by Mason Roth
"Follow my lead!" Jeremy shouted as he charged forward. He sprinted forward and struck the copycat square in the side with his clockwork axe. It stumbled to the side and Piper noticed it had suffered a dent. She glanced at the VP again. It now read 54 instead of 58.
"That's it, Jeremy!" She cheered "That did some damage!"
"I can't keep this up forever!" He called back, barely sidestepping what would have been a grisly bite. "You're going to have to shoot its interior. You might be able to kill it in one shot."
"I seriously doubt that." Piper winced as the copycat latched onto the hilt of Jeremy's axe. He shook it off and kicked it. It skidded a few feet before flopping over, legs up. It kicked wildly and resembled a roach trying to right itself after being flipped over. Piper saw her opening immediately. The underside of the chest wasn't bronze like the rest of the exterior but was more like the pulsating insides she had seen earlier. Piper quickly aimed and fired two shots. One hit the copycat squarely in its exposed ass. It screeched in pain, a burn mark appearing on its flesh, and it was launched upright, and it skittered towards her. The other bullet, Piper noticed, never fired from her left pistol. She clicked the trigger again and again, her frustration increasing each time. She beat it over her knee a couple of times attempting to beat it into submission.
"Fucking thing won't work," she grumbled. A countdown appeared in front of her eyes in the UI. 20...19…18… Ah! The reload cool down, she realized. 15 seconds left. The copycat turned its attention on to her and gnashed its metal teeth with a horrible clamor. Jeremy rushed to her defense. A crazy idea popped into her head.
"Jeremy, when I say swing, I need you to swing at its teeth. An up-and-down chop. Not sideways."
"Vertically, got it." He replied, still feeling the need to correct her vocabulary in a situation like this. Just as the countdown reached its end, the copycat opened its terrifying mouth for another attack. Piper counted aloud with her UI.
"Three, two, one, NOW!" Jeremy swung at the metallic beast. Exactly like Piper predicted, the gears in his axe wedged themselves between the top and bottom rows of teeth, forcing the copycat's mouth to remain open. As soon as the insides of the beast were exposed, Piper fired, landing a bullet deep inside the false chest. An unholy mechanical sound came from deep inside the copycat. It seemed to grow, shifting and transparent.
The copy cat spasmed and suddenly took the shape of a barrel, then a clock, then finally a black cat. It laid on the white floor panting and bleeding. It looked sad and pathetic, and Piper felt a twinge of guilt. She checked her UI:
VP: 1
"I guess they meant copy ‘cat’, literally." Piper said shakily.
"We have to put it out of its misery." Jeremy answered. Piper raised her pistol at the suffering animal, but when it turned its large, round eyes to her, she couldn't pull the trigger. She knew it wasn't real, but this was her reality until she managed to escape. So to her, that cat was as real as the one she had growing up. Even though it was a monster, she couldn't bear to kill it. Jeremy noticed her hesitation and raised his axe somberly. She turned away as the axe came down with a sickening crunch.
"It's okay now." Piper turned around to see the copycat disintegrating into black ash. Despite this being their first real victory, neither of them felt triumphant. They were truly trapped in hell.
"Pretty dark game." Jeremy said before chuckling dead-eyed. As Piper opened her mouth to deliver an equally bleak quip, she heard something unsettling: Voices, shouting voices. They were coming from the west wall. Piper jogged over to the door on the west wall. There were definitely people on the other side, more than one. They pounded on the door desperately. She couldn't discern what they were saying, but Piper assumed they were begging to get out. Against her better judgment, she tried the doorknob. But, of course, it was locked.
"Move out of the way." Jeremy grunted behind her.
"Why? What are you going to do?"
"Break down the door! They need help in there." Piper turned to face him.
"How do we know it's not another trap?" She asked him hotly. "There could be another copycat behind that door."
"No, that's not possible." He responded thoughtfully. “The UI said that copycats can only imitate inanimate objects. It wouldn't be able to replicate speech."
"So what I'm hearing is that whatever is behind that door might be even worse." "Maybe," Jeremy acquiesced, "But it might be people. People from the study that need our help." He took a deep breath. "We have to help them. Even if it's a trap, we'll deal with it. We have to try." Piper sighed. She knew he was right. They had to try. She saw the resolve in his eyes and blood still trickled down his check. She raised her hand to touch his face but thought better and withdrew it.
"How's your face?" She asked softly.
"Its fine." He answered with a soft smile "I only lost one hit point. Come on. Let's help these people."
"Okay." Piper agreed. "Break down the door, Strong man." She made a big gesture out of stepping out of the way so he could break down the door. He raised the axe above his head and swung it down into the door with a heavy chop. The axe stuck in the door. Jeremy used his foot as leverage and pried it free with a grunt. He repeated this action several more times until finally a hole appeared in the door. It was small and jagged, but Piper could make out two figures clinging to each other in the center of the room. They looked small and frightened. She could barely tell, but she thought one of them might have been crying. Finally, the hole was big enough for one of them to fit through after several longer chops. Though Jeremy was small in stature, he had a pretty broad frame. It would have to be Piper. She could fit through the crack and reach the other side. She explained this to Jeremy, but he hesitated.
"I should probably keep chopping. I don't think it's wise to split up."
"What happened to having faith and not abandoning the others? Did you see them? They look terrified. Just let me go, you'll be able to see everything from the other side of the door. It'll be okay." She reassured him.
"Alright." Jeremy finally agreed. "If you feel like something is off with them and need to tell me, say "doffles" and I'll know you're in trouble." She couldn't help but smile at his overly cautious attitude.
"Doffles it is." She said back with a smile before crawling through the gap in the door. Just as she poked her torso through, she felt that something was off. She recognized the people behind the door instantly. The woman with the braids and the boy with the round eyes, much too young to be in the study. The boy rushed towards her.
"Look out!" He shouted at her, waving his hands. But it was already too late. A large marble block was rapidly falling from the high ceiling to crush her head. She braced herself for another horrific in-game death, when the boy's hands suddenly glowed with electricity. Energy burst forth from his fingertips and blue light surrounded the block as it halted to a stop just above her goggles.
"Come on!" The older girl behind him shouted. “He can't hold it forever!" The boy’s hands began to shake as she clamored through the opening. Her heart beat in her ears and she could hear Jeremy shouting behind her, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She tumbled to the floor in front of the door as the boy released his grip. The block came down with a deafening thud. She was cut off from her partner and alone with the strangers.
Chapter 9
This room was much smaller than where Piper had come, and she realized that woman and boy had backed away from her a considerable distance. They were clutching hands as their backs hit the wall opposite of Piper. Nevertheless, she strode towards them, hand outstretched.
"I'm Piper," she said with a smile the boy and girl did not return. "Thanks for saving me back there.”
"Janelle," the girl replied briskly, ignoring her outstretched hand. "This is my brother, Ethan." Ethan smiled up at her sheepishly before catching the side eye of his sister. "Don't get me wrong," Janelle began cautiously. "We very much appreciate you coming to help us." Piper noted her thick southern drawl
as she spoke. "But how do we know you and your friend ain't helping out that Candace woman?"
"You don't." Piper said gently "Just like we don't know if we can trust you. We want to make the choice to trust you. We want to believe we have a chance to get out of here." Janelle pondered for a moment.
“Well, It's not like we have much of a choice." She flashed Piper a quick small smile. It was clear that she had her guard up, but Piper was relieved that she was at least willing to try. Janelle nodded at her brother and flipped a long black braid over her shoulder. He smiled widely, not that he had her blessing to engage in pleasantries.
"We're so glad you came!" He grasped her hand excitedly. We spawned in this room and haven't been able to escape There were some fish-headed creatures in here but we got rid of those pretty easily." He continued talking about a mile a minute. "But then the huge spider lady showed up and killed us both. And then, well, you know what happened with Candace." He finished sheepishly.
"Say, Ethan," Piper asked, "How old are you?" His face looked about sixteen or seventeen but the way he spoke led Piper to believe he was probably younger.
"Fourteen!" He replied with a toothy smile. Piper shot Janelle a questioning look, but her face was stone cold. Piper nodded without further question. Just like Jeremy said before: Everyone had their reasons to be there and very few wanted to talk about it. Piper sat cross legged on the ground and began to recount her own experience, from the doffles, to Jeremy, to the Gilded Animus. She looked over her shoulder briefly as she mentioned the doffles - the code word - but there was no way Jeremy could hear them through the marble block.
Piper reasoned that if she established a rapport with them now, it would make Jeremy easier to trust later. So, she made connection her priority before escape. By the time she had finished her tale, Janelle's face was not only soft but compassionate. It was too fantastical not to believe.
"So you're a gunslinger class?" Janelle asked. "And your friend is a fighter."
"That's right." Piper confirmed. "But I'm guessing you guys are something else entirely." If Ethan stopping the block wasn't proof enough, the siblings were dressed wildly differently than Piper and Jeremy. Piper and Jeremy had fairly similar outfits, though Piper's had a few more components. Leather vest and boots, yet Piper had the goggles, blouse, and holsters, where Jeremy had a cut-off red shirt under his vest. The siblings, however, were dressed not only wildly different from Piper and Jeremy, but different from each other. Janelle sported an ankle-length double-breasted coat and black leather boots. Ethan, however, sported a cape and top hat with red trim. He looked like more of a gentleman than a magician, and the look suited him well. Janelle adjusted her black gloves.
"I'm a rogue."
"And I'm a caster!" Ethan announced proudly.
Janelle explained her stats and advantages. Just like Piper, it seemed like her base stats were more dexterity and intelligence focused, yet she fought up close and personal with four curved daggers. Ethan, on the other hand, was purely a spell-based fighter. Almost like her bullets that reloaded, he had a resource called “mana” that depleted and had to recharge every time he used a spell. Right now, he could cast three before his cool down time. His stats had a heavy intelligence focus. While Piper was excited to have some diverse and helpful classes on her team, she was dismayed that none of them had a strength focus. They had to move that block somehow. Piper picked herself off the floor and jabbed her thumb towards the block by the door.
"Let's get out of here, guys." She said. "We have a long adventure ahead of us." When they made it to the east wall, they heard yelling coming from the other side of the block. It was muffled, but Piper could still hear Jeremy calling her name. He sounded like he was getting a little hoarse.
"Hey, it’s me!" Piper called through the marble. "I'm okay." Jeremy mumbled something inaudible back at her. She couldn't make out exactly what he said, but she could tell he was upset.
How long had she been talking to the siblings? She considered the length of their stories and her own. It had to have taken at least a half an hour. Jeremy had been calling for her all this time. She felt the guilt bubble up in her stomach. She should have considered his feelings.
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting." She called. "I'll explain everything when we get out of here. But for now we have to push this block. Can you get your hands on it from your side?"
"Yeah." She heard through the block.
"Okay! Start pushing to your right!" Piper beckoned Janelle and Ethan to the left side of the block.
"Okay, we'll push on three." She directed. "One, two, three!" Everyone heaved, and the block started to scoot over ever so slightly. Everyone gasped for air as they exerted maximum effort.
"One more time! One, two, three!" Everyone heaved again, and this time the block scooted even further. It wasn't much, but it was enough to slip through.
"Okay Jeremy, I'm sending our new friends in first." She guided Ethan through the gap. Janelle grasped his hand and followed close behind. Finally, Piper made her way through.
Jeremy pulled each of them through on the other side, his hands lingering slightly too long on Piper. He grasped her hand as his hand guided her hips. It was an intimate gesture, but Piper didn't pull away. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. Once everyone was through, they got Jeremy up to speed. Ethan seemed especially interested in Jeremy while Janelle was even more cautious than she was with Piper. Regardless, they all had decided to work together.
"Let's get out of here, ya'll. I'm sick of this castle." Janelle resolved. There was one more door they hadn't tried, located on the south wall. It was a large stone door that was thankfully unlocked. It led into a very short hallway that ended in another door. Janelle took a deep breath.
"I should go first. If there's something in this room, I may be able to get in and out before alerting it.” Piper couldn't argue with that logic. Janelle tried the door, but it was unlocked. She slipped inside, soundlessly. Ethan seemed too uncomfortable without her. He couldn't stand still and kept shuffling side-to-side and wringing his hands. But soon, Janelle returned.
"All clear!" She said with a smile.
The party filed into the room. It was a small circular room with a domed ceiling. Across the domed ceiling, there was a mural of a beautiful sea goddess. Rubenesque, her golden curls cascaded over her ample breasts and spilled onto her full stomach that tapered into a mermaid's tail. She held a treasure chest in one hand and an eel in the other. There were two doors toward the northern edge of the room. Between the two doors laid a face. Not a real face, but a crude scribble that contrasted sharply with the beautiful depiction on the ceiling.
The face was long and narrow. Its pointed noise matched its pointed ears. Its eyes were large and dark and seemed to bore into Piper's soul. It’s long black hair cascaded down the wall until it met the floor. Piper turned and faced the party. "Left or right?" It didn't make much difference to her as long as they moved forward. No one else seemed to care much either, so Jeremy finally spoke up.
"Let's try the right." He strode over to the door. Just as he was about to try the handle, he paused. "I'm sorry, Janelle." He said looking back at her. I'm so used to it just being Piper and I, but we should use everyone's strengths to our advantage. The rogue should always lead.” Janelle shot him a quizzical look and Piper wasn't really sure she could blame her. Sure, his logic made a lot of sense, but it was almost as if he was offering her up as the sacrificial lamb of the party. Janelle seemed to go through a similar thought process before agreeing to try the door first.
"It's locked." She announced. "I do have a lock pick set in my inventory, but it only has three uses. Let's try the other door first."
Despite basically handing Janelle the leadership role moments ago, Jeremy seemed slightly uncomfortable that she was calling the shots. He still followed her to the other door, regardless. Ethan still stood more towards the center of the room admiring the naked sea goddess. "Ethan!" Janelle hissed just as sh
e was about to try the door, and he rushed over without complaint. She twisted the door handle and pushed lightly; the door opened just a crack.
"Unlocked." Piper sighed in relief. Janelle slipped through the crack first before the others, but she quickly beckoned them to follow her.
"Looks like a long empty passage." She told the others. "But we should still be on our guard." Janelle opened the door for them and they followed her down the narrow passage. It was too narrow for anyone to walk side-by-side, so Ethan followed his sister, Piper followed Ethan and Jeremy took up the rear. Despite being second from the rear, Piper noticed it first.
"Stop!" She whispered. The group froze and turned their attention on her. She pointed wordlessly at the ceiling above Janelle. A large chain flail hung from the ceiling and looked poised to swing and bludgeon anyone who passed under it.
The only two ranged attackers in their party were Piper and Ethan, and Ethan's spells were more finite than her bullets. She motioned for everyone to get low as she aimed her pistol at the chain flail. It hit, and the chain flail swung down in front of Janelle. Its trajectory was a bit wider than they had expected, and Janelle dove out of the way. It swung back and forth like a pendulum, until finally hanging still in the middle of the walkway. Piper breathed a sigh of relief that no one was injured, and followed Ethan's lead in carefully sidestepping the spiked end to rejoin Janelle.
