Chapter 14: Ch. 14

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Hairball (Chapter 14)

 

by

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

 

 

 

"And I cast Conscription, which creates three human soldier tokens, each with an Offense and Shield of 1. I set them to defend, and end my turn," Maeve says, laying down three white human soldier token cards. They're clearly to help shore up the defense of her Mortality Points, in addition to her two white Radiance Knights, and her red Sentry Ogre. The girls came over so that our Rottori 'Guild' could practice for the tournament. Rebecca, while at the office, was thrilled and readily agreed. Nick and Ben are both home as well, with Nick making us lunch and Ben, awkwardly, doing his homework nearby in the living room.

We've more or less commandeered the coffee table for our matches. Presently, Maeve is playing against me with a red and white 'Romos Legion' deck. Hazel and Kendra are playing each other, with Kendra using a black and blue 'House Espior' deck. The entire time, Jenny is watching like a hawk, writing down observations in a green three ring binder. Apparently, Jenny takes being a guild-leader seriously, and that binder is our team's playbook. Beautiful, popular, and a Sorcery: the Assembly strategist. Already I've heard her mention different ways to shore up our own defenses.

I snap back to my game and look down at my hand. My tail swishes in excitement as I realize that I have enough mana to summon my newest acquisition for my deck. A rare green and black card by the name of Rotting Heart of the Forest. On the picture is a large blackened and gnarled tree, with zombies shambling around its roots, glowing green mushrooms growing out of the tree bark and zombies alike. Its type is Legendary Creature: Zombie Tree. In addition to spending my mana points, I have to sacrifice one of my creatures, and I select my black Shambling Skeleton. Sending it to my Necropolis, or discard pile, I place my new card on the field.

While creatures cannot normally attack on the first turn they are summoned, their effects can start working immediately. And what I love about Rotting Heart of the Forest is its effect. Each turn, including its summoned turn, its 'Fungal Spore' effect allows me to take control of one Human-type on the field. In addition to its type and effects, it also becomes a Fungal Zombie-type, with the added 'Fungal Spore' effect, which affects any Human-type creature cards it attacks or defends against. I, as is polite, announce all of this, before I declare that I am using the effect on one of her Radiance Knights.

"And since your knight has the 'Double-Attack' effect, I simultaneously attack your second Radiance Knight and your Guardian Ogre," I say with a smile. The zombie knight is easily destroyed, but now her second one and her ogre have now become zombie versions under my own control. Now her defensive line is defended by her three tokens. The ogre, with an Offense of 4 and a Shield of 6, easily takes care of the tokens, with a remaining point of damage delivered to Maeve's Mortality Points. I then have Maeve's own knight strike another five points of damage to her, followed by four from my 'Undead Centaur', and finishing my turn off by having my 'Minotaur Zombie' land three more points. Players start with a total of twenty Mortality Points in a standard game, and in one stroke, I've landed thirteen.

"Awesome, Alex," Maeve says, drawing a card from her deck, before setting down a 'Goblin Catapulter' and an 'Iron Wall of the Legion', a colorless relic card that prevents any more attacks to her Mortality Points with creatures. Okay, I know that this seems... odd, that my new friends are all into StA but... it's actually pretty cool! It has crossed my mind that they are joking with me, but they know waaaaaay too much about the game and have some decent collections for that to be the case. I won't bore you with many more details, but I bypass Maeve's defenses with some spells that damage her MP directly, whereas Hazel soundly defeats Kendra.

"Alright, girls," Jenny says... including me in that statement, "Alex, Hazel, you've already got some strong decks. I do have a few suggestions, though. Alex, you have a lot of hard-hitting creatures. But you could use a few more low-level ones that don't cost as much mana, that way you can build up your defenses a little earlier on." She's right. Early on in the match, Maeve got three low-level soldiers to attack me directly while I was still trying to build up my mana production to actually summon a creature of my own.

"And Hazel, you might want to invest in some additional spells, especially those with offensive capabilities," Jenny says. Ben and I catch each other's eyes and share a wide-eyed look of confusion. Neither one of us expected any of this to be taking place. Then Nick pokes his head in from the kitchen.

"Just a heads up, the fruit salad is done and ready to go." Nick loves cooking, and leans towards healthy meals that taste fantastic. Seriously, before coming to live here, the only fruits and veggies I could remember eating were rarities. Jenny continues offering her suggestions as we make our way to the kitchen, Ben following behind us with Kendra... the two holding hands. Ben still seems awkward... but definitely happy. He and Kendra have gone on a few dates now, but still Kendra hasn't seemed too suspicious so far. There at the kitchen table are six bowls of sliced strawberries, kiwis, bananas, and starfruit. I've never even heard of that before! It's really good, actually. A sweet and sour taste.

We all thank Nick before digging in, still discussing StA. My ears twitch as I hear the front door open. Rebecca must be back from her firm. In she walks, smiling bright and warmly as usual. "Hi, girls," she says, addressing my... friends? And me. She sets her briefcase down on the kitchen table before being welcomed home by Nick with a kiss.

"Hey, hon, you're home early," he says, an eyebrow raised.

"Indeed. I can't talk too much about my current case, but let's just say that we've finally made some major headway," Rebecca replies, gladly accepting Nick's offer for a fruit salad as well. While he sets about preparing her a bowl, she walks over to Ben and gives him a kiss on his forehead, and then she does the same for me.

"So, has your guild been having fun with practice?" she asked. Rebecca's been making it a point to let me know that she's happy that me and my... friends, have ourselves a common interest.

"We sure have," Jenny pipes up. I think her natural bubbliness, which is a stark contrast to how seriously she takes her role as guild leader, might throw any potential opponents off. "A little more polish, and we'll surely crush all of the competition!" Okay, seriously, only Jenny could say something like that in the same tone of voice one might say 'Cheerleading practice was a blast!'.

"That's great, girls!" I forget sometimes that Rebecca can be just as bubbly. "I checked the date of the beginning of the tournament, and I've currently got nothing scheduled, so I'll be sure to be there to cheer you five on!" My ears pick up a slight snort from over to my left. I look over to see Ben trying to play off him choking back a laugh. He sees me looking and seems to have found something really interesting to closely examine in his fruit salad. Everyone falls into a pleasant rapport and, before too long, it's time for the girls to start heading back home, with Nick offering to give them a ride, citing that he'll have to clock in at the hospital soon anyway.

The bowls now in the sink, with Ben washing them, I help my friends gather up their things. Kendra spins Ben around and surprises him with a kiss. To his credit, despite the suddenness of it, he is quick to reciprocate. On our way to the door, Jenny hands me a sheet of paper containing a list of cards to consider adding to my deck. Then, all of a sudden, she pulls me into a hug. I did not let out a squeak... that must've been one of the twins. She then lets go and holds both of my paw-hands in her own. Obviously she doesn't have paw-hand hybrids.

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"When you come back to school on Monday, don't you worry one bit. We'll stick together and not let anyone touch you," Jenny says, the twins both eagerly, and simultaneously, nodding.

"Hell yeah," Kendra says, throwing an arm around my shoulder, "I got my kickin' foot at the ready and everything." Her kicking foot?

"Th-thanks... guys," I say... it's kinda nice to know that people have got your back. Kendra gives me a squeeze before letting go and follows the others out. I'm totally okay... yup, not flustered at all. So I don't know why Rebecca is guiding me to the couch in the living room, sitting down next to me and giving me a sideways hug. Dangit cat body, stop purring!

"Sweetheart, are you sure that you're ready to go back to school on Monday?" she asks. We've already discussed the possibility of a tutor and temporary homeschooling, but I feel guilty enough with how much Nick and Rebecca have spent on me so far, I don't need to be adding to that. Besides, Adam isn't allowed to come anywhere near me now. If he does, he goes to jail, and gets into even more trouble. So yeah, I'm all good. Really. I say as much to Rebecca, who doesn't seem convinced.

"If you're sure, sweetie." She gives me another squeeze. "I am happy that you've made such wonderful friends," she says, perking back up.

"Y-yeah... they're nice... and full of surprises," I say. Rebecca nods before letting me go.

"You probably never would have guessed that a group of girls like that could possibly be into your card game." It's a statement, not a question. Oh boy. Now before you all start judging me, no, no that is not at all what I was thinking... exactly.

"N-not... I m-mean... I j-just figured that they'd h-have their own interests... I mean, different interests!"

Rebecca chuckles and starts petting me... which I've noticed is really good at helping me to calm down.

"Oh honey, girls can be interested in the same things that boys are. Why, I'm an avid Sun-Travel fan myself." She says this... which doesn't surprise me in the least. Nope, not one bit...

"O-oh? Cool. I'm not really into that show myself, but still, c-cool." Okay, at this point it's gotta be apparent that I'm kinda awkward.

"And this Sorcery: the Assembly does sound like a lot of fun. Why, how about we play a match together right now?" ... Huh... Rebecca is still throwing me off my guard.

"O-okay," I say, gathering up my box of cards. I start explaining the rules, about laying down Domain cards each turn to generate mana, how to use that mana to spend on the different cards to summon creatures or cast spells. Rebecca seems to be following along, and selects a blue and white Beurocious deck. The game does go a little slow due to her asking me some questions, but overall... it's pretty fun. We have a rematch before we both notice that Ben has wandered over, looking confused. A quick explanation and soon he's joining in too. Which I guess isn't so bad. A few matches later, we've all three of us played against each other twice.

"Okay, this IS a lot of fun. But are you two done with your homework?" Rebecca asks, seemingly right around when it becomes apparent that she is about to be soundly defeated... hmm. Still, she's got a point. I still have an essay to write, and I'm pretty sure that Ben's got himself some algebra homework. We pack up my cards and I head upstairs to fire up my laptop.

The essay in question is really more of a short story. I'm thinking of writing about a teen girl who discovers a secret world hidden behind what everyone else perceives to be normal. Like tiny winged insect-like creatures that are basically fairies that whisper things in peoples' ears in order to influence them. The good ones trying to be positive influences, and the bad ones being negative influences. Yeah... I like that!

Three thousand words later, and I hit save, feeling confident. I lean back in my chair and lean back, stretching, my tail giving a swish. My nose twitches... which I have been repeatedly told is cute, much to my consternation... and anyway, I can smell something good cooking. Heading downstairs, I find Rebecca in the kitchen, now in her casual jeans and blouse at the stove, stirring a pot.

"Dinner'll be ready in a little bit, just need to wait on the rice to finish cooking," she says, motioning to the rice cooker on the counter, with steam coming from it. I take another whiff and my tail gives a swish of its own volition.

"Barbecue?" I ask, feeling excited, especially when Rebecca gives a nod and flashes me her warm smile.

"Sweet and spicy barbecue chicken served over rice," she says, stirring the bubbling pot. I walk over and look in, seeing the diced chicken in the sauce cooking away. My stomach lets out a rumble, making Rebecca let out a laugh.

"Would you mind going up and letting Ben know?" she asks me.

"Oh, uh, sure," I say.

I head back upstairs and down the hall to Ben's room. I knock before I enter; it only now occurs to me that I have yet to see the inside of Ben's room, even being here for this long.

"Hey, Ben, your mom wanted me to let you know that dinner is almost..." I trail off as I look at the computer screen, which has a drawing of a black anthropomorphic catgirl wearing a red bikini on it. Ben whips around and looks at me like a deer in the headlights, which I am sure is how I'm looking right back at him.

"Uh..." he sputters.

"S-SWEET AND SPICY CHICKEN BARBECUE!" I yell before turning and running back out. And hey, before you judge, YOU try to think of something to say to that kind of a situation! But... maybe that at least explains why the catgirl aspect was a part of the damn wish! My face feels like it could spark a fire with how hard I'm blushing beneath my fur, I practically sprint towards the stairs, lithely leaping down them.

Oh gods... before we started in on the practice, the girls and I were talking about going swimming down at the river... and getting new swimsuits... i.e. bikinis. Well, and one-pieces. But... okay. Okay. No need to make this any weirder than it already is. Ben's got his... thing, or something... hell, that was probably just some kind of comic or... an art project for school or something. Yeah, that's it.

"Oh geeze..." I say, taking a moment to tamp down the raised fur on the back of my neck... and my tail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there you have it, readers! We are now all caught up!

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