Weirdos III: The Untouchable Lady

Chapter 70: The Last Challenge

"Gather around, brats. Sit," Ezekiel said as we entered our surveillance room. With a casual wave of his hand, chairs appeared out of thin air in the middle of the room. "Sir Garrick will be here any moment. He's going to enlighten us about the game for the Finals."

"Dang it, I'm getting excited," Jack said breathlessly as he sat beside Ike. "Any ideas for the challenge in the Finals, bros?"

"I have," I said. "I'm 100% sure that they're going to make us clash in the Finals. People love drama. With everything that happened between us and Sierra, I'm sure that the committee is going to milk it."

"I agree," Ike replied. "The gameplay of the challenge is going to be designed in such a way to ensure that the two opposing teams will inevitably fight each other. It's going to be a showdown between Emerald and Sierra for sure."

After several moments, Professor Romeus appeared in the room with a loud crack. He gave us a nod as we greeted him.

"Congratulations for making it to the Finals. Under normal circumstances, the top two teams would've been briefed together in a single room. However, because of the colorful story between Emerald and Sierra in the Elimination Round, the tournament committee has decided to brief the two teams separately. Professor Ojeros will be briefing Sierra in their dugout," Professor Romeus said.

"Good choice, sir," Ezekiel said.

Professor Romeus went straight to the room's main TV monitor before tapping it. In an instant, a three-dimensional map made out of grids and lines appeared on the screen. The terrain looks like a wide rectangle divided by a body of water in the middle.

"This is the Mayhem Macédoine," he began. "From the name itself, we are going to incorporate the elements of the five previous terrains into it. The terrain is divided into two parts, one part for Sierra and the other for Emerald. Each side has the same features. We begin in the Lanes..."

He tapped the middle part of the terrain.

"There are three types of Lane in the terrain: top, middle, and bottom. Standing at the end of each Lane are the Towers. The Towers provide a barrier that runs along the course of the river dividing the terrain. For as long as the Towers are standing, the barrier will be there to prevent your opponents from entering your side of the terrain. Let's move further into the map..."

Professor Romeus swiped the screen towards a circular structure with a huge crystal at its center.

"The three Lanes lead to the Base. The Base is protected by a barrier provided by two more Towers located at the Base's edge. Once the Towers are down, your Base's Kardia will be exposed to your opponents. The Kardia is basically the heart of your Base. Lastly, the corner of the terrain serves as your team's Spawn Area. From the name itself, it's the only way to enter the place," he explained.

"I already know where this is going," Jack said, breathless in anticipation.

"The challenge for the Finals is Tower Defense. The gameplay is very simple," Professor Romeus continued. "Destroying the first three Towers will take down the first barrier and willl also give you access to the enemy terrain filled with power-ups and boosts. Destroying the two Towers at the edge of the enemy base will take down the second barrier and expose the enemy Kardia. Destroy the Kardia—"

"—and we win the Cup?" Ezekiel asked, his eyes gleaming.

"You win the Cup," Professor Romeus confirmed. "However, the Towers and Kardia won't just roll over and die once you attack them. Both of them will attack any member of the opposing team that gets near them. Ten hits from the Towers will take you out of the game. The Kardia just needs five to do that. Also, those structures are strong as hell. It will take more than just physical or magical attacks to destroy them. Also, the opposing team will be guarding those things together with their Gladiators."