, within a reasonable length of time, this will be considered a forfeit.”

“No way,” Matt whispered to me with barely contained excitement. “We’re going a dungeon run. A real-life dungeon run…”

“I know,” I said, a little excited about that in spite of myself.

I’d done countless dungeon runs in the various games I played, so I knew exactly how dangerous this kind of situation could be. Team wipes were bad in a game, but in the real world… I shuddered to think about it. But in spite of that, I couldn’t help but get excited.

As soon as they called the start to the game, about half the champions ran for one of the eight doors, which seemed to have been picked at random. Some champions went through by themselves, or with only their companions, but others seemed to be forming small teams as they ran.

“Which door?” I asked Cassandra, glancing around the room at the remaining champions, who were trying to form some quick groups.

“First, we need the rest of our team,” Cassandra responded.

I was about to argue that we already had four people, until I remembered that the Referee had specifically said up to ‘four champions’ and not ‘four people’.

“And there he is,” Cassandra said a moment later.

I looked too where she indicated and saw a large man walking towards us. He looked like he was in his thirties, and had to be the largest Asian guy I’d ever seen. He was close to seven feet tall, and looked like he had some serious muscle. However, it was hard to be sure because he was also wearing some heavy plate armor, which had some odd coloration. His armor was dull, and seemed to be shades of reddish brown, which I took to be rust at first. When he got closer, I changed my mind and decided that his armor looked like it was mimicking rock instead.

The newcomer held a large shield in one hand, which was the same coloration as his armor. In his other hand, he held what seemed to be either a mace or war hammer. It was hard to tell, because it looked more like a large rock with a handle stuck into it, than anything else. Nearly everything about this guy screamed out that he was a tank.

Cassandra leaned over and whispered, “Don’s patron is Kraag, god of stone and patience. He’s a friend.”

When the huge man…Don…got closer, he paused to look us all over. His gaze settled on Matt and Teri, before he finally looked at me.

“What happened?” he asked in a deep voice.

“Mason and Fairlan killed Heather’s old companions,” Cassandra quickly said, before I had a chance to respond. “She’s taking it pretty hard.”

Don nodded at that. “Sorry to hear it. I liked Gary.” He didn’t mention Dave, which probably said something about how well they got along.

“This is Matt and Teri,” I said, gesturing to my friends.

Don looked at Matt and Teri again, his expression a bit skeptical, though he tried to hide it. I couldn’t really blame him. Teri wasn’t big enough or armored enough to be a proper tank, and Matt didn’t look all that dangerous either. However, Don didn’t say anything about that. He just nodded.

“Our usual roles,” Cassandra said, more for my benefit than Don’s. “I’ll scout and snipe, you keep our enemies occupied, Matt and Teri will help with damage, and Heather will heal.”

We didn’t bother planning any more strategy beyond this and deciding which door to go through. We were all aware of the Referee and her threat to disqualify anyone who hung around here for too long.

While we walked to our chosen door, I noticed one of the other groups was standing back and watching us. I felt chills going down my spine, and knew that these guys were going to be trouble.

Robe…or Mason as he was really known, just stood there with his scythe. I couldn’t see his face very clearly, but I could still feel his gaze. Of course, Nadine was glaring at me with a look of pure hatred, so it would be safe to say that she held a grudge for the way I’d killed her. There were also two other members of their group, whom I’d seen in the crowd, but had never met.

One was a large guy, about Don’s size, who was wearing plate armor with a fantasy style design right out of some game, and carrying a massive greatsword. He was wearing a helmet that covered his entire head, so I could see even less of his face than I could Mason’s.

The last member of that group was a darker-skinned woman with long black hair that was tied up in a braid. She wore a loose and flowing, blue and white dress, which seemed to move about on its own. There was a bored expression on her face, and she wasn’t even looking in our direction.

“Those guys are going to be trouble,” Matt said.

“Big trouble,” Teri agreed.

Cassandra snorted. “I’d be shocked if they don’t try to fuck with us somehow…”

“We’ll see,” Don commented, as though he wasn’t the least bit concerned.

Once we’d gone through the door, Don casually closed it behind us and then chuckled. I wondered why he was so amused, until he stepped back and activated one of his abilities. Suddenly, the ground rose up into a large stone column, right in front of the door. He stepped back and repeated the process two more times, completely blocking the door and the tunnel behind us.

“Now, shall we continue?” Don asked with a smile.

That sounded good to me and the others. We started down the corridor until we came to an intersection, with new paths going to both the left and right. And then, to give us even more choices, there were stairs in front of us, going up and down.

“Four ways to pick from,” Matt said.

“Eenie meanie minie moe,” Teri began.

“Shhhh,” Cassandra snapped. “I hear something…”

“Which direction?” I asked.

Cassandra pointed down the stairs. There was a brief discussion of whether we should go towards the noise or avoid it, but the simple fact was, we needed to take out some of these creatures if we wanted to make any progress in this contest. So, down we went.

At the bottom of the stairs, we found a large room, which looked completely empty. That was a bit of a surprise because I could hear the sounds now, coming from all around us.

Matt walked ahead of the group, looking around with a thoughtful expression. “If this was a game, I’d expect to find a mob or two in any room this size.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “This place definitely has that vibe.”

Suddenly, the ground dropped out from Matt and he let out a yell as he began falling. However, his reflexes and agility were high enough that not only was he able to react in time, but he was actually able to leap back to solid ground.

“You scared the crap out of me,” I said, looking at the large hole in the floor. I moved a little closer and could see that it went down about twenty feet, and there were spikes along the floor.

“How do you think I feel?” Matt asked.

“Incoming,” Cassandra called out.

A second later, I realized that the strange noises I’d been hearing, were coming from beneath us…and from the hole. They were getting louder, closer… Then a rat crawled out from the hole, the largest one I’d ever seen in my life. It was about the size of a large dog.

“It’s an R, O, U, S,” Matt exclaimed with a grin. “A rodent of unusual size…”

That might haver been funny if it wasn’t for the fact that another giant rat appeared, and then another. More of them began climbing out of the hole, nearly pouring out.

An arrow appeared in the head of the first rat, with two more hitting the rats next to it. That was all the signal we needed for everyone to join in the fun.

Teri shrieked in fear and disgust, then began smacking the nearest rat with her baseball bat, continuing to do so even after the thing was dead. Cassandra just backed away, though she continued to shoot arrows as she did so. As ranged DPS, she worked better from a distance.

Don calmly walked right into the middle of the rats and began swinging his weapon. The rocky mace smashed into one rat after another. He ignored their biting and clawing, which couldn’t make it through his armor, though he did have to knock a few of them aside.

I silently cursed my lack of offensive power, then tried to get my head in the game. One rat came at me so I threw up a shield wall. As soon as my wall dropped, I swung my staff at the creature, smacking it hard enough to knock it back. Then I swung at several more of them.

Matt lunched forward and stabbed one of the rats with his bowie knife, then quickly jumped back. He did this several more time, looking rather pleased with himself. After doing this a couple times, he stealthed, fading from view, though I could still see him. He came up to one rat without it seeing him, and stabbed it as well.

“A trash mob,” Matt announced rather smugly. “I won’t even need my secret weapon for these guys…”

It didn’t take long to finish off the giant rats, though to my disappointment, there were no drops or loot from this mob. Instead, all we were left with was a pile of dead rats.

“Well, this was a nice warmup,” I said, feeling a little pleased since I’d actually had the chance to get in and do some damage with my staff. “Now, let’s go find a boss to kill.”