Chapter 25

  I was right to be nervous about the Shimmer-ish. After my Gearow let out another gear grind, decreasing the defense of both the Calfer and Shimmer-ish, Ember’s Calfer bathed it in flames. The glow from its buff’s added to its flames, and my poor Gearow lost half its HP. Which, fine, whatever. I was using it to ensure I’d be able to really start taking down its life, along with the Shimmer-ish.

  Then, came the Shimmer-ish, faster than my Calfer. Aaron shot me a wink, said something I am sure the fuck boy thought was flirty and cool about him being irresistible, and then his Shimmer-ish started rapidly flopping back and forth. Like a damned disco-ball, or strobe light, it flashed and flashed, almost in a mesmerizing manner. The truth of the skill was made clear when priority passed to my Calfer… and I wasn’t given an option to command it.

  My Mun instead charged over to the Shimmer-ish, and starred deeply at the flopping fish, unmoving. Even worse, my Gearow, up next, flew over to the Shimmer-ish, and likewise sat there, flapping its wings as it hovered above the… dancing fish.

  “Oh, look at that Tay,” Aaron goaded as another bout of flames washed over my Gearow, leaving it with a sliver of HP, “your Muns think I’m irresistible. And, you know what they say, Muns are a reflection of their Tamers.”

  He laughed, and selected some sort of move. The Shimmer-ish’s silver scales glowed brightly, before letting out a massive flash. I closed my eyes against the intensity, and had a feeling that move would decrease the accuracy of my Muns. Logically, that first skill must have been a taunt of sorts. I’d come across them in some games. Infuriating moves that made your monsters either attack a certain target, or refuse to act at all. Luckily, considering I could command my Calfer now, I figured it couldn’t be used back to back. Still, it presented a new problem. Do I still focus on the buffed Calfer? Or deal with the Shimmer-ish? I didn’t really like how this battle was going.

  Filled with uncertainty, I opted to still play it cautiously. Was the Shimmer-ish tanky? We’d find out in a moment. I ordered my Calfer to use stomp, uncertain if, because the Shimmer-ish looked like, well a fish, fire was an optional life choice. My Calfer stomped at the ground, and though it was clear it was having a hard time, it managed to crush the slippery silver creature. That stomp took a third of HP from the Shimmer-ish. Not tanky then. Built instead to be a distraction and keep accuracy down, and likely just evade attacks.

  I could deal with that. Top of the round once more and knowing my Gearow was going to return to its crystal form this turn, I activated one last Gear Grind. A safer option than having it try to peck the Shimmer-ish, considering its accuracy was probably lessened at the moment. And, with the added perk of continuing to lower the defense of both of my opponent’s Muns. Preparing, for what I would do next.

  “He’s not wrong there.” Ember stated as her Calfer prepared its attack, “your Gearow is just as annoying as you are. And,” flames washed over my Gearow, and it returned to its crystal form, "it's unable to handle anything hot." She shot me a look that made me think she was implying herself. Was this conceited bitch really acting like that, here and now?

  I mean, she wasn’t bad looking, sure. But she had all the personality of a fucking cow.

  “If that’s true,” I laughed, done with this bullshit, and hoping that I was making the right choice, “it’s time for you to learn my bite is so much worse than my bark.” Was it witty? Not really. But honestly, I wasn’t really in the witty, sparring with words mood. I was in the… kick their asses and be done with them mood. And now, having stacked as best I could Gear Grind, was the perfect time.

  Bright white flashed before me as a Mun, larger than any of the other three currently summoned, took form. My Cogberus, size wise, felt like he was an overly large Belgium Sheepdog. Wasn’t there a breed out there called a Bear Dog? The ones that stood like taller than most humans and weighed hundreds of pounds? Because that was probably his size now. His heads were equal with mine, and he had to weight at least 500lbs, probably more with all his mechanical parts.

  The three heads looked at me, his appearance actually serving to stun the two cultists into silence, while from the stands, the one observer in this empty coliseum, said something I couldn’t here, and clapped his hands excitedly. As the turn order reached the top, I grinned as my gamble paid off. Cogberus was faster than Shimmer-ish.

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  “You ever heard the saying,” I said, feeling my confidence grow as I pointed at the Shimmer-ish, “take a bite out of crime?” I ordered it to bite, and all three heads tore at the fish. The first bite was enough to chunk its life to barely a sliver, the other two were, well, overkill. The Shimmer-ish was gone, leaving Aaron staring at where it had been, his face somewhat pale. The cocky asshole said nothing, as his third Mun was called forth.

  “How did you get a Cogberus?” Ember asked, her voice a cross between angry and reverent, “he should still be in hibernation since the last time he was sighted.” The Mayor of Cogni had mentioned that Cogberus were, technically, seen as almost legendary types of Muns. And the last he’d ever seen that belonged to a Tamer, had been over 50 years ago. Meaning Ember, who was actually, now that I think of it, possibly a year or two younger than me, was definitely not expecting this.

  “Apparently, I’m a monster,” I said with a shrug, “which, I am sure, you two are about to learn for yourselves.”

  Aaron’s Mun finished materializing, a beetle, the size of a small dog, with a carapace that shimmered like oil. It stood on its back legs, its front legs resting atop a massive, rough stone orb of dark blue. Atop its head, the name Gem Beetle, hung.

  “Really?” I asked aloud, as the Calfer attacked my Cogberus, its flames smashing into my Mun’s heavily furred and armored side. I smirked as its 150HP points, thanks to its level sitting at 20 instead of its actual 18, dropped by 10 points. The buff on the Calfer, didn’t seem all that effective now. Perhaps it only worked against an enemy that had also been hit by the Gemzelle’s move? Or, more likely, Cogberus was just that much stronger as a Mun. “Is that a shitty beetle?”

  “It’s clearly a Gem Beetle,” Aaron said, though I could hear the concern in his voice. He likely hadn’t expected his Shimmer-ish to be defeated so quickly.

  “Yeah, back where I’m from, we have things that look like that,” I pointed to its orb, “but instead of gems they push around animal shit. They’re called Dung Beetles.”

  It was my Calfer’s turn to attack, and I ordered it to use its Flame Burst against Aaron’s Mun. Unlike the Shimmer-ish, the Gem Beetle had either a decently sized health pool, or good defenses. The move only took about an eighth of its health. Though I wasn’t worried, since my Cogberus was up next.

  “You’ll learn not to insult my Gem Beetle,” he said, even as I selected Cogberus’s attack, “it’s the toughest Mun I have at my…”

  He trailed off as Cogberus slammed its massive body into the beetle. The scene felt like a compact car smashing into one of those trash bins you put on the corner of your driveway every other week. The Gem Beetle was sent flying into the Calfer, its body colliding with the irritating cow. Interestingly, even from the massive blow, the spherical gem wasn’t released. In fact, it seemed to actually be a part of the Gem Beetle’s body. Which, was interesting.

  My grin widened as I saw a fourth of its remaining HP drop from the impact. My Calfer wasn’t effective, sure, but Cogberus brought more than enough force for the two of the Muns. On top of that, the collision had damaged Ember’s Calfer. A two for one combo. Nice.

  As if to add icing on the cake, the Gem Beetle landed on its back, its legs kicking like some upturned turtle as it struggled this way and that to right itself. If I had to guess, it was going to be stunned this turn. Which… fair little guy. If I’d just been body slammed by my Cogberus, I’d bee pretty stunned too.

  My grin widened as I turned my focus away from Aaron, who was about to be out of this battle for good. If his last Mun was gone, would Ember be allowed to summon a second? Even still… her Calfer had taken damage now, Aaron’s were practically all wiped out, and my Calfer and Cogberus were doing quite well. With my Pride Cub and Gembra Foal still in reserve, I was pretty sure I had this battle in the bag. The look of growing concern on Ember’s face, and the panic breaking through Aaron’s cocky frat boy fa?ade, confirmed that fact.

  Neither, had expected my Muns to actually be leveled likely. And on top of that, Cogberus, had been an impossible to predict game changer.

  I may have still felt bad about, well, making my three gear pups battle over and over. But, you know what, right now, I was more than a little grateful for those puppy fight club days. Because Cogberus was, without a doubt, the alpha dog here.

  I groaned, as that thought filled my mind, absentmindedly ordering my Calfer to burn the Gem Beetle some more, crisping it up for Cogberus to snack on. Apparently, I’d read too many shifter romance books. Seriously? Alpha dog? I was better than that.

  As Cogberus took three solid bites out of the Gem Beetle, all three of which landed as critical hits as they tore into the exposed, fleshy underside of the Gem Beetle, and let out a heavy sigh. No… no I wasn’t. Not right now.

  “Guess you’ve no longer got a dog in this fight,” I said to Aaron, “couldn’t keep up with the girls, huh?”

  And then I leveled my gaze at Ember, who’s lipped were pursed tightly together, forming a thin line. “So come on, girlie.” I tapped my foot in feigned impatience, “let’s see what kind of beta bitch Mun you’ve got next, since, well, after all,” I smiled, looking down her as best I could from across our battling Muns, “you two said it best. Muns are a reflection of their Tamers, and both of you, are Beta bitches.”