Factions 4.2 was authored by Faria Lyton as a part of Co-Op Mode. This chapter is reposted as part of A Bug in the Game with permission. This chapter starts immediately after Guild Invites 4.4
Factions 4.2
Treacherous. The title describes this bitch perfectly. If I recall correctly, she was Taylor's best friend for years before this bullying shit started. It's a damn shame she's a repugnant person, though. She's got curves most of the Senior girls are jealous of and the most striking red hair. She's had some modeling jobs for local advertisements and even a few national catalogues. I hate to admit I saved a swimwear catalogue she was in a year ago.
The flock of social vultures is thick enough it takes a moment to work my way to the center. They just stand there, maliciously smiling while Taylor's eyes visibly start watering. It's hard to reconcile this victim with the hero I fought alongside last night, but when you've got over a year of losses I imagine it gets hard to fight back. Someone's about to learn that things have changed since last week. Taylor's getting a win today if I have anything to say about it.
"Boo-hoo-hoo, baby's crying!" My least favorite person at Winslow is mocking my partner.
«Madison Clements»
«Level 6»
«Cutesy Bitch»
I've always seen Madison as the worst of the Bitches Three for personal reasons, but now it's immediately obvious she's less of a threat than Emma. Not that either of them is anything resembling a threat now.
I have no clue what Madison's problem is. She used to be this sweet, cute girl in my class. When all the other non-tomboy girls began wearing makeup and miniskirts before even making it to middle school, she was this little island of innocent femininity in a sea of proto-whores. I had a bit of a crush on her through fourth grade, but couldn't get up the nerve to act on it. Years later, the cutesy act is just an act, and creepy as hell. I like cute, but it's like her cuteness got left out of the fridge too long and has started smelling. Eternal grade-schooler isn't cute, it's creepy. Girl needs to grow the fuck up already. Somewhere along the way she developed a grudge against me.
Just as I breach the inner circle, one of the anonymous twits makes a play for approval. "It's like you have a superpower, Emma!"
I really want to say that colossal bitch isn't a superpower, but I'm not going to start out with profanity. Honestly, I really just want to hit her, but that's even worse. «A smart decision causes your WIS to go up by 1!» So how should I word this? "I would think a supervillain wouldn't need to outnumber someone nine to one before attacking them."
"Supervillain?" The puzzled minion looks familiar. Her hair is dyed that purplish-red that looks good when it's on purpose and bad when it isn't. Considering her hair is in the same cut as Emma's, I'm guessing that's not the color she was going for. Tiffany! That's this idiot's name.
I could make a crack, define 'supervillain' for the moron, but the last time I tried that kind of joke… was Friday. "Unprovoked attacks certainly aren't superhero territory, are they?"
"Oh, she provoked us alright."
"How?" I push as much disbelief as I can into my tone.
Nearly every one of the girls responds at once, all with different answers. Unwarranted complaints of all kinds come from every direction. They can't even keep from contradicting each other.
"Did you just say she's a slut and a prude? How does that even…?" I ignore them for a moment and check on Taylor. She tries to retrieve her backpack from the floor, but a sneaker slips through the strap and pulls it away from her. My eyes follow the shoe to the sock to the pants, scrupulously skip the shirt, and look Sophia dead in the eye.
Sophia is the vicious one. She's got a lean runner's build that works well with her status as the most physically violent of the three. Trips, shoves, and elbows are her weapons of choice, all carefully timed to be 'accidental' or unwitnessed. I'd bet good money she's behind most stairway 'accidents' around here. Too many guys around here are willing to forget her attitude and actions just because her running outfit lets them see the dark field of her (admittedly flawless) abs.
«Sophia Hess»
«Level 32»
«Predator»
Not what I was expecting. Much higher level, for one. If she had powers she might be a threat. And what kind of crazy bitch does she have to be to get a title like that?
"What did you call me, nerd?"
Did I say something? Hesitation is death with Sophia though. "You heard me." «Danger!» And now I get it. I must have thought the 'crazy bitch' part out loud. I've got to be more careful about that, especially now.
Emma would have a biting comeback. Madison would play the cute, innocent victim. Sophia opens up with a textbook haymaker. By necessity, it's completely telegraphed. New reflexes guide me into a perfectly executed jab to her right shoulder. Her punch goes completely wide. Fuck. Taking the hit wouldn't cause the kind of shitstorm this will.
«Your reputation with Winslow High has decreased a lot!»
«Your reputation with Winslow High is now 'Troublemaker'»
"What the hell?" "He just hit her!" "He hit a girl!" "I knew the nice guy act was bullshit!" The harpies shriek and back away, Madison and Emma inching out of my line of sight.
"James!" Turning to face Taylor is a mistake. Sophia recovers quickly and takes advantage of my distraction to get me with a kidney punch. «Critical Hit! -87 HP» Damn. She's got a little kick there. Kinda wish I hadn't left my backpack in my locker; it might have blocked that a little. But she's not hitting nearly hard enough to beat me before I can take her down now. One on one, I got this.
Sophia gets in another strike «-44 HP», this one to my diaphragm, while I'm recovering. An untrained fighter will push now, overextending. I just have to… Crap. She slides back into a practiced stance. Squared shoulders, open hands, curled fingers. It's not «Jeet Kune Do» or anything I've seen Taylor use with «Aikido», so I don't recognize it, but she clearly has some training. The unconcealed fury in her eyes promises she's not backing down. Someone is bound to notice I'm not injured if she hits me too many times. A silent activation of «Dodge» should help with that.
I've heard it said violence is a language of its own. If so, Sophia's speaking a dialect I'm not familiar with and has a bit of a motormouth. I swerve between two rapid-fire punches and throw another probing jab she sways around. Damn it, I should have put more points in WIS sooner. She throws a palm-strike at my nose, but I manage to lean back from it. The level of «Jeet Kune Do» I'll likely earn any second will help, but then I'll be capped again and missing any extra experience from this. Another jab, left this time, intentionally off center. Try and get her to underestimate me. That, and I don't really want to be known at school as the guy who beat up a girl. Would still be better than being the guy who got beaten by Madison. I hope. «Danger!» The warning is a little late, but primitive reflexes snap my knees together just in time to stop her rising foot. Okay, bitch deserves this. A low snap kick clips her shin, but she slides smoothly back a step, instantly recovering her footing. Whoever taught her is good. Too bad he or she has terrible taste in students.
A flash of red behind me and the 'thud' of something large colliding with a locker distracts me for just a moment too long. «-22 HP» Sophia's knee glances off my thigh. Wish my cup wasn't in the inventory right now; she's a little focused on my squishy bits.
"You bitch!" Ignore what's going on behind me. I shove what could have been a serious gut blow out of the way and quickstep over a leg sweep. Focus on Sophia, Taylor can take care of herself against this flock. «Critical Hit! -87 HP» Ow. Right in the solar plexus. I didn't see any levels above 6, other than Emma and Sophia. I lose most of the force behind a punch twisting it to not punch her in the boob, but it still hits her shoulder. «Aikido» is better against crowds. A screaming blonde flies past us. «Jeet Kune Do» is better against one opponent. Sophia's cross is ruined by a quick jab to her bicep. This is the right way to handle this. «-44 HP» That one would have left me with a nasty black eye last week. Trust Taylor. I think Sophia is slowing down...
«-23 HP» There's someone on my back. «-66 HP» Sophia takes advantage of the distraction to plant her fist in my stomach firmly. Hop back, get some space. The form leans forward to press against my shoulders. Oh, that's a girl. That's definitely a girl on my back. I can feel that that's a girl. «-2 HP» Is… is she pulling my hair? «-2 HP» "I got him, Soph!" «-2 HP» Fucking Madison. 2 HP isn't much of a loss by itself, but I'm counting a drop or two per second. «-44 HP» I have got to stop losing focus here. Fuck it, it's two birds time. Brace. Hold. I spin into Sophia's haymaker, but move Madison into the line of fire. There's an audible impact. She drops off my back with a pained yelp. Dammit, I feel a little shitty about that.
Not time for that though. Sophia has her turn to enjoy a hard straight to center mass, but she manages to weaken the impact with a well-timed back walkover «Danger!» and «Critical hit! -109 HP» get in a low kick while she's at it. We both pause for a moment. If asked later, I'm sure we'll both say it's to catch a breath. It's not. I'm in pain, and I'm sure she is too. A moment is all either of us is sparing, though. Fists up, back to it. I'm suddenly reminded of something I heard in the hall once. 'Never hit a lady, but feel free to smack a bitch.' She just nutted me. She's waived the privilege of a clean fight.
Just before I can begin testing the durability of Sophia's nose, a piercing whistle fills the hall. In general, teachers at Winslow don't have the presence to bring a brawl to a stop in a moment like this. Six feet and five inches of tanned muscles can command respect even in these profaned halls. I was really hoping to not see Coach Shane until class on Wednesday, at the earliest. "What the hell is going on here?!"
«Wolf Shane»
«Level 27»
«Gym Coach»
The harpies immediately start accusing us. All Taylor's fault, all my fault, I punched Sophia, I groped Sophia, Taylor broke Emma's nose, Taylor broke Emma's knee (which she's walking on just fine), Taylor tripped… someone. I've stopped trying to remember the names of most of the various twits who've attached themselves to Tri Suki. Tiffany is complaining about a broken nail, while girls around her clutch already-bruising limbs. Damn. Taylor totally kicked ass.
Madison is painfully peeling herself off the floor, hugging her right side. I'm not sure if Sophia is realizing how strong Taylor is now, upset at our fight being interrupted, or just upset we all got caught, but she's glaring at everyone, friend or foe. Emma, pinching a bleeding nose, flinches away from her. Guess she's not used to being on this side of that look.
"Office. Now. All of you." No one argues with that tone. We don't make it ten steps before he adds, "No talking," which silences the plotting whispers. A few more steps and he stops Madison. "Nuh-uh. No cell phones. Not until I get to the bottom of this. Hand it over."
"But, I need to call my parents." Madison matches over-wide puppy-dog eyes with a grating, simpering tone. So fucking creepy.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. We'll be calling all your parents."
No. Please God no. No. If Mom finds out… Oh, hey! «Gamer's Mind» to the rescue. I still really don't want my parents hearing about this, but the deep dread I'm anticipating doesn't surface. How badly can she punish me? Yell at me, berate me? I'm not afraid any more. Cut my privileges? I never get a turn with the remote anyway, and three of the last four desserts were cherry-based. Yuck. Ground me? I'd like to see her try to contain someone who can duck into another dimension. Corporal punishment? Pain vanishes in moments now, and the boost to «Physical Resistance» could be useful. Extra chores? Who knows, I might get a new skill, like «Dusting» or «Window-washing». Okay, so wasting skill slots would be a real punishment.
Emma is crying as we approach the principal's office. I'm not exactly excited to be here either, but I suspect her tears are just so much theater. In contrast, Sophia's face is stuck in the same glower she's worn since Shane interrupted our dance. Madison's sniffles may actually be real, given how she's still holding her side.
"Sit." With how many students go through here a day, you'd think they'd have real chairs. Instead, we all perch on bulk-buy aluminum folding chair. Coach Shane ducks into Principal Blackwell's office, leaving a small crowd of rather rumpled females and one slightly ruffled male. This is one time I wish my wounds still showed. As it is, I probably look like I just beat up a bunch of girls. The secretary is certainly looking at me like that's the case. Shane is back before any of us can escalate beyond glaring around the room. "Miss Hess, Clements, and Barnes, Principal Blackwell will see you now." The other six girls get split up and sent to the Vice Principals' offices. This leaves Taylor and I to awkwardly sit with our muscle-bound coach and the sour-faced secretary, knowing all the while that Dre Tikar are spinning some fantastic tale where the whole thing is our fault.
Taylor is completely still and silent. I want to try and talk to her, to make things better, but there's nothing I can say that would help. Well, nothing I'm going to say with our audience. I expect a good discussion about powers and training would take her mind off things for a few minutes. I can't even dismiss my post-combat pop-ups under this scrutiny.
Coach Shane is staring at me with a weird disappointment/understanding hybrid expression. I don't exactly trust myself to speak just yet, so I quirk an eyebrow. He glances pointedly at Taylor. What does that mean? Is a shrug a good reply? I shrug. And now his eyebrow is up. Nod or shake? Nod. I hope I didn't just confess to shooting JFK or something similar.
"You're going to want to watch your temper, James. Your… new diet is helping you get in better shape, but you don't exactly know your own strength right now. A little rough-housing is understandable from our athletes, but you can't have shit like this on your record if you want to play. You can't fight girls." Glarey the secretary gasps at his language, but just continues fiddling with her mouse.
...does he think this is all my fault, some kind of 'roid rage incident? Is that why Sophia gets away with so much shit? Before I can think too hard on the subject, the inner door pops open again.
«Carrie Blackwell»
«Level 26»
«Callous Administrator»
The Loathsome Three file out past her, each sneering at us in a smug manner. Dammit. They aren't even trying to be subtle.
"Ms. Hebert, Mr. Barron, I'd like to have a word with you."
Game Stats:
«+1 WIS» «+1 Jeet Kune Do» «+1 Physical Resistance» «+3 Dodge» «+2 Sense Danger»
Note from Faria Lyton: A reader pointed out that James leveled «Jeet Kune Do» past his WIS score during the second Lung fight. I made a extremely small edit to the scene to reflect this.