Chapter 71:

Beginnings of a Bet

We landed back inside the doorway. I didn’t let myself stay down for long, immediately jumping up, back into the fray. Sam had fallen off into the side of the door, I reached out with my mind, felt my energy wrap around his hand… and then he was pulled away, yet again.

The massive hand that punched us now had Sam in his grasp. And, of course, the giant limb belonged to none other than Tiny Giant.

“What the hell is the fuss over this thing?” he asked, looking Sam over. “Hey, you,” he said to me. “Make your friends stop fighting or I’m going to squeeze the fuck out of this guy.”

I didn’t think he could deal too much damage because that would piss the masked man off but I didn’t want to cause Sam anymore discomfort so I did as he said.

“Netta! Dowser!” They turned immediately, caught off guard from hearing my voice again.

They saw Sam in Tim’s hand, and they knew it was over. They threw down their weapons. As soon as they were unarmed, the guards corralled them into place beside Stephen and I. The grand rescue attempt… cut down, right at the end.

“Fishbowl,” the masked man said, appearing from within the ring of guards. “What was your plan here, girl?”

A few lackey User Killers filed in behind Tiny Giant and pulled the doors closed. Like that was even necessary.

The masked man kept walking, stopping right above me, staring down, with such humor in his skull’s eyes.

“You think I didn’t know you were here? Think I didn’t know instantly that first night? I warned you to stay away. But instead you find your way here and join a group you know nothing about, to save a fucking NPC??”

I bolted to my feet, ready to let him have it for daring to call Sam that. But his mask flashed and a wave of energy knocked me back onto the ground.

“And you!” He turned to Stephen. “I thought you had dumped the girl? I thought you legitimately wanted to join and get the power and money I was promising.”

Stephen glared up at the masked man, shaking a bit, but staying firm. “Nope. Don’t give a shit about that stuff. I’m here for Sam.”

The masked man laughed. “Probably to get back in Fishbowl’s good graces, huh? Pathetic, boy.”

He turned to Netta and Dowser. “And you two! What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You don’t even know what’s going on, do you?”

Dowser shook his head. But Netta stayed defiant. “She’s our friend. If it wasn’t for her we would have died.”

The masked man scratched his chin. “Hmm, loyalty. We will have to see about breaking that. She saved you, yeah? Well she will also be the reason for whatever I choose to do to you next.”

Netta spat on his foot.

“Let’s see how long that spunk lasts,” he sneered.

Tiny Giant tossed Sam to the masked man. Stephen and I both mentally reached for it, but they were both too quick.

“Back at last. You’re a slippery little fucker, aren’t you?”

Sam whimpered, fresh tears streaming down his face.

“Why?” I whispered.

“Why what? Speak up, girl,” the masked man said.

“Why do you want him? Why are you doing this?”

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The masked man cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean? Same reason as you, I’m sure. I’m going to gather all four of them.”

“His siblings?” I asked. “Why do you want all of them?”

The masked man laughed. “You really don’t know a damn thing about them, do you? About the Singularity AI.”

He took my silence as confirmation, rightly so. I had no fucking idea what that meant.

He laughed, but continued, thankfully. “They are AI that are not copied, indefinitely. Most AI you come across exist in multiple places all throughout the Interverse. A Quest and an NPC must be repeated for everyone to complete. These NPCs though? There are only one of them, one quest line, for one person to complete.”

I remembered Stephen telling me that when we first met Sam, but he didn’t seem to be that impressed by it. I thought that meant they were a semi normal thing, if a little rare. But if what he said was true… it was kind of a mind blowing thing that I found Sam at all.

“Okay, so you just want to complete the quest just cause there’s one of them?” I asked.

The masked man grinned. “Of course. I want to collect as many as I can.”

I glared up at him. “He isn’t something to collect, he’s a person!”

The masked man died laughing, as well as some of the lackeys. Which just made me angrier.

“Girl, he is just a collectible. And if I get him and all his little fish siblings, I’m sure something great will happen for me. That’s what I want, and, eventually, Sammy will get what he wants. His whole little fishy family, under one roof. In a dungeon.” He grinned and the gathered guards laughed some more.

I stood up. The man’s mask sent out its wave but, this time, I met it head on, adding my mental power ahead of me, forcing myself up onto my feet and holding steady.

The man seemed impressed. But I didn’t give a fuck what he thought.

“Sam is going with me.”

The man gestured around, to the scene of all my friends, disarmed and captured. “And how the hell do you figure that?”

Without blinking, without even fully planning out what I was saying, I said, “I want to make a bet.”

An eyebrow appeared on the man’s mask, raised and curious. “Oh? And what could you possibly offer me that’s better than a Singularity NPC?”

“Something that there’s also only one of. Me.”

The others laughed, but the masked man didn’t move his gaze from my glare. He was actually considering it. “And what, could you do for me, girly?”

“I’ll become whatever you want. If you let Sam go, I’ll take his place.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think your pizza making skills are anywhere close to his… but…”

But? Was he actually considering it?

“You’ve impressed me. Every time I think you’re gonna fail or die, you just keep on coming. I know that if I let you leave, you would just keep coming back to steal him. So, clearly something must be done.”

He whirled around, his closed fist coming right for me. I somehow stayed steady, though it took all I had not to flinch away. His fist stopped right against my helmet, only lightly touching it. He opened his hand around the top of it. “You know that thing won’t save you from me.”

He held his hand there for a while longer, as if deciding what to do. Decided, he pulled his hand away. “It would be a waste to kill you. Especially since you’ve already joined my group, and showed such promise, taking out a ghost! So, sure Fishbowl, I’ll let Sam go. If you win.”

“Win what?”

He smiled. “Tiny Giant. It’s been a long time since you User Killers have been on the scene. I think I would like a demonstration.”

Tiny Giant crossed his massive arms. “Fuck you. I stopped this escape attempt, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but that was nothing. I want to see you in full combat. This is what I propose: a fight, for Sam. Fishbowl, you go up against the User Killers and, if you win, Sam is yours. You can go, semi-free. I will still require you to hunt ghosts and clean up imprints every now and then. But I won’t ask too much of you.”

That sounded okay to me. The ghosts were scary, but it seemed like if I could fight them I had a lot of power to be gained from it. And as long as I wasn’t fighting them in a No Respawn Zone, then I wouldn’t be fighting for my actual life. I liked those odds.

“And if I lose?” I asked.

“What? You can’t be seriously considering this,” Stephen said.

The masked man didn’t even acknowledge Stephen, even I barely did, not taking my eyes off the man.

“If you lose, Sam stays with me, and so do you. You become my right hand. You will be loyal to me and do exactly as I say. But, you get the benefit of being close to your beloved Sam and I will give you limitless power. That doesn’t sound like such a lose scenario, does it?”

It did. No way I wanted to stay here forever, at the beck and call of this annoying thorn in my side. And Sam didn’t deserve to be cooped up here forever with me. I had to win.

“If you agree to let all my friends go, even if I do lose… then I agree.”

They all started to protest but the masked man silenced them with a wave of his hand, sending out an energy that knocked them all over.

“Let us at least fight with her!” Stephen said.

Netta and Dowser nodded in agreement.

The masked man shook his head. “No, just her. She will be an example to you all. And, honestly, I just don’t give a shit about you all.”

Netta bristled at that and spoke up. “Is that anyway to talk to your two new recruits?”

The masked man looked at them both, unimpressed. “We all know if it wasn’t for Fishbowl you both would have died. That rocket launcher move is the only thing that dealt damage to her.”

Dowser looked away, still ashamed for that, likely wondering when the hell everyone would forget about it. Unfortunately for him, I wouldn’t be anytime soon.

“So who do I have to fight, exactly?” I asked.

The masked man smiled and pointed… to Tiny Giant.