Chapter 4
A Hero Needs no Reward
Reuben and the Bikini Warriors now stood before a man who was seated on the table in front of them.
"I'm sorry brave warriors, but you cannot pass through the dungeon to Gildebar, unless you possess the key," he said.
"Hey, no problem. Just give us the rundown of what we should do, and we'll follow it to the letter," replied Reuben.
Dark Elf was momentarily surprised, but Fighter understood her decision and decided to play along with it. First they began moving packages of food back and forth, while Mage, Paladin, and Dark Elf watched their friends hard at work.
"Guys, are you sure this is okay?" she asked.
"Of course, Mage. Don't you see how strong Reuben and Fighter are? They're working pretty hard together as a team, but at the same time, I've always liked strong men helping us out in a time of crisis," said Paladin.
"Whether I agree or not, I'm actually surprised to see them working together like this," added Dark Elf.
Eventually, Reuben saw a dog that had run away from it's family, and decided to help see which person it belonged to, by letting him lead the animal away.
"Don't worry, girl. I'll help you find your family," he said to the dog.
Fighter was surprised at first, but she did learn that Reuben had a dog once, and kept quiet about it as she watched them walk off to find its family.
"Wow, who would've thought that Reuben's an animal person?" she said.
After returning the dog to its owner, Reuben saw that Fighter now had a potion that seemed different, and bubbled intensely.
"Mayor invented a potion and he wants me to find out what it does," said Fighter.
"Well, if it's a job for a hero, then chug it down. We all know that adventure is in our blood,, but we've faced endless danger, life threatening situations, and great peril, but we've always prevailed, because heroes don't back down," replied Reuben.
"That was a good speech," Reuben," smiled Paladin, as she gently placed her hand upon his shoulder.
Inspired by Reuben's words, Fighter drank the potion down in a few gulps, but suddenly she began to feel strange, as if her body was a blaze both inside and outside. Then suddenly, she began hugging Reuben, then they started kissing each other, making Dark Elf and Mage surprised, but made Paladin happy that her friend had fallen in love.
"Oh, Reuben, you handsome man, I hope that after we get married, and have children of our own to fight our battles for us," Fighter said in a seductive tone.
"Uh, has anyone ever heard the phrase, 'Read the Room?'" asked Paladin.
"Well, yes, but I'm not sure what it actually means," replied Mage.
"It means to never judge a book by it's cover at any cost," said Dark Elf.
At last, they engaged with a nasty demon that had tentacles all over, but Reuben cut them down, so that Fighter could retreat back to her friends.
"All right ugly, if you think you can mess with my friends, you've got another thing coming!" he said furiously.
He began blasting the creature with powerful lightning spells that severely weakened it, then began slashing off it's tongue with a mighty swing of his sword causing blood to splatter everywhere. Thankfully, Paladin, Mage, and Dark Elf arrived just in time to see Reuben attacking the creature in a blind fury, as they saw that the tentacles were lying motionless on the ground.
"All right ladies, let's show this freak what we're made of!" Reuben called to them.
"Yeah, let's do it!" agreed the Bikini Warriors.
With a loud yell, they charged at the monster and struck it down with everything they had. Once it fell, Fighter was so happy that she soon hugged Reuben and kissed him.
"That was very brave of you, Reuben. Freeing me from those tentacles," she said.
"Yeah, but I couldn't let someone like you take all the credit for yourself. Together we're more than just friends, we're a family," replied Reuben.
"A family," whispered Paladin, as they returned to the Mayor.
"Well done, you did everything I asked of you brave warriors. You did everything I asked you for. You're the most valiant heroes of our time," said the mayor.
"All right!" cheered Reuben, as he fist pumped the air.
Then he calmed down.
"Now, about that key you promised us, so that we could clear the dungeon to get us to Gildebar, like we asked politely," he said.
"Yes, but don't you see? The key you seek is already inside your hearts," replied the mayor.
"So you're telling us that by fulfilling your god damn requests, you actually believe that the key we've been looking for is inside our hearts this entire time!? And that we placed our needs and desires of helping other people with their stupid requests above our own!?" Reuben asked, growing increasingly frustrated.
"Actually, yes, yes you did," replied the mayor.
"Okay then. I guess I'll go vent my frustration in that dungeon. Do you wanna tag along?" Reuben asked the Bikini Warriors.
"Yeah, that sounds like a fair trade," smiled Paladin.
"Count me in," added Fighter.
"Go on," agreed Dark Elf.
"Just, try not to go overboard on the bloodshed," finished Mage.
A little later, Reuben was now massacring every monster in the dungeon with his sword, and blasting them to bits with his magic, not even caring if they reached the next town. When they arrived at Gildebar, they decided to book their next stay at an inn, and settled down together. After turning themselves into their beds, Fighter slowly clambered into the same bed with Reuben, and gently pulled the covers over them.
"Hey, Reuben. I'm sorry about all the crap we had to go through," she said.
But Reuben gently kissed Fighter's lips and smiled at her.
"It's okay, Fighter. Besides, I did say that heroes don't back down," said Reuben, pulling her close to him.
Fighter could see that Reuben's eyes were actually beautiful, and she gently laid her head down on the pillow as his arm gently wrapped around her. At the same time, Paladin, Mage, and Dark Elf all looked at them, and felt content that this adventure, despite how strange it was, taught them a great deal about how helping others could strengthen their bond with each other.