Barry marched up to the welcome sign of the town, watching Lady Iris’s parade emerge from the outer forest. Shaco stationed himself somewhere close by to spy on the confrontation between the two; he held his toy flute close to his lips, ready to whistle one of his wondrous tunes for when trouble stirred. One thing that Shaco found interesting was Barry’s mood, how he didn’t show a hint of fear or nervousness when facing what could be his life’s end.

  ‘Do you not fear death when confronting someone such as her alone? Or do you have that much trust in someone like me when we were just enemies moments ago? I don’t understand you at all…’ Shaco pondered what it was that motivated him to challenge those that opposed him, or even contend against life’s worst obstacles thrown at him.

  The green flora float crawled out, pausing a certain distance in front of where Barry stood. He gazed at the giant purple/hot pink flower bulb, believing Lady Iris to be sheltered inside, waiting for her to show her face. ‘We’re playing for time; distract her while the others clear the given mission and we win. I expect her to be more difficult to fight than McGuinness, but if I do see an opportunity to kill her, then I’ll make an attempt.’

  Lady Iris’s playful flytraps snapped at the air, trying to reach an unphased Barry to get a nibble but could not. Suddenly, clouds of concealing pollen puffed into the air around the bulb like special effects from a stage show; providing a dramatic appeal to the villain’s grand appearance. Barry watched the flower’s silhouette bloom within the concealment, patiently waiting while he tapped his foot out of boredom.

  And when the pollen dispersed, there, low and behold was the foe of this event. It was indeed a flower lady, her appearance was bewitching in the sense of both irresistible to look away yet also wickedly dangerous. Described as being similar to dyrads, dark enchanting flowers were a part of her mesmerizing appearance, rooted purple tipped horns protruding out of her long luscious flowing black hair. “Ah! Mother nature's ruler has arrived to lay claim over this depressing town! Hmm…” Her violet colored eyes locked onto Barry in full amusement. “And whom is this? Are you one of those flimsy contestants of this game we’re in?”

  “I might be.” Barry shrugged his shoulders. ”And are you one of those over exaggerated villains like that McGenny guy? You two seem to share one thing; your ego’s are excessive.”

  Lady Iris wondered who he was referring to by McGenny, but was able to process it soon and cackled. “Who- Oh! Haha! McGenny!? You mean the midget that throws a tantrum whenever someone talks about his appearance? That’s priceless to hear coming from you, but please, don’t ever compare me to someone as meager as him…” She studied him some more, thinking about how he knew McGuinness's name and came to a realization. “Noooo! It can’t be! Are you the one who humiliated him during his cute raid on that blissful island!? What’s your name?”

  “Barry. And I had a hellavuh time shutting that guy’s operation down; It made me feel good destroying his flagship and crushing his toys in front of him.” Barry cherished the times he made McGuinness act out like a child whenever things weren’t going his way; especially when he rage baited him into spilling out info about the villains and their goals.

  Covering her face using her hands, Lady Iris tried to muffle the laughter building up inside her but couldn’t contain it. Barry wondered if all the villains were insane, or if he was ever going to face a sane villain at all. Lady Iris finished her last laugh before resuming to speak. “Oooh that felt good, I haven’t had a laugh like that in a while. So you are the person that dwarf was ranting about; Barry, what a boring name that is. No flare, not even tasteful, just…Barry? Really?”

  Listening to her snickers once again, Barry replied back in a dry tone. “Yup. That’s me. The same boring guy that made poor McGenius cry…” Barry then brandished his flaming sword. “...and the same bland nobody whose going to trample your garden.”

  Clasping her hands together, gleefully applauding Barry’s threatening words. “You sounded so cute saying that with your adorable candlestick; I find your optimism very amusing compared to those I’ve wrung life dry from, and I’ll remember your generous donation when I squeeze the nutrients from your corpse.” She then looked at her own given quest from the moderators, before glancing at the town being invaded by her children. A smirk grew on her face. “Well, well, it seems to me that you’re not alone here. Might I say…you were planning to stall me the entire time?”

  Barry remained silent for a moment, he was hoping to keep her yapping a bit longer. “Noooo, really? I wanted to be the first to see your arrival; check out how beautiful this flower lady was based on how McGenny promised you to be.”

  His sarcasm was both humorous and distasteful to Lady Iris, as she flashed a fiendish smile. “I’m most certainly an eye candy to most mortal men of these lands, though they all fell to my smited looks one way or another. But I don’t take it that you really mean that behind that silly facade of yours.” Barry was a bit taken aback by her perception, being able to tell that he meant serious business rather than being a jokester. “Enough of this unnecessary banter. We both came here for one thing only, and I’ll be the one swiping it for the taking. So let’s settle this handsome.”

  ‘Here goes…’ Barry took a fighting stance in preparation of Lady Iris’s first move. He remained conscious of Shaco’s presence lurking somewhere nearby, believing in him to support whenever possible. “Bring it deva.”

  Initiating the fight was a rush of poisonous spores clouds being expelled by Lady Iris’s float; choosing to get higher ground, Barry leapt on top of a building and retaliated in kind by sending a couple of blazing wind blades at her. She quickly constructed a wall of roots, shielding herself from the ranged attack that nearly burned through, astonishing her. “Hmmm, fire. One of nature’s worst enemies. As troublesome as these methods are against me…” She waved her magic, rapidly sprouting fire-resistant plants to attack and provide cover for her. “Nature always evolves to cover it’s weaknesses-”

  Expecting her new creation to protect herself, the blazing projectiles burned through, searing her body a bit and riling her up. “Wha- What!? But how!? No pyromancer has ever been able to scorch through these!” Frustrated and full of disgust from being nipped by Barry’s attacks, she began taking a more aggressive method by unleashing a rampant growth of violent thornwhips and hungry flytraps from below. “What sort of fire is that you have!? How dare you even graze me!”

  Her onslaught kept Barry on his toes, always moving, never remaining in one spot but kept his distance from Lady Iris. And while he fought, his mentor Thalia surfaced within his mind. ‘It should go without saying, despite you being unfamiliar with this world, but that villainous dryad is not ordinary. Her powers are corrupted, dark and malicious as I can sense it oozing out of her.’

  Dancing around trapjaws and lashing whips, Barry kept hacking. ‘The moderators must have had a hand in bestowing her the power she has now; just like how they backed McGuinness up by giving him the funds to make his damn tin cans. They made these villains to oppose Contestants like me.’ Barry ducked and rolled, avoiding a spew of acidic liquid being fired at him. ‘We’ll discuss this later...’

  Trying to land a hit on him was more difficult than Lady Iris had imagined, she viewed him as a skittering pest that kept narrowly making it out of the most troublesome situations she placed him in. “You have quite the composure for a primitive mortal. None have survived within the first few moments near my honorable presence; but you stand out exceptionally compared to those that I’ve ended before.”

  She continued applying pressure on Barry, yet he persisted through every trick thrown at him. Lady Iris then manipulated the grounded area around him by sprouting a carpet of sticky barbed seeds, seeing that he was too far away from reaching a place of higher ground. Still, Barry reacted by double jumping in the air to at least get off the prickly ground and that was when the villain took it as a prime opportunity to unleash a lethal attack. “You had me working up a sweat, but this is the end for-”

  Suddenly, a horrendous noise reached her ears, distorting her balance and concentration. She had planned to have a carnivorous plant swallow Barry whole but lost focus. “W-What is th-this dreadful sound!?” Her gaze fixed back to Barry, utterly shocked to see that he had maneuvered out of the hazardous situation he was put in by utilizing…toy blocks? “No! Where did those-” Again, her ears were blasted by an unknown soundwave that she soon described as being nails scratching on a hard surface. “AAAAGH! WHOSE DOING THIS!?”

  Thanks to Shaco’s intervention, Barry hop scotched on the floating blocks while sending more arcs of fire at Lady Iris at different angles. She had to double up on her defenses for each flaming attack due to how potent they were; all while trying to desperately locate the annoying melody coming from somewhere nearby. Using the roots she had extended all across the town, Lady Iris tried sensing for any living beings standing above ground and found one that was unusual. “Ah! So there was another that came to see me! THEN COME OUT!”

  Barry caught sight of a large root being shot up into the air where Shaco was last located at. ‘She’s aware of Shaco’s presence now. Is he-’ A multitude of razor leaves came hurling his way, cutting his skin and drawing his attention back on to Lady Iris.

  “Eyes on me darling!” Lady Iris taunted; relentlessly sending attack after attack, making Barry struggle to maintain his own rhythm. “I find it very offensive when a man loses interest in me over something less important.”

  No longer being supported by Shaco for the time being, Barry was on his own for a bit to fend for himself until he noticed an update on the current quest going on. His team had managed to destroy one of the flower pits, and it appeared that Lady Iris was able to acknowledge it as well based on her own system event notification. Forgetting about the game event she was in, Lady Iris was irritated how she couldn’t spend all the time she wanted to kill the insect that was Barry. “Aaaagh, I despise these limitations enforced on me by these moderators. Guess I can’t have my fun just yet and instead have to play along with this frivolous game of theirs.”

  She covered Barry’s line of sight using a growth of vegetation before making an attempt to rush into town and stop the rest of his team from destroying all her flower pits. However, Lady Iris was blocked in herself by a sudden emergence of colorful building blocks. “Are you serious!? I thought I dealt with you!?” Channeling her powers, she brute forced her way through the blocks, breaking them apart over and over again. “Where are you!? I grow tired of these childish acts of yours, I’ll make a puppet out of you soon since you like toys so much!”

  Synthesizing a chemical weapon, Lady Iris released a span of nerve gas to flush out Shaco wherever he was hiding from since she could not sense him standing on the ground close by. For a moment she believed that the gas had gotten him, but was wrong when she experienced the same ear piercing sound being emitted to her. “GAAAH! ENOUGH!”

  Enraged, Lady Iris unleashed a vast amount of heavy energy that unearthed a wide surrounding field of violent frenzy plants. Everything in the vicinity was wasted, including both Shaco's shadows and her own forces. Nothing could have survived her outburst from the looks of the damage done. The villain let out a sigh of relief to calm herself, thinking that the problematic person was dealt with. “Inner peace…there’s no way the pest could have survived that.” And right when she was about to move on, her ears rang once more from a familiar tune. Her eyes widened in disbelief and looked up at the sky to see an uncanny site. “How….HOW!? IT WAS YOU!?”

  Flying on a single red balloon like something out of a cartoon show, was Shaco holding on while wielding his precious childish flute in hand to his face. He paused and stared down, his expression concealed by his ink-mask that confused Lady Iris. “That was quite the crash out you had there madam. Might I offer you some tea and biscuits to settle your nerves?” He then produced a tea set floating in the air, pouring a cup for himself.

  The villain was befuddled by this bizarre bozo floating in the gloomy sky; from his mysterious ink-mask, to his offsetting hunched back, and down to his abnormal powers that allowed him to float on a single balloon. Too furious to answer back, Lady Iris opened fire on his goofy demeanor by launching a volley of bullet seeds. “It appears you must not have loved the melody I was vibing to.” Shaco joked, as his balloon drifted him out of danger. He snapped a finger, his magic cackling. “But I have a question for you…”

  An uproar of loud noise reverberated in the air, Lady Iris could feel tremors approaching her from different sides behind the rubble. “...do you like trains?”

  Bursting through the debris were 4 enlarged toy trains converging on Lady Iris. The sound horns blaring, her expression completely shocked at what was happening at the time. Reacting defensively by the sudden ambush, she tried halting the trains using an eruption of plants from underneath but could not stop them from being sent her way. Instead, she turtled-up, layering herself in a cocoon of dense wood from both the collision and the explosion that happened after. Shaco constructed a block tower, landing on it and pocketing his faithful balloon. “I suppose I’m the only one who’s rather fond of choo-choo trains. She seems very fearful of them.”

  Almost like his joke was heard, Shaco’s toy tower became constricted from a growth of vines that crawled up in a hastily manner. “Oh dear, time to-” He then saw more flying plant creatures from before heading his way. Should he take a chance to fly on his balloon again, he would be met by Lady Iris’s lovely air forces.

  Lady Iris emerged from underground, her focus placed back on Shaco. “Go ahead! Try to take the skies again you clown! Choose your poison!” She mocked.

  “Welp…” Shaco glanced at the ground below and at the trouble approaching. His eyes then averted to what was behind Lady Iris that made him smirk; he flicked his hand, sparking his magic before making his choice. “I’ve always fancied a bit of thrill in my life, madam. So I choose only the deadliest of poison.” Straightening his clothes, Shaco leaped off his tower in a hyped up manner.

  Believing him to be a complete lunatic, Lady Iris rapidly grew a pack of hungry plants that readied themselves to snap at the defenseless clown plummeting to his inevitable doom. A creeping smile followed by a great sense of satisfaction resonated within the villain when his body was devoured by her children. “Hahaha! YES! That’s one annoying pest out of my- AGH!” Her excitement quickly ended when she noticed the advance of another forgotten adversary that managed to land a searing strike at her back.

  It was Barry, returning from his imprisonment and enduring the wraith of her outlash from before. Lady Iris surfed backwards on crawling vines while attacking Barry, but the flames ignited on his sword made everything she threw at him ineffective. A pop-up notification appeared to them both, Lady Iris becoming more livid when she saw that more of her flower pits were getting destroyed as Barry kept buzzing around her. ‘I’m expending too much energy trying to get rid of this guy. I’m not allowed to use my full potential given the restrictions placed on me from the cursed moderators. If only…’ Lady Iris hated the way she was basically being kept on a leash by the gods and moderators solely for entertainment purposes.

  Her flying minions came swooping in to distract Barry, giving her an opening to do what needed to be done. Once more, Lady Iris was about to contain Barry so she could escape but her ears picked up the same maddening music that she had heard in the past. Realization hit as her eyes darted to the source and widened. “NO! I SAW YOU DIE! IMPOSSIBLE!?”

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  Playing her flute horrendously to his heart's content was Shaco standing on top of another block tower he made. He paused for a moment to answer her puzzled reaction. “Nothing is impossible, my dainty flower. I thought you would be jovial to hear my encore once more.” He then made a wispy hand gesture. “And I hope you don’t mind me inviting a few of my friends over for my performance.”

  Manifesting in their current battle were more of Shaco’s shadow friends, rushing to assault Lady Iris who now had more enemies to focus her attention on. She got used to Shaco horrid tunes. It was the restrictions placed on her that were making things more difficult to handle the situation. Lady Iris looked up to the skies and shouted in anger at the ones who ruled over the entire game they were in. “You damn moderators! If it wasn’t for me having to rush things due to these silly challenges of yours, I’d have these nuisances turned to fertilizer!”

  No one answered back to her cries of frustration, though she expected for someone to do so. “Grant me more power and I promise I will make this challenge more enticing! What do you all say!?”

  Barry was finished dispatching the monsters targeting him before he dashed ahead to catch up to Lady Iris. He saw her fending off against Shaco and his friends for the time being but when he got closer, the atmosphere around them began to change. The air picked up, the clouds parting from each other, revealing the golden hour of when the sun was about to set, its beaming light casting down onto Lady Iris. Barry didn’t like the strange phenomenon that was occurring. ‘Some bullshit is about to go down.’

  And he'd be right; the first tell sign was Lady Iris's appearance emitting a radiant violet glow. “Ahhhh, yes! How the motherly light kisses against my skin. I shall share the same benevolence in kind towards these parasites!” Photosynthesizing the light into more power, she applied it to her great and wondrous creations. Her plants turned a darker shade of color, becoming stronger and more violent.

  Shaco's shadows were becoming overwhelmed, their forms unable to endure the aggressiveness of a single attack by Lady Iris. “Great, she's juiced up by the damn sun. The mods must have decided to throw her a bone.” Barry commented, the danger level had now escalated higher and he didn't like it.

  Lady Iris was able to easily defend against her attackers while she rapidly grew an elite force of plant creatures to deal with them in her place before taking her leave. Shaco tried to block her escape but his toy blocks could not hold her off. “I don't have time for your senseless games, clown. Be grateful I've made you some playmates. Toodaloo!”

  Barry tried to break through her newborn minions the best he could but didn’t get far. Him and Shaco had done all they could to distract the villain, managing to let the others destroy some of the flower beds yet there was still a long way to go before they could declare victory. He then noticed that Puck’s enchantment on his sword was flickering away, the fire would soon be extinguished. ‘If Iris finds Puck, she'll want to eliminate him since he's a clear counter to her.’

  His eyes averted to Shaco who was also busy handling a couple of surrounding enemies. “Shaco!” Barry called out but his voice did not reach him. He saw a pair of twin assassin-like creatures giving Shaco a hard time already against other monsters. Gritting his teeth, he activated ‘King's Commanding Presence’ and prepared to run and assist Shaco.

  The shadows fighting alongside them helped to distract the obstacles that stood in his path. But even so, he tried hop-scotching from foe to foe before taking a hit from a bludgeoning whip that resulted in him sprawling on the ground. Still, he quickly recovered and kept weaving through the chaos in order to reach Shaco. There was a critical moment that caused Barry to do something reckless for the sake of Shaco’s safety.

  Diving in and pushing Shaco to the side, Barry managed to make it in time to safeguard him from the assassins formidable combo. “Barry!?” Shaco witnessed him deflect one of the attacks, but received the other that slashed at his shoulders. He was surprised to see Barry go through harm just so he didn’t have too.

  Wounded but not defeated, Barry beared through the pain and retaliated against the assassins, fueled with awakened rage. He saw Shaco standing motionless at what had just happened and he shouted to break him out of his state. “Keep fighting! This is life or death; I watch your back so I trust you keep watching mine!”

  His encouragement was successful, bringing Shaco back to reality and facing the remaining enemies. Taking a jump rope out from his coat pocket, Shaco imbued his chaotic magic then wrapped it around a creature, proceeding to swing said creature around at the others. He cracked the rope, lifting the monster up before slamming it down and to finish it off. “Barry! Behind you!” He warned, getting Barry’s attention to fend off the enemy that was about to ambush him. The creature was disposed of by a swing of his sword and the two continued assisting one another.

  “Duck.” Barry said, to which Shaco did so he could vault over and swiftly counter against two wild wolf-like plants. All while Shaco whipped out a couple of dodgeballs and began hurling them, the impact of each one was enough to send them zooming out of sight. Their teamwork together was exceptional, communication and trust was always there and never lacking.

  The enemies around them were swiftly dealt, allowing them some time to breathe. “Follow me.” Barry uttered, as he leaped on top of the nearest building to get a view of the townscape. Moving up, the two stopped to gather themselves and spectate the situation. Barry consumed a few recovery potions from his inventory, he felt pain from his wounds as they healed. “You need one?” He offered to Shaco.

  “U-Uh no…” Shaco declined, he was thinking about how Barry rushed over to help him when he was struggling to defend himself. “Barry, what you did back there for me, you saw how I was in trouble and yet you came to my aid. Why? Was it just because of the truce we made? Or…”

  Picking himself back up, Barry glanced at Shaco, his expression solemn. “That’s one of the reasons, we need each other. But aside from that, I did it because you’ve suffered enough during your childhood up to now. Though your act of converting all the people you’ve met into these shadow friends is wrong, I believe that you can still be redeemed. Your feelings are valid, but if you can see why your method of making these friends is wrong, then you can change.” Shaco thought about what was being said to him.

  Barry scanned everywhere across town, noticing that there were more evolved plant monsters that were amped up by Lady Iris. Shaco’s shadow friends lacked self-consciousness, they were fearless but not as strong as they would be if they were reverted back to what they once were. “Shaco, these shadows you’ve made…just like Kat and Anna, they're not truly dead are they?” He asked, getting a feeling that he might be right.

  “...correct. When one of these shadows vanishes, they are never truly gone, they simply return back to my book and recover till I summon them again.” Shaco replied, his voice sounding conflicted. “That moment when I made it seem like I was going to end Kat entirely…I was never going to do it. I was just trying to pressure you into giving the book over to me is all…” He had a feeling what Barry was going to ask after revealing this to him.

  Thinking over the information said, and the dire situation going on, Barry went ahead and made a suggestion he knew Shaco wouldn’t like. “I'm just going to say it. Shaco, we need you to turn those that can fight back to who they once were. That’s the only other thing that’ll help-”

  “N-No!” Shaco denied in a shaky tone. “W-We can win this by ourselves! T-There’s no need for me to turn them back! A-All we have to do is…is…”

  “You’re scared of how they’ll react to seeing you once again. Am I right to assume that?” Barry interrupted, his words hitting close to home. “You forced them into becoming your friend because they never liked who you are. How they were disgusted by your odd appearance rather than what kind of person you were on the inside.” Shaco trembled in place as Barry spoke. “You probably think people will only ever see you as nothing more than a freak instead of someone who yearns for genuine friendships. That you were born a mistake.”

  Shaco sniffled inside his mask, he was getting emotional. Off in the distance some buildings were demolished and the sight of Lady Iris’s rampage could be seen. Though Barry was frustrated about the limited time they had, he gave one last speech in hopes that Shaco would listen to him. “You’re not a monster, so stop thinking that you are because others think so. Screw what anyone else thinks, because as long as one person sees the good in you, that’s all the company you really need. Puck sees you as a genuine person who is misunderstood, I guarantee you that. Where as I…” Barry let out a sigh and placed a hand on Shaco’s shoulder, causing him to flinch. “...I see the same. I’m sorry for how cold I treated you, but it was until I read that journal that I knew who you really are. Once again, I apologize, sincerely.”

  His words were touching, Barry could hear his sobbing, his ink-mask shifting to various different images. Suddenly, the unthinkable happened to Barry; Shaco went in for a hug, shocking Barry as he listened to him speak in an uncontrolled manner. “T-That’s w-what I wanted to h-hear a-all m-my life! T-That I-I’m not a f-freak! T-That I have f-feelings too!”

  Barry felt a disturbance within himself, it wasn’t pain but instead a…warm feeling? It reminded him of when his team hugged him after his fight with Thandor. Despite the odd feeling, Barry didn’t push Shaco off and just let him confide in him at the moment. Shaco kept it short and let go, taking a tissue from his coat and blowing his nose through his mask. “M-My goodness! Look at me wasting what little time we have while this wild flower is still running rampant!” He then rummaged through his coat and took out his personal book of names. Shaco stared hard at it, his hands quivering slightly.

  He looked up at Barry, considering everything that he just said to him. He looked back, nodding to him, his eyes showing trust and belief. “You’re right…it’s not about how many friends one has if they aren’t genuine…” He cracked open the book, his powers illuminating the entire book. “All you really need is one…one true friend who likes you for who you truly are. That’s all that matters.”

  The book shined brightly, a strands of light shot right out from the book, the names of those that could fight were being released. Shaco kept those that couldn’t fight inside his book until everything was over for safety reasons. Even so, there was a vast multitude of names that were being unshackled, meaning that they were about to have true adventurers fighting by their side in a matter of moments. Only problem Barry saw was that the sudden revival of these names would likely be confusing. He imagined randomly being revived on a battlefield against viscous plant monsters might be puzzling to most. He probably needed to go around and announce who they needed to fight if they were to survive the challenge.

  “I’m proud of you, Shaco. Now let’s hurry and-” Barry stopped abruptly when they witnessed a flash of fireworks elsewhere in the town. It was Ron’s illusions, the fireworks morphing into words that were basically calling out for him to come and help. He then noticed that the flames on his sword had died and imagined the others encountering Lady Iris. “They’re in danger!” He warned right as he took off, Shaco tagging along.

  As they made haste, Barry and Shaco observed the resuscitated adventurers fending off Lady Iris’s plant children. They were fighting better than they were before as shadow folk but they still looked lost and confused just as Barry had predicted. “Destroy the plants!” Barry shouted for all to hear. “I know this is confusing! But trust me and we’ll all live!” He hoped these few words alone would be enough to get them to listen.

  And it was…kind of. The adventurers didn't understand how they were revived back to themselves again, but when they saw monsters violently attack them upon first arrival, self defense was their first instinct. Whoever this guy was that was giving them an order, he must have been the one who saved them and did as instructed.

  Shaco and Barry got closer to where Ron sent out his distress call; that was when they spotted the trouble his team had unfortunately encountered. “Quit squirming you little rascal! Your death will be swift I swear!” It was Lady Iris focusing on Puck; Barry assumed that she must have taken notice of his potent fire affinity.

  Everyone else did their best to protect Puck but struggled due to their own battles at the moment. Anna managed to teleport in time to assist Puck before he got grappled by a vine. Puck channeled his mojo within and fanned his flames back at the wicked plants, igniting them all and incinerating them entirely. “Preposterous little devil you are! Your pyromancy is something unbelievable. Win or lose, I'll be sure to snuff you out before this challenge ends!”

  A barrage of projectiles struck her from the back, it was a group of adventurers coordinating an attack on her using various attacks. “Wh-Where did you all come from!? I thought it was only-” She stopped talking and shielded herself from another group that tried to ambush. Lady Iris had thought that her only enemies were Barry’s team and Shaco’s once shadowed forces; it confused her how more adventurers appeared on the scene. “No matter, you’ve all just provided me with more nutrients for my children. Now perish!”

  But before she could launch a counterattack against those surrounding her, a persistent pest popped out of the corner of her eye from above. “You first.” It was Barry, his greatsword came crashing down, slashing across Lady Iris’s chest. He figured his blade wouldn’t be as effective as it once was when Puck had it enchanted. Her inner magic must have also strengthened her resilience and defensiveness stats.

  The pain inflicted on Lady Iris was bearable but it pissed her off how someone so primitive continued to strike against her magnificence. She reciprocated the same gesture, violently taking stabs at him using sharp pointed vines to get him to back off. “That’s as close as you’ll get, you roach! Now. Just. DIE!”

  The very ground beneath Barry caved in, revealing a massive pitcher plant filled with sweet smelling acid ready for him to bathe in. Barry couldn’t use his double-jump because he had to push off the ground in order to do so, resulting in his potential doom. “Barry!” He glanced up as he fell and saw a magical purple chain swing down; he reacted quickly and grabbed on to his lifeline, yanking him upwards to safety.

  He landed back on solid ground, rolling to a stop near the rest of his team. “Barry! A-Are you okay!?” It was Kat checking on him, realizing that she was the one who saved him.

  “Yeah, thanks to you. Would have sucked if you hadn’t done that.” He acknowledged as he stood up, nodding to her. Kat smiled, glad that she was of assistance to him. Lady Iris was currently occupied by other adventurers, contesting against their might and sorcery. She was still firm on killing Puck but couldn’t at the time. His team gathered around him now that they had a moment to strategize. “Me and Shaco tried stalling for as much time possible until the fucking sun came shining down on her and did some photosynthesis shit. How many flower pits do we have left to destroy?”

  “I can tell you we’ve only managed to sabotage four out of twelve of them.” Ron answered. “And given the remaining time we have now, and the plant lady’s sudden glow-up, we’re gonna be cutting it close to finish the challenge.”

  Pressure was on them, it was true that the reappeared adventurers were a big help on their side but Lady Iris’s power up was on another level. Her children were stronger now and it was said in the event description that these flower pits could produce more lethal offsprings if left for too long. Barry had to make a decision quickly. “I’ll try and get her attention again while you all-”

  “No! Let Puck join you!” Puck interjected. “Stupid flower lady wants to kill Puck, so why not join you and we can distract her together. Let Puck help!” The little Kobold knew he was a prime target in the villain’s eyes but if it meant drawing her away from the others so they could accomplish their task, he was willing to make himself out as bait.

  Barry didn’t want him to take such a risk and denied. “Puck, she’s dangerous. If she gets her clutches on you-”

  “What if you die!? How do you think Puck and friends would feel!?” Puck countered, his words stunned Barry, it made him want to argue but he couldn’t move his lips. “When are you going to trust Puck!?”

  Upon hearing this, Barry looked away and weighed his options, he was conflicted between both his logic and emotions. Bringing Puck along would surely distract the villain but there was a chance Puck could meet a worse fate. He knew denying him would damage their bond and he didn’t want Puck to feel unwanted. “Barry.” Shaco said, getting his attention. “I’ll be there with you. Trust us.”

  Balling his fists in frustration, Barry let out a heavy sigh and admitted defeat. “Dammit, okay Puck. Come on.” He accepted Puck’s offer, seeing him happy to help. Puck got on his back while Barry and Shaco got ready to go tango with the deva once again. “Alright listen everyone.” Barry spoke to the others. “While we go play cat-and-mouse, you guys spread the word to all the other adventurers and keep destroying these flower pits before they start shitting out more threats. Stay alive and keep focus, we’re getting this victory. So let’s fucking do this.”

  He then activated ‘King’s Commanding Presence’, buffing everyone up right before taking off alongside Shaco. Renewed motivation surged through his team, determined to give it all they got to sweep the win in their favor.

  The adventurers were putting up a fight against Lady Iris but took a tactical retreat for now otherwise they’d be wiped out if they stayed in combat any longer. The villain scanned the area in search of the little fireball that posed a hazard to her creations. However, she didn’t have to look any further when she saw a ball of inferno heading her way. Walls of plant matter were manifested to shield herself, yet was burned to ashes. “There you are.” She said in disgust.

  Puck, Shaco, and Barry presented themselves on a building up high, staring down at her. “Round two bitch. I see you’ve taken an interest in my pal Puck, quite the firecracker isn’t he?” Puck then crackled a sparkle of embers from his maw, his way of intimidating Lady Iris who leered at him. “He’s gonna be the one to burn you down, along with all your lousy creations.”

  Lady Iris was not going to let some meager critter be the one to foil her plans, let alone a silly looking Kobold. She did not respond using any witty banter, her entire focus was on eliminating Puck and that was what she did. The entire building the three stood on shook and collapsed from the erupted plants lashing out at them. Shaco passed a balloon to Barry and Puck, taking the skies and luring Lady Iris away from the others. Their fight was about to get heated.