The Hero Game: Volume Five: No Escape, page 18
“Stay back. I’ll just hurry.”
“Are you sure?”
“What other choice do I have? I just hope it’s not acid.”
He took a few steps to get as much of a running start as possible. Then he took a deep breath and ran for the edge of the weird liquid. He jumped as far as he could without risking the podium.
The Boxer splashed down three feet from it.
“Are you melting?” Sucky called out.
“I don’t think so.”
His shoes soaked through, but he didn’t feel any burning. The smell was rank, and he grimaced. The Boxer hurried forward and grabbed the gem. As soon as he did, jets of the ooze shot up around the pool. One was aimed directly at his face. He managed to block most of it, but some of it still splashed onto his face.
“Shit!” He jumped back to the exit, not caring about damaging anything this time.
His head spun and he landed haphazardly. His body felt like it was moving through water in slow motion, and nothing worked the way he wanted it to. One leg gave out and he slumped to the ground. It felt like he’d suddenly gotten a fever and a concussion all at once.
“Bo? Are you okay?”
“Stay back,” he gasped, waving her away. He pulled off his gloves and jacket and tossed them to the side. Then he pulled off his shirt and wiped all of the green stuff off of his face and mask.
With it removed, he started to feel a little better. His vision was still blurry, but the room stopped rocking back and forth.
“It’s poison, I think,” he said.
“Are you going to die?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t feel great, but it’s already fading.”
“You must have some resistance.”
He laughed. “You have no idea.” The Boxer had previously been able to select a new resistance, and he’d chosen poison since it seemed like the worst thing to run into without preparation. Thank you, Scarlett, he thought.
His best guess was that anyone else would have been at least knocked unconscious if they were hit by the poison. Landing in it would be even worse.
The Succubus’s Daughter looked away, her eyes focusing on something he couldn’t see.
“What is it, Sucky?” he asked.
“The Blue Battler and the others are at the final door, asking if we want help. They have all of the other gems. Do we need help?”
He shook his head. “We’ll be alright heading back. I already feel better.”
The Boxer stood and looked down at his jacket and gloves. They were covered in the green goo, and he didn’t want to risk poisoning himself again. “Guess it’s time for a new wardrobe.”
“I don’t mind this one,” the demoness said.
He realized he was standing there in his pants, boots, mask, and only a thin, ripped undershirt. “Alright. Keep it in your pants. At least until this is over. Let’s go.”
***
The minute walk and jog back to the main room helped clear the rest of the poison out of his system. By the time they reached the main door, the Boxer was feeling as good as new — besides the cuts and bruises.
“You made it,” Cattarina said.
The rest of the Knuckleheads stood near the door. The Boxer nodded. “Yeah. That was a tough one.”
“Did you get the gem?” The Blue Battler asked.
The Boxer held it up. “Last one?”
“Last one.”
He approached the giant doors and saw the lock. Four gems were already placed in it, and there was one final slot for the one he held. “Are we ready? No idea what will pop up behind this door.”
The others nodded.
“Here we go.”
When he held the gem close to the lock, it snapped into place as if magnetized. Machinery inside the lock began to turn and spin, and then it dropped free and clattered to the ground.
“Ohohoho,” the Dungeon Builder taunted. His image was projected on the wall to the side of the door. “You’ve made it further than you should have, Knuckleheads. Did you cheat somehow?”
“You know we didn’t,” the Bifurcated Blaster complained. “Even if you can’t hear us.”
“Hehehe, I guess I will allow it. Because this is the end of the line for you all. It’s been a pleasure — more for me, I’m sure. I hope you won’t hold it against me that I didn’t really want you to get out of here alive. No one escapes the Dungeon Builder. No one!”
The doors started to open, grinding as they slid forward. As he continued speaking, the Dungeon Builder stood and pulled on some sort of helmet. The Boxer still couldn’t make out many details of the villain, but it looked like he was suiting up in some sort of armor.
“But you’ve served your purpose well, Knuckleheads. It’s almost a shame that you were the ones I faced, as I’m sure in the future I could have come up with some very exciting new dungeons for you. Hahahaha, but that’s what I love about you heroes. There’s always more.”
The video cut off, and the doors finished their slow crawl. The room beyond was shrouded in darkness.
“We still have people to save,” the Boxer said.
The Blue Battler stepped next to him. “Then what are we waiting for? Knuckleheads! Charge!”
The five of them rushed into the room, ready for whatever danger the Dungeon Builder would throw at them.
Chapter twenty-five
“Who dares step into my lair?”
The Knuckleheads stopped in the middle of the room. Dim light filtered down through a hole in the ceiling that led to the outside. The room was a station that had been abandoned halfway through construction.
The floor was just rough concrete, and a set of stairs stopped at a pile of dirt. Walls were covered with cheap brick and graffiti, while the tracks ran through the center, ending at a dark cave on the far side.
“We do,” the Blue Battler answered the deep voice.
The Boxer looked around, but he couldn’t see where it came from.
“You are foolish to challenge me. I have been ruling these caves since before man came down from the trees.”
“Geez, he really over wrote this one,” the Succubus’s Daughter muttered. “We know we’re in a subway tunnel.”
“Insolent insects! I will make you pay for this. For you face the mighty Murag!”
Two red lights blinked on in the dark cave. They resembled taillights, and slowly approached the edge of the room. They narrowed slightly, and that was when the Boxer realized they were the eyes of whatever they were about to face.
“Spread out,” he whispered.
The others retreated, leaving him and the Blue Battler at the front. The eyes grew closer, and a metallic snout broke free of the shadow. It kept coming, stretching up to the ceiling as the robot stepped into the light.
“It’s a damn dragon,” Cattarina said.
That’s all that the Boxer could think of as well. It had a long neck with horns coming out of its vaguely reptilian head, plus a thick body and four large legs. Folded bumps on its back looked like wings. And it towered over them, easily forty feet tall.
But it wasn’t a “real” dragon. The Dungeon Builder had constructed it out of old subway cars and metal, making it look like a possessed version of the subway.
“How do we even fight that?” The Bifurcated Blaster wondered.
“You do not,” Murag growled. “You just die.”
I need to know how tough this guy really is, he thought. Activating Scan, he was taken aback by the character sheet he saw.
The Mighty Murag — Robot
Class: Robot Dragon
Level 75
Strength — 675
Power — 300
Charm — 1
Agility — 30
Smarts — 2
Constitution — 675
Skills:
Sturdy Frame
Clawed Smash
Fire Breath
I’ve never fought someone at that level, he thought. This might not be that easy. But we have to beat it.
“He’s tough. Really tough.” The Boxer glanced at the Bifurcated Battler. “Any ideas?”
“Storm Chaser?”
He grinned. “Excellent.”
They’d worked on a few different strategies as a team, and anyone could call out ideas. But the Blue Battler had an excellent memory and almost always knew what their best choice was. And Storm Chaser was a strategy that she came up with for when they faced a bigger opponent. Maybe not a mecha-kaiju, but it should work.
Hopefully.
She repeated the order to the others, who all shifted to their positions. The Bifurcated Blaster flew into the air — the high ceilings gave her plenty of space to maneuver. Cattarina followed her, climbing the walls and leaping around, her guns ready. The odd hero out was the Succubus’s Daughter, who retreated to the doors, looking for any openings.
“Who will be the first to die?” The dragon’s gaze followed them around the room.
“Looks like me,” the Boxer answered. “Ready?”
The Blue Battler nodded. He ran to her and jumped in the air. She caught his feet and hurled him straight at the dragon.
“Huh?”
He activated Energized Strikes and Flying Kick as he sailed at the dragon. It tried to bite at him, but was too slow.
POW
The added momentum from the Blue Battler’s throw and all of the Boxer’s boosted stats turned the Flying Kick into the most powerful one he’d ever done. The dragon roared and reeled back with a fresh dent right on the top of its snout.
BZZZZT
Twin beams of pink energy raked its side, followed by blasts from Cattarina’s guns. He couldn’t rest there, though, and fired off the Grappling Rod to hook onto one of the horns jutting from the metallic head.
With a quick tug, he launched himself at the robot again. He kicked hard, but this one didn’t do as much to the creature. It flailed and tossed its head up, sending the Boxer flying high. His Grappling Rod still had a hold on the dragon’s horn, so he let it fully extend and swung around from it.
Bringing both feet together, he smashed into the side of the dragon’s neck. It teetered from the impact.
“Keep it up! You’re doing some damage.”
He spared a quick look to see the Blue Battler encouraging the two ranged members of the Knuckleheads. Their shots were knocking off small panels and chunks of metal, but not enough to disable the giant creation.
“Enough!” The dragon roared and shook, tossing the Boxer off once again.
The dragon opened its mouth and a dull, orange glow emanated from deep in its throat.
“Look out!” the Succubus’s Daughter shouted.
Trying to distract the dragon, the Boxer hurled Frank at its eye. He didn’t know if it would even do any damage, but he wanted to do something.
The dragon looked down at the Blue Battler and the glow intensified. He dropped down and dove for her.
FWOOOOSH!
A cone of flame flashed out. The temperature in the room shot through the roof as he blew it down on the Blue Battler.
Or, more accurately, where she had been a second earlier. The Boxer and his leader rolled to their feet to the side.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks. Now, how do we stop this thing?”
The flame breath ceased, and it looked at the spot. “Ha, you are weak.”
“No, you missed,” the Boxer shouted.
Its head swung over and it glared at the two of them. “You are quite irritating, heroes.”
“That’s the job description,” the Boxer replied.
Frank, the Ultimate Frisbee, hadn’t done much, but it continued to bang and clang off of the dragon’s head. The others's shots were having a bit more of an impact, but nowhere near what they needed.
“There must be a weak point somewhere,” he said.
The glow from its mouth weakened, and that gave him an idea. “This might sound dumb.”
“I’ll try anything.”
“Throw me at it again.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, but do it before I realize how dumb this is.”
The blue woman held her hands out, and he jumped onto her. She stepped and hurled him straight at the dragon, which grinned.
“Fool.”
It snapped forward, its sharp teeth coming straight for the Boxer. This might be the end, he thought.
But then the Boxer activated Air Attack and aimed straight for the back of its mouth. With his improved speed and the ability, he slid right between the large teeth as they closed around him.
He barely had any space to move except forward. Just glad that’s where I want to go, he thought.
The Boxer flew forward and down the throat of the metallic dragon. He could see the source of the glow below him, and descended. The inside of the dragon was a bent and broken interior of a subway car, with chairs knocked loose and metal handholds at odd angles.
In the center of the car was a machine the size of an air conditioner. A tube ran from it up the throat, and it started glowing. Sweat dripped down the Boxer’s face, and he realized the room had to be over one hundred degrees.
“I killed and ate your friend,” the dragon taunted the others. The Boxer could hear its voice as a deep rumble that shook the whole area he was in. “Now it’s your turn.”
“Are you alive, Bo? Please tell me you’re alive.” He could hear the fear in her telepathic message.
There was a small window, and he saw the Knuckleheads all looking terrified outside. “I’m fine. Just stay safe. And, uh, maybe back up. Not sure what’s about to happen.”
He flew through the air, dodging around the metal railings. Swinging his right hand, he put as much power as he could muster into the punch he threw.
WHACK
The exterior of the furnace cracked and bent. “Okay, you want more?”
WHACK
He smacked it again. This time, the side crumpled in. A noxious liquid poured out of the hole. But the glow was still growing, and he could feel the heat rising.
“Last one.”
WHACK
He hit the device so hard it came unmoored from the ground and flopped across the room. The tube ripped in half, and weak flames flowed out.
“Oh, damn.”
The Boxer used the last few seconds of his Air Attack ability to fly through the window. The glass shattered and tinkled to the ground as he zoomed for the others.
“What did you do?” The dragon froze, looking at its stomach.
“Get down!” The Boxer tackled the Succubus’s Daughter, putting his body between her and the dragon.
The others hit the deck, and he tried to shield them as best he could.
KA-BOOOOOOM
The earth shook as a deafening explosion tore through the dragon. Shards of metal slammed into the walls. One pinged off his shoulder, leaving a deep gash in his unprotected back.
Flames licked his back, but he didn’t feel any pain, thanks to his fire resistance. Once they died down, he looked to see that the dragon had shredded itself when the engine went up. “I think we won,” he said.
The Knuckleheads climbed to their feet, all looking worse for wear but mostly unharmed. “Everyone okay?” the Blue Batter asked.
“Yeah,” Cattarina said.
He helped the Succubus’s Daughter to her feet. Suddenly, the Blue Battler’s phone rang. She pulled it out and answered it on speaker.
“Jane?”
“Thank god,” Jane gasped. “Are you all okay?”
“Yeah. We’re pretty sure we’re done. We just need to make sure the traps for the area residents are deactivated.”
“Shit. Well, the Dungeon Builder hit a few banks, and right now his robots are attacking the Institute.”
“That’s halfway across town,” the Blue Battler said.
The Boxer scanned his game messages and grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it.”
He ignored all but one.
Congratulations! You have leveled up and are now level sixty. As a milestone level, you gain one hundred Stat points, two hundred Base Points, two new skills, and a new class option.
That’ll have to wait, he thought. As long as I can pick a skill.
At times he enjoyed the fact that the game interface was just a way to represent his bond with Scarlett, and she knew exactly what he wanted. So he dumped fifty points into Power and Agility and selected the skill he’d been waiting for.
Flight (Passive) — Fly through the air with the greatest of ease. Your speed is faster than running, and scales with both Power and Agility. This ability can also give you leverage when in the air, allowing you to move or hit things you would not be able to normally. Pretty nice!
“How are you going to make it?” the Blue Battler asked.
“Oh, no big deal.”
His feet lifted off the ground, raising him a few feet in the air. “Just a small change. Make sure the people here are safe, and I’ll see you at the Institute.”
The blue woman shook her head as he shot up to the hole in the ceiling. He flashed through it, soaring into the sky.
Flying was magical. He just thought and then moved in the direction he wanted. He knew that he’d have to do a lot of practicing with it, but that was for later.
At that moment, he poured every ounce of his focus, strength, and speed into flying to the Institute.
“I’m not letting you get away with this,” he growled.
Chapter twenty-six
The City fell away behind him as the wind pressed against him. His shirt — which was already pretty beat up, rippled as he flew.
He could see smoke rising in the distance, but he was already flying as fast as he could. He guessed it was close to fifty miles an hour, and it took him just under two minutes to make it to the air above the Institute.
The familiar campus stretched below him. He’d spent the previous summer there, and the places he recognized were covered in billowing smoke and flashes of energy weapons. Two of the weird blimps were parked there, one on the lawn, and one smashed into the side of the biggest building.
“Where are you?” he wondered.
