I fall into second place as Dean and the minotaur exchange fire, the energy beams canceling out one another mid-air.
The truck and Talia are neck-and-neck when Chadwick sets his aim on the minotaur. The dwarf swerves hard to the right, ramming the massive truck into Talia and Chadwick as we take the first curve. The hit from the truck causes the red hotrod to spin out.
The halfling on the hoverbike is nowhere to be seen. Dean and the minotaur are locked in a stalemate as they continue to shoot at one another, but neither one is able to land a direct hit.
Something small and black sits in the middle of the track up ahead. I swerve to the left to avoid it, but the box explodes, sending us screeching against the metal railing of the track. Hairline fractures splinter along the edge of our forcefield as we crash. The truck passes us by as we are forced to slow down. I punch the acceleration as we hit the first open stretch of road. Wind whips against my eyes and a loud roar passes us by as Talia and Chadwick catch up, their car finally hitting top speed.
“Dude, we’re in last place. Catch up!” Dean yells from behind me.
Talia is forced to slow down to take the next turn. Our car has much better handling, so I only slow down a fraction, hitting the top of the embankment and accelerating as I maneuver to the bottom as we exit the turn. I pass Talia just as we hit another stretch.
Up ahead, the halfling swerves from left to right as the minotaur showers the road with energy beams. One catches the hoverbike in the rear, forcing it to spin out. The truck is about to make a break for it when the halfling pulls a mine from her satchel and tosses it in front of the truck. The dwarf slams on the brakes, but it’s too late. The mine explodes, knocking the truck hard into the wall.
This is our chance. I try to thread the needle between the two downed vehicles. Both are just getting up to speed when someone shouts.
“Not so fast!”
The tip of Talia’s car appears in the corner of my vision right before it smashes into us. The shield on their car falters as our spiked exterior dishes back damage. The halfling lets out a yelp as we crash into her. Metal grinds against the exterior wall as the truck takes the opportunity to ram into Talia’s car, pinning us and the hoverbike against the wall.
Dean grunts as he struggles behind me. “Ugh, I can’t turn the turret to hit anything.”
Dean fights with the weapon while I try to reverse us out of this situation, but we’re stuck between the other vehicles. The truck backs up and I think we have a shot to escape, but it plows forward, hitting us again. Talia’s shield cracks and smoke flows freely from the thrusters. She smashes her fist to the steering wheel as her engine dies.
Our position changes from 3/4 to 3/3.
“Sorry, dude.” Dean turns his turret away from the truck and points it at the halfling.
The halfling opens her mouth, but the words never come out as Dean opens fire. The positioning changes again to 2/2.
I try to maneuver us free again, but our spikes are lodged in the downed car and hoverbike, not to mention the truck still pressing us against the railing.
Our shield collapses and the exterior of the vehicle begins to crumple. The engine whines as I press the gas and attempt to jerk us free.
Our spikes rip free and I’m able to reverse us out. The truck does the same, but we’re already screwed. I attempt to use our maneuverability to position us so that Dean can aim, but the minotaur has positioning. He shows me a rude gesture and opens fire.
My vision flashes red and a notification appears in front of me as we’re blown to bits.
Eliminated!
I let out a long sigh as the truck drives away. This certainly bodes well for our chances in the tournament.
After a moment, Dean and I materialize at the starting line. I catch sight of the halfling just before she logs out. Talia and Chadwick sit on the concrete wall to the left of the track.
I hop onto the wall and take a seat. “I thought we would at least make it through the first lap.”
Talia frowns. “Yeah, we’re going to have to do better if we want to make it through to the final round. So, what was it you were wanting to talk about?”
The truck comes blazing around the corner. As it passes by, the minotaur aims the turret in our direction and fires. We all flinch, but the beams pass straight through us. The minotaur tilts his head back and boisterous laughter fades as they zoom away.
“What a jerk!” Dean raises his fist at our tormentors.
I return my attention to Talia. “I was thinking it might be a good idea to form an alliance. With over a hundred and sixty teams, we could watch each other’s backs, give us a better shot at making it through.”
She sits in silence for a while before whispering something in Chadwick’s ear. He nods and then covers his mouth so I can’t see what he is saying. The two carry on with this back and forth before turning to me.
“We’re in, but we have conditions.” She hops down from the ledge.
“Okay, let’s hear them.”
She stands right in front of me. “No one else gets in on our alliance. You’re the only one I trust in this whole competition, and I don’t want to be stabbed in the back by someone I haven’t fought beside in battle.”
I nod. “Sounds good. What else?”
“We train together in Portal Pass.” She winks. “We can set up bots to go against us.”
I look to Dean and he nods his acceptance.
“I think we can manage that. If we can ever get inside.”
She extends a hand to help me down. “We better get moving then. Chadwick just checked the forums and everyone has been purged from Portal Pass. Only those in the tournament are allowed to train there for now.”
We log out just as the hovertruck makes another lap. The main lobby of Raceworld is crowded. Dozens of people stand in front of the entrance to Portal Pass.
“Oh, come on! Why can’t we get back in?”
“This is some Grade-A bullshi—”
“Let’s get out of here. What a waste of time.”
We press our way through the crowd until we’re able to see the screen.
“Hey, I know you. You’re that kid from—” Someone grabs me by the shoulder, but before they have time to initiate a conversation, I’m already entering Portal Pass.
I select a separate instance for us to enter. The system confirms that I’m in the tournament, and then allows me to invite the others. A moment later, they all materialize inside of a showroom.
Inside of the showroom, dozens of vehicles hover in the air rotating in a circle. The walls of the showroom display various stages, and a long counter shows all the items and abilities each stage has to offer. Next to them, miniature holograms show how they work on a model hovercraft.
Talia stands in front of one of the location displays, swiping through each stage. “Hey, Esil. Can you give me admin access? I’d like to set up some test courses.”
Pretty soon, we have a test track created with ten different stages. She randomizes the items and adds one hundred bots to the race.
Finally, it’s time to train.
Chapter Nineteen
After our fifteenth race of the day, we stop for a break at the finish line. The bots dissipate as they finish the race, leaving Talia, Chadwick, Dean, and myself in a sandy clearing in the middle of a lush jungle.
Large ropes run along the edge of the sandy track, keeping us from venturing into the jungle. Birds and monkeys play in the trees, filling the air with noise. Somewhere in the distance, a waterfall gives off a low roar.
“This is crazy.” Chadwick hops out of the rear seat of the bug-shaped car and kicks at the sand. Painted red, the car looks like a ladybug as it hovers a foot off the ground. “We haven’t finished in the top ten once. Can’t you make them go a little easier on us?”
Talia unbuckles herself and climbs out of the front seat. “You think our opponents are going to go easy on us?”
He scowls at her. “No, but how many time
s are we going to get blasted? This isn’t fun.”
She crosses her arms. “Until we stop getting hit. And it’s not supposed to be fun, we’re training. So that you can get that scholarship you want so badly.”
I try my best to ease some of the tension. “Hey, at least there’s no elimination on this one, so it doesn’t matter how many times we get knocked down. As long as we finish in the top one hundred, we’ll be through.”
“I get what he’s saying, though.” Dean joins Talia and Chadwick in the sand. “This is intense. There’s too much to learn in such a short time, and I’m sure the developers will throw some kind of twist on what we’re expecting. But geez, how many times are we going to get hit with an ice beam?”
Talia shrugs. “I know it’s not easy. But we need to figure out what works. Each elemental projectile has a counter that nullifies it. We just need to get better at using those to our advantage.”
On paper, this seems like a simple race, but the sheer number of item combinations makes it difficult to formulate any kind of plan until the race starts. Items spawn randomly on the track, so aside from vehicle choice, it’s all about adapting to the situation at hand. So far, we’ve done a pretty poor job.
I’m confident we’ll come up with some good ideas the more we practice. “We still have a few days to work on things, and I’m sure we’ll get it figured out. Dean and I have to bounce, though. I promised Grayson we’d go over some of his research. Want to meet up again later tonight?”
Talia extends her fist and taps it against mine. “Sounds good. We’ll see you later. Chadwick, let’s run it through one more time.”
A few minutes after we log out, there’s a knock on the door. Dean answers and lets Grayson inside.
“Alright, let’s get straight to business.” Grayson sits down at the kitchen table and pulls out his tablet. “I’ve gone over everything I can find about Portal Pass. It’s an interesting raceworld since it essentially blends multiple tracks together using portals to connect each stage. Some of the stages have death traps or falls that can set you back a great deal. My guess is that they’ll throw in a few tricks that no one is expecting. How did the trial runs go?”
Dean takes a seat next to Grayson and answers. “Not good. Even with Talia and Chadwick watching our backs, we never did all that great.”
Grayson nods. “She’s a good one to have on your side. If you were going to pick an ally, she’s the one to go with. I’m assuming Esil is the driver, and you’re the gunner?”
I join them at the table. “You assume right.”
“Aside from the portals, the thing that really sets this race apart from the others are the elements each gun uses. As you pass over certain areas of the track, you gain elemental charges for your weapons, this is in addition to any items you have. You can store and cycle through the elements at your disposal, three charges per gun if I recall correctly. This is what will offer the most strategy. The most common elements are fire, water, ice, wind, electricity, earth, and poison, but there may be new ones in the next round. Each one has a counter, but more importantly, they can also pair together to make different outcomes. Do you know why this is important?”
Dean shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s not like we can fire two guns at once.”
Grayson stares him down. “Come on, kid. Use your brain. Why is this important?”
Dean scrunches his eyes as he thinks it over. “Because of target fire?”
“Exactly!” Grayson grins. “For one, you can fire at someone who is already being targeted to activate a bonus effect. But most importantly, if you are able to stay close to Talia, then you can coordinate together.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” I chime in. “We should probably get a list of how all of the elements work and counter one another.”
“No need. Check your messages.” Grayson winks.
I open my tablet and find a message from him. Inside is a list with each element’s counter as well as how they gel with other elements.
“Wow!” Dean scrolls through his tablet. “Lightning and wind make a lightning cloud? And wind and poison make toxic gas? I was wondering why our shield was draining when we weren’t actually covered in poison. This is so cool!”
Grayson opens another document on his tablet. “I’m glad you find it helpful, but what I really want to talk about is the competition. You need to know what to expect with these people.”
I lean in a little closer. “What have you got?”
Our competition hasn’t crossed my mind much since the initial interviews. Now that we’re about to enter the PVP section of the tournament, it’s time to learn as much as possible.
A second message pops up with a copy of Grayson’s list.
He taps the tablet as he shows it to us. “I’ve put together what I think are the strongest teams, but I’ve got notes on just about everyone. Let’s start with the gnomes, Benny Reid and Yvonne Powers. If you recall, they were the only ones to make it to the control room without engaging in combat at all.”
“How did they manage that?” asks Dean.
“Here, activate share screen and I’ll show you.”
I receive a notification for Grayson to share his screen with me, and I accept. A video appears on my tablet and starts playing. Two humans wearing the same gray unitards sneak between a line of tanks.
“Wait, I thought you said they were gnomes?” Dean looks confused.
“They are normally, but everyone was given a human avatar for stage one. Now watch.” Grayson taps his tablet and the video plays. One of the figures activates a pulse grenade and tosses it between a group of parked hovercraft. After a short delay, the grenade activates, pulling all nearby vehicles toward one another. The loud crash lures the ooze beasts from the tunnel, and they are able to bypass them.
A new clip plays, showing the pair stuck in the tunnel between the lizard people and a spiky cat-wolf creature. They activate a handful of plasma grenades in the hallway. After they explode, the doors to the crew quarters open and lizardfolk spill out into the hallway in the direction of the noise. The two sneak behind one as he rushes toward the crash and lock themselves inside the quarters as the lizardfolk and cat-wolf devour one another.
“I looked up their history, and Benny has won several puzzle and strategy tournaments. They use distraction and their surroundings to their advantage. I’d be careful of these two. They might not fight you directly, so be wary of getting lured into a trap. You can watch the clips in detail later, but you get the picture.”
He closes out the clip and opens another. “These two are pretty genius as well. Lyle Hagan and Aliya Diaz. You may remember him as the vampire who gave his apprenticeship to the first player to kill him. Check this out.”
Lyle and Aliya sit in an armored tank as it drives through a wide tunnel. Dozens of hairless, bear-like creatures cling to the tank. Lyle drives the tank into a hangar filled with more vehicles and parks it in the center. A silver glow surrounds the tank as they activate a pulse grenade inside. A moment later, the surrounding vehicles are pulled in violently, crushing the bears beneath their weight.
“Holy…” Dean’s voice trails off. “That was brutal.”
We go over numerous highlights, and by the time we’re done, I feel like I finally have an idea of how some of the teams operate. The majority have one person calling the shots, usually the champion, while the apprentice follows orders, but a few operate as a team, letting each other’s strengths guide their decisions.
Dean is a valuable asset, so I want to make sure that he’s given the opportunity to shine. With his accuracy and precision, having him on the gunner is the smart choice.
We finish up with Grayson and after a quick break for dinner, we spend the rest of the evening with Talia and Chadwick. Our new info comes in useful, and we’re actually able to put some of the combos to use. For the first time, one of us makes the top ten.
“Nicely done!” Talia congratulates us. “Let’s end on a high note. I thin
k we might finally be making progress. See you in the morning?”
“We’ll see you then.” I clasp her around the forearm.
Chadwick and Dean high-five as we say our good-byes.
My notifications flash, and I’m surprised when I receive a message from Aleesia. With the tournament in full-effect, I’ve barely seen her the past few days.
Esil,
It’s been a crazy week but I finally have some free time tomorrow if you want to grab dinner. I’d love to finally meet Dean in person.
-Aleesia
I can’t help but smile. Aleesia has always been a comforting presence for me, and it’ll be nice to have dinner and not worry about the stress of the tournament for a little bit. I’m sure Dean will have tons of questions for her as well.
I pat Dean on the back. “Alright, let’s get out of here and get some rest.”
Chapter Twenty
The day passes quickly as Dean and I spend the morning and early afternoon training with Talia and Chadwick. We work on formations, pacing, and not losing one another when something goes awry. By staying together and coordinating our attacks, our average finishing position continues to improve. We even finish in the top ten a handful of times.
After we log out, Dean and I prep dinner as we wait for Aleesia to show up. Normally, I buy food from the cafeteria or have it delivered by drone, but tonight, Dean and I will be cooking. I bought a meal kit that comes with everything we need to make herb-crusted chicken with potatoes and green beans.
I tease Dean as he chops the small red potatoes into quarters. “Be careful with the knife. I don’t want you chopping off your fingers before the tournament is over.”
“Hey, I know you want to impress your girlfriend, but I’ve never cooked before. I can’t be held responsible if you find a finger in your potatoes.” He grins as the knife clacks against the cutting board with each slice. “I bet it was weird for you when you first moved here.”
It’s a statement, but I can tell by the way he continues to stare that it’s really more of a question.
Pangea Online 3: Vials and Tribulations Page 19