D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

— Skye Moore. Heard all the Jokes —

“Well, well well, if it isn’t the consequences of our own actions,” said Kutruph with a grin.

“Urgh, can we not? We’ve known for weeks!” hissed Skye. “Besides, it was the only way I saw us having even the slightest chance of winning. Yes, if I knew the future I wouldn’t have done it but I don’t think I made the wrong decision in the moment,”

“We did still lose though,” said Kutruph while Skye glared back. “Now we’re left in a position where we can’t work with anyone because someone tried to get us arrested and the only ‘clean’ team is the one we betrayed early on…”

“We know,” grumbled Dusk. “It doesn’t look good on the surface… but honestly? They don’t seem all that mad about it so we might be alright? I’m more concerned about these Timmy’s. They were useful in the last round and might be even more so in this one so honestly? I think we’re getting away pretty clean,”

“Husband I’m being bullied,” said Skye as she swooned into Trevor’s arms. He carefully wiggled one hand out from under her to give Skye a few soft pats on the head.

“There, there. I’m sure you’ll recover,” said Trevor with complete sincerity. Which just made it more embarrassing if anything.

“Alright fine,” said Skye as she made to sit back up. Trevor helped right her and soon she was back on her feet. “We’ve got to decide who we’re comfortable working with. I… I’m really not sure what I’m going to do. I have no idea who to trust and it’s mostly my own fault. Even if they aren’t behind the… issues we’ve had I doubt they’ll want to trust me much,”

Trevor shrugged, “Eh, Dusk was right in that Kat and the rest of the team didn’t take the betrayal particularly hard, or have gotten over it somewhat. I’d say they’re safe to team up with…”

“I likely will work on my own,” said Dusk. “Even if I think it would be safe I can simply work better on my own. Perhaps if I find myself with a particularly difficult challenge, or I run into Kat or that other demon I might change my mind… but I find it unlikely,”

“Why Kat?” asked Skye.

“She’s a demon and thus, cannot lie to me. I believe I am good enough to pick up on any obfuscation when outright lying is off the table,” stated Dusk.

“Alright,” sighed Skye. “Think it’s safe for me to do the same?”

Dusk shrugged as Eva jumped in to say, “Yup. You’re our super squishy healer so you should team up fast and make sure they protect you. Actually… hmm… is that a good reason or a bad reason to team up with others?”

“Both,” said Trevor. “Skye can probably handle herself after the training we went through… the issue is that so can everyone else. I’d suggest only pairing up and nothing more than that,”

“I’ll see how it goes I suppose… though… who are we most suspicious of?” asked Skye.

“The Dwarves,” said Eva and Dusk at the same time. Eva glanced at Dusk who shrugged allowing Eva to continue on her own. “It’s… well there’s no way to confirm it but they seem like the team that’s most likely to do things a bit… out of scope so to speak? I’m not saying they’re cheaters… but if someone was to be, I’d guess them,”

“Don’t you think they’d be aware of that?” asked Kutruph.

Eva shrugged, “Sure but that doesn’t make them any less capable,”

Skye nodded, “So no teaming up with any dwarves, got it,”

Eva sighed. “Alright, so now we’ve established Skye’s racist…”

“I was kidding!” inserted Skye.

“… we should talk about what the plan is. Do we want to like… meet up somewhere? Leave some dead drops perhaps? Are we going to be aggressive or what?” asked Eva.

“I’m planning to stay away from fights,” said Dusk. “Unless some rule change forces me into them I will be exploring and avoiding competitors. I am unsure if I will need to deal with the artefact in the centre. It is necessary to eliminate or possess such a thing but it is dangerous to tangle with that. Might be better to let the others fight over that,”

“Oh yeah, forgot about that,” mumbled Eva.

“I think… hmm… I think we might be best just avoiding it,” offered Trevor. “Unless we’ve got a team to back us up… maybe a team of three? I wouldn’t want four people. Too easy to team up against someone in the group. Three people works. Still… even that might not be enough,”

“Perhaps we just avoid it unless we’re teamed up with Kat specifically?” offered Kutruph.

“That’s kinda specific,” interjected Eva.

“But not wrong,” offered Skye. “Assuming… assuming she’s willing to work with us…”

“What about offering to destroy it?” asked Trevor. “Team up to find and destroy the pieces? I’m not sure we really want them destroyed but if Kat would agree to it… it’s probably better to go after them correct?”

“Not me though,” sighed Skye. “Even if she’s willing to forgive us as a group I think I’d rather not tempt fate…”

“Even with the fact she’s a demon? Meaning she’s only told you the truth and would be forced to do so in the future?” asked Dusk.

Skye winced. “Maybe… I… I don’t know. It would be super awkward. I think… I think I would be willing. Just… we’d basically be giving up a shot at first place in that case,”

Dusk shrugged, “Better rewards at second and third anyway. First was probably out of our reach even without Kat. The fact we made it here is perhaps a miracle already. Aiming for second by riding along Kat would be fine,”

“That…” Skye’s frown deepened. “Tactically… you’re not wrong… but… god that feels like an awful thing to do after I betrayed her. Using her to get second place?”

Dusk shrugged, “We wouldn’t be dead weight. Besides, if we are expecting her and her team to win… and helping them do so… are we really just using them?” Skye sighed but didn’t have a good answer for her companion.

— Ugalaz, Under Contract —

Ugalaz found himself looking over the beds. They were… not appropriately sized. He was considering saying something when a moment later the room seem to expand. Between one blink and the next, the room doubled in size and the bed on the far left tripled its own area. Grunting Ugalaz made his way over to the bed and sat down. Nodding when it didn’t creak at all.

As Ugalaz was getting comfortable, everyone else was already arguing. Gardor asked “So which of us are bringing our familiars along?” Which. To Ugalaz, seemed like a reasonable question. These familiars were part of the family. They were more important than he was. Ugalaz didn’t resent that fact, he was hired on to help with the healing and little else. Especially at the start. The simple fact was, they didn’t trust him. So… seemed reasonable to try and keep them safe no?

“I can’t believe you’d even suggest that,” whined Ash. “They’ve come this far with us, why would you begin to suggest that they don’t deserve to be there when we win?” Technically, he wasn’t suggesting at all. He was asking. *As for why he’d even ask? Well… isn’t it obvious?*

“Just because my familiar isn’t all but immortal like your own doesn’t mean I’m thinking about it,” growled Gardor. “Fluffles IS family, and we’ve talked it out. He’s coming along… but I wasn’t exactly paying attention to the rest of you. I was in fact, just asking,”

Ash rolled her eyes, “Zipper is one bad storm from getting seriously injured! He really could be hurt in this and you’re treating it so casually,” Ugalaz was pretty sure that was false. Or rather, that a storm that could catch all of Zipper’s clones was in fact much more dangerous then combat. *Apparently they’ve chosen violence then.*

Sen and Shoal where no help at all. They alongside their wolves had already ripped the mattresses of the bed and started tearing into them to make something closer to a nest then a bed. Ugalaz wanted to sigh but knew better. *I feel like I should’ve asked more to watch over these idiots. Why did I agree to fight in this final round? Strong they might be but I’ll never understand how they manage to be a functional team.*

“Look, don’t go projecting your insecurities onto me,” stated Gardor. “I reckon I can keep my friend good and healthy. I’ll be going down long before Fluffles if I have my way,” *Oh no. Thyme’s excellent medical facilities can keep you safe. What a tragedy. Honestly I’m half tempted to ‘die’ early on in the day so I can get a look at Thyme’s new setup. It’s not technically against my contract… hmm… is it worth the risk? They might not ever find out…*

A crashing noise rang out, breaking Ugalaz from his thoughts. Apparently Ash had leapt at Gardor and Fluffles intercepted and threw her into the empty bed frame. *Sigh. Why am I bothering with this shit again?*

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