Thea was having a blast, literally. Her bomb launching turret technically didn’t break her no combat restriction. She was only innocently delivering packages to the undead population.

It wasn’t her fault that the items exploded. All she did was aim the thing. She smiled at her unique little cheat and sent another string of bursts through the soggy army.

An odd wail, then a flicker of movement, caught her attention. Thea turned to see the old thaumaturge climbing the steps of the tower looking rather pleased with himself.

“Was that you who was wailing like a banshee?” She asked him, then directed a few more explosives into the swarm.

Nuecus shook his head.

“Some strange fellow was in the way,” he replied, smiling.

Thea shrugged, then focused on the army of fish. In the distance the Emperor Mercrab wriggled his claws in the air in frustration. A tiny green orb of light danced in the air beside a slender, pale figure.

The god of death stood patiently with the traitorous Midori the green fairy. Thea squinted at the sparkly git. If she could pummel the fairy, she would.

“I take it Rupert and the young guy are about ready?” she asked Nuecus.

“You bet!”

Looking up, Thea spotted the ship as it lowered into the sky. The crew onboard threw down ropes and docked behind the tower. Thea spotted the hunters on the walls. They had disembarked from the vessel and had joined the front line to defend their homeland.

She bit her lip, then turned to the present company. There were currently five of them on top of the tower. The King, Nuecus and two guards. The soldiers silently watched their monarch repeat the menial task Thea had given the King. Thea ignored their judging looks and smiled at her new royal apprentice.

“Hey Ed,” she said. “Grab this thingy and point it towards the fish.”

Without protest, the king stood up and grabbed the handles of the turret. A smile came to his lips as the first payload shot into the enemy.

“Make sure you point it lower,” she instructed.

Readjusting the device for a lower trajectory, the King aimed at a large grouping or Merkin warriors. The shot bounced underneath them and turned them into smelly minced meat.

“Nice!” she said, then swatted him on the backside.

The King yelped then grinned while his bodyguards watched disapprovingly, unsure how to react to a young woman patting their King’s behind.

“You there,” Thea said, pointing to the two guards. “I need you to take over for Eddy. Make more baskets.”

They stared at the girl in disbelief.

“Hop to it!” the King commanded.

The two guards almost fell over themselves at the words and rushed to comply with the order.

“Anyway,” Thea said. “I’m going back up. We got to deal with the big guy!”

The King aimed the turret towards the giant orange Mercrab but the shot was far out of range.

“Hm, good luck,” the King said, looking for the first time nervous then added, “come back safely.”

She gave the King her warmest smile, then climbed up the rope ladder.

When Thea pulled herself on top of the magical ship, she found the rest of the crew waiting for instructions. Rupert gave the town planner a quick salute. They were ready to engage the enemy.

“Okay, we got the package?” she asked.

Junior shivered while holding a metal cage at arm’s length. Inside was the last of the plant samples that had almost destroyed Skull City.

“Good,” she said.

Thea looked at the odd creature with a new sense of understanding. This here was a product of the Queen. The reason Thea was the only one able to destroy it was for the same reason god’s fear the Queen’s stone army. Players were designed that way. The only question that remained was, designed by whom?

Her eyes trailed down the long vines of the plant creature. This was not just a monster but a weapon. Is it capable of destroying a god? She wondered.

Thea grinned. There was at least a spark of hope.

The reason the Queen had been placed on this world was to deal with the Gods. Thea just knew she was going to like this new player. Helen’s goth style was right up her alley, right next to Thea’s fascination with pirate culture.

“How are we going to, you know?” Junior asked, placing the cage before them.

Thea grinned. “Nuecus, can you please get Winston?”

“Who’s Winston?” Nuecus asked.

They all let out a sigh. The confused thaumaturge was having yet another senior moment.

“No worries,” said a voice. “I’m already here. What do you require?”

The wooden butler stood by the entrance of the ship, waiting for his next order. He looked as if ready to deliver a five-course menu at a moment's notice.

Thea looked down at the battle below.

Pointing, she said, “I need you to chop some delicious salad for the fish down below.”

Winston looked between Thea and the plant. Understanding filled the servant and a rare smile fell on his lips.

“Well, certainly.”

Steel flashed into existence as a blade appeared from out of nowhere. The butler leaned over plant and cut off a dangling root from the edge of the cage. Sparing no time, the butler flung the plant clippings over the edge. With lightning-fast precision, the plant’s pruning only took a few seconds. In that time, dozens of small roots fluttered down to the sea floor like confetti.

Thea remembered what happened when Dog the magical whale tried to squirt sea water at the plant. She assumed the actual sea would be no different.

The crew of the ship ran to the edge and waited in silence.

“No! What are you doing?” came the emperor’s words.

A thick green vine flew up to entangle the Mercrab but was instantly severed by an undead claw.

They only had to wait for another second when another vine shot up then another.

The god of death atop the Mercrab tensed as a vine tried to grab his leg. He pulled it apart with his bare hands. Yet the plant continued to grow and multiply.

“Wow, that’s so overpowered,” Thea said with a smile. It was a minor victory, but she knew that this was only the beginning.

More vines entangled the army below, then the familiar shapes of plant creatures surfaced and devoured the undead. It was absolute mayhem.

A flash of green light flickered as Midori the fairy soared skywards.

“Incoming,” said Rupert.

Thea’s jaw worked as he eyed the tiny traitor.

“You’ll ruin everything!” Midori shouted as it flew over the deck and charged towards Thea. In its tiny little hand was a sharp dagger. Darting like an arrow, its point aimed for Thea’s throat.

Ever since Thea had appeared on Fanswald, she could not physically defend herself. Midori had told her she was a non-combat character; the truth of that stung her pride. She never asked to be a town planner. She wanted to be a fighter.

Thea tried so many times to hit, strike, slap, whip, and punch her way to victory. Yet, it never worked.

There was no time for the others to react. They stood transfixed, almost frozen intime watching the dagger sail ever closer as the murderous fairy flew towards her. Thea instinctively clenched her fist and went for it.

Gritting her teeth, Thea lunged. The skin on her knuckles glanced the fairy and a green box flashed into existence.

“Error!” said a pixilated voice.

Midori froze mid-flight with a murderous expression.

“Um, what?” Thea said. She let out a breath and stared at the green box before her.

“Error!” said the voice once more.

Thea read the green text box out loud for the others.

“Error. Helper fairy is not working as intended. Terms of service have been breached. Helper: Midori, shall be transported to spawn location for immediate quarantine. Please press accept.”

“Um, Okay,” she said, pressing the button labelled accept.

The dagger dropped to the floor as the fairy vanished in a cloud of green sparks.

Bing!

They all stared in sheer wonderment as the green sparks faded.

“Ha!” Thea barked out the laugh then said, “serves you right!”