His Hardened Heart
'There!' Jade's fingers tapped the buttons of her arcade stick swiftly. The announcer screamed, "Counter Breaker!" Jade ended her combo after taking eighty-three percent of her opponent's life bar. She backed away and waited. In the split second it took her opponent to move, she countered again and ended the match without taking a hit. Her heart was pounding with excitement, but her mind was clouded with concern. She didn't want to complain about her wins, but having three perfect matches in a row was next to impossible. Even if she was facing off against someone who never played before, they would have landed at least one hit. The opponents she just faced were in the top thirty of the online ranks, so they weren't casual players. 'Why is this happening?'
"Hey, Jade, what time do you work tonight?" Sango asked, knocking on her open door.
"Six to midnight."
"Okay. Kagome and I were thinking about ordering pizza."
"You eat pizza?" Jade quipped with a smile.
"I have the occasional craving. I plan on working it off in the morning."
"Alright."
"Any good deals?"
"If you guys just want pizza, I would recommend a small or medium, unless you're feeling extra hungry."
"Well, that's the thing; we're going to have Miroku and Inuyasha over, so we need something for four people." Sango explained shyly.
"Oh," Jade looked down as she thought for a moment. "We have a deal where two large pizzas are cheaper than two mediums."
"Are you mad?"
"What? No. Why do you think that?"
"Well, you asked for permission about Naraku coming over, but we didn't ask you about-"
"He isn't my boyfriend and he's a dick, so it's fine." Jade insisted. "I'm not mad; just confused about some of my online stats."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. There's just a few numbers that don't make sense."
"How is that? Doesn't the game record what you do? How can it mess up?"
"It's probably a bug." Jade shrugged.
"True. I didn't think about that." Sango turned and waved to Jade, who waved back while sighing heavily. Her stats of the day reflected nearly one-hundred percent across the board. Button inputs, breakers, counters - she was nailing nearly all of them.
'It's me. I'm doing that.'
After pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Jade pulled her black uniform cap on and exited her car. She opened the door and was blasted with a wall of heat. In the summer, it was a hellish nightmare, but in the late, cold fall, it was welcomed. Koga slid a pizza into the conveyor oven and nodded at Jade.
"Hey," he chirped.
"Hey." Jade walked over to the computer and typed in her ID number to clock in. "Busy?"
"No. Tuesday nights, even when it's cold, aren't pizza nights." Koga patted the front of his apron. A cloud of flour puffed with each strike.
"Is that a delivery?" Jade asked, pointing at the oven.
"Pick-up." Koga replied, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Ginta and Hakkaku should be here soon."
"Both of them? We're going to be fighting for tips tonight."
"Ginta is in-store tonight. I figured I would drop the sauce ladle between you and Hakkaku and let you guys use it as a weapon to determine who will have the tips tonight." Koga stated with a wide grin.
"Cool." Jade huffed. "I don't mind splitting with him tonight, actually. I think it will benefit us."
"Okay. After I count the money, that's between you two."
"Ayyyyyyyyyyy!" a loud voice boomed a few minutes later as Hakkaku threw open the backdoor. Ginta followed behind him, shaking his head with annoyance.
"It doesn't look to be a busy night, fellas." Koga announced.
"That's fine. I'm not feeling too hot." Ginta sighed heavily, typing in his ID.
"That's 'cause you ugly." Hakkaku replied in a bubbly tone. Ginta promptly ignored him and removed his sweater, hanging it beside the computer.
"It sucks that Jade is finally back and it's dead as fuck." Ginta said.
"Oh, don't worry, once November hits, we'll need three drivers instead of two, and this place will be smokin'." Koga replied, pulling the pizza from the conveyor belt with the wooden-handled peel. He slid the pizza into the box, slicing it quickly and closing it. Ginta placed the box under the warming lamps and the four friends all sighed heavily while staring at each other.
"Soooooo, is no one from The Pack going to regionals this weekend? For any of the games?" Hakkaku asked curiously, straightening his hat on his head.
"No one's asked." Koga replied, shaking his head. "If they're going, it's for personal gain."
"It's a pretty big prize this year for KI." Ginta muffled a cough with his arm. "Fifteen thousand for first place, or a scholarship if you choose,"
"Fifteen thousand?" Jade repeated, leaning forward to look at Ginta's face.
"Aaaahahaha, now she's interested," Hakkaku pointed out slyly.
"Yeah." Ginta nodded.
"I thought you said you couldn't." Koga stated. "You said you were in pain."
"I was, but I'm a lot better now." Jade insisted, her mind racing with images of her ability to see the first frame of every movement in the game. If she could do that, then she could certainly scratch the top eight. "I'll go."
"Really? It's a two-day event." Koga told her.
"That's fine. I want to go. I'll go for us."
"Alright then." Koga smiled. "I'll find you a flight and a room."
"Fuck yeah!" Hakkaku high fived Jade.
A slow hour later, Jade cleared her throat as she stepped out of her car with the delivery bag. Sango called and Koga gave it to her to handle. She walked upstairs and knocked on the door, only to frown and look down.
'Knocking on my own door is weird.' she thought. The door opened and Sango's wide smiling face greeted her.
"You could have walked in! You live here!" Sango laughed.
"Yeah, I just realized that. Habit."
"Can you come in for a minute?"
"Oh yeah. We're dead." Jade stepped inside and removed the boxes from her delivery bag. She placed the pizzas on the dining room table and when she turned around, a man at similar height with Koga with short black hair and an innocent expression was staring back at her.
"S-Sango," the man stuttered. "You didn't tell me your roommate was WeedWolf!"
"I didn't know you knew who she was!" Sango replied urgently. "Jade, this is Miroku."
"WeedWolf? The frumpy girl who runs with that dumb-ass Koga?" another voice shot. Jade leaned to the side and saw another man, shorter, but with exceptionally long white hair. Sesshomaru's face immediately flashed in her mind, though this younger man had more of a boyish look in place of Sesshomaru's mature, feminine features.
"What did you just call her?" Kagome shouted angrily from her room. Jade flinched. She hadn't heard Kagome raise her voice before. It was slightly unsettling.
"She's fine!" the white-haired one shouted back.
"If you're not related to Sesshomaru, then I'm not Hispanic." Jade stated, pointing at the argumentative man with a smile. His eyes widened and once Jade recognized the golden color, she knew she was right.
"Whoa! The ultimate insult!" Miroku laughed, placing his hand on his stomach.
"I meant it as a question, kind of." Jade insisted.
"Yeah, well, being related to him is an insult!" the angry one snapped.
"Why? Because he's prettier?" Jade decided to take a stab at him. He was in her home and about to eat her pizza. His face reddened and his eyes widened more.
"Oooooooh!" Miroku was now covering his mouth.
"Stop instigating!" Sango lightly slapped his arm. "Inuyasha, she pays bills here, so don't expect to insult her and get away unscathed."
"Oh, he's about to have a real problem when I'm done in here!" Kagome insisted heatedly.
"Well, I'm a fan of your videos." Miroku explained, pointing at himself. He then pointed at Inuyasha. "He doesn't really have an issue with you. It's more about Koga."
"I'm not shocked." Jade replied, glancing at her phone. "I should probably go, though."
"Here!" Sango held out two twenty dollar bills. "Split the change if you want."
"Okay." Jade took them without a fight. She then jerked her thumb in Inuyasha's direction. "Tell Kagome that if she needs to get rid of a body I have access to hydrofluoric acid."
"Haha, she will happy to hear it." Sango snorted. A smug expression appeared on her face as she pointed at Jade. "That sounded a little like Naraku,"
"You know what?" Jade laughed as she opened the door. "Look up my video called, "Cannibal Wolf," which was made over a year ago, and then try to tell me I don't sound like me!"
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Naraku stifled a yawn with his hand as he flipped the switch to turn off the fume hood's exhaust fan. He pushed the glass door up and leaned forward to examine the spinach leaves dangling from tiny tubes.
'They're translucent now, but they still have some cells.' he noted. Naraku took individual pictures with his phone and then began writing his observations into his notebook. He heard the door to the lab rattle, but he didn't look up. It only took a couple seconds of tentative silence for him to figure out it was Jade.
"Hey," she finally called out, walking alongside the table towards him. "What are you doing?"
"An experiment." Naraku answered, continuing to write.
"Oooookay. Well, do you need me to do anything before I leave tomorrow?"
"Leave?" Naraku finally paused and looked up at her.
"Yeah, I'm going to a tournament this weekend. I won't be back until late Sunday." she explained.
"Oh." he replied softly. "There's nothing to do until those are cleansed of their cells."
"Are those spinach leaves?" Jade quipped curiously, striding over to the fume hood to look closer.
"Yes."
"Is this a new weed recipe or something?"
"No." Naraku slid his hands into the pockets of his lab coat and turned around. "When you look at them, do they remind you of anything?"
"Um, no," Jade scratched her head. "I mean, they have veins,"
"Yes. They have a large one that branches out into smaller ones,"
"Like bodies?"
"Exactly." Naraku looked at her. "I'm cleaning out the plant cells, but the cellulose structure will remain."
"So, what's the point?" Jade looked entirely confused.
"I'm recreating an experiment that was conducted at the institution I want to move on to."
"Well, that's good. I thought you were going to summon Satan to build a new demon or something."
"Heh, the goal is to graft human heart tissue to the leaves." Naraku smirked, pointing to the leaves. "If all goes well, they will be a possible scaffold for beating heart tissue."
"Uh," Jade seemed to be choking on her words.
'She's absolutely horrified.' he thought humorously. Jade was looking at him as if he confirmed the part about summoning Satan. She finally blinked and glanced away aimlessly.
"Is that...legal?" she asked carefully.
"I sell weed."
"Is it ethical? Where are you getting heart tissue from? How?" the questions poured from her like a faucet. "Why are you...Naraku,"
"Calm yourself, dear. I have authorization through Bruce. Until we receive a response about my thesis work, I've absolutely nothing to do. So, it's either this or I will take my frustrations out on everything else around me...according to Bruce."
"You do that anyway."
"That's child's play; I could be so much worse."
"True." Jade sighed heavily. "Alright. I guess I'll go now."
"What was your reason for coming in here?" Naraku inquired, realizing she hadn't done or grabbed anything. Jade walked to the door and shrugged dramatically.
"I haven't seen you for a bit. I just wanted to make sure you're alive."
"You're my assistant, not my mother."
"Oh, eat me, Naraku." Jade bit back playfully. "Also, your share of the stream money should drop in your account on Monday. A video will be made of the highlights, posted on YouTube, and you will receive a portion from that, too."
"How much am I receiving from the stream?"
"We made just over three thousand; a third goes to the community and then I just gave the rest to you."
"What about your share?"
"Just keep it and put it towards a new car." Jade urged, placing her hands together. "Don't worry about me. I owe you."
"Jade,"
"Whaaaaaat?" she gave him an exhausted look.
"Good luck." he told her calmly. Jade smiled and thanked him before leaving and closing the door behind herself.
'I really don't understand her.' Naraku complained silently. 'She is so...unlike anyone I've ever met.' His eyes focused on his discolored spinach leaves. She also had it backwards; he owed her.
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Ducking under tall, cardboard cutouts of various fighting game characters, Jade made her way to the hotel elevator. Her arcade stick was tucked under her arm and her soundproof headset was clasped around her neck.
"Hey, WeedWolf!" someone called cheerfully. "Where you goin'?"
"My room! I'm not feeling well!" Jade shouted back. She strode into the first empty elevator she could find and pressed the number for her floor. She was feeling fine; she just wanted quiet time.
"I might actually win this!" she whispered excitedly to herself. Day One of pools was now over and Jade dominated her sets and easily made her way to the Winners Bracket of Top Eight. She ran to her room and placed her arcade stick on the bed, reading the various messages from Koga.
'Holy fucking shit! You knocked White Diamond into Losers!' was the last one he sent and it was after Jade's last match of the day. White Diamond laughed when Jade caught her in a frame trap and congratulated Jade for finally letting herself rock at a tournament. Her phone vibrated again. 'Oh great. Rez is talking shit. Take a look.' He sent a link and Jade tapped on it, inhaling deeply to prepare herself for whatever he had to say. The video began and it was Rez, a blond-haired, blue-eyed, self-proclaimed, "God's gift to mankind," being interviewed by Big Rich; a tall, chubby man with a thick brown beard. Rez shrugged while smirking when Rich asked him how he felt about the tournament.
"I mean, anything can happen, but my stats from today are the highest, so-"
"Uh, are they?" Big Rich interrupted quickly, glancing at his tablet. "I'm pretty sure our charts say WeedWolf has the highest today."
"What? There's no way." Rez spat skeptically. Jade rolled her eyes and huffed. She considered herself a fairly patient, open-minded person, but Rez was someone she couldn't see herself talking to about anything. Even Naraku had charm.
"Yeah, she's leading Winners." Big Rich insisted.
"She got lucky, as usual."
"I don't know, man. Her matches have been pretty one-sided in her favor. She took Wicked out of pools and he was in this regional's Top Eight last year and she put White Diamond, this year's Combo Breaker champion, in Losers."
"I've beaten all three of them before. I'm not worried." Rez chuckled. "Maybe Weed will throw the match to me like she did with Wicked before."
"Ooookay," Big Rich was staring at the camera like a deer in headlights. Jade closed the video and huffed, finally feeling the exhaustion replace her adrenaline.
Jade sat on her bed cross-legged, streaming matches of Gargos players to her TV with her phone. She was writing down his strengths and weaknesses when she spotted them, but just like herself with Sabrewulf, some players reinforced those weaknesses by only acting on their strengths. The more matches she watched, the more she began to worry. She could break and counter all she wanted, but Sabrewulf was at a huge disadvantage against Gargos. His wings gave him a farther reach that would keep her at bay and he could summon two little monsters that would take hits for their master and attack her while he restrained her.
"I really don't want to resort to Spinal, but I might have to." Jade murmured. He had far more resources than Sabrewulf. She grabbed her phone and messaged Wicked.
'Hey, do you have tips for Gargos? Rez is my first match tomorrow.' she typed.
'I don't, but Brawly does. He's been using Gargos for a while now. Did you bring your Xbox? If not, come to our room. He said he'll play some matches with you.'
'I'll be there in five minutes.' Jade stepped off her bed and pulled her shoes on, turned her TV off, grabbed her arcade stick, and left her room quickly.
When she reached their floor, their door was propped open and she heard boisterous laughter from more than two people. She knocked on the open door and waved to Wicked, who waved back.
"Hey, Weed!" Wicked sang.
"Yo," Jade replied, walking in and waving to the other three players. She recognized Brawly, but not the other two players. They knew her, though, as they congratulated her and bumped her fist.
"Alright, so you're needing some Gargos pointers?" Brawly asked, tossing his sandy blond hair from his face.
"Yeah. I play Wulf and he's limited in that match-up." Jade replied as she sat in one of the chairs in front of the TV.
"Ooh, yeah," Brawly scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "Running Uppercut is good and safe most of the time. I definitely would not use Jumping Slash unless you know it's going to confirm,"
"Hamstring seems to work well on him and his minions,"
"Yeah, but Wulf's problem is that he doesn't have an escape plan. Once you're in, you're in, and Gargos overwhelms him with minions. It's over at that point most of the time."
"That's what I've seen. I haven't played against Gargos too much and when I do, the person doesn't have a full grasp on him."
"Rez is really good with Gargos," Brawly grimaced. "So am I, but I have to respect his playstyle. Want to jump in on some matches and try some shit out?"
"Yeah." Jade nodded, plugging in her arcade stick.
As Jade suspected, her ability to see first-frame movements was helpful, but her limited experience against Gargos was getting her killed. She was putting up a fair fight, but Brawly was able to steal her meter and pull out a clutch win three out of five times. A loss was a loss, no matter how close it was. When they returned to the character selection screen, Jade inhaled deeply and exhaled loudly.
"I think you need to use someone else. Riptor operates a lot like Wulf and she has anti-air projectile options, the flame carpet to keep things honest, the dashing flame breath to clear a path, and her tail has reach." Brawly suggested, holding up a finger for every point. He then held up his other hand. "Sadira is a lot like Wulf, just in the air, she has great escape options, and her throwing knives help with the minions,"
"I have a second character," Jade said aloud. She didn't want to use Spinal until the World Cup, but without him, she might not make it to the World Cup. It was his time to shine.
"Whaaaaaat?" Wicked said incredulously.
"Who?" Brawly asked curiously.
"Spinal." Jade replied.
"Holy shit!" Wicked sprung to his feet. "Seriously? How long?"
"Since Season Two." Jade said, looking back to Brawly. "I think Spinal would do better against Gargos."
"Uh, yeah, he gives Gargos a hard time! Let's go!"
Within the first few seconds of the match, Jade could tell she preferred the Spinal match-up a lot more than the Sabrewulf one. Spinal was able to teleport out of range and then teleport right behind or in front of Gargos. His minions were far easier to swipe with a sword. It was half the stress of fighting with Sabrewulf and coupled with her first-frame sight, she destroyed Brawly's Gargos in the next set of matches. It wasn't even close.
"Fuuuuuck me," Brawly groaned, but he was smiling and laughing. "Dude, Rez isn't going to know what the fuck hit him. We won't say anything, right?"
"Oh yeah, no, we're good." Wicked agreed.
"Solid. Fuck Rez." one of the other players added.
"Yeah, he was a dick in my match." the fourth said.
"I'll get revenge for you." Jade giggled.
"Fuck yeah, man. It's an honor to have WeedWolf avenge my shitty gameplay."
The next day, Jade tried to eat a bagel and some apple slices, but her stomach wasn't up for the challenge. She pulled on her wolf cap, which was purple with green accents and gray wolf ears sticking out on top, tucked her arcade stick under her arm, and began making her way back to the large conference room where the tournament was being held. Jade slipped her phone into her pocket and found the commentator's table to sign in.
"Hey, they're asking Top Eight to meet in the corner over there. Something came up about one of the players." Big Rich explained to her as he removed his headset.
"Bad?" Jade asked.
"Nah, something about a girlfriend having a baby,"
"Definitely not Rez,"
"Hahahaha!" Big Rich pointed to the corner of the room. "Get over there!"
Jade slinked towards the corner, fist-bumping White Diamond when she saw her standing off to the side. The other Top Eight players were standing together and discussing various topics that Jade couldn't quite hear over the excitement of the entire room. White Diamond yawned and stretched her arms upward.
"Who's having a baby?" Jade asked her curiously.
"Not Rez." White Diamond said bitterly. Jade began laughing. "I guess I shouldn't complain. You're fighting him first."
"Yeah, but I think I can take him,"
"I know. That means I might have to face him to get to Grand Finals."
"Sorry." Jade shrugged. She pointed to White Diamond's hair. She had dyed her dreadlocks white to match her main character's. "I like this look on you."
"Aw, thanks. I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but I figured if my girl Maya can do it, then so can my black ass." White Diamond replied, snapping her fingers in a z-pattern. "You're lookin' good. You've got muscles."
"I don't know why. I haven't worked out that much."
"You could totally cosplay as Maya!"
"She's pretty, though. And taller."
"Oh, shush!" White Diamond laughed. "I take it you haven't been on the dating scene much lately? I called dibs on dating you next, remember?"
"I remember. I haven't had much time to do that. I'm cool with that, though. Life's a lot less complicated that way."
"Yeaaaaaah, comas are way less complicated than gettin' some dick...or pussy."
"Bitch,"
"Alright, guys! Sorry!" Big Rich called out loudly as he walked up. "Seethe was supposed to explain this to you guys, but he's somewhere else, so I'll explain; one of our Top Eight players, Cardex - his girlfriend went into labor and he had to bow out. So, we're going to let our ninth place player take his spot. However, that means we have to change the order in both Winners and Losers brackets. It's just a fair policy thing."
"Why?" Rez asked abruptly. "It doesn't make any sense."
"I didn't make the policy. Plus, everyone in the brackets is sitting at the same place, essentially. This change shouldn't affect anyone playing at this high of a level." Big Rich responded, the annoyance in his tone audible to everyone. Jade sighed with relief. Hopefully, someone else would knock Rez out for her so she could keep her Spinal a secret just a while longer.
"It's all good, Biggie. We're all tournament vets, so we know the rules." White Diamond interjected loudly. She tossed a few thick strands of her white dreads behind her and snorted when Jade leaned away.
"Thanks! Alright, everyone! We start in twenty minutes and I'll go project the new brackets up on the screen right now!"
"Sweeeeeeet." White Diamond sang, swinging her dreads around to lightly whip Jade in the face with them again.
"Next time we get high together, I'm trimming your dreads," Jade laughed, playfully shoving White Diamond with a single hand. The taller woman stumbled and shouted with surprise. Jade gasped and lunged forward so swiftly that she didn't remember telling herself to do it and caught White Diamond by her wrists. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"Haha, it's fine! I kind of deserved it." Diamond laughed as she found her footing. She quickly swung her dreads in Jade's face again. "Bitch."
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Naraku cleared a space from his smaller desk in his office on campus. Part of him wanted to take the experiment home, but something in him insisted on keeping it away from home. He used plexiglass and tape to construct a case to keep the leaves and heart tissue in a clean, unexposed environment. He already injected the leaves with blood and coated them in tissue solution.
'And now,' Naraku grabbed the IV tube that led to half of the leaves, injecting a small amount of the glowing mixture into it. He left the other half of the leaves alone as a control. 'This could give me some idea of what is possibly going on inside of Jade's body.'
He sat down and turned the lamp off. The translucent leaves he injected with the mixture now had glowing veins of pink. It didn't take long for it to spread and he had to assume that crystals were forming. Naraku glanced at his phone. 'I suppose I can leave now.'
When he walked into his apartment, his stomach began searing with pangs of hunger. That was when Naraku realized that he didn't remember the last time he ate. He remembered nibbling on a carrot or slice of apple when feeding the guinea pig, but he didn't remember eating a meal.
'The dishes are still in the cabinet, so I actually haven't eaten.' he concluded after entering the kitchen with a heavy sigh. 'I don't think I have anything to eat here.' Pulling his phone out, he scrolled to Jade's work number, but then he recalled that she wasn't in town. She was at a tournament. 'I don't want to grocery shop. I'm too tired.'
After giving in and ordering a pizza anyway, Naraku folded a towel and placed it on the couch. He sat the gray guinea pig on the towel and awarded him with a leaf of romaine lettuce and a few slices of cucumber. Naraku placed the cardboard litter box on the other side so the pig wouldn't be tempted to bite him.
"Would you be interested in watching Jade play?" Naraku asked the guinea pig while arching an eyebrow. The rodent tore off a strip of lettuce and began eating it like a woodchipper. His wide, round eyes bore into Naraku's and for a brief moment, Naraku wondered if that was a stare of judgment. "You like her. That's why I asked." he insisted. The pig continued to munch and stare at him expectantly. "That does imply that I care more about what you think than what I think, doesn't it?" The pig chewed slower and continued to stare...and munch...and stare...and munch...and stare with those wide, vacant eyes that saw everything Naraku did in his apartment under the pretense of privacy. He was a witness to Naraku's obsessive cleaning, his core workouts, his occasional pranks against his neighbors, his habit of talking to himself when planning something, his work on the mysterious crystals-turned-liquid, and the rarest of all; Naraku's caring side. "Fine. I like her. She's nice. Now stop staring at me like that." The guinea pig picked up a slice of cucumber, and continued to watch Naraku. It felt less judgmental somehow.
'It's said that the line between greatness and madness is blurred; did I just cross it?' Naraku wondered to himself. Instead of answering, he turned on his TV, searched Jade's page for the livestream of the tournament on his phone, cast the stream to his TV, and crossed his arms to begin forgetting what just happened.
"We're back and continuing on with the finals in Losers brackets! It's going to be Rez, a Gargos and Mira player and two-time champion, going up against White Diamond, a faithful Maya player and a two-time champion also!" a big, chubby man with a brown, grizzly beard announced as he adjusted his headset. The name, "Big Rich," appeared on the screen under him and then the smaller, wiry man beside him was dubbed, "Seethe."
"Man, I have to say, if you're skeptical about video games not requiring skills, watch this match. Two high-leveled players, two champions, are going to have some of the most incredible playstyles." Seethe explained passionately, pushing his black hair behind his ears.
"Yeah, and I've seen these two play against each other before," Big Rich chuckled. "There is no love lost between them, but I would be lying if I didn't say that it didn't add to their matches against each other."
"Oh definitely. Seeing two friends go against each other is fun, but two people who openly hate each other? Epic."
"Aaaaaaand the countdown to the match begins. Both players are getting some last second tips from their chosen coaches," The screen minimized and showed the announcers' table and then another screen appeared to show the competitors. One competitor was a young woman with dark brown skin and white dreadlocks. Squatting down next to her was a short white man wearing the same shirt. Naraku assumed they were teammates. The other player was a young, blond man with a smile so smug that even Naraku felt like he needed to tone it down a bit. He listened to his coach for a few seconds before shooing him away and pulling his headset on.
"Alright! Ten seconds! Whoever wins this goes on to Grand Finals to face off against WeedWolf for the title and prize money!" Big Rich announced excitedly. Naraku perked up immediately. Jade was in Grand Finals? He knew she was good, but so good that she could possibly win a tournament?
"Dude, she has been on fire this weekend. We were all worried that she wouldn't rebound from her health issues, but it seems like all that did was hook her into the Matrix."
"Right? Her breaks and counters have been so clutch."
"They're scary is what they are. I'd be so scared to press any buttons against her right now."
"Maybe the taunt button,"
"She'll counter that, too."
While the match between the two played, Naraku paid some attention, but he was more interested in Jade and how she got so far in the tournament. He glanced at the live chat every now and then, watching people give their opinions on players, matches, and characters, and every time someone mentioned Jade, Naraku felt an odd sense of pride. They all called her WeedWolf; she was the relaxed, cool one of the, "main four," and her sense of humor knew no boundaries. Naraku already knew that about her and so much more. He knew her by her real name. Whenever anyone praised her for her love of weed, it actually bothered him. Yes, she smoked weed, but did any of them know that she had a knack for stoichiometry? Did they know that she loved water bears? The more he read, the less he liked. They loved her for who they thought she was; a parodied version of Jade - they loved WeedWolf.
A knock on the door pulled his attention away and he answered it, being met with the silver-haired reluctant one of Jade's bunch; Ginta. The shorter man waved awkwardly and pulled the pizza box from the delivery bag.
"What did the jealous one with the tiny penis do to my pizza?" Naraku asked lazily, counting out the cash from his wallet.
"Nothing! I made it! I didn't do anything! Jade would nuke my computer if I started anything with you!" Ginta insisted urgently. Naraku stared him down for a moment, but then nodded curtly and handed him the cash. Ginta pointed behind Naraku. "Watching Jade play?"
"I am. I'm curious how she got so far."
"Well, fifteen thousand dollars is a hell of a motivator for Jade,"
Naraku locked gazes with Ginta and then smirked. "That sounds like her."
"Yeah," the delivery man laughed nervously, handing Naraku the box and quickly counting the cash. When he found the spare two dollars, he held them up cautiously. "Uh, sir,"
"Keep them." Naraku said.
"You're infamous for not tipping."
"I'm infamous for not tipping Jade. If she found out that I stiffed you, she would stain my entire face purple."
"Ahaha, thanks," Ginta laughed as he walked away.
By the time Naraku fixed his tea and sat down with it and his pizza, the set between Rez and White Diamond had ended. It was best three out of five matches and both won two, but White Diamond made an unsafe move, and Rez punished for the win on the fifth game. The crowd was excited, but they also cheered the woman more than they did the man. That was when Naraku got his first glimpse of Jade. She greeted White Diamond with a fist bump while wearing a green and purple cap with gray wolf ears on top as she entered the boxing-style ring. She ignored Rez, who was waiting for his fist bump, which made Naraku chuckle.
"I don't think she likes him." he said aloud, glancing at the guinea pig. The pig was now relaxed on the towel, stretched out and looking content.
The crowd roared when WeedWolf's name was announced and when Rez's name was announced, there were cheers and claps, but the difference was painfully obvious. However, Rez was smiling and waving as if he received the raucous howls. Jade gave a few short waves and thanked everyone.
'She's focused. She is aiming to win this.' Naraku noticed. He didn't always know her motivations - she confused him more often than not - but he could see she was visualizing every set-up in her mind as she sat down and stared at nothing. She cracked her knuckles and then turned and pointed to someone. A large man ran up and then knelt beside her, listening to her comments. He nodded and began moving his hands, explaining something complex.
"Alright, alright, alright," Big Rich cheered as the screen split to show the announcers and players. "Grand Finals! WeedWolf versus Rez!"
"Well, even though Rez has to win three out of five just to reset the brackets, he's still a bit more experienced than her," Seethe pointed out.
"Noooooo, Weed has been in KI since day one. She has mastered every version of Sabrewulf they've given her; good and bad."
"Yeah, but Gargos is brutal against Wulf."
"We'll see what she'll do about that. Mira is bad news for Wulf and Jade crushed Boss' Mira."
"True, true."
The match began and Jade held back, forcing Rez to approach her. Naraku watched as the gargoyle flew overhead only for the werewolf to dive underneath, out of his reach, and turn to hit him from behind. The announcers lost their minds and so did the audience.
"Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo! If you don't know what just happened, holy shit, dude! Gargos has an overhead that can't be blocked, so Wulf just dove forward and clipped him from behind and now WeedWolf has some meter to work with!" Big Rich was fanning himself with his papers.
'Yes, but the gargoyle's wingspan allows him to hit her from almost full-screen distance.' Naraku sighed. Gargos began punching through portals, which opened around Sabrewulf, who had to block the flurry of fists from all directions. 'Or he can punch at full-screen with portals, I guess. That seems cheap.' Jade's blocks were solid, but Rez finally had meter to summon a minion; a chubby mole-looking creature. Now Jade had to block portal punches, wing sweeps, and a creature swinging and jumping at her.
"Aw, right when she hit the minion, Rez confirmed a portal punch combo," Seethe sighed.
"Fuck the portal punches; summoning one minion-" Naraku cut himself off when Rez summoned a second minion wielding a pitchfork. Jade now had three enemies to pay attention to. "Very cheap." Naraku reached over to pet his companion and the pig squeaked happily for the attention.
Jade lost the three matches Rez needed to reset the bracket, though Jade didn't lose by much. The camera was focused on both players; Rez laughing and joking while Jade sat quietly, staring at her screen. If she was upset, she was hiding it well. Naraku didn't see any hint of it. Her eyes would usually give away her frustrations, but they revealed nothing of the sort. The crowd was restless, the announcers were discussing strategies, but Jade was acting as if she was alone in the room.
"Rez is calling himself the champ."
Naraku watched as a smirk appeared on Jade's face, but she kept her eyes on the screen. They were told to start and Jade nodded, going back to the character selection screen.
"Her best bet is to disrupt his momentum, so she's going to take another moment to think things through." Seethe said.
'No, she's waiting.' Naraku could see it on her face. She lightly tapped her palms together as the selection countdown ticked away. With two seconds left, she quickly moved her stick from Sabrewulf to Spinal, confirming her pick and then picking Spinal's stage to fight on.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuh, does Weed play Spinal?" Seethe asked uncertainly.
"I've never seen her touch Spinal." Big Rich answered with disbelief in his tone. Even the audience had gone quiet, some murmuring to others, many shaking their heads, and finally Rez, who looked confused and worried beyond help.
'He's done. Jade is in his head.' Naraku chuckled, finishing his tea and preparing for a glorious beatdown.
An eerie green light pulled the skeleton's bones from the ground. They connected to each other and the skeleton roared, ready to throw down with the gargoyle. The announcer screamed fight. Immediately, the skeleton charged forward with reckless abandon, cackling maniacally, which made Naraku start laughing with it. The gargoyle used his wing to sweep the skeleton away, but the skeleton teleported behind him with its eerie green light and began swinging his sword. The audience began to cheer and when Jade caught him with a counter breaker, everyone's cheers turned to screams of raw, primal excitement.
"She's got meter! She's got skulls!" Seethe called out. In the midst of a combo, the skeleton shot an orange projectile skull from his shield, cursing the gargoyle. "He won't gain instinct meter from any of this!"
"She nailed him with two purple skulls! No shadow meter, either! Gargos needs his meter to fully operate!"
"Oh!" Seethe gasped when Spinal grabbed Gargos and flung him back into the corner violently. "Spinal lives in the corner, man! You generally don't want to be backed into the corner, but Spinal is worst case scenario!"
The commentator wasn't joking. Naraku almost pitied Rez...almost. Jade was merciless. Ghostly skeletal fists were summoned to punch, grab, and fling Gargos back into the corner. Spinal swung his sword like a windmill, blasted Gargos with projectiles, and ended the combo by teleporting back and forth, striking him harshly each time.
"He tried so hard to get out of that corner, but she was all over his shit that match!" Seethe said loudly.
"She grabbed him and said, "Git yo ass back in the corner, boy!"" Big Rich added boisterously.
Jade and Rez jumped right into their second match. Rez almost seemed to have the upper hand, but every time he flew away, Spinal teleported to meet him. Rez finally put full-screen distance between himself and Jade and began his portal punches. Spinal blocked, blocked, and on the third, he used a new move that Naraku hadn't seen before. The skeleton held his shield out and began absorbing the punches, granting Jade projectile ammunition and cancelling all damage.
"SUCK! SUCK! SUCK!" the audience began chanting. "SUCK! SUCK! SUCK!"
"So loud!" Seethe screamed.
The second match ended. The skeleton was victorious once more, cackling wildly to taunt his opponent. Rez backed out to the character selection screen and chose the vampire, Mira. He then began talking to Jade, pointing at the screen. Naraku could make out the words, "Come on," and, "I'm serious."
'I remember Jade having a hard time against this character.' Naraku looked down when he felt the guinea pig leap into his lap. The pig spun around a few times and when he found the spot he wanted, he settled down and nuzzled Naraku's thigh. Naraku scratched his darker ear lightly.
"Sounds like Rez is telling her to use Wulf," Seethe said.
"Fuckin'...I would too after that," Big Rich laughed. "Though, she might want to consider it. Spinal has a hard time with Mira. So does Wulf, but Wulf has the speed and precision needed to keep Mira honest if you're a true master."
"She can end it and win it all in this next match."
"Oh! She did it! She went with Wulf! Werewolf versus vampire!"
'She didn't like that.' Naraku snorted. Rez must have said something insulting because Jade went from calm and relaxed to calm and murderous. She gave Rez one last cold stare before turning back to her screen. Chills of excitement washed over Naraku. What did a vengeful Jade look like in the video game world?
Jade was on the defensive, but she clipped the vampire with an overhead slash. When the vampire stood up, the werewolf bit her ankle and tossed her into the corner. The werewolf opened his stance right when the vampire kicked, catching her in another painful combo and depleting her first life bar.
"Oof! Rez caught by another jab and Weed's going in for the jugular! She wants to end this quickly! She's hungry!" Big Rich shouted.
The first counter-breaker in the combo stirred the audience more. There was nothing Rez could do except wait for another break opportunity or hope that Jade was going to end the combo. The second counter-breaker elicited some screams and people began jumping up and down.
"Man, this isn't going to kill, but it's going to- A THIRD COUNTER-BREAKER! IT'S OVER! WEEDWOLF'S OUR REGIONAL CHAMPION!" Big Rich bellowed as he stood up from his chair.
"A one-hundred percent combo!"
"She isn't stopping! She isn't stopping! She went into her ultra!"
Naraku began chuckling with pleasure. He saw Jade chanting, "I'm not done," over and over, and due to tournament rules, Rez had to sit and wait until his opponent finished her combo. He looked irrevocably disgusted and Naraku loved it.
"Her second ultra! Second! Look at the hits! She's hit him over two-hundred times! This combo is still going!" Seethe was now standing and nearly dancing in place.
"THREE ULTRAS! AAAAAAHHHH!" was the last Naraku heard before the stream's sound was cut off completely. He didn't need to hear it, though. The two commentators were hugging and jumping in place as Jade finished her combo with a backflip kick. The vampire's body finally hit the ground. Jade's combo hit count ended at three-hundred twenty-three. She juggled and hit Rez for almost two minutes straight. A few players ripped their shirts off and were swinging them around helicopter-style. The amount of alpha male testosterone pouring from Naraku's TV was ridiculous.
It took ten minutes for the tournament organizers to fix the sound and regain control of their audience. Jade was now standing on a stage set up next to the fighting ring. She was smiling and holding a glass trophy in her hands. She was asked a few boring questions about how she felt and what she was going to do next. While they were awarding her the giant check of fifteen thousand dollars, other tournament players were giving their opinions of the matches.
"Uh, yeah, nine-one-one? We just witnessed a fuckin' murderrrrrrrrrr!" a tall, dark-skinned player shouted, throwing his fist in the air as his friends cheered with him. "WeedWolf's cool and her Spinal is sick! She earned her win!"
Naraku turned the stream off. He had seen all he cared to see. The guinea pig in his lap was still asleep, so he decided not to wake him.
000000
"Hi Mama," Jade sat on her bed and crossed her legs. "I'm sorry for calling so late."
"Oh, you know you can call me whenever. Plus, it's probably important, isn't it?" her grandmother replied mildly.
"Mhm. I just got home from a tournament. I won."
"You did? Which game?"
"Killer Instinct; it's the one with the werewolf."
"I like that one."
"I won fifteen thousand dollars, Mama."
"...What? Fifteen?"
"Thousand. Fifteen thousand."
"That's amazing! You will have to tell Rosa yourself so that she knows all that practice pays off. I'm so proud of you."
"It's going to pay off my medical bills and a chunk of my student loans,"
"Use it for fun, too."
"I'll probably bank the rest of it, if I have anything left, that is."
"If that's what you want, then do it." Mama said. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yup. It's almost like it never happened."
"I'm relieved to hear it. And school?"
"I have an A in my art class and a B+ in O-Chem. The other classes are just credit hours with no grades."
"Good, good."
"What about you?"
"Oh, nothing goes on in this old lady's life. Just helping Rosa with the cooking and cleaning, and trying to keep Rosa from disowning Lucy."
"Disowning her?" Jade asked with a frown.
"Rosa says things, but she doesn't mean them. I told her to quit using those kinds of words, but she thinks I don't know anything." Mama replied with a tinge of bitterness.
"I mean, you raised her,"
"Yeah, but then she throws your mother in my face, so I just try to be there for Lucy and Lily when she gets in those moods."
"What is Lucy doing? I know she was slacking off in school, but she graduated."
"She did and her GPA was just fine. Rosa wants her to go to college and Lucy wants to find a job and do her thing for a few years, which I support. College is hard and if Lucy isn't motivated, it will be a waste."
"Yeah, I kind of wish I did that sometimes."
"Well, how about this, and if you can't, it's okay, but what if Lucy came to stay with you during your Thanksgiving break? We can tell Rosa it's to show her what it's like in college, but really, I think they need to get away from each other for a bit."
"Uh, I don't have a problem with it, but I'll have to ask my roommates. They're nice, though, so they'll probably say yes."
"Alright. Just let me know. You will come home for winter break, right?"
"Oh yeah. Probably not right away, but I plan on coming home for a couple of weeks."
"Good." Mama sighed. "Have you met anyone?"
"In general or to date?"
"Date. I know you meet people all the time."
"Not really, no." Jade replied, plucking fuzz off her gray pajama pants.
"Your aunt came home talking something fierce about a man you're involved with, but she didn't really explain too much." Mama said with a chuckle. "She didn't remember how you're involved with him, but she still had the presence of mind to remember that he was very handsome."
"Oh God," Jade groaned, softly rubbing her face. "It's Naraku. He's a grad student of the lab I work in. I help him with his thesis stuff and annoy him in between. He returns the favor. Yes, he's hot, but he's the biggest asshole I've ever met."
"Just friends?"
"Oh yeah, I'm not sleeping with him. I don't think he knows how sex works, honestly. I'll have to ask him."
"Keep him away from your Aunt Cougar then."
"Damn, Mama!" Jade laughed.
"She knows what she is." Mama retorted slyly. "Well, I'll let you go, but I'm so proud of you, Jade."
"Thanks, Mama. I love you."
"I love you, too."
Jade plugged the charger into her phone and sat down at her desk. She opened her budget and bills notebook and began adding up the totals of her medical bills, loans, and regular household bills. The pit in her stomach deepened as the total rose with each input on her calculator, but she knew her prize money would wipe most of it out, if not all of it. She hated seeing the ridiculous totals regardless.
'Two thousand goes to The Pack...if that stupid meltdown hadn't happened, I would have so much leftover.' Jade thought bitterly. Then she paused and looked away from her notebook. What if the coma had rewired her brain and that was why her hand-eye coordination was godlike? She still had no answer for why she was healing faster, but maybe the coma had something to do with that, too.
"Hm?" Jade jumped slightly when she heard her phone's notification tone. She thought she placed it on silent.
'I meant to send this earlier, but I was distracted. Congratulations on your victory. You were savage.' It was a text from Naraku.
'Thanks, dude.' she replied. Then, she smiled; even Naraku was impressed.
000000
Naraku's mind was reaching for words, any words, to explain what he was looking at, but every time he found an appropriate description, it seemed to dissolve from his memory. Did he actually wake up? He had to be dreaming! Had to be!
'This isn't real! None of this is real! I'm still asleep!' Naraku closed his eyes. 'I'm still extracting in the lab with Jade. I never dosed her. I'm just sleep deprived and having a twisted, specific nightmare.' He opened his eyes and saw the pink glow emitting from the case of his heart tissue leaves. 'It's real.' It was when he banished all thoughts from his mind that he heard distinct pulsating beats coming from the case. The sound was slow and continuous; there was a slight moist sound to it, as if liquid was being pushed and pulled.
He stepped closer to the case after what seemed like hours of staring at it and leaned down to look directly into it. At first glance, it was a blob of pink. The spinach leaves, both with and without the solution, had been consumed entirely by the crystals. He could see branch-like tendrils within the mass of crystals and deep in the center was a darker purple mass of crystals that appeared to be expanding and compressing slightly.
"It's...a heart." he realized. The sound was unmistakable; it was a live, beating heart! The tendrils were veins! "But why? How?" All he saw the crystals do was consume and expand using blood! Why was the mass of crystals beating? Suddenly, he remembered the microscopic heart tissue. There was no guarantee that the tissue would accept the spinach leaves as a structure, yet here was a single, live organ.
'Did the crystals consume the heart tissue and then...replicate it?'
"No," he answered himself, now massaging both sides of his head. "No, no, no! Because that would imply the crystals are alive...like a virus." It made more sense than it being an unidentified mineral. Jade showed flu-like symptoms before snapping; she was feverish, her stomach seemed to bother her, and her energy was depleted. He didn't experience the same symptoms when trying the solution made with Jade's blood, though, nor did he with the experimental cut on his arm, which was now healed.
'It acts like a virus, though. It spreads through blood, hijacks the cells, and creates more of itself. It could have healed Jade's muscle tears by replicating the muscles it was attached to, same with my cut, and now, it has replicated a heart using the heart tissue. It sounds insane, but that's what it appears to be doing. I have no other explanation.' Naraku closed his eyes. He still hadn't heard anything from his sponsors, but maybe he didn't need them anymore. More experiments needed to be conducted before Naraku could present any of this to anyone of professional stature, but if he was right, then he might have found the answer to cardiovascular diseases, physical injuries across the spectrum, and organ transplants. 'If the side-effects can be minimized, it would be an immeasurable breakthrough in the medical and chemical world! I wouldn't need a thesis, a sponsor, a Master's degree; I would be the pinnacle of scientific discovery of the twenty-first century. No one could touch or question me.'
"I have work to do." he declared, flipping open his notebook to begin recording his latest creation.
