Jacob, Stan and Veronica gaped at massive token that had dropped to the ground in front of them, its eyes filled with rage. It was massive, at least 20 feet in diameter, filling almost half of the furnace with its furry form. Anger radiated off of the creature, which stood on massive spider like legs on the trash. Dozens of eyes ran across its body, all looking at the trio of casters with unbridled anger. A mouth full of teeth opened at its front as the creature roared, shaking the walls with the sound. A small golden crown sat precariously on top of it, glittering in the little light of the room.

  “That’s one big ass Token.” Stan didn’t look away from the creature, glued in place in shock.

  “The king token.” Jacob replied sarcastically

  “I for one welcome our new Token overlords.”

  “All hail the king.”

  “Are you two going to stand there gaping, or are you going to do something about the demon tribble from hell.” Veronica took a step back, placing herself slightly behind Jacob.

  Without speaking, Jacob tapped his equip deck, and it spat out a card. He equipped it, and the Lost Armor of the Wandering Warrior shimmered into existence around his body.

  “Well Mr. Winner, looks like we’ve got another match in front of us.” Jacob tapped the deck box at his waist and it spat out five cards. He looked over at Stan, who was fumbling to draw his own cards. “Though I don’t think this one will give you a trophy if we win.”

  “I’ll take the crown on its head as a prize.” Stan looked back at Jacob with a determined expression “When we win.”

  Jacob smirked back at Stan, then looked down at his own cards. The smirk instantly wiped away when he saw what he had drawn.

  Mysterious Figure - Snare - This snare summons a mysterious figure. It is unkown what they do.

  Card Destruct - Spell - The caster of this card may select a single card present and destroy it, regardless of where the card is located.

  Major Water Lord Labubuan - Creature - Ocean Type - Strength: 3000 - Defense: 2000 - This card gains 500 strength against Fire based creatures

  Noble Steed of the Royal Messenger - Creature - Light/Royal Type - Strength: 2000 - Defense: 2500 - A noble winged unicorn with unparalleled speed and stamina. Can outran nearly all threats, carry anything the royal family needs, and travel anywhere imaginable.

  Ancient Dragon of the Forgotten God - Creature - SACRED Type - Strength: Unknown - Defense: Unknown - This card gains stgrength equal to twice and threat faced, and has ultimate loyalty to its caster and the God that has been forgotten.

  “Hey Jacob?” Stan’s voice was nervous as the actor looked at his cards “The cards we draw are always random, right?”

  “Only in an official match.” Jacob looked at the Token King worried, as the giant creature studied the three of them. “In street matches, the deck box gives you what you need.”

  “And this is a street match?”

  “Furnace match. Same thing." Jacob saw the creature start to move, and roughly shoved Veronica out of the way “Move!”

  Jacob and Stan both jumped in opposite directions just as the creature slammed one of its massive legs into the spot they had been standing. The leg appeared to have lengthened to shoot out towards them, shortening again as it moved back to where the creature stood. The Token had clearly finished studying them, and had decided they were threats that needed to be eliminated. Above them the normal tokens made an unusual clicking noise, and Jacob glanced up to see them watching. They had silently streamed into the furnace, covering every wall and ceiling, seemingly cheering on their leader.

  “I was worried you’d say that.” Stan said “All of my cards are my most powerful.”

  “That’s great Stan, cast one!” Jacob picked up Veronica and pushed her roughly towards a pile of garbage, which she hid behind. He didn’t bother asking her to help; evading jail time nor a workplace violation, and thus far she had shown little competence in anything else. Besides, the girl had clearly snapped since falling into the furnace, having reached her limit in the factory. Jacob ducked as a massive leg swung over his head, and placed the Card Destruct into his equipper “Target the King Token.”

  The reader beeped a few times, then buzzed harshly. It’s screen flickered red.

  NO SUCH CARD DETECTED, CASTING UNSUCCESSFUL

  “Of course.” Jacob pulled the card out of the equipper and slipped it back into his deck box. He quickly cast Major Water Lord Labubuan, summoning the massive 12 foot creature. It bowed to him slightly, it’s glittering cerulean eyes waiting for instructions. Jacob only had time to point before another leg swung towards them. Both Jacob and the creature jumped out of the way, and the creature looked towards him. “Water Lord, whirlpool strikes.”

  The Water Lord nodded, and began twirling its staff. A whirlpool of water appeared around the Token King, and the creature cried out as spears of water began to jab into it.

  “Is it my turn yet?” Stan ducked as one of the Token King’s arms appeared through the water and flailed towards him.

  “Street matches don’t have turns.” Jacob drew two more cards from his deck box before ducking behind a pile of garbage.

  “Now you tell me?” Stan quickly cast a card, and a Cyber Mammoth appeared. The giant computerized pachyderm trumpted angirly as it appeared, glaring at the Token King “Cyber Mammoth, go get him.”

  The Cyber Mammoth trumpeted again, and raced towards the nearest leg of the Token King, which stuck out from the whirlpool where it reached the ground. It slammed into the leg repeatedly, and slashed at it with its tusks. Jacob quickly glanced at the next two cards he had drawn, and grimaced.

  Unholy Tsunami - Spell - This card summons a massive tsunami capable of clearing most things in its path.

  Bubbles of a Treasure Chest - Spell - Blows an unending stream of slightly acidic bubbles towards any direction chosen by the caster. Each bubble causes 100 strength and defense damage to everything it hits.

  Taken with the cards he had drawn earlier the message the cards was sending was clear: this creature was one that needed brute force to defeat. An endless spam of attacks that wore it down, until the match was over. If they couldn’t wear it down enough to defeat it, then they needed to run. If they were lucky, the Steed of the Royal Messenger would get them away in time. Jacob didn’t want to think of what happened if it couldn’t. Jacob placed Mysterious Figure onto his equipper, and the familier hooded form appeared next to him. It looked at Jacob, then looked over at the Token King.

  “Alright Mysterious Figure” Jacob gestured at the giant token “Go do your thing.”

  The figure nodded silently, then sat in the garbage cross legged. It pulled a crochet needle out of its robes, and began tying knots in hot pink yarn.

  “I thought your thing was assassination! Last time you couldn’t wait to kill me, why aren’t you attacking the fuzzy demon token?!” Jacob glanced back at the Token King. It was still distracted by the Water Lord and Cyber Mammoth’s constant attacks, blood starting to leech out of its body in multiple places. It roared in frustration and managed to catch the Water Lord with one of its legs, hitting it in the chest. The Water Lord flew backwards and slammed into the wall, where it was immediately set upon by Tokens. It cried out for a moment before being swallowed by the fuzzy mass, and Jacob’s stomach heaved slightly. He quickly cast Bubbles of a Treasure Chest and pointed at the Token King. “Blow that way.”

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  A massive stream of bubbles began to pelt the Token King just as the whirlpool disappeared, and the king cried out as they hit. It’s fur sizzled and burned away where they touched, leaving a patchwork of small burned welts as they struck it. Jacob turned angrily towards the mysterious figure, who kept working on whatever it was crocheting.

  “So you’re not going to help.” Jacob growled at the hooded form “You’re just going to sit there and knit?”

  “I’m crocheting.” The Mysterious Figure spoke in a soft, baritone voice. It didn’t look up from its project, continuing to work on what appeared to be a small washcloth of some sort.

  “What?”

  “Knitting has two needles, I’m crocheting.”

  “Oh for fucks sake.” Jacob looked over and spotted Stan shuffling through his cards behind the same pile of garbage that Jacob had placed Veronica. He glanced back at The Token King, who had managed to get away from the stream of bubbles. The air filled with the smell of melting metal as the stream hit the wall on the other side of the furnace, eating away at it. The Cyber Mammoth was still battling the giant ball of fluff fiercely, cutting several long gashes into the Token’s legs. The pachyderm seemed to be walking with a slight limp, holding one of its front feet slightly off the ground. It only had one of its tusks left, the other snapped off near where it emerged from its mouth. Jacob took advantage of the confusion to quickly make his way over to Stan, who was frantically choosing between cards.

  “You know, this is a lot harder without turns.” Stan placed a spell card - Flame column of the Dying Volcano - and pointed at the King Token “Emerge from under that thing.”

  A massive column of flame erupted underneath the King Token, who seemed largely unaffected. The Cyber Mammoth got caught in the edge of the column, and squealed as it burned into a crisp. Stan cursed under his breath, and shuffled through his cards again.

  “You forgot the Tokens are fireproof.” Jacob said dryly

  “I forgot Tokens are fireproof.” Stan placed a card in his equipper, and a massive Crystalline Salamander Level 9 appeared between them and the Token King “Salamander, take down the Token King. Crystal blasts, keep your distance.”

  Both Jacob and Stan’s deck boxes spat out several cards, and the men added them to their hands. Jacob looked at his for a second, before casting one. The Cuddlemonster of the Dark Forest appeared in front of him, leering down at the two casters menacingly with glowing red eyes.

  “Cuddlemonster, go after the Token King.” Jacob pointed in the direction of the furball, which had one of it’s feet in the salamander’s mouth. “Slashing attacks only, anything you can do without getting hit. Don’t let it touch you. No hugging yet.”

  The Cuddlemonster smiled, revealing its razor sharp teeth. Suddenly it leapt into the air, impaling the Token King with its claws as it landed on it. The King cried out, but before it could respond the Cuddlemonster leapt away. It landed close to the walls and shrunk back as the Tokens hissed at it.

  “Don’t get too close to the Tokens, they’re hungry!” Jacob called out to the Cuddlemonster. It smiled ominously at Jacob, then leapt upwards once again. It raked its claws against the creatures back right as the Crystal Salamander hit one of the Token King’s eyes. The King lashed out, and the Salamander dashed out of the way.

  “So what’s the plan?” Stan looked over at the Token King, then back at his hand. “What’s the clever strategy?”

  “Spam monsters until we kill it.” Jacob drew a card and frowned.

  “That’s it?” Stan looked at him incredulously, and Jacob looked over at the actor. The shimmering form of his Cyber Armor flowed over his form, a circuit board styled armor equip that was the same Jacob had used to describe equips in his cabin on the Ceasarion. lying next to Stan on the Garbage was the ethereal shape of the Sky Sword of the Cloud Gods. Even without knowing whether it was his turn Stan had had the sense to cast an armor equips and summon a backup weapon. His instincts were better than he let on. “No fancy strategy, or subtle tricks?”

  “Nope, that’s it.” Jacob looked over at the two monsters, seeing them enveloping the Token King in attacks. “Seems those two are keeping it busy, show me your hand.”

  “The last creature we faced you had some clever tricks.” Stan revealed his hand, and Jacob looked at it closely.

  Stan’s hand was fairly straightforward, consisting mostly of creatures. Will o’Whisp of the Fae Realm, Exiled Warrior of the Undead, Nun of the Order of Silence, Ancient Archer of Azarath, and the Conquests of a Prince card he had won in the haunted house. Much like Jacob’s hand, Stan’s was oriented towards spamming attacks - summoning creature after creature until the giant Token was exhausted. Both their deck boxes had come to the same conclusions, reinforcing Jacob’s assessment earlier. Jacob glanced down at the cards he had drawn - Crystalline Ice Rain and Ghosts of the Derelict Ship - and frowned.

  “So? What’s the strategy?” Stan looked at Jacob expectantly, a slight tinge of desperation in his eyes.

  “Exactly what I said.” Jacob looked up at Stan and sighed. “Lightning round explanation of Street matches: No turn order, one creature cast at a time, snares and spells can be cast whenever you want.”

  “No waiting for snares?”

  “No waiting. I cast Mysterious Figure and it immediately appeared.”

  “Really?” Stan looked around and raised an eyebrow “Where is it? That thing was badass, it could help.”

  “Crocheting.” Jacob caught Stan’s eye, who looked at him in disbelief “Apparently that’s its thing now.”

  “So no clever strategy.” Doubt crept into Stan’s eyes, as he watched the creatures battle the Token King. All three were bleeding profusely, and the Cuddlemonster was missing an arm. It continued to leap onto the Token King to add new gashes to it’s body, while the Crystal Salamander attempted to take out more of the King’s eyes.

  “In an emergency like this, the Deck boxes spit out what you need.” Jacob grimaced as the Token King wrapped a leg around the Salamander, flinging it into its gaping maw of Razor sharp teeth.

  Stan quickly cast Ancient Archer of Azarath, and a wisened old archer in full battle gear appeared in front of them. “Hide behind a pile of trash, and fill the King Token with arrows. No flaming ones, it’s fireproof.”

  “Yes sir.” The Ancient Archer bowed slightly, then moved to a nearby garbage pile. It stood behind it and a war bow appeared in its hands, an arrow already knocked. It rapidly took aim and fired, and the King Token cried out as the arrow shaft embedded itself in the Token’s body. Stan drew another card and shoved it into his hand, looking back at Jacob.

  “Both of our deck boxes spammed monsters and direct spell or snare attacks. It gave us our strongest cards first. Direct translation: Monster is big and tough, and needs a ton of strong monsters to kill it. Street matches are about thinking on the fly; half the strategy is in figuring out why the Deck Box gave you what it did. This time, it wasn’t so hard.”

  The Cuddlemonster roared savagely, and the two looked over in time to see it get thrown into the wall. It was consumed in seconds, becoming invisible under the mass of tokens. Jacob glanced back at his hand, then looked over at Stan.

  “I’m gonna cast Ghosts of the Derelict Ship.” Jacob looked between Stan and Veronica, who had been cowering behind the garbage quietly “When I do, we’re gonna make a break for the ship and board her. It’ll be the safest place in the room for a while.”

  “A ship in a room without water is going to be the safest place.” Stan lowered his voice, looking at Jacob like he was crazy

  “Yes, a ship covered in cannons and filled with undead crew members all carrying swords is the safest place in a wide open room with almost no hiding places.” Jacob quipped back “I didn’t say it was a great plan, but it’s better than cowering behind garbage and hoping that thing doesn’t spot us.”

  The Ancient Archer lodged several more arrows into the King Token, which stumbled slightly as several more of its eyes were hit. It roared, and the tokens on the nearest wall surged. A mass of them flew forward and enveloped the Ancient Archer, who screamed as he was consumed.

  “That settles it.” Jacob cast Ghosts of the Derelict Ship, and a massive pirate ship slammed into the ground directly in front of them. A wooden ladder was tossed down the side in front of them, and Jacob grabbed onto it. “Climb aboard, unless you want to deal with the Tokens.”

  “No, I’m good.” Stan grabbed Veronica and pushed her onto the ladder before starting to climb himself “Into the ghost ship we go.”

  “Captain!” Jacob continued to climb as called upwards “Fire on the King Token, full broadside!”

  “Aye sir!” The salty voice of a familiar pirate replied, and Jacob smiled “You heard the man lads, Run out the guns! Give that furry beast hell!”

  The air was filled by the smell of gunpower as the thunder of cannons echoed around the room, making Jacob’s ears ring slightly. The King Token screamed slightly, and as Jacob hoisted himself onto the main deck he saw the King Token stumbling slightly on the other end of the furnace. Two undead sailors rushed to help him aboard, then turned to help Veronica and Stan.

  “Welcome back, Captain.” The same pirate who had greeted him before stood waiting eagerly amidst the chaos of rushing pirates “The ship is yours.”

  Jacob watched as another volley hit the King Token, and smiled. “This is where the fun begins.”

  last week, and is instead starting this week. The reason? I injured myself last week and was completely out of commission for four days. My injury is healing up well, so here goes attempt 2 at getting back on track! As a reminder, Chapter are released on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Lore Posts are released on Wednesdays. For those of you looking at this and going ‘um, actually, it’s Wednesday right now’, pretend this was posted on Tuesday.

  Followers goal to the mix: if we reach 100 followers I’ll write and release a series of Bonus posts detailing Stan’s match in the haunted house! This series of bonus posts wouldn’t replace the existing schedule, but would add to it. If you haven’t followed, favorited, rated, or reviewed yet please do! It truly does help a lot - especially ratings and reviews.

  thank you for the chapters - and they’ve been a big drive towards writing more! There’s even been more predictions and some character analysis and suggestions thus far, which is awesome. Y’all are the best.

  trust in the cards…

  Are you enjoying seeing Stan attempt to Duel?