by J P Carver
“Hm, probably won’t even let us through the door. That is unless we play the game.”
“What game?”
“Follow my lead, little Geo.” She patted his cheek and headed down the walk to the front door. She opened it and surprised two police officers that were standing by the stairs, talking.
“Hey! You can’t be in here, it’s a crime scene.”
The tears came out in a wailing cry. Peyton dropped to her knees, hands on her face as her shoulders started to shake. Geo saw both officers look at each in a mixture of surprise and confusion.
Geo dropped to a knee beside her and placed his hands on her back. “Sorry, it just really hit her. We live here the… she was our sister.”
An officer came over and knelt in front of them. He had a soft, kind looking face that he tried to keep neutral. “I’m sorry about what happened to her. We’re trying to find the person who did this, but to do that, we have to keep the crime scene locked down until we finish processing everything.
Peyton gave another wail and Geo fought the urge to roll his eyes. She was really trying to sell it. “I got it, but we’re supposed to go to our aunt's, but we have no clothes. Can we… can we just go to our rooms and grab a night bag? Won’t take more than ten minutes.”
The man sighed and turned to look back at his partner who shrugged. “Okay, but you have to stay near me. I can’t have you touching anything else.”
Geo nodded and Peyton got up, sniffling and wiping at her eyes. She turned and gave Geo a sly smile before following the police officer up the steps.
“C—could we do my room first?” Peyton asked and the officer turned slightly. “I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be.”
“Okay,” he said with a small smile. “Which one is yours?”
“It’s to the right, second door,” she said and pointed once they reached the hall. The officer led the way and opened her door. He flipped the lights on and gestured them in.
“Thank you,” Peyton said and rubbed at her eyes again. They were red and puffy, but Geo could still see a glint in her eye. Her plan wasn’t finished.
She started off digging through her closet for a bag and then grabbed clothes from the shelves. Once some shirts and pants were packed, she went to her chest of drawers and paused. She turned to look at both the officer and Geo.
“I need to get my underwear,” she said, and neither seemed phased about it. She gave a huff. “Could you turn around? Please?”
The officer gave a start and grabbed Geo’s shoulder, turning them both around. “Sorry!”
“No problem,” she said, but her voice was much closer than before. A second later the officer tilted over and was caught by Peyton who lowered him gently to the ground.
Geo looked between the officer and Peyton, eyes wide and searching. “What the hell did you—”
“Shh,” she said, placing a hand over his mouth and then grab his hand with her other, pulling him toward the door. “He’s only going to be out for a few seconds.”
She pulled him through the door and once in the hallway she rushed to Aya’s door.
It was wide open, shining harsh white light across the opposite wall. When they entered they found it empty, but there was plastic and toolboxes all around. Standing lights were in position around the bed. It looked like a completely different place to Geo as he stepped in.
Then it changed.
The Puppet Master
The lights flickered and in the flash of darkness the room changed from the blue and pink painted walls to orange rust and white peeling paint. The windows were blacked out, not the glass, but the world outside of them.
Geo turned to Peyton to find her ears and tail were back, as was her armor. “Looks like we’re in that other world again.”
“Shit—”
There was a small flash and Klara appeared beside them, hair a mess and bushy. She looked at them with sleepy eyes that slowly widened. “Where—? What the hell is going on? I was sleeping, you guys!”
“Someone tried to kill my sister. We’re both being inconvenienced,” Geo said.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, looking between them.
“Aya was attacked in the night. She’s in the ICU at the moment recovering,” Peyton said with a quick glance to Geo. She seemed to be trying to read his face, but he wasn’t even sure why he snapped at Klara.
“Seriously? How?”
“You tell her, I’m going to look around this place,” Geo said and left the two standing by the door. He went to the bed first, but anything that had been there was gone, the mattress was just tattered cloth and springs. The rest of the room was mostly in the same state, as if a thousand years had passed and everything just rotted away. Nothing was there that could point him to who had attacked Aya.
He turned back to the girls and found them watching him. Klara looked concerned for a second and then turned to the room and asked, “You find anything?”
“No,” Geo said.
“Probably nothing to find as we’re no longer in her room, not really,” Peyton said. “We should check the other rooms.”
Geo nodded and followed them to the hall. They split and checked the rest of the rooms on the top floor. Each had changed just the same as Aya's, but they had puppet girls in them. Geo was the first to encounter them in his room. He drew his sword and fought back at the two that came at him. They were a lot easier to kill in smaller areas and he made quick work of them with his new sword.
He found that Peyton and Klara had also cleared up the other rooms. Klara had a new summon out, it was a larger version of the previous demon she had summoned and had purple skin. It regarded Geo warily, almost like a dog around an abusive owner.
“This is a small level,” Peyton said as they headed for the stairs. “Shouldn’t too hard to find the mini-boss and get out of here.”
“Well, thanks for the jinx there,” Geo said.
“Oh, come on,” she said as she started down the stairs.
“Temping fate never seems like a good idea.”
“Agreed,” Klara said.
“Have to say, I agree,” a voice from the darkness said. They stepped out into what would have been the living room, but it was much too big. Geo looked around, the same drab lighting was in play, but the ceiling was complete darkness.
A man came from that darkness, tendrils of it clung to him as he dropped to the ground. He was a lanky man, arms and legs longer than normal. He wore black slacks and a white button-down shirt under a green vest. A black top-hat on his head was cocked to the left and a green eye mask covered the top half of his face. He looked like some kind of circus reject, but Geo kept that thought to himself.
“They said you would be here, but you arrived far more quickly than I expected. I haven’t had time to set this place up as I wanted.”
“Are you the boss of this floor?” Geo asked as he took a step forward.
“One of them, my dear boy. There are two, but it matters not as you will never reach them. Your journey will end here and continue to end here.”
“Demon, get him,” Klara said. Her demon grunted and took off at a run toward the man. In three long stride it leapt into the air, but the man didn’t even move. Just as the demon would have connected he was split six different ways by some invisible force. His body dropped to the floor with a sickening splattering sound.
“Really? Before we even finished introductions? Very rude.”
“Who are you?” Peyton asked, and the man regarded her with a warm smile.
“The fox girl that would be queen. It’s good to see you didn’t stay in the sewer that Amber put you in, Peyton.”
“You know me?”
“We all know you. It upsets some others that there is a new queen, but the rest, like me, are very pleased with the new management. You were always too soft.”
“Too soft? They made us to help people. What Amber is doing is punishment, especially now that she is losing control.”
“Not my problem,” the man said.
“Who are you, truly?”
“I’ve taken on the name Puppet Master here. All those girls and boys you killed? They were mine. You can call me that.”
Peyton scoffed and readied her spear. “Why? That’s such a stupid name.”
The man gritted his teeth and made a swift motion with his hand. A wire appeared and snatched her spear from her hand. “This will not be a fight, it’ll be over before you even realize it.”
“We’ll see about that,” Geo said and readied his shield and sword."
“I guess we will.”
The wires came from the dark and glinted in the piss yellow light. They caught each of them, the metal tearing through flesh and muscle and each of them cried out. More wires appeared, locking them in place. Geo gritted his teeth against the pain, but Peyton and Klara didn’t seem quiet as able. Each time a new wire came they cried out, and the sound tore through him as much as any wire did.
He struggled against it, could feel his skin tear. He wouldn’t die here and he wouldn’t let his friends die either, he told himself as he fought against the pain. Each new wire brought him back a step, but still he pushed forward, his hand tight around his sword.
Blood. He wanted blood for blood and the sword seemed to be right there with him. When his blood trickled to the handle, he could feel the heat, the power from the sword. It was drawing on him and granting him the power to move forward.
The man's eyes widened. He walked toward Geo and looked him over. “Oh, look at you, fighting against my control. You are something now, aren’t you? Still a loser. Still a child. But you’ve grown.” He tapped Geo’s head with a gloved hand. “But not enough and now your friends will die and it is all because of you. Because you weren’t enough and you never will be.”
The man stood and threw his hands out to his side. He heard Peyton and Klara scream behind him and felt their blood splatter his back. He knew the wires were coming for him next, and yet he didn’t fear it for the sword growled through his nerves. The bloodlust was now overwhelming.
A window popped up.
Weapon Power Unlocked: Bloodlust
If enough living blood is given to Sanguine’s Bane (at least 65% of health from two or more characters in 15 seconds) you have a chance of entering bloodlust. During bloodlust Strength and Dexterity are augmented by 15 points. Damage is reduced by 65%. Health is doubled. Bloodlust will last for 15 seconds +1 second for strikes that allow Sanguine’s Bane to draw blood for a max of 30 seconds. When Bloodlust ends, health will drop to 1%, but slowly tick back up to the level it was at before Bloodlust was initiated.
He could feel the blood pumping through him, not only his blood, but the blood of Peyton and Klara. It surged in his veins and every bit of his body responded to it. The wires that held him snapped. The cross section of wire that had diced Peyton and Klara slammed into him, but ended up only drawing the smallest amount of blood.
Geo heard the Puppet Master give a tiny gasp and turned toward him. “How?”
“It’s a game system,” Geo said as he stepped forward. The man tried to raise himself out of reach with his wires, but Geo could see the lines, they were cold in a world filled with hot blood. With one swing he cut through a swath of the wires and the man tumbled to the ground with a sickening thud.
He laid there for a moment before sitting up with a heavy groan. When he did so, he started to back away as Geo closed the distance. He held his hands up, waving them at him and blubbering. More wires appeared and Geo felt them hit, but they did nothing.
Sanguine’s Bane thirsted for the blood of this man and Geo was more than happy to let it feast. He brought it down on the man and split him in two with one swing.
Floor Boss Defeated. Gained one Mania Cube: Control
The sword siphon up the blood and Geo thought he could almost hear a giddy laugh from it.
Mania Cube
Geo woke in the hallway in front of Aya’s door. He heard voices, but it was the one in front of him that drew most of his attention. It was the police officer that Peyton had knocked out in her room.
“You okay?”
“I—I think so,” Geo said and got to his feet. “What happened?”
“Hell if I know. I just woke up and then found you out here. Where’s your sister?”
“Peyton—” he went to go into Aya’s room, but the officer stopped him and pulled him away.
“You can’t go in there, did your sister go in?”
“I don’t know—” Geo said and looked around the hall. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and in the next moment Peyton pulled him into a hug. He hugged her back, as tightly as he could, and it took everything in him to stop himself from crying in relief. They were okay. He was okay as long as they were.
“What happened?” she asked as she pulled away. He noticed Klara was next to her, keeping her distance. “When we woke—”
“We should finish getting our things, right?” Geo said and Peyton stared for a second and then nodded. They packed some clothes and left the house with only a few words of explanation to the officer, mostly revolving around a gas leak that Peyton came up with. It wasn’t the best cover, but the officers didn’t really argue.
They left the house and were only a few blocks away when Peyton made him stop and face her. “What happened? Do you get how worried we were when we showed up back in the safe room, but you didn’t?”
“I killed the puppet master.”
Peyton balked and Klara furrowed her brow in question. Peyton took a step forward. “W—what? I think my death messed with my hearing.”
“Shut up, I killed him. I got the experience points to prove it and got the notification that he was a floor boss.”
“Then why are we still here?” Klara asked. “If you killed him shouldn’t we move to the next floor like we did when I—-I killed Audra?”
“There’s more than one AI here,” Peyton said while watching Geo’s gaze. He nodded. “How many more?”
“One other from what he said. That’s why we’re still here.”
“And you killed the first boss. How? It killed Klara and me in an instant and I’m pretty sure those wires continued on to you. They should have sliced you like cheese on a plate.”
“He dropped another bit,” Geo said and took it from his inventory. It was a distraction from having to answer questions, but since Klara was there, it made perfect sense to try it. “This one, its Mania Bit: Control. The bosses are dropping these things now, too.”
“The corruption is getting worse,” Klara said and they both turned to her. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“How did you get out of Audra?” Geo asked as he took a step forward. “How did you take over her body?”
“I don’t—”
“No, you’re telling us. Audra was my friend—my AI. I deserve to know how she… died.”
Klara frowned and crossed her arms as she rocked on her feet. “When… when she ate me I still had the bomb with me. I was just going to light it and let it kill me before I got to her stomach, but I noticed something else inside, three glowing cubes a few feet above me.” She looked at the cube that Geo held. “It looked a lot like one of those.”
“She had the ones I had found on other drieger. The third must have been her own?” Geo said.
“Well, I was drawn to them so I shoved the bomb in the pink flesh and used my circle of flames to melt the skin around it so it directed the blast—”
“You actually thought of directing the blast?” Peyton asked, impressed.
“New bloods are taught these types of things. The bomb exploded and shattered those… cubes and me. The flesh didn’t really hold back the blast, and I was blown up. After that, I woke up in a pile of her burning flesh, feeling completely different.”
"So destroying the mania cubes… killed Audra?” Geo said, looking to Peyton in hopes she had made more sense of it."
“I mean, it’s po
ssible? I’ve never seen these cubes before, they could be tied into the system in ways I could never fully sort out.”
Geo looked at the blue cube in his hand and turned it. “Maybe… maybe it’s like a concentration of them? Of the AI that is running the level, I mean.”
“Then Audra would… that doesn’t sound like her at all. She was always quiet and a little pushy…” Peyton trailed off and looked to the ground in thought. “I don’t know.”
“It’s what makes the most sense at the moment. When Klara destroyed the cubes that removed Audra from the system and her body. Since Klara was closest, it transferred her into it,” Geo said.
“Again, I’ve never heard of something like that happening.”
“Never had your entire game stolen either,” he said and Peyton pouted for a few seconds.
“Well, it doesn’t help us now. We need to figure out this other boss before they kill again,” Peyton said and turned to face the street as a car rumbled by.
“You think they’re going to kill more?” Klara asked.
“Yes, because the floors are combined which means both bosses would have control over either level. With the Puppet Master… god such a stupid fucking name. When I find out which AI that was I’m deleting them… but with him gone, someone now has control of both worlds and I bet they were directing the kills.”
“Then we’ll have a lot more fights in that rust world, won’t we?” Klara said, frowning. “I really don’t like that place, makes my skin crawl.”
“I think it’s a nice holiday,” Geo said and got a glare from both women. “It sucks, but we’ve gained more experience in that hellhole than anywhere else. We should keep farming.”
“To do that, we’ll have to figure out how to get into that world by choice instead of being pulled in,” Peyton said and yawned. “But that’s for tomorrow. Can we crash at your place, Klara?”
“My parents won’t be happy, but sure. Not like it matters if they’re annoyed with me. I’m going to school tomorrow, are you two?”