Solomon: argh, I'm done.

Standing up, I stretched my arms above my head. Sitting and concentrating intently for 45 minutes had made my brain ache. walking over to Gareth, I wanted to explain some ideas I had to him.

Solomon: hey Gareth, I've finished the film.

Turning around from the computer, Gareth had a dull expression on his face. having been researching like me for some time, he seemed to be similarly drained. but taking everything into account, He seemed surprisingly calm.

Gareth: ah, that's good. did you find out anything?

Solomon: probably not much more than you have, but I do have some ideas we could try. anyway, tell me what you've found?

though I had personally examined the whole film, Gareth had the benefit of thousands of perspectives. when it came to speculating possibilities, I was far inferior to the internet

Gareth: okay, this is everything.

Showing me several different web pages, he explained all that he'd found. first was the parasites.

Gareth: I thought that these would be the most dangerous thing in this mission.

Solomon: I agree with you there. that poison is a real risk, even to us.

having seen it in the film, I knew about the poison of the parasites. though I had some ideas to deal with them myself, I couldn't think of a blanket way to stop them from being dangerous to us.

having thought about it, Gareth proposed to buy several antidotes. as the poison was an unknown risk to us, I decided to follow his proposal.

Gareth: other than that, I thought we should buy some good flashlights.

Solomon: flashlights?

being as we were enhanced, there were several ways for us to create light. I was confused as to why he wanted to buy items that were useless to us.

Gareth: yeah, as we're going to have several weaker people wi9th us I thought it might be a good idea.

having it click in my head, I realised his reasoning. speaking honestly, it was worth it to have in that case. I had to be careful that the newbies, as well as the characters we would be protecting, had at least some ability on their own. as we would be in darkness for a decent amount of time, this investment was definitely worth it.

Solomon: oh yeah, that make sense.

moving on, i explained an idea i had

Solomon: alright, going back to my original thought. I think it may be a good idea to buy some sort of helicopter.

After having seen the film, there was one point that stood out as a huge problem. The only way to escape manhattan was via a military helicopter. If we had a helicopter, or some similar type of transport, we could escape from danger straight away.

Gareth: it's not a bad idea, but I already considered it. turns out the cheapest helicopter that would fit all of us costs 5000 points.

explaining the issue, Gareth's face was bitter. the fact that the solution was so simple, yet that it couldn't be used was infuriating.

having looked into the system, he told me that there was only a limited number of vehicles we could buy with our budget. Having decided beforehand, we would only spend 900 points on items, this helicopter was way beyond our price range. though we could dip into our saved up money and pay 4,200 points on a vehicle, it wouldn't be able to carry us all. plus we would be paying more points than the mission gives us in return.

Solomon: hmm, that's a shame. But it's not a complete loss. Being as we're going to have to split up anyway it wasn't completely practical in the first place.

Gareth: yeah, so did you think of anything else?

having my best thought shot down so quickly, I was slightly bitter. thinking over the other plans in my head, I realised all of them required the mission to be exactly the same as the movie. But with even just our presence there, it was unlikely that this would be the case. so, in the end, I gave up on my other ideas

Solomon: nope. so were just going to buy antidotes?

Gareth: yeah, after buying some lights there's almost 850 points left, so that's 17 antidotes.

Solomon: good then, we'll divide those between us. on a different note, I noticed something while watching the film.

With a curious expression, Gareth asked what.

Gareth: oh yeah, what is it?

Solomon: a hidden mission.

Gareth: a hidden mission?! Surely it's not so easy to find!

Though I said I knew, in truth, it was only an educated guess.

Solomon: okay, maybe it's not 100% but I'm fairly sure. During one part of the film, the characters are looking for another character who's stuck in the city.

Using the computer, I brought up a clip. seeing it, Gareth instantly recognised it. It was a scene of 3 people scaling a half collapsed skyscraper. one of the buildings had collapsed and was precariously balanced against a neighbouring skyscraper. After climbing into the window, they found their friend stuck onto the building by a metal rod.

Solomon: this is Elizabeth McIntyre, she's one of the characters in the story. Being pinned in her apartment, she's stuck in the middle of Manhattan. during most of the film, the characters are trying to save her.

Gareth: okay, so you think if we save her we'll get a hidden mission.

That was the general gist of it.

Solomon: yeah, in the mission it only say's that we have to escort the characters out. That makes me think that following the plot this way would result in a hidden mission.

Gareth: it's plausible. So is this what were going to do then?

Having thought it over, this was the most likely hidden mission. failing that, we would have to try and find something else.

Solomon; yeah. other than this, I can't really think of another mission.

Gareth: I guess it's decided then. If you want, I can explain the plan to everyone.

Having spent the last 3 quarters of an hour in intense concentration, I was mentally fatigued. so hoping to wind down a little before we started, I let Gareth take over.

Solomon: if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it.

Sitting down on the sofa again, I toom the ten or so minutes left to recover. As I lay enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, a sudden beep stirred me from my daze.

Guild bot: beep. Mission commencing, 1 minute.

Sitting up, I walked over to everyone. They were currently sat around a table, discussing the details of the plan.

Solomon: well, seems like our leisure time has run out. Is everyone ready?

Alice: yep!

Gareth: I'm ready!

Tony: uhum!

Pluvia: yes!

Nicholas: yeah!

Sasha: sure!

Looking at all of my teammates, I was determined for all of us to come back safely. This time we would be in more danger than any of our previous missions.

Solomon: all right, let's make this our best mission yet!

Guild bot: preparation time elapsed, mission commencing.

With a flash of light, we were all teleported into the mission. appearing in a loud room, I recognised this as the party at the beginning of the film.

Solomon: is everyone ready?

Looking at my nearby comrades, I received a nod from each of them.

Far distance: URUUH

As an echoing roar of the creature spread through the city, the floor shook slightly and the lights went dead.

Amidst the mumblings of the people, we began to move. With Gareth and I heading towards the exit. The rest of the team looked for their targets. Each of them was tasked with finding a character from the film. Then through convincing them, or if that failed through force, they were to bring them to the roof.

With quick movements, Gareth and I made it onto the roof. Only being a few floors above us, we made it to the show early. Looking upwards, we admired the evening sky. Very soon, it would be ruined.

Solomon: shall I take this?

Gareth: I've got it.

From behind us at the entrance of the roof, swaths of people poured out. As talks of terrorist attacks and the like spread among the people, a sudden explosion drew everyone's attention. Looking to a set of skyscrapers in the distance, you could see a massive explosion.

In the dimly lit sky, dozens of fireballs were streaking outwards from the skyscrapers. Looking at one, in particular, that was heading towards us, the crowd of people panicked.

As everyone scrambled to get away, Gareth slowly drew out his gun. Taking aim at the flaming scrap hurdling towards us, the mist on his hand was absorbed into his gun. Then with a clear, crisp bang, a jet black bullet flew towards the fireball.

Being only ten meters away at this point, the fireball cast quite an intimidating figure. But as the bullet hit it a small explosion spread outwards, enveloping the scrap. This explosion halted the fireball in midair. Without momentum, it fell short of the building onto the busy street below.

Turning around, the part of the crowd still on the roof stared in amazement. standing amidst these people were our teammates, as well as the characters with them.

Solomon: you managed to find them.

in truth, I had no doubt that they would find the characters. it was impossible for normal humans to evade enhanced people like us.

Alice: it was easy, so what now?

Solomon: we continue with the plan.

At this point, we had planned to go down into the subway. though there were still escapes available, like the bridge, I still had to complete the hidden mission. even more than that, we weren't confident that we could beat the creature to the bridge. Knowing all of this, we decided to find our way to the military camp in the film. At that point we would split up. Gareth, the character rob and I were going after Elizabeth. as for the rest of the team, they would leave with the military.

Jason: hey, wait, who are you guys? Why do we have to follow you?

One of the characters started to speak up.

Gareth: all you need to know for now is that we're here to help.

Rob: huh? What do you mean? We've already avoided the danger.

Hearing the naïve words of this character, tony burst into laughter.

Tony: hahahaha, you have no idea! Do we really have to treat these guys nicely Solomon. Wouldn't it be easier to knock them out and carry them with us?

Hearing his words, all of the characters became nervous. they looked towards me with pleading eyes, hoping I would save them from tony. Altogether, it was actually quite funny.

Solomon: we can't, we need them to guide us.

having discussed it before, we had decided to us the characters as guides. living in this city, they would surely know shortcuts and directions better than any of us.

Rob: so we have to follow you for now?

Solomon: that's right.

Though they were afraid, they could tell we didn't plan to hurt them. The mild threat from Tony luckily had made them see me as a good person. though that good feeling of this wouldn't last long.

Gareth: I think we should get a move on.

Looking over the edge, Gareth could see the hordes of people fleeing. having spent quite some time talking, we were increasing the risk of anything happening.

Solomon: you're right. We're still not sure if the system has changed the film. Alice, be ready to summon necro. If we get assaulted by parasites, we'll use the goblies to hold them off. At the very least they can buy us some time.

since it had been a week since the last mission, Alice had 70 of her little minions ready to go.

Alice: okay.

Solomon; all right, let's move.

Running down the stairs, we made our way out onto the streets.

Solomon: create a ring around the characters.

Using our bodies as a wall, we stopped each other from getting swept up in the tide of people. We could also react quickly if one of the characters made a run for it. though I seriously doubted that would happen.

Moving as a group, we started to make our way down the street. Eventually, we reached an impasse. The road forked three ways.

Nicholas: so what now?

Almost as if on cue from behind us, a gigantic hunk of metal came flying towards us. Hitting a building on the way, several shards of rock were sent flying onto the people below. Luckily, we were further down the street. However, Looking at the boulder-sized metal ball, it was on a crash course for where we were standing.

Solomon: MOVE!

Grabbing two of the characters, I used the Afterimage technique to jump out of the way. Following my actions, everyone jumped out of the street. As we watched on, that huge piece of metal bounced down the street a couple of times before settling just in front of us.

Looking at the piece of metal, recognition shined through everyone's eyes.

Hud: isn't that?

Nicholas: the statue of liberty's head.

Seeing this, everyone other than Gareth and I were surprised. This wasn't a major part of the plot so it wasn't mentioned when we prepared. But both Gareth and I had seen it before. Following on from this, I remembered what was going to happen next.

Solomon: everyone, quickly get inside!

Running to a nearby convenience store, I called out for everyone to follow me. From my memory, the next part of the film was the collapse of a nearby building. knowing that it caused by the monster, I was slightly worried that the story would change. in the worst case, the creature could end up heading towards us.

Nearby: EEEEERRRRGGGHH, FFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTT!

From down the street, I saw a quick glimpse of the creature. Though most people wouldn't be able to see through the darkness, my enhanced vision lets me get a quick look. As it passed by a gap between two buildings, I marvelled at it.

Standing at least 10 stories tall while hunched over, it was colossal. Though I could only see part of the creature, it was truly horrifying. The thought of facing off against such a creature was laughable to the current me. Luckily for us, the creature did;t come towards us. Going out of my view, the tension in my heart drained.

As the building it hit crumbled, a plume of dust began to rush through the street. Though it wouldn't physically hurt us, it could cause complications with our breathing. In disasters like these, the first cause of death wasn't physical injuries, but gases and dusts.

Solomon: Shit! Quickly!

still standing in a nearby building's doorway, I called out to everyone. waking up from their shock, they all made a mad dash towards me. Just as the last of us dived into the building, and I slammed the doors shut, the street outside was filled with a sandy film of dust. You couldn't even see a foot outside of the windows

Gareth: damn, that was a close call.

Tony: guess this really is a convenient store now.

hearing the bad joke from tony, the tension in the room lessened. Collapsing to the floor, everyone took the time to catch their breath. Though the team wasn't all that tired, the characters only being human were more heavily affected. the mental shock of being close to death was wearing on them.

Rob: hey, what do you guys plan to do?

surprisingly, this character had recovered quickly from his shock. it seemed his ability to adapt was very good. Walking over to me, he picked me out as the leader. Though it wasn't exactly hard to tell.

Solomon: right now, were going to introduce ourselves.