by Tyler R Lee
Before he could even get up and process what was happening, it was over. “Here,” he heard a voice say beside him. He turned and he saw Ariel smiling softly and holding out a healing potion.
“Thank you,” Peter said. Then, his eyes went wide and he remembered his friend. The one he had come here to rescue. He rushed over to him with the potion.
“Peter?” Ariel questioned as she watched him.
The boy slid to a stop next to Andrew’s body. He held the potion and wasn’t sure what to do. His friend was gone, but he wanted so desperately to try and give him the potion anyway, for his friend to take the potion, his eyes pop open, and grin at everyone who had come to help them. In the end, he just dropped it and hung his head.
As the glass of the vial clinked onto the stone, Peter began to cry. As he mourned next to his friend’s body, he felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was Ariel. “It isn’t fair,” he tried to say through his sobs.
Peter soon heard Lysander. “No. No, no, no.” The wizard fell to his knees next to Peter and ShieldBro, placed a hand on his deceased friends chest as the moisture formed around his eyes as well. He turned to Peter and put his arm around him and wrapped in an awkward angled hug that Peter returned in kind as they both wept for their fallen friend. Ariel wiped her face clean of tears, determined to be strong for her friend.
Soon, the others gathered around, their faces showing their sadness for ShieldBro’s passing. Silence, some small sobs and sniffles, a prayer for his spirit to Jesus Christ, and an Islamic prayer for the dead were all heard.
As the group wept, prayed, and mourned the loss of not only one of their leaders, but one of their friends, his body gently break off into bits of particle and code as it floated off into the air and disappeared. For a brief second, Peter realized that in the sky that night, the count would be at least one less.
Chapter 7
It was a few days before anyone had the will to do much of anything. Andrew, ShieldBro as he had been known to most, was more than just a leader in the push to escape the game. He had been an unflinching and ever encouraging friend to all, and Peter and Lysander said as much in the service that was held for their fallen friend the day after he passed away. Almost the entirety of the players in this new starting area were there. Much like at the scene of his death, many wept, many said prayers, still many stayed silent, letting the tragedy wash over them. Peter, after he spoke his peace, was one who stood in silence, replaying that ill fated encounter in his head over and over again. He couldn’t, and probably never would shake the idea that it was, at least partially, his fault that his oldest friend was dead. And he took these thoughts with him back to his room where he would spend the next several days contemplating what to do now.
Much like the week before, Peter was soon visited by a friend. The soft knock at the door told him that Ariel had come to inquire. She had tried to speak to him about what had happened at ShieldBro’s funeral, but he hadn’t said much. They had shared a long, tearful hug, but that was it. “Come in,” he called without looking away from the window he had been staring out for the past couple of hours.
“Nobody has seen you in a couple of days. I wanted to see how you were doing.” As always, Ariel’s voice was that of concern, but there was a hint of sadness lingering. She, like the rest of them, would never fully get over ShieldBro’s untimely death.
“I...don’t know,” Peter answered, honestly. “What about you?” he asked, still not turning from the window.
“I guess the same, honestly. Though, I didn’t know him like you did; like Lysander did.”
“How is Lysander?” Peter asked as he mentally chastised himself for not going to inquire about his other oldest friend.
“I don’t know. Not good. He hasn’t been seen by anyone since the funeral. He won’t answer his door, refuses to see anyone. Reminds me of you.”
Peter chuckled softly at the small bite in her last statement. “I deserved that, I suppose.”
“I’m sorry,” Ariel said as she looked to the floor. “I can’t imagine what you are going through--”
“None of us trapped in this game are very far apart in what we are going through. So, no. I am sorry, Ariel.”
A brief smile came to the girl’s face. But it soon faded and the two of them stood in silence in the dimly lit room. Finally, Ariel broke the silence. “I just wanted to let you know that...a bunch of us are getting together to decide what to do now that...now that Shield…” She let the ending hang there. Then finished with, “It starts in a few minutes at the practice yard on the edge of the town. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Take care of yourself, Peter.”
“There’s not really a need to say goodbye if we’re heading to the same place,” Peter said as he turned around and walked in her direction.
“What?” she asked as her eyes widened. “I mean...no, that was the right question. What?”
Peter chuckled. “I’m going to this meeting. So, there’s no reason to tell me bye. I’ll just walk there with you.”
Ariel smiled. “Done sulking?” she asked as she cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Yes,” he stated. “It’s time I stepped up and started doing my part. And I’ll be damned if anyone else dies in this game when I could have done something to help them, but didn’t.”
***
The two of them made their way out of the inn and toward the practice yard at the eastern edge of the town. There, players could conduct honorable duels and test their skills against each other, or challenge various NPCs to fights to learn new skills or just sharpen their own. As they approached, they noticed a group of only a dozen or so players gathered.
“I thought I saw more than this during the rescue,” Peter said as he looked around at the small group. He recognized a few from when they had saved him from the goblin hoard, but there seemed to be far less than on that day.
“Shield’s death was hard on everyone,” Ariel replied. “He was the reason many had the confidence to take this game on. When we heard he was in danger, dozens of people were ready to help him. When he died, most seemed to lose hope.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion within the practice yard. “So, if there’s no more arguments, we will be leading this group from now on.”
“What the…” Ariel asked as she pushed her way through the crowd.
“What makes you think you can lead?” another voice asked. It was soon followed by a grunt of pain as they fell to the ground from a punch to the face.
“That does,” answered the first voice, a voice that Peter recognized. At that, he pushed his way a bit harder through the crowd.
“Anyone else wanna have a go at it?” The speaker had chosen a wolf hybreed--an animal-like humanoid--for their race, giving them a wolf head, claws, and fur all over their body. They were outfitted in leather armor with spikes on the shoulders and wrists. Despite this, Peter knew exactly who it was. “That’s what I thought,” the wolfman chuckled as he turned his back to the crowd. “Now, as I was saying, we need someone better than that noob ShieldBro, who couldn’t even handle a few--”
“Hey, Travis!”
That got the hybreed’s attention, and he turned directly into the oncoming fist of Peter, which sent the boy’s old high school tormentor spinning through the air and crashing into the ground several feet away. “Or Tucker. Whoever.”
“Travis...Tucker?” Ariel said with a start as she watched her former schoolmate sail across the practice yard. Her face quickly turned from shock to satisfaction as it sank in. She then realized that if that was one of the twins, then…
“Hey, asshole!” Peter heard from behind him.
“There’s that quick wit,” both Peter and Ariel said in unison.
Peter turned just in time to see who he assumed was Tucker, a tiger instead of a wolf like his brother, swiping one of his large claws down at him. The martial artist quickly sidestepped the attack, grappled his adversary by the shoulder, swung him around, and thre
w him to the ground several feet away. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Peter said with a smile as he hopped in place a bit to loosen himself up for a fight. “You two always liked to double team. Well, now you’ll have to.”
“Who in the...Pete?” Travis said with a growl, then a grin. “It is you, isn’t it, Pete?”
“Of course it’s me, you ignorant mutt. I didn’t change my physical appearance much when I created my character.” Ariel let out a laugh she didn’t even try to contain at Peter’s verbal jab.
“You little bitch!” Tucker called out as he got to his feet and ran Peter’s way. However, Tucker wasn’t nearly as fast, nor as clever as Peter, which equaled to him not being much a match in this game. Peter ducked his first swipe and hit him with a jumping uppercut, which put them both in the air. The martial artist then delivered several powerful blows before sending the tigerman back to the ground with a loud thud as dust flew up to obscure his form.
Knowing these two, Peter quickly jumped to the side, barely missing Travis’s hard downward slash with his scimitar. With his opponent off balance, Peter spun around and kicked Travis right in the face, sending him to the ground. Then, for good measure, he kicked him in the ribs, which sent him skidding over to his brother.
“Bullies in real life, bullies in the game. Should’ve known you two would be the same assholes you are in reality,” Peter said as he stood tall, ready for more.
“Shut up,” Tucker said as he stood up and grabbed his spear off his back. “You just caught us off guard. Now we’ll whip your ass.”
“Let’s see if we can make him cry like at school,” Travis added, scimitar in hand.
Peter grinned and stood his ground. But then he felt someone walk up beside him. “He isn’t alone, idiots,” Ariel said as she pulled her greatsword and shot them both a hateful look.
“Fine,” Travis said as he and his brother chuckled to each other. “Two bitches is better than one.”
“That doesn’t even make--” Ariel started, but was interrupted by another.
“Ya know, I’d kinda like to hear what they have to say.” This voice came from a person Peter recognized from the goblin battle. The cheetah speedster in blue. He was now standing behind the twins, arms crossed, wide grin through his helmet and goggles.
“Who the hell asked--” Tucker started, but he was also interrupted.
“It seems like it would be in you two’s best interest to stand down.” This voice was from another from the battle. She sat on the chest-high wall surrounding the practice field, hooded in a grey gi with a wakizashi on her back. “You’re outnumbered.”
“Yeah,” the speedster chimed in. “And, no one seems to like you, anyway.”
After assessing the situation, Travis and Tucker stomped off in a huff.
“Feel good?” Ariel asked Peter after the brothers had left as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Oh my god, you have no idea,” he said with an enthusiastic smile as he turned her way. “Damn therapeutic.”
The two of them laughed, but soon realized that everyone was looking at them now. Particularly, everyone was looking to Peter. He, after all, had been the one to stand up to them. When he noticed this, his body went a bit rigid and he found he couldn’t relax. Finally, the blue-clad cheetah broke the silence by speeding over to the pair and introducing himself.
“Hey! I’m Streak. Nice to meet ya. Thanks for laying the smackdown on those two.” He offered his hand to Peter, then to Ariel, who both accepted with a smile, Peter’s a bit more forced and nervous.
“Uh, no problem,” Peter stammered. “Thanks, yourself, for having our backs.”
“Oh, no problem. Like I said, no one really liked those two, anyway.”
“Especially, the way they talked of ShieldBro,” added the gray ninja as she approached. “Allah take them if they can’t show him the respect he deserves.”
“Agreed, except for the Allah part,” added a larger man garbed in a green, full-body, metal suit and helmet, a brown ponytail sticking out the back. “I prefer ‘they can go to hell.’”
“Either way,” the ninja conceded with no argument as she turned to Peter and Ariel. “I am NoScope. Seemed fitting for a ninja.”
“I love it,” Ariel smiled as she shook her hand.
“Same,” Peter agreed. He recognized NoScope’s voice, as well. But not from his school.
“And folks call me Gunner,” said the metal man, hand extended. “On account of that’s my player name,” he added with a smile.
“Seems logical, then,” Peter said, not sure how to respond.
After the introductions, these few players, along with the rest of the small group, stood in silence waiting for someone to talk. When no one did, Streak broke the silence, again. “Well, boss. What’s the plan?”
Peter stood listening, looked around, then started and pointed to himself when he realized Streak was speaking to him. It was then he noticed that, once again, everyone was looking at him. He suddenly realized he couldn’t stand in a comfortable position and had to keep shifting his feet. “Well...I...um, boss?” he finally stammered out.
“Well, yeah,” Streak smiled. “You stood up to Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb. We assumed that meant you were challenging their claim to taking over leadership of this whole operation.”
“Oh. I...um...no. I just...don’t like them.” Peter smiled as he heard plenty of chuckling from the crowd.
“Can you blame him?” Ariel added, helping soften the situation for her friend.
After the group finished a short bit of laughter, Peter addressed the eyes that were slowing coming back his way. “Look, everyone, I’m not the one you want leading you. I just recently got involved, and it should have happened sooner. If nothing else, my hesitancy should eliminate me from the running.”
“Peter,” Ariel started to protest.
“It’s true, and you know it. Shield spoke highly of you.” He placed his hand on Ariel’s shoulder. “You should be part of the ones in charge. And so should Lysander, but I don’t know where he is.” Peter faded off on the last part of the sentence, saddened for the pain his other closest friend was probably in.
“Actually, Lysander would have been the default,” Gunner said with a shrug. “Problem is, no one has seen or heard from him since…” he didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t want to. No one wanted him to. Many in the crowd hung their heads at being reminded of the recent tragedy.
“This isn’t what ShieldBro would’ve wanted,” came a familiar voice pushing through the crowd. Suddenly a dark elf in navy blue robes and a matching pointed hat stepped through to the front.
“Lysander,” Peter and Ariel both smiled.
The wizard returned their smiles briefly before adding, “ShieldBro would’ve wanted us to carry on. He would have wanted us to get outta this game. And that’s what we’re gonna do.”
A few cheers rose up in the crowd. He continued. “But we can’t do it if we are divided.” He threw a glare at Travis and Tucker, who had taken to leaning against one of the far walls away from the group. They paid him no mind. “We have to stay strong and we have to stay loyal to each other. This isn’t just a single person’s problem. This is all of our problem. We fell into this trap together, and only together will we make it out.” The whole crowd began cheering, including Peter and Ariel.
“Now,” he continued, “it seems that the topic of who’s in charge has become a bit touchy. So, in light of that, I won’t be taking over as leader in the place of Shield.”
This drew murmurs and protest from the crowd, including Peter and Ariel. “Lysander, you know you’re the only one who is up for this,” Ariel commented.
“Yeah,” Peter chimed in. “Weren’t you Shield’s second, anyway. Order of succession and all.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Lysander answered in a calm and collected tone. “What matters is that we do this together.”
“These people,” Ariel argued, “need a leader. We
all do.”