Raine VS The End of the World (8 page)

Nimbus’ simper dried up and fell off his face.

“Very well,” he said. “We shall see each other again, Raine. I really do have a hovercraft, if ever you need a ride. I am updated every hour with a list of the hippest places to eat, alone or otherwise. Additionally, I don’t recommend you go that way. That sector just turned into a Chaos zone.”

“Chaos zone?”

“Yes. You are currently in a Peace zone, where duels are not permitted, and only wanted individuals can be engaged in combat. In a Chaos zone, combat is possible between all players and you risk de-materialization. If you experience d-mat, you will lose a currently equipped item, three percent of your experience points since your last level-up, and will need to get to a respawn point to revive to human form. Would you like to know more?”

“Maybe later, Nimbus. Thanks, but no thanks. Goodbye, now.”

With that, Nimbus bowed, walked back the way he came, leapt off the rooftop, and was gone.

Raine took a deep breath and had a seat beside the chimney, observing the townspeople.

If Super BlastBoy is nowhere to be found, then what am I to do? Anything I want
, she reminded herself.
This is my dream; if I practice enough, I should be able to control what happens here, after all.

Just when she thought she earned a breather, a stray spell depressurized the air, ripped the shingles off the roof, and sent Raine flying hard into a rocky parapet. It hurt much less than she had expected, which was refreshing, but also a little scary.

The girl made it back on her feet to see people running in the opposite direction.

They’re missing out on the fun
, she thought, transfixed by the loud booming, accompanied by shrieks, explosions, and swords clashing on scales. From the low, guttural cries and warriors flying about like ragdolls, she deduced that some horrid beast must be just around the corner.

Templars urged unarmed passersby towards the fountain-park. Raine hid from them as she leapt ever closer to the Chaos zone. A sign read:
“Medieval/Magic Weapons Only. Advanced Technology (Gen. III and above) not permitted.”

Beyond, the roofs were fewer and further between, giving way to the remnants of an ancient ruin. She perched atop a Corinthian column, mimicking the contemplative pose of a gargoyle on an opposite arch.

Now, at last, Raine could see the object of the warriors’ wrath – a horrendous eighty-foot-tall crab spewing all manner of acid at the large group of adventurers. It swatted dozens aside with each swing of its wrecking ball-sized claws. They were close to five hundred combatants in all, and most fought one another just to get near the beast.

Raine ventured closer, dropping behind a large obsidian statue of a cavalryman and watching with excitement as a dozen brave archers under the sizeable beast shot explosive arrows into the area between the body and its joints for massive damage. Countless magicians on the sidelines cast spells at the creature from incantation circles, while others enacted charms on their teammates, leaving them surrounded by glowing force fields.

A bearded dwarf scaling a leg swung a mattock at one of the crab’s ligaments. The beast flung him off and crushed him underfoot as it scuttled wildly. Raine reckoned with horror that the man must be dead, but his lifeless body merely vanished, and a ghostly image of him appeared in its place.

“Damn it!” the figure said in the annoyed voice of a pubescent boy. “Don’t kill him till I get back!”

A swordsman attempting to climb the leg responded. “Make haste, slowpoke! I’ll hang on to your shield!”

The crab reared on its four hind legs as a particularly well-aimed arrow pierced a small red spot on its underbelly. The climbing swordsman fell at least forty feet from the leg and landed on the floor. Surprisingly, he was still moving. His helm popped off to reveal a mish-mash of orange hair. A target sight blinked over the boy’s wounded frame – a bulls-eye across his chest. The crab’s telescopic machine eyes shone blood red.

“I’ll lure him away!”

“He’s locked on, Gerrit!” one of the mages screamed. “Go!”

The fallen swordsman picked up his helmet and ran full-speed towards the statue Raine was crouching behind. Gerrit leapt for cover, bumping right into the girl and stomping on her foot. She let out a yelp of pain before realizing her foot didn’t hurt as much as she’d anticipated.

The boy turned and noticed her for the first time, double-checking Raine’s figure to make sure he hadn’t imagined her. He shared the surprise of a man who upon exiting a stall in a men’s room looks up to find a stunning woman sitting cross-legged on the sink.

“A newbie? What are you doing here? We’re in the midst of battle!”

“You’ve got some nerve calling me that!” Raine said. “Why are you battling in the middle of such a beautiful city?”

“You have no armor! It’ll vaporize you!”

“Huh? Oh, this is just my dream. I control what happens. I’ll be fine,” Raine replied flippantly, and stood as if she were going to stroll away from the statue.

She took a quick look behind her at the crab, which had fully-charged its acid beam attack. It noticed her sudden movement. All at once, the boy grabbed her hand, reached into his belt pack, and tossed a small wing down by Raine’s feet.

“You’ll thank me for this later!”

There was a loud whistling sound as Raine felt herself rocket up and away from the pedestal. She watched from a distance as the statue exploded into pieces; it looked like Gerrit made it, but it could have gone either way. A second whoosh left her floating in a void.

“Where would you like to go?”

Raine stared blankly at the menu screen, which displayed a Regional Map.

“Um, take me outside the city, I guess?”

“Traveling to Clyde North Gate (Exterior)…”

The girl reappeared high up in mid-air above the castle walls. Unaware that she’d be invisible until making landfall, Raine clenched her skirt tightly between her knees as she descended to a predetermined shiny spot outside the Castle Town. Countless others arrived and departed on similar shiny spots and glowing teleport pads, human and non-human traffic whizzing by without a care.

In the far distance, something caught her eye: a quivering speck of red atop a rather large hill off to the North.

No. It can’t be.

She squinted to see if it really was Super BlastBoy’s cape. The animation was a perfect match, but as soon as she spotted him the figure zipped over the hill at such a speed that it very well could have been anything.

THUMP.

Raine was so surprised to regain her footing that she took a stumble forward, caught a rock on her foot, then fell towards a sculpture and bounced off an invisible wall before righting herself. As a few bunny-eared warriors picnicking nearby stifled a bout of laughter, she coughed in a vain attempt to appear completely natural.

Flattening her skirt, Raine took note of the most peculiar green field, reminiscent of Wonderland’s chessboard. It stretched out towards a vast horizon mired only by spots of fog over the far outlands and raised paths running into countless hills and mountainsides. The rainbow shag carpet path split at a prism-shaped landmark, widening into alternate pathways.

Now that they were outside, away from the crowds, Chance plopped down from Raine’s shoulder and ran circles around her.

Taking baby steps onto the path, Raine noticed a gelatinous creature a few feet off the road. It bounced up and down like a piece of Jell-O. She crouched down beside it.

“Why, you’re the cutest little thing in the world.”

Chance hissed and raised his tail, which glowed like he was readying a powerful attack.

“Oh, fine. You’re only second cutest to Chance,” Raine said, shushing him away. The cat seemed appeased by the comment.

The strange creature moved a little closer towards her, and she’d just stretched out her hand to pet it when a sword suddenly appeared and cleaved it in two, sending goo splashing into Raine’s face.

The gelatin creature, now crying from its separated eyes, left behind four tiny coins on the grass.

Raine screamed.

“H-hey, usually the yelling phase comes once we’ve known each other for a bit, am I right? At least let me buy you dinner first,” the murderer quipped, as his wristwatch absorbed the Gold left behind.

Raine wiped off the goo. She tried to get a good look at the wretched killer underneath his silly helm with an odd viewing screen. He flipped it open. It was the same boy who pushed her out of the way of the giant crab’s acid beam.

“It’s you again!”

“Oh, hi? Didn’t mean to freak you out, but someone had to protect you.”

“Protect me? From what?”

“From the Gellate!” He pointed at the little pieces of goo disintegrating into the ground as they spoke.

“As if that cute little thing could really have hurt me!”

Gerrit was taken aback.

“You really are a newbie, aren’t you?” He didn’t mean to say it. It just came right out.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. And you shouldn’t presume I’m anything; you don’t even know my name.”

The boy removed his helm and frazzled his orange hair. Raine finally got a chance to study his soft but well-defined features, and gentle eyes. He was a little dorky, but he wasn’t unattractive. They looked about the same age.

“Look, we got off on the wrong foot. As you can see, my screen name is
NinjaMageKnight99
, but my friends call me Gerrit.”

He held out his hand. She took it briefly.

“I’m Raine.”

“Raine? That’s a pretty name.”

His eyes gleamed in the sun and fixed right onto hers, as if she was the first real person he had seen in ages. She looked away.

“It was nice to meet you, Gerrit, but I’m in a hurry. I could wake up at any second.”

Raine turned to walk away. At first she had heard no footsteps, and naïvely took that as a good sign. A few seconds later they came bounding up the hill, following her even as she attempted to disappear into the crowd.

“Oh, wait a second, miss!”

Raine and Chance marched up the path, determined to ignore Gerrit.

“So! Raine! Um, does your username mean you have a positive outlook on life?”

Ugh. He’s catching up. Not good.

“Look, I… I’m sorry I teleported you out of there without your consent. It was just a pretty hairy situation and I thought I was helping you. It’s not just the stuff you’d lose. They’d put you through another hour of boring tutorials.”

“Thanks. You probably did a very good thing for me, but I don’t need any help,” Raine said, spinning around to a stop. “To be honest, I really don’t know what you guys were doing in there. I’m not a part of it.”

“A part of what?”

“Of… this. Of whatever is going on here. This is just my dream, and you’re in it. Logically, I can’t – shouldn’t – get attached to anyone, because that might snap me out of it and I’ll wake up in my gloomy foster Mom’s place again! …You dig it, right?”

If Gerrit comprehended anything Raine said, it wasn’t clear to her. He was too busy studying her face, which only made her even more furious, especially considering that for all she knew, she could be facedown at
Flynn’s
after having passed out trying for the world record.

“Well, you’re certainly not an NPC.”

“NPC?”

“Non-player character. They have grayed-out names. You are a player, right? You’re not just like some in-game bug or figment of my imagination?”

“No way. I don’t think you could have come up with me.”

Or that the game could create a bug like me, for that matter
, she thought.
If it really is a game.

“So, then. Welcome to
Endless Metaverse,
the undying massively-multiplayer cosmos, where everything’s made up and the Developers rule supreme.” Gerrit’s game show host act fell apart at Raine’s contemplative frown.

“Massively multiplayer, eh? So this place really isn’t a bonus level.”

She thought back to the odd message that greeted her that morning.
You are playing on the
Avidya
server
. Strangely, it seemed little more than a distant memory. Was it possible that the lady in spandex and SBB’s developers lied to her as to the true nature of this place?
I don’t usually go in for conspiracy theories, but this is madness.

“Raine? Are you there?”

“Oh, sorry. I was… lost in thought.”

“It’s cool. I tend to have that effect on women,” Gerrit managed, not sure if it would come off as a cocky comment or a put-down on his own style. “You mentioned something about a bonus level? I know quite a few of those.”

“It’s all right. I must have had the wrong idea. Though, I don’t suppose you’d have heard anything about Super BlastBoy?” answered Raine, a little nervously.

“Wait, did you say Super BlastBoy?”

Her eyes widened. “Yes! He’s kind of almost a friend of mine! Do you know where I might find him?”