The gang was busy yelling “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”. Jake and Will were cheering for Joe, and Samantha had at some point hauled a lawn chair to the location and was sitting on it munching on yet another bag of popcorn. Joe took it all in, breathed deeply and turned to face Bill… just in time to see a fist heading directly for his nose.
Joe dodged.
However, Joe forgot one thing: stats. How wonderful stats can be to the trained individual who has discovered their limits. Not Joe, no. With a speed and power that deeply surprised himself, he jerked his head back. He jerked it back so hard he threw himself off balance. In fact, the movement had such a whiplash effect that he didn’t just fall backward, he launched himself down and backwards so hard his feet came off the ground. One of those feet, failing to find its balance, drove itself upwards into Bills family Jewels with such a loud crunch that complete and utter silence instantly returned to the forest clearing. The gang, Will, Jason, and Jake were all clutching their nether regions doubled over, grimacing, in sympathy pains for Bill. Birds in nest clutched their eggs to keep them safe from the heinous villain, Joe, the destroyer of eggs. Even a squirrel that was sitting up in a tree, jealously clutched its catch of nuts as if it thought Joe would come and crush them all. After a moment of utter silence, Samantha fell off the lawn chair and rolled across the forest floor in hysterical laughter!
~~~~~~~~~~
*Ding* (APP)
Gang leader defeated! Gang moral is STUNNINGLY and EXECPTIONALLY low! Good job young hero.
You have earned 45 GD points and a title.
Title:
Title effectThe Nut Cracker: From now on, all blows below the belt come with a 25% increase in speed, accuracy, penetration, and damage, and will result in a Combo-breaker effect, stopping all skills that were in process.
Congratulations! Keep earning titles to show the world who you really are.
~~~~~~~~~~
Joe picked himself up off the ground and looked around trying to take in what had just happened. As he glanced around at the gang they all refused to make eye contact with him. Reaching down, he picked up his backpack and slung it back over his shoulder.
~~~~~~~~~~
*Ding* (APP)
You have successfully stopped their theft with only one blow stopping the fight with no additional damage or injury!
You have earned 45 GD points and a title
Title:
Title Effect:Unexpected!; When you are uninjured your first blow in a given fight/incident will be harder to perceive and will have an added bonus of 25% damage.
~~~~~~~~~~
Looking down at Bill, Joe called out to the gang. “Yall better come get him to the doctor he doesn’t look well at all.” Seeing them staring in silence he added “Well get to it! And don’t tell the doctor I had anything to do with this if you know what’s good for you”
The Gang jumped up and ran to gather up their previous leader. One of the older members stopped in front of Joe, took his hat in his hand and meekly spoke.
“Excuse me, sir. My name’s Nathan. I hate to bother you, but according to our gang rules, you’re the leader now… Whoever knocks the current leader out will be the new leader. It’s one of our core tenets. What do you want us to do?”
“I… um… What?!... O.. Okay, look. For now, go take care of Bill, and then get back in touch with me tomorrow. We can talk then.” (Joe said)
Turning to walk away, Joe thought better of it and slipped his backpack into his inventory while no one was looking. With a lighter step, he turned and started walking back toward the trailer.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
~~~~~~~~~~
*Ding* (APP)
You have successfully repurposed this gang. You are now the leader of this gang of young men. Lead them in the way of Good Deeds and you can win daily good deed points.
You have earned 45 GD points
~~~~~~~~~~
At that point everyone dispersed and went their separate ways. James stood a few meters off, looking duly cowed. Samantha and Will slung their arms over Joe’s shoulders, chatting and laughing with him all the way back to the trailer. Jake grabbed his bigger brother by the ear and drug him back home telling Him to call Stacy and tell her he was too busy to meet today.
~~~ ~~~
Back in the room, the friends finally stopped talking and laughing about Joe’s amazing if unintended victory. Jason was busy running back and forth making sandwiches for the gang in an effort to appease his new gang leader, Joe. As Joe sat on the couch, he felt a lump in his pocket and remembered the WACO (Wabando Amazing Combo-matic Objectifier).
“Hey guys, there something I’ve got to show you”. Joe pulled out the folded-up table, punched the button on the cover and watched as it unfolded in the middle of the room with a sudden whoosh. This event startled Jakes black cat out from under his bed where she had been peacefully hiding this entire time. The cat bounced around the room until it landed in the trash can.
“Oh you poor dear! I’ll take care of you” Samantha said as she gently picked up the cat and carried it back to the couch where she managed to get her purring and calm.
"I'm not sure you want to do that..." (Jason)
“Wow, you got Scratch to purr. I know you're special Samantha, but that’s a first.” (Jake)
Yes, Scratch the cat was well named. While calm on many occasions, this cat had a dark dastardly side that could show itself at a moments notice. Scratch had once drilled a hole in the side of a fish tank with her claw over the course of a month just to see the fish flopping on the bottom without water. The cat truly was chaotic evil.
Turning their attention away from the mysteriously purring Scratch, the gang looked at the WACO table as it glowed and shimmered with an other worldly power.
“What is it??” (Jake)
“What does it do??” (Will)
Joe proceeded to tell them everything that Sal S Man had told him.
“So, I can combine anything?” (Jake)
Thinking quickly Jake grabbed the last slice of a stale Pineapple pizza and the last ritz cracker from the box on his computer desk. He gingerly placed them in the middle of the WACO, and he pushed the button over the left front leg.
Sparks and a whirring sound filled the air as the light surrounding the table steadily grew stronger. Turning their eyes away from the overwhelming site, they ducked their heads expecting a small explosion. Instead, the noise and light slowly faded until silence had returned to the room. Turning back around they were greeting with a pleasant surprise.
A box of pineapple pizza flavored ritz crackers were in the middle of the table with a label that showed an Italian Man gesturing with his fingers pressed against his thumbs in the upward manner of Italians, saying “Just like Momma-Mia used to make”.
With an almost worship-filled reverence, Will slowly reached for the box, brought it back, opened it, ripped open one of the plastic cracker packs and extracted the magical treat.
“Abomination!” Screeched Samantha (she was half Italian)
“Shush you, this is a poor man’s paradise”. (Jake)
With great honor Will split the cracker in thirds and gave a piece to Joe and Jake. Together they tasted it, savoring it’s vast selection of artificial flavors, preservatives, additives, and textures.
“…perfect…” whispered Joe, eliciting nods of agreement from Jake and Will as Samantha and Scratch made retching sounds in the background.
Right at that moment, there was a magical ‘poof’ sound, and glitter filled the air as Bob reappeared. They turned to look at Him and were aghast! All his feathers had fallen out and he had lost a lot of weight. And, weirdly enough, He was visible to everyone present!!
“Bob! What happened!” (Joe)
“Just give me a moment” said Bob as he sat down on the nearest surface he could find. That surface happened to be the WACO.
“I wouldn’t sit there if I were you”. (Joe)
“What’s that?” (Bob)
Before Joe could explain, something startled Scratch the cat, and it leaped across the room knocking the box of crackers out of Will’s hands and deftly landing on the WACO next to Bob.
Time slowed to a crawl as everyone’s eyes tracked the box of crackers as it turned end over end, flying through the air in a lazy arc. I looked like it would fall on the table as well, but it actually fell a bit short hitting the upper part of the front left leg… where the activation button was…
‘That’s unusually lucky,’ thought Joe as he watched the WACO flare to life again.
Once more, the group of friends found themselves in a room filled with light and sound. After several more moments, that all faded and they began to stand back up.
“Bob! Are you okay.” (Joe)
A small female voice gave out a low throaty chuckle and as the light, smoke, and glitter cleared the air, a thin tall figure began to take shape.
“Bob? Forget Bob, say hello to Venus the new ruler of PMS.” (???)
There sitting on the edge of the table in a black dinner gown and black high heel shoes was a miniature woman that could have come straight out of the Munsters TV show. Gone were the white fluffy wings, replaced with black leather ones. Gone was the little halo, replaced by a set of cat ears that looked way too much like horns. She was holding one of those cigarette filter extenders that used to be in fashion back in the 50’s and made a cigarette as long as a magic wand.
She cast eyes in Joe’s direction. Racking her gaze over him slowly, she took a puff of her cigarette and snapped her fingers.
“There, that should fix things. Go check out your status.” (Venus)
Looking at her with trepidation, Joe hesitantly said “Status.”
End Chapter 11
What happened to his status???
