The Paladin knew who he was facing before the week began.
Mike. The bear. The crawler who had sat in the back row of the Auction Hall and raised a shovel and said “fifty-eight” while Jake, holding two hundred gold, did not raise his paddle.
The crawler who owns Nathan MacKinnon.
Jake stood at the edge of the Lobby floor on Monday morning, armor polished, imaginary cloak adjusted, and counted his congregation. Avs Faithful counted with him. Four Avalanche players, present and accounted for, glowing faintly off his breastplate.
Four.
“Four.”
And across the floor, one.
“He’s still my guy.”
He is on the bear’s roster.
“He’s still my guy in spirit.”
What followed was not a matchup. It was a sermon.
234.4 to 127.0.
The highest score anyone has posted this season. A margin of 107.4, the largest the Dungeon has recorded, and it came against the man who owns the player Jake named his team after. MacKinnon and Friends beat MacKinnon. The friends showed up. The friends brought everyone.
Even the Lobby helped. Floor 1 found one of Jake’s skaters finishing the week at -1.4 and quietly set him back to zero, the way the Lobby promised it would. A welcome gift. The last one. The Lobby closes this week.
System NoticeACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES. SCORE: 234.4. SEASON HIGH. MARGIN: 107.4. LEAGUE RECORD. OPPONENT’S ROSTER: CONTAINS NATHAN MACKINNON. THE FRIENDS WERE ENOUGH.
System NoticeLOOT DROP: BURGUNDY & BLUE FRIENDSHIP BRACELET. TIER: COMMON. EFFECT: +2 PTS IN ONE WEEK OF HIS CHOOSING, DECLARED BY WEDNESDAY NOON. HANDWOVEN. ONE BEAD FOR EVERY FRIEND. ONE BEAD CONSPICUOUSLY MISSING.
He put the bracelet on immediately. He held up his wrist so the bear could see it.
The bear saw it.
The System would like to commend Jake on a historic week, and also to remind Jake, gently, that it is October. Last season it was also October. Last season he also looked like this in October. The playoff music, faint and far below, has started tuning its instruments.
That is not a threat. The System is just reporting what it hears.
Week 3: Kayla. She has a couch. He has a bracelet and four Avalanche players and, for the first time this season, a 1-1 record and the most points in the league.
The Mucus Swamps await, Paladin. Mind your footing. Armor is heavy, and the swamp is deep.