Round 7 adds Goblins that have big barrels attached to their backs that explode when they die, causing durability damage to the walls and traps around it. So, we replace all the wooden walls with stone or steel ones and replace the destroyed traps. It costs us more resources, but that just means we have to gather more in between waves.
Round 8 we start to get into trouble. Winged bats join the monster mash and fly right over all the walls and traps. My grenades aren’t designed to explode in mid-air, so I don’t have any offensive option except to use my hammer as they dive and attack the coop.
Round 9 really sucks. Ogres that simply bash through the weaker walls join. Lillian races ahead through the traps to kill the Ogres, but she’s overwhelmed by the sheer number of other monsters, and we lose her. John and I survive the round, but our carefully designed trap hallways get destroyed. We repair them the best we can, but we don’t have the resources to repair the walls or replace all the traps.
Round 10, long-range magic casters join the fray and just bombard us from near the portals, breaking down our steel coop and destroying our golden egg.
After that John and I get teleported back to our locker room. Instead of being disappointed that we lost, Lillian is ecstatic. It turns out that everyone is defeated eventually in that contest. The contest is more about how long we lasted than any expectation of surviving the infinite number of waves that were possible. Our little team made 1st place, surviving longer than any other team. Many teams never even discovered the option to build fortifications and just tried to kill the waves of monsters with brute force.
Chapter 46
The base defense game ends the first day of the System Games. Lillian, John, and I are supposed to meet my mom and Marie outside our locker room, but when we try to leave we find a large crowd. The moment the crowd spots us, a cheer erupts, and people start to chant our names. A tall, good-looking man in a suit presents Lillian with a bouquet of flowers. She’s stunned at the attention and the gesture right up until the point that he gets down on one knee and proposes. Then she turns bright red and hits him with his flowers until he scrambles back into the crowd. After, she pushes her way forward through the crowd of fans; John and I follow closely behind.
It’s kind of weird to hear women call out my name and tell me they want to have my babies, but what’s even weirder is being grabbed as I pass through the crowd. Even though security pushes back the crowd, hands reach out and grab my clothes. I feel hands tug at me as envelopes and packages are pressed into my hands as I pass. I don’t want to get left behind, so I simply take all the packages with me as I run after John and Lillian. I spot my mom and Marie trying to talking to a security guard. I hear my sister yelling, “Of course he’s expecting us. He’s my brother!”
I tap the security guard on the shoulder, and he turns around. He looks annoyed at first until then a look of recognition comes over him. “Contestant Tinoco? Sir, these women say they’re related to you. I’ve already turned away half a dozen others claiming to be your girlfriend or relative. Would you like for me to have them escorted out of the building?”
A truly mean thought passes through my mind. I momentarily imagine my sister being dragged away by security kicking and screaming and thrown out of the building. That’ll teach her to tell embarrassing stories about my childhood. Then I remember my mom’s with her, and it sours the thought.
Smiling, I look up at the guard and tell him, “Yeah, it’s ok. They really are my mom and sister. You can let them through.”
With a simple nod, the security guard lets the two pass. My mom hugs me, but my sister scowls at me like she knows what I was thinking a few seconds ago. The three of us have to jog to catch up to Lillian and John who are waiting for us at the stadium exit. The stadium exit takes the five of us to a random location in the U.S., and from there we use Lillian’s home base key to get us home.
Wow. Did I just think of the office as home? Walking through the front door to Monster Squashers Inc., I realize that even though I’d only lived there for a few weeks, the place has started to feel like home. Especially with my mom and Marie being there so much. Sure, I’d been busting some pretty long days training. Yet, no matter what time I got in, my mom was waiting for me, usually with a meal. Sometimes Lillian or Marie would join us, and we’d all talk about what we did that day. Is that what makes a home? Having the people you love around you?
Someone snaps their fingers in front of my face, breaking me out of my train of thought. I look to see who’s attached to those snapping fingers and find Marie looking up at me.
“You ok there, bro? You were spacing out for a while there.”
“Uh, yeah. Just got lost in my thoughts.” Smiling at my sister, I continue, “So how did you like the System Games? I only got to see the parts I was in.”
My sister’s eyes light up, and she spins around with her hands raised in the air. “It was amaze-balls, bro, there were so many cool events, and people with amazing powers. There was even one girl my age that could shoot rainbows from her butt!” She laughs at the memory so hard that she snorts. “It was both the most disgusting and adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”
I hear my mom sigh. “Marie, you shouldn’t talk about things coming from…there so casually. It’s not lady-like.”
“But Mom, it was so funny. Why not?”
My mom’s eyes widen at being questioned, and I know she’s about to go into a lecture about the merits of being a lady. So, I cut the argument off at the pass and ask my mom, “Mom. What did you think of our team's performance today? Did I make you proud?”
Yeah, I know I’m pandering to my mom’s pride, but it’s worth it to avoid listening to her and Marie argue about gender stereotypes and generational differences. The two have gotten into screaming matches about it before.
My mom raises an eyebrow at me and gives Marie a quick glance. She likely senses that I’m trying to divert her attention, but she still can’t help but take the bait. She pinches my cheeks and tells me, “Oh, Anthony! It made me so proud to see you in those games. You beat all those scary monsters and helped your friends win. All those people in the audience were yelling and cheering for you. The lady that sat next to me didn’t believe I was your mom until I showed her a picture of you when you were a little boy. You know, the one where you were tucking you pee pee between your legs and pretending to be a girl.”
“Wait, what?”
I hear the loud snort of laughter and look behind my mom to see Lillian covering her mouth with her hands, trying to hold in her giggles. John has conveniently turned away, but his neck is all red. Marie is just sticking out her tongue at me and making faces.
Turning back to my mom, I see her looking proudly at me. “Mom, I’ve asked you not to show people that picture before, It’s too embarrassing.”
“But you look so cute, mijo.” She pulls a small wallet out of her purse and flips to the offending photo to show it to me.
I hear a crashing sound and see Lillian leaping over an overturned chair rushing towards my mom. “Oh my god, I have to see this!”
I can feel my face turning red as my mom shows Lillian the photo and the two laugh together. I walk away in an attempt to salvage my pride and ignore the situation. I put the small notes that were shoved into my hands onto Lillian’s desk and start to open them.
John walks over to me in a sign of manly solidarity. “Got some fan mail already I see.”
“Uh, I guess. A bunch of people just shoved things into my hands as I walked past them. That crowd was kind of crazy, wasn’t it?”
He nods and notices a pink string among the paper notes. John tugs at it and reveals a pink g-string. My eyes bulge at the sight of the underwear dangling between his fingers.