Get Rid of the Pesky Blockade (Job, Solo)

Job Info:

Clover town was a location the mage known as Aliarey Casady had traveled through before. While the town itself was quiet, pleasant, and had nice scenery it was not a place she looked forward to visiting again. That very town was a reminder of the horrible monster chicken encounter and she could only hope that farmer killed and cooked that thing up as a nice rotisserie chicken meal. She did not have the mind to check. This time she actually had a point for being there rather than just traveling through. A job ad had been posted on a board available for everyone to read that caught her interest. The ad in question was asking for mages to get rid of some annoying blockade made by a Goblin and a Vulcan. The town was constantly getting terrorized by the two creatures and their actions that time was causing major delays for the train schedules.

Aliarey eventually reached the train station, where in the distance she could see a giant tree blocking the way of the tracks. She nearly keeled over at the sight, expecting the blockade to be some sort of massive fortress, but it was just a single tree! Man, regular people sure were dumb and beyond helpless. She composed herself and went into the building to speak to the one that had posted the ad to get more details on the ones she would be facing. Upon speaking with the woman behind the main desk of the station, Aliarey was led to an office room where a man named Station Controller Albert was waiting.

“Oh, thank you for coming! I was beginning to lose hope we’d get rid of this problem in time!” The station controller got up from his large chair and took the gun mage’s hand to shake it. She allowed the physical contact without a fuss, but she was quick to end the handshake. Spontaneous touching was generally a no no that got people punched in the face, but this was the client. Some measure of respect and restraint had to be taken. Was she starting to get a little more mature when dealing with others? Her inner self hoped not.

“Yeah, about this job,” Aliarey started to say as she reached into the pocket of her leather styled armor and pulled out a piece of paper that had the general job details written on it. “It says all you have to do is give them 100 pies and 100 tubs of sherbert to move the tree? Is that for real?”

Station Controller Albert nodded his head and folded his arms across his chest. “Mhm, mhm. That is correct. I don’t know what those barbaric animals could do with all of those pies and tubs of sherbert, but it is what they are demanding. They've beaten everyone else we try to send to remove the tree.”

A thin blonde brow raised upon Aliarey’s face. Those creatures must have been one insane case of stupid if they used an old tree just for some sweets. Clearly the correct way to go about it was to just blow the entire place up if sugary sweets were not delivered that same day. It was a more dire situation which meant more urgency and less likely a mage could be hired in time. A tree blockade….well she still was not sure why the citizens could not move it themselves. It was just a goblin and a vulcan in the way. They could not possibly be that powerful even for a person with no magical ability. “Why not just give it to them?”

The station controller widened his eyes at the question and gasped. “We can’t allow ourselves to give in to these creatures! They must be put in their place! It would be embarrassing if word got out.” Albert then lowered his voice into a whisper and muttered something about wanting all the sherbert for himself if that much was gathered at once.

“Almost as embarrassing as letting one tree stand in the way. Can’t your trains just force their way through and break it in half or something?” Aliarey brought a hand to her forehead and sighed. So much for the whole respect and restraint idea. Even if her body made no offense her mouth was quick to fix that problem. "You know what? Nevermind. I’ll take care of it.” With the acceptance of the job checked off the checklist Aliarey left the office and the station building itself and made her way to the tree blockade.

She walked up to the tree, strangely undisturbed. The two villains that had made the blockade were no where to be seen. Well, okay. If they were going to make things easy for her then she would not complain. Upon quick inspection the tree looked quite old but it was thick and tough. It likely took great effort to cut it down and drag it all the way to the tracks even for a vulcan. She placed a boot on the large trunk and gave it a bit of a push. Yep. That thing was not going to move easily. The small force of her push did not budge the tree at all. The best solution was just to destroy it with an explosion and then move the pieces out of the way so the trains could move along. She lacked the dynamite and c4, but her magic was likely to be enough to solve the problem the train station was currently having.

Placing a hand on the tree, she focused her magical energy to concentrate in her hand before releasing it into a quick burst of small explosive energy. It impacted her desired target, causing a crack and some pieces to bark to fly off but it was not enough to break it into several pieces. Looks like she would have to use her weapons instead. What a pain. Guess that’s what she got for so far having an easy time dealing with the issue at hand. Easy street would not last for long, however. As she was about to summon one of her weapons a high pitched voice rang through the area, followed by a more low and goofy sounding one.

“Hey! No touching that until we get our pies!”

“And Sherbert!”

“Yes, and sherbert! Now move along, little lady, before we beat you!”

Aliarey turned as she heard the voices and her eyes caught sight of the two villains she had been expecting moments before. A tall and large vulcan stood at the side of the tree to her right along with a small goblin. She just gave them a look that said she could not take them seriously whatsoever at first but it changed into a deep frown and a narrowed glare. Little lady? Did she look like one of those maidens in distress? No. She was deadly. Sort of. She was working on it! Plus, what right did a small little goblin have to call her little?!

It looked like it was time to deal with the two goons once and for all to ensure they did not come back to make even sillier demands of the local train station.

(Word Count So Far: 1204)

“Eh? Didn’t you hear me, lady? Shoo! Shoo!” The goblin raised his small hand and waved it forward as he basically told the human mage to go away. Somehow she was the one not being taken seriously. Her eye twitched and she could feel her own anger rise within her. That short little bastard. As usual Aliarey did not do much thinking before acting. She ran towards the now shocked pair of creatures before pulling back her foot and then lunging it forward in a kick, sending the little goblin flying a small ways away. He let out a little squeak of a scream as he sailed through the air like a thrown ball and landed on the ground with a light thump. “Ha! Take that, shorty!” Aliarey shouted at the goblin as she put her hands on her hips. Her anger had been replaced with a large grin on her face. If only all her jobs allowed her to make kickballs out of all enemies.

“Hey! Human lady not play nice!” The tall vulcan looked down at the woman angrily due to the fact his friend had been forced to take a free flight to the other side of the field. His large hand came down to smack her away just as she did to the goblin.

“Huh? Oh, crap.” She had forgotten all about the vulcan due to her temporary rush of rage and the game of goblin ball and now she would have to pay for her cluelessness. The large fist of the vulcan impacted her body, sending her backwards into the tree blockade. Well that was going to cause some aches the next day.

The vulcan then jumped up high and prepared his fists in order to crash them into the woman as he landed. He would miss though as Aliarey’s mind was now back to focusing on him. She was a quick moving target and she saw the attack coming. As the vulcan jumped into the air she jumped back onto her feet and moved out of the way. The vulcan crash landed and the force of the attack sent a rush of forced wind that pushed Aliarey forward and made her trip over herself, landing on her stomach.

“Stupid vulcan! Don’t destroy the tree!” The goblin was once again on his feet and was making his way back to the blockade. He had become angry at both the vulcan and the mage that had kicked him. The anger towards Aliarey was obvious. The anger towards the vulcan was due to the fact the attack had broken off a good chunk of the tree off. That was one way to help in destroying a blockade. Maybe she could deal with two birds with one stone.

“Huh?” The vulcan turned around to face the goblin and scratched his head in confusion, apparently not understanding what he had done wrong. The distracted vulcan had given Aliarey time to push herself back up and run around until she was on the other side of the tree, near the part that blocked the train track itself. She climbed its surface until she was standing on top of its trunk and could clearly be seen. “Hey, ugly! Over here!” She waved her arms about to further get the primate creature’s attention.

Her plan had worked. The vulcan turned his attention back at her and growled as he sent a death glare her way. “I no ugly. You ugly!” He slammed his fist into the ground before running towards the human that dared offend his vanity. The goblin could only watch as a long drawn out “no” left his mouth. Why did he have to partner up with a creature so braindead? He needed some brawn to his team but it didn’t matter how much strength there was if it was used against their plans!

Once the vulcan got close he jumped again and came down with both fists. Aliarey jumped off the trunk and allowed the attack to hit the tree, the strength of the vulcan’s attack splitting it in half. Part one of job complete. Now all she had to do was finish off the fight and then move the broken pieces out of the way. Being a re-quip mage, Aliarey summoned forth her Ember Revolvers from her magical storage and took hold of them. She fired a few shots at the vulcan, who started to run about comically as the fire powered projectiles made impact. He did not like the feeling of being burned at all.

“You idiot!” Shouted the goblin from where he stood as he watched the scene. The vulcan was now proving to be absolutely useless. The blockade was in a few pieces and now instead of attacking like a brute he was just running around in circles trying to avoid the attacks of someone who was clearly used to hit moving targets. The whole plan was ruined! His tiny fist raised into the air as he threw his tantrum but his eyes soon took upon the look of being quite surprised when the massive primate came his way. “Help! Human lady has fire!”

“Don’t come over here! Ah!” Before the poor little goblin could make his escape, the vulcan trampled over him and rendered him unconscious. Poor guy. “Oops.” The vulcan realized what he had done to his partner in crime and grabbed hold of his body to lift him from his resting place upon the ground. Aliarey did not give the vulcan a chance to retreat, however. As payback for his earlier smack she gave him one of her own. A surge of great strength coursed through her and as she punched the vulcan he went sailing a few feet and also fell to the ground unconscious. With the two partners in crime taken care of, she rubbed her hands together and went back to the blockade. Since the hidden strength within her had already activated itself, she used it to move the large pieces of the tree from the train tracks and into the nearby field so they were out of the way.

(Total Word Count: 1029
Word Count So Far: 2225)

1500 for original turn in
New WC: 725

Before long even the smaller pieces of the tree were removed from the train tracks, leaving no sign that there had ever been a blockade except for the scattered pieces all throughout the field. Step one, clear out the monsters. Check. Step two, get rid of the blockade. Double check. Now all that remained was step three, get paid. Aliarey placed her hands on her hips as she viewed the result of her work and nodded in satisfaction. "Mission complete!"

It was then a set of tiny hands started to hit her legs. It didn't hurt but it did come unexpectedly. She looked down to see the goblin from before apparently trying to damage which, with the way he was going about it, was laughable. "How dare you destroy our blockade! I want my pie! Now give it to me or face the consequences!" A fit of laughter tried to escape from within her but she held it back. At least, for as long as she could. Face the consequences? It looked like the vulcan was still passed out and the goblin did not have any strength whatsoever. What more could he do besides put on one hilarious act? "Take that! And that! Annnd that!" The little goblin smacked her legs with his fists and feet in a series of punches and kicks. Once again his attacks caused no serious damage. They felt more like light taps. Perhaps if she was not wearing her leather armor she would feel maybe a bit more pressure, but that was seriously doubtful.

Finally Aliarey could take the scene no more and allowed her fit of laughter to unleash itself. She hated her laugh since she tended to snort while doing so, but it was just impossible to hold it in at that point. Her chain of laughter caught the goblin off guard and he watched unamused as the woman wrapped her arms around her now aching sides. "This is no time to be laughing! I am extremely dangerous!" The goblin growled and he raised his claws and swiped the air to show just how dangerous he could be. It was too much. Aliarey fell to the ground, still laughing hard.

The goblin's eye twitched. His intimidation score was apparently not very high. He decided to give up and started to walk away, defeated. Still laughing with small giggles, Aliarey got on her knees and held out an arm as she called for the goblin. "Wait!" More laughter followed. "Stop!" The goblin did as the woman said, wondering what she wanted. It was simple. All the goblin and vulcan wanted were pies and sherbert. While she was not about to buy them one hundred of each she could get them one. The goblin's little act made it all worth it. "Look, I'll give you a pie if you don't block the tracks again."

"A pie? I want one hundred! That was the deal!" The goblin could not believe the offer she was making. It was lower by ninety nine percent! The woman clearly lacked negotiation skills. Who would take such an offer?

"And sherbert!" Shouted the vulcan from where he had collapsed earlier. He was awake? The goblin brought a clawed hand to smack his own forehead as the vulcan spoke. Of course that dummy would agree. "Shut up, you clueless primate!" He turned back to Aliarey with a glare and refused the offer she had given. "No deal! We want what was asked for!"

"Well then I guess you get nothing." Aliarey told the creature matter of factly as she pointed a gloved finger towards the train tracks. "I have already removed the blockade so really the deal you made doesn't exist anymore." She stood up and stretched her arms high above her as she spoke. "A shame. I guess they'll just have to call me again when you put up another one. That or I guess I can kill you now. Hmm." The gun mage pulled out a pistol from the holster along her hip and started to twirl it within her hand. "Choices."

The goblin's eyes filled with sudden fear and it was then he decided that maybe the deal she was offering was better than nothing. "Now just hold on a second! I may have declined one pie but lets not get so hasty. How about 95?"

Aliarey just continued twirling her gun and looked down at the creature silently. "85? 50? 30?" As each number was suggested the gun mage got closer and closer to pulling the trigger. Sweat started to drip from the goblin's forehead. It was clear he was not going to get the human to approve a high amount of pies and sherbert. "5?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Meh, good enough." With the amount of sweets agreed on, Aliarey headed off into the town to buy five sets of pies and five tubs of sherbert. As soon as they were delivered to the goblin and vulcan she informed Station Controller Albert of the details. Now they just had to hope the two train station villains kept their part of the deal.

(Word Count: 855
New Word Count: 1580

1500 for C rank freeform