The abomination opened its maw, revealing far too many teeth as it leaned back suddenly. The next moment happened so fast I could barely keep up.

A huge glowing green glob flew from the bug’s mouth, flying right for me, then something struck me hard from the side, sending me skidding across the hallway just as the green glob smacked into the window I had been next to. An incredible stench of acrid burning filled the air as the bug spit melted right through the stone, leaving a bubbling crater where I had just been. That’s when I noticed the weight on top of me.

I groaned, rolling onto my back, and was met by the most piercing eyes I had ever seen. They were a deep emerald green, almost glowing with an internal brilliance, ringed with a shimmering amber, and winged with sharp black eyeliner. (And wow, that was a killer eyeliner job. I’ll admit to trying my hand at makeup a few times. Just out of curiosity’s sake, of course, but I don’t think I’ve ever made myself look like much more than a drowned racoon in the eye department, and that’s after stabbing myself in the eye repeatedly at that.) 

This all contrasted starkly with the pale, angular face, and short cropped black hair. The sight had my heart hammering, and not because I had just narrowly avoided being turned into a puddle (though perhaps it’s not too late for that). The girl gave me a cocky smirk which seemed to kick my brain back into gear, since I finally realized it was Alex whose lips were just inches from my own (I was definitely not staring at Alex’s lips).

“You’d better keep your head on a swivel, never know who’s behind you,” she said, her voice warm and feminine. Deep for a woman’s, but in that way that makes my spine tingle. (Wait, am I referring to Alex as a girl now? Goodness, I think I really am losing it.) I spluttered, pushing her off of me and scrabbling to my feet, though I couldn’t quite get rid of the feeling that her being on top of me had kindled in my core.

“I suppose we’re going to have to work together then,” I said, trying to sound disgruntled, and mostly failing.

“I suppose so,” she shot back, a smirk on her lips as she started moving deeper into the castle, and away from that thing. I grumbled to myself before chasing after her. This was just not lining up to be the year I get my sweet revenge for all the times she’s yanked victory from my grasp (not that I’ve never done the same to her, but I can’t just let being beaten last year slide!)

Deafening roars and crashes shook the castle around us, the crumbling structure releasing ominous bursts of dust and small stones to rain down on our heads. The occasional burst of gunfire could be heard before being quickly silenced as the last few players fell to the monster’s rampage. I’m not exactly humble about my gaming skills, but I’ll admit I wasn’t confident in us coming away with that bonus prize.

I can’t say I didn’t consider shooting her in the back for a moment as we put some distance between us and the thing bellowing like an angry chainsaw. It crossed my mind, but just immediately felt wrong. As much as I wanted to win, and to crush her in the process, it was too much to do so after she had saved me, and honestly wouldn’t even help me at this point. If we were to win, we would have to win together.

“Alright, I think I recognize your avatar after all. You’re Fleur in Hunter’s Mark Online, aren’t you?” Alex asked suddenly, causing me to stop in my tracks, my eyes wide. Hunter’s Mark was the game I played the most. These battle royale style tournaments were just something I did for the money (and maybe to indulge a bit of a competitive streak). Hunter’s though was a game I truly enjoyed and had in some ways made a life in. (I suppose to make things simple it’s a VRMMO with a focus on players working together to hunt enormous monsters, and I was one of the higher ups in one of the more powerful guilds in the game.)

“Fuck… it’s you, isn’t it, Artemis?” I said, slightly stunned. It all suddenly clicked in place, the whole absurdity of the situation making me almost want to laugh. Alex was both the woman who I (in my persona as Fleur) had worked together with for years in Hunter’s, working our way up to the bleeding edge of the game’s challenges, and helping build a powerful guild (we’d even kissed that one time! I mean, it was right after a big win and everything, like a friend kiss of celebration? It’s not like I think about it a lot.) As well as the person I had clashed with year after year at these tournaments, a person who was so aggravating I just wanted to scream sometimes.

“Hey, I get it. Pretty crazy, but right now we have bigger problems than trying to untangle whatever the fuck is our weird web of mystery with one another,” Alex said, resting a hand on my shoulder gently. Her contact grounded me and helped me pull out of the mental spiral I had suddenly slammed into. She’s always been able to get to me when I get caught up in my thoughts, Artemis has that is, which is her, fuck. I shook myself and let out a steadying breath before giving her a nod.

“Good girl. Now there’s a freaky monster that needs killing, and I think we know our way around that job. You watch my back, I’ll watch yours, and let’s take this thing apart. Got it?”

“Yeah, let’s do this,” I said, already forming plans on how to take this thing down. Then with a thunderous crash the wall across the courtyard exploded, and the fight was upon us.

Shattered stone rained down on us as the titanic monster burst its way through the wall between us with seemingly casual ease. Finally, noting the player count, now showing a bold “2” in bright red, I realized that Alex and I were the last players standing. It was a bit late to worry about that now, though.

Alex and I scattered, already working together wordlessly like we had for years under different names. She moved fast, barely slowing as she rolled under an enormous scything claw. I barely caught the glimmer of steel as she drew the twin daggers she had always favored in these battle royal tournaments. I can’t imagine them doing much to this armored monstrosity, but I knew she was already planning on how to work it to her advantage. The crazy way she made even the worst situations work for her brought a grin to my face. I slotted the magazine of high explosive ammo I had been saving into my rifle and racked the bolt in one practiced motion. It was time to take this thing down.

The battle passed in that detached intensity of something difficult that you have long practice with. Alex and I worked perfectly together, like we always have. She’d slip through the beast’s attack, drawing it into a position where it left a weak point exposed, and I’d take it out with a bang.

I couldn’t say how long the fight lasted. It all felt like a strange choreography working with someone I’ve been so close to, yet finding ourselves suddenly in a new light. Finally, in the end though, we took the beast down. It gave a last desperate charge, it’s sluggish brain finally realizing who was actually the one harming it.

It was the size of a mansion, and bleeding from a dozen massive wounds where vulnerable spots had been blown open, and it charged right at me. It was like a freight train making goose sounds that had been worked over by an audio guy involved in horror movies.

My vision was suddenly filled with this thing’s open maw, an expanse of bone, pulsing flesh, and far too many teeth. I held the trigger down on my rifle, spraying the last of my HE ammo in a desperate attempt to bring it down. The report of the gun firing was echoed an instant later by a loud pop of the bullet detonating every time it fired. The rifle bucked hard against me as I unloaded into the advancing horror. Explosions left terrible, gaping wounds where they went off, but it wasn’t even enough to slow the beast.

I had barely turned to leap out of the way when Alex slammed into me. Her sheer speed knocked the wind out of me as we flew out of the beast’s path. Alex twisted as she grabbed me, lobbing what looked like a satchel charge towards the oncoming colossus.

Everything turned into a blur as we smashed into the ground, skidding through the rocky dirt before coming to stop. The moment we landed, a deep thump rippled through the air, more a feeling in my chest than something I heard. Followed by the sound of a tremendous crash, like the loudest thunder ever. I wheezed, trying to catch my breath as I jerked myself up, desperate to figure out what had just happened.

The terrible monster the organizers had unleashed on us had smashed its way through the wall behind where I had been, its hulking chitinous form slumped over in death. I could see huge steaming rents throughout its body, like a balloon that had been inflated just shy of bursting.

I slumped back into the dirt, an exhausted groan slipping out of me. This tournament had been a wild ride. After a moment, Alex’s soft features filled my vision. I don’t know how I hadn’t noticed it immediately. The avatar she was using was nearly identical to the one she ran in Hunter’s Mark. Rounded cheeks, a slightly pronounced chin, with a cute little button nose, and a smirk on her pouty lips that never failed to spark some feeling inside of me. And now with her face only inches from my own, that feeling was definitely sparked.

“I think we did it,” I groaned, and then she kissed me.