Theo opened his eyes. The sky of swirling colors was still above him. He groaned and sat up.
“Sleep well, vampire?”
He looked over at the giant. “I’m pretty sure it’s been less than an hour. Or… maybe three days? A nap suits me fine, although it will do little for my waning grip on reality.”
He felt slightly disjointed. Not having any sort of idea of the time passing had left him uncomfortable. The sensible part of him knew it must be getting close to two days… but the louder voices in his head were convinced it had been far longer - or even shorter? No, couldn’t be that dire.
The giant grunted. “I figured as much, since you spent half the time of your rest attempting to chew through one of the steps.”
A small puddle of drool on one of the white tile steps pointed to that probably being somewhat truthful. Before he could respond and try to save face, the beep of his STAR Chat illuminated the side of his vision. He opened it up, hoping it would be Sally.
[Dent: Chuck is ready when you are. Pushing ahead of schedule.]
[Dent: Due to… good… reasons.]
[Theo: This is text chat, so you don’t need to put ellipses if that makes your sentence look more suspicious.]
[Theo: Just say when.]
“Luck’s in, Borin.” He looked back over at the large figure. “We’ll be out of here soon.”
“I am… cautiously optimistic.” Borin stood and stretched himself out. “Despite your mania, I have grown to trust you, Theo. Let me know what I must do.”
The vampire shrugged and looked back up the stairs to all the weapons he’d never get a chance to train with. Well, he could back home, he supposed. Sleep was more important. With any luck, he’d be down on another world in no time at all and getting more permanent skills.
[Dent: Alright, all lights are green here.]
[Dent: It’s something new, with bringing a Player over…]
[Dent: But it’s safe, you can assure him.]
[Dent: Any problems with his safety and the whole process will cancel.]
[Theo: Super. Let’s go.]
“Hang tight, Borin. Things are in motion - you might feel some discomfort or vertigo. Might better to sit again.”
The giant nodded, but before he could respond, everything went dark.
Theo felt his whole body vibrate as he tumbled through the void. A thrum of something restless, and a faint weave of blue light swirled out of the eternal darkness toward him. He watched it spiral and gather around him like a constricting snake, admiring the beaty of it.
Then a sudden force jerked him away.
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With the flash of blue light, Chuck arrived on the starter island alongside Dent.
A tall figure groaned and stood to his feet, rubbing at his head. His eyes met the two humans, and he pulled a face. “Where am I?” Disbelief filled his eyes as he took in the colors of the scenery. “I’m… free?”
“Welcome to Sanctuary, Borin.” Chuck smiled. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions. My name is Chuck and I’m the administrator of this world. Dent here will get you acclimated and fill in any blanks you have.”
He furrowed his brow as the two murmured their greetings and looked around the area. Nothing but grass, a patch of trees, and a pair of under-construction buildings.
“Where is Theo?” The Architect’s eyes went up to his menus. Data and lists swirled past his vision as his hands clenched closed. “Where is Theo?”
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Sally stood and bared her teeth as a pair of trees ahead of them buckled and cracked, clattering to the ground from the heavy approach of something large.
The knight had put her helmet on just as the others rounded the outpost buildings to catch up. Cross overextended and tripped over into the dirt, dropping his knife.
“This your pursuer, Kristov?” She raised her eye at the bard.
He nodded, but his tongue seemingly had no words to add. Enough panic in his eyes to tell a tale she could understand all too well.
“Should we retreat?” Claude asked, his fingers idly tapping at his staff.
Sally rolled her eyes. “Calm down. We don’t need to run from anything until at least one of us has died. Not dibs.”
“Puh~p.”
[Poppy: Not it!]
The healer sighed and scowled at the two women. “We’re not playing a game here. I suggest we still exercise caution even if-”
His words were cut off as another blast sent a handful of trees creaking to a more horizontal position. Leaves scattered and fell around the area as a shadowed shape emerged.
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Sally narrowed her eyes as the light illuminated what had been tracking them. Four legs of a soft brown fur, and strong. A sharp tail that waved in the air, barbed and speckled with bright green near the tip. Flowers and leaves surrounded a large female face, human and very annoyed.
“Neat, a manticore.” Sally grinned. “But all druidic and pretty. Hey!” She waved a hand at the Monster. “Are you a Unique?”
The manticore stopped and looked down at the zombie, before her large emerald eyes turned toward the bard. “I have come to kill the annoying one. What are you?”
“I’m Sally, I’m a System fixer from off-world.” Also, a people-eater, but that might come off as more of a threat, despite having that in common with the new Monster.
“Hmm?” The creature looked back at her, frowning. “Is that so? You certainly have a different data structure than the others.”
“Data structure?” She tilted her head. “Are you in charge here? An Architect or something?”
“Not in the way that you understand it.” The manticore smiled, revealing sharp lion-like fangs. “I am a murderer. The destroyer of life. Death incarnate. You can call me Bernice.”
Sally nodded and smiled. She could read between the lines, probably just as well as the manticore could. Not really like Chuck, but more like an Observer - only one that also held an executioner’s axe.
She turned and pointed a finger at the bard, who had all but turned into a wiggling pile of paste. “Let me guess. Kristov isn’t cursed to speak in rhyme, but something with his speech is bugged. His imprisonment was to quarantine him while the world circled the drain, and you are only hunting him to protect the System rather than to be a spooky big bad?”
Bernice raised an eyebrow as her tail lashed side to side. “That’s… rather astute.”
“Not my first rodeo. Any chance we could not kill the bard, though?”
“He might end the world.”
“Eh.” Sally put her hands on her hips. While she was far from Kristov’s biggest fan, he was still a Player that could be saved. “Are you saying that just because you think any bug has the chance to be a worst-case scenario, or do you know for sure something specific about his condition that has such dire ramifications?”
Bernice pouted. “I didn’t come all this way from the mountains to be called out.”
Claude groaned and rubbed at his eyes. “I am getting far too old for this.”
“So, what is your purpose here, Sally?” The manticore took a couple slow steps from the woodlands before sitting down on her hind legs. “You say you have the ability to fix Systems?”
She gave the knight a quick glance. Poppy had been quiet as she had no way of communicating with the manticore anyway, but she looked tense. Probably not a good idea to blurt out her real purpose here still, so she’d have to tiptoe around the reality of it.
“A chap from my world spotted that the System here was… dying, so I was sent over to see if I could help fix it.”
“In return for what?”
Sally clucked her tongue. “A gal can’t just be a good samaritan? Fine… if I am successful, then I get a small power boost in the form of one of the skills I learn here becoming permanent.”
“Interesting. You are able to change your core data?” Bernice rested her chin on folded forelegs. “I’m willing to see where this leads, but you’ll also have to convince my sibling who represents Life. And I haven’t seen him since… well, it’s been a long while.”
Possibly one of the reasons there had been no new Players here in an age. Sally turned to look at the others to see if they were onboard with this deviation to their plan. Ideally, it would cut down on the time needed to get powerful, with Life and Death themselves helping out.
The awkward Party gave their nods of approval.
“Alright, we’ll find and convince them.” She grinned and spun her dagger back into the sheathe. “Then it will be no time before we’re punching Pippy in the mouth and saving the world.”
“Oh?” The manticore smiled. “Why wait, when you are traveling with him already?”
Any joy was sucked out of the area as the gathered group iced over, glaring at each other with suspicion.
Cross stumbled over, colliding awkwardly with Sally’s leg.
“Puhh-pip-eee,” he said.
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A heavy thud woke Theo as his fall broke through something wooden, and he rolled by instinct to hide amongst the debris of what he had hit. Mud and gloom, as his brain tried to catch up with his predicament. The smell of death and damp. Something familiar that scratched around inside his memories.
He lifted himself up slowly, peering over the wreckage of… in his hands the piece of wood he was using as cover looked to be a stagecoach wheel. Just over the collapsed vehicle were a group of people…
The Outsiders. Talking with a floating skeletal figure in blue robes. His heart did a little flip in seeing Sally there, but it looked like a terrible time to interrupt whatever they were doing.
His eyes then went over to his right. A very familiar cathedral.
Theo ran his tongue around one of his fangs, and crept his way over there. Eyes through his Inventory and menus, it seemed as though he hadn’t properly reformed. Punch-blades were back, but most of his skills and abilities hadn’t returned. That made sense, if what he assumed was true.
Well, currently his mania had doubled - so there were a handful of solutions jumping around in his mind for why he was reliving this part of his story. Perhaps this was the film adaptation? He was glad he got the part of playing himself - he had always been his favorite character.
He slipped into the cathedral on his tiptoes, despite verbally making creaking noises every time he stepped. The editors could dub over that in post. Amongst the gloom and stale air was the shadowed figure of none other than Seven.
To go against such an important antagonist, a clever one-liner was required.
“Helloooo!” the vampire called out. “Looks like your number is up!”
He even ignored the ‘hidden’ members of Last Word. Waiting in the wings, anticipating the required stage direction. Seven bumbled through his lines, a sad tale that fell so flat that he couldn’t even muster a fake tear. Performance was everything, and he was the best actor upon the greatest stage. He deserved better than the gross incompetence from the man.
“Boo hoo,” Theo said as he rolled his eyes. He clicked his fingers and the candles along the walls burst into flame, illuminating the interior softly. “You’re in my house now. I’m here to judge your sins.”
He grinned and walked toward Seven. Another one-liner to seal the deal? Sure, why not? It might be cliche, but tropes were the backbone of media. Or no - perhaps now it was the time to set the antagonist up to say something cool? Architect knew the man could use a helping hand. Clearly hadn’t read the script.
“Any final words?” Theo prompted.
Seven smirked, his eyes narrowing. “You mean any Last Words?”
Shadows flickered behind Theo, and his eyes widened with excitement.