by R. A. Mejia
“Bastard!” Nancy yells, catching Auden’s attention. He stands erect and faces us. I notice that his avatar seems to have grown several inches and bulked up some.
“It’s good to see you losers again. I was hoping to find you here somewhere. I’ve been leveling up and aching for another round against you all.” He doesn’t turn away from us but casually stabs another camper gaining more XP. “These little guys have been so helpful, but I want a bigger challenge to test my new powers.”
“Leave them alone,” Nancy yells. The lacrosse stick appears in her hand, and as she swings it, she tosses a glowing ball right at Auden. He tries to swipe it away but misses, and there’s a thump and black smoke poof from his cloak as it hits him in the chest. His health bar appears over his head, and barely a sliver of his life goes away.
Auden laughs. “No, your puny attacks won’t hurt me very much now. I made sure to upgrade my damage resistance.” He then steps back and stabs another camper, gaining more XP. “And every one of these NPCs I can kill makes me even more powerful.”
That’s when it clicks for me. We need to deprive him of the chance to kill the NPCs.
“Wake up campers! You’re being slaughtered!” I yell. But no one stirs. I’m not sure if this is some weird feature of the game that stops the NPCs from running away, but it seems unfair if so.
Then Auden laughs again. “Sorry, Anthony. I thought of that too. I invested some of my power into an aura that helps keep NPCs asleep.” He gestures to the black smoke that flows from the bottom of his robes and is spreading through the room. “Yell all you want, but you won’t wake them.”
I smile. Yelling won’t work, huh? Auden has inadvertently given me the clue I needed. I tap my character screen and choose an item from the list for my most recently received level. A small red whistle appears in my hand, and I blow on it. The shrillest sound I’ve ever heard pierces the silence and seems to echo throughout the entire building. It’s so loud that I have to cover my ears and squeeze my eyes shut. When the sound passes, I open my eyes to find that I was not the only one covering their ears. Every person in the room is doing the same. Everyone, including all the remaining campers.
There’s a moment of confusion on their parts, and then they see the tall, scary monster in their midst, and they all start to scream. The lights in the room come on, only adding to the panic as all the campers get a clear view of the creature killing them.
Fear Level 42%
Auden yells, “NO! You won’t get away you little XP snacks!”
He starts to swing his outstretched claws, trying to kill the campers around him as they flee the room. He catches one slow one, but before he can kill it, two flaming balls hit Auden in the chest. The flaming projectiles catch him off guard, and he lets the camper go. I turn my head and see Nancy smiling, her lacrosse stick wreathed in a flaming aura.
She smiles at me. “You’re not the only one that got new powers.”
Still, even with the flame effect, Auden’s health is only down 10%. Seeing how little it has changed reinforces my fear that it may be impossible to actually beat Auden in a straight fight. Ethan and I look at each other as Nancy and Ray rush after the tall monstrous figure. We know that we’re not built as fighters, but we still want to help.
As I see the last of the campers flee the room, I can at least be assured that we’ve stopped him from getting any stronger for the moment.
“I heard the whistle, what is that creature?”
I turn to see the remaining counselors Carrie Anne, Norman B., and Patrick B. peering into the room with concerned looks on their faces. I’m genuinely confused. I thought the counselors were only there as props or maybe as leads to items we found, but the fact that they are here now makes me believe that something else is at work. Maybe some other game mechanic?
“I blew the whistle. I needed to wake the campers up, or the monster was going to kill them all.” The three counselors look angry, and I roll the dice, hoping my guess here is right. “Will you guys help us fight him? I don’t know that we can win, but we need to at least stall him until my friend and I can fix the bus so that we can escape.”
The three counselors look at each other and then at me with wide smiles on their faces. They all nod, step into the room, and transform. Carrie starts to float off the ground, and her hair blows behind her like she’s facing a wind machine. Her eyes glow, and objects around her start to float off the ground, which she then hurls at Auden. Norman cackles like an old woman, and then he’s no longer wearing his counselor uniform. Instead, he’s wearing the dress and wig we found and wielding the large kitchen knife. His form disappears and then reappears as he makes his way through the room toward the monster. Once he reaches the center, he appears behind Auden and stabs at his back. Auden screams in pain, but by the time he turns around, the cackling Norman has faded away. Patrick, the last counselor, simply rips off his shirt, revealing a sculpted physique. He charges Auden, who’s back is still turned. I cheer as Patrick tackles him but then grimace when Auden doesn’t actually budge an inch. Auden turns back around and slams his fists down onto Patrick’s back.
The battle turning, Ethan tugs on my sleeve. “Come on. We need to go. They won’t win, but we can. We just need to get to the garage and fix the bus.” He turns and starts to jog out of the room. I wonder why he’s moving so slowly, but then I recall that the Mechanic is the slowest class. I turn back to the room and see Ray standing off to the side, freely bleeding from his stomach. He’s throwing anything he can get his hands on at Auden, but with little effect.
Recalling Ray’s class features, I yell at him, “Ray! Use your cheer!”
Ray grimaces but nods. He taps something in the air and is then holding two pom poms. With an embarrassed look on his face, he starts waving the pom poms and shouts loudly, “Big ‘G’ Little ‘O’. GO, GO, GO!” A green burst of energy explodes from him. As it expands and hits Nancy and the counselors, each seems to get a boost of energy, and the various wounds that they’ve suffered from fighting Auden seem to heal slightly.
But it’s just not enough. Despite the five-on-one fight, Auden is only halfway down his health pool while everyone else looks like they’re going to collapse soon.
Auden laughs at our attempts to hurt him and glancing over the room, his eyes catch mine and even though his head is covered by the dark cloak, I can feel him smiling. “Is this the best you can do loser? Why don’t you at last come and fight me yourself. That way you can at least tell Lillian you weren’t a complete coward, always running away when I found you.”
The words make my blood boil. This sadistic bastard is calling me a coward when he’s surrounded by the dead bodies of helpless kids? He’s even bringing Lillian into this? I take a step towards him, my fist clenched so tightly my knuckles are white. Then before I can take another step, Lillian’s words come back to me: ‘You were like a hamster running in one of those wheels’, ‘ you have to start thinking about other people Anthony and not just yourself.’
I finally understand what Lillian meant. Too many times I’ve let my anger decide what I’d do, regardless of the consequences to others around me. With an extreme effort of will, I turn away from the taunting Auden. Instead, I decide that Ethan is right. We have to repair the bus and escape. I turn and run out of the room, knowing that I’m leaving my team behind to stall Auden. I can hear the sounds of their fight fade as I reach the stairs and start my journey down. I catch up with Ethan on the first floor, and instead of rushing ahead, I grab him and indicate for him to climb on my back. Even with the extra weight, my speed is better than his will ever be, and the two of us head down to the basement garage.
It’s my first time there, but Ethan drops off my back and collects the supplies from me. I watch as he puts everything on the workbench against the wall and starts to work with it all. I’ve only done a minor amount of crafting, but I imagine that he’s working through some interface or mini-game to make the parts we need. In the meantime, I look aroun
d the garage and see a variety of tools everywhere, and in the middle facing a large rolling garage door, is the bus. It’s a rusty old yellow school bus that looks like it’s about to crumble to dust in some places. Ethan works quickly to make the parts he needs. He uses the super glue to attach the PVC pipe to the engine, replacing some broken hoses. The pantyhose replaces a broken belt, and some of the wires replace some broken electrical points, other wires are used to connect the AA batteries in series, and then the jumper cables are attached to the starter.
“I’ve gotten everything set up except for connecting our makeshift batteries to the jumper cables. When I do and turn the ignition, the bus should start up. But we won’t be able to start the bus up again, so we’ll have to have everyone on board. How will we get all the campers here?”
The question has merit. After all, how would we track down every surviving camper or counselor before Auden beats our team members? Does that mean we’ll also have to go back to tell them that the bus is ready to roll? No, that’s too much time wasted. An idea pops into my head, and I double check an item description to see if I recall it correctly.
Whistle - Can be used to alert area of danger, as a signal to gather, or just to be annoying.
Yes, I’m correct. The item can be used to signal to gather. I pull the item out, put it to my lips, and blow. A shrill whistle sounds, and I see Ethan cover his ears as the sound echoes in the garage. However, nothing else happens. At first. Then, magically called, one camper appears at the doorway. Then a surviving counselor and then another camper. They appear in twos and threes and start boarding the bus without a word until it is halfway full. I stare at the door, hoping to see either Nancy or Ray appear.
Instead, it’s the monster that shows up next. Auden is so big now that he barely fits through the doorway, and his billowing cloak is a thick, dark, smoky mist that surrounds him, leaving little visible other than his red eyes and vague outlines of his large, muscular form. The whole thing lends Auden the appearance of some shadowy demon creature. As he squeezes through the doorway, the campers and counselors on the bus start to scream in terror. I can’t say that I blame them, and I yell for Ethan to start the bus as I turn and run to join them.
“I can’t! I still have to attach the jumper cables to the makeshift battery. You start it when I give you the signal.”
He tosses me the keys as he climbs up the ladder he’s been using to reach the uncovered engine. I grit my teeth, wishing we’d done this part sooner, but with keys in hand, I step up onto the bus and climb into the driver’s seat. I put in the keys and yell out, “I’m ready on my end, Ethan.”
I see Ethan give me a thumbs up and grab one end of the jumper cables. He reaches forward to attach them to the proper spot, and then the entire bus lurches to one side. There’s more screaming as campers fall into the aisle, and even I have to clutch the steering wheel for support. Looking out through the front window, I see poor Ethan clinging to the engine, trying not to get tossed off. I turn my head and see Auden’s massive form lifting the side of the bus. Even without being able to see his full face, I can tell that Auden is enjoying making everyone scream. I realize that he’s powerful enough to kill us all whenever he wishes and that he’s now toying with us.
I’ve almost given up and resigned to losing the game when there is a mighty shout from behind the bus. Two weary and obviously hurt figures stagger through the door. One is waving pom-poms around and shouts, “Stronger than steel, Hotter than the sun; Nancy won't stop, ‘til she gets the job done!” Green energy from Ray’s pom poms flows to Nancy, all of her wounds disappear, and her eyes glow green.
Nancy uses her lacrosse stick to vault herself into the air and onto the back of the monstrous Auden. A kitchen knife appears in her hands, and she stabs down again and again. Auden screams and takes three steps back from the bus, dropping it with a loud crash. I can just make out the red health bar above him. My heart sinks when I see that his health has barely dropped to the 25% mark despite Nancy’s repeated attacks. There’s just no way we’re going to kill him.
But a shout from Ethan reminds me that we don’t have to. “Start her up!”
I turn and see him giving me the thumbs-up sign, and I remember that we just have to escape. My right hand shoots forward to the ignition and turns the key. There’s a moment where the engine screeches, but it turns over the next second, and the bus rumbles to life. Auden turns toward the sound of the bus and reaches out, but Nancy stabs him again forcing him to return his attention to her as another sliver of health disappears from his life bar.
I’m ready to press down on the accelerator, but then I see another problem. The garage door is still shut. Ethan, however, is a step ahead of me. He has already climbed down from the engine and is pulling the chain that raises the rolling garage door. Every so slowly, it rises as he pulls on the chain pulley. A glance back out the side windows shows that Auden has somehow reached behind and snagged Nancy in his hands. His long claws are digging into her and draining the last of her health. Her health bar hits zero, and a notification appears.
Player Nancy has been killed.
I grimace at the sight and I feel a familiar anger flair up. Knowing this is just a game doesn’t make seeing her lifeless body in Auden’s hand any easier. Auden has again hurt someone that I care about and I jump out of my seat, instinct compelling me to strike out at the monster that has hurt my team mate. But the moment I let my foot off the gas, the bus starts to stutter, and I remember that, if I let the bus turn off, we won’t be able to get it started again. For a fraction of a second I consider striking out at him still, but I tamp down on the raging anger in my chest and take a deep breath and yell out at Auden, “You’ll regret that you egotistical bastard!” Determined to stick to my role and make sure we win this thing, I get back into the driver’s seat and press on the gas pedal gently, revving the engine.
Ethan has gotten the door halfway up, but it’s not far enough to get the bus out yet. Turning back to the side windows, Auden revels in having killed a player for a moment before turning back to the bus. He pushes on the side, causing two of the wheels to lift and making the campers and counselors scream again. A form behind him blurs as it rushes forward, and I can just make out Ray tackling Auden from behind. Ray must have just hit the monster just right, because Auden’s knees buckle and he falls backward, his larger size working against him for once. Unfortunately, the maneuver costs Ray as Auden falls on top of him.
Player Ray has been killed.
A shout gets my attention. “Go! Go! Go!” Ethan has finally raised the garage door enough for the bus to get through. I wait a second for him to run to the bus door and get on, but one look at his expression tells me that he doesn’t think he’ll make it with his low speed. Instead, he waves for us to go on without him. I know he’s sacrificing himself so that we can win, and I find that I admire him. Ethan isn’t trying to grandstand, but only doing what he can to help the team win. His priorities are straight.
I focus on what I need to do to help our team and shift the bus into drive and push down hard on the accelerator. The bus revs and lurches forward, gaining speed as its massive weight gains momentum. In the rearview mirror, I can just make out poor little Ethan throwing anything he can get his hands on at Auden to distract him for another second.
I make a hard right turn to get onto the main road and lose sight of the fight in the garage. As the bus trundles off toward the edge of the map, a series of notification come in.
Player Ethan has been killed.
You have escaped with the surviving campers and counselors.
The Players Win!!
————
Then the world around me explodes into a pixelated mass so bright that I have to close my eyes. When I open them again, I find myself disoriented and have to adjust to my surroundings. My heart is still racing from that near escape, but then I recognize that I’m surrounded by partygoers. There’s a moment of quiet, and then the crowd breaks out in lou
d cheers and clapping. The sound is a bit too much after the eerie quiet of the game world, and I cover my ears with my hands.
Rothfus Bobblemaster’s voice booms louder than everyone. “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give it up for the players of tonight’s game!” The crowd cheers louder, and I notice that the room is packed. It feels like there are at least three times as many people in the room as when I left. I can only guess that the partygoers in the other rooms all came to watch the game. A glance up confirms my suspicions as the big screens hanging from the ceiling replay moments from the game: the peaceful first moments each player had before Auden came into play, the mayhem of the first moments when he started killing NPCs, each player’s death and their acts of heroism, our frantic searches and team play, and of course, those last moments when I wasn’t sure we were going to win.