Ace glared at the two men. Both were dangerous, that was easy enough to identify. The taller idiot on the left was holding a handgun and the shorter jackass on the right was holding some type of dagger. The gun, as a ranged weapon, was what she needed to go after first. Decision made she charged forward, aiming not for the guy himself but for an area slightly off to the side. He fired again. Missed. And then she was close enough. Ace crouched low to the ground, and when he covered his crotch for protection, she swept his feet out from underneath.
Idiot let out a cry and landed with a thud. The gun spiraled into the darkness. As she moved in that direction, a blossom of pain exploded in her gut. Twisting was a mistake. It made the knife she was currently being stabbed with lengthen the wound, but it also allowed her to slam a fist into the second man’s face. He dropped to his knees, holding a hand to his face and crying while Ace panted heavily. It hurt like fuck, but trading pain for revenge was usually worth it. At least eighty percent of the time.
She kicked him onto his side and picked up the knife, hefting it once to get the best grip on it. Then she spun, slicing deep into the man’s neck until the muscles or cartilage stopped the blade. She paused, then jerked the weapon back out. Blood sprayed her immediately, soaking the front of her clothes, spattering her face, and enveloping her in what she’d imagine a metallic steam bath would be. Eyes wide in disbelief, he let out a bubbling gurgle, hands reaching up and growing red as he scrabbled at the separation of his flesh. Ace wiped at her face as his movements grew slower, his muscles relaxed, and finally, he slumped to the ground.
“Damnit!” snapped LMFS. “I needed him!”
Ace glanced at the body.
“Still got him, if the wheezing’s enough to go by.” She stepped to the side as LMFS barreled past her, then, with her arm wrapped around her side, limped to where MS5 was sitting. Their eyes were wide and their mouth kept opening and closing. Ace felt a smile flicker into existence. How many games had they gone through together? And MS5 was still shocked at the violence that did, and often, occurred. She laughed, then spat a red Rorschach test out onto the cavern floor.
They needed to leave now. Get away from LMFS. Heal up, then double-back to the cave so she could finish her last goal. She nodded to herself.
“Ace are you okay?” MS5 asked as she grew closer. “I’ve got some health tonics on me, you need to drink them.”
“Will they let my fang grow back?” It stung, getting a natural weapon and already breaking it. She reached out, nodding to the quarterstaff, and MS5 scrambled to give it to her. She had to let go of the knife, but it was a fair trade since the sturdy staff could also double as a walking stick.
“Heal later, flee now,” she told MS5. “Bring whatever you can.”
MS5 took the backpack, looked at the bag of beer, and didn’t pick it up.
“Get your weapon out.”
“I did.”
Ace looked again at MS5, trying to see where it was. Nothing about her friend was sharp.
“Trust me.”
She shook her head. This was wasting time they didn’t have to spare. Ace turned around, meeting the gaze of Idiot who’d dropped the gun. He put his hands up, a clear sign that he wasn’t going to interfere with them leaving. Her return smile was fierce. Good. He’d learned she wasn’t someone to fuck with.
“What is he—?” MS5 let out an anguished cry. “STOP IT!”
Idiot and Ace spun around. LMFS was kneeling over the other man’s body, and there was a fist-sized dripping chunk of meat being placed on the ground, where a longer, sharper, and much redder knife was lying. Slitting the other man’s throat had been releasing a waterfall; this was spilling a bucket. LMFS’s hand was completely caked in reddish-brown liquid, and the heart that had been ripped out of the man’s chest wasn’t any cleaner.
“Kill-stealing psycho,” Ace muttered, looking away.
“Holy. Fuck. What the hell?”
She glanced at Idiot, who was apparently realizing that yes, his boss would be more than happy to sacrifice the hired help, then looked back at MS5 who was reaching forward as if she could do something. Ace grabbed a strap and stopped them.
“Don’t. You can’t help him, and he’ll respawn.” Her gaze switched to the other goon. “Noobs learn pretty damn fast it’s not worth siding with LMFS. After he screws them over.”
Uttering the name brought his attention back on to them.
“Three hearts remain,” he muttered, grinning as he got to his feet. “And then my goal’s complete.”
“MS5,” whispered Ace, gripping her staff with both hands. “I’m distracting. You’re running, On left the count of three. One.”
She straightened as much as she could, pinning LMFS with a hard glare.
“Two.”
“Wait, Ace, he’s going to kill you—”
“Three.”
Ace took all of the energy she’d gathered and threw herself forward, pushing off with the end of her quarterstaff and arching it into a side blow. A side blow that never connected. LMFS threw out a hand in her direction and encased her legs in ice.
“Fuck!”
“Ace!”
She looked up, blinking back monochrome pixels to see the other guy run out the cave entrance... and MS5 coming back to stand in front of her, holding a shield. Had she actually called that a weapon?
“Meh.” LMFS didn’t move after his fleeing man. “I’ll get him later.”
“Get out!” She ordered MS5.
“Not without you,” quipped MS5. “I might not like attacking people, but I have no problem defending and helping.” She braced herself in front of where Ace had fallen and tightened the straps holding the shield on her left arm. Her right arm, Ace saw, was gripping the knife that had stabbed her earlier.
“Wait, what are you—”
MS5 switched the handle to their other hand, squeezed their eyes shut, and before Ace could utter another word of protest, sliced open their hand.
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“Are you fucking stupid? That’s how you damage your hand!”
They ignored her and started touching the ice around her legs. Ace heard crackling and popping, even some slight hissing. Small puffs of steam came up. MS5 shook their hand, wringing it to make it bleed quicker, and grimaced.
“Elemental blood,” they explained quickly. “Fire based.”
“Sweet.” Ace kicked her legs apart to free herself of the little ice that remained, then staggered to her feet, the staff once more held in her hand. She checked the skull’s sockets to see that one eye was lit up. That wasn’t going to be helpful. At the same time, LMFS took a few steps to cut the distance between them and to block the only exit to freedom.
“Kinda cool... didn’t even occur to me that my element could be countered that way.” He nodded to MS5. “But now you’re trapped here with me and it’s not like I don’t know about your no-kill rule. You’re dependent on a self-proclaimed guardian who is looking worse for wear.”
“Don’t worry,” laughed Ace. “I’m still ready for a fight.” She ignored how much her body was hurting, how much it was screaming at her to stop. Both of her hands were clenched around her staff, and even though she was smothered in grime and gore, she could see her skin growing ashen. Ready wasn’t the same as capable, but the bastard was threatening one of the kindest people Ace had ever met. She maneuvered herself behind MS5 and took the knife from her friend’s hand. And threw it.
LMFS reacted as soon as he saw it, and couldn’t block the hit completely. Ace pushed MS5 in front of her and sprinted, following the attack with a two-handed swing of her staff. It connected with a solid hit to his midsection, knocking him away.
“Move it!” snapped Ace. Her focus, now that the enemy was taken care of, was dwindling and every injury was complaining louder. She’d gotten through most of the testing period without finding her body’s limits, and that regret was at the foremost of her mind right now.
A shriek pulled her attention. The exit was halfway blocked by ice.
“Fucking stay down, would you?” Ace groaned, turning around. Sure enough, LMFS was living up to his fucking name, rising from the floor with a gun... shit. He’d found it.
“It’s a game,” panted LMFS. Sweating, leaning on his knees to steady himself, and he was still dangerous. “Just let me complete my goal. It’s not like you actually die, you’ll respawn.”
Ace shook her head, which was a mistake. The movement put her off balance and she listed to the left, almost falling before MS5 shored her up.
“Doesn’t matter if this is a game or not,” she said, wiping at her dry mouth. “You want to rip my heart out? I’m gonna make you earn the damned privilege.”
He didn’t say anything, just pointed the gun at her and fired. Ace braced herself. And felt nothing. Why didn’t she feel the bullet? Had he missed? A gasp from next to her set her blood to boiling. Rage flooded her head and she took two steps toward him. Which is when he shot again. And didn’t miss.
She fell to the floor, quarterstaff sliding out from her numb fingers, and coughed, choking on the coppery taste.
“Ranged weapons work for a reason.”
His foot kicked her in the stomach and she rolled, her back thudding against the cold, rough ground.
“It’ll hurt less if you stop moving.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fine.” LMFS straddled, then pulled out a knife. “Live it is.”
She paused. A thought flashed across her mind.
“Kill me first.”
He cut away her shirt, revealing a satiny peach-colored bra that stood out against her dark skin. With practice—and wasn’t that a cheery thought—he slid the blade up to cut her bra in half and expose the middle of her chest.
“Do you know how hard it is... to find a good bra... after the apocalypse?”
“Don’t give a shit.”
Ace rolled her eyes.
“Just fucking kill me... you dickless wonder. Or maybe you’re too scared to.” He didn’t do anything else, so she went on. “Great. I have to suffer because you can’t kill on command. In a fucking game. Grow a pair of balls.”
She drew in a deep breath and before she could say anything else, he stabbed her in the throat and twisted. MS5 screamed for her. Cried. Begged for the chance to use her healing potions. Noise grew fainter. Colors turned pale, breaking away and turning black. A creeping cold gnawed at her body, eating away more and more until even that fell away too.
Ace died! Respawn will commence shortly
But... Why was she still in the room? Why hadn’t she respawned yet? She looked down, gagging as LMFS pawed around in her chest, his hand unable to grasp her slippery heart in order to scoop it out. Ace rolled to the side and stood up. Easily. All the pain was gone.
“Hey, MS5?”
They couldn’t hear her. Couldn’t see her either since their eyes were closed as they vomited.
“Right.” She shrugged. Nothing much she could do now, and later on, she’d have to apologize with real-world currency and food.
As she looked back to where LMFS had finally pulled her heart from her chest, a small timer appeared in the upper right corner of her vision.
4 minutes and 30 seconds until Last Words goes into effect.
“I hope explosion fucking kills you slowly,” she said aloud. Her character this time hadn’t been built for endurance. Didn’t have the strength to punch first and deal enough damage. When Mr. I-Going-To-Block-Your-Escape had sealed them in the cave and overpowered her, the plan had switched from getting MS5 out to taking revenge.
4 minutes
He stayed still, twitching when he heard MS5 throw up again. She snickered at that.
“Find getting blood on his clothes, but still doesn’t want to be puked on.”
LMFS kept waiting, looking back every few seconds to see if they were done, but every time the sound of retching rose again, his muscles relaxed and he didn’t move. Ace’s eyes kept bouncing between the timer, him, and MS5.
“Come on, come on. Hurry up!”
2 minutes and 15 seconds
LMFS stood up, looking down at Ace’s dead body. She silently begged for MS5 to keep vomiting, but the sounds were less food hitting the floor and more dry heaves. Shoulder shakes only.
1 minute and 50 seconds
Ace ran and put her body in front of LMFS. It didn’t faze him at all. He strode through her and kept going.
“Right, like I expected something different.”
1 minute and 30 seconds
Another step, then he stopped. Paused. Turned around and passed through Ace again on the way back to her body. Bent and picked up the knife that was near her unmoving arm.
1 minute
“Stupid fucking bitch.” The insult was accompanied by a harsh kick between her legs.
“Kinda dead, so that doesn’t exactly hurt, asshole,” she commented, raising a middle finger. Part of her felt disgusted at his actions, but the other half was elated. He was standing over her and the timer was only going one way. Down.
30 seconds
He leaned closer again and grabbed her by her chin, wrenching her face back and forth.
“Ugly as sin too.”
15 seconds
“You know what?” His smile was thin and bitter. “You’re right. These are games and I’m going to level up. Every single time you go beta testing, I’m going to follow you. Make it my personal mission to track you and kill you like the gutless bitch—”
Blinding light filled the cave. A single crack thundered, and she could see small chips vibrate on the floor.
*25S xp and 50E xp gained* LMFS died!
"Hahah, fuck yes, choke on a cactus and die you motherfucker!” She danced and whooped. “Hope it fucking hurt!”
*25S xp gained* MS5 died!
Ace stopped her victory cheer immediately.
“Ooooh, shit... I thought they'd be far enough away to survive.”
Respawning will commence in five secon—five min—five hours—five—five—fiv—
“Kay?” Ace felt a flutter of fear lace her heartbeat. This was the strangest thing she’d seen so far. She tapped her stats to open up and the information flickered. Died.
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fu—.”
Everything shut off.