“What to do, what to do…” I muttered to myself as I walked through the maze. I had seen pictures of hedge mazes online but this was the first time I had ever been through one, even if it was in a simulator. The place kinda reminded me of the maze from the Harry Potter movie, but much brighter and without the monster plants. I drifted through the maze lazily like a ghost. Just because I’ve never been in a hedge maze before in real life, didn’t mean I couldn’t find my way out. All I have to do is just stick to a wall and follow it to the end, I could fly out but where’s the fun in that? For now though, I just wanted to relax and try to sort things out.
As I walked, I came upon a clearing with some trees, benches, a large pond and a few scenic rocks. Looking around, there was no other life but me and a quick ‘Bio Locus’ made sure of that. I went to one of the shaded benches and laid down on it.
“Now that I got some time to kill, what should I do?” I wondered aloud. I idly searched my mind for something to occupy my time, hoping the answer would pop up like magic. “I got a job to help pay for hunting Banshees, so that’s done. The crew or what will be left of it, still needs to decide if they’re going to stay aboard and help me.” That struck me the most. Why did I let them go? Aren’t they AI to help me whenever I need them and be fodder for my own entertainment? Why am I being so lenient on them as if they were real? This bugged me to no end recently.
I shook my head to dispel the thoughts before they consumed my mind and distracted me. “Anyways, I need something to do while I wait, but what?” This was a bit aggravating to me. I have so much to do, but at the same time, have nothing to do. I racked my mind for a hint at my next activity. “I could do some building for the ship, but I still need some more materials. I’ll have to ask Luna where I can get some metals.” I thought aloud, “I suppose I could go back to the Archives and look for some more info about the world. Hmmm, maybe tomorrow. I guess that leaves me with testing my prototypes or evaluating some of my skills so far.” I blinked. “Eh, why not? I could use some spells to try out.” I said, “Pause.” My vision darkened as the familiar pause screen appeared before my eyes. I scrolled down to Data and opened it.
The Data tab had filled up quite a bit since I first joined this game. It was organized by several categories like People, Places, Monsters, etc. I chose the Magic category and a list of words I used so far appeared. I was able to organize them by alphabet and method of discovery.
“Let’s see…so far I have…” I counted up the total words I have used thus far, not including combinations, “a little over forty words.” I whistled in amazement at myself. About a quarter of the words, I remembered from the Harry Potter games and movies, well the ones I could get to work at least. A third of it I was able to derive from everyday words using this little trick I learned from my world history class in high school, ‘General German, Fancy French’, since most everyday words are from Anglo Saxon origin, but the elaborate ones come from French Latin. That’s one of the few things I clearly remember from that class, though the teacher was kinda funny as well. I gave a small chuckle, remembering the little ‘field trips’ he would take us on, but I digress.
I shook my head to refocus myself and gazed at the list again. The rest of the words I discovered came to me by leveling up, common sense or dumb luck. Seriously, even a fetus would know that ‘Tri-‘ meant three and ‘Aqua’ meant water. However, the first time I used ‘Project’, I accidentally conjured up an image of a Weeping Angel in the cockatrice cave on my starting island and nearly crapped myself. Unfortunately, there were still a lot of words I needed to discover and I’m not exactly an English professor, which made discovering that many Latin words a personal achievement. I sighed, “Oh well, I can still use these words at least. Good thing I can combine them like in Magicka. I wish there were more games with that kind of combo system.”
I resumed the game and sat under the tree, wondering what to do next. I remembered the other option and reached into my satchel to pull out one of my prototypes. It was an extremely crude version of a sonic screwdriver that I had built out of boredom and curiosity. Remembering the one from the show, I figured I could try to replicate it. It was a piece of carved wood that had a metal tip and a gem embedded at the top. It had a similar activation key to my Gemcomm, which was engraving the words onto the metal bindings of the gems. Originally, I was just labeling them so I would know which gem had what spell. Turns out that it works the same as saying it out loud when I give it a tap of the finger.
You do realize that you’re trying to copy advanced, not even fully explained, alien tech with sticks and stones, right? the Voice deadpanned.
I shrugged, “Not gonna stop me from trying, at least. Besides, worst case scenario, this thing blows up in my face like the other ones.” I didn’t even know how that was possible with the non-explosive inventions I made, but it happened. I looked around for a possible test subject and found a rock near the pond about the size of my head. I went over to pick it up and got a surprise. The rock was much heavier than I expected, about ten pounds or so heavier. I hefted it up to my chest. ‘Why the hell is it so heavy?’ I thought, ‘I mean, the metal in the arms and armor I built weighed a decent amount, but my strength should be more than this. Must be a glitch in the game.’ I tried shrugging it off as faulty software, but it still didn’t sit right with me. I need to stop getting distracted.
I held up the rock in my arm and pointed the proto-driver at it. “Alright,” I said, “Alto Sonor Vibrato.” In a split second, I dropped the rock and clutched my ears as a high pitched buzz pierced the air. “OH FUCK MY EARS ARE BLEEDING!!!” I yelled along with some other choice sentences. After several seconds, I was able to turn it off. I rubbed my ears in pain. “Owww. Sonuvabitch that hurt! Now I know how a dog feels when it hears those whistles. Ahh, God that hurts. Stupid screwdriver!” I tossed the prototype at the rock I held earlier. It cracked and I paced about grumbling at how stupid my idea was. The Voice just laughed at me mockingly all the while, adding to my frustration.
'Damn prototype. Why the hell did I think that was a good idea? I might as well go eat glass to see if my stomach could digest that!' After several minutes of pacing, venting, and cursing, I stopped and looked at the cracked invention. 'Even if it did work, what use would I have for a sonic screwdriver? It's not exactly a sonic blaster...' My train of thought slowed for a second as it processed this idea. 'It's….not a sonic weapon, but it did work well to incapacitate me.' My mental gears began to grind, faster and faster as I started to pull out everything I knew about sound waves, frequencies, and such. It all piled up and I sorted through it, disassembling the screwdriver in my mind and building it into...
“A dubstep gun.” I said softly to myself, “An actual DUBSTEP gun...” I chuckled a bit at this revelation, “It's perfect! A sonic weapon that can disable enemies with high range hearing and if set at certain frequencies, it could shake buildings apart.” Well, if it was strong enough, of course, but that's the wonder of a new idea, being able to set a benchmark for the boundary between the possible and impossible.
I filed away this new idea for later development and stuffed the failed prototype back into my bag. I pulled out my next invention, which was supposed to be a portable water cannon. Long story short, the plants got wet and nothing was destroyed, unless you count mud being made. Then again, water helps plants so would that be negative damage? I don't know, but this will probably be useful for fighting fires or any flame atronarchs if I come across them. Next one!
I pulled out a small, pen-like object. It was a laser pointer, like the ones used to make cats run in circles and into walls and the laser dot sights on weapons. I made it for the ship as a possible targeting device, since my brother told me much about how lasers were used to guide rockets and track targets. This laser pointer was similar to the lightsaber I tried to build, but a bit smaller. It was a tube with lenses and a small ruby set into the center. I could have used an emerald to try to reproduce a green laser, but I wanted to see if lasers were even possible at first. Baby steps before sprints.
I activated it and shined it onto the rock. I closed my eyes and braced myself for an explosion, hoping it didn’t take out too much of my health this time, but it never came. I cracked my eyes open to see a small red dot on the rock. I blinked in surprise. ‘Holy crap. Advanced tech and it didn’t explode on the first try.’ I thought as I began to move the dot around. I chuckled as I began to draw imaginary shapes on the face of the rock. ‘Well, two out of three ain’t bad and I still have that other one to try. Actually, it’d be one and two halves since the water cannon’s useless and the screwdriver just gave me a new-Is something burning?’ I suddenly had smoke fill my nostrils and looked down to see that my laser was burning up a patch of grass. “What the hell?!” I shouted before using the water cannon to douse the fire. Didn’t think I’d need that one so soon.
I crouched down and lightly touched the charred grass, then looked at my pointer. ‘Damn.’ was the only thing that went through my mind. I was surprised it worked without blowing up, but I sure as hell wasn’t expecting that. I probably put too much energy into it or used the wrong combination of words. I checked the engraving: Lumen. Nope, that was correct. I wondered if it was because of the lenses I used. ‘Maybe I should work on this later…’ I thought after the shock dispersed, ‘I wonder…’ I began to think but soon shook the thought away, ‘No. If I start now, I’ll be here all night. Speaking of which…’ I looked up to see that the sun had set and the sky was tinged with the rays of twilight.
“Shit, I better get back to the ship.” I thought aloud. I’d rather not be stuck in a hedge maze during night time. Who knows what prowls the corners and crannies of this place? I took the trail that led me to the clearing in the first place, following it as best as my memory could serve me. ‘Left here, right there, second on the right, fourth on the left…’ I thought to myself. Soon, the path became unfamiliar to me and I began to question myself. ‘Wait, I don’t think I went this way. I don’t remember that column being there before.’ I thought as I chose another path. Sure I could’ve flown out in my harpy form, but my pride as a gamer wouldn’t let me cheat unless I absolutely had no other choice.
Somewhere along the way, I turned back to my Base form, mostly so I could move faster along the shadows. I even put a hand out and imitated the Jaws theme. I’m not the only one who does stupid stuff when no one’s looking. Anyways, after I entertained myself with that for a few minutes, I turned a corner and froze in my tracks, my blood running cold. “Oh shit.” I cursed. In front of me was a large fountain, but that didn’t scare me. What scared me were the four Pegasus statues that had out stretched wings and looked like they were crying or playing peekaboo. I made sure to keep them in my eyesight as I muttered, “Don’t blink.” over and over like a broken record. Then, as if the universe wanted to make things worse, I blinked. “FUCK!” I yelled but I didn't run, running was not an option at this point. I hauled ass out of there like my brother taught me. I shot down the leafy corridors, making sharp turns everywhere I went, even flying straight through the hedges at one point.
I turned one more corner and made it out of the maze at last. I would have jumped for joy, but instead I screamed in terror. Why? Because I ran into another statue garden. They all stood, frozen in time, but unlike the cockatrice cave, they were supposed to be pieces of art. Although, I don’t know why anyone would make the statue in front of me and call it art. It was a long snake like body with the leg of a goat, tail of a dragon, paw of a lion, an eagle’s claw, leg of a gator and head of a pony with an antler and a horn. It’s body was coiled as if it was trying to stop something from attacking it, and it’s face frozen in fear. It would be almost humorous if I wasn’t terrified by the statues. Seriously, those things scare the hell out of me!
“Trans Form Harpy!” I shouted and I was off the ground before I finished changing, and I made a beeline for my ship, not daring to look back. “Don’t follow me!” I muttered repeatedly as I flew. Before I even hit the deck of the ship, I turned back to my Base form and rocketed down the halls of my ship towards my room. I slammed the door behind me and took up residence in my hammock as I kept my rifle, now in automatic shotgun mode, trained on the door. It was a long while before I got any sleep.
A knock on my door roused me from my fitful slumber. Still on edge from last night, I slowly approached the door. I put the barrel of my gun against the wood and spoke, “Who’s there?”
“Flamel.” I heard the person say. I wanted to sigh in relief, but the angels could still be out there. In a flash, I opened the door and yanked the Dog inside before slamming it shut again. “Did anything follow you? Did you see anything strange on the way here?” I said, making sure the door was closed.
Flamel stared at me in confusion, “No?” he said unsurely, “Is something wrong?”
I shook my head dismissively, “Ah, forget it. It’s not important. It’s some personal paranoia.” I said, hoping he would buy that, “Anyways, What brings you here?”
“I came to ask what you found so far about the Banshees.” he said, “Any luck?”
Oh good, something to take my mind off the statues. “Actually, I found quite a bit.” I said, then proceeded to inform him of all the info I discovered yesterday. “Unfortunately, that’s about all I could find.” I finished up, “If we’re going to find out anything else, we’d have to meet the Banshees personally.”
“I see.” Flamel said, “How are we going to find them? They scattered after leaving Ruby Hollow.”
“I’m working on a proper tracking device, but for now, I can find them through my weapon.” I said, holding my rifle up, “It’s made of Stygian iron and can detect the Banshees over a certain range. However, once I can build a tracking system, then I should be able to locate them almost anywhere in the world.”
“Well, that’s good.” Flamel said, pleased with the progress, then strode to the door, “I’m going to be walking around Canterlot today. What will you be doing?”
I shrugged, “Eh, this and that. Whatever takes my interest at the moment.” I said vaguely, “But for now, I think I’ll do some work on the ship.” Just another day at the office. For a moment, I wanted to ask about the rest of the crew, mostly to know who was left, but I decided against it. If I knew, then I wouldn't be able to concentrate on my work.
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Magnus’ POV
I laid across the top of this...'airship', basking in the sunlight. Most dragons preferred sleeping in caves over their cold, metal hoards, but I liked the sun's warmth. It was so soothing to feel the rays heat my scales and because of them, I couldn't get sunburned. I let out a sigh of content, happy to just sit here until-BOOM! that happened.
I opened my eyes with a groan. 'This is the fourth time that's happened in the past hour.' I thought grumpily, 'Just what is going on?' I gave a frustrated snort of smoke and swore to the stars above that whatever was keeping me from sleeping was going to be in much pain for such a crime. I spread my wings and flew down to the deck. I moved towards the source of the noise, those I passed on the ship made themselves scarce upon seeing me or simply moved around me.
I finally reached the source after another explosion gave away the location again. I opened the door, only to duck out of the way of a flying piece of metal. I heard someone shout, “Watch out!” shortly after my reaction. I looked to see it was some of the ponies and, of course, the ever mysterious Shade. Despite all this time that I've known him, I still don't know what to make of him. He killed my parents but only to defend himself. I can't fault him for that because if I were I in his position I probably would have done the same. However, I'm still unsure about his relationship with Erebus. If Erebus lied to my parents, what's to say the Shade isn't lying either? Pearl may trust him out of the pureness of her heart, but, as her bother, I need to be ready if he breaks that trust.
“What are you doing?” I asked stepping over pieces of wreckage, some still smoking. As interesting as some of these inventions may be, I didn't want Pearl to play with them in case they exploded like they do most of the time.
Gunhaver laughed sheepishly, “Heh, sorry about waking you up. I really need to sound proof this room or something.”
I blinked in confusion, “How did you know I was sleeping?”
“Your eyes have the look of a half asleep killer, hell bent on whatever woke you up.” he said casually.
“Oh,” I shook my head, “Well, what are you doing that's waking me up?” It had better be worth the trouble.
“Oh, some work on the ship and all that.” Gunhaver said and then he waved a finger at me, “Actually, I need your help with something.” he said, “I assume you've been practicing the spells I taught you, right?”
“When I can, yes.” I replied. It felt strange, learning this magic, but I needed every advantage I could against Erebus and, if necessary, Gunhaver as well.
“Good, I need you to help test out this armor.” he said, “It's a defense against the Banshees. Well, a start of it, at least.” He held up a piece of metal in front of himself, “Alright, hit me with your best shot.”
I raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it as I held up a claw, “Impulsus.” A burst of energy shot forth from my claw at the armor. If there was one thing I was practicing, it was increasing the speed of my attack spells. There may come a day when I would need that extra second to charge a spell. The blast hit the armor and crumpled it. Gunhaver was thrown to the wall, but in that form of his, he simply dissipated and reformed.
“Aw come on!” he shouted, “That's the fifth one! What the hell are we doing wrong, Flamehoof?” It soon dwindled down into a debate about metals and designs that didn't interest me. I slipped out of the room and since I was too awake for a nap, and I decided to take a walk.
Soon enough, I found myself in front of a familiar door. Behind it, screams and shouts sounded and so did the crashing of furniture. It sounded as if someone was being murdered. I opened it gently to find Pearl and her friends playing on an obstacle they built out of whatever they could find. Three of the foals were leaping from pad to pad, the chick was crawling through some tubes and Pearl and the others were climbing ropes. Currently, Pearl was zooming along the ropes as if she was born on them. She giggled as she climbed circles around the others.
“No fair.” the Pegasus foal whined as he struggled to pull himself up, using his wings to help, “You’re a dragon.”
“Nyeh.”Pearl said, sticking her tongue out, “Then grow some claws, featherbrain.” She then grabbed a loose rope and swung around the room, squealing with delight. I smiled at the sight. If Pearl was happy, then I was happy. I would hunt down and destroy anyone who dared to make her cry. She was the only one left of my family that Erebus didn’t kill and I intend to keep it that way, even if it cost me my life.
Seeing that she didn’t notice me from the fun she was having, I silently closed the door and went back up to his spot on the top of the ship. I padded around in a circle a few times, making the space comfortable before laying down on the warm scales. With eyes half lidded, I gently stroked the surface beneath me. ‘I will avenge you one day.’ I thought, ‘I just hope I will be strong enough to do so.’ On that thought, I closed my eyes, hopeful to get some sleep this time.
BOOM!
I grumbled in frustration. ‘Son of a bitch.’
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Gunhaver’s POV
I leaned against the rail of my ship, looking up at the night sky. Today had been a fairly productive day. I made some sort of progress on a set of shock absorbing armor, though most of the pieces crumpled in the process. Thank god I had my 'Trans Form Materia' spell, otherwise I'd be spending too much time and money on more materials. On top of that, I managed to reduce impacts by at least thirty percent. Go me. I get a stronger crew.
I sighed in content, “God it's good to be me right now.” I hummed some random song to myself as I moved away from the rail, pacing around the ship's edge. “Tomorrow morning, I set out with whoever stays with me.” I said to myself, “Hunt down the Banshees and get some work done.” I tried not to worry about tomorrow morning. What would I find left of the crew? I know several ponies and a few Dogs and griffins were going to stay, but was that it? A skeleton crew on a half built ship, hunting down a legion of monsters from Tartarus itself. Well, it's not good, but it's better than nothing.
Suddenly, my vision, or more accurately, my HUD, flickered.
New Quest:
Catch the thief. Locate his loot.
Challenges:
Catch him alive- 375 XP
Do not use firearms- 350 XP
Do not be detected- 100 XP
Reward: Loot, 350 XP
Accept/Decline
Accept
I know it was late, but hey, it’s a quest that gets me money, so I’m not complaining. A red dot appeared on my HUD’s map. I followed it to the rail to see the dot leap from the bottom of the mountain base to the edge of the hanging city in three leaps. Whoever this was, they had strong legs.
“Trans Form Harpy.” I said as I leaped off the rail. I spread my wings and glided towards the figure highlighted by the dot. It looked rather humanoid, to say the least, but I didn’t get a good look as it was shrouded by the dark of the night. What surprised me was the silver aura surrounding the creature. Another player like me. Suddenly, the person took off from his position, jumping to the nearest rooftop in a single leap.
Jack be nimble. the Voice said with an interested tone.
“Trans Form Base.” I ignored him and followed the person. He was agile, jumping from roof top to roof top, but going in some direction, possibly to his next target. I swerved through buildings and around corners, using every racing advantage I could to get closer without being detected. So far, it didn’t seem to notice me.
Jack be quick.
One thing I did notice was that the player never touched the ground. He even had to throw something beneath him at one point so he didn’t hit the cobblestone streets. Maybe it was a personal phobia? I didn’t care much but I was still curious about it. The player jumped over a small tower and I flew straight through it.
Jack jump over the candle stick. the Voice sang with creepy enthusiasm.
I kept following the player, beginning to wonder if he was actually going for a target or leading me on a wild goose chase. The player vaulted over a massive mansion.
Jack jump high, Jack jump low.
By now, I wasn’t making much progress, so I decided to pull out my prototype that I left untested. It was wrapped around my wrists like a vambrace. I aimed my palm, wrist up, at a distant tower ahead and curled my middle and ring finger onto the gem trigger. In a flash, a long string of spider silk shot out and it latched on to the tower like an arrow. Once it made contact, it reeled me in towards the tower. I tapped the gem again and the silk detached and returned to me. I barely contained my joy as the invention I had been craving to build finally worked and so far, it worked well. I was Spiderman now! I had to keep from shouting my joy as I swung from tower to tower.
I quickly closed in on the player, using my new momentum. However, the player suddenly stopped and turned as if he (I assume it’s a guy from the lack of boobs) sensed me. Luckily, I had over shot my last swing and flew over his head just as he turned around. I didn’t know if I should be angry at my poor calculations or glad I screwed up.
I landed ahead in a small crevice between buildings, just out of sight from the strange player. ‘Shit, that was close.’ I thought, ‘Way too close for comfort.’ I waited until the guy turned around, but instead of continuing his path, he squatted down and then made a massive leap straight up into the air. My jaw dropped as I calculated his height. ‘The dude must be at least six hundred feet in the air. DAAYYYUUMM!!!’
As I watched the figure reach the peak of his jump, I thought, ‘I want that form now.’ But I shook the thought from my head as I faded into the shadows, crawling towards the spot where he might land. The figure was falling quite rapidly now and since he didn’t have wings, he couldn’t maneuver in the air beyond shifting his weight and air drag, unless he was trained in skydiving. From what my brother told me, it was a hell of a lot harder than it looked. In fact, the player’s body position showed me that he relied on his powerful legs to absorb the shock. Now I really wanted that form. I quickly shot out several web strands, creating a trap around his landing site.
Jack jumped over and burnt his toe.
I barely finished before the player landed right into the trap. Spider silk flew from their positions, ensnaring the poor victim and immobilizing him like a fly on a web. The player was surprised, obviously not expecting such a trap to appear out of nowhere. He struggle to escape (I could now see that it was a guy, due to his ragged clothes and muscles), but to no avail. I pulled myself out of the shadows, slowing moving towards the prey.
“’Welcome to my parlor.’ Said the spider to the fly.” I said, my voice dripping with malicious intent. Wait, why would I say that?
“Who the fuck are you?” the player screamed at me. I silenced him with a quick shot of silk across his mouth.
“No one you need to concern yourself with.” I said, “I’m just collecting taxes, and you need to pay for the things you stole. Now, are you going to tell me where your stash is or will I have to force it from you? Trust me, you don’t want the latter.” I blinked mentally. When did I become so mean? I know I’m intimidating the guy, but still.
The player just yelled at me through his gag. “I’ll take that as a no.” I said, “Hmm, now how to go about this?”
Why don’t you just search his mind? the Voice suggested, It would be much cleaner than any torture you could make yourself perfom.
‘You mean thatspell?’ I asked in surprise, ‘But that was tested on in-game animals. How would that affect players? They’re not programs or AI.’
You’ll never know unless you find out.’ The Voice said teasingly before disappearing. I bit my lip as mixed emotions welled up inside me. On one hand, it would be useful to know if that spell works. On the other hand, if it did work, how would I know if it didn’t harm them in the end? I sighed in defeat.
‘Dammit, he’s right.’ I thought, ‘I won’t know unless I find out.’ I lifted up my hand, up against the player’s face, extending my claws towards his forehead until they barely touched. “This is going to hurt me a lot more than it’s going to hurt you.” I said. “Carpo Memoria.” My claws glowed an ethereal blue as they plunged into the player’s skull like soft clay. The player gave a wordless scream as he watched them enter and tried to pull away, but I grabbed his head and held him still as my other hand began to pull out a clump of blue wispy strands.
I had practiced pulling out memories on birds and animals to the point where I could pull out specific memories with slight difficulty. I held up the strands and let go of the player’s face as it went limp once I pulled the bundle out. Slowly, I went through it, strand by strand, by lightly touching it to my own forehead. When I did that, it gave a general idea of what was in that strand. Since this was the first human I tested, I didn’t know what to expect. However, I did know that each strand had relative memories. A strand with a picture of a house would show who owned it and what was in which room and so forth.
After about fifteen minutes, I was beginning to get frustrated by the lack of substantial evidence. Each strand tossed away immediately returned to their original host, wriggling into his temple like a worm escaping a bird. ‘No, no, no, definitely no, nuh-uh, nope, ew, no, not you, go away, you’re no help, n-ah there it is.’ I let go of the other strands as I pressed this to my mind. Location, hoard size, everything. “Perfect.” I said. I kept the strand there for a moment longer to imprint the knowledge in my mind. I've still yet to be able to make exact copies for my own purpose but once I find the treasure, then I can forget it.
I let go of the strand, “Thank you for your cooperation.” I said to the unconscious player. I turned to leave when the Voice spoke up behind me.
You're just going to leave him like that? he asked curiously. I stopped and turned around to see the Voice leaning against the player. After all that work, you’re just going to up and leave like nothing happened?
“What do you mean?” I asked.
The Voice stood up and slowly circled the player. Well, think about it. What would happen after you let him go and got your treasure? Hm? he said, You’re both humans and therefore have the same base reactions. Do you honestly think he would let bygones be bygones?
I thought about what I would have done in his position. I shook my head slowly. I thought not.
“What would you have me do then?” I asked, crossing my arms. The Voice grinned sadistically, making me regret asking my question.
Kill him. he said as if he were talking about the weather.
I stared at him blankly for a moment before mentally screaming ‘WHAT!?’ I didn’t want anyone to investigate my shouts.
Oh, come now. Don’t be like that. the Voice said reassuringly, It’s not like it will hurt you.
“Yeah, but what about him?” I pointed to the player, “Erebus said that if we die in this game then it’ll do damage to our minds, possibly kill us!”
The Voice laughed, Is that what you think? he clutched his sides as he was bent over laughing at me, Erebus has lied to you and toyed with your emotions. What’s to say that he didn’t exaggerate the consequences of dying? Hmm? For all you know, you might emerge out of this game in full healthy condition with a slight headache.
I tried to argue but the Voice had a serious point. What did I know other than what possible lies Erebus told me? Also, if I did let the guy go, what’s to stop him from getting revenge on me? I sighed in defeat, “Fine. What do you want me to do?” I asked as I cursed myself.
The Voice put a hand to his chest, What do I want you to do? Actually, it’s more of what you want to do. he pressed a finger into my chest.
“W-what do you mean?” I said unsurely.
The Voice grinned, I’ve been through your head, boy. I know what you know. I do know that there’s a certain trick your brother taught you that you’ve been dying to try out.
My eyes widened, “Bullshit.” But he was right. My brother taught me much about fighting. More than once did I wonder what it would have been like to perform those actions myself.
Don’t lie. Remember, I know you well. I’ve been through your head as you scurry about with your tasks. the Voice said as he stroked the player’s head. Suddenly the player looked like a corpse to me. So go ahead and do it. Hear the sounds you wanted and know how the experience feels with your own hands. It’s the only way to truly know. The Voice came up close to me, inches from my face, And besides, wouldn't it be a mercy to him? To not have to experience this cruel game? he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
My mind raced as it tried to find a way out, but deep down, some animal instinct caused me to cave into my curious temptation. I took a deep breath, then another one. 'He's right,' I thought, 'I'm doing him a favor. I can't escape this game, but that doesn't mean I can't help others out, right?' I tried to convince myself of that but the hollow words seemed to wash away like sand. I went up to the player slowly. Each step seemed heavier than the last. I grasped the player’s head and smacked him awake. His eyes fluttered open and gazed on me as I held his head up.
“It’s nothing personal, really, but when you meet your host or whoever the hell brought you here, tell them ‘Fuck the Police’.” I wrenched my hands like a whip and with a sickening crunch, the player’s head was turned around completely.
The Voice appeared again, placing his hand on my shoulder, Good, good. Now take his form. I know you want to.
My mind went blank as I bit into the player’s flesh. I tried to ignore the sweet taste in my mouth. Only the thought of the loot I could find kept my mind aloof from my feeding.
New Form Acquired: Springheel Jack
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The statue gardens were silent, like they were almost every night, except for the occasional party. No, not even the wind blew tonight. It was a dead night. As if everything was turned off, even the moon's movement in the sky. That is what surrounded Discord's statue. It would have continued if it weren't for the figure suddenly appearing from the darkness of the night's shadows. He stepped slowly towards the statue.
“Why hello, old friend.” Erebus said, breaking the sacred silence like a hammer through glass, “It's been a long time since we last met.” Had anyone else been present, they wouldn't have seen nor heard a thing.
The statue didn't move. Of course not, it was a statue. However it did project the thoughts of the host. “Not long enough it seems.” Discord said, his voice oozing with contempt for the Dark god, “And I had such a good streak before you had to ruin it. Over a thousand years, too. Now I'll have to start over again. Maybe counting by ice cream flavors, this time, perhaps?”
“Why must you be so...stone cold to me?” Erebus chuckled, “Deep down, Discord, I know you missed me. Even after all the fun times we had.”
If the statue could glare, it would have been shooting daggers at Erebus, though knowing it was a Chaos God, it probably would've likely been rubber chickens as well. “Hardly.” he said, “It was your fault that my relationship with Celestia was ruined. You're the one who had me turned to stone by them. Now, I'm asking with every ounce of my patience. What do you want?”
Erebus gave a shark like grin, glad to get down to the brass tacks, but he danced atop them instead. “Oh, I just came to tell you a funny story, really. I assure you, it's quite humorous. I believe it might suit your tastes.”
“Get on with it.” Discord said gruffly. He may be a fun-loving god of Chaos, but when it comes to Erebus, one needs to be on their toes.
Erebus smirked as he spun his tale, “Well, once upon a time, A naïve draconequess of a god decided to play a game.” he said, making a verbal jab that wasn't missed by the statue, “He figured that by bringing in the most volatile race ever to exist into a peaceful world, then much fun could be had. Eventually, word got out to the other gods and they decided to join in. Imagine my surprise when I found out about it. I was positively thrilled” Erebus' eyes held a malicious gleam on that last word, but it disappeared as he continued, “You know me, I did my research and found quite an interesting candidate for myself. It's been very amusing thus far.”
Discord would have glowered at Erebus if he could, “So who's the poor soul you tied up in your barbed strings? Some human with a desperate past, no doubt.”
Erebus simply smiled, “Close but no cigar.” he said, “And really Discord, strings? Your time in stone has left you oblivious to the machinations of humans.” he waved his hand dismissively, “Strings are so Dark Ages. Unlike you, I've advanced with the Humans and their interesting technology. It's given me some good ideas as of late, but I digress. I'll have you know that I'm not using strings, instead I took it a leap further and programmed my victim this time.” Erebus had a very smug grin on his face.
“YOU DID WHAT!?” Discord roared from his cage, “I knew you were a dick, but this is a new low, even for you.”
Erebus looked at his fingernails, ignoring the petrified god's protests, “Please, all I did was put his mind into a certain perspective. Once that was set in, I inserted a virus into his soul, one that will prevent him from asking unnecessary questions and steer him in the direction I need him to go. If all goes well, I believe he'll become a fully-fledged Night Shade within the year. His human soul will be crushed and recycled into a darker soul, fit to work his body to its maximum potential.”
“What's your game, Erebus?” Discord asked, “I know you have some ulterior purpose to this.”
Erebus raised his hands in surrender, “Alright, you caught me.” he said, “I'll tell you what my plan is. Step one, Ensure that he survives by any means possible until the end. Step two, kill off the weak fodder the other, ahem, 'spirits' decided to pull in. Step three,...” Erebus trailed off, then smiled, “That's a secret for much later.”
He pulled back a sleeve on his suit, revealing a bare arm, “Well, Look at the time. It seems my Piece is about to make his first kill. I really must be going.” Erebus turned to leave then stopped and looked over his shoulder behind him, “Oh and don't worry, I'll take care of that precious fat flank you called a girlfriend.” Erebus cackled and vanished as Discord roared once more.