Continue Online (Part 4, Crash) (38 page)

“Is that what happened to King Nero’s castle?” I tried to keep up and understand the extent of our possible destruction. There were a million other questions to ask but scope of potential damage had to be first.

Beth wasn’t here, but from her general amazement at the situation, the hole left and monster which emerged had to be huge. Wyl and I needed to start limping now.

“Yes,” the Voice answered with an uncharacteristic forwardness.

“Wyl!” I shouted at the man and quickly ran over. “We’ve got to go!”

“No can do, soldier,” he groggily uttered.

“Can you help?!” I shouted at the Voice who remained kneeling in front of his altar.

His head shook slightly from side to side. “All our power is being diverted to the cause. Balance likewise prevents active interference.”

“So you can talk, but you can’t actually do anything to help one of your people?!” I yelled while feeling upset with the Voices once more. Their rules were inconsistent at times.

“We are not Gods. We are not perfect. We are not all knowing or all powerful. We have faith.” The Voice stood and walked over. His serene expression didn’t change. For a moment, I was reminded of Aqua, the blue
[Mechanoid]
that had traveled with me for a while.

I had no clue how they viewed the world. Was I talking to the entire Voice or only ten percent of its processing power? Were they like Hal Pal’s consortium? An army of small clones unto themselves who went about different processes?

“I have met you before, haven’t I?” I asked on a hunch.

Michelangelo only smiled and I was reminded once more of Aqua’s serene way of approaching everything. That robot had been neither male or female, but this Voice definitely looked like a man. Leeroy had been Iron, Selena was Ruby. Who were the others?

There was so much I didn’t know, and there wouldn’t be time to ask questions.

“You must go, Messenger. I can no longer guarantee the safety of this sanctuary,” he said while trying hard to smile. His words sounded strained and everything rumbled.

My head shook for a moment and feet backed up. There was a knocking sound again. The earth bulged into the wooden floor below. Cracks formed and my eyes widened as I continued backward.

“Dusk! Let’s go!” My breath came in quick huffs. “Will you be okay?” I asked the Voice while getting my shoulder under Wyl. The guard grunted and nearly drowned out the Voice’s response.

A single knock sound vibrated the walls. The second one came rapidly after and the hole in the floor opened. I dragged Wyl to the door, masculinity be damned. The knocks were coming faster. A third one hit then the walls crumbled.

“Eventually, Messenger.” His magnified words were clear, the beautiful smile looked so lost and sad. “Because I have faith it will all work out.”

There he stood unmoving amid the rubble of a falling building. I didn’t have his faith. Running was impossible with Wyl’s dead weight. The door was close enough to stumble through. Dusk bounded past like a startled cat with nails scrambling for purchase on the building’s wooden floor.

“What’s happening, sergeant?” Wyl mumbled.

“We’ve got to escape,” I answered.

Choices were limited. I picked up Wyl. Air exited his lungs with an oof noise. My eyes closed and I prayed this wouldn’t go wrong. Then I threw him, relying on excessive
[Brawn]
and faith. His arc peaked quickly around thirty feet before descending again.

Flooring gave way beneath me. I looked upward then
[Blink]
ed into Wyl’s path. Disorientation hit hard and the guard’s body slammed into mine. Wyl and I tumbled backward in the high grass.

The
[Messenger’s Pet]
landed with a skid of nails. His body flipped in a circle and wings wiggled urgently. The odd chat bubble he used flashed above his head with a light bulb and exclamation mark. Dusk had a small container in his teeth. Small lips were awkwardly curled around its top. Red liquid dripped from a small crack in the vial. My eyes narrowed on it as the ground behind us continued to fall inward forming a widening circle.

“Dusk, you clever little guy! ARC, order cupcakes quick!” I gasped then grabbed at the prize. Finally, we had a means to heal with. My hands managed to stay steady despite the crumbling world behind us.

“Ordering one care package, User Legate,” the machine answered while I moved on.

Dusk hopped up and down in joy as rocks continued to tumble into the hole. Feet kicked away but the rate of destruction had slowed. I trembled for only a moment before looking around for an escape.

Wyl’s body sat nearby. He kept trying to get upright but neither arm supported his weight. I sat the man up promptly then winced when he groaned from fresh pain.

“Health potion.” I huffed feeling my own damage. “Drink, then we’ve got to run.”

He blinked slowly, which I assumed meant yes. Down went red liquid into Wyl’s mouth. The guard’s face regained color. It wouldn’t heal him completely, but it beat starving and dying from wounds suffered from player and monster inflicted damage.

Dusk stopped celebrating abruptly and nervously backed up. I snapped my head toward the hole. There was no time to wait for Wyl’s recovery. Something big was rumbling the dirt. The was the third time a large creature appeared to be crawling up from the ground. I could hear a groan from Wyl and Dusk’s panicked hisses. Warning sounds escalated until the
[Messenger’s Pet]
was almost stuttering.

“Come on, Wyl,” I said.

My pseudodragon friend hissed at the hole again then turned toward me. His cheeks were twisted back and shoulders hunched together. The oncoming danger scared him, and Dusk hadn’t shown any level of worry over
[Charge]
the giant
[Heavenly Body Clone]
or
[Leviathan]
the monstrous space worm from Advance.

“I know! We’re going,” I said while lifting up Wyl again.

The guard’s face winced but at a glance, he looked better.

“We can’t wait for it. Run, come on, Wyl, run.” We hobbled forth together. Wyl had more power but still couldn’t run. My side hurt from the tumble catching him. I risked looking over my shoulder to watch as a huge form swelled up from the hole. The being spread its arms wide to welcome the air.

Part of me paused for a moment and groaned at the idea of another giant boss monster. Then I remembered this wasn’t a game mechanic. According to the Voice, this hole in the ground was some vague representation of Mother’s slow destruction. Defeat meant deletion.

The idea panicked me. I had no clue what else had happened at Nero’s castle. Beth’s explanation had been cut off by an unexpected change in creatures. This thing, whatever it was, had huge arms and broad shoulders. It looked like a man made of shadow and a dozen stories tall.

It reached out and my mind tried to associate the noise. It was like a waterfall, or great river, or the sound of a tree falling with no one around to hear it. I looked to the left. A large hand smashed trees next to us. It drew back the bits of nature into a pit around its waist and they fell downward.

The other arm dropped on the right then pulled back more landscape. Wolves yipped and were caught in the mess. Vines rustled around its fingers and tried to fight.
[Sonic Screecher]
s flew and harassed it. This, thing, was trying to clean us up, like a colossal adult putting away children’s toys.

I felt like the damage would only grow. Each scoop of debris increased the being’s mass a little. It was growing large and the edges of the hole widening.

“I have to stop it,” I said.

“If we’re to die, I plan to die fighting,” Wyl said.

The guard pushed away from me and took
[Morrigu’s Gift]
in a smooth disarming move. I felt confused when the weapon responded and shifted to a simple sword. Lending him the blade was fine. William Carver had given it to me, I’m sure the old man would have approved.

But Wyl couldn’t die here. I missed the guard who had always been jovial, friendly and willing to help any new player that was sent his way. Wyl needed to live through this and return to doing a job he so clearly loved.

My arms grabbed the guard and he brought
[Morrigu’s Gift]
up toward my face. I ignored it and pushed him back down the path away from our giant beast. It was intent upon destroying everything nearby based on size order. A hand slammed down and grabbed another round of trees.

“No!” I yelled at Wyl. The memory of all those deceased
[Mechanoid]
s flashed through my mind. “I can die for you, but you can’t die for me.”

“Dusk, you watch him, I’ll, I’ll try to catch up again,” I said while shoving the
[Messenger’s Pet]
. Worry made me a bit more forceful than intended. His body was still far smaller than mine, and between our character status screens, Dusk was clearly far lower on
[Brawn]
. “Sorry, just, go. Please. For me it’s only a little bit of pain, for you, it’s worse. Let me bear this.”

“And the blade?” He held it up.

“Use it, stay safe.” The man had my blessings for all his help.

“No, you’ll need everything to get ahead. I’ve got the one I stole from that bounty hunter.” Another hand smashed down and buildings could be heard being scrapped into the pit. “You know what’s strange, convict,” Wyl said while looking at the weapon which had been returned to my hand. He was healed but looked ragged. All that shiny armor had been torn off in places days ago by other prisoners.

My eyes closed and I tried to figure out ways to get them moving. I gave in and shook my head back and forth.

The guard captain kept speaking, “You sounded just like Will. He couldn’t stand to see us Locals risk a life either.”

“Please go.” I squeezed my eyes shut. The sound of a huge beast behind me grew in vibration.

Wyl nodded once then moved on toward the west. Dusk looked at me. A puzzled question mark above his head. I shook my head and made a shooing motion. “Keep him safe. You leave this big guy to me.”

The
[Messenger’s Pet]
chirped once and lowered his head. I shooed him again and Dusk turned to run away. Another monstrous arm slammed down nearby, pulling in more trees.

I turned to face the looming beast. A foggy human stood at least fifty feet higher than it had. Tall enough to single-handedly wreck a town in reality. Tall enough to wrestle down a dragon. The feet hadn’t even cleared its pit of nothingness.

It had no eyes or mouth yet I could tell it looked at me. My body shook and messages came up about resisting the urge to become
[Soiled]
. A plan of attack couldn’t be formulated. This beast was an end game boss of sorts, by all the meanings.

I nodded and lifted the blade
[Morrigu’s Gift]
up. Feet cranked at high speeds.
[Light Body]
’s bonuses made me fast. Months of traveling around the globe gave me
[Endurance]
. And Lia, Shazam, she had given me and my autopilot the skills to carry on.

Possibilities flashed through in how to combat such a beast. I couldn’t risk the extra weight and limited vision of
[Power Armor]
.
[Camouflage]
wouldn’t work.
[Wild Bill]
stayed on my head during combat with a blessing that only a virtual world might allow.

There was nothing to do but charge in. Both eyes closed for a moment to steady myself. A song impossible to place hummed out and my head bobbed three times with the beat. On the fourth note, I ran. My face lit up with the rush of energy.
[Blade Dancer]
popped up a message about my weapon damage increasing.
[Battle Hum]
hit later citing an increase in musical synergy.

In my mind, the image of Lia flashed briefly, not her real life form trapped in a bed, but the avatar where she marched forth. What would Shazam think of the world falling apart? Perhaps it was best she passed as the number one warrior being all of this crushed her efforts. By the Voices, she probably would have enjoyed this fight just a little.

The man of fog moved speedily. His arm swung leveling tiny shacks and trees.
[Sonic Screecher]
s took to the air. Wolves howled in the distance.
[Awareness Heightening]
kicked in and I twisted to one side in a roll.

Both hands grasped around the blade and swung it at the arm which passed overhead. Even with my mind comprehending things at double the speed this creature moved freakishly fast.

The blade scraped across hardened skin as if I were using a butter knife against a pot. Sparks flew off and small bits of what had to be skin burned up. It roared and multiple system messages displayed.

I kept fighting. It wasn’t that my skills as a supreme warrior were on top. My only real possessions were these Voice gifted abilities, items with random powers, inflated stats, and excessive hours of moving my body in the ARC with a dance program.