Disclaimer:
The game Heretic, the character D’Sparil and Slashers (known as Sabre-Claws in the game), the weapons Phoenix Rod and Hell-Staff, and the items Tome of the Ancients, the ring and the skull artifact, are property of ID and Raven Software, I’m pretty sure. Such references are done without the permission of the owners, but I am not receiving any compensation money-wise for writing this story.
The game DOOM and the weapon BFG 9000 are property of ID Software. Such references are done without the permission of the owner, but I am not receiving any compensation money-wise for writing this story.
The character Guardian and the Council belong to GC, AKA the author of this story, AKA me. Sometimes I RP as myself, for your information, so it would be totally impossible to use me/GC without my permission, if at all. And you can’t use Guardian without my permission, either.
The character Cyber belongs to Max, who RP’ed as himself as well. So, again, it would be totally impossible to use Max without his permission, if at all. And you can’t use Cyber without his permission.
Based upon an RP created by ‘Cyber’ and ‘Guardian’
Written by ‘Guardian’
Warning: Use of obscene language apparent.
It was not surprising that GC kept that file with her wherever she went in Unreality now. The file in question was the one where she housed all the off-the-wall RPs she helped her character, Guardian, conduct in the GFW castle. Normally, she would stick it with all her other files, only to be brought up upon request, but now she had to keep it with her, if she wanted to survive.
The night before, she, Guardian, the two versions of Cyber, Sgt. Goliath and shogun raptor fought various beasts and baddies when GC opened up that very file to have some fun. Unfortunately, one of the baddies, D’Sparil from Heretic, was able to escape from the file without anyone noticing. The Council was up in arms about this when they heard.
A pure RP creature must not flee from its Worldly bounds. Chaos can come upon Unreality if this occurs.
Well, chaos did not occur for the night, a miracle to the Council, but GC was ordered to bring D’Sparil back to the file as soon as possible, before anything chaotic could occur. GC was fine with that; she had to be, lest she not have the privileges of a ‘creator’ any longer.
So GC kept that file with her, waiting for her friends to show up so she wouldn’t have to tackle the problem on her own.
She and Guardian waited within the castle for people to show up. As of late, people were losing interest in the castle, a problem steadily growing. GC quietly thumbed through the file, growing edgier by the minute. If she did not do something soon . . .
BING! GC was buzzed by her AIM messaging service. It was the Neutral Cyber. She pulled up her Neutral Guardian and the two conversed:
Guardian: Last night was a blast. Hope you enjoyed it.
Cyber: Of course I did.
Guardian: You know, that D’Sparil dude is still out there. We should probably rein him in ASAP.
Cyber: Cool! I get to be evil again. Hold on . . .
The organic version of Cyber entered the castle, followed by the dreaded D’Sparil. Perfect, GC thought.
D’Sparil pointed to GC. “Kill her,” it said ominously.
GC had to act quickly. She threw the file onto the ground of the room, opening it. A bright light flashed out onto the courtyard doors, revealing the RP World she created. GC grabbed a hold of her character and zoomed inside the World, quickly followed by a possessed Cyber and D’Sparil.
“Okay, okay, okay . . . What’s gonna work here? . . . Oh I know!” GC quickly summoned a Phoenix Rod for herself, as she remembered that it was the most powerful weapon from the game Heretic, and a Tome of the Ancients, a power-up for all weapons. It would help immensely. As soon as D’Sparil entered on his Chaos Lizard, she began to fire at him with the Rod.
Guardian watched as Cyber ran closer to GC. She roared, ready to protect her ‘creator’ at all costs, readied her blades, and charged her possessed friend.
Cyber turned around, and, though surprised, was able to tackle the Andusian. He pinned her wrists down, squeezing them tightly.
Guardian roared again, tucked her feet into her chest, and released, succeeding in kicking the organic version off of her. Cyber unfolded his wings, and hovered above the ground. He grinned at her, and took off towards GC.
“Oh no you don’t!” Guardian began to run, and launched herself into the air, in pursuit of Cyber.
GC seemed to notice the sudden increase in enemies as well. She summoned an Ethereal Crossbow and fired at Cyber, not wanting to waste her Rod ammo on another, less deserving target. Cyber was a character; she could easily delete him, with approval from the Council. D’Sparil was another matter. He had to be destroyed the hard way.
Cyber easily dodged the green arrows and continued his pursuit, but only for a moment longer. He heard Guardian’s roars from behind, and he knew he needed to act fast. Cyber performed a military plane maneuver on the Andusian; he suddenly zoomed straight up in the air, and went around so now he was pursuing Guardian, instead of it being the other way around. Before she could react, he took hold of her tail and began to spin her around.
Guardian was quickly growing dizzy. She attempted to fire her Plasma Gun at him, but before she could get a clean shot he let go. Guardian could not recover from her dizziness in time. She fell to the ground with a sick thud and rolled a few feet, barely conscious.
Cyber landed and walked towards the Andusian. He kneeled down and looked her over. Satisfied, he stood up, and resumed walking towards his target: GC.
The Lizard crept closer, avoiding not too well the fire from GC’s Phoenix Rod, but it would be a while before the beast would die. Soon, she and D’Sparil were almost within arms’ length. D’Sparil touched his staff to hers, and they both went flying, the power within the two rods being too great for either to handle.
In her speculative-mode, GC also had a great knowledge of gymnastics, a characteristic of all ‘creators’ in such a mode. She flipped in mid-air and succeeded in landing on her feet. The Tome she held began to burn in her hand, meaning that its own power was fading. Quickly she summoned another, joined it with the rod, and aimed it at the Lizard.
The Chaos Lizard rose, swayed, groaned, and fell. Perhaps the clash of power between the rods killed it off. GC sighed with relief; now for D’Sparil. She looked around, but could not find the wayward creature. She cursed, and saw the World warp again, this time resembling the last level of Heretic, the one where the hero actually fights D’Sparil. A river separated GC from D’Sparil and his building where an important Gate lay. Some buildings in the distance remained, near where Guardian and Cyber were battling. Now, if GC remembered correctly . . .
She did. D’Sparil summoned numerous Sorcerers, flying beings wielding great magical powers. GC ducked as the Sorcerers cast their spells against her, and wished Guardian was around to help. She looked up to the only building now, and saw D’Sparil watching on the rooftop. All she had to do was break the line of Sorcerers . . .
Easier said than done. The Tome began to smoke again, and the Sorcerers were closing in on her. She had to find a way out. Suddenly she had an idea, use invincibility! GC summoned a ring artifact that granted a short period of invincibility in the game, and placed it on her finger. Now, the spells the Sorcerers cast would have no affect against her, for a short time, anyway. GC would have to act fast.
The Andusian groaned softly. The pain just wouldn’t leave her. Something tugged at her in the back of her brain, a little chant she picked up from her childhood.
“Tava . . . I beg you, please . . . aid me . . .”
Out of nowhere, a strong wind picked up. It swirled around, waiting for unspoken orders from its summoner. After a few seconds it darted after Cyber.
“Cyber . . . Cyber . . .”
The organic version quickened his pace.
“Cyber . . . Cyber . . .”
He grunted, took hold of a nearby wall, and started vaulting himself to different buildings, in hops of losing the odd wind.
It was unfazed. “Cyber . . . Cyber . . .”
Finally be began to fly towards D’Sparil, as he heard his master call out to him in his mind. The wind, now within its element, began to overtake him, crying out his name louder than ever before. “Cyber! . . . Cyber! . . .”
Somewhere, deep within his heart, something gave way. Maybe it was the voice, so soothing and comforting, even in earnest; maybe it was his own battered self-consciousness, returning to finish an ongoing fight. Whatever it was, Cyber became himself again, but, the power holding him to D’Sparil’s will was not easily destroyed. As he fought with two selves, he fell from the sky, plowing into his former master, and into the river below.
The flying artifact gave out just as she reached the building. With the last bit of power she flitted over the edge and onto the roof, casting the skull onto the ground as it began to melt. Before D’Sparil could do anything she fired the Staff at him, Tome in hand.
Acid rain began to fall a foot above the pure RP creature. He roared in pain and tried to dodge the rain, but it followed him. Within a few seconds the rain stopped, but it didn’t matter. One more shot with the Tome was all GC needed, and D’Sparil would die. She stepped towards the creature, and aimed the Staff . . .
And was dropped to her rear as an unconscious Cyber plowed into D’Sparil, sending both of them into the river below. GC squawked in surprise and anger, and looked over the edge to see where the two went. D’Sparil teleported himself out of danger, while Cyber splashed into the running water.
This wasn’t her fight anymore. She looked for Guardian, but couldn’t find her. Cursing for about the third time she summoned another flying artifact and flew down towards the river. Once she got to shore she thrust the artifact and Hell-Staff aside, and dived into the water, hoping the current wouldn’t overtake her body.
Finding Cyber wasn’t very hard. Part of his right leg had become lodged under a rock somehow. GC struggled to free him, but soon realized that she wouldn’t be able to win this battle.
Suddenly, a large catlike figure jumped into the water.
The two arrived to see Guardian in a helpless state. The Andusian was breathing, but it was in short, labored gasps. They stooped to help her when she waved them away.
“GC . . . and Cyber . . . help them first . . .” Guardian said in urgent gasps of breath. “If she goes . . . we’re both . . . finished . . .” The Andusian pointed to a lone building in the distance, a river running below it, surrounded by dirt.
“Stay with Guardian. I’ll find GC and Cyber,” Shortie instructed Courtney. She then took off on all fours towards the river, where, with her sharp eyesight, she saw splashing.
The werecat surfaced, and, upon seeing GC, swam towards her. She succeeded in grabbing a hold of GC, but with the combined weight of Cyber, the human, and herself, she couldn’t do much else.
Guardian’s summoned wind reemerged, and dove into the water, somehow able to keep itself intact. The wind circled around to the bottom, and used all its strength to aid Shortie in getting themselves to shore. Once the three were ashore, the wind dissipated, its job done. GC coughed up excess water, and took in grateful mouthfuls of air. She glanced at Cyber, who was not breathing.
“Quick, Shortie! Do you know CPR?” the ‘creator’ asked breathlessly. She knew CPR herself, but wasn’t sure if her own lungs could take much exertion.
Unfortunately, GC talked to air. She turned, and saw Shortie had taken off towards the abandoned buildings, possibly to help Guardian. GC stared at the lifeless Cyber. Why did she have to do this? This was a character; it was Guardian’s job to save him. It didn’t feel right to her, having a ‘creator’ resuscitate a character. But she began anyway. Cyber was her character’s friend.
GC bent down like her instructor in Reality showed her to do, her cheek hovering over Cyber’s muzzle, her eyes looking at his chest and stomach. Seeing and feeling no signs of breathing, she tilted Cyber’s head back, and quickly drew two lines across Cyber’s chest, each bisecting the other. Then she folded her hands together they was she was shown, and began chest compressions.
One two three four five . . . GC counted in her mind. Then she bent down, pinched the character’s muzzle, and breathed into his lungs. Not a pleasant thing, but she wasn’t going to let him die, not if she could help it.
She performed this act twice. After the second round of compressions and breath Cyber began to cough and stir. GC sat down, her energy totally spent.
Cyber turned to look at her, smiling faintly. “Remind me not to go unconscious while flying.” He chuckled softly.
“Neh, you get no argument from me,” the ‘creator’ said back. The two stayed in their positions for a moment, while Shortie and Courtney returned with Guardian between them.
“You all look like you could use a break . . .” GC quipped.
“And maybe an explanation.” Shortie said.
“Yeah, I’ll tell ya in a minute.” With D’Sparil gone, GC no longer needed to be in the mode she was currently in. She switched to spectator-mode, summoned two cots for Guardian and Cyber, grabbed hold of Shortie and Courtney, and zoomed out of the RP World. Upon entering back into the room GC closed the file and tucked it back into the backpack she carried with her. She turned to Shortie and Courtney, and began her tale.
GC nodded and sighed. “But he is no longer a threat to Unreality.”
“Not unless you open the file again . . .”
“Which you will have to do eventually, so as to eradicate the problem,” another member added.
“True,” GC began, “But I will need help. I can’t do something like that alone.”
“It seems you would have done just fine without that Guardian character of yours.”
GC’s cheeks burned. She didn’t like it when her superiors chided her choices of character personalities. “If she weren’t present the Cyber-character would have easily killed me.” She glared at no one in particular.
“Perhaps . . . will he be apparent again?”
“I’m not sure.”
There was a pause as the Council went over the problem. “See to it that this problem is eradicated as soon as possible. We congratulate you in bringing the D’Sparil program back into your file, but you do know that it will soon become corrupted if he is allowed to remain. We will not advise you in how to handle the situation; overall, under the circumstances, we believe you handled yourself quite well. Use your own judgement, and report to us when needed.” There was a soft hush, and the other Council members disappeared.
GC sighed, opened a portal to Reality, and stepped through. Her failure irked her, and she sat on her bed in frustration. There was also something tugging at the back of her mind, something that had been gnawing at her the whole time.
Before the fight began, D’Sparil had said ‘Kill her’, meaning GC, to his pet Cyber. Now, if GC remembered correctly, she hadn’t dumped in the Heretic code into the data pool she summoned the night of the first fight; it had been Cyber. More so, when a purely RP creature is created, it knows nothing if its ‘creator’, only its heritage, be it from a book, computer game, etc. Thus, D’Sparil would not have been able to discern GC from Guardian; to him, both were the hero from the game. She why did he single out her? And more so, how was he able to tell GC was actually a she in the first place? The hero from Heretic was a male; it said so in the installation manual. This bit of information set GC at unease. Perhaps D’Sparil became corrupted during his trek in true Unreality. How GC did not know, but she would have to find out, but not today. She needed a break from Unreality as she contemplated what to do next.
Finally, while waiting with Guardian one night, the two chanced upon Cyber and his own ‘creator’, Max. GC didn’t even need to ask for their help; they volunteered. Without hesitation GC opened the file and the four walked inside.
“Well, this makes it all the much harder to find him,” GC quipped as she summoned another Phoenix Rod and Hell-Staff.
“Now that’s encouraging,” Max quipped back. “Be careful where you step; the levels are known for triggers and traps.” He slipped on a pair of sunglasses as he spoke.
GC and Guardian nodded, and checked where they were stepping. Cyber, on the other hand, did not. With one misplaced step, he activated a trigger, which announced itself with a loud click.
“I told you to watch your step!” Max chided his character.
“Well, uh, uh, sorry,” Cyber returned pitiably.
GC and her character said nothing as they readied their weapons. GC summoned a Tome of the Ancients and waited anxiously.
There was the harsh sound of metal grinding on metal as doors opened, and the telltale shriek of Slashers filled the musty air. Slashers were one of the enemies GC hated the most in Heretic; they looked like a cross between a skinned cat and a scorpion, with one of their hands replaced by a sharp axe. If one got close to you, you were either prepared for a quick death, or you were tortured by the nails-on-chalkboard sound of their axes scraping against the hero’s armor. There was another problem: Slashers traveled in packs, large packs.
Without another word the group fired at the Slashers with everything they had; GC with her Hell-Staff on Tome, Guardian with her Plasma Gun and Andusian Blades, Max with his Ethereal Crossbow, and Cyber with his BFG 9000 and his own talons. The group had one thing riding with them; the AI in the game was not up to par, and there would not have been anything D’Sparil could have done to fix that. So while the Slashers charged at the ‘creators’ and characters, they mowed them down easily.
At one point Cyber decided to take a gamble. Roaring, he charged through a large congregation of Slashers, covered by his character friend Guardian. With his attack, the dragon-gargoyle-dog creature succeeded in clearing the way into another hallway. Max noticed this, and brought the discovery to his friends’ attention. Covered by GC and Guardian, Max and Cyber ran into the hallway; the females followed soon after. Once they were all inside Max flipped a switch and closed the door, squishing some Slashers in the process. The hallway became dark, but before that Max saw something glow in his hand. He brushed his hand and covered it, not wanting to bring another possible problem into an already large predicament.
“I hate dark places, ‘specially now that D’Sparil corrupted the whole damn file,” GC said angrily as she summoned a torch to aid their sight.
As if to mock the group, an ominous laugh, hauntingly familiar with its metallic and ghost-like qualities, echoed throughout the dimly lit hallway. Both Guardian and Cyber growled and their eyes flared up to their respective bright hues. GC sneered and readied another Tome with her Hell-Staff; Max turned and fired his crossbow in the direction he thought the laugh came from. The green light from his arrows illuminated the walls as they sped towards their probable target. Sure enough, farther down the corridor, the arrows hit something large and white, something that cried out painfully in response. With their target acquired, the group began to fire again.
“That laugh is so frickin’ familiar . . . whose this guy now, Max?” GC asked as she fired multiple bursts of blood-red energy from her Staff. It had been a good while since she had played the game, but Max still had the game fresh in his mind.
“Iron Lichens,” Max answered, “They’re the big skull heads that burp up tornadoes.”
“Those guys? Man, this D’Sparil dude knows just how to ruin my day.”
“Hey, Guard, cover me!” Cyber yelled as he began to charge forward.
“Gotcha!” Guardian yelled over the sound of the discharging shots.
“Oh crap, what’s he doing now!” Max almost screamed out. Losing a character stank, even if they could be reinstated or re-‘created’. Without another thought Max ran after his character.
GC was about to protest, but a sharp nudge from her character changed her mind. Together ‘creator’ and character kept their friends safe with their cover-fire.
Max grew uneasy. The skull-heads were never able to do something like that in the game. In his hand the dot glowed again, brighter this time. He held his hand up to his face to possibly get a better look at the glow.
To his horror, the glow began to flow over his body, leaving flesh in its place. Somehow, he was warping into character-mode by a force other than his own. Not only that, but the transformation was becoming increasingly painful as he instinctually fought it. Max sank to his knees, almost roaring, as he heard the thud of shoes coming towards him.
GC growled. This character was giving her too much trouble. She stood to leave and was about to tell her character to stay when Guardian said, “Go get him; I’ll stay with Cyber.”
GC nodded and started running down the hallway. In mid-sprint she heard Max scream. Her heart jumped into her throat; God no . . . Please no . . . GC quickened her pace.
Something snapped in GC’s mind. This was no longer a fight to get rid of some corrupted program, now the fight was personal. D’Sparil had taken over her file, and now had just taken away fifty percent of the group’s main fighting powers; the remaining fifty- percent rode upon the sole ‘creator’ of the group, GC herself. GC was none too keen with that responsibility, as now she would have to protect three people from D’Sparil’s onslaughts. Well, protect them she would, even if it meant saving D’Sparil for a rainy day. Maybe the Council was right; maybe she would have to delete the entire file; but that would mean deleting everything she had for Unreality: the Blight, Fleet, Andus, Guardian . . . GC would have to think of another way.
Dejected, GC helped Max stand up. He groaned, and carefully placed a hand on his head. “Urgh --- What happened? I don’t remember anything else after meeting the Iron Lichen . . .”
GC sighed. “I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think it was anything good. Can you summon anything?”
Max tried, and failed. “Shit,” he spat out.
By now Cyber had regained his sense of up and down, and the two characters joined their respective ‘creators’. “Whoa, you okay Boss? You don’t look so good . . .” Cyber commented, who was still clutching at his head periodically.
“I . . . I can’t warp . . .” Max replied haltingly.
Cyber gasped and whimpered. Guardian glanced at her own ‘creator’ and quietly sighed in relief when she saw GC still in a transparent form.
GC attempted to change the subject. “Cyber, you said you saw D’Sparil, right?”
Cyber nodded slowly, as he was still recuperating from his dizzy spell. He pointed down the corridor, where there was a blue illumination, “That’s the waterfall. D’Sparil was right there --- but I guess he’s gone now.”
“Fine; then that’s where we’ll go.” GC charged up her Hell-Staff and began walking in that direction. Max followed behind her, and their two characters trailed after him.
GC muttered incoherent curses and phrases while she trudged towards the steadily growing roar of the waterfall. Max moved to comfort her when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a concerned Cyber looking back at him. “You know, Boss, that you’re a character, right?”
Max nodded. “Yeah, so?”
“So you’re a whole lot more vulnerable than before; you’re in a lot more danger!”
“And your point is . . .?”
Max’s character whimpered. “Well, I just don’t want you to do anything rash, please? You know what could happen if you do . . .”
Max gave his character an appraising look, turned, and continued walking towards the waterfall. Cyber whimpered again, and jogged after him.
“Got a plan?” her character asked jovially. GC turned sharply to find Guardian walking beside her.
“No . . . How long have you been here?”
“Long enough to determine how pissed off you are.”
GC sighed loudly. “I’m beginning to really dislike this guy with a dark, deep passion.”
“So I see. But he’s only a character; I’m sure we’ll pull through.”
“I dunno . . . I’m having doubts.”
“Care to spill them?” It was a phrase the Andusian rarely used, but one she picked up from her ‘creator.’
GC chuckled, despite her anger and stress. “With Max in permanent character-mode, I’m getting a guilt trip. Sure, he may have volunteered to help, but I accepted it, right? Now his problem is on my hands; that’s how I feel. And if he gets killed . . .” GC did not dare finish her sentence.
Guardian placed a reassuring hand on her ‘creators’ shoulder. “Can you delete the file itself?”
“That’s another problem. If I do, you ‘n’ everything else I’ve thought up for Unreality goes with it. So much for my intelligence . . .” GC sighed again.
“I’m willing to go though with that. If it means protecting Cyber, and anyone else.”
“You must be joking.”
“I’m not. Remember, I’m altruistic.”
Both character and ‘creator’ shared a laugh. “Only as a last resort, then.”
“What the . . .!” GC squawked as she jumped in after him. Without her around, he would have very little, if any, protection against D’Sparil and whatever he threw at him. Cyber and Guardian watched as their ‘creators’ vanished into the falling water. Then they, too, jumped through.
GC landed. “ ‘Ah, finally you show up’? Just who are you after anyway?” she asked exasperatedly, her Phoenix Rod aimed at him.
Before GC could fire D’Sparil cried out and teleported away from her hose of fire. In his place stood dozens of Chaos Lizards, the same type of Lizard GC killed only a few days ago. Screaming in anger, GC doused the Lizards with her Phoenix Rod. Why couldn’t this program fight like a man?!
By now Cyber and Guardian had joined their ‘creators’ and the second fight. There was one small problem: Max was vulnerable. GC made a face, and called out to him. “You need this more than I do.” She then tossed to him her Phoenix Rod, and unclamped her Hell-Staff from her back and used that weapon instead.
Unfortunately, the Rod was low on energy, and soon began to melt in Max’s hands. Cursing, he unsheathed a dagger, the only weapon he brought with him from Reality. He knew that this small dagger would be no match against the razor-sharp horns of the Chaos Lizard, and thus a thought came to him. “GC! I could really use one of those rings right now!”
GC heard him, and summoned a ring artifact for her fellow former-‘creator.’ Identical to the one GC used a few days ago, it would provide temporary invincibility to its wearer, an ability Max would greatly need for the time being. And, on a whim, GC gave her friend another fighting chance; she summoned a pair of Gloves and another Tome of the Ancients. When together, the Gloves had the ability to suck the life force out of any victim. Obviously happy, Max saluted his friend and began to use the Gloves on the Lizards.
As Guardian, Cyber, and Max battled the Lizards from one side, GC decided to concentrate on the other. She summoned the golden, winged skull-head and began to float above the fray. Using her Tome of the Ancients she cast acid rain on clusters of Lizards, watching melt in agony. GC winced and turned away from the carnage, but it had to be done; there was no other way to get to D’Sparil. As she floated down, GC caught a glimpse of Max; he was clutching his chest, where a Lizard had punctured his chest. His character finished the Lizard off, and Max seemed to be all right. GC sighed in relief and continued floating down.
Eventually, all the Chaos Lizards were either piles of ash, contaminated puddles, or burning heaps of flesh, depending on the weapons used against them. GC floated down and readied her Hell-Staff again with another Tome when D’Sparil appeared in front of the group.
“Impressive, but what will you do when such powers are gone?” The corrupted program spun his staff around in the air above him, and pointed it at GC. A long streak of green energy shot out at the unprotected ‘creator’, and she flew back as it impacted her chest. D’Sparil laughed evilly, and thrust his staff onto the ground. The waterfall morphed into a lava fall, and the corrupted program disappeared once again. GC was able to land on her feet, thanks to her ‘knowledge’ of gymnastics, but she sank to her knees in pain as she realized what was happening: D’Sparil had cast the same spell on her that he cast on Max; she was forcefully becoming a character.
Max roared in anger, demanding, “COWARD!!! Come out and fight like a man!” Like a bolt of lightning, something dawned upon her. Before her hands became flesh, she summoned a bronze medallion from the recesses of her mind. On it was carved a flying creature, looking very similar to Guardian. Before she could change her mind, she held the medallion up in the air, almost shrieking because of the lack of time, “Come forth, Guardian of the Earth, and save its people!” After what seemed like hours, GC stood up, swaying awkwardly with the new weight. She looked at her comrades; all three had a very similar surprised look. GC sighed and waved her hand, gesturing that she rather would not talk about her look right now. “It’s something I cooked up before I finalized Guardian’s past . . .” To test her hypothesis, GC summoned another Hell-Staff; the first burned to dust shortly after D’Sparil cast his spell on GC. “Obviously it came in handy. I can still summon stuff!” She grinned for the first time since the group entered the file; well, at least they hand one thing going for them now. The water rose, and began to take the form of a monster-like being. Upon finishing, the being formed flesh, and looked own upon its summoner. “Greetings, brother.” “Greetings, Korax. I have a favor to ask of you.” “And what might that be?” D’Sparil brought his screen to Korax’s eye level. “Dispose of them,” the corrupted program spat out. Korax rubbed his hands together. “Looks like fun.” The monster cupped his hands together and summoned a red orb of energy. He uncupped his hands, and let the orb float towards the screen, which melted into the screen. “This one,” Korax pointed to Max, “won’t be getting along with his friends much longer. Neither will she.” Korax also pointed to GC. “Hey, you okay, GC?” Guardian asked her ‘creator.’ GC sneered. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered exasperatedly. Upon seeing the astonished look on her character’s face, GC blinked. “Uh, sorry about that; I don’t know what came over me.” The ‘creator’ scratched her head in wonder. “Stress, maybe?” “Wouldn’t be surprised.” “You okay, Boss?” Cyber asked next. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Max answered in an angry tone. “Whoa, didn’t mean to piss you off. Sorry, Boss.” Cyber held up his hands in defense, a sheepish grin across his face. “Yeah, I’ll bet.” “ --- Are you threatening me?” “Maybe.” Cyber growled quietly and his eyes glowed a faint blue. Max stared right back at him, not showing any fear. GC and Guardian glanced at their comrades in astonishment. Before the two could lunge Guardian took hold of Max and kept him in place, while GC summoned a type of stasis field around Cyber. “What the hell has gotten into you!” GC exclaimed. “You’re acting like you’re enemies or something.” “The real enemy is D’Sparil,” Guardian added. Max struggled within the Andusian’s grasp, but he was no match for her strength. GC kept the stasis field around Cyber and walked closer to Max. “You sure you’re okay? Normally you wouldn’t be acting like this . . .” Before he could respond a bright light erupted from nowhere, causing the group to shield their eyes. When GC and Max opened their eyes, they found that they were alone. “Such tings take time. I was not aware that the girl had the capability of quelling such anger.” “And what of the flying creatures?” “They are with their brethren . . .” Guardian moved her eyes, and caught a glimpse of a darker section of the room. It was, it had to be, a way out. The Andusian gestured to Cyber, pointing to her discovery. He nodded, and began to tiptoe his way towards the hopeful exit. “Damned if I know,” Max returned sarcastically. GC turned to her friend and raised her other eyebrow. Something was definitely not right with him --- and the same went for her. For some reason, after she saw that red haze she felt her anger level skyrocket. So far she had been able to keep it down, thanks to previous, similar aggressions, but the visions that came with this anger put her at unease. Whenever she blinked, she would see scenes, grotesque scenes of death and carnage, scenes that did not help her stomach any. She had to get rid of these visions, but how? A thought struck her: No way she would ever think such things on her own; there had to be an outside influence. She gritted her teeth as the name flitted across her mind: D’Sparil. “GC, you okay?” a familiar voice asked. GC snapped out of her thoughts and saw Max looking at her. For some reason his face was pissing her off, but now that she determined that the anger wasn’t hers, she was able to keep it down. “Yeah,” she replied uneasily, trying desperately to keep her unwarranted anger at bay. “I’m just --- not feeling myself, and I don’t think it’s my doing.” She rolled her eyes upward, indicating her new appendages. Max chuckled in a tone that set GC off even more. She clenched her fists as she battled the rage within her. “You too?” he asked, whether in a congenial or hostile tone GC didn’t dare guess; either way, it would further infuriate her. All right, she thought, fighting it how I am isn’t working. Maybe there’s another way . . .? She perused through her memories, trying to find a very special one that would possibly help her through this crisis . . . Hello! A vision from Reality zoomed into her consciousness. It was of her mother and herself driving the car, listening to a radio station. Soon after the event occurred she had put the thought to writing; hopefully the battle would become easier, if she remembered the words. She began to play the vision over and over in her mind, concentrating on it only; as she did, the rage within her began to subside. After a few minutes of tense silence she succeeded in asking Max, “You feelin’ kinda odd still?” It was Max’s turn to look at his friend with a raised eyebrow. “What’s it to you?” he demanded. “Nothin’, really, except that I’m goin’ through something like that, and I think I found a way to defeat it.” GC chuckled. “I can get pissed off, but not this bad.” Max thought for a moment, and shook his head. “No, I think I’ll be alright.” GC nodded thoughtfully, and turned to another subject: getting rid of D’Sparil. Well, he wasn’t within the vicinity, that was for sure, but instinct told GC that he probably wasn’t far gone, either. More likely he was watching nearby, under some invisibility spell, or watching through some secret window. The idea of a secret window seemed more plausible to GC, so she decided upon that. Another idea struck her. “Hey, Max, is this place also a level in Heretic or one of the other games under that umbrella title?” Max gritted his teeth and clenched his fists before continuing. “No, I’ve never seen any level like this . . . Just what are you getting at, anyway?” “Well, most likely he, he being D’Sparil, is watching us from somewhere; I’m also thinkin’ that the rage we’re feeling was created by him. Did you see a red haze pass before your eyes a few minutes or so ago?” Max didn’t answer. His demeanor began to alarm GC, but she continued, hoping either her calm voice (or what she hoped was calm) or the fact that she was talking would help him break from the spell. “Well, I did, and I think that’s what signaled the beginning of my sudden increase in anger. So, Mr. D’Sparil-dude probably wouldn’t bail out so quickly; don’t you think he would want to savor his victory over the two of us?” Reluctantly, Max nodded slowly. “So, I’m thinkin’ that maybe he’s still around.” “And where would he be, then?” Max said exasperatedly. “That’s where I would appreciate your input.” GC looked at Max expectantly. “Why would you care? You’ll probably cast it aside anyway.” GC’s mouth dropped to the floor. “Uh, that didn’t cross my mind . . .” Max folded his arms. “Yeah, I’ll bet,” he added quietly. Now a bit more afraid, GC held her arms in front of her. “Hey, ‘s-okay with me. It’s your opinion.” After a few seconds GC looked skyward, noticing for the first time that the wall in which the lava fall fell was higher than the others. Perhaps this was a clue? GC summoned a pair of binoculars, held them up to her eyes, and zoomed in on the top. Sure enough, two dark figures looked down upon them. GC growled and gritted her teeth. So they were watching . . . GC made the binoculars disappear. Now she had another problem: how was she going to get up there? Well, maybe with her new wings . . . She tested them out, flapping them strongly, and managed to lift off the ground and hover. GC then flew around the circumference of the arena, and landed a few feet in front of Max. “And what was that all about?” he asked. “Testing to see if I can lift my own weight. Oh, and he’s up there,” GC pointed skyward to emphasize her discovery, “watching to see if we kill each other. If we can get up there, bring the fight to them . . .” “And what makes you think I’ll let you carry me up there? For all I know you’ll drop me in the lava.” GC’s mouth dropped to the floor a second time. “Now, if I may ask, just where the hell are you getting those crackpot ideas? I’d never do that.” Before Max could answer he cried out, the rage finally overtaking him, and sank to the floor. GC was quickly by his side, trying to coach him out of his crisis. Suddenly Max whipped out his dagger, scaring GC like nothing else. He growled at her, his dagger between the two of them. “You touch me and I kill you.” What cruel thoughts! Where was he getting them? And especially now . . . It didn’t matter. Whatever was causing it would pay. Something echoed within Max’s mind, something dark, but also comforting. “Yes, us your anger, feel it burn within you . . .” No, that couldn’t be true. He had to fight this rage! He screamed and sank to the floor. No . . . he was losing the battle. A human-like figure jogged towards him, concern on its features. It looked so much like GC, and yet Max knew this wasn’t her. No, this impostor had taken her somewhere, and took her place as GC, but it wasn’t doing a good job; GC didn’t have wings and a tail. Out of defense he unsheathed his dagger and pointed it at the impostor. “You touch me and I kill you.” “It took you long enough, brother,” D’Sparil returned impatiently. “Perhaps.” “And that other seemed to easily defeat your spell.” “She is stronger than we both suspected. However, I do not think it will matter much now; if she is strong in one area, another might not be as experienced.”
“We shall see, brother; we shall see.” “No, you’re just a poor impostor; D’Sparil must have put you here in her place. Now tell me, where is she! Where is GC!” Max roared angrily. “What . . .!” Something clicked in GC’s mind. “Hey, hey now, Max. This ain’t no impostor. Don’t you remember? D’Sparil cast that forced-character-spell-thing on me, like he did to you. But I was able to counter it with a weird trick; that’s why I have the . . . uh . . . extra appendages. As soon as we find and destroy D’Sparil everything reverts back to normal. So . . . uh, don’t kill me, okay? Please?” GC’s speech did nothing. Max moved closer, and GC backed farther away. Increased heat upon her back told her that she was nearing the lava fall; it was too late to go in another direction, and God only knew what Max would do if she took to the air. So GC stayed where she was, praying the he snapped out of whatever he was going through soon, or they both would regret it. “Liar! All lies! Tell me where she is, or I’ll . . .” Max lunged at GC, dagger dangerously close. GC grabbed hold of her friend’s hand and used all her strength to keep the dagger away from her fragile epidermis. One swipe, carefully placed, and that would be the end of GC . . . and everything she ever ‘created’ in Unreality, since she would be dying in the realm of oddity. Max was stronger than GC, much stronger. He wrestled his hand free, and cut GC in the process. GC had never experienced this much pain before. She sank to her knees, her physical and mental body reeling from the shock, and clutched at the wound. It wasn’t too deep, but still . . . Max grinned in satisfaction at harming the demon. But there was something tugging at him, telling him to wait before he finished it off. The demon looked up at him, tears, of all things, streaming from its face. “Max, please, don’t . . .” “You didn’t tell me where she is, so you’re paying the price.” He raised his dagger, and sent it down towards the demon.
GC caught the hand again, but felt a searing pain cry out from nowhere, and yet everywhere, from her body. Whether from fear or the pain, GC blacked out. The limp body he was scrutinizing was GC’s. “My God . . . What . . . What have I done!” Oh, wonderful, I am dead GC thought fleetingly. She sighed, wondering if Unreality harbored the heaven she learned of in Sunday school so many years ago. Echoing footsteps brought her back to the here and now. She looked up, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from, but it was no use; the steps sounded like they were coming from every place in the room. She tried to summon one of her Heretic weapons, fearing that the steps might be from D’Sparil, but her abilities were negated in this odd realm. Finally the maker of the footsteps emerged from the mist, and GC stopped breathing. There, right in front of her, stood a tall man, one she had known almost all her life, one that had passed away just over a year ago. “Un --- Uncle Myron?” GC asked breathlessly. The man smiled and nodded. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, CB? How’s everyone back home?” Tears welled in GC’s eyes as her late uncle spoke the acronym of her Reality name. For as long as she had known him, that’s how he addressed her, and she loved it. Swallowing to keep her voice steady, GC slowly nodded and smiled meekly. “We’re fine, but we miss you so much.” Uncle Myron walked closer, sensing GC’s pain and hope, and outstretched his arms. GC took the initiative and gave her tall uncle a loving squeeze. Neither of them spoke; both were content to just live in the hug and let life pass them by. After a few minutes the two finally let go. GC looked up at Uncle Myron, her tears threatening to escape her eyes. Haltingly, she asked, “D --- Do you know why I’m here?” “This is like a waiting room for the so-called Great Beyond. There’s a chance that you can be revived, so we’re waiting to see what happens.” GC nodded slowly, and took one of her uncle’s hands in hers. So real, she thought. Suddenly she felt her stomach flop, the way it sometimes did when she stepped off a fast elevator back in Reality. She looked back up at Uncle Myron, her face asking what just happened. He smiled again and patted her hand. “You got lucky this time. Tell everyone I said ‘Hi’ for me, got it?” GC smiled again, and gave her late uncle one last hug. “You got it . . .” Before she returned to Unreality she called out, “Will I see you again?” Uncle Myron chuckled. “Hopefully not anytime soon; you have so much life ahead of you. But when it is your time, I’ll be there.” The misty-white room, as well as her uncle, began to fade. GC felt vertigo as she began to awaken . . . Two large boulders narrowed the opening between the passage and the room; it would provide cover for the two characters, hopefully. Armed with their respective energy weapons, Guardian and Cyber each hid behind one of the boulders, aimed, and fired. The attack caught the corrupted programs by surprise, thankfully. Cyber used his BFG 9000 to drain the life force from D’Sparil and his friend, while his Andusian comrade fired with her Plasma Gun, keeping the corrupted programs from trying anything. Ironically, the battle between characters lasted only a few minutes; with the programs unable to retaliate, fighting them was easy. But although the war was finally over, there was still one problem left. Cyber turned to see Guardian clutching her stomach. The Andusian brought her hand into the dim light, and gasped. “Blood . . . they never cut us . . . By Andus --- something’s happening to GC. We have to find her, now!” Cyber rushed to a window carved out from the rock and looked down. He saw GC and Max down below; his ‘creator’ didn’t seem too happy, especially with GC down on the ground like so. “Uh, Guard, they’re down there. I don’t know what’s happened, but . . .” Cyber said uneasily. Guardian grunted, and switched on her Anti-Grav Belt. She was stronger, and would possibly for a bit longer if GC were to die, but using her wings would do more harm than good. She rose and carefully walked to the window. “Let’s go . . .” Max groaned as he played back the terrible attack in his mind. His anger clouded his vision, his judgement, and he saw GC as one of D’Sparil’s minions. If she were to die . . . A cough brought him back to Reality. He opened his eyes to see GC looking up at him, smiling weakly. “So we won?” she asked meekly. Max sighed in relief, and patted his friend’s shoulder, and also discovering that he was reverting back to a transparent form. “Yeah, we won.” GC sighed in relief as well and sat up. She, too, began to lose the wings and tail she gained from her improvisation, as well as turning back into a transparent ‘creator’. All around the group everything created by D’Sparil crumbled and disappeared, soon leaving the heroes in the middle of nothing, just a vast empty file space. “Well, that’s that. I don’t know about you, but I could go for a nap,” GC joked. Despite the fact that she hovered close to death, her personality, her sense of humor, came off as if nothing had happened. “Not quite,” a low, authoritative voice declared. Right before their eyes, a familiar round table formed, with three Council members sitting around it. They all looked at the ‘creators’ calmly. “Oh dear . . .” GC whispered. One if them spoke, “Shall we give you the chance to defend yourself?” “Uh, well, that would be appreciated . . .” GC said haltingly, “How much do you know?” The second member spoke, “Enough.” Max cleared his throat. “And what are the main charges so that I might defend against those?” The final member spoke, and after that each member spoke after the other, in a hauntingly calm, consecutive manner. “For starters, endangering the lives of a fellow ‘creator’ and characters,” the third member calmly glanced at GC, “and not properly disposing of a corrupted RP Creature . . . And for you, Max, ‘creator’ of Cyber, endangering the life of a fellow ‘creator.’” “Well, then,” Max began, “if you guys know so much, then you would know that it’s not GC’s fault, but mine.” He rubbed his arm. “This got out of hand. Cyber, whom I take responsibility for, brought D’Sparil into the first place; so don’t get her involved in this, just me.” “It was GC who created the opportunity in the first place.” The first member steepled his fingers together and leaned forward, looking at, almost through, Max. Max took off his sunglasses and stared back at the Council. “D’Sparil put a spell on us both. Luckily GC was able to snap out of it; myself, I was completely under his control. If I knew what I was doing . . .” Max did not continue his statement, but started another. “God forbid I hurt a friend on purpose.” “Yes, that was quite an unfortunate occurrence, Max,” the second member chided. “Luckily your two characters were able to stop things before they became worse.” The three Council members turned to GC, who as of yet had said nothing in her defense. GC took a breath, and began. “I don’t blame Max for what he did; we were both under the control of D’Sparil. But like you said earlier, if I hadn’t disposed of the file ‘properly’, none of this crap would have ever happened. But thanks to my overall abnormally high intelligence I linked the file with all my other Unreality stuff: Fleet, Andus, the Blight, Guard . . . So, by destroying the file, I’d have destroyed all my stuff. Out of my lack if hindsight I could have caused God knows what problems to Unreality if I allowed the program to stay within my file any longer, and thus I will respect the decision of the Council, even if it means stripping me of my Privilege.” Max decided to speak again. “You guys wouldn’t do that, would you? With all due respect just because of one mistake doesn’t mean you have to do that! If anybody should be stripped of the Privilege it should be me!” “You do realize it would be quite difficult to officially revoke your Privilege?” the third member asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. Max nodded and folded his arms. “At least you understand that I’m willing to give it up for her.” “It would appear both of you are . . .” the first member stated. “What Max says is true,” the second member steepled his fingers together as well and leaned back in an invisible chair. “One mistake cannot possibly mean expulsion for Unreality.” “I see no definite reason to revoke your privileges,” the third member spoke evenly. “Events similar to your predicament has occurred many times before. GC chose a rather --- unconventional method of taking care of the situation, but the problem has been solved.” “Then so be it,” the first member decided. He leaned forward in his chair. “GC and Max, the next time you decide to take such matters into your own hands, de be careful.” There was a soft hush as the Council disappeared, leaving the group in the empty file space once again. Both GC and Max brought their characters out of the file so GC could close it. Before they departed to reality GC offered her hand to Max. “Thanks.” “For what? I practically killed you.” “What could we do? Shit happens, and I’m willing to let it go. And I’m thanking you because you volunteered to help me out in the first place, and you covered for me, or at least tried to, during the Council meeting. I think that deserves some recognition.” Max looked at his friend’s outstretched hand, and shook it. “You’ll be around later?” he asked jovially. “’Course. Just a little nap, maybe a shower, some quality time with my family, but I’ll be back.” Max nodded, and the two disappeared. In a few seconds, Guardian and Cyber disappeared as well, returning to their character lives. Coming into the kitchen she saw her mother eating her breakfast and reading the Calendar section of the LA Times. GC yawned, greeted her mother, and prepared her own breakfast. Once at the table, she cleared her throat, ready to forward her uncle’s message. “Uh, mom?” she asked. It took a minute, but finally GC’s mom put down her paper. “Yes, what is it?” GC took a long breath before continuing. “I had this weird dream last night where I talked to Uncle Myron.” At the voicing of her late brother-in-law GC’s mother gasped quietly. “He’s okay ‘n’ stuff, but he wanted me to say ‘Hi’ to the rest of us. So, ‘Hi’, in representation of Uncle Myron.” As she spoke tears once again threatened to betray GC’s feelings. Her mother brought her hand over to where GC was sitting; GC took hold of it and squeezed. Uncle Myron had meant a lot to the family, and would still continue to do so.
If GC was correct in her hypothesis, the second transformation would fight against the first, and maybe cancel each other out, keeping her like she was before. GC kept her hands on the strange medallion as the struggle ensued, terrified of what might happen were she to loosen her grip. The second transformation, being a painless one in her mind, slowly began to overtake D’Sparil’s spell, but there was an odd side effect. With the medallion, whoever held it and spoke the incantation would transform into Guardian, a backstory GC never used but still thought of. GC felt two wings grow from her back and a tail grow from her rear. Now this is weird . . . And just how will Guardian take it? GC thought to herself.
Within the privacy of his cave, D’Sparil summoned a screen to watch what was happening. He gasped as he saw the girl summon another weapon, and at the new form she took. He gritted his teeth; this adversary would be harder to defeat than he had first expected. A thought cam to him, and he walked towards a small lake, and thrust his staff in there.
Both GC and Max blinked as a faint red haze clouded their sight for a brief moment.
“You spell does not seem to be working,” D’Sparil chided his brother.
Guardian and Cyber opened their eyes to find themselves in the middle of a room full of sleeping, red colored, winged demons. No doubt this was D’Sparil’s work, and no doubt it was bad. The two kept still, knowing they were finished if they did anything that created sound.
GC blinked, and raised an eyebrow. “Uh --- what the hell just happened? Where’d Guard ‘n’ Cyber go?”
Why, why, why? Why couldn’t GC just leave him alone? Just leave him alone to battle this rage inside of him, and he’ll be fine. But no, she has to keep talking and asking stupid questions. And those wings and tail of hers weren’t helping the situation any. Max could barely contain himself. Any moment and he could have collapsed, laughing hysterically.
So far, Guardian and Cyber had found nothing. They had been walking the whole time, their eyes bright and trained on any sense of movement, guns and talons ready. Finally, the two characters registered a change in light ahead. They walked along to find a small pond within the cave. Further ahead they heard muted voices. Cyber looked at Guardian and growled, his eyes glowing a bright blue. Guardian nodded, and the two walked forward. One of the voices had to belong to D’Sparil; the other had to be a comrade-in-arms. In any case, both would die; they had caused enough trouble.
"Ah, so it begins,” Korax chuckled evilly.
“Whoa! What do you think you’re doin’, Max? It’s me, GC . . .” The half-‘creator,’ half-character backed away as Max brandished his weapon.
Max blinked, and crouched to study the limp demon; he had saved it from burning in the lava for some reason. Something came over him, a revelation, and a horrible, startling one at that.
GC found herself in a strange, misty-white room. Compared to the anxiety, anger, and fear she was witnessing just scant moments before, she felt tranquil here.
Cyber and Guardian succeeded in coming extremely close to D’Sparil and his friend, and so far had also succeeded in keeping themselves from being heard. The two programs were chuckling, amused at whatever they were observing.
Max looked up and saw two winged figures flying towards him; Cyber and Guardian had returned! As he looked back down at his barely breathing friend, the whole arena began to crumble. Cyber gave his ‘creator’ a thumbs-up sign, indicating that they had taken care of D’Sparil; as the rule went, Once a corrupted program has been deleted from the universe, the universe will reset, and anything that occurred as a direct or indirect result of the program will revert as well. Max prayed that this rule would apply not only to himself, but to GC as well.
It was the weekend, two whole days of rest and relaxation, for the most part. Thanks to her wonderful procrastination GC had to take care of loads of Algebra 2 homework and two projects from two very important classes. But that could wait. GC rose from her bed, got dressed, and proceeded to greet the morning.
