Re: The Relentless Slaughter [Round 1: Untitled-1]
04-14-2011, 03:16 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Adenreagen.
“That I haven’t been what, now?” Martin was puzzled. If he HAD been “destroyed”, then it would’ve been game over, and one way or another, he’d be out of this game. But how Gannet (by the wide grin that Rollo had told him about, it HAD to be Gannet) had said destroyed made him wonder just what sort of game this was. He wasn’t sure which contestant was with Gannet, but he wondered if these two were available party members since Rollo had disappeared in the fight with the Stiltwalker. “ Never mind that, now,” he thought aloud to himself, silencing Gannet before he had the chance to answer. “What’s important right now is, who the hell are you and how do I get out of here? None of the interface works, and I want to at least get some of my inventory back.”
Gannet and Zimmer glanced at each other, Zimmer’s expression puzzled and Gannet with his usual wide grin. Zimmer shrugged and decided to get the introductions out of the way.
“You’ll have to excuse my… acquaintance. He seems to become over-excited by some of the strangest things. I’m Lieutenant Matthew Zimmer, alchemist. You can call me Lieutenant, or Zimmer, or even Matthew, if you’d like. This here is Gannet …” He hesitated, looking to Gannet to supply a last name. When he grinned but remained silent, Zimmer shrugged and went on. “Gannet. At any rate, we’re glad to see that another contestant has survived this far and would be delighted if you’d travel with us. Strength in numbers and all that. It will make passing the coming trials against us that much easier, and I would very much like to NOT fail my god. If I remember right, you’d be Martin Holden. You’re also a robot, though you don’t seem quite the same as you were originally.” He glanced significantly at his arm.
That’s it, something is definitely wrong. He’s the second computer to mention that my arm has changed. He talks like a normal NPC though, as though this all was real. “Coming trials”? I wonder what that’s about, though it makes sense that a game should get harder as it goes along.
“Alright, you two can join me, but before anything else I’d like to get Rollo back. He didn’t seem like the greatest party member, but he has been helpful in a way. He couldn’t tell me how to reach the menu, but he could at least remind me who everyone was and what I’m supposed to be doing. At any rate I want to-
Connection Lost.
Zimmer and Gannet were both surprised when Martin slumped over midsentence.
Gannet’s grin, which already threatened to take over his face, got slightly wider. So much to see. So many things to learn from this new creature, this dead-that-walks. The oracle will be very pleased when I return.
“The lad’s fainted! I hope these spells don’t happen to him often, or he might not be as helpful as I’d hoped. I’d best try to bring him around.“ Zimmer reached into his coat and carefully selected his bag of smelling salts, double-checking to make sure that Martin wouldn’t be inhaling anything toxic. As he began wafting them under Martin’s nose, he decided to figure out what they should do.
“Gannet, what do you think our next move should be? If we help Martin, here, do you think he’ll remain on our side? And what of Rollo? Martin said Rollo helped him before, and if we save him, he’ll be indebted to us for sure. I know we’re in a fight to the death and all, but I feel the more of us work together, the longer we last to pass the Maker’s tests. It’s a wild hope I know, but I think it’s the best chance we’ve got. Your thoughts?”
Gannet didn’t have to ponder long, or really at all. “We help them. The oracle will be pleased when I return to tell it of so many new creatures. This one hasn’t been with us long, but I have learnt much. I would like to learn more of him, and his companion. I am an Eye, not a Tooth, having something to protect me would be good. He must rise. We have to move.”
Zimmer looked up, giving Gannet a puzzled look, which turned to surprise when he saw where Gannet was pointing. Giant ramps were being drawn to direct something, and they were directly between two of them. As Gannet was about to continue, Martin started coughing from the salts.
“Ah, he’s back. There’s a good chap, take your time getting yourself together, but do be quick about it. We may have a problem soon”
Martin sat up and, remembering that his arm was missing, pushed with his right arm and stood up. Looking at the two staring at him, he tried to figure who they were and was about to reach for his notebook to check when he remembered his pants were gone.
Rollo…the Stiltwalker…”excuse my… excited…can call me…or even Mat-…survived…travel with us…" He was surprised. It was one of the few times he had remembered anything when he woke up to the “Connection lost” in the bottom left corner. He missed his notebook, but there wasn’t much he could do about it now.
“Hey Matty. Can you and Smiles here help me find Rollo? I think he’s probably in trouble, and I’d like it if we could help him out since he’s one of our party members.”
Overlooking being called ‘Matty’ for the time being, Zimmer pocketed his smelling salts and decided that Martin accepted their offer to work together. “Very well,” he began, “but do you have any idea where he might be? I assume from where you were running from before, correct?”
Where I was running from? What on earth is he talking about? “Err… Right. If we could just get Rollo and figure out how to get out of here, that’d be great.”
“Others come.” Gannet’s voice startled everyone. Though Zimmer and Martin looked around, they couldn’t see past the giant ramps around them, but they began to feel, rather than hear, a rumble in the distance. “They move quickly.” He took a deep breath and widened his eyes. Colors began to swirl in his eyes, though there were wooden structures blocking his vision, Gannet could still “see” them in a way. “They flee something.” What that was quickly became apparent, as a giant soccer ball rolled past one ramp, headed directly to the next. In front of the ball ran two figures, a small one rolling like the ball that chased it, and a taller one that appeared to be carrying a screaming figure.
Samael grabbed one hand and Rollo grabbed the other, both trying to pull her away from the soccer ball. “C’mon girl, this isn’t the time to be tired, it’s time to move!”
Dorin doubled over as something began to work its way out of her side. It was even smaller than the snout of the thing that had tried earlier, but still hurt. “I can’t… “
“Dorin. Please. I know it hurts. You have to move.” Shik was floating ahead of her as the two half-dragged half-carried her. “Please. Run.”
Dorin tried. She really did, but she didn’t manage to get more than twenty steps before she tripped in her heels. Even without her robe getting caught on them, they were still higher than any she had worn before today. As the ground came up to meet her she heard an angry “Fuck it” as Samael picked her up and continued running. Though the hole in his hand burned from the portal it was pressing against, he didn't dare put her down unless she was safe.
Out from under her ceremonial gown, a floating armadillo came out of Dorin’s side. It was small, but on top of all the other spirits today, Dorin passed out from the pain it inadvertently caused. It floated next to Rollo and they both looked at each other, then in the same different direction, then back at each other, than forward again until the spirit vanished. Clearly, a spirit of comedic timing and a very inappropriate one given the situation.
After running for a time, Rollo decided that nothing would show up to stop the ball, or him, like there usually was. “Dive to the side! It should go past us then we’ll be safe for a while! One…Two…GO!” As the ball rolled past, a pencil came down and quickly scribbled a rough oval. There was a *click* and it turned blue. They ended up diving into a pond. Though Rollo didn’t mind too much, since the soccer ball was gone and he still wondered where its player was.
Samael on the other hand didn’t like being in the water again and quickly got out to keep himself and the unconscious Dorin as dry as possible. He looked to see what else would happen and saw the pencil quickly drawing a giant ramp to turn the soccer ball, then another and another and yet another. He quickly saw that their running wasn’t over and that the Tormentor wasn’t done with that particular obstacle.
“We should keep moving, that soccer ball is going to be back in a minute” Samael said.
“And who knows how big the guy who owns that thing is going to be!” Rollo squealed.
“The guy who owns…” Samael realized that Rollo was right. The Tormentor may have drawn it, but he would’ve drawn something to start it moving, and it’d have to be pretty big to kick a twenty foot ball hard enough that it’d still be moving.
The Tormentor rubbed his hands together. In truth he had used a ramp much like the ones he kept drawing to start the ball rolling. Heh. Ball rolling. But to play off Rollo and actually create the very thing that he feared most? It would take some time. He picked the pencil, went to a so-far unused corner of the canvas and began drawing.
“Where should we go, Rollo?" Samael asked.
“Well my buddy Martin and I got separated by the Stiltwalker thing, so we should find him. He’s probably still running he looked so scared. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can help each other. I think he went…” Rollo looked side to side, faced one way and pointed in the other, “that way.” Rollo got out of the pond and felt a rumble. Looking behind him, he saw the soccer ball had gone full circle and was again coming up to them. “Uh-oh, here we go again!” He curled up into a ball again – there would be another lawsuit after this, he just knew it – and started rolling away from the soccer ball.
Martin followed with Dorin as fast as he could, getting out of the way. As the ball rolled past, another set of ramps was drawn, bringing the ball around again. Again they dodged it, and another set of ramps formed. Each time they dodged, and each time ramps appeared, always forming a tighter loop. Though it originally took a few minutes for the ball to turn and continue the chase, it soon took a matter of seconds for the ramps to angle it at them again. Unless they got rid of the soccer ball it would never stop chasing them.
“MMMAAAAARRRRTTIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNN!!! RRRRUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!”
The three of them could hear it from where they were, even though the three in front of the ball were still hundreds of feet away. As the three cut a corner, the soccer ball turned the last ramp before Gannet, Martin and Zimmer and moved its way towards them. They began to run, Gannet taking big, loping strides, Martin keeping pace with his bionic legs, and Zimmer pumping his knees as fast as he could to keep up.
Martin had a new fear: being crushed to death. Gannet did not want to fail the Oracle, and the virus in his mind continued to pump more and more adrenaline to prevent him from tiring. Zimmer just didn’t want to die in this place and fail his Lord on one of the first challenges.
Despite this, when Zimmer looked over his shoulder, he ran into the ramp, snapping a board as he ran into it and fell through. “Rise, Lieutenant.” Zimmer looked up and saw Gannet offering a hand. His grin, always cheerful but unsettling, was even more so given the life or death situation they were in. He took his hand, and was pulled to his feet. As he was about to thank Gannet, he again began running, so Zimmer realized that courtesy would have to wait.
When the soccer ball ran over the ramp, the broken board punctured the ball half its length. Though the ball now had a slow leak and a board jutting out its side, it was by no means stopped.
The Tormentor looked up from the corner he was working in and saw this. “His…talent…finally shows itself, eh? Well, it won’t matter much longer. Soon they’ll all have something much bigger to fear. Heheh. HehehehehahaHAHAHAHABWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!
As they were running, the ground suddenly shook and a violent wind blew past them all. Looking over, Zimmer saw a crater to their left. A pencil appeared, many of them, in fact. All began drawing circles with lines coming from them. Though they looked like balloons, each was colored black and the lines sparked. The ones with shortest lines –fuses, he realized, having worked with such things in the R&D branch – exploded and left more craters, shaking the ground and almost tripping some of them. One bomb exploded close to Zimmer, who stumbled and kicked Rollo into the air.
As Rollo panicked, one of his worst fears realized, another explosion sent him backwards, and he hit the giant soccer ball. More specifically, he hit the plank jutting from it. Square on the end. This forced it the rest of the way into the ball, completing the puncture. The ball popped – rather, it blew up. All the air rushed out of the hole, tearing it larger and allowing more air to out. The rushing air blew the pencil tools and bombs away, leaving a clear area immediately around them.
“Good work, Rollo! I’d never have thought to try stopping the ball with a direct attack. You’ve saved us all!” Zimmer cried as he ran up and shook Rollo’s hand so hard the armadillo began to wobble.
“I did? I… I guess I did!” Rollo jumped into the air and when he landed there was a large medal on his chest. “I guess I am a hero. Who knew?”
As they all began to catch their breath, they realized that a vast majority of them were together and no one knew how to react. Dorin, however, got everyone’s attention by screaming in agony as the creature in her side continued to force its way out, managing in one lunge to get its lower jaw out, stretching the hole painfully.
Samael took his whole hand (rather than the holey one) and began trying to push the creature back in to stop it from hurting her. He partly succeeded by forcing it back to just its snout, bringing another cry of agony from Dorin. “I could use someone’s help here, this is painful to me too.”
There was a rumble as something large hit the ground and yelled in fury. Even though none of them could see it, they knew whatever it was wasn’t going to be good.
“I think we’ve got bigger problems,” Martin said, looking towards the sound.
As Jerry was clearing out his desk, a pink piece of paper attached to his computer monitor, he heard people talking about the show. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t get the show off the air. Every time he tried to turn it off, or put on a Rollo rerun, the damn thing just wouldn’t go away. The phones were ringing off the hook. Some with late-teens and twenties who approved, but mostly with crying children and outraged parents.
“Man, Henry,” Doug was saying, “Why was there such a long commercial break?”
“I know! Except for this one infomercial a few years back, that was the longest break I’ve ever seen. Hopefully that’s the last one that long for a while.”
“True that. Can’t believe the boss doesn’t care that we’re watching this.”
“He’s got bigger problems. Did you hear that they shut down the entire department in charge of airing the program and it still wouldn’t turn off? It’s gotta be some kind of hoax put on by a disgruntled employee.”
“Who? Everyone I know loves working here. Even Jerry whistled the theme song every day when he left. The last disgruntled guy we had was Michael LaGribbe, and he passed away years ago!”
“I’m not sure, but the boss’ll get to the bottom of it, mark my words. I’m not moving from this chair ‘til it’s done.”
“That I haven’t been what, now?” Martin was puzzled. If he HAD been “destroyed”, then it would’ve been game over, and one way or another, he’d be out of this game. But how Gannet (by the wide grin that Rollo had told him about, it HAD to be Gannet) had said destroyed made him wonder just what sort of game this was. He wasn’t sure which contestant was with Gannet, but he wondered if these two were available party members since Rollo had disappeared in the fight with the Stiltwalker. “ Never mind that, now,” he thought aloud to himself, silencing Gannet before he had the chance to answer. “What’s important right now is, who the hell are you and how do I get out of here? None of the interface works, and I want to at least get some of my inventory back.”
Gannet and Zimmer glanced at each other, Zimmer’s expression puzzled and Gannet with his usual wide grin. Zimmer shrugged and decided to get the introductions out of the way.
“You’ll have to excuse my… acquaintance. He seems to become over-excited by some of the strangest things. I’m Lieutenant Matthew Zimmer, alchemist. You can call me Lieutenant, or Zimmer, or even Matthew, if you’d like. This here is Gannet …” He hesitated, looking to Gannet to supply a last name. When he grinned but remained silent, Zimmer shrugged and went on. “Gannet. At any rate, we’re glad to see that another contestant has survived this far and would be delighted if you’d travel with us. Strength in numbers and all that. It will make passing the coming trials against us that much easier, and I would very much like to NOT fail my god. If I remember right, you’d be Martin Holden. You’re also a robot, though you don’t seem quite the same as you were originally.” He glanced significantly at his arm.
That’s it, something is definitely wrong. He’s the second computer to mention that my arm has changed. He talks like a normal NPC though, as though this all was real. “Coming trials”? I wonder what that’s about, though it makes sense that a game should get harder as it goes along.
“Alright, you two can join me, but before anything else I’d like to get Rollo back. He didn’t seem like the greatest party member, but he has been helpful in a way. He couldn’t tell me how to reach the menu, but he could at least remind me who everyone was and what I’m supposed to be doing. At any rate I want to-
Connection Lost.
Zimmer and Gannet were both surprised when Martin slumped over midsentence.
Gannet’s grin, which already threatened to take over his face, got slightly wider. So much to see. So many things to learn from this new creature, this dead-that-walks. The oracle will be very pleased when I return.
“The lad’s fainted! I hope these spells don’t happen to him often, or he might not be as helpful as I’d hoped. I’d best try to bring him around.“ Zimmer reached into his coat and carefully selected his bag of smelling salts, double-checking to make sure that Martin wouldn’t be inhaling anything toxic. As he began wafting them under Martin’s nose, he decided to figure out what they should do.
“Gannet, what do you think our next move should be? If we help Martin, here, do you think he’ll remain on our side? And what of Rollo? Martin said Rollo helped him before, and if we save him, he’ll be indebted to us for sure. I know we’re in a fight to the death and all, but I feel the more of us work together, the longer we last to pass the Maker’s tests. It’s a wild hope I know, but I think it’s the best chance we’ve got. Your thoughts?”
Gannet didn’t have to ponder long, or really at all. “We help them. The oracle will be pleased when I return to tell it of so many new creatures. This one hasn’t been with us long, but I have learnt much. I would like to learn more of him, and his companion. I am an Eye, not a Tooth, having something to protect me would be good. He must rise. We have to move.”
Zimmer looked up, giving Gannet a puzzled look, which turned to surprise when he saw where Gannet was pointing. Giant ramps were being drawn to direct something, and they were directly between two of them. As Gannet was about to continue, Martin started coughing from the salts.
“Ah, he’s back. There’s a good chap, take your time getting yourself together, but do be quick about it. We may have a problem soon”
Martin sat up and, remembering that his arm was missing, pushed with his right arm and stood up. Looking at the two staring at him, he tried to figure who they were and was about to reach for his notebook to check when he remembered his pants were gone.
Rollo…the Stiltwalker…”excuse my… excited…can call me…or even Mat-…survived…travel with us…" He was surprised. It was one of the few times he had remembered anything when he woke up to the “Connection lost” in the bottom left corner. He missed his notebook, but there wasn’t much he could do about it now.
“Hey Matty. Can you and Smiles here help me find Rollo? I think he’s probably in trouble, and I’d like it if we could help him out since he’s one of our party members.”
Overlooking being called ‘Matty’ for the time being, Zimmer pocketed his smelling salts and decided that Martin accepted their offer to work together. “Very well,” he began, “but do you have any idea where he might be? I assume from where you were running from before, correct?”
Where I was running from? What on earth is he talking about? “Err… Right. If we could just get Rollo and figure out how to get out of here, that’d be great.”
“Others come.” Gannet’s voice startled everyone. Though Zimmer and Martin looked around, they couldn’t see past the giant ramps around them, but they began to feel, rather than hear, a rumble in the distance. “They move quickly.” He took a deep breath and widened his eyes. Colors began to swirl in his eyes, though there were wooden structures blocking his vision, Gannet could still “see” them in a way. “They flee something.” What that was quickly became apparent, as a giant soccer ball rolled past one ramp, headed directly to the next. In front of the ball ran two figures, a small one rolling like the ball that chased it, and a taller one that appeared to be carrying a screaming figure.
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Rollo and Samael immediately began to run as fast as possible from the fast approaching sports ball, towards Dorin. Though she was trying to get away, having so many spirits leave her body in the most painful way possible was very crippling.Samael grabbed one hand and Rollo grabbed the other, both trying to pull her away from the soccer ball. “C’mon girl, this isn’t the time to be tired, it’s time to move!”
Dorin doubled over as something began to work its way out of her side. It was even smaller than the snout of the thing that had tried earlier, but still hurt. “I can’t… “
“Dorin. Please. I know it hurts. You have to move.” Shik was floating ahead of her as the two half-dragged half-carried her. “Please. Run.”
Dorin tried. She really did, but she didn’t manage to get more than twenty steps before she tripped in her heels. Even without her robe getting caught on them, they were still higher than any she had worn before today. As the ground came up to meet her she heard an angry “Fuck it” as Samael picked her up and continued running. Though the hole in his hand burned from the portal it was pressing against, he didn't dare put her down unless she was safe.
Out from under her ceremonial gown, a floating armadillo came out of Dorin’s side. It was small, but on top of all the other spirits today, Dorin passed out from the pain it inadvertently caused. It floated next to Rollo and they both looked at each other, then in the same different direction, then back at each other, than forward again until the spirit vanished. Clearly, a spirit of comedic timing and a very inappropriate one given the situation.
After running for a time, Rollo decided that nothing would show up to stop the ball, or him, like there usually was. “Dive to the side! It should go past us then we’ll be safe for a while! One…Two…GO!” As the ball rolled past, a pencil came down and quickly scribbled a rough oval. There was a *click* and it turned blue. They ended up diving into a pond. Though Rollo didn’t mind too much, since the soccer ball was gone and he still wondered where its player was.
Samael on the other hand didn’t like being in the water again and quickly got out to keep himself and the unconscious Dorin as dry as possible. He looked to see what else would happen and saw the pencil quickly drawing a giant ramp to turn the soccer ball, then another and another and yet another. He quickly saw that their running wasn’t over and that the Tormentor wasn’t done with that particular obstacle.
“We should keep moving, that soccer ball is going to be back in a minute” Samael said.
“And who knows how big the guy who owns that thing is going to be!” Rollo squealed.
“The guy who owns…” Samael realized that Rollo was right. The Tormentor may have drawn it, but he would’ve drawn something to start it moving, and it’d have to be pretty big to kick a twenty foot ball hard enough that it’d still be moving.
The Tormentor rubbed his hands together. In truth he had used a ramp much like the ones he kept drawing to start the ball rolling. Heh. Ball rolling. But to play off Rollo and actually create the very thing that he feared most? It would take some time. He picked the pencil, went to a so-far unused corner of the canvas and began drawing.
“Where should we go, Rollo?" Samael asked.
“Well my buddy Martin and I got separated by the Stiltwalker thing, so we should find him. He’s probably still running he looked so scared. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can help each other. I think he went…” Rollo looked side to side, faced one way and pointed in the other, “that way.” Rollo got out of the pond and felt a rumble. Looking behind him, he saw the soccer ball had gone full circle and was again coming up to them. “Uh-oh, here we go again!” He curled up into a ball again – there would be another lawsuit after this, he just knew it – and started rolling away from the soccer ball.
Martin followed with Dorin as fast as he could, getting out of the way. As the ball rolled past, another set of ramps was drawn, bringing the ball around again. Again they dodged it, and another set of ramps formed. Each time they dodged, and each time ramps appeared, always forming a tighter loop. Though it originally took a few minutes for the ball to turn and continue the chase, it soon took a matter of seconds for the ramps to angle it at them again. Unless they got rid of the soccer ball it would never stop chasing them.
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Samael looked down as he ran. Dorin had another spirit coming out of her. Judging from the sniffing and prodding Samael felt against his hand, it was the snout of that too-big spirit again. She was wailing in pain, but whether or not she was conscious or if it was a reflex from the pain, Samael had no idea. “MMMAAAAARRRRTTIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNN!!! RRRRUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!”
The three of them could hear it from where they were, even though the three in front of the ball were still hundreds of feet away. As the three cut a corner, the soccer ball turned the last ramp before Gannet, Martin and Zimmer and moved its way towards them. They began to run, Gannet taking big, loping strides, Martin keeping pace with his bionic legs, and Zimmer pumping his knees as fast as he could to keep up.
Martin had a new fear: being crushed to death. Gannet did not want to fail the Oracle, and the virus in his mind continued to pump more and more adrenaline to prevent him from tiring. Zimmer just didn’t want to die in this place and fail his Lord on one of the first challenges.
Despite this, when Zimmer looked over his shoulder, he ran into the ramp, snapping a board as he ran into it and fell through. “Rise, Lieutenant.” Zimmer looked up and saw Gannet offering a hand. His grin, always cheerful but unsettling, was even more so given the life or death situation they were in. He took his hand, and was pulled to his feet. As he was about to thank Gannet, he again began running, so Zimmer realized that courtesy would have to wait.
When the soccer ball ran over the ramp, the broken board punctured the ball half its length. Though the ball now had a slow leak and a board jutting out its side, it was by no means stopped.
The Tormentor looked up from the corner he was working in and saw this. “His…talent…finally shows itself, eh? Well, it won’t matter much longer. Soon they’ll all have something much bigger to fear. Heheh. HehehehehahaHAHAHAHABWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!
As they were running, the ground suddenly shook and a violent wind blew past them all. Looking over, Zimmer saw a crater to their left. A pencil appeared, many of them, in fact. All began drawing circles with lines coming from them. Though they looked like balloons, each was colored black and the lines sparked. The ones with shortest lines –fuses, he realized, having worked with such things in the R&D branch – exploded and left more craters, shaking the ground and almost tripping some of them. One bomb exploded close to Zimmer, who stumbled and kicked Rollo into the air.
As Rollo panicked, one of his worst fears realized, another explosion sent him backwards, and he hit the giant soccer ball. More specifically, he hit the plank jutting from it. Square on the end. This forced it the rest of the way into the ball, completing the puncture. The ball popped – rather, it blew up. All the air rushed out of the hole, tearing it larger and allowing more air to out. The rushing air blew the pencil tools and bombs away, leaving a clear area immediately around them.
“Good work, Rollo! I’d never have thought to try stopping the ball with a direct attack. You’ve saved us all!” Zimmer cried as he ran up and shook Rollo’s hand so hard the armadillo began to wobble.
“I did? I… I guess I did!” Rollo jumped into the air and when he landed there was a large medal on his chest. “I guess I am a hero. Who knew?”
As they all began to catch their breath, they realized that a vast majority of them were together and no one knew how to react. Dorin, however, got everyone’s attention by screaming in agony as the creature in her side continued to force its way out, managing in one lunge to get its lower jaw out, stretching the hole painfully.
Samael took his whole hand (rather than the holey one) and began trying to push the creature back in to stop it from hurting her. He partly succeeded by forcing it back to just its snout, bringing another cry of agony from Dorin. “I could use someone’s help here, this is painful to me too.”
There was a rumble as something large hit the ground and yelled in fury. Even though none of them could see it, they knew whatever it was wasn’t going to be good.
“I think we’ve got bigger problems,” Martin said, looking towards the sound.
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As Jerry was clearing out his desk, a pink piece of paper attached to his computer monitor, he heard people talking about the show. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t get the show off the air. Every time he tried to turn it off, or put on a Rollo rerun, the damn thing just wouldn’t go away. The phones were ringing off the hook. Some with late-teens and twenties who approved, but mostly with crying children and outraged parents.
“Man, Henry,” Doug was saying, “Why was there such a long commercial break?”
“I know! Except for this one infomercial a few years back, that was the longest break I’ve ever seen. Hopefully that’s the last one that long for a while.”
“True that. Can’t believe the boss doesn’t care that we’re watching this.”
“He’s got bigger problems. Did you hear that they shut down the entire department in charge of airing the program and it still wouldn’t turn off? It’s gotta be some kind of hoax put on by a disgruntled employee.”
“Who? Everyone I know loves working here. Even Jerry whistled the theme song every day when he left. The last disgruntled guy we had was Michael LaGribbe, and he passed away years ago!”
“I’m not sure, but the boss’ll get to the bottom of it, mark my words. I’m not moving from this chair ‘til it’s done.”