“What are these rank rewards?” Lance asked.

“They are special rewards that are typically tough to come by, team battles are usually the best time to get them.” Logan explained. Before the conversation could continue a truck horn could be heard. Josh realized for the first time a road just within eye sight as a large van drove past on it. His blood turned to ice as he recognized the van as the one the Creeper drove in the movie.

“The movie started” Matt said opening his book. No one else moved as the van drove past and continued down the road. Logan spoke after it was out of sight.

“Alright here’s how this is going to go; if you don’t want to join the team officially say so now. We will give you food, weapons, and some money to make your way through the movie.” To Josh’s surprise a few people actually said they didn’t want to join. Grumbling of disbelief and anger could be heard from them. True to his word Logan supplied ration packs, a pistol, and what looked like several hundred dollar bills to each newbie who didn’t want to join. All the supplies were taken equally from backpacks each veteran was carrying except for the armor giant. Five people had decided to go separately, leaving the four veterans and five newbies.

The five newbies took their supplies and quickly began making their way down the road opposite the way the Creeper had driven. Once they were out of earshot Logan and the rest of the veterans looked at the remaining newbies with analytical stares. The only remainders were Josh, Lance, and Steele, an older man in a business suit and a woman in her twenties.

“Alright I’m going to be blunt here” Logan said coldly “There is an order of priority when it comes to protecting you guys. We’ll try to protect all of you but from there if we have to choose who to save, we will go for the top of the list first.” Josh had assumed something like this would happen, like Lance said they didn’t have much to offer so they would probably be at the bottom.

“You are at the top of our list” To Josh’s surprise Logan was pointing to the twenty something woman who also looked shocked at the news. Lance made a small noise beside Josh but didn’t out right say anything. After the girl, whose name was revealed to be Ashley, Steele was the next priority followed by Lance and Josh. The older man didn’t look to happy to be at the bottom of his list but a glance from Logan was enough to keep him quiet. Everyone was then given the same supplies as the other newbies along with several grenades, combat knives, and extra rounds of ammo.

“Could I ask for the reasoning behind your list?” Lance asked once all the weapons were distributed, “I’m not trying to question your judgment I’d just like to know why a woman who doesn’t seem to have much to offer is ranked above a former military agent.”

Logan let out a bark of laughter “That’s a good way of thinking, usually we’d prioritize anyone with combat or military training. Ashley is the only exception due to her potential of becoming a Psyche Force user.”

“Psyche Force?” Josh questioned.

“A Psyche Force user is the very heart of any good team.” Logan explained “they have abilities that create mental maps and allow private communication. We lost ours in the last movie so it’s extremely important we raise a new one quickly.” He put a hand on Ashley’s shoulder and gave what was probably meant to be a reassuring squeeze, but his inhuman strength left her gasping in pain.

“I see and what are the requirements for being a Psyche Force user?” Lance asked giving a level stare at Ashley as if she would reveal the secret.

“Honestly not sure,” Logan said with a shrug “some people are but most people aren’t. If it weren’t for Gwen we’d have to wait till the end of each movie and hope one of the survivors had the potential.”

Gwen gave a proud smile at the praise “I have the skill Observe from the web comic The Gamer. It gives me a look into people’s stats and if they have any potential like for Psyche Force.”

This peaked Lance’s interest “I’ve read The Gamer do you have the entire Gamer ability?”

Gwen sadly shook her head “No it’s possible to get but it’s far too expensive for me. I can trade certain abilities from it though and I plan it get it as soon as I can.”

“Oh? What other abilities?” Lance now had an excited gleam in his eyes that Josh recognized. This could turn into hour long conversations about each and every ability available from God.

“Actually” Logan cut in “This would be a good time for us veterans to introduce ourselves properly. As you know I’m Logan the leader and one of the most veteran of the team with four movies under my belt.”

“You know I’m Gwen, only one movie completed but I have a special potential that allows me to learn Gamer based abilities.” Gwen gave a small bow after her introduction and then gave a small push to the pink haired man.

“My name is Matt,” he said clearly not interested in talking “survived two movies and have the demon bloodline from the manga Zatch Bell.”

“I thought that spell looked familiar.” Josh exclaimed, he had been a fan of the anime series when he was younger. He couldn’t remember much from the series but he remembered the spell belonged to one of the main characters.

“Yes I gain Tia’s spell book. I’ve unlocked about six of her spells, most of which have been defensive in nature but I...” Matt seemed to open up when discussing his abilities but quickly turned away with a small blush. He then motioned to the armor clad giant. “This is Tobias or Toby for short and you might recognize his armor from the anime Seven Deadly Sins. He also survived four movies.” Josh hadn’t seen much of Seven Deadly Sins or any other anime after he had entered high school. Lance on the other hand nodded as he looked over the armor, he had always had an interest in fantasy stories.

“That’s amazing,” he said in admiration “is there any limits to what can be attained from God?”

“There are plenty of limitations in this dimension but the biggest ones are point and ranked reward based. Given enough of those and you can become a God yourself.” Logan said with a bitter smile. Lance’s face took on a scary smile when he heard this but this quickly faded to his usual confident smirk.

“Now that we have all the introduction’s out of the way let’s start planning our survival.” Gwen said moving the conversation along “Leader?”

Logan took on a thoughtful expression before talking “Our biggest risks are the Creeper and the enemy team. The creeper holds the most imminent danger but if we can just stay out of his sight we shouldn’t have any real issues. Our first priority is to find a base to stay while we’re in this movie and getting a vehicle that can carry all of us as well.”

“We have camping supplies so we could stay in the woods for now, I think a vehicle would be most important.” Matt said looking in the direction the Creeper had gone.

“It’s not going to be easy to find something that can carry all of us and Toby” Gwen said patting her teammate. His size alone wouldn’t let him fit in most cars and his weight would be too much for most trucks.

“If we follow the road eventually we’ll find a truck stop and we can just take a freight truck.” Logan said with a sly grin moving towards the road, the rest of the group followed moving in the direction the Creeper had been going.

“Should we really be following the biggest danger in the movie?” Josh asked Lance in a hushed voice. He didn’t want the veterans to think he was questioning their judgment.

“It’s a little risky but it should pay off. The Creeper was constantly moving throughout the series only hanging around when he was hunting a particular person, as long as we don’t get noticed before he moves on we should be safe at the last place he’s visited.” Lance analyzed though his usual confidence wasn’t shown in his voice. Josh let the topic drop their, it’s not like they had the authority to change the team’s plan.

The team walked in silence for a short while no one really interested in talking. Logan led the way and at odd intervals would sniff the air like a dog would, when he did this the other veterans would tense which would lead the newbies to worry. It was during one of these moments that Logan came to a stop as did the rest of the group.

“There’s a car coming,” the leader said suddenly. Over a small hill farther down the road they saw the hood of a car come into view followed by the rest of the van that turned everyone’s blood into ice. It was the Creeper’s van, it had turned around. Logan was the first to react, grabbing Ashley’s hand and pulling her off the road into a ditch. The rest of the team quickly followed, the old man being the last and falling over on his way. Everyone did their best to flatten themselves to the ground in hopes of not being seen, Lance pulled Josh and put them farthest away from Toby. The giant suit of armor gave him very poor camouflage. The van drove by but began to slow down after passing the group. The van pulled to a stop and the car door could be heard opening. No one dared to breathe as they laid there in fear. Seconds felt like hours until finally the car door shut and the sound of the van driving off was heard. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and once the van couldn’t be heard anymore they began to make their way back on the road. Josh wiped his hands on his pants, realizing his entire body had become covered in a cold sweat. Looking at Lance his step brother was in a similar condition as was Steele. Ashley had broken down into tears from the scare while the veterans looked serious but overall less affected then the newbies. The business man had the strongest reaction though.

“What was that?!?” he yelled at the veterans “I thought you guys knew what you were doing? If I had known you were just some cowards who hid at the first sign of danger I would’ve went with the rest of them. At least then I’d get some respect.”

“The Creeper isn’t a normal monster” Logan said annoyance clear on his face “we won’t face it if we don’t have to.”

“Lies!” the business man retorted “you’re just a bunch of cowards, admit it! You act all big and tough in front of those without strength but...” his rant was ended as a large shadow flew crossed the group. Looking up a semi humanoid silhouette could be seen circling the group like a vulture. Josh couldn’t believe what he was seeing, the Creeper from the horror movie was now flying right above him. It was a surreal feeling seeing something that could only be thought of as a nightmare so close. Rustling could be heard to his left as Lance struggled to pull out the pistol they had been given but his hands were shaking so bad it didn’t look like he could aim. Suddenly the Creeper folded in his wings in a dive for the group.

“Seoshi!” A translucent barrier surrounded the group, Matt had his book open and a fierce light was coming from it. In an act of incredible skill the Creeper managed to flip over while it was descending and landing on its feet, cracking the barrier. The Creeper sneered down at the party, showing off his wicked teeth.

“Spinning mana arrows” Gwen called out. Small blue arrows appeared around her and began violently spinning before shooting out towards the beast. Raising its arm the creeper took the attack but no visible damage had been except breaking the barrier further. With a grunt of annoyance Matt put in more energy to the barrier and the cracks began to close. This didn’t last long as the Creeper crouched down and began to hit the barrier ending any chance of recovery.

“Toby!” Matt cried as the barrier finally shattered completely but it was long enough for the armor clad giant to summon a war axe the size of a middle school student and launch himself at the Creeper.

“Newbies Run!” Logan ordered with a snarl before chasing after Toby. Josh turned and ran as fast as he could with Lance right beside him. Gwen and the other newbies followed right behind them as the sounds of battle could be heard raging. They had made it only thirty yards before a cry of pain caused Josh to look back. Logan was nowhere to be seen and Toby was struggling to get up, no longer holding his axe. A slight gleam caught Josh’s eye as the Creeper pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it towards the fleeing newbies. It struck the business man and he fell flat on his face without even a last breath. A dagger with a bone handle was stuck hilt deep in his skull.

“One member killed. Team East America minus one point. Currently at negative 2000 points. Members with negative points at the end of the movie will be erased...”

A regal voice appeared in the heads of all team members almost causing Lance to trip over his feet in surprise. They didn’t have the time to really think about what that message meant they just kept running as the sounds of battle continued behind them.

Gwen was showing a surprising amount of athletic skill for her thin frame, she was even pulling Ashley along so that the newbie wouldn’t fall behind. Though it was clear Ashley was approaching her absolute limit. Josh was also doing fine with all the running as he had kept in top physical shape, Lance on the other hand had only exercised enough to keep himself healthy. It wasn’t long until his adrenaline was wearing off and he was gasping for air. Steele was carrying on with a stoic look but a light sweat was starting to form on her skin. They had been running long enough that they could no longer hear the battle behind them so Gwen called for a short break.

“I think we can take a break,” Gwen said to the panting newbies. Josh was out of breath but he had been use to constant exertion. Lance and Ashley on the other hand were not and practically flopped on the ground.

“Message…” Lance managed once he had some air in his lungs.

“Message? Oh what was that message about?” Josh realized what his step brother meant and questioned Gwen.

“Just like it said we’re now down 2000 points.” She said bitterly.

“I thought that only happened if the enemy team killed a member.” Josh said

“No...” Gwen bit her lip and looked like she wished to be anywhere else at that point.

“Explain” Lance demanded rising to stand next to Josh.

“In a team battle any time a player dies we lose one point regardless of how it happens.” She relented.

“So you guys knew about this?” Josh asked “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“We were hoping it wouldn’t matter” Gwen answered but her voice was a little too high.

“Why did you let the other newbies go?” Lance cut in before Josh could ask anything else.

“What?” was all Gwen could manage, she took a few steps back from the group.

“The other newbies” to everyone’s surprise it was Steele who spoke next “Why would you just let them leave like that?”

“We couldn’t force them to join us” Gwen tried but was cut off.

“That’s negative 10000 points. You can’t tell me you thought their freedom of choice was more important than that.” Lance said coldly before his eyes widened in revelation “Or maybe they aren’t meant to be negative points.”

“What do you mean?” Josh wasn’t happy knowing such crucial information had been withheld from them and that clearly more was to be told.

“What was the plan Gwen?” Lance closed in on the veteran with Steele beside him. The two of them glaring down at the young woman.

“Fine! I’ll tell you.” She finally let out “The guns we gave the newbies who left had tracking devices in them. Once the enemy team appeared we were going to trade them the locations of the newbies for their own. An equal number so we could both benefit and recover from our losses.” Josh was appalled at what he had just heard. The idea of trading lives like that was something he couldn’t even imagine considering. They weren’t points to be farmed like it was some game, they were real living people.

“You’re disgusting” he spat out.

To everyone’s surprise the veteran laughed “Maybe but if that’s what it takes to survive in this world then I’ll take it.”

“It’s really not a bad plan” Lance cut in

“Lance!” Josh turned to his step brother who simply shrugged at the veracity.

“If you look at it with a survival mentality it looks like it is the best course of action.” The teen explained “Not only does it allow for the team’s to grow in power but opens the door to the two teams’ cooperating throughout the movie.”

“These are people’s lives!” Josh was growing tired of his stepbrother’s lack of interest in that fact.

“The only life you should concern yourself with is your own, newbie.” A voice called from behind the group. Everyone turned to see Logan, Toby, and Matt walking towards them. The veterans looked tired but physically unharmed though this was only due to Matt’s healing.

“I’m so glad you guys are okay” Gwen embraced her fellow veterans, relief clear in her voice.

“Yeah well I’m not even sure how that is too be honest.” Logan said taking a seat on the ground.

“What happened to the creeper?” Josh asked looking at the sky.

“It ran away not long after you guys did” Matt explained as he took a seat next to Logan

“It just ran away?” Lance asked

“Yeah and we’re lucky it did.” Logan said rubbing his shoulder “That thing was ridiculously strong. Looked like it could reach the second stage of the genetic constraint. We wouldn’t have survived if the fight had continued.”

“Genetic Constraint?” Lance questioned moving to stand beside the leader.

“It’s what a lot of players consider the main focus of this realm.” Gwen answered “When humans first evolved they developed a constraint in their genetic code. This constraint has kept humans from evolving from what we are now.”

“As players travel through these movies they are put through life and death situations and this causes them to unlock the constraint. This is what’s known as the unlocked mode.” Logan continued and his eyes unfocused “The first stage allows the battle instincts within you to awaken. Just the first stage can put a normal office worker on the same level as three trained military agents.”

“You’ve unlocked your constraint?” Josh asked, he felt a strange chill from seeing those unfocused eyes.

“Yes so has Toby.” Logan’s eyes focused again and met Josh’s gaze “To be eligible for team battle a team has to have had at least three unlocked members in their team. We lost a couple in the last movie but as long as one unlocked member remains we still can have these battles.”

“Interesting…” Lance mused “How many stages are there to unlock?”

“Five as far as I know” the leader said before standing “though I’ve never met anyone pass the third stage.”

“I see,” Lance said “so what does the second stage enable?”

Before Logan could respond, Josh cut in with a shout “Hey! Are we just going to gloss over the fact they’re trying to trade people’s lives?” he looked angrily from his step brother to the other two newbies looking for some kind of support. Ashley kept her head down, refusing to meet his eyes while Steele simply stated at him her face unreadable.

“Look newbie,” Logan started a scowl marring his face “you better get off your high horse if you want to survive here.”

“My high horse?!?” Josh turned to the leader but before a real argument could start Matt stepped between the two

“Look guys” he interjected “now isn’t the time to be having this discussion. Let’s find a safe place and then we can talk.” He looked between the two until Logan gave a scoff and began walking, the rest of the veterans following him without a word. Steele and Ashley quickly followed leaving Lance and Josh behind.

“You’re okay with this?” Josh turned to his half brother but the anger had faded from his tone.

“What choice do we have?” Lance responded “you saw we are dealing with a real life monster. Our only chance of survival is staying with them. Even if their methods are ruthless right now we have no way of changing them.” Giving his response in a emotionless voice Lance began walking to follow the others. Josh let out a defeated sigh before following as well.