Team Solidarity versus the renamed Team Seven. Patricia just smiled down at Team Seven’s ‘leader’. Of course ‘she’ would put together a team and a strategy that would flatten this random group of women called ‘Solidarity’ for some reason. It was rather painful to watch, actually, as ‘Solidarity’ had apparently only read the rules before coming to ‘compete’.

Though… perhaps I should be insulted that my son’s competition would be sullied by a group that did not even deign to prepare properly. They took too long figuring out their modifiers, and the judges were forced to correct them several times when they claimed numbers that were wrong. Go figure they always seemed to remember the bonuses but ‘forgot’ the subtractions. Maybe ‘I’ should show them what real subtraction looks like so that they will learn to remember it next time.

Patricia forced herself to keep her power cycling positive influence into the room instead of ‘subtracting’ one from the team of idiot women down in the arena wasting her son’s time. She knew it was not proper, but she just found herself failing to keep her anger in check when it pertained to her baby. Was he actually being insulted right now? She could not tell, but she also found it difficult to care when the evidence was… conclusive enough.

“That was… an engaging match!” Syron called out to the crowd.

Even he cannot make it sound like that match was anything but pointless. Though, I think he has also realized just whom Team Seven is composed of. Given that they played dozens of games with him while he was still figuring out his rules, it makes sense that his own employees would have a deeper understanding of the strategies required to dominate the group of giggling simpletons. I do wonder what Raylin tried to name their team though… if it was too foul, perhaps I really should punish her? Maybe… I should not ask.

“Alright! So with that, the first four matches have finished. That means the first round ended as such… Teams Housewives United, Royal Harbingers, Handsome Bachelor Society, and… ahem… Seven… move on to round two. The second round will be a rather quick one, I think. I will ask five questions pertaining to the rules. The first two teams to submit to a judge five correct answers wins the second round. Your judges have your writing utensils and parchment ready for you. The first question is… ah… yes?” Syron stopped before he could manage to ask his first question. This was due to an angry little princeling stomping his way towards the podium yelling about impertinence or something similar.

Ah… you just could not hold it in any longer. I wonder if your father will bail you out of this? Syron does not know who you are, nor does the ‘new’ him seem to care for such things. His newfound focus is quite cute, is it not? Well, whatever happens, I shall have his side so he can do as he pleases.

“You dare waste the time of someone such as I with such trivialities? I came to win a game, not attend school! I insist that we return to the previous format so that I can trounce two more so called ‘teams’ with my superior tactical knowledge and be done with this farce!” Rue yelled up at the seated Syron. Syron stared down at him blankly for a good five seconds before tilting his head to the side and sticking his pinky in his ear and twisting it like some sort of delinquent.

“Ehh?! Well aren’t you full of yourself. I’m pretty sure the terms were stated pretty clearly at the beginning that I’m the one who decides who wins or loses. Rank doesn’t matter here, just ability. If you really are so far above the competition here, perhaps you should just sit your scrawny butt back down and answer a few simple questions to ‘prove’ your… superior knowledge… was it? Well, no matter. This is the second time I’ve had issues from your team. Consider this your last warning before you’re disqualified. This sort of crap isn’t okay. You got a problem, you tell your judge. Nicely.” Syron growled out the last word with a bitter edge that surprised both Rue and Patricia alike.

PFT!

“You… you!” Rue barely managed to get out through gritted teeth.

“Meh, now you just sound like some two-bit side villain from a girl’s romance novel. Seriously kid, this sort of tantrum just isn’t going to fly here. Though, if you want to embarrass yourself further, the audience seems to just be eating this up. Hah… maybe I shouldn’t have given my ‘last warning’ already.” Syron continued to humiliate the boy that was steadily turning redder and redder in what may have been equal parts anger and embarrassment.

Well, it sucks it had to be a kid, but if I’m planning to take this game on the road some day, I can’t have a precedent set where noble pricks get to come in and decide whatever they want. I’m socially powerful, so what’s the worst that can happen? I mean, maybe if I was insulting royalty it would become an issue… but why the hell would a royal come this far from the capital to play a game no one else has ever heard of? Come to think of it… if they are nobility… where did they come from? Syron thought to himself, unaware of the irony.

Patricia just did her best to not laugh in the face of the future King’s little brother.

He always was a little too pompous for my tastes. To think a child his age once tried to lay his hands on my dear Natalia. Honestly, he and his father should consider themselves lucky I refrained from removing him at the time. Treading into the territory of a forbidden memory, Patricia Forrester’s mood suddenly dropped, her control over her powers faltering and the room got hit with a wave of dread.

Blaine, that was halfway between his place in the audience and the podium was knocked from his feet, his unsheathed sword clattering across the floor. As he was only walking instead of running, Patricia had not actually noticed his advance, she was so deep in thought. Near instantly, a shield surrounded both Rue and Korfus.

The full might of The Warden was now bearing down on the crowd. Once she realized that Blaine’s sword was drawn, her mind went blank with fury. Several people in the audience passed out from the pressure, their pants wet. In the background, she could hear a voice yelling into her ear to stop what she was doing… but she could not quite understand what it was saying, so fueled by rage at the attempted killing of her son. She did not care that Syron had committed lese majeste. Even if she did, she would not have remembered the punishment for treason is immediate execution. That certainly would not have mattered to her anyway, as she was leaving the event hall with her son healthy and intact even if she had to bring the Kingdom to its knees. She remembered the face of the ‘maid’ that drew a blade on her sweet boy and her thoughts further twisted into madness. The current ruler of the Kingdom, Korfus, looked upon his greatest strategic asset in abject horror. Her negativity and madness seeping through his shields as it removes all that makes them steadfast and subjecting his mind to the knowledge that he wasn’t walking out of here today. He focused his eyes on her as she descended the steps of the stands towards him, attempting to come to terms with the certain death that she represented.

In what way did I think I could stand against this monster? Has she always been this powerful, or has she grown even stronger in the year and a half since I have seen her?

By now, everyone in the audience had already fled or was unconscious. Blaine was foaming at the mouth and both Korfus and Rue were cowering behind the barrier Korfus was known for. Syron was… no longer at his podium. Korfus looked around, trying to find the boy that ultimately was the cause for this mess. If only he had never woken from his coma, the chain of events that led to Korfus dying here would never have occurred. Of course the brat had managed to escape somehow… Forrester’s have always been survivors. That was why the most dangerous border was given to them.

BOOM!

An explosion of light and sound went off in Patricia’s face that blinded and deafened even Korfus, whom was still at least ten meters away. She swayed on her feet with the sudden loss of her equilibrium and fell to her hands and knees. The Forrester boy materialized next to her with his fingers in his ears and his eyes clamped shut. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and just held her while her magic automatically reversed again to begin healing her ears and eyes. As her hearing resolved itself, she heard her sons calming voice telling her over and over again, “Shhh… it’s okay Mother. It’s okay… Shh…” Her eyes cleared and she looked at her son, whom looked back into her eyes.

“Ah… are you back?” Syron asked her softly while she took in the carnage around her. The ground and seating closest to her had started to erode into dust as she passed. She solemnly nodded her head. Syron sighed heavily in relief.

“Good. Now heal these people. You’ve ruined my game, so I’m leaving ahead of you. You deal with this catastrophe you caused.” He stood up and moved to leave, but his mother’s hand grabbed his own to stop him.

“What?” The same bitter growl from before escaped his throat.

“Son… I… I am sorry. I do not know what came over me.” Patricia Forrester, The Warden of the Woods, The Grand Duchess… was groveling for forgiveness.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sorry too. See you at home, Duchess.” Syron shook his hand free and walked away, ignoring the pleading tears on his mother’s cheek.

“Du… Duchess?” She asked, her face contorting into anguish. He had called her that thousands of times in his life… just not once since he woke up. He just loudly muttered to himself in response.

“I don’t know why I thought bringing a time bomb was such a great idea. I really should have seen this coming. Yeah… I was pissing off the kid’s guard… so what? I have my own guards too. You don’t have to friggin nuke the place. UGH! Seriously, this is going to set my plans back for months! Maybe forever! Who’s going to want to attend an event when there is a chance you’ll be forced to fear for your life and crap yourself?” Syron stormed out of the room where a few of his knights were waiting. They had been posted outside at the time, so they managed to avoid the worst of the effect. He passed a familiar face trying to wake an unconscious child.

“Hey, that woman right there. The kids called her Miss Shuuko, I think. She seems to be a caretaker or teacher of some sort. She gets the reward. She won.” Syron declared to a bewildered knight detachment.

“Seriously. I don’t know how the reward is supposed to be given out, but make sure it goes to her.” Syron said, pointing her out again. Shuuko just looked up at him with fear on her face. She fought back the impulse to silently accept it and asked the question that was bothering her. She knew she was pretty, and she didn’t want to accept the prize based on looks alone.

“Why did I win, Event Master? I hardly did anything…”

“Hahh… seems like everyone on your team has a complaint with my judgements, but fine. I’ll explain. Reason one… what part of ‘I get to decide who wins’ is so hard to friggin understand?! Reason two, despite being in a hostile group environment, you did your best to get along with your party mates, even if they didn’t deserve it. You weren’t even going to play initially, and yet you still tried your best for a team that quite frankly didn’t deserve you or your patience. Reason three, and this one might be a misunderstanding on my part… those kids that played earlier… did you teach them? Future Wardens actually chose your team in the first rou… the only round… because they wanted to show you how much they had grown. Perhaps I’m reading too much into that, but it sounded like you were spreading the game to kids. That’s pretty awesome. So there you have it. Three reasons for why you get the prize. If anyone has a problem with it, they can suck it. [email protected]#[email protected]#@#%#[email protected]#% (omitted) This isn’t how I wanted my day to go!”