(PROLUGE)
We are in a large, dusty desert. We don’t know what it is, we don’t know where it is, but we are there. A large dusty desert. Empty, soulless. Just the sound of wind and despair. We find our main protagonist, Steve Watson walking in the desert. Wind blowing his whole body, his hair, his shirt, everything. He looks like he came from a large boss battle and is stressing.
‘’So…alone.’’ He mutters, His voice filled with desperation. ‘’Where am I?’’ He looks around, sand dropping from his eyes.
‘’Hello!’’ He shouts, his voice cracked. ‘’Is anyone there? Can anyone even hear me? Can anyone even see me?!’’ He shouts loudly.
‘’Did Mr. Beast finally hire me?’’ He adds, his voice, small, weak, and dumb.
Suddenly a flash of red energy passes by. Steve turns around, wiping his eyes.
‘’Hello?!’’ He shouts, confused.
The wind gets huge as the flash rides around, the flash is faster, faster, and Steve keeps looking. Until….
‘’AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!’’
He screams as white energy flashes him, panting heavily.
He then wakes up from his dream, panting heavily (again). He is panting heavily, clutching his chest. There Is a loud heartbeat ringing.
PRESS O TO STOP HEARTBEAT.
The heartbeat stops. Steve sighs heavily. His Hud flashes.
HUD: 70/100.
GET SOMETHING TO EAT, SKINNY!
Steve sighs, ‘’Oh it was just a dream.’’ He Is relieved. He then drops his head on the pillow, sighing again. He grabs his iPhone and switches it on, finding unread messages from the ‘’G.A. E’’ study group.
What is this world, first? Well, it’s Cointropolis. It has an RPG-style system and has video game logic, which is absurd, but you are all reading right now. There are two divided people, Gamers and Enemies. Gamers are people like the heroes, and enemies are the people like villains. Simple video game style.
Don’t worry, you’ll get it soon.
Steve puts his phone down; he then pushes the blanket and stands up.
STEVE WATSON
AGE: 19
POWERS: YELLOW ENERGY
WEAKNESSES: LACK OF CONTROL
He looks refreshed. Like a newborn-refreshed. He removes his vest and puts on his school uniform, and grabs his grey tire. He also goes to the bathroom. He brushes his teeth, rinses, and looks at himself in the mirror. He looks stunning.
‘’Wait, why are you looking at me?’’ He asks, as he Is looking at the mirror.
He then walks out, whistling. Putting hair gel on his hair. It sparkles around his body.
‘’Finally, going back to high school!’’ He shouts, ambitious and confident.
Suddenly, a warning Hud displays.
INCREASE YOUR HUD BY DRINKING COFFEE AND EATING BREAKFAST!
Steve groans, ‘’I hate this.’’
He exits the room, locking it. He walks downstairs, his full apartment. He finds Bradley flipping eggs and bacon with full precision.
‘’Hey, bro! What’s cooking?’’ He asks as he sniffs the air.
Bradley chuckles, ‘’Oh, the usual.’’, He then flips an egg. ‘’How is the search for the diamond going?’’ He asks.
Steve thinks. Options appear.
A – GOING GREAT!
B – I DIDN’T WATCH LAW AND ORDER YET. I DON’T LIKE IT.
C – I DON’T KNOW!
D – UH, CAN I JUST GET SOMETHING TO EAT?
Steve is thinking. He then selects C and shouts loudly, ‘’I have no idea!’’
Silence is in the room. Painful, awkward silence. Bradley sighs, ‘’Whatever. We will ask John Schneider for updates.’’
He grabs a coffee mug, pours coffee and puts it down on the table where Steve is sitting. He sips, refreshed.
10+ HEALTH ADDED!
HUD: 80/100
‘’Bradley. Do you ever think I will have the girl of my dreams?’ He asks, innocent. Bradley turns around, bluntly, ‘’I don’t know, Steve. Marla and Matthew are a power couple. But I won’t be surprised if they are joining the Enemies group.’’
Steve scoffs, ‘’Pfft. Enemies group? Marla is an angel. I love her so much, but I just don’t have the confidence to ask her out!’’
‘’Okay. Maybe Matthew is the one with tricks up his sleeve. But I know somewhere, Marla is not innocent.’’
Bradley says, serious.
There’s silence in the room. Steve just eats his eggs and bacon from the plate, speaking muffled, ‘’This is delicious!’’
Bradley facepalms.
10+ HEALTH ADDED!
HUD: 90/100.
Steve continues eating, Bradley breaks the ice, ‘’Steve. I am your brother. And I don’t think you will ever be a true gamer hero. You just can’t respawn.’’
‘’Pfft? Respawn. I don’t care. I think being a gamer hero is useless. What’s the point? Unless if it was a challenge posed by the Girl of My Dreams.’’
‘’Are you done eating? We are pretty late.’’ Bradley says, as he puts on his trench coat.
10+ HEALTH ADDED1
HUD: 90/100
HEALTH FULL!
‘’Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?’’ Steve says, his tone more confident than ever.
Suddenly Steve’s head drops on the table and he starts glitching. Rolling around the table, jumping up and down like a ragdoll. He looks like a glitched screen-saver.
‘’I should have seen that coming.’’ Bradley says, his tone bored.
(CHAPTER 1: A DAY FOR STEVE)
Steve walks in the sidewalk, confident and strong. His eyes are sparkling and his body is buzzing with yellow energy. Bradley meanwhile, is hiding with a jacket, a hoodie, and a trench coat.
‘’Keep a low profile, Steve. It prevents the Player Police from noticing you!’’ Bradley whispers to Steve, his tone urgent and protective.
Steve meanwhile walks and collects coins. ‘’Bradley, you are always shy. I bet that’s why you don’t have friends in class.’’
Bradley rolls his eyes, ‘’Wow, Steve. Nice comeback.’’
Steve is walking. Hands in his pocket, whistling. Bradley is still hiding. It’s the classic atmosphere: Happy Vs. Concerned.
Suddenly the Player Police arrive, two robots that walk in the scene. Aiming futuristic robo-guns.
‘’Where do you think you two are going? We have to analyze you first. If you are part of this world.’’
They say confident. Aiming their guns.
Steve’s eyes widen, Bradley has a fighting stance.
‘’Okay. Bradley, you were right. And I understood that comeback. It was— ‘’
One of the robot ties Steve with it’s wires and throws him around.
‘’SARCAAAAAAAAAAAASM!!’’
He shouts as he hits the wall, hurt and injured. He touches his eye (Which is now purple)
HUD: 54/100
‘’Ouch.’’ He growls in pain.
Bradley gasps, he turns angry, his jaw tightens, and he shouts, ‘’No one messes with my brother! Except me!’’
BRADLEY WATSON
AGE: 20
POWERS: HAMMER AND INVISIBILTY (BOTH AS A POWER AND IN CLASS)
WEAKNESSES: STABLE LIFE.
The Player Police bots both stand firm. Aiming their guns at Bradley. ‘’Analyzing: Bradley Watson. Strong, introverted, protective, hates being interrupted when eating.’’
Bradley is eating a sandwich, he throws it away and shouts muffled, ‘’Hey! That’s the only thing you know about me!’’
The bots move forward. Bradley pulls out his hammer and clenches it. ‘’Oh, so it’s a fight.’’
A – FIGHT
B – RUN
C – DO THERAPY
D – PROTECT STEVE
Bradley decides to (A – FIGHT). He runs with his hammer and swings it loudly.
BAM!
It hits one robot’s head. It then uses its wires to tie Bradley and throw him around, but Bradley flips by being invisible. He then appears in the air and crushes the first robot.
CLANG!!
The pressure hits, loud and painful. The wires and screws all fly out. Bradley swings and is about to hit the second bot, but the second but starts shooting. Bradley turns invisible. The robot analyzes the spot and a missile shoots down on Bradley’s area.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
BOOM!!
It hits Bradley hard. He appears, extremely injured and hurt. The second bot laughs emotionlessly and says, ‘’You thought you can win. Now hand us over your player ID.’’
Silence. It’s sad. Bradley pulls out his ID from the pocket and hangs over, reluctantly. He’s weak, and injured. ‘’Just don’t hurt my brother.’’ He says with a raspy and defeated voice.
A single tear drops from Bradley. Has he failed the fight? We don’t know. But it’s clear he has accepted defeat.
The robot laughs mechanically, ‘’I can’t believe it. It’s finally time to— ‘’
Suddenly a large star appears in the sky. Bradley, Steve and the robot all look up, confused. The star then drops and it’s revealed to be Shaun ‘Edison’ Wells, on a skateboard, flying down.
NAME: SHAUN EDISION WELLS
AGE: 21
POWERS: SKATING, MUSCLE, AND FIRE.
WEAKNESSES: EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY.
He lands down, They all face Shaun, shocked. ‘’Shaun?!’’ They all say shocked.
‘’It’s time to kick your robotic ass.’’ Shaun says smugly as he takes off his glasses. The light shining on him.
‘’Woah, Steve. What happened to you? You looked like you went through puberty. Again. Wait, you’re still in it right?’’ He asks.
‘’I missed you, Shaun. Have you found the diamond?’’ Steve says in a raspy voice.
‘’Ask John Schneider. He is being surprisingly suspicious today. Not like he isn’t. He does look like he’s from doing it all the time.’’ Shaun says, laughing smugly.
Shaun looks at the robot, he then punches its head. Wires and screws fall out. Shaun then roars fire at the robot. It then burns and dies down.
Shaun then jumps and smashes it, shouting ‘’Stupid piece of crap!’’
He pants heavily and turns towards Bradley and Steve. He looks insane.
‘’Uh, your HPs are so low. Let’s go take some soda. And I know who I will take you guys to.’’ He says smugly.
(CHAPTER 2: THE FIGHT)
In ‘’RITA’S SODA AND EXPRESSO’’, Shaun, Steve and Bradley all enter. Steve and Bradley look weak, injured and defeated.
STEVE’S HP: 34/100
BRADLEY’S HP: 42/100
SHAUN’S HP: 95/100
Shaun goes on the counter and slaps his hands there. A fiery, glitched sound. Rita appears, in a barista outfit and black glasses. She slides and looks at Shaun.
‘’What is it now, pipsqueak? What do you want?!’’ She shouts at Shaun. Shaun rolls his eyes, smirking, ‘’Just 3 sodas for me and the boys. Let’s hope they don’t glitch out. Ha-ha-ha. That’s Shaun’s humor.’’
‘’Your humor sucks.’’ Rita says bluntly. She then looks at Steve and Bradley who are hurt, ‘’Steve and Brad. Long time. No see. The G.A.E group is running fairly well if you have any dumb questions.’’
Steve and Brad share looks, Steve looks at Rita, ‘’What are you doing here? Isn’t it time for school? It’s in the morning.’’
Rita scoffs, ’Steve. Leave that logic in the box. We were kicked out.’’
‘’Why?!’’ Steve shouts. Rita shouts, ‘’Because us, G.A.E 9, Principal Regi thought we weren’t serious! They thought we were goofing around. Which, to be honest. We totally were.’’
The music cuts, It’s silent. Steve is shocked.
OPTIONS
A – BE DEPRESSED AND WALK IN THE RAIN
B – SHOUT
C – GIVE UP
D- HAVE A HEART ATTACK.
Steve sighs and does A AND B. He shouts, ‘’You were goofing around! You and John, and that stupid theatre kid. Whatever his dumb name was! We were an elite study group, but you guys decided to hide things from me! Why?! Is it because you don’t believe me? This was my only chance to get the girl of my dreams!’’
It’s silent. There’s thick tension. Rita’s eyes are widened, Shaun is shocked, Bradley is also shocked. Suddenly John Schneider enters.
NAME: JOHN SCHNEIDER
AGE: 22
POWERS: NINJA AND GREEN NOODLES
WEAKNESSES: BEING A DICK.
The room is silent. John finishes his green noodles. In full ninja suit, he removes his sunglasses sharply.
‘’Oh, who summoned my name here?’’ He asks, his voice chilling. One that can shred you to pieces.
Everyone points at Steve.
‘’Oh, crap.’’ Steve mutters, defeated.
‘’Steve. You only cared about your maniac pixie dream girl. Your teenage crush. You can never, ever…’’ John says.
John walks dangerously and slaps Steve, a hard slap. Steve rubs his cheek.
‘’Get Marla!’’ John shouts.
Everyone gasps.
‘’I shut this dumb group down because of you. I thought we were there to collect coins and get the Diamonds of Egress. But no! We weren’t.’’
John shouts.
‘’We were just there, sidelined like supporting characters. For your main, stupid, lovestruck plot!’’
John paces around the room, ‘’I was the intellect. The brains. The intelligent one. We were partners, Stevenson!’’
John turns around, a single tear drops, ‘’But you used us. You manipulated us. You dorky, selfish, fool!’’
John throws a sword at the wall. Steve walks in the scene, angry. ‘’Well fine. I sidelined you guys for my dream. And honestly, that’s fine.’’
Shaun, Bradley, Rita and John all gasp.
‘’I only wanted to get my crush. And I’m still coming.’’ Steve says ominously.
John looks at Steve, his jaw tightening. ‘’You can never. Because you can never RESPAWN.’’
The word echoes…
RESPAWN, RESPAWN, RESPAWN, RESPAWN.
Steve’s jaw clenches. He clutches his soda cup; it drops on the floor. His eyes turn full yellow and his body gets powered.
‘’Everyone respawns.’’ He says, darkly.
‘’Not everyone.’’ John adds, pulling out his katana.
‘’Then let’s see about that.’’ Steve says, pulling out his yellow sword.
JOHN SCHNEIDER VS STEVE WATSON
FIGHT!
Steve runs, his knuckle charged. He then punches John on the face. John gets angry and raises his sword, they fight.
CLANG, PUNCH, CLANG, PUNCH, CLANG, PUNCH
Steve pushes John on the ground and he drops. John then kicks Steve on the shin, and slices him on the cheek, a small scar.
Steve swings his yellow sword and they both fights, their swords clanging. Everyone in the shop cheers. Steve bends down and punches John on the neck. He yells in pain. John then decides to grab soda and throw on Steve’s face, he then punches him, goes down and sweep-kicks Steve, he drops in a red portal.
BATTLEFIELD.
John flies in with a punching stance, a large huge, dystopian battlefield. He hits Steve as he gets up from the ground. John punches Steve, kicks him, headbutts Steve and swings him around.
‘NOOOOOO’’
He shouts.
AQUARIUM
They are swimming, both fighting. Steve grabs John’s face and punches it.
‘’Ah!’’ He screams and gargles in the water. Steve then punches him with charged yellow energy and the water turns yellow. John flies and slices Steve, hurting him. He kicks Steve onto the aquarium glass. And they both get swallowed on the red portal.
FLOWER FIELDS
In the sunset, John and Steve are fighting. John Is swinging his sword while Steve is bending and kicking the sword, punching John. John cries until he kicks Steve on the shin. And punches him on the chest, dropping him on the flowers. John uses his sword to slice, but another portal opens.
NORMAL HOUSE
They both land in seats, confused.
‘’Where are we?’’ asks a confused John.
‘’I have no idea.’’ Steve answers.
Steve grabs the flower pot and hits John’s head with it. Making him shout in pain. He then uses a technique known as Shadow Step.
He flies 3 times faster as a silhouette of him remains. He then flies down and punches Steve, he drops on the ground.
‘’Don’t forget, I have my technique!’’ Steve shouts. He jumps and has a punching pose at John, shouting.
‘’This is for my Marla!’’
He shouts, tears falling out of his eyes.
John gasps, but he remembers the memories. The memories where John proposed to Steve that he will help him, the memories where he taught him numerous tricks, the memories of John studying enemies with Steve.
Poor John. Is he going to get betrayed?
John sighs. He blocks Steve with his two swords.
‘’Wait. Steve.’’ He says, tired.
Steve sighs, ‘’What? You can respawn.’’
‘’I will. It will be my pleasure. But remember I helped you found the group, I taught you about good X.P. I taught you everything?’’
Steve’s eyes widen, ‘’No. I am self-taught.’’
‘’If you let me live, I can teach you how to respawn. If you finish the level and respawn…then, you will never learn how to respawn.’’ John says, his tone solemn.
Steve hesitates. He looks down on the ground, seeing a poster of Marla. He looks at John, who Is pleading.
What is he gonna do?
(CHAPTER 3: MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS)
Suddenly portals open and all of his friends come out. Shaun flies with a skateboard, Rita flies in, along with Bradley, and Tiffany (in a bubble), and Paul (with theatre kid energy)
Tiffany lands, popping her bubble. ‘’Hey, Stevie! You betrayed us. So, it’s time for you to get REKT!’’
NAME: TIFFANY
AGE: 17.
POWERS: CHEERLEADING, BUBBLES, OPTISM.
WEAKNESSES: TOXICITY. DADDY ISSUES AND…POOR ENTRANCE.
Paul lands faceplanted, he strikes a pose.
‘’It’s you, Steve! The teenager who has the smell of existential dread!’’
NAME: PAUL RODGERS
AGE: 18
POWERS: CARDS, SKULLS, DEALING, ARMS.
WEAKNESSES: CRINGEY SHAKESPEREAN DIALOUGE. AND ALSO…POOR ENTRANCE X 2.
They all aim fighting stances at Steve and John.
‘’C’mon Steve. Are you really sure you wanna betray us?’’ Bradley asks, concerned.
Steve hesitates, he looks between John, the picture of Marla and his friends.
Rita shouts, ‘’You’re wasting my freaking time you freaking freak! Just make your choice!’’
Steve is shocked.
Shaun puts the skateboard up and leans on it. ‘’I think the kid is conflicted.’’
OPTIONS
A – BETRAY YOUR GANG
B – BE ALONE
C – GO AFTER MARLA
D – BOTH.
Steve is silent. He is panting heavily. John coughs coins and stands up, hurt, sweating and injured, ‘’Guys, let him make his own decisions.’’
Silence. Steve looks up, smirking. Is he gonna be with them?
‘’I mean, there is nothing wrong with that, right?’’ Paul asks, tying his cape.
‘’As long as it doesn’t waste my time.’’ Rita says angrily.
‘’But he will never learn to respawn. He doesn’t know how!’’ Bradley shouts, aiming his hammer.
‘’So what? You think Life is about sticking together? Here it’s every man for themselves. And I’m going to get those diamonds. Solo.’’
John shouts, angry.
Bradley shouts, ‘’John, you need us!’’. ‘’For what?’’ John says coldly. ‘’For goofing around??’ He adds.
Tiffany asks, ‘’What’s that sound?’’
Silence. Shaun is glowing with green energy, holding a basketball. His eyes are green.
‘’What? I’m flexing my muscles.’’ He says, softly and smugly. Rita crosses her arms, looking at Shaun, ‘’Damn. I gotta lose some weight.’’
Bradley and John look at them, dumbfounded.
Tiffany looks down, shocked. ‘’Oh my god, Steve!’’
They all look down and gasp. Steve is gone. Left behind marks.
Oh, he actually left them.
John is shocked, ‘’What the hell? Is he Sonic the Hedgehog? He actually betrayed us?!’’
Bradley looks down in shock and horror.
‘’He actually did it.’’ He mutters, horrified.
(CHAPTER 4: HE DID IT)
It’s dark and rainy in Cointropolis. Steve is walking, dirty, burnt and injured.
HUD: 41/100.
He looks dark, evil and confident. He then stops at Cointropolis High, he looks up, the building strikes with Thunder.
Steve chuckles, ‘’Just like John said…’’
He smirks darkly, ‘’Make your own decision.’’
OPTIONS
A – USE PURPLE FLOWER
B – GO THERE LIKE THAT
C – ASK FOR HELP
D – APOLOGIZE
However, Steve also looks unsure. His face drops and he realize what he has done. Rain pours on him. He looks lost, like he has really failed. He them remembers the fun he had with his study group; he sighs.
‘’I really did the wrong thing.’’ He mutters.
In a cold lab. It’s showing a mysterious figure with glasses, watching Steve on many monitors, he smirks coldly.
‘’Steve Watson. Looks like he is on track to get High School’s sweetheart Marla Brightway.’’ The figure says coldly.
The figure is revealed to be Professor Abel.
‘’Bring in Static Stan. And make sure, he has gotten his moves.’’
Silence. Abel laughs extremely evil and coldly.
‘’Oh, Stevie. Hope you enjoy your teenage, angst-filled Hero’s Journey.’’
He says coldly. The lab shifts to extreme red and danger.
Back in the desert we saw earlier. Yes, it all connects to that now.
It’s called the Sandy-Way. Like we saw earlier, Steve is walking in the desert. Like he came from a boss battle, and he did. He looks dirty, injured and broken. Wind blows him.
‘’Where are my friends? Where are they?’’ Steve says, weak. He drops on the sand, coughing heavily.
4 DAYS LATER….
Steve is walking, dusty and broken. He has now lost track where he is. The desert is windy than before, Steve looks old. He doesn’t look the same.
’So…alone.’’ He mutters, His voice filled with desperation. ‘’Where am I?’’ He looks around, sand dropping from his eyes.
‘’Hello!’’ He shouts, his voice cracked. ‘’Is anyone there? Can anyone even hear me? Can anyone even see me?!’’ He shouts loudly.
The flash of red energy then passes by. Steve wipes his eyes.
’Hello?!’’ He shouts, confused.
The wind gets huge as the flash rides around, the flash is faster, faster, and Steve keeps looking. Until….
‘’AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!’’
He screams as white energy flashes him, panting heavily.
He slowly opens his eyes and finds out someone unexpected….
MARLA BRIGHTWAY.
She pushes her goggles up and holds Steve’s face, looking worried.
Steve is shocked, ‘’Marla?!’’
MARLA BRIGHTWAY
AGE: 19
POWERS: UMBRELLA, RED ENERGY, FLASHES.
WEAKNESSES: YOU WILL LEARN IN VOLUME 2.
‘’What are you doing here?!’’ Steve asks, stunned and confused.
TO BE CONTINUED
IN VOLUME 2….
