A Cheater's Redemption

      The growls and the snarls were getting louder and more numerous. There was no optimal time to go out and face the danger, except perhaps an hour ago when the first Dire Lupe hunters had made their presence known, but the group had not expected them to stick around in such inclement conditions let alone call for backup. In the next flash of lightning, the figures’ eyes, though still frightened, had taken on a steely determination. If it was a fight the Dire Lupe pack wanted, it was a fight they were going to get.

      Cyn, a noble Gelert warrior clad in plate armor drew his sword from its scabbard and turned to the door. The wooden bar they had laid across the door was doing its job, but the Dire Lupes’ claws were scoring the wood. Soon they would break down the door and the group would be cornered and helpless in their tiny shelter. Cyn would not allow his friends to fall in such a dishonorable manner. He placed his other paw on the wooden bar. "Our best hope is to rush them and take them by surprise. Is everyone ready?" he asked.

      The rest of the group murmured assent. Cyn’s trembling paw wanted to recoil from the bar keeping their assailants at bay rather than remove it, but by sheer force of willpower he kept it there. When he heard the sounds of the Dire Lupes backing off for a moment to regroup, he pulled it free and threw the door open, intending to wade into combat and hopefully keep the Lupes away from his friends. His thick armor would be more resistant to their claws and teeth, after all.

      - When suddenly, a light flared from Athas’s hands and over the Dire Lupes, skillfully avoiding Cyn standing in their midst. A more amateur mage would have burnt his friend to a crisp, but Athas was a true master of his craft and probably one of the best mages to ever walk the plains of Meridell. The Lupes’ howls turned piteous as the merciless light enveloped them and seared them all -

      "Really, Elther?"

      The rest of Elther’s words disintegrated into unintelligible spluttering. He had had a grand exposition planned for how Athas had destroyed all of the Dire Lupes single-handedly, but now he’d lost his train of thought and the moment was utterly ruined. All because Bertio just had to interrupt.

      Elther glared at Bertio. "Yes, really, Bertio," he said crossly to the striped Kougra. "You saw that I rolled really well on my initiative, and if you wanted the glory then it’s not my fault you spent your turn trying to tank."

      Bertio had seen the roll. Everyone had seen the roll. It was so stupid; these Neopians were supposed to be his friends, and yet they insisted that Elther roll in the open and not touch his dice until they had all leaned in for a good look. All because of a few scenes where he had sensed that important information was behind a successful dice roll and wanted to get it out of the way rather than wasting time waiting for someone to get lucky. Apparently that was "not cool." Elther thought it was plenty cool. Just like he thought his new spell was plenty cool.

      "What spell did you use to destroy all those Dire Lupes at once?" Oruna, the skunk Aisha sitting across the table from Elther, demanded. "You’ve never used a spell like that before."

      "I got it when we leveled up last session," Elther said proudly. "I unlocked more powerful magic on levelup, and this was the spell I chose to learn."

      "But what’s it called?" asked Tiva from beside Oruna. Tiva was a pastel Vandagyre.

      "Destruction’s Light," Elther announced.

      "I’ve never heard of a spell like that," Oruna said skeptically.

      "Neither have I," Bertio said more firmly. "Where in the book is it?"

      "It’s not in the book that you have," Elther explained. "It’s in the new expansion that’s coming out. My father has connections with the publisher so I was able to get it early. It’s really, really good."

      This was not true at all, but the others didn’t need to know that Elther had made up the spell. It was a really cool spell, way cooler than what was available in the core rulebook. And what was true was that his dad had connections at a publishing agency. He could just send the spell to the game makers and have it published. Not that I want to. Then someone else might use it, and then they’ll be cooler than I am, he thought. No, it was better to keep his creation to himself.

      "Show us," Bertio demanded.

      "I can’t," Elther said. "It’s still not released to the public yet. There’s, y’know, policy and such. If I showed you, Father would get in trouble."

      "But you can use it in-game?" Bertio asked. He pounded his fist on the table. "This is such -"

      "Let’s all calm down."

      Everyone turned to look at the speckled Krawk sitting at the head of the table. Though they did not yell and their voice was not particularly loud, everyone fell silent when they spoke. The Krawk, named Aryn, had been examining the rulebook and had yet to move any of the Dire Lupe miniatures off the battlemap. Elther had to resist the urge to swipe his flipper through them and knock them off the map; they had been defeated!

      "This seems like a good moment for us all to take a bio break," Aryn continued. "Why don’t we all take a few moments to get up, stretch, go to the bathroom, and get some snacks."

      "I’m going to go out for a walk," Bertio announced, and without waiting for anyone to comment, he was on his feet and out of the room.

      "I’m going to go to the bathroom," Oruna said.

      "Me too," Tiva agreed.

      "Guys, I know I’m rich, but our bathroom only fits one person," Elther joked.

      Both girls stared at him for a moment without saying anything. Then, continuing to say nothing, they both stood up and left the room. Elther was left alone with Aryn. The Krawk was not saying anything and was examining their notebook. Elther glanced at the battle map, where the Dire Lupe minis still stood. "I can help you clean those up so we can keep the game moving when everyone gets back," Elther offered.

      "We’re on a break right now, Elther," Aryn said. "Please respect that."

      "Fine." Elther stood up and made for the door. "I’m getting some snacks."

      Several bags of snacks were on the middle island, brought by everyone to share while they played. Elther wasn’t sure why they bothered. There wasn’t anything wrong with the snacks they brought, they were probably tasty enough. But, Elther’s parents always made sure the house was stocked with gourmets. So Elther avoided the pile of snacks on the table and instead looked inside the family’s cabinets and fridge instead. It’s my house. No one can be mad at me for eating my own food in my own house, he thought as he selected his favorite Hazelnut Banana Crepe.

      As he reached out a flipper to grab it, Elther was, as usual, taken aback by the pink. He had not been a Valentine Bruce for long. Previously, he had been Shadow, but when spring had come, he had decided he needed a change, and chose to adopt a Valentine color instead. He had considered Woodland, because it was a more expensive paint brush, but he didn’t want to be made of wood. So instead, he was covered in little hearts. He didn’t necessarily like the little hearts, but he didn’t like looking cheaper than anyone either.

      He heard the door close. Bertio must be back. Elther hoped he’d calmed down. He was sure he wasn’t the only one who had been put off by Bertio’s aggressiveness earlier. Bertio was a jock who played on their school’s Yooyuball team, so he could be pretty intimidating when he was upset, and Elther wasn’t sure Bertio knew that.

      Elther could hear voices rumbling from within the dining room where they were playing. Aryn was probably having words with Bertio. Even though Elther deeply wanted to listen in, he restrained himself. It would be more polite to go in and act as if nothing had happened. And besides, he had a crepe to finish.

      After licking his flippers clean and neatly disposing of his trash, Elther went back into the dining room. He noted that Oruna and Tiva were back from the bathroom. They were all waiting politely for him to get back. No one said a word as Elther edged around the table and took his seat. Aryn looked like they were on the verge of saying something, probably to get the game going. So Elther clapped his flippers together and said, "So, with the threat of the Dire Lupes eliminated, what happens next?"

      "Yeah, about that," Aryn said slowly. "I’m sorry, Elther, but we’re going to ret-con back to the start of your turn. I know you are excited about the spell you used, but if I can’t read it, then I can’t allow it to be used in the game."

      "But I can’t show you!" Elther protested. "I told you, my dad will get into trouble!"

      "I know, Elther, I heard you before," Aryn said. "But my point still stands. If I can’t see it, it doesn’t exist in my game. And unless you’re reading the spell wrong, it seems very overpowered, so I may have banned it anyway in session zero. I did a lot of thinking about it when we were taking a break, and this is my final ruling. I’m sorry, Elther. You still have your turn. If you wish to cast a spell, please choose a spell from the core rulebook."

      It was now Elther’s turn to slam a fist into the table. "You’re always picking on me!" he said. "First it was over the dice and now it’s over this! Games are supposed to be fun and you guys never let me have any fun. I’m never allowed to do anything I want. When all I’m trying to do is help everyone! I just want us to not lose and have to start over. Does everyone else want to lose?"

      "No one wants you to not have fun," Aryn said. "But -"

      What they were going to say was cut off, though, as an electric hum filled the air, and the room around them went completely black.

     To be continued…