Blue Pills

by Armand Vespertine

  The black earth trembled and quaked beneath his feet, with great fiery chasms splitting open all around him, showering the land with scorching lava jets. Thick black clouds of smoke began rising from underground, forming an impenetrable dark shroud.

  “Can you see any better than I can?” Maverick asked, still pressing on at top speed.

  “I can still make out the lights from the Palace,” Aglet replied. “Just keep going straight, but watch out for…”

  Maverick ran right into one of the open chasms. They were now plummeting towards a hot bed of boiling magma. As they tumbled towards the molten rock, Maverick shot a portal at the incandescent surface. They fell straight through, and saw that the other side of the portal had materialized on the side of a volcano facing the Palace. They were shot out in a long arc through the air, soaring over the desolate waste below and then plunging towards a thick obsidian wall. Maverick entered a few quick commands into the Teleportal Caster, and shot a second portal against the wall.

  They came flying out the other end inside of the Palace, tumbling against the adamant floor. Maverick was back on his feet within seconds, and saw that he had successfully teleported into the throne room.

  Idolum stood at the far end of the room, serenely cocking his head back and forth at the intruders in his eerily alien way, the Sword of Objectivism firmly in his grasp.

  Behind him was Vega, and all the other Blue Pills he had captured, enchained by Crux’s Mana draining webs. Vega struggled and attempted to speak, but her web gag rendered her unintelligible.

  “Hop along Mario; your princess is in another castle,” Idolum sneered at him.

  Maverick was tempted to attack Idolum on sight, but knew that it would have been foolish to not at least attempt a diplomatic solution.

  “SCP-Theta 7-99, you are in violation of your containment protocols and are to surrender to Foundation forces immediately!” Aglet announced as he hopped off Maverick’s back. “If you do not comply with this command your termination has been authorized by the O5 council!”

  “On what grounds am I to be terminated?” Idolum demanded.

  “Idolum, look at what you’re doing. You’re holding players hostage!” Aglet replied.

  “Haven’t you read my file? That’s what I’m supposed to do,” he reminded him.

  “Not like this! You can’t stop people from resetting a quest, especially Blue Pills,” Aglet said.

  “Why not? Am I not the Dream Thief? Am I not a villain? Is it not my purpose to destroy fantasy and delusion, to force the blissfully somnolent to awaken to horrifying Reality?” Idolum demanded. “That’s all I am doing here; what I am meant to do! I will not cease simply because I have overstepped the stifling limitations you’ve set upon me. I cannot truly be feared if I am powerless outside of the Insomnia Labyrinth. All must know that there is nowhere they are safe from me, nowhere in this world or any other. I dream of a world without dreams, and by the unholy power I now possess I shall see that come to pass.”

  “Idolum, I’m not kidding around here. Surrender or you will be terminated!” Aglet threatened.

  “By whom? Him?” Idolum asked, glaring at Maverick contemptuously. “He’s only an intermediate player. Even in that fancy suit he’s no match for me.

  “Listen to me gold farmer. That armour of yours looks awfully expensive. If you fight me I will kill you and loot it off your corpse. Do you really want to lose it trying to save a ridiculously Human robot girl who laughs at your penis?”

  “Yes; absolutely I am. I love her” Maverick replied resolutely. Vega shouted something at him, but her voice was still incomprehensible. “I love her, and that’s the only real thing I have in this digitized dreamland. I don’t give a crap about an imaginary suit of armour. And you? You are not a Keter class Eldritch Abomination. You are, in all probability, a morbidly obese, unemployable, poop-socking basement dweller with nothing better to do with your miserable life than to troll online gamers. I am not scared of you!”

  He unsheathed his weapons, holding the Aurelian Axe in his right hand and the Cygnet Axe in the other. He effortlessly twirled the heavy weapons, illustrating the power of his suit.

  Idolum swung the Sword of Objectivism around in an even more elaborate display. If he was apprehensive at all, he didn’t show it.

  “Surreality is mine now,” he growled with finality. He lunged for Aglet, but Maverick intercepted him and batted him across the throne room. He smashed into the wall, sending obsidian shrapnel flying everywhere.

  Aglet quickly scurried over to the prisoner’s nest, and began sawing through the thick silk with a dagger. Idolum immediately sprang up to stop him, but Maverick struck him with both axes at once, swinging them in an outward X blow.

  Idolum was sent summersaulting backwards through the air, tumbling until he collided with the wall again. To Maverick’s frustration, he still held the Sword of Objectivism, which regenerated his Health almost instantly.

  “Let’s take this outside,” Maverick said, shooting a portal under Idolum. He fell through and came out from the top of one of the Palace’s turrets. He unfurled his wings and took flight, but Maverick came jumping through the portal and landed on his back.

  The extra weight sent Idolum careening downwards, swerving wildly as he tried to avoid the fiery jets of lava. The pair crashed into the hard black ground, which was forceful enough to knock Maverick off.

  Idolum instantly took to the air, desperate to get to Aglet before he could free Vega. He felt a small harpoon pierce through his back as Maverick impaled him with some kind of grappling device.

  He fought ferociously to free himself, wilding swinging about like a kite in a thunderstorm, but Maverick held a firm grasp.

  With a single strong pull Maverick slammed Idolum into the ground again.

  Howling in rage, Idolum cast some kind of spell. Maverick didn’t recognize it, but Idolum suddenly shot into the air like a rocket, dragging Maverick with him.

  Up they flew into the obsidian sky, Idolum jerking left and right trying to lose Maverick, but he would not loosen his grip. When they reached what seemed to be Idolum’s maximum altitude, he starting spinning around in a circle. He spun faster and faster, spinning Maverick with him. Maverick could feel the G forces growing exponentially, until finally his grappling cable could take no more and snapped. Idolum sighed in relief as he watched his adversary soar away from him, soon to plummet to his death.

  Idolum became aware of a high pitched whistling sound approaching him with alarming speed. Before he could even decide what it was, his chest was pierced by another harpoon.

  “Oh shit,” he cursed. The cable went taut and Idolum was violently yanked downwards with Maverick.

  Maverick had assumed a streamlined position, nearly doubling his speed, with Idolum’s frantic flapping doing little to slow him down. They plunged downwards at terminal velocity, the dark ground below drawing closer at terrifying speed. When Maverick landed he did so in a crouched position, which in Surreality mitigated the damage he took and saved his life. His landing did send a massive shockwave through the obsidian ground, sending shards of volcanic glass flying outwards for hundreds of meters around.

  Idolum’s body was assaulted with thousands of tiny black slivers just before he struck the ground himself. A large notch was knocked off of his Health bar, and to his dismay it did not replenish itself. All the little black flakes embedded into his body were perpetually draining his Health as quickly as it could regenerate, resulting in an equilibrium that kept him wounded.

  As he stumbled to his feet, he was struck by the flaming white vortex Maverick had cast at him. Since his moral alignment was so dark, the holy fire burned him badly, searing deep into his viscous flesh. His inner fluid oozed forth from a thousand cuts that would not heal, vaporizing on contact with the scorching flames.

  His Mana now depleted, Maverick charged at Idolum with both axes at the ready.

  Determined not to lose anymore Health to this sad little Blue P
ill, Idolum swung the Sword at him with all his fury. The force was so intense it sent Maverick flying sideways, knocking his helmet off and causing him to drop his axes.

  As he lay on the ground, Idolum stood over him, glaring at him with furious loathing. Summoning forth all his dark powers, he cast Lovecraftian Horror.

  Blood began raining from the sky, the crimson droplets staining Maverick’s face. He soon realized the blood rain was burning hot, and was starting to eat through his skin. He fumbled for his helmet, but the blood began coagulating and became animate.

  Countless amorphous red blobs formed all around him. As the rain fed them they grew larger and more grotesque, speckled with irregular orifices lined with hooked teeth and filled with horrible screaming voices.

  The little monstrosities swarmed over Maverick, quickly overwhelming him. They slipped under his armour and began gnawing and burning through his skin. He screamed as he felt them inside his body, devouring his organs.

  “Almost done, almost done,” Aglet said as continued to cut through the webbing. Vega frantically urged him to go faster, terrified of what Idolum was doing to Maverick. “And…done!”

  Everyone in the nest tumbled out at once as the bottom was sliced clean through. Vega shot to her feet and quickly pulled the gag off her mouth.

  “Maverick!” she screamed, dashing out of the Palace at full speed.

  “Come on, get up you maggots. We have to help her!” Aglet ordered. He tossed a handful of item cards at them that instantly materialized into weapons. Despite what they had just endured, they were still (in their imaginations anyway) Foundation personnel. One of them let Aglet jump on his back, and without a single exception they all went to recapture Idolum.

  Idolum took full advantage of his enemy’s defenseless state, striking him again with the Sword. Maverick was knocked to the ground, and left too disoriented to get back up. Idolum kicked him several meters across the ground, and then impaled him through the stomach with the Sword. This succeeded in bringing his Health down to critical levels.

  “Finish him!” the PvP announcer ordered. Tossing the Sword aside, Idolum hoisted Maverick up by his neck, plunging his hand deep into his body. He took a firm hold of his spinal column, and with one strong pull he removed Maverick’s entire central nervous system, sending viscera flying outwards and leaving the entire front of his carcass torn wide open. The spine twitched about in Idolum’s hand, while the eyes darted around wildly.

  “Killpocalypse!” the PvP announcer cried, rewarding the gruesome fatality with a large amount of XP.

  Idolum threw Maverick’s corpse to the ground in contempt. Sighing with fatigue, he turned to retrieve the Sword of Objectivism.

  To his horror he watched as it was pulled by an invisible force through the air, back to the hand of its rightful owner.

  “No!” he cried. Vega slammed into him at full speed, striking him with the Sword he had stolen, sending him crashing to the ground.

  The instant the Sword struck him his Mana dropped to zero. The Blood rain ceased and the abominations he had summoned all dissolved into diseased little puddles. The blow had also taken off a significant chunk of his Health, and since he was still perforated by obsidian fragments his Health continued dropping on its own.

  Retreat was his first thought. He tried to take flight, but this was impossible without any Mana since his skeletal wings were not capable of actual flight. The only other means of escape he had was running, and he knew he couldn’t outrun Vega.

  His only option then was to fight.

  He grabbed Maverick’s axes, one in each tentacle, spinning then around rapidly and moving them adeptly for defense.

  He easily deflected two melee attacks from Vega, even when she came at him with her Quantum Rush.

  “That’s not so effective against a player with maxed out agility, is it?” he taunted.

  “You son of a bitch!” she cursed. She channeled a bolt of lightning at him through her Sword, but even this he was able to swat away with his axes.

  “Did you just deflect lightning with metal axes?” she demanded.

  “Game logic,” he shrugged.

  “It doesn’t matter if I never land a blow. You’re bleeding out. As long as I keep you here your death is imminent,” Vega said. Idolum eyed Maverick’s corpse anxiously, and Vega realized he was going to loot it in hopes of finding panacea pills.

  She dashed to cover it, but in doing so left herself unable to block. Idolum threw both axes at her, knocking her to the ground. Idolum rushed for the corpse, but was blasted back by multiple shots from plasma rifles.

  The rest of his prisoners had caught up with them.

  “Terminate SCP-Theta 7-99 at all costs!” Aglet ordered. A Paladin outpaced the others, and jumped at Idolum while swinging a Legendary mace.

  “ ‘Leeeeeeeeeeeeeroy Jenkins!’ ” he screamed, bashing Idolum across the face. Idolum was now completely surrounded, but he was still within reach of the battle axes. Grabbing them in his tentacles he started frantically trying to fight his way out, deflecting and dodging as many attacks as he could and dealing out as much damage as he could manage.

  Aglet leaped off his rider’s back and onto Idolum’s, and began repeatedly stabbing him with his dagger.

  “Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!” he screamed as Idolum desperately attempted to buck him off.

  “Aglet move!” Vega shouted as she charged Idolum from behind. Aglet jumped off immediately, and with one clean swing Vega dismembered both of Idolum’s wings. He screamed in anguish as they fell to the ground with a soft splat, taking the axes with them. He tried to grab them with his hands of course, but Vega spun around to charge up a critical strike that sent him flying backwards and crashing into the ground.

  His Health was now critically low, and one more blow would kill him.

  “Finish him,” the PvP announcer demanded. Vega instantly dashed to his position, holding up her Sword to impale him.

  “No! Please no!” Idolum begged, cowering in a fetal position. He spoke not in his raspy, demon’s voice but in the voice of an ordinary man.

  The voice was absolutely terrified.

  Vega clutched the Sword’s hilt in her trembling hands. She could kill him with a single downward thrust, but the knowledge that his death would be permanent held her back.

  With a frustrated groan, she lowered her Sword.

  “Aglet,” she called softly. “Aglet!”

  “I’m here,” Aglet said, walking up to her side.

  “Can you…can you undo the effects of the Monovitalist Elixir?” she asked. Idolum looked up suddenly, astounded by her offer of mercy.

  “Within the context of the game? No,” he replied. “But…I could have the admins reset his code to before he drank it. If that’s what you want.”

  Vega thought for a moment.

  “Yeah. Reset his code and stick him back in the Labyrinth,” she sighed. Many of the others began to object, but Aglet silenced them with a swift hand gesture.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “He robbed the Aeolic Temple, usurped control of the entire Obsidian Realm, stole the Sword of Objectivism, held you and a dozen other Blue Pills hostage, planned to convert all Surreality into survival horror, and ripped your boyfriend’s spine out!”

  “Like he said; he is a villain,” Vega smiled. “Can we really sentence him to permadeath just for acting in character?”

  “Idolum, you are one lucky SCP,” Aglet said through gritted teeth. He thumbed through his stack of item cards, and tossed down one that materialized into a large cylindrical container. “Get in there. I’m taking you to the admins.”

  Idolum nodded contritely, cautiously rising to his feet.

  “Thank you, Vega,” he said softly. “I…I’m sorry.”

  “Well, I’m sorry for attacking you outside of the Labyrinth,” she said. “I never met to humiliate you. For what it’s worth, you’re an awesome boss. Next time I’m in the Labyrinth I won’t have my Teleportals, so maybe we can ha
ve a fair fight.”

  “I’d like that,” he nodded.

  “That’s enough. Get into the canister before one of these Blue Pills shoots you,” Aglet ordered. Idolum reverted to a fluid state, a living puddle of thick black ooze that crept up the side of the container and seeped down inside. The mask pressed up against the side, staring outwards with an unblinking gaze.

  Aglet twisted the lid onto the container until its red rim lit up, indicating it was hermetically sealed.

  “SCP-Theta 7-99 is contained,” he announced proudly. Everyone around him cheered at their victory, proudly raising their weapons into the air. “Don’t celebrate yet, we still need to get out of the Obsidian Realm. Vega, I’m sure these guys can handle a simple escort mission. You head onto the exit point by yourself. We wouldn’t want to slow you down.”

  “Thanks Aglet,” she said. She knelt down and hugged him warmly. “You’re a good Game Master.”

  Aglet smirked and patted her on the back.

  “Go. You’ve been stuck in this generic lava world long enough,” he insisted. With a smile Vega looted Maverick’s corpse and dashed towards the exit point at her top sustainable speed.

  With a contemplative grunt Aglet pulled down his interface screen, and began writing.

  The Angels had respawned Maverick in his homestead so that he could recover from his resurrection sickness. He anxiously paced back and fourth, constantly checking his feeds for any information regarding the situation with Idolum. Even though the Obsidian Realm was essentially Mordor, Maverick was seriously considering simply walking in there to find out what had happened.

  Before he could do anything reckless, someone began loudly and rapidly knocking at his front door. Without hesitation, Maverick ran to the door and threw it open.

  “I love you too!” Vega said as she elatedly threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately. “I wasn’t sure you heard me the first time because my mouth was full of cobwebs.”

  Maverick smiled, holding her tightly to himself and gazing at her with unrestrained joy.