The Mad Rat’s Lab

In front of me, the bright letters make a countdown for the dungeon battle’s start.

“3, 2, 1, Battle Start!”

The dungeon portal in front of me activates, and immediately after, an avalanche of goblins and orcs pours into the dungeon.

“What the heck…!?”

The enemies advance through the laboratory, looking for enemies to slay. But they only find laboratory stuff everywhere, and me on a raised platform. So they rush at me.

I pull the lever right next to my position, and a green light activates. We prepared an alarm system to show everyone where are the enemies. Each dungeon area has a color assigned to it, and when we pull one of the levers, all the bulbs of that color turn on. There is one such group of bulbs in each dungeon area, so we can know the position of the enemies from anywhere.

It’s a cheap but effective alarm system, exclusive to the Flesh Monstrosities. Other factions can do something almost identical, but because it isn’t the same, this is exclusive to my faction, and won’t agree with anybody who says both are the same!

A good thing is that the bulbs and levers can’t be destroyed because they count as part of the dungeon! We don’t need to worry about stray attacks at all! The only problem is the enemies can also pull the levers, but… they first have to find them! And they are well hidden! Hahaha!

We decided to play defensively in this first battle to get used to how these battles are. It’s the first time we can defend our dungeon, and also the first time there are three entrances instead of one. I’m currently defending one entrance, and Ricard and Clara are defending another one each. Laura’s near the dungeon core, and will help where it’s needed.

The game has started, the cameras are filming, and everyone can see the battle, so… It’s roleplay time!

“Hahaha! You got the wrong enemy, you worthless scum! Come and eat this! Let’s see how long can you stay alive! Let’s play a little! Hahaha!”

I cast Chain Lightning and it jumps from one goblin to the next, eventually hitting several orcs. It isn’t enough to reduce all enemies to 1 HP, so I cast a second one, followed by a third one.

As usual, the lightning starts to multiply, and thanks to the Battery upgrade for the Shared Voltage skill, every Chain Lightning causes exponentially more damage than the previous one. The game almost freezes for a moment due to so many visual effects at the same time: all the goblins and orcs are stunned and with lighting coursing through them.

But this isn’t the end of the show, no… it would be too lame otherwise.

In this second phase, the dungeon portals not only connect to each other but instead work as a wormhole between dungeons. So instead of teleportation as usual, it’s possible to see and cross to the other dungeon immediately. And there are more goblins and orcs on the other side of the portal, so the lightning crosses the portal and strikes them too.

I rise my hands up and cackle maniacally.

“Fufufu! You can’t defeat me with such weak creatures! They only serve to make my attacks more powerful! Hahaha!”

I then jump to the lower level in an amazing display of skill - or at least I hope it looks amazing - and press a button to open the doors, releasing a bunch of Stitched that jump on the poor and defenseless enemies, making quick work of them.

“Awww! What a shame! It’s already game over! I hoped you could last some more time…”

I blew all my MP at once, but I don’t care because it’s more important to reduce the number of enemies as much as possible. What’s more, I regenerate my MP very fast thanks to the Mana Core innate skill, so I only need to rest for a while to recover.

In fact, I’m more worried about the HP lost due to the Maniac skill…

I walk slowly among the incapacitated goblins and orcs until I cross to the other dungeon and feign to notice something.

I say ‘feign to notice’ because I actually noticed before casting the Chain Lightning spells. It’s impossible to miss a Champion because the other team sees a special marker on top of our heads. Unless you’re blind, you’ll always know it’s a Champion instead of a common enemy.

I stop in front of one orc, touching it with the staff.

“Oh! Look what we have here! You look stronger than the other rabble. What are you, the commander? Fufufu…”

I stroke my chin in a thinking pose. Meanwhile, the paralyzed player looks at me. If looks could kill…

“Aha! I know! I’ll use your body well! Don’t worry, we’re going to have fun together, and when everything’s finished, you’ll see how much you were missing until now…”

The orc starts to struggle as the stun effect wears off, but my staff is already raised, ready for the final strike.

“Now, good night! I’ll see you soon, and we’ll play together a bit more! You, and your other half! Hahaha!”

Cackling maniacally, I grab the other player’s corpse, the Champion, and drag it to where I was standing at the beginning.

Then I press one of the bricks and a secret door opens.

“Now, my little minions… I’ll leave you to clean this place. Hahaha!”

The Stitched have already killed most of the enemies, but some of them have recovered from the stun and are now trying to fight back.

But we already won. I mean, they only have 1 HP. Even if they regained the ability to move and attack, the Stitched only need to hit them one time to kill them, so it’s impossible for them to lose. What’s more, the player is already dead and can’t command them to retreat.

How many orcs and goblins are here? Hmm… maybe a little over forty? Well, who cares!?

While laughing, I continue to drag the Champion’s body away. I know, it’s already dead, so it makes no sense for the game's mechanics. Plus it is a Champion, and we are in the tournament. Any of the reasons would make it impossible for me to capture it, and all of them are true, but…

This is a~ll for the roleplay.

Before leaving, I don’t forget to pull the lever again, disabling the green light to show there aren’t any more enemies in this place. I’m going back to the dungeon core to wait for my MP to recover and explain the situation to the others.

I leave the room through the secret passage, which closes behind the champion’s corpse. I’m sure this scene will look amazing with a little bit of video editing.

I’m not too worried about more enemies coming from this same dungeon portal because, after seeing so many corpses from their own units, anybody would look for another path.

 

---

 

“Welcome back!”

“Hey there, Lily.” She looks expectantly at me, waiting for me to explain the situation. “My side’s clear. They attacked in mass as soon as the match started, but I obliterated everything. I’m here to recover MP and help where needed. Oh, I also killed one of the enemy players. The poor guy got blasted by my Chain Lightning and Shared Voltage combo after accumulating damage on the other weaker mobs, hahaha!”

“Good job, Mad Rat! Do you want the prize I reserved exclusively for you?” She says, slightly pulling her miniskirt up.

Please, don’t joke during the matches… I’m tempted to admonish her because r-18 content is banned in the tournament, but I stop when I remember there’s no problem as long as it isn’t explicitly said or shown.

I look around. There’s nobody else in the room, but the blue and yellow bulbs are on, indicating there are enemies in both Ricard’s and Clara’s areas. 

Oh! The purple bulb turns on at this exact moment. The purple color indicates there are enemies in Ricard’s second area. The enemies must have forced him back.

By the way, the red color is reserved for when there are enemies in the dungeon core room and calls for everybody to retreat and defend.

“So… do you know what’s up with the rest?” I ask.

“I don’t know. All three lights turned on at the same time, and only yours turned off soon after…”

It’s at this moment that Ricard runs inside the room.

“Haaa… that was close…” He struggles to calm himself. “Shit! Why did they have to come to my side with my perfect counters!?”

“Hey, Baldy!” I go to his side and pat his shoulders. “You already lost the whole area? And what do you mean by counters?”

“No, not everything’s lost yet… And by counters, I mean flying ranged units. Fuck! Why did I have to find so many fairies rushing through the portal I was supposed to defend!? I have almost no ranged attacks! How am I supposed to fight against so many flying enemies plus two champions!?”

“Calm down, my friend!” I pat his shoulder again. “Everyone can get unlucky sometimes!”

“Yeah, don’t worry too much. We can still make a comeback!” Adds Laura.

I know this is serious, so I stop joking around and ask him.

“How bad is the situation, Baldy?”

“The enemies are stuck in the Catacombs area, fighting against the skeleton archers. You know, the narrow passages and low ceilings cripple their mobility and the skeletons have higher stats… but they aren’t going to last very long because they have the support of two champions!”

So Ricard lost control of the dungeon portal area, our units are fighting against the invaders in the Catacombs… and there are two enemy Champions there.

Wait a moment… if I killed one Champion, two of them entered through Ricard’s portal, and I assume the last one is currently fighting against Clara - because let’s be honest, there’s no way Clara would still be fighting if only normal mobs attacked through the dungeon portal she’s defending - doesn’t this mean they went in an all-in attack, and there’s no Champion to defend their dungeon now?

“Hahahaha!” I can’t stop myself from laughing again.

“Are you laughing at my failure?” Asks Ricard in shame.

“No, no. This isn’t it.” I awkwardly scratch my head. He misunderstood why I was laughing. “I was laughing because I believe we can win this match easily.”

“...what do you mean? We lost control of one dungeon portal and the enemies are advancing to this position right now! Remember there’s a timer to end the match, and if nobody destroys the other team’s dungeon core, the winner is the one who got closest to the other team’s dungeon core! And the enemies are almost here! It doesn’t matter if we kill more enemies than they do thanks to the defensive advantage if we only defend!”

He points at the dungeon core, emphasizing what he means. I’m sure he’s too worried and can’t see the whole picture.

“Then tell me, why do you think I’m here right now?”

“No way… were you forced to retreat too…? Were you laughing because we already lost!?” But he stops talking when he sees the green bulb is off.

“Yep. I already cleared the whole area and came here to see how everyone was doing.” I chuckle. “Heh. They sent lots of weak enemies against me, and I killed them all with a few Chain Lightning casts. I even managed to kill one enemy player…”

Ricard’s eyes open wide as he realizes what I’m implying.

“Do you mean… one side is completely unguarded now?”

“Yeah. There shouldn’t be any obstacle capable to stop us if we attack through the laboratory portal now.”

I rub my hands in anticipation.

“Lily, heal Baldy and go help defend the Catacombs. Don’t try to kill the enemies, just stall for time. If you see you’re going to lose, retreat to the core room. Baldy, you stay here and prepare to defend the core with everything you have.”

“I’ll redeem myself from my previous blunder!”

“Ok, Mad Rat. Baldy, come here, I’ll heal you.”

I’m not worried about this plan. Stalling for time in the Catacombs, with the narrow passages that comprise it, is very easy. Plus Laura’s Hellfire is almost impossible to avoid unless the fight happens in an open space.

And when it comes to defending the core, Ricard’s the one who’s best suited for it because of his Champion’s resilience. With Laura’s ranged support, not even the fairies will pose a threat to him.

“Remember to activate the red light to warn Lemon to come back if needed.” I say before leaving the room.

 

---

 

Looks like it’s roleplay time again! Hahaha!

The door closes behind me as I enter the room. This one is a room full of stasis chambers and a few operating tables. It looks similar to the laboratories in my dungeon.

In fact, the stasis chambers and other laboratory equipment only work as decorations here, but they still provide some obstacles that prevent units from moving freely through the room.

On top of one of those operating tables, there’s the body of the player I defeated before, chained to it. Of course, it is a completely useless effort; but I put it there because I was roleplaying my character the best I could.

Roaming through the room, and bumping into everything they find in their path, there are two Braindead squadrons. I ignore them for now.

“Fufufu!”

I come close to three metallic containers and press a very big red button right in front of them. Releasing white smoke, the containers’ doors open slowly and three tall figures come out.

They have the dark and somewhat grayish skin typical of dwarves, as well as their sturdy builds. But unlike what happens with normal dwarves, I have to rise my head to look at their faces. Their slightly pointed ears, the big tusks protruding from the lower jaw, and the brightly shining red eyes display the fierceness all orcs have.

With a thick half-body shield on one hand, a fantasy mace on the other, and clad in heavy armor, they certainly don’t look like they are going to be killed easily.

They are my newest creations: the units that are going to substitute the Braindead Followers in the future. They are both my guards as well as the units that pair better with my skill set from all the ones I’ve created so far.

“Fufufu! Hahaha!” I rise my hands up as I laugh. “The time has come! I’m sure you’ve waited for this day to come, the day when you’ll show the world how good you are compared to your previous selves! Trample everything in your path! Regardless of how many enemies, you’ll persevere! Hahaha!”

Now’s the best time to try them out. Well, that’s a lie. I didn’t have time to test them before, so I’m going to do it now.

“Tremble and despair, because nothing can stop us! Hahaha!”

Laughing maniacally, I leave the second laboratory, which we called the Chambers area, towards the adjacent area. There, the undefended dungeon portal is waiting for me and my newest creations to cross it.

Following behind me and the three new units, all the remaining Stitched make for an impressive sight. Though I’m not going to bring the Stitched with me to the other dungeon, they’re going to stay to help Ricard and Laura to defend the dungeon.

We’re going to win this easily. I hope so.

 

“Regardless of what strategy you choose, don’t hesitate. Of course, plan around your opponent’s strong and weak points, but once you decide, commit to it. The worst thing you can do is waste time.

Oh, and you should have some way to communicate with your team. There are always unexpected events and you must be able to react to them.”

- Tips from a veteran DMA player for new teams participating in DMA’s Main Tournament.