Ch 27

Ben, Doug and Lou all had the same realization at nearly the exact same time; the path they were on, the only path of relatively safe hiking up and down the mountain, was about to curve into a collision course with the direction they had seen the Aim Hero Renegade run. Lou, the bigger gangster, handed Ben a pistol.

“Hope the part of your story where you're an excellent shot's true as well,” he said, eyes scanning the area and unsure what to look for.

“We don't believe any of this bullshit,” Doug, the smaller gangster, said. It was apparent to both Ben and Lou that Doug was talking a tough game. He looked both men in the eyes inside of a second, swore quietly, then pulled out his own pistol. “Look, we still don't know what's going on. Keep an eye out for stupid tricks.”

“Hey, Doug?” Ben said, having rounded the corner first “Something's happening.”

They stood on a portion of the path that bent in a wide ninety degree arc, the edge of which overlooked a sheer cliff. At the bottom was a large area with thin tree cover that allowed line of sight clear to the ground. Sitting in the center, naked and staring at a rock in his hand, was the Aim Hero Renegade, expression content and totally empty. Some distance behind him, a wolf with rounded ears and large, front-tooth fangs stalked.

“Hey, boss,” Lou said to Doug, voice as close to on edge as Ben had ever heard it “we gonna do something about this or what?”

“Naw,” Doug said, eyes never leaving the scene “I was serious when I said it's none of our busin-” Doug never got to finish what he was saying, interrupted by the sudden whip of the AHR's body and arm, a perfect fastball of a throw that caught the Grass Wolf square in the side of the face, crumpling it to the ground. It's body broke apart into panes of green light, and Doug literally said “You've got to be fucking kidding me!”

The ground began to rumble, and the landscape around the Renegade depressed, sinking into the earth and turning into a convex cone, the walls about fifteen feet deep at a thirty degree slope. The center was eight feet across, a flat disk with the renegade in the center of it all. For his part, he didn't seem particularly bothered by the development, picking up another rock and examining it from all angles, slowly.

–

“Melchsee, I've got to take this thing out!” Casimer said, voice edging closer to panic “It's attached to me somehow, but I can't make it do anything at all!”

“I'm on it!” Melchsee said, closing her eyes and projecting a blue screen from the gem on her forehead. “Join with my mind, we'll take it out together!”

Casimer, for the first time in his life, did exactly that. Their minds touched, and Casimer felt a new aspect of his own mind become defined, and further, felt Melchsee as she experienced the exact same sensation. He smiled, looking at the blue screen in front of him, icons of various monsters he had created in the past displayed on it. The first icon of the second row, a giant mouse on the prowl, shined bright for a moment, then blinked several times in rapid succession, accompanied by a high note with each flash.

“Let's see how you like this, invader.”

–

Ben in particular could feel the shift in the air, Doug and Lou noticed it as well. Richard, for that was his name, down in his pit, stood up, body tense and head on a swivel. Up on the edges, shining dust began to swirl and weave itself together, a light that moved like liquid, that moved like gas, that moved like plasma, that moved in it's own totally unique way. There were about five instances of the strange clouds, and one by one, like clockwork, each flashed, and a giant mouse stood in place, growling and looking at AHR.

There was no hesitation, he threw his rock and the five grass wolves ran down the incline, their considerable speed further enhanced by the downhill trajectory. AHR took out a wolf, then searched around for another rock, and found the ground was empty.

Then, he howled. It was not a human sound, rather it was the sound a human-like ape would make, a deep, chest vibrating yell that inflicted fear on all who heard it. Ben, Doug and Lou watched, transfixed, as AHR took advantage of the frozen and fleeing grass wolves, dashing up the side of the pit and pouncing on a lone wolf, punching it in the head until it died. When it's body broke apart, there was a bag of MDMA, a useless gun, and a pile of rocks.

AHR wasted no time, he dumped out the MDMA and put the rocks into the bag, clutching it tightly in his left hand and smoothly reaching in with his right, throwing rocks and taking out the remaining rodents. Up top, more lights began to form up, and AHR ran to the piles of loot and retrieved his rocks, then, on a whim, picked up one of the gun shaped ingots of metal. He flicked it, seemed surprised at how hard it was, then tossed it to the center of the pit. More giant mice, about six this time, had formed up on the edge across from him. They arranged themselves in an arrow formation and ran, those in the front protecting the mice in the rear.

AHR took aim and threw the gun, it impacted with an audible crack, and the lead mouse was taken out. The remaining five howled in rage, picking up speed, getting closer and closer to AHR as he took them out, one by one.

There were two left by the time they arrived, and they were pissed. One latched onto AHR's throwing arm, and the other bit his shoulder, their growls muffled by the flesh they were biting, heads whipping from side to side as they tried to tear muscle from bone. AHR screamed, dropped his bag of rocks, and grabbed the mouse on his left shoulder by the scruff of the neck, pulling but unable to get it off. He yelled in pain as they took him to the ground, and he again reached for the one on his shoulder.

This time, he went for the mouth, making a fist and shoving it inside, keeping the animal from getting a deeper bite. With his other arm, he lifted the giant mouse on his hand, a fifty pound animal, and slammed it on the ground, knocking the wind out of it and causing it to let go. AHR wasted no time, and seeming to feel no pain, balled his mangled right hand into a fist and began punching the monster on his shoulder. Eventually, it died, and AHR grabbed a sizable rock from the ground and used it to crush the head of the stunned wolf on the ground.

Then, the bears showed up. There were eight.

–

“Aw Jesus, look at him go,” Lou said, eyes wide and drinking in every detail of the fight with the bears. Occasionally, his body would exhibit a sympathetic micro movement, in sync with the combat below, as though he were living the fight. Ben and Doug were glued to the action, Doug occasionally saying something like 'no fucking way'. Ben, however, felt a tingling in his memory, like something from a dream as he watched the renegade throwing dirt, sand, rocks; anything he could get his hands on. He recognized those movements, and realized it was because they were same as his fight.

The remaining five bears were wary, watching the renegade carefully, watching the steam rise from his bloody body, watching how blood had already stopped flowing from where his arm had been ripped off, the way he held his own arm like a weapon, occasionally swinging it with great force, slamming it on the ground with no regard.

The renegade began breathing hard, intentionally filling his lungs to their max and expelling the air as hard and fast as he could, his chest seemed massive even from far away, one second full breath in, one second full breath out. His skin darkened with a red flush, and he charged, shoving aside one of the gigantic brown bears and breaking out of their encirclement.

His breathing became, as difficult as it is to believe, even harder, and each exhale brought with it a monkey-like 'Haa! Haa!', and he threw his arm with such great force it kicked up little dust trails as it flew through the air, striking a bear with such force that it was knocked off of it's feet and thrown four feet back. The remaining four charged, and the Aim Hero Renegade picked up a rock, throwing it.

“Oh my god, did you see that!” Doug exclaimed, composure totally lost at this point, hands running through his hair. The rock left a pale blue streak as it flew, little streamers of neon, sky blue plasma bolts a little thinner than a pencil lead shooting off behind it for about twenty feet. The rock burst clean through one bear and lodged itself in a second, killing the first and incapacitating the other. The body burst, and a pile of loot nobody was even interested in at this point, along with several bright motes of light were dropped. The motes of light flew towards the renegade, impacting with his body and causing it to pop softly, like a dim flashbulb, with each new collision.

His body swelled visibly, gaining about three inches in height, muscles thickening. There was about two seconds before the charging pair of bears reached him, and there was no question they would tear him to shreds. For one single, unforgettable, second, Ben saw a familiar icon in front of the renegade, a painted eye. Then, the renegade crouched low, coiling his body for a massive headbutt against the throat of a charging bear. There was a crunch audible to even Ben's group, and the Aim Hero Renegade ran, putting as much distance between him and the remaining bear as possible. He reached his stash of rocks and threw three with a vengeance, machine like movements, killing his remaining attacker. In short order, he killed the remaining injured monsters, and then leaned over, panting.

A massive flash of light shone behind him for a moment, then a massive desert tree with arms like javelins leaned over and speared the AHR through the stomach, lifting him in the air. Even in his final moments, as the giant ripped his body in half, the renegade managed to throw a last attack, blasting a chunk of bloody wood from the creature.

The sight of the renegade dying broke the spell over Doug, who suddenly shook, slapped Lou on the shoulder, grabbed Ben and started running.

–

Casimer was doing something like the incorporeal equivalent of panting, a black ooze coming from cracks in his core.

“I-” he said, then paused, a bit of ooze being sucked back inside with a sound like sucking air “I showed him, dammit.”

Melchsee was about to say something, when there was a flash in the center of the Oasis Dungeon. When it abated, The Aim Hero Renegade stood, steaming and naked, perfectly healthy, for but a moment, before he ran off, this time in the opposite direction he had before.

“My lord. . .” Melchsee said, visibly confused “Why would you make him again?”

Casimer strongly considered destroying both Melchsee and the renegade monster, then the area vibrated strongly, like the three dimensional space of the area was water, distorting everything in a blur. When it ceased, the sense of bright light one normally got from the stone was dimmed, and the damages were repaired.

“Melchsee, I'm starving. We've got to find something to eat around here.”

–

At the bottom of the mountain, Ben, Doug and Lou leaned against their car, a shiny grey BMW. Each of them was smoking a cigarette and eating fried chicken from a take-out bucket with a picture of a crossed out cow on it. The chicken, well, it wasn't cold, but it wasn't fresh either. The fry of the chicken was softer than it should be, but still had some residual crunch to it. The meat was still moist, and after Ben finished swallowing, he took a big drag on a cigarette.

“Hey, Doug?” Lou said, sounding unconcerned “I think I see that guy again, way off in the distance.” Lou looked out, saw the Aim Hero Renegade, muttered something like 'Christ not again', then said normally.

“All right, we're getting the fuck out of here, get in the car.”

They departed, accelerating expertly, just on the edge of peeling out, and drove well in excess of the speed limit of 80 until the mountain was out of sight, vehicle swerving to avoid as many potholes as possible, then eventually going on the much smoother hard desert ground off the side of the road. The interior of the BMW was totally silent, each man locked into a nearly involuntary internal analysis of the events they had witnessed.

An hour into the two and a half hour drive, Doug pulled over. Each of them appreciated the opportunity in their own way, and once the vehicle was safely stopped, they exited. Doug pulled out a pack of cigarettes and flipped the top up, then, giving the issue some thought, closed it, and pulled two new packs from an inside pocket and passed them out. They each silently unwrapped the plastic and started burning.

Three cigarettes in, Lou broke the silence. His face split into a big grin and he laughed, a short snort, while shaking his head.

“Come on,” he said, and Ben and Doug both broke into big grins as well. Soon, they were laughing, and Doug got the beers from the trunk