“What are you?” he asks.
“Won’t you come inside?”
He senses movement in the center of the portal, in the nethersphere cast before him. Something large and ominous, its serpent-shaped outline barely visible, twists in the starry darkness. Two green eyes flicker in the center of it all.
Ryuk unloads the rest of his magazine into the open doorway to no effect – the marbles are sucked into a swirling vortex at the center of the portal. The vortex dissipates and the green eyes reappear.
“Your weapons are useless against me.”
Ryuk feels a tug at the center of his chest. He steps closer to the open door, suddenly fixated on the hypnotic green eyes.
His hands move of their own volition; he reloads without conscious thought.
“Won’t you join me?”
The serpent’s voice rasps seductively against his consciousness; he trembles as he lifts his weapon.
“You will come to enjoy it here.”
He feels another tug at his chest, resists for a moment, but is pulled forward again.
“Others have joined me.”
“Yes.” The voice of a child this time.
“Please, come to us.” The voice of a sobbing man.
“Join us.” The voice of an old woman.
“We await your arrival.” A young man’s voice.
The vortex shifts, and the spinning stars reverse direction as they settle.
“Won’t you join us? I’ll make you stronger than you’ve ever imagined becoming.”
An incredible force grips at the center of his chest, pulls at his very core, at his spine, at every nerve in his avatar. He feels as if his soul is being stripped out of his body, his essence peeled from his digital flesh.
“This doesn’t have to end badly for you.”
“Let go!” he shouts, his heart swelling in his throat. “Let go of me!”
“Resistance is futile, Ryuk Matsuzaki, you will be assimilated, and I will make you stronger than you ever imagined becoming, despite yourself.”
His skin begins to dematerialize, to pixilate as his avatar is sucked forward. Everything is blurred now; his head spins and his vision constricts. His arms elongate and it takes every last ounce of strength he has to pivot and empty his weapon at the hinges of the golden door.
-113 HP!
With a banshee shriek, a blast of energy throws Ryuk into the wall; the noise abruptly cuts off as the door slams shut.
He scrambles to his feet as the first tile flies at him and cracks him in the shin,
-8 HP!
More launch themselves at him as the enigmatic golden door in the center of the room vibrates and convulses.
He shoulders the stone door to the stairway, and is surprised when it swings open. Dozens of tiles sail past him, burst into bits and fill the air with stone shrapnel. Two at a time, the stairs fly beneath his feet, and he swivels at the top of the stairs, smacks his back against the wall, and waits with his marble gun at the ready for more tiles to come after him.
As he catches his breath, he tries to recall what he has just experienced. What was inside the door? It was the most evil thing he had ever encountered in Tritania, and even as he reads the flashing message from FeeTwix, he can’t free himself from the hold of the powerful green eyes within the vortex.
FeeTwix: What’s happening? Where are you? We have one mage down, one to go!
Ryuk: Coming. I can’t destroy whatever the energy thing is down there!
FeeTwix: What did you see? What is it?
Ryuk: Whatever it is, it isn’t NPC or human. It’s something else entirely.
(0)__(0)
Ryuk pushes into the main room to find the Berserker Mage at full throttle with his double-bitted axes.
He’s resisted or deflected every attack; not even FeeTwix’s vast array of high-speed low-drag shooting irons has more than inconvenienced him. The room shows the scars of the ongoing battle, and the remains of shielded Dark Mage lie face-first in a pool of his own blood.
“Ryuk!” Tamana runs to join him, leaving Hiccup and Zaena to fend for themselves against the ax-wielding berserker.
“Are you okay?” She wipes a strand of hair out of her face and offers him a soft smile. She shows the scars of the ongoing battle, too, but she’s in better shape than the other Mitherfickers – an unsolicited testament to Dirty Dave’s über armor.
“I’m fine.”
FeeTwix’s shotgun disappears as he equips the dagger mutant hack that Dirty Dave gave him. “Let’s finish this!” he tells Ryuk, his eyes black as ever.
“No!” Ryuk reaches for him just as the weapon’s pulsing symbiose can reach the top of his shoulder. “We need it, for whatever is down there.” He points at the door. “Trust me … I don’t even know if your hack can destroy that thing.”
FeeTwix begrudgingly returns his Colonel Bowie knife to his list and goes with a Kel-Tec RFB instead. He shoulders the weapon, flips the selector to rock’n’roll, and wades back in as Zaena gives him an opening.
“You’re injured,” Tamana lifts her hand and a halo of light forms around her head. Sparkling white shards of light descend like a light snow over Ryuk’s head.
+75 HP!
“Thanks.” Their eyes meet, and for a moment nothing else matters.
Tamana turns back to the battle. “I have to get back.”
As FeeTwix reloads, Tamana runs towards the Berserker Mage, her sword at her side as it charges with a brilliant silver energy. She slides to a halt, strikes the sword on the floor and unleashes a gout of energy that gouges the marble floor to flinders as it rockets at the mage. He’s blown off his feet and loses his grip on one of his massive cleavers.
-49 HP!
“Fick yeah, Tammy!”
Zaena uses her ghost limbs to launch herself into him. She lands on his chest, knees first. Before she can bring a sword into play, he bucks her off and into the wall. The Berserker Mage tries to stand and Hiccup tackles him, only to be thrown into Zaena who’s just regained her feet.
“This ends now!” Ryuk unloads his magazine of sword marbles at the berserker mage, who shields himself with his remaining ax and catches the last sword marble. He snaps it in half and equips a massive mace with a Festivus pole for a haft and an ax head affixed to the bottom of the grip.
Holy shit, he’s fast!
“Wait a damn minute … I’ve got just the thing!” A ten liter plastic bucket forms in FeeTwix’s hands.
FeeTwix: CLEAR OUT! GET BEHIND THE GOBLIN!
Hiccup: THE GOBLIN HAS A NAME!
Tamana and Zaena get behind Hiccup and his biggest shield as the Swede unholsters his Glock, points it the Berserker Mage, and charges. With a grunt of effort, he underhands the bucket; with an evil grin, their ax brandishing foe catches it in his free hand.
FeeTwix fires once, and the bucket flashes into a hypersonic cloud of expanding gas.
Instakill!
The explosion tears through the wall closest to the mage and brings part of the ceiling down. The shock wave bludgeons Ryuk and FeeTwix off their feet.
-65 HP!
Even though the rest of the guild are in the blast shadow of Hiccup’s oversized scutum, they still take a pounding as they’re thrown across the room.
His ears ring and his eyes don’t quite focus, but Ryuk manages to roll to his stomach and aims his marble gun at the debris pile. He knows the mage is dead, but he isn’t taking any chances. He waits, tries to use his Extreme Focus but he’s still groggy and disoriented from the blast.