//------------------------------// // 57 - In the Zone // Story: Bind on Pickup // by David Silver //------------------------------// "Powers of four," declared both Spike and Twilight, though the latter could only be heard in Sandra's head as both danced in place in victory. Spike pressed a stone block forward with a satisfying click, allowing them past the bedevilling puzzle. "You thought you had me." Garble brought down a sword, catching a monster falling from above. "What a laugh." He continued the motion, sending the monster into the ground with a painful sounding thump. "Now I'm crushing you badly. Cutting you all in half," he rhymed, emphasizing the beats as he stomped forward to finish the job. An arena where they were the first in and waves of enemies rushed at them came up, requiring all their skills to put them down before the next group was allowed in, but it was Smolder that truly won the day, providing restoration to their flagging energy with snacks that started with the first group's defeat. As a team, they could not be stopped. “Yes!” Spike cried as his blast hit the already pummeled head of the second statue, knocking it’s block off. The second statue staggered back, but did not fall over, instead grabbing the severed arm from it’s twin, jamming it into its own head socket, where it came to life, gripping it’s sword with increased fervor. “Aw come on,” Spike cried. The strange now three armed statue brought it’s three swords together, then down together. Finally, after tried and tried again, the then puzzle pieced together frankenstein of a statue monster stopped moving, the whole party looked at it, swords raised in preparation for it to pick itself up yet again and use it’s own rubble to somehow slam into them, and finally breathed a sigh of relief as it collapsed down onto the ground. "So, this is just another day," came Twilight's voice, only heard by one of them. "I suppose the only way is forward." Even unheard, the others were already moving. The next floor awaited. But Spike wasn't with them. "Hey." "Hello, small dragon." There was the man he had met three times before. "Do you have a question worked out?" "Actually, I do!" He puffed out his chest, looking proud. "What do you get out of this? Not like 'I don't trust you' kind of thing, but, really, you're not just here for laughs, I'd think. What's your deal?" "You don't want to know more about your fate, and how to reach it?" He watched Spike for a heavy moment, but no revision to the question came. The man smiled gently. "Well, you've made me ask a question. I will give a good answer in reply." He gestured to the left, and the others seemed to freeze in place. "This will take a bit longer." "Creepy, but also kinda cool," Spike allowed, admiring his frozen friends from afar. "Alright, I'm listening!" "Many come to challenge this tower." He brought his hands close together, a spectral tower appearing between them. "Though none are remembered, a few made it to the top. There is a catch, a great price. Some simply refuse to pay it, others do, and never return the same. Either way, the legend of the unbeatable tower remained." "And you're one of them and no you won't tell me what the catch is unless I use a question on it," guessed Spike with a wry smirk. "You are learning well." He inclined his head faintly. "I am the only one that watches the tower. You could even say I am the tower. I watch every challenger. You, little dragon, caught my eye. Dragons have a special place in this world's history, even if you are not a part of that." "A good part?" "A complex part," he allowed, not counting that as a question. "Perhaps you can break me from this cycle, I do tire of it." "Spike?" Sandra was looking at him, Twilight also facing him, all of his friends clearly unfrozen. "You alright?" Spike glanced between her and the man, but the instant he looked away, the man was gone. "See you on fourty," he said under his breath, hurrying to catch up with the team. The trap door finally was triggered, and Garble, Spike, and Smolder all tumbled down into the pit. Sandra looked over it, trying not to laugh as the three of them were stuck in some kind of green goop, all grumbling and trying to pull it out. Garble tried to sarcastically laugh, only to succeed at producing grumbles from his mouth, trapped in the gunk. “Okay okay, let me try to think of something.” Sandra tapped her chin. Trying to pull them out is probably a bad idea. She wondered… “Let me try something… Aidan!” The explosion rocked the walls of the tower. Sandra set down a jeweled scepter, heavy enough to serve easily as a mace. "A treasure worthy of a proper divine lord." She leaned in. "That's you." "I figured," replied Tabitha, peering at Sandra suspiciously. "Past thirty, huh?" "And already working towards fourty." She patted her own sides lightly. "Keeping my promise. I'm done, flaking out, alright? Sorry… Really… sorry." "My life--" Sandra looked up at Tabitha's words. "--it got better, when you left." Tabitha stood up slowly. "I'm not saying that to be mean, it's just the truth. The very day you ditched me for the last time, when I gave up on you, things started getting better…" Sandra mentally flailed, considering what to say in response. "Good," came out. Tabitha seemed surprised. "I mean it, good… I wasn't ready to give you what you needed, and deserved. I'm glad you found friends, who could… I don't expect you to just… forgive me, but I'm not giving up, not again, alright?" "Yeah…" Tabitha walked off, no scornful words on her lips. With great grinding noises of stone against stone, massive blocks slid free of the walls, crashing down around them. Twilight fired upwards, intercepting blocks that would come crashing down on her friends with star-shaped beams. "Sandra, tell them, tell Garble. I think he's the answer." "Garble, get in gear!" she squeaked out. "We need some battle beats!" "Against what!" he complained, bringing down his sword to cleave a brick in half. A loud ring filled the air. "Oh." That was all it took. He started to aim for specific blocks, creating a song and a beat with the pattern of his destruction. "Yeah!" They managed to not be squashed that day. They circled along great platforms that shook and fell beneath them. Monsters came in waves, needing to be destroyed quickly to reach the next platform before it collapsed down below. Sandra was on fire, merged with Aiden as she washed the area in flames, weakening the crowds as her friends did battle. "Hop!" called Spike, deflecting an incoming blow and returning it with a sharp thrust of his staff. They scrambled onto the next platform, not even time to pant as Smolder stuffed monster-snacks in their mouths. "Almost to the top," shouted Garble, shoving aside a gibbering monster right off the edge. "Stick together, we got this." The giant wooly quadruped roared, a deafening bellow, causing Garble to wince and ultimately cover his ears, along with Smolder, also next to the creature. The creature flailed it’s beefy furred legs, smacking both of them away. Spike ran up, immediately beginning the process of healing, when the monster roared again, a wave of pain rushing up his ears, and he immediately dropped the spell, the shockwave of the roar coming to knock them back. He blinked his eyes open, a loud ringing in his ears, above which he distantly heard Sandra yelling. “We’re leaving!” The shell of light was forming over them, and they popped out. After the three of them got their hearing back, Garble wasn’t happy. “What gives? We were barely there.” “The monster was knocking us around really badly, you were already hurt, and we couldn’t even really heal.” Sandra said, her arms folded. “We have to have a strategy ready.” “Well, um,” Spike said. “Why don’t we just use earplugs?” Sandra frowned. “Earplugs are really expensive, though. You have to give up a lot of gear to have earplugs.” Spike blinked. “... What?” Tammy raised her visor. “Oh yeah, earplugs are hard to get. The worse the roars are the better the earplugs need to be, too. You gotta have several different items in order for it to work.” “Can’t you just--” Spike gestured at his frills. “--Stuff something in your ears.” “Nope!” Tammy said with maybe a little too much satisfaction. “The magic goes straight through it, you gotta build a helmet and armor or jewelry.” Spike’s ear frills wilted. “Okay, so how much to make a full set, then?” Tammy grimaced. “Well…” “Why are soft cotton monsters so hard to kill?!” Smolder yelled, stabbing another one, which didn’t wince or react in any way as the dagger sunk into it’s soft fluff, but it did whirl around, a fluffy soft tail brutally colliding with Smolder much harder than she thought it could. Aiden was pelting them with flames, which did indeed seem to cause them to not just burn, but also panic a bit. Sandra grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. Maybe you could try those heat attacks from before?” Smolder darted up, trying to get some distance, only to collide face first into a soft ball of fluff, which bounced her back into a ring of other fluffball monsters. “Crap.” The huge monster roared with all it’s might. And oh, Garble could still hear it, through the thick helmet that covered his ears, with the fluffball jewelry supporting it. But it was just a normal roar. He gave a look to Smolder, who was also watching this monster roar itself horse, and gave each other a fist pound, running at it to finish the fight. Spike looked around expectantly. "You there?" "Is that the question you wish to ask?" came the voice behind him despite his searching. Spike twirled to see the man had just… appeared. "You moved faster this time." "Heya." Spike wriggled a few fingers. "No, that's not my question." He examined the older man curiously. "So, you're the tower... You're watching us go, watching us learn." He smiled a little. "And I think you like what you see." "Those are not questions," he noted, waving a finger slowly at Spike. "Are you trying to cheat?" "Who, me? Never." Spike rocked on his feet. "So… You mentioned a price, and that some people didn't pay it, and others did. What is the price?" He rolled a hand in the air. "I mean, I'm curious about you too, but I really kinda need to know that if we're trying so hard to get to it." "Perfectly reasonable," allowed the old man, raising his staff and bringing it down. From the point of contact, four spectral adventurers rose with it, two warriors, a wizard, and some manner of cleric. "Adventurers brave, greedy, clever, or just stubborn make it to the top, if they seem worthy." Spike nodded quickly. "Yeah, got that. They get up there, and…?" "The question is asked." He leaned over the small figures, addressing them, "What do you wish, and are you willing to pay the price?" the figures turned to one another, whispering in little chirps of noises. "The grander the wish, the greater the price. If some fool went through all this trouble to ask for a sandwich, I would send them home with a full belly and their face coated in mud. None have been quite that petty." "So they usually ask…?" "A second question?" the man smirked at Spike. "C'mon, that's still part of the same question!" Spike spread his hands out with a mighty pout. The man took a slow breath, considering. "For you… Most wish for riches and power, great things, but temporary things. For such a request, we require a sacrifice." He pointed to the figures. "Which of you will pay, and which will benefit?" Two figures raised their hands. Lightning arced from the old man's extended finger, striking them to ash. The other two figures walked off, a bit larger, glowing with powers. "And two heroes are born, but what is a hero that accepted the death of a friend? They don't speak of this." "Woah…" Spike blinked, enough of a lapse. The man was gone, and his friends were calling. "See you on fifty…"