SAVE POINT 46
Rosabella
When Joy ran, she bolted.
Flew.
Zero gravity. Like a cheetah—all tense muscle firing with precise movements: clench, unclench, clench again.
Her avatar on the screen was no different. Her electric-colored hair streamed out behind her. ...And, then, there was me tripping over Sparo's huge feet and my rotating machine gun nose to cover her and the flag...
Yeah...
This felt like a dream that I didn't want anyone to wake me from. We had the flag! We had my life! My second chance firmly in Joy's fisted hands and all we had to do was make it past a finish line in the sand to secure it! Eeeek! It was unreal! I was okay—I was going to be okay.
Except part of me was still sweating it—namely, the part that was thudding in my chest and ears like a base drum. My breath scraped up my throat as my eyes darted around, scanning the brick walls and the courtyard below. I was looking for them—for the other shoe to drop. I was waiting to be surrounded, outfired and pinned down—like someone was going to grab my life and freedom away again. Like it was inevitable. And I didn't want to think like that, but...well, I had too many experiences that told me otherwise. My skin prickled with dis-ease—
"Keep up!" Joy yelled, not slowing down and taking a corner of the corridor way too fast. I nearly clipped the wall trying to follow her—
Bullets sprayed.
There they were.
Joy tried to duck.
I pivoted towards the shooter.
And it was EmeraldCity—not hiding and not dead—charging at us.
Unafraid.
How was she alive?! I’d seen her HP at 0!
[JOY, WARRIOR 14 AVATAR: -10 HP 181/191]
[JOY, WARRIOR 14 AVATAR: -10 HP 171/191]
[JOY, WARRIOR 14 AVATAR: -10 HP 161/191]
BOOM!
An explosion rocked the screen.
[JOY, WARRIOR 14 AVATAR: -50 HP 111/191]
"You bitch!" Joy cried, throwing the controller.
And I barely had time to turn away from my shooting, but something in her voice told me that we’d lost it—she'd lost it.
The flag.
"Oh my gosh—oh my gosh, are you dead?!" Dormouse rushed; out of the corner of my eye, I saw his pale face drain even further of color.
"We respawn, idiot—get that in your thick head!" Joy all but screamed, her jaw clenching in fury like there was too much to hide, "How else would that green-haired cunt kill me?! I killed her!"
The nerd ticked a finger against his chin, "Valid point—"
"Rosabella, you have to get the flag. I just dropped it—" Joy started. Her screen was still recovering from whatever explosion had just rocked her world… But I was five steps ahead of her.
I watched EmeraldCity sprint forward to get the flag but—
I was closer, bitch.
I swept in, scooping up the yellow flag bouncing mid-air.
And I sprinted, my heart racing—
Dormouse and Joy shouted behind me—their silhouettes blurry in the background of my vision. Their shrieks, muffled as my heart thudded with each of Sparo's footfalls on the floor.
But part of me—part of me just wanted to take a minute to smile...to celebrate this second. I wanted to hit the pause button and appreciate the fact that I was first—in this moment, in this race. EmeraldCity, trailed behind me, shooting, sprinting.
[-10 HP, 84/116]
[-10 HP, 74/116]
[-5 HP, 69/116]
My health was suffering even as I tried to weave and dodge but... But I had the edge. I had the win—right here, fluttering in my hands. This was called justice. How'd that taste?
I felt sassy like I wanted to brag. I felt saucy. I felt...like a fucking winner even though I hadn't exactly crossed that finish line yet. I could see it there—so close. The archway was coming up quick. I just wanted to live till then. I just had to survive till that part— Bullets flew by Sparo's head and vision.
[-7 HP, 62/116]
[-10 HP, 52/116]
[-10 HP, 42/116]
Fuck.
I was right there—
My heart was in my throat. Brick walls whizzed by. Right here—
[-7 HP, 35/116]
"Come on!" I whined.
BOOM!
[-2 HP, 33/116]
An explosion rocked the screen, throwing my character forward, but the explosion hadn’t been aimed at me. …Because there was fire and smoke—right where EmeraldCity had been—what?
[EMERALDCITY_88, UNIDENTIFIED CLASS, UNIDENTIFIED LEVEL: -10 HP, 0/10]
[MIMI, PORTAL GUARD 17 AVATAR: System Reward: EMERALDCITY_88, UNIDENTIFIED CLASS, UNIDENTIFIED LEVEL Eliminated +15 XP, 1480/1500]
[MIMI, PORTAL GUARD 17 AVATAR: System Reward: Damn! You Blew That Up! First Time For Everything! +10 XP, 1490/1500]
"Eee!" Dormouse squealed excitedly from next to me, "I figured out the buttons!!"
"You—?" I stuttered, disbelievingly, even as I struggled to push Sparo back to standing so I could run through the arch, "You did that?"
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Hand grenades, baby!" Dormouse sung, sounding anything but like the gangster he probably thought he was. I watched the smoke clearing on his screen as I ran. And I saw...Emerald City was gone. The fire that was raining hell around me was...gone.
I was—
[System Alert: Multiplayer Mode Objective Completed.]
[System Reward: Holy Shit, You Got The Flag And Survived! +50 XP, 1257/1300]
[System Alert: ***Congratulations, You Won The Multiplayer Game!***]
[System Reward: You Just Earned 2 Ability Points As Well As The Multimode Prize! Please Select Which Ability You’d Like To Increase.]
And I stared at the neon words and boxes flashing on the screen with relief and shock ringing through my entire body. I’d done it—we’d done it—oh my gosh, I was going to be—
Alive again?
“System, bring up my stats so I can decide”—the words dribbled out of my mouth. And the system responded. To be honest, I could barely blink at the words—barely register them coming up in front of me; it was like my brain was too slow, too foggy. I—I’d done it? This was real. I’d really done it and I could live now? The stats sharpened into clearer focus, even as shaking excitement mixed with uncertainty boiled in my stomach.
[System Understands Query…Loading Response…]
NAME
ROSABELLA
CLASS & LEVEL
GAME MAKER 13
XP
1257/1300
MRP
4570/6209
HP
33/116
Baddie Points
150
Armor Class
15/20
ABILITIES /20
Strength
+1
12
Agility
+1
13
Endurance
+1
12
Intelligence
+1
13
Awareness
+1
12
Presence
+3
16
CM
4
My eyes roamed over the numbers. …Okay, so I’d never actually increased Awareness ever… And, if I remembered correctly, I needed Awareness 14 to wield the magic element of my mother’s sword. Maybe that was a good choice.
“Increase Awareness 2 points,” I told the system. And the system beeped.
[System Alert: +2 Awareness, 14/20]
[System Alert: Per Your Win And Will, Your HP In The Game Will Be Restored +83 HP, 116/116 ]
I blinked.
And it was not a daydream; this was reality. We’d won. The Game world pixelated before all of our eyes. And we were, suddenly, planted right where we were before all this Multiplayer Mode mess started—smack dab in the center of a swirling tornado of smoke hounds with EmeraldCity's face leering at us from the other side.
***Welcome Back ROSABELLA, GAME MAKER 13, JOY, WARRIOR 14 & DORMOUSE, CODER 14 To The Game***
...Except, we weren’t exactly where we'd been before, I realized with a start. Because I was not in the same mindset. My body stood tall and confident. My chin lifted high even faced with this wall of ebony smoke.
I was different this time.
I'd already died, so I wasn’t scared of death anymore. The Grand Dragon had protected me. I’d protected myself and my friends. I was given this second chance, and I was not going to cower in the background while someone told me how I should use it. I was a prisoner in the Dragon's Sea Town. I wasn’t willing to be a prisoner anymore. I was stronger than that. I could face my demons. I could face this twit girl. There was nothing I couldn't do. I was Game Maker Rosabella. I was me. And I'd just proved to myself that it was worth something.
The green-pigtailed girl's pale face leered at us through the swirling black magic, her lips and eyes scrunched into disapproval. "Well aren't you just Little Miss Save-The-Day?" she sneered at me.
I stared back. For once, I didn't give a shit—not about how she was talking to me and not about her black magic. Because I had magic too. I just had to figure out how to access it...
“Dormouse,” I murmured out of the corner of my mouth, “Figure out how to disable the lock they put on my CM in this town?”
He nodded swiftly, his fingers discretely typing against his leg. Luckily, EmeraldCity didn’t seem to notice.
"You know, I wouldn't be that mad if you didn't steal something from me, but you did,” the girl continued, “I could have had my baby sister back and you stole that chance from me, so I'm pretty pissed." The green-haired girl’s tongue lingered on the last few words.
"Good," I spat back, "I'm pissed too."
She cocked her head at me, her huge eyes rolling at me in thought, "Is that so?"
“Got it,” Dormouse whispered, “Unlocked and loaded.”
And it was perfect timing.
I took a step forward. I felt my power rush into my fingertips, and it was like I was…me again…all of me. Finally.
"Yes," I said calmly, addressing her face behind the black veil of her creation—nearly like a mask standing between us, "You've tried to hurt my friends twice over. You're playing with magic that you don't understand, and you're breaking our world. I think you need to stand down." I stared at the girl who seemed to be attempting to assess my bark vs. bite potential.
But she was more childish than I’d thought; she leaned in further, her voice a feathery threat, "Are you gonna make me?" Her right eyebrow raised impishly.
And I didn't have to respond, not in words, because I'd already gathered my Creator Magic. It hummed, vibrating in my fingers, ready.
“Burnbaebae Burn,” I chanted.
[System Alert: FREEZER BURNNNNN Used]
[-2 HP, 114/116]
[System Alert: FREEZER BURNNNNN Effects Will Last For The Next 5 Seconds]
The wind swept the words for the spell away from me as the world froze.
Literally.
Ice began to sweep up from EmeraldCity’s feet, encapsulating her leather outfit, then, her bodice…then, her smirking face…in a sheet of white glass. The smoke between our faces crystalized in interlacing snowflakes.
I gaped at it. Holy popsicle. Yes, I’d done that!
[5]
[4]
Shit, now I had to do something else. My thudding heart fumbled for the command.
“System, equip Rosabella’s Mother’s Gold & Silver Broadsword,” I rushed.
[3]
[2]
[System Alert: Weapon Equipped]
The enormous sword appeared firmly in my hands, but I didn’t have the time to admire it. I felt deep into my Creator Magic—summoning it up and pushing it into the blade. I closed my eyes, imagining the metal shining bright-white—a blinding halo—
[1]
And, when I opened them again, the ice was cracking—melting—but the light was there. My CM. Humming and shifting around the blade like ocean waves. My mother’s sword in its full glory.
[-100 CMP 300/400]
'For you, Mom', I said reverently in my head.
Because I was ready; I was finally ready for this moment. To use my power for good. To stop darkness and evil. I was finally there—at that step. In this moment.
I took a deep breath, and I brought the sword over my head.
And I sliced.
Down.
Through the darkness.
With the light.
Radiance streamed out of the blade. And the smoke hounds screamed as the fabric of them was severed in two. EmeraldCity’s smirk wavered—I watched it. I watched as she fell to ground, clutching at her stomach and shading her eyes to see into the light she’d probably never understand. I pointed the end of the sword at her chest and the bronze dragon behind her, unwilling to let them wreck anymore havoc.
And, just like that, we were...free.
I...I’d been right. I could do it... It hadn’t even taken that much CM…
"Rosabella!" the little girl from the Dragon's Sea Town, Sheela, ran at me, wrapping her short arms around my legs, and the old man prisoner hobbled towards our group, obviously okay. The dragons I’d freed from the island nodded at me, specifically Aria, the yellow one.
You have found your power.
She told me reverently. And it made a smile tickle at my lips.
Dormouse stared at me, a grin sliding onto his own face. And Joy—Joy had a new look resting in her eyes. ...Was that...respect? "You said our world," she murmured shyly, tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear, "—when you were talking to EmeraldCity about The Game, you said 'our' world—"
"Yes, I did," I told her.
Because there was this feeling expanding in my chest. All along, I’d thought I had to be somewhere else to belong. I’d thought I had to be someone else. But I didn't. All I'd been searching for—everything I'd been yearning for for years—was right here. In me. In this place.
Home.
Home was right where I was right now—as messy, as frustrating, as crazy as it was. This was home. This could be the space where I succeeded. I opened my mouth to try to say something to that effect but—
Well, that was when a herd of ostriches and their riders burst out of the tree line.
...And I was pretty sure there was a story that went along with that...