Dahlia:

  What do you want?

  That was the question, wasn’t it? Dahlia Zellner had been asked many times, had asked that question herself.

  Each time – each important time – the answers had been elusive, treacherous. The answers had teeth, dripped poison, offered so many things and betrayed you in so many ways.

  What do you want?

  When the skinny creepy guy that lived next door – a family friend, her parents called him – had asked her that question, she had fallen into his trap.

  I want to play!

  His smile had a glint she didn’t understand but still bothered her, even at eight years of age.

  I have some games you will love.

  She hadn’t listened to the bad feeling and gone into his house.

  A few minutes later, she had run out, terrified, disturbed in ways she couldn’t process or even begin to understand until she was much older. She tried to tell her parents, but she didn’t have the words. And he had only put his hands on her shoulders before her instincts had finally kicked in and she had wiggled out of his cold, clammy grip and escaped.

  She had avoided him ever since, but she saw him staring at her every once in a while, until he moved away. Later, she wondered if he had ever done something worse than what he did to her. She often tortured herself with guilt that she might have stopped him from doing worse to other children.

  Much later, she finally told her mother, who didn’t believe a word of it.

  By then, she and her mother had been at war. Mom was a prim and proper lady, and Dahlia had turned into something dark and angry that her parents tolerated but couldn’t understand.

  What do you want? Her mother had shouted at her on her seventeenth birthday, when she caught Dahlia smoking weed in the back yard.

  By then, she had stopped cutting herself, but the scars were still there. Every time her mother saw the pale marks on her forearms, her upper thighs, even once on her cheek, her disapproval burned Dahlia like acid.

  “I want to not be alive,” she had told her mother, and that answer got her sent to a therapist.

  It wasn’t even true. Dahlia didn’t want to die. She just wanted a different life. But she had no idea how to have a different life, or even what a different life would be like.

  Instead, she escaped the life she had with games, sex, weed and other distractions.

  What do you want?

  The last time it was Victor asking her that question.

  Tall and brooding, Victor was, fifteen years older than her, skinny in a wiry way, tribal tattoos covering his chest, a full sleeve gruesomely depicting the killer ape from The Murders in the Rue Morgue doing its thing with a straight razor. He exuded darkness that called to her.

  For a while, she thought that Victor was what she wanted. That his inner darkness was a match for her own. That they understood each other, two misfits in a world they loathed.

  As it turned out, Victor was just an asshole.

  “I want out,” she told him, and he punched her in the mouth.

  And then told the cops she had hit him – she did, but he started it – so they arrested her too.

  The disapproval in her mother’s eyes when she and Dad bailed her out still burned like acid.

  What do you want?

  She was thirteen when MiniFiend came out. Before that, she played MTG – it never really grabbed her attention – and later MiniBeast. But it was the MiniBeast ripoff that hit the spot.

  When she saw the picture of Bloodykee on a promo poster, she felt something resonate inside her. The red-furred creature was cute, but also angry, wild. It would bite you while it smiled. It – he – was a cuddly furball with sharp edges you wouldn’t notice until you felt their cold sting and blood began to flow.

  Like her, it didn't belong; it was an outsider. MiniFiends were outcasts, monsters, hated by all except their masters, who were monsters themselves.

  Revolting Games was no Tojo Entertainment. The indie company couldn't afford to make cartoons of their properties, but it produced a sixteen-issue comic book run featuring Bloodykee and his mistress, a red-haired vampire girl called Desolation Dogood.

  Dahlia collected and read them all. She still had the scuffed and faded bagged comics in her backpack.

  I want to be a Fiend Mistress.

  And then I’ll create a world of my own.

  Bloodline Revealed: Dark Fae (Lesser, Dormant).

  You have chosen your Affinities: Creation, Death, Spirit, and Undeath

  Congratulations! You have unlocked an Achievement: Four Affinities!

  You have chosen a Role: Caster

  You have unlocked one Skill before induction: Ritual Magic (Uncommon, Proficiency, Beginner 2). The Skill has been upgraded to Greater Ritual Magic (Rare, Proficiency, Beginner 2). You have learned a Ritual (Blessing of Bloodykee).

  Congratulations! The System rewards your daring and creativity. Your Bloodline (Dark Fae) has been sacrificed to make your dreams come true. You have unlocked a Unique Legendary Class! Created for you and by you.

  Dahlia took one look at the Class and began laughing like she had never laughed before.

  “Oh, YES!” Dahlia shouted in between bursts of laughter. “Go fuck yourself, Tojo Entertainment! Revolting Games – you will be avenged!”

  MiniFiend Mistress (Legendary - Unique)

  Your love for a mostly forgotten game and a unique confluence of Affinities, your Bloodline, and your Titles have allowed for the creation of a Unique Class – a one-off Class, with special Skills and System mechanics. Note: Others may eventually follow in your footsteps, but their Classes will remain inferior to the original.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  You sail in unknown waters, and the System is watching.

  You have assumed the Title of MiniFiend Mistress – summoner of deadly but oh-so-cute children of the night. Chibi Undead who will drink your enemies’ blood one second and cuddle with you the next. Many will underestimate their power and fierceness, but you know that they are but one or two Evolutions away from turning into deadly Fiends that even Bosses will fear.

  Your favorite MiniFiend card deck has been absorbed into your aura. Through it, you have formed a bond with all the MiniFiends in your deck. One of those MiniFiends may be selected as a Familiar (see below).

  The MiniFiends you can summon and the Boons and Apotheoses available will depend on the luck of the draw. See Class Skills for more information.

  Requirements: Creation and Undeath Affinities, Minor Fae Bloodline or greater, at least two Epic Titles, a willingness to sacrifice many of your choices to focus your Essence into a single wish, and being a devoted fan of the obscure game MiniFiends, published by Revolting Games before being sued into oblivion by Tojo Entertainment International.

  Advancement in this class requires the expenditure of 500 Unbound Essence.

  Attribute Bonuses per Level: +2 to Strength, +4 to Dexterity, +4 Constitution, +6 to Willpower, +6 to Perception, +6 to Intelligence, +6 to Charisma, +6 Free Points.

  Characteristic Bonuses: +30 Health, +45 Mana and +25 Endurance per level.

  Affinity Perks:

  * Creation: All Skills related to building, crafting, healing, nurturing, and summoning will have a 10% bonus to all variables, including range, Health/Damage Capacity, quantities and area of effect.

  * Spirit: Your physical attacks inflict half damage to incorporeal entities. Mana regeneration is increased by 20%. You can see the Spirit Realm at will, although doing so may confuse your normal senses.

  *Death: 1/5 of all damage you inflict on living beings will replenish your Health; if your Health is full, the stolen life force is lost.

  * Undeath: All Undead Skills will have their effects increased by 15%.

  Affinity Liabilities:

  * Spirit: Your connection to the spirit world works both ways: entities and Skills that affect spiritual beings (positively or negatively) have a +30% bonus to their effectiveness when used on you or your pets.

  * Death: Life effects heal you at 35% effectiveness (this includes Health potions). Your Charisma suffers a 3-point or 15% reduction (whichever is higher) when trying to elicit positive reactions.

  * Undeath: Life effects heal you at 35% effectiveness (this includes Health potions). Your Charisma suffers a 3-point or 15% reduction (whichever is higher) when trying to elicit positive reactions. All the above are cumulative with Death liabilities.

  Affinity Skills:

  You gain no Affinity Skills at level 1. You will be offered Affinity Skills at level 5 and every 7 levels thereafter.

  Class Perks:

  * MiniFiend Deck: You have a deck with sixty MiniFiend cards. Your favorite deck has been selected. Any cards that have no System-valid effects have been replaced with random cards of the same type from other decks in your possession. Those cards manifest themselves physically but are part of your aura and cannot be destroyed unless you are killed. Besides playing the cards (see below), you can move them with your mind, with an effective Dexterity equal to your Intelligence and an effective Strength equal to your Willpower.

  * MiniFiend Familiar: You can select a MiniFiend from your deck as your Familiar. Once selected, its card will leave your deck and can be replaced with a different MiniFiend Card to bring the deck back to sixty cards. The MiniFiend will remain by your side. If killed or otherwise dispelled, the Familiar will return 24 hours later. Your bond will grow or deteriorate based on how you treat your Familiar and the MiniFiend’s personality.

  Automatic Class Skills:

  * Identify (Common, Passive, Beginner): Focus on the object or entity you wish to study. A screen showing basic information about the target (name, species/type, affinities (if any), path, grade/rank, level/stage, and energy pools) will open. By spending Mana, you may gain extra information, such as notable Skills or Perks; the information revealed will depend on your respective power, Perception, and Skill level.

  * Draw MiniFiend Hand (Legendary, Action, Beginner): You can draw a hand of up to six cards from your MiniFiend Deck. The hand is drawn randomly from your 60-card deck (your personal deck contains 21 Fiends, 18 Apotheoses, and 21 Boons. The hand will contain a minimum of 1 Fiend, 1 Evolution, 1 Apotheosis, and 3 random cards of any type.

  Your hand will float before you (you can move the virtual cards to any position within your field of vision). Others will only see the back of the cards, unless you allow the Party you are part of to see your hand. Observation and analysis Skills of Epic or higher quality may allow others to view your hand.

  You can add a card to your hand during a combat situation, but only after you have used at least one card. Only one card can be added until the hand has been played out and a minimum of one hour has passed. Certain Skills can change those limitations.

  * Play MiniFiend Card (Legendary, Toggle, Beginner): Select a Fiend card from your hand and direct its energy onto a targeted spot (Maximum Range: (Arcane Rating + Skill level) feet; the MiniFiend will manifest there.

  MiniFiends have their own Affinities, Attributes, Energy Pools, Skills and Traits. They will fight for you and follow your commands to the best of their abilities. Their base statistics will be improved by 10% per Skill level.

  Cost: 5 Mana, not regained until the Fiend is dispelled or destroyed. Dispelled Fiends are removed from the deck for 24 hours. Duration: (Arcane Rating + Skill level) minutes.

  * Play Apotheosis Card (Legendary, Action, Beginner): Select an Apotheosis Card from your hand, and direct its energy toward an active MiniFiend, who will receive its benefits. Apotheosis Cards temporarily upgrade a MiniFiend, evolving it into a more powerful form with new or improved Skills and Traits. Using the Card also fully restores the MiniFiend, healing any damage or Energy Pool losses while increasing their base values. Apotheosis effects last 10 seconds per Skill level.

  * Play Boon Card (Legendary, Action, Beginner): Select a Boon card from your hand, , and direct its energy toward an active MiniFiend, who will receive its benefits. Boons include Energy Pool restoration, improved attacks and defenses, and even new (temporary) abilities. The Boon and the Fiend must share at least one Affinity. Boon effects will be modified by the Play Boon Card Skill level. Most ongoing Boons will last 1 second per Skill level (see individual Boon cards for detailed information).

  Cost: 5 Mana per card played.

  Class Skills (Select Two):

  * Death Bolt (Rare, Action, Beginner): You can fire Death-attuned energy bolts that inflict (Arcane Rating/3) points of damage. Additionally, the Skill adds a Necrotized Debuff that inflicts (Arcane Rating/10) points of damage per second for (Skill x 5) seconds. This is noncorporeal damage that ignores physical defenses and can affect ethereal and spirit beings. The Skill inflicts no damage to objects and physical structures. Range: Skill x 10 yards. Cost: 5 Mana per bolt. Cooldown: None.

  * Card Boon (Legendary, Action, Beginner): This Skill allows you to use a Boon Card from your hand on yourself. The Card is removed from your hand after use. Healing and similar instant effects work normally; duration of ongoing benefits last 2 seconds per Skill level. Cost: 10 Mana. Cooldown: 15 seconds.

  * Heal MiniFiend (Epic, Action, Beginner): You can heal any of your MiniFiends (including your companion), restoring (Arcane Rating/2) Health points per use. Range: Line of sight. Cost: 5 Mana. Cooldown: 3 seconds.

  * Mystic Shield (Epic, Toggle, Beginner): Creates a skin-tight energy field that reduces physical damage by (Aura Rating/3) and Concept-attuned damage by (Aura Rating). Cost: 10 Mana, which is not regained until the Skill is dispelled.

  * Spirit Bolt (Rare, Action, Beginner): You can fire Spirit-attuned energy bolts that inflict (Arcane Rating/2) points of damage. Living beings only suffer half the damage inflicted; Undead entities suffer double damage. This is noncorporeal damage that ignores physical defenses and affects ethereal and spirit beings. The Skill inflicts no damage to objects and physical structures. Range: Skill x 10 yards. Cost: 5 Mana per bolt. Cooldown: None.

  She really wanted Heal MiniFiend but didn’t want to only rely on her cards to survive the Dungeon, so she selected Death Bolt and Mystic Shield as her Class Skills. And, of course, her Familiar choice was as unsurprising as it was inevitable.

  Waves of agony washed over her. She welcomed them. This was rebirth. And she would be who she wanted to be. No longer what Victor had called her before the cops took them both away.

  Flabby ass cow, were his parting words.

  Not anymore, asshole, she thought as she felt her body being remade. And if I meet you after you get out of jail, I’ll show you what I really want from you.

  As she recovered from her transformation – her apotheosis, you might say – there was a puff of black smoke that smelled strongly of rotten eggs. A red furry critter, a big ball of undead cuteness, emerged from the smoke and grinned at her, revealing a nice set of vampiric fangs.

  “Bloody, bloody,” Bloodykee said. “Bloodykee!”