Chương 54: The Fog of War

"Honestly, It's not the same without you. I won my first match, but it kind of sucked. Bill whined the whole time about the Entwined Souls Pendant. I wish we hadn't let him come back." Sandy's voice rang from the receiver, too quick to catch everything. Had he always talked so fast, or was Robin just slow? He felt like maybe they'd given him something. Maybe he'd been too deep in the fog to remember it.

"Un momento—(one second)." Robin shook his head like a dog. The haze retreated. He needed to hear this. The calls from Sandy and Duncan were all that kept him going.

"A win is a win," Robin managed.

"Did you Rune-Gate in Yureg's unit after the volley, like I suggested?"

"HA! You better believe it! Bill didn't know what hit him. Hurricane of Blades rolled six crits!"

"I can see it." Robin grinned.

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."

"He's such a putz. I think he still feels bad over blitz day."

"That's on him. I don't care," Robin said.

"How'd the match with JC go?"

"I messed up. I mixed up two phases of your plan and advanced Yureg's Dervishes before the Halberdiers were in place to give them cover. JC pounced with his Warp Hounds and almost routed them. I wanted to concede on the spot."

"Aww. Did you?"

"Ha! No way. I still had your Hawkmoon detachment waiting in Infiltrate. He couldn't take Yureg down so he moved his main force into the canyon to finish him off. Boom! I revealed the Hawkmoon in Infiltrate. Turned the whole map into a shooting gallery. Shriek Shots from the west, Seer Shots from the east."

"Yes!" Robin could almost see the look on JC's face. Without the Riftmaster's Warp Aura, Chaos was super weak against ranged attacks. He'd spent hours working on the plan.

"Whooooo'll stop the rain?" Sandy sang.

"JC got shot to pieces. The Chaos filth quit the field in disgrace. Team Randy advances to second place!" Robin pumped his fist and ignored the twinge from his IV. Victory!

"Congratulations, Sandman. I knew you could do it."

"It's us, bud. This is all thanks to your master plan. We're in the Grand Final! The Reformed Windsworn and the Heartbroken Brigade will stand against the Bla'Claw Horde in the Battle for Blagg Bore!" Robin let it sink in. He'd worked so hard for this. When he shut his eyes, he was right there in the War Room with everyone, putting their soldiers away at the end of another Saturday.

"How'd the Dervishes handle the Warp Hounds?" Robin asked, realizing he'd gone silent.

"Not well! Red Draught and Yureg's Lifesteal Aura kept them going, but Yureg is just suicidal lately. He charged right into the Black-Handed One and almost got corrupted. Remember when Abaxios dispelled him and mind-fried the Riftmaster in the same roll? I thought JC's head would explode. Oh! That reminds me. Are you ready for some good news? RSI put out an official tournament ruling. Goblins are hugely overperforming. They put out revised stats."

"No way. How bad did they get hit?"

"They got gutted. Effective immediately." Robin could hear Sandy's grin.

"I'll bet Vlad was mature about it," Robin snickered. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"He literally almost cried," Sandy said.

"No!"

"He was bellowing and his eyes were wet. Vlad and Bill tried to convince us all that the club should break from the official ruleset. Everyone told them to cram it. It was so good. Duncan had to make Vlad go outside until he stopped shouting. He was all, how can they do this to me? Like he didn't know all along it was a huge cheese that could never last. RSI doesn't usually put out rulings like this mid-season, either. I'll bet someone on the design team had to play against Goblins and got jackhammered. Ha!

Vlad didn't even play either game this week. He went home! He's still in first place, though. Even with the forfeits."

"Not for long," Robin vowed.

"Ohhhh, the showdown is coming. We made so much awesome terrain for the Battle of the Bore. You're gonna love it."

"I can't wait to see it. I've gotta get my hands on those changes. If they're significant enough, maybe we can beat him. Vlad will probably take a Chaos detachment. Did they change Warlocks?"

"Nope.

'Working as intended.' RSI is still selling Slish-Slish models and Rift Demon packs as fast as they can crank them out. There's some sad news for us too. The rules now state only one Legendary per army."

"Even with a Mastersmith?"

"Yuuuup. Sucks for us."

"¡Chale! (Bummer!)" Robin sucked air through his teeth as all his plans fell to pieces. Suddenly, he could see why Vlad had freaked out.

"It's all right, man. I never really expected us to beat Vlad anyway," Sandy admitted.

"What? Of course we're going to beat him. This is just a minor setback. If we can only have one Legendary, Black Angel is probably the one to keep. I'll go through the revised rules. We're not out of this yet."

"Duncan says he's got another big surprise for the final battle."

"Whatever it is, I hope it eats Goblins."

"Ha! Probably. I still can't believe we made it this far. Honestly, I never really cared about winning. I just wanted to have the best-looking army."

"How about both? I can't wait to see you guys in Black Labyrinth. I wish I could be there."

"Well, maybe you can. We all talked about it. Everyone is OK with waiting until you're better to run the final battle of the campaign. Vlad said he doesn't mind if it takes all summer so you can come back at your best, but you're still going to get creamed."

"Really? Vlad said that?"

"Yeah, he can be decent sometimes. I bet he's just buying time, hoping they revert the Goblin changes. He said he wrote a letter to the CEO of RSI to complain. Haha. I bet it was tear-stained and cheeto-perfumed." Robin cracked up, laughed too hard, and started coughing.

"Haha, stop. I'll literally die," Robin warned.

"You won't actually, right?"

"No such luck. The radiation is tough. The worst part is, there's a better way. They have a new treatment where they transplant bone marrow. It has a way better success rate."

"Woah. Can you get it?"

"Nope. The donor has to be a sibling who matches your leukocyte antigen. I'm out of luck."

"Dang. That's such a bummer. I'd gladly give you some of my siblings if I could. I bet I know which one you'd pick."

"Ha-ha. Tell Yvonne I said good luck at the club."

"Tell her yourself. She's been trying to call you. She has to play JC again and wants your help to crush him with the Queen's Indian." Robin paused. He couldn't dodge her forever. He was more afraid of talking to Yvonne than the radiation.

"Can you tell her I'll try, but I might be too out of it to be on the phone? It's not going so well, Sandy. I think you guys shouldn't wait for me. Even in a best-case scenario, I'll probably be out for a long time. I might not be the same afterward. Pretty soon. They have to zap my brain with the linear accelerator. They say I may not be able to think straight for a couple weeks afterward."

"That's terrifying," Sandy said. The line fell quiet. Robin had said too much.

"It's just until the spider-powers manifest. Then, I can web-swing right out of here," Robin joked. He didn't get a laugh.

"I'm sorry, bud."

"Ni modo (no way around it)."

"Can you get visitors, at least?"

"Just my grandma and the priest," Robin lied. They'd told him people could visit through the isolation glass, but he didn't want anyone to see him. The phone was infinitely better.

"But really, all the calls and stuff are helping so much. It's awesome that we can kind of play as a team. It's almost as good as being there."

"Of course, man. We're all rooting for you. My mom sent your Grandma some rugelach."

"The little raisin croissants? Those were so good. I hope my Grandma didn't complain."

"She wasn't home, so we just dropped them off. My mom wants to invite her to dinner. Do you think she would come?"

"I'll ask, but she'll probably say no. She's uh, taking it pretty rough I guess."

"Dang. Is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah, actually. Are you gonna see Duncan later?"

"Yup. The Bullets are playing the Supersonics and we're gonna barbeque. I'm bringing lamb skewers."

"That rules. Ask Dunk if he can give me a call. I have an idea for the campaign."

"Oooh! What is it?"

"You'll see." Robin smiled.