AA. 65 Interlude (Patreon)

“This isn’t working out, Festus. You’re out.”

“What?!” Bunty struggled not to yell down the headset. “What the fuck do you mean I’m out? I made this channel. I am the fucking channel. You can’t just kick me out.”

“You started the channel. Then you fucked off for six months, and we kept things afloat and made it into something that’s actually making money. The last thing we need is for you to fuck things up and ruin our image. In exchange, you can put us down as a reference, and we will say all the good you did for us.”

“You mean the six months I was away after getting a bloody tumor removed and undergoing chemo? You’re using my templates. My format. What do you mean by your image?”

“Don’t play the cancer card. Trying to guilt-trip us like that is kind of pathetic, don’t you think? I’m doing this as a courtesy. The others wanted just to cut you out, but we go far back. So—”

“Because I took you on to help run the channel, Jay,” Bunty replied. His voice cracked, and his chest tightened. “You had no job and were about to get kicked out of your houseshare. I helped you out, and this is how you thank me.” The words gushed out so fast he wasn’t sure whether they formed a coherent sentence. “I trusted you with admin control so you could keep things going while I was in recovery. Not so you could steal it.”

“That’s not how things happened, Festus. Look. Exaggerating the past won’t change things now. You’re out. We’re announcing it to the followers with tonight’s Highlights Reel. It might be tempting to talk shit and make a post about it, but—”

“You have the money for lawyers, and I don’t.”

“Glad we’re on the same page. Maybe you need to find something else to do with your life. This job has no sick days. You’re only as relevant as your last post. The reference offer still stands. We want you to land on your feet. So—”

“Yeah. Thanks, Jay. Go fuck yourself.”

Bunty ripped his headset off and froze just as he was about to throw it across the room. He couldn’t afford a new one, and if he wanted a chance at starting a new channel, he needed all the equipment he could get.

“Get yourself together,” he mumbled and returned to his desk. Two aetherscreens flashed in front of him, listing all the events he had missed. At first, he gravitated toward the latest Iron and Bronze events. 

Bunty paused.

The most successful channels focused on a single or group of competitors and followed them from the start of their careers. It was a risky endeavor because there was no telling when one would die or retire. However, a collaborative relationship often helped both parties as they worked with sponsors and advertisers. Bunty needed to make money fast if he wanted to get big and continue paying his mortgage. Given how he was stuck in a wheelchair and didn’t have much of a work history, he doubted any other line of work would prove lucrative.

Bunty regretted not naming the old channel after himself. Jay and the rest of the team would have struggled to edge him out. Unfortunately, the audience rarely paid attention to the creators unless they provided commentary during the videos, and Highlight Reel wasn’t that kind of channel, only occasionally employing vocal elements. He needed to start from scratch and find the perfect unknown or group of unknowns to get started.

The recent qualifiers felt like the best starting point. Bunty scanned the list of new entrants to the Iron Gauntlet and immediately discounted all the top rankers. Sponsors, publicists, and powerful luduses with giant marketing teams would pursue them, and contacting them would only slow him down. So, Bunty focused on the runner-ups and people allowed through by the arena construct for an excellent performance. 

It took him an hour to find his favorite three: two from the battle royale and one from the singles tournament. Combatants with flashy abilities, summons, and mages attracted the most views, and the rare knight often achieved the same. Brutes and rogues only interested the public once they reached the Bronze Gauntlet and picked up an exciting sub-ability. However, one brute particularly interested Bunty.

Sunil or ‘Nil’ Roy fought like a brute but also displayed excellent martial arts skills. Most interesting of all, he could do more than just take a hit and strike back even harder. Bunty repeatedly watched the sections where he disintegrated someone’s arms, released a shockwave from his fist, and used the side of his hand like an axe. The edge of his hand emitted a faint white shimmer as he cleaved through an opponent’s conjured barrier. He wasn’t flashy but exciting. Nil’s powerful attacks appeared to damage him too. The bits that glowed white often turned out charred black afterward. Bunty suspected audiences would find a mighty double-edged sword especially interesting.

Bunty named the channel Festus The Curator. He marked the cat summoner’s best moments as the top video. She performed brilliantly in the battle royale. Audiences loved feline and canine summons, and colorful elemental spells only excited them more. The second spot involved a man with the ability to stretch his arms, harden sections, and turn his hands into blades, axes, and bludgeoning weapons. Thanks to Adrian ‘Wildshape’ Wilson, people with body transformation abilities always performed above average. He expected the top two videos to at least grab him a few followers. People didn’t have the time to watch all the matches and often missed out on gems and fun moments. Bringing two exciting individuals to the forefront would make him enough money not to dip into his remaining savings immediately. Then, he put Nil in position three as a bonus. He was interesting enough to draw some attention.

Afterward, Bunty made himself a bowl of instant ramen and called it a night. He was too tired and pissed off to accomplish much more. The medication ensured his pain didn’t keep him awake for long. 

Seven hours of bladder-interrupted sleep later, Bunty woke up more tired and pissed off than the day before. He lay in bed staring at the ceiling for several minutes, thinking over all the highs and lows while working on the Highlight Reel episodes. Bunty couldn’t help but think about how he would’ve kept the channel or made his former partners pay without damaging his baby. Then, nausea and acid reflux caused by the mixture of medication forced him out of bed. 

Bunty took his time. He expected nothing amazing from the videos and only hoped to get the ball rolling. He also thought about calling in some favors in the community. A shoutout on a popular friend’s stream or someone referring to his work could potentially give him the boost he needed. In the meantime, he hoped to curate some of the other qualifiers. Now that he thought about it, a brute capable of creating armor out of stone and rubble and collapsing buildings in the process could also attract views. She was young, cute, and competent. It was the safe bet and just what he needed. He wished the male half of the Khan siblings, Jamal, had made it through instead of his sister.

A rogue that spread frost through her blades wasn’t a visually appealing enough concept. However, a knight conjuring flame-coated chains would make money. It was one of the most aesthetically pleasing powers Bunty had ever seen. Viktor, the short-range lightning mage, would’ve done the same. As he made and ate a breakfast of sugary ‘fruit’ cereal and milk, he made a mental list of all the other new qualifiers worth putting on the channels. The desire to know if anyone had beaten them to the punch finally got him to return to his desk. 

Bunty’s jaw dropped.

It turned out that a dozen of his channel’s subscribers followed his moniker—Festus—and recognized his production and editing style. They had noticed fewer samples of it over the past few months and questioned Festus’ absence on the channel’s chats. An assistant in their growing staff told them that he was unwell and taking a break for recovery. The internet sleuths had investigated further and discovered the cancer from supposedly private social media accounts but kept silent to protect Bunty’s privacy, hoping he’d return soon.

However, when Highlight Reel announced Festus’ departure from the group, they found the ‘Festus the Curator’ channel and put the pieces together, making inflammatory but true assumptions. Then, they spread the news by spamming the fan servers and the official chat. Mob hysteria did the rest. Bunty had enough paying followers to pay the next two mortgage payments while living comfortably.

Despite her attractiveness, Gwyneth, the Summoner, only received a quarter of the views of the metamorpher. As expected, Adrian ‘Wildshape’ Wilson’s fans loved everything about partial body transformation and left several encouraging comments, suggesting Festus make her a regular on the channel. The video featuring Nil Roy only had seventy percent of the metamorpher’s views. However, the comment section was rife with debate about his power and the probable costs involved. Three threads with over a thousand comments showed the interest. Someone had gone into the technicalities of his fighting style. Another poster talked about his strategy and approach to the battle royale. The third was pure chaos as people debated Nil’s powers and limitations. Someone had already made a looping graphic of him cleaving through the barriers.

After scanning the top comments, Bunty abandoned his plans for the day. Not a lot of channels focused on martial arts or closed-range combatants that concentrate on physical attacks. So, he decided to focus on similar fighters instead of the usually popular flashy abilities, colorful spells, or might summons. 

First, Bunty sent emails to Nil and the metamorpher—who only used a registration number at the qualifiers and no name. Fortunately, the bored internet investigators had already found his social media. Leon, the Spanish metamorpher, replied within minutes while Bunty was working on a video for Lilian, the stone armor maker, and Adam, the regenerating brute. He had no idea which would appeal to his growing audience more and decided to cast a wide vote. Later, he could hold a vote on who would make a regular on the channel.

Leon was flattered and agreed to work with the channel immediately, planning to send training and power demonstration videos. Friends and family had already sent him Festus’ video, and he loved the style. They came to a swift deal on advertisers and a revenue share. Cooperation always turned out well for the channel. It was a little effort for Leon, and he would occasionally submit to Q&A sessions for five percent of ad revenue. He would work with no other channels or agree to interviews and guest positions on the condition he mentioned Festus the Curator.

Unfortunately, Bunty’s new first choice didn’t reply to his email as quickly. He hoped no one had beaten him to Nil. The man had a mysterious power, had excellent technique, and seemed likable. Partnering with him would be great for the channel. He completed the videos involving Lilian and Adam before emailing the pair, too. 

“Patience,” he told himself, leaning back in his wheelchair and watching the numbers trickle higher. “You have a concept. Now, you need a star.”

[There was an edit to Chapter 64. I added to the feat pool and changed Nil's pick.

This is his new feat:
Restless In Body And Mind: Sitting still and focusing on cerebral tasks are nearly impossible for you. You must always be moving or physically working on something for the brain's juices to flow. In exchange, your awareness is sharpened. You become hyper-aware of your surroundings, observing changes most would miss.
Bonus: Finesse increased by one.]