“N-no. I didn’t even know you could kill those things,” she said.
“What do you mean? Didn’t you get a little treasure box to use the morning after this all started?”
“Treasure box? I- I remember something like that popped up but mom was scared and told us not to touch it. We lost it somehow 'cuz it was gone the next day,” she said.
“Yeah, I get that." Scott could only sigh. The mother had done what he had almost done. She was too afraid to open the box after all of the other insanity, and lost her chance to survive because of it. "Stay here. I’m going to have to clear the area.”
“You’re going to fight that many? You can’t!” said the girl, a little louder than Scott would have liked.
“I’ve already fought that many earlier. Though I will have to be careful.” He did not have a convenient place to retreat this time if things went bad.
Scott told her to stay back then slipped quietly through the area in an attempt to get close enough to view the levels of the monsters. He could see six of them scratching at the door to the barn. Those were probably the aforementioned monsters trying to get into the barn. However, nearly twenty of the beasts were between him and them, and they were too far away to check their levels.
The stragglers roaming around were a different story. The closest one was level one. A few of the others varied between level one and level two.
During his waiting period at the car, and the several minutes spent slowly coming to the barn, he had healed completely. Only his status effects and memories of the harrowing previous battle lingered to remind him to be careful.
Scott had defeated this many opponents previously. The only problem would be if there were more than a handful that were higher than level three.
He continued his surveillance for as long as he could. Time was of the essence. Scott took a deep breath then ran from his hiding spot behind a stack of logs. He was immediately greeted by the sound of several hungry outcries. The yellow light expanded to twice its size and turned a vivid blue.
The battle started immediately afterward. "Mr. Badass versus the Mini-horde! Fight-O!"
Just as before the battle music that began to play was nothing special. It was a techno-dance mix featuring an electric guitar to add a bit of badassery. Scott moved parallel to the small horde for a few steps then stopped. Every zombie in the place took a step or two toward him before his turn came around. A warning sign flared into view telling him that the ghouls were more dangerous as a horde. The racial skill that they brought to bear was far more deadly when they numbered in the dozens.
Scott spent his second turn maneuvering around in a way to entice most of the ghouls toward him in a staggered group. He needed to line them up in order to quickly take them down. The low-level beasts would be dropped in one or two hits, perhaps three at most. What he wanted was to draw out the stronger ones first.
Danger increased in the next turn as three more zombies staggered into the battle. There was little choice in the matter for Scott, however. Had he the time, he would have tried to lure a few of the ghouls away in order to take them on in small numbers at the time. He did not have that sort of time. He did have time for his current plan, possibly.
"Six steps away..." muttered Scott as he glanced at the edge of the battle field after several turns passed. Time would run out soon. He had only a few minutes left. He moved within a step from the edge then waited several turns as the ghouls staggered toward him. A warning sign flared overhead followed by the announcer voice exclaiming. "Two minutes remaining. Will he make things happen, or will he throw in the towel folks!"
Scott snorted at the announcer guy's voice then stepped out of the battle. The blue light shrank back down to a yellow hunting light that was half the size. Now it was time to get down to business. He had to reach the six ghouls clawing at the barn before time ran out. Thankfully, they did not pay any attention to him since they were focused on the tasty morsels inside.
He cut a wide path around the staggering ghouls. His stamina dropped regularly as he ran, but it was not as severe as it would have been for him before he had gained a few levels and increased his stats. As his speed and movement increased, so too did his ability to actually run around when he was not overloaded.
The luring tactic was not perfect. A large group of ghouls staggered toward him, and would not remain at a reasonable distance for long when he attacked. Still, it was the only plan that he had. If he could not stop the ghouls clawing at the door in less than two minutes, he would fail the mission.
Scott was surprised by the levels he saw when he looked at the ghouls attacking the barn. Five level four ghouls, and one solitary level one ghoul. The truly surprising thing though, was that the level one ghoul had a name.
[Brittani Rotten]
Ghoul
Level: 1
Species: Undead
Class: Superstar
Status: Available
[--]
The ghoul's name was shown in a bright red color outlined in gold. It flashed dangerously, an obvious sign that this supposed level one creature was not so simple. It was too late to stop himself from entering the battle field, however. The moment he got within range of the yellow light that constantly pulsed around the ghouls attacking the door, it flared outward and turned jet black around the edge.
"Mr. Badass versus Brittani 'Lady' Rotten and The Boyz! Fight-O!" announced the overly enthusiastic announcer voice. Everything froze in place briefly as a new window appeared before Scott.
[Stranger Danger!]
You have encountered a mysterious opponent. There are two types of named opponents in the world, people you already know and those who are introduced by name. The latter are considered so important that the system announcer will announce their name whenever they enter a battle. Opponents who have names or titles are far more dangerous than the common variety.
[--]
[Cinematic Event... Loading...]
"The hell...?" asked Scott slowly as the world faded to black. All he could see was the absolute darkness outside of a small column of light where he stood.
Suddenly, a voice called out in the dark. It was a soft sultry feminine voice that seemed like it had been slightly auto-tuned. "Are you ready for me, baby?" A soft electronic hum and the sound of someone tapping a hi-hat on a drum set began to play in the background.
Pink columns of light shot upward diagonally from various points up ahead. "Can you handle all the love I have to give?" asked the slightly petulant voice.
The light show zeroed in on one ghoul standing alone, a fedora pulled downward to cover its face. "Wherever I go..." began the voice in a low, sad, tone. Her voice continued in a slightly more cheerful and sweet sing-song tone. "I go in-cog-ni-tooo."
Suddenly, the ghoul gripped the fedora tightly then the voice sang out energetically in full auto-tune, "But I've had enough of that!" before whipping the fedora off and throwing it high into the air. Scott watched it fly up, but remained thoroughly confused by everything that he was seeing.
Fireworks erupted from the spaces next to the hatless ghoul. The spot lights, as that was what they were, all shifted to focus on the lone ghoul. It raised its head then winked revealing something Scott had not guessed at all. The ghoul was not a rotting corpse. She was absolutely gorgeous!
"Time to start the show!" she sang out. The ghoul followed it up with a swivel of her hips then canted them from one side to the other. Another series of fireworks erupted around her as she took three exaggerated steps forward revealing a bizarrely sensual grace in her movements.
The surprisingly beautiful popstar ghoul winked at Scott in an exaggerated manner then leaned forward to show him far more of her equally beautiful feminine assets before she sang out. "Please don't hurt me," before she blew him a kiss.
"Seriously. What the hell?" asked Scott with a flat expression on his face. The supposed ghoul standing before him looked more like an incredibly attractive albino girl. She had hot pink highlights in her b
one white hair, and eyes that blazed like fiery red coals. Otherwise, she would look no different than any other absurdly attractive pop-sensation.
She raised a finger to her soft surprisingly pink lips, then softly said. "I know I'm dead, but tonight... Baby..." She bit her lower lip gently then shrugged her shoulders cutely. "Will you make me feel alive?"
Scott raised his bush axe and activated burning soul. He did not know whose turn it was and did not care. He was certain that his heart was not even remotely ready for whatever love she had to give.
Brittani gasped a little then closed her eyes and ran her hands down her scantily clad body taking extra care to slide them along her ample breasts and well-toned stomach. "Oh... Ahn... Baby, your passion burns so bright," she cried out before unleashing a semi-aroused sounding noise that was half gasp and half giggle.
Just as soon as her hand had reached her most intimate of unholy places her hands flew sideways and her head dropped. "I may be in trouble with this one. Help a girl out boys," she said in a soft, but powerful tone that carried across the darkness.
Five pillars of light erupted upward from the darkness revealing five ordinary looking ghouls. They were rotten and spoiling for a fight.
"Ladies and gentlemen! For your viewing enjoyment. We give you live, from this run down barn on the edge of a war-torn city, Brittani Rotten and the Boyz!" exclaimed the announcer voice.
Cheering voices roared all around and the occasional cry of, "We love you Brittani!" and "He's kind of cute! Is he your boyfriend?!"
Brittani waved at the invisible crowd and placed her hands to her mouth like a microphone. "I love you, too! Also, no! He's not my boyfriend, we only just met! But wish me luck, OK?"
Scott blinked slowly. What the hell was up with today? Seriously? More to the point, his penis was a traitor. He was thoroughly distracted by the sexy albino antics of a living dead girl. If anyone asked, he would readily admit that he wasn't that damned hard up. He'd had a girlfriend until recently.
On a more serious note, he was pretty certain that he was not going to survive whatever this weirdness was supposed to be. He could not move from his spot, or he would have tried to run. There was no way that whatever assholes ran the post-apocalyptic game world would put this much effort into a battle event if there was a chance of him surviving it with his current level and stats.
"You're all my beautiful friends and I love you!" cried Brittani before blowing kisses to the invisible crowd. "How about we get started with my new single, OK? You know the one, right?" She lowered her head and gestured toward the darkness. The crowd roared out a word that Scott could not make out.
"That's right!" cried Brittani.
The background music changed to a slowly rising tune reminiscent of the reverb from an electric guitar. A pipe organ started to play a strangely cheerful funeral dirge not long after.
"I died..." sang out Brittani in a soft, sad tone, "So very long ago..." She turned from one side to the other while raising up a reaching hand toward the invisible crowd as though hoping for someone to take her hand.
"My body... My heart... cold and a –looone," she sang out in a slow trailing manner. She then glanced over to Scott then shared a sweet little girlish smile. "You embalmed me, but don't hate me...." She ran her hands down her body in a slow and sensual manner. "Come on necro-feel-me—"
The ghouls behind her threw their rotting heads back and sang out. "Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-up!"
"Oh, hell no," muttered Scott his eyes wide in disbelief. The damned rotting bastards were singing backup.
The darkness faded away around Scott, but remained around Brittani and the Boyz. Several ghouls appeared in the newly revealed lit areas. The battle began from there.
"Darkness surrounds me... My cold body... Warm me with your neckbeard, baby..." sang out Brittani soulfully as ghouls staggered toward Scott from all directions. They did not move fast, but he counted at least a dozen of them already.
Once it was Scott's turn he trotted over to a nearby ghoul and took an experimental swing. Despite the vast stat increase due to the sheer number of ghouls, Scott easily tore through the beast. He did the same to the next closest ghoul another step away. Even as his turn ended, four more ghouls staggered into the area. His eyes narrowed.
"The way you touch me... It still tempts me," she sang out sweetly before continuing, "Oh they stopped... My beating heart. But. You. Still. Want. My bo-dy.... Oho-whoa-whoa, necro-feel-me—"
Once again, the ghouls behind her threw their rotting heads back and sang out. "Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-up!"
Scott wasn't certain which was worse, the never ending supply of weak sauce ghouls, or the fact that he sort of dug the lyrics of the song. He had issues, man.
The ghouls were slow, but the horde continued to grow. Soon there were twenty. He moved to intercept and tore through another ghoul. Its body was split down the center and it fell into two distinct halves.
The song continued and the ghouls continued coming. Soon Scott was forced to retreat back a little when his burning soul ability wore off. After his next turn came up he tried to move toward the singer on her stage, but the field of darkness would not allow him to cross. Instead, he chose to wait for the ghouls to come to him. It was obvious that this would be a war of attrition.
Eventually, the song came to an end and Brittani greeted the crowd. "I'm so glad you all came out to hear us perform! We've still got plenty of show left, so let's party till he dies!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
The staggering ghouls stopped then turned toward Brittani. They each suddenly began to cheer and shake their fists in the air. One overly fat ghoul called out, "I love you so hard Brittani! Have my babies!"
"Careful now! That sort of talk could scare a girl!" she shouted back with a laugh. The ghouls in the crowd roared their approval. Scott merely sighed and waited for the turns to start again. He was stuck in place once more. Though, he did have a great view of the show for what that was worth.
The busty undead pop idol continued to play to the crowd for a while then took a step back and lifted one hand to her chest. "You know, I've never had a boyfriend."
"No!" or "So sad!" cried some of the female ghouls. A few of the male ghouls cried out. "I'm available!"
Brittani smiled sadly then took one foot and slid it around along the ground in a semi-circle. "I've often thought about it, you know... The kind of guy I'd like to be with..."
"Oh it's coming!" cried one of the girl ghouls.
"He's the kind of guy who would say yes when I asked..." She glanced over to Scott then bit her lower lip a little while granting him a hopeful expression. "Be my Braindead Valentine?"
Scott groaned a little. "Seriously? You trying to kill me, or date me?"
She tilted her head to the side causing her ponytail to shift sideways. "A girl can do two things with her day, you know," she said coyly before she offered him an absolutely killer smile. She then turned energetically and flashed a peace sign to the crowd of ghouls.
"Alright! Let me hear how sad you are for me!" cried Brittani before she started to jog in place. Her hot pink pants, artfully torn in the proper way to make her look rough and slutty, made a slight whipping sound due to the sudden movement.
She stopped jogging and hopped into a wide-legged stance then sang out. "Sometimes... a girl wants a boy...."
The ghouls started to cheer again as Brittani continued her song. "Who just listens to her, and does everything to please."
The background music became a cheerful and upbeat tune. "He doesn't talk back, and always a-grees."
"Not really digging the lyrics," muttered Scott.
It was not long after that before the ghouls turned toward him as a single-unit and the war of attrition began again. The battle itself was simple enough. After he had killed a few of the ghouls before he realized that they were not receiving any bonuses for being in a horde. He originally thought that they were, but they died in a single hit if he had burning soul activated.
"He'll hold all of her bags, no matter how much she buys. Never complains, even if she dates other guys," sang out Brittani while swaying from left to right a little.
"Not making your case here!" called out Scott lightly. He was not certain why, but he was sort of getting into the spirit of the event. He was sure that he was going to be torn apart any minute, but this whole thing was becoming strangely fun.
Brittani laughed a little before she canted her hips to the side then stretched out a hand to Scott. "He'll always be there, never leave her be-hind." She then giggled a little before flashing him a slightly fanged smile. Unlike the other ghouls she did not have shark teeth, though she did have cute little fangs in place of normal canine teeth. "He's her braindead valentine..."
Scott groaned at the lyrics as he scythed through another ghoul. The battle was never ending. He could not attack the band, but the ghouls did not stop coming.
Just as before, the song eventually came to an end and Brittani started to work the crowd. "I'm so glad you are all enjoying the show! I love you all soooo much!" she said before kicking up one of her heels and laughing.
She then said something that made the crowd sad. "I do love you all, my little ghouls. But this will have to be the last song for the night."
Brittani placated the crowd by telling them that she would come back again someday soon. She even eyed Scott and saucily said, "Quite soon, maybe."
Scott snorted, but could not help but smile. This was all so damned weird, but it beat the constant near death experiences.
"As you know, it's been a hard few centuries for our people. The vampires kept trying to enslave us, but you know what I say," asked Brittani with a loud and energetic cry.
"Awww, yeah! Here it comes!" called out a ghoul at the far end of the event arena.
The lights on stage dimmed a little and the music turned somber once more. It was a low, slow, melody completely with violins and the gentle strum of a guitar. "You can hate me..." sang out Brittani in a voice barely above a whisper. She curled her hand into a fist. "You can kill me..."
Earth Tactics Advance: Volume 1 Page 10
