The Player Plague

by Lucas Flint

  Eventually, our pursuit took us to the very heart of the factory, near the hole in the ceiling created by Goalem’s earlier fall. Here, the catwalk turned into a circle with various other pathways branching off it like the spokes of a wheel. Directly below us was a bubbling vat of Z-Virus. It was currently covered with a glass lid, but I could see the Z-Virus bubbling away beneath it like water in a hot pot.

  That was when I saw what Atmosfear and Giggles were trying to do. They were trying to reach the other side of the catwalk circle, the part closest to the hole in the ceiling. I didn’t know if Atmosfear or Giggles could fly, but they probably had some kind of Power to let them jump high enough to reach it, at least. If they got through the hole in the ceiling, then they would probably get away and we’d lose them again.

  “Cy!” I said to Cy as we ran. “When I jump, I need you to use Gust to send me flying. Can you do that?”

  “Sure thing, boss!” said Cy, his voice slightly out of breath as we ran. “I’m ready when you are.”

  Nodding, I jumped into the air and used Flight to give myself an extra boost. A second later, a powerful Gust of wind slammed into my back and sent me hurtling through the air. I crossed the gap between my side of the catwalk and the other side, flying over Atmosfear and Giggles’ heads. Landing on the catwalk in front of them, I whirled around and swung my foot at Atmosfear’s face.

  But Atmosfear jumped back at the last second. Giggles, however, was not so lucky. He ran right into my foot, which hit him hard enough to send him staggering off to the side. He would have fallen over into the vat of Z-Virus below if the catwalk didn’t have any railing. As it was, Giggles just grabbed the railing for support, a dazed look on his face as he struggled to remain standing upright.

  Rising to my full height, I summoned twin Ice Daggers and rushed toward Atmosfear. Atmosfear, however, drew a battle ax from his side and swiped at me. I jumped back to avoid getting my head taken off, however, and skidded to a stop a couple of feet away from Atmosfear.

  “It’s over, Bryce,” I said, twirling my Ice Daggers in my hands. “I’m not going to let you get away again, not like last time. This time, you are going to face the justice you’ve escaped for so long.”

  “What justice?” said Atmosfear with a chuckle. “Justice doesn’t exist, donut. If it did, I would be fully recognized by the world for my amazing intellect, instead of treated like I’ve got the plague.”

  “Doesn’t matter what you think,” I said. “Both in real life and in this game, you’ve broken countless laws and harmed far too many innocent people. I am going to bring you to justice even if I have to break every bone in your body to do it.”

  I lunged at Atmosfear again. The two of us started to trade blows. I would hop in close and try to get him with my Ice Daggers, while Atmosfear would force me back with wide swings of his massive battle ax. Neither of us used our Powers. It was a straight battle of weapons as we both struggled to take out each other. Sometimes I would get in a good cut or slash and take a few points off Atmosfear’s Health. Other times, Atmosfear’s ax would glance off me and take a few points off my Health bar. Neither one of us, however, managed to land the decisive blow we knew would end the fight.

  As I parried his ax and he blocked my Daggers, I began to feel tired. My Stamina was running out again. It had almost run out while we were chasing him and Giggles and now it was getting low again as we fought. I wished I could take a moment to rest, but Atmosfear was like a wild animal now. He swung his ax wildly through the air, each blow strong enough to take off my head and forcing me to Dodge, which was hard on this narrow catwalk. I was also vaguely aware of Cy and Giggles fighting each other somewhere behind us, but I was so focused on surviving my battle with Atmosfear that I could spare no attention to Cy’s own struggle.

  Hours seemed to pass as Atmosfear and I fought each other. Although my own Stamina was running out, I could tell, based on how slow his attacks were, that Atmosfear was also getting tired. In the back of my mind, I realized that this battle would soon be decided not by my or his superior skill, but by whoever ran out of Stamina first. And based on how low my Stamina was getting, I had a feeling it would be me first.

  But my thoughts were interrupted by another wild swing Atmosfear’s ax. I tried to Dodge it, but I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even do that. Instead, I raised my Ice Daggers in front of my face.

  My Ice Daggers blocked the ax but exploded into a million pieces in the process. The explosion of ice got in my face and made me stumble backward, holding onto the railing for support. Perhaps sensing victory, Atmosfear grinned maniacally again and raised his ax. This time, I was completely out of Stamina and knew I wouldn’t survive a direct attack from Atmosfear.

  So instead, I activated Freezing Touch. The portion of the catwalk we stood upon froze under our feet. Atmosfear looked down when that happened, but I didn’t hesitate. I fired an Ice Beam, which hit him in the chest. It didn’t take more than a couple of points of Health off his bar, but it did make him drop his ax, which fell straight onto the frozen catwalk.

  As soon as the heavy ax hit the catwalk, the catwalk shattered under our feet. Both Atmosfear and I fell toward the vat of bubbling Z-Virus below, but I grabbed onto the broken edge of the catwalk and held on for dear life. Atmosfear, however, grabbed onto my ankles as his ax fell down and smashed through the glass lid of the Z-Virus below. With a hole in the lid, the stink of the Z-Virus—which smelled like rotting flesh and dried blood—rose up through the air toward us. The stink, however, didn’t make it harder for me to breathe, probably because I was already half-Infected anyway and so didn’t need as much air as I normally did.

  Gritting my teeth, I looked down at Atmosfear and shouted, “Bryce! I can save us both if you’re willing to work with me. We can both survive this if we’re smart.”

  Atmosfear looked up at me. His face was twisted with absolute and utter hatred, his eyes blazing like an inferno as he glared at me. “Why should I work with you when I can take us both our together? Better to die free than spend the rest of my life behind bars.”

  Atmosfear’s grip tightened on my ankles and he pulled down. I redoubled my grip on the half of the catwalk I held onto, but with my Stamina depleted, it was hard to keep holding on. Each one of my fingers screamed from the pressure of hanging onto the frozen catwalk. Then each one of my fingers began to slip and then I found myself free falling with Atmosfear toward the Z-Virus vat below.

  But then a strong arm reach down and grabbed my wrist, making me stop abruptly. Shocked, I looked up expecting to see maybe Cy or Yamamoto, but to my surprise, it was Targetman. Even with his gas mask on, he looked tired and exhausted, but his grip was as tight as iron and he somehow managed to hold both Atmosfear and me in the air.

  “Targetman?” I said. My voice was weak, probably due to my low Stamina. “How did you get here?”

  “Had to take out Goalem,” said Targetman grimly. “Only way to escape him.”

  “Aw, no fair,” Atmosfear, who still clung to my ankles, complained. “You ruined my perfectly good plan to kill Nyle with me. You Task Force idiots really are this world’s equivalent of the donuts in the real world, you know that?”

  “True, we do play a similar role,” said Targetman. He suddenly pulled out a gun and pointed it at Atmosfear. “Only, we are under no obligation to bring criminals like you in alive.”

  Targetman pulled the trigger. The gunshot was deafening in my ears, but despite being so close to me, the bullet didn’t even touch me. Instead, it went straight into Atmosfear’s forehead. Atmosfear’s Health dropped to zero and his face froze in his trademark monstrous grin as he let go of my ankle and fell.

  Atmosfear’s body smashed into and through the glass lid of the Z-Virus vat. The last I saw, before Atmosfear’s body sank into the vat, was Atmosfear’s chilling grin as he sank into the Z-Virus vat out of sight.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  A moment later, Targetman hauled me up onto the catwalk with him. Gaspi
ng for breath, I crawled several feet away from the edge of the catwalk until I was sure I was in no danger of accidentally falling in. Then I rolled onto my side and began breathing hard as my Stamina bar slowly but surely began to refill.

  Targetman, however, looked no worse for the wear. He stood up and holstered his handgun. He was no longer even looking at the Z-Virus vat below. He simply tapped the air several times, like he was interacting with a screen I couldn’t see, before nodding once and dismissing it.

  “What … what did you just do?” I said, breathing hard.

  Targetman looked down at me. His gas mask made it impossible to see his face, but I could tell my question had taken him off-guard. “Simply confirming Atmosfear’s death and claiming my bounty. I got a notification informing me of his death. He didn’t give much experience, although given how much lower his level was than mine, I can’t say I was surprised.”

  “You mean he’s dead?” I said.

  “Looks like it,” said Targetman, glancing down at the open vat below. “My Headshot Power has a ninety percent chance of guaranteeing an instant death. And if that didn’t kill him, then I imagine the Z-Virus vat would have.”

  “But won’t he just respawn?” I said. I grabbed the railing and slowly rose to my feet, my knees still somewhat shaky from my near-death experience. “I mean, back in his Hideout?”

  “Perhaps,” said Targetman, never taking his eyes off the bubbling Z-Virus vat below, “but I am not sure. The original Z-Virus interfered with the respawn process of players infected with it. Then again, I’ve never seen a player fall into a full, hot, bubbling vat of that stuff before. If he died before his body sank in, he will probably be okay. If not … well, I cannot imagine a worse fate than what he might be experiencing now.”

  I gulped. As much as I hated Atmosfear, I still found his death rather gruesome. “He was a Project Second Life participant like me. Does that change anything?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” said Targetman, shaking his head. “Your kind always seems to play by different rules than the rest of us. There’s no way to know until—or if—he respawns.”

  I almost started when Targetman said ‘Your kind.’ What was he implying? That we both weren’t human? I couldn’t disagree more. Just because my mind happened to be uploaded to the game and I didn’t have a physical body in the real world to return to like he did didn’t mean I was any less human than him … at least, I hoped so.

  Before I could ask him about it, I heard someone cry, “Atmosfear, no!” and the two of us looked across the gap in the catwalk to see Cy and Giggles standing on the other side.

  To my surprise, Cy stood on top of Giggles, whose arms were tied firmly behind his back with a thick rope. Giggles’ eyes, however, were focused more on the bubbling vat of Z-Virus below than anything.

  “Hi, boss!” said Cy, waving at me with his usual big smile on his face. He gestured at Giggles. “I caught a big one! Although he kind of lost the will to fight when Atmosfear died there, so—”

  “You killed my boss,” said Giggles, interrupting Cy. He was glaring at both Targetman and me now, his eyes burning with sheer hatred. “How dare you! I will kill both of you myself to avenge Atmosfear’s memory!”

  “Didn’t Atmosfear constantly abuse you?” I said to Giggles. “Why would you even want to avenge him?”

  “You don’t understand,” said Giggles in a vicious voice. “He is my Villain. It is my duty as a Sidekick to avenge him when he falls. And I will avenge him. I will slit your throat and watch you bleed out and enjoy every second of your painful, agonizing—”

  Without warning, Cy kicked Giggles in the back of the head so hard that Giggles’ head smashed down onto the catwalk. His eyes were open, but the lights definitely weren’t on in there.

  “Sorry,” said Cy, looking at me and Targetman apologetically. “I hope you don’t mind me doing that. He was kind of getting on my nerves, what with threatening to kill you and all.”

  I smiled. “No problem. Now he will be easier to hand over to the police.”

  “Or perhaps to the government,” said Targetman. His lenses zoomed in and out as he focused on Giggles. “From what I have been told, Atmosfear was never supposed to be in Capes Online at all. Perhaps Giggles, being his Sidekick, will be able to tell us who uploaded him here in the first place or where he is.”

  “Never thought of that,” I said, stroking my chin in thought, “but good idea. Even if Atmosfear died, Giggles wouldn’t be with him, right?”

  “Unless Atmosfear summons him back to his Hideout,” said Targetman, “but seeing as Giggles is still here, I think it’s safe to assume Atmosfear hasn’t done that yet … assuming he survived the fall at all, that is.”

  “I hope he did,” I said. “Death is too good for someone like him. He needs to face justice.”

  Targetman shrugged. “Either way, he is gone. So I think—”

  Targetman was interrupted by a loud stomping noise around us. Looking down under the catwalk, I saw Goalem—his eyes blood red and his skin pale as snow—stomping toward us one massive foot at a time. Around him walked the rest of the Task Force, as well as dozens of Ninja Guild and Stalking Shadows members. Even my own Teammates walked among them, their sightless eyes sending chills up my spine just by looking at them.

  “Uh oh,” I said. “Looks like the party isn’t over yet.”

  Targetman unlimbered his rifle and aimed it at the incoming zombies. “If we are going to survive, we will have to kill them all.”

  I looked at Targetman in shock. “Even your own Teammates?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” said Targetman tersely as he lined up his gun to take a shot. “They will understand, however. If the situation was reversed and I was the one Infected with the Z-Virus, I would have gladly accepted my own death at their hands. It is the only way to deal with the Z-Virus permanently.”

  I wasn’t sure I agreed with Targetman’s philosophy, but then again, he was an Anti-Hero, which meant he was always going to be a bit edgier than someone like me. On the other hand, given how we were about to be attacked by a full-sized group of dozens of zombies, including some with levels over 100, perhaps shoot to kill was indeed our best course of action. I hated the idea of killing my own Teammates, and not just because it would negatively affect my own Alignment, but that didn’t change the fact that it was either us or them, and I frankly had no intention of dying.

  But seeing all of the other zombies stirred a deep hunger inside me. My own Infection rate was now 53%. I was well aware of Targetman standing right next to me. He wasn’t infected. He had delicious human blood and skin. I could just imagine sinking my teeth into his neck and—

  The cold barrel of Targetman’s gun was forced against my forehead. I paused, staring at Targetman’s expressionless face, as frozen as a statue as time seemed to crawl to a standstill.

  “I hope you didn’t believe I forgot about your Infection,” said Targetman. His finger rested on the trigger of his gun, but he didn’t pull it just yet. “Given how pale your skin is, I can only assume Kids Mode must have been disabled at some point. If I am going to solve this problem, then I will need to kill you, too.”

  “But you just saved me from Atmosfear,” I said, doing my best to keep the fear out of my voice. “Why would you save me from him if you’re just going to kill me anyway?”

  “Atmosfear was the bigger threat,” said Targetman casually. “Now that he is dead, you are my next target. Don’t take it personally. I’m simply doing what is necessary to keep Capes Online safe.”

  This time, I knew I was a goner. While I was close enough to use my Powers and attack Targetman, I knew for a fact I couldn’t shoot an Ice Beam faster than he could pull the trigger on his gun. Cy couldn’t save me, either, because he was too far away and not fast enough to outrun Targetman’s trigger finger.

  With a shudder, I closed my eyes and said, “Get it over with, then. I was a police officer back in the real world. I know that sometimes you have
to do hard things for the greater good. I won’t hold this against you.”

  I waited for Targetman to pull the trigger and put a bullet in my head. I wished I didn’t have to die today, but I knew I had to.

  But then, without warning, I felt Targetman’s gun move away from my head. My eyes snapped open and I saw Targetman standing with his rifle at his side. He had taken a couple of steps away from me and with his mask still on, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

  “What …” I said. “Aren’t you going to kill me?”

  Targetman shook his head. “No. I want to—I really, really want to—but not this time. Killing you won’t save the game from the Z-Virus. Besides, I always repay my favors, even to people I dislike.”

  I was about to ask him what he meant when I suddenly remembered giving him one of my Health Drinks earlier. At the time, I did it because it was the right thing to do. I hadn’t realized that it would cause Targetman to change his opinion of me, or that he would ever even consider sparing me as a return of the favor. Perhaps Targetman was nicer than I thought.

  Then Targetman leaned forward. “But I am only allowing you to get away this one time. And only because I have better things to deal with. Should we ever cross paths again like this … well, you know what I will do.”

  I nodded quickly. “Sure, man. I understand completely.”

  Targetman leaned back and then immediately aimed his rifle at the incoming zombies. “Now go. I will hold off the Z-Virus carriers.”

  “Go—?” I said. “Go where?”

  Targetman, who had set up a good sniping position very quickly, looked over his shoulder at me. “Isn’t it obvious? Yamamoto needs your help defeating Haru. They’re both on the roof. I need you to get out of here as fast as possible.”

  “Why?” I said.

  Targetman pulled out what looked like a small hand grenade from his pocket and waved it at me before tossing it down into the zombies below. “Because I am going to blow up this entire factory and all of the Z-Virus within it with the powerful bombs I brought with me. And if you don’t leave now, you and your Sidekick will die as well.”