“Don’t worry about it.” Aleesia tests out her own movement. “It’s just your mind trying to make sense of everything. You’ll get used to it shortly.”
“So what do we do?” Dean looks to me for answers.
“We need to pick our weapons, and then make our way to the center of town.” I point to a collection of potential weapons scattered on the street before us. A slingshot. A baseball bat. A yo-yo.
“Ladies first.” I motion for Aleesia to choose her weapon.
“Hmm. I think I’ll take the yo-yo.” She picks it up and places the string around her finger. Then she flicks her wrist, and the yo-yo shoots out and retracts. She tries a few different tricks, spinning the yo-yo straight in front of her, and then doing an around-the-world where it goes in a complete circle over her body.
“Dean, you’re next.”
“Definitely the slingshot.” He holds it out in front of him and pulls back on the sling, taking aim down the street. “Nice.”
If his slingshot skills are anything like his darts, it’ll be the perfect weapon for him.
“I guess that leaves me with the bat.” I pick it up and take a few swings. It moves effortlessly in my hands. “Follow me. This first level should be pretty easy. The enemies get stronger as we progress, so it’s important to get a hang of things early on.”
The thugs pace back and forth as we approach. Even after passing where a normal human would see us, they don’t look in our direction. Once we’re about ten feet out, the closest two grunt and charge toward us.
Dean fires a pellet from his slingshot and the first thug shatters into pixels. A gold coin hovers in the area where he fell. Aleesia swings her yo-yo, knocking the second one out. Another gold coin appears.
The three thugs behind them continue to pace, oblivious to what just happened. Once we’re close enough, they turn on us. I rush in and clobber the thug wearing a bright orange vest with my bat. Two coins sprout up from him as the avatar dissipates into hundreds of pixels. Aleesia and Dean finish off the other two.
A chain-link fence that was blocking the road now opens, allowing us to pass to the next level. I collect the coins from the enemies I downed. Most are worth five coins, but one is worth ten. There’s a cha-ching with each one I pick up, along with a counter in the top right of my vision.
“That was easy.” Aleesia reaches for one of the gold coins, and it vanishes as soon as she touches it. “What are these for?”
I read a brief summary of the world, so I know some of the basics. “We’ll be able to upgrade our weapons once we find a shop.”
The second level is more difficult, with each thug taking two hits to kill. Dean shoots each thug once before moving on to the next one so that when they get close enough, it only takes one hit from Aleesia or me to finish them off.
Things get more interesting once we reach level three. New enemies appear. This time, there are women throwing rocks at us in addition to the thugs.
The rocks travel slow enough that we can dodge them, but once multiple rocks come sailing in, we’re forced to choose between dodging their attacks and fighting.
I swing my bat at one of the incoming rocks and it explodes into pixels.
“If we hit the rocks, then they vanish.”
“Good to know,” says Aleesia as she hits one with her yo-yo.
Dean attempts to hit the women with his ranged attack, but their rocks block his shots, disintegrating both projectiles.
“Let’s take out the thugs first, then we’ll deal with the others.” I move forward and a rock barrage comes barreling in my direction. I smack the first one, but two more hit me before I’m ready to attack again. Techno chimes echo around me with each hit, and my health bar drops by a third.
I take a few steps back and the rocks spread evenly between us once again.
Aleesia hits one with her yo-yo. “They focus on whoever is closest. Looks like we’ll need to press at the same time to keep them from focusing on one of us.”
We push as a team, and the projectiles come at us at an even rate, allowing us to destroy them as we push. Once we are close enough, the thugs rush us. A few feet separate each attacker, giving me an idea.
“If we attack them at the same time, we should be able to kill them faster. We’ll take some damage, but less than if we fought them individually.”
As the first thug lunges at us with his tire iron, Aleesia hits him with her yo-yo. I quickly follow up with a swing of my bat, dropping the thug. Aleesia has enough time to block the rock thrown at her, but I’m not so lucky. My vision flashes red and I lose another chunk of my health bar.
“You hit them first next time so that you can block the rock,” Aleesia orders. “I’ll take the damage.”
Dean continues to fire from a distance. His long range gives him time to shoot and then step aside, avoiding the rocks entirely. He manages to take out a thug on his own in the same time as Aleesia and me.
Aleesia and I are down to half health by the time we clear the thugs. Three women in the back continue to throw rocks in a steady stream.
We press on them at the same time. As we block each rock, I notice that our attacks are slightly faster than the women’s. Once we’re close enough to attack them, it gives us a slight edge. I block the rock, and just as the woman winds up to toss another, my bat explodes her into pixel dust. Dean and Aleesia both receive gold coins, but an orange soda hovers in front of me.
Orange Soda. Restores 50HP.
I down the soda and my health bar shoots up to seventy-five percent.
“Well done!” I congratulate the others. A new fence opens, revealing a street with a dumpster in the middle. This one isn’t on fire like the others. The word “shop” hovers in the air above the dumpster.
“Nice, we can finally spend our coins!” Dean runs past me.
I focus on the dumpster and a screen appears in my vision. There’s a picture of me, my health, and my weapon on one side. On the other are the items and upgrades.
Orange Soda. Restores 50HP. 5 coins.
Roasted Turkey. Restores full HP. 20 coins.
Weapon Upgrade. “Nailbiter.” Doubles damage of baseball bat. 50 coins.
Extra Life. Respawn at the beginning of the previous level. 100 coins.
It’s a pretty simple setup. We buy items to heal and upgrade our weapons to deal more damage. I confirm with Aleesia and Dean that they have the same options.
“How many coins do you have?”
“One-fifteen,” says Dean.
“One-twenty,” says Aleesia.
“I have one hundred and ten myself. I say we definitely go for the weapon upgrades. The extra life won’t mean much if we can’t deal damage.” I focus on “Nailbiter” and as soon as I accept, my weapon transforms. Long nails jut through the tip of the bat, making it a destructive force.
“Nice, now I have two yo-yos.” Aleesia flicks both wrists and a yo-yo dangles from each.
“What about you, Dean?” I ask.
“I got bigger pellets for my slingshot. They deal double damage.” He grins.
I buy two turkeys and spend the rest of my coins on sodas. It’s more likely I’ll need to top my health off gradually than refill it all at once.
Once we’ve spent all our coins, we step into the next level.
There’s a loud screech, and the fence on the far end bursts off of its hinges. A red truck rams through, with two men standing in the bed of the truck. One swings a chain and the other holds a Molotov cocktail in his hand.
They zoom up and down the street before spinning out in the middle of the road. The man holding the Molotov cocktail tosses it in our direction. It explodes on the pavement in front of us and a wall of flame erupts. It lasts for five seconds before fading away.
The man raises a fist at us. “You may have made it past the lackeys, but good luck getting past us.”
The dialogue is nothing to write home about, but I guess some people enjoy this more classic adventure.
T
ires screech and the truck comes barreling down the street. The other man swings his chain in a circle on the left side of the truck. I’m not quick enough to move and it hits me in the shoulder, taking out a quarter of my health.
Dean shoots the truck with his slingshot, and its health bar drops a smidge. “I think we have to destroy the truck, and then we fight the thugs.”
I chug one of the orange sodas to replenish my health just as another Molotov cocktail explodes behind us. The truck makes another loop, but the fire wall blocks our retreat. I smash the truck with my bat at the same time as the chain hits me. Aleesia and Dean are able to get in a hit as well, and we come out slightly ahead on the encounter. Even so, the truck has way more health than we do, and I don’t know if we have enough items to outlast them.
“Try to hit the Molotov as he throws it next time.” If we can disrupt it, then it’ll at least give us enough room to dodge the chain when the truck drives by.
The thug winds up, and Dean lets his pellet fly. It hits the Molotov just as it releases. Instead of vanishing, the Molotov explodes in the back of the truck, setting both thugs on fire. Unable to escape, they die in the flames.
“Nice!” Aleesia runs toward the burning truck.
“Wait!” I shout, but it’s too late.
Even though we took out the two thugs, the driver is still alive. He floors the gas and hits Aleesia square on. She loses half her health from the hit.
“Go back and heal,” I order. “Dean, let’s finish this.”
He shoots pellet after pellet, slowly dropping the truck’s health. The next time it comes barreling by, I get in a good hit with my bat. Without the two thugs in the back, we have no problem avoiding being hit. After healing, Aleesia is back in the fight, hitting the truck with double yo-yos as it passes by.
Without the two passengers, there is little the driver can do other than attempting to run us over. We’re nimble enough to avoid him as we constantly attack any chance we get.
When the health bar reaches zero, the truck bursts into flame and the next level opens up.
“Check this out!” Dean points at three hearts that hover where the truck once stood. “An extra life.”
We each take an extra life, and a small heart appears in the top of my vision next to my gold coins.
The next level is easy enough. There are more thugs, and the back line has ranged attackers throwing Molotov cocktails, but our newly-upgraded weapons and a little strategy have us turning down a new street in no time.
The town hall where the mayor is being held hostage is only a few blocks away. The top of the dome shines brightly over the surrounding buildings.
We pass a street filled with chain-whipping thugs on motorcycles. I almost die due to being in the center of the road as two pass by on each side, but Aleesia and Dean take them out before they make another loop. We also have difficulty on another level where ranged attackers hide behind barricades. Some artful dodging allows us to flank them and pass through. Finally, we arrive at the town hall.
Women line the steps, each one holding a rock. More women than we have faced at any level. They easily outnumber us four to one.
The door to the town hall opens and two men step out, one is bound with rope. The other wears all black and has slicked black hair.
“Good job making it all the way to town hall, but you’ll never make it up the stairs.” The comically-evil villain holds the mayor by the arm. “Finish them, ladies.”
I almost laugh at how absurd this situation is but when I glance at Dean, he’s all smiles as he aims his slingshot.
The ladies stand four wide and three deep, blocking the stairs. In unison, they each toss their rocks at us. We hit the first wave of rocks, minus one that catches me in the shoulder. But then two more waves pummel us before we have time to react.
“This isn’t good.” Aleesia looks at me with wide eyes. “Any idea how we are getting past this?”
I don’t have a clue. There has to be a strategy, but there’s so much to dodge and not nearly enough space. Before I have time to answer, they are already throwing more rocks.
The rocks are hurling toward us when an idea pops into my head. “Get behind me.”
Aleesia and Dean do as I say. I hit the first rock, Aleesia hits the second, and Dean finishes off the third. The other projectiles go soaring by on both sides of us where they once stood.
“Nice!” Dean shouts, but there’s already another wave on the way.
I don’t know if it’s me, or if they are throwing faster and faster. This time, all the rocks are aimed at the center, funneling toward us in a cone. The women are tossing the rocks at wherever we are standing when they release them. We split to two sides, and they all go sailing by.
The next round comes even faster, targeting both sides of the street. Before these rocks have even hit, they’re already throwing the next round. We hit what we can, but there are just too many.
We try to form a line again, but the rocks are coming too fast. We block one rock each, but two more hit us before we can block another. Dean runs and several rocks that should have hit go sailing by. While he’s facing the sides of the level, his avatar is paper thin. It gives me an idea, but my vision flashes red as I’m hit again. I’m hit several more times before I hear a loud “wonk-wonk” as my health drops to zero and my arms dissipate into pixels.
The heart in the top of my vision disappears, and I find myself at the entrance to town hall once again. Aleesia joins me a few seconds later, followed by Dean. He takes a step forward, eager to get back to the action, but I stop him.
“This is our last life. We need a plan if we’re going to win this.”
“What do you have in mind?” Dean asks.
“I noticed something right before we died. When you turned sideways, most of the rocks missed you.”
“Yeah, well, they still got me in the end, didn’t they?” He frowns.
Aleesia’s eyes light up. “But if we used that tactic from the start, then maybe we could get to the stairs before they are throwing so fast.”
I tap the side of my head. “Exactly. Here’s what I’m thinking.” I tell them my plan, and then we step into the final stage once again.
The terrorist and mayor appear at the top of the steps. He gives his stupid speech, and then we square off.
“Ready?” I ask, hopeful that this works, because we don’t have any more lives.
“Ready,” they say in unison.
The first rocks soar toward us. We step aside and turn sideways at the last moment, and they all go flying past. We quickly face toward the stairs again and run as far as we can before the women toss their next wave. We make it halfway to the stairs before turning sideways and dodging the next wave.
The women ready their rocks faster, but we’re already on the stairs. We each take out one of ladies on the first row. Two rocks hit me, turning my vision red, but I stick to the plan. We move up the stairs, eliminating the next row, and I take another rock to the face. Each of our health bars drop again, but we take out three more enemies.
Only three remain, making it much easier to dodge their final attempt before sending them to the pixel underworld.
A helicopter roars to life behind the building, and as it takes to the air, the terrorist waves his fist in our direction. “This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me. You may have won the day, but Greendale will be mine.”
Phase 1- Complete
The alert flashes across my vision just as the mayor stumbles out of the building with his hands still bound.
“Thank you for your service to the great city of Greendale. I fear that the terrorists will return, but for today, the city is safe. Now, I must free the others.” The mayor disappears back inside the building.
A second prompt flashes across my vision.
Phase 2- Begin?
“As much fun as that sounds, we need to get Dean home in time for dinner.” I turn toward my apprentice. “New world tomorrow?”
He grins from ear to ear. “I can’t wait.”
Dean logs out, leaving Aleesia and I standing alone on the stairs.
“That was fun.” She smiles.
Even her two-dimensional smile disarms me.
I take her hand in mine. In spite of the physics of this world, I can still feel the pressure of her hand against mine.
“I’m nervous,” I confess.
“Why?”
“It’s not life or death like it was with Buzz’s mom, but I don’t want to let Dean down. The last thing he needs is more disappointment.” Not to mention the people I could help with the charity donation.
She squeezes my hand. “You can’t put that kind of pressure on yourself, Esil. Enjoy the experience. Let Dean enjoy it. Everything else will fall into place.”
“I hope you’re right. Will you join us tomorrow?”
She shakes her head. “I wish I could, but we’re about to be incredibly busy in the lab. Besides, it’ll be good for you to do this on your own. Learn to work together. You’ll be all you have when the tournament starts.”
She’s right. Pretty soon, it’ll be me and Dean versus the world.
Chapter Twelve
“What’s your goal?” I ask Dean.
He pulls down the black cowl covering his face. “What do you mean?”
The moonlight gives his face a silver glow as we rest on the bank of a tranquil pond. We’re both ninjas, deadly assassins who just completed a mission taking out a powerful businessman responsible for the deaths of a member of our clan’s family.
“With the tournament. What are you hoping to get out of it?”
He looks at me with a confused expression. “A scholarship. A chance at a better life.”
I decide to push him a little harder. If he’s going to give this his all, especially when things get difficult, then he needs to know why he’s doing it.
“Why though? What do you want to do with the scholarship?”
He sits in silence for a moment before answering. A frog leaps into the pond with a splash.
“I want to create games. To do that, I need to get my foot in the door.”
Pangea Online: The Complete Trilogy Page 57
