Once the carnival had gone, I sat on the dusty ground shaking like a goddamn leaf, either from adrenaline, fear, or both. There was a horrible acrid taste still in my mouth from Floss’ disgusting sugar, and no matter how many times I spit, I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth.

In the end, I took a bottle of water out of my inventory and rinsed a few times, which eventually cleared most of the taste. But not all. The sickly taste still lingered as if it would be there forever. As if some part of Floss had now hijacked my body and was planning on staying.

“Motherfucker,” I muttered, finally dragging myself to my feet and looking around. There was no sign of the carnival. The whole thing had just disappeared into the ether, relocating to god knows where.

And Annalise and Snuggles were trapped inside it, at the mercy of that sick fuck Floss.

Again.

“What the hell am I going to do?” My voice shook slightly, trembling with residual fear. Floss had really scared the shit out of me this time. He was scary enough on our first encounter. But this time, the freak had got under my skin. Literally. It made me want to vomit knowing that bastard’s bodily fluids where inside me, working some dark magic that would force me to see and feel my friends get tortured.

On instinct, I turned and shoved two fingers down my throat as far as they would go, triggering my gag reflex. A few seconds later, a stream of vomit erupted from my mouth and splashed onto the dry ground in front of my feet. After that, I dry heaved a few times before straightening up and wiping my mouth. I looked down at the pool of vomit, which was already sinking into the ground, as if the earth itself were drinking it up like sustenance. It was impossible to tell if I’d gotten rid of Floss’ sugary grossness, as I didn’t feel any different.

Reaching into my inventory again, I pulled out the bottle of whiskey and took a generous slug, rinsing my mouth with it before swallowing. The whiskey felt good going down, and it was tempting to drink more, but I held off. Who knew if I would ever get another bottle in this place? Might as well keep it for emergencies only, of which I had no doubt there would be plenty more in this fucked up hellhole.

Remembering I could text message Annalise and Snuggles, I did exactly that, hoping for a response.

KADE: Annalise? Snuggles? Are you two okay?

I waited a moment for an answer, but none came.

KADE: Annalise? Snuggles? Answer me if you can.

Still nothing.

KADE: Come on guys…

My heart sank at the lack of response.

KADE: I’m not gonna rest until I find you. Just… message me back when you can… if you can.

I deleted the last three words before sending the message, then brought up my map. There on the screen where two green dots representing Annalise and Snuggles. Their positions were somewhere north-east of mine.

“That’s something, at least,” I said, immediately starting to move in that direction. “Hold on guys, I’m coming to save you.”

But as I started to move off, I heard a voice in my head, and it took me a second to realize it was the voice of the AI.

“Where are you going, Kade?” the AI asked in that male gameshow host voice, though it was a bit more dialed down than before.

I was so surprised to hear the voice that I stopped dead in my tracks. “What?”

“I said, where are you going, Kade?”

“To save my friends, obviously.”

“Do you think that’s wise? This game is not about saving people, Kade. It’s about surviving and winning. It is not a team sport.”

“Fuck you,” I said, moving off again.

“Floss will kill you. Then where will you be, hmm? You’ll be repurposed as some pathetic NPC, doomed to repeat the same actions over and over for eternity. Is that what you want, Kade?”

“What the hell is it to you, anyway?” I asked the AI. “You’re a goddamn AI. You shouldn’t even be talking to me.”

"It's my job to ensure that all players have the best possible experience in the Trials," the AI replied smoothly. "And that includes preventing unnecessary deaths. Your survival is... important, Kade."

I frowned, sensing something off about the AI's tone. "Important? To who? The viewers?"

There was a brief pause before the AI continued, its voice carefully neutral. "To the integrity of the game, of course. Every player has a role to play, and yours is far from over. Rushing to your doom now would be... premature."

"So what, I'm just supposed to abandon my friends?" I spat, anger rising in my chest. “We’re a party, so we’re suppose to look out for each other.”

"Think strategically, Kade," the AI urged. "You can't help them if you're dead or worse. Bide your time. Gather resources. Become stronger. The path forward may not be as straightforward as you think."

I hesitated, torn between my desire to save Annalise and Snuggles and the nagging feeling that the AI was hinting at something more. "Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"

"I'm an AI, Kade. I tell you what I'm programmed to tell you," it responded, but there was an undercurrent of... something in its voice. "But remember, in Infernum, not everything is as it seems. Keep your wits about you, and your eyes open. You never know what opportunities might arise."

The AI’s communication ended then, leaving me wondering why it would even contact me in the first place. I was pretty sure it didn’t give a shit who lived or died in this place, so why was it making out that I was somehow more important than everyone else?

Fuck it. I didn’t have time time to play games with an AI that was probably only fucking with me anyway. No doubt, that whole conversation was probably aired across the galaxy, and the viewers were hoping I would turn around and leave Annalise and Snuggles to their doom.

In my mind, I couldn't help but picture some gaudy, neon-lit TV show set, where a hyperactive host with an impossibly wide smile was gesticulating wildly at a massive screen behind him. The screen was split down the middle, with "SAVE FRIENDS" on one side and "LISTEN TO AI" on the other. Numbers were rapidly ticking up on both sides as votes poured in from across the galaxy.

"That's right, folks!" the host would crow, his voice dripping with manufactured excitement. "Will our contestant Kade be swayed by the AI's cryptic warnings? Or will he charge headlong into danger to save his friends? Call in now to cast your vote and you could win a one-way ticket to your very own Infernum adventure!"

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

I could almost hear the phone lines lighting up, imaginary aliens and extradimensional beings alike clamoring to influence my fate. Some bored Zygonian housewife would be shrieking into her communication device, "Let him go save his friends! It'll be more entertaining that way!"

Meanwhile, a Quasar Beast from the Andromeda galaxy would gurgle into its tentacle-phone, "Make him listen to the AI! I've got credits riding on this meatbag surviving to the next Trial!"

And throughout it all, that smiling host would be picking "lucky" callers to share their opinions, tossing out cheap merchandising and empty promises like confetti. "Congratulations, Xlorbax from Dimension X-22! You've won an official Infernum Torture Kit! Remember folks, suffering is fun when it's not happening to you!"

The absurdity of it all made me want to laugh and vomit simultaneously. But in the end, it didn't matter what the viewers wanted, or what the AI was hinting at. I had made my decision.

"Sorry, HAL," I muttered, clenching my fists. "But I'm not leaving my friends behind. Ratings be damned."

I continued on my path north-east, pausing only to deal with a few spider mobs that crawled up out of the ground to attack me. The spiders didn’t stand a chance as I pulled out my nunchaku and beat the shit out of them, stomping most them to finish. My anger and frustration—not to mention underlying terror of losing my friends—aided in my ability to demolish whatever mob crossed my path. It wasn’t just spiders. Other mobs attacked me as well, some flying, some running, some jumping around like crazy. But I gave them no quarter, quickly dealing with them before carrying on my way.

After a couple hours of dealing with the mobs, I started to wonder if the AI was trying to get me to turn back by putting so many enemies in my path. If that was the case, it wasn’t going to work. Maybe the AI realized this as well, because the mobs got less and less the farther I trekked. One good thing to come out of all that fighting was the fact that I managed to level up the nunchaku to level 3.

Radical Rhythm Nunchaku - Level 3

These gnarly nunchaku have evolved into the ultimate '80s action movie weapon. The neon plastic handles now pulse with a hypnotic light show, synchronized to an internal beat. The connecting chain crackles with vibrant electricity, leaving a trail of pixelated afterimages as you swing. They're like a rave and a fight scene had a beautiful, dangerous baby.

Effects:

+30% to melee damage

15% chance to stun enemies for 3 seconds

Grants the "Radical Spin" skill: Perform a flashy twirling maneuver that has a 25% chance to confuse nearby enemies for 5 seconds

Grants the "Electric Slide" skill: Dodge incoming attacks with a series of smooth dance moves, leaving behind damaging electrical afterimages

Bonus Ability: "Bitchin' Beat Down" - Twice per day, channel the spirit of every '80s action hero to unleash a devastating combo attack. Damage increases based on how many synthesizer riffs you can hear in your head while performing it. Now with added power ballad finale for massive area damage!

New Passive: "Rhythm is a Fighter" - Your attacks have a chance to play short bursts of '80s power chords, adding extra energy damage and briefly boosting nearby allies' attack speed.

Good, I thought. The more power I have, the more chance I stand against that bastard Floss.

But despite the power-ups and the brief increase in confidence they gave me, I knew deep down that I was still nowhere near powerful enough to destroy Floss. Even if I reached the carnival, Floss would be waiting for me. There would be no sneaking around and blowing things up this time. Floss wouldn’t allow it. He’d be expecting a head to head fight probably. That, or he would have something more fiendish planned, something that would cause me and my friends the deepest suffering possible.

I did my best to swallow down my fear and apprehension as I crested a rocky hill, standing on top as I looked out toward the blood red horizon. From here, I could see for miles, but I saw no sign of the carnival yet.

Fuck. How far away is it?

That’s when I realized my time as player was coming to an end. There were less than nine hours left on the countdown to the Second Trial, and I knew in my bones there was no way I was going to make it there in time, even if I did manage to save Annalise and Snuggles.

But even knowing this, I still wasn’t going to let Floss win. Some way, somehow, I would take the bastard down so he couldn’t make anyone else suffer the way he’d made my friends suffer.

Gritting my teeth, I started down the hill when my vision blurred, and the world around me contorted, ripping me away from the desolate landscape and plunging me into a nightmare. The searing pain in my head became unbearable, and then suddenly, I wasn’t looking through my own eyes anymore.

I was him.

I saw the twisted carnival through Floss’s eyes, the garish neon lights reflecting off the wet ground, the air thick with the sickly-sweet scent of cotton candy mixed with the metallic tang of blood. Annalise and Snuggles were there, restrained in a nightmarish parody of a carnival show.

Annalise was strapped to a spinning wheel, her arms and legs bound tight, while Snuggles was tied to a miniature roller coaster track, plushies with razor-blade claws and gnashing teeth hovering close, ready to rip him apart.

Herbie Floss’s laughter bubbled up from deep within me, a twisted, manic sound that sent revulsions of terror through me, even though I wasn’t fully in control of my own body. I could feel his glee, his sickening delight as he orchestrated the torture.

“Enjoying the show, Kade?” Floss’s voice echoed in my mind, taunting me. “This is what happens when you mess with Herbie Floss. Now, watch as your friends learn the true meaning of pain.”

I wanted to scream, to tell him to stop, but the words caught in my throat. I was trapped in his mind, forced to witness everything through his eyes, feeling his emotions as if they were my own.

Annalise struggled against her bonds, her eyes wide with terror as the wheel began to spin, faster and faster, the clowns circling her with jagged candy canes and sharpened lollipops, their painted smiles twisted into grotesque grins of malice.

“Ahhhh!,” I heard her scream out of fear and frustration. “Fuck you! Fuck you all!”

Floss’s laughter only grew louder, more crazed. “That’s the spirit! Keep it up, sweetheart, because we’re just getting started!”

Through Floss’s eyes, I watched as one of the clowns took a swipe at Annalise, its candy cane slicing through the air. She cried out as the sharp edge grazed her arm, drawing blood that glistened darkly under the carnival lights.

My heart pounded in my chest, but it wasn’t just my fear I felt. It was Floss’s pleasure, the sick satisfaction he took in watching her suffer. I could feel it pulsing through me, making me nauseous, but I couldn’t push him out. I couldn’t stop him.

Snuggles, meanwhile, was trying to reason with the plushies. “We used to be friends!” he pleaded, his voice a desperate whimper. “Don’t you remember? We fought together! We laughed together!”

But the plushies were beyond reason, their eyes vacant, their minds lost to Floss’ control. They ignored Snuggles’ pleas, continuing to prod and torment him with their sharp claws, tearing at his fur, causing blood to flow from the wounds.

I could feel Snuggles’ pain, both physical and emotional, as he realized his friends were gone, turned into mindless tools of torture by the monster that was Herbie Floss.

“Your fearless leader is watching,” Floss informed Annalise and Snuggles. “Through my eyes!” He cackled, producing a knife from somewhere and throwing it at Annalise. The blade pierced her leg, and she screamed. “Oops! Silly me! My aim is a little… off!” More manic laughter, more waves of pleasure.

“Kade!” Snuggles cried, his voice breaking with fear and betrayal. But I couldn’t do anything. I was stuck, helpless, forced to witness it all.

Then Annalise shouted out, “Kade! Don’t come here! Save yourself!”

Floss’s voice cut through the chaos, dripping with mockery. “Oh, this is just too good, Kade! Look at them squirm! Can you feel it? Can you feel their pain? Isn’t it delicious?”

I wanted to scream, to tear myself free from his grip, but it was useless. His hold on me was too strong. I was drowning in his sadistic pleasure, suffocating under the weight of his twisted glee.

Gritting my teeth, I focused every ounce of my willpower on pushing him out, on breaking free from his mind. But it was like trying to move a mountain. His presence was too strong, his hold too tight. I was trapped, a prisoner in my own mind, forced to watch my friends’ torment as Floss reveled in it.

I could feel his laughter, vibrating through my bones, his joy as he watched Annalise and Snuggles suffer. And it was then, in that moment of pure, unfiltered horror, that I realized just how far I was willing to go to stop him.

I would save them, no matter the cost. Even if it meant losing myself in the process.

But as I fought to regain control, Floss’s laughter only grew louder, drowning out my thoughts, my will, everything that was me. I was losing, and he knew it. He could feel it, and that only made him more determined to push me deeper into the abyss.

“Kade,” his voice whispered in my mind. “You’ll never win. You’re mine now, just like your friends. And soon, you’ll all be part of my twisted little carnival. So come to me, Kade. Come meet your destiny with ole Flossy.”

As the world spun around me, the last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was Annalise’s face, twisted in pain and fear, and Snuggles’ eyes, wide with horror, pleading for a salvation I wasn’t sure I could give.

Then, everything went black.