12 The Call Before the Fight

Zoe held the phone in her hand, her thumb hovering over the screen as she stared at Mina's contact.

She remembered the way Gavin's face had lit up when she mentioned a raid—it was almost like he'd been waiting for her to ask.

Maybe he was in Creature Craze Online right now.

She put the phone down, her gaze shifting to her computer monitors.

One of the screens displayed the guild Discord server, its chat scrolling slowly with idle chatter.

Nothing important, just people killing time.

With Snacks sleeping on her right hand, she slid the mouse out of it and used her left hand to mouse.

She wasn't quite as good left handed, and the mouse had thumb buttons but it wasn't impossible to mouse with her other hand.

Zoe ignored the chatter, instead clicking into the guild roster to examine the list of players.

She scrolled down the long list of names, eyes narrowing as she tried to find one that might suit Gavin.

Her attention wandered for a moment when she saw a familiar name—MadMina, Mina's handle. 

Curiosity sparked, and she ran a quick search of Mina's messages, her eyes skimming over them.

"Raid time with Meth again! We're unstoppable!"

"Meth got us through that boss fight like it was nothing!"

Zoe frowned, raising an eyebrow. Mina kept mentioning playing with someone named "Meth" a lot. It made sense—cousins playing together was pretty common.

But it seemed like more than that.

Zoe switched over to a search of user names containing "Meth."

There was Meth, the guild leader—definitely not who Mina was talking about, he was too uptight to play with lower level players regularly.

She continued scrolling, a few other users with variations of the name, none of them feeling quite right.

Then she saw it: Methencarbonol.

A user name that instantly stood out—like the kind of weird, pseudo-clever name Gavin might choose. 

The muscle relaxer reference almost made her smirk.

She pulled up Methencarbonol's posts, her eyes darting over their words.

"Got you, Dark. We're clear for the next wave."

"Need an all round melee? I can handle it, just let me switch over."

The tone was laid-back, confident—definitely him.

"Of course," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. "Methencarbonol. Only Gavin would use a name like that."

Zoe logged in, checking their status in the game's guild list. 

Both said Lion raid, room 45. 

A solid choice for a couple of mid-level toons grinding for items. 

She picked up her phone again, hitting the text icon instead of calling—Mina could read it when she got a chance.

[Hey Mina, give ol' Methencarbonol my number when you're done raiding, and tell him who I am. Make sure he knows I keep it low key. And if he asks why you never told him, explain. Make sure he is calm. Thanks and good luck in Lion 45.]

With that done, Zoe leaned back in her chair, her gaze shifting to Snacks as he finally got down.

He let out a catlike stretch, jumped on the couch, flopped out, one wing draped lazily over the edge. 

She smiled, giving the dragon a quick pat on the head as she stood up, stretching her arms above her head.

"Alright, Snacks, let's take it easy for a bit," she said, moving back to her computer and settling into her chair. 

She logged into Creature Craze Online, feeling a bit of the day's tension ease as the familiar splash screen loaded up.

Once in the game, she went straight to her inventory. 

It was overflowing with loot from the recent raids—most of it junk, but a few gems here and there. 

She began sorting through it, her fingers moving swiftly over the mouse as she organized items into keep, sell, and discard piles.

Snacks, curious as ever, hopped onto the desk, his tail swishing as he watched the screen. 

Zoe glanced at him, shaking her head. "No, you can't help with this, buddy," she said, nudging him gently aside. "Unless you know how to turn junk loot into gold."

She navigated to the merchant NPC, her virtual character standing in front of the vendor's cart. 

Zoe clicked through the dialogue options, choosing to sell her unwanted loot. 

She could have discarded the junk, but she would rather make a profit—one of the many reasons she was so good at the game. It was all about efficiency.

A few newbs approached her character, their avatars awkwardly hopping around as they tried to get her attention. 

Zoe sighed, her finger hovering over the chat window. 

She wasn't in the mood for socializing. Instead of replying, she selected a snarky emote—a dismissive wave paired with her character turning its back. The message was clear enough: leave her alone.

"They never learn, do they, Snacks?" she muttered, glancing at the dragon. Snacks gave a small snort, as if agreeing with her.

Zoe continued clearing out her inventory, the gold count steadily rising as she sold off old weapons, useless trinkets, and random crafting materials she'd been holding onto for no reason. 

It was oddly satisfying, watching the clutter disappear and the gold stack up. 

It was a small thing, but it gave her a sense of control—something she desperately needed with everything else going on.

She glanced over at Snacks, who had now curled up, eyes half-closed. 

"You've got the right idea," she said, a faint smile on her lips. 

For a moment, the world outside could wait. 

Right now, it was just her, Snacks, and a slowly emptying inventory.

An hour later, her phone buzzed. 

It was Gavin, asking, very subdued, if she would like to chat with him. 

Zoe glanced at her character on the screen; she had just finished sorting through her inventory. 

Other players, primarily her fan club, milled about her character, some with dollar signs over their heads, indicating they too were taking a page out of her book and selling to the merchant.

A sly smile spread across Zoe's face. 

She switched over to Player vs Player mode and unleashed an area of effect attack. 

The majority of them simply died under the wave of fire that spread out from her character. 

She went from white-named to black in an instant—the price of "pking" or player killing over twenty players. 

She gave the ghosts a wave emote, then picked up their gold and teleported out before they could respawn.

About thirty seconds later, her whisper inbox exploded. 

Some were over the moon that she had decided to kill them all, treating it as a badge of honor. 

Others were indifferent, while one player was clearly ticked off because they had been buying something expensive from the NPC and now were short on funds.

Zoe sighed and sent them a couple million gold just to get rid of them, her lips quirking into an amused smile. 

"There, happy now?" she muttered, shaking her head. 

She then teleported to her in-game home, a quiet place where she could relax and avoid the chaos.

She looked back at her phone, still holding Gavin's message.

Like in real life, Meth was like an excited puppy—energetic, unpredictable, and definitely a handful. 

If she handled this wrong, he could become unmanageable.

She needed to call the shots here, and she couldn't do that as Zoe. She had to be Zoeshon.

With that thought in mind, she added him as an in-game friend, then sent a text instructing him to accept the invite. 

She watched as his name changed from grayed-out to bright white in her friend's list, then immediately sent him a home invite.

A minute later, Methencarbonol spawned at the entrance to her ranch. 

He wore gear similar to what he'd had at the park—heavy warrior armor with that rugged style. 

Clearly, Gavin had a thing for the warrior class.

Zoe mounted her ultra-rare Horizon Panther, guiding the massive feline, moving gracefully across the field until she reached him. 

She slipped her headphones on, the familiar sound snapping into place.

"Uh, hello, Zoeshon." Gavin's voice wavered slightly, the awe unmistakable. Good—she wanted him a little off-balance, that's why she went black name. "So, um, what would you like to talk about?"

Zoeshon smirked, picturing what he saw, the top player, rocking a black name like it was nothing, wearing legendary gear astride the rarest ridable creature in the game. 

He had to be quaking in his seat.

Good.

"The Packard Park shard," Zoeshon said, her voice calm but edged with irritation. "I just had to get Dusty towed to Lifetime after a dragon decided to use it for target practice." 

She leaned forward, her fingers brushing the number pad to trigger an emote—an exaggerated sigh. "I got a cute pet out of the deal, but Dusty is almost totaled."

"Oh man!" Meth exclaimed, his voice dripping with sympathy. "That's rough. I can guess how much that car means to you."

"Yeah, well, I'll manage," Zoeshon replied, her gaze drifting to Snacks, who was curled up, fast asleep. 

He shifted slightly, looking ridiculously cute with his tiny claws twitching in his sleep.

"These shards remind me of CCO raid zones in a way," Meth commented, his avatar idling as he took in the scenery of her ranch, clearly impressed. "You know, a couple of players in the guild were talking about this group called the Packard Park Watchers. Apparently, they're locals who are getting really nosy about all the strange stuff happening there. They sound like they might end up causing more problems than they're solving." 

"Sounds like nosy troublemakers to me." Zoeshon snorted, rolling her eyes. "The last thing we need is a bunch of random people sticking their noses where they don't belong."

Meth's avatar bent down and doodled on the ground. "Mind if I explore a bit?"

"Be my guest." Zoeshon shrugged, popping open her snack vault and pulling out an ice-cold soda. "Did you have any monster attacks in your area?"

"Not in Leavittsburg." Meth started to walk around, glancing at the impressive virtual structures. Zoeshon kept pace, ensuring they stayed in voice range. "Wow, this place is amazing... How long have you been playing?"

"About five years," Zoeshon said nonchalantly. She cracked open the soda, the satisfying hiss making Snacks' ear twitch, though he didn't wake. "At first, it was just a time killer, but after getting bullied enough times, I decided I wasn't going to take it—I climbed the ranks and became a top player."

"You sure did that." Meth whistled softly, admiration clear in his voice. "This setup is incredible."

They approached her Magma Drake's pen. The creature chirped excitedly when it saw her and rushed over to the fence. 

She dismounted, moving closer to greet it. 

The drake instantly nuzzled her avatar, nibbling at her long hair playfully.

"You mentioned you had a pet dragon?" Meth asked, his voice filled with curiosity.

Zoe glanced at him, seeing his avatar step away as the Horizon Panther sniffed him cautiously. 

The careful little animations made it seem almost real, like a true-to-life panther checking him out.

"Yeah, Snacks is much smaller than Maggie here," Zoeshon replied, grinning as her drake tugged at her braid. "He's about the size of a cat."

She pulled out her phone and snapped a quick picture of Snacks snoozing. A minute later, she uploaded it to Froogle Fotos and sent it to Gavin. "Here's what he looks like."

"Awww, he's a cutie!" Meth's voice brightened like he'd just seen the cutest thing ever. She heard the tapping of keys on his end. "There's not much on the Spindle site about them, just something that started appearing around shards."

"I know, I did a brief search myself." Zoeshon stepped away from the drake and mounted her panther again, shifting her focus.

"RogueMistress is a threadweaver," Meth said, leading the way to the next pen. "She and I have been talking—she chose Shield Master. Her name's Serria. We met up yesterday to bust some monsters; she's good."

"Gathering a team, are we?" Zoeshon asked dryly, pulling out a donut from Fluffy Stacks. She took a bite, her voice tinged with sarcasm. "Color me not surprised."

Casually, she noticed her whispers icon start blinking. 

She'll check it in a bit.

"We were given these powers for a reason—"

"Don't give me the 'with power comes responsibility' speech," Zoeshon interrupted, her voice dropping to a warning tone.

There was a beat of silence, and she almost heard Meth struggling to find a way to respond. 

He wasn't used to her being this blunt—usually, she let people revel in the grandeur of everything. 

But now, he had to get it. 

They all did.

Zoeshon took another sip of her soda, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at Meth. 

She knew exactly where this conversation was heading, and she wanted to set things straight—quickly.

"I want my life to go back to normal. I want to log on, do my raids, and not have to deal with some real-world dragon smashing Dusty or any of my stuff. Not doing this for glory either—I've got more than enough of that in CCO. I just want peace. You get it?"

Zoeshon's exhaustion and frustration simmered just below the surface. 

She needed Meth to understand this wasn't some thrill-seeking adventure; it was about getting her life back. 

The sooner he got that, the better.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he said, sounding a little unsure.

"And another thing—if people found out I was chosen, that The Zoeshon was chosen, this whole server would explode. You know what that means?"

Meth paused for a second, clearly taken aback.

Zoeshon heard a soft croak, as if he went to make some remark—maybe something about how cool all this seemed—but he stopped himself. 

He probably sensed this wasn't the time.

She didn't give him a chance to reply. "Everyone, every newb, every casual player would be queuing up, thinking it's some grand adventure, that they could fight beside me. But this isn't a game."

It was clear he was still trying to fully process it all, realizing quickly that Zoe wasn't in the mood for anything lighthearted. 

He made his avatar nod, clearly collecting himself.

She paused for a moment. "What's worse this is America. Not everyone is fit like you, and you know what I look like, heck, half of the US is in my weight bracket."

"True." Meth agreed.

Zoeshon went on, making her voice as serious as she could. "In the Shard business, nobody knows what they're doing yet, and people could die." 

She paused, her heart thumping as she thought of the possibilities then spoke quieter. "I don't need an army of amateurs getting themselves hurt or worse because they think they can play hero. I need someone like you, someone who can keep this quiet, protect possible teammates, and do what has to be done."

The words hung in the air between them as their avatars idled, hers looking about as the panther swatted at butterflies that spawned for it to play with, his examining his massive blade before putting it away with a flourish.

Zoe watched his avatar, her gaze shifting between the idle animations and her own thoughts. 

A part of her wondered if he truly understood the seriousness of this, or if the game's bright graphics and their usual carefree chatter made it feel less real. 

It was surreal, having such a life-or-death conversation in a world where her panther could casually swat at butterflies. 

She resisted the urge to say more, to push him, instead waiting and calculating his reaction, trying to see if he could handle this without her nudging him in the right direction."

"So, what do you need?" he finally asked.

'Yes!' Zoe pumped the air with her fist, spooking Snacks, who flared his wings in surprise. "We already have your friend Serria, I need you to scout out someone else who can help. A basic nobody—someone with a long-distance attack specialty. Like a ranger, or an archer. I need them to help tackle the Packard Park shard. Nothing flashy, just someone who can do the job without making a scene."

"I'll start looking. Any preferences?"

"Yeah. Discreet, reliable, and someone who knows how to follow orders," Zoeshon said, her tone firm. "No hotheads, no glory seekers. We're not here for fame, we're here to make sure this shard, and any future shards gets handled so life can go back to normal."

"I can do that. I'll get back to you once I've found someone." His avatar shifted slightly, the warrior's stance almost mirroring the determination in Gavin's voice.

"And remember, Meth—keep it low key. The last thing we need is a bunch of chunky newbs thinking this is some kind of grand quest."

"I'll keep it quiet." Meth's avatar nodded its head.

"Text me when you got a solid team." Zoeshon instructed. "I got to burn off this black name."

"Why?" Meth asked, his voice deadpan. "Who could touch you in CCO?"

"QueenBeach, the second player." Zoeshon chuckled, the thought of the battle amusing her, making her heart speed up in anticipation. 

She thought about risking it, she had some backup gear for being black named, it could be fun. "She's still sore I usurped the crown a few months ago."

Meth chuckled. "I'd pay to watch that battle."

Zoeshon opened her whispers to see a challenge.

QueenBeach: [I hear ur black named. Come out n play with me Zoeshon. I wanna try my luck against u again.]

Snacks perked his head and stared at her in surprise as she threw her head back and laughed. "She just challenged me." 

She stroked Snacks' head, ruffling his hair. 

"Oh what the hell, I'm bored." She equipped her black named gear. 

"What?" Meth asked, clearly confused.

She paid for a server wide broadcast and booked the arena. 

[Front row tickets, Zoeshon vs QueenBeach: arena 5, 10 mins, selling now.] Flashed across the screen. 

Queen would get half the booking rewards but it would be so worth it when Zoeshon put her in her place.

"Well, Gavin, you got your wish." Zoe stood, stretching and heading for the bathroom. 

She didn't want anything distracting her from this fight, especially any calls of nature.