The Grind

by Dante Doom

  “Is that girl flying?” Fingers asked as he pointed to Savannah. She was sailing downwards at full speed, but controlled, and she did a few loop-de-loops to get a feel for how flying worked. It was exhilarating.

  “How are you doing that?” Timon asked.

  “Kireen gave me her power!” Savannah replied. “Leopold’s strategy is going to fail, guys. His sanity is starting to slip. I’ve got a plan for how we can take him out.”

  “How?” Timon asked as Savannah landed on the ground in front of him.

  “It’s simple; I’m going to turn invisible. You two draw his attention,” Savannah replied. “No matter what, stay focused on those last two chains. Once they’re gone, his transformation will end.”

  “Will his mind be better?” Fingers asked.

  Savannah paused and searched her thoughts. A near supernatural knowledge of how the Aspect transformation process worked came to her mind immediately. She shook her head. “No, once you become an Aspect, you’re stuck that way. While they can chain themselves together to get stronger, none of them are rational enough to do it or once again become their full selves.”

  “Beautiful!” Fingers said as he clapped his fingers together. “So, you’re telling me that his transformation will end, but he’ll remain an Aspect for good so long as he remains in the game?”

  “Yes,” Savannah replied. “Or, at least, I think so. It’s kind of hard to sift through all of this knowledge in my brain right now.”

  Timon pointed toward the sky. “He’s on his way—get ready!”

  “Catch his attention and provoke him again,” Savannah said as she faded from sight. “I’ll surprise him from behind.”

  “Hey!” Fingers yelled as he waved at King Leopold. “Why don’t you come down here and fight me like a real man! You keep swooping and grabbing; makes me think you don’t know how to fight!”

  Timon said nothing, but instead continued to focus his aim on the chain attached to Alcius. He fired off another shot and the words 100 damage hovered above the chain, dropping the chain’s strength down to 1,500.

  Leopold hovered above Fingers and scanned the area, looking for Savannah. Fingers fired a few shots at the jackal-beast, but there was no damage dealt because of his damage resistance. “Where is she?” Leopold bellowed. “Where is the girl?”

  “She died,” Fingers replied as he paused to reload his revolver. “You dropped her and she hit the ground.”

  “Lies!” Leopold shrieked. “You lie to me! If she had died, I would have gotten the points! The precious points! I need them!”

  “You need to die in a fire!” Fingers jeered at the crazed King as he took another meaningless shot at Leopold. The bullet bounced off the jackal’s head.

  “I grow tiresome of you!” Leopold growled. His wings began to beat rapidly then as he descended towards Fingers, his legs stretched out, ready to grab the man.

  “That’s more like it!” Fingers said as he readied himself to dodge out of the way.

  Savannah was watching everything in silence. Kireen’s power was still coursing through her veins, and she knew so many wondrous secrets. The Aspect didn’t speak, but Savannah could feel the woman’s moment by moment advice almost instinctively. She had to wait until the time was right—then, and only then, could she strike.

  Leopold charged, but Fingers was far more nimble than the King. He leapt out of the way with ease and activated his Rapid Shot power. Hundreds of bullets came pouring from his twin guns as he fired on Alcius’ chain, dealing 600 damage in less than a few seconds.

  “Almost there!” Timon shouted as he fired his Sniper Rifle at the chain. The blue bolt of energy hit the chain and the word Destroyed hovered above it. Alcius broke free from Leopold and faded away. There was only one Aspect chained to Leopold now—a woman adorned in moss robes and a crown of antlers.

  Leopold turned around in mid-air and faced the two fighters on the ground. “My power sources have been worn down, but no matter! You will not survive this attack!” The word Charging appeared once again above his head as he began to ascend out of their reach. Both Timon and Fingers’ attacks bounced off the remaining chain as purple energy surged toward Leopold’s chest.

  Savannah grimaced. This major attack had been powerful enough to destroy Elanor’s armor; even if Leopold’s power source was weakened, Fingers and Timon weren’t nearly as strong as Elanor. They’d be obliterated by the attack.

  As Savannah watched the King power up and her friends scrambled to find some kind of cover, a single image rose to her mind. It was a picture of Leopold’s back, with a small yellow ring around the base of where the last Aspect’s cable was attached. It was a weak spot.

  Still invisible, Savannah took out her Arc Rifle and carefully aimed at Leopold’s back, going directly to the spot that her vision had told her about. With the utmost precision and caution, she floated a few hundred feet away from him and placed her finger on the trigger. Attacking would end her Invisibility power’s immediate use, but she could renew it quickly. All she had to do now was hit the right spot.

  The Arc Rifle fired a bolt of lightning that crashed into the weak spot of Leopold’s back. He yelped as the word Cancelled hovered above his head. The words Critical Damage: 1,000 hovered next above the last chain, and the final Aspect broke free and faded away from view.

  Leopold immediately spun around to see what had hit him, but Savannah had already turned invisible again. Kireen’s powers were certainly coming in handy.

  “I know you’re there!” Leopold screamed out. “I know you are waiting and watching me! You cannot defeat me!” As he spoke, though, his wings slowly began to melt into his back. His claws were shrinking and contorting back into regular hands and feet. His jackal head was returning to its original form of a human head, although Savannah wasn’t sure which one was uglier. “I will find you!” he gasped as he began to plummet towards the ground.

  Fingers and Timon were firing on him again already, and their attacks were starting to deal damage to him. As he fell, the words 100 damage hovered above his head a few times, dropping his health down to 7,800. The hard impact he made hitting the ground dropped his health down to 5,200.

  Savannah waited, still. Something in her mind told her to keep waiting, despite how vulnerable Leopold seemed. She knew better now than to go against Kireen’s advice, and so she stayed in the air, gun at the ready, looking for the opportune moment.

  “You really think that you can kill me?” Leopold screamed into the air above him as he slowly got back to his feet. He was panting and gasping for breath, and he held up a shaky hand and created another thin blue shield around himself. The shield was much smaller this time, but it was doing the job of deflecting attacks.

  “Oh, we don’t think,” Fingers said. “We know!”

  “You are fools! You could have anything you want in this world, and instead, you choose to fight me?” Leopold gasped as he clutched his side. He was looking a little more translucent than before. Perhaps he was permanently an Aspect now. “Your choice has damned you! Do you hear me? You are condemned for your actions!” He held up his hands and waved them, causing a spiraling vortex to emerge from the ground.

  The winds began to whip then, and Savannah felt herself pulled down towards the large pillar of wind that had appeared. Above the vortex was the word Ragnar. It was a Viral. Two long funnels emerged from the sides of the vortex as if they were limbs. They began to smash at Timon and Fingers. Fingers was fast enough to dodge out of the way, but Timon wasn’t so lucky. The Vortex’s funnel snagged hold of him and pulled him into itself.

  “Ahhh!” Timon shouted as the words 5 damage began to appear above his head in one continuous stream of alerts.

  “Say goodbye to your life!” Leopold cackled. “Meet my greatest creation! You could have left at any time, but now… now you’re going to die!” He threw his head back and let out a deep, maniacal laugh.

  Savannah aimed her spectacles at the Viral and pulled up the reconfigur
ation menu. Instead of taking control of it, she simply deleted it. Timon, who had been hovering in the air a second ago, fell to the ground as the Viral vanished suddenly.

  “What the hell?” Leopold screamed. “How… how did that happen?”

  “Did you forget we could control Virals?” Fingers teased the King as he lazily fired a shot at the shield, only for the bullet to deflect. “I hate to break it to you, King Leopold, but you’ve lost. You got nothing.”

  “I haven’t lost yet,” Leopold gasped as he raised his hands once again. The shield around him exploded in a powerful shockwave, knocking Timon and Fingers onto their backs. “I will not lose!” He clasped his hands together and the word Charging hovered above his head yet again. “I must not lose,” he mumbled.

  Savannah could see the weak spot as plain as day now. As soon as Leopold had activated his charging power, a large yellow ring had emerged on his back. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for. She aimed her rifle, activated her Overdrive+ power, and fired on him. The streak of energy crashed into him and the words Critical Damage: 2,000 hovered above Leopold’s head.

  “Ah!” Leo screamed as he jerked upwards from the strike. Savannah fired again, hitting him for 2,000 more points. The Charging meter spiked, however, and Leopold’s entire body began to glow with a white-hot energy.

  Timon and Fingers, who had been stunned by the first shockwave, were getting back on their feet when Savannah shouted to them. “Run! I think he’s going to—” Her words were interrupted as a blast of burning hot energy erupted from Leopold’s entire body. The explosion was enormous, and covered almost half of the map. Savannah was out of harm’s way due to her height, but her friends weren’t so lucky.

  “No!” Savannah cried out desperately as she flew to where her allies had been. Timon was lying on the ground, coughing and wheezing, but Fingers was gone.

  “Fingers is gone,” Timon gasped. “And my entire body has injuries—I can’t move.”

  Savannah turned her attention back to the King to see that Leopold was still alive, although he had a measly 300 hit points left. He was slumped over on the ground and was breathing heavily. “Let me finish this,” she muttered as she walked over to him.

  Leopold glanced up at her, a defiant sneer on his face. “So, this is how it ends?” he wheezed. “You’re going to be the one to usurp me? Not Elanor? I didn’t see this one coming.”

  “I’m going to end it all,” Savannah said as she placed the rifle against his temple. “And you’re going to pay for your crimes in the real world.”

  “Let me propose a counter-argument. You have the points you need, and when you kill me, you’ll have even more. You have more points than Timon,” Leopold said with a chuckle. “So, why not simply become the Queen? Don’t destroy this place, Savannah. You were the strongest and the smartest. You deserve to rule Verre, and I can be there, as your servant. I’ll tell you everything you need to know. I don’t mind second best, or hell, even fourth best. Don’t throw everything away.”

  Savannah looked at Leopold, placed her finger on the trigger and merely said, “Goodbye.” Then she shot him, killing him instantly. 22,000,000 points went rushing to Timon, and Savannah could see that he was now sitting on a whopping 52 million. That would be more than enough to activate the Admin room, once they found it.

  “We did it!” Savannah yelled as she rushed over to Timon. He was still collapsed in a heap, though, unable to move.

  “Nice work,” Timon said with a faint smile. “But we’re not done yet. Leopold might be rushing back into the game as we speak. How do we find the tower again?”

  “I don’t know…” Savannah said as she looked around. They were in some random section of Fieros. It would be difficult to find the portal without any help from Ten-Thirty. A sharp pain rose in her stomach as she remembered that her Machina friend was now gone. Even though she had defeated Leopold, she didn’t feel any better about Ten’s death.

  “Over there,” Timon said as he pointed to the north. Savannah looked up to see that five Aspects were all floating in a circle, their hands joined together. Kireen slowly emerged from Savannah’s body, causing her to shudder at the strange sensation.

  “You must save the world from the plague,” Kireen whispered. “We will take you to where you need to go.”

  The Aspects began to spin in a circle with a slow, methodical rhythm. A portal appeared in the center of the circle and they broke off, waiting for Savannah and Timon to enter.

  “Let’s move,” Savannah said as she bent down to help Timon up.

  “I still can’t move,” Timon groaned. As she tried to pick him up. The alert 15 damage hovered above his head, dropping him down to 92 hit points. “Anytime I move, it deals damage,” he groaned.

  “I don’t think we can get you to a Med Center,” Savannah said. “Let me go grab something to cure your injuries and–”

  “We might not have the time,” Timon whispered to her, shaking his head. “Even now, Leopold could be sending his men to our pods to kill us.” He held his hand up. “Take my points. All of them. Restart the Grind.”

  Savannah looked at his outstretched hand. Would he really trust her with all of his points? “How… how do you know I’m going to do the right thing?” she asked with a hoarse whisper.

  “That’s the thing about trust; you never really know for sure,” Timon said, wheezing. “But you still have to trust your friends anyway. Take my points and restart the Grind. Let’s end this classist nightmare for good.”

  Savannah took his hand, squeezing it, and watched as all of his points transferred over to her. The words 52,002,000 hovered above her head. It was enough points for her to be able to do anything she wanted.

  “You must hurry!” Kireen urged them. “Before it is too late for humanity!”

  “I’ll see you outside of this place,” Savannah whispered as she leaned over and kissed Timon on his forehead. With that, she turned around and made her way to the portal. The Aspects were all staring blankly at one another; Alcius was mumbling to himself, the beast creature was growling, and Savannah could see their minds were rapidly beginning to deteriorate again.

  Savannah placed her hand on the portal, took a deep breath, and allowed it to transport her to her destiny.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Savannah opened her eyes to see that she had been teleported to the Maintenance floor. Immediately in front of her was a door that was labeled with “Shutdown: 15,000,000 points”. To her right was another door that read: “Reboot: 30,000,000 points”. She swiveled her head from side to side, wondering why it was cheaper to shut the Grind down rather than to reboot it.

  With Elanor and Leopold’s points combined, she had more than enough needed to become the new Queen of Verre. All she would have to do was log out and the status would be confirmed immediately. She would ascend to royalty.

  She could see the hole that would allow her to open the door to shut down the Grind. In doing so, she would be choosing to give up the opportunity to become the Queen. Leopold’s words echoed in her head. How easy would it be for her to log out and become the lawful ruler of Verre? She had dreamt of nobility all of her life, but now that the power of the monarchy was in her hands, why would she ever give this up?

  Then again, everyone on her team had been counting on her. Fingers, Timon, and Elanor had all fought so hard to save Verre.

  Even so, there was so much good that she could do as the Queen. She could enforce law and order, and rework how the Barons were allowed to act with the peasants. Elanor’s idea had been to shut down the Grind and become Queen so that she could fix everything. Couldn’t Savannah do that, too? What in the world was stopping her from becoming the woman in charge? How much better would life be, if she called the shots?

  Savannah ran her hand across the Shutdown door. Her heart was beating a little harder than normal. The excitement, the sheer pleasure of being bowed to and called the Queen, was not a small thing to her. She imagined herself si
tting atop the royal throne, making judgments and ordering decrees. She could bring stabilization to Verre. With the Grind shut down, she could ensure a slow and quiet dissolution of the class system. Was there anything wrong with that? Who would complain?

  Timon came to mind. He wouldn’t be happy with her decision. He had given her everything he’d had so that she could restart the Grind. It had been so much easier when she knew that Timon was the one holding all of the points. He wouldn’t have hesitated to thrust his arm into the Reboot door and pay the price to save Verre from the King. But, of course, he had no clue what life was like on the outside. Still… Could she live with the idea of disappointing him? Timon was a great guy, and she had feelings for him, but was one man worth the cost of becoming a ruler? No. As much as she liked him, she realized that she could live with him hating her for her actions. So, what was holding her back?

  Savannah took a deep breath and pondered what she should do. One door would lead her to total freedom, and the other would lead to freedom for all of Verre. This decision would have been so much easier to make if she’d had someone around to talk to. Instead, she was alone, with overwhelming thoughts of power rushing to her mind. She glanced at the door to her right, the one that would reboot the Grind. Why was this so much harder than she had anticipated it being? She was stuck between the right decision for the group and the right decision for herself. She tried to imagine what each of her team members would say. Fingers would want the Grind to stay, Timon would say to restart the world, and Elanor would say she should become the Queen.

  “What about Ten?” Savannah whispered to herself. The Machina had shown so many signs of disliking the prospect of its own death, so much so that the entire team had been starting to worry about it. Even Savannah had had her reservations, although she hadn’t spoken them aloud. In the end, though, Ten-Thirty had chosen to give its own life so that it could save Verre, a place it would never be able to see. Savannah felt that pain of loss echoing in her heart. Ten had given everything, and gained nothing in the end. It had displayed true sacrifice and love for its companions. How could Savannah betray the memory of her friend by doing something so selfish as to become the supreme ruler? It would be so easy to make up all sorts of justifications for why Savannah deserved to have the Queenship, but at the end of the day, Ten-Thirty hadn’t died to make Savannah’s life better. The Machina had died because it believed that it could have a profound effect on the world, and could make life better for hundreds of thousands of people.