They had just come into view behind Ryan.

Their travel was far less subtle than Unbroken’s had been. They had their own giant robot: The nine-foot Heavy Dynamic Operations Unit. He looked a lot like Zap, but more pristine: his armored plates were sleek white instead of rust brown. His movements were less agile, but stronger. His every step left an imprint in the earth beneath him.

In front of him walked the sniper, Nealson, scanning his surroundings with his sniper scope. That thing could see through cover. If he looked in Unbroken’s direction, he’d see them. We Rise as One also had a McCormick, and this one carried a flamethrower, with which he was trying to light the forest ablaze. The trees weren’t taking to that strategy well. They were burning, but the fire wasn’t spreading from tree to tree. We Rise as One’s captain, a Morrison, was boosting the McCormick’s damage.

“Will they see us?” Jay asked.

“Nealson was looking around,” Ryan said. “If he thinks to look down while checking this direction, yes.” They were crouched, so he wouldn’t see them if he didn’t dip his gaze below his eye level.

“Was he looking down?”

“I didn’t see him look down, but I don’t know for sure.”

They waited. They could tell by the sound of H.D.O.U.’s footsteps that We Rise as One wasn’t heading directly toward them.

“I don’t think they know we’re here,” Ryan said. “Should we use this opportunity to sneak attack them?”

“That would kind of go against our stealth strategy,” Jay said.

“And a brawl would attract others,” Mitch said.

“True,” Ryan said.

“I’ll buff us just in case shit goes down,” Sophia said, and she threw balls at everyone, making Jay and Mitch faster, herself more robust, and Ryan’s damage output greater.

Then, the H.D.O.U. stopped. “I see something,” he said, in a booming mechanical voice. “This tree is uprooted.”

“It could just be a feature of the map,” the McCormick said.

A moment passed. “I don’t think so,” Morrison said. “This dirt has been freshly moved.

“Do we think it was another player, then?” McCormick asked.

“I think it just might be,” Morrison said. “Either a Huel-drark or the Zap.”

“Prep for battle,” Jay said.

Ryan pulled out his rocker launcher and pointed it in the other team’s direction. If he was lucky, he’d be able to score a direct hit on Nealson.

“Any idea when they might have been here?” McCormick asked.

“No way of telling exactly,” Morrison said.

“They’re over there!” Nealson shouted.

The entirety of Unbroken sprang up. Ryan fired a rocket at Nealson. Jay drew his stun pistol and rushed toward We Rise as One’s flank. Sophia summoned a sphere of crackling yellow energy and threw it at H.D.O.U. Mitch strafed to the right and took cover behind a tree. Perhaps he intended to hack H.D.O.U. from that position.

The enemy’s Morrison shot a stream of red energy at H.D.O.U. Now glowing and crackling with said energy, the robot fired his rail-gun at Ryan. McCormick fired his flamethrower toward Jay, and Nealson rained sniper bullets at Sophia.

But neither side managed to hit the other. Instead, everyone’s projectiles struck an invisible wall, which shimmered with every impact. McCormick’s flames blasted back toward him. Nealson’s bullets flew straight back at the rifle that had fired them, phasing through it and hitting Nealson in the chest. H.D.O.U.’s rail-gun slug reflected back into him and knocked him backward and onto his back. Sophia’s flew shot back at her, freezing her in place. Ryan’s rocket flew back at him doing a lot of damage and making him stumble. Ryan used a healing potion. Jay smacked into the invisible wall like a pigeon, stopping dead and falling backward. Laughter echoed in the trees above them. Ryan had heard the same laughter before. It belonged to Marvin Blackwood of Sad Cake Binge Gaming. Marvin’s character Cloun had the ability to summon a reflective wall like that one.

The wall went away after only a second or two, but neither team resumed firing on the other. As Morrison healed him, Nealson pointed his rifle upward, and shot through the canopy at something Ryan couldn’t see.

Ryan got an idea. “Give me a speed buff,” he said, once Sophia was unfrozen. Sophia did. Ryan shifted into sphere mode and plowed into the weakest tree he could see. It fell in one clattering piece. The fallen tree’s contribution to the canopy was now gone, making a patch of starlit sky visible above them. Ryan ran straight into another tree. Mitch got a robotic drone out of his backpack, and threw it into the air, instructing it to seek out Pickceiz and destroy them. Jay dashed over to the area Ryan had cleared, pointing his stun gun upward.

The H.D.O.U. seemed to like Ryan’s idea of taking away the enemy’s cover. He grabbed a nearby tree with both arms, and tore it out of the ground, its roots ripping, then dangling from its base as H.D.O.U. tossed the tree aside. McCormick switched to his mini-gun and pointed it toward the new hole his ally had created. As H.D.O.U. got to work on another tree, Mitch’s drone flew over the first gap H.D.O.U. created. It fired at something still hidden behind the canopy. Nealson snapped his aim over to it and started firing at a spot just past the canopy’s new edge. Ryan took his humanoid form and pointed his rocket launcher in the same direction. He fired a rocket into the canopy, but it harmlessly brushed through leaves and flew off into the sky.

As the H.D.O.U. worked to uproot another tree the ground he stood on fissured then opened below him, revealing a pit lined with colorful stripes. The robot fell in and crashed into the bottom with a clank. A purple streak, which could only have been SCBG’s Spukee, moved into the pit, taking a bit of fire from McCormick on the way down, but managing to avoid a stunning shot from Jay. The sounds of tearing metal and human screaming echoed from the pit. Railgun slugs rained out of it. A thin yellow beam shot into the pit from above. Jay dashed to the side of the pit and fired his stunning pistol toward the source of the beam. He hit its originator: Lyfe, the Pickceiz’ healer. The creature fell to the ground, stunned. Ryan took his sphere form and rolled over the creature, crushing it.

There was an explosion in the pit, and Spukee flew out, cackling. He was showered with gunfire as he flew back into the trees but most of it missed him. Just before he faded from sight, he summoned an illusion, the image of a giant, sickly black, and rotting raven, crawling with maggots. The creature spread its wings and cawed. All of the humans ran away from it in terror. Only Ryan was immune to the effect. We Rise as One ran to Ryan’s left, and Unbroken ran to his right. Ryan followed his team.

Behind him, Sord, the Pickcei with a large magical blade, flew at the fleeing Nealson and buried its sword into him. That broke the fear effect and allowed Nealson to turn around and retaliate. Ryan pointed his rocket launcher backward and fired at the pair of them, hoping to hit the Sord dead-on and cause the Nealson splash damage. The opposite happened. Sord flew to the left, and the rocket blew Nealson to pieces. Sord turned around and rushed toward Unbroken. All at once, the fear effect on Unbroken wore off, and they turned back toward the battle. Ryan shot at Sord with his minigun, but only managed to graze him. Jay fired a stunning blast at the creature. It swerved to avoid that shot, and then flew back above the trees. Unbroken pointed their weapons upward, but Sord did not return to menace them.

“We should leave, and let them fight each other,” Jay said. “It’s very unlikely that all of them will follow us.” Unbroken retreated, and, fortunately for them, were not pursued. Once they were sure of this, they stopped, and Sophia made sure everyone was at full health. They slowed down and resumed trying to move stealthily. They were close enough to the cliff face to see it looming over them in the distance through occasional gaps in the trees. The rock was light beige and filled with thick orange stripes.

They came upon another clearing, lit by starlight. Four moons loomed above them. One giant, bright white and full of craters. One was dark but gleamed like marble. One was small and dark blue, and the final one was whitish blue, like a pale imitation of the third. The sky was thick with stars, and the Milky Way streaked across it. The ground was covered in tiny gray mushrooms. Mitch and Sophia covered their faces. “Spores!” Mitch said. They were invisible, but no one could miss the scent of their wet, dusty, shroomy rot. Everyone but Ryan activated their air filters, which would reduce their risk of infection.

“This is good,” Jay said, as he adjusted his mask to fit snugly over his nose. “We were looking for a Gray Fungus team. One of them has been this way.”

“We should track them, then?” Mitch asked.

“Yes,” Jay said, after a moment. “We need to track them.”

“And if they refuse our alliance, the plan is to run away?” Sophia asked.

“Only from Reigning Fire,” Jay said. “We can take Epidemic in a fight.”

“This trail is from Reigning Fire,” Ryan said. “Look around. All the trees are in place. There’s no way Epidemic’s Mog’Inub has been here.” Mog’Inub was the largest playable character in the game: four stories tall and just as long, shaped like a giant L with spidery legs, covered in eyes, mouths and rupturing pustules from which she could summon horrible spawn. There would be no mistaking the signs of that creature’s passing.

“That’s the better party to make the alliance with, anyway,” Jay said. Neither Mitch nor Sophia objected. Ryan sighed. He took note of all the mushrooms he could see. They formed a line that bisected the clearing diagonally.

“The trail goes like this,” Ryan said, pointing one arm ahead and to his right and the other behind and to his left.

“So which way did they come from and which way did they go?” asked Mitch.

“The right leads away from the center of the valley,” Jay said. “That’s probably our best bet.”

And that’s the way they went, following the trail of mushrooms. They occasionally encountered more than a mushroom. There were strands of fungal mass hanging from some of the trees. Elsewhere, patches of ground were covered in thick, rough fungal growth. Among those patches of ground was the whole surface of a small hill in the shape of a perfect half-circle. Half-sticking out of was a fully infected Clypeus. Clypeus was a member of the Legion of the Iron Star, who normally possessed a massive shield. This one, however, had lost track of it. The monster roared and raved at Unbroken as they passed. Ryan put it out of its misery.

Things like these grew more common as they advanced. They were catching up to their enemy. What would Jay do to try to get Reigning Fire’s attention? What would they think Unbroken had to contribute to an alliance? They had speed and stealth. That was sort of the opposite of what Reigning Fire had going for them. They were big and powerful but left this fungal growth everywhere they went.

Eventually, there was stomping in the distance. Unbroken stopped following the trail and headed directly toward it. Jay picked up a rock and got out his laser gun. He used the laser to carve ‘we want to talk’ on the rock.

“I’m apprehensive about that plan,” Ryan said.

“I am too,” Jay said, “but I think it’s our best shot. Hopefully, I’ll be able to gauge their reaction to it without having to put myself in danger. I’ll run back this way if anything goes wrong. Jay dashed ahead. After he was out of sight, the others heard Jay through their communicators. “I see them,” Jay said. “It’s Reigning Fire.” Their footsteps came through as clearly as Jay’s voice. Each one made a terrible squishy thromp. “I’m throwing the rock.” A pittering sound as the rock hit grass. “They saw it,” Jay said. “They’re stopping to examine it. They’re talking about it.” Half a minute passed. “They’re looking around. They’re raising their weapons. Fuck! Fuck! Start running! I’ll catch up with you!” Unbroken turned around and started running.

“How far away are they?” Ryan asked.

“A few hundred feet behind you.”

Jay caught up with the rest of the group and slowed down to keep pace with them. Mitch pulled out another drone and ordered it to go back and hold off Reigning Fire. About a minute later, they heard an explosion. Not long after that, a member of Reigning Fire came into view. It was the giant cloud of fungal spores, Ichaboth. The creature was ten times Ryan’s size, spread out like a bank of fog across the ground. Ryan held his minigun out and fired into the creature. These bullets wouldn’t do much, but anything was helpful. Jay ordered the team to spread out, forcing the creature to go after only one of them. It chose to follow Mitch. It approached and then surrounded him, causing him to disappear within its fog. Jay ran over, pulling out a little hand-held flamethrower, and shot it at the monster.

Something beeped inside Ichaboth. The monster started moving away from Jay at full speed. Jay dashed in the opposite direction. Mitch flew out of the top of Ichaboth, riding the blast of his jetpack. He grabbed a high branch of a thick oak. A fiery explosion engulfed more than half of the monster, making him dissipate. He reformed a moment later but was smaller.

The rest of Reigning Fire emerged from the trees behind them. Joss’ own character was in front. Huel-drark was a gray giant, covered in smooth, moist flesh. One arm was a cannon. The other was a shield. Behind him, Xig’zah, a jagged creature shaped like a ten-pointed star with a spindly leg protruding from each point, skittered across the ground. The titanic walking mushroom Avaggdon lumbered behind the two of them. Joss pointed his cannon directly at Ryan, who took sphere form and rolled out of the way. Ryan took his normal form, and shot a rocket at Joss, who was likewise able to dodge him.

From the top of his tree, Mitch tossed a grenade at the approaching foes. Xig’zah leapt onto the trunk of a different tree to avoid it. Jay emerged from behind yet another tree and shot a paralyzing bolt at the spider, who fell back the ground, landing close to the grenade. It exploded, throwing Xig’zah into the air and setting him aflame. Joss jumped forward, allowing the blast of the grenade to push him toward Ryan. He aimed at Ryan’s chest, then, when Ryan dodged, he took his actual shot, landing a hit. Sophia tossed a healing orb into him, and Ryan used one of his own healing potions.

The Avaggdon plugged itself into the ground. It lit up, glowing bright blue. It spun in place, and the ground shook. Joss grabbed onto a tree to keep his balance. Ryan had nothing to grab onto, so he fell backward. Sophia managed to keep her balance for a few strides, but then tripped. Joss charged up his cannon, aiming at Ryan’s prone form. Ryan took his sphere form and barreled straight toward Joss. The laser blast shot through him, knocking off a chunk of his health, and he crashed into into Joss, knocking him back and onto the ground. Ryan took his normal form and shot a pair of rockets straight at Joss’s face.

Once Joss’ laser cannon recharged, he fired up at Ryan, but Ryan anticipated this and dodged to the right. Before Joss could stand, he leapt into the air, took sphere form, and landed on his prone enemy. Joss was half-crushed, but still alive. He lifted Ryan and threw him backward, away from the rest of Unbroken. Ryan took his main form. Ichaboth flew over to Joss, and settled over him, healing him. Xig’zah leapt toward Ryan. Ryan jumped out of the way, and the spider landed on the ground near him. With another spin, Avaggdon morphed the ground around them, raising a great wall that sealed Ryan and Reigning Fire off from the rest of Unbroken. Xig’zah jumped Ryan again, this time managing to latch onto his face. The monster made a noise like a deep but shrill chuckle and vomited a sticky viscous gray blob onto Ryan. Ryan ripped the creature off his face and tossed it aside, but the glob stayed stuck to him. Ryan knew from experience that there was no point trying to get it off. At the same time, Ichaboth reshaped itself to surrounded him. The fog penetrated him, moving between his rusty metal plates and leaking into his circuits. He expected to take damage but didn’t. Ichaboth was doing something else. Ryan’s one-million eyes went wide at once. Only one of Ichaboth’s debuffs would be useful in this situation. Ichaboth could inflict frailty. He was ensuring the bomb would kill him in one shot. That only left one question left to be answered: Where was Joss? He’d been down on the ground just a second ago. Ryan listened for the creature’s squishy footsteps.

They were to the left. Ryan lunged toward them, tackling Joss as he tried to escape the fog. Ryan pinned him to the ground. Joss struggled, but Zap was bigger than Huel-drark, and Ryan kept the monster under him. The blob on his face exploded, consuming the two of them in a flash of light and pelting them with sharp gray shrapnel.

//////////

Once he had exited the game, Ryan took his helmet off and stood. To the right of the theater, several seats away, Joss did the same thing. Ryan waved politely at Joss, but Joss didn’t acknowledge him as he left the theater.