by Jack Crosby
“What does that mean for us?”
“It means we just have one more color to activate – gold.”
Seeing as how the seat cushion activated one color and the seat back activated another, maybe it was time to think outside the box. “Hey, try pushing on the arm rest.”
Zoe followed the order and did so. Nothing happened. “Do you think it is associated with the seat, or is there someplace else we should be looking?”
So far, each clue had been associated with the passenger seats in the train car. Then something struck me – the button to recline the seat back. Of course! “Zoe, hit the button on the arm rest. I think that’ll get us out of here.”
She did just that and the light flickered over to gold. The moment that happened, the overhead lights returned and a door clicked. She raced to grab the one at her end, but it was still locked. When I reached out and grabbed the handle to the backside door, it slid down and opened up. “I guess we’re going backwards before we can go forward.”
I waited for her before we moved into the next car. The moment the two of us crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut and relocked. “Great, just when this fucking train ride couldn’t get any worse…”
And I had to open my mouth. The minute the words crossed my lips, what looked like portals to Hell began to open up at different points in this car. There were no seats; it was just a long, narrow car that was beginning to fill up with undead looking enemies.
Our newfound undead friends looked exactly like a zombie should look like. They had wispy grey hair, broken teeth, and green, moldy skin. Six of them crawled out of the portals and began to lumber towards us. There was only one thing to do – start butchering the shit out of them.
Zoe pulled out her short sword and immediately went to work slicing and dicing. For me, I stuck with old trusty, my gun, and using my superior shooting skills, began taking them out with headshot after headshot. I was worried about friendly fire, so I didn’t bust out any of my gun skills, instead just relaying on my own hand-eye coordination. The problem was clear though, for each zombie we put down, another took its place.
I’m not entirely sure how long we were there putting down zombies. I do know at some point I leveled up again, though there was no break to actually see what that had gotten me. Finally, when Zoe decapitated one of the zombies, the portal he’d come out of closed. That had to mean we were getting close.
I’m not sure how he snuck up on me, but one of the crazy bastards managed it and knocked the gun from my hand. Honestly, he should’ve had me dead to rights, but he stopped for just a brief second. I don’t know why and I don’t really care. I grabbed the knife the Oracle gave me and shoved it into his gut, causing him to stagger back. I grabbed my gun and finished the job with two well-placed shots.
Soon all of the portals were closed and the two of us were left to catch our breath. “Nice shooting, Vector.”
“That was a total team effort.” I checked my oculus and saw I was at level seventeen. Next level and I got a new skill. “Which way do you think the door’s going to send us this time?”
She fell to the ground. “I don’t care; I need a minute to rest up. That was more like a long sprint, not the kinda fighting I’m used to.”
I didn’t need to be told twice to rest up. I sat down beside her, a little short on air myself. “Yeah, let’s take a few minutes.”
It only took a moment or two before I began to feel better. Noticing Zoe hadn’t been exactly chatty, “So what was the deal with the Oracle? You took that really hard.”
Zoe refused to look in my direction. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
With my persistence not slowing down, “Damnit, you’re annoying.” Even so, she began to open up to me. “The Oracle knew things about me that I didn’t even know. When she would tell me these bits and pieces, it would unlock hidden memories.”
Ahhh, so that made everything come into focus. “So with her gone, there goes your information.”
“Yes.” This time she turned to me. “Draxler took that away from me, so I am going to make sure you succeed in your mission and take everything away from him.”
We still had quite a ways to traverse before we could think about that. Especially since we were stuck on this nightmare train. I got back to my feet and tried the door we first came through. Of course, it was locked. So I went to the far end and gave a tug. “It looks like we’re going even deeper.”
As the metal door slid open, an awful chill ran over us. “Vector, do you think this is a good idea?”
“We don’t have a choice.” I pushed the door the rest of the way open, the rusty groan echoed everywhere. “Like any good problem, I guess we have to go all the way down before we can come back up.”
We crossed the doorway and into the next car. Heaven above, I wish I hadn’t.
Status: The Sound of Silence
I yelled at Zoe but nothing came out of my mouth. She tried talking to me too, alas the same problem happened. Whatever strange magic was hanging out in this car, it seemed we were doomed not to be able to talk. Plus, there was this odd feeling lingering in the air. I felt as if I drank a little too much whiskey and couldn’t really walk. Fuck.
I tried to walk forward, towards Zoe, but my footing was lost. I was falling down, but it was in the most slow motion, non-epic fall way possible. As I hit the ground, what should’ve been a simple little bump was excruciating pain. It felt like my knee was broken, the way the pins and needles shot up my body. Zoe went to make a move to come towards me, but I waved her off. We didn’t need both of us in dire straits.
The pain eventually went away and my senses began to return. This train car was incredibly weird and impossible to navigate. Wait, that was it. We needed to get to the back of the car, that was the only explanation. How we were going to do that, well that was an entirely different question that needed answered.
Getting back to a standing position was a monumental task. I didn’t want to fall again, knowing just how bad it hurt the first time around. So I took my time and slowly returned to a standing position. The weird fog was still affecting me, but not quite as bad as it had when I first got here.
What do we need to do?
I had to shake my head. She was using sign language and I understood it. I never took a day of sign courses in my life, but there it was. And I knew how to respond. How messed up was that? I think if we make it to the back of the car, this trial ends.
Zoe Carefully picked up her foot and took the slowest step known to man. It was like watching paint dry, but it worked. She moved forward and didn’t fall on her supple ass. Working together would go a lot faster, no? That’s probably why the strange firewall is up preventing communications.
How do you know how to sign?
I’m not sure. It just came to me and you understood it.
Something wasn’t adding up, though that would be for another time. Maybe if we took hands, we could use each other for balance.
She was close enough where if we stretched out, we would touch. Again, going slow, both of us put our arms out and let our fingers intertwine together. The moment that happened, I felt a bit more balanced. Not enough to say I was back to normal, but I was pretty sure we could walk slowly in a straight line. Zoe smiled; she must’ve felt it too.
Good idea, Vector. That fall looked really painful.
It was no picnic, that’s for sure.
With our hands locked together, we made the long struggle towards the back of the train car. It was a lot of work and a few times one of us nearly brought the other one to the ground. Teamwork, as they say, makes the dream work and we were working seamlessly, assisting when the other one struggled.
We were so close to the finish line when everything, including us, froze in place. An orange flame whooshed up out of the ground and the ticket dude appeared in front of us. “You two are exceeding expectations, congratulations.”
There was nothing for us to say or d
o, so we just stood there like fucking lumps. “The conductor of this train has sent me to invite you to his engine car, as long as you finish your last challenge.”
I struggled against the freeze spell; no dice. He gave me a confused look, like maybe he knew I was trying to force myself against his hold on me. The ticket dude gave a short nod and summoned his flames once more. “Your final challenge to prove your worth is in the caboose. I wish you good fortune.”
With the wave of his hand, he was gone. As soon as he was, we could move again, normally. “Son of a bitch!”
Zoe grabbed me before I fell face first from my momentum. You don’t realize how strong someone is until they use their full strength on you. She was one strong lady. “No need getting pissed, seeing the conductor is probably the only way to get off this demonic train.”
She was right. So I collected myself and opened the final door to the caboose. Not sure what we were going to be up against, I pulled out my gun and had it ready. Zoe did the same with her sword and we entered the room together. Once again, it was just an empty room with some boxes here and there. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary – at first glance.
When I looked up, that’s when shit hit the fan. A huge bat-like creature was clinging to the ceiling of the caboose, maybe six, seven feet above us. His red eyes were as large as little moons and his mouth was a danger zone of fangs and drool.
Then to make things weirder, he spoke. “Castor said sacrifices were approaching. You two have survived the challenges, which will make you extra delicious.”
It wasn’t me who fired back at him, it was Zoe. “Listen here you overgrown rodent, you’re not eating me. If I have to kill you, I will.”
The bat dropped down from the ceiling and landed with a thud on the wooden floor. “I am Nemesis, keeper of the Engine key. If you wish an audience with the Conductor, you need to defeat me.”
Something that popped into my brain right away was the fact he couldn’t really stretch out his wings. I figured that would be very helpful until the roof of the caboose started to retract and the night air filled the final car. Nemesis jumped into the air and out of sight. Now that seriously couldn’t be good.
I pointed my gun up and tried to target him in my scope. “Shit Zoe, he’s gone.”
“No he’s not. I can still feel the anger of the creature; he’s lurking in the dark shadows of the sky.”
The only sounds I heard were the rumbling of the Doom Train on the tracks. I was constantly shifting my gaze when the bat dropped down towards us. I fired a few shots off, but they just bounced off his extremely tough hide. As he passed overhead, he opened his mouth and dropped little yellow spheres. As they landed all around us, they began to explode.
I grabbed Zoe and dove towards the boxes against the far wall. Unfortunately, debris from one of the explosions impaled my leg, sending me face first into the wall. To add insult to injury, my nose was bleeding like no other. I was down and out.
“Stay here, Vector. I have an idea.”
“You can’t take that thing on alone.”
She leaned in and kissed me. “Don’t underestimate me. I have a pretty good idea of what to do.”
Nemesis was back at his high altitude, far from us. I winced in pain as I tried to move my leg; the piece of wood stuck in my thigh apparently just missed anything critical. At least I think it did, I wasn’t bleeding out all over the place. “So what’s your grand plan?”
“Well, your bolts did nothing to it, so I figured it was time to give him a taste of his own medicine. On the next strafe attack, I’m going to send a few of those bat bombs right back at him.”
I knew of a few video games that had bosses that required you sending their attacks back. “You’re going to have to be perfect with your timing.”
Her eyes were looking up at the sky, probably reliving the last attack in her head to get the timing down pact. “We don’t have any other choice. If we keep letting him drop bombs, we’ll just end up dead.”
Zoe was very much right. I just hated feeling helpless, and then I remembered that Zoe was quite a few levels higher than me. Now was not the time to try to be the macho man type dude. “You got this.”
Maybe she expected some more argument, I don’t know. She reacted with a half surprised smile at my vote of confidence. “Thank you, Vector.” She leaned down and gave me a kiss. When our lips broke, “He’s coming around again. Stay down.”
There wasn’t much else I could do. “Go kill this bat for us.”
Boss Fight: Bat in the Belfry
I just sat there, trying not to wince from the pain, and watched as Zoe stood there like a champion. The moonlight bathed her in a pale glow, which made her way sexier than before. I watched in awe as her sword extended another few inches, making it longer and a bit wider. The screech of Nemesis was a telltale sign that business was about to pick up.
Knowing I could at least do something to protect her, “Heart of the Oracle!” As soon as I uttered the command, both of us took in the effects of the skill. She gave me a seductive smile and turned back to her task.”
The glow of the yellow bombs illuminated the caboose. The first two were far enough away not to bother Zoe. The second set was much closer. Taking a powerful, timely swing, Zoe made contact with the two orbs and sent them back out of the car. I heard an explosion overheard and a horrible wail. A burst of wind came down upon us and knocked her back over towards me.
Looking up, “I think he’s gone for a moment.”
I couldn’t see, but she was more than likely right. “Nice hit. It sounded like it did a lot of damage.”
“It did, one hit him in the stomach and the other hit him in the wing. Both were smoking pretty badly as he fled the scene.”
There was no chance that it was over yet. Nemesis was still high above us, waiting for his next attack. “I wonder if he’ll change it up since you figured out how to hurt him.”
We got our answer right away. The bat crash landed on his hind legs in the caboose. On his stomach was an exposed white, fleshy area and his wing was charred about half way down. He roared at us and a bunch of bombs fell out of his mouth. Zoe grabbed me and ran to the far end of the car, well away from the destruction. Thank the programmers that Heart of the Oracle was still active.
At this range there was no chance for Zoe to do much with those bombs, but her initial strike left a pretty nice target open. As we came to a stop, I forced myself to ignore the pain and point my gun at the bat. “Bullet Burst! Mass Explosion!”
I was lined up and my shots were true. The Mass Explosion laced Bullet Burst skill did the trick. It ripped the white area open and the following triple bang put the poor bastard down to the ground. Nemesis laid on the train floor, a smoking, groaning mess.
Not being able to move, Zoe walked forward to handle the final touches. “We have defeated your guardian. Allow us passage to the Conductor’s car.”
Nemesis arched his head upwards to look at the one who defeated him. “For only the second time in recorded history have I been defeated. Upon my return to the Depths, may you reap the rewards.” His body burst into flame, leaving behind only ashes.
The moment his body disappeared, my oculus went nuts. I had jumped from level seventeen to twenty with the victory over Nemesis, unlocking my next skill in the tree. My options this time were Oracle’s Outlaw and Double Fisted. The first skill drastically improved my sharpshooting and allowed me to be equipped with a second gun. Double Fisted was another melee skill that improved punching and gave me the ability to add a second punch on each combination blow. Considering I hadn’t use any melee or close range abilities to date, Oracle’s Outlaw was the choice for me!
Other things I noticed on the oculus were Zoe and I were at ninety-five percent compatibility and she had reached level thirty as well. I didn’t pay much attention most of the time to her levels, as I was the main character and she was the support. What I did notice though was her stats increased at a snail’s pace compared to m
ine. Even at level thirty, she wasn’t much stronger than her starting level when she joined the party. That got me thinking about how the secondary character grid worked. Obviously I was the main character and it was my job to navigate through the levels.
“Let me try to heal this for you.”
Before I could say no, her hands were on the wound and a burning sensation shot up through my leg. I was in so much agony that I couldn’t even scream. I felt as if she was ripping my leg right off. Then it stopped. I still couldn’t fully function, but the immense pain was gone. When I looked down, my skin was completely healed.
I had no idea she could heal. “Thanks – I really appreciate that.”
Her skin was pale. “It takes a lot to perform the healing spell. I don’t use it often, just in dire situations.”
With a confrontation with the Conductor coming up, I too considered this a dire situation. “Before we go, let’s see what our friend Nemesis dropped for us.”
There were a few gifts for us; Zoe got a black metal sword with the name Nemesis branded on it in gold letters, a pair of gauntlets with yellow eyes on the top, and a patch that fit in the gauntlets giving her a ten percent physical attack boost. For me was a second gun (another revolver style weapon, also branded with the Nemesis name), a scope that fit on, and a Taret card of the bat boss himself. It was a bit stronger than the raid viper king card, but not quite as powerful as my Easter Egg card.
“Not a bad haul if I don’t say so myself.” My new gun fit perfectly in the palm of my hand.
Zoe was trying out her new weapon. “This sword is so balanced, almost as if it was made for me.”
“Both of these weapons were made for you.” Where in the world did that voice come from? “I am coming from the weapons, as they are crafted from my flesh to be awarded to the victors.”
“Nemesis?”
“Yes, I am still here. Seeing as how you managed to find the first Easter Egg, my ability to transform into weapons was granted. Consider me your second one in fulfilling your quota.”
