The Player Plague

by Lucas Flint

  “Please shut up,” I said. “Especially about fetishes.”

  “Yes, sir, boss man,” said Cy, giving me a quick salute. “But I still recommend finding a safer fetish. For your own good, of course.”

  I sighed heavily but knew better than to argue with Cy. Not because he was right—he usually wasn’t—but because his mind seemed to work on a completely different track than mine. If my mind was like a smooth, straight highway, his was more like a bumpy dirt road with dozens of back roads and detours that were somehow both surprising and yet predictable at the same time. I often wondered if Capes Online deliberately gave me a Sidekick as, er, ‘unique’ as Cy just to test my patience.

  In any case, I looked down at Aimi and Riku and said, “Well, it looks like your little assassination attempt didn’t quite work out the way you thought it would. For a couple of supposedly Elite Ninja Assassins, you weren’t nearly as dangerous as I would think you are.”

  “We didn’t take into account your Sidekick,” said Riku, glancing up at Cy. “Our intel on you suggested that your Sidekick was too weak and dimwitted to be much of a threat.”

  “Hey, I am not weak,” said Cy, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m just very delicate, like a flower or fine china. I need to be handled with love and care.”

  I ignored Cy’s comments. “Right. Probably would have killed me if it wasn’t for my Hero Sense. Might want to take that into account the next time you try to kill me.”

  And I had no doubt they would try to kill me again, even if I killed these two. My reputation with the Ninja Guild currently stood at ‘Unfriendly,’ although given how they had sent two Elite Ninja Assassins to break into my Base specifically to kill me, I wondered what killing their elites would do to my rep with them. Probably make it drop to outright ‘Hatred’ and cause them to send even more ninjas after me. Which might be worth it, given how these two had tried to murder me in my sleep.

  “Even if you kill us now, it won’t keep you safe from us forever,” said Riku with a sneer. “Our brother and sister ninja will avenge us. If you break one knife, you will find a thousand more plunged deeply into your back the next morning.”

  “That’s actually pretty cool,” said Cy, still twirling Riku’s knife. “Did you make that up right now or is that like an ancient ninja proverb?”

  “It will be a stone cold fact if you kill us,” said Riku.

  “Neat,” said Cy. Then he frowned and looked at Riku’s knife. “But how could you possibly plunge a thousand knives into a single person’s back? Either we’re talking about a REALLY big person here or a thousand tiny little knives, but then that just opens the question of how you transport a thousand tiny knives without also cutting your—”

  “Cy,” I said, “what did I say about shutting up?”

  “Right,” said Cy. “I forgot, although in my defense I didn’t talk about your weird fetish.”

  I sighed again and, rubbing my forehead to forestall the growing headache, looked down at Aimi and Riku again. “So if I killed you two, then the Ninja Guild will keep sending people after us.”

  “Obviously,” said Riku. “If you think we were trouble, then wait until a Master Ninja is sent after you. Two Master Ninjas, actually. You will surely die then.”

  “It depends,” said Aimi. Unlike Riku, her voice was pretty flat. She seemed resigned to their fate. “I doubt they would send a Master Ninja, but maybe some higher-leveled Elite Ninja Assassins.”

  “Yes, Miss Aimi, of course, Miss Aimi,” said Riku quickly. “It was presumptive of me to make such grand statements without first checking with you. Were I not currently tied up with these accursed ropes, I would be flogging myself for my recklessness.”

  “Okay, boss, I’ve got to apologize,” said Cy. He gestured at Riku with his knife. “This guy clearly has a weirder fetish than you.”

  “I don’t have a—” I took a deep breath and shook my head. “Never mind.” I looked down at Aimi. “Why does Riku call you Miss Aimi all the time? Are you higher up in the Ninja Guild than he is?”

  “How dare you speak to Miss Aimi that way,” Riku said indignantly. “She is a woman who deserves to be treated with respect and honor. I thought you Heroes respected women.”

  “It’s fine, Riku,” said Aimi with a shrug that was hampered by the ice holding her down. “I have no intention of telling Winter anything. Let him kill us. It won’t save him from the storm that he will unleash if he does that.”

  Aimi spoke rather confidently for a woman who was currently incapacitated and at my mercy. That was how I knew there was more to her than meets the eye. No way she was just some random Elite Ninja Assassin. That was why I didn’t want to kill her or Riku just yet. My curiosity was piqued.

  Kneeling next to Aimi, I said, “You guys put up a good fight earlier, but I think you overestimate the power of your little Ninja Guild. Especially since I’m not even alone. I have a Team now, and we’re a pretty tough Team, too, if you catch my drift.”

  Aimi met my eyes without hesitation or fear. “We have fought Teams before.”

  “More like slaughtered them,” said Riku with a chuckle.

  “Perhaps,” I said, “but you might want to be careful about my Team. We defeated Dark Kosmos, after all. Might not want to piss us off.”

  “Dark Kosmos was but a flea in comparison to the Grandmaster himself,” said Riku with a sneer. “Grandmaster Yamamoto can kill you before you even realize it.”

  “Mmm hmm,” I said, scratching my chin. “Whatever you say. Anyway, Aimi, I’ve got a question for you before I kill you.”

  For the first time, I saw confusion in Aimi’s eyes. “A question? Whatever it is, I refuse to answer it.”

  “Right,” I said. “It’s not even a particularly sensitive question. I just want to know what an Anti-Villain is. I saw it on your Alignment when I Scanned you, but I’ve never heard of such a thing, so—”

  “She’s an Anti-Villain?” Cy repeated. He looked at her with more interest. “Man, that’s rare as a four-leafed clover. And she’s not even a player.”

  “Do you know what an Anti-Villain is?” I asked Cy, looking over at him.

  Cy nodded. “Sure. You know how the Alignment System works, right?”

  I nodded in return. “Yeah, I do. You do good things, you become a Hero. Do bad things, you become a Villain. Pretty simple.”

  “Yeah, but there’s a bit more to it than that,” said Cy. “Motives matter, too. To put it simply, if you do good things in a bad way, then you have a chance to become an Anti-Hero. Or do bad things in a good way, you can become an Anti-Villain.”

  I frowned. “I don’t understand. What do you mean by doing bad things in a good way?”

  Cy tossed the knife from hand to hand. “Let me think of an example … oh, I know. Imagine your wife is dying of some terrible illness and the only way to cure her is to get this special, unique medicine that is really expensive. Imagine that you aren’t rich enough to buy the medicine, so you decide to break into the corporation’s lab and steal a sample of it for your wife. Oh, and you kill a few people on your way out, mostly guards or maybe lab workers. Would that make you more of a Hero or a Villain?”

  “A Hero …” I said although I didn’t sound certain. “Right?”

  “Anti-Hero, actually,” said Cy. “Saving your wife’s life is a good thing, but breaking into someone’s private property, stealing their stuff, and then killing some people on your way out who are just doing their job is … not. Same thing that applies to Anti-Villains. As you can tell, it can get pretty complicated sometimes.”

  I was surprised by how thoroughly and clearly Cy explained the Anti-Hero/Anti-Villain Alignments. I was so used to thinking of Cy as being a scatterbrained cloud cuckoo lander that I forgot that one of the purposes of a Sidekick in Capes Online was to explain game mechanics and functions to their players. Although I’d learned a lot about Capes Online since my mind was uploaded here, Cy still knew way more about the game and how it worked tha
n I probably ever would. I had only met one guy who knew more about Capes Online’s mechanics than Cy since I got here and I was pretty sure he was one of the game’s developers, which explained his knowledge.

  I looked down at Aimi. “So, Aimi, I take it you’re not as bad as you seem.”

  “Good and evil are relative,” said Aimi without missing a beat. “I fight for my Guild. I can do no less.”

  I nodded, but then I raised my hand and summoned an Ice Dagger, one of the new Powers I had gotten since I defeated Dark Kosmos. “I can respect that, but I’m still going to have to kill you, I’m afraid. Gotta look out for my own safety and the safety of my Sidekick, you understand.”

  “Perfectly,” said Aimi. “We members of the Ninja Guild are taught to expect death at all turns. There is no guarantee that any of us will see tomorrow. Ninjas are killed almost as often as they kill others. It is simply the way of the world.”

  Aimi’s perfect calmness and composure in the face of certain death made me respect her against my will. I almost felt bad for killing her, but I couldn’t let her stay alive. If I spared her and Riku, they would just kill me and Cy, and maybe even my Teammates. Best to take care of them now. That way, at least Cy and I could catch up on our sleep.

  Gripping my Ice Dagger firmly in hand, I was just about to bring it down in her throat when Riku suddenly shouted, “Wait!”

  Pausing, I looked over my shoulder at Riku. He was staring at me with pleading eyes, which made him look kind of pathetic, to be honest.

  “What?” I said. “Are you just going to tell us more about the storm we’re about to unleash? Because if so—”

  “No, no threats,” said Riku quickly. “I simply beg you to spare Miss Aimi’s life. Kill me if you must, but spare her.”

  “Why?” I said in annoyance. “Both of you tried to kill me. I’ll kill you after I kill her.”

  “Because if you kill her, then you will regret it,” said Riku.

  I snorted. “’No threats,’ huh? Sounds like a threat to me.”

  “That is not what I mean,” said Riku. He looked me directly in the eyes. “If Miss Aimi dies, then you will condemn Adventure City … and everyone in it … to destruction.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Normally, I would have dismissed Riku’s warning as a lie meant to keep me from killing Aimi. But there was something in his voice and his eyes that told me that maybe he was telling the truth. Of course, I was well-aware that ninjas were masters of lies and deception—I heard they even had a Power called Liar that allowed them to craft more believable lies—but for some reason, Riku, despite being an advanced Elite Ninja Assassin, did not strike me as a liar.

  Lowering my ice dagger, I turned to face Riku. “What do you mean?”

  “Riku doesn’t mean anything,” said Aimi. She sounded less calm now, almost panicky. “He is lying. He is merely trying to save my life.”

  “I am sorry, Miss Aimi, but you know I cannot tell a lie to save my life,” said Riku. “And I know I am not supposed to tell anyone outside the Ninja Guild about this, but I simply cannot bear to see you die. It would be a dishonor on me and my family name. It would be better for me to spend the rest of my lives feasting on feces in the Sewers than to let you perish.”

  Cy made a disgusted sound. “I know I said I don’t judge peoples’ fetishes, but—”

  I held up a warning hand and Cy, thankfully, shut up. But I could tell he was thinking about how disgusting Riku was, which I couldn’t blame him, even though I was fairly certain Riku didn’t have that kind of fetish (hopefully).

  “As a general rule, I don’t trust ninjas,” I said, “but I’ll give you a moment to explain what you mean. But if I sense that you are lying, then I won’t hesitate to kill both of you. Got it?”

  “Yes, I understand,” said Riku, nodding quickly. “I swear, on my Ninja Honor, that I will tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

  A notification suddenly appeared before:

  PROMISED OATH ALERT!

  [Elite Ninja Assassin Riku] has vowed to tell you nothing but the truth. Should you sense any lies in his story, he will instantly die and you and your Sidekick will be awarded EXP as if you had killed him yourself. This will not negatively affect your reputation with the Ninja Guild.

  Interesting. In the three weeks I’d been in Capes Online, I had never run into a Promised Oath. I made a mental note to ask Cy about it later, although given his perplexed expression, perhaps even he didn’t know what it was or how it worked.

  “All right, then,” I said. “Begin your story. And don’t waste any time, because I’m tired and I know I will be able to go to bed sooner if I kill you two.”

  Riku nodded. He took a deep breath and then said, “You are, of course, aware of the Ninja Guild in Adventure City.”

  “Yeah,” I said, nodding. “Given how the Ninja Guild tried to kill me on my first day here, I consider myself well-acquainted with it at this point.”

  “Yes, I know,” said Riku. He sounded incredibly nervous, perhaps afraid I might get bored and just kill them both, an option I was seriously considering at this point. “The Ninja Guild is the main ninja organization in Adventure City. Anyone who wants to be a ninja or who is a ninja has to join us. Even Heroes and Villains like yourself are allowed to join, assuming they wish to learn the secret arts of ninjutsu.”

  I frowned. “I didn’t know players could join the Ninja Guild. I thought it was just for Civilians.”

  “Players can join any organization they want, pretty much,” Cy added. “It can be a good way to get new equipment, learn new Powers or Skills you wouldn’t have learned on your own, and even level up. It does require commitment, though.”

  “The babbler is correct,” said Riku, nodding. “When you join the Ninja Guild, you agree to swear fealty to the Grandmaster and the Guild, whether you are a Hero or a Villain. You are not allowed to quit the Guild until you’ve completed at least a year of training under us. And should you do so, we will strip you of all your ninja clothing and equipment and treat you like an outsider.”

  “Why?” I said.

  “Because, as I said, the Ninja Guild has a monopoly on ninjas in Adventure City,” said Riku. “We do not want our ways and weapons to end up outside of our control. If anyone could be a ninja, it would cause untold catastrophe that could potentially topple the city itself.”

  I frowned. To me, it sounded like the Ninja Guild was more concerned about protecting its own control over the city’s ninja population than in actually protecting anyone the city. But I did not say that aloud and simply let Riku continue to share his story.

  “Having said that, we are facing such a threat right now,” said Riku. “Master Haru, the former Apprentice of Grandmaster Yamamoto, has gone rogue. He’s taken half of the Ninja Guild with him and formed his own guild, the Stalking Shadows.”

  “Oh, no,” I said in a false concerned voice. “Not competition. Anything but that.”

  “This is not merely ‘competition,’ as you put it so mockingly,” said Riku in annoyance. “Master Haru is a madman. He isn’t simply concerned with providing an alternative to the Ninja Guild. He seeks to destroy it and solidify his control over the City. He is teaching his Stalking Shadows to use ninjutsu for evil purposes.”

  “And you guys aren’t?” I said. “Every one of you guys have a Villain Alignment except for Aimi here.”

  “The Ninja Guild, as I said, is open to Heroes and Villains alike,” said Riku quickly. “We do not judge how our members use ninjutsu. But Master Haru deliberately trains his students to do evil things. He has an eye to rule Adventure City by taking over the government.”

  “Kind of like Dark Kosmos,” I said. “Right?”

  “Somewhat, but on a smaller scale,” said Riku. He shifted uncomfortably in his ropes. “Even so, Master Haru would be a cruel master. If he takes over Adventure City, then he will rule like the despotic tyrant he is. There will be no escape from his rule and he will harsh
ly crack down on dissidents, Hero and Villain alike.”

  “Then how does Aimi play into this?” I said, glancing at Aimi, who had not said a word the whole time. “You said if I killed her it would result in the destruction of Adventure City.”

  “Miss Aimi is very important because she’s …” Riku hesitated as if he was about to spill a really big secret that he knew he could get in trouble for. “Because she’s the daughter of Grandmaster Yamamoto himself.”

  Surprised, I looked over my shoulder at Aimi and said, “Is that true?”

  Aimi nodded reluctantly. “I see no reason to deny it, but Riku was not supposed to share that secret with you.”

  “I deeply apologize, Miss Aimi,” said Riku. He slammed his head against the floor, apparently in a failed attempt to bow while he was still tied up. “But I felt like I had to share that information with Winter so he might show you mercy and spare your life.”

  I could tell, even without her saying a word, that Aimi was angry at Riku for telling me that, but she didn’t say much more about it. She simply lay on the floor, a stoic look in her eyes as she stared up at the ceiling.

  “So Aimi is the daughter of your leader,” I said, looking at Riku again. “Why would her death result in the destruction of Adventure City?”

  “Her death would be an indirect cause of the City’s destruction,” Riku clarified. “You see, Aimi is much beloved by the entire Ninja Guild. Not just because she is the daughter of our leader, but because her beauty, grace, and wisdom beyond her years inspire us all to achieve greater heights and depths in our ninja journey. If she died, it would demoralize the Ninja Guild like nothing else and allow Master Haru’s Stalking Shadows to establish themselves as the premier ninja guild of Adventure City.”

  I scratched my chin. “And that would result in the destruction of the City … how?”

  “As I said, the Stalking Shadows are pure evil,” Riku said. “I believe Master Haru wants to do more than just become the top ninja guild in the City, but also take over the City and kill anyone who opposes his despotic rule.”