It was the perfect day for a monster duel. I let out a happy sigh as I walked through the grassy fields of my local park. The sun was high in a clear blue sky, a slight breeze lifting through my ashy blonde hair. The playful shouts of running kids were interspersed with the occasional raised voice of a parent calling them in. I only paid enough attention to make sure I would not run into anybody or step on a picnic blanket. My head bowed over my phone as I tapped furiously in a duel of my monster’s life. On the screen, my underpowered monster, a Dearie, faced off with an opponent, an iron and earth Golem, four times his size. It looked like a spritely Bambi squaring off against the Iron Giant. My Dearie’s opponent had more XP, and a couple of basic, though powerful move sets. Most were elemental-based. My Dearie was smaller with some nature-based moves that did nothing against the Golem’s iron and earth skin. By every measurement, my Dearie was weaker. The best it could do was head-butt, and that only took off one HP at a time. But my Dearie had a special attack up its digital sleeves: Harts of Justice. If I fought smartly, I’d have a chance to win. I swiped left and right to dodge blows from the Golem’s slow but strong punches and kicks. The nimble deer-like sprite on the screen was able to avoid most of the blows, jumping over meaty oversized fists. All the while, I kept my eyes on the health bar. Finally, mine had only a sliver of red remaining while the Golem was almost at half. I stopped Dearie, and with frantic tapping, keyed in the special attack I’d kept in reserve for the entire match. A smart opponent might suspect that something fishy was going on. My Dearie had been bounding around the fighting arena like his hooves were springs. Now he was locked in place. Hopefully, my opponent would think I’d give it up and just wanted the fight to finish. No dice. I spent way too much time and energy on this monster and acquiring this finishing move set. The giant ham-size fist came in a flourishing roundhouse punch intent to bottom out the last of my Dearie’s health. He was getting fancy. A split-second before the punch landed, I released Special Attack: Harts of Justice. A glittery pink shield filled with hearts encased my little deer creature. Antlers sprouted from its forehead, taking it from ice-skating Bambi to weirdly handsome fresh-after-winter Prince Bambi. It bowed its head to take the blow full on. As soon as a fist connected, the screen flashed. Abruptly, the power bars changed. My Dearie’s tiny power bar became his, and I was at half strength. I heard a dismayed shout from somewhere across the field. Absently, I pulled my hair to the side, shielding what I was doing. My eyes didn’t leave my phone’s screen for a second. This was a total overpowered trap move — my Dearie’s specialty, but it required a crazy amount of setup in return. My Dearie could use no special attack offensive moves in the entire fight prior — dodge and basic martial hits only. Really, the other guy should’ve seen it coming. He could have taken my Dearie down with a special Iron pincer grip or an earth spike. But no. He wanted to punch the life out of my monster bit by bit. This was what he got. Now my special attack was used, I could strike back. The antlers hadn’t disappeared. My Dearie was still in Prince Bambi mode. My monster charged forward to head butt the reeling Golem once, twice, three times. They were tiny hits like attacking a boulder with a fly scatter, but the other monster wasn’t moving. From the angry shouts I heard across the field, the boy was too busy having a tantrum. Honestly, the Golem was so overpowered that I might have still been in trouble if he had played smart, instead of emotional. It was over before the boy got back control. The Golem’s health bottomed out and an animation took over where it swayed and fell. Winner! Sister Harmony and her Dearie!

“What the hell, man?” screamed a voice. Finally, I looked up from my phone to see a boy about my age, seventeen or so, leap up from a bench around the skating area of the park. He looked around accusingly, watching for somebody else playing intently on their phones. With the local duel mode on, players could see approximately who was where, though it wasn’t exact. He would know I was in or around the park, but the chances of him realizing it was me were slim. Or so I thought. I wasn’t quick enough to look away, and his gaze fell on me. His face darkened, and, picking up his skateboard, he charged towards me. Oh no. He was pissed, and he had every right to be. Not only had he lost a fight he should have won, but we had also been playing on ‘Pink Slip’ mode. That meant I was now the owner of a brand new Golem if I chose. That was why I bothered to duel local players. You couldn’t play for monster pink slips if you fought online players… well, not without cheating mods. This game meant too much to risk getting my account perma-banned. I played clean. The angry boy was still making a bee-line to me. No point in trying to run away. Not with my bad foot. I quickly ducked my head, selecting “YES”. I wanted the Golem and got busy overwriting its digital title with my information. The Golem might be all fists and no brain, but I won him fair and square. If he didn’t go into my own stable of monsters as shield tank, he would net me probably a good twenty dollars on the Monster Duel auction house. Not bad for fifteen minutes’ worth of work. It beat flipping burgers. Filling out the new owner info let me have a look at the details of the Golem’s title. Suddenly, I knew why the boy was pissy. This wasn’t any regular Iron and Earth Golem. This was a lady Iron and Earth Golem. Most monsters in Monster Duel were male. It was… a whole uncomfortable thing. The original game came out in Japan in the early eighties. Since then, the only concession to ‘equal rights’ had been to make the females as strong in fighting as the males. Generally. However, the ratios were way out of whack and any Monster Dueler with a brain in their head used the rare female monsters to make more monster eggs, if you know what I’m saying. My hatchery made almost as much as duels. I’d make more, but females are hard to come by. Yes, not only was I a total sell-out to my gender. I was a backyard monster breeder. Judge me. “You are going to have sooo many boyfriends,” I muttered under my breath. That boy was an absolute fool to put her in the duels, much less fight for pink slips. Speaking of, he hadn’t slowed a step. I had seconds at best. After finishing out the owner information, I force-closed the app and opened a social media feed just as the boy charged up. “That wasn’t fair! You cheated!” he snarled. I glanced at him, shock coloring my features. “Excuse me?” “You heard me. You’re giving it back.” Then he snatched my phone out of my hand before I could react. I thought he had been pissed, but I didn’t think that he would do that. I felt my cheeks heat in a blush. “Give me back my phone, you creep!” Ignoring me, he looked at my screen, frowning when he saw my social media feed. Then he started tapping through the screen, looking for my app. I had hidden it on the fourth page. “Help!” I yelled, turning to the park at large. “This guy is robbing me!” Yeah, it was a low blow, but come on. I’m a hundred-twenty pound girl with a gimp foot that turns inside. Hell yes, I’ll play a damsel in distress. “Help!” A look of uncertainty flashed on the boy’s face, and some of the very nice families with some very bored dads were starting to look around. “Give me back my phone!” I yelled again, loud, so everybody else could hear. “Look,” he said. “Trade me back my monster and I’ll leave.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” “Monster Duel! The game?” He paused. “You were the one dueling me, right?” I widened my eyes and shook my head. I wasn’t above lying, either. A female monster was worth at least ten times a male. “Hey, what’s going on here?” A man walked slowly towards us. He had a total dad bod, but that still meant he outweighed this skater boy by a good seventy-five pounds. He frowned at the two of us. I had the distinct pleasure of watching the boy realize there was a very good chance he had was hassling some rando girl. But I had underestimated his ego. He sneered, “Bitch,” and then threw down my phone as hard as he could. It hit the hard ground with an ominous snapping sound. “Hey!” I yelled but he had already taken off in the other direction, running. With a sigh, I scooped up my phone and turned it to look at the damage. The case was meant to prevent cracks, but like everything else I owned, it was cheap. A new spider web crack had appeared on the top corner. My erstwhile hero, Mr. Dad-Bod had finally come up. “Are you okay? I saw what happened. Do you want me to call the cops?” I sighed. “No, no point. I don’t know who that was, and he’s gone now.” He sidled closer. A little too close. “Is there anyone you want me to call? Parents? Boyfriend?” Oookay. He was getting a little too nosy. “No, but thanks for your help.” I turned and hobbled off. Thankfully, he didn’t press the issue. Still, I kept half an eye on him until I was halfway across the park again. Maybe I should have given the snotty boy his Golem back…. Nah. He didn’t have to accept a duel with pink slips to the winner. What did he want with my little Dearie, anyway? After power cycling my phone, I checked the crack. It was shallow and didn’t seem to affect the touchscreen. I could deal with it. But if the cracks spread, I was out of a phone… and my one and only source of income. It wasn’t like the director of my group girl’s home would spot me another. I’d have to wait for another donation drive for poor wards of the state. With another sigh, I strolled over to a friendly gazebo where a monster stronghold lay. Sometimes, wild monsters could spawn out of strongholds. It was my favorite place to farm, and I could occasionally get rates that could make me a few dollars on the auction house. Especially after I trained them up in move sets, first. I had a couple of skill books left over from a championship— My thoughts faltered as I looked at the screen. It had turned bright blue. “Oh, no, no…” I muttered. “Is this the blue screen of death?” Then, to my surprise, a message popped up over the blue. Greetings. You have shown skill and aptitude in monster dueling, but have you considered dragon taming?

“What?” I asked, looking around. “Is this a joke?” Or… could this be an introduction to a new level in the game? I kept abreast of the Monster Duelers community to make sure I didn’t miss on any important events that could earn me monsters and loot, but… The message changed again. Our world desperately needs your skills. Fame, fortune, and adventure await. Would you like to join? YES/NO “Is this for real?” I asked. “Some sort of beta?” The message didn’t look like the game’s normal UI, and the blue screen was nothing like I’d seen on Monster Duel before. I’d never heard of anyone being contacted this way, either. But if I could get on the ground floor of a new game… I’d have a leg up on the competition. What did I have to lose? I clicked YES. There was a sharp jerk, like my insides were being pulled inside out, and then, abruptly, the world around me vanished.