One-on-One

The most loyal ally out of all of the marketing team, Inio Nodell, was the first to find them. Frankie was ready to go, but Katie pinched her shirt.

“We shouldn’t fight him! I bet Bozo’s just trying to take us down however he’s still able to.”

“Oh, definitely. And I bet he thinks he can. But we can’t pass up free tokens. That asshole just made the biggest mistake of his life… these guys are nothing but cash on a platter.”

She said it loud enough for him to hear, but the stiff made no reaction to the insult, despite his passion. Frankie pointed to his big bald forehead.

“How many tokens are you betting?”

“200.”

“Yep.” She sighed. “Can’t pass that up. Name your game.”

Inio closed his eyes like a monk. She thought he’d say something, but the pause went on for a second too long as he just waved his arms around.

“Uh… hello?”

As he finally opened them, a translucent green grid immediately appeared around the three guests, but Katie was pushed out by some unnatural force.

“Hey!” She protested. Inio prepared to fight.

“One-on-one. That’s my condition. I could’ve gone looking for you with my co-workers, but I thought I ought to do this solo.” He looked so snobbishly serious it made his opponent gag. “This is for the boss. I want a clean duel, just me and you.”

Two identical swords appeared in the center of the ring.

“You sure are obsessed with Bozo…” Frankie took one and examined it. Despite its digital nature, it weighed lightly in her hand like it was a real blade. “Huh. Neat.”

“He is my world.” Inio got into a heroic stance, holding the shortsword in front of him as a countdown appeared in the center of the ring, starting from 10.

“Pretty sad if you ask me.” Frankie jumped a little when suddenly all of her limbs started to shine green, along with Inio’s.

“This is one of the games you can access from the mind menu. Each of your limbs has a single hit point. If a blade touches one, you lose it. If I hit your torso, or your head… you die. Simple as that.”

“In the game, right? You mean in the game!” Katie shouted from the sidelines.

Inio rolled his eyes. The counter grew short. 3, 2, 1…

“Easy. Prepare to die then, I guess.” Frankie grinned.

0. Frankie steadied her guard, ready to kill.

Inio rushed in and swung just under her left arm, aiming for her stomach. She drove her hilt down to block his sword, but the weapon phased right through and touched her torso, eliminating her instantly as the arena disappeared.

“Wh- what- the hell?!”

Inio signed.

“A righteous cause always wins.” He walked past the fallen warrior, token counters appearing above both their heads as hers was subtracted and his was added.

FRANKIE & KATIE- 300

INIO- 1199

The winner scoffed.

“You didn’t even have that much to begin with. I’m not sure how you thought you could beat the boss. Hell, if you and I were the only ones in this whole competition, you’d still lose.”

In an instant, the sisters lost a full day of progress, all because one of them picked the wrong fight. Frankie shuddered.

“What… the hell… How the… how’d you ignore my block…? How do you have so many tokens in the first place…?

Inio shook his head.

“I don’t think the loser should be asking the winner what she did wrong. Maybe take a look inside yourself. Then you’ll find out what makes your selfish cause is lesser than mine.”

He began to walk away, happy to please his beloved Bozo. This was record time for a job even the boss himself wasn’t able to do on his own.

“Goodbye.” He offered as he left.

Suddenly, another green wall blocked his way.

“What the-“

He turned his neck. Behind him, the girl’s sister stood, panting, gritting her teeth in fury as she gripped the sword.

“I bet 300 tokens.”

Before he could say anything, the timer started again.