Team Reforged: Vegas, Baby
Copyright© 2026 by FozzieBare
Chapter 10: Don’t call it a Comeback
Amy wasn’t happy with the news. But she took charge in the moment.
“Go. I’ll do the debrief, get everyone to stretch, just to stay in the game. I’ll make sure they know you’re proud of them. Obviously this means you won’t be as useful in the duel round. The good news is that means you can take over the 6v6 round since you’re not in the Duel Round. We’ll talk about that before the next match. We’ll have a couple minutes to submit the rosters. I suggest Henry take your place. I’ll move up to leadoff, Henry will take my place, then Keiji, Tex, and Gavin.” I’ll have Kevin bring you a bite to eat too.
Adrian managed a smile. It was sickly, but it was there.
“I understand why Abby calls you Captain Amy.”
Amy growled.
“Go! You’re wasting time.”
Adrian hurried off.
Adrian did not like hurrying his work. Sloppiness was never on the menu. He would much prefer taking his time to do the job right. But there was just an abject shortage of minutes he had to work
He threw himself down at a computer and immediately went to work.
Thankfully, the machine was internet connected, so he had access to Reforged’s guild assets.
He took one, singular, deep breath, held it, and released it.
Then it was time to go to work.
He worked quickly, but not hurriedly. He didn’t want to have to undo most of the work when he got home after the tournament, or worse yet, damage some of the equipment that made the WarMaster special.
But he looked in the guild bank and saw several copies of Martin’s improved missile launchers.
He texted Martin.
“Please tell me the missile launchers in the guild bank are the ones that work.”
A few seconds later, while Adrian was quickly disassembling the lasers and the cannon from the WarMaster and placing it back in personal storage, the reply came back.
“Theoretically yes. Untested in battle.”
Adrian sighed and sent back the reply
“Well, consider this a baptism of fire.”
There was a pause.
“You sure, Adrian?”
He started the procedure to attach the missile pods to his WarMAC and run the ammo feeds to the pods.
“No, but I’m going to do it anyway.”
“I see. Good luck then.”
Coming from Martin, that was the closest thing he was going to get to “I hope you know what you’re doing. But may Murphy overlook you”
He didn’t even pause to blink whenever possible. He felt like he was sweating but didn’t want to take his hands off the controls to verify or deny that fact
He very nearly made a mistake with a weld.
He stopped.
Breathed.
Waited for his heart to calm down.
Started again.
With about twelve minutes to go, Kevin stopped by, and had one of those ghastly energy drinks.
“The concession stand was busier then expected. The caterers haven’t unpacked yet. This is all I could get.”
Adrian nodded.
His eyes never left the screen.
Kevin looked. “Do we have time?”
Adrian considered.
“Yeah. I’ll have to drink it on the run, probably but at this point, I’m not drinking it for the taste.”
Kevin stepped back. He held the drink.
Adrian finally finished.
He looked at it.
It looked, well, sloppy.
But it was functional.
Good enough.
Time to go.
He popped the account card out of its reader.
“Let’s go. Hand me the drink. Go ahead. Tell Amy I’ll be right behind you.”
Kevin nodded and bolted towards the stage where the first elimination round was happening.
He popped the tab.
“Well, here goes.”
He drank half of it in one series of large gulps. He only stopped because the fizz from the carbonation attempted to come back up, causing him to gag slightly.
He looked at it.
That’s enough.
Time to run.
He threw it away and took off at a run.
He made it with six minutes on the clock.
“Ok, What’d I miss?” he asked Amy.
“It’d take more time to explain than we have. We’re all good. We know we have a full round break after this one if we win. Problem is after that we have two elimination rounds in a row after that, another break, and then the final round of the evening is the Finals Day qualifier if we make it that far. Marcus is arranging for a food delivery if we make it to the second elimination round. We’ll have time enough to eat a quick meal then. We’re good with the changes. I was about to bring the roster sheet over. Do you want to do the honors?
He shook his head. He was slightly out of breath. It was a good thing he wasn’t leading off the Duel Round this time.
“You do it. Who are we playing, anyway.”
“RokkitMen. They lost to the Interstellar Warriors round one. Shut out. They look dispirited.”
“Let’s keep the pressure on them.”
Amy gently slugged Adrian on the shoulder.
“The proper response is “Let’s send them home”. Good job on the reconfigure work by the way.”
“You haven’t even seen it yet.”
“I know. But I know you would have told me if it didn’t work. You would have said which WarMAC you were bringing back.”
“I’m using the new missile launchers.”
“Well, let’s just hope they work.”
The tournament official came over.
“Reforged, we’re about to start the match. You guys are designated as the “home” team based on Round 1 points. Do you have a preference on which side you want?”
Amy looked at the booth they had occupied less than an hour before.
“I’m not superstitious. We’ll take that one again.”
The tournament official nodded and went over to inform RokkitMen which booth they would be in.
Adrian cocked an eyebrow at Amy. “Not superstitious? Are you sure you’re a gamer?”
Amy shrugged. “It’s familiar. At this point, I’ll take every small advantage we can get.”
That caused Adrian to look at Amy.
“You know what would be a great advantage? Beat as many of them as you can.”
Amy slugged Adrian again, this time a little harder. “That was already on the menu. I don’t like losing. Furiosa hates it worse than I do.”
The announcers were going through their introduction to the round, and he saw them visibly turn towards him in surprise when the teams for the Duel Round was announced.
He sighed when one of the broadcaster’s assistants edged over to him.
“Anything wrong, Adrian? They want me to ask if there was a reason that you’re not in the Duel Round. Are you sitting out this match?”
Adrian shook his head.
“Tactical reasons only. We decided to shake up the Duel Round, and that would allow me to take part in all three group battle rounds. Nothing more than that.”
The assistant looked dubious, but murmured something into his phone, and hurried off without acknowledging him further.
Amy led her team of duelists into the booth.
Kevin showed up with a regular soda this time, a fact that Adrian was very glad to have, as the extra carbonation from the energy drink was still burning all the way down to his stomach.
He sipped it and willed his stomach to settle after the stress and physical exertion he had just been through.
The map for the Duel Round was “The Floes of Foster VII”. One might think that this referred to snow, ice, maybe some very confused penguins. It was instead the exact opposite.
The “floes” were actually rocky islands surrounded by lava. There were paths between the islands, but every so often the lava would rise and fall, randomly covering the pathways. The only safe places at all times were the islands.
A WarMAC that touched the lava would take horrendous damage for every second any part of the WarMAC remained in contact with the lava, and for a brief time afterward. It wasn’t an instant-lose condition, but no one ever wanted to be in that situation.
He looked into the booth, but he could barely make the top of her head out from where he sat. He decided to keep an eye on the camera showing her facial expressions.
The first opponent for the RokkitMen was their captain, and their namesake. His gamertag was Rokkitmaster, and despite his preference for missile-based weaponry, he insisted on placing himself in the leadoff position.
Adrian shook his head. That was pure, unadulterated ego. He began to understand why they had been shutout by the Warriors in the previous round.
He studied Amy’s expression. She was focused.
When the round started, Furiosa took off. She had traveled through two islands in less than ten seconds. The islands were narrow in some places, which made it difficult to know where the islands ended and the pathways began. But Amy quickly made it across to the middle of the map. Rokkitmaster had set himself up at the edge of one island and launched a couple salvos that did minimal damage, as Furiosa jinked this way and that, denying him a clean missile launch.
He wasn’t prepared for her speed. She’s going to make this up close and personal. This will be quick.
It was even quicker than Adrian had expected. Rokkitmaster had blocked the island’s entrance point, and the second she got close enough, Rokkitmaster was obviously going to jump away. But he never had a chance.
From a distance he wasn’t expecting and an angle he wasn’t considering, Amy slammed down her foot pedals and Furiosa took to the sky.
That’s a long jump. Is she going to make it? Yes. Barely. She’s got an angle on him. He should be jumping away now. Wait. She’s not stopping. She’s not going to...
She is. She’s just as crazy as I am.
Furiosa landed, and immediately had pivoted to face Rokkitmaster, who had turned as if to stare at his crazy opponent.
That was his final mistake.
Because Furiosa wasn’t just firing that tri-band laser at Rokkitmaster, she was charging at him at full speed.
He could imagine the announcers voice now.
“What is it with Reforged? Are they playing World of WarMachines or Tackle Football?”
She charged into him, lowering her shoulder at the last second for maximum impact. It hit right under Rokkitmaster’s cockpit.
It took one step back. Two steps back.
Then fell, because there third step back was where the island ended and the molten lava began.
It fell directly INTO the lava, which quickly covered it. It thrashed as if in agony once. Twice. And then the missile ammunition cooked off.
It was a spectacular visual, and a spectacular play.
Amy and Furiosa had put Reforged up one-nothing in the Duel Round, and no one could believe it.
The small crowd was going berserk.
Adrian wanted to go berserk as well.
The second pilot had no idea what just happened, but he got the idea from Rokkitmaster attempting to throw his mouse at the glass of the booth window that something catastrophic had happened. However, it took the second pilot a couple of seconds to understand.
“Me? I’m in the match? Now? What about the boss? What do you mean he’s dead already?”
So, while the tournament official charged over to calm down and restrain Rokkitmaster if necessary, he was hesitant to leave his nice safe spawn area.
Amy had time to stroll over to the repair pylon and fix the splotches of orange that had appeared from her impromptu charge and body block.
Finally, the RokkitMen pilot understood that he was legitimately in the match, and if he didn’t leave the spawn area soon, he would receive an official warning. He slowly moved out, trying to wrap his head around things. Amy leisurely made her way across the paths, stopping at the edge of the island, and waited for the lava to rise, and then fall. She passed the time by launching a couple of shoulder mounted missile barrages at the enemy. She kept a close eye on her heat gauges. Even being close to the lava made her heat levels rise up to the point she held off on the lasers at that moment.
Kevin was trying his hardest not to fall off his chair in laughter.
“Oh my god. She just ... I can’t believe...”
He spun to face Adrian, and pointed a finger at him.
“You’re teaching her bad habits.”
Adrian pointed a finger at himself. “Me?”
Kevin nodded
“To steal a line from one of those old anti-drug commercials when I was growing up, when we ask her where she learned that using a WarMAC as a physical weapon was a good idea, she’d better point at your WarMaster and say “I learned it by watching you!”
Adrian shrugged.
“I throw myself on the mercy of the Court. Or in this case, the Court Jester.”
Kevin redoubled his laughter, wheezing. He ended up pointing at the screen.
“Look at that poor RokkitMen pilot. He still is tiptoeing around like someone is going to tell him that he can go back to his spawn area. Having your captain and team owner attempt to reenact that 1984 commercial with a mouse instead of a hammer straight out out of the Olympics has to really screw with his mindset.”
Adrian grinned.
“I did tell her to keep the pressure on them. She definitely is an overachiever. Good thing I didn’t tell her to squash them like bugs. She’d try to stomp on them like they were those evil turtles from Mario Brothers.”
Kevin literally fell out of his seat laughing.
People were looking at him funny.
He didn’t care.
“God, even if we lose, the moments you guys have created will have been worth it.”
He recovered a little.
“But win, will ya? I’m not ready to go home yet.”
He climbed back up to his seat, still laughing.
Meanwhile, on the screen, Amy had finally crossed over to the island and was charging the enemy WarMAC. The pilot was so intimidated that he jumped a second later than he should have, barely made it over Furiosa, and stumbled on the landing. Amy hadn’t intended to collide with the RokkitMen WarMAC this time, so she immediately stopped and turned once the enemy was no longer an imminent threat of collision.
At that point, the stumble very nearly became a calamity for the enemy, as Furiosa unleashed a full volley. The enemy WarMac nearly crumpled, but managed to keep its feet after stumbling a couple more steps. Its rear armor basically was gone, and the other pilot was so rattled that even with Furiosa nearly shut down because of the alpha strike plus the area’s natural heat, he wasn’t able to follow up properly.
Adrian’s eyes drifted over to the RokkitMen’s booth. Inside, the tournament official was still trying to calm down Rokkitmaster. There was no sound on the camera feed, but one didn’t need to be a lip reader to realize that Rokkitmaaster had lost all sense of decorum. He was waving his arms and gesticulating like he was trying to swat thirty-five bees all at the same time. He was quite obviously yelling at the official.
That’s one reason why that pilot is so rattled. I’m surprised the official hasn’t called an official pause and ejected Rokkitmaster from the event. Probably doesn’t want to rescue him from his own stupidity. He’s probably never going to get another tournament invite after this.
Amy had no idea what was happening in the other booth, but although this was her first tournament, she was professional. She waited for her heat to settle to “mostly toasty” from “Deep Broil” and continued the fight, using one or two of the tri-band laser’s barrels depending on her heat status. It only took another ninety seconds, and she had finished off multiple opponents in a Duel Round for the second time in less than three hours.
She turned towards where the next opponent would spawn from, but her WarMAC froze mid turn.
A voice came over the loudspeaker.
“The match has been paused due to a conduct violation by RokkitMen pilot #1. Please stand by.”
Kevin turned towards Adrian wide-eyed.
“They’re not going to throw him out, are they?”
Adrian nodded.
“Unless he immediately calms down, he’s gone. He’s turned this Duel Round into a farce. Right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if people are buying the all-access feed just to watch him meltdown in real time. Kelto can’t stand for this. I mean, a second official just went in there, and you literally could hear him yelling at the officials while the door was open. He’s gone so far beyond acceptable behavior that they have to do something. Disqualifying him is the simple maneuver. They might get really tough.
Kevin swallowed, once.
“What’s worse than that? They’d take him out back and shoot him?”
Adrian looked at Kevin.
“He’s gone. The only question is whether they throw out his TEAM with him.”
Kevin whistled.
“Holy shit. Someone should tell Rokkit the first rule of getting out a hole you dug. STOP DIGGING. OR AT LEAST DIG UP, MAN.”
About sixty seconds after that, the loudspeaker chirped back to life.
“Thank you for your patience. The officials have announced that RokkitMen pilot #1, Rokkitmaster has been disqualified from the tournament due to unacceptable conduct. The match will resume once he has been removed from the stage.”
Kevin shook his head.
“Holy shit. They actually kicked him out. And he’s the owner, too? Does that mean he can stay but not play?”
Adrian thought about it for a moment.
“Nope. It doesn’t matter if he’s a player, captain, coach or even a team owner. Once someone is disqualified from the event, they are not allowed anywhere in the tournament area. Technically speaking, he could possibly go to the general area where Artist’s Alley is as well as the vendors, but I have a feeling that Kelto have had just about enough of him. A disqualification is generally followed by at least a three-month ban, unless there are extenusating circumstances. Somehow, I don’t think Kelto will consider “I was bodychecked into Lava” extenuating circumstances.”
Rokkitmaster was stomping out of the booth. He yelled over at his team.
“We’re leaving. These assholes can play with themselves for all I care.”
Adrian shook his head again.
The tournament official had enough. He pointed a finger at Rokkitmaster.
“First of all, if you speak one more word, I will have security drag you out. Do you understand me? Don’t speak. Just nod.”
He then turned to the team Rokkitmaster had technically owned, or at least set up for this tournament.
“That is not his decision. Since Rokkitmaster has been disqualified, he can make no further decisions in this match. Player HenryAteA, you are listed as the RokkitMen’s vice-captain. With your captain’s disqualification, you are now the captain of the team. Do you wish to continue the match?”
HenriAteA looked at his team and had a very brief discussion. Then he turned back to the official.
“We’re going to finish the match. Not for him. For the team.”
Rokkitmaster yelled “I’m the team owner! YOU ARE ALL FIRED! I’m not paying you guys one cent.”
The tournament official started motioning for security to take Rokkitmaster away. HenriAteA got the last word.
“First of all, shut up. You’ve been an asshole all day. As for your threat? Go ahead. Try it. After the stunt you just pulled, you really think Kelto’s going to let you stiff an entire tournament roster and set that precedent? They’ll make damn sure those contracts get enforced.”
That satisfied the tournament official, who called security over. “Gentlemen, please escort this man off the premises. He has been disqualified from the event and has been making a scene. If he resists, please contact Las Vegas police.”
One clasped Rokkitmaster by the shoulder.
“Please sir, come with me.”
Rokkitmaster shook one as if to throw off the hand, then his face changed. From the blood draining from his face and the white knuckles of the security guard holding Rokkitmaster by the shoulder, Adrian surmised that the security guard was making it clear that he would no longer be allowed to make a scene, and they were quite ready to drag him out bodily if he continued.
After a minute or two, security “escorted” him out of the area.
The tournament official turned to the crowd.
“I am sorry you had to witness that. We will give the teams a couple minutes to let the adrenalin come down, and restart the Duel Round. In the interest of fairness, we will restart with Reforged pilot #1 keeping the damage she has accumulated so far this round, but return her to her spawn area, and RokkitMen pilot #3 will start from their spawn area. Thank you.”
Both teams were allowed to exit their booths and take a couple minutes to sip water and talk strategy.
Adrian looked over at the other team. They were clustered around HenriAteA. Apparently not everyone agreed with continuing the match, but he was explaining his reasoning to them.
Amy came out, wide-eyed and shocked about the events.
“They turned on the outside microphones once Rokkitmaster was out of the booth. I guess they decided fair was fair. I could hear the whole thing. What the hell was he doing?”
Adrian gave her an abbreviated breakdown of Rokkitmaster throwing his mouse after his WarMAC was destroyed, and then nearly getting into a physical altercation with a tournament official, all while the second pilot was attempting to fight against Furiosa.
Amy shook her head. “Will someone tell me why we get all the whackos with poor impulse control?”
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