Superheroes Online Boxed Set

by Dante Steel

  “Gary, please. You have to understand—”

  “No, you need to understand. I…” Gary glanced around wildly and grabbed his short sword.

  “Gary, put the weapon down.”

  “Why? Worried I’m telling you the truth after all?”

  “Please, Gary, listen—”

  Gary ignored him and cut a slice down his palm. It was only afterward that he realized that it was the same spot where Nicoletta had been burned. He winced, mumbled, “Fuck that hurt,” and held up his bleeding palm.

  “You see that, Haru? I’m hurting badly. Oh, but, yes, there’s a potion, right? I can just drink it, and my hit points will go back up, and it’ll be great, right?”

  Haru was silent as Gary removed a vial containing a blue liquid. He had been collecting every potion the enemies had dropped, mostly because he was a pack rat.

  “Bottom’s up,” Gary said with a smirk.

  He drank the entire potion and held up his palm.

  “See? It’s not healing,” he said as blood dripping down his wrist and arm. “Because I’m actually cut. I’m in the game.”

  “Gary,” Haru said calmly, “we’ve already established that there is a glitch in the game—”

  “Yeah, because I’m fucking here!”

  “—because of your lack of superpowers. We can fix that—”

  “How about you fix my palm? Oh, wait. You can’t because none of that—the potions, the ‘sleeping’ at the inn that isn’t even fucking sleeping—actually works to heal me because I’m not an avatar. I’m real. I’m a real boy!”

  “This isn’t Pinocchio.”

  "Well, if I were, my nose would be Voldemort's."

  “What?”

  “You know, no nose? Forget it. Just trust me on this. Get to work. Get me out of here!”

  “Gary, please, you have to hear me out.”

  “No, I don’t. You—”

  “Gary, how can you hear me except through a headset?”

  Gary swallowed hard and shook his head. “No. No, you can’t—You have to believe me! You have to get me out of here!”

  “I wish I could help you, Gary, but until you realize that you’re just playing a game—”

  Gary sat up, suddenly wide awake. It had only been a dream… or had it? His left palm still hurt, and it had clotted from where he had cut himself.

  He turned toward the door of the stables. The sun was rising. It was morning.

  Okay, great. That was just wonderful. Now, Gary was missing time too. Because he couldn't have dreamed that and cut himself.

  Unless he had harmed himself in the dream.

  Gary swallowed, and a lump formed in his gut. Something wasn’t right here. Something was very wrong.

  His stomach was churning too much for him to get a bite to eat. He stepped out of the barn, brushed off any bits of hay, and glanced around.

  There, standing a few feet away, was Nicoletta, talking to an NPC.

  Crap. Now that Gary was sure he was actually in the game and not dreaming, he realized he had kissed her. What the hell was he going to do? Had she told Jorge? Jorge wouldn't kick Gary's ass, would he? Gary didn't think so, but you never knew. Jorge might have a soft side for the females in his family, considering he liked to joke that he had something hard for just about every woman outside of his family.

  Just then, Nicoletta turned around and made eye contact with Gary. Her eyes widened, and she rushed over to him.

  “There you are,” she said.

  "Been looking for me?" he asked, trying to act cool and play it off as no big deal.

  “Yes, actually. I can’t believe you’re here playing.”

  “Why not?” he asked, confused.

  “Well, maybe because you’ve been MIA. No one has seen or heard from you in days. Everyone’s worried. You haven’t been showing up for work, so Jorge went over to your place and saw the broken window—”

  Just like Haru had said the others had found.

  “We really are worried about you,” Nicoletta said softly. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” he said, but then he changed his mind. “No, actually, I’m not. You see, the window in my apartment broke because lightning went through it and through me and zapped me into the game. This is me, Nicoletta. I’m Gary. I’m not an avatar, and before you tell me that it’s not true, that it can’t be, look at this.”

  He held up his wounded hand.

  “I already took a healing potion,” he said. “I’m not healing.”

  “Maybe that’s because you aren’t a superhero but a hero in the game.”

  “I’m not a hero, either. I’m human!”

  “Look, Gary, seriously, stop. Come home. You’ve just gone and disappeared—”

  “Into the game!”

  “Knock it off. You have a life. Why are you hiding away somewhere playing this game all the time? Go home. Get cleaned up. Go—”

  “Why cleaned up? Because you think I’ve been playing this game for hours and hours on end and so I have to be dirty and disgusting, is that it?”

  “—to work,” she continued as if he hadn’t interrupted her. “Go put yourself out there. You have a place of your own now, right? Get yourself a girl—”

  “What about you?”

  She jerked her head and stared at him. “What about me?”

  “Nothing.”

  Understanding lightened her dark eyes. “Maybe if you do all of the rest,” she said.

  “Really?”

  “I can’t believe you kissed me.”

  “Yeah, well, I wanted to kiss you.”

  “You did.”

  “You, not your avatar.”

  “Then stop playing.”

  “What if I can’t?” he whispered.

  “Then you’re losing the game,” she whispered back, but he had a feeling she was talking about the game of her, not Superheroes Online.

  “I—” he started to say, but she had disappeared.

  Gary didn’t even have time to glance around to see if she might not have actually logged off when the voice returned. “Gary! What were you thinking telling that woman about you being stuck in the game?”

  “Haru, I wasn’t going to lie to her.”

  “You didn’t need to tell her anything.”

  “I had to!” Gary shouted.

  He was standing in the middle of town, and some of the other players were glancing at him. They clearly thought he was crazy, talking to himself.

  “You can’t be certain—” Haru started.

  "I can, and I am. I'm certain that I'm in this game," Gary roared. "Do you hear that everyone? I'm not an avatar! I'm a real person! I—"

  Just then, all around him, the people froze. Mid-blink, mid-step, mid-yawn, mid-talk, all of it, everyone was stuck in place.

  Except for Gary. He walked up to a man who had been jumping over a cart. Gary pushed on the guy’s nose, and the guy tilted to the side.

  Hmm. Gary glanced around. He could move the people, have them shove fingers up their noses or in someone else’s ear or even worse, but then he spied someone walking toward him. A man. A Japanese man.

  “Are you Haru?” Gary asked suspiciously.

  The man nodded, almost bowing. “I am. Gary, we must talk.”

  “Go on.” Gary waved his hand.

  "Fine. Yes. I'll admit it." Haru glanced around them and leaned forward conspiratorially. "You are in the game.”

  “Thank God.” Gary blew air out of his mouth. “It’s such a relief to hear you finally admit that because, man, was I ready to go crazy.”

  Just then, he noticed just how stern and stoic Haru appeared, exactly like a person would if they were hiding bad news.

  “What is it?” Gary asked wearily. “Lay it on me.”

  “You aren’t the only one.”

  “Not the only what?”

  “Apparently, you aren’t the only man who has been transported into the game somehow.”

  “What? No way! Can I meet him?” Gary as
ked.

  Haru shook his head and clasped his hands behind his back, essentially standing at attention. “I would not advise that at all.”

  “Why not?” Gary demanded. “He’ll understand what I’m going through. Maybe he has a better way of surviving. Us humans need to stick together in this game full of superhumaned avatars.”

  “You don’t understand.” Haru sadly lowered his head. “This other gentleman, well, he is rising through the levels and killing other gamers. He is both vicious and cruel. Please, Gary, you must keep quiet. I’m warning you. Gamers can start over, but you can’t.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gary swallowed hard and tried not to feel as worried or scared as he already did.

  “Do you… Do you know how to free me yet?” he asked hopefully, although deep down, he knew Haru wouldn’t be telling him all of this about the other human if they could just yank him back home.

  “No.”

  “Can you freeze the other guy?” Gary asked, spreading his arm and gesturing to the still immobile persons around them.

  “I’m afraid that isn’t possible.”

  “Fine,” Gary ground out. “Can you at least give me a superpower?”

  “We’re working on it,” Haru assured him. “What superpower would you like?”

  “I… Hm… I don’t know. Flight. Superhuman strength. Maybe the ability to strip another superhero or supervillain of their power.”

  “Anything else?” Haru asked dryly.

  “Well, throwing something that combusts and explodes would be amazing.”

  “Gary, be reasonable.”

  Gary shrugged. “Come on, man, you’re asking what superpowers I want. Can you honestly expect me to be reasonable?”

  “Just continue to play the game for now. The, ah, the food, is it all right?”

  Gary quirked his lips. “It’s not anything to write home about, but I’m not going to complain much. Would be nice if the prices weren’t so high.”

  Haru nodded. “I guess we could run a sale. We obviously didn’t expect anyone to actually eat the food.”

  “Yeah, I get that. Devil in the details, huh?”

  “Indeed. Stay safe, Gary.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Gary jerked back. In the span of a blink, Haru was gone, and the world around Gary came back to life. Like that wasn’t unnerving.

  He played the game a little, training mostly because he couldn’t focus on some of the quests. Find a certain flower. Bring this to someone else in another town. Get vengeance for my murdered son.

  Ugh. The quests were terrible, yet most of the other gamers seem to eat them up. Gary just couldn't bring himself to care. The NPCs weren't real. Their concerns and problems weren't real. His problems though were so dangerous it could be life or death.

  Maybe he should stop playing and just stay at the inn. Maybe see if he could get a job. But would he be paid? Probably not. The game wasn’t structured to be that much like real life. Then again, the gaming environment had more of a medieval feel to it versus contemporary.

  That night, just when he was about to lay down on the hay, Gary's stomach began to twist. He couldn't stop thinking about Nicoletta. It was bad enough he'd kissed her. Now, he had told her the truth, and she was gonna think him insane. Why couldn't he keep his big trap shut? Why was he pining after her and Elena? And Olivia too. What the hell was wrong with him?

  Sleep. Gary needed rest. Everything would look better in the morning, or so he hoped.

  The sun shining directly in his face made Gary blink awake. He forced himself to eat breakfast that morning. Sure enough, all of the food items had been placed on sale. Even better, the quality and taste of the food had been improved too. Either that or else he was just that hungry. In this game, it was getting harder and harder to remember this wasn’t the only world.

  The notion that someone else was alive and in the game too both excited and worried Gary. The developers had to be trying hard to figure out how to bring them both out, but the other guy sounded nuts. Why was he going around killing the gamers? Why would he get satisfaction out of that? Only assholes would do something like that, and if that bastard learned about Gary… Gary didn’t want to think about it.

  After he finished eating, the food forming a pit in his stomach, Gary left the tavern and hesitated. He hoped to see a familiar face because he desperately needed a friend. Maybe not Nicoletta. Yeah, he wasn't ready to face her or her questions or judgment right now. He understood that she had to think poorly of him at the moment, and he wasn't sure he could rectify that anytime soon.

  “Me and my big mouth,” he muttered.

  “Chico!”

  A huge grin formed on Gary’s face as he turned around to see Jorge strolling up to him. Jorge took one look at him and stopped mid-step.

  “You changed your avatar to look exactly like you. Well, plus some stubble.”

  Gary rubbed his cheek. He did need to shave again.

  His facial hair. Proof he really was here. Avatars didn’t have to shave or grow facial hair. It would have to be added.

  “Are you okay?” Jorge asked, concern in his eyes.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Gary grinned and hoped like hell Jorge hadn’t been talking to his cousin. “Tell me about May. Are you still with her, or have you moved onto someone else already?”

  “Already? No, no. I’m still with May. She’s amazing, man. We’ve been dating for two weeks now.”

  Gary’s breathing grew tight in his chest. Two weeks? He hadn’t been in the game that long. Days and nights here must not be the same in the game as in the real world, which was a scary thought.

  Jorge was frowning. “What’s wrong? You seem like your whole world came crashing down? Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah, just going through a mid-life crisis,” Gary muttered.

  His friend threw back his head and laughed. “At twenty-five? Man, come on. Go back to your apartment, get the window replaced. Your landlord should cover that, maybe. It’s worth an ask, and I can only cover you for so long at work. You’re gonna get fired, man, if you don’t show up. When I got you the game, I never expected to turn you into some kinda of mega gamer.”

  “Stop trying to change the subject,” Gary said, his heart pounding. He did not want to talk about the game. “Two whole weeks. That’s your longest relationship, isn’t it?”

  “Not nearly. I was with Kelley Joymaker for a month.”

  “That was the fifth grade, wasn’t it?” Gary teased.

  “Sixth grade and I loved her.”

  “Because an eleven-year-old understands love.”

  “There are different kinds of love, man.”

  “And you’re a love expert?” Gary teased.

  “More so than you are.” Jorge appraised him. “You deserve to find a good woman,” he said. “You’ve been dealt a lot so far in your life.”

  And you don’t even know the half of it.

  “Yeah, you might not be the happiest with your job. No one grows up wanting to be a garbage man, but you have a place of your own. I would hate for you to throw all of that away for a game.”

  Gary shrugged. “Don’t want to hear a lecture,” he muttered.

  “I get that, but it’s coming anyhow. You kissed my cousin?”

  “Kinda.” Gary’s face burned.

  Jorge’s stare was piercing. “She deserves a man with income and a place of his own, don’t you think? Not a bum living in a game world.”

  Gary bristled for only a second. “You approve?” he asked, shocked.

  Jorge shrugged. “She’s twenty. Who am I to tell her who she can and can’t date? Not my place but I can and will look out for her and for you too for that matter. She’s as worried about you as I am.”

  “Has she…” Gary hesitated. “Has she told you anything?”

  “Aside from the kiss? No.” Jorge narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, appraising Gary. “Why? Is there more to it?”

  “No, not
hing at all,” Gary said in a rush.

  “Hmm.” Jorge didn’t seem to buy it, and Gary swallowed hard.

  After a moment, Jorge shrugged and began to talk about some of their coworkers.

  "Jake's acting like his kids are terrors, but honestly, I don't see it. They're good kids, but all he does is bitch about them. Jake expects them to be like dogs, to listen immediately. Yet, he doesn't even pay them enough attention at all. And his wife is looking so haggard. It's terrible. She spends all of her hours with the kids, and then when she asks him for help, he doesn't seem willing to step it up. I don't know if their marriage can last. It's a shame."

  “It really is.”

  Gary's head was swimming. He hadn't given it much thought about whether or not he would ever have kids. If he wanted to, he sure as hell had to get out of here first. He needed to return to the real world for so many reasons. Life wasn't all fun and games, and honestly, this game hadn't been that much fun in the first place. Not while he was actually living it. His body remained a bundle of nerves firing off and signaling pain. Sleeping last night had been painful. He desperately wanted a bed. Maybe he should just crash at the inn and take one of the rooms. Not pay for it because when he did, time just passed in the game without him actually sleeping.

  “What do you think?” Jorge asked suddenly.

  Crap. His friend had kept running his mouth while Gary had been musing, and he had no idea what Jorge was talking about.

  “I agree,” Gary said.

  Jorge nodded and kept right on talking. Gary forced himself to ask questions and appeared to be engaged, but honestly, he didn’t care. It frightened him to realize it, but he already felt distant from his old life. What was happening to him? How could he be losing his empathy for his coworkers already? Why was he already itching to wield his blade? If he gained another two thousand rupas, he could afford the axe he was eyeing. He shouldn’t be worried about that at the moment, but he was.

  This game was changing him, and if Gary wasn’t careful, he was going to lose himself even if he did manage to get out of here alive.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A dark cloud seemed to descend over Gary, and he turned away from Jorge to survey the rest of town.