by Lucas Flint
Time seemed to slow down around me as I watched Dark Kosmos’ energy gather in his hands. I knew that if he killed me, I would just respawn, but that didn’t make my impending death any easier to accept. If I died, I would respawn in my Base far from Dark Kosmos’ Hideout, leaving all of the freed players, plus Cy, Funky, and Lennox, at Dark Kosmos’ mercy. It would mean failing my friends. It would mean never seeing anyone from real life again. It would mean letting Dark Kosmos win. And even if I respawned, Dark Kosmos would probably capture and kill me again anyway, just like the other players he tortured.
But what else was I to do? At this point, I could only hope that the SI Games developers would find a way to wrest control of the game back from Dark Kosmos. That, however, was seeming less and less likely with each passing second.
But I would not close my eyes. No, I would accept my death like a man. Even if I couldn’t defeat Dark Kosmos—even if he killed me in cold blood—I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cower and whimper like a scared child. I stared up defiantly at Dark Kosmos, daring him to kill me. I thought I saw hesitation in Dark Kosmos’ eyes for a moment—like he was taken aback by my courage—but then it was gone, replaced by his cool hate and triumph as he knew he was just seconds away from winning.
All of a sudden, however, a shining golden aura appeared around me. It was so bright that it even caused Dark Kosmos to cover his eyes with one hand, cutting off the silvery energy glowing in his hand.
Astonished, I looked down at my body, watching as the various bruises, cuts, and other injuries I had received during this battle rapidly healed up. The pain in my back vanished and my Health bar rapidly rose back to full. In fact, it didn’t just fill up. It became golden-colored, which was when I got this notification:
[Hero Recover] used Full Heal+! All debuffs lifted and Health restored 100%!
Buff added: Temporary invincibility. You will not take damage from any attacks for at least 10 seconds. Duration: 10 seconds.
I gaped when I read that notification. Not at the buff I got—although that was nice—but at the identity of the person who had saved me.
Instinctively, I looked between Dark Kosmos’ legs and saw Recover standing not far away, her hands raised, while Brawn stood beside her holding her medical toolbox. It looked like she had made it through the crowd of players trying to escape through the elevator and even past Lennox. Both Lennox and the players looked just as surprised at Recover’s presence as I was.
“Recover?” I shouted. “What are you doing—”
“I came here to save your life!” Recover shouted. “Now kill him before the invincibility wears off, you idiot!”
Knowing better than to argue with a medical professional, I grabbed Dark Kosmos’ ankle and activated Freezing Touch. Ice immediately shot up Dark Kosmos’ leg and, although it probably didn’t actually take off any HP, Dark Kosmos nonetheless cried out in surprise and staggered backward. He wrenched his ankle out of my grasp, but it did him no good because his leg was still frozen, which made his movements awkward and clumsy.
Sensing my chance, I jumped to my feet before I realized that I didn’t have the Darkbane.
Just as that realization hit me, I heard Cy shout, “Boss, catch!”
I looked over and saw Cy—who was now standing and looked good as new—holding the Darkbane. He must have been healed by Recover’s Ultimate Power as well, but before I could register that, Cy threw the Darkbane at me.
The sword spun like a wheel in the air toward me. I jumped up and caught the Darkbane’s handle. Using the momentum of my jump, I flew toward Dark Kosmos, who was still struggling to maintain his balance with his frozen leg, and landed in front of him. Dark Kosmos had just enough time to look up at me, surprise on his face, before I thrust the Darkbane directly into his chest.
The Darkbane stabbed through Dark Kosmos’ chest armor like a hot knife through cold butter. In fact, I kept pushing the Darkbane until its tip pierced his back. Black blood leaked out of Dark Kosmos’ chest wound onto my hands, but I ignored it in order to maintain eye contact with Dark Kosmos.
The Villain was staring at me with oddly hard-to-read eyes. He could have been glaring at me, staring at me in shock, or maybe something in between. In any case, I could tell, even without any status notifications, that Dark Kosmos was dead.
“So …” Dark Kosmos coughed up more of his black blood onto my face. “This … this is what pain feels like …”
My eyes widened. “You’re still alive?”
Dark Kosmos grimaced. “No. I am dying. Not even your Healer could save me now.”
I scowled. “Why not just save us the trouble and die already? The world would be a better place without you.”
Dark Kosmos chuckled. “I will die, my friend, in due time. But I hope you don’t see this as a victory for you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t it be? I killed you. The players will be freed. SI Games will regain control over Capes Online. You have lost.”
Dark Kosmos smiled. “You may have killed me, but I am not the true enemy. The one who unleashed me in the first place … he is still out there. You think you and yours will be safe now that I am gone? Delusional. If anything, once I am gone, you—all of the players—will be in more danger than ever. In due time, you will be wishing you had accepted my offer to rule Capes Online beside me. All of you will. Including the ones I held prisoner and tortured.”
Without breaking eye contact, I said, “Although I’m young, I can’t say I don’t have any regrets in my life. But if there is one decision I know I won’t regret, it is killing you.”
With that, I activated Freezing Touch, but instead of having to make direct contact with Dark Kosmos, I channeled it through the Darkbane. Cold energy went through my hands and up the Darkbane’s blade. The Darkbane itself began to change, turning from a wickedly sharp, slightly curved blade into a sword that appeared to be made out of ice.
But the Darkbane was not the only thing that became covered in ice. The cold energy of Freezing Touch flowed over Dark Kosmos, starting with his chest and expanding outward until it covered his whole body. In less than a second, Dark Kosmos was totally frozen from head to toe. During the entire thing, his facial expression—a knowing smile—did not change one bit.
But I didn’t care. With a grunt, I ripped the Darkbane out of his chest and kicked his body back.
With his face frozen in a smile, Dark Kosmos’ body tipped over and shattered into a million pieces against the floor.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
The second Dark Kosmos’ frozen body shattered against the floor, a mission notification suddenly popped up in front of me out of nowhere:
UNIVERSAL MISSION: Defeat Dark Kosmos
STATUS: Completed!
You did the impossible and defeated the Villain Dark Kosmos! Guess you are a lot less suicidal than you appear. Major props to you, dude.
REWARDS: +500 to Fame and 20,000 EXP!
Another notification—this one a Universal System Notification—replaced the last one and read:
UNIVERSAL SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:
Attention all Heroes and Villains! Hero Winter and his trusty Sidekick Cyclone have defeated Villain Dark Kosmos! With Dark Kosmos’ power over Adventure City broken, it is now possible for all players, Heroes and Villains alike, to log off from their GamePods! Please click the ‘log off’ button in the upper right corner of your character menu to log off from your account and leave your GamePod.
Based on the startled and curious expressions that the other players wore, I could tell that this particular notification had probably been seen by every single player in Capes Online. That meant that now millions of players—Heroes and Villains alike—were now aware of me. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that or what the consequences of that would be in the future.
But the notifications didn’t end there. When I dismissed the Universal System Notification, I got even more notifications:
You defeated Villain Dark Kosmos! +5,000 EXP!
Level up +10! You are now Level 24! +40 Stat Points and +20 Power Points!
Fame +500! Your reputation is now ‘Household Name.’ Players and NPCs alike are more likely to recognize your face on the street, some of whom might offer you special deals at shops or even unique missions unavailable in normal gameplay, although the full effects of your heightened Fame—both positive and negative—are yet to be seen. Raise your Fame to 1,000 to reach the next level!
Additionally, Team Winter’s Reputation has increased +100%! Team Winter’s reputation has risen from ‘Unknown’ to ‘Famous.’ Increasing the Reputation of your Team can give you access to special Team Missions that you can’t get elsewhere, as well as a variety of other unknown benefits. Complete more Team Missions to raise your Team’s Reputation even higher!
Buff lifted: Temporary invincible. You are no longer immune to damage from enemies.
My jaw dropped when I saw how much I leveled up in one go. Ten levels at once? That must have been the result of the combined experience I got for completing the Universal Mission and defeating Dark Kosmos. It was kind of strange that I got the Universal Mission notification before the ones I got for defeating a boss, but I guess the Universal Mission notifications must come first or something.
Before I could fully process everything that happened, Cy jumped out of nowhere and hugged me. “We did it, boss! We killed Dark Kosmos and saved the day! Yay!”
I shoved Cy off me and said, “Thanks, Cy, but I think we can celebrate our victory without getting all touchy-feely.”
“Okay,” said Cy, who sounded a bit disappointed. Then he snapped his fingers and said, “I know! I’ll do a victory dance. Watch me!”
Cy started to spasm and hop up and down in a very embarrassing way. Luckily, at that moment Recover and Brawn walked up to us, giving me an excuse to ignore Cy’s embarrassing new dance and look at them.
“Thanks for the save, Recover,” I said. “If you hadn’t shown up at the last minute like that, Cy and I definitely would have died.”
Recover waved off my thanks. “No problem. Just another day for the greatest medical professional in Capes Online.”
I wanted to roll my eyes, but I thought that might come across as ungrateful to her, so I said, “Well, I want to thank you anyway, but I don’t understand how you got here. Or why you came back.”
Recover jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “I came through the elevator, naturally enough. When I decided to come back and help you, I ran into a few of the players you freed in the lobby, who directed me to the elevator after telling me that the Teleportation Pads were no longer working. I had to force myself through the crowd trying to get in all at once, but Brawn made it very easy. Right, Brawn?”
“Yes, Miss Recover,” said Brawn promptly. “Pushing all of those weak people out of the way was indeed very easy for me.”
“Okay, but I still don’t understand why you helped me,” I said. “I thought you said you were going to leave Dark Kosmos’ Hideout and go back to your Base. You seem really betrayed when you found out the truth about me.”
Recover bit her lip and looked down at her feet. “I was angry at you, true, but the fact is I can be a bit impulsive and overly emotional sometimes, if you haven’t noticed, and sometimes—occasionally—that makes me act in very stupid ways.”
“And foolish, too,” Brawn added.
“The point,” said Recover, after glaring at Brawn, “is that I was acting on my emotions earlier. I was just so shocked and betrayed by the revelation of your true nature that I acted on impulse. It was only after Brawn and I got back to the Sewers that I started to cool down a bit and actually think through what I said to you.”
“With help from me,” said Brawn quietly.
Recover nodded with a sheepish expression. “True. Brawn is a good listener. He’s also really good at calling out my BS when I need it.”
“I always call out Winter’s BS when he needs it,” Cy added. “Wait, we’re talking about bacon and sausage, right?”
I sighed and rubbed my forehead, wondering if it was possible to get high blood pressure in this game. If so, I wouldn’t get it from the Villains who try to kill me or any of the dangerous situations I faced in the game, but rather thanks to Cy’s annoying non-sequiturs.
Ignoring Cy, I said, “So I take it this is your apology?”
“Basically,” said Recover. She looked up at me with an apologetic expression. “I realized that I couldn’t just run away, not with Dark Kosmos in charge of Capes Online and his minions kidnapping players to torture. Quitting the Team meant that I would eventually die in real life. I’m not like you. If my body stays in my GamePod for too long, it will eventually decay and then I’ll die for real.”
I nodded. I didn’t blame her for making her decision on that reasoning. “Well, I’ll accept your apology, but also offer my own. I said some things to you back there that I really shouldn’t have. I think both of us were caught up in the heat of the moment and said and did things we didn’t mean. I hope you can accept it.”
“I suppose I can,” said Recover with a mischeavious grin. “Since you seem so sincere, of course.”
Recover and I looked at each other for a moment. Despite the exhaustion I felt from the battle, I still found Recover extremely attractive. And not just because she was drop-dead gorgeous, either. I was starting to see a much nicer person underneath her bravado than I first assumed. Perhaps she and I …
“Aww, isn’t that sweet?” said Cy, putting his hands together. “It’s so nice to see you guys making up. Really warms my heart. Don’t you agree, Brawn?”
Brawn nodded again. “Indeed. I believe this is the first time I’ve ever seen Miss Recover apologize to someone.”
“And this is the first time I’ve seen Winter apologize as well,” Cy added. He patted me on the shoulder. “There might be hope for you two yet!”
Before either Recover or I could respond to that, I heard someone walking toward us and looked over to see Funky approaching us. Lennox was back to his normal tiny size now, looped around Funky’s neck. Lennox looked exhausted from his battle with Dark Kosmos, but I could tell he was proud of himself for distracting Dark Kosmos. He definitely deserved the right to be tired after everything he went through.
“Hi, Funky,” I said, waving at Funky as he and Lennox approached. “Good to see you! How are the players? Are they safe?”
Funky jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “They’re gone. All logged off at the same time, probably as soon as they saw that System Notification. Except her.”
I looked over Funky’s shoulder and saw that he was correct. The crowd of hundreds of players was gone, except for the girl walking behind Funky. I immediately recognized her as none other than Sunshine. Although she still looked awful from Dark Kosmos’ torture of her, it seemed like someone must have healed her at some point, because she was now capable of walking on her own two feet without suffering any real pain.
“Sunshine?” I said, looking at the girl as she approached. “What are you still doing here? Why didn’t you log off with the other players?”
Sunshine stopped a few feet away from me. She looked tired, exhausted, and bloodied, but she managed to smile at me nonetheless. “I just wanted to thank you for saving me and the others. My dad always taught me to thank people who helped me, so that’s what I decided to do. I wish there was some way I could repay you, but unfortunately Dark Kosmos took away all my money, items, and equipment.”
I waved off her thanks. “No problem. I got enough rewards from completing this Universal Mission anyway. But if you really want to thank me, you should log off and go back to the real world. Your parents are probably worried about you.”
Sunshine nodded. “Okay. See you later, I guess.”
With that, Sunshine suddenly blinked out of existence. It occurred to me that I had never seen a player log off before. It certainly wasn’t dramatic. One moment, Sunshine was there. The next, she was gone.
“Uh
oh, boss,” said Cy with a sly grin, “I think you’ve got an admirer now!”
“Who, Sunshine?” I said, looking at Cy in confusion. “She was just thanking me to be polite.”
“I dunno, boss,” said Cy. “I think I saw something a little bit more than gratitude in her body language, if you catch my drift. She’s pretty cute, if you ask me.”
“She’s probably also going to have PTSD for the rest of her life from this,” Recover added quickly. “So I wouldn’t be so quick to approach her, if you catch my drift.”
I frowned. Recover didn’t sound particularly concerned about Sunshine’s mental health when she said that. She sounded almost … jealous? I hoped I was just imagining things, but I didn’t think so.
“Anyway,” said Funky. He held up a small piece of meat for Lennox, who snapped it out of his fingers and greedily devoured it, “I need to thank you as well, Winter. Your defeat of Dark Kosmos and completion of the Universal Mission caused the rewards to be shared with everyone on the Team. Lennox and I leveled up several times as a result.”
“What about Dillo and Hop?” I asked, thinking about our two dead Teammates. “Do they get any experience or rewards despite dying?”
“They should,” said Funky. “Normally, all players on a Team that complete a Universal Mission get the same rewards even if they die before it’s finished, so I think it’s safe to assume that Dillo and Hop leveled up as well.”
“Makes me wish I hadn’t quit the Team,” said Recover wistfully. “All of that tasty experience … gone. Just my luck.”
“Well, there will be other missions we can complete,” I said. “Would you like to rejoin my Team, Recover?”
“You mean you’re going to keep Team Winter?” Funky questioned.
I looked at Funky in surprise. “Sure, why not? I thought we all worked well together. Besides, with an increase in Fame is probably going to come with an increase in other players trying to take me out. There’s safety in numbers, after all.”
“Yay!” said Cy, clapping his hands together. “That means we can all hang out together and live in the same Base and stuff!”