Royally Elected

by Catherine Banks

  Being in big crowds wasn't my favorite, but when it was a large group of people who loved the same thing as me, in this case video games, it was easier. Now, I didn't know what would happen. I had no idea what to expect.

  Chapter 13

  We made it all of ten feet before my mates were recognized. There weren’t usually many women at FighterCon, but there were still more than a hundred. And as we entered the main room, a dozen women rushed towards us.

  “That’s my cue to leave,” I said and slipped away, weaving my way through the crowd until I made it to the sign-up sheets.

  “Hello,” the volunteer at the table said with a friendly smile. She was young, eighteen years old at the most, but exuded power. She was a mage, but I’d never met someone who leaked magic power like her.

  “Hi, I’d like to sign up for some of the tournaments,” I told her.

  She held out a pen and waved at the six clipboards with papers on them before her. “All sign-ups are still open. Just put your gamertag and your cell number, in case we need to contact you.”

  “Thanks,” I told her and took the pen, filling out the sign-ups I chose. After finishing, I gave her back the pen and looked at the main stage where many others were gathering, but no battles had started yet.

  She looked at my name on the sign-up sheet nearest her and her eyes widened. “You?” she whispered. She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly.

  The announcer, who had been midsentence, stopped and turned to look at her. His eyes locked with mine and he smiled wide.

  Uh oh. Whenever Nathan, the announcer, got that look, there was going to be a huge ordeal. Having his gaze on me made me very nervous.

  “The Princess of Fighters is here!” Nathan told the crowd.

  I hated that nickname. He’d coined it when I won the first year.

  “Our StreetBrawler champion, two years running, has just arrived. Come on up here, Jo!”

  The crowd cheered, and I groaned. He’d done this last year too. Damn him.

  After climbing the stairs, I walked to the center of the stage where Nathan stood. I waved to the crowd with a smile, ignoring the jeers since most were friendly goads.

  “We were worried you weren’t going to make it, Jo,” Nathan said.

  “Why is that?” I asked.

  “We weren’t sure if a Princess would be allowed to come,” he explained.

  “Gaming is my first love,” I replied and smiled wide. “Plus, my mates are with me.”

  “Think you can retain your title of Champion?” he asked.

  “I’m ready to find out,” I answered, and the crowd cheered. Looking out at the audience, I saw my clan members standing together in the front. I jumped down off the stage and hugged the three of them.

  “What took you so long?” Orphan teased. He smiled down at me with dark brown eyes that twinkled with mischief. He was always full of mischief and puns. His puns were epic.

  “And what’s with the huge entourage?” Dragon asked.

  “Being a princess causes a lot of problems when I go out in public,” I said with a shrug.

  “Can’t you sing them away or something?” Turbo asked. He was the shortest of the group, though taller than me. He had brown hair that was so dark, it looked black. He also had the longest and thickest eyelashes I’d ever seen on a man. I was jealous of them, personally.

  “You guys know about me being a siren?” I asked.

  The trio nodded.

  “Everyone knows,” Dragon said. “It was on every news outlet.”

  “Well, I don’t have true siren abilities, so I couldn’t sing them away,” I said with a laugh.

  “Jo!” Orphan yelled and pulled me into his chest.

  I looked back over my shoulder. Rhys knelt with his knee in a guy’s back on the ground behind me.

  “Hey, babe,” Rhys said to me.

  “What…”

  “That guy was about to hit you,” Orphan explained and released me.

  Rhys smiled at Orphan. “Thanks for moving her.”

  Orphan smirked. “I can’t lose my teammate right before a match.”

  I punched his arm and he laughed.

  Rhys let the guy up and I asked, “Fern, are you ever going to get over this grudge?”

  Fern was a little older than me and had been Champion the year before I won. Now, he hated me. He wasn’t truly dangerous. Just a bit of a drunken idiot.

  “I hate you,” he growled.

  Rhys growled and Fern flinched away. “You try to hurt my mate again and I’ll do more than knock you down. Got it?”

  Fern nodded and pushed off into the crowd.

  “He’s one of your mates?” Turbo asked.

  I nodded. “Guys, this is Rhys. Rhys, this is Orphan, Turbo, and Dragon.”

  He shook their hands, but looked at Dragon the longest, for the second time that day having to look up at someone, since Dragon was seven feet tall. “What are you, a third dragon?” Rhys asked.

  “Quarter,” Dragon answered. “No shifting, sadly.”

  “You would have made one hell of a dragon,” Rhys said with a wide smile.

  “Psh, I am an awesome dragon.”

  Dragonknight was part dragon? I’d never known that. I thought he was human the whole time.

  “There you are,” Fox said, squeezing between two guys to get to me. “Look, I got you a gift.” He held out a keychain that had my favorite female fighter from the game Underlook. She had a mechanical rabbit she used to stomp on people and also had a shield to protect teammates.

  I took it and squealed. “Thank you!” I kissed Fox and put the keychain in my pocket.

  “Mate two?” Turbo asked.

  I nodded and introduced them.

  We watched the matches, chatting about them, and I felt like myself. Finally.

  Nico slid up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned back against him as I watched Dragon fighting Deryn on Street Brawler. Deryn was a decent player, but there was no way he could beat Dragon.

  “You look happy,” Nico whispered in my ear. “It’s a good look on you.”

  I linked my fingers with his where they lay on my stomach and said, “I am happy.”

  Deryn lost, but he didn’t get mad like usual. He actually laughed and shook hands with Dragon. He jogged over and kissed my cheek before heading off towards one of the other gaming areas.

  “Jo versus Austin!” Nathan announced.

  I patted Nico’s hands, and he released me. I jogged up the steps and held my hand out to Austin, ready this time since I knew what he was.

  He shook my hand and said, “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

  “Hopefully I won’t disappoint you,” I said and took the chair on the right I picked up the controller and chose my character.

  Nathan was providing commentary, but I tuned him out. The only thing that mattered was the game. Focused on the screen, I debated my first move. I had no idea what Austin’s play style was like. But, I decided to start off aggressive, since that wasn’t how I usually played. If he knew about me or had seen me play before, he would expect me to block and wait for him to attack.

  The match started, and I sent a flaming ball across the screen. He had started to rush me and hadn’t prepared for my attack, so it hit his character.

  The crowd erupted.

  Pushing forward, we exchanged blows, but I was able to block or parry most of his. He jumped up and I smiled. Noob. Hitting the buttons in the correct order, I activated my characters super. My character jumped up, hitting his in the jaw, then delivered seven more punches midair before throwing him across the screen. His character hit the ground and died.

  I didn’t avert my eyes from the screen as I waited for the second round to start. This time, I waited for him to make the first move. He surprised me by dashing across the screen and grabbing me, then tossing me backwards. As soon as I landed, I leapt up and sent a fire ball at him. He parried it and stood, waiting. Challenging me.

/>   Fireball. Parry. Fireball. Parry. Super fireball. I smiled smugly, but that disappeared as he parried all four hits of the super fireball.

  Son of a bitch!

  He was good and before I knew it, he defeated me.

  Shit.

  Tied one to one, this next match would decide the winner.

  Our fight was intense and I was losing. I had one ace up my sleeve and it was time to use it. He activated his super and I parried every hit, then activated my super. He lost to a crowd screaming in disbelief. He set his controller down and exhaled loudly while running his hand through his hair.

  I turned and held out my hand. “Good game.”

  He shook my hand and smiled. “Thanks. You too.”

  The next contestants climbed onto the stage, so I hopped down.

  Deryn and Fox high fived me.

  “You almost lost,” Dragon said. “You need to play more.”

  “You’re rusty as fuck,” Turbo said and laughed.

  “I won,” I said and shrugged.

  “That was a nice move,” Orphan said.

  I smiled and turned to watch the next contestants.

  After a few uneventful bouts, Nathan announced the next match and I knew I was doomed.

  “Dragon versus Jo!”

  “Well, I’m dead,” I whispered to Nico.

  He kissed my cheek and said, “Just go have fun. Who cares if you win or not?”

  He was right. I just needed to have fun. I climbed up the steps and sat in the chair.

  Dragon sat down and said, “You better try your hardest.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Duh.”

  We looked at our screens and waited for the match to start. He was an aggressive fighter usually, but I just wanted to have fun. So, I ran at him and did a spinning kick. He blocked it and punched me with a hard uppercut that took half my health.

  I danced backwards and hit the crouch and then stand buttons multiple times to taunt him.

  He let out a booming laugh, then dashed across the screen and hit me with an eighteen-hit combo that ended round one.

  He charged me at the beginning of round two and I did everything I could to block or parry his hits. I was successful for a bit, but tried to punch him and he caught me, throwing me back into the corner and began juggling my body with kicks.

  “Dammit! Stop juggling me!” I yelled with a wide smile.

  He stopped, then squatted and punched me once in the shin, killing me.

  “Dragon wins!” Nathan yelled.

  We shook hands and climbed off the stage, laughing.

  “I’m going to go play Dank Souls,” Orphan said.

  “I’m up soon for Soulsbourne,” Dragon said and headed in that direction.

  “Are you playing in the Dank Souls tournament?” Nico asked.

  I shook my head. “No. I was going to do the Soulsbourne, but I’m super rusty.” Even if I would never admit it to Turbo.

  “Let’s check out the vendors,” Deryn suggested. He took my hand and pushed his way through. I followed behind him until we cleared the crowd.

  We walked side by side down the vendor stalls, pausing to look at various items. We were halfway down the second aisle when I stopped and turned around. “You’re taking turns, aren’t you?”

  “What?” Deryn asked, setting down the Dank Souls figurine he had been looking at.

  “You guys are taking turns being with me tonight,” I said.

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “We all talked and agreed that we don’t get enough alone time with you. So, we decided to take turns. Doesn’t matter if it’s five minutes or a full day, we just want to prioritize one-on-one time with you.”

  “Because I want that?” I asked.

  “No,” he said and pulled me into his arms. “Because we do.” He kissed me, then smiled. “You always look so beautiful when you’re happy.”

  Pushing away from him, I continued down the aisles with his hand in mine. He stopped me to look at something and I leaned into his side. Ever since we’d mated, Deryn had calmed down and reverted back to the happy and playful guy I’d met. I was so happy to have him back.

  “Moon Moon,” I said to get his attention.

  He looked at me with a smirk. “Yes?”

  “Do we have an anniversary date?”

  He frowned and thought about it a moment. “I suppose the day you asked us to be your mates would count.”

  “Would you prefer to have separate anniversary dates? To use the dates that I mated with you instead?”

  “I don’t know,” he said and shrugged. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

  “Well, just think about it,” I said. Turning, I spotted a figurine I’d been searching for for years. I rushed over and picked it up. “Yes!”

  The seller was helping someone else, so I waited patiently for my turn. Deryn wandered over and looked at the figurine. “Isn’t that the one you’ve been looking for?”

  I nodded.

  “How can I help you?” the seller, a middle-aged man with grey hair and a grey beard asked.

  “I’d like to buy this,” I said and held out the figurine towards him.

  “Three hundred dollars,” he said.

  “Three hundred? It sold for sixty,” I growled.

  “Yeah, originally it sold for that, but now it’s a collector’s item and hard to find,” he said. “Three hundred is my price.”

  Dammit. I didn’t want to spend that much, but I really wanted the figurine.

  “We’ll take it,” Deryn said and held out his credit card.

  “Deryn,” I grumbled.

  The seller boxed it up and handed it to Deryn. “Thank you for your business. Have a great day.”

  “Why did you do that?” I asked him.

  “You wanted it. You’ve been looking for this thing for months. It’s a gift, so accept it gratefully.”

  “Thank you,” I said and hugged him. “Thank you.”

  He smiled and kissed me. “Anything for you, baby.”

  “Hey,” Rhys said, meeting us at the end of the vendors.

  “Hello,” I replied. “What have you been up to?”

  “I watched a few battles and played some of the demos set up,” he said.

  “I’m going to go find Fox,” Deryn said and took my figurine with him.

  Rhys held out his hand. I threaded my fingers with his and we headed back to the Street Brawler tournament. Normally I had issues getting through the crowds, but Rhys easily made his way, pulling me after him. We got a spot at the front and Rhys pulled me around to stand in front of him. He draped his arms over my shoulders and rested his chin atop my head. Relaxed and at peace.

  Having them like this was great. Having my mates calm and happy made me happy.

  I just hoped it would last.

  “It’s the final round!” Nathan announced. “Dragon versus Octane!”

  Octane? He had dropped off the gaming world a few years ago. He was great, though a little intense.

  The battle was relentless and long. They almost went to time, both of the first two rounds. They each won one round, so this one would decide the winner.

  Dragon looked calm as ever, but so did Octane.

  Turbo and Orphan found us in the crowd and came to stand by me.

  “This is a great match so far,” Turbo said.

  I nodded.

  The third round started and neither player moved. There was a tense silence for thirty seconds, and then Dragon moved. They battled magnificently, hitting, blocking, parrying, and yet they remained even on health. They continued battling, then Octane activated his super. The crowd filled with loud yells of, “Oh!”.

  But, the super missed somehow.

  Dragon activated his super and that was it. He won the match.

  The crowd went wild and I joined them, screaming and clapping.

  Dragon got his trophy and check from Nathan, then yelled, “I am victorious!”

  We chuckled, th
en I hugged him when he made it down to us. “That was awesome!” I told him.

  “Luck,” Orphan said. “How did his super miss?”

  Dragon shrugged. “Scrub mistake? Whatever, I won.”

  “Let’s celebrate!” Orphan said. “There’s got to be a bar nearby.”

  “There’s one just across the block,” Rhys said.

  “To the bar!” Dragon shouted.

  We began walking toward the exit and Rhys whistled loudly. Nico teleported to me, making Turbo jump back in surprise. Deryn jogged over with Fox at his side, their hands full of new bags.

  “What did you buy?” I asked curiously.

  “No peeking!” Fox said and hid the bags behind his back.

  Following Dragon and Rhys, we walked into the bar Rhys had mentioned, but Dragon, Orphan, Turbo, and I stopped immediately.

  The bar was closer to an opera house than a bar. There were hardly any people inside and the ones who were there were obviously much older than us.

  “Let’s go somewhere else,” I suggested.

  “What’s wrong with this place?” Rhys asked.

  “I didn’t bring my top hat and monocle with me,” Turbo said and my clan laughed.

  “There’s a great dive bar two blocks away,” I told everyone. “Let’s head there.”

  “A dive bar? You want to go to a dive bar?” Fox asked, scowling.

  “I’d rather not pay fifteen for a beer,” Orphan said with a scoff.

  “Come on,” I prompted them and went back outside.

  They followed, but Rhys, Fox, and Nico were scowling and talking amongst themselves too quietly for me to hear several feet back from us. Through the bond, I sensed that they were confused, but nothing else.

  The dive bar had loud music and several people outside were smoking.

  We showed the bouncer our IDs, except for the princes who just walked by him like he didn’t exist. He didn’t stop them.

  Once inside, we went to the bar to get our drinks.

  “Turbo paid two years ago and last year was Orphan,” I said. “So, looks like it’s my turn.”

  The bartender was a beautiful woman with flowing hair. She ignored us to look at the princes. “What can I get you, Your Highnesses?”

  Deryn stepped up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. “What do you want, love?”