Awaken Online: Armageddon, page 42
Jason eyed his map – his new spiderlings had moved into position.
“We’re going to need a barrier. Like, now,” Jason urged him under his breath. “Make sure to cover the floor, not just the area in front and above us.”
“I know,” Alexion growled back.
Jason’s angelic companion sheathed his sword and dropped his shield. He pressed his hands forward, light pooling along his skin and his light armor disappearing, streaming down into his palms. All at once, that energy expanded outward, creating a barrier of light that completely encircled the pair – even coating the stone at their backs and beneath their feet. This was a new application of the panels of light that typically wrapped Alexion’s body. An AOE defensive shield.
The smoke slammed against that shield with abandon, each blow causing the light to spark and ripple. Smokes pressed his advantage now that he had the pair pinned and was only one point away from winning. The barrier continued to thicken as Alexion channeled the light more forcefully. Jason could see his companion’s mana plummeting. He couldn’t hold that for long.
A chime rang out as the next puck entered play, tumbling down into the arena. “And here’s our final match. Things are looking up for our home team champion, Smokes!”
Taking a deep breath, Jason sent an instruction to his minions.
He’d been expecting something catastrophic, but he still wasn’t prepared for the explosion that rocked the arena. It was just a tremble at first, a tiny earthquake. But that pressure continued to build and build as a hundred of his spiderlings detonated. Soon the arena shook and bucked. Then the floor gave way. Rock spewed up into the sky in a torrent – a blast of flame and debris. The explosion knocked the puck away, the disc crashing against their shield before being thrown into the air and lost among the rubble.
Long seconds ticked past, until, eventually, the explosions settled. And in the wake of those blasts, the pair were able to fully survey the arena… or what was left of it. The ground was little more than piles of rubble, only faint tendrils of smoke leaking free now – the spiderlings having destroyed whatever apparatus was installed beneath the floor. Dust cascaded down across the stadium but was swiftly settling, the heavier particles succumbing to gravity.
Leaving only a single cloud of smoke. It hovered in a dense ball that floated back down from the ceiling to the base of the arena. At the same time, Alexion dropped his shield, his chest heaving and sweat beading on his skin.
“I’m dry,” Alexion grunted.
“That’s okay,” Jason replied. “This is almost over.”
He strode forward now, spinning his staff idly in his new hand as he approached that orb of smoke. He cast a Whirlwind as he closed, the smoke resisting at first but soon getting blown away bit by painstaking bit until Smokes’ form was finally revealed. He was lying on the stone, a shard of rock embedded in his stomach. His mask was fractured, and blood stained the normally pristine ivory surface.
“Not—not bad… kid,” he ground out.
Jason knew he should feel victorious. Should shout his rage. And yet he found himself feeling strangely numb, his dark mana fleeing him – fleeing the indecision that coiled in his gut. He couldn’t exactly place his finger on it, but something about this felt wrong. There was no anger in Smokes’ voice. Only a sense of weary resignation.
“I’m sorry it had to end this way,” Jason said finally. “But I can’t let you destroy this place. It… it means too much to me and the people I care about.”
“I know,” Smokes answered, looking up at him. Jason could see his eyes through the holes in his mask. “Sometimes the universe just gives you a shit hand. You still have to play through. It was… a pleasure,” he added with a grimace.
There was only a whiff of displaced air, and Smokes’ head dropped to the ground with a dull thud, rolling down the pile of debris and leaving a crimson trail in its wake. As soon as his body struck the ground, a piece of jewelry at his wrist flared red. Jason’s eyes widened, and he backpedaled just in time as Smokes’ body exploded in a blast of flame.
It seemed
“Uh… okay. I guess there we have it, folks!” Bard announced, chimes echoing once more. The strobe lights were mostly broken, flickering erratically now. “I guess Edgelord and his Nightlight blew up the whole arena… somehow,” he muttered.
“It doesn’t matter how,” Jason ground out, staring at the camera that floated beside him. “We won, as per your rules. Now open the fucking door.”
Silence met those words, stretching out for several long seconds.
Then a portal on the other side of the arena began to grind open, hitching and stopping as it collided with more debris before continuing its journey upward. Light spilled through that opening, freedom lingering on just the other side. And yet, Jason still didn’t feel any sense of victory. Only another fight waited for him, an army of enemies just like in that last Keeper trial. For some reason, the expression in Smokes’ eyes stayed with him.
It had almost felt like… he’d been rooting for Jason.
Chapter 38 - Motive
“Well, that was unexpected,” the Gambler grumbled.
“Not if you knew that young man,” the Old Man replied, swirling his drink but not taking a sip. “Jason has never failed to meet my expectations.”
The Hippie let out a loud burp, raising a mug of his own. “Speaking of which, here’s to our esteemed host, who is currently… what? 0-3? May his losing streak continue unabated!”
“I’ll toast to that,” the Lady declared, the rest of the group glancing at her in surprise as she sipped delicately at her wine. “What?” she demanded with a shrug. “My team’s winning.”
“And it has nothing to do with the latest polling results?” the Seer asked.
The Lady just sniffed. “I would expect nothing less. My champion is now neck and neck with our brooding, big brother’s protege.” Indeed, the results of the last traveler votes were projected across the screen, showing that Jason and Alexion had tied.
“You act like this over,” the Gambler interjected, his eyes on the displays. “But it isn’t, not by a longshot.” He cracked his knuckles, a tentative grin replacing his frown. “I’ll just need to spice up the next match a bit.”
“We are not permitted to intervene directly,” the Old Man reminded him.
The Gambler spread his arms wide and smiled even wider. “Of course not.”
The rest of the gods looked at him with a mixture of irritation and concern. Anything that made the god of air “happy” didn’t bode well for… well, anyone else. But most especially for the contestants that were trapped in that Mile-High prison.
***
As soon as the camera orb winked out, Jason collapsed to the ground, throwing back his hood and rubbing at his temple with his good hand. A headache was pounding through his skull, a residual effect of using Custom Skeleton in the middle of that fight with Smokes. On top of that, his body was throbbing, broken, and bleeding. While Alexion’s shield had protected them from the worst of the explosions, they’d still been tossed around – and that was after the beating that Smokes had given him. And then there was still his right arm. It throbbed, a pulsing pain that radiated up into his shoulder.
Jason looked down at the limb, flexing the fingers and watching as the strands of dark mana pulled at the muscles in his upper arm, sending another flash of pain rippling up into his shoulder and neck. Perhaps he hadn’t attached it properly?
Yet he suspected it was more than that.
A quiet voice in the back of his mind told him he hadn’t gone far enough.
A soft glow enveloped Jason’s body, and he felt his injuries stitch closed, the pain in his arm quieting to a dull ache – one he could endure.
“For a guy that says he doesn’t care what people think, you sure put on a show for the camera,” Alexion observed in a dry voice, canceling the channel on the healing spell as he saw Jason’s wounds close.
“I never said reputation wasn’t important,” Jason grunted. “But that also doesn’t mean I care about what some random guy says about me online. The two things aren’t mutually exclusive.” He glanced up at his companion, noticing the screen floating overhead, the public poll results showing a tie. “Speaking of which, your ratings improved.”
Alexion snorted but couldn’t quite stop the pleased look that flitted across his face. Then his eyes focused back on Jason. “Whatever. You going to clue me in on what happened?”
Jason grimaced. “It’s what it looks like. I built some summons and blew the place up. Had to use some of my resources, unfortunately.”
The truth was worse than that. He’d used exactly 75%, which didn’t leave him with many supplies to build new minions. Jason could only assume that the other members of
Even worse, it was now clear that they had a time limit between matches –
“I’m starting to hate that look,” Alexion observed.
Jason glanced up in surprise.
“What?” the avatar of light demanded. “You get this stupid-ass look on your face every time you’re considering doing something insane.”
Jason sighed. “Yeah, maybe…”
“Well, you going to tell me or what?” Alexion demanded.
“I…” Jason hesitated. He wasn’t sure he was ready to go this far. It wasn’t just the pain or horror of what he was contemplating… it was something else. Something that had been bothering him ever since Sandscrit – the look in Smokes’ eyes bringing it back with a vengeance.
“Why are you playing this game?” Jason asked finally.
Alexion shook his head incredulously. “Way to completely avoid the question… but okay,” he replied in irritation.
“I’m serious,” Jason added, meeting Alexion’s eyes.
“Because it’s a game. Something to do.”
“You and I both know that’s bullshit,” Jason shot back, surprise and anger flitting across Alexion’s face. “What? It is. This place – this world – it isn’t easy. Especially not as an avatar. We feel pain. Hardship. We struggle. Hell, you’ve been publicly murdered more than a few times now, yet you keep coming back. Why?”
The other young man hesitated, sitting back against a pile of rocky debris, and his gaze going distant as he stared at the ruined arena. “Honestly? I’m not sure anymore,” he said finally.
Jason just waited. It didn’t seem like Alexion was finished.
“When I started playing, it was different,” Alexion murmured. “We were in the beta, so there were fewer travelers. And that also meant there were teeming masses just waiting back in the real world to get their sweaty little hands on any bit of info about AO. So, I started streaming. My videos got hundreds of thousands of views. I put on a little show, you know? It felt… good. The praise. The attention. I guess I wasn’t really getting that back in the real world?”
“Really?” Jason demanded, raising an eyebrow. “Because I remember everyone fawning after Alex Lane back at Richmond.”
Alexion just snorted. “People wanting to use you is different from genuine affection. When I put on the act, well, people looked at me differently.” He let out an irritated huff. “Might be why it pissed me off so much when you started stealing the spotlight.”
The avatar of light trailed off, staring a hole in the floor.
“What keeps you going now?” Jason asked finally, breaking the tense silence.
Alexion shook his head, frowning. “I don’t know. Yet I find myself coming back every day and letting everything else go. Even after that meeting with my father, all I wanted to do was log back in. It was all I could think about.”
Jason just watched him, feeling a pang of empathy. “I get it,” he said finally.
Alexion looked up, cocking his head.
“I mean… this place is tough, but what’s waiting for us back there?” Jason asked. “Asshole parents? A path tread by millions of others. School. College. A job that drains you dry and leaves you a husk of your former self. Oh, but maybe in a few decades you’ll get to retire and taste freedom again – only for your mind and body to be too old, and weak, and broken to do anything with it.” There was some bitterness in his voice.
“Not sure about the rest of that, but I’ll second the asshole parents,” Alexion quipped, earning him a chuckle from Jason.
“Woah, was that a joke from the walking lighthouse himself?”
“Shut it, dickhead,” Alexion replied, but his voice lacked the familiar anger.
Jason went quiet again. “No matter how painful and arduous this place can be, it feels like you can carve your own path. It’s a blank canvas where you can do – can be – whatever you want. There’s freedom in that,” Jason murmured.
“Is that why you started playing?” Alexion asked.
Jason snorted. “Nah. That was because of you, actually. After you got me expelled, I was angry. I was tired of being shit on, of having no choice, of always following everyone else’s agenda, and being at the mercy of those more powerful than me. I was angry at… well, I was angry at the universe I guess. For not delivering on the promises of those stories we were fed as children. I wanted to be a wizard. A hero. I wanted power.” He looked up at Alexion. “The sort of power you were born into. Or at least that’s what I thought I wanted.”
He shook his head. “But what’s been driving me since has just been that same anger. At you. At Gloria and the CPSC. Hell, even Finn was just another easy target when he baited me into attacking Sandscrit. All I’ve done is raged and destroyed and vented and somewhere along the way the anger disappeared. Now I’m left feeling… numb.”
“Well, at least you got the power you were looking for,” Alexion observed, eyeing what was left of the arena, broken rocks littering the previously smooth ground.
Jason just let out a sigh. “Did I? Because we seem to be trapped in a floating dungeon without any corpses – which just showcases how weak I really am. There will always be someone stronger. Someone that makes you feel powerless. These games have shown me that. Hell, we’ve barely beaten Pewpew and Smokes in two-on-one fights.”
He glanced at Alexion. “And even outside the game, it’s more of the same. Look at that meeting with your father. The way he treated you, Alex-Fucking-Lane – the golden boy himself.” The avatar of light grimaced at that, his eyes dropping to the floor and a silence lingering through the decimated arena. “And it’s not as though your father seems like a happy, well-adjusted person despite his wealth and influence.
“So, I’m left wondering… why am I still playing? Why am I so afraid of letting this world get destroyed?” Jason finally asked those questions aloud, the same ones that had been flitting through the back of his mind for days and weeks now. “Do I just wait for something else to get angry about? Do I just search for more power until it finally destroys me? Or do I just give up?”
Silence met those questions… because they didn’t really have answers.
“If it’s any consolation, you definitely live up to your Edgelord persona. I mean… damn. That was some brooding bullshit,” Alexion observed, a chuckle bubbling from his lips. “I’m sorry but I’m actually going to have to agree with Bard on this one.”
Jason stared, a smile slowly creeping across his face. “You know, you might be on to something there. Maybe I should just focus on being the edgiest traveler in all of AO.”
Alexion barked out a laugh – a real laugh – that echoed off the rocky stone walls. Jason couldn’t help but join in, the pair laughing alone in that ruined cavern. Just two old enemies having a heart to heart at the end of the world.
As the laughter finally faded, Alexion rubbed at the tears in his eyes. “Shit. I don’t think I’ve laughed like that in…” He hesitated. “Huh, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed like that.”
“Hey, that’s my line, alright?” Jason demanded. “I’ve called sad and brooding. You have to get your own thing. I recommend douche-baggery. You’re good at it.”
Alexion raised his hands. “Fair. Fair.”
Then his expression sobered. “As flattering as it is to think you’ve come this far just because I hurt your feelings—”
“You got me expelled,” Jason growled.
“Like I said, hurt your tender little feelings,” Alexion replied. “Either way, I don’t think it was anger alone that drove you this far. I’ve personally seen you in action, with Pewpew and now with Smokes. You didn’t seem angry to me. You were focused. Driven. Hell, you welded that makeshift arm to yourself in the middle of a fight.”
Alexion shook his head. “I guess what I’m saying is that maybe you have it wrong. Maybe it’s not anger or some quest for power. He shrugged. “Just my two cents, anyway.”
Jason stared back in surprise for a long moment before responding. “Man, look at you bringing the psychological insight. Are you really Alex Lane, or did Queen slip in here while I wasn’t paying attention?”
“Yeah, well don’t get used to it,” Alexion fired back.
Jason just shook his head, his eyes dropping to the floor. Maybe there was some truth to what Alexion had said. Those life and death situations lent a particular sort of clarity. There wasn’t room to worry or wring his hands or question himself. He was just forced to act. To do whatever was necessary to win. To survive. There was nothing more primal than that.
