Immersion World

by Max Jager

  "We're fine. We got worried when we didn't hear from you." Brooke added.

  "Sorry, I'm having a hard time doing what needs to be done." Carley quietly answered. Then he took Elliott's hand and pressed it against his side. Elliott could feel a gun concealed under Carley's shirt.

  "You don't need to Carley." Elliott replied, and gave Brooke a nod to confirm what she was thinking.

  "These people aren't bad people. They are scared and are trying to survive." Carley stated. "Pete is leading them astray, he's using that fear to make them follow him into this life of crime. It's not their faults." He whispered. "We only need to take him out and unite the others."

  "These are not good people Carley. These guys are all pretty sleazy to say the least." Brooke replied.

  "What do you mean?"" Carley asked.

  "Carley, they think you're a girl." Brooke whispered.

  "Yeah, that's been helping me get everything I need around here. They go a bit easier on me." Carley quietly replied.

  "That's a great asset, really, but that's not a good thing." Brooke pointed out. "These are a bunch of lonely guys, and you're probably the first girl to be hanging around them."

  "Yeah, they really seem to appreciate it." Carley replied.

  "Carley." Brooke sighed. "Dear god, You really are oblivious. They want to get with you."

  Carley paused for a moment, then turned a bright shade of red. "Seriously?"

  "Yes. That's pretty obvious even to me." Elliott stated. "You really need to be more careful around them." He said and gestured to the potion bottle.

  "Pete was even giving me a few… unsettling looks." Brooke murmured. "He's a real creep."

  Carley nodded a little. "I understand. I will… Try my best to do what I need to do. It's just hard."

  "You can let me do it." Elliott stated.

  "No, you're still a kid, and you're a friend. I won't make you take someone else's life." Carley insisted.

  "Carley." Elliott stated. "I've already killed someone once before. Back in the real world, Brooke and I had been kidnapped by some sick people. I shot and killed one of them as we escaped."

  Carley froze for a moment. "How did you do it? Does it still bother you?"

  "It still haunts me in my nightmares from time to time. But I've gotten over it, as long as I don't think about it much. And I dunno how I did it, I just went and did it. I had to." Elliott replied and Brooke gently pat his back to comfort him.

  Carley nodded. "I can handle some nightmares. It would probably be better than the one I already have. I'll do it." The potion was starting to wear off and he sat up, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for taking so long. I've missed so many chances… It's just… I was never meant to kill anyone. It's hard."

  "Eyes up everyone!" Pete shouted out. "Two travelers heading down the road! They look like two elves, so we hit a jackpot tonight."

  "Let's go you two, you got a job to do." Danny grunted as he walked over and shoved Elliott and Brooke onto their feet.

  "We need you too Carley, bring your bow." Pete stated "The elves are a powerful bunch, we need all of our strength to take them if things go south."

  Carley nodded a little, and followed everyone. Danny took Brooke and Elliott into a nearby house, Carley and Pete hid in a different building together, and the other gunmen spread out and all hid in different places along the road.

  Two elven girls walked down the road. The first girl was a 5'6" elven woman with a thin but muscular build. She had blue eyes and chin-length brown hair, wore a white tank top with a black leather jacket over it, and blue jeans. She had some metal gauntlets with long, sharp, steel claws on her hands.

  The second elven girl was a bit shorter, she stood at 4'10", just an inch shorter than Inami and a little taller than Snipes, which made her look like a kid at first glance. She looked severely underweight, making her very thin and frail. She had blue eyes and long black hair, tied back a loose braid, that stopped just below her waist. She wore a violet in the side of her hair and was wearing a long pink and white dress with a floral pattern on the lower part of it. Her dress went down almost all the way to her ankles, and had long sleeves that covered most of her arms. She carried a bow on her back and the two were idly talking amongst each other.

  "If we just knew what the humans called the thing we could find it much easier." The shorter girl sighed. "I'm sure that once I get my hands on a few bottles of their medicine I can learn how it works and make something out of it."

  "We'll find it. The medical center has got to be in one of these buildings." The taller one shrugged. The two of them looked similar, as if they were related.

  "The human cities are just weird, there isn't any rhyme or reason to where things are. And why do they cover the ground in this, whatever this is?" She kicked the sidewalk. "They ruined this area of the field."

  The taller one laughed. "I know, I asked the same questions the first time Adamus took me out here for training. Humans are of lower intelligence, and lower class, they do a lot of dumb things that make no sense."

  "That's a bit of a generalization." The shorter elf countered. "But it does appear to be true… Sadly. I wonder if we could teach them, help them advance as a species."

  Suddenly, Pete stepped out of his house and stood a few feet in front of them. Both of the women stopped dead in their tracks. The one with the gauntlets shot him a glare and the smaller woman quietly took a step back. Pete signaled for the Danny to step out.

  Danny walked out with Brooke and Elliott, keeping a gun to the back of Brooke's head. He made the two teens kneel in front of Pete. Pete then put his revolver to Elliott's head.

  "Hello ladies." Pete greeted them. "Hadn't expected anyone to show up so soon, but glad you walked in. I got two human kids here, teenagers technically. If you don't want them to die then you will hand over all of your belongings. It'll be an exchange, your stuff for them."

  The smaller of the two elves immediately looked worried, she quickly took her bag off her back to hand it over without second thought. However the taller of the two grabbed her arm and stopped her.

  "Ella, what are you doing?" The smaller girl questioned. "We can't let the kids die."

  "The humans are not our responsibility Lynn." Eladienne replied, then she looked back at Pete. "Find someone else to save them."

  "No, we can't leave them!" Lynn argued. "They'll die!"

  "You can't stick your neck out for everyone you meet sis." Eladienne stated. "The last group of elves to interact with humans were killed by the same humans they were trying to help. Daenestra was with them and they killed her too. We don't mingle with the humans anymore, they are savages."

  Carley wasn't sure what was going on, he stood beside Pete and was nervously watching. Worrying about Brooke and Elliott. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Fate sneaking out of the jail, followed by Jess and Sophia. The three of them hid behind a nearby car. Fate drew her hand of cards and pulled out a nine of hearts, three of clubs, eight of diamonds, nine of diamonds, and a six of hearts.

  Pete sighed, then whistled as a signal for the others to step out of hiding. The three other gunmen all stepped out and pointed their guns at the two elven women. Alex and Chris were behind the girls, while Andrew was standing in an open window in the house right next to them. As soon as she saw them Lynn fearfully grabbed her bow and cast a barrier spell on herself and her younger sister.

  Eladienne adjusted her gauntlets and took a deep breath. "I suggest you put the guns away, and let us keep walking through. I will not give you a second warning, I will just kill you."

  "Ella, we can't take them." Lynn protested. "We need to give up our stuff."

  "They are a bunch of cowards, like any other human. We can take them." Eladienne growled. "Plus, I just noticed. That asshole has Daenestra's rifle." She turned her head to shoot a glare at Andrew. Then, suddenly, Eladienne took off running at him. The man quickly took cover behind the wall, however as Eladienne approached the building her signet f
lashed and she began to emit a red glowing aura. She immediately punched the wall he was hiding behind, and struck it with such force that the wall exploded in a mess of blood and debris. When the dust cleared Andrew was lifelessly lying on the ground a few feet away from the destroyed wall.

  Everyone froze for a moment in shock, before Pete shouted out "Open fire!" Pete and Danny both took their guns off of Elliott and Brooke's heads and started to shoot at the two elven women. Carley was firing his arrows at the elves, but was intentionally missing every shot. He didn't want to harm them.

  The two elven girls quickly took cover. Their barriers kept them protected from the first couple bullets, it lasted just long enough for them to get behind a nearby car.

  As soon as Brooke noticed the gun wasn't against her head anymore she leaned forwards, then slammed her head backwards, headbutting Danny in the crotch and knocking him to the ground. Elliott also jumped up and was about to pin Danny down when Pete grabbed his arm and threw Elliott to the ground.

  "HEY! What do you two think you're doing!?" Pete shouted at them and pointed his revolver at Brooke's head. Elliott lunged to try and grab the gun, but before he could reach it another gunshot rang out right next to them. Pete lifelessly collapsed to the ground with a bullet wound in the back of his head.

  Carley stood behind Pete's corpse, with the stolen pistol in his hand and an absolutely mortified expression on his face. "I did it… I…" Carley dropped the gun and covered his mouth as he started to cough and after a moment he needed to turn away to throw up.

  Danny immediately turned and pointed his pistol at Carley, and without even getting up he fired three shots.

  "Carley!" Jess shouted as she ran out of hiding, towards Carley and activated her signet. Carley started to glow but she didn't use it fast enough to teleport him before he would be shot.

  However, Fate also acted quickly and used her nine of diamonds to create a wall of steel cards between Carley and Danny, effectively blocking the bullets. After the bullets were blocked Jess's signet switched her and Carley's places. Then Brooke and Elliott quickly crawled behind the cardwall, and Jess quickly ran to the other side of the wall with them to check on Carley.

  Carley's head was already spinning, being teleported threw him off balance and caused him to stumble. He leaned against the car the others were hiding behind for support. However as the three other gunmen turned to see what happened, all they could see was a metal card wall, Pete dead on the ground and Danny on the ground beside him, and Carley standing out in the open. They immediately began firing at Carley, one of them with a rifle and the other with the pistol.

  Lynn quickly created a barrier around Carley, which blocked the first two bullets before it broke. But Carley wasn't moving, his head was spinning, he was breathing heavily, and he was starting to shake. The moment he had realized that he killed the man he completely lost all focus. He was shot four times in the back, twice in his upper left leg, and once in his right arm. Carley collapsed to the ground.

  Fate, seeing Carley fall, quickly rushed out in an attempt to grab him and drag him to safety. But before she could reach him Danny took two shots, hitting her once in the leg and once again in the stomach. Fate collapsed and quickly pulled herself back behind the car. Danny quickly started trying to stand up. In response, Fate grabbed her three of clubs, which immediately turned into a razor-sharp metal card, then she threw it at Danny. The card took off like a bullet, and pierced clean through Danny's chest, striking his heart and killing him instantly.

  "Cover me!" Sophia called out as she attempted to step out and grab Carley. Fate dragged herself to lean back against the car, then quickly used both her nine of hearts, which created a wall-like barrier between Sophia and the more distant gunmen, and her eight of diamonds which gave Sophia stone skin. Chloe rushed out alongside Sophia, and under the cover of the barrier the two women grabbed Carley and dragged him behind the car.

  "You didn't need to help Chloe, Carley is pretty tiny, I can lift him alone." Sophia stated. "Thanks though, just don't risk your life like that."

  "I didn't think much about that, I just acted off instinct." Chloe replied, then poked her head out from behind the car. She watched Elliott trying to shoot at the other gunmen with the revolver. Then Brooke quickly rushed over and grabbed Danny's gun before she ducked into the police station. Brooke and Elliott were both occasionally sticking their heads out to fire a few shots at the two remaining gunmen.

  "He has no pulse." Sophia worriedly pointed out. Then she turned to notice that Fate too was staring off into space. "Snap out of it! We need you Fate!" Sophia shouted as she shook Fate.

  "I-I'm sorry, what?" Fate shook her head but looked disoriented.

  "Carley has no pulse." Sophia repeated. "Are you okay? That last card heals you right? Why don't you use it on yourself?"

  "R-Right… I'm fine. It didn't hit anything vital. And it's Carley, it's not the first time he lost a pulse. Coming back from the brink of death is kinda his thing." Fate insisted as she used her last card, the six of hearts, on Carley. It made all of his wounds less severe, but wasn't enough to heal them all. "He will be okay, we all will make sure of that." Fate seemed very distracted, she kept glancing at Danny's body and she was taking deep breaths, as if to try and calm herself.

  Sophia glanced at Carley when she used her card on him, then looked back at Fate. "What about you? You're hurt too."

  "What?" Fate slurred her speech a little. "Oh, I'll be okay. I… I just need a little time to clear my head."

  George and Matthew burst out of hiding and rushed at the last two gunmen. George carried a signpost that had been knocked out of the ground and hurled it at Alex, striking the man and knocking him to the ground. Then George rushed after Alex while Matthew rushed at Chris.

  Alex stumbled onto his feet and just barely evaded a right hook from George, although the burly man wasn't stopping at just a hook. George immediately jabbed Alex in the stomach and knocked him backwards. But Alex landed on his feet and fired his rifle back at George, hitting him twice in the chest. Although George didn't fall, he rushed at Alex with no regard to his wounds.

  Alex took aim at George again, but before he could fire he was shot in the arm by Elliott and nearly dropped his rifle. He glanced back at the others and realized that him and Chris were the last ones left. He didn't want to fight a lost battle, so he immediately turned and ran down the nearest alleyway to escape.

  George chased him for a few steps, but then turned back on Chris.

  Chris noticed him abandoning the fight and also turned to run, he shoved Matthew back and bolted for the alleyway but before he could get far George blocked the path. Chris immediately shot at George, but George quickly dove out of the way and the bullets missed. Then, while Chris wasn't looking, the taller elven woman rushed at him from the side.

  Chris quickly turned his pistol on her, but before he could fire Lynn's arrow pierced his shoulder and made him drop the gun. Eladienne quickly punched him in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards. Before he could regain his footing Brooke shot him in the back, stunning him for just long enough for Eladienne to rush in again and slash at his head with her claws. Chris couldn't evade that attack in time, and was killed by the blow.

  With the chaos of the battle over Eladienne flicked the blood off her gauntlets. "Lets go." She said to Lynn.

  "The humans got hurt!" Lynn protested as she stepped out of her hiding place and rushed towards the humans. However Eladienne grabbed her arm to stop her.

  "No Lynn! Comeon, you're supposed to be the smart one, stop being stupid. Let's get out of here before they attack us again." Eladienne argued.

  "They might be friendly." Lynn insisted.

  "They might not be. They are humans, they can't even get along with other humans. If they can't get along with their own kind how could they get along with us?" Eladienne pointed out.

  "I'm older, you can't tell me what to do." Lynn protested.

  "I'm bigger, and str
onger." Eladienne countered.

  Lynn pouted and tried to pull her arm out of her sister's grip, but the tiny girl was by far not strong enough. She then yanked harder in an attempt to pull her arm away even if she had to hurt herself to do it, and Eladienne quickly let her go so she wouldn't harm herself. Lynn stumbled a little then brushed herself off. "Well I'm going to go help them. You can leave if you like." She insisted, and resumed walking over to the others.

  "Lynn no!" Eladienne tried to argue, but her sister wasn't listening. She sighed and walked alongside Lynn, keeping a cautious eye on all of the humans. The only thing she could do was to stand nearby and prepare to defend Lynn when they inevitably attacked.

  Lynn rushed over to where Carley and the others were hidden behind the car and crouched down beside Carley. Jess, who had regrouped with the others, gave the two elven women a strange look but said nothing to them.

  "Is she okay?" Lynn worriedly asked. "I am Lynn, a healer in training. I've been training under Cora, the lead healer in our village. I can help." However, before even waiting for an answer she placed a hand on Carley's shoulder and immediately began healing his wounds.