INTERLUDE (VI)
G.I. Go Fork Yourself
Maya’s head snapped back with a hollow, thump!
“Argh! Son of a birch that hurts!” Maya screamed, falling back onto her butt and instantly raising a hand to nurse her throbbing forehead.
Eva, Robin, and Marlene froze, cries of sorrow dying on their lips.
“Y-you’re alive?” asked Marlene.
“Yeah I’m forking alive! What kind of question is that?! Kinda wish I wasn’t though. Sheesh. What the swell even happened?! Feels like I got nailed in the head with a baseball bat!”
Denise bent down and picked up something lying on the ground, while the soldiers, meanwhile, hurried to reload their… muskets?
“Corks.”
Denise held out the small cylindrical object. And, just as she’d said, what she held was none other than a cork, like what you might find in a wine bottle.
“Uhh… hey guys? I don’t think those are actual, like, people,” Eva commented pointing out the, rather obvious in hindsight, disparities.
The others glanced to where she was pointing and couldn’t help but agree.
It’d been hard to spot initially, what with all the systems screens and the surprise ambush, but these “men,” as they’d deemed them, were oddly… uniform? More so than you would expect from military. Not just in their getups but in their face and body as well. Oh, and also they were entirely green and made of matte plastic. Equipment, skin tone, firearms and all. Actually, the only thing about them that wasn’t green plastic, was their ammunition. Ammunition which they were currently trying their hardest to jam into their 16th century matchlock muskets.
Which helped to explain their terrible aim. Apparently Maya had just gotten unlucky.
+—|-T. Soldier Private-|—+
?[Lvl 15]?
+—|-T. Soldier Private-|—+
?[Lvl 16]?
+—|-T. Soldier Private-|—+
?[Lvl 15]?
Denise snorted.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“How much do you want to bet that ‘T’ stands for ‘Toy?’”
No one took her up on the offer.
“Should we…? Should we do something or…?” Eva asked, watching the reloading soldiers warily.
Before she’d even finished, Denise had taken several confident strides forward—casually swinging her rapier through the air. Grinning at the crisp noise it made. As if the blade itself were singing. And so it was with a devilish smile that she bore down on one of the nearest soldiers—one of those who’d swung around a tree in their ambush. As she neared however, the thing didn’t even seemed to pay her any mind. As was only natural, Denise took extreme offense to this.
Although as opposed to an intentional snub, it was more likely such an action hadn’t been factored into its script. Not that she would’ve cared had she known. Three more long strides and she was hovering over the kneeling soldier. And still he had yet to respond. Denise sneered, lifted her blade high, and swung down.
“Singsong Rhapsody!” the words came unbidden from her throat, resonating through the air with a weight that could be felt for miles around.
As she brought her blade down in an overhead arc, it began to vibrate madly, nearly leaping from her hands. Next, the air around the blade began to shiver, creating a hazy distortion. Then the concept of sound itself began to warble with a low moan. As if metal placed under extreme shearing force. Her blade came down hard, sliced straight through the poor soldier without even a hint of resistance—catching Denise off guard and tipping her center of balance—before it continued on to impact the trunk of the tree behind him.
The tree detonated with an explosion of wood chips and scattered particles. A substantial chunk of the thing blasted away, before the creaking giant fell down like a faulty tower of blocks. Thankfully it fell away from Denise and the rest of her party. Unfortunately, the cloud it left behind in its departure had her nearly coughing a lung out.
And although she couldn’t make it out from where she stood, the cloud itself was acting anything but normal. It flowed, stirred and stuttered. Forming arcane patterns as it dancing to the violent vibrations pervading the air around her.
Not knowing what was going on, and not wishing to cut herself on her own jumping blade amidst a cloud of choking debris, Denise swiftly cut off whatever ability she’d unconsciously used in the first place.
There was a screech like the most intense speaker feedback any of them had ever experienced. A sharp, shrill note that cut through the silence of the glade like a knife—piercing the ears of all those nearby and deafening them in short order. Marlene, Robin, Eva, Maya, and even Denise screamed in shocked pain and surprise. Clutching at their ears, even as they freely bled through their fingers. Eventually, the feedback settled, and her rapier stopped its jumping.
Silence blanketed their stretch of forest, and not just because it’s residents were deaf. Denise stumbled out of the cloud that had been her doing, trying to rub the fine wood-dust from her eyes. Robin, seeing her plight, hurriedly rushed over, tipped her head back, and cleaned her eyes out with a bottle of water. Once her vision had returned, if bloodshot and teary eyed, Denise surveyed their surroundings, and came to the same realization the others had only moments prior.
The toy soldiers were gone. Although, not without leaving something else behind.
*Ding!*
?CONGRATULATIONS!?
For making an enemy retreat inside their own designated territory, you have each been awarded: 300 Participation Points.
You have earned a temporary ceasefire with the owner of this territory.
Time Until End of Ceasefire: 11:59:43
The Captain is Now Aware of Your Strength, And Will Prepare Accordingly.
And although no one was there to hear her, Denise thought it still needed to be said.
“COWARDS!”
