"That should be the last one" Dale cheered as he slid the last pillow into place.

Bertha laid on her motel bed, well over a dozen pillows covered the bed and supported the elderly woman.

"Thank you Dale" the woman said sweetly "This is perfect"

"Happy to help" Dale beamed "My grandma lived with us when I was in highschool. Said I was the best at arranging the bed for her"

"Well I'll need to thank her" Bertha said

Dale's smile lowered slightly.

"She passed away my senior year" Dale said "So hopefully it'll take you a long time to thank her"

Bertha let out a laugh "Without my medication I might be meeting her sooner than expected"

Dale frowned, glancing at the few pill bottles on the nightstand. Bertha like most adults took medication to help with health issues, medication she didn't bring with her. Dale had gone out that day to several pharmacies and tried to get medicine for her but without prescriptions or even a valid ID there was little he could get.

"Don't talk like that" Dale scolded lightly "Just hang on a few days and we'll be able to get you healed back to perfection. Lance said no more than three days from now"

Bertha chuckled "If the team comes back soon. Have we heard back from them yet?'

Dale brightened and moved with enthusiasm ad he spoke "They did! We're actually in a fantasy world but all the magic has been sealed inside sanctuaries hidden across the world. Josh and his team are in one now"

"Magic'' Bertha gasped "I've seen so many wondrous things in my life. I'm so glad I had a chance to learn magic was real before I passed on"

"Stop talking like that" Dale scolded but still held no anger in his voice "Where's your fighting spirit"

Bertha laughed again "Don't doubt my will to live young man. I don't want to die, but as you age you start to accept that death is just another part of life. Death can be just as much a mercy as it is a tragedy. I've had to end many creature's suffering in my career"

"But if you wait just a few days you'll be officially on the team" Dale reminded "Lance said you'll be healed better than ever"

Bertha laughed"and then what?"

Dale was surprised by the question "what do you mean?"

"Do you expect me to run around the movie worlds fighting who knows what?" Bertha asked with a smile "I'm well past my adventuring days. I don't think this team has a place for me"

"There is a place" Dale insisted "Right behind me. I'll grow stronger and gain magic powers after this movie. I'll clear every movie so you can live peacefully!"

Bertha smiled at the young man, tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.

"You remind me so much of Stan" she said softly "always wanting to charge ahead to make everyone else safer"

"He sounds like a good man" Dale said

"He was" Bertha said as a tear slid down her cheek "Always trying to protect me, even from my patients”

"Did you ever go to Australia?" Dale asked to change the topic

“Stan loved our trips to Australia” Bertha said, “He loved Kangaroos the most of all my patients. They never seemed like a good fit for him in my opinion”

“Why is that?” Dale asked

“Did you know” Bertha began “That mother kangaroos like many marsupials can drop their child from their pouch when being chased by a predator. It's a survival strategy to secure an already established breeders survival over the unknown breeding potential of the child”

“That’s Intense” Dale said when she paused.

Dale’s experience with light novels and anime had introduced him to some of the worst parents ever created. The idea that an animal’s instinct would be to sacrifice their child unsettled him slightly.

Bertha let out a laugh “That nature!”

“That's why I don’t think kangaroos were right for Stan” Bertha continued “he would never even consider sacrificing someone else for his own survival. Stan would stand tall and protect everyone until his last breath”

More tears were falling from the older woman and she reminisces about her lost love. Dale remained silent, only grabbing the woman’s hand to offer some comfort. Bertha smiled at the kind young man.

“Never lose your protective spirit Dale” Bertha said “Stand strong and follow your conscious”

“I will” Dale promised

The two smiled at each other for a moment, content with the silent company.

“That’s enough sad talk” Bertha said after a moment “Why don’t you tell me about those little cartoon herds you were telling me about”

“Ninja clans” Dale corrected and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

It was the same paper that Lance had given all newbies with information on movie characters and the motel’s information. Doodles of unique symbols were spread across the paper. In an attempt to distract Bertha dale had started to teach the older woman every known ninja clan from the naruto universe.

“We were talking about the Uzumaki clan last” Dale said, pointing at a spiral crest “They were once one of the most powerful clans in existence with their sealing techniques and large chakra reserves. Unfortunately several nations joined forces and eradicated their village. There's now less than ten known living members”

Dale stopped as soft snoring began to fill the room. Bertha now laid fast asleep in her pillow set up. Dale smiled warmly at the elderly woman and began to leave the room. Slipping his paper back into his pocket the young man noted this was the third time she had fallen asleep while talking about the ninja clans. Dale exited the room at the same time another of the newbies was leaving her room, Fitzie the former Walmart manager.

"Dale" Fitzie greeted as she approached, "How's Bertha?"

"She's hanging in there" Dale replied "She's in good spirits at least. I'll feel a lot better when we get her healed up"

“I’m grabbing breakfast” Fitzie said “Want to join me?”

“Yeah some food sounds good” Dale said

The two walked a short way down the road to a small dinner. A familiar face was already seated at the counter, remains of a meal laid out in front of him. Troye the plumber waved as Dale and Fitzie entered. Dale walked up to his team mate while Fitzie excused herself to the bathroom.

"Are you coming to the party tonight?" Troye asked

"The party where everyone gets killed?" Dale asked in surprise "I think I'll pass"

"Don't be such a bummer" Troye said "Think of all the girls waiting out there"

Troye had proven himself a player and regularly went out of his way to flirt with women.

"Aren't you a bit old to be going for highschool girls" Dale warned

Troye just shook his head "you're such a buzz kill. We're in a movie, we can do whatever we want"

"I don't think preying on young girls is a fun pastime" Dale said with finality "Just because we're in a movie doesn't mean we should forget our morals"

"Whatever man," Troye said with a shrug, "You're way too uptight. I'm just messing around"

Troye stood from the counter and left with a huff. Fitzie came back to Dale after seeing Troye leave.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"What a creep" Fitzie said as the door shut "can't believe he's going to have superpowers soon"

"Do you think he's going to do something at the party?" Dale asked seriously, he was watching the man through the window.

"I wouldn't be surprised" Fitzie admitted "I definitely don't want to be alone with him"

"Maybe I should go to the party" Dale mused "make sure he doesn't do anything bad"

"Good luck" was Fitzie's only response

Luck was actually on Dale's side, even if a little bit. The young man had called a taxi to take him to the party. Only to realize he didn't actually know the address of the party. However the taxi driver revealed he had actually taken his younger brother to the party earlier that evening. Dale had tipped him generously upon arrival.

The party took place in the same house from the movie and appeared to be in full swing. Cars lined the yard with teenagers spread out either drinking, talking, or vomiting.

Dale moved inside quickly, searching for Troye. Starting upstairs the young man was relieved to see no sign of the plumber in any of the bedrooms. Maneuvering through the sea of bodies that tool up the living room, Dale saw a familiar face smirking in a corner.

"Lance" Dale called as he grew closer, getting the teen's attention over the music.

"Dale?" Lance's smirk faded as the newbie approached "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Troye," Dale answered, "He seemed very excited to come here and meet girls. Im worried he might do something bad"

Lance frowned "He said something to make you nervous?"

"He seems to think since we're in a movie he can do whatever he wants" Dale said

"That's unfortunate" Lance sighed "Matt or I will talk with him when we see him"

"Where is Matt?" Dale asked

"Scouting" Lance answered " we found several movie characters here. He's trying to get closer to them now to see if he can tell if any are unlocked"

"Who did you see" Dale asked

"Tatum, Randy, and Stu" Lance listed "I also saw the reporter through a window. Matt should be following Stu now"

"I'll keep an eye out for them" Dale said "I want to keep looking for Troye"

"Take this" Lance pulled a small black device from his pocket "it's a communicator, there's a button on the side that will alert the other communicators. Hit it if you see any killing, Matt and I will find you"

"Thank you" Dale said accepting the device

"Try to be safe while you're here" Lance said seriously "I don't want you to be the next victim"

"Will do," Dale promised.

Leaving Lance in his corner, Dale continued his search of the party.

“Tatum, Randy, and Stu” Lance listed “Matt should be following Stu right now”

“I’ll keep an eye out too” Dale said “I’m going to keep looking for Troye”

Banging and shouts brought Dale back upstairs and to the last bedroom in the hallway. A teenage girl was kicking at the door trying to break it down.

"Let her out you freak!" The girl shouted.

"What's going on?" Dale asked, approaching the scene.

The girl turned to Dale and began sobbing.

"Some guy got my friend drunk and took her in here" she said, kicking the door once more.

Dale didn't speak, he stepped besides the girl and added his own kick. Between the two the door was forced oped, splitting the door frame. Troye stood shirtless and very annoyed in the room, another young girl was giggling on the bed. The first girl ran into the room and grabbed her friend. The extremely intoxicated teenage left without resistance.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Troye shouted "we were just having fun"

"That was a highschool student" Dale said, trying to keep his voice steady "you had no business bringing her in here"

"She wanted it" Troye argued

"She was drunk out of her mind and you were taking advantage of her" Dale said with finality

"Whatever" Troye waved off the accusation and grabbed his shirt from the ground.

"Lance wants to talk to you" Dale said

"Lance can suck my dick" Troye responded and pushed past Dale.

The young man let him go, choosing to focus on his breathing to cool his temper.

After Troye turned the corner he let out a weak groan. Dale stepped out to see what was happening, his blood froze in his veins. Troye lay on the ground, weakly covering the new large gash on his throat. Standing above him was a figure dressed in all black with a plastic white mask.

Dale instantly backed into the bedroom, slamming the already broken door closed. He tried to pull the communicator Lance had given him out of his pocket. His wallet and few loose pocket items fell to the floor in his haste. Hitting the alert button, Dale crossed the room and began unlocking the window. The already broken door launched across the room, revealing the killer waiting in the hall.

Finally getting the latch unlocked Dale threw the window open and pushed past the screen covering. Crawling out onto the roof, Dale frantically ran to the edge hoping to find somewhere safe to jump. The window had sent him to the side of the house where a few party goers were still enjoying their time. Unaware of the killer in the house.

"Run" Dale shouted "the killer is in the house"

The partiers first acted as if Dale was just intoxicated and laughed but as he continued shouting warnings they began to back away. Dale continued his ravings, not caring how he looked, only wanting to get as many people away as possible. Eventually they did flee from the house, just before a pink haired man came around the corner.

"Dale?" Matt called, approaching the young man. The veteran held his spellbook in one hand and a communicator in the other.

"Matt" Dale called in relief "the killer is upstairs with me!"

Matt immediately jumped, easily covering the distance and landed hard on the roof shingles. With Dale following behind, Matt entered the bedroom. The room was just as Dale left it except for the absence of the killer.

"Where did he go?" Dale asked

Matt didn't respond, instead he threw open the closet door and roughly swept his arm through the clothes.

"Not in here" Matt confirmed.

Scanning the room Matt crossed over and looked out into the hall. Troye still laid on the ground, no longer moving.

Matt let out a curse and stepped back into the bedroom.

"We need to regroup with Lance" Matt decided "Do you have your pistol with you?"

Dale let out his own curse "I forgot it at the motel"

Matt lifted his shirt and pulled a pistol he had stashed behind his back.

"Here this is an infinite ammo version" Matt said, offering the gun to Dale.

Dale took the gun hesitantly, he had no experience with guns and really didn't want to. Only a handful of his heroes actually used guns so the young otaku held little interest in firearms.

"If the killer comes at us just stay behind me" Matt ordered "I can take care of him"

Dale didn't argue, letting the powerful veteran lead the way back into the hall. Their progress was halted when they saw Lance standing at the other end of the hall looking into another room.

"Lance" Matt called as they approached.

Dale grimaced as the coppery scent of blood overpowered his senses. The smell grew stronger as they approached Lance.

"Don't look" Lance said closing the door "there's over a dozen bodies in there"

"How?" Dale asked in shock. It had been a matter of minutes since he ran into the killer. How could over a dozen people be killed that fast.

"Three rooms were locked when we arrived" Lance explained "I was thinking they were just off limits for the party. That was a mistake, the killers were probably killing people throughout the night. One or two at a time and then leaving their bodies in the locked rooms."

“What should we do now?” Matt asked

“This door was open when i came up” Lance said “The killer is likely done here. Lets head back to the motel, police will arrive soon.”

“What about the killer?” Dale asked

“We don’t know where they went” Lance said “As soon as Josh’s group is back we will go on a full force hunt for the killers.”

No one gave any arguments and the trio made their way outside. Before exiting the house Lance covered his hand with his papyrus and dialed 911 on a house phone. The drive home was mostly in silence aside from Lance calling and reporting to Logan. Thankfully everything had been quiet at Sydney’s house. It wasn’t until they pulled into the motel parking lot did they realize something was very wrong.

“That sucks” Dale commented, pointing at a car that had a window broken.

“Must've been a spree” Matt added, nodding at another broken into car on his side.

“This isn’t good,” Lance said and pointed. One of the motel room doors was wide open. Dale began to look around and saw every room of the motel had its door left open.

“Lance” Dale said breathlessly. A window of one of the rooms had some red substance covering the inside, blocking any view inside. Matt brought the car to a stop as Lance’s communicator beegan to ring. Dale burst out his car door and ran towards Bertha’s room. Ignoring the shouts to come back Dale sprinted past the open door and into a nightmare. Bertha laid in bed, her blood now soaking into all the pillows Dale had left with her. The room was trashed, every drawer and shelf pulled from the furniture and flung wildly around the room. A knife was stabbed into the wall over the corpsw, a folded piece of paper pinned on the blade. Matt walked in as Dale fell to his knees and began to vomit.

Matt tried to lift the young man but was pushed away. Instead he stepped over and retrieved the paper off the wall. Opening the paper Matt found a message written in blood covering several printed words and images.

Bring us the mask

Several odd symbols had also been drawn onto the paper haphazardly.

“That paper” Dale gasped

“Do you recognize it?” Matt questioned

“That’s mine” Dale wheezed as he realized what happened.

That was the same paper that he had used to doodle clan symbols on. The paper he was given to identify the movie character. The paper that had the hotel's address and phone number. The paper Dale had dropped in his panic when he faced the killer. The very paper that led the killer to this hotel and to so many helpless victims.

Dale began to sob as the dots connected in his head. Bertha was dead because of him. Everyone in this hotel was dead because of him. He had not only failed to protect the one person he promised, he caused the death of who knows how many.

Lance entered the room as Dale began his breakdown.

“Lance” Matt began but was silenced with a wave of Lance’s hand.

The teen quickly located the tv remote that was somehow in one piece still. Turning on the tv Lance turned to a news channel where a familiar woman was reporting.

“This is Gale Weathers reporting this breaking news live from the Woodsboro Police Station. It is with a heavy heart that I report a massacre that occurred here this evening. Every officer, staff member, and inmate that were in the station this evening have been murdered. Deputy Sheriff Dewey was the first to arrive on the scene and is currently handling the investigation. If any off duty or retired officers are watching, they are asked to report in and assist with the investigation”