by Lucas Flint
Curious, I Scanned the wall and was surprised to see some information:
Dark Wall
LEVEL: Adjustable
HEALTH: 1,000/1,000
ALIGNMENT: Villain
CLASS: Dark Minion
WEAK POINT: N/A
Although completely lacking in mobility and offense like Dark Kosmos’ other Minions, Dark Walls nonetheless are a force to be reckoned with in their own right. Their sky-high Defense, immense HP, and immunities to most Energy-based attacks means they make excellent guards and defenses. Be careful not to get too close, however, because Dark Walls are known to have huge appetites and will eat anything that touches them.
“What the—?” I looked at the others. “Am I the only who sees that this thing’s level is ‘Adjustable’? What the heck does that even mean?”
“I don’t know for sure,” said Funky slowly, “but if I had to guess, I would say that Dark Wall’s Level changes depending on the players it faces. If it fights high-leveled players, it will become high enough to give them a challenge, and vice versa for low-leveled players.”
“I didn’t even know enemies could adjust their Levels like that,” I said.
“Most can’t,” said Funky. “Generally-speaking, Capes Online’s Dynamic Environment usually automatically adjusts enemy Levels to be appropriate for each player. But some enemies can adjust their Levels on their own and it appears that Dark Wall is one of them.”
It was weird how Funky sounded almost proud of the game when he said that, even though now was not the time to be impressed by interesting game design. It confirmed my suspicion that Funky was probably more of a fanboy or enthusiast than anything. Otherwise, I think he’d be far more worried by this development.
“How do we get past it?” asked Recover. “I don’t see any Weak Points on the thing.”
“Same here,” said Funky. “It says its Weakness is Light. Does anyone here have any Light-based Powers?”
“I’ve got a flashlight,” said Cy, holding up his flashlight. “Will this work?”
Funky looked at Cy in a deadpan way. “No, I don’t think it will.”
I scowled. “A Weakness is just something you can exploit to make a fight easier, isn’t it? But you can still beat enemies even if you lack a Power that is super effective against them. If we all work together, we might be able to chip away at its Health the old-fashioned way.”
“Why not just double back and find another way into Dark Kosmos’ Hideout?” asked Dillo, glancing over his shoulder. “Surely there has to be another way in.”
Funky shook his head rapidly. “There isn’t, at least not within the Sewers. Even if there was, it would probably be protected by another Dark Wall. Our best bet is to make our way through the Dark Wall somehow.”
“Like I said,” I said, raising my hand, “we’ll just brute-force it. Watch.”
I fired Ice Beam at the Dark Wall and was pleased to see the Ice Beam hit the Dark Wall directly on the center. I even saw a damage notification informing me that I had dealt about 10 points of damage to the Dark Wall. Considering it had 1,000 HP, that was barely a dent, but I didn’t mind. It just proved my theory that we could harm it and whittle down its Health bit by bit. I felt pretty proud of myself for figuring that out.
All thoughts of pride vanished from my mind, however, when a giant hand made out of shadow leaped out of the Dark Wall and wrapped around me. Squeezing tightly, the shadow hand jerked me forward toward the Dark Wall, screaming all the while.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
But then I felt hands grab my feet and heard Cy shout behind me, “Don’t worry, boss! I got you!”
“We got you, you mean,” said Funky behind me. “All of us.”
I looked over my shoulder to see the entirety of Team Winter holding on tightly to my ankles and calves. Even Hop, who normally had her face buried in a smartphone, was holding onto me as tightly as she could. Their teamwork was inspiring, but I could already see their feet slipping as the Dark Wall’s hand pulled against them, making me wonder just how strong this creature was if it could pull even with so much weight attached to the end.
“Pull harder, everyone!” Funky shouted. “Don’t let him go!”
As grateful as I was that everyone was helping me, I couldn’t help but also feel the strain. Between Team Winter and the Dark Wall, I felt like I was being torn apart. Breathing became more and more difficult the harder the Dark Wall squeezed, while the strain on my legs became even worse the harder my friends held on. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I did somehow get ripped in half, but I guess I would probably respawn in my Base, which would not only be extremely painful, but also cause us to lose all of our progress.
Without warning, Lennox shot off of Funky’s shoulders and breathed a long stream of fire across the arm of the shadow hand. The fire tore through the shadow hand like butter, making it instantly dissipate and causing me to go flying back into the others. I crashed into all of Team Winter and for a moment we all lay on the ground in a tangled heap of limbs until we managed to untangle ourselves and get back to our feet.
“Whew,” I said as I rubbing my hips, which were still sore from the pressure put on them by the short tug-of-war between Team Winter and the Dark Wall. “That was a close one.”
“I’ll say,” said Recover. She brushed back a loose strand of hair. “What was that?”
“The Dark Wall protecting itself,” said Funky. He didn’t sound even remotely strained or out of breath, although I noticed a sheen of sweat across his forehead. “Apparently, it doesn’t like Ice.”
“Or Fire, that matter,” I said as Lennox landed back on Funky’s shoulders. “Funky, why don’t you have Lennox destroy the Dark Wall with his Fire Breath attack? It worked really well on those Kosmos Spiders, who were also made out of Dark Kosmos’ essence, and it worked here, too.”
Funky scratched underneath Lennox’s chin as he spoke. “Different enemies require different tactics. Kosmos Spiders are uniformly weak and also lack the ability to adjust their levels to match player difficulty. The Dark Wall, on the other hand, is a powerful, almost boss-like enemy that is more than capable of defending itself. Plus, Scan didn’t show me Fire as one of its Weaknesses, so I assume Fire is not as useful against it as we might think.”
I looked at the Dark Wall’s Health bar again and saw that Funky was right. Though Lennox’s Fire Breath might have saved me from certain doom, it only shaved off less than a fraction of the Dark Wall’s Health. Heck, it even seemed to inflict less damage on the Dark Wall than my own attack did, if that was even possible.
“Then how do we defeat it?” asked Cy in a despairing tone.
“We can’t,” said Dillo in a bitter voice. He glanced at the ceiling. “Funky said there might be another way in on the surface. I saw a manhole a few halls back. We’ll have to risk a surface assault to get past.”
I shook my head rapidly. “And risk getting spotted by players? Remember, Dark Kosmos isn’t the only—or even the biggest—threat to us personally. If we go on the surface, we might run into another group of players like Team Gears who care more about themselves than defeating Dark Kosmos. Or even worse, a group like Team Atmosfear. We need to get past this Wall.”
“But what if we can’t get past it?” asked Dillo. “I know you’re the Team Leader, Winter, but that doesn’t mean you’re always right about everything. Sometimes, there are fights you just can’t win, at least not through brute force.”
I opened my mouth to argue that point, but then I closed my mouth as Dillo’s words echoed through my mind over and over again. I looked at the Dark Wall again and then at the floor underneath it. I also glanced at Dillo’s huge, shovel-like claws, which were currently retracted to show his big hands. His claws looked thick enough to crush concrete or smash apart stone.
“Funky,” I said, glancing at Funky, who was apparently feeding Lennox something that looked like a doggy treat while the rest of us figured out our plan of attack. “Does the
Dark Wall’s form extend under the floor?”
Funky shook his head. “Doubt it. Capes Online doesn’t allow for that sort of thing except with Barriers or whenever the developers want to keep players out from certain areas they’re working on. Enemies like Dark Wall wouldn’t really have those kinds of properties unless it was glitched somehow, though it doesn’t look like a glitch to me.”
I nodded and looked at Dillo. “Do you think you could tunnel underneath the Dark Wall with those huge claws of yours so we could go under it?”
Dillo frowned and looked at the concrete floor under our feet. “I think so, but I’m not sure. My Shovel Claws are meant primarily to make it easier to dig through dirt. I haven’t really tried it on concrete, much less to design a tunnel that all of us could travel through.”
“Want to try it anyway?” I asked. “It’s our best bet for getting past this wall. And I doubt the Dark Wall will even try to stop us, considering how this won’t count as an attack.”
Dillo still looked uncertain, but he nodded and said, “All right. I’ll give it a shot, but don’t be disappointed if I fail. Also, all of you guys should stand back. Dig tends to be very messy and I don’t want you guys getting hit by random chunks of concrete I might throw out as I make our tunnel.”
I noticed that Hop was already standing a good distance away from Dillo, probably from past experience. The rest of us went to join her as Dillo took a couple of tentative steps toward the Dark Wall, although the Dark Wall did nothing to indicate it was even aware of his existence. Somehow, though, I could sense the Dark Wall was watching Dillo carefully, ready to defend itself from whatever Dillo was about to do.
After a couple of seconds of what looked like a warm-up exercise, Dillo raised his claws above his head and immediately began tearing at the concrete with shocking speed. Given how slow and even clumsy Dillo was normally, I hadn’t expected him to be able to dig so quickly. Chunks of concrete went flying as Dillo’s Shovel Claws tore through the floor like candy. Most of it flew off to the side into the water or bounced off the walls, although every now and then a piece of concrete would land at our feet, though none of us got hit because of how far away we stood.
Soon, Dillo disappeared underneath the concrete floor, leaving a big hole behind him, but we could still hear his Shovel Claws furiously digging through the concrete foundation beneath us. It reminded me of a jackhammer working on concrete, a sound I was familiar with because I once got a job as a construction worker during high school and spent a good portion of my time listening to the sound of jackhammers and power tools tearing apart concrete, stone, and other hardy materials.
But soon the sound began to die off, until it abruptly cut off, although there was still a ringing sound in my ears from the loudness of the Dig. Nonetheless, we all held our breaths, waiting for Dillo to return … if he ever did, that is.
Then, without warning, Dillo’s head popped up out of the hole with a big smile on his dirt-covered face. “It worked, guys! I made it through! The Dark Wall really doesn’t extend into the ground after all. The other side is empty.”
Relieved that this worked, the rest of us crawled through Dillo’s tunnel one at a time, which was surprisingly spacious. That was probably due to the fact that Dillo was bigger and bulkier than the rest of us, although it was still too tight for all of us to make it through at once.
Nonetheless, we all managed to make it through. As I helped Hop, the last of us, out of the hole, I could sense the Dark Wall’s displeasure at how we managed to go right underneath it without risking any of our lives. I wondered if Dark Kosmos was also aware that we had gotten past his little trap without very much effort. In my mind’s eye, I could just imagine the Villain stomping his feet in rage at our outwitting him.
“Wow,” said Recover as she dusted off her Costume. “Can’t believe that worked. Seems almost too simple to me.”
“You’d be surprised at how many problems have simple solutions,” said Funky. “In any case, we made it past the Dark Wall. According to my map, the entrance to Dark Kosmos’ Hideout isn’t much farther. In fact, it should be above that ladder over there.”
Funky pointed at a ladder at the very end of the sewer. It was a simple, unassuming metal ladder, looking no different from any of the other ladders we’d seen down here, but somehow even I could tell it was our ticket out of here. Even better, it seemed unprotected.
“Freedom!” Cy yelled. He dashed over to the ladder and hugged it. “Fresh air. Light. No more stinky sewage or scary monsters. I almost want to marry this ladder and I haven’t even climbed it yet.”
Annoyed, I pulled Cy off the ladder and said, “Get a hold of yourself. We shouldn’t all go up there all at once.”
Cy looked at me with surprise. “What? Why?”
“Because there might be something bad awaiting us up there,” I said, pointing up sharply at the manhole cover far above. “I wouldn’t put it past Dark Kosmos to set up some kind of guard or trap to capture anyone who might try to break into his Hideout this way.”
“We need to send a scout,” said Funky. He looked at Cy, Hop, and Brawn. “Maybe one of the Sidekicks—?”
I held up a hand. “I’ll do it. I’m strong enough to handle whatever might be on the other side. You guys can stay here.”
“Are you sure?” asked Dillo, looking at me doubtfully. He patted his armor, which was covered in a light coating of concrete dust. “I have higher Defense than you. Might make sense to send me up there instead.”
I waved a hand at him. “Dillo, you’ve already done enough work and look exhausted from all that digging you did. Wait here while your Stamina recharges. I’ll just stick my head up there, and if I see anything, I’ll let you guys know.”
I could tell that the others weren’t quite on board with me being the scout, but I didn’t see why not. After all, I was the Team Leader here. If I wanted to do something, then I could do it, regardless of what the others thought. Besides, I always thought a leader should be the one to go into danger first, rather than risk the lives of his own followers.
Without further ado, I climbed up the ladder as fast as I could and, unscrewing the hatch, pushed it open and poked my head out.
From what I could see, it looked like the sewer opened up into a fairly open dome-shaped room. It looked big enough for maybe a dozen people, but I did not see any furniture or anything to indicate that this place was ever used for anything. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling above did not show me anything, even after I looked around. If I had to guess, this room was probably between the Sewers and the Hideout itself, probably designed to be an emergency escape route in case Dark Kosmos needed to get out of here quickly. The single steel door at the other end of the room—which looked thick enough to handle a nuclear explosion—more or less confirmed my suspicions there.
Looking down at the others, I shouted, “It’s perfectly safe. No bad guys, no traps, no—”
A huge hand grabbed my head and yanked me out of the hole. I cried out in pain and tried to fight back, but then the owner of the hand hurled me across the room with surprising strength.
My whole world spun around me as I tumbled head over heels through the air until I crashed against the wall on the other side of the room and fell to the floor. Dazed from the impact, a notification appeared in my vision:
Debuff added: Dazed. Agility -10%, Evasion -10%, and Accuracy -15%. Duration: 1 minute(s).
Groaning, I also noticed that my Health bar had depleted by a few points, which made me wonder just how hard I had been thrown. Shaking my head, I looked up to see who had attacked me and felt my heart melt at the sight:
It was Omega Burst. And he wore the most chilling grin I had seen on his face yet.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Although it hadn’t even been a day since I last saw Omega Burst, I could not help but shake when I saw him. He looked much the same as I remembered him, but somehow … bigger. He wasn’t taller, necessarily, but his muscles seemed to bulg
e tighter than ever under his bodysuit to the point where I thought it’d snap as soon as he moved. His huge arm cannons hummed with charged energy, while his ugly mug revealed his perfectly white, even teeth. He must have had a good dentist. Then again, do NPCs even need dental work?
“Hi there,” said Omega Burst in a false friendly voice. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon. Didn’t I kill you back in the Adventure Mall? You and your friends, if I recall correctly.”
I gulped and rose to my feet, but it was hard because of the Dazed debuff, which made it hard for me to even stand. I hadn’t realized just how badly a ten percent decrease in some of my Stats could affect my well-being. “Surprised you remember me in particular, given all the people you killed back then.”
Omega Burst shrugged. “I am pretty good at remembering faces. Especially the faces of the men Dark Kosmos wants me to kill.”
I leaned against the wall for support, carefully watching Omega Burst to make sure he didn’t attack me. “You’re working for Dark Kosmos now? I thought you were an independent Villain.”
“Dark Kosmos rules this world now,” Omega Burst replied. “No point in picking a fight with God, my mother always used to say. As well, Dark Kosmos has opened my eyes to the reality of you players and how you treat us.” He punched his fist into his other hand. “I will take great pleasure in slowly but surely tearing you apart. I am very good at doing that, you know. Especially at keeping you alive the whole time.”
“You talk almost as much as Cy,” I said. “Who, I imagine, you’ll get to meet once he and the others get here.”
Omega Burst bore a wolfish grin. “Oh, are you referring to your Teammates? I wouldn’t count on them for help if I were you. Others always disappoint.”
Omega Burst stepped aside, revealing the hatch I had opened was now bashed in. Even without touching it, I could tell that Omega Burst had crushed the hatch in such a way that the others wouldn’t be able to open it easily. By the time they did, I would probably be dead. I could hear faint banging sounds on the inside of the hatch and what sounded like people shouting, but the hatch was too thick for me to make out any individual words or voices.