“Talk about an electrifying round JD! The power, the intensity, the suspense, gah you just have to love it.” Nick proclaimed as the broadcast shifted to the commentators.

  “Well talk about a buzz of electric excitement!” JD responded with a large smile. He shifted over to his counterpart and spoke with his hand emphasizing. “Nick… I’ve said it before… I’ll say it again… and I’ll continue to say it. If you want to win in this league, you have to be creative. These two ladies came out here and put on a text book performance of how to use a duplicate rune, work as a team, and execute their strategy.”

  Nick then pointed his finger as if to add his point to the conversation. “Now for most fans JD, they were probably watching this match thinking, this is Shibito all day, but that simply wasn’t the case now was it?”

  “Well certainly give a lot of praise to Jin-Woo today for the performance he put on and man is it exciting and fun to watch him. But, these two ladies came out here with a strategy. They stayed with their game plan, used the terrain and arena to their advantage. And then pulled off something we rarely ever get to see in the Golem League, they used a nature rune and brought down the fury of the gods.”

  Nick then played his hand on JD’s shoulder, the look of informing him he was about to be interrupted. Nick then turned to the camera. “Well let’s just go right to the source and hear it from themselves. Over to you Erika.”

  The broadcast shifted the scene to show Erika was standing next to the two gladiators. All three had beaming smiles of success and happiness. Erika then smiled towards the camera and nodded, “Thank you Nick and JD.”

  She turned raised an excited hand which showcased the energy there amongst the three women. “L.M., R.A., congratulations on yet another amazing victory here in the arena!” The two gladiators smiled and gave nods of appreciation. “I know myself and all the fans out there are dying to know. The first duplication rune used in the Golem League, how awesome was that?”

  R.A smiled and turned two L.M. who answered the question. Her warm and excited Irish accent greeted the viewers. “Well thank you Erika, and thank you everyone for cheering us on.” She lifted her hand and motioned between her and R.A. “Yeah, the duplication rune has been something we’ve been helping with behind the scenes for years now. We’re so happy to see it come to fruition and finally be approved for use here in the Golem League.”

  Erika smiled and nodded along. “Clearly this rune helps play towards your strengths. You two have been battling alongside each other since the very beginning.”

  R.A. smiled and tilted her head to the side for a second. “Absolutely, and like you said, we’ve utilized each others strengths for years. The great thing is not having to swap out in the match, rather we now get to work directly alongside one another and stay focused on the overall goal.”

  Erika nodded along and then followed up. “So, do you have to change your setup and build for applying this new strategy?”

  L.M. nodded, “Right, well, after every match and heading into every match you need to assess what changes need to be made. We knew that this duplication rune was going to minimize some things, and magnify others. We had to really train and learn how to prioritize our power consumption and ensure we timed everything perfectly.”

  L.M. then turned and looked to her counterpart, “Yeah and studying your opponent is a crucial part of preparation. And, we have to say, Jin-Woo is amazing and he was so much fun to study for the weeks leading up to the match. His theatrics and approach to the match with his distinct style is just inspiring.”

  R.A. then shifted her weight and continued. “One thing I will say is that we really had to work out how exactly we were going to utilize the duplication rune. It took a lot of trial and error to discover what would work out best for us. In the end… looks like our strategy worked.” R.A. shrugged her shoulder and winked towards the camera.

  “Well that’s interesting you say that.” Erika added and pointed towards the two gladiators. “What was some of the things you tried and then abandoned the further you got into the strategy?”

  L.M. then nodded and answered. “Yeah, well… you always have to be willing, especially when working alongside a teammate to be humble and listen to all sides of the problem. As we approached the match, we thought about having the duplication come from our Timberwolf directly. But that means sacrificing the resources your devoting to your primary golem.”

  R.A then followed. “We finally had to determine what things we were not willing to sacrifice. The more we worked with creating a duplication from the natural resources within the arena, the more we felt that was the best approach for us. Obviously, our gamble worked in our favor.”

  The room was mixed with amazement and breaking into small pockets of conversation. Pepper then realized he had missed a call from Andrea and began to turn and head for his bedroom. He heard Marcus call out to him and ask why he was turning in so early. “Sorry, I gotta call my girlfriend back.”

  Pepper could hear the girls aww in admiration while some of the guys were mixed with jokes and laughter. He closed the door to his bedroom and made sure to lock it, not wanting anyone to forget that his space was not to be shared with anyone else.

  He quickly tapped on his holodex and waited for a few seconds before Andrea appeared in view. “Hey! Sorry about that. We were watching the Golem League match and I didn’t even notice you called.”

  “It’s okay. I just wanted to call and see how everything was going. I kind of miss the fact that I can’t just turn and look at you cuddled up with me.” She replied.

  He smiled but then came a firm thud against his bedroom door. He ignored it at first but the thud became louder and louder every time. There was a clear look of frustration on his face and Andrea asked what was wrong.

  “These… friends of Marcus keep bugging me.” He reached for the door and began to unlock it. “They ate all our food, they use my bathroom, I have had to…” Pepper then paused when he cracked the door open and discovered the source of the noise was none other than Amprage.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “You locked me out…. Dad.” His familiar said. The animated golem drooped his eyes and let out an audible whine.

  Pepper sighed and opened the door further. “Well, where were you? I though you were right behind me?”

  “I powered down and panicked when I discovered you had left the kitchen.” Amprage replied.

  Pepper turned his attention back to Andrea. “Never mind… it was only the metal dog wanting attention.”

  Andrea smiled and made a cute animated expression. “Aww, I miss that cute little block head.”

  Pepper went to lay down on his bed but didn’t realize his spot was already occupied by his bonded. The metal frame of his familiar impeded into his side and he quickly placed his hand and began to shove. “Yeah, not happening Amp. You get on your side of the bed if you’re going to be up here!”

  “But I prefer your side, its fluffier!” Amprage replied.

  “I’m not playing games, either get on your side of the bed or find yourself sleeping on the ground.”

  “Fine.” Amprage huffed in defiance but finally got up and moved the extra few inches on the bed closer to the wall.

  “Hey, don’t be mean to him. He just wants to be with you.” Andrea said with a stern pointed finger.

  “He doesn’t need to be on top of me to be with me.” Pepper countered. He then playfully smiled and winked. “There’s only one person who gets to be in that position.”

  Andrea blushed and rolled her eyes. “Oh hush.”

  The two giggled and smiled at one another. Pepper then heard the music volume turn up louder in the living room. The bass reverberated through the walls and multiple voices started to rise along side the volume.

  “Is that your roommates in the background?” She asked.

  “You can hear them too huh?”

  “Yeah, sounds like the party is just getting started.”

  A sense of dread came over him and he worried about how little sleep he would get tonight. “I hope not.” The house seemed to shake as loud thuds could be heard. He instinctively looked towards the living room and Andrea asked what had just happened. “I’m not sure, but sounds like a wrestling match just started.”

  Pepper then worked to ignore the distraction and asked Andrea how her dad was. The two stated on the phone for hours and to Pepper’s surprise, he awoke the next morning to discover they had both fallen asleep on the call. His holodex battery icon was flashing red. But he smiled when he saw Andrea peacefully sleeping on the other end of the call.

  He ended the call and then removed his holodex and placed it on its charging stand. Once he made it to his feet he performed a large stretch and got cleaned up and ready for the day. A quick twist of the doors lock and when he got to the end of the hallway, he saw the disaster that awaited him.

  What the actually hell?! He yelled to himself. Not only was the sink full of dishes, the trashcan overflowing and an additional two bags of trash piled up next to it. But it was the large hole in the living room wall that sent him over the top.

  “Marcus!” He yelled. There were the faint rumblings of guests awakening to his cry.

  “Why so loud man? Were still trying to get some sleep.” One of Marcus’s friends muttered to Pepper while he rolled over on the couch.

  “Marcus!” Pepper called again.

  His roommates bedroom door cracked with life and out stumbled Marcus and yet another female guest whose name he did not know. Marcus staggered down the hall and still had sleep in his eyes. He yawned and then arrived next to Pepper.

  “What’s wrong? What happened? Wait… did the toilet overflow again?” Marcus sighed and rubbed his face. “I told them to just plunge it themselves, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t know how to unclog a toilet.”

  “No the toilet isn’t… wait.” Pepper stopped himself. He turned and walked to the hallway bathroom, opened the door but didn’t find the toilet overflowing. Instead he found another stranger who was passed out on the toilet. Their head was tilted back and audibly snoring the entire time. He was just grateful they were fully clothed.

  Pepper closed the bathroom door and then power walked right past Marcus and stopped adjacent to the giant oval hole in the living room wall. He turned and exaggerated his hand towards the damage. “What the hell is this?”

  Marcus appeared to quickly awaken when the realization kicked in. “Oh… right. That would be an our bad. Or… more than likely, a Jeff and Mikey oopsie. But, on the bright side, Mikey is still undefeated in his wrestling matches against Jeff.” Marcus finished with a smile.

  “This isn’t funny Marcus! This is serious damage to a house that neither of us own, and are responsible to maintain it or suffer the consequences. Which… just so happen to be financial consequences. And I don’t know about you, but those are the consequences I try my best to avoid.”

  “Pepper, my man. Calm down.” Marcus lifted his hands up defensively. “Okay, so things got a little out of hand last night. But, it will all work out. Braden’s dad works on houses and taught him all he knows. We’ll go to the store, pickup what we need and will patch that up in no time.”

  “Who is Braden?” Pepper countered aggressively.

  Marcus motioned with his head towards the bathroom. “He’s currently sleeping on the throne. But…” Marcus furrowed his lips, nodded and gave a solid thumbs up. “He might not look like much, but that guy has skills.”

  Pepper then shifted over to the kitchen and pointed to the dishes piled up in the sink. “Well what about these?” He then nodded and to the trash. “And the trash. This is like a week straight that your friends refuse to take out the trash.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you man. Jeff told me last night before I went to bed that he would clean everything up.”

  Pepper just happened to place his hand on the kitchen counter. He immediately retracted it when he felt a strong sticky sensation. “If they cleaned up then why is the counter sticky?”

  Marcus jaw dropped and he was left speechless while he shrugged his shoulders.

  “Is there any food even left in the fridge?” Pepper asked while walking over and pulling the refrigerator door open. He let it fully swing on its hinge and then waved his hand to the empty shelves.

  Marcus sighed and stepped forward. “Okay, I get it. Sometimes my friends can be feral.”

  “Sometimes?” Pepper countered and closed the fridge door which arrived with a loud thud.

  Marcus stopped at the kitchen island and placed his hand down bracing himself. He also retracted his hand. “Oh that is sticky…. Gross.” He adjusted himself and then crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Okay, how about this. I’ll make the gang get up, they’ll reclean everything. I’ll take out the trash and then I’ll go grocery shopping and restock everything. It will be on me this time.”

  Pepper took in a deep breath and nodded to his roommate. It was a few seconds of silence later that Wilson appeared at the end of the hallway. The bashful roommate still refused to look them in the eye and seemed nervous.

  Marcus turned and looked behind him. “Morning Squints.”

  Wilson didn’t answer Marcus but merely directed his question towards Pepper. “Pepper. Will you take me to the trading card store?”

  The question took Pepper by surprise and he didn’t know exactly how to respond. “You want me to take you to a trading card store?” He then cocked his head to the side. “Where is it exactly?”

  “There is one in the same shopping center as the Nordon’s grocery store.” Wilson replied.

  Pepper immediately thought about how much it was going to cost him to rent a Buzz Podz. He hated the idea and it didn’t help the fact that it was just after his confrontation with Marcus regarding the issues he had awaken to find. To his surprise, Marcus came to the rescue.

  “Well, how about this. I’ll get my buds to do their chores and clean up. Then once we’re done, I’ll take all of us to the store. You two can go to the card store, I’ll grab the groceries and it’s a win-win for everyone?” Marcus then turned to Wilson. “What do you say Squints, will that work?”

  Wilson replied without any hint of emotion. “That’s fine with me if it works for Pepper.”

  Marcus turned back and had a slight smile on his face. “What do you say big boss?”